Harry Potter and the Were-Squid

Chapter 9 Messages

Larry sat in his office at Hogwarts, staring at the device on his wrist. He had just finished talking with Phoebe and everything felt "all wibbly wobbly", as the Doctor would say. She seemed distant and in a hurry for Larry to hang up.

Larry looked at the Axe laid out on his desk. He had been sharpening it and honing its edge before he had decided to call Phoebe. He caught his reflection in the gleaming metal and noticed his wolfish features. He couldn't blame Phoebe for being distant. He was back to his previously normal hideous self. Just when he was starting to believe he could have a normal life, Aconite gifted him back his powers, and with them a new mission. Larry had accepted the mission without hesitation. Looking back he should have at least consulted Phoebe; she was 'technically' his wife and deserved a say in the matter. He loved Phoebe, or at least he thought he did. Sure, she was his destined, but it was much more than that. Phoebe was strong and kind and ... Larry stopped himself; thinking along those lines only led to missing her and that usually led to shadow-walking till he found a Daemon ignorant enough to challenge him, and Larry couldn't afford the delay if he was going to figure out whatever the hell it was he was supposed to know.

For a period of time Larry had been fascinated by, and, if he was honest with himself, more than a little obsessed with Phoebe's big sister Luna. Luna was literally the first being to ever show Larry any kindness, and when Aconite and his siblings were spawned it was Luna who helped Larry. It was Luna who chose Aconite and gave him to Larry to raise. Luna would always be in Larry's heart, but she was not his destiny. This was another issue that came up between Larry and Phoebe. It seemed no matter how much Larry insisted or how much he protested, there were still times that Phoebe felt she was a replacement.

Larry picked up the Axe from his desk and in one fluid motion hurled end over end towards the wall across the room. The Axe slammed into the wall, vibrating.

"So did that particular wall do something to piss you off, or is it all walls in general?" asked a voice from the doorway.

Larry looked up to see Hank Boyd, the Muggle Studies professor, standing in the doorway to his office. Hank was part Wizard. A very small part; his magic extended to starting fires when he was angry. What Hank lacked in magic he more than made up for in insight into the human condition. He and Larry had bonded almost instantly over the fact that they were both pretty much outsiders. They also found that they shared a love of good scotch and the game of chess. Not the exciting wizard version but the much more subdued and in many ways more cerebral Muggle version.

"Not the wall," Larry answered, holding up his wrist. "The wife."

Hank held up his hands. "Say no more. Mel and I had a row last night over me working with the Aurors. We made up this morning, though," Hank said, grinning.

"Yeah, that's easy to do when you're not dimensions away with no return in sight," Larry growled.

"Why do you do it then?" Hank asked Larry, sitting in the chair across from him.

"There's nobody else," Larry said, shrugging his shoulders.

"They could have found someone else. You could have said no."

"They wouldn't have been as good as me," Larry said, reaching into his desk drawer, pulling out an old beat-up Muggle chess set and a full bottle of Glenfiddich 1937 and two glasses

"Merlin's pants, socks, and undershirt, where did you find this?" Hank asked, picking up the very old and expensive Scotch.

"I have certain ... advantages." Larry smiled, holding up his wrist again.

"That you do, my friend, that you do."

Hank got up and walked over to a small white box sitting on a table in the corner of the room. He plugged in a small device that looked like an iPod and pressed a button. The Cure's "Lullaby" started to play. Larry nodded to the empty chair and moved the chess board in between them after handing Hank a glass.

Hank took a sip and looked at the chess board. "You know what I like about The Cure?" he asked.

"Their music and their words?" Larry answered, smirking.

"

Fuck you. I like the fact that they refused to be pigeonholed into a stereotype. They pushed the boundaries of their own skills and abilities, not being afraid to change if need be."

"Are we still talking about the band or something else, Dr. Freud?" Larry asked sharply, moving a pawn.

"Zee Muzzer, ve alvays blame zee Muzzer," Hank said, affecting a horrible accent. "But it is good advice whether you're a rock band or a Herald."

Larry looked at his friend and shook his head. "Shut the fuck up and move."

-OOO-

The next day was Saturday so Larry did not have to teach class. He had decided to do as much research on the name Kali as he could. Besides the obvious fact that Kali had been a Muggle god who was worshiped by fanatics he really couldn't find much. Wizard history was woefully sparse when it came to mythology, especially Muggle mythology. Larry checked all of his other sources and besides the Indian god which had given rise to death cults there was no evidence Kali had ever been a real being.

Larry returned to his office and decided to go over the tome Aconite had pointed out to him yet again. After reading the page for the fifth time her hurled the book across the room and up against a portrait of an old man.

"Now, see here," the man in the portrait protested.

"Sod off, Nancy," Larry growled, making the man retreat to a nearby landscape.

"I was gonna ask if you had any luck, but I can see you haven't," Harry Potter said, entering his office.

"Not a lick, and I am getting really sick of it." Larry sighed.

"Well," Harry said, picking up the book off of the floor, "I am sure somethin..."

Suddenly a blinding white light ran through Harry's hands, up his arms, and out of his eyes, hitting Larry squarely in the chest. Harry could see Larry standing talking with a child with brown hair and tentacles. The child's aura dwarfed Larry even though he was so much shorter. The light died down, and Larry slumped to the ground, his chest smoking. Harry helped Larry up and got him to his chair.

"What was that, and who was that boy you were talking to?" Harry asked as soon as Larry came to his senses.

"That was Aconite. Te wanted to have a chat, but he needed to work through the Talisman. He told me some of what we need to know."

"Did he tell you where we need to go?"

"More like a where and a when." Larry stood up and walked to the a large world map he had pinned to the wall. "We need to go here," he said, pointing to a spot in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

"But there's nothing there," Harry said, looking at the map.

"Not now, no, but sixty-five hundred years ago there was an island."

"How does that help us now?"

Larry sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well gee, let's think. Now if only one of us had the ability to move through space and time ..."

"Sorry," Harry said sheepishly "I wasn't thinking."

"Don't apologize!" Larry barked. "It's a sign of weakness."

"Okay, so what am I supposed to do?"

"Sixty-five hundred years ago something happened on that island that wasn't supposed to happen. It wasn't planned. This caused destiny to split into two very distinct ... call them probabilities. One light and one dark. These two probabilities have been jockeying for position and advantage since then. Throughout all the dimensions and throughout all the could-be dimensions, these two have been playing a large cosmic chess game."

"You are acting as if they are beings, these probabilities," Harry said.

"Well, for all intents and purposes they are. They are kind of like Cain and Able ... Hmmm, I wonder. I will have to look into that when I get a chance. Anyway, something unexpected happened and it's up to us, and more to the point, you to set it right."

"So now that you know, when will we be leaving?" Harry asked.

"Just as soon as I get the others."

"The others? Who?"

"Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and George," Larry said, packing his rucksack and strapping on the Axe.

"NO! I won't put them in danger," Harry yelled, "They are not coming and that's final."

"If I ever hear 'that's final' out of your gob again, it truly might be," Larry snarled, moving quickly around the desk to confront Harry. "Listen to me you mewling, whiny tit." Larry grabbed Harry by his robes and pulled him close to his face. "You have no choice. I am the guide. The path and the party have been revealed to me. Got it?"

Harry swallowed hard and nodded.

"Good man, now go get the people I mentioned and make sure they're ready."

Harry quickly left the office.

"Merlin, I am gonna need a MoonPie."