[EDIT] Quick fix after Sho9986 pointed out I accidentally put somewhere to be in a whole different town. In my defense, I'm more used to see LA on the tv than LV and just used the wrong letter. Still, I can see how it would be confusing for people who know better.
Fun fact for other authors:
Check your reviews on the phone app, not just your emails. Seriously, I got 6 reviews sent to my email. Through the phone app, it shows this story as having 10.
And yeah, most people seem to agree that Death would be either a Ruler (but many could see it as a Foreigner) or an external existence like Gaia and Alaya… which is kinda where I got the idea it could be a Foreigner. Definitely an outsider. Yes, the full deal would definitely be too much for a Servant on its own. On the other hand we have… well, most Foreigners, that are just mediums for Lovecraft-based Ancient Ones (no proper names were given but people with some knowledge did not have a hard time figuring some of them out).
And for the one (app-only here) that mentioned this was aiming to be "stupid in the best way possible"… well, I hope so. After all, I did put Nobu in the "possibles" list. Reaching Stupid is not just a possibility, but expected.
That having been taken care of…
First things first, I'd like to make something clear…
I did not watch any of the FGO animes yet. I am basing this on the game. Thus why some things may be different (besides Harry's interference). They are all based on my interpretations of the visual novel-like story in there.
Anyway. About the story itself.
I checked if Olga Marie's thoughts were factual. I'm not 100 percent sure since everything I could find seems to be filtered about the new law that was made in 2022, but it seems the marriage is not a legal offence in the UK in 2017 (when this part of the fic takes place) if religious. It would need to wait until 2019 to be legally recognized, though.
And yes, her low self-esteem and loneliness here is canon, based on what she said in Fate Grand Order. She had a better life with more friend in the timeline of El-Meloi II Case Files (read she had any) though, where his father did not get the capital to create Chaldea.
On other news, I had forgotten to check the date of the Dementor Attack on Privet Drive. For some reason I thought it would have been before Harry's birthday. It was two days after it.
This kinda kills one of my plans, really, but I can work with it. It just… won't get to happen, and we won't get an Olga Marie Ace Attorney chapter.
What is harder to do is find when exactly the story starts in the NA version of FGO. I think remembering it mentioned somewhere, but am having trouble finding it. I saw online it being either July 29 or 31 in the JP version, but it's being hard to find NA dates…
Either way, since a date
is needed, since Harry's birthday may be either before or after the FGO story starts, I'm taking that date for now unless someone tells me the official day. HP Lexicon says that while UK schools usually end the year in the middle of July Hogwarts does so in June, thus I am making the last chapter be the NA release, Sunday June 25 2017, making "today" June 26 and a Monday.
IIIII
Not What Eye of the Tiger Is Supposed To Mean
One tablespoon. Two tablespoons. Three tablespoons.
Her hand did not tremble as she put the coffee in the paper filter.
Olga Marie was... taking it well. She really was.
Sure, she was a bundle of nerves. She just got married to a man she did not even remember meeting, near the finishing touches on her father's lifework, and even took his name. And the man was actually a boy, still a minor, and bellow the legal marriageable age in the United Kingdom.
But… well, they were married through Magic, and that kinda trumped the age in the law. At least among the magicals.
Outside that, they could claim it is a religious marriage for now. He would turn 15 pretty soon, and the next year when he turned 16 they could legally become official.
She poured the hot water into the filter, and the smell of fresh coffee immediately hit her as the water fell on her thermos. Yes, that was just what she needed.
And since they would claim it was religious, they could have a ceremony already!
N-not like she wanted to c-con—do what she told her new husband the previous day that they would only do after they had one! It was a spur of the moment, she didn't even notice how young he was at that moment!
"Marie, are you alright?" came his voice from behind him.
"I-I'm fine! I'm just thinking!"
"Your face is all red, though," Harry replied, clearly worried.
"I'm fine," she insisted, and turned back to the coffee, adding more of the boiling water to the filter.
She just… really wanted a ceremony.
For all she tried, she was never appreciated. Not even by her father, not as far as she remembered.
But even if they were too drunk to recall anything, Harry did, to the point he married her once.
She wanted the ceremony so it was formalized in her mind, to prove to her someone did love her. Sure, the document said so, but it didn't feel real.
"Are you two sure you don't mind coffee? We can call room service for some tea bags," she asked her… spouses.
That's true, there was Tonks—or rather, Dora too. And neither UK or Nevada's non-magical law allowed polygamy. They would need to have a talk, even if they claimed it as a religious marriage only one of them would be allowed to make it legal later.
"I'm good either way," Harry shrugged.
"I'm used to coffee from nightshifts," was Dora's reply. "Tea is nice, but coffee keeps you awake for longer."
"Ah, you're an auror right?" Harry asked. Their husband asked. "They're like, wizard police?"
"That's it, really," was the answer. Then she turned to Olga Marie. "Do you guys have something like that?"
"Not really," she answered. "Well, there are the Mage's Association's Enforcers but they are more like your Hit Wizards, to hunt down the more dangerous criminals. For lesser crimes we have the Second Owners, basically a family that already proved themselves is let to manage and area, meaning they get the responsibility but also any magi in there need to follow their rules. Like a feudal system."
Satisfied with the volume of coffee, she then turned off the heating circle in the kettle and put the filter on top of an empty cup, so any remaining coffee drops would fall in it.
"Now, let's talk about your 'weird luck'," she told Harry, serving a cup of coffee to each of them.
"Alright," he sighed, taking some of the hot liquid. He would need the energy. "As far as I know, it all started on a Halloween. I was one year old that day."
As she listened, she memorized. Her eyes widened, most of her mind bewildered. Yet her Magus side broke down and analyzed all that she was being told.
IIIII
Listening to how Harry described it all, Dora (she had to get used to this new nickname now…) was having a hard time believing it was all possible to happen to a single person.
They were not kidding when saying he had weird luck.
Sure, whenever he needed some help he would get it someway. But whenever something would go wrong, he would be there too.
He did not seem to have kept anything secret. Things he did not even tell his friends, like how until he got his first Hogwarts Letter and it had written how his room was "the cupboard under the stairs" that was his room. How while his cousin got over thirty birthday gifts the first one he could remember getting had been Hedwig on his eleventh birthday (his owl that had been on a hunting trip when they left). And how he was locked and almost starved, having to share what little food he was given with Hedwig.
