DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or Harry Potter. Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto and Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling.
Italics text = character thinking to themselves.
Underline+Italics = character communicating with telepathy
Bold text = shouting
Bold+Italcs = Casting Spell/Ability
Chapter Ten
Rituals: to Give, to Take, to Sacrifice
Rebirth
Harry was not having a good week.
Okay, it had not been bad, exactly, but it was not good either. Rather, it was troublesome.
Riddle's Mana absorption had taken a further 5% of what Hogwarts' ambient magic levels should have been, thanks to Harry force-feeding him the Elixir of Life a couple times during the absorption ritual. Since he could not enter the ritual circle in the Chamber of Secrets, which was connected to the three Ley Lines under Hogwarts, he feed it to him like he did with Luna. But rather then switch it with the water in a bottle, he managed to switch it with the air in his throat.
The body-snatcher choked and coughed a bit, but compared to the strain the ritual was placing on his body, it was a minor annoyance at best and it was what kept him alive in the end.
After that, Harry had proceeded to prepare several regents for other rituals, as well as potions Riddle would take in preparation for those rituals.
It was… quite expensive, but he had already begun selling gold and platinum ingots overseas to several people who would not ask of the origin of those metals, so he could easily afford it.
In other news, Luna was proving both a blessing and a pain in the ass… okay, she was merely irritating him sometimes, but it was mostly in the process of leading him to something that would help him in the long run.
Such as telling Susan that Harry was possessed by a 'Great Spirit of Magic'. That led to something close to a full disclosure of exactly what happened after he was Kissed by the Dementor. In fact, the only thing he did not tell the two of them – after secrecy oaths have been sworn, of course – was that he was now actually immortal.
Not that it mattered, considering that Kaguya told them he could mass-produce Philosopher Stones.
Yes, Kaguya.
As it turns out, she had learned and been accustomed enough to his chakra that he could possess him if he suppressed his chakra and gave her permission, or if they channeled her own chakra when making a Shadow Clone.
Of course, the first attempt was disastrous, resulting in mix between Kaguya and Harry's bodies that had Luna and Susan laughing for close to an hour. But eventually, after numerous embarrassing attempts, they figured out the right ratio of their chakra and created a Kage Bunshin of Harry with Kaguya's mind. From there, it was simplicity itself to use the Henge no Jutsu to transform into the ancient woman's preferred form.
As such, it was Kaguya herself that explained thing to Susan and Luna, mostly. As she would admit later, it was for his sake.
Simply put, he needed more social interaction, or rather people he could trust and speak with about what he did. His life had rapidly begun to sink into domains of magic that he could not speak of in public for one reason or another. He needed friends.
And as Luna had told him, his sole remaining true friend, Hermione, was far too well-intended, narrow-minded and trusting in authority figures, Dumbledore in particular, for him to feel comfortable in revealing his secrets.
He love Hermione like a sister, he enjoyed spending time with her and had no intention of distancing himself from her… but while she practically worshipped the land Dumbledore walked on, it was best to not discuss some things with her.
And, as it turned out, Susan was just the kind of person he could open up to. Sure, she had some faith in authority, being the niece of Amelia Bones and raised by the woman did that. But for the same reason, she was far more familiar with the corruption that plagued the Ministry, with the bigotry and pureblood politics.
And, most importantly for Kaguya, Susan was also one of her direct descendents just like Luna and Harry were. But while Harry seemed to have inherited all her Dojutsu and Luna the Byakugan that had then evolved into the Tenseigan, Susan inherited the Shikotsumyaku, the Dead Bone Pulse, which allowed her to manipulate her own skeletal structure.
Apparently, it was the reason the House of Bones was named so, their founder possessing this ability. However, for reasons nobody knew, the ability did not always appear in all of his descendent. In fact, there were entire generations when the ability was notably absent. Much like in Nymphadora Tonks' case, Susan was the first in her family to have the Shikotsumyaku in three generations – though they called Ossismagus the people who had it.
As it was, Kaguya was more then thrilled when Susan agreed to donate one of her bones for the revival ritual on March 20th. While it was not the deadly All-Killing Ash Bones that she once had, the ability to manipulate her skeletal structure at least to a degree was a godsend – enough so that he negotiated with Susan to give that ability to Harry and Luna as well in exchange for a Dojutsu of her own.
Harry was not in the least surprised that Susan asked for the Rinnegan. As useful the Byakugan could be, with the Rinnegan and its lower levels of Sharingan and Mangekyo Sharingan a person could do much, much more. Not quite as much as with the Rinne-Sharingan, but Kaguya had been quite clear when he had said that it was a miracle in of itself that Harry had gained it, never mind that her could use it even if not to the same heights she did.
Interestingly enough, she had also suggested that Luna gained the Rinnegan which upset the blonde girl quite a bit until Kaguya explained just what she meant by that.
Apparently, Kaguya had not been the only member of the Otsutsuki Clan to have gained the power of a Shinju. Only, Momoshiki and Kinshiki Otsutsuki had not done so by eating a Chakra Fruit due to not being any ready when they had arrived on a different planet. Instead, they had manipulated the Shinju of the world into harvesting the life-force of the inhabitants to create a pseudo-fruits that granted immortality but not nearly as much chakra Kaguya had gained.
Due to this they had apparently planned on invading the Earth to harvest the chakra there, both of the Biiju and the Ninja, which was apparently the real reason why Kaguya had chosen to convert her enemies into White Zetsu rather then simply suck them dry of chakra and kill them.
It was with this bit of knowledge that Harry was staring anxiously at the Stone of Resurrection in the Room of Requirement on the evening of February 21st while Luna and Susan watched curiously. They had all agreed not to ever use the Stone to call their parents or just mother in Luna's case. The temptation of then wanting to do it again was too much, so they decided to not do so in the first place. All their parents had died protecting them. Harry's from Voldemort himself, Susan's from Death Eaters with their final at being to Portkey Susan to her aunt Amelia, and Luna's mother had apparently took the brunt of the explosion that killed her in order to protect her daughter. They loved them, enough to have given their lives for them. They knew enough, no need to disturb their rest.
