Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and its series; they belong to JK Rowling
Also I am sorry for this chapter being a bit late, but had the problem many writers have besides studies, and is known as the writers block I had the when and who but not the how, in other words had how the chapter started and finished but missed the context, I will try to write faster, that and for a moment I lost track of what I am writing, one heads up first, I suck at writing romance, so don't expect much fluff, since I am more suited for comedy, mystery and action, so wait for them in tons, then if you find a plot hole don't worry I will close them later or are important for the story, if not tell me maybe I overlooked by accident.
************************************************************ Chapter Two: Contracts and Songs
Ledah was having a good day, first he managed to wake up before his alarm, then in the cafeteria in Asgard he managed to grab the last muffin (even if it took beating the other angel with one of his wings). One of the people he watches over died and decided to become a prinnie, to wait until his other friends could join him here (seems one of them owes him money), and Hero Yui was very good helping with the paper work. He managed to hold a pleasant conversation with Selene and he received and extra copy of a Jinkouu contract meaning something interesting was going to happen.
You see Ledah was a simple grim angel, he is one of the angles selected to deal with karma on a daily basis. So when anything good happens one has to wait for the bad to balance it out. However because he was more pragmatic and collected, he was able to take it in stride, causing it to be more amusing than annoying and he really enjoyed his job, because it made life in hell very interesting, even if his cold demeanor didn't show it. Only three of the other angels knew he enjoyed his job, and Ein was one of them.
So it was no surprise when said angel knocked the doors, accompanied by Rose, Jameson and a teenager, while he was listening to the song "One Winged Angel" (one of the guilty pleasures of being the Death Angel of people in different times and dimensions is the capacity to import many things from their dimensions and times) and barely managed to cover a chuckle when the Jameson became wide eyed at recognizing the song. Yeah something good was about to happen, and the best part was that he was going to have a front row seat. Yeah, life is good.
Confusion started to fill Harry's mind as they entered, the song continued to play in the background and it was difficult to miss the twitch in Jimmiy's eyes. Harry took in the appearance of the Angel in front of him. Blond hair and teal eyes hidden behind a pair of rectangular spectacles, a stoic expression adorning his face but the faintest trace of a smirk forming at the moment they entered. Large gray wings, a white and black medieval shirt was the extent of his visible clothing and in front of him a manila folder that he was looking through.
Noli manere, manere in memoriam
Noli manere, manere in memoriam
Sephiroth, Sephiroth
Saevam iram, iram et dolorem
Saevam iram, iram et dolorem
Sephiroth, Sephiroth
When the song stopped he talked "Ein, Rose good to see you." He said in a dry tone.
"Hehe. Hi Ledah, good to see you doing well, and that you found a new helper." Ein said causing Ledah to turn and look to the side.
Harry did the same, only to spot a green prinny pointing a muggle gun at them. "How in the world did I miss that?" Harry thought to himself before returning his gaze to the Blonde Grim Angel
"Yeah he is new, but effective." Ledah responded in a tone that betrayed no emotion. "You can rest now mister Yui, they are comrades." at this the green penguin stored the gun in its pouch, but didn't remove his eyes from them. Harry was becoming a bit unnerved by the sharp glace of those big eyes causing him to start sweating.
"So well what brings a heaven grim angel to hell my old friend?" Ledah asked this time his tone was friendly, while three chairs and a small pillow appeared in front of the desk, with a wave of his hand the blond angel signaled them to take a seat.
Ein waited until they were all seated to respond to his friends question. "Well there are a few things; the first is about the file on soul 33354." He said and seeing the careful nod, while the soul in question looked again for any indication of where that number could be. "Well this is his thirteen death." He continued finally causing a reaction from Ledah in the form of widening eyes.
"How, I mean normally the high ups would have solved that, or many more souls may have ended up at our door?" Ledah asked with the raised eyebrow.
"He is one of the main souls, because of that we can´t meddle even if someone really fucked up." this time Ein's voice was a bit cold, but at the same time wary.
"So you came here in hopes of returning him in a prinnie body, sending him to hell to toughen him up or something else?" Ledah asked, causing Harry to blanch at the casual tone in which he suggested him being send to hell.
"Actually it is more of the last, since he died thirteen times, a chaotic number we could I don't know send him back with help or maybe send him back a bit further into the past to prevent the blunders." Ein suggested before pausing in thought. "Then again the suggestion to send him someplace else to train him a bit isn't a bad idea either."
