Chapter 7
The Princess of the Past
Harry jogged his way to the Room of Requirement on a cold December morning. Winter break was coming up, and their defense club had called one last meeting before the holidays. Hermione and Daphne largely coordinated the activities of the club, and had already made plans for the rest of year. Daphne had gone one step ahead and decided to include the second-year curriculum in this year's schedule. Hermione was all for it, of course, but it had raised protests from some of the class, mainly Ron.
"It's mental, mate." Ron had complained to him when it appeared that his objection was being ruled out. "I can barely keep up with all the other homework, and now we have this, too!"
Harry had explained to Ron the rationale behind their lesson plan. From the past history of Defense Against the Dark Arts, it was obvious that no instructor worth his salt would risk teaching at Hogwarts and become a target for the longstanding curse. Being first years and having a free defense period this year meant they would be able to cover a lot of ground and compensate for the next year's topics now. This would help them down the line, especially as they neared the O.W.L and N.E.W.T years.
"You're out of your mind." Ron had sighed in defeat.
Harry had found early on that even though Ron was perhaps sharper than many of the members of their club, he lacked motivation. He was perfectly happy with mediocre grades if it meant that it would give him the free time to play chess or something else that interested him. Although he was more interested in the defense club than learning from a teacher in class, he did not want to overdo it and let it cut into his break time further.
Unfortunately for Ron, their group consisted of hardworking Hufflepuffs, grades-crazy Ravenclaws and ambitious Slytherins. As for the Gryffindors, Hermione had the qualities of all the three other houses, making her the perfect person to drive the group forward. Neville was more similar to Ron, but he lacked the confidence to voice any considerable opposition. Harry himself didn't dare slack off in defense, since he needed to be able to defend himself from Voldemort, who was still a threat. Knowing about the faux-immortality Voldemort had achieved only made him a harder foe to defeat. He couldn't just rely on his stipends getting him more divine powers to stop Voldemort.
When Harry reached the Room of Requirement, Daphne was pairing up the members into groups of two.
"Potter. I think I'll take you on." She said confidently, taking out her wand.
"Um… what's going on?"
"We're practicing for the tournament, of course!" Hermione piped up, squaring up and facing a terrified looking Ron. Neville was looking helpless against an amused looking Susan, and Tracey looked confident against an equally confident Anthony. Finally, he could see Hannah and Terry towards the far end of the room.
Harry had almost forgotten about the tournament, if one could call it that. Draco had taken offence to the fact that two Slytherins had joined Harry's group, and had gathered the rest of the Slytherins and a few Ravenclaws to form his own group. He had then challenged Harry for a dueling tournament, gloating that none of his group members would be able to defeat his in a one-on-one fight. Harry was about to ignore him and move along, but Daphne, who was listening, had taken it upon herself to defend the group's pride. Consequently, the two groups had agreed on a dueling tournament.
This had of course snowballed, and some of the other smaller study groups had merged together to form two more teams of ten members each. They had obtained the consent of the heads of houses, most of whom were thrilled at the idea of a mixed house dueling tournament. It was decided to conduct the tournament at the end of the year, and the faculty had even agreed to grade students in their practical spell-work based on the tournament.
It looked like today was going to be the first proper dueling practice section. Harry grinned as he took out his wand to answer Daphne's challenge.
"Lubricom!" Daphne shouted, slashing her wand downward.
Harry recognized the slippery charm and ran backwards to avoid its area of effect. He shouted "Flipendo!", which was expertly dodged by Daphne.
"You have to do better than that, Potter." She said gleefully. "Professor Snape is personally training Malfoy's little army. Expelliarmus!"
Harry snorted. He would've expected nothing less from Snape. He conjured a shield charm to avoid being disarmed. "Mimblewimble" He shouted, sending a tongue-tying curse her way.
"Pleargh!" Daphne looked annoyed that the curse landed and desperately tried to cast the countercurse. Of course, it didn't work since her tongue was tied.