As he progressed forward through his personal timeline, it did not get any better. Despite barely knowing any magic, he kept getting into danger and surviving by an inch.
"How… how are you still alive?" was all she could add. No wonder he became known as the Boy-Who-Lived.
Fighting a troll and a possessed adult wizard at eleven. Escaping a whole colony of giant spiders and fighting a giant snake that can kill with a look at twelve. Driving back a whole group of dementors, using a spell adults have problems with, at thirteen. Outflying a dragon, swimming out of a lake with two people in his hands while running out of gilliweed (meaning not having any air), and surviving enough when surrounded by Voldemort and his Death Eaters at fourteen.
From what he told the only times he was safe for long had been, ironically, when he was being abused (in many levels) by his relatives.
He just shrugged. "I guess I'm just lucky enough to escape what my bad luck puts me into. But…" His face fell. "Not everyone is."
Dora bit her lip, and run her fingers through her hair. And noticing it as longer now, a bit past her shoulders – probably just so she had more hair to run her fingers through in the more… exasperating parts. "Mood ring hair," wasn't that how Harry called it?
She would need to check herself in the mirror later. Maybe it was time to change it? She had plans for a Joline style for a while… She was one of the rare people that could pull out anime hair and keep the look in everyday life, after all.
Speaking of looks, her attention going for Olga Marie. The other girl just looked at Harry as if lost, clearly wanting to comfort him but unsure how to.
Taking a deep breath, she moved to sit by his side, before giving him an one-armed hug.
…Should she give him a full one? Part of her said they were not close enough yet, but… well, married, and it was just a hug?
No, honestly, she probably would have given him a full hug either way if she wasn't feeling overly-conscious exactly due to the marriage.
It was hard not to chuckle about that, really. And to think, the day before she was trying to get closer to the older man to start a relationship. Now she was too embarrassed to act closer to the younger man she was already in a relationship with.
From the corner of her eye, she noticed Olga Marie chug her remaining coffee in one go and get closer to them… lift both arms, and…
Moving them up and down, as if not sure what to do.
"…Marie, didn't you… ever hug someone before?" she asked, bluntly.
Her answer was a deeper blush. That turned even deeper when Harry raised his eyes to look at her (Dora could not see the look he was giving her, but she had a pretty good guess of what it meant).
Yup, that made up her mind.
She quickly raised her other arm and made it even longer with her transformation ability, then pulled Olga Marie in for a triple hug before she could react. Tightly.
"Gwah?!"
"This is how you hug someone."
The other two twisted a bit around, red-faced, but eventually Olga Marie did lift her arms and hugged Harry, causing the younger boy to hug her back.
"Good job Marie," she said, lifting her hand from the hug to pet the other's head…
…why did Olga Marie look at her so wide-eyed, before turning back to Harry into an even tighter hug while smiling?
She moved her other hand to pet Harry's head too, frowning. Harry's tale about his life with his relatives already made her feel pretty annoyed. Now that reaction from Olga Marie gave her some suspicions that her life… may not have been that bad, but was not anything good either.
Suddenly getting her ear chewed off due to getting drunken married, to someone underage at that, started feeling like something she looked forward to.
IIIII
None of them had much sense of how long they stood here, until there was a ring of the room's phone.
"I'll get it," Tonks said—No wait, Dora, Harry reminded himself.
Dora leaving was also Marie's cue to end their hug, her face as red as his felt. Shame that, it was embarrassing but felt pretty good.
"It was room service asking if we want them to bring us lunch," Dora told them. "It's almost noon already. Oh, I asked but neither Sirius or Remus are in their rooms. Do you guys want to eat here first, or we do it in town while looking for them?"
Harry for his part just groaned and let himself fall back onto the bed. "Seriously?"
"Siriusly," she said back.
He groaned again. Marie looked at her, confused. Dora herself looked a bit horrified.
"I… I honestly did not notice that I made the pun until it was already out! I swear!"
Marie looked back to him. "My godfather," he explained. "Sirius Black."
She nodded… then groaned too.
"This pun must be annoying."
"I think he outgrew it," Harry admitted. "Or at least he noticed it lost its luster with overuse. He barely did it with me around, at least."
Marie nodded sagely at that. "A pun must be delivered with proper timing and surprise to do some actual damage."
"A-anyway," Dora interfered, trying to drive the conversation away from anything pun-related. "We need to find out look for Sirius and Remus. Almost noon and no news of the two."
"And Sirius may be innocent of the crime but he is a wanted criminal," Harry finished for her. "I vote we eat out while looking. You two?"
Dora shrugged. "Eating outside it is then," Marie agreed.
She then went awkwardly to a suitcase near a dresser, and only then Harry noticed all of their baggage was moved to their new room.
"What are you doing?" asked Dora, a bit confused. Harry nodded with her.
"…taking a shower before leaving," was the reply, Marie making it sound like it was obvious. "No offense, but we stink of alcohol."
"But why are you getting the clothes so weirdly?" Dora insisted.
Marie did not reply, just gave Harry a quick look and a blush.
"Oh," Dora nodded.
Harry looked at her, still confused. She looked at him, and seemed… confused at his confusion?
She then rolled her eyes. "Marie, let's let Harry go first and we get out clothes while he showers."
Seeing the shy nod of the other woman, Harry just shrugged and went to get his own clothes. It was kinda weird to go for the brand new ones after years of using Dudley's hand-me-downs, but he got a green shirt (a light-green shirt), some tan-colored pants and one piece from the still-closed pack of new boxer briefs—
He looked quickly at the girls, and how Marie had been acting.
Oh.
Well, with a nod he got his underwear and went to the shower—
"Don't forget the bracelet and eyedrops," Dora reminded him.
So he went back to get them, closed the door and went to take a shower.
A cold one. No big reason, he just felt like one.
IIIII
Dora just sighed with an amused smile, before patting Olga Marie on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you can go second."
"He really didn't get it, did he." She went back to her clothes, this time having a better time without the embarrassing risk of a male seeing her underwear.
Nevermind that he had seen it (and some of what was under) just a couple hours before, or that they were married now. Would still take some time.
