MASTERMIND
HUNTING, by Louis IX
Check first
chapter for summary, disclaimer, and other warnings.
Chapter
29 – The Significance of Names
posted
January 27th,
2006
Voldemort paced. He was in a fool mood. A towering rage. He had even restarted cursing his followers.
"Crucio! Crucio! CRUCIO!"
When he lifted the last curse, the last follower was left as a quivering and whimpering mass. With a sneer, Voldemort lashed out with his massive tail, sending the recruit into a nearby wall. A disgusting crash was heard as the man's bones snapped, silencing him definitely.
The Dark Lord turned back to Malfoy. "Tell me, again, how a single individual managed to kill three of you. And Death! Wasn't he immortal?" He paused, remembering something from his "education" at the orphanage. He was surprised to have that kind of thoughts, because he had made sure to remove his memories of that time. "Is it because you should have been five?"
Lucius Malfoy didn't look proud anymore. His countenance was even tinged with sadness. But he was still speaking in a commanding voice, his current demonic personality preventing anything less. "No, Lord Voldemort. We are four."
"I have been said there was one of your kind named Plague."
Malfoy smiled weakly. "People have given us all kind of names over the centuries. The fact is that we have been summoned several times, but the mixture used was a little different each time, and our powers were adjusted accordingly. Plague was summoned in my stead 650 years ago, my lord. As I recall, he was quite successful in his endeavours."
He paused, earning an impatient question from Voldemort. "And why did your... friends... die?"
"We were made to follow each other, my lord, and our demonic powers have been given accordingly. The... enemy... must have known that, because he got Famine first. Famine had always been the weakest one. I don't know how he could have fought War, but he was wielding things we didn't know about. The purifying fire he brandished was something I have never seen." A pause. "I myself don't bring death to my enemies. It's only through my host that I can do so. Death was linked to Famine and War, and, when those two were vanquished, Death was, too. That is why I wondered if the... man... knew that, or if he was plainly lucky."
Voldemort glared at him, his left eye still dripping green blood. "Who is it?"
"I do not know, my lord. But it doesn't matter."
A pause, again. "Why?" asked Voldemort with annoyance.
"He surely died with Death. The wail of death was announcing something I had rarely seen, and, by now, there shouldn't be anyone alive miles around that particular place."
"Hmmm... Travers!" Voldemort hissed.
"My Lord?" the addressed Death Eater enquired, kneeling so low that his forehead was touching the marble floor.
"Take a team with you. Investigate the place. Search for the body of a man with a white face and four arms, one of which is metallic. Bring it to me."
"What if he's alive, My Lord?"
Voldemort's right eye lit with an unholy glimmer. "Try to subdue him, then. I would be glad to interrogate him myself." He paused, before remembering the unknown man's deadliness. "But, if you can't, follow my first order: bring his body."
"You wish is my command, Master." Travers said, before slinking away.
Voldemort then remembered something else and called the Carrow siblings forward. "Alecto, Amycus, I want you to investigate a particular town for me. The man had a shield with the crest of Venice. Go there, find the magical section of the town, and interrogate." He paused, before adding "You have a licence to kill... and to do anything else."
The two siblings looked at each other and leered, before leaving the room.
Voldemort spent another half an hour cursing his followers, before being interrupted.
"My Lord?" a tired-looking Snape asked from the doorway. "The potion is ready."
Voldemort, having been interrupted in an invigorating session of torture, looked ready to kill the Potion Master, who recoiled under the glare. The Dark Lord's expression changed slowly, though, and he addressed him.
"Bring it, then."
Snape bowed and fetched the cauldron. Once it was settled, Voldemort looked around. He wanted strong allies, and his one-eyed gaze immediately caught Derrick's large shape in the crowd. Right beside the blond man, he noticed another follower who he could call powerful and faithful, and he called them to the fore.
"Ursinus, Bellatrix, come forward."
Coincidentally, the other members of his Inner Circle being on information gathering mission, those two and Snape were the only ones available. Voldemort snorted, looking at the assembled followers. 'Weaklings.' he thought, before looking at Malfoy.
The man looked back at him and understood the unvoiced question. "I can't, my Lord. Taking the potion would not add to my powers, it would only change them."
"The potion is cooling, my Lord." Snape said, reminding Voldemort that he had to choose fast.
With a frown, he looked back at his Potion Master, before remembering something. "What did you say about loyalty, earlier?"
"Some of the potion's ingredients and part of its recipe suggest an added touch of loyalty, my Lord. Given Malfoy's power and his faithfulness, I can only suppose that it's towards you."
Voldemort thought about it for a second, before calling two of his Death Eaters. "You there! Go fetch Weasley!"
"If he's to be the third, we will still need a fourth one, my Lord." Snape said, still turning the ladle.
Turning to face him, Voldemort had a sudden idea. "He is already found." he said smugly.
Startled at the tone, Snape looked up and met the Dark Lord's unfaltering gaze. "Me? But..."
Bellatrix, who had been uncharacteristically silent since she had learnt of her husband's death, chose that moment to speak up. "Come on, Sevvie. The more, the merrier."
Snape was ready to snap at her, but Voldemort's interrogating gaze held him in place.
"Unless you aren't sure of your potion, Severus, you will drink it." the Dark Lord said, and that was final.
Bill Weasley was brought in front of them and, after being magically bound and awakened, he was given the first dose. Derrick and Bellatrix followed suit, with Snape taking whatever remained in the cauldron, his mind whirling about the numerous things which could go awry. After all, even if the first potion had worked, it hadn't been painless. Was that because he had used Unicorn blood instead of blood of that unknown creature? Snape had never been good in Care of Magical Creatures, but he had parsed through all the books at his hands, even the ones speaking of utterly dark creatures, but he found no mention of a beast named Kirin. It was only through the recipe author's words that he knew the properties of the beast's blood – and that's how he had been able to use a unicorn's in its place.
Thinking of the ingredient reminded him of something else: he had needed several ounces of Unicorn blood for the first potion, and, given the price and availability of the ingredient on the market, he had magically duplicated the vial before doing so.
He froze, a stray thought impacting him. He had used the duplicated blood for the second potion. Was it going to cause unwanted effects? As the mixture radiated from his stomach to his extremities, causing some changes here and there, his feeling of wrongness intensified.
Snape couldn't voice his anxiousness, though, as pain seized him and his three comrades, and they fell on the floor, writhing until Voldemort Stunned them.
"Well... that was interesting." he said. A gasp from his followers brought his gaze to the first drinker, and he instantly knew that something was wrong. White light was coming off of Bill, and, after intensifying for a second, it disappeared completely.
The blinding light wasn't the only thing to have disappeared, though: the redhead had left as well. The only things remaining were the ropes he had been tied with and his clothes. And a tiny thing that no one remarked.
A white feather.
Somewhere else...
Harry looked around. He was sitting on something that resembled a bench, overlooking something that resembled a house, with something resembling trees around it.
The something was white and translucent. Almost as if he was in the clouds.
A chuckle brought his attention to the man next to him.
"Clouds, right." the man said. "I gather that's how you think of the afterlife."
Harry was stunned, but that remark diverted his thoughts. "Am I dead?"
"Generally, when people ask themselves that kind of question, they are not." the man replied. "However, giving the place we are in, you would be allowed to wonder." A pause. "You are at my home in the spiritual plane of existence."
"Who are you?" Harry asked, saving the complicated question for later.
The man looked back at him. "You could say I'm your protector, since I appeared just in time to nick you out of a certainly deadly situation."
"Well... thank you, then."
"No need to thank me. I was appointed to help you."
"Appointed? By who?"
The man's eyes twinkled with amusement. "By myself, who else?"
Harry looked at him as he would Dumbledore when the Headmaster started to prattle about his beloved lemon candy.
"When you helped me defeat my enemies, I vowed to help you, Harry. It was high time I did so, although I can only congratulate you on your learning of such impressive fighting styles."
"Enemies? Vowed? Styles?" Harry was stumped.
"Ah, yes. You don't remember the fight, do you? In the… how do you call it… the airplane? Of course not, you were unconscious." He smiled genially. "Although, I'm quite sure you'll recognize me when I'll take my normal form again."
"What do you mean?"
"You would have freaked if I had appeared like Voldemort when you were waking up. I'm not Voldemort." he warned, and his body changed.
It grew taller and taller, and slimmer as well. His skin darkened until it was a deep green, and numerous vividly orange feathers appeared on his back. "I'm Quetzalcoatl, Harry. Your Nahual, sort of. Pleased to meet you face-to-face, at last."
Harry gasped, several things coming to his mind at once, not least of which... "My Nahual?" A pause. "Sort of?"
"Well, yes. In the earliest days of my culture, the humans were protected by animals chosen by the gods at their birth. As the population grew, we left the task to humans we selected for their closeness to their animal. These we gifted with the ability to change shape into that animal." He smiled. "Since you already are a powerful shape-changer, it was only natural for you to have a heavenly Nahual." He bowed. "Like me."
The feathered snake "stood up" and extended a hand to Harry. "Ready to go back?"
"But... can I have... how will I..." Harry stuttered.
Quetzalcoatl smiled. "I will be there when you will need me, young Harry Potter."
Harry accepted the hand and disappeared soon afterwards.
Quetzalcoatl smiled absently, before schooling his expression and turning around. "Satisfied?"
Several shapes shimmered into view, and one of them addressed him. "You are crazy, Quetzal, you know that? Bringing a mortal here... a living one, no less."
The Aztec god smiled at the woman who had just spoken. She was holding a shield and two arrows, but he knew that she had more than one aspect. "I know, Neith." he said, and his smile receded. "However, he is instrumental to our continued existence. Don't forget that."
