A/N: Dialogue heavy second part of chapter, A/N at the bottom.

Chapter 2: I Live Up To My Lineage

Sometimes Harry really hates his life. He doesn't know what he did to deserve this or anything else that's been happening to him since he got caught up in this barmy world, but never in the few years he has been a part of the Wizarding World did he expect to be running in a dark cavern from a bloody BASILISK of all things. Especially with a talking hat laughing at him while a phoenix tries to distract it. Honestly, he should have expected this year to end like this ever since that damn elf ruined his summer, but since he'd already been through that train of thought he decided to focus back in and continue running for his life.

"Come now young Potter, I thought you wanted to be a Gryffindor? Running from this challenge is something I would come to expect from a Slytherin, and you denied your destiny when I offered you a chance to go there. Have you decided to reconsider?" the barmy hat told him as Harry zigzagged through some columns. The snake rammed through all of them and was barely slowed down, but thankfully Fawkes already clawed its eyes out when she appeared down here with the sorting hat. He wished the hat could be as useful as the phoenix, or maybe Headmaster Dumbledore could've come with his partner. "I'll have you know as Godric's faithful companion that I have saved his life many times, why I recall-" Hat's boasting came to a halt due to the snake catching up and bodily slamming Harry into a corner. He almost lost hold of his wand as he hit the wall but was able to keep hold of it and Hat as he tried to regain his breath. Fawkes once again swung down to his rescue and clawed at the Basilisk's eyes again while Harry steadied himself, getting back on his feet and starting to run back to the main hall of the cavern. He tried to think of a way out of this situation but was cutoff once again, not by the annoying hat, but by the memory of Tom Riddle. "How you defeated my future self mystifies me, but it all comes to an end right now. The Great Harry Potter felled at the hands of the memory of Lord Voldemort, how pitiful." he taunted as he grew more visible.

To make this situation even worse, Harry was not just running for his own life. After he came to from being stunned by Ronald's sister, he had to suffer through what seemed like a ghost doing a classic villain monologue. At least he was finally given some answers, even if it was at the expense of learning his ex-friends-creepy-sister-who-he-doesn't-even-know-the-name-of is dying as the diary that she proclaimed her love for him in stole her life force. To top it all off apparently the diary was a weird ghost-memory of the arse who would grow to become the Dark Lord Voldemort. Luckily, Harry had a few things going for him before everything went to hippogriff shit. In a classic bout of arrogance, Tom decided not to check him for his wand before he stopped possessing, She-Who-I-Don't-Know-Her-Name. Well, Harry can't really say it was arrogance on Tom's end since that would mean he was also arrogant. Arrogant enough to think that his wand and almost 3 years of magic made a difference between him and a Merlin knows how old Basilisk the size of a pick-up truck. Secondly, apparently mentioning Dumbledore and how he would still stop him summons his phoenix companion. Thirdly, well actually that's where Harry's luck ran out, as for some reason Fawkes brought the bloody Sorting Hat instead of the wizard in question who would've been a massive help. Also, mentioning the Headmaster seemed to be a mistake since Tom summoned Slytherin's monster to kill him and prove his might as Slytherin's heir. "Ha, guess I'm NOT arrogant then since I didn't know he would summon a RUDDY BASILISK" Harry reasoned aloud as he tried to attack Riddle while Fawkes distracted the basilisk. Sadly, his spells went through him like he wasn't even there. Harry cast aside dealing with Tom as a bad job and ran from the blinded snake while Riddle celebrated his imminent resurrection by taunting him.

Of course the useless Sorting Hat just spent his time taking the piss out of him with his constant 'I told you so's' and indignant defenses for how useful he actually is, but that all meant nothing to Harry as he considered the rest of the situation. His spells were meaningless against the Basilisk and did nothing to Riddle, Fawkes was losing ground against the damn snake, and Tom was not only becoming more solid but also killing a (mostly) innocent girl. 'I was touted as a hero, at least I was before this whole Heir of Slytherin situation, and even though I'm done with Ronald, he doesn't deserve to have his sister die because of my incompetence.' Harry thought to himself as he ran to get some more distance between himself and the struggling snake. He was prepared to do anything it takes to save her, even if it meant he might not make it out of this alive.

