AN: I only own my OC, and I don't even own a good chunk of what she is. I AU'd Halo so it would fit with Harry Potter, which I used Effects and Side Effects, which is by Phoenix Dawn, as a base. Please, read and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Effects and Side Effects. I don't own Harry Potter as a whole, or Halo. I wish I did, but I don't. Effects and Side Effects was a result of Phoenix Dawn's crazy mind, Harry Potter is J.K. Rowling's, and Halo was originally made by Bungie, but was taken over by 343 Industries.
Prologue:
Dust and Echoes
30 Kiria, 1309
Reach, Sirius Prime System
An abnormally tall being was looking around at the dust covered landscape of it's homeworld. Slowly, it turned, and a black visor glinted in the dying sunlight, a strange weapon in it's hand, when an alien much larger than it came barreling out of the settling dust, a strange glowing sword in it's hands. The being pulled up the strange weapon, and pulled the trigger, as red light gathered in the barrel, the armored being ran backwards, until the weapon discharged, firing a laser-like projectile that speared the tall alien through the chest, punching a hole the size of a small dinner plate through it's chest plate. The being sprinted towards a strange vehicle, which it climbed into, discarding the strange laser weapon, before being launched at supersonic speeds out of orbit, and rocketed out of the solar system which held the Spartan homeworld of Reach.
As inertia took over, the Spartan buckled herself into the cradle by a six-point harness, and set her suit to set her in a coma-like state, which was to be ended when she landed on another planet. Behind the black visor of the black helmet, brilliant blue eyes closed, and the pod drifted through space, as weapons were constructed in the rear, behind the Spartan, so she would be ready for whatever new conflict awaited her.
!FaB:ANHaNW!
Harry Potter was not in a good mood. He had lost his godfather, he had experienced a pain that was beyond that of a Cruciatus session, and he had just found out that he was the only person who could end the death and destruction of Voldemort's reign of terror. Harry had thought he had been angry earlier in the year, for most of the year, but he had found new levels of anger now. He needed to. It was the only thing that stopped him from breaking down and curling into a quivering mass of tears.
His anger showed, every student who crossed his path from the Headmaster's office to the Gryffindor common room practically ran from him. In the common room it was the same, and the only people who could or would confront him were missing. Seamus and Dean looked at Harry as he slammed into the room, their questions dying on their lips. Harry threw himself onto his bed, screwing his eyes shut. His body started to shake as the adrenaline he had been running on since entering the Department of Mysteries finally waned. It was a long night for Harry, what little sleep he got was riddled with nightmares. He felt like he could see Sirius falling through the Veil every time he closed his eyes.
Giving up on sleep, Harry rose, showered and left the Gryffindor Tower to wander the halls until breakfast.
!FaB:ANHaNW!
A strange pod entered Earth's atmosphere, and the occupant was woken up. The pod entered the atmosphere as the occupant did several quick checks, making sure that the pod was still in working order, before nodding, and setting a waypoint so that she knew where she wanted the pod to land, which was to say, in somewhere in Scotland.
Out of curiosity, she checked how long she had been asleep, only to stop and stare in shock. The Head's Up Display showed that she had been in her coma-like state for nearly four thousand years. She shook her head, and looked at the planet again. 'Reach,' she thought, the sight of the planet below her making her wish for her homeworld to be whole and healed, the way it was before the Great War. She shook her head, now was not the time for such thoughts. She needed to land, and she had maybe five minutes before she actually landed, although why her waypoint landed inside of a castle confused her.
FIVE MINUTES LATER INSIDE HOGWARTS:
At the breakfast table Draco Malfoy was enjoying watching the Gryffindor morosely picking at his food, he wasn't yet aware of his father being arrested, and so was fully enjoying Harry's misery and lack of his usual companions. He was going to go over to torment him when an owl arrived for him.
Pride, glee, elation, and fear were all emotions he felt, though the fear vanished quickly, his own arrogance led him to believe that there was no way for him to fail. Particularly with Potter missing the Weasel and Mudblood. The orders were simple; get Potter alone, immobilize him, and force a potion down his throat. Looking up, he saw Potter leaving the hall. Triggering the letter to release the potion and hiding it, he rose and followed Harry out of the Great Hall.
