Chapter 5

Rome - Year of the Consulship of Crassus and Pompeius (55 BCE)

It was amazing what a letter from a minor Roman official could achieve. It certainly got Harry and Marcus Curius in to see Lucius Tampius Flavianus. That worthy was a Praetor and an ally of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, the man known to the future as Pompeius the great.

"It worries me a great deal, Curius. I have had a few, very few, dealing with magi and so I can appreciate you bringing one to explain the situation more clearly," Flavianus said after being told the story. "I will bring it to the attention of the senate when it sits next week. Actually, Pompeius is home, and I was going to dine with him tonight. I will send a runner to him. He knows quite a bit about the east, more so than I."

Flavianus was true to his word and less than an hour later they were led into the study of the consul of Rome, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus.

He was middle aged and round faced, still good looking and obviously quite fit. He had greeted them both with a smile and listened politely to their story. By the end he was frowning.

"You did well to bring this to me, Lucius Tampius. I know a bit about Magi and so I agree it is concerning, can't have them attacking villas and the like." He looked thoughtful for a few moments before sighing. "This comes at a poor time. You may be aware of some of the civil unrest being stirred up. Well stories like this will add to the peoples worries. I think I can send some reliable men, maybe a cohort or two. I'll put the word out that we need to capture or kill this lot."

"Thank you, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus."

Pompeius waived away the thanks, "We should be thanking you for your prompt action."

There was a soft knock on the door and an older man stuck his head in. He whispered quietly to Pompeius whose face paled as he stood up abruptly. "I'm afraid that I will need to cut this short, my wife is unwell."

"I am a healer, if I can be of assistance…"

Pompeius studied Harry carefully, "You were a medicus vulnerarius in Caesar's legions?"

"I was," replied Harry.

"Then yes, I trust military healers over some half-trained idiot," Pompeius waved for Harry to follow him and his distressed servant.

Harry was led into the room of a pregnant young woman of perhaps twenty years of age. Despite her distress and pain, she was a beautiful woman. Pompeius the consul morphed into Pompeius the worried husband.

"It…hurts so…my love," she gasped out.

Gaius winced as he took her hand and looked over at Harry. "I have a healer, Julia; he can help you."

Harry hoped he could. There was blood on the sheets and Julia was pale.

oOoOo

Six hours later an exhausted Harry sat slumped on a couch, wearing a borrowed tunic with a goblet of well-watered wine in his shaking hand. It was times like this that he wished he knew more about actual healing.

Julia had been in the early stages of a miscarriage and to save her and the baby he had to resort to 'brute forcing' the healing. Something that left him drained and likely magically exhausted.

He took a sip from the goblet and rubbed his face tiredly. His eyes felt like they had sand in them.

"Harry?"

He turned to see Marcus Curius looking at him with no small amount of awe.

"Are you well?"

Harry nodded slowly, "Just tired."

"Pompeius said that you save his wife and the baby."

Harry frowned and nodded slowly, "I think so, it was touch and…it was in the hands of the gods there for an hour or two. But I think I was able to do enough."

Marcus Curius shook his head, and smiled ruefully, "Jupiter, you have saved the wife and child of one of the most important and powerful men in Rome. You will be the most sort after and rich healer in Italia."

Harry didn't manage to hide his wince, "I didn't do it for fame or money. She was lucky that I was here."

"Indeed, we were," said Pompeius from the doorway. He looked tired but he was smiling as Harry stood.

Pompeius crossed over to him and kissed him on both cheeks.

Harry was slightly taken-a-back but decided just to go with it.

"You have saved my beloved Julia and our child," Pompeius was a big man, fit looking for his age and you could see him as a general on the battlefield or marshalling the senate for more political battles.

He personally led his visitors to his office. A room dominated by a large desk and several seats.

"I received a note from Lucius Tampius Flavianus this morning regarding these raiders, apparently the ones you dealt with are not the only ones being reported. There are reports from more than a dozen towns." He shook his head, "This now looks far more of a problem than one or two rogue magi."

