This story is mostly from the perspective of Sakura, switching to Harry when she isn't at the scene of events. Harry is slightly AU, a few things changed in the aftermath of the Battle of Hogwarts. Harry is weary of fighting for his life and wishes for nothing more than a family.
Matou Residence, Friday evening
– Sakura –
"... Oh keeper of the balance!"
As the summoning came to a close, smoke welled up from the ritual circle. An eerie green light pulsed through it, illuminating the room. Then, with a crackle, lightning flashed over the smoke, dispersing it. In the circle, a man in black robes kneeled, his emerald green eyes on me. As I saw them, only one emotion shot through me: Fear. This wasn't one of the Gorgon sisters, as grandfather had expected. I glanced over to him – now he would punish me for summoning the wrong servant. I came back out of my shock as the heroic spirit spoke:
"Servant Rider answers your summons. I ask of you: are you my Master?"
Haltingly, I answered, "I, I am. My name is Sakura Matou, may I ask yours?"
He glanced over to grandfather and Shinji, then asked, "If I may be so bold, master, do you really want them to know?"
At this, Shinji ran out of patience: "Enough of this. Transfer one of your control seals alrea..."
In the blink of a moment, Rider had whipped out a stick of engraved dark wood, which shot out a nearly white, pale purple light. Mid sentence, Shinji froze stock still. Grandfather followed him a moment later. I flinched, knowing what would happen next. Blinding pain flashed throughout my body. The last thing I saw was red bolts of light before I succumbed to the darkness.
– Harry –
Knowing my luck, I should have expected something like this. Instead of an experienced wizard, or magus as they were called here, I'd drag a terrified teenage girl into a war.
I had seen her fearful glance towards the two men in the room. Was she pressured into summoning me? Then they ordered my master to hand over her control over me. In response, I snapped out two silent full body-binds, petrificus totalus. But the older one seemed to have some sort of hold over my master: She started to writhe in agony. I shot off three stunners; first on the men, then on her to spare her the pain. However, her twisting continued despite them all being unconscious. Not a purely mental hold, then. Without any idea how to stop this myself, there was only one option. To compel that man to release her. A quick "Rennervate" brought him back to awareness. Driven by the anger over both the girl's situation and being forced to resort to the darkest of magic, I mustered my full determination to impose my will upon him.
Then, I intoned, "Imperio. Stop harming my master!"
He had a keen and strangely fractured mind, and some of my attention was distracted by my master squirming on the floor. I only had a grip on part of his mind. I focused my all into another push, until my willpower and raging resolve pounded his resistance into submission and Sakura settled. As an afterthought, I threw a verbal "Incarcerous" at the younger man to make sure I wouldn't be disturbed.
Seeing as I needed information, I transfigured parchment and a feather, which I enchanted as a self-writing self-inking quill to record the coming conversation. Then, I lifted the body bind on the elder and started my interrogation. I had assisted Ron a few times: Basic facts first, then the questions pertinent to the investigation.
"Tempus. It is the evening of Friday, January 19th 2007. State your name and relation to Sakura Matou."
"Zouken Matou. I am her adopted grandfather."
"What happened to her parents and why did you adopt her?"
"In the last Grail War, her father was killed and her mother suffered brain damage, she has died since. The Tohsaka family had two potential heirs, I had none, so they gave her to me."
"They were alive when you adopted her? They gave away their own child only because they had another?"
"Yes to both. Only one could inherit the family crest, and due to their different affinities the two needed separate instruction."
"I can't believe anyone would be that ruthless. Does she have any other family left?"
"Only her sister, Rin Tohsaka. She seems to keep her distance at school."
"Aargh. Bloody brilliant. Now to the more immediately pressing matters. State how Sakura was treated during the time she lived with you, including anything that might have left lasting physical or emotional damage."
As I listened, I had to keep down a turmoil of emotions from appalled to furious. My own childhood paled in comparison to the horrors he recounted. Twice I had to reapply the Imperius as my concentration slipped due to sheer shock. Horcruxes, those crest worms he described were bloody horcruxes and Sakura had to suffer dozens of them! And as if that wasn't enough, he had added the shattered pieces of the previous Grail, knowing full well that its essence was corrupted!
What I heard drove me into a cold fury. Several pointed questions later, it changed to dismay: Zouken could only order all crest worms not bonded to her central nervous system to return to a pit in the cellar (which I immediately enforced). Abruptly removing those worms entwined with her nerves would kill Sakura. As it was, I still would have to extract one additional worm; the one next to her heart, which Zouken had designated as his main soul and would allow him to possess her.
