Hogwart's Library

"You… you must be having me on." Harry stated flatly. When the pair left the Great Hall Hermione could understand Harry's dislike for all the staring the crowds indulged in as they watched her as much as they did Harry. Once they arrived at the library they found out that Madam Pince had already gathered all the books she had on Campione in an orderly manner on the nearest table from the entrance.

Hermione had cringed when Harry had read the quote that miss Ericsson had stated in the great hall. Harry's ire had manifested itself visibly in the form of the air wavering as if it was being superheated. The wards protecting the books from spellfire and incidents flickered into visible light as Harry's magic lashed out and sought to trash things. Even the heavy oaken table had shuddered.

The muggleborn girl was relieved it was her startled squawk as her chair started to move that brought back some semblance of control. Only a faint shimmer remained as Harry visibly kept his temper in check.

"Well that explains the redcap thing with the ropes." he said and then glared towards one of the bookshelves. "And stop hiding. I didn't figure it out before but your magic is different from what is in the bookcases." The illusion fell immediately and a man in dark robes with a cowl that made his face unrecognizable bowed deeply.

"My apologies for the intrusion your majesty." he said respectfully and for a moment Hermione wondered if a Campione could kill people with a glare. She could see Harry was making a passionate attempt. "Your majesty." the man repeated seemingly unaware of the ire he was inspiring. "Could you please elaborate what you meant with 'the redcap and the robes.' I would be most grateful for indulging my curiosity."

Harry gave the man another heated glare. "Call me mister Potter." he snapped before he explained what he had experienced in a short tone. "I think I know what happened, your majesty…. I mean mister Potter. As a Campione you seem to have obtained a way to observe magic without the use of rituals or items."

"Indeed. Although I admit I am curious why his ascension did not break the contract." Dumbledore agreed as he sat down. Both teens jolting at his unnoticed intrusion of him and the woman by his side. "Do forgive me for listening in, mister Potter. But at my old age it is rare to hear something new about magic." he gestured to miss Ericsson. "This is Patricia Ericsson. She is a representative of the Wittangamot.'' The woman introduced sketched a short bow.

"Still I wonder how they bound a redcap into the Goblet of Fire. It is a sensible being to use to enforce such a dangerous contract. Could you tell me how it looked like Harry?" Dumbledore asked with almost childlike curiosity. Harry was taken aback by the change of address yet he couldn't help but slightly smile and answer the question the best he could. The headmaster seemed much more approachable the way he acted.

"A ritual knife… I am starting to suspect it might be a creation of a divine ancestor who used mortal magicks. We would have picked it up if it had any divinity in it." The Unspeakable noted after Harry finished his explanation. "The actual Goblet has to be." Dumbledore agreed. "What you forgot however is that the binding could be done with divine influence. The marks of that would soon disappear and would be untraceable after all this time. That would also explain why the creature was so powerful."

Harry and Hermione listened in with wide eyes as the two knowledgeable scholars debated the 'how' and 'why' the Goblet of Fire. The discussion came to a grinding halt when Miss Ericson lost her patience and interrupted. "Gentlemen. It is most unbecoming of men of your rank to ignore his majesty like this." "His majesty actually enjoyed listening to the discussion." Harry snarked in reply.

"My apologies, your majesty." miss Ericsson immediately replied. Dumbledore meanwhile broke out in a weak chuckle. "Ah my apologies mister Potter. I let my inner Ravenclaw fly free for a moment and that makes me a rather poor mannered man in my pursuit of knowledge. I am glad however you found the discussion interesting."

"Regardless miss Ericsson was right to draw our attention. Perhaps miss Ericsson wishes to retrieve miss Alice from the infirmary so that the Wittangamot can introduce themselves properly?" Miss Ericsson pursed her lips but shook her head. "I do not think Princess Alice is in a state capable to introduce herself properly."

Dumbledore conceded the point with a nod. "I do not believe I am needed here. I hope to meet you again your majesty. By your leave." the Unspeakable cut in with a bow. It took Harry a moment to realise the man was waiting for his permission to leave which startled him out of his rising anger. "Euh.. I hope to see you as well?" he replied uncertainly.

The man said nothing and he disappeared from the normal view but Harry could track him a bit longer by how his magic stood out between the magic cast over the bookshelves. "Your majesty." Miss Ericsson said and she drew Harry's attention as she wanted to.

