Harry didn't have a lot of experience with dimensional shifts. Most of his encounters were in preventing such events. They were a lot harder to track than time travel. The Unspeakables had an entire department for that. Supposedly they had a wing that could withstand any sort of displacement. That would have been really handy if he wasn't practically on the other side of the world.
He quickly patted down his pockets only to find they were empty. The only thing he had in his possession were the clothes on his back. His wand had been on the shelf behind him to avoid potential splashes considering what he had been developing. He had a decent catalogue of spells he could use wandlessly. The connection to the Hallows was muted. It was still there, but there they weren't anywhere close.
Harry closed the door behind him as he stepped outside. He had to stop himself from locking the door. The question of what counted as a home since vampires needed to be invited. Did squatting count?
He made his way toward the school. Giles was the best option to get answers. The changes became even more blatant as he walked. Almost all of the buildings had bars on the windows and security doors. The stores had clear signs that they would close at four in the afternoon at the latest. People kept their heads down as they moved quickly through town. Those that he did see were all dressed in muted colors. Everyone wore long-sleeved shirts and turtlenecks to cover as much skin as they could.
Harry arrived at the school without any real issue, aside from mental distress. It was almost time for lunch. His previous visits around this time of the day were noisy. This time it was practically deserted. He skipped the office entirely and went directly to the library.
"Oh," Giles visibly tensed when the door opened. "Who are you?"
Harry took a moment to look the man over. He didn't know the last time he had seen Giles wearing something other than a suit or some variation. Today the Watcher wore a baggy sweater that had seen better days and blue-jeans.
"What happened?" Harry asked.
Giles raised his eyebrows, "British? Are you a Watcher? I haven't been contacted."
"No," Harry shook his head. "Where is Buffy?"
The confused expression on Giles face grew in intensity, "The Slayer?"
"Not good," Harry muttered. "What about Willow or Oz?"
Giles narrowed his eyes, "Oz is in class. Willow? Do you mean Miss Rosenberg? I'm afraid to tell you she was killed some time ago."
Harry pulled out a chair and sat heavily. He rubbed a hand down on his face.
"Fine," He muttered. "What about Xander or Cordelia?"
Giles started to work through his confusion and had reached curiosity, "Miss Chase is also in class. The only Xander I know of is Alexander Harris. He was killed as well. By the former Miss Rosenberg I believe."
The Watcher moved over to stand by Harry.
"Of course they're vampires," Harry muttered.
Giles sat across from him, "Who are you?"
"Harry Potter," He offered his hand to shake. "Wizard."
Giles looked at the offered hand, "Wizard?"
"Not important right now," Harry said. "We're looking at a dimensional shift. Buffy, the slayer, was here an hour ago and had been for a year or two." He paused to flash a tired smile. "You had better fashion sense as well."
Giles took off his glasses, cleaned them, and then put them back on.
"Dimensional shift?" Giles asked.
Harry smiled, "That's what I like about you, Giles. Some stranger strolls into the library talking about a dimensional shift and you roll with it."
"I'm nothing if not mentally flexible," The Watcher replied with a tired smile of his own. "Can you give me any more information?"
Harry shook his head, "Nothing more than what I have told you. I was in the middle of brewing a potion when the world changed." He paused for a moment to get a feel for the energy in the air. "The Hellmouth makes it hard to find traces of other sources of magic. It's the same reason I'm here on vacation."
"Sunnydale for vacation?" Giles snickered. "You should fire your travel agent."
Harry shrugged, "I've grown to like it."
"You said the Slayer was here?" Giles asked.
Harry nodded, "You're a good Watcher."
"Thank you," Giles let out a little sigh. "I've begun to lose hope." His eyes went to the doors to make sure no one had entered when he wasn't paying attention. "You're rather easy to talk to."
Harry smiled, "Thanks. Care to catch me up on current events?"
"If you're sure," Giles cautioned. "I would suggest you get out of here if you have the option."
Harry shook his head, "I have a bad habit of helping people."
"I wouldn't call that a bad habit," Giles replied.
Harry chuckled, "I've been stabbed more times than you'd think."
"Fair enough," Giles said. "Settle in, this might take a minute."
Harry chuckled, "Would some tea help?"
"I haven't had a proper cup of tea in years," Giles muttered.
Harry chuckled, "Let's see how you feel after a drink a cup."
He got up and went into the little office Giles used. The librarian watched as the stranger went through the process of making tea. He moved with the familiarity of someone who had done so many times before.
