Chapter 8

The Hunt in Helheim

Harry found himself staring at the job board of the Hall of Requests. Ever since he found out about this place, he had regularly visited it atleast once a week to fulfil odd job requests. This was his fourth such visit here. He was hoping for something that was a little bit adventurous this time, but wasn't sure if he was ready to take that step. His jobs so far have been mundane, consisting of repairing the temple, making a delivery and finding some rare herbs for another minor god.

As he scanned the board, he found a request that stood out.

'Nuisances the underworld-

Hela requires the assistance of a group of not more than four minor gods for cleansing the underworld of a new nuisance. It has come to her notice that some undesirable elements are stirring up trouble in her domain, causing disappearances of some of its inhabitants. She requires the cause of this problem to be dealt with. Reward is four hundred blessings, split according to the number of volunteers.'

Harry was very unsure if he should try his luck with this or not. On one hand, the phrasing seemed to indicate that it was a nuisance and not something too serious. He was, however, unsure if what Hela considered as just a nuisance would be a terrifying for him. The reward was not high enough if this was a really risky quest. He wondered if he should gamble it. He had some faith in greater invisibility and Hermes' portals being able to aid him to escape, if the need arose.

"Going to try your luck with that?"

Harry turned to see the speaker. He saw an old man leaning on a cane, examining the job board near him.

"I don't know." Harry admitted. "I'm not sure if I can fight well enough, if the need arises."

"Well, you needn't be alone," said the man, pointing at the part where it was mentioned that up to four minor gods were allowed.

"Yeah, but I don't really know any other minor gods." Harry trailed off, embarrassed.

"That can be remedied." The old man smiled. "I am Khormoth, minor god of suggestion."

"Well, thank you for the suggestion." Harry grinned. "Are you thinking of taking this job as well?"

"I would like to." Khormoth nodded. "But I am unsure if others would invite me to join them, since I lack abilities of combat."

"Well, I'd appreciate it if you'd join me." Harry said firmly. "If you can help me get two more people, we can go together."

Khormoth's eyes lit up. "Leave that to me."

Harry and Khormoth found two more minor gods who were willing to join them for the job. The first was Dremete, the god of disguises, and the second was Ahora, goddess of knives. Needless to say, only the fourth member of their team had combat experience. Together, they crossed over to Hel, Hela's eponymous domain.

Harry was thankful that Khormoth seemed to know his way around the place. As they moved towards Hela's office, Dremete moved to walk next to him.

"So, how long have you been a Minor God for?" He asked.

"About four months."

"Wow, you're quite young!" Dremete whistled. "From Earth, I take it?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded with a smile. "Where are you from?"

"I too am from Earth, though my land no longer exists in today's world. I was one of the last residents of Atlantis."

Harry looked at the man in awe. Atlantis was all but legend in the present time, but the D-phone told him that such a civilization had existed three millenia ago. It was here that humans first learned to wield magic and bend nature to their will. Their ambitious endeavors soon became their undoing, however, when a section of the population tried to use their mastery of magic to wrestle control of the world from the gods. In retribution, the gods had sunk the island nation, destroying all of its residents. Harry found it ironic that one of the Atlantians had ended up being promoted to godhood. Perhaps this was before the gods became displeased with their actions, or perhaps he sided with the gods in the conflict. The war had taken a toll on the gods as well, with a staggering one-hundred and fifty-three gods falling to Atlantean might.

Harry looked curiously at Ahora. Her features looked distinctly non-human. The long ears were a dead giveaway for that.

"I was an elf of Alfheimr." The woman responded. She did not elaborate further. Harry knew that Alfheimr was one of the nine Nordic realms, the world of the light elves.

"She's not very talkative to strangers." Dremete grinned. "She'll warm up in time."

By then, they had reached the throne room of Hel. A guard announced their arrival to Hela.

"Presenting Khormoth the wise, god of suggestion, Ahora the able, goddess of knives, Dremete the deceiving, god of disguises," Dremete made a face at being described that way. "and Harry Potter, the god of matters that concern the sticking and unsticking of substances."

