Please note that I do not own Dungeons and Dragons,their relevant editions, Pathfinder or Harry Potter. Dungeons and Dragons are owned by Wizards of the Coasts, Pathfinder is owned by Paizo and Harry Potter and its franchises are owned by JK Rowling. The following story is just for my enjoyment and hopefully yours as well.

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Chapter 9: Persuasions

Ira waited in his classroom, marking essays whose questions that he had given to his students a few classes ago. They were getting to work together slowly but surely as the essays were collaborative efforts and the work that Draco and Harry had written was good. Not excellent like Hermione and Pansy Parkinson, which was superb in the information written on certain creatures that could possibly live and thrive in Elemental Air.

He knew they were slowly meshing; their work was only the beginning. He saw it during lessons; they were able to work together and as a result were stronger. Outside of his classes, they were not as antagonistic as some of the other House students and that was what he wanted. Teamwork and cooperation could go a long way and it would be essential for building working relationships in future.

Meanwhile, his classes themselves were becoming very popular. A lot of rumours were spreading on his classes, the fact that creatures from other universes being brought in did not exactly help in quelling them. It did not bother Ira much and classes continued to be speculated and gossiped upon. He taught them about Elemental Air, and sometimes it strayed to other planes as well, like Heaven and the celestial realms. They enjoyed it all and spoke of it to friends as well as family. The letters were slowly coming in and even Dumbledore could do little as some 'pure-blood' families began to make a ruckus, demonizing him and such.

Ira paid little attention, focusing on his classes. They could do little to him, Ira learned. He already expected the main opposition to come soon and there he was, standing in the doorway. Blonde hair, sneering façade, and rich black clothes. Lucius Malfoy, father to Draco, and incidentally head of many pure-blood families. Ira motioned for him to enter and offered him a seat and some tea.

As they sipped in silence Ira began the verbal dance, "What is the purpose of this visit, Lucius? And please call me Ira"

The elder Malfoy looked like he swallowed a bug, "Well then. I think you know…Ira. You are not a member of any magical community that even I have knowledge of let alone the those I have hired to determine your origins. Who are you?"

Ira gave him the same story he gave the first time he was asked, and Lucius sputtered, "What nonsense is this?! You are telling lies and giving-" and the classroom became the planes, images flashing and soaring. Malfoy looked on, mouth wide as dragons were wiped out by flights by wizards and elemental armies doing battle with daemons from Abaddon.

"You-you-you are not from here, are you?"

Ira shook his head. Lucius regained some composure and said, "Are you like us, pure-blood?"

Ira laughed, "Not in the slightest, I am afraid I am one of the, what you call, Muggles?"

Lucius looked disgusted, "One of them, with such power! It's not possible!" Ira shook his head at the man's arrogance, "You are one of them though. The ignorant and uninformed buffoons. You can accept the idea of worlds beyond but not that the fact I don't have magic in my blood? Such amazing stubbornness"

Lucius snorted, "You show me the worlds beyond, but you must be magical in your blood. Otherwise how could you do all this!" Ira explained the differences between his magic and Lucius's own. The elder Malfoy face was shocked, "You learn without being born magical! How can it be?! Surely your parents were magical!"

Ira smiled, "My mother knew some minor magic but that's about it. She was a seamstress in Breland, the cosmopolitan city of my birth, and the finest one there was. My father, an orphan from some nameless town came and they fell in love. He took my mother's family name, Gold, as his own. He took up a trade and was the finest butcher in Breland"

"A butcher?! Your father was a tradesman?!" Ira nodded, "The finest there was. Breland did business with other worlds and planes, magic was easy there and creatures from uncounted worlds did business with my world. My father and mother were minor celebrities of a sort and our shop –Gold's Fine Cuts- had slight renown for quality"

"You said your mother had magic, surely that affected you in the womb!" Ira shook his head, "Nothing of the sort, my mother only knew a few cantrips, useful in her trade but hardly awe-inspiring. When I was a few years old, my parents had enough money to send me to The Eye and Mask, the most prestigious academy of magic our world had, and I grew up there. Learning, evolving, I became a man there, and a strong wizard"

"Just like Hogwarts then" Malfoy said. Ira made a dismissive sound, "So you would think but Hogwarts teaches those with the gift. In my school, all who had money could learn and I say now with certainty, in sheer numbers alone, our wizards by themselves could bury you under with only their bodies, let alone spells!"

Lucius gulped, Ira had a point. Learning magic was one thing, but his people had to be born with the gift. Ira's people, whoever they were, could learn magic just by studying and having enough money to further their education. That alone was staggering and Ira mentioned worlds, which meant uncounted number of wizards like Ira existed, and their numbers were enough to…what? Conquer Magical Britain, maybe the world?