I cursed myself – while I frequently had to deal with injuries in my line of work, I had only learnt basic diagnostic spells, Ferula, Episkey and Vulnera Sanentur. For everything else, I had relied on healers. While I closed the wounds left by the exiting worms with repeated casting of "Episkey", I considered my options. Zouken was stunned and bound so that I could concentrate. Two elaborate transfigurations saw a lifeless body double of my master placed on an operating table. For lack of a sterile room, I cast a massive "Scourgify" and an overpowered bubble-head charm that extended over her chest, constantly filtering the air it enclosed. I'd have to substitute the medical stasis spell with "Petrificus totalus" and slow blood flow with a single "Vulnera Sanentur". I always had exceptional eye-hand coordination, thus I would be using Diffindo instead of a scalpel. I repeatedly practised the entire procedure on the transfigured body until I was confident I could operate without rupturing major blood vessels or nerves. When I had finally extracted the actual horcrux and finished my chant of "Vulnera Sanentur, Vulnera Sanentur, Vulnera Sanentur", dawn had broken. I was exhausted but glad it went off without a hitch.
Now, how to deal with the crest worms? Were I Saber, I'd have the basilisk envenomed Sword of Gryffindor, as Caster enough control to cast Fiendfyre, as Berserker the contempt and hate to fuel the killing curse. But I had none of that; I couldn't guarantee the soul fragments wouldn't just jump to the nearest vessel. Hmm... still better than hundreds of crest worms. Course decided upon, I cast petrificus totalus, a flame-freezing charm and neon orange colour changing charm on the main horcrux before throwing it into the pit with the lesser worms. I swept an "Incendio" over the entire pit, watching as worms shrivelled, burst and ultimately were reduced to ash. Only the protected worm remained, potentially containing all their merged soul fragments. The ash I transfigured into a crystal phial around the horcrux, with an opening too small for it to escape. To be safe, I sealed it with a colloportus and enchanted it imperturbable and fire-proof.
I returned to my master's side. With most of the worms gone, her former beauty had become haggard. As none of her wounds directly stemmed from dark magic they would heal without blemishes, but she currently looked heavily bruised. Without potions, she'd be bedridden over the weekend and take a few days of sick leave.
Now that the immediate threat to Sakura was temporarily dealt with, my attention went back to her foster family. As much as I wanted to see Shinji locked away in youth custody for his vile acts, I doubted Sakura would testify in court. According to Zouken's account, Shinji had only shown sickening cruelty after puberty set in, so he might turn around if shown a firm hand. I couldn't just leave him on the floor, so I looked for his room and deposited him on his bed, with more comfortable bindings. Zouken himself would have to be stripped of all power over Sakura if she ever wanted to feel safe. With that in mind, I bit the bullet and resumed my Imperius enforced interrogation. The quill was still hovering above its parchment, having recorded my spells and several memos during the operation.
"This is the second interrogation of Zouken Matou, conducted on January 20th 2007. List all remaining locations of your crest worms."
"Sakura and my body are hosts. My main soul is in a small container in this room. Two are in the Matou residence garden. One is at the shopping district, crawling towards Ryuudou temple. All others had been recalled to the cellar."
Knowing that he might scurry away one of the worms in his, or worse Sakura's body (which would threaten her life) I again snapped off stunners and petrificus totalus before leaving with the horcrux vial in hand and eradicating the three wayward worms, using line-of-sight apparition to reach the shopping district.
"Let it be noted that there was a pause during which the interrogator dealt with the three worms outside this residence. Mr. Matou, do you have any assets Sakura is unaware of that might help in her... magecraft education?"
Suddenly, he put up massive resistance. What was he trying to keep secret?
"The drawers in my study room contain tomes on the fundamentals, anthropology, and the Matou magecraft. The cellar connects to an underground facility for experiments with crest worms."
With a suspicion, I looked at the transcript. Bugger! He'd only said the remaining worms were in the cellar, not the pit! Some of them had to be in that complex, and he nearly managed to misdirect me. Again, I interrupted my interrogation to deal with yet more crest worms.
"Record that I destroyed the crest worms in a room adjacent to the cellar, along with everything but the research journals. Are there any other crest worms left beyond your main soul and those in your or Sakura's body?"
"No."
"Thank Merlin. Now, I had a look at your study. A few locks yielded to Alohomora, others seem heavily trapped. Please state how to safely access the drawers in your study."
I only listened half-heartedly, knowing that the quill would document everything aside from gestures, which I had to memorize. A wizarding camera would have been useful, but oh well. Until now, all questions were related to Sakura's condition. What else might be relevant? Oh, right! A war was about to start.
"Next question. Beyond the common knowledge, what do you know about the Grail itself and likely masters in the current Grail War?"