Capitalizing on the opportunity, Harry shouted "Expelliarmus!" and her wand flew out of her grip, ending the match.
As Harry looked around, he could see that the other matches were also similarly short lived, due to the very small pool of spells they had in their arsenal. They had managed to cover an impressive twelve spells in the past three months, but the mastery of those spells varied among the group members. They would need a lot more practice before they could take on Snape's students.
"I hlate thath splell" Daphne grumbled, still trying to undo the curse. In another second, it wore off, and she glared at him. Harry grinned back. She had used the silencing charm on him last time to get an easy victory, so fair's fair.
Ron walked up to him, in a bad shape after being subjected to the twenty or so spells that Hermione knew. She had read up spells that were not covered in the classes yet and had seized the opportunity to practice it on someone.
"She's brutal, mate." He sighed. "I think I need to go to the hospital wing." He closed his mouth with his hand as if suppressing an urge to vomit. Neville was limping away from Susan, who was nursing a bruise in her shoulder.
"I think this is getting out of hand." Harry looked around in dismay.
"The enemy will have no mercy!" Daphne said passionately. "We need to be prepared!"
"You tell'em, girl." Tracey came up to them, sporting a bruise in her forehead.
As Harry watched half of the group collectively march to the hospital wing, he wondered if Malfoy knew what was going to hit him.
Hogwarts had closed for Christmas, and Harry had two weeks before he had to attend classes again. He was currently wandering the streets of Olympus, basking in the marvel of the divine city. He was staying with Sirius for the break, and Peitho had suggested that it may be a good idea for him to familiarize himself with Olympus. Following her advice, he had decided to explore Olympus alone today, the second day of his break.
The streets were filled with activity. Olympus was home to many gods and their assistants. He was told that the population was roughly ten thousand, which included gods, their assistants, demigods and others who were given the honor to reside here. He could see a wide variety of shops, but he lacked the funds to buy anything substantial. All he had was one forty blessings from the stipend he received for the last fourteen weeks he worked as a god. He planned to buy some abilities with that, so he had nothing to waste here.
Harry stepped into a building called the hall of requests. He was told that he could do odd jobs here and get paid in blessings. This was apparently one of the favorite pastimes of the inhabitants of Olympus who were not loaded with work. That is, minor gods like him. The hall was one of the many places in Olympus that was run by Hermes. Harry supposed it made sense for the god of merchants to be a business magnate.
The main attraction of the hall was a job board which carried numerous requests for odd jobs from other, busier gods of Olympus and other divine cities. Since most major gods or minor deities had tighter restrictions in dealing with the mortal world, they had to depend on minor gods such as himself to handle these things for them. It had something to do with the fact that the more powerful gods could alter the mortal realm and break its fundamental balance if they could interfere with it freely. The divine council had placed these restrictions to ensure that such a thing didn't happen.
The job board was more of a job wall, with its length spanning more than a hundred meters, by Harry's estimation. Thousands of requests were littered throughout the board. He was told that the jobs here paid anywhere between ten and a thousand blessings. The least paying and easiest jobs were towards the left, while those that paid more were towards the right. Interestingly, the right half of the board was mostly empty. It seems that most of those who came here went for those jobs at the first opportunity. The left half on the other hand, was cluttered with innumerable requests. Harry was happy about this, because even the smallest job would net him enough blessings that paid an amount equivalent to his weekly stipend. The low stipend was apparently designed to encourage more minor gods to use the hall of requests and take on requests that needed to be done.
Harry decided to start at the leftmost end of the board. He attracted a few curious glances due to his obvious young age. He was used to being glanced at ever since he entered the wizarding world, so he had learned to ignore them.
Harry stepped on a small levitating platform that would allow him to look at the requests posted at any height of the job board. He needed it because the board was as tall as a two storied building. The platform was available to help those who were not able to fly with their own power. He slowly rose to the top left corner of the job board, and he started reading.
Many of the jobs were simply 'slay this, kill that' quests, meaning that they required combat or some level of danger. He was advised to stay away from those quests for some time, since he did not have the confidence to fight an actual battle with his limited knowledge of magic and the divine arts.