"Are you teaching your magic?," Lucius gingerly asked, "It could be useful for us as well to learn, to come to understanding between different races and worlds"

"No and I have no intention of doing so at this moment. You already have magic and a prison for the sorcerers of your world. Given my arts, your prisons would never be enough, not to mention the destruction you may cause"

"That is a gross generalization of us that you have Ira. Will you not consider? I have resources that may be made available to you, vast resources and aid that will surprise even you"

Ira shook his head, "Tempting but I have seen better devils offer me worlds for less. No thank you, Lucius but your offer is kind enough. Your son takes well after you, and he is a good student"

Lucius eyebrows rose, "Draco? Yes he is, after all a Malfoy. He can naturally succeed at anything" Ira nodded, "Including working together," at that Ira explained his unorthodox methods.

"What?! How can you put him with that mudblood and filth! You can't and I won't let you!" Ira made a gesture and they were elsewhere, a realm of blue and white, like an endless sky. "Where are we?!" Lucius gasped, taking out his wand. He was ready to fire and then Ira willed it away. The wand was gone.

"Where-" Ira patted his shoulder, "Talk is a bit cumbersome, perhaps a show would suffice" In this pseudo-realm, Ira had conjured with his spell, he could share information and knowledge with others and they could do the same. He made a cutting gesture and it flowed to Malfoy, what he wanted from his students and why he did what he did.

Lucius took a step back then seemed somewhat relieved. He saw the vision of what Ira dreamed of, wizards who could work together and make wonders. He knew his world was different from Ira's own and in some ways were more advanced, but as he saw what his son told him about in his letter, of flying cities and wizard-rulers who presided over demi-worlds, he knew his community and people were so far behind. Magic could be taken to greater heights, even if the method and execution differed between the two wizards here in this mind-realm.

Ira saw some of the elder Malfoy's thoughts about his son and smiled. This man might be cruel and vindictive but he was loving of his only child, which was a good sign. When the images ended, the spell did as well as Ira brought them both back to physical reality.

"Well?" with that word, Malfoy fell back into wakefulness and gave a warm smile. "I understand but there are others who will not. What about them?"

Lucius thought of the hidden Death Eaters and pure-bloods that were traditional and conservative in the extreme. Ira shrugged, "Do as you will with them. The Slytherins I teach aren't all pure-blood and they are good students, mind you. As long as you and I have an understanding, which is enough"

Lucius nodded, "So we work together?" Ira gave him a smile, "Partners, my friend. And it will be beneficial to both of us"

Malfoy grinned. This man was more dangerous, powerful and had little holding him back. Voldemort surely paled in comparison and this man made him an equal partner, something the Dark Lord would never do. Suddenly, being a Death Eater wasn't such a grand thing it was made out to be after all. An equal partner in the growth of his people on the other hand sounded much more grand on the other hand.

Ira smiled, as he had won an important ally, and he did it with just a few spells.

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As Lucius left, he saw his son who hurried over to him. Draco was worried, as his father was her which meant he was going to punish Draco. It wasn't his fault if Harry and Hermione turned out to be such good mates, how could he ever explain to his father about that? How could his father accept that the whole theory about blood purity and such were not that sound when someone like Hermione could ride roughshod over.

His father was not going to be pleased that his son was friends with a Mudblood but when he came close, his father pulled him in and gave a hug that could only be described as fatherly. Draco looked at Father, surprise on his face, "Wha-" Lucius smiled, "I am proud of you Draco. I always have been and I am glad that I can call myself your father"

Draco gulped and his cheeks blazed with pride, "Father, I-" Lucius nodded, "I know son, I know. I judge and I shouldn't anymore. It is not fair and honestly it is like this veil has been torn from me. You can make friends Draco, with anyone as long as you make sure they're good friends"

Draco thought about Harry, Hermione even Ron and all the others in Professor Ira's class. Draco smiled, "I think they are. You should meet them father"

Lucius smiled, "Maybe later but now I have business to attend to. Maybe when you get back for the holidays, we can go to that villa in France? Just your mother and the two of us" Draco leaped inwardly with happiness, "Sure father. I would like that very much"

His father smiled, hugged him one more time and left Draco feeling on top of the world. Harry and Ron shouted from the hallway at him that Herbology was going to start soon, and Draco ran after, a smile plastered on his face.

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"And you are sure?" Ira asked. The giant boar-like monster, Callox grunted, "As sure as you are alive summoner. The warlock is still with the nascent demon lord even as we speak and I doubt she would move soon"

Ira frowned, pacing his summoning chamber. The circle of cold-iron runes glowed with energy, alive at having to keep a Tanar'ri bound, "And this would-be demon lord?"

