"Can I help you Mr Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked him slowly, a relieved smile tugging at her lips as Harry came to a stop before her.

"Yes Professor," Harry confirmed, as he ignored the buzzing whispers from the other students as he walked up the aisle to the Head Table. "Hermione and I were hoping you'd know of a room where I could practice the spells we'll be researching," he explained calmly, refusing to take the angry burning in his chest from the sight of Dumbledore out on Professor McGonagall. "It's just that some of the spells we've found so far are kind of explosive and we'd rather not accidentally destroy the castle," he added with a shrug.

"I can think of a room or two that might serve your purposes," Professor McGonagall confirmed with a small nod, "If you will give me some time to get them ready, then I will meet you in the library and show you and Miss Granger."

"Thank you Professor," Harry said slowly, feeling the knot in his chest loosen as he realised that he might actually be able to do this.

"Harry my boy," Dumbledore's voice rang out as he turned away to leave, "If you will meet me in my office, I believe we need to discuss your behaviour last night."

"What is there to discuss?" Harry countered coldly as he turned back, forcing a smile onto his lips as he faced the aged Headmaster. "You've once more showed me that you're willing to just sit back and watch, as the self-acclaimed 'safest place in all of Britain' tries to kill me. Again," he ground out. "Unless you're going to tell me that I don't have to compete in the Tournament, I don't want to hear another word out of your mouth."

"I know you're angry Mr Potter, but I am your Headmaster," Dumbledore began, barely restrained frustration in his voice.

"For now," Harry interrupted in a blunt and cold voice, his forced smile becoming a smirk, as Dumbledore froze. "Good day Professors, Headmasters," he spoke politely, before turning and walking away, keeping his back straight and his head high. As he walked down the middle of the Great Hall, the focus of everyone's attention, the furious whispers continued.

Not relaxing until he was sinking into the chair opposite Hermione, the brown-haired witch busy writing out a 'lesson plan' for him, Harry barely hit himself with a silencing charm before letting out a scream. Sagging down as he felt the tension seeping from his muscles, Harry looked up to smile tiredly at Hermione and nodded simply, not wanting to talk about it.

"Did you get the room?" Hermione asked instead, thankfully picking up on his non-verbal sign. "You're still silenced Harry," she interrupted as he tried to answer her.

"McGonagall has an idea and she'll meet us in here when she's ready," he repeated as he countered the spell. "And Dumbledore tried to pull me to his office," he continued, "It was all I could do to not yell or hex him," he confessed slowly.

"We don't actually know that he put your name in," Hermione reminded him, "The evidence isn't in his favour, but until we get more all we know is that he took out the books on magical contracts yesterday."

Sighing as he realised she was right, Harry just shrugged, "I'm not apologizing."

"I'm not asking you to," Hermione dismissed with a sniff. "Go look through the Charms aisles for any more books on elemental magic instead," she instructed.

Harry half got out of his seat, when he suddenly remembered his dream from before the Quidditch World Cup. "Hermione," he began slowly.

"Yes?" she asked, not looking up.

"Did I ever tell you about that odd dream I had in the summer?" he blurted, wanting to get it out, but still hesitant about scaring his only friend off.

Now, Hermione looked up, with a concerned expression, "What?" she demanded slowly. Sighing, Harry collapsed back into the chair, setting a silencing charm up around them just in case. As he leaned back he began to explain the vision-like dream he'd had about Voldemort, Wormtail, and the innocent muggle who'd been killed.

Hermione's expression went from concerned to worry in an instant. "So, this could be a plot by Voldemort, is that what you're saying?"

"It's too convenient," he pointed out, dragging a hand across his face. "And this is me we're talking about. What's the likelihood this is just a coincidence, Hermione?" Harry asked expectantly.

"Oh, Harry, you just can't catch a break," Hermione exhaled sadly, "Look, right now, we focus on the First Task, and then we can deal with You-Know-Who. For now, go find those books I wanted."

Biting back a sigh, knowing that complaining wouldn't make the Tournament go away, Harry stood and followed Hermione's orders. He may not be a fan of Hermione's intense studying habits, but right now his own ones wouldn't cut it, and since he wanted to survive this Tournament he knew that he'd just have to suck it up and get on with it. Besides, he's on board as long as he gets to play around some of these fire spells.

What kind of teenage boy wizard would he be if he didn't have a thing for fire?


