Note: This is currently one of my favorite stories, because you don't really get to see Unspeakable!Harry much.
Warnings: Slash, Het, Self-play, mentions of Bestiality, Unspeakable!Harry, Super!Harry, Soulless!Harry, Time-Travel, possible Cross-Over, Unfinished, Overpowered!Harry, Bisexual!InanimateObject!PervertishSometimes!Harry (lmao), Unspeakable!Luna, Partner!Luna (though she was for the second chapter and has yet to be written in this one.)
More Warnings: Will probably never be updated, this story is merely one of the many I have written on my comp that I've dusted off to allow the world to view. Check my profile for adoption data, challenge info, et cetera...who actually spells that anyway? If I do continue this, updates will be slow in coming. VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW: I am not a genius, so the words in this fic won't wow you and make you grab a dictionary to understand it. For those of you who are disappointed about that, adopt the fic and show me you can do better. -insert smiley here-
Time-travel was not impossible.
This was something that Harry James Potter learned many years ago, back in his third year of Hogwarts. Regardless of that being the case, he had never put much stock into it, nor had he ever really cared about it. In fact, time-travel, as amazing as it was, hadn't been expanded on until his later life. It was something that was not important, not spoken of, not alluded to; non-existent. Time-travel hadn't become important until that day, full of cheers and excitement that had died away in anticipation of Harry's answer.
Step back; April 24th, 2005, age 23 and counting the days until he faltered, Harry James Potter had been going through a routine ritual. Many of his old friends would think he was an Auror, though the friends he'd had that were actually Aurors would correct them quickly; Auror? He'd given that job up years ago, just months after getting it, because he had a better job offer given to him. Harry James Potter, important, yet average, had been scouted by the Unspeakables. It was far from a dream come true, but at the time, Harry had no dreams.
Living life as a wizard caused nothing but a mind numbing boredom back then. Harry had anything, everything he ever wanted handed to him on a silver platter. Career, wife, money, family, friends, respect; it hadn't taken him long to realize he was bored of life. The moment the Unspeakables had recruited him, Harry had taken only one glance at his life and abandoned everything, much to protest, horror and tears. Ginny broke up with him, Ron abandoned him, Hermione scorned him, but Harry, deep in the bowels of his work, ignored them.
Life as an Unspeakable was a challenge and, though it took him many years to admit it, a way out of fixing Magical Britain. Down in the chambers, no one bothered The Savior. The Boy Who Lived had all but vanished from mouths and especially from the press as he found out, on his very first day, that you could choose to live in the Department of Mysteries. Needless to say, Harry had packed up in that very same day, heading to the Living Chamber and signing up for his own personal room at once.
The Department of Mysteries was just as mysterious as its name implied, with many rooms unseen that his first jaunt through had never showed him. To begin with, the revolving doors around the room; it only happened when non-personal came inside and it never gave all the rooms. The Death Eaters, perhaps with Augustus Rookwood's old notes, had managed to break a few defenses the Unspeakables had set up, just so that Harry could get the prophecy that ruined his life. Thankfully, they'd learned from their mistakes and new defenses were being added daily.
With security clearance, the revolving room stood still, and the doors it held revealed themselves with a name and a swipe of a card. The Living Chamber was made for Unspeakables with no desire to leave the sanctuary of the Ministry. Entering the room revealed black marble floors with the hallways covered in books leading to staircase after staircase. In between the bookshelves were doors, each with names on them that told of the number and occupant inside. Harry had moved to room 3B-8, which was the third basement, the door opening to an empty dimension that would be decorated at his discretion.
After getting settled in, Harry took a quick tour of the department, seeing the chambers that he had been blocked from during his first visit. There was a Medicinal Chamber, an Invention Chamber, a Muggle Chamber, a World, Elemental, Dueling, Beauty and Language Chamber as well. Each field studied a vast amount of subjects, and each chamber had sub chambers inside that only members belonging to the main chambers could enter.
In the beginning, Harry had tried all of the chambers, though he'd bounced around different fields to find the one he wanted. The search ended rather abruptly as he found himself drawn to the Medicinal Chamber, though he wasn't exactly sure why. Perhaps it had something to do with him not enjoying the dull routine of his life; he was an excellent Auror, after all, and could master many offensive and defensive spells, but medical knowledge was completely new to him.
The Healers and Medi-wizards welcomed him warmly, taking him under their wings and teaching him everything he needed to get started in the sub chambers. Healing potions, spells and plants were some of the first and most important things he had to learn. These crash courses lasted for two years, leading him to be 19 years old when he finally got his Medical License. From then on, Healer Harry James Potter had then been given security clearance to work in Medicinal Chamber: Sub-Chamber Body.
This chamber was one of the driest in Harry's opinion, but he'd learned in spite of it. It was here that he learned of the organs and bones in the body, including how to recognize signs that something was wrong within someone else or yourself and how to fix it. Harry had learned that the Skele-Grow he'd ingested as a child had negative effects on his body as an adult. "Your right arm will always be better than your left," Healer Edison had told him, her face honest and sincere. "Unfortunately, that's not good for the bones that are ageing; imagine having to carry a newer body part as an old man and that's what's happening here."
Though annoyed, Harry had completed the one year course, giving him another security clearance to enter Sub-Chamber Blood at the age of 20. This had quickly become his favorite place to be, especially as his blood was quite interesting. Basilisk Venom and Phoenix Tears ran through his blood, giving him a rather interesting set of curses that he hadn't been aware of. Thanks to the Basilisk Venom, Harry had been cursed with a serious case of Bad Luck, which should have made him as bad off as Neville Longbottom had been in his first years of Hogwarts.
However, the Phoenix Tears had given him Good Luck, which should have balanced the Bad Luck but miraculously didn't. It certainly explained the events of his life after 2nd Year. Finding out he had a Godfather, losing him quickly, entering a tournament he didn't enter, somehow winning it, the Priori Incantatem, finding out about Malfoy, having no one believe him about him being up to no good, defeating Voldemort, losing who he cared about, getting the life he'd always wanted and being incredibly bored after getting it; even his magic had suffered.
Enough magic to beat Voldemort, but crippled beneath the creature's fights for dominance within himself until he was average everywhere else.
Sub-Chamber Blood taught him about DNA, from human to animal to magical creatures, diseases, poisons, cures, and he had quickly decided it was his chamber. He'd stayed there for three years, even though he had the clearance to study other fields of magic. It had been on that routine trip of August 24th that he'd finally been disturbed. It was Madam Gummy, head Unspeakable, who'd stopped him, bringing him to her office with a smile on her face.
"Healer Harry James Potter," she'd read from a folder. "Age, 23. Years in Department, 6. Major Department, Medicinal Chamber: Sub-Chamber Blood. I must say, I'm rather impressed with your work." Harry pushed his glasses up his nose, quite curious as to where the conversation was going. Many people had told him they were impressed with him these days, considering they'd only thought he had average talent; seemed he was a medical miracle/genius nowadays.
"Thank you, Madam Gummy." The old woman smiled softly, closing the folder before her.
"When you first entered here, many were curious as to where you'd go and where you'd end up, Healer Potter. We were all quite sure it would be the Invention Chamber or Dueling Chamber, but you've proved quite a few of us wrong." And had taken quite pride in doing so, too. "But enough with the small talk, I've called you in here to ask something of you." She removed a thick folder from her drawer and placed it in front of him. "Healer Potter, your skills in Medicinal Chamber are quite impressive and, should you be willing, I would like you to put those skills into Project D; a Project that you'll be head to."
"What is it?" Harry wondered, picking up the folder at her gesture.
"Project D is a highly advanced program, upon which we're trying to correct problems going on in the current world." His eyes went over the page in front of him, widening in disbelief. "Considering you've been living here for six years, I doubt you've seen the current world."
"There's another Dark Lord?" He questioned, looking up to see her grim countenance.
