Chapter 3: Cold Blood (or When Things Go BOOM!)
Cyrus Greengrass was a Death Eater. He was one of the now fallen Lord Voldemort's loyal followers and his finances were one of the factors that allowed the Dark Lord to get a foothold in the British Wizarding World, before he met his downfall at the hands of a child. Daphne Greengrass didn't like it one bit.
Her father was rather cruel. Her little sister could attest to that. Astoria was a lively and energetic child. Daphne's problem usually lay in the fact that you couldn't shut the eight-year old girl up. And then their father comes into the picture.
It was grating on the nine-year old witch's nerves. The Dark Lord may have fallen, not that she could remember that far back, but her sister and herself has to deal with a bastard of a father who vocally abuses his family and moves to physical violence if they ever try to stand up to him. Her mother had the scars to prove it, scars that she obtained trying to protect her daughters from their own father.
Daphne's had enough. It was time to pull the kiddie gloves off.
She looked at the various bubbling cauldrons scattered around the room. Cyrus Greengrass was many things - a bastard, a lapdog, a supremacist - but one can't deny that he was an excellent Potions Master second only to the likes of Severus Snape. The mere thought that he was capable of causing a major Potions accident that would kill him and leave his wife widowed was ridiculous.
Daphne's lips twitched. Her face took on a sinister look that was extremely out of place on a child.
"Nighty night, Daddy."
The cauldrons bubbled. The earth seemed to shake. Fire was everywhere.
Lyra and Astoria Greengrass were out at Diagon Alley. Daphne didn't have anything to do with it. She simply waited until their Floo Powder nearly ran out and dear Cyrus yell at his wife and daughter to go out and get more. It wasn't like she kept throwing some in the fireplace when no one was watching to speed up the process. That left her father and herself at home. And while she wasn't really fond of explosions, her other tools of causing death would be too obvious. I mean if her 30-something year old father suddenly died of old age, people might think it was foul play. Same thing with poisons.
On second thought, those two would have been explicable as Potions accidents as well and would probably attract less attention than the massive explosion that consumed Greengrass manor. And it would leave the house intact for them as well.
Daphne shrugged. No use crying over spoiled milk. Dear old dad was dead and she was free. It was just a matter of getting to Diagon Alley, looking extremely singed, spouting out crocodile tears and giving her remaining family the "terrible" news.
She looked around. The flames made her a tad uncomfortable. But right now, she could care less. With another shrug, Daphne Greengrass was nowhere to be seen.
-Horizons-
Life without her father was, well, better than life with her father. Lyra loved her husband, something which both her daughters couldn't understand, but even she couldn't deny that they were better off. Cyrus was arrogant and didn't bother to leave a will. Typical. That meant, as Heiress Apparent of the Greengrass family, she would inherit everything when she came of age. Right now, her mother was using it to finance their daily lives, supplemented by Lyra's rather amazing cooking skills. Not to brag but she was sure that the Leaky Cauldron got a lot more customers the moment her mother started working there.
Then, there was Astoria. With daddy gone, she actually came out of her shell and became the bubbly, hyperactive little sister that Daphne knew and loved. There were times when her constant chattering would annoy the older girl but she'd tell Astoria to bother someone else and that was that. Not that Astoria ever listened.
So began, Greengrass life without a man.
-Horizons-
Harry Potter was a curious child. When he found out that he could talk to snakes, he tried to figure out where his ability ends. For one thing, he could talk to any snake but apparently, couldn't understand other reptiles. So, when Alexander told him of the existence of wizards, he set out to find out more. Mrs. Higgins was rather used to Harry going off on what he called "adventures" so with a shout of "be careful" coming from the kind lady, Harry was out of the house.
Of course, Harry couldn't really just wander around and yell "Here, wizard. Here, wizard. Who's a good boy?" It didn't stop him from trying though, just for the heck of it, something that made a bunch of people smile at the boy and his obviously imaginary friend.
One thing about horizons: you could never reach them. You'd travel towards it, but you would always see that line, the far end of your vision. It was something that had an air of mystery, something that would make you ask "What secrets do you hold?"
As the God of Horizons, this mystery is his to exploit. Secrets kept hidden from mortal perception fell in part within his realm. And an entire society of wizards was a rather big secret. Kruphix, in the age before the gods hibernated to await their rebirth in mortal forms, inscribed the secrets of the very world in the least likely of places. It was simply a matter of following the inscriptions in the concrete roads, in tree barks, in overturned pebbles.
Thus, Harry Potter found himself in front of a dingy, old pub called the Leaky Cauldron.
-Horizons-
The black-haired Filipino teen followed his current source of interest as the boy made his way to a known wand waver pub. He grinned. Whatever the boy was planning was sure to be interesting. Still, following the boy, he made his way inside the pub, noting the gleaming, curious eyes of his target as he stared around in wonder. As the wand wavers began to notice the awestruck boy dressed in non-wand waver clothes, Jesse Linco, being the generous Philippine born college student that he was, placed a hand on the kid's shoulder. The kid tensed up as he whispered conspiratorially.
"Everyone's staring. Follow me."
With that, he led the barely struggling kid to the back alley and with a mere thought, a passage opened.
"Well, kid. Welcome to Diagon Alley."
