Harry Potter and the Horseman of Olympus

Disclaimer/Plot/Challenge Information/Author's Note: SEE FIRST CHAPTER

Recommended Reads: Harry Potter, Squatter by Enterprise1701-d, Harry Potter: The Prince of Underworld by Anguis Vasalias, The Son of Storms by PerseusPeverell092, Apex, Silver King and Trickshot by JustBored21, The Young Lord by SlytherinDarkHarry, Broken Shackles by Black Infinity 1289, Harry Potter, Dark Legacy by The Fallen One 2012, The Necromancer by MaeglinYedi, Worthy of Magic by Raul Fictitious, Blood Crest by Cauchy, Kill me if you can by PercyPendragon3 and The Prince Of Darkness by Writing Shop 12

Key Pairing: Dark Lunar Harmony

Other Pairings: To be determined

Normal Speech

'Thoughts'

'Mental/Divine Speech'

/Parseltongue/

'Now that Harry's seals are starting to break, it won't be long before others learn of him being who he really is…and then, inevitably, a whole new class of War will begin…and not one I am willing to let end in that young warrior's death, no matter what the Mortal Zeus might want to happen!'

Again, his eyes flashed blood-red, while his hands burned with a hint of electrical energy as he clenched them tightly.

Chapter 2: The Eve of War

After the strange events that followed the arrival of the Dementor, Hermione seemed all-too-eager, if not willing to do anything she could to try and keep Harry from showing any more of his newly-discovered cold demeanour against Ronald Weasley.

As for the redhead, he seemed all-too-eager to blank Harry out completely, not that Harry seemed too bothered by that reaction, nor the fact that the redhead thought Harry was going to just up and apologise or demand to let Ron in again.

Instead, Harry, silently thanking Hermione for her support, stretched out as tall and as long as his body could go before, smacking his lips, he hummed softly as he rubbed his belly, when it suddenly let out a demanding rumble, "Damn: I hope we get there soon. I'm so hungry, I could eat a Thunderbird…hmm…deep-fried and extra-crispy…and I really hope there's more chocolate, or perhaps treacle tart…nice and sticky too…"

Another rumble followed his words, earning a scoff from Harry as he looked to Ron once, "Wow, you really are a bottomless pit, aren't you, Ronald? It's bad enough I had to waste my chocolate on you; now you cut in on my daydreaming too?"

Ron just glowered, while Harry rolled his eyes, "You know, if the wind changes, your face is going to stick: that's not a bad thing, mind. At least now, you'll stop pretending to be someone you're not."

"Harry?"

"Yes, Hermione?" asked Harry, looking away from the redhead, while he also saw Hermione looking at him with a familiar, mildly-scolding air about her, earning a sigh from Harry as he nodded, "All right; I'll stop teasing him if you want me to, Hermione…for now, anyway…but, seriously: are we there yet? I'm starving!"

"We'll be another few minutes yet," said Remus Lupin, suddenly appearing at the door to the slowly-fracturing trio's compartment, his eyes shining with mirth and amusement as he tossed Harry a whole, full-sized chocolate bar. "In the meantime, you can snack on that, Harry; I had a couple of bars left over."

"Thanks, Prof…err…Remus," said Harry, taking a large bite out of the bar, not even bothering to break it down, before, noticing a familiar greedy air in the redhead's eyes, Harry scoffed again. "Fine! Since we both know you'll probably drown us in your spit, Dudley Weasley, here! At any rate, it'll keep you quiet until we get to school…what about you, Mione? Want another bit?"

"Err…n-no," said Hermione, though she couldn't stop a blush rising up her cheeks at Harry's use of a nickname aimed at her.

One that, for once in her life, wasn't intended to upset or harm her, like so many bullies had done.

Horseman

"FIRS' YEARS! THIS WAY, PLEASE!"

"Ahh, now I know I'm home," laughed Harry, offering a friendly wave to Hagrid as he disembarked from the train.

"All righ', you three?" asked Hagrid, returning the wave.

Harry, meanwhile, made his way towards the carriages; as he did so, however, Hermione – who was, once again, keeping distance between an apparently-better Harry and a still-glowering, hateful-looking Ronald – saw him stop dead in his tracks, a look of abject awe and wonder crossing his face as he stared straight ahead.

"Oh…my…Gods!" gasped Harry, a note of wonder and amazement flooding his words as he asked, "What…what in Magic's name is…is that…that beautiful creature standing in front of the carriage?"