"FINALLY,", Hat laughed from on top of his head, "So the spark I saw in you when I first sorted you IS still there. I was wondering how long it would take you to, or if you would ever, find your nerve. Come child, prove to me that you are worthy of my Master's legacy." As it finished rambling, Harry felt something poke into the top of his skull from inside Hat. He reached up and pulled out what looked to be a handle, then was left in awe at the object when he finished unsheathing the rest. "No way, you weren't kidding about being Gryffindor's companion?" Harry questioned as he realized what he was holding. "Trust you young ones to always question your elders. Now stop dallying and get to saving that damsel. Why I might finally have something exciting to put in my next song!" Hat encouraged as Harry realized Fawkes just got slapped away by the basilisk and its attention started turning back to him. He put aside the mystery of how it was aware of us while blinded to the "ask Hermione later" part of his mind and tightened my grip on the sword as the snake rapidly approached him.

Harry would like to say that he valiantly fought the beast with an excellent display of swordsmanship then expertly beheaded it with one stroke as the magic blade cut straight through the Basilisk's skin. Or that instinctively swung the sword and the monstrous snake disappeared in a shower of golden dust as it slowly dissipated. What really happened was less heroic and more expected of what normally happened to him in these sorts of situations. The Basilisk opened its mouth to eat him as it charged forward, and he stabbed up into its mouth as it bit down on his arm. He would also like to claim that he heroically pushed through the immediate pain and jammed the sword up into its brain, but that would also be false. In another stroke of luck, the Basilisk biting down into his arm leveraged the sword deeper into its head. The snake miraculously ended up killing itself trying to eat him. As Tom recovered from his shock at seeing Harry wield Gryffindor's legendary sword to kill Slytherin's Monster, he laughed at Harry's dying form and proceeded to do as any villain does when everything goes according to plan, he monologued again. "Did you really thing you could stand up to Slytherin's greatest weapon alone Potter? At least it ended with you bringing one of the founders' items straight to me. Know that you died to the memory of a man who becomes the greatest Wizard in magical history, and that your struggle meant nothing in the end." he taunted as he walked closer to Harry.

The snake unconsciously released his arm and the tooth stayed stuck inside it as he felt himself drop to the ground. He could barely comprehend what Riddle was saying while he tried to push through the pain. He could feel the poison circulating though his body and his scar exploded in pain as Tom continued to taunt him, but something he said stuck out to Harry. His mentions of losing to a memory reignited his will to keep going as he remembered that arse Tom was still killing the creepy girl with his diary. Harry opened his eyes and looked towards her body where he left the book sitting on top of her and reached out towards it. He reached forward knowing he couldn't crawl the distance in time but to his surprise the diary responded to his desperate unconscious wishes and flew over into his hand. Tom paled slightly and tried to run at him, "NO! Put that down!" he screamed as Harry grabbed at the Basilisk tooth in his arm and ripped it out. He screamed in pain but was able to refocus at the thought of everyone depending on him to do this. Ronald's crazy sister, his Hogwarts classmates, Hagrid, Moaning Myrtle, and the other victims flashed through his mind as he raised the basilisk tooth above the diary.

Yet even through all that, only one face flashed more vividly than the rest. A dear friend, petrified in fear, who stuck with him through it all and was his only reliable support in the craziness that is his life. "This is for everyone you've petrified, the lives you've stolen, ruined, and will take in your future. But most of all, this is for trying to kill my best friend" Harry screamed at him as the pain in his body, and most of all his scar, reached a peak. Pushing through the sorrow, fear, anger, and raw emotion, he stabbed the tooth down into the diary and watched as it burst with rivulets of black oily blood. As a loud scream echoed from the diary, Tom exploded in a white light, and he could see Ronald's sister take a massive breath then go still. He could feel himself fading away fast and thought, 'You did it Harry. Even if they threw you aside and treated you like trash, you still were able to get it done. Hah, lets see what that prat Ronald has to say now that I saved his sister. Hermione would love to rub that in his face.' The last thing he noticed before he passed out was a flash of fire and a wet sensation on the hole in his arm as he slipped back to unconsciousness, content in the fact that it was over.

