"I must say Blitzy, while I had expected to enjoy our little excursion, I hadn't anticipated quite the excitement you and your team managed to cause during their little bonding moment".
Shooting the lightly bruised Imp a look of amusement, which thanks to his heart to heart chat with his daughter lacked the usual lustful gleam, though only because his precious owlette was sharing the same space with him, Stolas found his attention wandering to one of the little ones thanks to the obvious parental concern in their voice.
"Is...is Harry going to be alright"?
Casting a brief glance towards the still unconscious child, and deciding that it would be best to conceal from the others that the boy wasn't quite as human as he had previously been, the Goetia Prince nodded his head.
"Give him a few hours rest and he will be fine. Honestly I expected something like this to happen sooner or later. But apart from maybe feeling a bit tired for the next day or two, he will be fine".
Receiving a grateful nod from the female Imp, Stolas soon sported a proud smile as his daughter correctly guessed the cause of Harry's current predicament.
"Is it because he exhausted his magical reserves"?
Seeing that he now had the attention of the entire van, even the white haired Imp who would have no doubt be fretting as much as his wife if he hadn't been driving the I.M.P. van, Stolas entered what his daughter liked to call 'lecture mode'.
"That is indeed the case Octavia. While his reserves are indeed impressive for a boy his age, they are nevertheless insufficient for prolonged use of advanced magic. Let alone the blunt, yet nevertheless effective way in which he dealt with that mechanical menace. In fact, I'd say if it hadn't been for the diminishing soul fragment in his head, he might have been knocked out before he turned that deplorable jester into scrap".
His words causing the other occupants of the van to shoot worried glances at the slumbering child, the owl demon quickly moved to reassure them.
"As I said, the fragment is rapidly diminishing the longer he resides in Hell. And while yes it is true that it could have taken over his body while he was still an infant, he was old enough to resist any attempts to control his body before he came down here. And now that he is...adapting to his new surroundings, I can say with the utmost confidence that there is no danger of possession whatso ever".
"What about influence"?
Eye's slightly narrowing at the interruption, though he had to admit that the white haired Imp raised a very good question, Stolas shrugged his shoulders.
"I believe it would depend on his emotional vulnerability. Since I doubt that the child would have normally displayed such direct...creativity by himself, it is possible that if he becomes sufficiently enraged, the fragment might influence him to be a bit more...brutal in his solutions".
Seeing the looks of unease on the Imp couple, the Goetia Prince hurried to reassure them.
"However I wouldn't say that this is an issue. The fact that he felt such powerful emotions when your lives were endanger speaks volumes about his character. Just think of him as one of the species of animals that exist in the mortal world. Usually harmless, but when it feels that it's life is in danger, or those it cares about are...well, you get the picture".
Smiling as he saw the couple nod in acceptance, though he understood why their expressions carried more than a hint of concern, Stolas quickly adopted a slightly playful smile as his knight in shining armor decided to change the topic of conversation.
"Well, good to know we can count on the kid when the shit hits the fan on a job. And speaking of jobs, I do believe that you owe us a little something for our troubles Stolas".
Though he admired his lover's singlemindedness, especially when he could tell that he was deliberately changing the subject in order to give his employees a minor reprieve from their worries, the avian Prince of Hell adopted a slightly coy expression.
"I'm not sure what you mean Blitzy. While it is true that you protected me and my daughter during the early stages of our outing, during the final portions of our trip you were no where to be found. And while I am grateful for the privacy it gave me while I was sharing a moment with my daughter".
At this Stolas shot his darling owlette a gentle, but nevertheless noticeable smile. Which to his great relief was returned before he continued on.
"Since I was forced to defend myself not once, but twice, I'm afraid that means that you have forfeited your full payment for the day".
Giving the Imp a moment to process his decision, if only to enjoy the rather cute expression that always came over Blitzo's face when he was mad, the head of the Goetia Family allowed a slight pout to cross his face as their white haired driver put a slight end to his fun.
"And what does our boss have to do in order to get it back"?
Seeing his Imp lover's slightly irritated expression, as well as the look of mild disgust that was currently on his daughter's face as she suspected what he would ask for, Stolas's answer managed to surprise everyone.
"I suppose given the stressful day you've had, plus my own sadly busy schedule, I can be satisfied with a simple candle lit dinner. Shall we say 7, 7:30 this evening"?
Receiving a nod from his red skinned lover, whose eyes had briefly lit up with slight greed as he realized that he had just scored himself a free meal, Stolas was content to pass the remainder of the journey home in silent contemplation.
For the events of the day had proven that his young student needed some refinement if he was to properly control the power he possessed.
….
Sighing as he finished listening to Severus's report, Dumbledore forced himself to adopt a slightly hopefully expression as he summarized the main points of the potion master's findings.
