Harry Potter and The Academy of Heroes - Chapter 3
Snape wanted to murder the assembled doctors. Murder as in wringing their necks one by one while the rest was forced to watch, knowing they would be next. For people with multiple P. and , they were utter idiots.
"Repeat your reasoning again, but very slowly." He seethed at the leader of the commission.
"The boy is a miracle. His body is currently in peak genetic and physical condition. Any possible impurities were removed. The risk of any genetic disease is equal to zero." The overseer babbled until Snape silenced him with his red eyes.
"And just how, pray tell me, does this equal to making him a lab rat?" The doctor finally realized that he was toeing a thin line between life and un-life.
"W-well… He's…"
"He's a child, who got shot into the spinal cord with a magical bullet. He has the backing of the number one hero, myself, and U.A. High School. You can tell those idiots to bloody well stuff it." The hero then whirled on his heel to glare at a man in a dark-gray suit that stood there with a folder in his hands. "And that goes double for the Hero Commission. Izuku Midoriya's case is special. I also forbid continuing tests with this method using phoenix tears. It is obvious they are too powerful of a healing agent. The initial results show promise, but if you want to carry on the research, begin with more specialized potions and spells."
"We can't just turn our backs on what could be the greatest discovery since the appearance of quirks!" One of the doctors protested. "If this could possibly give people quirks-"
"This is a very dangerous procedure that has no scientific backing. The appearance of the quirk was a fluke that shouldn't have happened." Snape defended his research. "And good luck finding more phoenix tears. The last two known vials are my personal possession." He lied masterfully. There was no need to tell any of them that Potter could produce more of it on demand. So far, they thought he could just set himself on flames or become scaly. The full extent of his powers was carefully buried under tons of red tape.
"It's for the greater good." The head doctor tried to argue.
"Those are the words above the gate to Nurmengard." Lord Nox snapped before walking out of the room, his cape billowing after him.
Getting from the meeting room to where Midoriya was stashed and waiting took him less than a minute. He might've been floating above the ground, but no one told him that. Inside, he was irritated to find a skeletal-looking man with blonde hair.
"Midoriya-san is not taking any guests outside of the family. Please leave immediately." Snape growled.
"I am his…" The man drawled, evidently lying, even before he said what he wanted to say.
"Uncle! That's my uncle Toshi!" Izuku supplied.
"Exactly!" The man quickly confirmed.
Snape wasn't fooled even for a moment.
Before either Midoriya or Toshinori could blink, the skeleton-man was pinned to the wall, with Nox holding him by the throat up in the air so that his legs dangled.
"You will tell me who you really are." His red eyes were now glowing with eerie power.
"I… am… here!" In a surprising burst of willpower, All Might managed to (partially) break through Snape's mind control and take his muscular form. Then again, the wizard hero got his answer.
"And what, pray tell, are you doing visiting Midoriya-san?" Snape seethed as he let go of the giant man, in large part because he couldn't feasibly continue to pin him to the wall without levitating himself.
"We've been talking! I'm trying to convince him to go through the same treatment as I did."
"Oh? Midoriya-san, I wasn't aware that you've acquired another vial of phoenix tears, which are crucial in the therapy you've undergone."
"Potter-chan agreed to donate some more." Izuku happily informed Snape, completely missing the sarcasm.
"I see I will need to restress to Potter the importance of not abusing his quirk." The hero muttered between turning back to All Might. "Now you will sit and discuss this matter with me like a proper adult pro hero, instead of behaving like a Gryffindor in Snakes' den."
Yagi deflated sat on the nearby chair and watched as Snape simply sat on the air like it was a chair.
"Eh… five, maybe six years ago from now, I've got into a really bad fight. My body was wrecked almost beyond repair. The fact that I am alive is in large part thanks to extensive magical therapy. But even that couldn't heal me. Not really."
"But phoenix tears…" Midoriya looked between Snape and Yagi. "It could potentially heal you. My injury was fixed and the doctors had been saying there was nothing to be done."
"It's not that simple," Snape interjected before All Might could actually say something. "Your injury was not healed. Your entire body, to the very genetic code, was reworked. The tears removed any impurity, any flaw, any damage there was. But the procedure was not perfect. There were foreign agents in your body-"
"Like the Polyjuice! You said that it changes a person down to genetic code while retaining the original, thus ensuring the change is not permanent. So I had two sets of DNA. Mine and that of the cat. And since the potion had it mixed already, the tears bonded them together to repair what was perceived as damage, giving me the cat-like traits. Then, the potion was purged from my system, taking away the brunt of the transformation while retaining the genetic bonds, which were too complete to be undone." Izuku said it all in one breath.