-SCENE CHANGE-

His eyes opened and he looked around where he was while in surprise that he was awake. Everything looked white but he could recognize Kings Cross Station even if it looked strange out of colour. As he looked around his gaze finally dropped a bit, and he noticed a weird figure hunched over something on the ground. His curiosity got the better of him, so he approached them cautiously and had to hold himself back from screaming as he got closer. "Merlin's saggy balls is that a-" he started to shout then flinched back as the figure turned away from what it was doing. What seemed like a Dementor was holding what could only be described as a black demon baby with red eyes on the ground while it was sucking a black essence into its mouth. Harry fell back in fright and started reaching to his pocket for his wand when the Dementor gestured for him to calm down. Of course, with his past experiences with Dementors, he was immediately confused since he'd never seen one behave like that. He then was even more confused when the Dementor shifted into what he thought looked like a buff cupid. He had long dark hair, gold eyes, dark skin, and wings with black, purple, and blue feathers. He started walking towards Harry while keeping hold of the weird demon baby but he started crawling back to keep the distance. As he opened his mouth to say something, Harry cut him off, "So you aren't a dementor? Am I dead? Where the hell is this place? And what's that demon you were sucking the soul out of?" he rambled as he shook a bit in fear. He started to answer Harry when he was interrupted again by the dainty laughter of a woman who appeared from behind him. As the mystery woman stepped closer and Harry took a closer look at some of her feature and had a stunning realization. "Mom? Is that you?" He asked in shock, while the woman sighed and handed the cupid guy a stack of glittering gold coins.

-SCENE SWITCH-

"So let me get this straight" Harry said as he tried to make sense of the situation. "You're the Titan goddess of Magic and he's the god of death-" he started then was interrupted by Mr. Not-A-Dementor, "Peaceful Death, actually. I'm the god of Peaceful Death." he corrected before going back to sucking the essence or whatever he heck it was out of the demon baby thing he had dropped back on the ground. The woman, who was apparently not my mother, rolled her eyes then started chastising us, "Urgh yeah whatever Thanatos but we don't have much time. To reiterate, yes, I am your Grandmother Hecate, Titan goddess of Magic and he is your great-something Grandfather Thanatos, god of Peaceful Death. The gods of Greek mythology and other divinities are real but all that matters right now are the Greek ones." She paused for a second to take a breath and Harry felt his headache get just a little worse in preparation for another knowledge dump.

"The reason we are here is because of that" she said, while pointing at the demon baby thing on the ground, "which is a portion of the soul of a man you know as Tom Marvolo Riddle, or the self-styled 'Dark Lord' Voldemort." She paused again and took on a look of pity while she stared at his scar before continuing, "the portion of the soul before you, and the one you eradicated in the Chamber of Secrets, was created using horrible and forbidden dark magicke that is outlawed just about everywhere AND is an abomination on my gift to man. The only way to destroy these things, for mortals at least, is with Basilisk venom, lucky you, Fiendfyre, or a ritual completed by the user to make use of the shard. The one you see before you was extracted from your scar by my associate here, Thanatos, and has been with you since the night you survived the Killing Curse and vanquished Voldemort."

Harry took a quick moment to consider everything she said and decided to hold off on the 'woah, you mean to tell me YOU are a goddess' shtick and focused more on the soul shard information. Crazy right? But considering what's happened to him so far, the soul shard information meant a lot more to him than potentially pissing off two deities (especially one that could suck out his soul). "So, if Voldemort has these soul shards out and about, how the bloody hell do I off him for good? Won't he just keep coming back?" He asked her as a prideful look came on to her face. "Trust one of my brood to focus on the important facts, yes that would sound like a problem. Luckily, Thanatos and I have come up with a solution, but first some more background information." As she closed her eyes and prepared what seemed to be another long lecture, he locked eyes with Thanatos and they both sighed in exasperation. It seems like even a god didn't like long-winded rants. "Some facts for your consideration before we make our offer. Going back hundreds of years, your family on your fathers' side can trace their origins back to a family known as the Peverells. The Peverells were infamous due to 3 items wielded by 3 who, unknown to themselves or family, were children of Thanatos." He could see Thanatos straighten in pride at the mention of kids but there was also a hint of sadness in his gaze that gave him a bad feeling about where this was going.