Harry soon found a job that seemed perfect for him. And it paid handsomely to boot.
"Repair the temple of Athena in the ancient city of Troy -100 blessings. On completion, collect reward from Erichthonius in the office of Athena."
Harry had learnt the repairing charm from Hermione. This coupled with his dominion over glue should make this job an easy one. He grabbed the request and decided to go there now.
'Temple of Athena in Troy' Harry thought.
Harry stepped into an abandoned courtyard. The floor was paved with stones, and vegetation grew in between them. The walls of the buildings surrounding him were either cracked or broken. He could see shrubs and even small trees that grew out of the cracks in the ground. This place had been abandoned for a long time.
He had heard of Troy, the city that was sacked in the Trojan war. It was after the Trojan war that gods of the Greek pantheon were forbidden from directly interfering with mortal affairs. There were similar events all over the world that led to a more global resolution with the same effect, made around a thousand years ago. Mass deaths of their followers during wars weakened the standing of gods, so it was in their best interest to avoid entering such conflicts.
Harry walked towards a ruined building. Its sign was in ancient Greek, and the D-phone translated it to read 'Temple of Athena'. Surveying the building, Harry could see that the dome of the temple had fallen to the ground, and most of the bricks were broken or misaligned. He was thankful to Professor Flitwick for teaching them the levitation charm, for this job would've been impossible for him without it.
It was slow work for Harry as he systematically worked his way through the broken bricks. He was sure that wizards such as Dumbledore may be able to repair the entire structure with a few waves of his wand, but Harry hadn't mastered the charm to such a degree. The area of effect of his charm was very low, so he had to use his ability to stick the bricks together. He wanted to do this by himself, which is why he politely declined Sirius' offer for help. This was also a way for him to be independent and develop his abilities and able to stand on his own feet.
By the time Harry wound up the finishing touches to the structure, night had started to fall. He had popped into Grimmauld place a few times for lunch, snacks, and loo breaks, but Harry was proud of himself with the way he was able to restore the structure. He needed some extra bricks to complete repairs, and he bought that by travelling to a store in London which specialized in providing construction materials to restore old buildings. Those bricks looked fresh compared to the rest of the structure, but this was the best he could do. He just hoped Athena's office would be satisfied with it.
"Everything seems to be in order." Athena's assistant, a man named Erichthonius hummed, stroking his chin. He had viewed the temple using a screen placed in his office that worked much like a TV. He seemed to be more or less satisfied with the job.
"Hard worker, aren't you?" He chuckled, waving his hand. "A hundred blessings, as promised."
Harry could hear the D-phone acknowledging the receipt of the blessings. Grinning broadly, Harry thanked the man (or king, judging from the crown the man was wearing) and exited Athena's office. He now had three hundred blessings in total. He got a refund of sixty blessings by begging Hermes to restore some of what he had spent buying lesser invisibility earlier. He had received greater invisibility from Hela before he had a chance of using the lesser version of the ability, so Harry was heartbroken in the needless loss of his wages. Hermes decided to refund two thirds of the blessings, with a word of caution on choosing the abilities he needed carefully. He was planning to do just that.
Harry, Sirius and Peitho sat in the living room couch of Grimmauld place. Peitho had made herself comfortable by resting her head snugly against Sirius's shoulder, something that made Sirius equal parts happy and uncomfortable. Sirius' lack of comfort stemmed from the fact that Peitho could clearly hear every one of Sirius's thoughts, and they were less than pure whenever she was near him. Peitho seemed to find this highly amusing and loved tormenting him with it. Harry for one was glad that Peitho had found a new target.
"So, three hundred blessings." Harry grinned. What do I do with them?"
"You have a lot of options." Peitho said in a noncommitment tone. She was a little embarrassed that her suggestion to buy lesser invisibility had cost Harry his blessings when Hela granted him an upgraded version of the same power.
"Aww, come on! Don't be like that. Help me out here…" Harry pleaded.