"I know, I know." she answered. "Imhotep spoke with Merlin about this, but both know the fight is inevitable. Wadjet has really outdone herself, now, and that Dark Lord she has elevated must be stopped before he kills all life on Earth. To see those four demons again..." she shuddered.
"Indeed." Another goddess, who happened to have a gorgeous body and several arms, butted in, earning herself a few glares. "What? I may be a goddess of destruction, I still want to live. We all know that, without life on earth, all the souls would stay in the Heavens. The combined weight of those, especially if killed brutally, would imbalance the structure of the universe itself."
"We know that, Kali." Quetzalcoatl interrupted.
The addressed goddess raised her head staunchly. "He fought well and protected my people from those lowly demons. I like him."
"Who wouldn't?" Neith sighed. "I want him to live old enough to marry. I wish I was allowed to give him the location of Wadjet's hideout."
The snake-like god frowned at the thought. "Don't forget the rules: we just don't go help humans haphazardly-"
"-unless there is a reason for it, and only if at least two other deities concur. I know." She smiled. "That's why you asked us, as I recall. But there's always the possibility of sending envoys. After all, we know of one of them, even if he doesn't know about it yet."
That raised a few comments from the small assembly, and they all fell silent soon afterwards, before leaving to their respective tasks.
When Harry reappeared in the Indian town, nobody remarked him. It wasn't because the place was empty, no: the town was crawling with people running around, trying to find survivors from the earthquake. It was because there were so many people that he went unnoticed. Of course, it helped that he had morphed his arms back into a normal set of two. He had also lowered his mask and morphed his face to look like one of the locals.
Harry didn't have to search for his tachi to find it: he merely willed it in his hand, and, after inspecting it for damages and noticing that no traces remained of the demon's influence, he magically sent it back to its box. Wanting to cast a couple of spells to recover his paraphernalia, Harry applied a Notice-me-not charm on himself, and he then Summoned the debris of his shield and his arm. Both were in an almost unrecognisable state due to the powerful explosions that had occurred nearby.
Wanting his stuff repaired, he decided to leave to Venice, but an ominous feeling prevented him to leave right now. His senses explored his surroundings, and he felt an anti-Apparation ward over the square and several unsavoury characters nearby.
Not wanting to bring the fight to the open area, he entered the first house he found, and, after Levitating himself to an interesting height and Apparating out, he waited for them to arrive.
And arrive they did. Seven of them. All Death Eaters.
"Where is he?" asked the one that could only be their chief. "I can't believe he left! Are you sure of your ward?" he asked the man to his right. Said man acquiesced, and Travers looked around. "A portkey, maybe?"
His sidekick cast the appropriate spell, before shaking his head. "No sign of portkey transportation, sir."
"I can't believe it! Our Lord will have your hide, if we can't find him!"
"It wasn't him, sir. The local we noticed had his two arms and no white face. It just happened that he found the metallic arm. He's perhaps a muggle?"
"A muggle couldn't have disappeared like that!" Travers yelled.
Harry had had enough, and decided to act now. After all, even stuck in the not-so-gaseous-anymore reality, he could make his hand become tangible, and he could stun the seven of them without much danger. Especially as they couldn't Apparate.
However, something happened, causing his action to be superfluous.
The door opened wide, and several red beams impacted with the dark wizards. It was only thanks to a high-backed armchair that Travers and his sidekick were able to evade the incoming threat. They both grabbed their portkeys and disappeared just as a human-shaped shimmer was cornering them.
"Portkeys. Damn." a voice cursed. "Alright, team. Time to wrap up."
The shimmer seemed to move around a little, and the Disillusionment charm lifted. Three others did, too, and Harry recognized the uniform of Aurors. While they were stripping the Death Eaters of everything magical they had on them – wands, portkeys, and other trinkets –, the one leading them spoke in a little device. "Situation cleared. Five enemies down. Two fled with portkeys."
Harry thought he heard the gruff voice of Alastor Moody answering from the device, and he smiled internally.
The Aurors used a special set of portkeys to whisk the Death Eaters away, surely towards some restraining cell in the Ministry, before following through Apparation – with Travers gone, the anti-Apparation field was easier to dispel.
Harry knew that nothing more had to be done, and he left towards Venice.
As he was flying at high speed over the Middle East countries and seas, Harry fished the two halves of his shield out of his enlarged pockets and eyed them suspiciously, wondering if the Knighthood would try to kick him out for using their "honoured" material.
However, as he was nearing the town, Harry noticed that something was wrong. So very wrong.
Two Death Eaters were standing in the middle of a ring of bodies, and they were cursing the Venetian Knights using the one curse that was both Unforgivable and deadly: the Killing Curse. The under-trained population was running around in fear, and the Knights weren't faring much better. All they knew was the Stunning spell, and it was blocked too easily by the two aggressors.
Harry saw red instantly, and felt something happen to his eyes. Still in the gaseous reality, he rushed forward.
He still had the two parts of shield in his hands, and, as Alecto and Amycus Carrow cast the Killing Curse one more time, he Apparated in and threw the pieces in the path of the curses. The sick green beams impacted with the flying slabs of metal, and, not finding a living being underneath, they dissipated harmlessly. Using his two rings, Harry immediately Summoned the two halves again, and they appeared in his hands just as he made a stop in front of the two killers.
It was one of those moments when someone in his place would have said something like "Time to pay for your crimes." or such superfluous wise words. Harry's eyes said enough, though: he was so angered that they had burst into flame again. Harry was equally focused on his task, and he brought the two ends of the shield onto the Carrows.
Amycus' stomach was on the path of a particularly wicked-looking and pointy sheet of metal, while Alecto, being shorter than her brother, saw the other half arriving near her head. Harry was so quick in his move that they hadn't had time to recover from seeing him appear from thin air and block two Killing Curses. They couldn't block his attack.
Alecto's mask was knocked off her face and she fell unconscious, dropping her wand in the process. Amycus was still conscious from his belly wound, but he instinctively knew that it was a wicked one, and he decided to leave the place and the angry man. Before Harry could do anything else, he had grabbed his sister and activated his emergency return portkey.
Harry looked at the place where the two of them left, almost wishing they hadn't so that they would get what they deserved. After several minutes, his anger abated enough so that his eyes were back to their liquid state. He finally noticed that some of the fallen weren't dead, and he rushed to help them. The locals were uneasy around him, but Leonardo greeted him cordially, and Harry remembered about his mask. Once he was clothed "appropriately", he could heal the wounded ones more efficiently.
It was only a few hours afterwards that Harry and Leonardo, both weary from the attack and its consequences, were able to meet in the Doge's study, alone.
Harry was feeling guilty of having displayed the shield to Voldemort, thinking that it had brought the snake-like man's ire onto the magical community. "I'm sorry. I came here because... well, it doesn't matter. I should leave, now."
"Odysseus... Harry." Leonardo called. "Please stay."
Harry had wanted to leave the room, but he returned to his seat. The many casualties of that day came back to his mind, and he shuddered.
Leonardo considered the distraught man in front of him for several seconds, before speaking up. "Thank you."
That particular line made Harry look up suddenly. "You aren't angry about them getting in because of me?"
"Why would I?"
"I used the shield... the Cavalieri's shield... Voldemort kind of recognized it. In fact, I didn't know he sent those two. I was just here because... because the shield broke when I was fighting him and his minions, in India. And the arm melted, too."
"Melted?"
"Yes. There were those... demons, and... a friend of mine... gave me something to get rid of them. I reckon it was some advanced incendiary powder, and it destroyed the first demon's physical body just fine." Harry was launched, and he didn't notice Leonardo's slightly surprised expression. "Anyways... the second one I offed, I didn't have that powder anymore, so I just used a muggle item that I knew would destroy his body as well. I haven't had time to grab the arm before it went off." He sighed, and started to pull his Cavalieri ring off his finger. "But it doesn't matter. You won't want me here anymore."
"Harry..."
"Voldemort noticed the shield because of me, I'm sure."
"Harry!"
"And he... what?"
"Keep the ring. You are not to blame. In fact, I thank you for having been there when you did. For centuries, we have believed in the barriers keeping the non-magical people away, and we are heavily under-trained to defend against a magical opponent, as you noticed."
"But... you said Voldemort came here before?"
"Yes, but he merely left us, while those two were really aggressive."
"No, I mean... didn't the Cavalieri train harder after he came?"
Leonardo sighed. "The council thought that it was a one-time event."
"I guess their views changed, now."
"Most of them are dead, now." Leonardo deadpanned. "Even if they were slow in reaction, they still gave their lives for the city."
Harry had blanched. "My god... I'm sorry, I didn't-"
"Don't apologize. None of this is your fault. Besides, I have a request."
"Agreed."
The Doge paused. "You know, it's dangerous to accept to fulfil a request without hearing it before."
"You may not see it like that, but I feet indebted unto you, so... I decided to accept any request you may have."
"You said that you fought, in India. Is it possible to help the Cavalieri train? You choose when."
"As I said, I agree." Harry smiled. "In fact, I'm happy you asked that, because I have... let's just say that I have a free spot everyday from early morning until mid-afternoon." And it was quite true: since Harry repeated each day twice, spending the evening in Japan, the mornings of the "second days" were free.
"Everyday? What about your other activities?"
Harry smiled. "I just make time for everything."
Leonardo didn't catch the hidden meaning – he wasn't a mind reader, after all; and even if he was, Harry's defences were quite strong, by now. "Very well." he said. "Is it alright if you come here from nine to twelve every week day?"
"Perfect." Harry said, nodding, before frowning suddenly. "There's just a catch. There are times when I won't be able to come, and I won't be able to warn you about them."