Harry heard Dremete trying to withhold a chuckle and flushed in embarrassment.

"Bow before Hela, ruler of Helheim and Niflheim, goddess of the dead and the undying."

Harry hastily followed the example of the other three as they bowed in unison.

"Rise." Hela walked forward. "I welcome you to my home. I assume you are here to deal with the nuisance that is meddling with my realms?"

"Yes, my lady." Khormoth said with respect.

"Walk with me." She commanded.

They followed her outside the castle. "Harry Potter." She said suddenly. "I hope you are adjusting well?"

"Uh-"

"-to godhood?"

"Y-yes ma'am." Harry smiled. "Everyone has been very helpful so far."

"Good." She nodded in approval. "Do you feel confident to undertake this work? It may be dangerous, and I cannot guarantee your safety."

Harry did not let his unease show. "I'll try my best, ma'am. I trust in your judgement and my comrades."

Hela gave a small smile of approval. Dremete was giving Harry an incredulous look, shocked at the familiarity between the notoriously reclusive Hela and a young minor god.

They were taken to a distant region of Hel, to a small town that bordered Helheim and Yomi, the province of the Japanese god Shinigami.

"It is from here that I hear news of unrest." Hela explained. "I have heard that souls are disappearing from this part of my domain, and the problem seems to have spread to the nearby towns as well. There are no such occurrences so far in Shinigami's domain, but he is concerned about this as well. I need you to investigate what is causing this. Shinigami has also promised his help, if needed. But I would prefer you not bother him with small matters. If you discover something, report back to me. For now, you can join this town's populace as fresh souls who arrived in Helheim."

Dremete grinned, glad that his specialty would be of use. He used his powers to hide the divine natures of the four minor gods. Hela gave an approving nod and disappeared.

Harry looked around the town in the underworld in slight wonderment. It was a little similar to what he had seen in Elysium. The dead souls lived in such towns in the underworld. Afterlife seemed a strange concept to Harry. As one did not possess a physical body, normal souls were almost rid of the five senses granted to them. But the power of the soul was such that they could see without eyes and hear without ears. Blessed souls like those residing in Elysium or Valhalla would be granted all five of their senses. But those living in the other less prestigious underworlds generally had between two and four senses. They could 'buy' more senses once they accumulated sufficient number of blessings -yes, even the dead used the same currency as gods. However, even a single a blessing was much more valuable to them than it was to a god.

Harry entered a tavern, and found that it had a few customers. A young girl smiled at him from behind the bar.

"New here?" She asked kindly.

"Y-yeah. Just reached Hel today." Harry lied. He was on an undercover operation How exciting! The others split up to separate ways, looking for some hint of what was actually happening to the place.

"Oh, you look so young." She sighed. "What was it, dear?"

"Um, what was what?"

"How did you die?" She asked. She winded. "Er, if you don't mind me asking…"

"A dark wizard killed me." He revealed.

"Grindelwald, you bastard!" Harry swivelled around as he heard an older customer smashing his beer bottle in anger. His voice seemed slurred. "He's just a child. You monster!"

"Umm… I was killed by a wizard called Voldemort." Harry said, startled to find another wizard here. He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised.

"Oh." The man seemed to pause. "Never heard of him." He sat down and ordered another ale.

The bartender hurriedly served the man and came back to Harry.

"So, would you like to order something?"

"Do you have pumpkin juice?"

"We have everything!" The girl smiled, and produced a glass of pumpkin juice. "That'll be a thousandth."

"A thousandth?" Harry asked confusedly.

"A thousandth of a blessing, dear." She said with some concern. "I believe they give you some fraction of a blessing based on the deeds of your past life, once you pass to this world."