"Indeed there is, but that's not the worst problem we're facing. Turn to page 3." Doing so, he skimmed over the page before him, his heart thudding uncomfortably with every word. Gummy waited for him to finish before speaking again. "These wars have had negative effects on magic, though the world doesn't seem to realize that right now. With every war something is lost, magic takes a rapid decline and it doesn't seem like we'll last another three hundred years at this rate."
"How is magic declining so much?" Harry wondered, green eyes sparkling at the information. He honestly wasn't too concerned with it, all things considered; he'd be dead long before the consequences could hurt him.
"Though it may be hard to believe, Muggle-born's." A black brow raised in shock. Gummy simply nodded to him. "Page 5 explains it all, but the main thing is that Muggle-born's are at the start of every war. With every war, we lose old families, we lose the magic those families protected, we lose gold and history and a new law is passed to protect something that doesn't need protection. Our world is mixing in with the Muggle World; unfortunately, the Muggle World is winning."
"So what is Project D?" Harry eagerly wondered, flipping through the folder and eying the pictures within. "How will it fix these problems? Why me?"
"Project D is a preliminary stage," she admitted, leaning back in her chair. "We hope to create a body strong enough to preserve magic." At his quick glance up, her lips pulled into a smirk. "But this body isn't meant to be used to create a new breed of humans, though we plan to move the brain, memories, thought process, everything that makes us, us into this new body."
"A Superhuman?" Harry wondered, fixing his glasses again.
"A Superhuman," she nodded. "This will fix, or at least temporarily put a stop to the decline of magic in the world. As for why we need you…well, Healer Potter, this body will be made from scratch. Bones, blood, organs, memories; everything provided will be created by the Unspeakables, for the Unspeakables, and we need someone to provide their own DNA to this project.
"That someone needs to be a person dedicated to their job," she continued, leaning forward and capturing his eyes. "Someone who doesn't have commitments to the outside world, who wouldn't jeopardize the experiment by leaving the department at a critical moment for something as inconsequential as family. Someone like you." He breathed in deeply at the words. "Your blood, your memories and anything else needed must be dedicated solely towards Project D; including your life. Is that something you can give, Healer Potter?" The emerald eyed man looked to the side, deep in thought.
In truth, Harry would be the first to admit that he was surprised at what he'd become. He fit the criteria needed to a T. He had no friends, no family, no connections that would obligate him to the outside world. He hadn't even left the Department of Mysteries since he'd started working there, finding all of his needs within the departments well taken care of. He was pale now, the little muscles he'd acquired from hard labor having long since vanished, leaving him thin. The abuse and neglect he'd suffered had thankfully been overcome by his luck, leaving him taller than he ever thought he'd be.
His hair had long since grown past his shoulders, messy and tangled, dirty on most days as he forgot to wash it. His glasses, a gift from a co-worker, were small and sharp squared lenses, often slipping down his thin nose. Experimenting with blood, DNA, was his passion. Nothing gave him more joy then creating new strands of life and death, new organisms, new magic, diseases, poisons, cures; he loved it. With his white robes and gloves on, many often compared him to the cliché Muggle Mad Scientist. He had never expected his life to end up in such a way; surely, his old friend Hermione, but not him.
And now he was given the opportunity to experience a medical breakthrough. To lead in a medical miracle! His life had never held much meaning, thus the death clause meant nothing to him. Even the fame that came with such an opportunity wasn't exciting; annoying to think about, really. The only thing that made him want to join the project was that he could put his skills to the ultimate test, create a body from scratch, give it the blood that it needed to live…
"I'll do it!" He exclaimed, turning to Madam Gummy with wide eyes. The possibilities!
"I knew you would," she stated, pleased at the acceptance. "Please, go over the folder for the next few days, then head to the Thought Chamber; they'll fill you in on any questions you need answered. Healer Potter, you are in charge of Project D-Sequence One; a list of your subordinates will be sent out to you soon."
"Thank you for this opportunity, Madam Gummy," he murmured, shaking her hand and standing. "I am very curious to see how this turns out." That was an understatement.
That week, Harry spent his time going over the folder, reading about the current magical world, comparing it to the previous worlds, the sharp declines in magic, the notes on advantages a Superhuman would have. He drew diagrams of the body, rough outlines of what he needed and notes on what he wanted changed. Then there was the funding going into the project, which wasn't much until he added his vaults, the money within untouched for the last six years aside from the paychecks he received.
He was quite excited for this project.
Later that week, Harry made his way to the Thought Chamber, his mind moving a mile a minute as he went over the list of those in his command for Project D. It was a joint project, the Medical, Invention, Beauty, Language and Thought Chamber were all under his command. Once he figured out what the body would need and get ideas from the others, then the project could truly begin.
Shortly into his thoughts, Harry entered a long a rectangular room full of low hanging lights. In the middle of the room sat a large tank full of pearly white brains, swimming in an oozing dark green liquid. Around the room were Unspeakables, some at their desks, others crowded around the brains. "Ah, Healer Potter!" A stringy haired man looked up from his desk, waving a hand to him in greeting. He stood when Harry made it to him. "I haven't seen you here in years!"
"Morning, Master Reynolds," Harry greeted dryly. He'd never liked his short stint in the Thought Chamber, mainly because of this man. He reminded Harry of Horace Slughorn, who'd curried favors with people who had potential just so he could live a good life. "Madam Gummy sent me this way," he continued before the man could make small talk. "I'm working on Project D."
"Yes, yes, I heard!" He sent a riveting smile to him. "You'll be in charge, correct? Of course you will, you're Harry Potter!" Green eyes twitched. "I'm here to answer any questions you have about the project, so please, ask me anything!"
"Can you schedule a meeting of the Department Heads?" Harry wondered, a bored look on his face. "I want to run some ideas with the people I'll be working with at lunch today."
"Of course!" Giving him the names of the heads he wanted, Harry hightailed it from the room, not eager to stay with such an obviously false man. His next stop was to Madam Gummy, who he surprised by showing her the funding he'd added to the project. He also requested that she come to his lunch meeting, as he wanted to make sure he had clearance to test his ideas right away. With that settled, Harry prepared for his first meeting outside of the Department of Mysteries for the first time in six years. Granted, he was only going into the Ministry of Magic's cafeteria, but it was extraordinary all the same.
Madam Michigan, head of the Language Chamber, Master Reynolds, head of the Thought Chamber, Lady Beaumont, head of the Beauty Chamber, Master Cunningham, head of the Invention Chamber and Madam Brookes, head of the Medical Chamber; all joined him and Gummy in the ministry that afternoon. Many Aurors and office workers looked on in surprise, not because of them being Unspeakables (many often ate lunch in the cafeteria), but because Harry had been recognized by Auror Ronald Weasley. Thankfully, Gummy put up warding spells and runes to prevent them from listening to their conversations and interrupting them.
"I'm not here for small talk," Harry began immediately, interrupting Reynolds before he could get started. He placed his folder onto the table and opened it to his page of questions, making many brows rise as they caught the sketches of human bodies, parts of the bodies, and even the insides of it. "As you are all aware of, I have been placed in charge of PD-S1, due to being the main subject required in the process." Nods were given. "As such, I've begun to think of what a Superhuman should be capable of and what different chambers should work on creating.
"To begin with, it's pretty obvious that all chambers must work extensively with the Medicinal Chamber, as the knowledge needed is mostly known by us." He nodded to Brookes, normally his own superior officer. "Therefore, some people in the MC must change departments for a while in a joint collaboration; is that acceptable?"
"Most certainly," Madam Brookes nodded. Harry quickly OK-ed the notion in his book.
"Then, we'll need a list of those being drafted, whether from the MC to another unit or vice versa. Next, I've been thinking about the body parts needed to make a Superhuman. Most organs will probably be made by the MC, but there are a few things I want made differently, specifically for more obvious traits. Like eyes, ears, the mouth, the nose, the skeleton; that should definitely be different."
"Different how?" Reynolds wondered.
"The eyes, for instance," Harry elaborated. "Alastor Moody had eyes that could see through glamour's and more, but they were too notable. We need to take that a step further."
