A/N: Well received for my return fic, I see. At the current moment, I have 15 Reviews and am on 72 Story alerts. In slightly less than 24 hours. I love you people.
_The Leaky Cauldron_
The people watching him didn't get to see him long, though there were even more stares this time, as Olivander quickly and quietly explained how to use the Floo to Harry.
"Call out 'Hogwarts Receiving Room' and then step into the flames. I'll be right behind you, Hagrid first." Olivander said, taking a pinch of the powder and tossing it into the cheerily burning flames, which turned green upon contact.
Hagrid stepped up, his huge body dwarfing the fireplace. Harry wondered how the man would even fit into the fireplace itself, much less the now green flames. Magic, I guess.
"'Ogwarts Recievin' Room!" Hagrid boomed, and stepped into the flame. His body seemed to be sucked into the fire and he vanished.
Stepping up as well, Harry looked at it with trepidation, before looking back to the wandmaker that insisted he had to go. "Is there any other way to go there, other than burning myself up?"
"The castle is warded against apparition and portkeys. You could fly a broomstick, but it'd be a daylong flight to do so." Olivander explained. "And you're not going to burn up. The powder changes the flames into a portal. Now, step through. Be sure to speak clearly."
"Yes sir." Harry nodded. Hagrid had went through at least, and he didn't seem to be worried about it. And it wasn't like when Dudley tried to make him do things to hurt himself. Taking a deep breath, he spoke aloud, but did not shout like Hagrid had. "Hogwarts Receiving Room." And with that, stepped into the merrily burning fire.
The words seemed to catch the flames, or something to that effect. Because the moment he stepped into the fire, he was thrown forward and Harry felt like he was spinning as dozens of grates passed around him. Jamming his eyes shut to stop the spinning, Harry stumbled as he slammed to a stop in front of a grate, falling through it.
And began falling onto his face, barely managing to throw his arms out to try to stop from meeting to floor with his already taped glasses.
"Hey there!" Hagrid grabbed Harry before he could fall. "Ya okay, 'Arry?" The big man set Harry back on his feet and looked at him.
"Thank you, Hagrid." Harry smiled at his friend.
The fire flared once more, and Olivander stepped out, looking at the two of them.
That… was horrendous. If at all possible, please refrain from travelling by that method again. I do not particularly enjoy fire, especially of the magical type. Shiva's voice said. Harry could almost feel her shiver.
Yes ma'am. As best as I can. Harry thought back to her, before looking to the two adults.
"Come on, Mr. Potter. We have a Headmaster to see." Olivander motioned forward.
Standing in front of a gargoyle statue, Olivander studied it for a moment before looking to Hagrid. "If you would, I assume you have the password?"
Hagrid blinked. "Oh, uh, yeah. Rock cakes!" He called to the gargoyle.
Harry was only mildly surprised when it jumped to the side, and a staircase rose behind it, leading upwards.
"Ah, Hagrid. Come up." A voice said as they stepped onto the staircase.
"It's more than Hagrid, Albus." Olivander stated as he took the steps quickly.
The voice didn't answer, but it was only a few seconds climbing to be at a door. Before Hagrid could knock, it swung open to reveal a busy office. Several chairs of various make were set in front of a large desk, and behind the desk a very old man sat, his hands folded as he watched the three people enter. A long gray beard twitched as his silver eyebrows rose in faint surprise at his guests.
Behind the old man were several bookcases, lined with both books and random trinkets that spun, flickered, or twinkled all on their own. To the side was a metal perch for a bird, and on it a large, beautifully plumed bird sat, preening.
Phoenix? Shiva's voice asked, almost startled.
Harry shrugged, as the adults in the room were beginning to speak.
"Before we begin with Mr. Potter, you did manage to pick up the package from Gringotts, Hagrid?" The old man asked.
Hagrid started patting pockets and digging through them, though this time he didn't pull out things like he had at the hut when he rescued Harry. Finally, he put a hand into one, going much deeper than Harry would have expected when his forearm went halfway into the pocket, before pulling back out the wrapped object that he'd taken.
Offering it to the man behind the desk, he took it and placed it in a drawer. Then looking back to the three waiting, he smiled at Harry. "I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts." He then pushed a little candy tray forward. "Would any of you care for a lemon drop, before we go into whatever brought you here?"
"No."
"No thank ya, Headmaster."