Harry kept a straight face as he contemplated how rich he was here, if a thousandth of a blessing could fetch him a drink. The D-phone informed him that if a soul earned just ten blessings, they could buy one of the senses that they lack. Depending on how a person acted in their life, it would be easier for them to regain upto four of their old senses. The customers here seemed to have bought their sense of taste back, atleast, if the way they were enjoying the beverages was any indicatio.

Harry nodded in acknowledgement at the price, and amusedly saw that his balance was now one seventy eight point nine nine nine blessings. He sipped on the pumpkin juice and watched the other customers.

"So, are you looking to settle in this town?" The girl asked casually.

"I was thinking about it…" Harry replied.

The girl lowered her voice. "I wouldn't recommend it." She said, shadow of some fear creeping into her face. "I've heard that souls are actually disappearing around here."

Ah ha! Harry almost smiled. But he checked himself and put up a frightened expression. "What? How?"

"I don't know." The girl whispered, turning around and pretending to be busy at work so that the other customers wouldn't notice their interaction. "I've stopped seeing a couple of my regular customers, and I've heard rumours from nearby towns. The higher ups are pretty tight lipped about it."

"How many souls have gone so far?" Harry tried.

"Seven that I know of." She looked around desperately. "Look, I can't be seen talking openly about this, or-"

"Or you'd be in trouble, as I've warned you earlier Michaela." A voice growled. The bartender gave a shriek and dropped a glass she was cleaning. It shattered as it hit the ground, and the whole bar quieted down.

Harry looked at the new arrival. He had snuck up on them and started eavesdropping without either of them noticing.

The man looked at Harry severely. "If you speak of this to anyone else, I will rid you of your remaining senses." The man threatened. "I am authorized to do so by order of our queen Lady Hela."

Harry smelled bullshit. "Who are you?" He asked instead.

"I am Hela's enforcer in this town." He said imperiously. "Now that you were told of our little secret, you may not leave this town. Hand over a hundredth right now as tax for your stay here, and I shall consider not hauling you to the prison."

"Lord Edmund, please." The bartender, now identified as Michaela pleaded. "He's new. He's just a boy.""

"Do I need to remind you of the tax you owe?" The man glared menacingly at the girl. She wilted and looked down in terror.

"I won't pay anything." Harry said, interested to see how far the man would bluff. Perhaps he had found the perpetuator already. "Do your worst."

"Boy's got guts." The old wizard muttered from the corner. The man named Edmund seemed enraged at his defiance. He lifted Harry up by his collar and started to choke him.

Harry was amused as well as annoyed. If he wasn't a god, that choke would have almost killed him. Or, since he was in the land of the dead, it would have diminished his existence. But the faux official couldn't do jack shit against him because of his divinity. Unlike beings in the real world, souls that existed in Hel couldn't harm him.

The man named Edmund dragged him out of the bar, still holding him by the collar. Everyone seemed terrified of him and didn't make any move to follow. Harry was glad about that. It would mean that there would be no witnesses.

"So, boy," The man grinned menacingly. "You're going to find out what happens to those who disobey Lady Hela's enforcers."

"They disappear?" Harry asked.

"Close enough." The man grinned, and a ball of fire formed in his hand. Harry whistled appreciatively. This man was probably a magi, a race of human magic wielders that went extinct around the eleventh century.

"You still have time, boy. Give me all your blessings, and I'll let your existence survive."

"You don't, though."

"…what?"

"You don't have time." Harry pointed his finger at the man, and muttered, "Lance of Lightning." He didn't have to say it out loud, but it felt way cooler this way.

A jet of lightning shot forth from Harry's finger and went clean through the man. The man let go of Harry and tried to scream in pain, hunching over. No sound came out. Harry had already used his wand to silence him.

Edmund rocked in pain, his eyes holding a wild fear as he looked at the boy in front of him. He had not felt such pain since he died. The lightning spell the boy used was more powerful than anything he had known in his life and the afterlife. He could feel his exitance fading away, and he realized with horror that he had lost the senses of touch, smell and even hearing. Just as he felt he was about to vanish, the drain of his power stopped and it felt as if he had stopped diminishing.