"Like eyes that can read different languages regardless of a person's knowledge?" Madam Michigan asked.
"Definitely a good thing to have," Harry pointed out, writing down her suggestion.
"What about the tongue?" She continued, seeing as her last suggestion was met with praise. "A tongue that's flexible enough to speak any language; I mean, it may be hard to do, but not impossible."
"Perhaps even a Chameleon Effect for the entire body," Gummy interjected. "Lady Beaumont, the Beauty Chamber deals with all sorts of transfiguration; could you perhaps make a skeleton strong enough and durable enough to handle things like Metamorphmagus abilities, maybe even Human Transfiguration, Animagus Transformation and more?"
"I've never thought about it," the blonde haired woman stated, excitement coursing through her at the thought. "Certainly worth a try though."
"And ears that can understand everything they hear too," Cunningham broke his silence, nodding to Michigan. "A nose with a smell that can rival even the best of dogs."
"Then you have to work on the brain," Reynolds stated eagerly. "Nothing is any good if the brain can't remember everything!"
"Precisely!" Harry exclaimed, his quill scratching against parchment quickly. "Of course, we'll need all of our departments to mix in to help such an effect, but that's okay, isn't it?" A resounding yes went around as they hashed out their ideas. "I'll be working with the blood," Harry continued. "Adding creature properties that will be useful, protecting the body against diseases and poisons, creating the veins needed!" Gummy smiled at the excitement in his voice. "Of course, this isn't the only thing we'll be needing; skin, cartilage, my own DNA, and more will be needed to have this done."
"But the funding-" Brookes began, silencing as Gummy raised a hand.
"Healer Potter has added all of his current and future funds to the project, giving us nearly a billion galleons to work with." Looks of surprise came to everyone's faces.
"Considering it will be my body," Harry explained, "I will pay my all to have it made."
"Of course, that means nothing if others are not willing to donate." Gummy stared at them all imploringly. "Equipment, supplies, paychecks, the most of it will be coming from Healer Potter, but even the highest of funds can run dry."
"No worries," Brookes smiled. "I will definitely donate."
"I'll start up a fund in the Beauty Chamber," Beaumont beamed. Other acceptances made their way past people's lips, before they finally began to eat their long forgotten lunches, rehashing ideas and making plans as they ignored the waiting Aurors. Harry sighed, his eyes twitching as lunch finally ended and the barrier came down. He knew exactly what the awaiting Ronald Weasley would ask of him and he knew his reappearance would be broadcasted in the papers soon.
"Har-"
"Healer Potter," he corrected at once, peering over his glasses at the redhead. Ron had changed from the lanky teen he'd been, now sporting cuts and bruises, muscles and a deep tan. On his left hand was a ring, signifying he was or had been married; to Hermione, no doubt. Compared to Harry's unkempt and pale appearance, you would think he was the rich one.
"Healer Potter," he amended, drinking in the sight of the man he'd stopped speaking to. No one could fault him for his decision, not even Harry, as he'd purposed to the man's sister and left her in months, not even looking back to apologize to the heartbroken Weasley. "You look…different."
"Skinny, pale, unkempt, crazy?" Harry said the words he knew was on his lips. "Auror Weasley, I'm afraid my time here is short; is there anything I can do for you?" The man's lips pursed, before his face smoothed out.
"Have you heard of the new Dark Lord?" Harry sniffed; he knew it.
"I've heard of him and the answer is no." He shook his head as the redhead opened his mouth. "I refuse to join the Aurors, to help bring the man down, or do anything else that's considered Boy Who Lived material. I didn't get paid for the last job and I highly doubt it's being considered for this one."
"But-"
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a job to get to." Frozen, the blue eyed adult failed to stop him as he shouldered past, though he finally unfroze as Harry made it to the door.
"You've changed." The words were said softly, almost dangerously, as he turned his livid eyes to his once friend. "The Harry I knew would have given his life to help people."
"The Harry you knew is dead," Harry stated dryly, pushing his glasses up his nose and uncaring as Ronald flinched. "This is the Harry who's found a life you're talking to now."
"You would really walk out on us?" Ronald continued, his eyes watering a bit. "Harry, he killed Hermione!"
"Unfortunate," Harry mused, tilting his head to the side. "But, yes, I would walk out on you. In fact, I will walk out on you just like what happened to me in my first year of Hogwarts, my second, my fourth, my fifth…Hmm, seems like a pattern." Muttering under his breath, he made his way from the cafeteria, dodging the Stupefy sent to his back. "You haven't changed!" He yelled back to the crying man, feeling no guilt for not killing Hermione's killer. The girl was a Casualty of War.
For the next week, Harry ate his lunch in the cafeteria with the heads of those working in Project D. Ideas, sketches and even workers were spoken of and seen during that time, their plans going rather smoothly as they all participated in the discussions. True to Harry's prediction, he had been slandered in the papers for his decision to leave the world to their fate. Unfortunately for the Daily Prophet, he wasn't as kind as he use to be, not to mention he had friends in high places. They'd been sued quite successfully, most of their funds going to Harry, to the point where they had to increase the price of their paper to keep themselves from falling under.
He never appeared in the Daily Prophet again.
Nor had he engaged in anymore confrontations in the cafeteria as the Aurors realized that he had no problem with striking back at them. Not to mention he wasn't afraid to bankrupt the "only thing stopping the Dark Lord from attacking." The Auror station had received a sound reprimand once he'd confronted their boss with the intent to ask for liberal compensation. Their funds set and a schedule made, the chambers quickly set about buying and acquiring everything they needed for Project D.
True to his words, Harry continued to work on what he loved; creating blood to fit the body that he would be acquiring. He'd donated many bits of his body to those in the project, from his hair to skin, even nails, before jarring other things they would later need. Blood, semen, urine, spit, tissue samples and more; then he got to work. His blood was already cursed, so he first began to try to rid himself of the traces of Basilisk Venom and Phoenix Tears, despite the perks it had within him.
Once he managed that, he had to create a list of properties magical creatures had and see which ones were useful and which weren't, then find a way to mix the results without canceling out or causing bad changes to occur within the blood. Gummy had already provided Metamorphmagus blood, then left the rest to him. Unfortunately, there were many magical creatures to go through, and many mistakes that would be made in creating blood that could collaborate with his own; it would be a long process.
Lady Beaumont often came into the chamber, getting cartilage and tissues needed for the bones she was creating. It was quite amazing what the bones could already do, stretching out in odd patterns with magical spells, though quite a few cracked and strained under pressure, making the process equally as hard and frustrating as his own. This frustration only increased as those working on the skeleton had to keep buying different bones and DNA, cutting into funds quickly. Thankfully, those working on Project D, and even some who weren't, had been more than glad to donate their own funds to the completion of the project.
Joint projects between the Language Chamber and the Invention Chamber revealed their efforts of creating the eyes, ears, nose and mouth of the body, though also including a tongue. The eyes had the problem of being too hard to pass for normal, the ears too small to properly work with, the nose too nonhuman, the mouth too strange and the tongue too large. It wasn't until Harry reminded them that he'd be able to change the shapes of them with the Metamorphmagus abilities that they began to make progress, creating powerful results with gusto.
Reynolds had been more than happy to work with Brookes in the Medicinal Chamber, creating a Encephalon quite different than what his department was use to. Lucky for him, his chamber had already made functioning brains, now all he needed was to create one used for more than just storing memories. This took quite a lot of time and medical knowledge, whereas Brookes worked with his department to recreate many different Encephalon's and Reynolds worked on collecting useful memories the brain would absorb.
They'd reached many bumps when the brains would explode after obtaining too much knowledge, though Reynolds had thankfully duplicated all of the memories he'd used beforehand. Thanks to that, and the others who gave up important information without being asked, he was able to join in with the creation, speeding up the process of the Super Brain. Memories of Metamorphmagus's, of Masters and Madams were added, though now they had to figure out how to make it stick.