Thanks to Professor Lev telling her this was a business trip, all clothes she had were business ones (but again, she would never had agreed if he did not trick her like that). Maybe a business skirt with a shirt but no blazer?
Oh wait, her self-chosen director uniform, without the Chaldea coat it was a fairly light white dress plus red thigh high socks and black stilettos… But without the coat the red was a bit too much, so instead one of the sheer white ones she used with her business skirts.
She nodded to herself, picking her underwear and hiding it inside the folded dress for when H-her new husband left.
That done, time to satisfy her curiosity.
"Dora," he started, but froze.
She did not have many friendly social interactions. The only one she had was Professor Lev. Not even her father, not for years before his death anyways, maybe when she was young.
Thankfully, the other woman did not seem to mind. "Ask away," she said, choosing between two black shirts with different images, darker pants in the same style and some underwear already chosen on the bed.
"I got about the bracelet, he is famous among you wizards and all that. A mystic code to hide his identity is a given to be able to go outside."
"Too bad it is for Vegas only," Dora agreed. "Back in England, most witches and wizards would recognize him right away. Well, maybe not right away now, he already looks very different with new clothes."
She nodded. Harry himself passed him impression of his fame earlier, after all. "But why the eyedrops?"
"His relatives didn't even bother having his eyes checked," was the answer, the word "relatives" said with a mix of disgust and hate. "Sirius took him for a check right away when we arrived, and he is currently under a spell to fix the years of wrong prescription. Meanwhile it is best for him to use eyedrops to see around, since he can't have a proper prescription until his eyes are fixed."
With a nod to herself, one of the shirts was chosen. "Hope he goes for contact lenses, it would be a shame to keep hiding those eyes behind glasses. Seriously, the first time I saw them I really understood what 'breathtaking' means," she admitted. "If I didn't know better, I'd say they were magical."
"They are magical," she corrected the other.
"Wait, what?"
Olga Marie rubbed her own eyes, trying to find the better words to explain it. "His eyes… they aren't active, but are activated. If you pay attention you can see the magic flowing through their circuits."
"Hard not to pay attention when looking at them," Dora laughed. "I'm kidding. But… not, I guess." She then frowned. "Think that may be it?"
"Possible, but doubtful," Olga Marie replied back, deep in thought. "As I said, it is active but not activated. Think of you holding your wand ready but not casting a spell with it yet."
Dora nodded, and took that as a reminder to grab her own wand and use it to make the bed. "So… for now, all the magic does is make his eyes look prettier? And the glass is what, muting it?"
"I believe so, yes," she replied. "Mind you, I didn't see his glasses to be sure."
Dora nodded at that.
Then blushed.
"You know, I hope the new glasses won't block it anymore," she admitted. "Or at least the contact lenses."
Olga Marie hesitated for a bit… then nodded in agreement, feeling her cheeks heat up.
IIIII
On the ground floor, on the way out, the new Potter Family trio was interrupted by a commotion.
Curious, and with a feeling of dread in his heart, Harry got closer, to where a man in a green suit, also green top hat and with a long hair that made him think he may be Hermione's relative watched as…
He blinked. Were the eyedrops working? Because the scene was surreal.
Sure, he could completely believe Sirius and Professor Lupin would be cowering and protecting themselves from the attack of a certain white snowy owl he was very familiar with, but—
"Hedwig? Why are you all the way here in Vegas, girl?" he asked, drawing his owl's attention and letting the two adults take some better cover behind a bench.
Not that the owl minded. Looking at him as if he just asked a very stupid question, she flew and landed on his left shoulder like a pirate's parrot, before giving him a painful peck on the ear.
"Oww!" he shrieked. "Sorry I left you behind, but they seemed to be in a hurry to leave, and I thought you wouldn't mind enjoying your time alone."
"Preck!" was the owl's offended reply.
"Yeah, I can see I was wrong now," Harry huffed… only for the owl to slap his head with a wing for that.
"Ah, may I assume you are Harry Potter?" the green-suited man asked, offering his hand. "I am known as Professor Lev Lainur. I believe I'm an acquaintance of your wife Olga Marie."
Harry blinked dumbly as he took the offered hand. "Uuuhm…"
"Pree?" Hedwig asked from his shoulder, surprised.
"Professor Lev!" Marie called them from behind, saving him from giving people the sight of explaining for his owl in the middle of the street how he got into a drunk marriage with people he knew in less than a whole day.
There is magic, there is Las Vegas, and then there is Harry Potter's life. In growing scale of weirdness, judging from how people reacted to the previous… battle he interrupted.
…maybe. He was married by a guy in a bad Elvis costume, after all.
"Ah, Marie," the man replied, now confirmed as the Professor Lev she mentioned a few times. "When I mentioned to your bodyguards to let you have your fun and not interfering even if you got drunk and married, that was a joke, not a suggestion," he chided her.
She looked away, just like most people do when a parent does this. Save that… well, most of the time when he saw parents do it, they seem to actually be annoyed by it.
"Oh well, at least you did enjoy your time here," Professor Lev smiled at her. "I was aiming for you to have a happy vacation, and a new relationship is usually the case."
"Thank you, Professor," Marie replied happily, her mature attitude left behind.
Harry couldn't help giving a sad smile at that. That was just like when he saw other Hogwarts students talking with their parents.
And Professor Lev was not even her father… What if his aunt had been a good aunt, or he had been raised by Sirius like he should have been, would he smile at them like that too?
He shook his head. It hurt to think how he lacked it himself, but at least he could be happy Marie had someone like that for her.
Looking at the new, expanded group…
Wait…
"Sirius, Professor Lupin, are those… collars?" he pointed out.
That drew Dora and Marie's attentions to the two men, and true enough, they had leather collars around their necks that they did not before. Black for Remus, and Red for Sirius.
"Are they your own version of wedding rings? And you didn't even invite us?" he asked, fake-hurt.
Well, kinda fake. He hoped that they would invite him for it, but maybe he was just too drunk to remember.
Marie made a weird sound before looking away.
Dora… her hair went brown for a second. Then pink. Yellow. Turquoise. Green.
"BWAHAHA HAHA HAHAHA!..."
Until she could not hold it anymore, falling down on the ground, holding her stomach with how much she was laughing.