"What do you mean, Harry?" asked Hermione, watching as Harry moved away from her and the now-sceptical-looking Ronald, both of whom could only stare in disbelief – and, in Ron's case, apparent smugness, as though Harry seeing things was something that he liked – as their friend moved towards the front of the carriage. Once there, Harry lifted his hand before he began stroking at apparently-empty air, earning another curious look from Harry; the look only increased when she saw Harry's hair being buffeted by an unknown gust of air, before even Ron gasped when part of Harry's hair seemed to vanish, earning a low laugh from the emerald-eyed scion as he continued petting at what seemed to be nothingness.

"All…all right…hey! Stop it, already: that tickles!" laughed Harry, now pushing at empty air before he smiled as he held his free hand up.

To Ron and Hermione's bewilderment, Harry seemed to be inspecting something in his free hand, while the hand that had pushed at empty air was, once again, petting that same nothingness, while Harry added, "I…I see…thank you…no, I don't find it weird; I mean, last year, I heard one voice and now…well…"

"He can talk to them!"

Suddenly, Ron and Hermione jumped, while Harry turned his head away from the front of the carriage, just in time to see an awestruck-looking girl standing next to his best friend.

She was a silvery-blonde-haired girl whom was wearing a Ravenclaw robe, although she also seemed to be wearing nothing on her feet, as was evident by the pale, dirt-riddled flesh poking out beneath the hem of her robe. Around her neck, the blonde girl wore a necklace that seemed to be made from Butterbeer corks while, as she saw Harry looking at her, the girl smiled before she curtsied to him respectfully.

"Oh great!" scoffed Ronald, moving away from Hermione, if only so he could climb onto the carriage, "As if Harry going psycho wasn't enough, now we have to deal with you as well, Loony…hey!"

Suddenly, Harry laughed, as did the blonde girl, while Hermione managed a weak smile – if only because of how funny it was to watch – when Ron fell off the back end of the carriage, landing in a puddle of mud underneath.

His already-discoloured, outdated robes looked even worse off while, as Harry moved around the carriage, he stopped next to the blonde, eyeing her curiously, but with a glimmer of amusement in his expression as he spoke to her, "Sorry about him, Miss…he's a bit of an acquired taste."

"Oh, trust me, I know, Harry Potter," said the girl, extending a hand to Harry as she told him, "I've known him practically my entire life and I still can't fully-acquire the taste; if anything, he makes me want to blow chunks."

"And is that before, during, or after he eats you out of house and home, Miss…?" asked Harry, pausing to kiss the back of the girl's hand before, looking back to her, he added, "Sorry, I didn't get your name."

"Well, duh! That's cause I didn't give it, silly Harry," laughed the blonde, earning a dumbfounded look from Hermione, though it was mostly because of how Harry seemed to take her remark with a pinch of salt, while the girl again dipped her head in a curtsey of respect as she added, "My name's Luna Lovegood and, not to be too forward here, Silly Harry, but…I hope we can be friends."

"I hope we can be more," retorted Harry, earning a blanched look from Hermione, while Luna shrugged.

"Sorry, dear heart…something tells me I'm not quite your type…my hair's the wrong colour for one."

Harry just laughed before, holding out his arm to Luna, he asked, "Well, can I at least escort my new friend, Luna Lovegood, onto the carriage, so we can get to school?"

"I'd be honoured," said Luna, patting Harry's hand as she looped her arm through his, before she added, "Hungry…I hope there's pudding…"

"Well, if not, I can always sic another monster loose on the school."

Luna's musical laughter followed them all the way to Hogwarts.

As did the disgusted, disbelieving look that Ronald never stopped giving Harry, while Hermione was surprised, but also relieved.

Maybe Harry wasn't quite so closed-off and callous as she'd feared back on the train…

Horseman

"Potter? Granger?"

"Well, be honest: who saw this coming?" asked Harry coolly, earning an uneasy look from Hermione as they disembarked from the carriages, only to be received by a nervous, if not alert-looking Professor Minerva McGonagall. "Ah well: last year, it was the Grease Pole. This year, it's the Useless Article: is that a step-up? I can't tell."

"I…I beg your pardon, Potter?" asked McGonagall, earning a scoff from Harry.

"You heard me, Professor…and, to be honest, I'm not bothered what it is you want: it's late, I'm really hungry and, unless you're here to offer me the answers nobody else seems to want to give me, I don't know and I don't care what you have to say. It can wait one night at least; come on, Hermione…Luna? You can come too…I know you're an Eagle, but…well…I do have this thing for breaking rules and making up my own, so you can join me and Mione at the Gryffindor Table if you like."