The summary of this dimensions was: No Buffy, bad things happened. It also meant that things hadn't progressed beyond vampires. Sure, there was this Master and whatever his grand plan was, but there was a lack of demons, mummies, and other monsters.
Harry stood up as the doors to the library opened. His hands raised to throw spells. A trio of students came to a sudden stop. He started to relax as he recognized Oz among the three. The other two he didn't know. One was a taller girl with auburn hair while the other was a guy that looked like an athlete.
"Wait," Giles said to the others. "He's here to help."
Harry lowered his hands, "Oz, who are your friends?"
"How do you know my name?" The short werewolf asked.
"He's British?" The girl asked. "Another Watcher?"
"A wizard," Giles answered.
"Like, Abracadabra?" The guy asked.
Harry summoned a ball of light on his index fingertip.
"Neat trick," The guy said.
He smiled at the non-reaction, "I'm Harry, you are?"
"Larry," The guy answered.
"Nancy," The girl added.
"And I'm Oz," Oz said. "But you know that somehow."
Harry shrugged, "Dimensional shift."
Oz nodded as though that made perfect sense. Harry suspected the guy wouldn't blink if the building was on fire.
"How do we fix it?" Oz asked.
Harry shrugged, "I don't know what caused it."
"That's great," Larry grumbled.
Giles stepped into his office only to return a moment later. He now wore a jacket and had a large crucifix.
"It's time to patrol," Giles said. "Would you like to come, Harry?"
Harry stood from the table, "Sure. I need to discover more about this dimension."
The trio led to a van in the parking lot. He chuckled a little as he recognized it as the one that Oz used for his band. Racks on the walls were full of various tools for vampire slaying. He took a seat against the wall not full of stakes and waited.
"What's the plan?" Harry asked.
Giles got into the passenger seat rather than driving, "We drive around the town and help those we can. There has been an increase in missing people lately."
They stopped three times in as many blocks. The crew would hop out brandishing crucifixes and stakes to scare off the vampires. It was a decent plan considering they didn't have a slayer. They focused on saving the people rather than fighting the vampires.
Things had fallen into a worrying pattern. They would find the vampires, scare them off, and let the people run away. He wasn't sure how much they were helping. It was likely that the people would get attacked a few minutes later since they didn't kill the vampires.
"We've got another one," Oz called.
The van came to a rough stop. Giles hopped out of the van brandishing a crucifix. The side-door opened revealing a scene that sent a stone in his stomach. Cordelia was unconscious on the ground with Xander and Willow standing above her. Harry knew that the two had been turned as Giles had mentioned earlier. It was still a shock to see them in person.
Harry leaned back against the interior wall as they drove back to the high school.
"Why aren't we going somewhere private?" Harry asked.
"Pardon?" Giles asked turning to face him.
Harry motioned to the houses they were passing, "Those are private residences. Vampires can't enter without being invited. The school is open to the public. Wouldn't it make more sense to go somewhere private?"
They drove in silence for a moment.
"He's got a point," Oz said breaking the silence.
Giles sighed, "Let's go to my place then. We won't have access to as many weapons or resources."
Harry didn't say anything. It was becoming clear that these people were lucky to have lasted this long. He had expected more from Giles. His gaze drifted to Cordelia. She was the first person he had seen in town that wore bright colors. The blue dress looked nice on her. More importantly, the necklace she was wearing reeked of demonic magic.
He held out his hand, a moment later the necklace jumped into his grasp. Larry and Nancy flinched at his casual use of magic. He was just glad they didn't start yelling that he should be burned at the stake.
Harry held the necklace up to study it. Powerful magic lingered in the air around the gem. On closer inspection he could feel a matching undertone in the ambient magic. This had played a part in whatever had happened.
"Giles," He said as he held out the necklace. "Do you recognize this?"
Giles took the piece of jewelry for closer study, "It does look familiar. I can't recall from where."
"Cordelia was wearing it," Harry explained. "It's connected to all of these changes."
Giles shifted his attention to Harry, "Can you break the enchantment?"
"No," Harry shook his head. "Not with this. It's connected, but not the source."
They made it to Giles' place easily enough. Larry carried Cordelia into the house without asking for help. The unconscious young woman rested on the couch while the others lingered around the space.
"You should check the perimeter," Giles said. "To make sure we're in the clear."
Harry shook his head, "It's not a good idea to split up. They can't get in unless they're invited. We can stay here until dawn. They'll search for you at the school first."
"No disrespect," Oz said. "Why are we listening to you?"
Harry smiled, "I have experience with these kind of things."