On the other hand…
"Are you sure this will even work?" Harry asked doubtfully. "I mean, it's been over a hundred thousand years. And last you know, he was not even on Earth. Even if he died in he meantime, he was probably reincarnated."
"Possibly, but I doubt it." Kaguya snorted in amusement. "Those that gain the power of Rinne or Tensei can choose whether to be reincarnated. Myself and my sons are prime examples. And Momoshiki possessed a Rinnegan in each palm. And from what I remember of him, he would not give up the power he has even in death for a reincarnation as a possibly powerless mortal."
"What about Asura and Indra?" Harry inquired.
"With them, they also denied the chance of full reincarnations and merely chose to send most of their chakra back and forth in the living world, thus their Transmigrants." Kaguya explained. "Then, of course, there are those that have committed crimes against nature so vile that reincarnation is simply barred for them. Like that fellow, Orochimaru."
"Yes, while I admit and respect his genius, he was worse then Voldemort. He left a piece of his soul in every one of those damn Cursed Seals. If Voldemort learnt of such a thing, he would be green with envy." Harry rolled his eyes.
"It would be productive for our goals for you to gain Orochimaru's memories as well, if possible, after we're done with Momoshiki. Same with Asura and Indra." Kaguya mused.
"Anyone else?" Harry rolled her eyes.
"Myrdin Emyrs, Morgan le Fay, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Helena Ravenclaw, Salazar Slytherin and any so-called immortal ever heard of." Kaguya replied seriously. "The opportunity this Stone and the Human Path grant you is incredible, and not something to dismiss. I don't expect you to gain the secrets of the universe or the meaning of life, but the sheer volume of knowledge – lost knowledge – that you could gain through this is immeasurable. For today though, focus on the Shinobi Era."
"Okay, here goes nothing." Harry focused on his link to the shone and sent a stream of chakra as he turned it three times in his hand.
"Ugh, another of Kaguya's wretched spawn." The man that appeared sneered down at Harry.
He would have none of that.
"Kneel." Harry commanded as what he dubbed a the Deathly Mangekyo Sharingan flashed into his eyes, a pulse of power erupting from the Stone and suddenly Momoshiki was on his knees.
Before the man could utter another word the Rinne-Sharingan flashed into existence in Harry's right eye as he reached out and grasped her head of the soul before pulling away while simultaneously draining some of its energy, dismissing him back into the Pure World.
"Wow." Susan whistled.
"I did not expect to be able to see them as well." Luna remarked. "I though those summoned would be visible to the user of the Stone only."
"It's probably because I not only am the master of all three of the Hallows, but I also know what I'm doing." Harry remarked. "I experienced the memories of the one who made them; I know how much energy to push into it to make the souls visible to others."
"That makes sense." Luna nodded in understanding.
"How are you holding out, that guy had thousands of years worth of memories, didn't he?" Susan asked in worry.
"I'm fine." Harry assured her. "I've already trained my mind to direct foreign memories that I absorb to a certain portion of my mind. Thanks to how my mind is structured due to the Rinne-Sharingan, I don't actually have an upper limit to how much I can absorb in total. I merely have to make sure not to absorb too much all at once. Since the memories are inscribed on my magic, I need to make sure I don't go past my limits." He paused a bit. "And this guy died less then two decades after Kaguya was sealed the second time, so he's just over a thousand years old. Far fewer memories then what I gained from Hagoromo alone."
"What now?" Luna inquired.
"Well, since we're already at it, Kaguya suggested I take the memories of a few more people from the Shinobi Era that a guaranteed to still be in the Pure World." Harry replied as he went through the process again and stared up at… a woman?
"Oh my, to think that these Kekkei Genkai ever resurfaced." What looked like Orochimaru remarked as she eyed Harry curiously. "Especially that eye."
"So you lived long enough to witness chakra users dying out." Harry observed.
"Indeed. How long has it been since then?" Orochimaru inquired.
"According to Kaguya, over a hundred thousand years, but how much more then that not even she knows for sure. It could have easily been two or three hundred thousand years." Harry shrugged. "And apparently I'm the first to have the power of Rinne or Tensei since Sasuke Uchiha."
"Ah, yes, Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru nodded. "He had some issues with his eye though, once exhauseted it could take years to recharge the power of that eye. But that was not why you summoned me, is it?"
"I will use my Human Path to take your memories." Harry replied bluntly.
"Hm, very well." Orochimaru nodded after a couple seconds. "I suppose I don't really have any choice in the matter, anyway." she leaned forwards allowing Harry access to her head.
Within a few seconds, Harry had taken what he needed and he pulled his hand back as he went through a few of Orochimaru's memories.
"So you chose to become a woman and give birth as a way to return to the Cycle of Life once you abandoned your search for immortality, eh?" Harry mused. "I see you've tried to redeem yourself after the Forth Ninja World War. It was obviously not enough to make up for everything considering your current status, but… know that you have my respect at least, §my ancestor§." He finished with a hiss in Parseltongue causing Orochimaru to widen his eyes in surprise and then smile as she returned to the Pure World. "Three hundred year of memories form Orochimaru."
"He must have been the worlds first transsexual." Susan said in shock.
"Possibly. Doesn't really matter. It's time to bring up Indra and Asura." Harry stated and did just that, both men appearing before him.
"So you're the one father warned us of." Indra narrowed his Mangekyo eyes at Harry.
"He told us you were dangerous and unstable." Asura added in amusement.
"I take it you don't agree with him?" Harry eyed the younger of the two curiously.
"Not really, but it does not matter either way. Both of us and he have been dead for a long time now. We have no right to influence the living world unless we're willing to come back down here and change something with our own two hands." Asura explained.
"Yes, my brother has a point, incredibly enough." Indra snorted. "Father always had a hands-off approach. It's what did most of the damage to the world."
"Evil thrives when good men do nothing." Harry quoted. "It's a saying of this time period."
"Wise words." Asura agreed.
"Why have you summoned us?" Indra inquired.
"I'm going to use the Human Path to copy your memories. Do you happen to have the memories of your Transmigrants as Kaguya said?" Harry inquired.
"We do. Go ahead." Asura crouched and Harry touched his head without hesitation, doing the same with Indra seconds later.
