"Next week's first year class will be on low grade memory potions." Snape surveyed the room. I expect you all to do the reading in the appropriate chapter beforehand, as the purpose of the potion is to help the drinker remember an earlier event. A bad brew will remove memory. While this is correctable, Madame Pomfrey would like to avoid it, for obvious reasons."
He paused and glanced around the room. "Now then, what is the first year charm assignment?"
One of the first years raised their hand. "Professor Flitwick wants us to write six inches on fire spells and draw or get a drawing. He's going to teach us an animation charm."
"I drew the boogeyman!" This came from another first year, who excitedly held up a piece of parchment. "He's evil, so he's covered in black light!"
"No!" The entire common room went silent at Harry's sudden outburst. "He has green light." He shook himself and jumped to his feet, twirling his hand. "I'm going for a walk." He grabbed his pet and jumped into the air, vanishing from sight.
It took a full minute for anyone to speak. Snape jolted as he suddenly realized just what the boy had revealed.
"Perhaps he doesn't need the potion." He mused.
Harry scowled and kicked at a loose stone, sending it flying. Watching Muncher bounce after it, he growled. "I can't believe I said that!"
"Said what, I wonder."
Harry whirled and drew one of his guns.. "Who are you?!"
The other boy yelped and flailed back. "You can see me?"
Harry snorted. "Well, duh. We're both in Purgatorio.
"Purga-what?"
Harry sighed. "Purgatorio. The realm between?" He rolled his eyes when the other boy continued to look blank. "Oh for the love of Sheba!" He waved one of his guns around idly. "You're actually in it, and you don't know what this place is?"
The other boy grimaced. "Been here for years now. Not like anyone could see me till now."
Harry grimaced. "Years? Really?"
The other boy huffed and pushed back his hood, revealing black hair in neat braids that was beginning to turn silver at the roots. "Ah shite, what does it matter? Folks think I'm dead anyway. Gave up right quick when they weren't able to see me anymore." He shrugged. "Had a lovely funeral in Central Park and everything."
Harry blinked. "That's in America. This is Scotland."
The other boy shrugged again. "Turns out there's some benefits to being stuck here. I hopped a plane. First class was nice. Turns out I don't need to eat here either." He pulled an apple out of his pocket and bit into it with a loud crunch. "Pretty nice to do though."
"How'd you get here?"
"Beats me. One day I'm playing ball with my dad, next second I've vanished into thin air. You?"
Harry snorted. "I walked in here. Maybe not the most appealing place, but most things leave you alone. He fired a shot over the boy's shoulder making him yelp.
The yelp turned into an outright scream as the affinity that had been preparing to spear him slumped over his back, dissolving in a shower of gold. "Then there's this bunch."
"What the hell?!"
"Heaven actually, or something resembling it."
"Pull the other one, it's got bells on."
Harry shrugged. "You want proof? Hang around, more's bound to show up. And they really aren't all that keen on humans. Or Umbra."
"Umbra?"
Harry sighed and grabbed the other boy's arm, dragging him out of the way of an angelic lance. "Less talking, more fighting, little man. If you think you can."
The other boy grinned. "Oh I have a few tricks up my sleeve. And my name's not little man!"
Harry grimaced. "You'll need more than a few tricks. And if you have a name, use it."
"Likewise, mate! And how's this for a trick?" The boy made a flinging motion and a series of glowing cards arced out, slicing the decorations around him to pieces.
Harry shrugged. "Not bad." He grinned and plugged an acceptance in the head. "And the name's Harry."
The other boy grinned and sliced an applaud across the face. "Loki."
Harry grinned as they were surrounded. "Well then Loki, fancy yourself a little contest?"
Loki grinned right back. Over the growl of the chain chomp he said, "Bring it on!"
"There." Bayonetta and Jeanne stood back, letting the symbol fade.
The headmaster leaned over the smoking patch of ground. "I don't suppose this is particularly safe."
Jeanne smirked. "We've set it not to trigger for a select few people. "Quirrell obviously isn't one of them."
Dumbledore sighed. "That would be for the best."
Bayonetta snorted. "If you're so unsure of him, why let him teach?"
Dumbledore sighed again. "Because it's not the student's I worry for. Not most of them anyway."
Bayonetta's eyebrows rose. "Most?"
"Your son would be an obvious exception." The headmaster conjured an armchair from thin air and sat down. "I have done my best to suppress things, but there is still a danger. Not everyone looked favorably on the Umbra clan, after all. And he is headstrong and impetuous. It's a dangerous combination in one so young. Believe me, I know from experience. The most I can guarantee is that no harm shall come to him from those connected to this school." He paused and added, "With the possible exception of Professor Quirrell."