A rumbling came from Harry, who looked down without answering. All three adults looked at Harry.
"Hungry, Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore asked, smiling.
Harry shook his head, and then apparently changed his mind nodding very slightly. "Yes sir. But I don't need to eat anything." His stomach growled again, giving him away.
No, you do. You are hungry enough that you are making me hungry, and I literally do not eat. Shiva commented.
Harry sighed. "I don't have anything to buy food with, so I can't eat anything." He whispered, before looking up. "Could I work for some food, maybe?"
Dumbledore, Olivander, and Hagrid all blinked rapidly at Harry's comment and question. And then Dumbledore rubbed his temples, before speaking. "Sika?"
A pop, and a little creature appeared. "Yesse sir, Headmasters?" she said in a piping voice.
"Bring a few sandwiches up here for Mr. Potter please."
The little creature beamed. "Yesse sir!" before disappearing and reappearing seconds later with a tray with several sandwiches on it, handing it to Harry. Harry smiled uncertainly back at the creature as it popped again, vanishing.
Albus nodded. "Hogwarts provides for its students, Mr. Potter, of which you are one now. You will never have to work or pay for a meal here."
The relief and huge smile on Harry's face sent a rather uneasy feeling through the Headmaster, who just waved a hand for Harry to sit and eat.
"Now, what brings you here Olivander, and with young Mr. Potter, no less?" Albus asked.
"Mr. Potter will not be getting a wand, because in one hundred and ninety two wands, including seven of my specials designed solely to cause a magical reaction, Mr. Potter had not a single reaction." The wandmaker answered. "And that is because there is not a wand on Earth that can overcome the focus he is currently wearing to make a connection to his magic. Every wand in my shop could choose him, all at once, and it would avail them none."
"Excuse me?" Albus' incredulous question could be forgiven, considering the circumstances.
"Potter's Folly, Albus. He's wearing a pure mithril armlet."
The kind eyes of the Headmaster widened in shock, snapping over to Harry who was already on the second sandwich. Harry just shrunk into the chair at the attention. "I'm sorry?" Harry half asked, half offered.
Hagrid shuffled his feet where he stood. "He asked tha goblin about other vaults, and I let 'im go in there. Knew ya needed me back quick, but didn't think it'd hurt ta let him look at 'is parents stuff, Headmaster. Next thing I knew, he touches tha Folly, and some blue lady named Shiva appeared."
That's Empress Shiva, or the Empress of Ice and Snow you dolt. You are not on a first name basis with me! Shiva raged in Harry's mind. Harry stayed quiet, not wanting to draw any more attention to the trouble he had apparently caused.
"No, that was quite alright, Hagrid. I would not stop any child from learning about their parents." Dumbledore said, looking at the now slightly squirming young boy. "You are not in any trouble, Harry. I promise you that. May I see your armlet?"
Nodding, Harry lifted his sleeve again, hitching the large amount of extra cloth over his shoulder to show the silvery metal.
Dumbledore stood and walked around the desk to Harry, crouching down to get a better look. "Very interesting. It appears to be almost molded to your arm. I know from sketches from past Potters that it is sized for a larger arm though. Very interesting."
Standing again, Dumbledore nodded. "It is mithril though, I recognize it from the Hogwarts wardstone. Now Hagrid, you said something about a person named Shiva?"
"Empress Shiva." Harry added, before continuing. "She says she isn't on a first name basis with any of you."
Dumbledore froze, as both Hagrid and Olivander took their turn staring at Harry as well. Turning back to look at Harry once more, the Headmaster looked at him closely. "She is speaking with you now?"
Harry nodded.
"A magical item focus with a brain of its own?" Dumbledore whispered, his face drawing up. "Most of those type of items are very dangerous artifacts, Mr. Potter. We may have to see about taking that mind out of there. I would not take a family heirloom from you, but it may be cursed."
An icy feeling settled on Harry, as the gem in the armlet seemed to frost over slightly. You're going to need to summon me, Harry. I'm not going to be able to properly take strips out of this arrogant mortal's hide if I have to speak through you.
Didn't you say it was a strain on me, or something like that? Harry asked back.
It will not be for very long, and if you use a proper summoning instead of just feeding magic until an Esper body forms for me, it will be less draining as well. The words should come to you, if you consider them.
Harry looked at the headmaster, shaking his head. "She wants to speak with you, sir."
Drawing a wand, the Headmaster shook his head as well. "I'm not going to let her take over your body, Mr. Potter."
