KenderCleric’s Challenge #4 – An eternity in a moment

Summary:

On October 31st 1981 Lord Voldemort stood triumphantly over the fallen corpse of Lily Potter. He leveled his wand at the wailing child the fallen woman had died to protect and uttered the two most feared words in the magical world.

“Avada Kedavra!”

The green light of the killing curse flashed between the tip of the madman’s yew wand and the infant’s forehead. The curse struck and as it always had before separated the soul of the victim from its body. However, that was not to be the end of young Harry Potter’s tale.

Free of its mortal coil the soul of the child did not pass on to the afterlife as it should have for fate had placed a burden upon it that was left unfinished. Pulled by Necessity for a Purpose to be fulfilled the child’s soul found its way into another time and place among a world far, far from its own.

The child’s soul found itself pulled into the body of a similarly aged infant who had been left alone in the woods to perish. With a soul to once again inhabit the body the child’s wails renewed with a strength nearly forgotten. The child named simply Din would survive.

He would survive despite a misshapen and deformed body.

He would survive despite being left to die in the woods in his infancy due to his birth defects.

He would survive because one Possibility of Purpose decreed it so.

Harry Potter’s soul would live the life of the Sorcerer Din. Renamed Beldin upon his being taken as a Disciple of the God Aldur he would help to shape the very Purpose of the universe in the struggle between the Possibilities of the Light and Dark.

Countless eons passed for the Sorcerer Beldin and his fellow Disciples. He witnessed the cracking of the world by the Dark God Torak, and the rise and fall of countless kings. Eventually he even witnessed the completion of a Prophecy and the restoration of the Purpose.

He fell in love and for nearly eighty years he and his wife lived their lives in the beautiful form of Blue-banded hawks. Unfortunately his wife was not a Sorcerer or Disciple of a god, and thus confined to the limited life of a mortal. At her passing he finally understood what his fellow Disciple Belgarath had felt so many, many years prior. His grief was worse than any he had felt in his far reaching lifetime.

Ultimately Beldin came to feel his time had finally come to an end. He gathered his Will and was prepared to utter the Words that would end his existence. Yet, just as he was about to speak aloud his final command a foreign presence replaced the words in his mind and rather than “Be Not” he said simply, “End this life.”

The soul of Harry Potter, who had spent some six thousand plus years as Beldin the Sorcerer found itself once again pulled by Necessity to return to the body it had left so long ago.

Voldemort stood with a sadistic look of glee on his face as he watched his spell rip the life from the infant’s eyes. Yet the hollow and glazed look in the child’s eyes passed in the space of a single breath before once again taking on a full appearance.

The killing curse itself was forcibly removed from the child, leaving a lightning bolt shaped scar upon its exit. Cast out by its target the spell had nowhere to go but back to its caster and so it did. Voldemort, too shocked to move, was struck by his own curse. His soul was ripped from its body, but the spell had lost too much power to send it on to the afterlife. The Dark Lord’s body crumbled into ash without magic and a soul to sustain it.

Harry James Potter had survived the Killing Curse and slain the Dark Lord; or so the world would believe.

For fifteen long years no one would know anything different.

When Harry watched Sirius fall into the Veil in the Department of Mysteries he was filled with a grief like none he’d experienced. As the emotion coursed through him he felt a wrenching sensation that he liked to his very soul writhing under the grief. How close he was to the truth.

He rushed unthinkingly after Bellatrix as his mind was clouded by thoughts of revenge.

When he drew close enough to see the woman he did the first thing that came to mind, and oddly it was not to raise his wand. His eyes locked on the woman’s chest and his mind envisioned her beating heart. Though he didn’t know why he screamed the first word that came to mind, “Stop!”

Bellatrix Lestrange collapsed to the ground clutching her chest. Her heart had followed Harry’s will-enforced command.


The Challenge:

Write a story that is a crossover between David Eddings’ “Belgariad” and “Malloreon” series and Harry Potter. The crossover should be based on Harry Potter’s soul being the same as Beldin’s from the Eddings series.

Rules:

• Harry’s life follows canon from the moment Voldemort “died” at Godric’s Hollow to the moment Sirius falls through the veil.
• Harry never fully recovers his memories or personality from his life as Beldin. However, certain aspects of his life as Beldin are too strong to be ignored. The author may choose what these are, but they should be fairly defining as “new” behavior for Harry and “classic” for Beldin.
• The Will and the Word, or “Sorcery”, must operate under the rules created by Eddings. How this form of magic interacts, or doesn’t, is up to the author.

Edit:
This challenge is obviously fairly limited in who can respond as the writer would have to have read Eddings' work. The character Beldin is one of my favorite from the story despite our not knowing a lot about his actions. He is wickedly smart, powerful in the use of the Will and the Word, and has a great deal of depth. These are the reasons I wanted to create a challenge where Beldin was incorperated into the HP world, but without the total disruption actually bringing the character into the world would create.