She paused for a second, tears falling from her eyes. Looking at them. Looking at him.
Then started laughing again.
…
He… kinda hoped her slowly going purple as her laughter weakened (in strength only) was not anything… too bad.
"They are… one second," the uncollared man started, before launching a small magic sphere from his hand at the ground, Harry feeling a small wave surrounding them before "solidifying" into what he guessed was a privacy barrier.
Ah right, a magus did not use wands.
"They are a special kind of magical manacle, that both limits the magic they can use and let them be located easily" he explained. "The red one is because Sirius is an animagus, and the black one is the default one."
Harry blinked at this, before looking at the two. Sirius waved at him. Professor Lupin avoided his gaze.
"Uhm, do you mind telling me why—"
"Oh, I'm sorry," the man said, offering him a hand. "I am Lev Lainur. I would usually ask you to call me Lev, but as Marie calls me Professor Lev it is better if you did the same." Harry nodded at that, made sense. "I am an old co-worker of your wife's father, and am currently helping her learning what she needs to take over his position."
"Name's Harry Potter, sir," he said back, shaking the hand. "You can call me Harry."
"A pleasure, Harry," the man said, before turning to the two. "Mr. Lupin was captured when he was drunkenly trying to wrestle the tigers on The Mirage."
Harry turned to his past teacher, eyes wide. Professor Lupin at least avoided his gaze… but Harry could hear him grumbling about how "those overgrown cats only have size", "they are not strong, just fat" and other confirmations.
"Mr. Black was recognized when he tried to pry Mr. Lupin's arm from the jaws of one of them."
"Sneaky bastard attacking from behind," Professor Lupin grumbled.
Ignoring the man, whose words were… very out of character (but again, so was wrestling a tiger), Professor Lev continued. "They recognized him as an international fugitive right away. But since he claimed he was innocent and just escaped after being imprisoned for years without a trial, and then repeated the claims under truth serum, they are checking his claims before taking any deeper actions. He is currently under watch while they get the trial transcripts from your Ministry until the end of the week, or the ICW will demand all charges be dropped and for him to be a free man."
"Really? That's amazing, Sirius!"
"I know, right?" his godfather replied with a smile. "Dumbledore said Fudge had been doing all he could whenever there was a hint of him trying to contact anyone about it. Both to save face from me escaping Azkaban, since it 'could only be with foul dark magic', and because old Lucy lined up his pockets for it. Plus, you know, his recent paranoia using me as escape goat."
Harry nodded at that. Ever since the Triwizard Tournament and Harry claiming Riddle came back, everything bad in the United Kingdom seemed to be Sirius' fault in the Minister's eyes.
Then Sirius pointed at his collar. "But since it was another country that caught me, and is asking for it independently, he has to take actual action. Either get some proof of my faults or admit I am not the nation's boogeyman. It is an international incident now."
"And it helps that he was caught because he was trying to prevent an incident," Professor Lev added. "Eyewitnesses' testimony is what made MACUSA so willing to hear his side."
"Yay, I helped," grumbled Remus.
"…uhm…"
"He is feeling guilty about getting me caught, even if it ended up for the best," Sirius shrugged. "He even refused any hangover medicine.
Harry winced at that. His short bout of hangover had been… an experience already. And he did not even do anything too stupid.
…
Besides, you know, getting married.
"Wait…"
He looked at Remus. Sirius. Dora.
"…Sirius… did you become the only responsible one in our group?" he asked. "Including not just the teenager, but also the two that came to stop us doing anything stupid?"
Sirius blinked at that. Opened his mouth. Closed it. Looked at Remus. Dora. Harry.
His own hands.
"Noooooo!" he cried, curling into a ball.
Marie and Professor Lev looked at each other, then at Harry. "He was proud of being the irresponsible one," he shrugged.
"Well, in your defense I don't think you knew those drinks were alcoholic," Marie pointed out. "The sweetness hides the taste of alcohol pretty well. I also remember you only started drinking them to join me while we talked."
"A-ham," Professor Lev coughed into his fist.
"A-and I didn't know your age thanks to your bracelet, so I didn't know I needed to stop you," she quickly defended herself.
"Tonks knew better on both cases though," Sirius pointed out. "And I'm not against letting him drink a bit, I remember sneaking some firewhiskey to school at parties, but she should have still stopped him before it got that far."
"Uhm, we are calling her 'Dora' now, since her family name changed and she doesn't like her first name," Harry corrected him, a bit nervous.
He was her cousin, after all. And despite being his godson…
…was it also called a "shovel talk" by wizards?
"Look, Tonks, Dora, it doesn't matter," Sirius shrugged. "What does matter is that, out of the four of us, it was technically Harry and definitely me that were the ones that did not mess everything up.
"Well—" Dora started—
"Me, cousin," he repeated.
"…I would like to remind you that I may have been more responsible most of the time, but I was still Mr. Moony."
"…Noted," Sirius nodded. "As long as you keep in mind you still will never live it down."
Remus thought deeply about it. "…can we at least claim I tried to wrestle the tigers before the marriage?"
IIIII
As the "adults" talked, Olga Marie observed her new husband's (and she was still on the fence if she liked the thought or not) pet.
Hedwig may be a wizard version of a familiar, she guessed. Not a magus one though. While it seemed like it was a bit too beautiful and smart to be a normal owl, all the magic in her seemed to be natural, absorbed from the environment and from a connection to Harry.
Yet… she did not feel so.
As the white-haired woman looked into the eyes of the white-feathered snow owl, amber eyes meeting with yellow eyes, she felt herself pressured, kept in place as she was analyzed to her very soul. Measured. Judged.
The bird turned with what she guessed was an owl version of a scoff before, she guessed, doing the same to Dora. The other girl definitely had a transfixed look just as she guessed her own had been.
She clenched her fist. She could feel that she barely passed. But she would prove her wrong. She would show that overgrown feather duster that she could be the best wife Harry could have ever…
…
"Did I just create a rivalry with an owl?" she asked aloud. "And… am I losing?"
She felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking at the person, her eyes met Dora's.
She did. They did.
They glared at the owl.
While they had no idea how, they just knew they received a smug smirk back.
Challenge accepted.
Watching the three, Harry was glad they were getting along.