This time Harry had a betrayed look, he knows that he doesn't have the ability to finish off Riddle, and still not all of the blunders were entirely his fault.
"Maybe we could do something." Ledah suggested waving a piece of paper that made Ein's and Rose's eyes widen, and a smile appear on their faces. "But he will need to do some extra work to recover the balance it is going to upset…."
Upset was the perfect word to describe Harry Potter, but then again that was quite understandable if you knew the circumstances. First he died and multiple times at that, second his whole world was thrown into a grinder, sliced and minced to finally be cooked and the results tossed in the garbage if you include the love potions. He managed to actually piss off his grim angel (Ledah was actually amused when Rose told him, apparently he was the only one to ever manage it) and now to fix the blunder he needs to work with the grim Angles and all of the happened in the last hour.
If given a second, anyone can give up and run
So just keep on walking
There's something only you can do
So that this blue planet doesn't lose its light
The concerned teenager passed through the halls of hell trying to process this information he had just received from the blond Repenter; his best friend betrayed him, his girlfriend drugged him and Hermione with love potions, he was being doped and played since day one, his other best friend was actually his soulmate but then again without knowing what love really is and what he knows being false thanks to the drugs didn't help him any.
Seize the dreams you had!
Protect your beloved friends!
You can become stronger
Unknown power dwells in your heart, when its fire is lit
Any wish, Will surely be granted...
Show me your brave heart
Not noticing where he was walking or that someone was singing, deep in his thoughts about the last thing the blond angel told him. That they could rewrite many things by sending him to the past if he accepted (and signed the contract with blood while Ein did it with his wings but he didn't understand why he did that) but he would have to complete certain specifications, delivering Vulturefart´s soul was a given, managing to help the British wizarding world advance from the fourteenth century would be difficult. Getting with Hermione, that one made him a bit nervous, he needed more information about real couples and love, not friendship or sibling love but actual romantic love. The first ones he could handle, the last was the one that scared him.
Not every day is sunny, so sometimes
Even though a cold rain is falling, just open your umbrella
There's no map of how to live, that's why we're free
You can go anywhere
Stopping by the corner he reviewed his last orders; keep the existence of this place and the other blunders a secret unless the higher-ups gave the word, train during the time it will take to file the paperwork to send him back in time so that it won't be another mess. Succeed in the previous missions without upsetting much the time line and of course killing very specific targets, now that is what had him deep in thought, he was only a mage not a killer, he knew that would take him to hell not to mention he couldn't commit cold blooded murder. Besides with the betrayals how could he know who to trust to not stab him in the back.
Run faster than the wind!
Aim farther than the skies!
You can meet a new you
Unknown courage sleeps in your heart, and when you realize
The downpour in your heart
Will surely stop...show me your brave heart
With a sigh he rounds the corner, this time he heard the voice, but what he saw made him blink and forget what he was thinking and stare gaping. The singer was a man, from what he could tell maybe twenty-three years old, tall, short black hair that looked messier that his own, it also had spiked parts, dressed in what looked like the bottom half part of a blue robe showing a mixture of a black shirt with body armor with silver lines and extra sleeves the same color as the bottom cloth, black pants with belts on the legs, and boots. He also wore what looked like a scaled silver cloth tied to his right arm, however there were two things really remarkable about him, one was his face. It reminded Harry of a river stone in the forest of Dean, hard yet not rough with what looked like segmented parts in his brow resembling scales, his eyes were closed while two dark strings rolled from his ears as he was humming the song, and the last one was a large spear like weapon, but instead of a triangular tip, it had a large blade with runes inscribed all over and because of its curved form it resembled a giant can opener.
Seize the bright tomorrow!
Protect the ones you love!
You can become stronger
Break that weak self!
Destroy the walls blocking you!
The warm beat of your heart will be your weapon
Believe in your heart.
Apparently he was the one singing in the middle of the corridor in front of a door, seated in a very ugly, pink with red stripes and purple circles couch and had what looked like brown fur. It wasn't until Harry moved closer and saw it move a bit before the man on top clenched his fist, and without opening his eyes brought it down violently on the side making a thumping sound. In that instant Harry got a good look at the "couch" and yelped in surprise when he discovered that it wasn't really furniture. The man was seated on a big Minotaur, and from the looks of it a fairly roughed up one at that.
