Harry Potter: the Spectacular Spiderman
Chapter 4
Frogs and Snails and Puppydogs' TailsDinner was a wonderful whirlwind for Hermione. Best of all was the plan that was developed for the rest of the holidays. Since the Grangers had to keep office hours until New Year's Eve, Hermione would have been left home alone. The plan had Lorna picking her up when she made her trip to Oxford tomorrow. Hermione would then be spending the rest of the week at the Bowman's.
On New Year's Eve, the Bowmans, Harry and Hermione would head over to the Granger's for a nice Family New Year's Eve party and spend the night. The week of New Year's Day, the Granger's had closed their practice, but the Bowman's had to work. So, Harry, Carrie, Lana and Lisa were going to spend that entire week at the Grangers!
Hermione quivered with excitement. She'd never been to a friend's house for a sleep over, and now she was going to spend five days with her four new friends! She'd never had a friend sleep over, and now she was going to have four, for a whole week! And, one of them was a cute boy, a really cute boy that had become her friend. She could hardly wait!
The next morning, Hermione rose early even for her. She was too excited to stay in bed any longer, even though her clock said it was only five o'clock. She'd already packed a bag with her clothes, a couple of books she wanted to share with Harry and Carrie, and a book to read today while Mrs. Bowman was working at her office. She didn't know what to do with herself for the next three hours. Mrs. Bowman wasn't due to arrive until eight, and it wouldn't take her even thirty minutes to get ready.
What was she going to do with herself until then? Might as well get the necessities out of the way. She shook out her bushy hair from its nighttime ponytail, grabbed the clothes she wanted to wear for her first time on a college campus, and headed to the bathroom.
Twenty minutes later, Hermione despaired of ever conquering her unruly bushy hair. Even wet, she could barely get a brush through it! Oh how she wished she had beautiful hair like any one of the Bowman sisters, that fell in waves, or cute curls, or even straight and manageable hair.
Twenty more minutes, and Hermione had eaten her breakfast, brushed and flossed her teeth, and looked at the clock accusingly for the twentieth time. It just couldn't only be twenty minutes to six! With a sigh, she headed to the study, maybe she could knock out some orbital or analytical mechanics; the mathematics of precession were quite fascinating.
Caught up in the beautiful symmetry of mathematics, Hermione barely heard her parents getting ready to head to their practice. However, when the doorbell rang, she sprang from her desk, and raced to answer the door. Breathlessly, she opened the door, excitement making her pulse pound in her ears.
When Harry and Carrie waved at her with huge grins, Hermione's mouth opened and closed twice before they had mercy upon her and leapt forward to give her a hug.
Hermione finally found her voice, and grumped, "You two! I didn't know you were coming along today! I thought your mother was going to pick me up and that I'd be left to my own devices all day until she was ready to go home."
Harry gave an exaggerated pout. "Aren't you glad to see us?" Then, looking at Carrie, he gave a much-maligned sigh, and said, with exaggerated heartbreak, "I guess the honeymoon period of the relationship is over."
Carrie giggled at Harry's over done melodramatics. Then, pensively she asked, "Maybe you just need to make up?"
Hermione's eyes darted between the two. Her brain was just starting to reengage when Harry gave an exaggerated pucker and moved towards her lips. She froze up completely, and Harry planted a huge smooch on her lips. Still frozen, she blushed scarlet to her toes.
Mrs. Bowman finally had mercy on Hermione, and stepped into the house.
"Why don't you take these two rapscallions with you, and go gather your things? Don't forget to tell your parents goodbye!"
The noise of a small herd of elephants charging up the stairway brought the Grangers out to the foyer. They greeted Lorna warmly, and chatted until the herd reappeared. Harry was carrying Hermione's bag, with a box of books balanced on his other arm. Carrie was carrying a knapsack, no doubt filled with even more books, while Hermione was carrying a smaller, overnight bag.
Ellen snatched her progeny from the edge of the herd and pulled her into a warm hug. She murmured into Hermione's hair.
"Have fun, honey! We'll see you in a few days for the party. Now, be good and give your daddy a hug."
Hermione blurted in outrage, "Mum! You don't have to tell me to be good! How embarrassing! I'm not six!" Still, she gave her mum a squeeze, then leapt into her daddy's waiting arms.