"Although our introduction went far from planned. I wish to formally invite you to join the Wittangamot as an associate member." Miss Ericsson said in an official tone. Harry raised his eyebrow and Hermione looked thoughtful. "Miss Ericsson." Dumbledore said amusedly. "Most of the non-wanded magical world is covered in the 5th year. And the curriculum only notes it as a rather exclusive organization as we simply do not know what more we can share with our students."

Miss Ericson blushed slightly and Harry wondered if it was in embarrassment or anger. "Then allow me to enlighten you, your majesty. The Wittangamot primary duty is to research magic and its uses. By the order of the Queen of England we maintain a small chivalric order, The Royal Victorian Order."

"Our other duties include maintaining the statute of secrecy. Furthermore the Wittangamot helps members find the right experts to further their research and acts as mediator between disputing parties. Not all our members are people capable of magic as well." Miss Ericsson explained. "And where does a Campione fit in all this?" Harry asked. If she had asked that he was invited to join the chivalric order, which he suspected was some kind of knightly group it would have made sense to him.

Miss Ericsson seemed to pause for a moment to fight the right words when Dumbledore answered for her. "Quite simple Harry. They wish to enlist your help when the next heretic god descends and causes havoc around the British isles. Otherwise they will need to depend on the actions of other Campione. Of the two that are nearby, one is a rather unsavory figure."

"In return I think you can expect a certain willingness to aid you in whatever endeavour you have set yourself. A 'mutual aid society' I believe the Wittangamot is sometimes called." he finished explaining. "You are well informed Headmaster Dumbledore." Miss Ericson said neutrally and she received a knowing look in return. "You are not the only one who is well connected miss Ericson."

"I see." Miss Ericson said neutrally and then turned her attention back to Harry. "Headmaster Dumbledore is correct in his description of the Wittangamot. Does your majesty accept?" she asked and Harry leaned back thoughtfully to hide his knot of panic. Dumbledore was unhelpfully motionless so he could not tell if the man was in favor of the proposition or not.

So that left Harry to boil down the question in terms he could understand. 'I think what she is asking at the core 'Are you willing to fight a god again?' Harry mused as he closed his eyes to hide his indecision as a careful weighing of options. His mind flashed to the moment he charged Perseus on his broom. Not for his own glory but to protect the people below. 'And how do I know the next heretic god won't involve a heap of people uninvolved with it all?'

Harry would never tell anyone there was also a bit of selfishness involved. It had been a thrill of the highest order now he could think about it calmly instead of acting. He opened his eyes. "I accept." Miss Ericson relaxed slightly. "I am grateful to hear that, your majesty. We will assign a pair of knights to act as your escorts as soon as possible."

"Excuse me?" Harry asked. Getting an escort was not part of the deal as far he was aware. His mind immediately jumped to the next conclusion that those escorts could also have other duties besides keeping him 'safe'. Miss Ericson seemed surprised by the reply. "Your majesty?" she asked uncertainly and then it clicked for her. "Your majesty." She repeated more affirmatively. "Nearly every Campione has one or more knights assigned to their person to act as contacts to the respective organisations."

"They will also aid you in battle and provide companionship." she finished and Miss Ericson was left to wonder what the small furrowing of Harry's brows meant. The witch beside her knew it too well however and she noted it had appeared the moment the woman had mentioned 'Aid you in battle.'

It took Hermione two seconds to figure out why and with a start she realised Harry usually fought the most dangerous battles alone. With a stab she knew that her inability to summon a patronus effectively made her a tag along with the swarm of dementors.

"If they can help me fight a god. Then why aren't there more Campione?" Harry asked. Before Miss Ericson could answer he continued. "You do not have to send over your knights. I am fine…" he trailed off. Hermione bit her lip as she felt Harry was making a mistake. "Harry…" she spoke up but the mulish expression Hermione knew well signalled to her that Harry would dig in his heels.

"Well then. That concludes our discussion I believe." Dumbledore said as the conversation stayed silent for a moment. Hermione perked up at the end of it as Dumbledore had whispered an instruction in her ear. "Mister Potter, if you could join me in my office. I do believe I have a book or two to share that would interest you." Harry startled slightly at the offer but nodded nevertheless.

Dumbledore's office

Harry watched with fascination as Dumbledore seemed to cast a prodigious amount of spells on the room. "There. This should give us some privacy for the coming hour." He said in a satisfied tone. "Headmaster?" Harry asked but he only received a gesture to sit down from Dumbledore.