Despite working together with others, the Medicinal Chamber was still the busiest. Often times Harry had to stop his experiments to tend to side projects and help build the Organism Cistern. The Orgcist was an idea given by a worker in the Thought Chamber, who told them how they kept the brains from rotting out. It would be where the body was finally pieced together, blood, bones, cartilage and everything else; anything completed before then would go into the tank and be preserved by the deep green liquid they held.
Aside from that side project, Harry also had to be scanned and body tissues taken regularly, considering it was still him they were making. The MC workers scuttled back and forth, making organs from animals and humans, like the lungs that could breath easily underwater and on land. They also helped to create the muscles needed to get the body moving, the veins to move the blood, nerves to help the body respond, and other required instruments of life. Perhaps the hardest thing to make had been the heart; a process which often failed when paired with the potent blood Harry had created.
Even with the vast amounts of funding, workers and volunteers, PD-S1 still took many years to complete. The war on the outside had settled sometime before, though the results of it were far reaching. The Living Chamber, which Harry still lived in comfortably, was often over packed, many workers escaping from the aftermath of another cleanup to live in their workplace. Then the new minister, a Weasley surprisingly, had attempted to barge into the life of the Unspeakables, no doubt holding a grudge on the Potter who worked there.
This caused discontent and anger within the workers, who invoked a working right that the Ministry of Magic had made many years ago. Though in their building and even on their payroll, for interrupting and hindering their work with bad intentions the Department of Mysteries was officially a split workforce from the ministry, no longer under their immediate control. Though delighted, that also forced other Unspeakables to sleep within their workplace as walking through the ministry became a chore in patience.
Finally, at the age of 33, ten years of hard work and patience paid off. Floating in the Organism Cistern were most of the pieces needed for the Project to be completed. A full, if not slightly deformed body was laid bare for all to see. There was no hair on the figure as they left it up to Harry to let it grow, but it still made quite a few burst into tears as they made the last of their preparations. Unfortunately, this meant Harry had to die.
Said Potter had been well aware of the fact for many years now, though he didn't much care about it. He'd gotten all of his affairs in order, his money removed from the greedy Goblins, houses long since sold and a Will written just in case things didn't go to plan. Taken to an empty room, he allowed the Unspeakables within to take the last things they needed from him. His memories were taken first, as it was the only thing they could take while he was still alive, then placed into the Encephalon they'd created especially for him. Perhaps in a bid to make it exclusively his, they allowed his memories to absorb into it first, then put the others within an hour later.
Afterwards came the hard part; dying. As a few of the body parts couldn't be complete until they had more of him, Harry couldn't choose an easy way out. Nothing could taint his already tainted blood, as it had to undergo a special cleansing before it could be mixed in with the blood he'd made specifically for him. Avada Kedevara had a nasty lingering effect that could cause problems and they still needed to harvest his organs. Therefore, he had to take a painful way out; he opted for them draining him dry of blood as they needed it anyway and it was more potent fresh than coagulated. The moment his heart stopped, the harvest began.
His heart was the first to be quickly removed, as those who'd been in the creation process took it to finish the last of their experiments. Kidneys, pancreases, liver, lungs; the only thing that wasn't touched was his face and brain. The reason for such a thing was made clear as Madam Gummy severed his head, placing it in a glowing jar and waiting. It took ten minutes for the eyes to open, making those who had been watching gasp in surprise when it finally did.
"Did it work?" The head questioned, blinking his eyes curiously.
"How?"
"Don't be alarmed," he spoke to them. "This is a side project I asked Madam Gummy to complete. Consider me a more…realistic portrait; alive, but not alive." From there, he was brought to the Medicinal Chamber, waiting for the finishing touches to be placed onto the floating body. His heart was placed within it, changed by the quick and expert experiments, along with the rest of his missing organs. Many waves of wands started up as they moved them in place, the body temporarily becoming intangible so they wouldn't mess up the placement.
Confusion began to spike up as a dark cloaked man entered the room, who sent a nod to Madam Gummy and Harry's head. When finally the body was complete, the brain inserted and the blood connected to the heart by a pump, they waited for Gummy's orders. "Everyone, take a step back; Necromancer Nero is a part of this process." Mumbles started up as the cloaked man headed towards the floating body, removing his left hand from his cloak to reveal a large dark ring on his finger. He twisted the ring, making people gasp in shock as an incorporeal Harry Potter appeared beside him.
"It's about time," he stated, stepping towards the body. "Can we get with the binding now, before those damn things come back to get me?"
"What things?" Gummy questioned.
"Later," he grumbled, vanishing into the body. A Runic Circle, previously unseen and added in the dead of night when no one was around, lit up as Nero began to chant. As he chanted, Gummy gave the go-ahead for them to pump the blood into the heart. Eyes were riveted to the medical scans, watching in amazement as the previously dead readings spiked up.
"Get the body stabilized!" Madam Brookes yelled.
"Yes ma'am!" Scurrying feet quickly started towards the tank, where the witches and wizards began to fire off stabilizing spells; breath in the lungs, speed boosts to make the organs begin to work. The heart pumped too fast, the lack of blood in the body making it push fast to correct the problem as oxygen was given by spell so the brain wouldn't collapse. It took nearly an hour of constant spells and observation before the body settled, leaving the room in a state of relief.
"It worked…" Lady Beaumont whispered.
"We're not out of the clear yet," Gummy stated. "Drain the Orgcist and put Potter on watch; he'll need 24 hour surveillance!" They did as told, waiting impatiently for the ooze to drain as Gummy turned to Nero. "As per agreement, the…ring is yours." The man nodded, his expression hidden by his cloak, before taking his leave.
Project D-S1 was still underway many months after the body completed.
It began with Harry awakening. First off, he was full of memories not his own and he had almost lost himself in them. If it hadn't been for how many memories actually belonged to him, as opposed to one or two belonging to hundreds of others, he would have been in serious trouble. Still, it took nearly a month to sort out his head, upon which he couldn't speak as he'd forgotten how.
Then, his deformed body had to slowly come into itself. Thankfully they sized down on their own as Harry wasn't yet sure how to work his new abilities. His too wide eyes narrowed, his too big tongue shrunk; it was a slow and painful process, but the ending results would be worth it. Perhaps the most annoying thing about it was his eyes, which were very sensitive to light, constantly peered through walls and displayed the colors of magic at the oddest of times. Usually when he was trying to sleep.
When his tongue settled down, he finally recalled how to speak; he spoke Indonesian, then Spanish, Latin, French; thankfully, Lady Beaumont had been able to understand him and explain what was going on to the others. After that, they gave him some much needed space, giving him time to sort out everything. The moment after his mind was finally sorted, Harry faced another problem, one a bit worse than his mind; his body.
The muscles, though designed to be superior, were new. He had to relearn how to walk, to move, to eat and get used to the pain in his muscles as they stretched for the first time. Not to mention his hormones, heightened by many animals, and Metamorphmagus abilities, which changed his growing hair's color and length repeatedly. His sensitive ears had to get use to low and loud noises as the Medi-witches began to check up on him. His nose slowly adjusted to their unique smells; even his tongue had to get used to the taste of different temperatures of food.
All in all, it took a good ten months before the project could officially be called a success. The announcement was made in the oddest of ways.
Harry had snapped his eyes open and completed a lazy ritual of washing, flushing as his hands moved over his sensitive skin. Thanks to his out of whack hormones, he still wasn't use to touch without overly exciting himself, which had led to many embarrassing scenes in the past months. His hair was once again past his shoulders, though it was well taken care of by the Medi-witches who'd watched over him, and his eyes were as bright green as usual, though he still wore his lenses even though he didn't need them. All in all, he looked like a less scruffier version of what he normally was, though the height he'd gained had been lost.
Still, he wasn't complaining.
Snapping on his Healer Robes, Harry made his way to the Medicinal Chamber, pushing his sharp, square glasses up his thin nose. He bypassed many wide eyed personal with a short greeting, treating the day as any other. It wasn't until he got into the Main Chamber did he realize that people were unaware of his status, as the noise level dropped considerably upon his arrival. After a long moment, the Unspeakables broke out into a loud cacophony of cheers.