Don caught his daughter and spun her around once. As he set her on her feet, he said, "Pumpkin, I'm glad you've found some friends your own age. I'm sure you'll be a perfect little lady, and still have fun. But, we'll miss you. Now, be off with you, before your mum starts with the waterworks."
Hermione felt her eyes moisten and turned to leave. She saw Harry staring at her with a smirk, and mouthed, "Pumpkin?"
Hermione smacked his shoulder and blushed. She'd hit him harder than she'd meant to and her hand stung, but Harry didn't seem to notice, and just widened his grin. Out of the side of his mouth, Harry said, "Come on, Pumpkin. Let's get your bags in the boot."
Hermione gave Harry's back a severe stare. Briefly, she wondered how he was managing to carry the thirty-pound box of textbooks so effortlessly, but then she heard Carrie giggle. She turned her hard stare on Carrie suspiciously.
Seeing Hermione's expression, Carrie said, "Please don't take it wrong, Hermione! That he feels close enough to you to tease you is a good thing. Talking to most people he hardly feels is worth the effort."
Hermione huffed, and gave Carrie a tentative smile as she said, "I'm just not used to having people know me well enough to tease. It's just a bit embarrassing."
Carrie used one arm to pull Hermione in close, and whispered into her ear, "You just need some ammunition so you can tease Harry back. For instance, did you know he's hopelessly ticklish?"
Harry placed the box and bag in the boot, and turned to see the girls approaching him with evil grins. A bit leery, he took their burdens and added them to the boot and closed it. Heading around the car, he saw Carrie still giving him an evil smirk as she held the door open, waiting for him to get in the back seat. Looking at Carrie askance, Harry climbed into the back seat, only to find Hermione sitting next to the opposite door. Then, Carrie slid in, and shoved him over with her hip. Harry was sure that the girls on either side of him were up to something.
As Harry reached for both ends of his seatbelt, both girls dug their fingers into his ribs with an explosion of giggles. Harry flinched, twisted, and tried to trap their hands, but as soon as he'd capture one of their hands, they'd bring the other hand in to tweak him in the ribs again! Harry was still twisting and giggling wildly when Lorna opened the driver's door. She gave the wild twisting mass in the back seat a glance and slid in behind the wheel.
As she started the car, Lorna said in an off hand way, "You might want to let up on Harry, and give him a chance to breathe."
As Lorna pulled away for the short drive to the Oxford campus, the giggling died down and turned to an excited discussion of the campus, the holiday plans, and the sleeping arrangements. When Lorna pulled her Toyota into her parking space in front of the Education Building, the kids exploded from the back seat.
Lorna laughed at the excitement on all of their faces. She pulled a twenty-pound note from her purse and gave it to Carrie.
"Now, I'm going to be busy until at least mid-afternoon," she said, "so use that to buy all of you lunch. Check back with me at about two this afternoon. First though, come inside with me, and I'll show you my office. There you can link up with my grad student, Amy, who has graciously offered to be your guide about campus today."
Hermione was staring at the beautiful old ivy-covered stone building with awe. Then, she spun in a circle to stare at the surrounding buildings with delight.
Hermione gushed, "Oh, wow! None of these buildings are less than four hundred years old! It is so beautiful and peaceful!"
Carrie gasped, and asked, aghast, "You live in this town, and yet you haven't ever been here before?"
Hermione ducked her head in embarrassment, as she said softly, "No, my parents went to Cambridge. So, they hold Oxford in a certain distain, even though half of my tutors are students here."
Lorna harrumphed, "Well! We'll just have to show off the second oldest University in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world! Come along, you lot."
She led them off towards the huge, ornate, recessed main entrance door, set in a beveled arch. The ivy crawled up the walls three stories around the entry and the children were taken by the sense of history and age that pervaded the place.
As they passed through the heavy oaken doors, they stepped into another age. The floors were wide oak planks, and like the floor they could see above them, supported by even heavier oak beams. Centuries of buffing and countless footfalls had polished the oak to a glistening, rich sheen. Solid, rough-hewn granite walls were lit by the only nod to the twentieth century, a series of fluorescent lights strung down the center of the hallway. All of the interior woodwork was done in heavy hand-carved native woods: walnut, oak, maple, hickory, and chestnut.