IIIII
Fausto de Bragança watched the group at a distance. Mainly, the others surrounding his new research specimen.
While he had no idea who they all were, he recognized one of those. Lev Lainur, a magus specialized in researching records across time. It was said he has his own mind split between a side for researching the past, the present and the future.
Meaning the one with white hair would be his protégé, the daughter of Marisbury Animusphere.
Those two could be an issue. Lainur was from a long magus lineage, supposedly from around the times of King Solomon himself, but he was a researcher and not a fighter. And the Animusphere girl was known as dedicated in her family works but, to put it simply, incompetent and only kept any useful thanks to Lainur's help.
The other three, two were under magic-binding collars, and the fourth… was so generic he was not worth his attention. He forgot that one was there until the attention went to him.
Had Fausto been in a proper mindset instead of hyperfocused on the opportunity of a metamorphmagus for research, that detail would have caught his attention by itself. Or maybe if he had anything of a magus mindset save for pride, a goal in his magical research and a lack of scruples when said goal was on the line.
But his mind was all on his prize, on the woman with natural shapeshifting skills, and how she would allow him to learn how her natural magic worked, how wizard magic worked, and how to reproduce it with magecraft. Maybe even why they were called a metamorthmagus, and animagus and the like, it couldn't be just to sound fancy in latin.
With his fresh mindset not limited by the generations of predispositions others used on their own researches, he would be able to reach breakthroughs no one else even thought of.
And if she ended up like his past specimens… well, he would be disappointed but could still take a page out of the Rowan family once more. Waste not, want not.
IIIII
Harry's hand twitched once more to his jacket's inner pocket, where both his wand and his father's cloak were kept.
He had been feeling like they were been observed for a while. It did not feel aimed at him though, so it was probably not Death Eater related.
He was half annoyed he was seemingly experienced enough with having someone plotting against him he became able to tell when the bad feeling was aimed at himself now, half relieved he did not have to go full Mad-Eye Moody paranoiac yet.
He couldn't tell which of the others was the target, though. And, with being the only minor of the group, and the other three wizards being either war survivors or a trained auror, training for the Triwizard or not he was definitely the weakest of the four.
As much as he had his… dangerous experiences, he doubted he would have been the only one of this group to notice it.
He had no idea about the magi, but Professor Lev's barrier had been so advanced yet created so easily, and Marie did not even react to it, he doubted he was any better than the two either.
Yet…
"Harry? Are you alright?" called Professor Lupin, drawing his attention back to their meal.
"Sorry, Professor Lupin," he said, "did you ask something?"
"I already told you I'm not your teacher anymore," he joked. "And is there something wrong with your burguer? You've been glaring at it something fierce."
"Not really," he said. "Just thinking. And I'll stop calling you Professor Lupin when I get a Defense teacher on your level that isn't actually a disguised Death Eater, thank you very much."
"A what?" Professor Lev asked, a bit surprised.
"Followers of a wizard terrorist that made me a bit famous when he disappeared when he went to kill my parents while I survived," Harry shrugged. "People call me 'Boy-Who-Lived' and seem to think I'm superpowerful and defeated him, there are even childrens' books about me fighting dragons at six or something, while I'm pretty sure my parents must have done it."
"He is also said to have cursed the Defense subject at Hogwarts," Tonks joined it. "Pretty much no teacher lasted the whole year without an issue, and none was able to teach a second one."
"Professor Quirrel stuttered so much no one could understand his lessons and was possessed by that terrorist's wraith, Lockhart was a fraud and blew up all his memories trying to erase mine and Ron's, and Moody was a great teacher but also actually Barty Crouch Jr in disguise to trick me into a ritual to give the wraith a new body since it seems like my mom's protection made him blow the old one up and my blood would undo it," Harry listed. "Professor Lupin is the only one that was both a competent teacher and not out to kill me or erase my mind."
"I did turn into a werewolf on a night I forgot to take my Wolfsbane potion," he pointed out, but Harry quickly countered.
"Ok, so the only one not consciously out to kill me or erase my mind."
"That's a very low bar—"
"Which is kinda sad, but that's life."
"Wait, so you are a werewolf?" Professor Lev asked, sounding curious. "Fascinating. Do you mind if I mention this to some people, they would probably have questions and ask for samples."
"Magi usually specialize in a field, but for us information is our main currency," Marie clarified. "Professor Lev is aiming to make a connection between Mr. Lupin and a family with a research related to shapeshifters."
"Do you think they would help creating a cure?" Professor Lupin asked, hopeful. Harry could understand, being a known werewolf drove away not only people but job opportunities, and even in the muggle world he would have trouble with needing some days out of work every month. Plus going murderous without an expensive potion.
"Definitely not a cure, no," Professor Lev denied quickly. "They would work on making the form controllable without Wolfsbane, able to switch at will regardless of the moon, and not be infectious without being willing though. And maybe giving it options besides a wolf."
"That's… that's kinda turning it into an Animagus form, isn't it?" Sirius joined in.
"Exactly. An animagus form is, unfortunately, not only extremely rare outside wizards but even among you it is a rarity due to its level of skill and training needed to achieve it," Professor Lev confirmed. "However, if a werewolf curse could be turned into a voluntary shapeshifting skill…"
At that point, Harry felt a poke in his ribs. Looking to the side, Marie was standing up quietly and motioning for him to follow her.
He followed her just as quietly, curious, and noticed To—Dora did the same.
"They will probably keep talking about this for a while," Marie said to them after some distance. "This is my first break in… a long time, and I don't want to spend it talking shop."
The other two nodded. Made total sense, actually.
"Won't they get worried, though?" Harry asked, feeling a bit guilty.
"They probably noticed we all left together," Dora pointed out. "And… well, it was us three…"
Harry blinked at her, confused. The two women going red in the face did not help.
Dora blinked back, confused at his confusion.
"Wives," she reminded him.
"Oh," he nodded.
…
"Oh!" he repeated when the coin finally dropped, his face warming up and probably matching the others.
"Pre!" Hedwig barked as if laughing, and flew away and leaving the three alone.
…
"So…"
"I think I saw an arcade back there," Dora pointed out. "Maybe they have some of those machines with more than two players. Dibs on Cormano!"
At the lack of answer, she looked at the other and their confused looks.