"You're okay!"
"It worked!"
"How does it-?"
"Are you-?" The words blurred into each other as they crowded around him, making Harry use his abilities to make his sensitive ears vanish into his head. They seemed to get the message five minutes later as they sheepishly backed off. Taking a moment to compose himself, Harry allowed his ears to reappear, a pop of noise entering them at once. Madame Gummy was shaking her head in amusement, leading him away from the crowd as someone else explained and answered the questions that had been shot at him.
"Good to see you fully aware," she stated, noticing his ears were back on his head.
"Good to be aware," he retorted, shaking his head a bit to get the ringing out. "I'm quite eager to get back to work, I admit."
"And people are eager for you to get back to work," she shot at him, a grin tugging her lips. "However, now that PD-S1 is complete, you can know about the rest of it."
"The rest…?" Harry trailed off as they entered her office, seeing a man sitting nervously in a chair. At their entrance, he stood up, holding out a hand and retracting it in seconds, pushing his lanky hair from his face.
"Healer Potter, this is Master Frederick Johnson, head of the Time Chamber and leader of Project D-Sequence Two."
"Greetings," the man smiled, faltering as Harry gave him a blank stare. Granted, he'd known there would probably be other sequences the moment Gummy had told him his was S1, but the man's nervousness was not sitting well with him.
"As it stands, we're not here for a pleasure talk," Gummy admitted, activating wards to make her room secure. "Both of you are here because you led your teams to success, though neither of you are aware of what S1 and S2 were consisted of. Healer Potter, you were in charge of creating a body, a Superhuman who's ability to adapt and change far extends what magic is capable of; you have created what you set out to do almost eleven years previous. We are calling the process the Cadaver Shift; How do you feel?"
"Like the other shoe is about to drop," he answered promptly, his eyes narrowed. She had the decency to look sheepish.
"Master Johnson, you were in charge of creating, in essence, a Time-Turner so immense that it could bring a person back decades with every turn. It took a long time, but thanks to your success in creating a Year-Turner this time was shortened greatly. How do you feel?"
"Accomplished," he beamed, then rolled his shoulders nervously as Harry continued to glare at him.
"Project D," Gummy stated, looking between the two of them, "Sequence One and Two, after many long years, are complete. We are now ready to move onto Sequence Three." She paused, her mind working furiously, before she sighed and nodded. "Project D-S1 was the Cadaver Shift. Project D-S2 was the Decade-Turner. Project D-S3 is a three process agenda, but it's ultimately the process of combination." Her words made Harry stiffen. "In other words, sending the body back in time."
"Did the Aurors put you up to this?" The Healer wondered, his gut knotting in annoyance and anger. She wasn't trying to do what he thought she was, was she? "Surely you aren't sending me back to-?"
"No!" Gummy interrupted, knowing where his mind was headed. "This project isn't like that!" Harry went silent, waiting for her to complete her words before he blew his top. She had only to hope that it wasn't something to make him even more angry than he was already becoming. "Project Demiguise is a time-traveling process meant to gather intelligence!"
"I'm confused," Johnson stated, echoing Harry's thoughts. Gummy's face flushed slightly, though she waved the words away as she tried to explain herself. Finally, after a moment of silence, she began.
"Imagine, if you will, a man able to transform his face to fit in anywhere." She paused, gathering her thoughts. "Now, imagine that same man sent back in time, learning magic long since lost, history long since changed, the unbridled truth!" A slow well of excitement began to overcome the room at the words. "Now," she continued, smirking as both men gave her their undivided attention. "This same man holds in his head a brain designed to absorb knowledge quickly, eyes that record everything he sees, a tongue that speaks any language it says, ears that understand everything it hears; this Superhuman goes back in time and records these events and lost magic.
"Undetected, passive even, able to get into places unseen without capture, without fail." She paused, a dreamy look coming to her face. "And he comes back from then and places his memories in Encephalon, to be studied and gone over-"
"And magic could recover," Harry whispered, eyes wide in shock and disbelief. "Could possibly become even stronger than we're use to…" This was what she had meant from the beginning. Saving magic, preserving it. The stagnant world above that he had hidden from so quickly could be revived, the countless results from wars they'd fought erased from the population. This was her dream.
"Amazing," Johnson muttered. "A miracle…Historical breakthrough…"
"Will you do it?" Madam Gummy pleaded, her desperate eyes focusing on Harry. "Will you help me? Help magic?" Johnson nodded immediately, practically vibrating in his chair, but Harry felt a bit different.
"I will help, but," he held up his hand, signaling silence as she opened her mouth. "I have some conditions."
"As you paid for this sequence of Project D to be completed," she leaned back in her chair, "I'm obligated to listen to you."
"Good." He paused, a rueful smile on his face. "To begin with, I want Maximum Security Clearance down here, as well as one year to train this body." She nodded at that, writing it down. "I also want the remaining money I have to be used for Department Maintenance."
"T-that's it?" Gummy stuttered, blinking in shock.
"Well, I suppose there are plenty of other things I could do," he mused, hand on his chin. "If you really don't want guilt on your conscious, then make me a promise." He nodded to himself, turning to Gummy with a serious look in his eyes. She sat up straighter, preparing herself for an outrageous demand. "Madam Gummy, in exchange for my services and money, you are to provide me a room for the rest of my life; this includes food, furniture and clothing. I don't need much." He smiled at her look of disbelief, leaning back in his chair. "Can you do that, Madam Gummy?"
"Y-yes!" She agreed, honestly stunned at the simple desire. She had, after all, been doing the exact thing for the sixteen years he'd worked for her. "Healer Potter, consider all of your requests granted. Also, take this." She passed a golden key-card to him. "Keep a hold of this for the rest of your life, Healer Potter," she warned, a smile crinkling her eyes. "With this, no matter when you are, you will always be welcomed to the Department of Mysteries."
"Agent Demiguise?" Harry read the card, raising a brow at the black script on the card.
"Well, even I don't want to know all of my agent's identities in the past," she murmured. "This way, I can still keep myself busy with new mysteries."
The days after that meeting were full of wonder.
It started out with the one year vacation, which Harry made into two. As Master Johnson prepared for PT-S3, writing History down, testing the limits of the turner and making sure there were no kinks in the plans, Harry used his new security clearance to acquire a Day-Turner. With the device in hand, he spent his mornings and nights practicing on becoming more in tuned with his body. Going through memories, he practiced on his Metamorphmagus abilities, Human Transfiguration, and his Animagus ability.
Being an Unspeakable, he normally would have had to register his animal form, but the clause Gummy had invoked made the department workings legally mysterious to their benefactors. Therefore, his long haired, black eyed and aptly first made transformation into a Demiguise was only known to himself and Gummy, who he kept updated on his progress. Of course, becoming the ape like creature caused a new bout of training, especially when he recalled how springy his bones could become, resulting in a quite a few more forms that he delighted in becoming.
There were other things to practice, of course, Occlumency, which he'd accidentally learned upon awakening, Legilimency, dueling, languages, writing said languages, warding and tons of other things that he found himself busy with. Going over and sorting out his memories still took the longest of times, especially when he went through his own. Memories of Ron and Hermione, Sirius, he'd gone through them relentlessly, feeling brief bouts of happiness, pain and betrayal, before the feelings left and the memories sorted themselves. Afterwards, at the end of every week he'd flip his Day-Turner seven times, take a break and return to his real love; Medicinal Chamber: Sub-Chamber Blood.
By the time the two year-one year vacation ended, Harry could feel the changes in himself, as well as nostalgia. Going through his memories reminded him that he did have someone who was technically his family; Teddy Lupin. And he shared an ability with him. Therefore, on his final day of vacation, Harry decided to check up on the sixteen year old. He highly doubted Andromeda Tonks had told him that Harry was his Godfather, considering the woman didn't exactly like him. She had, after all, told him to mind his own business when he'd tried to help her take care of Tonks's and Lupin's son.