"No complaints from either of you?" Harry raised an eyebrow as the two got up.
"No point, I sense the power of the stone. If was fashioned by one of my descendents. Thus is superior." Indra gave his younger brother a condescending smirk.
"What was that, you…" Asura twitched.
Harry sent them back at that point, not interested in hearing their ancient argument.
"Okay, enough for today." Harry grunted as he massaged his temples. "I got around a thousand years from each of them. Apparently, the transmigrations stopped after Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, their last Transmigrants, put aside their differences and died friends… and in-laws apparently."
"Anything interesting?" Susan inquired.
"Just that Sasuke took everything Kaguya left behind in her dimensions." Harry sighed. "Well, I suppose those were not irreplaceable supplies so it's not that bad. But…"
"But what?" Luna asked with a slight knowing grin.
"Kaguya is giving me a headache with her ranting about thieving Uchiha." Harry deadpanned.
How ironic, considering that the power that labeled them as jutsu thieves came from her.
February 28th – Stonehenge
"Remind me again why I'm doing this." Luna asked with a deep frown.
"Because otherwise you're dead or worse within a year." Harry answered with a scowl, just as unhappy with the situation but unlike her, he went straight to the solution.
As it turned out after Harry investigated the power accumulation ritual Luna was put through, it was incomplete due to Riddle not having the regents needed to fully stabilize her at the time and frankly not caring if the girl died in a few months.
Harry's Elixir of Life fixed some of the problem, but the bottom line was that while her mind and body were healed, the power sealed in her core was still too much for her body to handle and was breaking down day by day. They could simply dose he with the Elixir of Life every day, but it was merely a temporary solution since it did not fix the issue.
So Harry had gone and sought out the most accomplished and powerful witches and wizards he could find in the Pure World and taken their knowledge for himself, finally finding a solution in Morgan le Fay.
As expected, it was a dark ritual involved. As expected, it involved human sacrifice. And, as expected, some of the regents were legendary or considered extinct.
Where Harry had managed to get a Nemean Lion of all things, neither Susan not Luna knew and considering the look on Harry's face when he came back with one covered in blood not his own, they were not going to ask.
As it was, they were currently at Stonehenge in the dead of the night under enough wards that no Muggle would come closer then two miles, and no magical would see or get inside the outer circle for at least another hour – thus plenty of time to complete the ritual and get the hell out of there with Harry's Kamui as Anti-Apparition, Anti-Portkey and Anti-Flight wards had been a must.
Speaking of Harry's Kamui, the had discovered something very intriguing about the nocturnal desert dimension he had inherited from his Peverell ancestor. Apparently, time passed a hundred time faster in there compared to the outside world – but only when Harry himself was not there or interacting with that dimension by opening a rift with the Kamui. It was discovered by Susan who was sent there and had to wait for what to her seemed like fifteen minutes to her when in reality was just nine seconds or so on Earth. It was this discovery that prompted Harry to be fate more careful with his abilities and to use guinea pigs before allowing his friends to experience them.
The fact that they later discovered what seemed like the other side of the Veil of Death from the Department of Mysteries was also of concern, as were the thousands of skeletons around the place, obviously of people executed using the Veil and whom had starved to death… after they had resorted to cannibalism in some cases, from what some bodies looked like.
Harry had spent a whole day gathering every skeleton and removing them all from his dimension, but had not had the chance to dispose of them… and was now going to use them in the ritual to same Luna.
Or rather, he was going to use the dust resulted from crushing those skeletons to draw a circle on the ground around the altar at the center of the stone structure. As it had been used in the past for mass-sacrifice rituals, a death-related material used in creating the magic circle would definitely boost he effects of the ritual they were performing.
The drawn circle had twelve sections, each marked with a symbol of the Western Zodiac. Each containing a regent – or rather sacrifice.
A Colchis Ram for Aries.
A Re'em for Taurus.
Death Eaters Alecto and Amycus Carrow for Gemini.
A Fire Crab for Cancer.
A Nemean Lion for Leo.
A Memphis Ostrich for Libra.
An Assyrian Stinger for Scorpio.
A Centaur for Sagittarius.
A Satyr for Capricorn.
A Siren for Aquarius.
Two Ramora for Pisces.
And finally, Luna Lovegood herself for Virgo, the Maiden.
The ritual itself was remarkably simple once you went passed the required location and regents. The beneficiary of the ritual simply had to match one of the aspects of the Zodiac in some form and stand in that particular spot on the ritual circle. Then, one by one, the other eleven occupants were killed. Once the eleventh died, the aspect of the beneficiary that matched the that particular Zodiac Sign would be taken away from them followed by the ritual ending with the mind, body or magic of the beneficiary being boosted to match the highest ranking of the three.
In Morgan's case, she had wanted to keep the inhuman Fae magic she had gained in Avalon even after leaving that realm, and the power was breaking her mind apart. So the did the ritual and sacrificed her Memphis Ostrich Animagus form to regain her sanity.
In Luna's case, she would be sacrificing her maidenhood to strengthen her body to match her magic.
The ritual itself was Atlantean in origin, from what he could gleam from both Morgan's and Myrdin's memories… and there was quite a few centuries to each, considering that both were immortals. It certainly explained how they attended Hogwarts, which was built half a millennia after King Arthur's time.
"Okay." Luna sighed. "And I understand the purpose of each of the regents. You've explained it."
"Several times." Harry sighed, ignoring the struggles of the centaur Bane who was nearest to him.
"What I don't get is why he's here." Luna nodded towards the person on the altar, which should have been empty.
"Ah, him." Harry nodded in understanding. "Well, a few years after she did the ritual Morgan noticed that it did not work as perfectly as it could and sought the answer. Apparently, the ritual is dark because it draws dark magic into the center of the ritual circle and taints both nature and those in the vicinity. In her case, she was the only person affected. She deducted that had there been a human magical already there, one tainted by dark magic, then that person would soak up the dark magic like a sponge."
"And Theodore Nott is tainted with dark magic?" Susan inquired from the side, from where she was glaring at the Carrows who had been among her parents' killers, but got off on an Imperius excuse.