"Well... alright, I guess. Everybody has their own problems." A pause. "Will you stay for the funeral? It's tomorrow, in the morning. You can sleep here, if you so wish. There are enough rooms."
Harry hadn't realized until now, but he had lived the last few hours on an adrenaline peak, and he was knackered. He nodded weakly, and followed the man to the spare bedroom. He fell on the bed with his clothes on, and was asleep before long.
The next day saw Harry help the funeral held for the eight dead knights, and he wasn't able to relax before all of their families had thanked him for his timely arrival. After the ceremony, he met Leonardo again, and the man started by giving him his metal arm – he had made it so it was promptly repaired – and a new shield. He explained that most Venetian knights held the usual shield as a decorative piece, but, given that Harry was actually fighting with it, the Doge had fetched a sturdier one from his personal collection.
After thanking him profusely, Harry took leave of Venice with Leonardo's blessings following him. And, midway from England, he turned his Time Turner again, returning to the previous evening.
After seeing his past self disappear towards India, he reappeared next to Flamel, who looked at him appraisingly.
"Good." the old alchemist said. "I gather that everything went well. Or is going to go well."
That reminded Harry of something. A question that his past self was going to ask himself soon. "Why?" he asked, his teeth clenched.
"Why what, apprentice?"
Harry drew a large intake of breath before answering. "WHY DID YOU HAVE TO WAIT SO LONG BEFORE SENDING ME THERE?" he yelled, so loud that people on the other side of the castle might have heard, were it not for the strong Privacy charms already in place. With a sigh, he sat down heavily. "There were so many bodies that I couldn't even start counting them."
That made Flamel reflect for a while before he started to answer. "I'm sorry, Harry, but Merlin's indications were clear. If you had appeared earlier, my only guess is that you'd have faced several of these demons at the same time, a very difficult task, even with your skills."
"But the deaths-"
"They couldn't be avoided. If what Merlin predicted is true, one of these demons is a representation of Death itself, and they are known to be near immortal. When they die, they kill everything in a wide radius as well."
"I could have... I don't know... taken them in a desert, or something."
"Harry... you can think about it all you want, but it won't change what happened." Flamel said, patting the boy's back. Both of them knew that the man's words were precise: Harry could change the past, but he couldn't change the causality order around himself.
"Alright." Harry said weakly, before straightening up. "Can we face the music, now?"
"You want to return there right now?"
Harry smirked. "No time like the present. After all, I already rested a whole night between now and... the event."
"Alright. We shall leave, then."
The two of them returned to the Headmaster's office, where Flamel left his apprentice before heading to his own quarters. Harry thought he heard the old man mutter as he was leaving, but he didn't intrude in his thoughts. After collecting himself, he climbed the stairs and opened the office door.
The cacophony hit him like a shockwave, and he could only gape at the chaos the small office was in. Everybody was yelling at the same time, and even the loud bangs from Dumbledore's wand weren't enough to calm them. Harry looked around, but Alastor Moody wasn't there anymore. Looking at his watch, Harry reflected that the old Auror had surely left for India, and he calmly retook his seat.
After a few minutes, Dumbledore decided to grab the bull by the horns, and he Silenced the whole room. It still took the most vocal members several seconds to become aware that their own voice wasn't heard: Molly Weasley and Frank Longbottoms blushed when they noticed that they were the last to yell in silence, and they sat down like the others.
"Thank you." Dumbledore said, and everyone felt the man's sarcasm behind the twinkling blue eyes. A few of them noticed Harry as well, and – as they hadn't seen him entering during the yelling session – they thought he had appeared out of thin air. Nymphadora Tonks, being one of them, tried to jump to her feet and draw her wand at the same time, but both actions failed. Her foot took hold of the chair's leg and she fell flat on the floor, her wand clattering away from her.
Not missing a beat, Remus stood and grabbed it, before helping her to her seat.
"Thank you." Dumbledore repeated, while a beet red Tonks, still Silenced, mouthed the same words to the blushing ex-werewolf.
Seeing Sirius nearby, Harry started a mental chat with his godfather, and discovered that the little group had been debating on whether going to India to investigate the problem or not. Some had said that the Order of the Phoenix would help any and all victims, while others said that it was dedicated to Voldemort's demise, and that spreading their resources internationally like that was perhaps Voldemort's initial goal.
Having those mental discussions was very useful, but, at that precise moment, Harry forgot something. Despite having some of his memories perfectly hidden, Sirius was not trained to be an Occlumens. And Dumbledore was a powerful Legilimens.
"Henry? Sirius? Anything you want to share?"
Harry, startled, looked at the old Headmaster and noticed that the amused twinkle was gone, replaced by a curious expression. Curious, and stern.
Harry sent a quick warning glance to Sirius – both of them knew that, in a verbal joust with the Headmaster, Harry was the best liar of the two – before answering, sticking to the truth as much as possible. After all, they had been caught red-handed. "You know that I checked with Sirius and Remus about the lesson plans, Albus. After a short time, we became friends, and we trusted each other enough for me to tell them a little secret." He paused, and looked around, his frown warning them that it should stay in the current circle. "I'm a Leg-"
Something happened right then, and whatever he wanted to say was swallowed by a shocked gasp.
In the middle of the enlarged office, a small candlelight appeared, and, in a matter of seconds, it grew into an eight-foot tall cone brightly illuminating the room. The Order members had recoiled in shock, some crouching behind furniture while others tried to send Stunning curses towards the cone. The spells disappeared when impacting it, without any indication whether they had been successful. Even Dumbledore had tried with the same result.
However, despite the suddenness of the cone's appearance and the others' reactions, Harry hadn't moved. He felt a great calm coming from the white shape, and, noticing that several members were ready to try more damaging curses, he tried to prevent it.
"Stop, please. I don't think it's dangerous... whatever it is."
"Darn, I'm shure it's ewul!" Mundungus slurred. "T'appears in thin air by Dumblydoor's... must be! Reducto!"
Harry was faster, though. Halfway in the man's discourse, he had drawn his Nundu wand out and had cast a shield around the shape. The explosion curse struck it and dissipated – with unstable people like Mundungus around, Harry wouldn't have cast a reflecting shield.
"How can you be so sure of yourself?" Harry angrily asked the man.
"That's precisely the question I wanted to ask you." Dumbledore said, and Harry whirled around.
"Don't you feel the calmness coming from it?"
That provoked several seconds of silence, while the members around him tried to feel the thing. Several were startled to feel it, now, and they stowed their wand away – Harry included. Dumbledore kept his own out, though, and looked at Harry enquiringly. "Even dark creatures can play with others' minds, Henry."
Harry smirked. "Not this one." he said, and, in the privacy of his own mind, he added 'Not to me.'
Dumbledore continued to gaze at him with a shrewd expression, only giving the light cone the briefest of glances now and then – the thing hadn't disappeared yet, and it hadn't moved, or changed in any way. The Headmaster's eyes widened suddenly, and he addressed Harry again. "Henry, do you have the Time Turner on yourself?"
'Uh oh. What is he after, now?' Harry thought. "Certainly." he said, and extracted the thing from his robes. Too fast for him to react, Dumbledore cast a spell on the item, and several numbers appeared around it, and floated for a few seconds even though Harry stowed the magic item away.
The Headmaster's eyes narrowed, and he looked at Harry accusingly. "What have you done?" he asked, pointing his wand at Harry.
"What do you mean?" asked Harry. "What do these numbers mean?"
"These numbers give me the number of times you went back in time, the total duration since I last reinitialised it, and the last trip's information. You actually come from tomorrow, so I ask you again: what have you done?"
There was only one word being heard in Harry's mind at that very moment. 'Shit.'
Everyone's gaze was on Harry now, which caused them a great fright when a soothing voice came from where the cone was.
"You should put your wand away, mortal."
Dumbledore's eyes went to the cone of light, and, truth be told, the light began to recede. "Why? And what are you?"
"Because I say so." the voice said, its musicality and gentleness preventing everyone from guessing the gender of its owner. However, there was no weakness in the force that yanked Dumbledore's wand from his grasp, and it was absorbed in a darker crack in the cone, crack which vanished quickly.
A stunned pause ensued, which lasted several seconds. In the meantime, the light from the initial cone had completely faded away, leaving place to another cone... of white feathers. These feathers trembled once, twice... and then moved: they separated. And everyone gasped when they revealed themselves to belong to two very large wings.
Two wings which were attached to the back of a particular red-haired individual, clad in a gold-trimmed white toga. The long hair was flowing behind the man's shoulders, and the earring was gone.
"Bill!" Molly shrieked, recognition striking her before anyone else. She lunged at him, but she was stopped at arm's length.
"Bill" looked at her, his head tilted to the side. "Yes. You are Molly Weasley. However, I'm not your son, even if I was compelled to take his body."
"Take his body?" "Compelled?" Discord reigned again, and the Headmaster went for his wand, before remembering where it was. Harry noticed, though, and he decided to cast the spell.
Once again, the room was Silenced, and the winged creature posing as Bill could speak again. "As I said, I was sent there. An individual named Severus Snape made a potion under some Tom Riddle's orders." he said in his melodious voice, and no one thought of interrupting him. "This potion was made to summon beings from other planes, and they had tried it on the followers of that Tom Riddle person once already. Four demons were Summoned to inhabit their bodies, but Harry Potter succeeded in sending three of them back to where they belong."
Only Harry and Dumbledore seemed to twitch at the utterance of Harry's name. But they continued to listen to Bill as he spoke. "The Severus Snape fellow brew a new batch, and he came to the realization that his potion had a Loyalty component. Thinking that it would ensure the blind loyalty of the drinkers to the brewer or said brewer's master, they gave a part to the man named Bill Weasley."
A short pause.