"So to briefly summarize what you have just said Severus, none of the…darker elements of our society are responsible for the boy's disappearance, due to the fact that they are operating under the belief that I have him safely sequestered somewhere. Is that correct"?
Receiving a curt nod from the former Death Eater, the older wizard felt himself frown in disgust as Hogwarts' potion master continued his briefing.
"That is correct Headmaster. Lucius did mention that some of his less….refined associates had recently gotten into the business of human trafficking and drug distribution in the Muggle word, but their efforts appear to be concentrated on either the continent or in America".
Making a mental reminder to find a way to bring these people to justice without revealing the source of his information, for Severus's ability to operate in the Wizarding World's darker elements required him to make it appear that he was still secretly a follower of Tom's, Dumbledore offered a single comment towards these criminal activities before changing the subject.
"It is odd that those who loudly profess to be above associating with Muggles end up relying on them for their source of income and….entertainment. But that is a discussion for another day. Did you manage to get a look at the Dursley's…home"?
Choosing to ignore Severus's look of disgust at the mention of the place that had been a young Harry's Hell on earth, the spectacle wearing wizard found himself wearing a look of mild concern as Snape recalled his findings.
"I did. The muggle aurors had already removed all physical traces of the three…bodies, but in the drawing room, I discovered traces of something that…well to put it mildly, puts me in the mind of a floo connection. Only darker. Much darker".
Leaning forward, Dumbledore was unsure if he was more worried or hopeful as he asked a question that would probably only lead to more unanswered questions.
"What else did you discover Severus"?
To his disappointment, the younger wizard was less than illuminating with his answer.
"Apart from discovering that it was used as a means to exit the house, not enter it, nothing. Nothing I did seemed to reactivate it, and without first doing so, I cannot discover where it might have led to. If I knew the type of magic that was involved, it would be difficult but doable to discover this information, but sadly I am unable to offer more insight at this time".
Sighing with slight disappointment, though he appreciated Severus's thoroughness, Dumbledore cast his eyes towards the hiding place of two of the magical instruments that had been created during the first week following Tom's fall.
The first, and the one that had usually allowed him to rest somewhat easily, was the one that informed him if Harry was either alive or dead.
Usually it had shown with a pale, but unmistakable blue light. But over the past few weeks, that light had dimmed considerably.
He had no idea why this might be the case since the spells he had put upon it could not detect the changes in Harry's physical wellbeing besides dead or alive, an oversight that now pained him greatly. But the fact that the light hadn't gone out completely ensured that he at least knew that the last surviving Potter was still alive.
The state second device however was more troubling since it monitored the status of the dormant parasite that served as a link between the boy and the monster that had taken everything from him.
He had spent many sleepless nights trying to discover how he could safely remove and destroy the fragment of Tom's soul that resided in Harry's signature scar, but up until three hours ago, it was starting too look like he wouldn't need to.
For ever since the boy's disappearance, his device had indicated that the soul fragment was slowly being destroyed. Yes it had been gradual, and had done much to make him suspect that Harry had managed to somehow unconsciously access the power that 'the dark lord knows not', but three hours ago it appeared that something had been done to strengthen the fragment to the point where it could consciously interact with the young Potter.
The device was now showing that the sudden power boost had been only temporary, but that hadn't done much to comfort him since he had no idea what could have caused the brief power spike.
However for the moment, even if he wished it was otherwise, there was nothing he could do except watch and wait.
Hoping that wherever Harry was at this point in time, he was being well taken care of.
…..
Though Loona wore an expression that left little doubt that she was displeased with him, Harry could nevertheless sense that her anger was caused by her concern for his wellbeing rather than any concern about her image.
Not that it helped much since the sight of a pissed off Hellhound would have still been threatening even if he didn't feel like he had just endured an entire day's worth of Harry Hunting.
"What the fuck did you do that for? Your being trained how to handle a weapon. And yet at the first sight of trouble instead of pulling out your pistol, you decide to go all Darkside on his robo ass.".
Unable to maintain eye contact with the towering canine, Harry did his best to defend his actions to the watching members of I.M.P.
For even if the methods he had used were wrong, the results he had achieved, and more importantly the reason for his actions were right.
"I know that, but I didn't think they would work. The robot easily caught Mr. Blitz's bullet in his teeth, and I didn't think that I had enough time to power the bullet like I did during the game. So I…".
"Decided to save my ass by tapping into his magic powers? Honestly kid you have nothing to be sorry for. I mean sure it might not have worked if that mechanical asshole hadn't been built with substandard parts. But since he was, all I have to say is…thanks kid. I owe you one".
Offering a small smile as Blitzo proceeded to clap him on the back, Harry's mood greatly improved as he heard Loona give a sigh before messing up his already untameable hair.