"This fucker tortured, raped and killed his seven year old little sister for Christmas." Harry said in a dead voice.
"I see. And am I right to assume that the person who soaks the dark magic will suffer greatly?" Luna asked in a similar tone.
"He will." Harry confirmed.
"Start the ritual." Luna nodded.
And so he did. Either alone or in pairs, the sacrifices died from either cutting curses to the neck or piercing curses through the eyes and brain. Until only Luna was left. They had started with Libra followed by Scorpio and continued the circle that way, clockwise, until they were done with Leo as well, reaching Virgo, Luna.
At that point, the magic of the ritual went full circle as the power flooded Luna making her hiss in pain as her hymen was ripped away by the magic. Her body then glowed bluish white while darkness seemed to be ripped from all twelve sacrifices and draw towards the altar in the center, where is was sucked into Theodore Nott through his mouth, eyes, nose and ears, breaking the silencing charm on him in the process, allowing them all to hear his agony.
Then, the ritual was done and all but Luna and Nott remained of it, even the bone dust drawn circle was gone.
"FiendFyre." Harry uttered as he pointed a spare wand at Nott who was instantly engulfed in purplish red flames… "Kamui." right before both Nott and the flames were sucked away. "Just to be on the safe side." Harry explained as he quickly approached Luna along with Susan and after grabbing both their shoulder sucked them into another Kamui.
"Where's Nott?" Susan looked around.
"A few hundred miles away from here." Harry replied before with another Kamui they were in Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom. "How are you feeling?" Harry inquired after quickly checking if the resident ghost was around before casting diagnostic charm after diagnostic charm on her.
"I feel… great, actually." Luna admitted as she closed her eyes and smiled. "My magic is flowing freely, not longer contained for my safety. Though I'm a bit disappointed."
"Oh?" Harry inquired.
"I was hoping you would take away my maidenhood in the traditional way." Luna admitted.
"Luna!" Susan exclaimed.
"You're right." the bubbly blonde agreed. "I can join you when he takes yours."
"That's... not what I…" Susan stuttered, beet red.
"So I can't join, or you don't want him to take your virginity?" Luna raised a challenging eyebrow.
"We'll see." Susan whispered, looking only at Harry not.
"You know, I'm not opposed to either of that." Harry grinned playfully.
"Then why did you refuse me a couple weeks ago?" Luna frowned.
"Luna, you're twelve." Harry frowned.
"I turned thirteen on Halloween." Luna told him.
"Oh, is that so." Harry blinked. "Then let's go find an empty broom closet."
"Really?" Luna's eyes sparkled.
"No." He said flatly, crushing her fantasy.
"Why?" the blonde pouted and even Susan turned to listen.
"The rituals I'm going to conduct both on myself and Kaguya, but you two as well, will work better if I'm still a virgin." Harry explained.
"So that's why!" Luna sighed.
"Damn right! You think I would have turned down my godfather's offer to hire some porn stars to pop my cherry for Christmas if it wasn't important?" Harry huffed.
"Sirius did what?" Susan stared in shock… and a bit of interest.
"Yes, he said something about my birthday…" Harry awkwardly scratched the back of his head, wondering why the hell did he tell them that.
"Er, hypothetically speaking, would those porn stars be willing to teach me a thing or two?" Susan asked, though she was red enough for steam to begin erupting from her ears soon – she kept going though.
"Preferably by trying stuff with you?" Luna leaned forward with a perverted grin. "And can I join in?"
"It appears that other then her physical Maidenhood, the ritual also took away the sexual inhibitions that younger girls have." Kaguya remarked dryly. "Not that she had that many in the first place."
"…We'll see?" Harry shrugged, taking a step back.
March 1st – Room of Requirement
"Well, it looks like the ministry hasn't got a clue who was responsible for Luna's ritual." Susan declared as she walked in to see Harry transmuting a couple of potions into Elixirs, using one of the Philosopher Stones to amplify the quality of the finished product.
"That so?" Luna sighed in some relief.
"Yeah, apparently the magnitude of the ritual as well as the wards Harry layered around the place was powerful enough to mix our magical signatures with not just the 'regents' of the ritual, but the people breaking the wards down as well." Susan grinned. "According to Auntie Amelia, the Unspeakables have already given it up as a bad job and her Aurors are now just investigating more for appearances sake."
"Great." Harry mussed. "Speaking of rituals, I'm done with the Elixirs I will need for mine."
"What are those for, anyway?" Susan leaned to peer at the two clear green and yellow liquids. "I mean, I know you have a few more Aspects to go to be able to use all twelve Ninja Handseals, but what do these Elixirs do exactly?"
"Well, the yellow one is made from blood of a Knarl and a Cabbit and is supposed to give me a Metamorphmagus level of control over my hair. Nothing too impressive, but Rabbit's Hair was the only thing I found that used Cabbit Blood like I need it to." Harry shrugged. "With any luck, it may even allow me to use Kaguya's Togebari jutsu."
"That's for the Rat and the Rabbit Aspects." Luna nodded in understanding.
"The other one is quite more… unusual." Harry admitted. "It's called the Wraith's Shadow."
"Er, Wraiths don't have shadows." Susan said slowly.
"I know." Harry nodded. "What it does, though, it gives the user something akin to an Animagus form, only turns the user into a fake ghost for a while."
"Really?" Luna blinked. "Is that even possible?"
"Apparently so, but I don't really plan on spending time to learn that transformation." Harry admitted. "It could take years and even so I would not be able to interact with the world at all in that form. On the other hand, due to the Demiguise Blood in it, I will be able to cast stronger Disillusionment and Invisibility spells, both on myself and others. Mainly on myself though."
"You really don't want to be a ghost – part-time of course?" Susan asked in disappointment.
"I can learn to phase through stuff even better with my Kamui." Harry explained. "So I don't really need the skill. I only chose this particular potion over others because it's more potent and it uses all the remaining Aspects I need: Monkey from Demiguise, Boar from Tebo and Dog from Gytrash."
"How did you get the blood of a Gytrash, anyway? It's a spirit-dog, after all." Luna tilted her head questionably.