"Sunset Riders?" she 'explained'.
"I know what an arcade is, but never went to one," Marie said. "Was that supposed to mean anything?"
"Only Dudley could play videogames in the Dursley house," Harry shrugged. "I think I heard the name at school though."
Dora looked at them, clearly shocked in Harry's eyes. Shocked an appalled.
Her hair even went electric blue. Clearly shocked. His mood ring hair senses said so.
…ok, so they were more "non-colorblind eyes and a smidgen of (un)common sense".
Of course, then the eyes turned red with orange bits moving, as if they were on fire. Harry was pretty sure it was a reference he had never been able to learn about.
Marie's groan kinda confirmed it.
"Well, prepare yourselves you two!" Dora declared. "We will now have a crash course about arcades and videogames!"
"I don't know…" Harry hesitated. It… sounded fun, but the most experience he ever had with either was when Dudley threw his on the roof in a fit.
"That always seemed like a waste of time to me," Marie added. Not a surprise, she did admit earlier about pushing herself to focus only on her father's work.
Dora didn't let them ruin her mood. "Don't worry, you two. I will teach you to enjoy this!"
IIIII
Dora's eyes would have been wide, had she not been having so much trouble breathing.
Harry may be small and thin, even for his age. But he was quick and nimble, with perfect reflexes.
And that reflected perfectly into his gaming skills. While beat'em ups and fighting games were more like others, as well as run and gun ones (like Metal Slug and Contra), he quickly got the hang of racing games and bullet hells. Light Gun ones he was also quick to get used to. And while he did not get any good at virtual sport games, something like air hockey was a very different thing.
But what was really surprising, and what had Dora so tired, was how good he was at DDR. She was not even sure if he got the rhythm part of a rhythm game or if he was just that good at stepping on the keys at the right timing, but only her pride kept her trying to challenge someone that was breaking the machine's score records for every song he played.
Of course, the answer to "how he got that good" was not so fun. Sure, some natural talent and quidditch training helped, but Harry himself claimed most of it came from years trying to escape his cousin's friends in a game they called "Harry Hunting".
It did not matter how much he may have been right. She just really, really wanted to break some of Privet Drive at that moment, particularly a certain family and the son's friends.
"Ungh, my legs hurt," she groaned as she stood up. "I think I'll get something to drink, you two want something?"
"Water," Olga Marie said, standing up herself.
"I'm good," Harry shrugged. Then he turned to Olga Marie, "I want to play something else, anything you want to try?"
Dora just waved as she left, making a quick visit to the restroom before going to buy her and Olga Marie's beverages.
IIIII
Harry paid half attention as his mummy stared spinning, Marie's character already being low on health from overusing his electric attack.
The feeling of being watched was gone, just as Dora left. She was clearly the target.
Which should be a good thing, she was already a trained auror and could deal with it without his help… but he had a bad feeling about this.
Then, he saw it.
It was just a flash of purple. Most people would have ignored it, or thought they were imagining things.
Most people lose sight of the golden snitch. Wood himself lost sight of it right away when he was giving Harry the basics of quiditch.
Harry did not.
Harry noticed the purple spell move fast, faster than any spell he ever saw being used before even by Riddle and his Death Eaters, and hit Dora before he could react properly.
Yet, Dora herself seemed to not have noticed, or even felt it. She just walked back to them as if nothing had happened.
Someone else could have taken it as a trick of their mind, after all it was so quick and seemed to have done nothing. But not Harry.
"Marie," he said seriously, "when Dora gets here he need to leave. Try not to draw much attention, but be careful around her until we can confirm it's safe."
He could see the amber eyes widen but she did not turn to face him, only giving him a small nod. "It is weird being called just Marie at a serious time," she mentioned.
The two's gameplay suddenly got a bit worse, but nothing tiredness could not explain. By the time Dora finished crossing the place to reach them they both got a Game Over and did not add a new coin.
"Hey guys, already bored of this one?" she joked, throwing Marie her bottled water.
"Bored with the place," Marie shrugged. "No offense, but we were thinking of trying somewhere else now." Harry just nodded, looking around.
"Sure," Dora shrugged. "What about the movies?"
"I'd like to go somewhere outside for a bit first," Harry said back. "Just a bit of open air."
Dora looked at him, a bit confused… but them recognition seemed to enter her eyes, which quickly flashed a sharp yellow. "Sure," she shrugged, "let's find a good place with less people to make some plans."
As they went their way out, though, Harry paying close attention to her, he noticed she was acting a bit… clumsier. As in, clumsier than normal – he did notice she had a hard time not tripping or dropping things, but she seemed to slowly be losing the skill of walking straight?
Not only that, her eyes seemed to be having a hard time looking forward too. She was also shivering a bit, and slowly feeling warmer to be around.
"Guys, I don't feel so good…" she finally said, before basically tripping on her own feet and almost falling to the ground had Harry not caught her.
"Shit," he cursed, "I was right."
"Right about what?" Marie asked, touching Dora's forehead. "Damn, she's burning."
"'m fine…"
"I thought I saw a flash of a spell hitting her," he explained. "I thought that since she was still acting normal it was just a tracking or suggestion one or something, something that would give us time to figure it out. Never saw a delayed curse before."
Marie thought about it for a bit. "Maybe it wasn't delayed," she said. "Was it like a purple bullet?"
"Yes," he confirmed, looking around. "I couldn't see who it was, though. Too many people. So I asked for somewhere less crowded both to tell what I saw and so we could have an easier time if someone came for us again."
She nodded. "It may have been a Gandr shot. It's a curse that lowers someone's immune system, not enough to deal any permanent damage but enough someone gets debilitating sick very quickly. And since it is basically a normal sickness, even if quicker and stronger than normal, no one can track it down to magic."
Harry nodded, cursing back in his head. "But why go for her?" he asked. "She had two beverages with her so they knew she wasn't alone. And we were plenty distracted while she was gone so if they were aiming for us as a group—"
He froze.
He never saw a Predator movie, neither heard about the Disillusionment spell or see someone under it.
Yet he still noticed how for a second a piece of his view distorted, as if someone invisible moved but there had been a delay for the invisibility to catch on and a trail was left behind for a bit.
