"You ready to go, pup?" Sirius asked, leaning against Harry's doorframe, watching as his godson tossed a Pokeball in the air with one hand and catching it with another. It would have been mildly interesting enough, though not that impressive, except Harry had a blindfold on. He was doing better than when he'd started that summer; Remus and him had treated Harry for two black eyes and had to take him to a doctor once when he'd broken his nose against a nasty miss. Thankfully the doctor had been able to heal him up fast with no signs of it being broken. It still amazed Sirius how advanced medicine had gotten, for he could remember back when he'd been Harry's age when Peter had gotten hit in the face by a tree branch and his nose had gotten broken. His friend had ended up with the slight bump that was common with those injures and it had been tender for a week even with Peter able to merge with his Ratatta and get healed up with potions.
The Lord of Sevii shook his head. He was wool gathering worse than a Wooloo.
'And why shouldn't I?' Sirius thought to himself. As much as he hated to admit it, as much as he wanted to pretend that he was going to be forever young and spritely and puckish… he was beginning, at long last, to feel maturity sitting him right in the chest. No, worse than that… he was feeling old. He was the guardian of a child… a teenager. A moody teenager who was about as grumpy as James had gotten when he was Harry's age and been brooding over Lily not noticing him. He was trying to be an active member of society, was taking over the family gym he'd never wanted a part of…
He'd checked the mirror just that day to confirm there were no gray hairs or wrinkles and had been thankful to find neither but still he felt just so old. He kept having nightmares that he'd look at his reflection and see a man nearing fifty instead of being barely in his mid thirties. Hell, Severus already looked to be nearing the age where he could collect a pension and they were the same age! That just went to show what being around kids could do to a man! And Sirius only had to deal with one!
'My respect for Severus keeps increasing… and I will NEVER let him know that.' Yeah, they were friendly with each other now… but that didn't mean the two weren't rivals.
Gathering wool again. Sirius sighed.
"Hey Harry," he called out again, this time a bit louder. Harry didn't catch the Pokeball that time but it at least only struck his mattress instead of him. "Sorry."
"It's okay," Harry said, pulling off his blindfold. He'd explained that Dumbledore had told him to do the exercise, to develop his aura sensing powers. The Pokeball was Bulma's and Togekisses gave off low levels of Aura. It would have worked better with a Lucario but without one Harry made due. "What's up?"
"Remus was thinking we could go get your school supplies. Maybe get lunch?" Sirius braced himself for Harry to tell him he'd do it himself, that he could manage on his own, that he didn't want to be seen with them. Sirius remembered when James had done that their 6th year; Sirius had been living with the Potters at that point and personally dope slapped his friend before Euphemia could truly register what her son had said. Sirius had made it clear that he WANTED the Potters to come with him when he got his supplies, though that might have been because Euphemia and Fleamont were the first people to actually show him what a parent's love was like and Sirius was greedy and wanted as much as he could-
"Yeah, that sounds good," Harry said, getting up and rummaging around in his closet for a nicer shirt. "Beat the last minute rush. I honestly don't know how the Weasleys can stand it."
"Probably looking for sales, honestly. Things get cheaper if you wait till the day before hand. Everyone knows that."
Harry frowned as he selected a black t-shirt with the Sex Pistols logo on it; a gift from Sirius, of course, as Remus thought even having Harry WEAR something that mentioned 'sex' was a bridge too far. Sirius didn't have the heart to remind Remus that Harry was (had?) debated a blonde bombshell whose parents were open about sex being important in a relationship. "If everyone knows that then why do they do it?" He asked. "The shops, I mean. If I were running a shop I'd make that the day I had no sales, because if everyone knows something is true and they wait till that last moment then they are going to be desperate already and will pay whatever I say they must."