"It was a variant of a spirit banishing spell. I had to just banish everything but its blood, and then used a spirit containment spell to gather that blood." Harry shrugged. "Got it from Ollivander's memories. The man tried using it as a wand core once. Didn't work so well."
"Well, are you ready?" Susan sat down on a couch that appeared under her.
"Yeah… I'll start with the Rabbit's Hair since it's simpler." Harry nodded and downed the yellow elixir in a few gulps.
A few seconds later, his hair began to cycle through a whole spectrum of colors and shapes before settling into a similar form to what it had started as, only a slightly darker shade of black.
"Okay, now the other one." Harry sighed and chugged down the Wraith's Shadow.
He suddenly began to feel an arctic cold spreading from his core that enveloped his entire body and he noticed he had become translucent for a few seconds before warmth return to his body along with its mass, dropping him on his ass from the sudden shift.
"I'm okay!" Harry assured the girls as they fussed over him. "I was just surprised by the change back."
"If you're sure…" Susan nodded slowly while Luna ran the diagnostic charms she knew over Harry.
"Well then, not there's something I've been wanting to try for months now." Harry got up with a grin an the Room shifted into a large stone chamber with them on one side and a target dummy on the other. He then formed the Tiger, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse and Tiger Handseals before bringing the tips of his index fingers under his lips as he inhaled and molded his chakra in his lungs "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" he mentally called out as he exhaled a huge ball of fire…
Well, that was the idea, anyway. Instead, a stream of flames shot from him mouth and seconds later he was coughing his lungs out along with more then a bit of smoke.
As he tried to regain control of his breathing, he was entirely unappreciative of Kaguya's hysterical laughter.
March 16th – Nr 12 Grimmauld Place, London
"Can you run that by me again?" Sirius said as he blinked slowly. "I must be hearing things, 'cause I could have sworn you just asked me to Blood Adopt a body-snatching teenaged version of the Dark Lord into the House of Black."
"Look Sirius, I told you about Kaguya's situation, right?" Harry massaged the bridge of his nose. "You said you understood why I'm doing this, and agree that I owe her at least that much for all the help she's been."
"Yeah, that part I got." Sirius nodded.
"And you understood that we had to put minion here through some rituals to make the body compatible to Kaguya." Harry continued.
"That I understood as well." Sirius nodded.
"One of those rituals involves the magic of the Black Family flowing through the veins of this body." Harry said simply. "And while it already has some relatively recent Black ancestry, a paternal grandmother, that is not quite enough for our needs."
"But why?" Sirius asked with a frown. "What's so good about the Black Family Magic that you need for this? And why don't we do it after she's in the body rather then this wanker." He glared murder at Riddle.
"Look, Sirius, from what we've been able to find out, the Byakugan, the special eyes that Kaguya had when she was alive are a recessive trait of the Black Family bloodline." Harry said calmly. "By blood adopting the body, the genetic code will be changed to allow the Byakugan to be awoken given the right impulse and with the right person in charge of the body. Also, we're not doing this later since to legitimize things and give Kaguya an identity in the Wizarding World, we need you Magical Adopt her as your previously secret daughter. With the help of the goblins, we can smooth things over in exchange for some gold. The official story will be that due to family pressure you agreed to sire her with an unknown pureblooded woman of your Grandfather Arcturus' choosing and after your incarceration she was raised by him and Cassiopeia Black until the recent death of the later and your innocence being revealed."
"And why would I do something like that?" Sirius narrowed his eyes.
"Because you want to keep blaming the Ministry for sterilizing you during your time in Azkaban and Kaguya being your spawn would be all the proof you need." Harry smirked before pausing as Kaguya told him something. "Oh, and if you do this I'll teach you how to do this." He said before he stuck his tongue out and it lengthened until it was a foot long at which point Harry wiggled it a bit before he pulled it back in his mouth.
"Deal!" Sirius exclaimed with his eyes sparkling at all the lewd jokes he could a tongue like that for, never mind during sex.
"Great. 'cause we're doing this tonight." Harry nodded in satisfaction as he began pulling out a heavily runed silver goblet and a potion bottle from an expanded pocket.
"Okay, does this go?" Sirius got up followed by Riddle at Harry's command.
"Simple. I put this potion in this goblet." Harry did just that. "Then you cut your palms and allow your blood to drip into the potion, don't heal the cuts either." He conjured a knife which he handed to Sirius who cut his left palm while Riddle cut his right, and watched their blood intermingling in the potion it began glowing crimson. "Now read this, Sirius and when you're done he'll drink it." Harry handed Sirius a piece of paper.
"I, Sirius Orion Black, Lord of the House of Black, claim you as a member of the House of Black. My our blood flow through your veins and our magic through your blood. So mote it be!" Sirius intoned.
With that Riddle drank the potion and seconds after he finished it the goblet slid from his fingers before he collapsed screaming and convulsing in agony.
"What's happening, this it go wrong?" Sirius frowned.
"Nope, it's working perfectly." Harry assured him. "However, this potion was designed in a time when Blood Adoptions were discouraged so it lacks any numbing effects while it rewrites the recipient's genes. Pity."
"Isn't there a newer version of the potion?" Sirius tilted his head.
"There is. But I'm afraid I misplaced it. Oops?" Harry smirked.
"Damn Harry, you're growing up to be a cruel and vindictive bastard." Sirius shook his head with an amused grin as his godson silenced Riddle.
"I'll take that as a compliment." Harry rolled his eyes before approaching Riddle who seemed to have finished the transformation. "You okay?" he asked as he removed the silencing charm.
"Hurts all over, master." Riddle grunted.
"Hm, drink this." Harry poured some Elixir of Life down his throat.
"Did you really need to do that?" Sirius frowned.
"Can't risk damaging the merchandise." Harry shrugged.
"Right, right." Shrugged the Dog Animagus.
"Hm, it seems some of its facial features changed somewhat." Harry mussed as he carefully looked at what no longer looked quite like Ginny Weasley. A flick of his wand later and the face was transfigured back – temporarily, of course.
"So, when is the main event?" Sirius inquired.
"Normally that would mean Kaguya's restoration ritual… but you're asking when this guy becomes Dementor food, aren't you?" Harry chuckled.