"Dimensional shifts?" Nancy asked.
Harry shook his head, "Being on the run from an evil bastard and his minions."
"Giles?" Cordelia snapped up into a sitting position. "Where am I? Where is Buffy? How did things get so wrong?" She stopped. "Harry! You're still here!"
Harry nodded, "You can't get rid of me that easily."
"You have no idea how glad I am to see you," She hopped off the couch and wrapped him in a hug. "Xander and Willow are vampires. They tried to attack me. This whole place is just wrong."
He rubbed her back gently as she squeezed him hard. It felt like she was latched onto him as though he would vanish at any moment.
"Cordelia," Harry gently moved her back so they were face to face. "Can you tell me what happened? Anything strange before all of this?"
She nodded and launched into a meandering tale of how horrible her life was after Xander cheated on her, how only the new girl was being nice to her, and then that the new girl turned out to be some kind of wish granting fairy. She had wished that Buffy never came to Sunnydale because that was when her life got complicated.
"She wasn't a fairy," Harry said once Cordelia finished her story. "The necklace is soaked in demonic magic."
Cordelia winced, "Ew. I was wearing that. The new girl, Anya, gave it to me for luck. Then she kept asking about wishing stuff."
"You two know each other?" Giles asked.
Cordelia nodded, "This is Harry. He's a wizard. He's on vacation."
"I was on vacation," Harry said.
Cordelia turned back to him so fast her hair nearly smacked him in the face, "You're leaving?"
"No," Harry rolled his shoulders. "I'm going to get to work."
"How so?" Giles asked.
Harry motioned to the necklace, "You don't have a slayer thanks to that. Work on getting that solved while I handle things."
"What does that mean exactly?" Oz asked.
Harry flashed them with a tired smile, "I'll start at the Bronze. Someone there should know where this Master vamp is hiding."
"Alone?" Giles asked. "You can't."
Harry shrugged, "I've handled worse. You guys stay inside until sunrise and try to figure out how to break this curse. I'll be reducing the vampire population."
"Do wizards usually slay vampires?' Oz asked.
Harry walked to the door, "I handle all sorts of monsters. Vampires, werewolves, people who don't put their carts back at the grocery store."
"This isn't the time for jokes," Giles took off his glasses to clean them.
"I'll see you in the morning," Harry said. "Or when you break the spell, whichever comes first."
Harry opened the front door to find Xander and Willow waiting on the other side.
"Can we come in and play?" Willow pouted. "I'm bored out here."
Cordelia screamed as the others hurried to find weapons.
Harry sighed, "Willow. Xander. I'm sorry about this."
They didn't get a chance to say more before Harry hit them with a couple of spells. The two burst into ash as their heads fell away from their bodies. He stepped over the clump of debris then closed the door without looking back.
"Huh," Larry said as they all stared at the closed door. "I think he'll be ok."
§
Harry walked down the street toward The Bronze like he owned it. The vampires took notice of him the moment he turned the corner. He didn't brake stride as he lifted his hands to start sending spells at the approaching monsters. Heads rolled with each wave of his hand leaving only dust piles as he passed.
This wasn't about learning something new, it was pest control.
Harry announced his arrival by sending a wall of ash before him. He came to a stop in the doorway. The gathered vampires stopped and stared at the new arrival.
"I'll ask this once," Harry said loudly. "Where is The Master?"
The vampires burst into laughter.
Harry raised his hands, each one sending a different spell toward the creatures. Those in the front lost their heads while those behind were hit with bursts of fire. He held up his hand, stopping the debris mid-air then transfigured it into a cloud of wooden stakes. A flick of his wrist sent them flying toward the remaining vampires. It was a matter of moments it was only Harry and a couple of vampires left. Their previous bravado vanished in the face of a display of overwhelming force.
Harry glared at the last two vampires, "Do I need to repeat myself?"
"Sunken Church," One of the vampires answered.
The other gawked at the traitor.
"Thank you," Harry inclined his head. "You get a ten second head start."
Both tried to run. Only the one that answered his question made it outside.
"Five, six, seven, eight," Harry counted out loud as he made his way back outside.
To their credit, the vampire ran pretty fast. Unfortunately, they stopped at a car and were fumbling with their keys. They probably could have survived if they had tried to hide. Harry pointed a finger at the vampire causing it to burst into flames.
"Damn it," Harry muttered. "I should have asked for directions."
§
Harry stepped into Giles' apartment and came to a complete stop. Buffy, this version of her, was leaning against the counter using a large knife to clean the dirt from under her nails. Everyone else was as far away from her as they could get without leaving the house. This version wasn't sunshine and sparkles like the other. She reminded him of Faith more than anything.