Thus, he told me how the Grail was originally designed to regain the Third Magic, but would need the souls of all seven servants to do so, unlike the wish which could be granted with six. How it was likely still corrupted, although without Sakura as the lesser Grail it shouldn't manifest Angra Mainyu unless the gate to Akasha was opened by fully powering it. Instead, it would twist whatever wish was placed upon it. How Rin Tohsaka and an Einzbern homunculus were guaranteed to participate, while other magi might come from afar. How Rin boosted her power with with jewel magecraft, and the Einzbern representative would know of alchemy.
With that information, only one giant problem remained. As long as Zouken had his magecraft, he could control the crest worms in Sakura. Fortunately, the knowledge granted by the Grail had a solution for that which might even help her.
"Now for the last part: Can you transfer your regular magical circuits, not those from crest worms, into a family crest?"
"No, as I converted my entire body including all circuits into crest worms."
"What? You are nothing but a puppet, an abomination? Not even Riddle would have gone that far! Well, that makes it easier to deal with you. Catch. Petrificus totalus, stupefy, wingardium leviosa."
I threw him the horcrux vial, levitated his body into the pit and forced myself to burn it, telling myself that it was only a puppet, that I wasn't actually killing him. Now Zouken could live in his crystal prison, unable to hurt anyone ever again.
When the deed was done, I checked on the two children. I considered using rennervate to rouse Sakura, but decided against disturbing her sleep. A few hours later, she woke up by herself. I partially propped up the top of the recliner as talking while horizontal would be uncomfortable for her, but sitting could strain her wounds. A quick privacy spell ensured we wouldn't be overheard.
– Sakura –
Flashes of pain. All-encompassing pain. Then relief for a while, accompanied by rage. Only for the pain to return, worse than before. Relief again, but the nightmare didn't end. Several sharp stings in the chest, then a feeling of weariness. As I woke up, I heard a voice.
"Muffilato. Good morning, master. Please stay in bed, you're still weakened."
I mumbled, "Huh? I feel sore all over. What happened?"
In a distressed tone, he hastily responded, "I found out about those horrible crest worms your grandfather inflicted you with. I did what I could to get rid of most of them, but some still remain. I apologize for any pain I caused you yesterday, and that I couldn't do more. I only had your best interests at heart, but that doesn't excuse how I acted without thinking. I really hope you can forgive me."
After a short pause, he appended with a bow, "Oh, but where are my manners. Lord Harry Potter, at your service."
Still dizzy, I barely processed the first part of what he said and reacted mostly on reflex with the manners drilled into me.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lord Potter. As I mentioned before, my name is Sakura Matou."
"Oh, just call me Harry, or Rider when out and about. You... don't seem to know about me?"
Afraid of angering a servant, a living legend who could kill me with casual ease, I timidly shook my head.
"Great! You have no idea how hard it is to escape your own fame. No need to use Rider in public, then. Now, do you need anything?"
I was a bit surprised at his reaction, but mostly relieved. After a moment of consideration, I asked, "Could I have a glass of water?"
Awestruck, I watched as he first created a glass from thin air, then filled it with water coming from his implement. As a magus, I was drilled not to use magecraft for trivial tasks, and here he used it to avoid walking to the kitchen! I numbly drank to wet my parched throat and after I was done, the glass vanished.
"Everything fine now? Okay."
He hesitated a moment, but when I didn't say anything, he seemed to screw up his courage and added, "While you recuperate from your ordeal, I should probably tell you about me."
He spoke of the prophecy that shaped his life, the betrayal of his parents, being orphaned but surviving due to his mother's sacrifice. After a sigh, he clearly had to push himself as he reluctantly, with an emotionless mask on his face, told me how his relatives had hated him, starved him and treated him as a servant.
It became easier as he retold his adventures at Hogwarts, even the basilisk with mystic eyes of petrification had become a fond memory. When the second war began however, I could see that each death he remembered still affected him a little. As Harry reached the point where he walked to his own death, I couldn't help myself. I told him to come closer and hugged him. He returned the hug and I couldn't say whether the tears I felt were mine or his, probably from both of us. After a while, and still holding me close, he softly spoke of the limbo, his miraculous survival, and the defeat of Voldemort. Only then did he straighten up again.
After the war, Harry apparently was tired of fighting and turned his back on the clean up. Besides, as the Master of Death it would have been stupid to become an Auror and risk the allegiance of the Elder Wand in each fight. Instead, he returned to Hogwarts for his N.E.W.T. year together with his friend Hermione and made his career as a world-famous Quidditch seeker.
"I enjoy teaching, child care, enchanting, and most of all flying. Nothing rivals the thrill of racing through the air."
"Enchanting? Would you explain that to me?"