"Yeah, I suppose that the important thing that no one we cared about was hurt. And I suppose it was rather badass of you to destroy something with your mind. But tomorrow, I'm gonna make sure that the next time this happens, you know where to shoot so you don't hurt yourself while trying to hurt your target. Got it"?
Eagerly nodding his head at this information, Harry's attention was drawn towards his female caregiver as she pouted.
"I hope you don't mind if either me or Moxxie sits in on this lesson Loona? Have to make sure that your not teaching him any bad habits after all".
Seeing the Hellhound's less than pleased expression, which he attributed to the fact that Loona was annoyed at having someone supervise her usually awesome pranks and teaching skills, Harry looked for something to draw their attention elsewhere.
Luckily, the founder of I.M.P. provided him a credible reason to interrupt the developing argument.
Though his confusion was nevertheless genuine since he didn't really understand what was being shown on the telly.
"Uhh guys, I have a question".
Managing to draw the attention of his caregivers and the Hellhound away from their argument, though he noticed that Blitzo was still focused on the screen, Harry gave voice to his curiosity.
"If the pizza man truly loves that babysitter, why does he keep slapping her bum? Did she do something wrong"?
His question worked.
Perhaps a little too well.
For Loona looked like she was on the verge of collapsing into a fit of laughter. Moxxie was currenting acting like he was a fish that could no longer breath.
And Millie, she rapidly went from confused, to embarrassed, to anger in the same amount of time it took for the actor on the telly, who interestingly enough was wearing wings like an angel, to get in another spank from the smiling babysitter.
Though Harry's brief feeling of accomplishment as he heard the unusually cold tone of the female Imp as she addressed her distracted employer.
"Sir, are you watching porn at work"?
"Yep".
Blitzo's less than informative answer managed to cause Moxxie to recover his ability for speech.
"WHY are you watching porn sir"?
"Cause it was on".
Sadly Harry wouldn't be able to watch the rest of the conversation.
"Come on kid. As amusing as it is to watch Blitz getting his ass kicked, I have something you'll enjoy even more".
Though he readily accepted the invite, Harry was nevertheless slightly confused as the gray furred canine tapped a finger near her eye.
"Since it appears that your body has finally started to started to adapt to your new situation, which is weird cause I though a human had to die before getting their demon form, we need to get you some new threads".
Frowning at this piece of information, Harry wasn't sure if he should be excited, or disappointed at the image that was currently being shown to him by the smirking Hell Hound.
His hair was still the unruly mess of blackness that it had always been.
His frame, while a bit more filled out since he was eating regularly, was still undersized for a person his age.
And his eyes were still the same color of emerald green.
The only thing that really changed was the shape of his right pupil, and the fact that the skin surrounding that eye was…different.
Bringing a hand to feel it as he was led from the building, the last though he had before he had to pay attention to his surroundings, for even though he was accompanied by a Hellhound it was still Hell after all, was that the feeling was similar to that weird leather handbag Petunia always wore whenever she was trying to impress their neighbors.
…..
ANNNND will end this chapter here.
That wraps up the Loo Loo Land arc, and now I think its time for a MINOR time skip. Not to the point where he is ready to attend Hogwarts IF I go that route. But a few months later where he has gotten used to his life in Hell is doable I believe.
Will of course touch on some of the minor, though important changes in his training/development. As well as the development of his relationships with the cast, but I'm thinking next chapter will be the start of Harry accompanying the Imps while they're on the job on earth.
Now just a brief recap of the segments.
1st one is straightforward enough. Stolas explaining what happened to Harry, and of course at the end some minor reflection of the fact that Stolas doesn't see Blitzo as just a booty call.
2nd segment of course covers Dumbledore and Snape. Cant recall the precise moments in the series when Dumbledore knew that Harry was a Horcrux, but he at least knew of the connection. And to play in with my interpretation of the Headmaster's efforts (i.e. made errors but is genuine in his desires to help Harry) had him at least explore the option of finding ways to remove the soul fragment from the scar. I believe its doable considering the state of Voldemort at this point in time but will expand on it later.
3rd segment….Loona showing concern in a manner which I believe we can all agree is believable for her character. With her softening when she hears that Harry had a legit excuse to go overboard with his magic. And yes…before writing this chapter I had been rewatching scenes of a certain trench coat wearing angel, and I decided to use the Pizza man joke.
PLUS…some hints as to what Harry's demon form will be (not sure if it will be full or partial at this point since he didn't die to get to hell). Left enough hints to guess the direction I'm going for, BUT enough room for me to leave a surprise IF I choose to do so lol
Anyways, hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Cant wait for the next episode of this amazing series.
Plz review. No flames.
Til next time.
p.s...
Now accepting beta reader applications for editing purposes...and perhaps discussions on how this story will proceed.