Malfoy wasn't the only person to receive an important letter. Susan Bones had watched the shattered leader of the DA drag himself from the table. She, along with other students around the Great Hall had been watching Harry, wondering what had happened in the last few hours to cause this immense change and where Ron and Hermione were.
The letter from her aunt had answered some of these questions. Voldemort had returned, he had been seen in the Ministry of Magic, and Harry fought him again. And survived. There had been injuries amongst the students who had accompanied Harry which explained why Harry was alone. It was the rest of the letter that was of real interest to Susan, though. Her aunt, Madam Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Law Enforcement wanted her to invite Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, over for a day early in the Summer. Reading between the lines, her aunt wanted to meet Harry and keep it very low key.
Susan wasn't totally sure that she was comfortable asking Harry Potter to visit her under false pretenses, especially given Harry's current state of being. But her aunt had never asked her to do anything like this before, and never would if there was any alternative. It was this thought that had her rising from the Hufflepuff table to go after Harry. Hannah Abbot, seeing her friend leaving, stood also. It was from this position that they saw Malfoy leave via the same door as Harry and a shared glance was all it took to know it wasn't going to be for any good reason.
The two Hufflepuffs were not the only students watching Harry, nor were they the only ones who followed.
Harry stalked the halls of Hogwarts, trapped between anger, misery, and despair. So locked in his own emotions, he barely heard the spell being cast behind him. He certainly didn't think anything of it until the ropes wrapped around him, sending him face down on the floor.
From his position, Harry couldn't see the person who attacked him, and he silently cursed his inattention as he listened to the footsteps closing in on him. They stopped next to him, then pain erupted in his side as the air was driven out of his lungs as a boot buried itself in his side.
The boot struck again and again, until Harry was finally lifted onto his back and found himself looking up at a smirking Draco Malfoy. A sudden loud crash filled the air as a strange looking pod shot through a nearby window, bounced down the hall twenty feet ahead and to the left, where it embedded itself in the opposite wall, making Draco jump, and Harry to look at it in mingled shock and confusion. 'Where had it come from?' wondered Harry.
Draco quickly came to the conclusion that it didn't matter, and turned back to Harry. "What am I to do... Scar-head lying here, completely at my mercy. Pity I can't have as much fun as I want. The Dark Lord has specific instructions about what is to happen to you. I hope you suffer," Draco sneered at Harry. It was obvious that he was enjoying this. He kicked Harry in the ribs several more times before pulling out the potion he had been sent, grabbed Harry's nose, and forced it down his throat.
!FaB:ANHaNW!
The Spartan was disoriented, but snapped out of it quickly, watching the two figures farther down the hall, one of which was tied up, which worried her. The pale-haired figure kicked the black-haired several times in the ribs, before pulling out a strange vial, and forced the liquid inside down the black-haired figure's throat. She decided abruptly that enough was enough, and hit the four red explosive bolts on the inside of the hatch of the pod, which blew the hatch off. She landed on the stone floor, and sprinted towards the two, knocking the pale-haired figure out, and turned to the black-haired when black light surrounded it. A decidedly male scream rang out of the dark energy, and the Spartan quickly pinned the boy, keeping him still.
The screams had brought a pair of girls running, and they watched helplessly as the black-haired boy suffered in the darkness, pinned in place by the Spartan, who noticed their approach, and snapped through the external speakers, "Well, don't just stand there, get help, dammit!"
Harry was lost in a sea of pain, unaware of the outside world. He found himself looking at a ball of white light or energy that was surrounded by darkness, which seemed to be loosening itself from the white, but it seemed to be trying to drag as much white with it as possible. Taking a wild guess, Harry assumed that he was the white, and Voldemort was the black, his only consolation the fact that there was more white than black.
Harry, being stubborn, refused to give in to Voldemort. He refused to let him win, not without a fight, anyway. This resolve showed immediately. The white energy seemed to solidify and repel the tendrils of the dark energy. The dark tendrils lashed at the white ball with little effect, then started pulling away. As the tendrils and dark energy pulled away, the white ball started growing larger and brighter, freed from the suffocating embrace of the dark energy under which it had struggled for so long, the white energy was finally able to work at its full potential. Harry, seeing this, grinned in anticipation and waited until the dark energy was nearly completely free before commanding the white energy to attack, to destroy, to cleanse. The white ball responded to his will by sending multiple spicks straight through the dark energy and then curled around to capture it, while others started tearing it apart. Dark swatches of energy floated free from the main mass and were picked up and pulled into the main body of the white, swallowed and purified, they became a part of the white.