"They thought wrong. The Loyalty component only enforces the side the person is already leaning towards. As Bill Weasley is a Light person, no demon was called to inhabit his body. I was."
Another pause. Much longer, since it took several minutes for everyone to wake up from the angelic voice. In fact, for a strange reason, Harry was unaffected by the voice's quality, but he didn't want to be on the front of the scene right now, so he kept quiet.
Dumbledore was the first to react. "And... who and what are you?"
"I cannot tell you my name, because it enraptures the human mind. But you can call me Raphael. I am the opposite of a demon, and their natural opponent."
Realization struck Dumbledore like a ton of bricks – muggle bricks, mind you, and not Cushioned in any way. "You're... but..." for the first time in a long while, the old man was lost for words.
Bill – or, rather, Raphael – smiled gently, and he nodded.
The Headmaster sat down heavily, and absently made a gesture towards his liquor cabinet, before remembering his company.
Several Order members were trying to whisper to each other, but Harry's spell wasn't lifted yet, and they were reduced to use hand moves. After a while, Remus waved at Harry and motioned for his mouth, and Harry lifted the Silence spell.
"What is he, Albus?" McGonagall asked, and several members were looking at the Headmaster, the same question etched on their features.
"He's an angel." he said, before frowning. "Or more."
"More?" she asked. "What could be more than... oh my god."
Dumbledore smiled. "Indeed." he said, before turning to the winged individual in the room. "May I introduce you?"
"Since you seem to have reached the appropriate conclusion, please proceed."
Dumbledore nodded in a polite fashion, and glanced at the assembled people, who were looking at him. "Our esteemed guest is no less than the archangel Raphael." He then turned to said archangel. "May I inquire about the reasons for your presence in our humble assembly? Surely, another angel might have been enough for the job. I speak no offence, of course."
"And I take no offence either. Here is your focus, by the way." Raphael said, and Dumbledore's wand appeared on his desk. "A total of six demons have been summoned recently, and no lowly ones either. I don't know their names, though, so I don't know their powers either. However, I know that one of them was going to be an archdemon. Because of this, the celestial powers ruled that the least they could do was send someone of my status or higher. The other divines are all taken by their numerous tasks, so I volunteered and was sent here."
Dumbledore bowed. "I thank you for joining me in that crusade against evil, and-"
"Don't say that word, please." the angel said, wincing. "It's bad enough that humans go warring each other on petty religious differences while they believe in the same god." A short pause. "And I'm not joining you."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Dumbledore amended. "I said "me" as leader of the Order of the Phoenix."
"I'm not joining the Order of the Phoenix, either." Raphael said, before turning his eyes towards Harry.
Harry blanched. "Don't..." he whispered, but the celestial being smiled.
"I'm here to join Harry Potter."
A pause ensued, and people gathered their thoughts. Dumbledore looked at the by-play and frowned, before sighing. "Very well. Henry, you will lead our guest to Harry Potter." 'And we will follow you.' he added mentally. In his mind, Raphael had looked at Henry Evans as the only link towards Harry Potter. Henry knew Jerry, who knew Harry, so that was a believable path, right?
Something bothered the old man, though, and he focused on it, missing Raphael shaking his head in denegation and the Defence teacher doing the same at the angel.
'Why would an archangel need humans to get to other humans? After all, he appeared in my office, and if it is in his power, he can appear anywhere on Earth. Why in the Hell... well, that's an incorrect statement, now... why in the Heavens would he need Henry?'
He looked up to see his Defence teacher in quite a quandary. Harry appeared to blink in and out of reality, as if trying to escape, but Raphael had a hand extended towards him. "Now, now... Don't you think it's time you revealed yourself?" the archangel asked gently. "You will need allies in this fight."
Harry stopped trying to Apparate and looked at him. "But they... he only sees me... Dumbledore... as a weapon!" Harry exclaimed, looking at Dumbledore with a swirl of emotions behind his eyes. Anger, sadness, betrayal, loneliness...
It finally clicked in Dumbledore's mind, and the old man sat back in shock. Raphael hadn't needed a link to Harry Potter – especially as, as a being of divine power, he hadn't needed such a link. He went to him, directly. "Harry?" he asked.
The man he knew as Henry Evans looked at Raphael, and the two of them seemed to hold a mental conversation for a few seconds. Unbeknownst by everyone, Harry then did the same with Sirius and Remus.
"Alright." Harry said in the eerie silence that had filled the room, and he felt a heavy weight shift off his shoulders. For years, now, he had wondered what would happen when Dumbledore would realize who he really was. He had thought of angry confrontations, he had thought of subduing or being subdued by the old man. Nowhere in his wildest dreams had he been forced to admit his identity because of a celestial being, nor would he admit being soothed by said being.
"I'm Harry Potter." he said, and stood up. In front of them, he morphed back into his natural shape, foregoing his eyes and his left arm. He didn't want to advertise all his powers so soon, and fiery eyes and growing arms belonged to the set of things he wanted to stay hidden. He seemed unbalanced, now, with an adult arm on his left side. However, the emerald green eyes – like his own had been, such a long time ago – stared at Dumbledore, unwavering.
The members of the Order of the Phoenix gasped. Sure, given his history, the teenager in front of them was no pushover, but they had difficulties realizing that a mere 13-years old boy had been teaching... Defence, no less.
"But... where is your scar?" somebody asked.
"My adoptive parents – yes, the Dursleys adopted me – took care of that." he shrugged.
"But... how?"
"Plastic surgery." he replied simply, and, looking at the stumped faces around him, he huffed. "Seriously, people, have you even heard about the muggle world?" He kept silent the fact that the scar had reappeared when Voldemort gained power again – since the link between him and the Dark Lord was now dead, there was no need to bring that piece of information to the fore.
Something else fell into place in the Headmaster's mind. "Harry? Raphael said that you sent demons "where they belong"... to Hell? How?"
Harry smirked, earning shocked gazes. Not only wasn't he a pushover, but the slowest Order members realized that he was a tough fighter as well – some of them actually owed him their life. "I really don't know where they went." he answered. "But, wherever that is, Lestrange and Rookwood went without a body. There was a third one as well, but I don't know his name. Malfoy is still the same vampiric monster, though. I think he feeds on children's souls or something like that: each time I struck him, I saw a ghostly child shape emerging from his body. Oh, and there's something you might like." He smirked again. "Voldemort is half-blind, now."
"What?" came from all sides.
He shrugged. "Well, I was trying to hit him, but he has a darn thick hide. I remembered some beasts from Africa, and went for the eye. A most satisfying hit." he said, smiling.
Even Dumbledore was speechless, although, strangely, the old man was feeling giddy. And that wasn't because of the angel there. For the first time since the Dark Lord's reappearance, there was serious hope for the Light side to succeed. However, when he looked at Harry, Dumbledore knew that the teenaged boy had lost his childhood early, and that he was partly to blame.
"You were never in Brazil, then?" he asked out of the blue.
"Oh, I was, alright. Seemed that Voldemort had a way to act on me through whatever link he forged between us by trying to kill me in my young age. As I didn't want to be too near to my family when earthquakes or killing rages occurred, I have been travelling." He smiled at their shocked faces. "But it's gone, now. He can't do that anymore."
"You seem to be pretty powerful for your age... Was it Jerry who taught you all this?" Dumbledore asked.
"Not really." Harry started, reminiscing his younger years. "As I said when I was Henry, I had several masters of deadly trades teaching me, although I started learning by myself in the beginning. I think that having a link to Voldemort in my head helped me, especially when he was weak. I learnt to block his attacks, though, and, later, I collapsed the link between us."
"But you cut a link to valuable information!" Dumbledore exclaimed.
"It was way too dangerous!" Harry retorted. "Or did you want your precious weapon possessed by Voldemort 24/7? He allied himself with a bloody goddess, for Merlin's sake!" He shouted back, before realizing what he had said. "Sorry." he whispered.
Not knowing that Harry was apologizing to Merlin and not him, Dumbledore nodded. The boy had given him much to think about, though.
Harry wasn't finished, though. "Back to your original question: I now know about accidental magic, and, had you given my adoptive parents a way to reach you for information, or had you checked on me earlier than you did, you would have found out that I did almost no accidental magic for as long as I remember."
"But..."
"I did controlled magic. The very few times I did magic accidentally, I was able to reproduce the event afterwards. At five years old, I was able to Levitate a dozen toys in a controlled manner. At seven, I could Summon things. The following years, I learnt to heal myself, I found out about my Metamorphmagus abilities, and I discovered how to Apparate. Now, I know that it's not the standard way to do things. However, despite putting me in danger from muggles a couple of times, it helped me tremendously."
Mundungus butted in. "What can ye do?"
Harry looked at him for a few seconds. He then frowned and stared at him for an even longer time. The somewhat dirty man didn't seem to be offended by the stare, though, and he was looking... oblivious.
"Albus?" Harry called, surprising the Headmaster and the Order members equally. "I suggest that you adjourn the meeting. I need to talk to you in private."
"Before I do that, Harry, we need to discuss your... unusual situation. You'll understand that I can't let you continue this charade."
Harry tensed, and he slowly turned around so that he was facing the old Headmaster. "What did you just say?" he asked. Had he been sensing his surroundings, he would have noticed Raphael doing something behind his back, but he didn't, and the Headmaster didn't either.
"I made a mistake in hiring someone as young as you, Harry. You ought to retrieve a proper and balanced education, too. You are quite the fighter, but I want you to enjoy the rest of you childhood while you are young, especially as, as you said, you lost a part of it while travelling. Since you came here by your own choices, it's time for you to be directed towards a proper attitude."