"Then we are thankful for the cohorts," Marcus Curius said with unfeigned gratitude.

Pompeius suddenly grinned, looking decades younger, "Oh I'll do one better. I have quite a few veterans from my legions who will welcome some paid work. I'll send some messages and you will have some solid men in addition to those you have already. I doubt the senate will willingly pay so I will fund you."

Harry was surprised by the generosity but wasn't going to question it.

What followed was a whirlwind as Pompeius marshalled his veteran legionaries and two veteran centurions. The centurions were both short, heavily muscled and wore almost identical serious, professional expressions. Pompeius explained the situation and the two centurions were introduced. To Harry's surprise the elder of the two men, Fabius knew Marcus Curius.

"I served with you in the East, Marcus Curius." He grinned showing a missing tooth. "You were a decent military prefect and I hear that your boy is working out quite well."

Marcus Curius looked pleased. Harry supposed that it was nice to be recognised. He was somewhat surprised when the centurion turned to him.

"A magus then eh lad?"

"Um, yes," Harry agreed with a careful nod.

Fabius laughed, "A barbarian magus at that. Well, you served with Caesar and you saved the little lady. That makes any of us that followed Magnus your friends."

"I would have done the same for anyone," Harry assured him.

Fabius looked at him, his eyes roaming over his face, "Yes, you look they type that would. Won't hear no complaints from me."

Travelling back, they were accompanied by over twenty men led by Fabius.

oOoOo

Gaius Lesbinus was somewhat surprised at the size of the group returning but he and his steward quickly had things organised. Food and wine were spread among the grateful volunteers. Fabius thanked Gaius and assured him that they would be leaving at first light to meet up with the local men.

Harry had spent the night thinking about the wizard he had encountered and what had been said just before the fight broke out. Something about his master…so the wizard was not the leader. That implied that there was another wizard…or did it?

oOoOo

It was conjecture, pure guess work on his part. But he kept circling back to it. Master…that word conjured a picture in his mind of Tom Riddle. Was this some dark wizard trying to…do something? Harry slumped back in his chair. He didn't have anything concrete. Hell, he didn't have anything beyond the few words he had overheard and the decidedly dark spells he had encountered. No location, numbers or manifesto. That they were after, apparently after, magical's was also bothering him.

Romans accepted magic, for the most part neither liking nor disliking it. Gaius had made clear that they needed to circumspect as neither wanted to be dragged before a local magistrate accused of cursing some famers cow. The east was similar and according to a work Gaius had lent him, Greece, Egypt and many other countries had magical communities that lived quietly among the populace. Given the rudimentary understanding of magic he had seen, save for some specialised areas, he could not imagine a situation where a Roman wizard would be able to hold off legionaries.

Hours later Harry was still laying in his bed waiting for sleep to overtake him.

oOoOo

A few days later, he was still trying to work out if what it was that was worrying him. They could have been simple outlaws, raiding for slaves. Led by two dark wizards. But something was telling him that there was something more to it.

Strictly speaking it wasn't his job. He could just walk away…but he couldn't, could he.

"Fuck it," he muttered as he stared at the wall.

"There are children around Dominus!" chided Cassandra with a slight smile. She was carrying several scrolls, returning them to Harry's desk. "These arrived for you just now, by messenger."

Harry raised an eyebrow and picked up the first, far smaller scroll.

My dear Harry,

I have recently heard that there were some difficulties around the area from the son of a friend of mine, Marcus Curius. Another of those that owe you a debt of gratitude.

When I arrived home, I remembered several scrolls on the Magi and their arts that I had purchased in Athens. Please borrow them with my wish that they may be of some assistance.

My wife and daughter are well, please do not hesitate to contact me should the need for support arise.

Titus Pomponius Atticus.

