Lightning Strikes Twice (Harry Potter)(Time Travel)

A/N: Only ONE final chapter remains for Lightning Strikes Twice! Meanwhile, its replacement "Invader Syndrome (Star Wars)" is underway over on my Patreon with four chapters already so far! I also have an announcement about my Patreon at the bottom of the post! Please read it!

World War Three.

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War. It's not something that happens suddenly, despite what the uninformed might think. To the unwashed masses, war can probably feel very sudden indeed, but to those at the top making the decisions, war is usually the last port of call. It represented a breakdown in relations that tended to span months, years… even decades if one was willing to look back that far. War was merely an extension of diplomacy, as well as a byproduct of its failure.

Nuclear Armageddon, likewise, was not something that just suddenly happened one day. To Harry and the rest of the Magical World, who were already dealing with their own rather pressing crisis, it certainly came without warning in the original timeline. They barely had the time to try and stop some of it, and with how many they'd already lost, they hadn't been able to do much.

The world had ended the first time around with both a whimper and a bang. Obviously, Harry wasn't about to let that happen this time around. When the day finally came where tensions reached their breaking point, where it all bubbled over… he was ready. So ready, in fact, that he found himself waiting around for decades this go around, simply because he'd gone back far enough in time to give himself the necessary wiggle room.

Decades to help the Wizarding World overcome its greatest challenge by wedding magic and muggle technology. Decades to solidify his power, grow his magic even further, and expand his reach further still. Decades to have a truly remarkable amount of children. After all, it wasn't like his women were going to just wait. And neither was Harry.

By the time would-be Nuclear Armageddon arrives, Harry isn't just prepared for it, he's more incentivized than ever to deal with this shit completely and utterly, so that his children can grow up safely and happily in a healthy and whole world.

Of course, it helped that the worst weapons themselves were already taken care of. Even as more conventional conflicts between muggles grew in prevalence over the years after he'd surreptitiously taken away their nukes, they refrained from jumping to the Nuclear Option immediately.

Even still, now that Harry was actually paying attention to the rest of the world this time around, it was exceedingly obvious that everything was moving towards a point of no return. With his finger on the pulse, he was ready when it finally came. Though he had to admit… the reasons behind the outbreak of World War Three pissed him off to no end. It wasn't even ideological. No, it was greed, plain and simple.

Everyone was a little greedy sometimes. And a little greed wasn't even a bad thing, at least in Harry's opinion. Greed had its place, but this… the muggles got too greedy. And in doing so, they nearly ended the world.

In the end, it doesn't matter to him who tries to launch the first nuclear strike, because ultimately the attempt is registered and reacted to before they can even confirm that the nonexistent missile isn't even in the air. At least half a dozen countries retaliate within five minutes, all trying to blow each other and everyone else up at the same time.

Harry lets them try, of course. He watches as those with the greatest number of nuclear missiles among them panic upon realizing that the first set seem to have misfired, so they fire even more. Before long, thousands of nukes should be in the air… and aren't.

At the height of this panic and fear, Harry snaps his fingers and summons the architects of this apocalypse from all over the world to a special room he's prepared. A nice, big table dominates the center of the room, surrounded by cheap office chairs.

Men and women in uniforms, suits, and all sorts of dress attire appear out of thin air. Whether they were sitting or standing, they sit now in the chairs that Harry has prepared for them, a simple sticking charm making sure none of them can move without looking utterly ridiculous because there's an office chair stuck to their asses.

They freak out, of course. But they do so silently, because Harry has cast a blanket Silencing Charm over the entire room. Some of them realize the lack of noise quickly enough and begin to calm down. For others, having their voices taken away is the worst offense they've ever experienced in their spoiled rich lives, leaving them to grow redder and redder in the face as they try and fail to scream and shout.

Those, Harry casts a calming spell over, until finally everyone is silent because they're not speaking, rather than because they're magically compelled to be.

Finally, he steps forward out of the shadows and reveals himself, taking his place at the head of the table. Eyes widen at the sight of him standing there freely, his arms clasped behind his back.

"Greetings. I'm sure you're all very confused and very alarmed. Given that you were standing in your numerous War Rooms a moment ago, you're probably wondering how you got here and why. The how is simple… magic brought you here. The why is also very simple. You all just tried to end the world."

Harry sweeps glowing green eyes across all of them, his disappointment a palpable thing that pushes down on them like an invisible weight. To their credit, a handful of the people seated around the table actually look ashamed of their actions. Many more, however, look defiant and angry.

Smiling, Harry waves a hand. When nothing happens for a moment, he raises an eyebrow.

