Hey, Everyone! I'm back with more magick, monsters, and mayhem! As promised, Belloc will finally make an appearance this chapter, but I'm sure you all have noticed a pattern by now. It seems many of Harry's friends have been finding their own unique Destinies, haven't they? One of you even went so far as to state that Harry was basically getting jipped! Sorry if I gave that impression, I will show more of what I'm doing for Harry, but the trend will also continue this chapter. Well, at least hinted at anyway.

Chapter 17: The Holidays, pt. 4

(11:30 am, Potter Island)

The peaceful tranquility of the Caribbean island beach setting was shattered by the sound of clashing blades! Duncan, Sirius, Jean-Pierre, and Dan Granger watched as Harry sparred with Hermione on the sand. Both were wearing work-out clothes, barefoot, holding their wands ready in their left hands and wielding the Sword of Gryffindor and the Witchblade respectively right-handed.

"What do you think, Jean-Pierre?", Sirius asked an assessment from the former French auror.

"Eet is amazing", the Frenchman stated. "She 'as nevair used a weapon before, yet 'Ermione wields the Witchblade as if eet 'ad always been part of her; using skills and techniques not seen since zhe middle-ages. 'Arry, on zhe ozher 'and, is more raw and instinctive. No real training or technique, but 'e appears to be as natural with a sword as 'e is on a broom. With more training and practice, 'Arry could equal zhe great legendary D`Artagnan!"

"Well, one of the roots of our family tree is descended from Godric Gryffindor", Duncan added proudly. "And the Sword did choose him. It must have done so for a reason. NOW, FLEUR!"

Dozens of fireballs rained down onto the practice-ring, forcing the duelists to either dodge or deflect with their weapons or magic. Once done, both spun to face each other again, sword-tips at opponent's throat! Then as Fleur landed and took her normal form, Dobby *popped!* in next to the spectators, looking rather funny wearing Bermuda shorts and a butler's jacket made from the same material as a wild Hawiian shirt.

"Master Harry's Auntie says lunch is being ready to serve on the veranda."

"Ok, you two, let's break for lunch", Sirius said with a clap as the house elf popped away again. "Go wash up, and the rest of us will meet you there."

"Right", Harry agreed.

"Merlin, Harry!", Hermione said playfully holding her nose. "You stink!"

"And you have enough sand on you to smooth all four House tables in the Great Hall", he shot back with a grin, getting a laugh in return.

xXx

They had all just finished lunch when the warning bell in the tree-house began to ring a signal sequence!

"Mon Cher, we are all here, so who…?", Fleur began to ask, then felt the first faint tremor. Then another. And another, each getting stronger. "What is 'appening?!"

"You'll see, on both counts in a moment, my Love", Duncan assured her knowingly. Just then a huge, crimson draconian figure rounded the bend into the cove and strode toward the beach, waist-deep and rising. A tiny form flew from the tree-house to flit excitedly around the figure's head, who seemed to smile in amusement at it as it then streaked toward the manor.

"Ah! I see now! It was Scorch who rang zhe bell", Fleur realized as the small dragon landed on Duncan's arm and clambered up onto his shoulders. "Of course, 'e must 'ave felt zhe footstep tremors before we did."

Belloc came ashore carefully as to not "make waves" as it were. He sat back on his haunches and tail and waited. He didn't have to wait long.

"Welcome back to Potter Island, Belloc", Margaret said as she and Duncan led the others to the beach.

"Maarrrrgret", he purred affectionately. "It has been a few years since we last saw each other, and your beauty and courage have not diminished. And Duncan. You look stronger than ever! And you have taken a MATE! I am very proud of you, my Son!"

"Belloc, I present our nephew: Hadrian James Potter, Lord of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter, and Master of this Island", Margaret said, her hand on Harry's shoulder.

Harry kept a firm grip on his Gryffindor courage as he looked up…waaaay up at his kaiju uncle! "A-a p-pleasure to finally meet you, Uncle Belloc."

"*chuckle!*The pleasure is mine, Young One", Belloc replied as he leaned down to get a closer look at his nephew. "Let me look at you. You are indeed your father's son, with the fire of your mother in your eyes as well. Yes, I knew them. I mourned their loss when Margaret informed me. And….I wish I could have acted against Voldemort myself when his threat to all the magical world became clear. If I had, your parents would still be with us. However, the Human/Kaiju Treaty prohibited such action at the time. I am sorry."

"It's not your fault, Uncle", Harry said warmly. "The only one truly to blame for that night is Voldemort. And his reckoning is coming."

"Indeed, Nephew!", Belloc grinned viciously.