 

Could be quite good, I do like the Belgariad series. Beldin's character would be quite amusing, evening if made milder, when put into Harry's body. If I remember correctly the only person who can make him blush is Polgara, and he can make just about anybody blush with his language (including Belgarath and sailors in general). Imagine Hermione's reaction...

Beldin was the second most powerful of the Diciples if I remember correctly, next to Belgarath. He may not have been actually more powerful than some of the others (I can't remember if he was second or third to arrive) but he was more...aggressively powerful. He was willing to be exceedingly nasty with his power.

As for how the magic of each world would interact with the other...I reckon that the Will and the Word can be explained by the God who takes the Disciple opening up areas of the brain, that allow for the Will. It could equally be that the Will is drawn through a link to the God in question, which could lead to a weakening in Beldin's ability.

 

I think he was third, Belzedar was the second.

 

Beldin was actually the last of the "original" seven disciples to arrive. Belgarath, Belzedar, the twins Belkira and Beltira, Belmakor, Belsambar, and then Beldin. Beldin was "with the possible exception of Belmakor, the most intelligent of us all". He was also, as you said, the most aggressive with his power.

Belsambar was the first disciple to will himself out of existance followed by Belmakor. Belzedar later became the apostate.

Polgara becomes a disciple next, and then at the end of the events of the Belgariad we add Garion to the list. Near the conclusion of the Malloreon series Durnik (who never adds the Bel to his name) joins the club.

The Will and the Word is not actually related to disciplehood. As noted in the Malloreon it is an ability that appears randomly in humans. Belgarath and Beldin theorize that it might also have something to do with the requirements of the Prophecies. The main reason, however, so few appear with the gift is that most "spontaneous" sorcery results in death (i.e.- someone getting so mad at something that they attempt to 'unmake' it and thus kill themself). [see the inclusion of the club-footed Alchemist in the Malloreon for this information]

Edit:
It is also worthy to note that Beldin was the first of the disciples to learn how to change their form. He was often found in the form of a Blue-banded Hawk rather than his deformed human body.

 

You have a point about about the Will and the Word. Perhaps its just another method of utilising magic.

Perhaps there was one more God at the start. Perhaps he got exiled by the others for some reason, banished to Earth and bound there for ever. He created magic as seen in the HP world for the fun of it. Could lead to some confrontation when said God senses the Will being used, which reminds him of his brothers.

 

Hmm, that would be an interesting plot twist. Another god who, like Aldur, didn't select a race to call their own, but instead created magic. Since we know there are three distinct types of magic in Eddings' world that would be interesting.

Rather than being banished he could have been drawn to Earth by the Purpose and decided to create a unique type of magic there. With Beldin's knowledge of the Will and the Word, as well as the Magic of that world (demon summoning), he would easily draw said God's attention once Harry started using that knowledge.

Could even lead to Harry being a Disciple of that god. Lots of possibilities there.

 

If that happens I can imagine Aldur coming to pay a visit to this new god

This idea has a lot going for it. One thing that is interesting was that Beldin was possibly the most intelligent person on the face of the Eddings world who was not divine. He was that smart, he had spent thousands of years studying everything from music, to light, to biology. A Harry with even a tenth of that thirst for knowledge would make Hermione look like an amature in the pursuit of knowledge.

I am not sure if Beldin learned how to use the demon summoning. As I recall Belgarath learnt how when he was sent there to learn before he met his wife Poledra(who also counted as a Disciple, though she was also a diciple of the over-god UL)

 

I seem to recall that Belgarath spent a couple thousand years pondering on the purpose of grass, and then another thousand ponder upon the purpose of mountains. Beldin just studied the fields more widely so to speak.

I also recall that Beldin learned demon summoning as well. He learned it during one of his bouts of extentsive traveling.

 

No, Belgarath spent about a hundred years studying grass, and he spent over about thirty on a flower that he made for Aldur (who told him to study it and eventually learned to love it when Aldur suggested he destroy it to find out more)

Beldin did study very widely, and his inteligence let him get a lot of information in a very large field. Belgarath is not stupid by any stretch of the imaination. He is a genius, or at least highly gifted, he just can't compare to the bredth and deatph of Beldin's mind.

 

The challenge actually makes me drool. I wish I had the skill to take it up.

 

Hey man, try it. You never know if you'll be able to write a story until you actually try. Get a few folk who know canon well, in this case canon for both Universes, and are willing to act as bouncing boards for your ideas, and then write up a plan. Try it, if it doesn't come then it doesn't come but if you have inspiration then go for it.

 

I agree with Mordecai. If the challenge gets your brain goin then give it a try. I'll be more than happy to help you if you need it. Lord knows I've got enough of Eddings' canon crammed in my plot-bunny riddled head.

 

When I say I lack the skill, what I mean is I know I may start it, and that'll be real fun. I'll write one or two chapters...and then I'll leave it undone.

This needs the be taken up by someone who actually has a chance of finishing the fic.