"You know me too well." Sirius grinned.
"March 19th at midnight." Harry replied as he pulled Riddle up. "You want to be there?"
"Damn right I do!" Sirius said, no trace of humor left in him. "I want to see this fucker cease to be."
"Okay. And We'll have you do Kaguya's magical adoption as your daughter on the 21st." Harry informed him.
"You'll have everything prepared, right? I'll just need to play my part." Sirius inquired.
"Sure. It's basically an exchange of oaths. No potions or anything involved." Harry explained.
"Bring her here, I want to get to know my daughter a bit." Sirius suggested.
"…You just want her to tell you some embarrassing stories about me, don't you?" Harry deadpanned.
The prankster grin he got in response said it all.
Early morning, March 18th – Forbidden Forest
"Are you sure about this, Harry?" Luna asked worriedly. "There have been a few close calls the last time we tried this, remember?"
"I know, but this will ensure everything goes smoothly." Harry explained as he sat cross-legged on the ground, eyes closed, elbows and hands joined clenched leveled with his abdomen with each fingertip touching its equivalent. "Now let me focus."
"Okay." Luna shrugged and lifted the copper bat covered with a sealing array, ready to smack him over the head with it should he loose control.
Slowly and steadily, Harry eased his breathing and began drawing on the natural energy around him. It was easy for him to do so, the Preta Path facilitating it. The hard part, however, was not this. It was neither stabilizing his chakra in a perfect combination of Yin, Yang and Nature Chakra – he could do that after his third try due to the various rituals he had performed and even his Immortal status.
No, what was hard was turning that Senjutsu Chakra into Six Paths Senjutsu Chakra, then enter the Rikudo Sennin Modo. He had the ability to do it; it was not just in his magic, but in his blood also. He had felt and touched the spark that would bring him to that state, but he not been able to hold it long enough to actually stabilize himself in it and use it.
Ironically, despite being without a doubt the magically strongest wizard alive, he simply was not strong enough. Or rather, while his Yin chakra was more then high enough, it was his Yang chakra that was ageing behind. Hence why, rather then mold all his chakra with the natural energy he absorbed, he had to separate a large chunk of his Yin chakra, his magic, and keep is separate while mixing all the rest into a uniform state.
Slowly but surely, he approached the required state of being, saturating his body with just the right amount of Nature Chakra before mixing it with his own chakra. Then, just before it was complete, he reached deeper into himself, past the Yin chakra he had put aside, and pulled on Otsutsuki chakra that had awoken in him along with the Tenseigan and Rinne-Sharingan, to which the bits he had taken from Hamura, Hagoromo, Asura, Indra and even Kaguya herself had further cultivated it. A slow and steady stream was adding into the mixing Senjutsu chakra and, sure enough, there was the spark again…
"There!" Harry thought as he remained devoid of emotion, his sole focus being the intermingling chakra that slowly but surely melded into one single greenish silver mix that he then allowed, bit by bit, to saturate every inch of his body. He did not know how long he was in that state, but eventually he felt it was enough.
What he had done now was not just become one with nature, that was regular Sennin Modo. He did not just achieve Rikudo Sennin Modo. What he did, was make it his own, ensuring that he would now be able to enter and sustain that form with relative ease as long as he maintained the proper focus.
Rikudo Sennin Modo was not like regular Sennin Modo. It was not becoming one with Nature, but making Nature accept you as one of its own, purifying your body in the process of various negative elements and impurities. Regular Sennin Modo also did this to a degree, but it took a very long time or a very clean body to begin with. Rikudo Sennin Modo, on the other hand, cheated. Since the basis of Otsutsuki Chakra was Biiju Chakra which was respectively the chakra of the Shinju, which was part of nature, the cleansing process occurred not just from the outside but from the inside as well.
And due to Harry's Immortal status, his body was already all but clean of toxins and other impurities. All it took was one single successful attempt to stabilize into the Rikudo Sennin Modo and saturate his body with that chakra, and he was set to use it again much more easily and with lower risks.
"I am ready." Harry stated as he opened his eyes revealing both Rinne-Sharingan and Tenseigan active and not another sign of Senjutsu in use: a successful Rikudo Sennin Modo.
"Okay, now let me guide you." Kaguya carefully spoke, as it not to startle him, and began giving him a push here and a tap there as he channeled a chunk of his new Rikudo Sennin Chakra into the palms of his hands where it manifested as green tinted silver flames.
Once one could no longer see his skin through the flames even with a Dojutsu, he stopped and maintained that state for a minute or so before mobbing on to the next stage. Slowly but surely a pitch black opaque liquid-looking substance began to pour out of the center of his palm and coalesce into an centimenter-wide marble. When that spherical shape had been achieved, it split into quarters that shaped themselves as sharp senbon.
A flash of green later and the four black senbon dropped in his lap, no longer being levitated by Harry's chakra.
"Please pick them up and put them away, manually, Luna." Harry said calmly and the blonde did just that as quickly as she could.
"Are you going to continue?" Luna inquired softly.
"Of course." Harry assured her. "Now that I manage to reach this point, I might as well finish things up. We have other things planned for the next two days, after all."
With that, he began forming another Gudodama, Truth-Seeking Ball, within his joined hands, this time making it just over twice as big as the previous one but this time he hid not separate it into smaller parts. Instead, he elongated just a bit to take a just barely oval form before flashing green once before it also felt the effect of gravity.
Only this was not black in color at all. Rather, it was white, almost completely uniform. This time Luna did not wait for it to fall in his lap, catching it and quickly placing it into a glass container that had a greenish liquid in it. As it slowly floated, Luna stared at the Byakugan eye with her own. A minute later, another joined it and the contained was sealed shut.
"Can you keep going?" Luna asked warily.
"Yes." Harry confirmed and within seconds a new small Gudodama formed and was soon followed by a flash of light leaving behind a new eye, this time almost completely crimson, with a ripple pattern spreading from the black pupil. Its twin soon followed and both were sealed into another eye container.
The next pair was a bit tricky and it took Harry a bit of time to properly inscribe with the proper pattern, but eventually he had two light purple eyes with ripple pattern along with three tomoe on each of the innermost three rings.