Briefly, he wondered if taking care of Teddy would have made him want to involve himself in the war.
A glance through ministry files showed the status of the boy, who was at Hogwarts, getting good grades and apparently trying to become an Auror. Slightly amused, Harry checked on his home life, only to raise his brow in disbelief. Seems Andromeda had died in the latest war, leaving Teddy in the care of the Weasley's. Coming to a split second decision, Harry left the Ministry of Magic for the first time in seventeen years. He did it in disguise, of course, but did that really matter?
Even in disguise, Harry made sure to stick out like a sore thumb, his eyes a shade too dark, his skin as pale as ever, his hair long, silky and silver despite being an obviously healthy young man. He wore Muggle clothing, a thick black hoodie and a pair of blue jeans, complete with heavy brown boots and a pair of black gloves. He sniffed deeply as he entered The Three Broomsticks, giving himself a moment to adjust to the sounds and smells from the room, before making his way out of the establishment under disgusted gazes.
"…a Muggle doing-?"
"Can't believe he would-"
"-worse than a squib." The words were mumbled as eyes raked his form, the people unaware of the exact effect he had been going for. If Madam Gummy were there, she would see the resemblance to a Demiguise in his features; so plain and Muggle to the eyes, yet so magical, but these untrained wizards and witches could only spot what he wished them to see…and react in too predictable a way.
"Even after so many years, this world has yet to change," Harry muttered, heading for the Hog's Head under deep swells of snow. When he entered, it was to see an unsurprising lack of Aberforth Dumbledore, instead undertaken by some flirty woman with a chest too large for her weight. She batted her eyelashes at him as he reached in his pocket, removing his Phoenix Wand and pointing it in the air. In seconds, everyone in the Inn was asleep, giving him the chance to open up the secret passageway to Hogwarts.
The tunnel was dusty with disuse, though it led to the stationary Room of Requirement, revealing that no one was inside and changing slowly to fit his request. Harry frowned slightly, peering into the mirror brought before him. Inside of the mirror was Teddy Lupin, who was quietly completing an assignment in an empty classroom, the Gryffindor Crest on his shirt. "Must have gotten his brains from Lupin," Harry muttered, amusement coursing through him. He had no doubt that the teen had run away from the loudness of the Common Room, hoping to get some peace and quiet. "I need a tunnel to lead to Teddy Lupin," Harry stated, watching as the room provided him with what he asked for. "Thank you."
Boot clad feet made their way through the long tunnel, which twisted, turned and dipped for nearly five minutes before he finally made it to the end. Teddy looked up as the doorway opened and he stumbled in, both of their eyes connecting for a long moment. Finally, Harry broke eye contact to fix his clothes up, dusting himself off and muttering in annoyance. The teen looked a lot like his daddy, though Harry wondered if it was genuine or if he was copying from a photograph.
"Who…are you?" Teddy broke the silence, making Harry look up at him with a smile.
"Greetings, Teddy Lupin; I'm a friend." He made his nose turn into a pig snout, getting a wide eyed stare from the boy. "Yeah, I'm a Metamorphmagus too. Anyway, I'm just here to ask a few questions. Is that alright?" He looked weary, though he nodded all the same. Smile still in place, Harry sat down beside him, glancing over his paper quickly. "You got six, thirteen and twenty four wrong."
"Wha?" Raising his brow, the boy turned back to his paper to check. Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the gullible position he put himself in.
"So, Teddy, are you happy with the Weasley's?" Bright blue eyes snapped up to him at once, the teen tensing. "You're not hurting for anything, are you?" Harry continued. "Need money? Training?"
"That's none of your business, uh…?" The teen faltered.
"Agent Demiguise," he introduced himself rather late. "Unspeakable." He flashed his badge to him, even allowing him to take it to observe it more fully. "And it is my business, considering your Godfather sent me to check up on you."
"My Godfather?" Teddy's eyes narrowed, his mouth pursing in anger. "You mean Harry Potter sent you?"
"Yes," Harry stated, tilting his head a bit. "Is there a problem with that?"
"There's a problem, alright," he muttered darkly. "What does your precious Harry want with me? He certainly hasn't shown an interest in the other years of my life."
"He most certainly hasn't," Harry nodded, a bit uncaring if he had to admit it. Still, despite himself he could only recall that he hadn't been that close to Lupin or Tonks, so he wasn't too hurt at the attitude. "And, as I said before, he wants to know if you're happy with the Weasley's. Do you need money? Training?"
"I don't need anything from him!" Teddy spat. Dark eyes stared at him impassively.
"Suit yourself," he stated, shrugging as he stood. "So long as he knows you're happy with what you've got, you never have to worry about hearing from him again." The tunnel had long since closed to the Room of Requirement, meaning he had to leave out the door. Just as he reached it, Teddy stopped him.
"Wait!" Freezing, Harry turned back to appraise him, his eyes curious. Teddy flushed. "Why now?" He wondered. "Why does he check up on me now?"
"Nostalgia," he admitted. "In all honesty, I had forgotten about you." The slip-up made the boy's eyes widen, even as Harry resisted the urge to curse. First time out and he was already mucking up. Sighing, he crossed his arms over his chest, deciding to treat it as though he'd meant to say the words. "Your grandmother didn't want me in your life," he continued, "and I was too young to really care about it. 'Sides, it's not as if I knew much of your parents." He gave a slightly amused look at the balled up fist the teen made.
"You-"
"Another thing," he interrupted. "I suppose it was because of my Bad Luck." He sighed, recalling his old body. "How much do you know about the ending of Voldemort?" It was a pleasure to see not a flinch from him. "Has people found out about-?"
"The Horcrux's? Yeah." Despite speaking to him, the words were rather snappish.
"And did they tell you that I was a Horcrux?" Harry continued, a brow raised mockingly. At his wide eyes, he concluded that not being the case. "That's right, I was one of Voldemort's Horcrux's; I lived with his soul inside of me for sixteen, almost seventeen years."
"So?" Teddy snapped. "What's that got to do with you neglecting me, Godfather?"
"Quiet, I'm getting to it," Harry waved the words away, only serving to make the teen angrier. "Anyway, after those sixteen years of living with his soul, it was suddenly killed by Avada Kedevra. But you can't just get rid of someone's soul, especially when it essentially became merged with mine's after all those years." A small smile tugged at his lips, recalling those days almost fondly. The feeling left as quick as it came. "Basically, when Voldemort killed his own soul piece, he took a piece of me with it. The result?" He held his arms out. "An uncaring, neglectful Harry Potter."
"Yeah right!" Teddy snarled. "You're just making excuses!"
"Believe what you will," Harry hummed. "It doesn't mean much to me." His words were the truth, however, a bit of truth he'd hidden from everyone, including the Healer who'd told him about it. It had been Healer Edison, his mentor and co-worker, the woman who had brought him his glasses, that had diagnosed him. She had explained about his lack of emotions, saying that he would never get them back, because Voldemort had taken them.
Of course, she'd also wanted to study him; Medicine was her field after all. A quick Obliviate, however, a raid through her files, files stashed in his room to this day, and he was the only person who knew about it anymore.
"If your soul is broken," the teen continued, his hair deepening its color in his rage, "then why are you checking up on me now?"
"Because it's healing," Harry admitted at once, nonplussed. The hopeful I think was left unsaid. "I got a Necromancer to help me bring my soul back; good thing, too, or else they would have gotten me." He shuddered, recalling the few hours he'd been dead. He'd never been afraid of the dark, but the looming void that had followed him, whispering hauntingly in his ears, taunting him, still brought him awake in the middle of the night. It was something else that he had neglected to tell the Unspeakables about; he didn't want to admit to them that their so called Savior had no place in a Heaven. He'd taken a life and it wasn't in defense; it was for sweet revenge.
"I've been healing for two years now," Harry continued. Though technically it was one year. "And I've been remembering people a lot more than before." Though that was thanks to his new brain. "Every time I go over those memories, I start remembering how I use to feel…though right now, I still don't care much about anything, just Blood."