"…I'm not sure if I like you being so devious," Sirius admitted as Harry yanked off the old shirt he was wearing and grabbed a bottle of cologne. He couldn't help but look down at his own body and give his stomach a little wiggle with his hands; he needed to get back in shape. It simply wouldn't do that his godson was fit and trim and he was going to seed. Remus had told him that the first year he'd had Harry the boy had been a scrawny, sad little thing. Now he looked like a star athlete. Of course Harry hadn't done it all on his own; the Arts had assisted. Oh, Harry worked out often, that was one thing despite his falling out with The Pack that he kept up on, but the Arts had helped tone his form even more. Merging with Pokemon both via Speaking and Magnus had given him the metabolism of Leon and Vegeta (who Harry had chosen to gain greater strength though it did mean the Dragon had to wear a mobile teleporter since he couldn't go in a Pokeball anymore and thus Remus and Sirius would be dealing with the arrogant fighter all school year), and the ability to develop muscle quickly like Hedwig. The dynamaxing he'd gone through the previous spring had also helped, giving him perfect vision and enhancing his body to its peak. In comparison the last exercise Sirius had done had been cheeseburger curls and jerking off; with one the weight went up with each rep and the other…
Sirius groaned, rubbing his hands over his face. He needed a woman… badly. He hadn't been with anyone since Sevii. Since he'd learned that Harry was alive and that his traitorous brother had bribed the warden to lie and imprison him. It wasn't for a lack of trying, of course; Sirius had been on plenty of dates and had managed to maintain his swagger-and-smirk playboy persona. But he was getting old, lack of gray hairs beside the point. He was getting old and he was no longer interested in casual flings. He wanted what James had had with Lily. What Diantha had with Cynthia. What Jack had with Clair.
'Don't think about them,' he thought to himself quickly, banishing the memory of that dark night when he'd been at his utter lowest since gaining his freedom and how the Father of Johto and his queen had made him feel again.
The fact remained though that Sirius wanted a connection. Wanted something special. And without it all he had were his hands-
"Please, stop thinking about whatever you are thinking about," Harry complained.
"What?" Sirius said, breaking out of his thoughts.
"Stop thinking about sex."
"How did you know I was thinking about sex?"
"Because I've seen you when you disappear into the bathroom and you have the same look on your face now that you do then." The teen screwed up his face in disgust. "Its almost as bad as imagining Remus doing that."
"Doing what?" Remus asked.
"Having sex," Sirius replied.
The smartest of the Marauders frowned at that. "Why exactly is Sirius having sex less scarring than me?"
"Because its expected for him to disgust me," Harry pointed out as he put his shoes on. "He's the filthy minded guardian and you are the clean and decent one."
"Well, I am clean because I actually shower-"
"I shower!" Sirius protested.
Remus rolled his eyes. "Licking your balls as Padfoot doesn't count!"
Harry gave a full body shudder. "Please, just stop." He shut his eyes and shook his head as if he were trying to banish the image of Sirius… doing that… from his brain. "So, what do you guys suggest in terms of stores?"
"You need new clothing," Remus said, giving Harry a once over. "You had another growth spurt and while you've been getting away with shorts none of your jeans fit. You'll need an entirely new wardrobe." It was only a touch offputting that the little baby Remus had once held in his arms and rocked to sleep while Lily and James were fighting about the merits of buying Baby's First Poker Set (and more frightening was LILY had been the one pushing to buy it) was now able to look him dead in the eye and had muscles that made Remus feel like he was on a beach and Harry was about to kick sand in his face.
"I guess so," Harry said, tugging on the far too-tight shirt he was wearing. "And we might as well go with full VR glasses since I don't need my regular ones anymore." Another gift from the Dnyamaxing had been repairing his eyesight, allowing Harry to see perfectly without his glasses. Remus had been glad for that, for both he and Sirius had too many memories of James' glasses getting knocked off during a Pokemon Battle and that causing a lot of problems.
"You got your list?" Remus asked as they left his room, causing Harry to quickly dart back to his desk. One of the benefits of being able to talk to one's Pokemon, actually talk with them and understand them, was that Harry could find out exactly what they wanted and be able to provide it for them. Food, clothing, toys to entertain themselves with, things that would help with maintaining their health… Remus and Sirius had gotten Harry to begin talking to their Pokemon too, so that they could better provide for them. They could join with Mooney and Padfoot but that only gave them vague ideas. Not like with Harry.