When they got to an intersection with a hallway leading down one of the wings that extended off the front face of the building, Lorna led them about halfway down the wing to her office. The three-inch thick door was already unlocked, so she opened it and held it for them to precede her inside. Three of the four tiny cubbyholes in the front room were already occupied.
"Good morning, gang!" Lorna said to the group. They stood, and came over for introductions. She waved at the students, and said, "These are my graduate assistants, Amy, Todd, and Michelle. I call them collectively 'the Three Treecutters', but you'll have to get them to explain the reference. I'd like to formally introduce you to three of the brightest young people I've ever known. First, this is my oldest daughter, Carrie. Then there's Hermione Granger, whom we just met at the National Academic Awards, yesterday. And, finally, this is Harry."
Amy interrupted at that point and rushed forward to grab Harry's hand in both of hers. "Well, bless my soul. It's Harry Potter! This is a distinct pleasure, Harry."
Harry didn't understand Amy's effusive greeting or why she had singled him out after being introduced to all three of them. Harry, Carrie and Hermione looked at each other, and then at the three graduate students quizzically.
Lorna gave Amy a bemused look, then looked between Harry and Carrie apologetically, "Now, I need to beg your forgiveness. I'm not sure I ever explained how much research and documentation I've done on you two over the years. The two of you are central to proving some of my theories on child rearing and education. So, don't be surprised by these three's knowledge about you. Hermione, I'll need to ask for your parents' approval, but I'd first like to ask you to think about if we might include a comparison between your learning methods, and these other two?"
Before Hermione could answer, Carrie gave her mother a glare. "Have you been experimenting on us, Mum?"
"No! Other than getting you two the best tutors I could find that believed in allowing students to learn at their own best pace, I have done nothing. Their theories of education tied closely with some of my own research. All we have done here is to document your progress and accomplishments.
"Now Amy has volunteered to be your guide today, but the rest of us are going to be busy. So, off you go."
Amy played the part of enthusiastic tour guide as they explored each of the three floors of the building. She pointed out the various classrooms and discussed the professors that taught in each one. They finished with the huge old building in just under an hour, and by then the three youngsters were tired of just looking at empty classrooms.
Hermione asked, "Can we see the library now? Or the bookstore?"
Amy pulled up just shy of the door and turned to see the Carrie and Harry nodding in agreement. She gave them an enigmatic smile.
"Most certainly… if you don't see anything else that draws your attention on the way."
They stepped out into the chilly morning air, and pulled their coats closed to keep out the breeze. They headed down a walk, decorated with small piles of snow on either side, towards a second building. Hermione was giddy with excitement. She loved libraries, especially old ones. Both Harry and Carrie were both more interested in the bookstore, since there they would see the books that the students were using for their classes. Then, Harry saw something out of the corner of his eye. Nestled in a copse of trees was a small odd-looking greenhouse, faceted like a gem. The peculiarities made him stop short, and since he was still holding both of the girl's hands, they were pulled up short as well.
Both girls started to ask Harry why he'd pulled them to a stop. Instead he blurted, "Do you see that? What is that?" They looked at where he was staring and saw the odd greenhouse too. Their protests trailed off.
Amy came up behind them. She asked, "You can all see the greenhouse?"
Carrie looked at her in annoyance, "What do you mean, 'can we see the greenhouse', it's kind of hard to miss!"
"Yeah! What's in there? It looks like it would be chance to see something other than snow and slush," Harry said.
Amy shook her head incredulously and snorted, "Fine. Come on, then."
They took an unmarked path through the cluster of trees and underbrush that surrounded the greenhouse. As they got nearer, they saw more detail. The odd structure had eight sides, each about twenty feet long, each with a door centered, and each was a different color. As his puzzlement grew, Harry glanced questioningly at both Carrie and Hermione. However, from the looks they gave him, they clearly didn't know quite what to make of the oddities either.
Amy opened the nearest door and held it for them all to enter before her. As he stepped inside, Harry was hit by a wave of hot, dry air that filled the antechamber. Amy closed the door and started to take off her outer garments. First, her scarf and cap, then her coat, and hung them on hooks near the door. She put her hands on her hips and gave them a look.
"Well, come on, you lot. You certainly don't need to wear those coats, hats, and scarves in here!"