"What gives you that right?" Harry exclaimed indignantly. "You relinquished any right on my person when you gave me to the Dursleys. A childhood? A proper attitude? Do you really think that I'll join those good-for-nothing students milling around the school? I have more important things to deal with!" By now, he was building a towering rage, and his eyes were narrowed at Dumbledore, his fists clenched into strong fists.
"I am the Headmaster of this school, Harry." said Headmaster replied, taking advantage of a breathing pause in the teen's rant. "I decide what goes on in my school. Besides, you need to learn to control yourself. I see that you are angry, now, and I don't want this kind of reaction, now or later. I know that you have important issues to deal with, but they will be addressed in due time, and with the proper training."
"Don't I have the right to be angry, now?" Harry shouted. "You can't order me around! Not only that, but you can't be serious, either! If you want me to enjoy my childhood, how will I train for whatever so-called issue you claim I have?"
"We will find time for that. But rest assured that I can give you a proper instruction. Remember that it's for your own good, and that you will thank me later for that. Now, calm yourself. You will return to Hufflepuff's quarters, and everything will be fine."
"No." Harry simply said, crossing his arms in a defiant attitude that was not out-of-place on a teenager.
"What?" the Headmaster asked, frowning.
"I said NO! And leave my thoughts alone!"
"I won't be spoken like that by a child, were he a Metamorphmagus!" Dumbledore exclaimed, missing the meaning behind Harry's words. "Now, listen, here-"
"NO! You listen! You said that you made a mistake by hiring me yet you gave me the position based on what I did, not who I am. You said I ought to retrieve a proper and balance education... who told you I didn't have one before? You think that all I can do is fight and change my appearance, huh? Have you even asked? And what gives you the right to force me to "enjoy my childhood" when Voldemort's nearby? You don't like my attitude? Tough! I happen to like me the way I am. I can control myself, and, except Voldemort and his merry morons, I – DON'T – HAVE – ISSUES!" A short pause, which Dumbledore didn't break: while he was ranting at the Headmaster, Harry had grown in size, and he was now shouting with a volume comparable to Molly Weasley's at her best – or worst.
"I don't need your schooling, Dumbledore. As it is, it promotes rivalries between Houses, and every positive change must come from the students! You think that flaunting your Headmaster position will impress me, do you? You think you own the school? Well, here's a newsflash: you don't! Who do you think was able to Apparate through the school even though it was supposed to be impossible?"
"Jerry? But..."
"Yes, Jerry! The one you told the existence of the Prophecy to, under a wonderfully-worded Secrecy charm! The one who you owe your continued position to because he got rid of a Basilisk for you! The one who evacuated the Hogwarts Express in the nick of time! The one who warned you about Sinistra and who writes so insightful articles in the Daily Prophet! Jerry Patar Homest! Harry James Potter! ME!" Harry yelled, his eyes suddenly ablaze and his magic flaring. "AND YOU DARE ORDERING ME AROUND?"
A very long pause ensued, during which Harry reined his feelings and adjusted his height. Internally, he was a little ashamed at his outburst, and he looked around to see if the others were angry at him. To his surprise, the members of the Order of the Phoenix were unmoving, as though frozen in time.
"I know righteous anger and I know innocence." Raphael answered his unvoiced question. "I put them in a stasis while you address your... issues."
Harry snorted, before blushing. "Sorry."
"Do not be sorry, young man. It is not as though we didn't know of humans' lives."
Harry acquiesced, before turning back to Dumbledore, who had merely digested what Harry had served him.
"I didn't know..." the old man said. "I didn't know."
"And, classically, you made assumptions. I already spent some time in this school, Albus. I'm willing to pass OWLs or NEWTs of your choice if you push me on the standard circuit, but I will not be a pushover pawn. Try that and I disappear, and I leave you to deal with Voldemort. And don't think you can retain me either: you had to wait for an archangel to find me..."
Dumbledore swallowed his pride and looked at Harry with weary old eyes. "I know I damaged whatever trust you have in me, Harry. I'm sorry, and, to be frank, I need you against Voldemort. How can I repair bridges between us?"
Harry sighed. "I think that the first thing you can do is keep my secrets." he said. "I don't want people like Voldemort knowing about my status."
"I can do that." Dumbledore said. "And I'm ready to vouch for the Order members as well."
Harry snorted. "Actually, I don't think you should do that."
"What do you mean?" enquired Dumbledore, frowning at the boy's words.
"Vouching for them: I don't think you should." Harry replied. "And it leads to my second request. I want you to teach Occlumency to the Order members, as soon as possible. And eventually include that in the curriculum as well."
"Why? The Order is quite safe, as I reckon. And it's too much of a complicated skill for mere students to grasp it."
"You are wrong in those two assumptions. People like Mundungus are the kind to babble things into unwanted ears. And I'm sure that there is more behind your refusal to include this into the curriculum than the excuse of complexity. Students leaving Hogwarts are woefully unprepared to enter the outside world, and teaching this – among the other skills I am trying to give them through the clubs – would help them against things like the Imperius curse. Don't you agree?"
The old man sighed again. It was something he was doing quite often nowadays. Thinking back, he knew that it had started two years ago, when he had discovered Harry's disappearance. "I shall see who I can trust with that course." he said. "There aren't many teachers available, you know. It's already difficult to find a replacement for professor Sinistra."
Harry thought about it a little bit, before smiling widely. "I can use the Defence periods to start them on this." he offered.
Dumbledore winced. "I don't know how you plan to do so. Using the normal development plan for this skill, it would take a full year to do that."
"Ah, but I have several skills I haven't told you about yet." Harry said mysteriously. "I'm sure that a little... push... in the right direction would make the lessons quicker and easier." He paused. "Then, of course, you wouldn't be able to sift through their minds as before." He then looked at the old man in the eyes. "Was that why you didn't want to start this? Because you are used to read the students' minds? What about the teachers?"
Dumbledore had the grace to blush under the accusing glare the young boy was treating him with. "I'm sorry to plead guilty on both counts. I guess it's high time to change long-held beliefs and habits."
"As you say, it's high time. I was lucky to have been able to help against the attack on the train, and I would be sorry to retrieve only half of my students because they would have been unable to defend themselves." He paused, looking at the Headmaster shrewdly. "It's quite lonely, isn't it?"
"What do you mean?"
"At the top. I think you spent too long without having someone challenging you. Against Voldemort and his accomplices, we need to ally for the Light to survive."
"You are right, of course. That's why I sought you, after all."
"No. I think you wanted me under your orders, Albus. Not as an equal." He shrugged. "Of course, I can't compare to your years of experience, but I have had enough run-ins with Voldemort – not counting the skill he imparted me with – to help you."
"I realize that, now, and I'm sorry to have misjudged you. Even knowing all the things you could do." Dumbledore said, before straightening up and extending his hand. "I'm willing to ally with you, Harry. For the Light."
"For the Light." Harry answered, shaking the wrinkled hand.
A pause ensued, while Dumbledore looked at the immobile members around them. He then frowned, and his gaze returned to Harry. "What do you know about Mundungus?"
"He gets himself sloshed up quite often in a bar in Knockturn Alley, and had already told half-secrets to unsavoury characters there."
"What do you propose?"
"Either you fire him, or you help him with that... issue. Or I do."
The Headmaster glanced at the frozen man and frowned. "I could, yes, but he is quite useful when dealing with that kind of people." He then looked at Harry, his frown still on his face. "How can I help him? You seemed to have an idea about it."
Harry smiled. "Let's say that I know how to do certain... things... with others' mind. I don't like it anymore, but there was a time when I used my powers for comfort, and I... kind of messed... with them."
"You what?"
"Don't judge me as dark already." Harry snorted. "If I must remind you, you left me unchecked, and it was often my only way out of sticky situations."
"Still..."
"Let me ask you something, Headmaster: what do you think of Rita's new attitude?"
The old man was surprised at the non sequitur, but his mind quickly picked up the hidden piece of information in Harry's question. "You did this to her?"
The boy shrugged. "I did. Now that I know more about the Dark Arts, I'm not particularly proud of this, but admit that she's more useful that way."
Dumbledore kept silent for several seconds, weighing his options. There weren't many of them, and his indignation deflated. "Alright. I don't expect you to do that again, right?"
"Right. Although I don't promise never to do it again. I might find myself in situations where it's the only way out again. But I'm sure not to undergo such a complete makeover again. Some people might need a little push, though." he finished, looking pointedly towards Mundungus.
It took a full minute for the Headmaster to reach a positive conclusion on that line of thoughts, and he sighed again. "Alright. I will do it, though. I don't want you to shoulder more than your current load."
Harry nodded, and the two of them fell in a companionable silence which lasted a couple minutes.
"Am I right to think that your family is safe?" Dumbledore asked suddenly.
"They are." Harry answered, before smirking. "I might even give you my address in Switzerland, one of these days."
"The Fidelius was your job?" Dumbledore asked, before shaking his head in disbelief. "Of course. You seem to be very protective, Harry."
"I don't want my family and my friends to suffer because of me." the boy answered staunchly.
"Your friends... do your old school friends know about you?"
"Yes. I tutored them in Occlumency already, if you must know."
"I see."
Another pause ensued, before either of them moved again.
"Well, I think we can free the others." Dumbledore said, looking at Raphael. "I thank you for your involvement here. I suppose that you are going to protect Harry?"
"It is my mission, Albus Dumbledore." the winged creature answered simply.
"We haven't discussed about what they should know." Harry said suddenly, referring to the immobile members of the Order. "I think they know too much already, though."
"I can make them forget the unnecessary bits, if you so choose." Raphael intervened.
Dumbledore looked uneasy, but he knew that it was this or an exhausting session of fine-combed Legilimency with each of them. "Alright. I think we can roll back to when you arrived, Raphael, but I also think that some of us might like to stay in the circle of those who know."