"What about me?" asked Ronald, earning a scoff from Harry.

"You know where the Great Hall is, don't you, Ronald? Hint: follow the black hole inside of you…"

"Potter!"

"What?" asked Harry hotly, the roar of which seemed to be accompanied by an eerie chill, the feeling of which made Hermione think of the Dementors – two of which they'd passed between on their way to Hogwarts – while his voice grew a little darker as he asked, "What excuse could you possibly have to convince me to do as you say, McGonagall? In case your old age has caused you to have Dementia, let me remind you that I once tried to give you a helpful hint and the truth before…but did you listen? No, so, why, exactly, should I listen to you now? Answer: I shouldn't."

"This has come straight from Headmaster Dumbledore…"

"Oh, why didn't you say so?" asked Harry, brushing a lock of his hair away from his eyes as he smiled at Minerva. "Well, in that case, you can take my no answer, tear it up, throw it in the bin and then, you can consider my answer…hell no!"

"What?"

"And as for whatever you want with Hermione," said Harry, taking Hermione's hand rather-forcefully – and with such strength and determination that, even before she had a chance to do otherwise, the brunette found herself accepting that Harry wanted her to stay by his side – before he looked back to McGonagall with a cold, warning glare.

"I'm sure I don't need to remind the noble Head of Gryffindor about how we learned the hard way, just shy of six months ago, what happens when someone lets her go off on her own. And, since you and your boss have a thing for Secrets, capital S, and keeping them until it suits you, I'm saying it again: hell no! Now, either step aside, you old hairball with fleas, or give me the new password so I can piss off to bed!"

That was perhaps the first time ever that Minerva McGonagall actually wanted to strike at a student.

And yet, when she looked into Harry's eyes, seeing unrelenting fire and determination, as well as a cold air of challenge, her rage faded away.

And all she felt in its place was a cool air of fear, dread and intimidation, all of which made her back down for the first time in a long time as she nodded once. "Very…very well, Potter…but you will accompany Miss Granger to my office first thing in the morning where, if it will placate you, you may wait for her to leave the office tomorrow…"

"That's fine," said Harry, brushing a lock of his hair away from his eyes again as he added, "I want to have a little chat about my lessons, anyway, and something tells me it's one of the reasons you want Hermione there, so…win-win."

As he led his girls away from the irate-looking Head of Gryffindor, however, Harry scoffed when he heard McGonagall call after him;

"However, you will also serve a detention with Professor Snape tomorrow night for being cheeky and disrespectful to a teacher!"

"Better get used to it, Pussy," drawled Harry.

"What was that?" demanded McGonagall.

"I said," replied Harry, turning his head to face McGonagall before he put on a scarily-sweet, innocent – and not – smile before he spoke again.

"You might want to get used to me wasting my nights anywhere, but in the company of the Grease Pole, Minerva: you see, I neither know nor care what excuses you lot have. I flat-out refuse to attend any detentions with him, for as long as I remain at Hogwarts and, for some really weird reason, I have a feeling that's the whole five years ahead, so…bye!"

Minerva McGonagall really wanted to break a long-term promise and actually hit a student, punishing them for their insubordination.

However, as soon as the urge crossed her mind, it was replaced by mind-numbing fear and dread.

The source of which she couldn't even begin to identify…

Horseman

'Good! Even in my limited form, my Aura still holds power over these weak humans.'

Smiling in approval at his discovery, Remus turned on his heel, moving away from where he'd been watching as Harry not only stood up for his own beliefs, but made it abundantly clear that, in this feckless game of chess between the mortals, the boy was no pawn, nor a mere rook and castle.

He was the Black King on this board and, as such, he wasn't the one you moved.

He moved you instead.

And the fire in him, the cold edge, the determination and steely, borderline sociopathic demeanour?

'Ah, my old friend,' thought Remus, his eyes briefly flashing red as he chuckled to himself, while he made his way into the Great Hall.

'If only you could see him more-clearly…you would be so proud of your Son.'

Chapter 2 and, wow, talk about an ominous change in the air: Harry seems to be normal, unless you're someone he refuses to trust: what could be wrong with him? Is anything even wrong or is it just the fickle minds of mortals trying to make sense of it all?

Also, who could 'Remus' be referring to and what could he mean referring to Harry as their Son, whoever they are?

Keep Reading to Find Out

Next Chapter: After a rocky start, Harry makes a request that, surprise-surprise, gets cut off by someone who just can't learn to leave well enough alone: well, fine: Harry's got more than a few aces up his sleeve, all with razor-sharp edges waiting to cut his enemies' throats;

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