To everyone viewing, Harry was bathed in a darkness so deep that it almost hid him completely from view. Susan and Hannah were stunned into inaction when two spells shot past them and hit the black-armored figure who kept Harry still, only to stare when the two spells hit some kind of barrier and ricocheted off and into the walls. Turning, they were surprised to see two Slytherin girls holding their wands, staring at the black-armored figure in shock, a Ravenclaw standing behind them.
"So, can you tell us what's happening to Potter, what the figure there is, or aren't you even able to do that?"
Susan glared at the Slytherin girl who had spoken.
"Malfoy had Harry tied up, and forced some kind of potion down his throat. I'm sure that you are capable of assessing the effect for yourself," she replied, turning back to watch Harry's suffering. "The figure above Harry is apparently pinning him into place, to keep him from thrashing around, I think."
"Padma." She addressed the Ravenclaw. "Can you run and find Dumbledore, or anyone who might be able to help?"
"Okay, Susan," said Padma, turning to run back to the Great Hall to find any teacher who was still around.
Padma hadn't gotten very far when the corridor behind her flooded with white light. She looked back to see the four girls, and the black figure silhouetted against the light, before turning back to continue running, just in time to hear a massive crash. The black figure had been thrown against the wall with incredible force, embedding the black-armored being in the wall.
"Greengrass and Davis, isn't it?" Susan asked the two Slytherin girls, as the figure wrenched themselves out of the wall, and launched themselves at the light, pinning Harry down again.
"Got it in one, Bones," Daphne Greengrass drawled. Then her voice changed completely. "Any ideas on what is happening to Potter?"
Susan looked at Daphne, surprised to see that the concern in her voice was matched by an expression of concern that appeared to be very honest, on both girls' features.
"I don't know. One of his friends might know more, but I haven't seen them today. At least he has stopped screaming. That and the white light instead of dark looks promising," said Susan, deciding to give the two Slytherins the benefit of the doubt.
They watched a moment longer before Susan found her equilibrium again. Marching forward, she picked up Draco's wand and started searching the unconscious boy. Quickly finding the letter and potion vial in his pockets, she bound Draco in ropes, before looking over what she had found. "I knew Draco was stupid, but this takes it to a whole new level," she commented.
"What have you got?" asked Tracy Davis, entering the conversation.
"Just a letter ordering Malfoy to force Harry to drink this potion. And it's even from You-Know-Who, himself."
"He's back? I mean, I know what Potter and Dumbledore have been saying, and what has been coming from the Ministry and the Profit, but there has been no signs of You-Know-Who for the last year, so I've had my doubts," said Daphne.
"Well, you can put your doubts aside. My aunt wrote me. She, the Minister of Magic, and a number of Aurors saw Him last night in the Ministry. Apparently Harry fought Him again."
"Ouch. How many times is that? And where are his friends?" Tracy asked.
"I don't know how many times it makes, but I think his friends spent the night in St. Mungo's," Susan replied.
"It just keeps getting worse and worse for him, doesn't it?" Daphne commented.
"I can just feel the sympathy just flowing from you," said Susan, glaring at the Slytherin briefly, before turning back to the light show in front of her.
!FaB:ANHaNW!
Padma hadn't found Dumbledore or McGonagall. She had caught Flitwick and Sprout still having breakfast and convinced them to follow her. Returning to the light show Harry was putting on, the two teachers stopped in amazement, just as a black-armored figure got shot backwards, past both teachers, into a wall. Flitwick recovered first as the armored figure pulled themselves out of the wall, and lunged back into the light, which went from in the air, to on the floor rather suddenly.
"Umm... Well. I suppose I should..." He stepped forward, waving his wand, casting some detection and diagnostics spells and froze in shock. "The energy levels are huge. I have no idea what is happening, the signature is unlike anything I have ever encountered. I've sent a message to Professor Dumbledore; hopefully he can shed some light on this."