"May I give you some advice Harry?" He asked and then paused. "If you do not mind my…" "It's alright sir." Harry replied instantly. It would be weird to be called 'Your majesty' by the headmaster. "Then I insist you call me Albus in private. I would like to be on a polite first name basis with one of the Campione I met on this adventure we call life."

"Other Campione Hea.. Albus…" Harry corrected and grimaced slightly. Even if he somehow killed a god by flying into him, calling the venerable old master by his first name was a bit weird. "Ah yes. You are the fifth Campione I had the pleasure of meeting. I am one of the few I suspect we could say that I nearly met them all. Until you and the Japanese Campione ascended I have only not met the masked hero of Los Angeles."

He chuckled upon seeing Harry's open curiosity. "The first Campione I met was Sasha Dejanstahl Voban. Shortly after the end of World War Two. He had heard of my exploits against Grindelwald." Harry could see the man's eyes mist over for a moment and he wondered if Albus was remembering the battle. "He sought me out as he wished to add me to his collection of undead servants."

Albus Dumbledore shook his head. "That man wears his humanity as an easily sheddable skin. If it was not for Fawkes I would most certainly be killed and forced to follow his will as a bound ghost. I can only implore to stay well clear of him until you are much stronger Harry. He is the oldest Campione alive and that is not a title earned easily."

Harry nodded that he understood. If Dumbledore was willing to give a chance to people like Snape he could only shudder at the thought of meeting someone who Dumbledore marked as wearing humanity like a skin.

"The second Campione was Loa Hou during an ICW conference hosted by an association in Korea shortly after I became Supreme Mugwump. I was 'conveniently' nearby in her opinion as she was curious about Fawkes. A missive was sent that summoned me to her home in China. A delightfully polite woman, but one who values herself far above others."

"Madame Aisha was the third Campione to search me out. She sought some information I regretfully could not fully answer. A wonderful young woman who insists she is seventeen. Although I suspect she might actually be older than I. She travels the world to help those in need. She is the only Campione I can say without a shred of doubt that she has no interest in ruling anything."

"What did she want to know?" Harry asked as he wondered what somebody wanted to know to seek out a well known person. "I cannot tell you Harry. I swore myself to silence in that regard." Dumbledore answered with a small smile at Harry's curiosity.

"The last Campione I met was Salvatore Doni a year or so after his ascension. We only met in passing during a conference in Italy. I have not really spoken to him as he seemed to be supremely uninterested in the ongoings of all the knightly orders in Italy I was asked to moderate."

Dumbledore shook his head. "I allowed myself to get sidetracked." he apologized. "I do not mind sir.. Albus." Harry corrected himself again. "Ah yes. Knowing your companions in this unique group you now belong to is important indeed. Now where was I…"

"Ah yes. My advice. Miss Ericson should have picked her words more carefully. It rather revealed her intentions thoroughly." he saw Harry's inquiring expression and decided to be an educator for a while longer. "Campione are people who tend to live long lives as long as they do not fall in battle, Harry. This makes any children they bear rather famous in the magical world. Some of the magical associations are founded by a child of a Campione."

He paused for a moment. "I would not be surprised that any of your own children would be treated as royalty. The Potter family will have a prosperous future if you are careful Harry." It took Harry a moment to connect the dots. "Those knights…" "Will most likely be female, yes. Quite attractive too I suspect."

He saw Harry's disgusted expression and he shook his head. "No. Not like that Harry. The Wittagamot would not be as crude to give these young women such instructions. They will simply hope that the ladies own ambitions, and your youngster hormones will do the rest." Dumbledore slightly turned his chair slightly and looked outside with a forlorn look.

"There are people out there who will want to use you, your power and the prestige as a Campione to further their own goals. If those goals are good or not is something only you can judge. I can only urge you to be careful."

"Regardless, I do suggest you take up the Wittagamot's offer. I suspect miss Granger is thoroughly informing miss Ericson on the terms she should have used. A well trained knight might be able to wound a divine beast or leave an impediment on a heretic god. More importantly however they can help you evacuate whoever is caught in the heretic god's latest scheme. They will also be far more knowledgeable about the politics outside Europe."

Harry looked thoughtful as he weighed Albus's words. "But why would anyone follow a Campione? It doesn't sound like a safe life." "If it is not for their own gain you mean?" Dumbledore asked and Harry nodded. "To be part of something, to save lives. You could think of as many morally good reasons as there are stars in the sky."