PANDEMONIUM


The sound of giggling made Harry freeze. Feeling eyes burning into him as he stood with his hand outreached a book called 'A Guide to Bending the Earth'.

Cautiously glancing over to the source, he faltered at the sight of an empty aisle. The moment he glanced away, the giggling started up again, making his head whip around in time to see a shadow flick past the opening to the aisle.

Scowling as he tried to ignore what was obviously another Boy-Who-Lived groupie like Ron's little sister. Harry pulled the book on what he hoped was earth magic down from the shelf and barely managed to hold in a yelp at the face that appeared in the gap. Breathing heavily, Harry lowered his wand, his hand shaking from adrenaline as he watched the Makhai beam at him happily and giggle again.

"Harry!" a breath whispered in his ear, making him twitch as he cautiously looked over his shoulder at the bookcase he had fallen against. "Follow," the Makhai exhaled before pulling itself out of the bookshelf, the half-visible spirit floating down the aisle.

Pausing for a moment as he calmed his heartbeat down, Harry finally started after the Makhai, wondering if he could bring it – her – back to Hermione as proof of Eris' existence. Somehow, he doubted it though. He couldn't help but think that only a Demigod could see the Makhai, like how only a Wizard can see most ghosts. But maybe Hermione could feel something? Lately, that weird humming sensation behind his eyes wouldn't let off.

Carefully following the Makhai, and trying to look casual as he walked past a group of glaring Hufflepuffs (Hufflepuffs who couldn't see the half-naked woman with hulking black-green wings sprouting from her back), Harry was led into the Restricted Section and down into its depths. "Harry! Harry!" the Makhai chirped happily as she stopped and hovered at the end of an aisle at the edge of his wand-light. "Come!" she added with a crooked grin before diving down the aisle, Harry noticing that while they have wings they didn't seem to use them, instead just floating above the ground as if under the effects of a levitation charm.

Remembering what Eris had told him about them being children, Harry continued carefully, moving down the aisles until he found the one the Makhai had gone down. Only to find an empty aisle. Frowning in confusion, Harry's grip tightened on his wand and he narrowed his eyes suspiciously, flicking his wand and sending the ball of light on the tip of his wand down the aisle. Casting the Lumos charm with a lazy flick of his wand, Harry set up a couple more balls of light up and down the aisle so he could see, knowing that if he needed to defend himself against an overenthusiastic Makhai, he'd need a free wand to do so.

Suddenly a crack echoed down the aisle, Harry's wand snapping up as he watched the Makhai's head poking out from the end of the aisle with a confused expression. "Come Harry!" she chirped, vanishing again and making him sigh as he started down the hallway, refusing to feel embarrassed about his paranoia as Professor Moody's cry of 'CONSTANT VIGILANCE!' flashed through his mind.

Rounding the corner, Harry jumped back as he instinctively sent the ball of light at the person standing opposite him, throwing another at the ceiling above his head before pointing his wand at the dark person standing there.

"Harry?" the Makhai asked slowly as he stared at his reflection in the large mirror, his cheeks heating up in humiliation as he thanked Merlin that nobody saw that. Movement in the mirror made him spin around, eyeing the empty aisle behind him before glancing back at the mirror and freezing as he watched fog slowly appear on the mirror like it had the previous night.

Tensing in preparation to turn and run, hoping it would stop Eris from kidnapping him again, Harry watched as an invisible finger slowly drew some words on the surface of the mirror. The Latin 'Audi me Discordia, Dea aeterna' glowing for a split second before shifting into 'Hear me Discord, eternal Goddess'.

"Hear me Discord, eternal Goddess," Harry repeated out loud, wondering if it were some kind of incantation. "No?" he mumbled, glancing over at the Makhai that was curiously reading the titles of some of the books (And admittedly wondering if she could even read). "Uh," he began, concentrating on the almost ghostlike Latin words he could barely see beneath the English ones. "Audi me Dic - Audi me Discordia. Dea aeterna!" he called out, watching as a red smoke swirled into existence inside the mirror.

"Finally!" Eris' voice exclaimed, sounding a little deeper than he remembered it. Slowly the red smoke spread out and formed a ring while Eris' face appeared in the middle. "Hello again Hadr- Harry," she greeted slowly. "This isn't as graceful a meeting as I hoped," she admitted, "But it will suffice. Now, be still," she ordered as the Makhai appeared in front of Harry, red eyes beginning to glow as she circled him. The Goddess hummed thoughtfully as Harry stood there dumbly, the Makhai letting out a string of chirps and whistles that Harry's mind recognised as speech even if he didn't know the language.