The other two scrolls were far larger and from a cursory inspection appeared to indeed be accounts of two Magi that had once lived in Thebes.

It was a generous gift and totally unexpected.

"Is the messenger still here?"

"I believe so," Cassandra replied, her eyes curious.

"Please find him, I have a return letter."

Harry quickly penned a thank you and when the messenger arrived paid him several gold coins to see that Titus Pomponius Atticus received the message. The stunned messenger thanked him and left, his hands shaking.

"You paid him too much," Cassandra gently scolded him.

Harry shrugged, "Money is for spending. There is a saying from my homeland. You can't take it with you."

Cassandra shook her head, "What an odd saying."

Harry was about to respond when he saw Gaius in the doorway. His host was dressed like he was about to go and see a patient, clad in a tunic and with his satchel over his shoulder. "Harry, I am glad that I caught you before I went out."

"Gaius, what is it?"

Gaius gestured toward the main section of the villa, "We have some unexpected visitors…"

Curious, Harry followed Gaius to his atrium. Gaius usually greeted guests and clients there while Harry preferred his smaller and far less formal room. Waiting inside were three togate figures. All three were men and all three carried ornately carved staves.

'Oh shite,' was Harry's first thought.

"Thank you, Gaius, you may of course stay as we speak with your student," said the oldest of the men. He looked… perhaps seventy years old (perhaps far older if he was indeed a wizard) and his cold blue eyes were appraising and very sharp.

The other two were younger, perhaps in their forties and they both looked Roman or perhaps Greek. One was bald with a long, pointed nose and a friendly smile. The other was shorter and stockier, with bright red hair a round face and deep-set brown eyes.

"I am Marius Cornelius Clementius of the Concave," said the older man, as he gestured to the two other men. "These are my fellow concave members, Publius Sexta and Quintus Paulinus Rufus."

"Greetings, I am Harry Potter."

Marius smiled making him look far less intimidating, "We know. Which leads to why we are here. I received a letter from an old friend serving with Gaius Julius Caesar. It spiked our interest and then reports of healing and then the defeat of a dark magus reached the concave." He looked over at a nervous looking Gaius. "I do not intent to censure you, Gaius. It was wise to keep news of such a…unique situation quiet. Not all of our people are wise enough to realise that knowledge such as that young Harry holds is dangerous."

Harry felt a moment of relief. The first of his worries was addressed.

Marius turned his gaze back to Harry, "All Magi, who are citizens or working toward the good of the Senate and the people of Rome are expected, once they reach mastery of their skills are expected to register with the Conclave in Rome."

Publius cleared his throat and smiled slightly, "Gaius is a healer and a quite learned man. He comes from freedman stock, which of course means little in terms of his membership. Ability trumps blood. His training of a healer is perfectly acceptable and given that you hold the citizenship there are no impediments to you joining our ranks."

Marius continued on when Publius stopped speaking, "Given the situation we have quietly added you to the roll of membership. We meet yearly in Rome, usually in a member's house. There is usually a fee but given the situation we have waived that for this year. After all, you have done the Conclaves work."

"Hold on," said Harry as politely as he could, in his confusion. "What situation, what did I do?"

Publius laughed, a merry sound of genuine amusement, "I told Marius that you would say that. Healers like you and Gaius are valuable. You are skilled, respected and trusted. Healing Julia wins favours with Pompey, the people and many in the senate. Well, that and you saved a young woman and her child. All good news for those like I that share the profession. We work constantly to help people put aside their fear and hatred of our gifts. But more importantly some serious military men have now heard the tale of the healer and dark magi slayer. They are talking about the threat you warned of and no lesser personage than the Consul approached Marius. The Conclave has been asked to investigate and aid the Senate in dealing with the threat."

"Which means that we are asking for your assistance and that you join us," said Quintus with a respectful nod.

Harry hid a grimace, "I…before I go too much further, I should explain a few things."