Show me your brave heart
As the song ended the person opened his eyes and Harry noted that his eyes were a mixture of brown and green. When the man looked he caught Harry staring. The man looked at him with mild curiosity, then raised his left hand and pulled one if the cords, taking the headphones from his ears.
"Hello, you seem troubled, but then again this is hell, so 33354 how can I help you?" asked the man in a neutral tone.
Harry's eyes widened for two reasons. One because his wanderings had brought him to a stranger that was able to read his expressions and two because he didn't know where that damn number was. "Where is that bloody number?" he murmured, while searching his person yet again.
He stopped searching when he heard a chuckle. Turning to the man he notices him pointing up, so he follows the finger and finds a small golden Halo on the top of his own head, where indeed the number was written. "How in Merlin's name did I miss that?"
"Don't worry every dead person has one 33354, but not many pay attention to it since….well they are more preoccupied with being dead." spoke the man, in a tone of mild amusement.
"Thanks, so could you please call me by my name? I am Harry Potter by the way, those numbers make me feel like livestock." Harry responded with a shudder.
"Ok and to be fair since you introduced yourself it is only polite of me to do the same, my name is Sieghart Highwind. So what was bothering you earlier?" the now identified Sieghart asked.
This time Harry remembered what he had been thinking about, and was debating whether or not reveal his musings. First this was a stranger, they were in hell since the black flames still burned around him, and he looks like a warrior. Or maybe an enforcer for the grim angels, or he could even be an anti-hero, all of which explained the Minotaur. But then again he could be a demon and ready to devour his soul.
Sieghart noted his discomfort and shook his head in mild amusement, and then downright laughed spooking Harry "Sorry, but watching you thinking about all of those things and then thinking of me as a demon kind of amused me." He commented, and seeing the fearful face he continued before Harry could ask the question. "No I can´t read your mind, but I know what you may be thinking by reading your body language and applying some psychology and logic, it is quite useful in a fight." he finished with a smirk
Feeling a headache coming Harry decided to actually tell him some of his problems, well this guy was a fighter right? So maybe he could give some advice, so he talked about his deaths, and mission, omitting his previous life, soul mate and personal history.
Sieghart only nodded his head, but was paying close attention. This wasn't a condemned soul like the one he was sitting on, well not condemned to hell or heaven, just a crappy situation all around. Also the kid wasn't a warrior, oh he had seen fights, protected people, he could see it in those green eyes. The sorrow, the loss, that's why Sieghart offered to listen to his problems. Hearing that the kid was having another shot at life was good, nobody deserves to die so young, and that is until he hears about his mission to gain that chance and then having to face his real problems.
"Kid let me tell ask you something, do you want that chance, do you want to save those people?" seeing him nod Sieghart continues, "Well I think you should go for it…."
"WHAT but taking the entire mission not only is impossible," Harry interrupted. "but the last part is asking me to become a murderer and ….." this time Harry was the one interrupted but by the pain of receiving a swat to the head from the blunt side of the spear, which even in death hurt like a bitch.
"Look let me finish" Sieghart said in a firm no nonsense tone. His narrowed eyes showed Harry that he had said something really stupid. "First of all nothing is impossible if you have enough willpower, even dreams come true and reality can shatter." this time the tone was relaxed but none the less serious. "As for being murderer, what makes you think you would turn into one? Are you going to kill just for fun, revenge or a stupid ideology? NO your doing it to protect those that would be killed by your target. I know death is not good, and never will be good but sometimes it is the only option. That is the issue of saving others, in order to save them you have to stop the threat and that will mean killing it."
This time Harry had no response, he was right sometimes the threat must be taken care of. But that went against everything that Dumbledore had said about second chances. Gazing into the eyes of the spearman Harry could see that he was not finished.
"Look if you're afraid for your soul, then don't take the chance. You're not doing it for glory or money, your doing it for a good cause, I know that the idea of killing isn't appealing or even nice, but keep it that way, if you have to decide between saving many and losing everybody, then follow your heart, besides some people are un-savable. Are you going to condemn thousands just to save the very ones who threaten them, or vice versa? Just remember you can't save everybody. Also in order to save one you have to condemn another. Heck you don't have to like it, just think about it." Sieghart finished with a sigh.