"You all may speak now."

Immediately, there's a cacophony of voices as nearly everyone speaks at the same time, demanding this or that at the top of their lungs. Some though remain quiet and thoughtful as they stare at him. They're the first ones to realize it… that everyone can understand each other right now.

Slowly, it dawns on the others too. Here in this room are a multitude of world leaders. Many of whom do NOT share a language. And yet, they soon see that the words coming from their counterparts' mouths do not match with the movement of their lips. A simple translation spell, making sure everyone could understand everyone.

Eventually, the angriest tire themselves out and slump back in their seats, seeming to realize that even with their voices back, their shouting is having no effect. One particular dictator even nearly gives himself a heart attack in his raging, though Harry notices and fixes the issue before it can become a distraction.

Finally, in the quiet that follows, one of the ones who didn't shout themselves hoarse speaks up.

"You're Harry Evans. CEO of Wizard Technologies."

Harry smiles at that, his eyes twinkling as he bobs his head. Indeed, Harry had not been idle in the time since he'd done away with the planet's nuclear arsenals. Once Hermione and Andromeda successfully managed to create the first examples of magitech, he'd pushed for more and those brilliant witches had delivered time and time again.

Not only was magic safe from muggle technology… but magical technology was now safe enough for muggle usage. As Harry Evans, he'd begun drip feeding magitech to the rest of the world over the last several years… and in the process, he'd taken their economies by storm. Magic was a lovely cheat code that made it so very easy to circumvent their systems and ultimately use them to his advantage. At this point 'Harry Evans' was well on his way to becoming the wealthiest man in the world.

"I am. As I'm sure many of you already know, magic is very real. Several of you have magical communities living within your borders that interact with your governments with semi-irregularity."

Another world leader speaks up then, snarling as he massages his throat.

"Isn't this a violation of your 'Statute of Secrecy'? Even if most of us in this room know of you, not everyone does. You're tearing down the veil for this."

Harry smiles thinly.

"Indeed. That's exactly what I'm doing. If not for this, then what? As previously mentioned, you all just tried to end the world. If I hadn't stepped in, there wouldn't have been anyone left to uphold the Statute of Secrecy. There wouldn't have been anyone left for anything."

There's some awkward shuffling at that… and some furtive looks. Harry chuckles dryly.

"Ah yes. I'm sure many of you had contingencies, didn't you? Underground bunkers where you would have survived the consequences of your own actions while everyone else perished. Let's start there, shall we?"

Harry snaps his fingers. Most of the room flinches, only to look increasingly concerned when seemingly nothing happens. Harry's smile makes a return as he explains.

"That was me filling in your bunkers. All of them. Every single one. Across the entire planet. I moved the people inside them up to the surface first of course. Consider your contingency plans scrapped. Probably should work a little harder on making it to the Moon, but we all know none of you are close to a habitable, self-sustaining moonbase yet. When you are… I'll be up there waiting for you."

That last quip is the one that causes the dam to break. Hands slam down on the table as a man in a fancy-looking uniform snarls.

"Ridiculous! We know full well the limits of magic! You claim things that are utterly impossible for a single wizard to pull off. Either you're lying, or all of your kind are in on this… this wanton provocation! Only, we know full well how little of you there are. You do not want to make war with a species that outnumbers yours by eight thousand to one!"

Its actually a little over ten thousand to one. The entire magical population on Planet Earth numbers under a million, while there are currently over eight billion muggles. Not that it matters. Harry just smiles… and snaps his fingers again. This time around, there's a very noticeable effect as the man who just threatened him and the Magical World disappears along with his office chair.

Everyone stares with wide eyes for a long silent moment before looking to Harry. Finally, one of them in particular speaks up in a trepidatious voice, her eyes flicking to the empty space beside her over and over again as she asks the obvious.

"What… what did you do to him?"

Harry smiles and doesn't bother mincing words.

"I killed him."

That sends quite the shockwave through the room, even as Harry tilts his head to the side, amused by their reactions.

"Why do you all think I brought your seconds along with you?"

The woman who'd asked in the first place, now Acting Leader of her nation, goes pale at that. So do many of the others, now eyeing those sitting next to them as if just beginning to truly realize the danger they're all in here.

"Not to worry. I'm not going to kill any of you unless you force my hand. Needless to say, threatening my people constitutes forcing my hand. As for whether I alone have the power to do all of this or not… does it truly matter? You have no defenses. When you try to develop countermeasures for me and my kind in the coming years, I will know about them and disabuse you of your projects one by one. This right here is a warning. Heed it… or lose everything."