He told them of his training and the threat he had faced as a boy. The prophecy and the defeat of Riddle and his cronies. He told them of how his fellow wizards had turned against him and forced him from his training as an Auror. He then spoke, honestly of his skill set and that until recently his healing had been rather brute force as opposed to application of skill.

They took it reasonably well.

After a few moments of silence Marius sighed, "It is depressing to hear that even in the future politics is the bane of man. Harry, you are, by my reckoning, a very powerful young man. I know of maybe a handful of my fellow Magi who have such a broad education and know how to fight and win. That you lost your path after such political accusations is understandable in a young man with little exposure to the muck that is politics. I do know that you are now here, and we have a problem that you are well equipped to help with. I am asking if you are willing?"

Harry hesitated, he got the feeling that they wouldn't force him, and he needed a moment to think.

Knowledge of magic HAD grown and been refined. He knew more spells than many mages here and he supposed that was a plus. That did not make him unbeatable, but it did give him an advantage. Magic was hidden here but there was no statute of Secrecy. No, hidden world. For all he knew he was stuck here forever. He couldn't run and hide, could he?

No, he couldn't. The fuckers that had attacked the villa had been killers and the Magi he had bested was a dark wizard, Magus or whatever. He could help, and from what he had been told the Conclave would back him.

"Okay, sorry, yes I will help."

Marius gave him a slow nod, "Then I name you an agent of the Conclave, a veneficus venator."

oOoOo

Harry asked Gaius what exactly a veneficus venator was. It turns out it was the Conclaves version of a Hit Wizard, a dark wizard hunter.

oOoOo

As Harry re-read the missive from Marius, he silently swore his head off.

They had found nothing. Even Seers had been unable to find anything useful. Oh, they had found an abandoned farmhouse that was, may have been, a second base. They had found two dead families, had reports of slave raids and one confirmed case of magic being used (A cutting curse of some sort). But that was it. They had then upped and disappeared.

Then a murder attempt was made on a Senator whose brother was a senior member of the Conclave.

The assassin was magical and had apparated into the path of the good senator, stabbing out with a poisoned blade. The blade had cut the sleeve of the Senator and the man had been subdued by a veteran in the crowd. When questioned, the man had refused to answer and then uttered a phrase, or spell of some sort. The result of which was that the man was a red coating on the wall of the room he was being held in.

The Senate wanted answers and Marius was requesting his aid.

He had to go and probably for a while as Marius was outright saying that this was of the highest priority.

Gaius had been understanding enough, advising that of course he should go. The Conclave would not have asked if he was not needed. Furthermore, he should take several people with him. The Conclave would supply somewhere to stay but he would need servants and a staff.

Harry had protested that he did not want to relocate to Rome and keeping anyone with him safe could be a problem. The result of that discussion was Quintus Ollius Felix, an ex-centurion and friend of Gaius. He was a wiry, middle-aged man with a scarred face and a friendly smile. He was to be Harry's bodyguard.

He didn't want a damn bodyguard but both Gaius and Quintus had insisted. The later had a sister who was magical and worked as a priestess in a local temple and was well aware of the Conclave and the dangers present in Rome.

"It's no good you being a big bad Magus hunter if some prick dashes your brains out from behind with a club," explained Quintus patiently. "The streets of the city can be dangerous and once people know you are hunting them…well, I'll make sure that your back doesn't grow any knives."

Harry had finally accepted the advice but had absolutely, flatly rejected the next piece of advice.

To take Cassandra and Penelope with him.

"No way, why the fuck would I do that?"

The smile on the face of Gaius was almost a smirk, "I have seen you two watching each other. Cassandra desires you and Penelope worships you."

"Even if she wanted that, why in the name of the Gods would I put them at risk?"

"Because she truly wants to learn to be a midwife and assist you and her training could continue in the city. Because she is smart, well-educated, and skilled at running your finances. And lastly, because you need something to fight for. Free her and marry her it is not unknown for a man to marry a former slave."