The Nalfeshnee smiled a mouth of ugly fangs, "That will cost extra, summoner. I am a poor one, and you are so rich. Surely you can spare…30 more soul larvae?"

Ira waved a hand and a glass vial filled with motes of light –transformed soul larvae- and floated it to the demon, "It's the same command word" Once uttered, the vials would shatter and the motes would revert back to their proper larvae form.

The demon licked its lips, "Kurkaliz by name. The nascent one is said to be an amalgamation of babau and vrock and from what I heard, commands both kinds of demons as a result. Pazuzu and Shax are known to be have a slight ire at Kurkaliz because of his poaching of their servants, but so far have made no move on him…yet. Most will not approach Kurkaliz however, some say he is only concerned with slaughter and feasting. Maybe that's why the demon lords will not fight him"

"Because it would be not worth their effort" Ira agreed. Demons on the whole were always after two things, souls and power. Most went after it with single minded drive or need but sometimes even demons only wanted to sate their own desires and it seemed like this Kurkaliz was also one such. Ira said, "Where would Kurkaliz be?"

The demon in the circle scratched at his chin, "Maybe in Ahvoth-Kor. The jungle realm of Angazhan is an occasional warring ground between abyssal primates and other demons, though just as much as other layers of course. Kurkaliz has a taste for their meat, or so I've heard. Other than that I don't know where he would lair"

"Angazhan is your lord is he not? How can I believe you, when you may carry the words of the Ravenous King?"

The Nalfesnee screamed a wordless cry, "Don't make assumptions about things you know not, summoner! I serve none but myself and the Demon Lord of Apes can keep his bloody jungles to himself!"

"Maybe I will send word of what you said to the Lord of Ahvoth-Kor about what you said? Maybe he will give me a better, truthful answer?"

The demon blanched, "I have told you the truth. Check for yourself, summoner. I do not lie to trading partners, I so swear by the Abyssal Compact*!"

Ira sneered, "Then begone Callox. I have no more need of you" He gestured and the demon was shunted back into whatever realm he dwelled in. Dolio in the jungle realm of a demon lord, hiding from Graz'zt under the supposed protection of a nascent demon lord who was stupid enough to wage war in the realm of said jungle demon lord, while also attracting minor –but still apparent- attention from two other established demon lords.

Dolio was either stupid, desperate or possibly both. He knew where she was, but what about Loranna? Callox knew nothing of her whereabouts, but something nagged at his mind and he had an idea.

He spoke another spell, and the Greater Planar Binding called a dog headed monster, with two pincer arms and two more with wicked claws, a glabrezu demon.

"Hail Aloxam. I have named thee and bind thee to this circle and would have you perform a service"

The glabrezu snorted, "What summoner? What task needs my expertise?" Ira smiled, "For 200 soul larvae, I need you to only carry a message to another" The glabrezu curiosity and greed was piqued, "What message?"

Ira conjured another vial and let the light motes drew the interest of the demon, "One of peace and parlay. To an old associate of mine, a bloodmage by name of Loranna, last seen in Azzagrat or leaving it"

Aloxam looked pointedly at Ira, "You would have me hunt someone the Lord of Azzagrat has marked himself? You are mad and coming from a Tanar'ri that says much summoner!"

Ira laughed, "Yet the demon lord has not moved himself. His hunters are not you Aloxam, and I am sure that you can remain under his radar, can you not? One more glabrezu looking for someone would not be exactly standing out of the crowd"

Aloxam grinned, greed sometimes won over and nodded, "Alright then, I will do it but for 400 and not a soul less"

"Done! Tell Loranna when you meet her that I offer her parlay and sanctuary. I will meet her at my tower. She will know. No harm must come to her, do you hear me Aloxam?"

The demon nodded again, "You are mad if you think Graz'zt will not hunt you as well. Hiding one of his fugitives is a slow, painful death but I will accept your terms summoner. Your end is not my concern"

"Maybe it isn't but I will deal with the Six-Fingered One my way. Remember Aloxam, no harm and your larvae will be here when the message is delivered. I will summon you in a month's time. That should be enough, I think. Now, begone!"

The glabrezu vanished, intent on its task and Ira smiled. He would need to be ready for all the challenges ahead.

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*The unspoken rules of binding, calling, summoning etc. It's a compact that includes devils (Infernus Agreement), yugoloths (Damnation Proposals) etc but each have their own slightly unique take on the matter (FYI this is something I came up with but its usable by anyone)

However the Compact is more like guidelines than actual rules and it's up to individual compactees to agree/disagree etc.