"Well said, Harry!", Duncan said. "Dad, may I present the Delacour Family: Jean-Pierre; the French Magical Ambassador to the British Ministry, his wife Appoline; Head of the French Office of International Magical Law Enforcement, young Gabrielle, and this stunning beauty is Fleur; my mate."

"Your Majesty", all four bowed respectfully. Belloc was, after all, King of the Kaiju.

"Your respect is appreciated, but formalities are not required as we are, after all, family now", Belloc smiled as he looked closer. "Ah, the females are Veela! I knew I sensed something of Fire about them, your mate most of all. Come, let me have a closer look at you, my dear?"

Belloc lowered his massive, clawed hand to the ground. Fleur looked nervously at Duncan while Appoline and Gabrielle hugged tightly to Jean-Pierre. Duncan nodded to Fleur with a reassuring smile and took her hand, stepping with her onto his father's hand. He lifted them up to his face-level.

"Yeeeessss, you are powerful, my dear", Belloc said approvingly. "A worthy mate, Duncan! A will to match your own and she will give you many powerful children, including a worthy heir one day."

"And zhey will all be very beautiful as well!", Fleur chimed in, her courage bolstered by Belloc's approval.

"*chuckle!*And as brave as their mother, no doubt!", Belloc added as he lowered them back down to the sand. "But who is the young one who tries to hide in the trees?"

They turned to see Dudley trembling behind some bushes. "Oh, come on out and say 'hello', Dudley!", Harry said. "If he was going to hurt us, he'd have done it already!"

With an audible gulp, Dudley stood and walked over, every step quaking and on the verge of running away in panic. This was INSANE! This was a kaiju! And not just any kaiju, but Belloc!

"Uncle, this is my muggle cousin Dudley Dursley", Harry said as Dudley stepped up beside him. Belloc leaned down to get a closer look.

"Greetings, Young One."

*THUD!*Dudley fainted and fell to the sand.

"*chuckle*Was it something I said?"

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Belloc getting to know his new in-laws and reacquainted with family and friends. He laughed wholeheartedly when he learned it was Fleur who 'claimed' Duncan first, not the other way around. He applauded Sirius for his innocence and escape from Azkaban, and his recent mating with a mermaid(he could smell it on the man), much to his flustered embarrassment and laughter of the others. As the dinner hour approached, Belloc made his farewells.

"I must go now. The burdens of being King never cease. Harry, I don't doubt that you will prevail against that so-called 'Dark Lord', as you have your family and friends beside you and you are far stronger than you yet realize. Duncan? Be strong, keep training, and protect them all, my Son."

"I will, Dad."

"Fleur, you bring joy to Duncan's heart. For that I am grateful, and I am happy to meet and welcome you and your family into my own. I ask just one thing of you, my Dear."

"Oui?"

"Keep an eye on Duncan", he smirked with a conspiratorial wink. "He tends to be reckless at times, especially when protecting those he loves."

"DAD! I DO NOT!", Duncan shouted indignantly.

"Yes you do", Belloc, Margaret, Harry, and Fleur all chorused in chuckling agreement. "*Hmmph!*", Duncan huffed, pouting, then smiled.

"Margaret, as always my heart remains with you, my Love, My Queen."

"I love you too, Belloc", she replied with a loving smile. "I'll keep you informed of any new developments in the war. Until next time."

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(2 am, Abbot Castle, eastern border of Sherwood Forest)

Hannah Abbot twitched about in her sleep, deep in a strange dream. She seemed to be galloping on horseback, while firing jinxes and hexes at practice targets at the same time with one hand, and holding a massive sword in the other. Neville was riding behind her, his left arm around her. She blushed feeling his warm torso pressed against her back as he cast too at targets to the right. But how was she guiding the horse without reins? She turned to look forward away from the targets….. Merlin's Beard! Where is the horse's head?!

She bolted upright in bed, awakened in a cold sweat! "What in Hecate's name was that?!", she asked herself in heaving breathes, then suddenly realized that her B-cup breasts had swelled to DD's, threatening to rip her nightgown!

"Bloody Hell! I'm-I'm as big as Susan! Or bigger! What's happening to me?!"

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(Potter Island, 10 am)

The next day after breakfast, Dudley was shooting soda cans off a log with a BB gun styled after the Winchester Wild West repeating rifle, and had yet to miss even once. It seems he has a talent for sharpshooting. He was gathering up the fallen cans to set up again when….

"Nice shooting", Harry said, impressed. "Let me help you with those. Wingardium Leviosa."