"The children were close to their known time of death and Thanatos appeared to collect their souls. 'Unknown' to him, his sons felt his presence as he appeared and became more cautious of their surroundings. Due to this vigilance, they were able to brave crossing a river filled with monstrosities and continue onto their path. Confused as to how they survived but thankful that they did, Thanatos greeted them warmly and offered them a reward for defeating death. As a reward, each was able to ask their, unknown to them, father for an item. The oldest, Antioch, wished for a powerful wand worthy of one who outsmarted death. Thanatos fashioned him the Elder Wand with wood from a tree in Persephone's garden, a feather from one of his wings, and some of his own golden ichor to create what came to be known to many as the Death Stick. With a powerful wand that could only reach its max potential in the hands of one of Thanatos' brood, Antioch went on to live a comfortable life with the power afforded to him due to the powerful wand. The middle child, Cadmus, wished for a way to communicate with those that Thanatos had already taken to the afterlife. Thanatos thought for a moment then summoned a gem from underground and imbued a large amount of his own magical essence into it. Cadmus left considering the uses of the new Resurrection stone and spent the rest of his life dedicating himself to researching its intricacies. The last son, Ignites, glanced knowingly at Thanatos, and requested an item that would him to hide from death itself. Thanatos considered his request, then removed his cloak and gave it to his last son. His son wrapped it around his frame and noticed any part of his body under the cloak disappeared. Ignotus stared at Thanatos for a moment longer then disappeared under the Invisibility Cloak and left without another word. Ignotus went on to live a fulfilling life, using the Cloak to escape many dangerous situations, but also being sure to not flaunt its capabilities.

Through time as the three brothers aged, they eventually passed their items onto their children. Generations down from Antioch, his children and their children progressively grew more arrogant due to the power the wand unlocked in them. This eventually ended in one of them boasting about the wand's might while drunk. A jealous wizard, hearing of the Peverell's claims, murdered the child in his sleep and took the wand for his own. The middle brother, Cadmus, compiled his research and passed the stone on through his children and to their children, until eventually the power of the stone was forgotten and only seen as a family heirloom. Lastly, the cloak was kept as a secret passed from Father to Son, with only a few fanciful mishaps in between due to mischievous heirs." Hecate paused for a moment and Harry took a second to digest all of this.

"This story is amazing and all, but what does it have to do with me? Is MY invisibility cloak the cloak you gave to Ignotus? Even then where is this going?" I questioned them, as Thanatos came out of his trance and answered, "Yes, as you have inferred, you do possess my invisibility cloak and are related to me through Ignotus. Where this relates to your situation and Voldemort is that Tom Riddle was borne to one of the last heirs of Cadmus' line. I won't go into all of the details regarding his family now, but Tom eventually got ahold of their family ring, which holds the resurrection stone, and turned it into a horcrux. On the other hand, the Elder Wand, or Death Stick as most wizards have deemed it, eventually fell into the hands of one Gellert Grindelwald until he was defeated in combat by Albus Dumbledore. You possess my cloak, Voldemort had my stone, and Dumbledore uses my wand. As part of the request we mentioned earlier, I would like you to obtain all 3 of my items so that they may be removed from the Wizarding World and fall back into legend. You would have needed to find the ring anyway if you wanted to defeat Voldemort since it contains a shard of his soul. What Hecate told was the true story of what has come to be known as the Deathly Hallows, a legend used to foretell one known as the 'Master of Death'. As the legend states, one who owns all 3 objects becomes known as the Master of Death, what really happens is that if one of my line owns all 3 then he will get a large power boost. Any normal wizard would just have 3 collectible items that do their normal effects, even if the wands effect on their magical power is minimal as compared to if one of my seed wielded it. We informed you of the full history because we want you to A. Help cleanse the stone of Riddle's taint, B. give you a boost so you have a better chance against Riddle, and C. want you to remove these dangerous items from the hands of wizards. Of course, there is more to the story and plenty that will be explained as needed, but that is the gist of it." Thanatos explained as my eyes slowly got wider.