Peitho hummed. "You have a few ideas on your mind…"
Harry blushed. "Well, most of them are outside my budget."
"What are they?" Sirius asked interestedly.
"Lesser Intangibility costs five hundred blessings," Harry recalled. "Lesser Awareness, the 'ability that allows gods to read surface thoughts of mortal minds' costs a thousand blessings,"
"Oh, thank god." Sirius muttered. Peitho giggled.
"Lesser Invulnerability, which protects one from mental and physical harm for a short time, costs five hundred blessings. Divine smite costs another five hundred. Flight costs three fifty…" Harry trailed off. He wondered why lesser invisibility was so cheap. Probably because wizards could do it.
"You can try divine shield and lance of lightning." Peitho suggested.
Harry perked up. Divine shield costs two hundred blessings and only lasts a short time. But it could block any non-divine attack thrown at it, and even some divine attacks to boot. It was much, much stronger than the standard shielding charm. Lance of lightning costs a hundred blessings, and allowed him to call the element of lightning to his aid once a day. They would live him dirt poor, but he would now have a good defensive and offensive ability that wizards had no counter to.
"I'll buy them then!" Harry cheered.
"Be careful, it may become obsolete down the lane." Peitho warned.
"That's okay." Harry nodded. "But as things are now, I'm practically defenseless against the likes of Voldemort."
"You could always make a run for it by using the portal." Peitho pointed out dryly.
Harry scowled. It rubbed him the wrong way to think about running from the likes of Voldemort.
"If your mind is made up…" Peitho shrugged. "Go for it."
Harry had invited his friends over to Grimmauld Place, Sirius' ancestral home, on the day before Christmas. He had let slip that he was never a part of Christmas celebrations before, and Sirius had taken it upon himself to host a huge party. In addition to some of his old acquaintances, Sirius asked Harry to invite everyone he knew. Harry had thus invited everyone in his little defense club, and he was expecting around half of them to show up. Many of them were busy with their own families, and had already let him know that they couldn't make it. He also invited Ron and Hermione's family.
Peitho had also promised Harry that she would be present on the day of the feast. Harry had also extended an invitation to Aphrodite because of all the help she had done for him, but he was sure she wouldn't be able to attend because of how busy she was.
Sirius was unsure of how Peitho could be introduced to the others, but he didn't voice it. Since Peitho could read his mind, she of course understood Sirius' predicament. Harry chuckled when he recalled Sirius' shocked face when Peitho proposed a simple solution.
"Just tell them I'm your girlfriend." She had grinned, enjoying the different shades of red Sirius had turned at her suggestion.
Sirius had gotten very close to Peitho, almost enamored by not just her beauty but also her personality. Peitho frequented Grimmauld place often, and Harry was often surprised to find that Peitho was sometimes present there even when he was not. She had helped immensely in healing Sirius of his trauma of Azkaban, and Sirius had grown to love her for it.
Harry wasn't very optimistic about their relationship, however, since Sirius was a mortal and Peitho was not. She was a deity that was several millennia old, and had had many, many lovers. Sirius had once gathered the courage to ask her if she was married, and Peitho's reply was quite memorable.
"Sirius, I've been in more relationships than weeks you've been alive." She had laughed. "I had fallen in love and married more than a hundred times in these centuries. My first marriage was to Hermes, but we both moved on after a short decade. Since then, I was involved with many men -some immortal, some not. I have also borne children to those whom I had married."
Harry had learned from the D-phone that this is not uncommon among gods, a majority of whom were either immortal or extremely long lived. He only knew of Lady Hera, Zeus' wife, to have taken a single partner.
Sirius had looked crestfallen at her reply. Noticing this, Peitho had wagged her eyebrows and asked Sirius if he was interested. Sirius had turned red with embarrassment and had avoided her eyes for a whole week after that.
Harry watched as the fireplace in the living room glowed green, signifying the arrival of their first visitor. Ron grinned and waved at Harry as he stepped out of the fireplace. He was followed by his brothers Fred, George and Percy. They were followed by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Harry spotted Ron's little sister Ginny peeking shyly from behind Mrs. Weasley's robes.