"B-Blood?" Teddy faltered slightly, his eyes wide. With a sigh, Harry made his way back over to the teen, cupping his cheek lightly. He tried to summon up emotions, tried to remember what it was like to see that head of hair when he was a child, tried to cling onto that joy, but it failed him. He huffed slightly, releasing Teddy's cheek and shaking his head. "You…" Teddy hesitated. "You're not lying, are you?"
"No," Harry stated. "I feel nothing, just nostalgic." A look of self loathing came and went on his face, before he rolled his shoulders. "But my soul is healing," he whispered, mostly to himself. "Maybe someday…" Harry vanished, leaving Teddy wide eyed as the door in front of him opened.
"Teddy?" Victoire Weasley stuck her head in, a look of relief on her face. "There you are!" From the window, invisible to the eyes, Harry watched silently as the blonde girl pulled the confused Metamorphmagus from the room. "What were you doing in here, Ted?"
"I…" The boy trailed off, rubbing a hand against his throbbing head. "What was I doing…? Homework?" Sighing, Harry leaned against the frame and peered out the window, wondering if his soul had truly been restored. Taking a gamble on a Necromancer had been a leap of barely lived faith, but he was seeing positive results, right? Regardless, Teddy Lupin would be surprised to find a bit of extra money in his vault soon; for some reason, Harry felt that he couldn't trust Ronald to pay much attention to anyone other than himself.
With the moon high in the sky, Healer Potter, Agent Demiguise, returned to the Department of Mysteries, immediately being summoned to Gummy's office. Said woman peered at him over the top of her reading glasses, having been examining a book before he came in, and a look of curiosity flashed through her eyes. Long before she said the words, Harry knew what she was going to ask and what she was pertaining to. "Did it work?"
"I don't know." It was honest, but also said a little self-depreciating. "I've gotten a few fleeting emotions, but nothing concrete yet." And, though he wanted to deny the weaknesses from his youth, he knew that alerting Madam Gummy to his problems had been the smartest decision he had ever made.
Though it had been Healer Edison who had found out and extensively began to study his unique problem, Harry had never been able to let himself forget those hidden papers in his room. The closer PD-S1 came to completion, the more he'd gone over his old faults, faults he'd hoped to correct with his new body. Eventually, he'd shared his lack of emotions with Gummy, who had been the one to suggest asking a Necromancer for help.
Necromancer Nero was in charge of the Death Chamber and Harry had never saw his face, but he'd been interested enough to study him when called. The only problem with Nero had been his requiring something to actually call Harry's fractured soul and bind it to his new body. As the problem actually put a big hole in Project D (he hadn't actually thought about how they were going to get the body to move without magic!), Gummy had been more than willing to help find anything he'd needed.
Anything.
After a few months, complicated spells and rehashes of rituals, pentagrams and other Death Magic that flew straight over Harry's head, he had recalled the tossed Resurrection Stone he'd left in the Forest of Death. Of course, Nero had not believed him, nor had Gummy, but a team of discreet Unspeakables had indeed found the stone after months of searching. As uninterested in death as he was, Harry promised Nero the stone if he managed to successfully bind Harry's soul to his new body.
Nero had agreed eagerly.
But there was no guarantee that his soul was fully healed; Necromancy was still an obscure and barely touched magic. Even the other workers in the department only whispered about such things. However, it was quite imperative that he removed his character flaw, otherwise it could have bad effects on his mission. There was no way Project D would work if Harry couldn't dredge up enough emotion to actually care about what he was learning.
What if he went to the past and skipped over something valuable, simply because he wasn't interested in knowing about it? He'd disobeyed orders before for reasons less than that, becoming bored and uncaring if his actions led him out to the streets. It was something Gummy would refuse to let happen to her dream. "I went to see my Godson today," Harry confided suddenly, staring up into her piercing grey eyes. "I erased the conversation we had from his mind, but I want to leave a bit of money in his account."
"Why?" She questioned.
"I don't really know," he confessed, sounding a bit perplexed. "I just don't think he'll really be thought of much, living with Ronald as he is." There was a long moment of silence, before the old woman broke into a warm smile.
"I don't think we need to worry much about your soul, Harry." She leaned forward and grabbed a lock of his silky silver hair. "Demiguise, indeed. Now, ready to get down to business?"
Of all things, Harry had not expected his newest role in Project Demiguise-Sequence Three. Gummy had mentioned that PD-S3 was a three agenda role, but he had not understood it at the time. To begin with, he was led to the Time Chamber, to give his input on anything he thought he would need. Master Johnson was very receptive of his idea to have a device that let him come back to his time without waiting for the full years to pass and had showed him another device they were frantically working on.
Harry had recalled the device right away, the crystal bell jar that had de-aged and aged a Death Eater's head in his youth, though the proper name was Clockwork. So that he could live a long life, Johnson had explained, Harry would often use the completed Clockwork to de-age himself when he came back from long missions. Stunned and impressed, Harry had eagerly listened as Johnson had rattled off the other things he had been busy doing; scouring through history, writing down important events and dates, going over the fashion of those times, the impact with Muggles on magic.
To Johnson, history to him was as blood to Harry.
Of course, despite all of the tidbits of information Harry gleaned from him, Project Demiguise-Sequence 3A belonged to Master Johnson. Madam Gummy had assigned Harry with Project Demiguise-Sequence 3B, Muggle Studies. Shocked didn't begin to describe what the Healer had been feeling at the bit of news; what could Muggles have to do with Project Demiguise? And then he'd actually gotten to the chamber. Acting classes, survival classes, learning to live without magic again, so many other useful things were taught. Voice training, character creation; amazing.
Gummy had not wasted any expense on his behalf and had made sure he took his duties seriously, even though she often held that perplexing warm smile on her face. Master Johnson had also helped Harry, helping him create costumes, characters and quirks for them. He'd introduced Harry to ghosts from certain periods of times and recommended him learning accents instead of merely pitching his voice from time to time. From him, Harry had taken a serious interest in his classes, though he still took the time to work in his favorite sub chamber.
In time, Harry had created his first persona as Agent Demiguise, much to Gummy's confusion. People had already seen him, though not many had paid him much attention, which was good as Harry could make changes that he hadn't thought were important before. He still retained his silky silver hair, his wide dark eyes and his casual Muggle flair, but he was far different than Harry Potter.
Demiguise was an uncaring fellow, young, who walked with a quiet pride despite the looks of revulsion he often got for his weak and Muggle appearance. His nose was small, ending lower than his own pointed one, closer to his wide mouth and thin lips. He had bags under his eyes, a result of insomnia and his workaholic nature. He was anemic, which made him rather pale and sickly, and he often stayed calm for such a reason. Agent Demiguise was rather blunt, rarely smiling unless the situation permitted it, and valued his solitude.
Of course, that hadn't been the only thing Harry had offered to his character, especially when Gummy insisted that he stare himself over in the mirror to see what was wrong. It wasn't until he saw his face that he knew what the problem was. Despite his elaborate planning, Agent Demiguise still looked quite a bit like Harry Potter. So Gummy helped him exclusively. A slant of the eye here, don't make this so perfect, longer fingers, a birth mark, the curve of the brow; and, as though that weren't enough, she made him use his Muggle knowledge extensively.
A regular camera, where the pictures didn't move, to take side angles and close-ups of the body. A folder to clip the pictures to. A detailed description attached to those photos, telling the name, age, occupation, quirks, favorite foods and more of his persona beneath those photos. Then, Harry had been sent to a sub chamber in the Beauty Chamber. Advanced Transfiguration had been a quickly learned and grueling course, which he'd then had to use to make an ID for Agent Demiguise. Green Cards, Visas, Passports, all had to bypass Gummy's inspections, then magical inspection, then Muggle inspection, before being duplicated and added to his file.
It was exhilarating.