He did not even think about how he was a minor and the troubles the action would get him into. He just drew his wand and threw a stunner.
Surprised, Marie turned to where he attacked just in time to see the camouflage distortions as whoever it was jumped out of the way, purple bullets being sent her way.
Once more Harry did not think, just acted, letting go of Dora ho he could tackle Marie out of the way.
Which seemed to be what the invisible person was aiming for, swerving to the side to avoid them and go for Dora's body—
Only to be forced to dodge, as sick or not she was a trained Auror. She may not be well enough to understand what is going on, but she was trained enough to fight even then.
She then quickly made a shield, protecting the three from some more purple bullets. "Call for—" she started.
Only for her hair to turn a sickly green and for her to vomit, dropping her shield and letting a couple more shots hit her. Her wand dropped from her fingers as her eyes closed and she fell down.
Only for once more not touch the ground, this time grabbed by the invisible person who just ran off with her.
His eyes tightening in anger, Harry turned to Marie. "Are you alright?"
"Y-yes, but—"
He knew he would be in trouble later, but Harry left right after the first word. His eyes fixed in the figure of Dora being dragged away, even as she herself became mere distortions in the air.
Two could play that game, as he draped his father's cloak on top of himself even as he ran.
IIIII
Fausto de Bragança was feeling pretty ecstatic as his research material's hair hit his face as he ran.
Said hair had been much shorter the previous day. And it could still change its color at will.
How did that work? Did that mean they were living cells, unlike most hair that is only alive at the root? Could she shrink it back if needed, or only let go of it and grow more hair? If the first, could she do so even if the hair was being held? Could she control its shape, possibly using it as extra hands? What happens if a piece of hair is cut, does it stay transformed, does it become a more natural color, can it still have it changed?
Seriously, just her having longer hair already stimulated his scientific mind.
That said, this had all been more annoying than he expected. The other two seemed to be glued together or something, only leaving her alone when she went to get something for them to drink. So he admittedly got a little impatient, throwing a Gandr Shot when she was distracted, safe in the knowledge he would not be seen thanks to his stealth-focused Mystic Code.
Only for the teenager with them to, somehow, notice the flash of the Gandr Shot and become suspicious.
Yet, in the end that had been a boon to him. Not noticing he had been using a magical camouflage, the group was out in the open and without people around. He discreetly raised a bonded field around them, making it so no one entered the barrier around them or cared for whatever happened inside. Then he slowly approached them, his aiming skills admittedly not being the best around.
Only… somehow the teenager noticed him, turning towards him and throwing a spell that he knew would have hit had he not already been reinforcing his body with magic, making himself stronger (to carry his research material to his lab) but also more agile.
Still, he was still a teenager, and from the use of a wand a wizard as well. He quickly threw some more Gandr at the Animusphere hoping she would be too sick to use her family spells, at least one known as an area attack thus being a bigger threat than someone needing to point with a stick thanks to his mystic code—
Yet, when he saw the teenager's eyes, those deep green eyes that seemed to shine with magic… his breath stopped for a second, feeling as if death itself was grasping his heart in a warning.
"Being a Magus is to walk with Death" was a saying Fausto was very used to putting in practice, many of his experiments courting his own death, yet the shiver down his spine went beyond whatever he felt before.
The teenager threw himself at the Animusphere, taking two or three Gandr while the young woman was untouched. No matter, his research material was left unguarded so he—
He dodged, the same spell the teenager had fired at him coming from said research material, before she created a protective barrier.
It would have been an annoyance had she not been so sick, the movement upsetting her stomach and giving him the final opening to knock her down for good with another Gandr and take her away.
He noticed he teenager tried following them, but Fausto did not think much of it. He just adjusted the camouflage to also cover his cargo and went into the crowd, his improved strength and reflexes allowing him to make twists and turns that would make most pursuers lose sight of him even if he was not using his mystic code.
He only bothered to check his surroundings when he was close to his workshop in Downtown Vegas, and even with some magic he found nothing. Thus satisfied, he entered. He had a research material to make worthy of its description, after all.
IIIII
Harry had to admit, it had not been an easy chase.
Whoever was the person that kidnapped Dora, he was fast. As in, faster than Harry himself. Thankfully not fast enough Harry ever lost sight of them long enough he could not find them again quickly, but still a harder chase than any of his quidditch catches.
His stomach getting queasy with his nerves did not help, either.
Yet, as whoever it was slowed down and seemed to look around before calmly entering the building, Harry slowed down himself. It probably meant this was their destination… and possibly security measures on the way in.
Still under his cloak he entered, his stomach churning with his nerves. Worry mixed with anger mixed with a bad feeling.
The sights as he entered did not help.
He swallowed the bile that threatened to escape.
Rows and rows of people tied to hospital beds with leather straps. Their limbs taken over by gangrene, their bodies cut open, their organs removed.
Some where dead. Those, Harry guessed, were the lucky ones.
Others had their organs at a table to their side… lungs still expanding, heart still beating.
A few even had their body linked to artificial organs.
On the side were cages, cages with mundane animals and magical beasts alike. Most under the same conditions as the tied-up human beings.
Harry would revisit this sight in his nightmares.
But right now, he was more worried about preventing Dora from joining them.
As he approached a bed further away, where he could see someone tying up a new person, he steeled his nerves. Ignored his trembling hands, how his lungs were having a harder time taking in air than usual, how his head ached with his heartbeat.
He had someone to save, and he would not let his nerves get in his way.
The man was reasonably young. Somewhere in the middle between Dora' age and Sirius', his face was angular and thin, very aristocratic. His long, curly hair was a lighter red than the Weasleys', almost blend, and tied in a ponytail. While hard to see from their positions, his eyes were an electric blue, pretty similar to the fake eye of Professor Moody. He was also quite tall, taller than Professor Lupin, his thin-looking body wearing clothes that seemed like he came right out of a 19th century painting, with brown pants and coat and a frilly white shirt.
He palmed his wand under the cloak. And when that man took a glass syringe towards Dora, he quickly banished it away from his hand, taking deep satisfaction at the sound of it breaking on the wall further away.
He ignored the surprise as the man turned to him and looked him in the eyes. Probably charmed eyes, they were the same color as Moody's fake eye after all and that one could see past his cloak just fine.