"I saw Mr. Malfoy force some sort of potion down Harry's throat while he was tied up on the ground. This is the potion vial; here is Mr. Malfoy's wand, which should be tested to see if he is the person who attacked Harry," Susan stated to Professors Flitwick and Sprout formally. "Mr. Malfoy also dropped this letter, which appears to be instructions to Mr. Malfoy from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to give a potion to Harry at any cost." She handed the items over.
Professor Flitwick looked the letter over and shuddered. "Thank you Miss Bones. I will ensure that these are passed to Professor Dumbledore." Flitwick looked back at the light, where the black figure was still pinning Harry to the floor. "But for now, all we can do is wait."
The students turned back and waited, some more patiently than others. Suddenly, the light started to fade rapidly, until the dark-haired figure underneath the black-armored figure became visible. The light vanished entirely, and the black-haired figure went bonelessly limp. Flitwick and Sprout moved forward, casting several diagnostics charms as they approached the two figures, the one in armor holding the black-haired one.
"Well, his energy levels are low, but his core seems to be huge. The only injuries appear to be some bruising around his ribs," Flitwick commented to Sprout.
"Her," said the black-armored figure.
"Pardon?" asked Flitwick.
"Her. I agree that this is Harry Potter, the eyes, scar, and hair confirm that, but he is now a she," Professor Sprout explained, nodding in agreement with the armored figure's words.
Flitwick refocused on Harry's body and noticed the changes.
"I... see. This is going to cause some problems. We had better get him... uh... her to Madam Pomfrey," he said, hesitantly.
Draco, still tied up, but very much conscious, started laughing. "So Potter is now a girl! Serves the loser right. Or is it Pottette now?"
Flitwick turned his attention to Malfoy. With a flick of his wand, he was silenced and floating in the air.
"Pomona, could you take Harry and the... newcomer to the Hospital Wing? I will deliver Mr. Malfoy to the Headmaster's office for his punishment," said Flitwick.
Sprout nodded, and walked briskly towards the Hospital Wing, the black-armored figure following her.
!FaB:ANHaNW!
Hermione Granger was getting a little irritated at her friends. She, Ginny, Luna, Neville, and Ron had all spent the night at St. Mungo's getting their injuries checked out. All of them except Ron had been returned to Hogwarts that morning. Hermione was still in need of some treatment, but Madam Pomfrey had made it clear that she stay in bed and rest, which was why Ginny and Luna had been irritating her by ensuring that she was snugly tucked into bed instead of checking on Harry like she wanted.
Neville had already left, returning to the Gryffindor dorms. He said hthat he would look for Harry, but he really wanted to shower and change, and escape from the upset Hermione. He was the last of the students to see Harry when he had chased after Lestrange after she had killed Sirius.
Hermione had finally convinced Ginny and Luna to go check on Harry when Professor Sprout appeared in the hospital wing, with a black-armored figure carrying a black-haired figure. Behind them, several other girls were following. "Poppy. Poppy, can you come here quickly please?" Professor Sprout called.
"What's the rush, Pomona?" Madam Pomfrey asked as she appeared from her office.
"Mr. Potter here was attacked and forced to drink an unknown potion. The primary purpose of the potion is unknown, but there is one very obvious side effect that I'm sure that you have already noticed," said Professor Sprout. "I would also like you to give the person carrying Harry a check-up, if you don't mind."
"This is Mr. Potter?" Pomfrey gasped, looking at the figure in the black-armored figure's arms. "Quickly, put him on his bed," she said, gesturing to the empty bed next to Hermione.
"Professor Sprout?" "What happened to Harry?" Hermione and Ginny's voices overlapped.
"Silence girls!" Madam Pomfrey snapped sharply as she waved her wand over the unconscious figure after the armored figure set him down. Said figure turned to the next bed over, and removed their helmet, revealing jaw-length black hair, the person's face hidden from view, as they quickly and easily removed each of the black-enameled pieces, setting them one at a time on the bed, until their black undersuit was completely visible and their weapons were laid out in a militaristic fashion, before turning. The figure was female, with an Oriental facial structure that was pale, with bright blue eyes, as though there were a pair of sapphires where her eyes should be.
Madam Pomfrey grimaced, and cast several spells over Harry's abdomen. Pulling a small pot out of the medical bag she always carried, she passed it to Tracy Davis.