Harry was in deep thought, with his new mental ability he actually was able to process what he was being told and he could comprehend it. The sad part was that while Sieghart was right, even if it went against everything that he learned in life.
Before either of the two could continue, the doors open to reveal a red headed lady, in a red dress and a black witch's hat. "Hello does one of you have an appointment?" she asked.
Sieghart raised his hand indicating that he was the one, when she motioned for him to enter, he just got up and grabbed the Minotaur by the tail and started dragging it into the room. Stopping he turned to Harry. "Want to come and see something cool?"
Harry didn't respond just went directly into the room checking out what this was all about.
An hour had passed and to say Harry Potter was amazed was an understatement, he had thought that the battle between Voldemort and Dumbledore in the DoM was impressive. It turns out what he just saw made it look like a child's play. When they entered the ladies office, her name turned out to be Sierra, she had asked about the crimes of the condemned Demi-tauro, and Sieghart showed them his last battle.
The Minotaur turned out to be the magical animagus form, even though Siegehart called it Circenic form, of a wizard called Zerlech Sinneros Mordred a descendant from the homunculous being known as Motred. While the battle at the DoM was great, clearly using high powered magic, Sieghart´s battle against his nemesis was humbling, Mordred was using wand-less magic, dark enchantments, full magical forms, complete and sentient transfiguration and even controlling Hellfire, of course the lady from the office was less than happy after she saw that fact.
Yet Sieghart showed a different face during combat, on the screen he saw a cooler headed warrior, instead of the friendly person he saw in the hallway, the one he saw in the memory was fully concentrated, yet his magic and powers where nothing to laugh about. Using the runes on the blades of his spear (changing them like arrow tips unscrewing them) like if it was a wand to deliver elemental spells, matching the battle with partial self-transformations, (the tail was a cool thought) yet when confronting the minotaur with only his bare hands was the most exciting part, the magic at the end when his face gained the segmentations and his use of something called ability magic; yet he only said it was Celestial Dragon Slayer (ancient magic used to deal with dragons).
At that he shivered oh what he would have done to actually have those spells available to him during his fourth year. But what changed him and occupied his thought while he went to Ledah's office in hell was the after math. In the end Sieghart was the one to deliver the killing blow/ Even when fighting real hellfire (a black fire that consumes everything) with his own light powering his last blow with all his life, hope and magic. Yet while there was remorse in the spearman's eyes for having to take a life he didn't have the aura of a murderer. He had to kill someone to protect another, it was his only choice he didn't like it but he chose to bear that burden instead of the dozen he would have lost at the hands of the other wizard. It was then that Harry decided that yes he would take the chance, maybe latter he would find out what love was but right now he knew he needed a lot of training.
Knocking the door he waited a moment before entering his decision made.
"You know that once you sign this, there is no turning back or another chance?" Rose asked.
"Yes." Harry said while closing his fist. While his mind was still recovering from the potions his drive was stronger than ever, he was not alone in this battles "The choice was mine and mine alone."
Ledah saw his determination and give him the ink pen, and Harry signed his full name with a flourish. Then it was his grim angels turn, but instead of grabbing the pen he yanked out one of his feathers and used it to put his name in the contract, once it was finished his wings disappeared.
"What happened" asked a worried Harry
A remorseful Rose answered "He used his wings as part of the contract if you fail another time he will lose his job and his status as a Grim angel"
But when Harry turned to see Ein he didn't see fear, but confidence and with a small nod he understood.
"So? What about training?" Harry asked.
The three of them were making their way toward the exit of hell discussing the plan of action. Right now Harry was able to comprehend more thanks to the focus his released mind was having. He was still having trouble with his feelings, but that was going to take some time to deal with.
"Well we could send you to Hell, to Asgard or another dimension to train, but it causes a bit of trouble since you need to be watched, and it needs to be for two maybe three months." responded Ein.
"Why just three months?" came from Harry.
This time Rose gave the answer "It's because that is the time it will take the contract to enter effect, you know paperwork and bureaucracy, normally it is a pain but this time it can take some time and… Hey Sieg." Rose actually stopped talking and shouted to a figure walking in front of them, one that Harry recognized minus the Minotaur beast of course.
The Dragon Slayer turned around to see a familiar black cat "Hi Rose, long time no see." seeing her company he spotted the teenager. "Yo Harry."
