Strength of a King
Chapter 1
Harry Potter-aged 16-sighs as he hefts his trunk up and shoves it in the rack above his seat in the empty compartment. He shakes his head before heading off of the train and heading towards the sea of redheads, noticing as he gets closer that he seems to tower over Ron and has a good head on top of Arthur Weasley, said redhead's father, "Hey Arthur, Ron, guys." He murmurs slightly and he chuckles when the Twins grin cheekily at him and he shakes his head again, "I don't want to know…" He murmurs and they all laugh, Arthur rolling his eyes as he looks up at the young man before him, "Happy birthday for a month ago Harry. We wrote you letters but never got anything back. Are you alright?" He asks worriedly and Harry squashes down a flash of guilt before smiling genuinely at the older man, "I'm fine Arthur. I was staying somewhere else this summer and couldn't reply to anything or anyone. The person I was staying with was slightly overprotective, even if they did mean well." He smiles fondly at the thought of his new guardian before tuning back into the conversation, "Still, we were all worried about ya mate, especially Mione. She wouldn't stop fretting; it got annoying, real fast…" Ron mutters and Harry chuckles before turning around when he hears a shriek of, "Harry!" Before someone with a mop of curly brown hair balls into him with a sob of relief, "I'm fine Mione…" He coos and she glares up at him whilst sniffling and he smiles slightly at her as he hugs her close.
Once they were comfortably seated in their compartment, Hermione begins to barrage Harry with questions about his summer, "Where have you been!? Why didn't you answer my letters!? Did you get them? What have you been doing all summer? Have you kept up with your studies!? Did you do your homework!? Are you-" Harry stops her there and tells her to breathe before he replies, "I can't tell you where I've been, as that is confidential, my guardian was overprotective and wouldn't let me answer them, I was training, and yes, I kept up with my studies and did my homework." She blinks at him and Ron snickers, stating, "First time she's been speechless." Which earns him a whack to the arm and a glare. Harry laughs and shakes his head, his eerie green eyes sparkling with mirth.
That's how Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood find the Golden Trio a few minutes later, joking around and laughing, "Harry!" Neville cries, his baby blue eyes shining with affection for the slightly younger male and Harry smiles at him, before standing and pulling Luna into a gentle hug, where she melts into it, "Hey Ry…" She murmurs and he kisses her head, murmuring a question at her, "How are the Dreams?" She shrugs and he sighs, sitting down and drawing her into his lap, where she instantly snuggles into his chest and falls asleep. Neville sits next to Harry and sighs, looking out of the window as the countryside rolls by.
Two hours later finds the Golden Trio, Neville and Luna finding a Thestral drawn carriage and they climb in, Harry shutting the door behind them and settling down next to Hermione, who smiles slightly at them, "Anything from Voldemort?" She whispers and he shakes his head in the negative, shrugging at her quizzical look. They relax into the chairs as they wait out the half hour ride to the school.
They all sit down and turn to the double doors when Professor McGonagall walks through them with the group of first years. They stop at the dais and McGonagall walks up the few steps before turning and facing the first years, "When I call your name, come up to the stool and place the Sorting Hat on your head." She states before looking down at the scroll in her hand and calling out the names of the new students. As each student is called up, more and more go to either Slytherin or Ravenclaw, with 10 going to Hufflepuff and 15 going to Gryffindor.
Harry frowns at the lack of students going to their House and he looks to Ron, who shrugs and turns back to the front when Dumbledore stands and begins his annual start of year speech. After the first five minutes, he stops and smiles happily, his twinkle full blast, "This year we have a new staff member and an old one having come back; teaching Muggle Studies this year is none other than Arthur Weasley-" There's excited clapping from the Gryffindor table and then Dumbledore continues, "And teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts this year is our favourite, Remus Lupin." Dead silence. Then, what the Headmaster said sinks in and everyone begins to cheer and clap, Harry smiling in Remus' direction, whom blushes lightly and nods, offering a little wave.
Hermione beams and Ron is practically vibrating with happiness in his seat and Harry laughs, before turning to the table when the food arrives, snorting in amusement when Ron grins and begins serving himself before digging in, much to Hermione's disgust. Harry rolls his eyes, finding his best friends highly amusing, before digging in; but with more mannerisms than his redheaded companion.
The next morning finds Harry, Ron and Hermione heading straight to the DADA classroom after an early breakfast. They dash up to Remus' office and knock, entering when bid to find him nervously checking his notes, "Rem, you'll be fine." Harry murmurs and Remus looks to him and smiles nervously and Harry rolls his eyes before approaching him and pulling him into a hug, "You will be more than fine, you'll be great." The older yet shorter male nods and smiles up at Harry before looking to the other two and asking, "How have you both been?" They shrug before Ron grins, "Pretty good I guess, what about you Professor?" Said man nods and smiles slightly before stating, "I've also been alright…" They smile at each other before the bell goes and they head down to the classroom, the Golden Trio sitting in the front row without shame and the Werewolf smiles slightly at them before opening the door and allowing everyone to enter.