Looks are exchanged all over the room. Nobody seems to know quite what to say. That's fine, Harry is about ready to wrap things up anyways. With a gesture, he turns on the bank of monitors on the wall behind him. They'd been hidden in shadow until now, but as they come to life everyone sees the same thing.

Specifically, it's an orbital view of the top of the planet from dozens of different Satellites. More specifically, it's an orbital view from dozens of THEIR Satellites. He's sure most of them don't realize it right now of course, but they'll find out when they go to confirm what they're about to see later on.

"This is the reason you lot tried to start World War Three."

Some try to protest that, but Harry cuts them off with a look.

"Don't try to deny it. The Northwest Passage through the Arctic has been a point of interest for many of you for decades now. Some of you have betrayed your closest allies over this. And for what? Because of greed, of course. You see a path to more power, more money, more success… and you crave it. You crave control."

Its utterly ridiculous. Many of the countries who had come into conflict in the last several years leading up to today didn't even have a reason to care about the Northwest Passage through the Arctic, mostly because they existed below the equator and therefore had better, more conventional routes.

Except there was a knock-on effect. The Northwest Passage represented a threat to their bottom lines. The melting of the Arctic allowing countries to transit through its icy waters instead of going South and around… well, it upset those who got wealthy off of trade going through their own territories.

And of course, then there were the numerous countries who did have borders touching the Arctic Circle. And they wanted to control the area as much as possible to either gain supremacy over their rivals… or keep hold of it in some cases.

The Northwest Passage was just the first of many safe routes and by itself shouldn't have been all that important. And yet, paradoxically given its icy location and watery state, it was the spark to light the flame of ambition and greed.

To be fair, a lot of them just needed an excuse and the Northwest Passage was that excuse. But now… now it would be a demonstration. Harry reaches out towards the monitors with a single hand and stands there silently. Nothing seems to happen at first. Finally, someone finds their courage and speaks up.

"What are you-?"

Just in time to fall silent as they see what everyone else sees on the screens in front of them. The Arctic Ice Pack at the center of the Arctic Circle has shrunk dramatically in the last fifty or so years, opening up advantageous shipping routes such as the Northwest Passage and others like it.

No more. Right before the eyes of the world's leaders, through their own satellites, they watch in real time as the ice returns bit by bit, expanding outwards until it covers the vast majority of the Arctic Circle once more.

With this, Harry is killing two birds with one stone. He's taken away their excuse for war and conquest… and given them an abject lesson at the same time. This is the depth AND breadth of his power. When he's finally done, Harry turns back to the assembled leaders of the world and smiles.

"I'm sure it will take all of you time to come to terms with the things that have happened here today. Some of you are already plotting against me right this moment."

More faces go pale as Harry meets the eyes of the ones who are thinking about ways to kill him and his. Harry lets his smile grow wider.

"I'm not going to kill you for that though. Thinking it is one thing. Trying to act on those thoughts… now that's another entirely."

Sweeping his gaze back and forth across the room, Harry clasps his hands together behind his back once more.

"To be clear, I don't really care if you still go to war with one another. Keeping your conflicts within the bounds of the rules your own United Nations have set should be fine enough. But if your fighting comes close to harming my people again, I will not be as kind as I was this time."

The looks on their faces make it clear they do not see any of this as 'kind', but then that's the point. Harry just chuckles and finishes up.

"So go ahead. Launch your invasions. Send your young and capable to die for your greed. But before you do so, I want you to consider each and every time whether or not you might be pissing me off in the process. Because I won't be punishing just your subordinates if a drop of magical blood is spilled or the land of magical peoples are pillaged. I'll take my grievances all the way to the top."

Deciding to leave it at that, Harry doesn't give any of them a chance to respond. Instead, they all vanish from the room between one moment and the next, appearing back in their War Rooms and their Ready Rooms and their prestigious offices all over the world.

The smartest among them might notice he didn't make a gesture before transporting them again. And maybe they'll realize he never had to make a single gesture in the first place. Or maybe they won't because they'll be just as distracted as the rest with the cheap office chairs still stuck to their asses.

… The sticking charm will wear off in another hour or so. Really, it's not like Harry is a monster or anything like that.

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A/N: There's no vote this time!

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Starting July 31st, I will be retiring my old lowest tier price of $3 and replacing it with a new lowest tier price of $5. HOWEVER, anyone who is already pledged to my Patreon at the $3 monthly price point when I make this change will get to remain at the $3 price for as long as they stay pledged to my Patreon.

As such, you can consider these next 8 weeks to be your last chance to pledge to my Patreon at the old price and then get to keep that price going forward.