"That's great and all but why me? Why help me, tell me any of this, or even interfere with us lowly mortals? Why not just take the items or go kill Riddle." Harry started, as Thanatos seemed to drift off again in thought. "And that's all considering I just accept everything you guys said as true. I have nothing to lose believing all this considering it would be such a waste to get the piss taken out of me by some strangers in what could be a hallucination as I die back in the real world. But still, think of it from MY perspective. First I get into it with the spirit of some Dark Lord who failed at killing me as a child in my first year, I find out one of his minions was masquerading as a former friend's pet after setting up my last family member in my second year, I get into it with a memory of him again just before this, possibly dying in the process, find out that there's been a piece of his bloody soul of all things inside me since I was a kid, discover I'm related to divine beings who want me to cleanup after them because one got sentimental, and also possibly have to go on a 'Where's Voldy' hunt for more pieces of his soul or else he can keep coming back. You might as well tell me I'm the prophesied chosen one and am destined to redeem my enemy or the world will crumble!" Harry ranted, as he finally ran out of steam and spun around to look at his supposed divine ancestor and grandmother. He froze in shock when he saw the guilt on Hecate's face and the smirk on Thanatos' as he registered their reactions to the last thing he said. Harry collapsed on the ground with his hands pulling at his hair as he bemoaned his sarcastic mouth. "Oh, you've got to be taking the piss! After a year of that damn fraud Trelawney's predictions you can't expect me to believe in a prophecy by some crackpot who also believes in Divination?" Harry whined aloud as Hecate approached him with a frown.

He flinched as her hand touched his shoulder and he felt some tears beginning to slip out as he reflected again on how shit his life was. Hecate sat down next to him and rubbed his shoulder as she considered what to say, then tied to reassure him. "Harry, I know we ask and presume much and maybe even too much of you. Especially considering there is a lot more to discuss and so little time to do it, but you need to decide. Ignore us trying to make things easier on you, and bending the rules to do it, it was always going to come back to you and Voldemort no matter what. Once you encountered him in your first year and personally delayed his rise, he was going to come back for you. That's without considering the rest of the story. We can explain your intertwined fates later, but you need to decide whether you will complete our quest for yo-" Hecate rambled, then was interrupted by Thanatos as he finally finished playing with Riddle's soul shard. "Harry, ignoring the questions I know you have about our divinity, the history lesson we gave you, and even the bombshell about your potential destiny, Hecate is right." Thanatos said as he came closer to us. "Voldemort was going to comeback no matter what. You saw the proof in your first year, the example of the lengths he went to stay alive today, and the reach he potentially still has last year. Whether you accept our tasks or not, he will come for you and everyone you care for. He already attempted to target your friend Hermione with the Basilisk and you almost died trying to beat it. That isn't considering that at the height of his power, Voldemort went wand to wand with not only the strongest mortal wizard in this part of the world, but he also did it against one who possesses my creation. Whether you believe us or not is up to you, and whether you decide to 'clean up our mess'-" at this Thanatos took a pointed look at Harry that made his cheeks turn red in embarrassment as he pouted at the slight reprimand, "is up to you. But you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by helping us. We can guide you to each anchor, help you match Riddle by loaning you my items, and enable you to be strong enough to protect your friends. And even with Hecate attempting to make you decide now, you do have some time to make a decision."

After hearing that, Hecate immediately glared up at Thanatos as Harry stared at him in confusion. Seeing their expressions, Thanatos held a hand up to stall any arguments and continued, "Like I said earlier, you aren't dead yet. If you remember the beginning of encounter, which you probably don't since you were too busy staring at who you thought was your mother until we explained our status as immortals, because of how close you were to death I was able to pull you here with the shard of Riddle's soul. This of course limited our already limited time to how long it would take Riddle's shard to be consumed. Yet even then, I know that this was a lot to dump on you in one shot. This meeting was just to make you aware of a path available to you to make your life easier while fixing a long-term problem I never solved. Going back to my original point, since you are still alive, I would assume you will meet with Dumbledore to explain what has gone on since you and that girl you saved disappeared. Especially considering that message she left on the wall." Harry paled in remembrance of running into Ronald's sister writing in what seemed to be blood a message about a body disappearing into the chamber. And with everyone thinking he was the Heir; he knew he would have a lot to explain before he was also potentially arrested just like Hagrid.

Before Harry could descend any deeper into his rising panic, Hecate squeezed his shoulder again to get his attention and continued Thanatos' line of thought, "While I disagree with how he has portrayed my actions, Thanatos does have a point." Thanatos smirked again in false arrogance at Hecate as she maturely pouted at him and crossed her arms. Harry couldn't believe supposed gods were really acting like this but what else was he to expect from the ones who possibly gave him his immaturity. "Since you will have to explain everything to Dumbledore anyway, this will give you the opportunity to verify some of what we have told you. Because we have established contact with you under the assumptions of a quest in relation to a prophecy, we will be allowed more room to work with you. So, when you meet with Dumbledore, just do as we tell you in that moment and you will have any proof you need." Hecate said as Harry pondered their offer.