This actually surprised the three of them, first Ein as seeing a live soul here that wasn't a reaper and that Rose knew him, second Harry at seeing him again but that he knew Rose yet not the grim Angel, and as for Rose that he actually knew this problematic soul that may cost her friend his job.
"Who are you, how is that you're here yet alive, and how do you know Rose and Harry?" the barrage of questions came from Ein.
"Wait wait in order, name is Sieghart Highwind, magical contract that stipulates 'your going to hell even if I have to take you to the doors itself and throw you in the lava pit' is actually binding, I met Rose long ago, in fact she saved my life, as for Harry? Well I met him not long ago, by the way not wanting to be rude but who are you?" Sieghart responded while cocking his head to the side.
Realizing the stares Ein blushed, and while scratching the back of his head he responded "Ein, Grim Angel." He said sheepishly.
Rose was about to ask what he was doing here when she heard the last part, glancing to the teenager accompanying her she could detect respect and a bit of admiration or hero worship; blinking she actually had an idea, she knew the life of both, filled with trials, yet both choose to take the right path, besides she knew how strong Sieghart was and he owed her a favor or two, and if she was right maybe he could give something to the-boy-that-died-thirteen-times what he really needed it.
Smirking she acted immediately "Actually Sieg, you're returning to your world right?" seeing him nod she continued "Can you actually do me a favor, remember you owe me a couple?" she didn't wait for and answer, she knew he would accept even if he didn't owe her he would still do it, he was the type of person that likes to help others.
"Harry maybe you could go with him and he could train you." this time she looked Ein directly to the eyes, begging him to accept this, and let the kid get trained.
Ein actually sighed, "I see no problem you can go with him, I'll come to check on you later, and you can fill him in when you arrive." He said giving the spear master the pass for Harry to go to the other world, he knew to trust in Rose but this time he actually needed a drink.
The two humans gazed at each other. "Well, what do you say?" Sieghart asked. Harry accepted.
"So this portal will take us to your world?"
"Yes, just need to talk to the gatekeepers." Sieghart responded.
The two of them reached the gates that separate heaven and earth, but for them to be able pass through they need the specific Key for the specific world in the multiverse. That is the gatekeepers function, of course seeing two pink prinnies made Harry's eye twitch just remembering how close he almost becoming one.
"Hello could you open the door to these specifics?" asked Sieghart.
The prinnies only stared before responding in a double voice. "Yes we know, you have to cross the door…. The door, it knows everything, the secrets of the universe, it is of love and hate, of life and death." at this they both looked a little bit perturbed but the prinnies continued in an ominous tone of voice "The door can see into your mind, the door can see into your soul…..dood!"
This time Harry was behind Sieghart a bit perturbed while the latter asked. "Weren't you two a pair of unicorns?" with a deadpan voice
"Yeah dood! How did you know dood?"
"Just a wild guess." Sieghart said. 'we have to get out of here' he thought.
The prinnies grabbed a key and opened the gates before pushing the two inside without a second thought. It closed the door, and it was then that they discovered the slight mistake. "Oh no dood their key was supposed to be red not orange."
His companion only responded "Well they could always come back dood."
Two hours and seven dimensions later…..
"Ok that is it, the first five times was funny, but being taken by a Kaiser Nova may be epic but not something I wanted to experience myself." commented a slightly angry Sieghart, who now had a small halo on top of his head, while his clothes appeared to be cut and burned.
This time Harry looked at the instructions, grabbed the correct key and opened the door, of course after beating the crap out of the two prinnies, he was so tempted to crucio them, since he had discovered that he had come here with Hermione's wand. Of course the guilty thoughts, clouded his mind by imaging her in the outfit of those girls in the second dimension, at least his libido was okay but he needed to reflect on everything first.
Once the door opened both hopped through without a single glace to the beaten and tied up gatekeepers.
"…..dooooooood….."
End of chapter,
Hope you liked it, again sorry for the time, Betaed
Thanks to Celexs Draconia for the beta, great job
Author notes: I wanted to write the battle but decided to put in on latter, of it not this chapter would never turn up, I wanted to focus on Harry's problem identifying real emotions remember he barely felt them, and with the love potion he doesn't knows what is real, his mind is becoming more faster and normal, yet he still is the same, of course ill put on later how he died, and don't worry his training will be resumed, don't want to go into too much and bore you