"Okay, you're almost there." Luna encouraged him. "Just one more and you're done."
"Yes, just one more. The most important one." Harry said quietly before putting his entire focus on his own right eye as he molded and inscribed the last Gudodama which ended with a silver flash instead of a green one like before, leaving behind a single slightly glowing Rinne-Sharingan eye.
"Okay, you're done." Luna said as she quickly yet carefully stored the eye into a container that held a clear crimson liquid.
"Yeah, give me a minute." Harry nodded as he began to shift his Rikudo Sennin Chakra and draw his as of yet untouched portion of Yin Chakra into the mix, slowly destabilizing the Rikudo Sennin Modo yet at the same time imprinting it on his remaining chakra to maximize his compatibility. Eventually, his chakra was diluted enough that his Sennin Modo faded and he got up, stretching his stiff limbs. "How long have we been here, anyway?"
"Tempus." Luna chanted and eyed the magic-drawn numbers that appeared. "Close to seven hours. It's nearly lunchtime."
"Well, let's head to the kitchens and eat. Our past selves are in the Great Hall." Harry suggested as he placed the first Rinnegan containers into a bottomless moke-skin pouch. Then, he stabbed one of the chakra receiver senbon into a specially prepared spot on the Rinne-Sharingan container and then another of the senbon into his left side of the chest, right in his Shimon, his Gate of Death, from which a stream of purplish silver chakra instantly began to through, straight into the container holding the one eyes, lighting it up in an ethereal glow. He then stabbed another senbon into a socket of the Byakugan container. With that, he stored those containers as well and followed Luna to the castle.
Midnight, March 19th – Azkaban Prison
The icy cold black stone fortress was silent. Even the maddest of the its tenants were silent, trying to get some rest in order to survive the next day. Farther then that, few dared to hope, especially among the more infamous convicts. Accidents were known to happen from time to time, and the news of even the Boy-Who-Lived being a near victim of the Dementors took the wind out of the sails of several purebloods who considered that the Ministry would not risk ending their lines.
Within the empty cell of the former prisoner Sirius Black a rift seemed to appear in midair as space itself seemed to be twisting… then it was over.
Silent and unheard, Harry walked out of the empty cell under the Cloak of Invisibility and sought out the nearest Dementor that was alone and out of sight. It only took him a few seconds to run across one gliding down the corridor and within a second another spinning rift appeared over the Dementor's form and sucked it away.
His job done, Harry, used the Kamui once more and entered the nocturnal desert dimension as well and within a few seconds his Byakugan saw the Dementor around a couple hundred meters away but already heading towards him, having all but instantly detected the only living being in the vicinity.
As soon as it was close enough, Harry flicked his wand and chains erupted from the sand, wrapping tightly around the Dementor's body and arms before melding into shackles molded skintight, thus impossible to get out of.
Nodding in satisfaction, Harry left that dimension and appeared in the Chamber of Secrets where Luna, Susan, Sirius and Riddle waited.
"Okay, I have it tied down." Harry announced. "Sirius, are you sure you want to see this?"
"This fucker took away my best friend. I want to see his end." Sirius said resolutely.
"Alright." Harry nodded. "I can only sent two people at a time right now, so I'll send the girls first, then Riddle and finaly the two of us."
"Sounds good." Sirius nodded.
Twenty seconds later, he and Sirius landed a couple dozen meters from the chained down Dementor, just a few feet away from the others.
"Let's get this over with." Harry said decisively. "Minion, go and give that Dementor a kiss."
"Yes, master!" Riddle eagerly hurried to obey and within a minute was leaning close to the hole that serves as the Dementor's mouth.
He was gone within a blink of an eyes, the already badly anchored spirit being sucked away without issue, the body collapsing into the sand seconds later like a puppet with its strings cut.
"Accio." Sirius called out and the body was within seconds floating towards them at decent speed, before stopping at Harry's Aresto Momentum.
"Let's get out of here." Harry suggested and within seconds the group was gone leaving behind a slightly less irritable Dementor, now that it had been fed.
"So, what now?" Sirius asked curiously.
"Now we begin transferring Kaguya in this body." Harry vanished the clothes with a flick of his wand while drawing the last chakra receiver senbon with the other hand, before leaning down and stabbing it into the Shimon of what once was Ginny Weasley's body. "Also, I'm going to make the final alterations before the ritual." He added as he levitated the body onto a bed he had transfigured earlier and then pulled out containers that held the two Byakugan eyes and the Rinne-Sharingan and set them down on a small table on the side.
"Er, I'll be going now." Sirius decided and quickly made his way out of the Chamber via the tunnel that led into the Forbidden Forest, outside the wards and thus viable for Apparition.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing, Harry?" Susan asked doubtfully. "I mean, I know you're super-smart and all that but…"
"Relax, this isn't the first time I do this." Harry assured her. "I practiced a bit on the sacrifices for Luna's ritual. And eyes are among the easiest to transplant, not requiring specific blood compatibility and stuff like that. So yeah, the Byakugan will be easier to transplant. It helps that the recipient is both genetically and chakra-wise compatible. The Rinne-Sharingan will be trickier since I have to create an eye-socket for it first."
The implantation of the Byakugan went easily enough. Take one eye out, replace it with a Byakugan one, make the connection to the chakra network and the ocular nerves and finally add one drop of Elixir of Life on it, just to be on the safe side. It only took twenty minutes since Harry wanted to double and triple check everything.
When it came to the third eye, things were a bit trickier. He had studied quite a few healing texts and found a few cases over the centuries where for one reason or another wizards were unable to see through their regular eyes, usually due to dark curses permanently burning their optical nerves. Thus, there had been cases when they had other, usually artificial, eyes implanted as replacements.
Mad-Eye Moody's magical eye was a prime example of this.
But it was not what Harry wanted. He needed an eye in the center of the forehead, the Third Eye as that location was revered as. But he four nothing in books.
It was only thanks to his studies in mythology in search for other past, and possible even current, immortals that he found the solution.