The more he thought about it, the more the whole situation seemed more realistic. While there was a chance he would wake up and realize this was all a dream, or be tricked into stealing Dumbledore's wand, it didn't really make any sense for this all to be fake. He just battled a memory version of Lord Voldemort, and a piece of his soul residing inside him would also explain the connection he felt with him in first year and his Parselmouth ability. "So, let's say I choose to believe all, or at least most, of this. When do I learn the rest of the story? How will you guys prepare me? How will you communicate with me? How will I know what to do when I meet with Dumbledore? Will I lose my ability to speak with snakes since the soul shard within me is gone? Are there any adverse effects I might suffer from due to hosting a part of him? Where do we go from here? How are you guys even able to interact with me? Are there laws you guys must follow since you're gods? Is that why you said already limited time?" Harry rambled as both immortals shared a look of amusements.

Hecate rose from her position next to Harry and stared at him with a look he thought was fondness as she answered him, "You might be a legacy of another goddess the way you ask questions, but to give you some answers, and assuming you accept the quest, we plan on meeting you again once you fall asleep to explain the rest of your destiny. We can get to a training schedule later, but once you obtain the Elder Wand after you wake up you will be able to learn from us over the upcoming summer before your 4th year. We will mainly communicate through your dreams, but we might also be able to send messages to you through Hedwig if what I believe is true." At this she shared another meaningful look with Thanatos before continuing, "I can go in-depth about the effects of your forced symbiosis with the shard Riddle unknowingly gifted you with on the night you vanquished him, and more details about that night, later. But to summarize, you will still have the ability to speak with snakes, which we will teach you to master later since you didn't naturally inherit it and derivatively have trouble using it. The only other effect from you no longer playing host to Riddle is a boost in magical potential. Once again, I will explain more later but if you reflect on your battle with Slytherin's monster you will remember that you were suddenly able to wandlessly summon the diary to yourself. This was due to a number of things but mainly due to Riddle's soul shard being destroyed due to the Basilisk venom wracking havoc on your body and your magic immediately adjusting from having to work at a fraction of its full potential. Your 'childhood' with your relatives left you without the high functioning magical core you were born with and hosting a separate soul did you no favors. With these factors either out of the way or in the process of being handled you should notice a significant power increase when you wake."

Harry couldn't help but feel a little better knowing he was stronger than what he seemed but Hecate immediately put a stop to his line of thinking as she continued her explanation, "But, this comes with the downside of having to relearn, or really learn it in the first place, control of your magic. And with our plans for you to gain possession of the Elder Wand you could potentially harm someone with the most basic of spells." At this Harry couldn't help the image of his classmate Seamus causing explosions while attempting transfiguration, or Neville exploding his cauldron while following along the most basic of potion recipes. He couldn't help the snorts that slipped out as he laughed at an image of McGonagall giving him a stern look while covered in soot because he blew up his desk trying to transfigure a mouse into a snuffbox as she passed by him. Hecate could only shake her head at her grandson's thoughts as she watched him slowly descend into a fit of laughter while Thanatos chuckled at their opposing reactions. Hecate attempted to bring the mood back to being serious as she elaborated, "You should also feel less emotionally unstable due to the soul shard's destruction. You should be calmer, react more normally to outside distractions, have more patience, be more stable, and generally be a bit more outgoing as well. Luckily the soul shard absorbed most of the negativity you experienced as you grew so you shouldn't come out similar to Riddle as you should have with the way you grew up. With the way you've been acting I see you more as a mix between your father and mother than what you were before. Hopefully for your professor's sake you don't take up his habits."