"As I mentioned, one of the basic disciplines of wizardry is charms, where you temporarily change the state of an object or person. For example, the flame-freezing charm makes something fireproof, while the cheering charm improves your mood. Enchantment is the art of binding such an effect to an object, making it permanent. The fastest form is the Fianto Duri, which stabilizes the spell but continually drains the caster to power it. The best enchantments use ambient magic and are often reinforced by runes, but I never took the Ancient Runes course at Hogwarts. I only know a few specific rune clusters my mentors taught me."
"Oh, so charms are similar to Alteration magecraft. What about the glass you projected before, and where did the water come from?"
He seemed amused by my eager questions and softly chuckled. "I conjured the glass, which is a form of transfiguration. I never actually questioned how aguamenti works, but from the spell structure it's some kind of summoning, so I guess the water is condensed from the clouds above, seeing as it doesn't dry out the surrounding area."
"Why the interest in enchantment in particular?"
"You see, it began three years into my career. I was Seeker for the Chudley Cannons and admitted on the English National Quidditch Team for the 2002 World Cup. After their abysmal losses in 1994 and 1998, we made a good showing against Bulgaria in the semifinals. Most exhilarating game I ever played, pity Krum retired after his team lost the finals. But where was I. The reason the British teams were hopeless in the previous Quidditch World Cups was that we insist on using British brooms. The Nimbus 2001 might have been the fastest broom before the Firebolt, but the materials alone for the latter cost more than any other broom on the market. As I later learned, ebony and goblin iron can take much denser enchantments than regular wood. So when I got involved as a counsellor in the design of the Nimbus 2002, my advice was simple: If we can't beat the Firebolt in raw performance, beat them in matching. They designed three variants for play with the different balls: Stability for Beaters, agility for Chasers and Keepers, and speed for Seekers. Only on the latter we couldn't outperform the Firebolt's speed, but personally I just saw it as a challenge to catch the Snitch despite that. I also convinced Nimbus to offer fine-tuning of brooms for each player's personal style, which they of course did for the national teams.
"Well, after all that, I was intrigued and wanted to know more about enchanting. I never had the time for a formal apprenticeship, but I learned about enchanting brooms at Nimbus, inventing novel enchantments at Weasley Wizard Wheezes, and had a glimpse of crafting foci during several years at Ollivanders. I eventually took three years off for my joint mastery project together with Hermione and earned the title of master enchanter."
As I took all that in, I noticed that the light in the room was reddening. Turning my head, I saw the sun beginning to set. Had it really been a full day since I summoned Harry? And with that thought, my hunger drew attention to itself.
"Thanks for telling me all that, and for keeping me company. Um... could you help me to the kitchen so that I can prepare dinner? You must be hungry."
"Out of the question. You need your bed rest. I'm sure I can whip something up. I only know European recipes, though. Is that a problem?"
While I had never cared for western food, it wouldn't do to offend him.
"Not at all. I don't know about my family, though. By the way, where have they been?"
As I mentioned them, he twitched nervously and slowly blushed. Oh, that was horrible. I had forgotten about them with all that was happening, and it seemed so had he. They would be livid. I shrank back at the mere thought of all the pain I would be in.
"Oh. Well…" he trailed off as he noticed my reaction and tried to reassure me. "Hey, no need to panic. As long as I draw breath, they will never again harm you. You were probably still dazed when I mentioned it, but your 'grandfather'" – he practically growled the word – "can't hurt you anymore. I razed his pit and got rid of most of the worms in you."
"H-How? They were burrowed throughout my entire body. From what grandfather told me, cutting them out would kill me."
"That's why I forced them to leave by themselves. I couldn't do anything about those worms that had attached themselves to your nerves, but the others are gone. And I made sure the man who did this to you won't come near you. I'll bring him his food separately."
With those words, and apparently unwilling to go into details, he left towards the kitchen. I still doubted that anything could free me from the pain and influence of the crest worms. But whether Harry did what he claimed or not, I could only resign myself to my fate. And looking down over my bruised and gaunt body, he clearly must have removed some of them.
After a while, I heard someone walk up the stairs. Harry was probably telling grandfather and Shinji that dinner was ready. I prepared for a fit of rage, but heard none. Whatever they talked about took longer than the cooking, the food would probably be cold by now.
The meal was somewhat unsettling. Grandfather wasn't there and Shinji seemed rather nervous but also silently fuming. We ate silently before Harry muttered "mobilicorpus" and floated me into my room. Exhausted, I quickly fell asleep.
AN: Harry acted too fast for Zouken to attempt anything before he was placed under the Imperius. He never had the chance to speak freely and force Harry to submit by holding Sakura's life ransom. During the operation, only his body was stunned, not his consciousness. Exploiting that, he spread some of his worms to the hidden chamber and garden, evading the initial obliteration.
Edit: Special thanks to OriksGaming, who noticed a few issues which I tried to address. I'm still undecided on whether to change the narration from first person to third person, so I opened a poll on my profile page.