As he and the girls took off their winter gear, Harry looked at the room they found themselves in. The puzzle deepened. With an octagonal shape, the walls should have had to angle inward from the join with the next side, but the entry chamber was rectangular, which made no sense. Then there was the view. The innermost wall was all glass, and should have just about bisected the space within the greenhouse. Instead, they were overlooking a vast panorama of sand and rock, covered with sparse vegetation. Harry and the girls finished and hung up their coats before walking over to the glass wall.
After sharing looks of disbelief and shock with Carrie and Hermione, Harry demanded, "What is this place? It just can't be! This room looks like it is at least two hundred yards across. That's way too big for the building we saw!"
Amy replied serenely, "Well, this is going to take awhile. So let's all go inside and find a seat and I'll try to explain."
Hermione muttered darkly, "This better be good!"
Amy touched the glass panel in the center and it opened soundlessly. Once the three children were inside, she stepped in and touched the panel again and it closed, just as soundlessly. She rounded on the children and saw them all gaping at the view. From the inside, it looked as if they had all just been transported to a desert somewhere! The walls had disappeared! The ceiling looked like a cloudless, crystal clear sky, with the sun hot and bright, directly overhead. Not the overcast that they'd just come out of.
Harry could only manage, "Wow!"
Hermione spun on Amy, "Just what is going on! This is impossible!"
Carrie cocked her head, and squinted at what seemed to be a patch of Barrel Cactus a few feet away.
She asked, with a quiver in her voice, "Are those cactus' needles moving?"
Amy gave a big grin. Then she spoke over the clamor.
"Ok. Just a second! I can't answer every question at once. So, first of all, this place was created with magic. I know, I know: magic? You don't believe me, right? Well, let me give you a brief demonstration."
With that, Amy pulled a short stick out of her back pocket, muttered under her breath, and gave it a swish. A big overstuffed couch appeared instantly, right where her stick had pointed. While the three were still gaping in awe, she did it again, and an overstuffed armchair appeared, facing the couch.
She gave them an amused smile, pocketed her stick and sat down in the chair.
With a grin, she said, "Take a load off. This could take a while."
Harry was still staring at the couch in shock. He looked at Carrie and Hermione, shook his head to clear his thoughts, then grabbed both of their hands. He led them, unresisting, to the couch. Hermione reached out a trembling hand and touched the couch quickly, as if it might be hot. Unhurt, she laid her palm on the arm of the couch to feel the fabric.
Hermione spun on Amy, "It's real! How did you do that? You can't do that!"
Carrie rubbed her chin, her unconscious mannerism when deep in thought. Speculatively, she said, "Well, Holmes, when you have eliminated the possible, only the impossible remains."
Harry argued, "But, but she just violated conservation of energy! You just can't do that!"
"Sit. Down. Now," Amy said firmly, through her clenched teeth.
The three shared a fearful glance. The glance said an unspoken: 'It probably wouldn't be a good idea to upset the woman who just violated the laws of reality, now would it?' They all dropped to the couch and gave her their complete attention.
"Good. Now, first off, I'm a witch, as are you two, Carrie and Hermione. Harry, you're a wizard. As to how I know that? This greenhouse has charms that repel normal people, or, as we call them, muggles. Well, I already knew that Harry was a wizard. In fact, he's the most famous wizard his age in the world!"
Harry gaped in disbelief. He stammered, "H-how can I be a famous wizard? I-I didn't even know I was a wizard! I can't do anything like you just did, so that can't be right."
Amy giggled, and when she did, her rather impressive chest jiggled, which may have distracted Harry, but Hermione pressed her.
"Why didn't any of us know about magic? If we are, as you say, witches and wizards, why can't we do anything like what you just did? "
Amy sighed and gathered her composure visibly. "You haven't been trained up, yet. When you turn eleven, each of you will receive a letter of invitation to attend Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Didn't anything ever happen around you that you couldn't explain?"
Harry and Carrie shared a shocked glance, as Amy continued on.
" Since you two girls' parents are both muggles, that makes you muggleborn, and the letter would normally represent you and your respective families' introduction to the Wizarding World. Harry isn't muggleborn, but as he's lived with his muggle relations since his parents' deaths. That's why he knows nothing about his heritage either."
Carrie interjected, "Wait! What 'Wizarding World'? There are more of you? I mean, us?"
Amy giggled again, and Harry was distracted, again.
Finally, with a snort, she said, "What? You thought I made all of this? Come on! I'm not that much older than you! I just help out Professor Amblin around here."