"No sir, she said I could summon her to speak with you." Harry stopped, remembering the damage in the vault and looked around. "Though, it's kinda small in here and I don't want her to break anything."
"I can repair anything that might break, but I would prefer to silence this voice completely, Mr. Potter. There are many dangerous things in the magical world, and you would do yourself wrong to trust something that you do not know where it keeps its mind."
Olivander had pulled his wand out as well, though it was not pointed at anything in particular.
Silence me? Silence ME! My mind is tied to the Materia, which is tied to the Throne of Ice! There, now you know!
Harry nodded, before standing. Shiva was nice to him, a friend. His second one, if you counted Hagrid as the first. He didn't want to lose a friend, such a precious thing. Breathing out, Harry didn't notice it fogged up, as if in the cold. "I know where her mind is kept, sir. And she wants to speak with you. You said you can repair this room, so I'm going to summon her."
Dumbledore backed up, wand at the ready. Olivander and Hagrid too moved to prepare themselves.
Closing his eyes, Harry considered Shiva, thought about how he was supposed to summon her. Opening his eyes as words came to him, he did not notice Dumbledore start at them, and for when looking at them they appeared to be green cat's eyes.
[Empress of Ice and Snow, I beseech the Throne of Ice. I offer magic to build the form and request your appearance for so long as it holds, at your pleasure!]
Though the eyes had given a start to the Headmaster, the hissing words caused all three to nearly jump back as Dumbledore raised his wand cautiously.
The gem above his heart had been slowing deepening in color without his notice, until it had been a fairly dark red. At these words however, the gem turned almost pink as energy flowed from it through the string tying it to the Materia on his arm.
Like in the vault, the room turned nearly frozen for a moment as ice shards began to form. The phoenix squawked and began radiating its own heat to keep its perch from freezing over, that was the only place warm in the room. Large ice crystals formed once more, and slammed into each other in front of Harry, and he saw the form of Shiva appear in the ice reflections.
The ice in the room shattered taking with it most of the objects that had frozen, and Shiva stepped forward imperiously, staring at the headmaster, who could not quite find it in himself to raise a wand against her. At least, not without her offering an attack first. Harry had warned that her summoning would break things.
"I am Shiva, Empress of Ice and Snow." She allowed the men in the room to look at her body for a moment, before clicking her fingers. "Look at me when I speak to you, unless you wish to bow on bended knee while I command you."
Three sets of eyes flew up to her face, various levels of blushes as the wizards controlled themselves. Harry smiled at his friend, though he could only see her from behind as she addressed the others.
"Now, you see that I am not a curse. You may consider me to be a spirit, summoned by Harry through an expenditure of his magic to give me a form, though I have my own magic to use once I am summoned." She looked over to the firebird sitting on its perch still, watching the proceedings. "Much like Phoenix. We both tie up a portion of the magical energy of our summoner while we reside in the mortal world."
Dumbledore quickly cut his eyes over to the bird. "Fawkes?" Said bird quickly disappeared into a burst of flame, vanishing from its perch. At that, Dumbledore turned back. "Madam"
"Empress" Shiva cut him off.
"Empress then. Do you know who his summoner is? He has been my familiar for quite some time, though I am certain I was not the one to summon him."
"No. I only know of my own link to my summoner. You would have to ask Phoenix, if he returns. And if he deigns to speak in a manner that you understand." Shiva waved it away, returning to her original rant. "Understand this, I will not allow you to take me from Harry. I do not know how much time has passed since I was last summoned, but I can tell it has been at least an age, since magic now focuses through something other than our fragments."
She strode over to the window, looking out it for a moment. "I will not be trifled with, and I am unused to having my wishes unfulfilled. Should you manage to seal me away, I will return. And I will have vengeance. Let me show you a fraction of my power."
Holding her hand out, Shiva blew over it. A cold wind flew from her, knocking the window open and a deep winter breeze floated over the grounds towards the lake. As it touched the water, everyone in the room heard her whisper. "Diamond Dust."
Dumbledore's eyes widened as the lake froze over immediately. "The merpeople!"
"Only the first six inches of water froze. I was not interested in killing anyone, Headmaster Dumbledore. It should thaw in the next few hours."
Shiva turned. "Do we have an understanding?"