"Ms. Davis. If you could rub this over Mr. Potter's stomach, sides, and arms. I need to get some potions for him."
"Yes, Madam Pomfrey," Tracy replied, taking the pot.
She moved over to Harry's bed, and started lifting his shirt to expose his stomach.
"Excuse me! What do you think you're doing?" Ginny demanded, wand drawn but not pointing at her. Yet.
"Putting some bruise salve on Potter as Madam Pomfrey told me to," Tracy replied, ignoring the younger girl.
"And you're doing it because?"
"I plan on being a Healer when I graduate. Madam Pomfrey has been tutoring me since last year to help me get into the Healer training program in St. Mungo's," said Tracy.
"Then you can tell me how he is?" Ginny demanded.
"Draco looks to have worked him over pretty good. He has a lot of surface bruising, I imagine that there is substantial internal bruising as well if Pomfrey is letting me do this," she said, looking at the bruising already visible.
"What happened?" Hermione demanded.
"Draco tied up Harry, looks to have beaten him a fair bit, and forced a potion down his throat. That's when she," Tracy indicated the woman wearing the black bodysuit, "apparently came in. Harry was engulfed in a dark light, which must have been very painful from his screaming, with her pinning him down to prevent movement, then he was surrounded by a white light that totally obscured him from view, and threw her into a wall, before she pinned him down again. That was the second time. The first time was when he was first engulfed in the white light. Then the white light faded, and Harry..." Susan paused, not sure how to continue.
"Harry was lying on the ground, with a pair of boobs that are making me really jealous," Tracy finished absently, as she rubbed the salve in.
"Huh?" Ginny was staring alternately between Tracy and Harry.
"Harry seems to have been turned into a girl," Daphne said.
"Oh, no. Poor Harry. What else can go wrong?" Hermione gasped.
"Ouch. Is this from the dragon last year?" Tracy was looking at a scar on Harry's left arm that disappeared up his raised sleeve around his shoulder.
Ginny looked over and nodded. "I think so."
"He's lucky it wasn't worse."
Tracy finished with his left arm and moved around the bed to Harry's right arm. Raising that sleeve, she gasped at the two violent scars. "What happened here?"
Ginny looked over.
"The puncture on his upper arm from a basilisk bite in his second year, and the lower arm is where his blood was stolen to resurrect Tom last year," she said.
"A BASILISK?"
Ginny looked around at the five girls who had come in with Harry, all of whom had turned white, although the woman who had been wearing armor remained as expressionless as ever.
"A basilisk. The on in the Chamber of Secrets."
"Yep," Ginny replied cheerefully.
"You mean to tell me that there is a basilisk living in this school, and the Chamber of Secrets, created by Salazar Slytherin himself, is real?" Daphne finally managed to ask.
"Yep," Ginny replied cheerfully.
"I heard the rumours, but..." Daphne trailed off.
"You are telling me that he survived being bitten by a basilisk? How big was it?" Tracy finally managed to enter the conversation.
"Fifty to sixty feet long. Big enough to take a fully grown adult in one quick bite. We think it was Slytherin's pet."
"How is he still alive? How is he still sane? Is every year like that for him?" Tracy demanded.
"Pretty much," Hermione replied. "Philosopher's Stone and Voldemort in first year, Chamber of Secrets and Voldemort second year. Dementor's third year. Tri-Wizard Tournament and Voldemort forth year, and Voldemort again this year."
"How do you lot get involved with all this?" Susan asked.
"Usually a matter of one thing leading to another," Hermione replied.
"Why didn't you talk to a teacher?" Hannah asked.
"That is usually the step immediately before having to sort it out ourselves," replied Hermione.
Soft laughter caught all the girls by surprise. They turned to the woman, who had a soft smile on her face, her blue eyes lively. "That's usually what happens to me. I hope you don't mind my help with that situation."
"Not at all. Why didn't you help Harry earlier?" asked Hermione, just after Ginny said, "Who are you, anyway? What do you want?" Ginny paused. "What are you?"
The woman nodded. "I am a Spartan super-soldier from the planet Reach, from within the Sirius Prime system. My code is Echo-three-nine-two, my actual name is Kiria Blackhawk. I escaped from Reach just before it was destroyed from the Great War that spanned hundreds of years between us Spartans, and the Covenant, a holy order bent on our extermination. I only came looking for a home." Kiria looked at Hermione. "I didn't help Harry earlier because I didn't know if what your civilization did that kind of thing regularly. I had to blow my pod open, anyway."