Harry nodded, and he turned to Raphael. "Can you exclude a few of them from this charm? You seem to have the same kind of knowledge Leo- a friend of mine has, so you know who I'm talking about."
"Yes, I see who you are talking about. I will do as you wish, and we will meet in your quarters afterwards."
A few seconds later, a white light erupted around several members, while others were left unscathed. For some, it was just a flicker, while some others were surrounded by blinding light. At the same time, Harry morphed back into his professor guise and sat back at his place. When it was finished, Raphael disappeared in a flash of light, and the discussion started from where they had left it.
"We don't need to!" Molly Weasley exclaimed, her gaze going from Dumbledore to the other members. "What happens in India has nothing to do with the Order, and the Ministry has already sent a team there."
Dumbledore blinked, and looked at Harry, who shrugged. The two of them noticed that a few members shook their head, as if to clear it from whatever memories Raphael had left.
'You fine?' Harry heard, and he noticed that Remus, like Sirius, was looking at him and Dumbledore.
'Great.' he answered, before chuckling internally when Molly started to berate Dumbledore for not listening to what she said. He then frowned. 'I should ask Raphael about who knows, though.'
'I know.' came from Remus, and Sirius repeated the same things half a second later, causing the three of them to giggle – still internally.
A stern voice interrupted them. 'If you don't mind, I would like to be able to concentrate without your mental banter troubling me. And, by the way... I know, too.'
The three of them turned as one and looked at Dumbledore. The old man was smiling amusedly, and his infamous twinkle had returned to his eyes, making him appear younger. Harry nodded, and the Headmaster repeated the action, respect expressed and felt by both parties.
That night, in a hidden Egyptian temple...
The sight was horrible, and several Death Eaters recruits lost whatever little meal they had had earlier, before discreetly Vanishing it. The Dark Lord was torturing, again, and the screams of pain, mixed with the actual torture, were sickening for any normal person's sanity.
But the Dark Lord wasn't just anyone.
By physically and magically torturing the four returning followers, he had managed to almost kill one, impair the second's sanity, and let the third die from his belly wound. Amycus' dead eyes were looking straight at the ones of Travers' sidekick – who was as good as dead already, a severe case of Cruciatus being known to cause that. He was whining incoherently on the marble floor, though, and Voldemort immediately saw to restore a "proper" state around him. One Killing Curse later, all the Death Eaters there knew that it wouldn't be good for their continued existence to whine. Alecto wasn't far from being mad, the Cruciatus curse not helping her head wound. Travers only owed his life to Jugson's intrusion.
"How dare you interrupting me?" Voldemort shouted to the intruding follower. "Crucio!"
Internally, the Dark Lord knew that Jugson wouldn't have come if there wasn't something of importance going on, but he had to cast the Cruciatus on anyone interfering with his actions, at least for the decorum. Even though that particular Death Eater held a special part in his world-conquest plans.
He lifted the curse after a couple seconds. "What was it about?"
"The... dem... demons, my Lord!" the addressed follower panted.
An impatient swish of a massive tail. "What about them?"
"They are awake, my Lord."
A pause. "Where are they?"
"Still in the infirmary, my Lord. They didn't listen to me when I told them you were here. They were... occupied."
Voldemort frowned at this unexpected turn of phrase. "In what way?"
"They were... Bellatrix and Derrick... they aren't the same. And they... jumped on each other."
"They fought?"
"No, my Lord." Jugson swallowed, blushing. "My Lord forgive me, I wanted to say that they jumped at each other. They were going at it when I left, my Lord."
The silence following that declaration was so intense that one could have heard a pin drop. The serpentine creature slowly turned towards Malfoy, who had been observing from the shadows. The formerly blond man just shrugged.
"Fetch them."
Malfoy nodded, and left the room.
It took him five minutes, but he eventually came back with the three of them. Derrick was walking with an assured gait, and his muscular chest was bared for the world to see. There were twenty-odd followers in the room, most of them heterosexual males, but the sight made all of them suddenly wish they weren't – either heterosexual or male. The demon was exuding an alluring aura which made the mere humans around him lose their normal thoughts.
Malfoy was walking a little behind him, and it was visible to the Dark Lord that it was a mark of deference. Behind them came Bellatrix, and the twenty followers gaped at the sight, drool dripping from their mouth, now. She was strutting... naked. Her already beautiful body had been enhanced by the potion, and, as she walked forward, some particular attributes became even more visible: she had a pair of bat-like wings protruding from her back, and a tail was extending her shapely spine.
Snape was several yards behind her, and his appearance caused a shock to the assembly. They had seen people enhanced by the potion, but the man that was approaching hadn't been enhanced at all. Gone was the gliding walk: he was walking using a staff, even stopping at time, leaning on it and coughing uncontrollably. Some could even see blood coming from his mouth when he coughed. His face was pallid and his hair even more dishevelled than normal, falling in front of his face and hiding most of it. It was grey, too, instead of the customary oily black he was sporting before.
When they were all on the dais, Voldemort looked at them enquiringly. "Welcome. As it isn't polite to associate with unnamed allies, I shall start the round of introductions. I am Lord Voldemort, the most powerful Dark Lord in the world, and I will rule it soon. Here is Malfoy, or Conquest. Who are you and what happened to Snape?"
"You humans call me Asmodai." Derrick answered proudly. "I am the demon prince of Lust, and willing to ally with you for your current task."
"It is an honour." Voldemort inclined his head – Voldemort never bowed to anyone, but he couldn't lack the respect due to an archdemon. "How comes you came here rather than any other demons?"
"I was the closest one. After the initial Summon, I was able to escape my bounds and land in this body."
"Bounds?"
"Although I don't want to hear about it again, I can tell you that an arch- some alliance of powers bound me in this country."
Voldemort nodded and turned towards the winged female before him.
"I am-" Bellatrix started, but when she uttered her name, the unearthly sound made all humans wince, pressing their hands to their ears. "I am a Succubus." she finished, unfazed by the reaction around her.
"Thank you for joining us. If you allow, we will still call you Bellatrix, so as the worms around us can understand." Voldemort said, and she shrugged noncommittally. He then turned towards Snape. "What about you?"
"I shall remain unnamed." the Potion Master wheezed, before coughing again.
"Like Bellatrix here, I will keep calling you Severus Snape, then. Why are you so... wretched? What are you?"
"I am a human, but not from this world." Snape answered, earning himself disapproving frowns from the three demons, an inquisitive gaze from Voldemort, and gasps from the followers. He continued, his voice almost inaudible and his discourse punctuated by coughing fits. "I travelled the Ab- the Hell of my world, and, after finally sealing its entries to prevent the destruction of that world, I found a way to escape Takh- to escape, and ended up in the Hell of this world. The power of the potion brought me out."
"And... what can you do?" Voldemort asked, a little miffed at having replaced his Potion Master by that waste of a human being.
"I am an Archmage." the man answered, trying to straighten up. His move made him wince, but he was able to look the Dark Lord in the eye, and the dark lord did a double take. The man's eyes were yellow, and his pupils weren't round, nor were there snake-like like his: they were a little like the ones some animals – goats among them – displayed, although vertically instead of horizontally. As they were, they strongly reminded him of... hourglasses.
"Interesting. We don't have that kind of rank here, so it must come from your world. I gather that you can cast spells, right? What kind of spell?"
Snape almost chuckled, but a coughing fit forbade him to. "If I can cast spells... yes, of course. All kind of spells. A couple of them will create golems. Some will make molten stones raining from the sky, others will freeze an area or make it burst in flames... I know hundreds of spells."
"Can you demonstrate?"
The man visibly deflated. "Not right now, no. I need to rest, first, and I will need to brew some restorative draught for my lungs."
Some particularly stupid Death Eater snorted at this, and Snape turned his gaze towards him. "I would see you travel between worlds and spend your time in Hell. See how crippled you'd be."
He then turned back to Voldemort, who had his one eye staring at the insulting follower. "I have just found the one test subject for your spells, whenever you are ready, Severus."
The follower blanched and gulped but Snape merely nodded, before being shown to his quarters while the demons discussed with the Dark Lord about a test of their abilities.
The next day...
Harry had spent a good part of the night discussing with Raphael about everything, and he arrived quite late for breakfast. As soon as he sat, though, Flamel pushed the morning's Daily Prophet towards him, and Harry saw that the front page was covering the events in India. Stunned by the sheer number of casualties, he spent the remaining of the breakfast reading the few articles about the earthquake, and forgot to eat.
Since he still had his reporter streak about him, he decided to write a quick article correcting a few mistakes here and there, while not giving away too much information either. After a quick mental chat with Flamel and then with Dumbledore, both men gave him their approbation – it wasn't that he was seeking approval, but he knew that they could advise him wisely.
That's why, that afternoon, a future self of Harry Potter – disguised as Jerry Homest – could be seen entering the Daily Prophet head office. The deal was made quickly, and Harry found himself in the street soon afterwards, one article lighter and several dozen Galleons heavier. 'Since I'm here already, let's check the mailbox. Bill – Raphael – told me the Death Eaters fed him with the potion, so they must have kidnapped him. Was it because he sent me something?'
He then Apparated out, morphed into his Harvey Jefferson persona, and entered the post office. A few minutes later – and an hour earlier too: Harry turned time back in order to inconspicuously spend the meal in the Great Hall with everybody – Harry was back in Hogwarts, opening his letter. Apparently, Bill had found several pointers towards Wadjet's temple, and Harry knew he would spend some time in Egypt soon.
In the meantime, there was something he wanted to discuss with Remus and Sirius.
That evening, he Apparated to the Shrieking Shack, from where he took the portal to Sirius' family house in London.
"Hey, Moony! Look who's there!" Sirius barked, earning himself two glares.