Surprised by the show of power, and then the show of understanding in her mercy, Dumbledore nodded. "Very few magical items I know of with an intelligence are benign, Empress Shiva, so you will have to forgive my suspicion. But so long as you show no harm to Mr. Potter, I will not attempt to break the bond between the two of you."
"I have to forgive nothing, but I shall this time." With those words, Shiva's body broke apart into snow, which fell to the floor and melted.
Everyone looked at the melting snow for a moment, before looking back to the Headmaster.
Sighing, Dumbledore looked to Hagrid. "Could you please see to breaking some of that ice up. See what you can do to get it melting faster, as the merpeople and the squid are probably unhappy with the early winter that just happened for them."
"Yes sir, Headmaster!" Hagrid grinned, happy to be getting away. He fairly fled the office, keeping well away from the open window and the melted snow. Though he did give a smile to Harry.
"So you're just going to let this continue on then, Albus?" Olivander asked from where he had been watching.
"I see very little danger, as Harry appears to have made a strong friend in this Empress Shiva. And a great deal for him to gain." Dumbledore looked over to the just barely eleven year old. The plate sat empty on his lap. "Considering everything though, I would ask you to refrain from summoning her indoors anymore. I hadn't realized the level of destruction it would bring."
Harry winced. "I'm sorry, sir."
"No, I told you I could fix everything in here, and I can. How far through your shopping did you get with Hagrid?" Dumbledore quickly overrode Harry's apologies before moving on.
"Mr. Olivander's shop was the first thing we were doing, after visiting the bank, sir." Harry responded.
"So none of it then. Minerva might be willing to pick up your supplies for you, along with a wand." He thought outloud.
"I told you, he won't be able to use a wand. Not while he is wearing that armlet." Olivander reminded him.
Dumbledore shook his head. "A blank. I would prefer Mr. Potter to not have to show off his armlet, as it would cause problems."
Olivander nodded. "True, true. I need to go fix my shop again as well." The wandmaker then nodded to Harry. "Mr. Potter. I expect you will do many wondrous things during your time." With that, Olivander left as well, leaving Harry alone in the room with the Headmaster.
Dumbledore then walked back to his desk, sighing as he poked at a few broken items there with his wand. They drug themselves back together after a moment, and then he looked to Harry. "So, Mr. Potter, do you mind staying in the castle for a while, so that my deputy can get your supplies for you?"
Harry shook his head. "No sir. Uncle Vernon will be happy for me to be gone longer."
"Really?" Dumbledore sighed. "Little matter at the moment, unfortunately. Let us get you set up for the day in Gryffindor Tower.
_Gryffindor Common Room_
Harry smiled as he poked around the common room, left to his own devices for a little while. Professor McGonagall, who had been introduced to him as the Deputy Headmistress as well, had left him in here with a few books and an admonishment to not cause too much trouble.
That wasn't really an issue, as Shiva had asked for a bit of magic from Harry again, and was sitting in one of the chairs furthest away from the banked fireplace, staring into space.
"Harry, there is a problem." Shiva said, her ethereal voice holding a note of apprehension in it.
Harry sat in another chair across from her, relaxing into the most comfortable chairs he'd ever sat in. It even beat the one time he'd managed to tag along with the Dursley's to a furniture store and he'd fallen asleep in one of the recliners there. "Um, can I help with it?"
Shiva smiled at her summoner. "I am not sure if you can, but I will let you know what it is. That casting of Diamond Dust took a large amount of energy from me. The power in the Materia you have is just a fragment of the power drawn from my Throne of Ice. When the summoning ends, I reach back to the Throne to refill the power drawn into the Materia. However, the Throne is empty and does not respond to my call." Shiva's voice was filled with many things, most of which Harry didn't understand. Though he did understand the utter confusion.
"Had I been dethroned since I was last summoned, I would have seen who the new claimant is. However, it is like the Throne does not even recognize anyone. I would have to return there to reclaim my seat."
Harry frowned. "So you're going to have to leave?"
Shiva shook her head. "No, the only energy I have now is what is left in the Materia. If we were to break the bond between us, I would go dormant, which is what I expect had happened to me before you touched my Materia in that vault. For now, I will have to severely ration the usage of my power."
"Can I take you to this Throne then?" Harry asked, trying to be helpful.
Shiva laughed, a smile on her face now. "Thank you for offering, but I do not know the layout of the world as it is now, or where the Throne might reside. So long as you hold onto my Materia though, I shall be alright."