There was a twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes. "Afterall. You are a king. If you do not trust whoever they send, you can send him or her back just as easily." "Oh." Harry said simply as he blushed at how easy the solution was. Another thought hit him. "How much 'authority' do I have as a king?"

"Hmm." Dumbledore hummed. "That is a good question Harry. I would say in practice it is near absolute. You could walk up to any magical group and demand that they hand over whatever you want. It is not unheard of for more unsavory Campione to simply kidnap the people they need for their goals."

"The downside of this tyrannical approach is that few would be willing to work for you so getting more information would be much harder. If possible the magic associations try to delegate any information they have to Campione they trust not to make a too big a mess of things."

"Would that mean I could demand a fair trial for Sirius?" Harry asked hopefully and he was surprised by the twinkle that reappeared in Dumbledore's eyes. "Oh yes. If you allow me to use your name I suspect our Minister's attempts to hide away all the information would be quite useless."

"And the other death eaters?" Harry asked next but he was disappointed by the dimming of Dumbledore's twinkle. "Perhaps you could. I fear that such a demand would be ineffective as best. Unless you plan to catch every suspect yourself and brew the truth serum personally to ensure the fairness of the trail." he shook his head. "You could push for more once you have proven your just right to rule with Sirius's case."

He tapped his finger on his desk and it was clear he was grasping for the right words. "Your command may be absolute. But people can choose to follow it or not. The consequences could be dire as saying 'No' to Campione who wants 'Yes' is next to useless unless you have the backing of another Campione." he gave Harry a significant look. "But people would still go against it if they believe they are right and are willing to lay down their lives for it."

"I am not sure if I understand." Harry admitted after a few moments of thought. "Then push for what you desire with your authority when it is right. Not when it is easy." Dumbledore suggested kindly. He then rose from his seat and rifled for a moment through his personal library. He paused as he made a careful deliberation between books when he settled for one and pulled it out.

"This book contains a compilation of spells that use large amounts of power. They are most likely the most devastating spells someone with wanded roots could cast." he sighed. "And I cannot guarantee that they will give you the power you need to kill a heretic god." Harry looked at the book curiously as it seemed to lack a title or an indication who wrote it. "What about the unforgivable curses Albus?"

"The unforgivables are not as effective as they are to the rest of the world. As a Campione you are outright immune to them. You must understand Harry that our magic does not play nice the magic the rest of the world has access to. This is a mixed blessing, it makes us unsuitable for most rituals bar the ones who simply demand human life. However this also means that divinely enchanted equipment will not work for us. This equipment is fairly common for the Knights, sorcerers and priestesses which makes them less vulnerable to the likes of the killing curse to kill them in one blow."

"You could call it the reason why Voldemort kept well clear of involving the Wittagamot and why Grindelwald only involved the muggles for his schemes. A conflict with them would simply too disruptive for their plans as they are generally far more militant than we are."

"Then why didn't we ask for their help during Voldemort's uprising?" Harry asked. "Pride, fear for their influence it would give them, a belief that we could solve it somehow." Dumbledore explained in a sudden tired tone. "I was one of the few advocates who believed that the involvement of the Wittagamot would be beneficial." he smiled wryly and regained some of his energy. "Why do you think minister Fudge was so upset when princess Alice told him they would be working together?" he asked and then remembered Harry was still asleep during that. A quick explanation brought Harry up to speed who grinned slightly at the thought of the minister's displeased expression.

"Now back to the book." Dumbledore said as he wrested the discussion back to where it should be. "I implore you to use these spells only when you are in genuine danger. And while I suspect you would not be able to stop miss Granger from reading a tome like this once she is aware of its existence. You must make it absolutely clear that you do not allow her to even attempt to cast one of the spells. A single attempt will land her into the hospital for magical exhaustion and that is if the spell backlash is benign."

"Even I need to be careful. I mastered two of the spells inside this book and that was a single attempt each day so I would not be too exhausted for my usual duties. With your prodigious amount of magic available to you I am certain you can cast the spells often. I would like it if you did try to rein yourself in when you start feeling the strain."

"I will Albus. Thank you." Harry said as he took the book. "Excellent. Thank you for listening to the rambling of this old man. People these days so often want me to get to the point straight away." Dumbledore said with a smile. Harry returned it. "Then they don't know what gems of knowledge are hidden in it." Dumbledore chuckled and waved to Harry to scamper already, which the boy promptly did.