Before Harry could interrupt her with questions about his parents, she held up her hand, "Another time. So, I'm hoping you have made a decision?" she inquired as Thanatos leaned closer in anticipation of his answer. Harry closed his eyes for a moment in thought then decided to throw caution to the wind. 'Its funny how much I'm making decisions based on this. Maybe I was right to pick this house over Slytherin' he reasoned to himself as he decided to stick to his new motto 'Gryffindors charge ahead'. "I'll believe what you guys have told me. This may be impulsive but there are too many coincidences for it not to be mostly true at the least. While I know you guys have left a lot out and there must be more benefits to this that you aren't telling me now, I have too much to lose by not accepting any help I can get." Harry said as Hecate beamed at him in pride. Thanatos nodded his head in satisfaction then walked closer to Harry to offer him his hand. As he accepted and Thanatos helped pull him up, he was surprised to feel Thanatos hug him in a tight embrace. "While you may be very distantly related to me, you are still my grandson of sorts, and my heart does go out to you for the destiny that has been forced upon you. But just know that we are bending as many rules as we can to make sure you can get through this. You may think we just randomly decided to help you now, but we have been watching you for a while now. There wasn't a good chance to intervene like this without consequences, and while we were extremely lucky to have been able to pull you here now, you are stuck with us from now on. No matter what happens next, me and Hecate are behind you. You represent more than divine heritage, you are family, and even to immortals that means something Harry." As Thanatos' small speech ended, Harry felt himself tear up again and noticed Hecate pushing up against him from the side and hugging them both. After a few more moment of reveling in a real physical familial connection, Harry pull back from both of them and wiped at his eyes. "I guess I will hear from you guys soon. We can discuss the rest of this next time we meet, I guess. There's a lot more to be told and don't think I didn't notice you guys glossing over the questions about laws and if you were even allowed to do this." Harry reprimanded as Thanatos looked away and whistled while Hecate turned from emotional to serious.

"I can send you back now, you should be mostly healed due to Fawkes giving you some of her phoenix tears as you passed out." Hecate explained as we all started to realize this was it. "Thanatos will continue to recheck some information regarding the other shards and while I help you handle Dumbledore. Fawkes should be able to help you get out of the Chamber once you get back so don't worry about trying to find a way back up to the bathroom. As one last gift so you know this was real when you were awake, and as 13 years of late birthday present from the both of us, I have a gift for you before you leave." Hecate waved her hand and a card appeared in her hand which she held out to Harry. He slowly grasped the card, surprised that he was getting a gift from a goddess, grandmother or not, and gasping once he saw the details. The card was beautifully illustrated, way better than those Bertie Botts's Every Flavor Bean cards, and showed a medieval style drawing of the Sword of Gryffindor. "While Gryffindor's line is long lost, his legacy still lives in his scattered items, with his sword being the most sought-after item. Of course, some slight changes have been made due to Thanatos' part in making your gift. Also before you worry about it, Gryffindors main companion, the Sorting Hat, deemed you worthy of wielding his sword, which made it yours. To summon it you must push a bit of your magic into the card, then do it again to put it away. I will teach you more about this form of magic later and in private since it is more of an ability you gained due to your relation to me and less do to you being a wizard. Oh, and even with your magical instability you should be able to do this effortlessly."

Harry stared at Hecate in surprise as she preened in pride at his visible awe while Thanatos rolled his eyes and handed Harry a deck box that strapped to his belt. "You can place that card in here for safe keeping. The card is charmed to return to the box and is impervious to damage. The deck box is also charmed to be unbreakable, unsummon able, only removable/able to be opened by you, and will always return to its spot with nary a thought. Oh and if you tap it while focusing on a sheathe, it will shift into one for your new sword." Harry strapped on the deck box under his robes in silence while he marveled at the usefulness of it. He couldn't wait until he could enchant something like it on his own and of he noticed that since Thanatos have him an entire deck box, he would be safe to assume that would be getting more cards in the future. Before he could thank them, thunder sounded in the distance and both of the immortal's expressions turned stony. Harry shifted in surprise at their immediate change in expressions, especially since Hecate looked downright furious, but Thanatos shook his head then tried to calm her down. "We will explain the rest later but just know that was a signal that we are out of time. We will touch base later and Hecate will help you with Dumbledore. Before we send you back, we need one last thing from you. Do you, Harry James Potter agree to complete my quest set forth for you?" Thanatos stared deep in Harry's eyes as he paled a bit at the sudden seriousness then steeled his resolve and answered in the affirmative. After nodding once again, Thanatos waved his arms and Harry noticed everything go dark as we woke back up on the floor of the Chamber of secrets.