Brontes, Steropes and Arges, the three Cyclopes of legend, sons of Gaia and Uranus and brothers of the Titans. Contrary to current belief, they did not have just one eye. Rather, they had been cursed by their jealous youngest brother Cronus, causing a third vertical eye to open up in their forehead… right before Cronus used his scythe, his Harpe, to gorge out their regular eyes, lowering their legendary skills to a level he could surpass, thus allowing Cronus to become the leader of the Titans.
Cronus, of course, was dead, and thus his soul was within Harry's reach so it was relatively easy to gain his memories and more importantly the knowledge of that spell.
"Τρίτος Κύκλωπες Μάτι." Harry intoned as he created a bone-deep vertical cut on the forehead before swiping his magic-loaded finger horizontally, as if drawing a cross. A glow and a squelching sound later, blood began to flow as a third eye, red in color, opened on the forehead. A drop of Elixir of Life and a few diagnostics later, it was confirmed that it was fully functional and quite magical, being capable of Mage Sight – in other words it was perfect and could be replaced with a Dojutsu without worry of not receiving chakra. From there, the transplant of the Rinne-Sharingan went relatively easy and soon enough it was over.
"Just one thing left to do." Harry told them as he pulled out the two senbon chakra receivers that had been feeding Kaguya's chakra to her future eyes. Then carefully so not to damage anything else, he stabbed them around the edges of the frontal bone portion of the skull into the Kaimon and Kyūmon, the Chakra Gates of Opening and Healing, allowing the chakra transfer to continue through them. "Okay, done. Now, you two should head to bed. I'll see you in the morning." Harry told Luna and Susan as he created a Kage Bunshin to lead them out of the Chamber of Secrets which he got onto the bed next to the one Kaguya was in the process of possessing and sat down cross-legged, hands joined and elbows on his knees as he began calming himself.
He waited until he Kage Bunshin dispelled after letting the girls out and sealing the entrance behind them, before actually beginning to draw on the energy of nature. Within minutes he had entered the Rikudo Sennin Modo began encouraging Kaguya's chakra and spirit to flow into her new container while also donating some of his own chakra.
At four in the morning, around three and a half hours after he started, he opened his eyes and got up stretching, no longer in Sennin Modo. A smile appeared on his face as the girl on the other bed experimentally got up and did the same, a wide smile on her lips.
"Good morning, sleepy-head." Harry grinned. "How do you feel?"
"It's good to have a body of my own once more… though this one still feels rather uncomfortable. Rather stiff." Kaguya admitted, he voice already sounding different then either Ginny's or Riddle's.
"That's what the final ritual is for." Harry nodded before walking up to the statue of Slytherin while pulling out a scroll. From within, he unsealed a corpse that he had stolen from a muggle morgue a couple weeks ago. It was that of a homeless woman, so he had no worry of relatives looking to give it a burial. "FiendFyre." He commanded once he took a proper distance and he kept his concentration sharp while he purplish red flames devoured the corpse, leaving nothing but blackened molten stone with a few ashes melded into it.
"Okay, let's go. We're on a time limit." Kaguya pointed out before glancing down at herself "And I'll need some clothing. I don't care about this form, but I will not just anyone see my new body naked."
With a smile, Harry brought out a ceremonial kimono that looked almost identical to what she used to wear, draping it over her shoulders before taking them away with a Kamui and then dropping them off in front of Potter Manor, before a huge Fire Crab Shell cauldron that was full of a clear, water-like liquid – a mix of spring water, Elixir of Life and Phoenix Tears, the later of which had been difficult to obtain in the necessary quantities, but after enough gold thrown at the goblins the buggers admitted to have quite a bit in storage and were willing to sell to such a generous customer.
Harry bought every drop they had had.
Waiting there were Luna and Susan, whom had arrived there via Portkeys not ten minutes beforehand.
"Okay, I'll be right back with the final… participant." Harry grimaced.
"Stop worrying, Harry, it's going to be alright." Luna chided him.
"I know. And I realize we won't be doing anything permanent, but… it feels like betraying her trust." Harry scowled.
"We have no choice, you said it yourself that this is the most stable and pure combination we can make." Susan said, though she did not appear that happy about it either.
"Okay, but I'm doing something nice for her later." Harry sighed as he disappeared with his Kamui. Reappearing a minute later, he had a blank-eyed Nymphadora Tonks at his side. "Let's get this over with." Harry said decisively.
Nodding in agreement, Kaguya placed her kimono on a clean table before walking up to the cauldron and into it, taking a deep breath before crouching down under the surface of the liquid.
The fire under it was suddenly lit and the ritual had begun.
"Bone of the descendent, knowingly given, you will renew your Ancestor." Susan incanted as she approached and her hand over the cauldron as a bone spike emerged from her forearm before dropping into the clear potion that turned a vibrant blue.
"Flesh of kin, unknowingly sacrificed, you will revive your Progenitor." Harry incanted as he walked over to Tonks with a sharp knife and cut a slice of the flesh on her left palm, not getting the slightest reaction from the hypnotized woman. He then dropped that piece of flesh into the cauldron, causing the potion to turn red.
"Blood of the heir, willingly taken, you will resurrect your Origin." Luna spoke as he approached Harry who offered his hand and the girl made a cut with a knife and collected a full vial of chakra-rich blood which she them poured into the cauldron, turning it a blinding white, causing her to tear up.
"Tears of the Transmigrant's child, unwillingly shed, you will restore your Root." Harry spoke as he wiped away some of the teats with his unharmed hand and allowed them to drip into the potion, turning it a bright silver tinted purple.
With that done, they backed away as a silvery mist emanated from the cauldron, hiding it from view. Within seconds, it began to clear and revealed a teenage girl with pale skin, delicate features, and silver-tinted white hair that reached the ground, with eyebrows cut short.
A flick of Harry's wand had the kimono fly and clothe her, remembering her request, drawing a smile from her.
"Thank you." The Rabbit Goddess smiled as her third eye opening for a moment before closing once more.
A.N.: Happy New Year!
Yes, I definitely could not have found a better time to post this chapter, marking a new beginning.
I hope you liked it. If so, please show your appreciation with a review. I'm honestly curious what you all thing of this chapter.