"Hmm... your core is developing well," Eris praised slowly, a note of relief in her voice, "Good, that had worried me. And I'm picking up a seed of your father's essence, not enough to be able to place it, but at least it is there. Most Twice-Blessed only develop one of their parent's cores, but thankfully it seems you're developing both."

"Wouldn't that make me a God though?" Harry asked curiously, "You know, being the son of two Gods?"

"You lack the spark of immortality," Eris denied simply, with a scowl and a flash in her eyes. "And you were born to a mortal vessel. So no, you're not a God, merely a… merely a half-blood squared. Two human parents and two godly ones," she clarified. They stood there staring at each other for a moment longer before Eris sighed, "Harry..." she exhaled softly, "There is one thing I want you to promise me. Do not follow in my footsteps. I am the darkest of all my mother's children. I cause wars that bring Mortals to their knees because it is my nature. Your nature however, is your own," she continued, "As is your path. Do not follow me or your father, forge your own way."

As Harry stared at Eris in shock and confusion, the Goddess blinked slowly before smirking. "And my sisters said I wasn't a maternal being," she muttered to herself proudly.

Clearing his throat awkwardly to attract the Goddess' attention, Harry shifted slowly on his feet. "It's not that I don't believe you" he began nervously, "Because uh, Neville and Seamus are kinda proof that this is all real".

"It's just that you don't want to believe me," Eris interrupted with a knowing look. "Go to Gringotts. Goblins are descended from the spawn of Ares and his twin sister Enyo, so they are part of the divine world as well as the magical one. They'll be able to perform a ritual to identify whether or not you have divine heritage," she instructed, "And from what I understand, only a Demigod would be able to enter the heart of Hogwarts, the place where your little friends meet."

"But how am I supposed to get to Gringotts?" Harry asked helplessly. "I mean students aren't allowed to leave the castle during the year without permission from their Head of-" he cut himself suddenly, realising what he was about to say. "Without permission from their Head of House," he finished smugly, remembering McGonagall's offer of aid.

"I'll leave the thinking to you," Eris decided smugly, "If you're anything like myself and your mortal father then you be cunning enough to figure things out. Send Hedwig to me when you want to talk, I think you'll find she's more than capable of making the journey to and from Tartarus without coming to harm."

Before Harry had time to ask what she meant, Eris was gone and he was staring at his own face in the mirror, an upside down Makhai floating behind him. Letting out a long breath, Harry turned to face the Makhai that was watching him with wide eyes, "I don't suppose you can help me get to Gringotts, can you?" he asked slowly. When the Makhai just blinked at him dumbly, he nodded. "Yeah I figured not," he muttered as she got distracted and hovered past him to pull faces into the mirror.

Watching the Makhai at 'work', Harry allowed himself a soft chuckle at some of the faces an apparently spineless spirit could pull, a flicker of shame rushing through him as he realised that unlike Eris and his 'mortal father' he was about as cunning as Draco Malfoy.

But then again… the Sorting Hat had wanted to put him in Slytherin, the house of the cunning. Maybe he just needed to practice? If he stopped slacking off all the time, started trying to do his best. Then maybe he could be intelligent, and cunning…

Nodding to himself, Harry pushed away from the wall he found himself leaning against and started walking back towards the library. If he needed to be smart, then there was only one person he could go ask for help.

Hermione.

"- spell just isn't worth it. The drain on your magic doesn't justify the outcome, it is much better to just go with the defluxio charm and overpower it instead. Much more reliable, accurate, and explosive."

Coming to a stop in the aisles, Harry's eyebrows rose as he listened to Professor McGonagall's voice talking. Slowly peering around the corner, Harry saw the Professor and Hermione leaning over the large list of spells that he and Hermione had been making. Stepping out of the aisles and waiting until Hermione noticed him, Harry was shocked when she just gestured him back behind the shelves and winked at him, brushing her finger across her lip in the universal 'Be quiet' gesture.

"In fact, I wouldn't bother with most of these spells, lightning magic is both dangerous and unreliable," Professor McGonagall continued, "Most spells create actual lightning which, as a Muggleborn, I'm sure you know is just a large electrical discharge. This means that lightning spells usually tend to strike the nearest object that the discharge can reach, usually the caster themselves. The defluxio spell is one of the only lightning spells I've seen that actually hits what you aim at".

