The sirens were getting closer.
Harry stood in the middle of the street, feeling the tension slowly ease — but not disappear. Everything had happened too fast, too strangely, and he still hadn't had a chance to properly process any of it.
The sound was familiar — in a way. But not the way it was in his world. There was no panic in it, no chaotic urgency. On the contrary, everything seemed organised. Almost routine.
And that was... more unsettling.
The people around him were already dispersing. Not running, not shouting — just returning to their business, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
As if this sort of thing happened all the time.
Harry ran a hand through his hair and exhaled quietly.
"Brilliant," he muttered. "Just wonderful."
"Hey."
Harry turned.
A man in a bright costume was approaching — bright enough that it might have looked ridiculous, except that there was nothing ridiculous about the way he moved. Controlled. Measured.
Dangerous.
Harry clocked that immediately.
"You alright?" the man asked, stopping a few steps away.
"Yeah," Harry replied shortly. "More or less."
The man glanced in the direction the attacker had disappeared.
"He didn't get you?"
"No. I..." Harry paused for a moment, finding the words. "Distracted him a little."
The man raised an eyebrow.
"A little?"
Harry shrugged.
"It worked."
The stranger looked at him more closely. Too closely.
"Unusual ability," he said after a couple of seconds. "Still learning to control it?"
Harry went still for a moment.
"You could say that," he replied.
The sirens grew louder.
The man turned his head slightly, gauging the distance, then looked back at Harry.
"You should go."
"Why?"
A faint smile.
"Because you'd have to explain what you were doing here. And you don't exactly look eager to do that."
Harry nodded slowly.
"Fair enough."
He turned and walked away.
Calmly, unhurriedly, trying to look as though he had a plan.
He didn't have a plan.
A few blocks on, Harry stopped somewhere quieter and leaned back against the wall of a building. The city was still loud, but it wasn't pressing down on him quite so hard anymore.
He closed his eyes for a few seconds, pulling his thoughts together.
"Right," he said quietly. "Let's go through this."
First: this was definitely not his world.
Second: people here had abilities.
Not magic.
"This isn't magic," he murmured.
Third: his own magic did work.
Just poorly.
Harry raised his hand and focused.
Nothing.
He tried again.
A faint shift in the air.
That was it.
"Wonderful."
Without his wand, it was nearly useless.
His stomach gave an unmistakeable growl.
Harry froze.
"...seriously?"
He exhaled.
"Of course."
He looked around.
Shops. People. Food.
Money.
Which he didn't have.
"Right," he said. "Wouldn't be the first time."
He walked on.
Without a plan.
But with the intention of finding one.
Passing a shop window, he stopped.
His reflection looked back at him.
The same.
And already different.
"So. Starting over."
He turned away and kept walking.