"Don't celebrate just yet." Harry told the deaf soul using his telepathy. "You will fade away soon. Unless, of course, you tell me everything I need to know."

Edmund was struck by fear. 'Wh-who are you?'

Harry lost his smile. "I am Harry Potter, a minor god. I am here on behest of Lady Hela to investigate the disappearances that are happening in this place."

If Edmund was fearful earlier, he looked positively terrified now. "N-No! I didn't do it! I'm innocent! Your divinity, please forgive my behaviour. I did not know of your nature-"

"Innocent?" Genuine anger crept into Harry's voice. He had learned from the D-phone how souls survived on blessings, and how gods could take blessings from souls if they judged them unfit to have them. This man had robbed his way into his stash of blessings, and Harry had no hesitance in confiscating his stolen wealth.

Edmund could feel the rest of his existence slowly start fading again, and he started blabbering in panic. "I don't know anything about the disappearances, I swear! That man asked me to collect blessings from new arrivals, and tax the ones who live here. He said I could take half of the blessings and he'd ensure that the gods would never know. He told me that he'd take care of the ones that didn't obey…"

Harry stopped, waiting for the man to continue.

"He approached me last month, telling me that I could regain all of my senses and even buy my way to Elysium if I obeyed him! He even gave me ten full blessings -ten! as proof of his power! He would've killed me if I didn't obey…" Edmund started whimpering in fear, desperately clinging to the last shreds of his existence.

"Good work." Harry snapped his head to the side, and saw Ahora walking up to him.

"I believe Khormoth also has a captive." She explained. She stared at Edmund for a second, and threw a knife. It embedded itself into his forehead. The man gave one last cry before his soul dissipated to nothingness.

"Uh… shouldn't we have gotten the other guy's description first?" Harry didn't feel too sorry for Edmund. The man was ready to burn an eleven-year-old for not paying his bribe, and he was tarnishing Hela's reputation as he did it. If Hela had found out about this, she may have sentenced him to a fate that was much, much worse.

Ahora smiled. "I have Greater Awareness, quite a useful ability. I have gleaned everything he knew about the perpetuator."

Harry's eyes widened in realization. This was the ability that most major gods and all the deities possessed. It allowed the most powerful form of mind-reading. The fact that Ahora, a minor god, could perform it spoke of her immense skill. She had also somehow accumulated the thousands of blessings needed to buy that ability.

Ahora took Harry to the outskirts of the town, where their companions were waiting for them. Harry spotted a captive with Khormoth, a middle aged man like Edmund who was shaking in fright.

Ahora communicated what Harry's captive had revealed to the group. Demetre shifted his form to match Edmund, much to Harry's surprise.

"From what we have learned, the group seems to be stealing blessings from those who have arrived recently, and destroying the souls of those who resisted. That explains the disappearances. The culprit will be making contact with Edmund soon to collect his share of the blessings, since this man," Khormoth pointed at the terrified captive, "had just handed over half of his profits to him yesterday."

"So we're going to wait and let Demetre impersonate Edmund?"

"That's the plan." Demetre said in Edmund's gritty voice.

Harry, Ahora and Khormoth waited in the bar, wearing different disguises this time, while 'Edmund' pretended to be having a drink in a different corner of the establishment. They saw the other occupants of the building subtly glaring at the man, and some even cursing Hela for the cruelty of her supposed subordinate.

Harry spotted a robed figure entering the bar. His description matched the figure they had seen in Edmund's memories, which Ahora had shared with the group. The figure was hooded, and his face was hidden. He looked pointedly at 'Edmund' and nodded. Then, he exited the bar, expecting Edmund to follow.

Demetre got up and shuffled towards the door, his entire body language an exact copy of Edmund's. The trio waited for a minute after Demetre exited the bar and followed after them.

They soon found Demetre chasing the robed figure, who had somehow realized that he was in some danger. Ahora promptly sent a volley of knives towards the figure and they impaled him all over the body. The figure let out a scream of pain and collapsed.