Harry smiled. "Good evening, gentlemen."
"Gentlemen? Us? Never!"
Remus rolled his eyes. "Speak for yourself, Padfoot."
"Truly, Moony... I don't recall you having a steady girlfriend either. If at all!" the addressed man said, laughing good-naturedly to remove the sting from his words.
Remus smiled. "You'd be surprised." he said softly.
Sirius stopped laughing and looked at his friend with wide eyes. "You have?"
"I have been so long without one." Remus said, looking at his feet. "You know, it's kind of difficult when you are a werewolf. Since I'm not one anymore, I feel better."
"That's an understatement or I'm not Sirius!" Sirius exclaimed.
"You are never serious." Harry quipped, earning himself a wide grin from his godfather and a roll of eyes from Remus.
"Oh, Moony, the boy takes after me! I'm so pleased!" A short pause. "But you won't evade me like that. Who is she? How long? Do I know her? What does she do? Did you do the-"
"Padfoot!" Remus exclaimed, and Harry had the feeling that the dog Animagus had been interrupted just in time for the conversation to stay pleasant.
"How could you hide that to me, your friend?" Sirius asked, wiping mock tears from his eyes. "I could have given you all sorts of advices!"
"Precisely. I want to keep things slow, and she agrees with me. Besides, we are both virg- err... sorry, Harry." he said, blushing. "Forgot you were there for a bit."
"Ew!" Harry exclaimed. "Too much information!"
Sirius was grinning widely, though. "Awww... isn't it cute? I think it's high time for me to give The Talk to my two young and inexperienced charges. Right?"
"No!" Harry and Remus shouted in unison.
But Sirius wasn't listening, and he Summoned a bottle of firewhisky from the cupboard. "My father disliked me, so it was Uncle Alphard who gave it to me, and he said that it was a tradition to do it over a glass or three." He smiled. "Since we're three..."
Harry and Remus looked at each other, and they didn't have to speak mentally to understand each other's thoughts: 'Let him follow that slope, and he'll embarrass himself soon enough.'
Two hours later, three completely drunk individuals were bantering about sex and past experiences – which were relatively limited for two of them. Remus had confessed pining for Tonks, and Harry had admitted liking Tracey very much also.
Harry being drunk was something unusual. When he had been pranked by the twins, with the whole Slytherin table, it had been sudden and his mind hadn't been focused. The Talk he received was quite different. During the conversation, several strange things happened, like a flying pink elephant – a real one – materializing out of thin air, and pictures worthy of the Kamasutra appearing on the kitchen walls – thankfully, Harry wasn't in the proper state to care for details, and the people on these pictures were unrecognisable.
When they wondered what the Order would think if they saw these, Remus and Sirius tried to dispel them, but failed repeatedly, and Remus looked at Harry, who was dozing peacefully. A quick sobering charm later, the three of them could hold a proper discussion again.
"Harry? Can you dispel these pictures?" Remus asked.
The addressed teen – he had morphed back into himself at some point – looked at the pictures and blinked. And he blushed. "Oh my. I drew these?"
"Seems so, Prongslet." Sirius said, before approaching the drawings. "And, if I get real close, I think I can recognize a tuft of black hair here and there, and... Merlin!" he exclaimed, stepping away from the offending wall.
"You recognize Merlin in these pictures?" Remus asked, smiling.
"No." he answered. "It's just that... they move."
"They move?"
"They move."
The two of them looked at Harry who was looking at the pictures, a look of concentration on his face. Unlike the state he had been in after Fred and George's joke, Harry discovered that he could actually remember the stupid things he had done. Despite being drunk, he hadn't been as inebriated as last time, and stayed mostly in control. His memories gave him insights about how to address magic differently, and there clearly was an interest in moving pictures: class – although not Sex Ed; he wasn't going to do that.
Harry took his Nundu wand out and easily dispelled the pictures – he had created them, so the charms recognized his magical signature and removed themselves from the wall.
As for the pink elephant... like all conjured creatures, it had the right to live, and Harry changed its colour and then Apparated with it, dropping it in a nearby zoo. It was a perfectly viable elephant, after all.
When he came back, Remus looked at him shrewdly and asked him a question. "I'm sure you didn't come here for the sole reason of being subjected to The Talk by Sirius."
Harry grimaced. "Although it was informative, it wasn't the kind of talk I had in mind, no."
"So? What did you want to speak about?"
"Dementors. And the Patronus Charm."
A pause.
"Were we in a party, I'd say he's a mood killer." Sirius stated.
Harry started to apologize, but Remus interrupted him. "Don't you have our memories of it?"
"I have the memories of teaching it, but, as I was reviewing the lesson plan for the seventh year, I found that I didn't have the memories of casting it..."
"...and that would be difficult to teach it if you can't cast it, I agree." Remus finished, before turning pensive. "You know, we taught that charm, but it isn't normally on the curriculum."
"You mean to say that people out there won't have any defences should Dementors escape Azkaban and walk the country?"
The two of them nodded sadly. "We tried to teach them, but, as they knew what was on the curriculum and what wasn't, they weren't really cooperative. Especially swamped as they were, with homework from the other courses."
Harry smiled. "I think that my introduction to the course will force them to hear me out."
"What did you do?" Sirius asked, an interested gleam in the eye.
Harry proceeded in telling them what he did in the first week, and, when he finished, the two were howling with laughter.
"Words to remember, Moony." Sirius said, patting his friend's shoulder. "This little one will put the wizarding world on its head."
"And back on its feet afterwards, I believe." Remus finished, smiling. "That was interesting and... great, Harry."
"Thank you."
"Want a particular memory of mine?" Remus asked, and Harry nodded, before fetching the proffered block from the ex-werewolf's mind.
"Now, if you saw how this block is linked to the memories around it in my mind," Remus continued, "you'll notice that you have to do the same in your mind: link it with your happiest memory."
Harry spent half a minute browsing his happy memories before speaking again. "Why would I choose only one memory?" he asked out of the blue.
"What do you mean, Harry?" Sirius asked.
"I mean that we could make a memory hub, linking several happy memories to the Patronus charm. What do you think?"
Remus frowned thoughtfully, but he was nodding slowly. Sirius, as the more physical of the two Marauders, decided to haul Harry on his feet. "Let's try that! But not here... I don't want another elephant in my kitchen, thank you very much."
They went to the lounge and sat on the floor there. "Alright, Harry. Let's start with the normal one... Have you found a happy memory yet?"
Harry nodded, and, copying the wand move from the memory, he spoke the incantation. "Expecto Patronum!"
Nothing happened.
Or rather, the spell didn't work.
Something happened to Harry, though: he grimaced and his hands started to move to his head, but he collapsed before he could reach it.
Half a second later, Raphael appeared next to him, his wings folded behind him. Sirius absently remarked that the angel couldn't expand them completely, even in the larger room. Without even greeting the two men, he put his hands onto Harry's head. The teen's body started to glow, with his head giving off a much brighter light than the rest of him. After several anxious seconds, the light faded away, and the angel looked at Remus. "What happened?"
"He tried the Patronus charm." the man replied simply, and Raphael nodded.
Sirius stopped gnawing at his nails to ask Raphael his question. "What happened to him?"
"I suspect that he put too much power in his Occlumency wards. Occlumency and the charm you call Patronus are quite incompatible unless a proper approach is taken."
"What do you mean?"
"I think it interests Harry as well, so we will wake him up before I answer." the celestial being answered before moving to Harry and gently doing that.
"Wha...?" Harry said, before looking around him. He registered Raphael's presence and smiled, before noticing something. Frowning, he closed his eyes and concentrated. A second later, his eyes flew open and he looked at the angel with surprise, confusion, and fear in his eyes. "What happened?"
"I had to remove your mental barriers." Raphael said simply. "When one casts the Patronus, it sends magical energy from the mind straight out of the body, where it can assume a shape. The problem with Occlumency is that it can block the Patronus. Since those two abilities are rarely practised together, what happened is a rare case, and I do not think it is even documented."
"What would happen if someone was to learn and practise the Patronus before Occlumency?" Remus asked.
Raphael seemed to think about it before answering. "It simply wouldn't be possible for that person to practice Occlumency. Once the spell is done right, there is a current of energy linking the memory of the Patronus charm to the wand hand, and this current will help the future invocations. And this current acts against all attempts to build Occlumency defences. They would need the help of a Legilimens to inhibit the spell and even help them with the construction of the defences."
He paused, and turned back to Harry. "In your case, your defence was so tight that it reflected the Patronus energy back in your mind. Do you feel energized?"
"Why... yes! It's... it's impressive!" Harry exclaimed, his expression suddenly ecstatic.
The archangel shook his head gently. "You are lucky I was there, Harry. Had I not removed your defences in time, the energy would have reflected indefinitely, eventually destroying your mind."
Harry visibly deflated. "I should thank you, then. Thank you very much, Raphael. I guess I won't cast that spell anymore, then."
"Why?" asked Remus.
Harry shivered. "I feel so... naked without my defences. The first thing I want to do now is to rebuild them. In fact, I'm so energized that I could spend the night doing so."
Raphael shook his head and put his hand on his shoulder. "There's no need to do that, nor is there a need to forbid yourself from using the Patronus. After all, you will eventually notice that it is a very useful spell. But you have to adapt your defences to allow the magic to leave."
Harry was pensive. "A sort of one-way frontier... yes... I could do that..."
"In the meantime, since you have no barrier right now, why not practise the Patronus with your friends? I will stay with you, and I will help rebuilding your defences afterwards."
"Thank you again, Raphael."
The angel nodded, before stepping back, and Harry held his wand firmly. "Expecto Patronum!"