The cans floated out of Dudley's arms, over to the log, and set themselves up neatly. Impressed, Dudley turned back to his cousin.

"Uh, thanks", he said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. "It seems all those first-person shooter games I played I learned a thing or two."

"Looks that way", Harry replied. "May I join you? I could use the practice."

"Sure, I guess", Dudley said, walking back over to join Harry at his shooting position. They shot all the cans off the log several times between the BB gun and flipendo spells in silence, Harry re-setting them each time with magick.

"H-Harry? I'm….I'm really sorry for how I treated you all these years", Dudley said finally. "We were so cruel to you in so many ways. I wouldn't have blamed you if you'd left me to die in that tunnel after everything I did. But you saved my life, at risk to your own. My parents were wrong; you're not a waste of space."

"Um, thanks, Dudley", Harry replied awkwardly at this unexpected admission from his cousin. "And for what its' worth, despite everything they did to me, they didn't deserve to die; especially not so….horribly."

Dudley nodded in thanks as he shook Harry's hand. Then he jumped, startled when Dobby appeared with a *POP!*

"Great Master Harry Potter, your Lady Aunty calls you and Dud cousin for lunch."

"Thank you, Dobby. We'll be right there. And it's just 'Harry', ok?", Harry chuckled, reminding the excitable house elf again.

"Dobby tries to remember that, but keeps remembering how great Master Harry Potter is instead", he replied sheepishly.

"I'm sure you'll remember sooner or later. And my cousin's name is 'Dudley', all right? Off you go."

"Bloody Hell, I'll never get used to that", Dudley said after Dobby *popped* away.

xXx

"Mmmmm! Exquis delicieuce, Mon Amor!", Fleur gushed over a steaming bowl of Duncan's seafood, chicken, and sausage gumbo. Her mother and sister enjoyed the spicy dish as well, but other than them, only Harry could stand the heat.

"Oui! Tre`s bon!", Appoline added, swirling some bread in her bowl. "To think such magnifique flavors were born from the mixing zhe colonial French, American, and Native cultures of Louisiana! Tre`s bon!"

"You are too kind, my ladies!", Duncan bowed as everyone enjoyed the lunch spread. Along with the gumbo was tropical fruit salad, chicken salad sandwiches plus various chips and crunchy vegetables. "I do confess I make my gumbo—and my chili for that matter—with Caribbean Quetzlquatl chili peppers; the hottest in the world. I grow them myself here on the Island. *chuckle!*They keep all the animals out of the veggie gardens and cultivated fruits."

"Aw jeez! How many people did you almost kill with those things this time, Bro?", a voice called out from the direction of the beach.

"KENNY!", Duncan exclaimed, seeing the familiar figure of his no-maj foster brother and rushed over to hug him, as did Margaret. "And I warned everyone just like I warned you! It's your own fault if you didn't listen to me! How ya doin'? I thought you were on assignment for the holidays?"

"I was", Kenny began soberly, "but…"

"We got an emergency call from the American Office of International Magical Law Enforcement", the dark-haired middle-aged man with Kenny said. "We were recalled immediately to contact you, since you've got floo, owl-post, and direct travel here restricted to family and invited guests."

"Harry Dresden", Margaret said, identifying the man for the others. "Magical Private Investigator and freelance agent for the American DMLE; also Kenny's mentor."

"This had better not be about me putting Mai in her place last time, Uncle Harry", Duncan huffed. "She was way outta line and needed to be taken down a few pegs. We're on vacation here."

"I wish it was that simple, Duncan", Dresden replied solemnly. "But we were the only way to get a message to all of you from Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore?", Hermione asked as Harry tensed beside her.

"What's happened?", Margaret asked.

"He said to tell you that someone named 'Hagrid' was attacked", Kenny said, getting shocked gasps from many present. "He's in the hospital wing at Hogwarts, and it doesn't look good. The healer says he might not survive."

xxXXxx

Author's notes: WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO HAGRID?! He's half-giant! What could almost kill HIM?! Find out next chapter! There's gonna be HELL to pay! LOL!

Anyone who can guess what I'm hinting at with Hannah Abbot gets a cyber kaiju cookie and can ask a spoiler question in a PM!

I also hid an small Easter Egg, if any of you can find it. LOL!

Caribbean Quetzlquatl chili peppers are my own made thing for the story. I LOVE hot & spicy food, I even mix my own hot sauce, so I had to create a pepper that was hotter than any in the real world for Duncan and decided to name it after the "Feathered Serpent" God of the Central/South Americas who resembles a dragon!

Long reviews and suggestions are always welcome! Flames will be used to bake meat-lovers pizza with pineapple.

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