"This is your magician?" Buffy asked.
"Wizard," Harry corrected.
"Whatever," Buffy rolled her eyes.
"You're alive?" Giles asked.
Harry nodded, "I am and I know where the Master is. I just need directions."
"To where?" Giles asked.
"A sunken church," Harry replied.
"I know where that is," Oz spoke up. "I'll show you."
"No," Harry shook his head. "Stay here, help Giles with research. I've got this covered."
Buffy pushed off from the counter, "I have this covered."
"Directions?" Harry didn't acknowledge her.
§
Buffy stormed out of the house once Giles finished his directions. Harry shrugged and followed a moment later. He had developed a decent mental layout of the town due to his morning runs.
"You're going the wrong way," Harry called after her.
She stopped, flipped him off, and waited for further information. Harry caught up to her a moment later. He wasn't going to let his pride get in the way of saving lives. They didn't know how long it would take to get things back to normal, or if it was even possible. He wasn't going stand by as people suffered if he could help. There was also the possibility that this dimension would persist of its own power once he and Cordelia returned to their correct version.
The two walked down the street in silence. An unnatural stillness had taken hold of the town. Houses had their front doors hanging open, others had windows broken, and a couple had been burned to ashes.
"They turn one of the family members and send them back to get invited," Buffy said noticing his confusion. "If that doesn't work, they try to force the people out. Setting the house on fire is almost as good as taking hostages."
Harry shook his head. He had seen similar tactics before.
"So, magic-man," Buffy said as they walked. "What brings you here? You aren't a local."
Harry didn't bother looking at her, "I'm on vacation."
"Your vacation sucks," Buffy countered.
Harry shrugged, "It was going fine until today."
"Fuck off," Buffy said with a dry chuckle. "This place is a dumpster fire."
Harry nodded, "It wasn't like this yesterday."
"Right," Buffy rolled her eyes. "Demon dimensions or something. You and that blood-bag are from another world."
Harry finally looked at her, "Blood-bag?"
"Useless people," Buffy clarified. "They're only good for bait. Blood-bags."
Harry shook his head, "You're Faith impression needs work."
"What the fuck does that mean?" Buffy snapped at him. "You got a problem with me?"
Harry sighed, "Let's just kill this bastard so you can go back to wherever you came from."
"I should be saying that to you," Buffy said with an edge of venom in her voice.
Harry ignored her for the rest of the walk. It was easy to find the sunken church once they got close. There was a veritable throng of vampires milling around the area.
"Time for me to do what I do best," Buffy said with a feral smile.
Harry kneeled. He dug his hands into the dirt and clenched his fists. Buffy opened her mouth to ask him a question, but the words didn't come. The sight of all of the vampires vanishing into the ground stole whatever she was going to say. It took her a moment to realize they had all been buried of to their necks.
"You do know they dig out of their graves, right?" Buffy asked.
Harry pointed at the rubble that had once been a tombstone. The pieces reformed into a sheet of obsidian that hovered an inch off the ground. He sent the improvised guillotine blade flying along the ground.
"What the fuck was that?" Buffy stared at him in wonder.
Harry dispersed the transfiguration once the last vampire was dusted. He didn't answer. Seeing that many vampires acting so casually was sending numerous danger signals to his brain. Buffy grumbled as she caught up to him.
He blasted the door off the hinges to find what had once been a church but was now looked like an automated factory floor. An ugly vampire that had to be The Master stood on a raised platform. It looked like he had been in the middle of a speech.
A girl that he swore he had seen around the high school was strapped on a conveyor belt. Syringes attached to tubes were stuck into her arms slowly draining the blood from her body.
"Lumos Solem!" Harry yelled as he pointed at the ceiling.
A burst of magical sunlight filled the room. One more the sunken church was filled with vampires. The next it needed a good deep cleaning.
"What the fuc-" Buffy's words cut off as the world around them shifted again.
Harry found himself standing in his potion room once more. The modified Wolfsbane Potion was simmering just as it had been earlier. He summoned his wand and holstered it before anything else. Harry paused long enough to hit the cauldron with a stasis charm before he left the room.
Everything seemed to be back to normal. It was mid-day once more, his house was fully furnished, and even Faith's dirty laundry was where it had been before. Giles and his little squad must have figured it out.
Harry took a seat at the kitchen table. He didn't usually drink. Paranoia made it hard for him to willfully impair his senses. Today he would make an exception.