Hermione focused in on a key word, and asked, "Normally?"
Harry blurted, "What heritage?"
"Oh, for Merlin's sake! Will you let me finish? I promise to answer any remaining questions, but just let me cover the basics, first. Okay?"
At the three's reluctant nods. Amy squared her shoulders and began what was obviously a well thought out, if a bit unpracticed, introduction.
"The Wizarding World split off from muggle society in the early sixteen hundreds. They've been using their magic for centuries to cover up any interaction between them and muggles. Now, the International Convention of Wizardry enforces that secrecy globally under the Secrecy Act of 1636. Which basically says, 'No one may tell, or allow to find out about magic, a muggle not directly related to a witch or wizard.' So, although it is traditional not to inform muggleborns about magic until they get their Hogwart's letters, I won't get in trouble for violating the Secrecy Act with you two.
"Harry is an entirely different matter. The story begins long before he was born. In fact, it was before his parents had received their own Hogwart's letters. But before you can understand his story, I need to give you a bit of a synopsis about Wizarding Society.
"When the Wizard's broke off contact with the muggles, many of them, no doubt due to secretly using their magic, had risen into the muggle nobility. Thus, when they broke off, these same families became the nobility of the Wizarding World. Also, if you'll remember your history, the Magna Carta had already been signed; however, when they separated, the Nobility only applied it regularly to their dealings with other nobles. Only the King could enforce the terms on the Nobility. So, a key aspect of the formation of Wizarding Society is simply this, there is no king!"
"Add to that, the fact that witches and wizards live more than twice as long as their muggle counterparts, barring violent deaths, and you have a culture steeped in tradition. Thus, the Wizarding World has followed very few of the changes that have occurred in the muggle world. It is still a Feudal, Male-Dominated, slave holding society."
Hermione had listened to every word, but could no longer contain her outrage.
"What! That's preposterous! Why wouldn't the attitudes of the muggles still be introduced by the muggleborn witches and wizards, when they were brought into Hogwarts?"
Amy dropped her head, tears filling her eyes, and sniffed, "Because if they become too much of a problem, they are enslaved or killed. Like my parents."
Carrie darted to Amy's side and pulled her into a hug. She murmured, "That's awful! What happened to your parents?"
"T-They both were trying to modernize the Wizarding World's legal system. One of the so-called Ancient and Noble houses took exception and enslaved them both. M-my dad didn't last a year. He was killed for using his magic against his master. No doubt, because my mum was forced to be a sex slave for his friends, but then when she got pregnant, they turned her into a broodmare, and forced her to have children as fast as she could. B-but the babies of slaves are born slaves! I have four half-sisters who are slaves! Her fifth child born in slavery was a Squib, so they simply slaughtered both her and her baby boy, like animals!"
Hermione's hand was covering her mouth in shock. "Oh my God! Why would we want anything to do with such people?"
Carrie asked, "What's a Squib?"
With weary resignation, Amy answered, "Carrie, Squibs are children born to witches that have no magic at all. Hermione, it's because you have really have no choice. By chance, you have magic. Even if you didn't attend Hogwarts, they would find out about you. Then, they would probably wipe your parents memories of you, or arrange an 'accident' for them, and enslave you anyway. Without training, you would have no chance of defending yourself or your parents."
Carrie said bitterly, "Training didn't help your parents though, did it?"
"No," Amy choked out.
Then Amy broke down, weeping inconsolably.
Harry stood, and said resolutely, "Well, I won't stand for it! I won't let that happen to any of you!"
Hermione said, "What can you do, Harry? You're only nine years old! Besides, you don't know any more magic than I do!"
Hermione dragged herself over to sit on the other arm of Amy's chair. After a minute of both girls hugging her, Amy finally was able to slow her crying to sobs.
Harry stood before them, his fists clenched in rage, and muscles standing out with the strain.
"Amy," he demanded, "Look at me. There must have been a reason for you to take this risk. I mean, why did you break with 'tradition' and tell us about the Wizarding World, now? What would happen to you if anybody found out? And, you never told us about my 'heritage'. Does that have something to do with why you've told us all of this now?"
Amy wiped the tears from her eyes and took a halting breath. "Yes, Harry. Your heritage has everything to do with why I've told you about magic today. I didn't know these two would be witches, too. I was planning on getting them to the library and sneaking you off to show you this place, and have this talk with just you. You guys shot that plan out of the water! You're right, too. If anyone finds out what I'm doing, they would kill or enslave me."