"I guess that makes sense. So unless the spell specifies a directional discharge then it's best to leave it alone?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Indeed, and even then it's best not to try the spell without a Mediwitch nearby. Now, I have my First Years in thirty minutes, so if you would be so kind as to go locate Mr Potter then we can continue," Professor McGonagall requested.

As Hermione's chair pushed out Harry decided to just step out himself, rounding the corner and feigning surprise at the sight of his Head of House. "Oh! Professor McGonagall, I didn't know you were there," he greeted.

The look McGonagall sent him clearly said 'Don't push it', making him duck his head awkwardly as the Professor stood up. "Filius was glad to help me dust out the old duelling chambers," she explained to them both as Hermione packed up their notes and books. "They are heavily warded to prevent spell damage, and include a passageway to the hallway outside the Hospital Wing," she continued, "I will teach you the passphrase to activate the shields and leave you to test things out on your own. Ah Irma! Miss Granger will return later to give you a list of the books she has on her, I'm afraid I don't have the time to allow her to go through the process of issuing them out."

Harry couldn't stop himself from frowning in confusion, glancing over at an equally confused looking Hermione. The 'process' of issuing a book out was as simple as handing it to Madam Pince, who tapped the book with her wand and then tapped a sheet of parchment. And they had more books than they were even allowed to issue out, so why would McGonagall- he froze and exchanged another look with Hermione, both of them realising what the Professor was doing around the same time.

"Of course Minerva," Madam Pince agreed slowly, Harry faltering slowly as he realised the librarian was staring at him intently, a faint buzzing audible behind his eyes, "Miss Granger practically lives here, I'm sure I don't need to remind her to take good care of them."

Following the silent Professor, Harry wondered why she was suddenly acting a lot colder yet sneakier around him. There was no rule preventing the Champions from receiving help from the staff was there? It wouldn't surprise him if there was, how better to screw with him than to stop him from getting some help to lessen the three year age gap between him and the other three Champions?

The long journey between the Library and the Hospital Wing was thankfully made shorter as Hermione and the Professor discussed 'Transfiguration verses Conjuration', most of what they were saying going straight over Harry's head. Thankfully he had something of his own to think about for the journey, like how Eris had seemed too confident about what he'd find at Gringotts for someone who was lying. And the way Neville and Seamus were acting meant that it was likely the Goddess could actually be telling the truth.

And if it were true? Well Harry wasn't so sure he wanted to be a Demigod…

"Welcome to the Duelling Chamber," McGonagall announced as they passed the Hospital Wing and moved two floors above it to a large circular room that had a raised dais in the middle. "Hogwarts used to have a NEWT level Duelling Class," she explained as she led them over to the other side of the room where a large gleaming diamond was set into the wall, a list of incantations and their uses written beside it.

"And the shield? It can withstand anything?" Hermione asked curiously, studying the list of controls while Harry climbed the steps to the dais.

"Outside of professional curse-breaking spells and some major dark curses, yes," McGonagall confirmed, "I have seen this shield withstand one of the Headmaster's blasting curses when he cast it at full power. I think it will be able to handle whatever you two throw at it. I have also arranged for one of the House Elves to bring over a portrait for the Chamber door, you'll be able to set a password for it and work without distractions.

"That door over there is a one-way passage to the Hospital Wing in case either of you gets injured, which I hope I don't have to ask you to avoid doing," she added dryly as she started towards the door, "I have class now, if there is anything you two need then please do not hesitate to ask."

"Thank you Professor," Harry blurted making her pause, "Just thank you."

"You will always have help from me Harry," McGonagall said softly, not turning around to look at him. "I refuse to let you down again, and since Albus is insisting we let you achieve this on your own, I find myself even more motivated to help."

Harry stood there long after she left, staring at the door, his mind repeating her words over and over again. "Harry?" a tentative voice broke through the anger that felt like it was flooding his mind. "It's alright," Hermione whispered as she awkwardly hugged him from behind, "It's going to be alright."

"I need to get to Gringotts," Harry decided suddenly, "I saw Her again in the Library, and I need to get to Gringotts," he explained simply, when Hermione looked at him oddly.

The idea of being a demigod was surreal to Harry, even though he was surrounded by magic on a daily basis. Even if he didn't entertain the idea much, a small part of him, on a subconscious level, felt a connection with Eris. One that only a son would feel for his mother.

One thing he knew for sure though, was that once he mastered his powers, he would finally put to rest the demon that was Voldemort, once and for all.