"What do we got?" Sirius asked, pulling out his own list when Padfoot skittered over to him and barked, Mooney joining them as a more leasurely pace while Leon and Hedwig had already headed outside. For Vegeta, due to his size, it had been decided after Harry as done the Long Talk with him (and thus destroyed his Pokeball) to provide him with a teleporter that was linked to Harry's artificial hand; getting that taken care of had cost them a week during the summer but had been well worth it and now Hedwig and Leon also had the devices and Harry was considering them for all his Pokemon. They could stay at the house even while he was at school, able to train as much as they wanted, and be brought into a battle with a mere flick of Harry's wrist. Vegeta would be staying behind to guard the house, both for his pleasure and the safety of all the 'fools' that might get in his way.
"Bulma apparently suggested getting some of those drones, the small ones that kids play with, and using them as target practice for Vegeta. Make it that he has to hit a target they are lifting below them but he can't destroy the drone; he destroys it and he has to find a way to pay me back. I think that might work."
"Good idea," Remus admitted. "Will help him learn how to fight fast targets that can move in three dimensions."
"Everyone else has the basic resupplying." In other words Dobby was happy just serving Harry, Ludwig wanted more cleaning supplies, Orion and Firebolt wanted things that would clash with the other's items, and Zygarde was happy just to sleep in a sun patch. "Sid though was wondering if we could get him a radio or something. He wants to listen to some classic rock."
"Should be easy enough to find something like that," Sirius stated. "Want to keep him happy."
"He also asked for, and I quote, 'Big Lopunny Booties Monthly' but I don't think that is real."
As odd as it would have sounded to an outsider Harry and his guardians were leaning towards Sid being the next Pokemon Harry made his Magnus partner. Normally he would be limited to a single Pokemon and one that could still evolve but Harry had a theory that, due to the Dynamax energy he'd absorbed that had altered his growth, he could merge with Sid and unlock his Gigantimax form only on a smaller scale. Another bonus would be, if Remus' theory was right, that Harry would become immune to all poisons. That would certainly be a benefit to the young man and something he truly wanted.
That settled the family of three gathered as Harry sent out Dobby and had him teleport them to Galahad.
~MC~MC~MC~
"This feels like a lot of books," Harry said as they walked through The Wandering Pen, one of several bookstores in Avalon that Hogwarts had selected to be their official course-work suppliers. It was one of two in Galahad, the largest being Flourish and Blots, but Harry had made clear he would never step foot in there again and it took all of his power not to flip the building off if he spotted it out of the corner of his eye. Having to see the owner smiling as you held your cauterized stump was more than enough to turn Harry off shopping there; the owner, Reggie Blot, had tried to claim the year before that Harry had been mistaken, that he hadn't been in the graveyard that night, but Harry had merely informed the man that if he stepped foot into his store it would be to burn it to the ground.
It wasn't an idle threat. He didn't know when but one day he would burn that damn bookstore to the ground. Perhaps he'd even like Mr. Blot out before he did so.
"Not to me," Remus said as Harry pushed the small wheeled shopping bin, his own hand basket filled with books he was looking forward to reading. While Remus no longer worked as a gym evaluator, refusing to do business with the Ministry, nearly everyone in Avalon knew how good he was at his job and was willing to pay high fees to have him come in and do Pre-Inspection Inspections. It might have been seen as a waste of money if the Ministry hadn't decided in recent years to raise the fees to the point that paying Remus a month's salary for a single day of work was actually seen as an amazing deal. Especially with Remus more than willing to come on short notice if a surprise inspection was made and point out all the mistakes the official inspector was making all in the name of lining the Ministry's coffers. It seemed that putting on the Grand Trainer Tournament as well as the fallout from the spring before and the clear evidence that Voldemort and Nocturne had returned had left the Ministry desperate for cash. Madame Bones in particular had made it clear that either they gave her more than enough to run her department or she'd walk; no one wanted to be hunting for a new Elite 4 member during a crisis of this scale and thus money needed to be found.
The end result was that Remus 1) had a bursting bank account for doing a quarter of his normal work and 2) more free time on his hands due to said quarter of work.
"Yeah but you're weird," Sirius said, looking out the store's main window longingly at the joke shop that sat across the street.
"I'm honestly shocked Hogwarts still goes for physical books these days," Harry said as he grabbed the new Pokeball Making textbook and put it in his cart, forcing himself not to wince at the reminder that Flitwick was gone.
