"Uaaaaah! Waaaah! Waaaaaaah!"
The cry of a newborn baby rang out, and Edmund Alaric, better known to the British wizarding community as Lord Alaric, stopped impatiently pacing around the hallway and looked anxiously at the doorway to the Childbirth Room of St. Mungo's Hospital.
Inside, Lady Silena Alaric, a strikingly beautiful woman with bright amber eyes, looked happily at her newborn child, who had her eyes, and was currently staring at her with a quiet, unblinking intensity.
Alaric Carter had just spent the last hour squeezing himself out of a dark, squishy, narrow tunnel. When he had come out, he had been assaulted with a blast of bright light and loud noise, and had given in to his body's instincts and cried loudly as he took his first breath.
Now he was watching his mother, who was currently holding him, as he was coming to terms with the unfamiliarity of being in an extremely small and weak body. Everything seemed big, and every moment was so tiring that he was beginning to fall asleep.
But before sleep overtook him, he saw something that shocked and surprised him completely. A woman wearing an old-fashioned nurse uniform stood beside the bed, but his eyes saw in the nurse's hand what most definitely looked like, even in his blurry vision, a Harry Potter wand.
As he fell asleep, his only thought was, Wait, am I in the Harry Potter universe?!!
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Alaric woke up to the sound of a massive explosion. He opened his eyes in alarm, and from his position in his mother's arms, he saw bright lights of varying colors flying around and hitting the walls and ceiling of what Alaric could make out to be a large, opulent hall. A large cloud of dust, smoke and flame was emerging from a completely demolished section of the wall, and debris was scattered everywhere.
Silena was running for the very life of her son. She blasted a wizard out of her way, and stunned another. Edmund, her husband, was close behind her, covering her escape.
Alaric saw everything that was happening but was helpless. He was too small to act. And he couldn't do magic yet.
He had quickly accepted the fact that he was in the world where Harry Potter's story had taken place, and he was looking forward to living a magical new life. His mind was now as adaptable and stable as possible, and the benefits of that were clearly showing themselves. He was able to think straight, while being in an extremely dangerous, life-threatening situation, with his instincts screaming at him. But he was content to watch what happens, as he was anyways powerless to do anything.
He knew that he was currently in the middle of, from what he gathered seeing the massive green smoke-skull-serpent glowing above the recently blasted ceiling, a Death Eater attack. What he didn't know were the details. Was this was the First Wizarding War or the Second Wizarding War? Why were the Death Eaters attacking his new family? And most importantly, was Voldemort here?
Alaric had no idea.
And it wouldn't do a crap of a difference even if he had an idea. He was basically a one-day-old.
He only watched as his parents carried him deep into the long corridors of the mansion. The sounds of battle were distant, but they were definitely coming closer. Edmund tapped a painting with his wand and muttered something, and the painting opened like a door, revealing a stone tunnel behind it. He said, "Go in, dear. The inter-continent portkey that Mr. Chang gifted us is in there. Use it to transport yourself and our child. It will transport you to somewhere in China. I will cover for you. Now, go."
Silena's eyes were filled with tears and her expression was one of reluctance. She said in a teary voice, "But…" "Not buts. Go. I will hold them off." Edmund's voice was firm and determined. Silena looked like she might break down sobbing, but she managed to hold herself together. She gave her husband one last reluctant look before stepping into the painting door with Alaric in her arms.
She ran down a flight of stone steps, which led to a small underground chamber. It was lit with candles mounted on the walls. In the center of the chamber on a stone pedestal, was a small jade statue of an Asian dragon. Silena ran towards it, tightly holding Alaric against her chest. She stretched out her hand to grasp the dragon statue.
Just as she was about to touch it, a loud explosion rang from above them, shaking the walls of the chamber. She quickly looked up, concern etched into her face. Then she looked back at her son, staring into his calm, almost hypnotic amber eyes. She bit her lip in indecision, then placed Alaric on the pedestal beside the statue, and whispered, "Forgive me, my child. But if I leave my husband to die here, then I will regret it for life. I have to go help him fight. We will die together for you if we must. If you understand me, then go. Use the portkey. It will take you somewhere safe. If we live, then we will find even if you are at the ends of the world. Go, child. I love you."
Alaric stared at his mother, his eyes filled with warmth and light sadness. He could not speak, but he lifted his small hand and touched his mother's cheek, trying to convey his understanding and love. He had been in this world for less than a day, yet he had developed great love for his mother and father.
Then, he outstretched his tiny fingers and grasped the tail of the jade statue. As he gave a tiny smile to his mother, Alaric felt a tug in his navel, and the world spun around him a whirlwind of light and color, as he was taken far, far, away…