"That is… surprisingly astute observation, not unlike my own." Snape was impressed, a rare sight.
"Sorry." The boy retreated slightly into himself. "I tend to ramble."
"Don't worry." The hero was quick to reassure him. He actually started to like the boy. Damn it! "Your insight was appreciated. This is similar to the conclusion I came to. The quirk you possess is Pyrokinesis, yes?"
"I… actually can't create fire. I can control it. And I'm immune to burns. I can raise or lower my body temperature, but that's about it."
"Interesting. So it is more akin to telekinesis limited to fire."
"Yes. But now that we know the problem, we can fix the process and help All Might!" The boy beamed.
"It will still take many months to pinpoint exactly what led to the change and how can it be reversed. And it is not possible to conduct practical experiments due to rarity of the tears."
"I am also afraid I would need to refuse it either way." The skeleton man bowed his head. "Snape-Sama, what I am about to tell you is a secret I do not reveal lightly, but I wish for your input in mine and Midoriya's case. I… My quirk is not really super strength. Its real name… is One For All. It's a power-stockpiling quirk, passed through generation from one user to another, growing in strength. It has a long and brutal history. I am not the first owner."
"Obviously. But tell me, does it have anything to do with a man named Shigaraki?" Snape inquired carefully, albeit distaste was clear in his voice.
"I'm afraid…"
"All for One." Snape clarified with a sneer, causing All Might to jump from his chair.
"How do you know that name?"
"Do you honestly believe that someone so power-hungry wouldn't try to take a quick so versatile and powerful as mine?"
"But…"
"Your reaction is all the information I need. We can discuss this in a less public environment later on. You should be grateful I put a privacy spell when we began this conversation." Bloody Gryffindors.
"You are right. I wanted to ask if it is still possible to pass the quirk onto Young Midoriya? Will the tears fight it?"
"He has no tears left in his system. They were all used and disposed of within forty-eight hours. We're entering the third period, meaning he is clean."
"Great! Young Midoriya, you can return to the training, and soon, your body will be ready for the power."
"His body is ready, you dunderhead." Snape groaned. Why was he surrounded by idiots? "Didn't you hear me? His body is at the moment at peak possible condition for him. He literally cannot push it any further and attempting to do so would be detrimental. Or did you already forget it with your cotton brain?"
"Lord Nox, surely the animosity is…"
"I am here to ensure Midoriya is returned to health. That is my debt and I always pay my debts." Snape cut him off. "Now give him your bloody quirk while he is in a safe environment. That way, he can be helped if something wrong happens. Also, did you have some special excuse prepared as to why a, now formerly, quirkless boy suddenly springs up with a quirk similar to the one belonging to the Symbol of Peace"
"I… um…" Yagi was visibly trying.
"Of course not. Right now, it can be explained in million ways as part of his newly acquired quirk, such as faster metabolism leading to a boost in kneazle's natural muscle strength, which is proportionally greater than that of a human anyway." Snape was shaking his head now. Bloody Gryffindors everywhere.
Harry was free to wander the UA campus and use what he needed for training. He was currently living in the teachers' dorms right next to Snape's room, but his real room was in class 1-A dorms. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.
On one hand, the fact that everyone treated his admission as certainty slightly unnerved him. It smelled like Nepotism too much. Like something Malfoy would brag about. He did buy himself a place on the quidditch team with connections instead of skill. Harry hated feeling like he was now Malfoy. Snape was suddenly somewhat nice to him for the love of Merlin. It was both terrifying and completely unnatural. Then again, Snape had a quirk and was apparently a professional hero. Harry could've sworn he's heard about his hero name somewhere before. Then again, it turned out that Snape was something of a genius that got a mastery in potions and arithmancy at the age of seventeen, before even leaving Hogwarts.
On the other hand, Harry was too glad to finally be safe. He no longer needed to worry about Dark Lord, teachers trying to murder him, a quarter of the students trying to kill him just because he was born, the government trying to silence him… And most importantly, no freaking Dursleys. He could be a teenager for once, with teenager things. He could watch TV in his free time, he could walk around the school grounds without fearing an attack.
Something hit him in the head.
Harry stumbled back and frantically looked around. A wand was already in his hand. On the ground next to him, he spotted a comically large horseshoe.
"Hey! Sorry!" A boy with a comic-esque face ran toward him waving. The first thing Harry noticed was his blue oval-shaped eyes with no visible sclera. His nose was prominently rounder than most others. He was tall and muscular, with blonde hair swept up. "We've been practicing for the school festival and I might've gotten overexcited." He rubbed the back of his neck as he smiled sheepishly.