"What did you mean, that you usually end up having to sort out a situation yourself?" asked Tracy, still working on Harry.
"Quite simple, really..." Kiria trailed off for several seconds, then said, "My commanding officers were quite possibly the stupidest people out there, but I was always deployed into situations that went from bad to FUBAR in under ten seconds. I was only sent in because of the possibility that it may be barely salvageable."
"FUBAR?" asked Ginny, confused.
"Military lingo," said Kiria. "It means 'Fucked Up Beyond All Repair.' It's usually what happens whenever the mission goes down the drain in a bad way."
"Oh..." Ginny trailed off.
"I've got several questions of my own, if you don't mind?" inquired Kiria.
"Shoot," said Hermione.
"Where and when am I?" asked Kiria. "What does your people call themselves? Dragons? Who the Hell is He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"
"You are in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," started Hermione. "It is the year nineteen-ninety-six. Yes, dragons are real. We call ourselves humans, or homo sapiens. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is the moniker for the Dark Lord Vol-vol-volde-" Hermione stopped for several seconds, then managed to spit it out, "Voldemort." All the witches flinched at the name.
Kiria looked at them all for several seconds, then finally asked, "You do realize that that's a nickname, right? You're afraid to use a nickname."
"Yes, we know," said Susan. "It doesn't mean that we don't fear the man behind it."
"I never said that you didn't have to," said Kiria calmly. "You fear the man because of the chaos, death, and destruction that he caused. I'm a Spartan. Spartans don't care who the have to take down. You all are likely to end up with me living with one of you, and I get the feeling that not all is... right, I guess would be the best term. We are entering the calm before the storm." Kiria was dead serious. "It's our job to prepare for the coming storm, as we've not seen anything like it before."
There was a sober silence for a minute or two, then Padma turned to Ginny, asking, "Who is Tom?"
"Tom Riddle is You-Know-Who's real name," answered Ginny.
"I had wondered if there might be something like that. I mean, who names their kid that?" Daphne commented.
"What are the professors going to do about the basilisk? We can't stay at Hogwarts with a basilisk running around," Tracy said.
"If it's not dead by now, I'll go kill it," said Kiria flatly.
"Harry killed it back in his second year," said Ginny.
"He killed a thousand-year-old basilisk when he was twelve? By himself?"
They were interrupted by Madam Pomfrey returning.
"I have informed Professor Dumbledore about Mr. Potter's injuries, and our unexpected guest," she said to the girls. "He will be down shortly to investigate what happened personally."
"Is the Headmaster back?" Hannah asked.
"Yes, Miss Abbott, he returned last night."
Madam Pomfrey turned to Harry, and with a bit of spellwork, got him to drink the three potions she was carrying. She waved her wand over Harry again.
"Well done, Miss Davis. All we can do for Harry now is wait. Please inform me the moment he wakes up." Madam Pomfrey turned to Kiria. "I need to perform a check-up on you, miss?"
"Blackhawk, ma'am," said Kiria, snapping a salute. "Echo-three-nine-two, codenamed Kiria Blackhawk."
Madam Pomfrey nodded, and the Spartan relaxed, dropping her salute, standing at ease. Pomfrey started casting detection and diagnostics spells on Kiria, her eyebrows climbing, but her eyes narrowed when the results of her diagnostics spells came back. She waved her wand, summoning one of the other beds, and said, "Miss Blackhawk, get on the bed immediately. What are you doing walking around with six broken ribs, a cracked fibula, several torn muscles, and a torn Achilles tendon?"
"I am still at optimum combat efficiency, ma'am," said Kiria, who obeyed what the matron of the Hospital Wing had ordered.
"Optimum combat efficiency?" demanded Hermione. "You're injured worse than I am!"
"Spartans take much more damage than this before we are forced off the field," said Kiria, laying down, setting her head on the pillow. Several potions were summoned with several different flicks of her wand, which Kiria drank without grimacing.
"Spartan?" inquired Madam Pomfrey.
"Augmented super-soldiers, ma'am," said Kiria, simply.