Later that night he had broached the topic with Cassandra. She had not been all that shocked at the suggestion. That had been a surprise that had amused her when he voiced his opinion.

"Surprised? No Dominus. I am a slave, and you are my master. I have accepted that and thank the Gods that you are kind to my daughter and I. Once we settled here, I offered you my body and you turned me down. I didn't understand then, but I do now. You are a man that does not seek to dominate or one who sees a woman as property. So, I will say this to you as Harry the man. I think that you are a good man and I believe that I could be a good wife for you."

Harry had been surprised enough that he had stood silent as Cassandra studied him with a faint smile.

In the end he had sighed, "Cassandra, I have not always been a good man. Gods, I've jumped from bed to bed without thinking of consequences. I'm not sure that I will ever be marriage material."

Cassandra had laughed, "I think Dominus that you are too hard on yourself."

He had gone to bed sure of his decision to leave Cassandra and Penelope safe with Gaius.

He was half-woken by a warm weight next to him.

What?

Fully awake now he realised that it was Cassandra.

"Cassandra…what are you doing?" He kept his volume down, not wanting to wake the entire household.

"Making a point," replied Cassandra.

oOoOo

Quintus raised an eyebrow as he peeled a hardboiled egg. "So, what happened to change your mind?"

Harry glared at the older man, ignoring the smiles from the others eating around the table. "We spoke last night and reached an agreement."

Gaius looked pleased as he dripped honey onto his bread. "It is, I think a good decision. The Conclave respects family men. Being a new man, that is a new citizen, they will want to see what type of man you are. Cassandra is an intelligent woman who knows how to keep a household. Penelope is a bright child and as your stepdaughter she will reflect well on you."

"Let's just hope we can keep everyone safe," replied Harry. "I don't really want to be hunting dark magus with a bloody household in tow."

oOoOo

Roman marriage was complicated but given that Harry was a private citizen and a new man who was formerly a barbarian and Cassandra was a soon to be-former slave, it was straightforward. They could have formed a contubernium (Kind of like a defacto relationship but for different social classes) but Harry wanted it to be done properly. If he was going to give up his bachelorhood, then he'd do it right. He wasn't exactly religious and given that Christianity hadn't even begun yet he had to ask Gaius what he needed to do.

For it to be legal, they both needed to consent legally and morally. Which they obviously did. They would sign a marriage contract and that was it.

The first step was freeing Cassandra. That was done in a simple legal ceremony and the next was the 'marriage'.

By the time they went to bed that night, they were husband and wife. He had to admit that he was a lot happier about it than he had expected. Maybe that had something to do with the gorgeous woman lying beside him.

They had made love and then simply held each other until Cassandra fell asleep. He had slept with a lot of women, mainly for something to do. God knows that he hadn't felt anything for them. With Cassandra there was a connection. To an outsider it looked like a very odd and unequal relationship. But in the months since Harry had bought Cassandra and Penelope there had been something growing between them. He hadn't planned it and he had not initiated anything but for some reason that connection had grown and blossomed.

Given that his previous conquests had been…what had they been? Were they just conquests or had he been looking for something? He thought that he had long abandoned introspective self-analysis but as he lay beside his new wife, he couldn't help feeling that he owed the universe some sort of karmic pay back.

oOoOo

He awoke to a weight on his legs. Opening his eyes, he looked up into the grinning face of Penelope.

"Good morning, Dominus!"

Harry wasn't quite sure what to say and before his brain could throw up something, Cassandra was laughing beside him.

"Harry is your father now, my love."

Penelope giggled, "I know that."

"Then please call me father, or Harry," he added with a smile.

She had nodded solemnly, giggled and then raced off…babbling that the villa's goat had given birth to a kid and Penelope wanted to see it.

"She is a smart child," Harry offered with a grin.

"She is…come husband we have much to do if we are to leave tomorrow."

oOoOo