Amy managed a choking chuckle. Then, she wiped the tears off her cheeks and went on. "Your parents were murdered by the Pure-Blood fanatic, Lord Voldemort. Harry, you are the last member of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter."
Before she could explain further, Harry broke in, "What! My Aunt and Uncle told me my dad was a drunk and killed both him and my mum in a drunken auto accident! That was where I got this scar!"
Amy froze for a second, then leapt to her feet and grabbed Harry by the shoulders. She stared intently into his eyes and said, "Harry, I can't believe they would say such things to you! Both of your parents were heroes and crusaders for muggleborn rights. They couldn't be as easily silenced either, since your father was the heir to an Ancient and Noble house! The reason you are famous, is that on the night Lord Voldemort killed your parents, he also tried to kill you. However, his killing curse failed to kill you, thus you are known in the Wizarding World as: the-boy-who-lived. Somehow that terrible, unstoppable curse that Lord Voldemort had used to kill your parents and innumerable others with, didn't kill you, a baby. It destroyed him, instead!"
"How is that even possible?" All of them demanded at once.
"No one knows. But after his downfall, the most powerful of his Deatheaters, his closest followers, those that were of Noble houses, simply used their political power or bought themselves out of Azkaban or the Dementor's kiss. So, Harry has a whole group of rich and powerful enemies, who would like nothing more than to kill the-boy-who-lived."
Seeing their puzzlement, and before they could ask, Amy rushed on.
"Azkaban is the Wizarding World's prison. It is guarded by Dementors: foul soul-sucking dark creatures that leech all happy thoughts from anyone nearby, and worse, makes them relive their worst memories. If that were all, Dementors would be terrible creatures, but their kiss, their kiss sucks out the very soul of a person!"
Hermione shrieked, "That's terrible! How can they even allow such foul creatures exist, let alone use them for punishment!"
Carrie looked at Harry and asked Amy, "Is there any way that Harry can help protect all of us?"
Amy winced, and gave Harry a pleading look.
"Only if he invokes the line continuation clauses of House Potter. That would make him the head of an Ancient and Noble house. As such, he can accept my oath and become my Liege Lord, and give me the protection of House Potter as a vassal. For you two, as muggleborns, it's not so easy. You can't become vassals. It just won't work. You don't have the standing for such a relationship to be recognized."
Harry growled, "I have to be able to protect them! There must be a way!"
Amy flushed a bright red, before she hesitantly offered.
"Well, you could enter into a betrothal."
"What!" All three of them yelled.
Carrie said, in total disbelief, "We're only ten and Harry's only nine!"
Hermione, tried to ignore her flush of excitement and joy. Not wanting to admit to those feelings, she argued logically, "He can't be betrothed to both of us!"
Amy frowned. She said, "Maybe not. Your ages don't matter though, since in the Wizarding World you could have been entered into a contract marriage before birth. Besides, that is not complete protection, as you would only be provisional members of House Potter. But the only other options are worse. You could become Harry's concubines or slaves."
Carrie snarled, "Contract marriages! How backward can you get? Does the Wizarding World follow all of the Victorian Age customs?"
Sadly, Amy nodded and said, "Pretty much. Slavery, harems, dueling, honor oaths; the whole nine yards."
Hermione looked at Harry, blushed and asked, "What exactly would slavery or concubine status mean?"
Harry sternly demanded an explanation, "I've heard the term concubine, and I certainly know what a slave is! But could you explain what exactly what they are in the Wizarding World? Also, what do I have to do to become 'Lord Potter'?"
Amy shook her head. "No, no. To clarify, you won't be able to become Lord Potter until you are eleven. You can only become Head of House until then. It's not the same. As Head of an Ancient and Noble house, you may act on behalf of the house. It is not until you become Lord Potter that you would be able to act upon your own behalf, and take up your seat on the Wizengamot. Still, to become the Head of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter, you simply have to present yourself to Gringott's for verification of your bloodline.
"As Head of an Ancient and Noble House, under the terms of its Line Continuation Clauses, you may be able to take more than one wife, you will certainly be allowed one or more concubines. We won't know until your family vaults are opened by the goblins, and all of the line continuation clauses are examined.