-Horizons-
Harry Potter tensed up as a hand was lightly placed on his shoulder. Before he could turn his head to glare at the offender, he heard a whisper in his ear.
"Everyone's staring. Follow me."
Confident that he could handle whoever was leading him to the backdoor should the need arise, Harry allowed himself to relax and simply follow the lead. He soon came face to face with a wall. Before he could speak, probably a rude way of asking what the hell he was doing there, the wall transformed. Brick by brick, the wall was rearranged until an archway was formed. And beyond that arch…
"Well, kid. Welcome to Diagon Alley."
And Harry Potter found himself in awe once again. The bustling street was filled with strange people, strange shops and strange wares. Harry Potter was a God of Mystery. What that means is that he had a sense of curiosity stronger than what was healthy.
A new place to explore, and it was his. All his. Had he not been in a dingy back alley, faced with an archway that revealed thousand of people, he would have laughed maniacally. Still, no need to forget one's manners. Mrs. Higgins took the time of teaching him those and he rather liked Mrs. Higgins.
But it was rather hard to thank someone, when they were nowhere to be seen.
-Horizons-
"Nigel!"
The addressed person looked up from a rather thick law textbook. He had black hair, a common sight in the Philippines, wore glasses and, compared to the other black haired teen that called his name, looked rather stuck up.
"What do you want?"
Jesse grinned at him. It was a sight that Nigel knew very well, and as he usually does when faced with that grin, he sighed.
"Did you favour another mortal for your own amusement again? Rumors of those "Jumpers" of yours still keep going around. You keep this up and teleportation would be the main mode of transportation for this planet."
Jesse waved the remark off. Not that Nigel was surprised. The other teen rarely ever listened to reason anyway.
"Meh, those abilities weren't hereditary anyway. I'd say this place will be Jumper-free in ten to twenty years."
Raised eyebrow.
"Ok, I might be exaggerating a bit. But this will be the last generation, I promise. But that's not important right now! I found another one!"
"Another what? Another mortal you find interesting again?"
Jesse shook his head.
"Another god, you dumbass."
That piqued the law student's interest.
"Oh?"
Jesse grinned knowingly at him.
"I know that tone. What's going on in that head of yours, Phenax?"
Phenax.
That was Nigel's identity as a god. It as a closely held secret, and one that Jesse wouldn't divulge unless the matter was serious.
"You want me to leave your current project alone?"
Jesse nodded, his eyes stony despite the amused grin that was still on his face.
"How perceptive of you, Oh Great Deceiving One. You'd make a fine lawyer indeed."
Nigel groaned. He was supposed to be a normal law student, aiming to make a mark in the legal world, until his divine heritage was discovered. Jesse was the only one who knew who he was and the blithering idiot just wouldn't let him live it down. Apparently, his dream job and his realm of power was an amusing combination.
"I hate you."
The other boy grinned back at him. Like a loon, he absently thought.
"Anyways, I think I've left the kid alone for some time already. Better get back to jolly, old England. Bye-bye!"
And with that he was gone.
Contrary to popular belief, Jesse wasn't stupid. He was hyperactive, sure, and he had a unique sense of imagination, but he wasn't stupid. Nigel was a friend, a good one. But the Biology student decided to keep an even closer eye on his current pet project. Giving your complete trust to someone called the God of Deception was just asking for trouble.
-Horizons-
The last thing Daphne Greengrass expected to see in the Alley was a black haired boy, with emerald eyes covered by glasses and a lightning bolt scar on his forehead that just screamed out the boy's identity. She took in the boy's attire, a set of Muggle clothes that would allow the s0o-called Boy-Who-Lived to seamlessly blend in with the Muggle World.
It was a complete surprise to see that he wasn't recognized yet. And with that, she made a decision. Befriending the Bo-Who-Lived would boost her status among Wizarding social circles. Not that she needed to, but she had to keep up appearances.
"Harry Potter."
-Horizons
"Harry Potter."
The voice was female this time, he concluded. A young female, by the sound of it. He turned around.
She was blonde. Her face was sharp, and her blue eyes were staring at him, as if the girl was merely examining an interesting science experiment. He was taller than the girl, sure, but there was something off about her. Something dangerous.
"You're lost."
It was a statement. A true one at that. Harry wanted to reply but the mere presence of the girl causes his instincts to run wild. Here was a predator. And with that, Harry knew. The girl in front of him wasn't a mere mortal.
Harry nodded. The girl stared at him some more, her face completely devoid of any emotion that Harry could see. Then she nodded, as if to herself. Without asking, she grabbed his hand and pulled him to the direction of the massive marble building at the end of the cobbled street.
"Come with me."
It wasn't a request.
A tentative friendship was formed.
Back in the alley, a black haired teen grinned.
-Horizons-
"Phenax the Deceiver, who lurks in the recesses of mortal minds. He who knows no true form, whose lips know not the difference between truth and lie. He who turns friend to foe, who plays with the hearts of men. Phenax, Hidden in the Shadows. Silver-Tongued Phenax, the God of Deception."
-Horizons-
AN: So far we have Heliod, Kruphix,Phenax and a couple of unknown deities. As you may have realized by now, not all of the deities would be British, not all of them would be Wizards and while I'm not sure about this yet, just maybe, not all of them would take the form of humans.