"Merry Christmas, Harry!" Mrs. Weasley enveloped him in a hug. "I'm sorry Will and Charlie couldn't make it; they're tied up with work and won't arrive till Christmas it seems." She shook her head in disappointment. She gave a warm smile to Sirius as he entered the room. "Thanks for having us, Sirius."
"My pleasure, Molly." Sirius smiled. He shook hands with Arthur.
Harry heard the doorbell ring, and he ambled over towards the door. Only one of his guests would arrive through the door, and that would be Hermione.
"Harry!" Hermione gave Harry a small hug. "These are my parents. My mother Jean and my father Jacob."
"Pleasure to meet you, Harry." Dr. Granger shook his hand.
After exchanging pleasantries with the Grangers, Harry ushered them in. He was grateful that he had unstuck Sirius' mother's portrait from the entrance, for she was sure to utter curses at the arrival of muggles in the 'Noble House of Black'. Due to Peitho's presence and Sirius' improved behaviour, Kreacher had promised them not to say anything untoward to their guests.
Within the span of an hour, the house was filled to its capacity with guests. The room was enlarged to accommodate them all, and Harry wore himself out greeting one guest after the other. He was introduced to Remus Lupin, a close friend of his parents' and Sirius. Then came Andromeda, her husband Ted and their daughter Nymphadora. Sirius' niece emphasized that she shouldn't be called by her first name, and preferred to be called Tonks. Her mother had rolled her eyes at that. Neville and Susan arrived next, and he was pleasantly surprised to see Daphne follow them.
As everyone settled in, Peitho appeared out of the kitchen carrying some refreshments. In a moment, the room turned quiet and whispers broke out.
"Um… H-Harry, who's that?" Ron stuttered.
Harry couldn't blame him. Peitho's beauty was unearthly. He could hear a few people mutter that she was a veela, but others shook their heads in dismissal. Apparently, the veela race had some characteristic features that made them easily identifiable. He could hear people swearing that even veela weren't a match for her.
"That's Peitho, Sirius's girlfriend." Harry was proud he was able to say that without a pause.
"The name certainly fits her." Andromeda muttered with a tinge of jealousy coloring her voice.
Fred gave a wolf-whistle, prompting Mrs. Weasley to admonish him. "Fred! Behave!" She said, scandalized. Peitho turned towards him, her eyebrows raised in challenge, and winked at him. Fred seemed to freeze in place for a solid minute, prompting his siblings to laugh at his expense.
Peitho seemed to take pity on the male half of her audience and somehow toned down her overwhelming attractiveness. Slowly, everyone snapped out of their collective daze.
"I don't think I've seen you in Hogwarts." Tonks trailed off uncertainly, after she introduced herself to Peitho.
"You haven't. I did not attend any of the wizarding schools, but learned from my home."
Peitho was subject to a few stares. Sure, some people elected home schooling, but it was rare.
"So, where do you work?" Tonks asked.
"In the department of mysteries." Peitho replied in a conspiratorial tone.
Tonks stilled, gazing at the woman in shock. Harry was getting a little nervous. Surely someone could poke a hole in such a far-fetched story. He looked at Mr. Weasley with trepidation, knowing that he too worked in the Ministry of Magic. Incredibly, he seemed utterly convinced that Peitho was telling the truth. Tonks and everyone else who heard her also seemed convinced of her story. Harry belatedly realized that she was also the goddess of persuasion, and she could probably make everyone believe that elephants could fly with her words.
"So, Harry," Tonks said, coming up to speak to him again. "I heard you guys have formed defense clubs to practice DADA this year?"
Harry nodded. "The professors suggested it, since Professor Quirrell disappeared."
"Most of our instructors sucked." Tonks admitted. "We did have some study groups for defense, but not in a large group like you guys. That sounds cool."
"So, what're you doing now that you're out of Hogwarts?" Hermione joined the conversation.