"No problem," Harry spoke as his tattoo on his right arm glowed barely visible light.
"Cool tattoo. What does it mean? I can't really read it…" The boy tried to look closer, but it made little sense to him.
"Oh… I don't really know. It helps with understanding what you're all saying. It sounds English to me." Harry smiled. The boy was a… nice change from constantly seeing only Snape or Aizawa-sensei, who was stepping in when the other was busy in the hospital.
"Is that magic!?" The other boy beamed up. "Whoah. I've never seen magic at work before. How did you get it? Did it hurt? What's it made of?"
"Um… Snape… sensei," Harry added after a short moment of hesitation, "took me to magical tattoo pallor."
"Snape-sensei… Oh! You mean Lord Nox! I heard he would be teaching at U.A. starting next year. It'll be amazing to have number seven hero as a teacher!"
Harry choked on whatever he wanted to say before. "Number seven?" He took a double check to see if the boy was pranking him, but he still had that cartoon-esque face that made it hard to guess. "I… how's Snape number seven?"
"What'cha ya' got there, Mirio-chan?" A girl with long hair in the color that reminded Harry of Beauxbatons school uniforms.
"I… actually, I kinda forgot to introduce myself and ask for your name." He repeated the sheepish smile. "I'm Togata Mirio and I'm a second-year student at the Hero Course here. This is Hado Nejire, she's also in my class. What about you?"
"Yeah… sorry. I'm Har-" He stopped, remembering he was now in another country with a different culture. "I'm Potter Harry."
"Nice to meet you. Wow. Your name sounds kinda strange." She floated around him, watching him with curiosity.
"I'm from England. I'll be applying to U.A next year." He told her almost automatically, too distracted by her being. This place was definitely very different from Hogwarts.
"Nice. You said you've known Snape-Sensei?"
"Yeah. He taught potions at my previous school. I kinda tagged along when he was leaving. Magical Brittain is… not too good of a place right now."
"You're a wizard!? As in real, wand-waving, wizard!?" Mirio… Togata Harry corrected his thoughts, don't use first names, it's too informal, asked.
"Yeah."
"Amazing! Many people go their whole lives without meeting any. They're strictly regulated from what I heard."
"Actually, I can pretty much do magic about the same as I use quirk!" Harry beamed. It's something he discovered about Japan that he immediately loved. As long as he abided to certain laws, he was free to use his magic in public. There were strict laws about muggles contracting wizards and only certified wizards could sell their service, but he was free to cast non-harmful spells to heart's content. No need to get up to grab the remote. And anti-magic wiring was a requirement in any tech sold here. Going back to the talk though, Harry noticed that the two were looking at him with puppy eyes. "I… might've gotten distracted." He admitted.
"We asked if you would show us some magic," Togata asked.
"Um… sure." Harry levitated the horseshoe and made it dance in the air with his wand. He then changed its color so it looked a bit like gold. It spun as he waved it around. With a flick of his wand and another incantation, he made it into a bird that flapped its wings as it sat on Mirio's shoulder. Then, the bird became a cat that jumped into Nejire's open arms. Finally, he turned it back.
"Amazing. You must come to our class' stand at the festival. I will introduce you to Amajiki." Mirio beamed.
"Sure. It was nice seeing you." Harry muttered. The interaction with two overjoyous peers slightly overwhelmed him.
A man was running through the dark alleyways. His original plans for the night long since forgotten. He now had only one goal. Survive. No matter the cost, he needed to survive. He was not gonna die like that. There had to be some way to-
A black shadow landed on him, pinning him to the ground. Their red eyes penetrated the man's soul, looking deep into his heart.
"Where is he? Why is he here?"
"He… He needs… there is something here that he needs!" The man tried to survive. He didn't sign up for dealing with monsters.
"What is his end goal?"
"How'd I know?! Let me go, man!"
Instead of answering, there was a flash of red and the man was now headless.
Snape gathered himself off the ground and cleaned his robes with a quick spell, Another wave of his wand and the alleyway was cleaner than before. There was no body, no blood, only a bit of magic in the air that would soon disappear. No one would miss that scum and Snape got at least something from his mind while the idiot was shaking in his pants. Fear weakens the mind, which in turn weakens the defenses.
He sighed. The night was nearing the end and he was no closer to figuring it out. Maybe next time would bring some actual results…
A/N A shorter chapter, but oh well. Snape is surrounded by idiotic Gryffindors, Harry makes new friends, and Lord Nox has some secret vendetta. Everything he does has a goal, so bear that in mind.