"That was easier than expected." Ahora said, casually strolling towards the victim. Demetre shifted out of his disguise, seemingly a little disturbed at the multitude of knives impaling the man.

"No, it's just that you may be overqualified, Ahora the able!" Khormoth chuckled.

Demetre removed the hood that obscured the man's face.

Khormoth's face darkened. "This is Meitri, one of Hela's workers who helps administer this part of her province."

"Pl-Please…" The man groaned in pain. "Please, don't tell Lady Hela. I'll be your slave for eternity if it pleases you, but please don't…"

Demetre snorted. "Should've quit while you were ahead, boy."

"There's something wrong with him." Ahora said suddenly. "I can't glean anything from him even with my Greater Awareness."

Demetre looked shocked. "But… I thought only deities could resist Greater Awareness! This one isn't even a god!"

Ahora chewed her lip thoughtfully. "Lady Hela ought to be able to get some answers out of him."

At this, the man went deathly pale. "Please, no! Master, don't! I won't tell…" The man screamed, but his body combusted into flames. Ahora grabbed Harry and jumped back, while Khormoth and Demetre teleported out of harm's way.

"What happened?!" Harry asked, deeply unsettled by what he had just seen.

"It seems he was taking orders from someone else, and that person didn't want Meitri to be bought before Lady Hela." Khormoth said gravely.

Hela listened to their account of events with growing concern. "I should've gone there myself." She muttered in anger. She noticed the downcast look of the four gods and hastily amended.

"All of you did an excellent job. I was merely thinking that had I been there, I could've gleaned knowledge about their master." She sighed. "There's no use in regret. I grant you two hundred blessings each, for the mission turned out to be more dangerous than I originally thought. Hermes regulates all trading made using blessings, but this was done without his knowledge. I suspect some deity might be at play. I can think of no other means by which the others and Meitri could steal the blessings of the inhabitants."

Demetre visibly gulped. They could've been dealt with personally by Meitri's master. They were lucky to have survived to report back to Hela.

"And Harry Potter," Hela turned to him. "I shall let Zeus know of your help in this matter. I'm sure it will be beneficial towards finishing your probation."

"Um… Probation?"

"Of course. All gods are subject to a period of probation before their jobs are regularized. A random draw does not automatically make the candidate ideal, after all." Hela explained. "Zeus will regularize you towards the end of your probation. You will then receive a payment of twenty blessings weekly rather than a stipend of ten."

This was new information for Harry. As they walked back after thanking Hela profusely, Khormoth patted him on the back on a job well done.

"I believe you can expect a call from Olympus soon. A recommendation by Lady Hela would be seen in high regard." He informed Harry.

"How long does probation usually last?" Harry asked curiously.

"Any length of time from a few months to a few years." Khormoth answered.

Harry grinned, thankful that he was lucky enough to take this job for Hela.

Harry was helping Neville get more confidence in duelling when Hermione burst into the Room of Requirement, sounding breathless.

"going to conduct qualifiers!" She gasped out.

"Breathe, Hermione." Ron advised. "What qualifiers?"

"To decide the matchups for the tournament." Hermione elaborated, now the center of attention. "Only sixteen, four from each team, can participate it seems. So they'll conduct an evaluation of the students to see who will proceed to the tournament. Professor McGonagall said anyone who passes the qualifiers will automatically get an A, and those who do well in the tournament will be awarded O grades!"

Ron was suddenly interested. "So no written test?"

"They said they'll conduct a viva instead." Hermione said excitedly. "As part of the qualifiers, that is."

"Damnit." Ron cursed.

"Ron!" Hermione admonished.

"When are they going to conduct it?" Daphne asked.

"Next week!"

Harry Potter was a little nervous as he entered the room where the qualifiers were conducted. No matter how many divine abilities he may have, he still had to study magic like every other student. Being a god made none of that easier.