"I'm training to be an Auror." Tonks grinned with pride. "Under none other than the great Alastor Moody!"
"Mad-eye Moody? Are you serious?" Ron asked with wide eyes. "He's a war hero." He explained to Harry and Hermione.
"Oh yes, the Death Eater Eater." Fred piped up.
"The Tormentor of Tyrants." George added.
"The Hero of the Helpless!"
"The One-Legged God of War!"
"I think they got the idea." Ginny joined the conversation, sounding annoyed at her brothers. She then realized she was standing close to Harry and retreated in embarrassment.
"Oh dear,"
"Oh dear indeed, Fred."
"It seems our little sister has a crush."
"On the vanquisher of the Dark Lord, no less!"
"The chosen one himself!"
"The one…"
"The only…"
"Harry Potter, God of Glue!" They chimed together dramatically.
Harry choked on the pumpkin juice he was drinking. Peitho snapped her neck around to look at the brothers in shock. She then had a look of dawning realization and looked away before she was noticed.
"Wh-What?" Harry said, coughing violently to expel the juice from his windpipe.
"I'm sorry, oh, divine one!" Fred lamented.
"Did we unwittingly reveal your secret identity?"
"What secret identity?" Harry asked, hiding his panic.
"Why, this, of course!" Fred said grandly, presenting him with a newspaper clipping.
'Divine council elects Harry Potter as God of Glue', it read.
'Special Correspondent Luna Lovegood has exciting news to share to the readers of the Quibbler. In the latest meeting of the council of the Gods, Wizarding Britain's own Harry Potter was appointed as the next God of Glue. The position was vacant for the past one year, causing glue everywhere to behave erratically. The prayer of the devotees were answered last week, when the God of Lotteries drew out the name of none other than Harry Potter from a list of nine hundred and ninety nine billion eligible souls. Harry Potter will be the eight hundred and ninety fifth god to occupy this position, which is notorious for its tendency to lose its small cult of followers. When followers stop believing in the divine nature of glue for an extended period of time, the god occupying that position would fade out of memory or lose their divine power. It is understood that precautions were taken this time to avoid such an event, and this correspondent hopes that they will protect the newest holder of this title. This correspondent would also like to implore the readers to believe in Harry Potter's divine power as they have believed in his role in defeating the dark lord.'
Harry's face betrayed his shock as he looked at the newspaper clipping. He could hear the twins burst into laughter at his reaction.
"Luna's really outdone herself this time." Fred cried with laughter. "Bless her heart, she always gives the best material."
"How does she even come up with this stuff?" Ron was also shaking with laughter.
Hermione tutted at the article in disapproval. "Just a joke column. They shouldn't make fun of Harry like that."
'Who is Luna Lovegood?' Harry asked his D-phone urgently.
"Luna Lovegood is a ten-year-old witch and the daughter of Xenophilius and the late Pandora Lovegood. Her soul once belonged to Cassandra of Troy, elder sister to Prince Hector and the daughter of King Priam. She was cursed by the Sun God Apollo to utter true prophecies, but never be believed. Luna Lovegood has inherited this curse and also possesses the gift of Clairvoyance."
Harry wasn't sure if he should be relieved or disappointed by the fact that the article wouldn't be believed. On one hand, it would expose him and his friends would see him in a different light if it was believed. But if it was not, he would not gain any new followers and he might… fade from memory?!
Harry's internal panic attack was noticed by Peitho. 'Don't worry, Harry. Since you already have a mortal lifespan, you will not fade away. The worst that can happen is that you may lose your godhood.'
Harry breathed a sigh of relief at that.
"Time for the feast!" Peitho announced, successfully distracting everyone from the article. Everyone took their place around the table. Harry was shocked to hear a familiar voice to his left as he took his seat.
"Is this seat taken?"
Aphrodite was smiling at him, having taken a seat to his immediate left. Peitho was concealing a grin, and Sirius was gaping. No one else seemed to have noticed that the feast had a new unseen guest.