Madam Pomfrey nodded in understanding, and started listing what her detection spells had found. "Well, Miss Blackhawk, you have a massive magical core that seems to be constantly growing. Among other things, it seems that you are an awakened witch. Has there been any odd things happening around you?"
"Odder than usual, you mean?" asked Kiria dryly, before shaking her head. "No, not unless you count being three to four times stronger, faster, and more mentally apt than the other Spartans as unusual."
"Three... three to four times?" yelped Hermione. "How strong are you Spartans?"
"Take your twitch time. Double it," said Kiria dryly. "That's our reaction time. We can lift three times our own weight in armor, which is about a ton and a half to two tons, total. So... I'm able to twitch faster than the fastest Spartan, lift a platoon of my brethren, and still have enough strength left over to throw them."
The girls and Madam Pomfrey stared at her.
"What?" she asked, confused.
Madam Pomfrey returned to her office, shaking her head and muttering something about a mental evaluation.
"So... getting back to Harry's... unique experience here at Hogwarts?" Daphne turned back to Ginny and Hermione.
"No," Hermione shook her head, "I don't feel comfortable telling you more. Not without Harry's permission."
"Fair enough," said Susan, ending the conversation with a very direct look at Daphne, who nodded.
"Do you think we should come up with another name for him? Now that he is a she?" Daphne said, changing the subject.
Kiria stared up at the ceiling, thoughts whizzing through her mind. Memories, flashes of battles, her old team. She looked over at the right pauldron, which had the emblem for Phoenix.
FLASHBACK:
Kiria ducked behind cover, reloading her DMR, then pitched a frag grenade out into the melee on the field before coming out from behind the rubble to fire off several more rounds. Each of the bullets that she fired went through the head of one or more Covenant, but she knew that unless their reinforcements got there soon, Fireteam Phoenix would be overrun. "Phoenix three to Grizzly, where's our reinforcements?" she radioed.
"Grizzly to Phoenix three, reinforcements inbound, ETA five minutes," replied Grizzly, who was the communications officer aboard the UNSC Unbound.
"We've got reinforcements inbound!" Kiria called over Team-Comm, alerting Phoenix. "ETA five minutes."
Several green acknowledgment lights blinked, as Phoenix Team redoubled their efforts to repel the Covenant, but Kiria had a bad feeling about this engagement. Four Elite Generals had stepped onto the battlefield at first, then promptly vanished. Suddenly, Phoenix One's vitals when dead, closely followed by Two and Four. Five and Six managed to kill two of the Generals, but a pair of energy swords came out of their chests. Kiria growled in anger, and unleashed a hail of bullets through the ranks of the Covenant after switching her DMR to fully automatic. The DMR rounds tore through the Covenant forces, and embedded themselves in the two Elite Generals who had survived her teammates.
FLASHBACK END
"-ria. Kiria!" Kiria snapped back to the present, and shot upright, looking around, before setting her face in her hands, and trembled minutely. She shook her head, 'Phoenix is dust, I knew that then, and I know it now. Why does the loss of my team hurt so much, though?'
"Kiria!" all the girls shouted, making the Spartan jump.
"Yes?" she asked, looking at them.
"What was on your mind?" asked Susan. "You seemed rather preoccupied."
"I remembered the deaths of Fireteam Phoenix," said Kiria after a moment's pause.
"Fireteam Phoenix?" asked Hermione.
"Yes. I was Phoenix Three. One was George, Two... I think his name was James, but he usually went by Black Wolf. Four was nameless as far as the rest of Phoenix could tell, though it was only because her name was Fire, and one of our previous engagements had ended with her getting her vocal chords torn out. She was lucky that she hadn't bled out. Five... was our heavy-weapons specialist. Her particular brand of humor was dark at best, and downright sadistic at worst. She was nicknamed Wraith. Six never had a nickname, he just went by his code. Beta three nineteen." Kiria looked into empty space for several moments, remembering the good times, then shook her head. Back to the question you asked before I was sucked into the flashback. I think we should have his name be Four's old one. Fire."
"Harri?" Luna piped up. "Do you think he will still like girls or will he prefer boys now?"
The other girls exchanged glances, as Kiria facepalmed at the randomness of the question. "Luna," she said gently, "It's the same person. His gender was just switched."