"Who are you?" the man asked. "What are you?"
"My name is Harry Potter," he replied. "I am the husband of the woman you just tied down, and I came to get her back."
His grip tightened.
He was ready to fight.
Especially after the answer he got.
IIIII
As he finished tying down his newest research material, Fausto opened up a drawer and got from it a glass syringe to draw blood sample with. Properly sterilized, of course.
While the place seemed like a hygienic nightmare, it was because he used magic to get those results, instead of relying on structures that blocked his sight of any relevand changes. Each bed had a boundary field around them to keep its material isolated and as medically safe as possible.
However, as he drew closer to the bed, the syringe was ripped from his hand, breaking with a loud sound on a wall.
Properly annoyed, Fausto turned to look around—
Green eyes.
Green light in the shape of eyes floated in the air, staring at his. Yet there was no body in there for them to be shining from.
Instantly he remembered the last time he saw eyes like those, the fear of them coming from somewhere primal deep inside.
The teenager.
No, it couldn't be. How would he reach his workshop? And how and why the floating eyes of light?
"Who are you?" he asked, almost choking in his words. "What are you?"
The answers were… unsatisfying.
No matter. He could cooperate, or join her new position in life.
"Harry Potter," he started to explain. "Your wife has a special skill. A natural skill. A skill that, if properly researched and reproduced, could revolutionize the world, from magical to medicinal. Such advancements are more important than your emotion-fueled votes, or even your consents for the research. Please turn around, leave, and forget all that happened here save that your wife will be helping the whole of humanity."
His eyes flashed red, from the Suggestion Mystic Eye activating. He had improved them, by a lot. He never met someone they did not work on.
"No," was the answer. "I will not. She will not. I do not care how she could help you, or how much this could help others. You will let her go."
Fausto sighed. "That's unfortunate."
A flick of his wrist. That was all that was needed to send twenty enchanted scalpels towards the eyes.
Their owner rolled away, a silvery material falling down on the ground in the process. He let himself have a split second of surprise and respect, recognizing the teenager that was clearly being affected by the Gandrs he was hit with yet was ignoring them by sheer willpower.
He palmed a scalpel, while his opponent raised his wand.
The battle was on.
IIIII
"I'm on a roll," I said in my mind, before reaching the arcade scenes and freezing to end the scene for a whole day, then deciding that was the best point for Fausto to act as no one would notice him there in the crowd… and freezing there some days more.
Thus why the ending there feels a bit rushed. To me, at least.
Hope Fausto came out as disturbed and lacking morals as I hoped, at least. I tried not putting much emphasis on his past experiments, feeling sickened myself from imagining them, but hope it wasn't a big loss.
Anyway.
Mirage is, according to my poor google-fu, the place where Siegfried and Roy, those magicians with white tigers, not only made their shows but also made a zoo, where people can meet tigers.
It is also what people believe Cirque du Requin was in the Vegas Summer Event. It is clearly based on Cirque du Soleil, which had different locations, so it is not the FGO name of the place. For example, one of its famous locations was the Luxor, the FGO Pharaoh Cassino. Its actual water-based show would be on the Bellagio, though, which in the FGO map would go unnamed between HIMEJI Survival Casino and Casino DE Rakuichi Rakuza (but again, this is all based on fan-made speculation maps on the references and google-fu).
You may notice I am being a bit too kind to a certain character that… most would think deserve all the bashing. But unfortunately I see Lev as just his own first, unnoticed victim. Thus why he is such a good guy for now, or rather still is such a good guy: it is the last traces of Lev Lainur hoping to give some last happiness to the people closest to him, before he is gone for good.
Why yes, I did give Olga Marie Ouro Kronii's squack during the hug scene. I won't give her Kronii's personality, though, I just think that squack is cute and would fit her.
No, the personality goes to Hedwig. You just know it fits her.
Hope the constant changes between Tonks and Dora, or Olga Marie and Marie, are not a problem. They are to address how each character, the one being the focus at the time, thinks of the others. As shown through Fausto, who only bothered naming them "research material", "teenager" and "the Animusphere".
While all three call Olga Marie as just Marie, Harry is the only one that thinks of her as it. Olga Marie herself had it as a nickname already, and Tonks is probably used to namesakes. Harry meanwhile… well, he did not know many people outside Hogwarts and the books are very One-Steve-Limit, the only people I remember having the same names are cases where one was named after the other like the Riddle and Crouch father-sons or the epilogue kids.
And for Dora-Tonks, Olga Marie barely met her so she has no problem changing the name in her head. Harry spent a day with her as Tonks, he just got used to one name and now is changing it to another.
Tonks herself will definitely have a hard time though. She spent years trying to be called Tonks, as it was her family name and the only one she didn't mind of the three. Now it is her maiden name, and while it could still be used if it was just a nickname, it would give a bad impression if someone's wife was always addressed by her maiden name. For a bit while the new name sinks in would be fine, but sooner or later people would take it as marriage problems.
And for anyone wondering "why is Harry so slow," I would like to remind you all that these are romance scenes, or about social interactions between romantic interests. For these, Harry is slow as molasses.
This is the guy that, later in this very book in canon:
Thought Cho asking if he would go to Hogsmead on Valentines Day while alone was about extra defense training. (she was asking him out on Valentine's Day)
On the day, did not get why she was upset when he told her they would meet Hermione later, or why she left annoyed when she did arrive mid-date and he paid more attention to her. (he was talking about meeting another girl in the middle of their date, and Cho had no reason to not think they had any romantic interest for the other (and most of the fanbase seems to still agree with her))
Before that, when she kept commenting about how another guy asked her out for the day he just wondered why she was talking about him. And when Marietta betrayed the DA and Hermione marked her face, he did not even wonder why Cho was so against Hermione's actions. (she was acting jealous… but I myself think that those "defenses" were kinda worthless. Without any warnings beforehand, didn't even stop her talking the first time. They were a punishment, not prevention)
Please remember that, regardless of how it was in later ones, in this book Harry was still into Cho and had no romantic interest in Ginny.
…Ah right, Fabro Rowan is the original name of a certain Nrvnqsr Chaos. Those who know who he is may have an idea what I have planned (kinda, his is an inferior copy after all). Those who don't… well, hope you enjoy.