"Any Noble House may take slaves, but given your distaste at the concept, we may want to reserve that option for emergencies. Still, I would expect being your slave, Harry, would be better treatment than most witches, even the noble born, could expect from any of the pure blood nobles even as a wife."
Hermione and Carrie looked at each other, and saw matching disgust and shock at the revelations about Wizarding society. Harry hung his head in his hands and groaned.
Despairingly, Harry moaned, "Your parents are going to kill me! I just met you yesterday, Hermione! And now, I have to explain to your parents that you're a witch and I'm a wizard? And worse! Why it might just be best we become betrothed at age ten? And you, Carrie! Your parents know about my powers, but this on top of that? I'll be lucky if they don't tell me never darken their door again! Finally, what about the rest of your families? If they aren't protected, too, wouldn't someone be able to use that against us?"
Harry seemed to be working himself into a frenzy. So, first Hermione, then Carrie put their arms around him and gave him a hug.
Amy haltingly asked, "What powers? You shouldn't be able to do more than accidental magic when you get extremely angry, frustrated or scared."
Now absolutely disgusted with himself, Harry muttered, "Just great! I'm not just some bloody Lord… but the bloody-boy-who-lived… and a bloody freak, even among Wizards!"
Hermione, not in on the secret of Harry's Spiderman powers yet, gave Carrie a puzzled look. Carrie caught Hermione's look, and the frank one Amy was sending her way, then seeing that Harry wanted to wallow in self-pity for a bit longer, began to explain.
"Well, the first time I met Harry, he had just smashed himself into a tree and knocked himself unconscious."
Hermione couldn't resist, she tittered, "Harry 'Grace' Potter, then?"
Both Harry and Carrie gave Hermione a severe look. Carrie stepped back and put both hands on her hips.
She visibly controlled her pique, then said, "Well, it would be one thing if he had just been walking through the woods and knocked himself out. But, as I was about to say, before I was so rudely interrupted; was that he actually hit the tree about thirty feet up the trunk, knocked himself unconscious before he fell to the ground."
Both Amy and Hermione gasped.
Hermione blurted her questions, "How on earth did he survive that? And how did he manage to hit the tree trunk so high off the ground, and hard enough to knock himself out?"
Harry shook his head in resignation as he sighed and said, "Like this!"
Harry leapt straight upwards in a tremendous bound. Well short of the ceiling, he was still thirty feet above them. He shot a web out of his right hand in front of him at a forty-five degree angle. When it caught the ceiling, he pulled it taut and swung through a long arc and released it while still moving upward and outward. Just as he started downward again, he shot another web outwards.
He circled the room once, picking up speed until he was going at least one hundred kilometers per hour. Then, he headed for a corner. He made sure that when he released his last web, he would be falling toward the intersection of the two walls and the floor.
Just as impact seemed imminent, he shot webs from both hands to create trampoline. He hit the trampoline, which stretched almost all the way into the corner before rocketing him back towards where the girls still waited.
He fell short of them, but landed on his hands. He did a handspring into a triple layout flip, and landed next to them without having broken a sweat, or even breathing hard.
Carrie gave him a wide grin for his showmanship. Hermione and Amy stood there shocked into silence, with their eyes wide and mouths open.
Harry took pity on Hermione. He walked over and used one finger to close her mouth, then pulled her into a hug.
Amy finally broke out of her shock. She rounded on Harry and in exasperation started demanding answers.
"What the hell was that? How can you do that? I mean, you have to have at least the strength of a vampire or a transformed werewolf! And what was that you were swinging from? Could you do one right here? I'd like to take a look."
Harry shrugged, and said, "When I was about five, just starting school, I suddenly found I had the powers of Spiderman."
Hermione's jaw dropped open again.
Harry turned and spun a wide web, from floor to ceiling, right next to the couch that Amy had created when they arrived. Amy took out her stick and started waving it at the web and speaking in Latin. After a moment, she looked surprised, and pointed the wand at the web and cast 'Finité'. The web instantly disappeared.
She said, "Very interesting Harry! Those webs of yours are Acromantula Silk. However, they appear to be a wandless conjuration, which is a very rare skill. Let me try something. This won't hurt a bit."
Amy pointed her wand at Harry, and said "Finité. Now, can you still perform your feats of daring do?"