During the lesson, Harry found it hard to concentrate whenever Remus was in close proximity, as the man's scent was rather…appealing…to the new Creature. He shakes his head to clear it before turning to the front to find Hermione looking at him in concern. He shrugs before looking back at Remus and listening to what the man has to say, "As most of you know, Acromantula's are more venomous than your average spider, but can be used in all sorts of Potions; from tonics, to poisons and back again. Can anyone tell me what part of an Acromantula you should stay away from the most?" Hermione's hand shoots up in the air and Remus smiles fondly at her before nodding, "Their incisors. If they bite you, you're practically dead." Remus smiles and is about to award her House points when Harry's hand raises in the air slowly.
Remus nods to him and the Chosen One takes a breath and looks to Hermione apologetically before addressing Remus, "I'm sorry Hermione, but actually you're wrong. Yes, if you're bitten by an Acromantula, it practically classifies as death. What you need to be really careful of is if they shoot their silk at you. If you get caught in that stuff, you're more than dead. Acromantula's tend to play with their food before they eat it, so you can imagine what kind of death that would be." Hermione gapes at him and Ron's mouth hangs open in shock. Remus blinks a couple of times before smiling widely at Harry and stating, "15 points to Gryffindor for that explanation and another 5 for being eloquent about it." Harry smiles uncomfortably, the tips of his ears having tinged a bit red from the attention.
Hermione stutters before offering a weak, "Well done Harry…" Before sitting back in her seat, gobsmacked. Ron leans over towards Harry and whispers in his ear, "I think you broke her mate…" Harry glances at her in worry and whispers back, "I think you're right…"
An hour later finds Harry and Hermione sitting in Muggle Studies with Neville and Seamus, who are chatting to themselves as Harry watches Arthur teach. He smiles fondly to himself as the older male teaches. He watches as Arthur becomes animated about the subject, engaging the students in conversation. He frowns, however, when he begins to feel the same way as Remus for Arthur, and he sits back in his chair in thought, They're both old enough to be my fathers, so why am I feeling this way? I can't talk to Lupus, so who can I ask? Maybe it's high time I brought Hermione in on this one… He looks to his right where he sees his female best friend and he smiles slightly to himself, I think I will involve her, just for this… He turns back to Arthur and smiles at the redhead slightly, earning a slight blush before he looks away.
"Mione, you got a minute?" He asks half an hour later as they walk towards the Great Hall. Hermione looks to him in askance as she nods and he looks around, searching for Ron. When he can't the younger redhead he grabs Hermione's hand and ducks into an unused classroom, where he shuts the door and throws up compulsion charms and silencing charms, "Okay, before I say anything, I want your oath that anything said in this classroom will not be repeated unless I give permission, understood?" She looks at him wide-eyed before frowning in thought, "What about Ron?" She asks doubtfully and Harry takes a breath, "Including Ron. This could concern him and I don't want to frighten him unnecessarily." She nods before drawing out her wand and intoning, "I, Hermione Jean Granger, hereby swear an Oath to one Harry James Potter, that I shall never voice what I am about to hear to anyone without his direct permission. So mote it be." There's a white strip of magic that goes from the tip of her wand to her heart before dissolving.
She makes herself comfortable on an old chair before looking at Harry who takes a breath and let's go of the Glamour's he and Lupus had put on him. Instead of the Harry Potter we know, he's slightly taller at 6'2, now a head taller than Remus instead of being only just taller. His body fills out nicely and his eyes turn jade in colouring. His rats nest of hair becomes wavy with auburn highlights, and his cheekbones sharpen. His ears become pointed but slightly curved at the tips with his right ear having a chain from the curve down to the lobe, with a small, flickering flame at the end. Hermione gasps and her mouth falls open in shock and Harry grins, his canines slightly more pointed, "I'm not exactly human Mione…" He murmurs and she nods in shocked agreement, "Then, what are you?" He smiles at her wanly before sitting across from her and taking a breath to clear his head before beginning, "I'm from an old race called the Na'ala. We're beings of the Elements, and as you can see by my chain, I'm a Fyre Na'ala. We tend to be very protective of our families. Long ago, about 100 years before the Founders were born, my Ancestor, Lorian LeFay, a descendant of Ignotus Peverell, was born with the Na'ala gene. Since then, us Potter's, the LeFay, some branches of the Black and Malfoy families have had Na'ala's born into them. The last recorded Na'ala was over 50 years ago, whom was Abraxas Malfoy II, Lucius Malfoy's grandfather."
Hermione's right eye twitches and Harry chuckles, "My father was a carrier of the gene, thus making me a Na'ala. I went through my Inheritance on my birthday." She nods before frowning in confusion, "What does this have to do with Ron?" She asks and Harry sighs, "I'm feeling… weird… urges around Arthur and Remus and I don't know why… I need your help in figuring this out, as I have some catching up to do in Potions." Brown eyes light up in happiness at the new challenge and she beams, "Of course I'll help Harry. Give me a week." He nods and they exit the classroom after dismantling the spells.