"You think there's a threat?"
"From his schoolmates? I very much doubt it. Unless one of them has suddenly allied with an eldritch abomination without my knowing, I think on the whole there is very little physical threat. And Harry has already proven himself adept at withstanding verbal barbs. It is what I cannot find that bothers me. Something has been wandering about the school, disturbing classrooms and dormitories. I have yet to discover the cause."
Jeanne snorted. "Are you sure it's not that silly poltergeist?" Jeanne had had precisely one encounter with Peeves, largely because Peeves himself was terrified of her. The poltergeist had made the mistake of attempting to mess with Jeanne's class, and had promptly met up with the business end of Gommorrah. He had been studiously avoiding her since then.
The headmaster grimaced. "Peeves has already stated that it is not him." He steepled his fingers. "With our likeliest suspect out of the way, that leaves an intruder. It does not seem to be malicious, but we have had theft of food reported from the kitchen stores."
Bayonetta made a face. "That leaves out angels then, and infernals, for that matter. They don't eat food from earth."
"I'll take your word for it. Frankly my next guess would be the Weasely twins, but then there would be a prank of some sort left behind, at least where the classrooms are concerned." He frowned. "I am reasonably certain it is not Harry either, as he has no need to steal food."
"What makes you sure it's not Quirrell?"
"Too simple." was the blunt response. "And he would not dare reveal himself if he had not already achieved his goals. Where he's concerned, I feel it better to wait." He sighed and rose, banishing the armchair. "Whatever is the cause, it seems to be less than dangerous. I suppose the best option is to simply wait this out as well."
"If you say so."
"Not bad there Loki." Harry grinned and sliced the last angel with a fiery slash from Kiyohime. He snapped it shut as the angel dissolved. "Unfortunately, I win."
Loki snorted. "By one, mate. Big deal."
Harry frowned. "And here I was all set to give you a consolation prize."
"Yeah, sure you were."
Harry scowled. "I was going to spring you from Purgatorio, but if that's the way you feel…" He trailed off and grinned when Loki's eyes widened. Before he could say anything however, Harry laughed. "Relax. I'll get you out. Maybe we can even train you so that you don't do it by accident again." He aimed his gun at the door and fired a crescent shaped blast, obliterating the angelic seal.
"You do this kind of stuff often?"
Harry grinned and grabbed his hand. "You have no idea. Now hold my hand and don't let go until I say so."
He drew a sigil and strode forward, more or less dragging Loki behind him. Loki shuddered as he transitioned back into the Earth realm. "That felt weird." Then he yelped and stumbled back as Muncher started investigating his feet.
Harry snorted. "Get a grip. It's only my Chain Chomp. Just don't tempt him or anything. C'mon."
"Where are we going?"
"To find mom. We need to figure out what to do with you."
They didn't need to look hard as it turned out. They nearly collided with her several corridors away.
"And what are you doing out here?"
Harry grimaced. "I needed a walk. I went out and found him stuck in Purgatorio."
"And how did he get there?"
"Beats me love. It's been years now."
Harry snorted. "Accidentally apparently."
Loki laced his fingers behind his head. "Hey, search me how I did it. I just know I've been in that creepy place for almost three years now. Spent a lot of time wandering. This place has the best food though."
Jeanne sniffed. "I think we've found you're "Something Else" Dumbledore."
The headmaster grimaced. "I am inclined to agree. Why don't we adjourn to my office? We can figure out what to do with him there."
A short time later found the lot of them squeezed in Dumbledore's office, along with the heads of houses. Harry and Loki were front and center while Bayonetta was admiring Dumbledore's Phoenix.
Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Now, to be frank, young man, I find myself highly disinclined to hand you over to our child services." He glanced at Bayonetta. "And for much the same reason I refused to hand young Harry there over to them. They are far too much at the mercy of the influential."
Bayonetta left off stroking the Phoenix, which had since moved to her shoulder. "How do you mean?"
Dumbledore sighed. "In the days following the fall of Voldemort, a large number of families made applications to adopt Mister Potter over there. Some would have been fine choices, but there were many that were not. Several prominent and dark families made bids to adopt him. In the end it was only the fact that I placed him with a blood relative that put a stop to things, as blood is the one claim the ministry could not contest."
He frowned. "Even now there is the occasional hearing, though they have been much more easily fielded in recent years, largely due to the sudden involvement of Gringotts. They have become unusually interested in keeping the status quo."
When Bayonetta snorted, the headmaster's expression cleared. "Ah. Of course. I suppose I should have known. I did wonder, but since they were being so determined I saw no reason to persuade them not to help, though I have a feeling they would have not have listened."
He frowned again. "Back to the point. What to do with you, young man?"