Harry felt an odd icy tingle pass over him when her spell hit. He did a forward leap, with a full layout flip and landed thirty feet away.
Hermione's brain finally engaged the puzzle. She spoke, growing more and more excited.
"So, these things Harry can do are because of his magic? Can anyone do things like that?"
Amy shook her head in negation. Slowly, and carefully choosing every word, she answered.
"No. Nobody can do the things Harry just did. He has no training in magic. I doubt that most fifth year students could conjure a single one of those webs, even using a wand! For him to do so flawlessly, effortlessly, and repeatedly without using a wand, like we just saw? I doubt anyone else in the world could do that. And when I tried to cancel any spells he might have cast upon himself… not that I know of any spell that could boost strength and agility like that… he was still able to perform the same feats."
Carrie demanded, "Well, what does that mean?"
Amy said, "The only thing I can think of, is that his magic has made permanent changes to his physiology, so that there was no active spell for me to dispel. But that shouldn't be possible, either."
Hermione chewed on her lower lip, her eyes darted, first to the webs still hanging down from the ceiling, then to Harry, as he comically hopped back over to them in a series of preposterous one-handed handsprings.
When Harry stopped and looked at them with an insouciant grin, Hermione threw her arms around his neck. She planted a lingering kiss on his lips. Harry blushed and didn't seem to know what to do with his hands. As the kiss went on, he pulled Hermione into a firm hug. Hermione pushed him away with a laugh, her eyes twinkling with mirth.
She said, "There! That ought to hold him for a while."
Carrie stepped up and gave him a kiss, too. When she stepped away, she laughingly said, "I think we broke him! What I'm not sure of is why? Why did you want him stunned into immobility, Hermione?"
Hermione gave a tinkling laugh. "Because I don't want him bouncing all over the room for a minute! Amy, if no one else can do anything like what Harry can, won't his powers be a pretty extreme surprise for any of his enemies? What if we could learn to do something like that?"
Surprise, and then an appraising look flashed over Amy's face. She nodded slowly, as she thought through Hermione's points one by one.
Carrie broke up the mutual admiration society when she said, "I've known about his powers for years. We talked about everything unusual that happened to him just before they manifested. The only commonality at all that we could find, was that he was sure that he was about to die if he didn't have those powers! Well, that, and he had those particular powers firmly fixed in his mind at the time."
Harry broke in excitedly, "Maybe I should try to keep my identity secret, like Spiderman, too! I mean, if everyone finds out what I can do, it won't be a surprise anymore."
"Unfortunately, that would remove any deterrent value as well. I guess we just have to play it by ear. I mean, we aren't going to go out of our way to shout it in the middle of Diagon Alley, but are you going to risk someone getting hurt or killed to hide your secret Harry?"
Amy tried to act as the mature voice of reason, a role she was uncomfortable with, and ill suited for.
Carrie turned on Amy in a flash. "Does my mom know you're a witch?"
When Amy shook her head, Carrie pressed on, "It's really simple then. You simply have to come to our New Year's Eve Party. Both Hermione and my parents will be there. You can help us explain all of this. Maybe they'll see an angle we've missed. But even if not, there's simply no way our parents are going to allow us to go off to this 'Diagon Alley' with you, unaccompanied."
Hermione added, "I agree! We need a plan. We can't just sneak off into what is practically another world. If we got into trouble there, how would our parents ever even find out what happened to us, if we hadn't first told them about all of this? Besides, didn't you promise us a tour of this place?"
Harry pointed at the strange cactus with the moving needles.
"Yeah! What the heck is that thing? And should I feel a bit worried that it seems to keep most of its needles pointing my way?"
Bowing to the inevitable, Amy said, "Okay, okay! I'll go to the party and help explain all this to your parents! But now, let's finish the tour, since there are tons of interesting magical plants in here."
Amy stood and motioned for the three to follow her. She took them over near the cactus and pointed out how to identify a 'Barrel Rolling Cactus'.
"This type of magical cactus always keeps half of its needles moving to face what it perceives as the greatest threat. Since you were hopping about crazily, that's you, to the cactus, Harry. However, the real danger is encountered when they feel attacked, because then they will use their needles to start rolling. And let me tell you, getting steamrollered by a cactus is unpleasant, indeed!"
Proofread by SneakySis
Final Edit By TeNderLoin