He heard a trill of joy above him and fully opened his eyes to see Fawkes flying in a lazy circle above him while Hat was sitting on his stomach. "Well done Mister Potter! While I expected something miraculous to happen once you gathered your nerve, I didn't expect that marvelous performance you put on! You surely earned Godric's favor and proved yourself worth of his sword! Where IS the sword of Gryffindor per chance?" The Hat rambled as Harry pulled himself together. He looked down to his side and opened his robe while hoping what he thought was going to be there would. He barely stopped himself from sobbing in happiness as he saw the deck box and pulled out the Sword of Gryffindor's card. He took a quick glace at it then tried to push some of his magic into it like Hecate said then noticed smoke come out of the card and swirl around his hand as the Sword materialized. "Well I'll be? I wonder how that has come to be of the Sword? Maybe Godric charmed it to form a new sheathe attuned towards its next user? Either way young Mr. Potter, you have earned the right to wield Godric's blade. Now let us return to Hogwarts and revel in your victory! Why I remember-" Harry tuned out the rest of Hats boasting about how it and Godric celebrated victories 'back in their day' and pulled himself up off the ground. He stretched and was surprised to feel minimal pain after te endeavor he just completed. With only his whole body feeling sore and a headache he decided that phoenix tears are decidedly the most broken thing about the wizarding world, other than creating soul anchors to become immortal of course. Deciding to keep the Sword out incase anyone had questions, Harry absently tapped at the deck box on his waste that shifted into a scabbard with deck box attached on the outside and slipped his new Sword inside.

As Harry took stock of his surroundings, he held the Sword in one hand, absent mindedly grabbed the diary and placed it in the inside pocket of his robes, left the sorting Hat by the dead Basilisk, pocketed the tooth that fell out the diary, and went to check on Ronald's sister. He noticed she was still breathing as he saw before he passed out and pulled her up into his arms as he turned to ask Fawkes for a way out of the Chamber. As he turned to ask her, Fawkes trilled another joyful note then flew around him to grab the STILL boasting Hat in her claws, dropped the Hat onto his head, and headbutted him into the dead serpent. As he steadied himself and She-Who-He-Doesn't-Know-Her-Name against the Basilisk, he saw Fawkes fly on top of it then flare a large amount of flames around herself. His last image of the Chamber was the broken columns and rubble, with various bloodstains staining the ground as they disappeared in a massive flash of heatless flames.

'Well this was one way to make an entrance' Harry thought as he opened his eyes and took in his new surroundings. He was shocked to see that Fawkes teleported them into the Great Hall in front of the Professor's table. But what had him even more nervous was that he was teleported in while wearing a sword at his waist, the Sorting Hat on his head, and Ronald's sister in his arms while everyone was in the hall. All the Professors were stuck at the doors arguing with what seemed to be an older version of Malfoy who seemed to be attempting to reprimand a serene Dumbledore. Each table was full of students who, unknown to Harry, were required to come after the message Ronald's possessed sister left on the wall was found. Everyone stopped and looked at Harry in shock as a large crash sounded. Harry noticed Everyone's eyes shift from him to something behind him that caused the loud noise and couldn't help the groan of annoyance that came as he turned and saw Fawkes chilling on top of the dead Basilisk. As she lazily flew over to his shoulder and the Sorting Hat finally stopped his rambling, Harry turned back to everyone while sweating in nervousness, "Before you lot freak out, just know it's already dead and I DIDN'T kidnap this girl!" There was only a moment of silence shared by everyone in the hall as they stared at him in disbelief before all hell broke loose.

A/N: Sorry I was late to this. Recently got back into another old MMO game that I noticed was on steam and somehow invested all my time into grinding. To makeup for it, I combined chapter 2 and 3 (which were supposed to be released last week) into 1 chapter and added more to it. Overall, I plan for chapter lengths to be like 4-5k at the least so don't expect bigger ones like every week or so. Really the scene at the end was something I could see happening to Harry and was surprised I hadn't seen it before, but I guess most people wouldn't want to deal with any fallout. Also, Fawkes is a girl cuz why not. If anyone has any questions about the direction of the story, tropes they are worried about seeing, etc, just HMU. Honestly, I had a lot outlined already but with every new chapter I go back through I get so many ideas that hit down the line. Really everything I have planned for end of 4th year and beyond can change at any point in time and I'm still deciding on if I want to go with what I want and just age everyone up so it makes a bit more sense or just go with it just because. Either way this should be a decently long ride and one this full adventure is finished I have the main crossover to do and I want to throw this Harry into other worlds just for fun. Rambling aside I hope anyone who read this had a good enough time. Review if you don't like anything and I'll see what I can do. I plan on running through this chapter again after I upload it for more grammar mistakes, I might have missed so bear with any really pressing issues. And yes, I am addicted to commas. Sue me.