Loki snorted. "The name's Loki, not "Young Man"! And I don't think there's much you can do. My folks think I'm dead, and they moved a few months after I fell into that wacky place."
"We'll come up with something for the summer months. In the meantime, we will simply say you are an exchange student here to learn magic from the angle of wizarding Britain."
Jeanne lifted an eyebrow. "You're very quick with that plan."
Dumbledore grinned as he pulled a sheet of parchment from one of his desk drawers. "Egos that are stroked are egos that are not likely to dig for information. Ergo, this can be filed without much interference. And it has worked before. As the muggles are fond of saying, if it's not broke, don't fix it."
Professor Flitwick coughed to gain attention. "If I may headmaster, where will he stay? We can hardly lodge him in the great hall."
"I had planned to have him sorted."
"Don't bother." Everyone turned to see the sorting hat sitting on a shelf. The rip at the brim opened into a sort of floppy grimace. "Anyone with eyes can see the boy's a true Slytherin."
Surprisingly, Snape did not disagree with assessment. "That as may be, but without a wand, he'll be eaten alive down there. The path of the house has begun to change in recent years, but the older students are still looked up to. It would be a disaster."
"So take him to Ollivanders." All heads turned to professor Sprout. "Better yet, take Mister Potter and his family with you." At the looks she received she said, "We kill two birds with one stone. Your Slytherins are nothing if not attentive, Severus. If they see you are on board, they'll follow, if only to keep from being singled out. And if we let slip that Mister Potter has taken an interest and will be there to assist in the shopping expedition…"
"We can put a stop to some of those silly rumors the Daily Prophet has been printing." McGonagall finished. "Pomona, that's brilliant!"
The Hufflepuff head smiled slightly.
Bayonetta however, looked less pleased. "Rumors?"
Sprout's smile faded. "There have been a host of rumors printed in the Daily Prophet. It's our countries primary newspaper for the magical world."
Bayonetta tossed her head. "I've seen copies before."
"Yes well, there's been all sorts of nonsense printed, everything from him being raised by demon spawn to being a magical idiot."
The atmosphere turned frosty. "My son is no idiot."
"Not at all. But having his head of house and the deputy headmistress around might make some people rethink their viewpoints. Especially since Ollivander himself has already weighed on Harry's magical capabilities.
McGonagall brightened. "I had been planning to write him concerning Mister Potter's wand issues. For all his…" She paused for a moment. Harry saw that her nostrils had flared. Finally she said "Mysteriousness, He is the foremost expert on wands in Britain. Seeing him in person will be even better."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Why do you care? It's not like I actually need a wand." Under his breath he muttered, "Or really wanted one."
While McGonagall stared at him, Flitwick spoke up. "Call it a matter of academic curiosity I you will. And having a behaving wand will certainly do wonders for quelling rumors."
Before Harry could say anything else, the headmaster broke in. "A school sanctioned trip it is then. We'll just fill this out and get it filed, and send a short note of a rumor to the Daily Prophet headquarters. Knowing them, they'll leap on it." He peered at Loki over his spectacles. "Unless you have any objections?"
Loki snorted. "Suits me fine." He idly played with one of his magical cards, sending it fluttering around in the air. "A roof over my head and a few square meals. What's to complain about?"
"Wonderful.' He dipped a large colorful quill into an ink pot and started writing. "And what country should we say you're from?"
Bayonetta smirked. "Tibet."
AN: eesh, this took way too long. Sorry for that. Real life came in with a vengeance. So As some of you may have noticed, backstory and plot are creeping in. This is my primary explanation for why Harry was left with the Dursleys. It's not that Dumbledore particularly wanted to, but he found it to be the safest option. Also, Loki. Bayonetta 2 made it pretty clear that he was reborn almost immediately after the events with Loptr. By now he's growing back into who he WAS, but Bayonetta recognizes him immediately of course. Tibet btw seems to be the area that Fimbulventr is located, Generally speaking. Hence the location as Loki's home. As to harry remembering Voldemort, it was made clear very early on that Harry remembers the killing curse. He tends to veiw the event as...strange, as event the Infernals are unable to explain his survival.
Also regarding Harry and theodore. Harry is still eleven, and acutely aware of his own longevity anyway. Most of his behavior stems from the fact that Harry was homeschooled by Jeanne, and thus has had little interaction with children his own age. (the one attempt at public school ended in disaster.) As such, Harry has no romantic interest in Theo, he DOES however desperately want to keep a friend that isn't an infernal.
Look for a lot of explanation of the more confusing things next chapter, and Harry's beast within (Which many people have been asking about.) also There's been fanart done! :0 Check it out here: art/Bayonetta-x-Harry-Potter-583996355