Harry found Professor Flitwick waiting in the room, and breathed a sigh of relief. Some of his friends who went in earlier had gotten Snape as their examiner, and he was dreading that possibility.

"Ah, Mr. Potter. Please, take out your wand." The Professor instructed. "I will not be foolish and test a clairvoyant with a viva."

Harry cringed. His stunt with Snape had some far-reaching consequences, it seemed. Dumbledore had instructed the faculty to grade him purely based on practical spell-work, since his astounding display of clairvoyance made anything else meaningless. His status was conveyed to the teachers whose subjects he was taking.

Harry became nervous as he realized that Professor Flitwick was readying his wand as well.

"One minute, Harry. You are to last one minute against me if you wish to proceed to the tournament. I will hold back, of course! Start!"

"Silencio!" Harry yelled in his first second. Flitwick grinned broadly and swept his wand without a word. Harry felt his shoelace lengthen and tie themselves around him. Of course, he can cast spells nonverbally. Harry kicked himself. He wasn't dealing with another first year now.

"Finite!" Harry yelled, pointing at his shoelace. Then, he ducked on instinct as another spell soared past him. He realized that it was a silencing spell. The professor was using his trick back at him, except it would be extremely effective against him since he couldn't cast non-verbally.

"Flipendo!" He yelled, pointing at the professor. He blinked when he realized that he wasn't there anymore. Rolling on instinct, he avoided a stunner that came from his left. The professor had turned invisible.

'If only I could use Greater Invisibility' Harry looked around frantically. But that would just come back to bite him if the professor realized that no counter-curse would reveal Harry's location.

"Harenae!" Harry shouted, sweeping his wand in all directions. Sand shot out of his wand and blew all over the room, and Harry noticed something obstructing the sand's path.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry yelled. He saw the outline in sand expertly dodge out of the way and cast a spell right back at him. Without thinking, he chanted "Protego!" and the spell harmlessly bounced against his shield. As he readied his next spell, his wand flew out of his grasp and cluttered on the floor.

"Marvellous!" Flitwick smiled as he came out of disillusionment. He waved a wand and made the sand disappear. "One minute and ten seconds. Excellent spellwork. I would've mistaken you for a third year." He praised. "Ten points to Gryffindor! And you pass, of course!"

In the end, Harry, Hermione, Daphne and Susan had managed to clear the qualifiers from their group. He was told that only Hermione had lasted a minute in the practical spellwork, and the others were chosen based on their grasp of theory and their performance relative to the others in his group.

Peitho escorted Harry to the throne room of Olympus, humming a happy tune. Harry himself was nervous. His mission in Helheim was completed last week, and he was already called by the council of gods in Olympus.

"All the best." Peitho whispered and kissed him in the cheek. She opened the door and gently pushed a blushing Harry inside the throne room.

"Ah, Harry Potter." Hermes smiled. "I see you've adapted to your role quite well. You are called here today to discuss your probation period and possible regularization." He then spoke to the rest of the attendees. "In attendance are Zeus, King of Grecian gods; Hermes, the voice of the council; Aphrodite and Hades, members in attendance."

"Harry Potter has been recommended for regularization by Ladies Aphrodite and Hela. If anyone has any opposition, they may speak now."

Hades and Zeus kept silent. Since the room had no one else, Hermes continued. "Then I request Zeus to authorize this regularization."

"Authorized." Zeus said in a bored tone.

"Congratulations, Harry Potter. You have been regularized as the minor god of glue. May you hold this position for eternity." Hermes concluded.

"Thank you. I'll do my best." Harry bowed deeply and exited the room.

"Congrats!" Peitho beamed, enveloping Harry in a hug. "That was a pretty fast regularization, considering how young you are. You must've made quite an impression on Lady Hela."

"Thank you, Peitho. For all your help." Harry said sincerely.

"Hey, you're not rid of me yet. Too early to thank me." Peitho grinned, pulling his cheeks. Harry grinned, glad that he had people who cared about him.