This time, Harry didn't collapse, and a silvery mist came out of his wand.
"Great, Harry!" Sirius exclaimed, patting a smiling Harry's back. "Few wizards succeed in obtaining a result like that in their first try."
"And few wizards succeed in even getting it to be corporeal later on." Remus said, reminding them that there was an aim to reach.
"What do you mean, corporeal?" Harry asked, before the memories provided by the two Marauders kicked in. "Oh. Right. That mist should transform into an animal. Well... no time like the present. Expecto Patronum!"
The result was still mist escaping his wand and fading in the room's atmosphere.
"Have you chosen your happiest memory?" Remus asked.
Harry frowned. "Well, I don't know. When I chose it, we were speaking of linking several, and I just chose a happy one at random between all of those I selected. Can I try to link several of them right now?" he asked, completely missing Raphael's smile at the same time.
"Try to find a happier one first." Remus said.
Harry complied, and, after a few minutes, he straightened up and repeated the incantation. "Expecto Patronum!"
This time, the mist that escaped his wand had a shape, and the three humans gasped. Remus was the first to recover, and he prodded Harry. "Try a happier one. Try to find the happiest."
Harry closed his eyes, and he spent several minutes parsing all his memories and comparing their inherent happiness to the last one he had selected. Only few could compete, and most of them were related to Tracey. He selected the memory of a particular chat with her, wondering why he hadn't searched in that direction first. He knew the answer, though: he hadn't thought that romance was such a shortcut towards happiness – especially after the crude talk he had had from Sirius.
When he opened his eyes, he was ready. And blushing. He spoke the incantation and, in front of his eyes, a stag erupted from his wand, before galloping around the room. It stopped next to the humans, though, looking at them in confusion before disappearing.
"Prongs..." breathed Sirius, and Remus looked at where the stag had been, a happy-but-sad expression on his face too.
Harry frowned, a memory stirring in his mind. It was of Remus teaching: 'The Patronus charm helps you fight against the darkness by summoning magic in his purest form.' and he answered a question relative to the animal shape. 'Studies have shown that, bar a few exceptions, a Patronus has the same shape in members of the same family. Said studies have made parallels between the term "patronym" and the charm's incantation and name. They didn't find any reason for the exceptions, though.'
"Was that... my dad?" he asked them.
"That was Prongs' Animagus shape, hence the name." Sirius answered in a wavering voice, which he straightened with a cough. "We never saw him perform the Patronus, so we don't know if it would have been the same."
"Chances are that they would, given the theories around the charm." Remus added, and Harry nodded.
"Why did it look at us that way, before disappearing?"
The Marauders looked at each other, but it was Raphael who answered. "It found no enemy to fight, so it was wondering. And it didn't exactly disappear: it returned to your magic reserve. It is possible to cast the spell several times over and have multiple animals frolicking around, but that eats your reserve of magic, and your other spells won't be as efficient."
Harry looked at him, and then at the two adults. There were two things he wanted to test, now, but one would have to wait until he rebuilt his defences. In the meantime...
He closed his eyes again, and went to his mind, where he knotted links between his happiest memories and the Patronus-related memory. It took him five more minutes, and, when he emerged, Remus and Sirius were looking at him nervously. Raphael was smiling, and he merely nodded.
"What did you do, now?" Remus asked.
To answer, Harry turned to the side and cast the spell.
The result was above and beyond what they thought. As Occlumency was a part of Legilimency, and as it blocked the Patronus, no one before had thought to use the mind arts to link several happy memories to the charm.
The stag that erupted from his wand was completely corporeal, not ghostly like his previous one. And it was tangible, his hooves thundering on the parquet. And it was... completely white. And luminous. As if it was a lamp made of pure alabaster. As the previous one, it looked around before coming back to the humans with a confused look. It didn't disappear, though.
After several seconds, Harry asked the question. "When does it disappear?"
"When you order him to, Harry." Raphael answered from behind him, and Harry started in surprise.
"Why?"
"It's your magic in there. It seems that, in this shape, it is more able to communicate with you. You can direct the shape vocally, and you will eventually learn to communicate with it mentally."
Harry nodded, and approached the noble beast to pet it. "It's strange..." he marvelled. "It's so soft... and tingly at the same time."
"The tingle comes from your magic. I do not recommend to anyone but your closest friends to pet it." Raphael explained. "That kind of Patronus can protect you against more than the Dementors, Harry. Remember not to cast too many of them at the same time, though, if you want to stay conscious."
Harry nodded, before testing his abilities to send orders to his Patronus.
Harry was keyed up, and, even though he returned to his quarters in Hogwarts, he couldn't put himself to sleep – short of Stunning himself, something he wasn't prone to. Besides, he had something to do, and he smiled when he noticed that Raphael was already there.
"You said you were ready to help?" he asked, and the angel nodded.
Harry sat comfortably on his bed and went to his mind, quickly followed by the angel. The two of them worked hard and long, and came up with something that resembled a real mind – once more, although he made a low fence around it – but with numerous spellwork embedded in it. Harry's memories were held in an invisible cube, designed to make them invisible as well, and which had enough empty space to fill ten times what Harry already had. Said cube hovered over the mind structure itself, held in place by the consciousness building, the connection to which allowed him to use his memories efficiently despite their unusual location. The subterranean part of his mind was used as well, with other memories, as well as unusual contraptions, like kennels for his defensive creatures. These belonged to the active defence part of his mind, and they would unleash the contained creatures on any unauthorized attack. All of these beasts were also spelled like the previous dragons had been, allowing them to be revived should they fall.
There was also another type of creature the two of them devised, and which would act as mentally biological weapons: mosquitoes.
After his past talks with James and Copycat, Harry had thought about viruses for a long time, and, over the night, Harry and Raphael had come up with an appropriate shape, the appropriate behaviour, and the appropriate spells to put on them. Once unleashed – Harry wouldn't let them out without his express consent –, the mosquitoes had the simple task of finding any intruder and following the link toward that person's mind, duplicating and establishing themselves there.
Exactly what they would be doing there would depend on their orders. They could harass the recipient's mind, thus paralysing his thoughts and then his body. They could attack the consciousness building and threaten the consciousness so that it would act according to a given scenario – mainly: helping Harry. They could even make themselves explode, eventually bringing down whatever defences they might find in the way – or destroying themselves if they were going to be studied by a powerful Legilimens. They could emit a mental signal towards Harry, so that he would know where the infected persons where. And their last and most dangerous order was the propagation – the possibility to jump like that from one mind to another.
Knowing about computer virus infestation problems from his cousin and his friend, Harry had a perfect solution for pinpointing the Dark Lord's hiding place, and to deal with the Death Eaters whenever said Dark Lord was taken care of.
Raphael made a last effort in Harry's mind defences by spelling the whole content of it with a slowness spell, which would be triggered by intruders reaching its inner part – so as to slow them on their way out. Harry, of course, wouldn't be affected by it, and neither would his mind creatures. Harry himself created the same kind of shield he had experienced when fighting the witch's mind in Rome: a sturdy dome establishing itself around the mind when an intrusion was detected.
When Harry opened his eyes again, the sun was already rising, and, despite having been energized beforehand, he was quite tired. He toyed with the idea of going back in time, but Raphael proposed something which intrigued him.
"Do you want a bath?"
"A bath?"
"It is one of the most satisfying customs the mortals have taken from us. Especially when done properly."
Harry was quite intrigued: for him, bathing oneself was only to get cleaned, and he never spent a second thought on it. He acquiesced. "Alright, let's try that."
Raphael led him in the bathroom, where he enlarged the tub and shaped it differently. Several seconds later, it was full to the brink with hot and frothy water which smelled of... incense?
"Why the scent?" Harry asked, quite put out by its strength.
"Oh, it was just a habit. You want something else?"
"Yes. Just... anything fresh. And natural."
A second later, the scent was replaced with one that could be smelled in a light forest at dawn – green and full of promises.
Harry had closed his eyes to inhale the refreshing bouquet, and he opened his eyes afterwards. Only to close them at once. "What are you doing?" he asked, clearly shocked at having seen the angel disrobe.
"How are you going to wash and relax if you are alone? I know that, with your powers, you can wash your own back. I'm only here to help."
Harry was clearly reluctant. He had never shared physical intimacy with anyone, and, knowing that the angel was ready to take a bath with him was clearly against all his mental habits – especially as they were both male.
"Don't worry." he heard Raphael say from his right. "I'm not a sex demon. I won't take advantage of you. If you must know, I won't even react to you. Satisfied?" When the silence continued, he spoke again. "Sorry. I can feel your reluctance. I will leave."
"No!" Harry blurted out. "I mean... there's nothing going on besides a relaxing bath, right?"
"Right."
"Well... I will do it, then." Straightening up, Harry followed Raphael's example and disrobed before entering the water.
One hour later, Harry was completely relaxed and rejuvenated, and he was ready to start the day.
As they were both putting their clothes on, Raphael asked him a question. "Ready to test your theory?"
It took Harry several seconds to understand what he was talking about, but, when he did, he smiled widely. He then concentrated, and his mind assumed his previous name of Kentaro Anderson, a name he had associated with the Smilodon – perhaps wrongly, but he didn't care at that point.
"Here comes nothing." He murmured. "Expecto Patronum!"
And, following his theory, his mind provided the useful information for his Patronus-casting memory to throw the magical energy out of it in the shape of a... sabre-toothed tiger. Harry smiled before petting it, earning himself a deep rumble as the beast purred.
"Well... that's interesting." he said, and his smile evolved into a smirk. "They will never know what hit them."
To be continued in next chapter: Battlefields...
In this chapter, we all saw
Dumbledore reap what he sow.
Some
more mistakes he will do
Before he'll be clean as dew.