Of course, that had merely been the first of his many disguises to make, and certainly not the last nor the hardest, but it had been the stepping stone to help him see where he was going wrong with his other persona's. Acting classes also helped with that. A slump in the shoulders, a stride in the walk, a tick of the mouth, a scar; everything was important to make a person identifiable, different and unique. Gummy had assigned him a few different persona's to create, all with keywords and genders, then left him to it.
Harry's hardest and most difficult challenge to date had been assignment Liver Spots. Gummy had told him to create an old woman, gave him the keywords friendly, wistful and liver spots, and a key to a house said old woman was moving to in two months. At first, Harry hadn't really paid much mind to it; he hadn't believed it would be that difficult to create a new character in such a time, even if it was an old woman. Then he realized that he would have to move to Muggle London and things got tense.
It would be strange, after all, if the tentatively named Melissa Cunningham (he'd taken the name from the Invention Chamber Head) moved into the neighborhood with no furniture. And, if she was friendly, she was bound to invite people into her home. Then again, she was also wistful; but of what? And liver spots, a woman who use to spend time in the sun? Eventually, it was the liver spots that finally gave Harry the breakthrough he'd needed to get the project done.
The first part was creating a look for Melissa; not the old woman, but the young woman that she use to be. A tanned and happy woman, who often had fun in the sun, with short brown hair and a smile men found irresistible. Honey colored eyes and short skirts; in her youth, Melissa Cunningham was that girl. And, to make it more believable, Harry had gone to Master Johnson, requested a bit of help, and taken some pictures of himself-herself, with friends, boyfriends, co-workers and others. He'd made it into a scrapbook as well.
Unfortunately for Melissa, those golden days were over, and she'd paid for her life in the sun with liver spots, arthritis, bad eyesight, stringy grey hair and old age halting her fun. But she'd never lost her smile, even if she often wished those days were back. Trophies, clothes, tasteful furniture, even a smattering of technology had entered Melissa's home by the time the move actually came, and said woman made many friends in the neighborhood she resided. Quite a few were amazed that such an old and reserved lady use to be so wild in her youth.
Of course, Melissa had died some months later; her sister Penny (who was actually Madam Gummy overseeing things) had even attended the funeral despite being at odds with her.
With his first female played, Harry had quickly taken to making many others, even testing them out on Muggles and magical people alike to see what sort of reactions he could get. Reserved librarians, out going nurses, a car washer with a penchant for gossip; male or female, he'd been having the time of his life. And then Gummy had to give him an even bigger role to play, one that had nearly cost him dearly in his first usage of play.
"Animals?" Harry had blinked, honestly astounded at the thought. "You…want me to play as animals?"
"Think about it, Harry," Gummy had patiently explained. "An animal could be useful for everyday things; how easily does a person confide in their pet? But did acting classes help with learning how to behave like a dog? Could you change into a cat and walk down a street without attracting attention? Could you collect nuts like a squirrel and still retain gossip? And a bird? Could you fly, eat worms, bugs and anything else to act the part?" They were good questions, questions Harry had decided to get answers to, and he'd started in the form of a dog.
It had been surprisingly simple to get some kind soul to take care of him; a scraggly Beagle, eager for food, love and attention. Gary had had many types of dogs, which Harry, named Snoopy much to his annoyance, had studied extensively. Wags of the tail after being petted, eagerness at the sounds of bags, whines at being denied; he'd stayed with Gary for all of one week before the man took him to the vet.
Then Snoopy had to get ugly.
The nurses had been speaking of shots, fleas, ticks, diseases, dog food, and, the worst offense, neutering. Had he not have remembered that he had magic, that needle would have pierced through him and he would have fallen asleep, only to wake up lacking. Granted, he could have always re-grown his lost bits, but he didn't want to go through the pain of losing them in the first place. Therefore, a sweating Snoopy had bitten his way from the office, incited a panic and beat a hasty retreat a la Apparation.
From that day on, Harry had sworn not to make such a mistake again.
He'd always made sure to be neutered should he walk as a male animal, and then take care not to be pinned as a female one; the animal world was a surprisingly cruel place. He did not like it, but he suffered through it with all the grace of a dying man. Digging through trash, dog food, cat food, turtle food, fish food, flea baths, ticks; of course, he'd also looked up quite a few spells afterwards to rid himself of such problems in the future. He did not need flea bites, he'd almost drowned as a fish and it was not funny to be chased up the tree by a cruel child or a horny stray.
When his assignment was complete, Harry was told by a grinning Gummy that his skills had definitely improved, although the deception was not yet over. After all, Harry had only used two of his new transfiguration abilities, and Agent Demiguise had to be able to blend in everywhere when needed. Therefore, Human Transfiguration was definitely needed, perhaps even more so than Animagus transfiguration and Metamorphmagus abilities. "After all," she'd chuckled, "who would expect the chair they're sitting on to be a person?"
And, with her encouragement, Harry had brushed up on his lacking skills in said area. Furniture magazines had taken quite the residence in his room as he learned to shape himself into household items. Of course, with his size it would be nay impossible to change into the really small things, but chairs, lamps, dressers and even tables were not impossible to do. The only problems Harry had was how long he had to stay as those items, the weights that were put on those items, the dust that collected on those items and the hormones in his body that reacted as those items.
As an animal, Harry had often been shooed out of a room before a person had sex. He hadn't minded giving those people their privacy, slinking away to test more of his limits, but as an inanimate object people never extended the same dignity. Therefore, he often got a front row seat to cheating spouses, married couples, a few movies and even a dog and a woman once. Those, of course, paled in his excitement for other things.
Like the time someone had had sex on top of him. That had definitely been the hardest day of his life, in two ways, as he'd been a very innocent table that the young couple didn't even have the decency to wash afterwards. It wasn't the last time it had happened either, though thankfully only one magical chair had been accused of molesting a guy that had sat right on his privates. Madam Gummy had choked on her laughter that day, considering he had literally almost raped a man as a chair, then gotten the Aurors involved. Some woman had even tried to buy him!
Of course, when he heard that a business idea had immediately sparked in Harry's mind. One that he'd guiltily drew the paperwork to. At least, he had been guilty, until he realized that Agent Demiguise had to be prepared to face everything; the good, the bad and the ugly. Therefore, Licentious had been his first tentative step into the XXX business world, with a surprising boom in good business and another income she barely had to look over. Pleasure Chairs were simply the first among many new products from Siren Industries.
Don't resist your calling.
Still, a grumbling Harry had conceded, Human Transfiguration had its perks. He'd heard many secrets, seen the un-seeable, felt far more than he'd ever thought he would and came back from his four year jaunts of his body's transformations and explorations a changed man. It wasn't until Gummy pointed it out did Harry realize that he felt…happy. Happy at something that wasn't blood, interested in things other than himself, curious to see what would happen to something that wouldn't benefit him; it was far from a fully functional soul, but it was there. Which meant…
"Project Demiguise-Sequence Three B is complete." Gummy smugly leaned back in her chair, the file of Harry's work opened in front of her. He'd amassed quite a few different people the past years, from models to beggars, though most of them were deceased. Still, he'd written their information relentlessly, and had all sorts of pictures of their life within the pages. Even his animal and furniture had their own pages; he was quite thorough. "Project Demiguise-Sequence Three A has been complete for some time," she continued, a bit amused. "Though Master Johnson may have overdone it a bit."
"When do we start Sequence Three C?" Harry wondered, squirming in his seat a bit.
"After I follow Johnson's request," she stated, giving him a warm stare. Curiosity bled into Harry at once as he wondered what Johnson had required for his many years invested in the project. As though reading his mind, Gummy answered at once. "He asked for a three month respite, whereupon you can both do as you wish before it's time to work on the project again. This means, Healer Potter, that you can work for as long as you want to in the Medical Labs, so long as you agree to be ready to work again in three months."
"Okay," Harry agreed at once, eternally grateful to Johnson. As much fun as it was to use his abilities to their fullest, he was still in love with his passion and nothing could compare to that thrill. Even if it was only three short months, to finally be uninterrupted with his work was the greatest gift he could receive; Johnson had certainly made a friend in him.