"All depends on the teacher," Remus said. "Some see the benefit of all digital… it's cheaper and you can have students do more reading without having to deal with complaints about cost and heavy bags. Others feel that you lose out if you don't have a book in your hand."
"Also notes," Sirius said. "If I thought he'd give it to you I'd suggest begging Snape for his 6th Year Potions textbook. He wrote a ton of notes in that."
"We have Lily's," Remus pointed out.
"Not the same. Lily was good at potions but her true love was Pokeball making." While having to get a new text book for the year Harry was also going to be using the textbook his mother had used for her finally years at Hogwarts for the class, purely as reference. Within was his mother's spidery handwriting, detailing all the tricks she had come up with to improve the process of making a better Pokeball. "Snape is a prodigy."
"It's going to be weird having him not teach this year," Harry said as they moved on to search for the books listed for the Tracking class.
"Dumbledore needed Severus to serve as deputy and honestly I'm surprised that Minerva managed to do all her duties and not go insane; Snape is better suited handling the running of the school anyway." He shook his head. "It's a major shakeup, what with Prof. Slate shifting to Pokemon Care," Remus stated. That had been a massive surprise for them all, that Dumbledore had been able to keep Prof. Slate on staff, with the man taking over as the Head of Ravenclaw to replace Flitwick. But the Curse of Battle Class continued on as Prof. Slate had asked to switch to McGonagell's classes, as he felt that was a better fit for him. He was mum about who was taking over Pokeball making but Harry did learn that professor was 1) young and 2) going to be the new head of Hufflepuff. For Battle he'd gotten some professor from Alola, Prof. Korak, who would be Harry's new Head of House; also from Alola was a Prof. Kawa who would be teaching Tracking. BINNIS had been turned back on and Harry was ready for a snooze-fest in that class. In the end Dumbledore had managed to convince Remus and Sirius' old Potions Professor to return and take back over as head of Slytherin.
"What is Slughorn like, anyway?"
Sirius smirked. "The exact opposite of Snape." Harry glanced at him and Sirius shrugged. "Outgoing, personable… a bit intense and you get the sense he cares more about what you'll be doing outside of Hogwarts, and what favors he can get from you, than how you are doing at the moment. But the man does know his stuff and is far more willing to work with people that Snape is."
"That's going to be real odd," Harry muttered. "I'm used to Snape's methods in potions."
"Well, just stick with what you know and how to do it and Sluggy will be happy with that," Sirius stated.
"Well," Remus said, cutting off further conversation and gesturing towards a TV that was playing in the café. "Would you look at that!"
Harry glanced up from the book he had been glancing at (a book by a Prof. Beech that discussed the eternal debate if certain Pokémon, such as Magnemite and Vanilish, came first and then items were made based on them of if it was the other way around and they evolved to mimic human-made objects) to see a breaking news story showing Fudge walking out of the Ministry, trying to hide his face with his hat, private security officers hustling him along.
"What is going on?" Harry asked; even with his improved vision the TV was too far away for him to read what the scroller was saying.
"Fudgey is out," Sirius cackled.
"Seriously?" Harry asked, surprised.
Remus looked at him, an eyebrow raised in disbelief. "How have you not been following this?"
Harry just shook his head. "I honestly haven't been in the mood to listen to the news."
"And why is that?"
"Because I'm trying to follow Dumbledore's advise to tap into my inner aura and I can only do that if I am at peace. Listening to Fudge lie through his teeth and ramble on like a crazy man doesn't help me do that at all. In makes me want to throw my shoe at the TV."
"And as someone who uses that TV for porn I thank you for not hurting it," Sirius said with a smirk.
"But Fudge is seriously out?" Harry asked.
Remus nodded. "He didn't have much of a choice, after everything came to a head. Nocturne invaded the Ministry, Hogwarts teachers dead," Harry winced at that but Remus merely continued on, either not noticing or choosing to not address it, "the Elite 4 chambers half destroyed… that alone resulted in a No Confidence Vote being triggered and with Nocturne now out in the open there was nothing he could do."
"And someone might have released to the media a ton of information concerning Umbridge…" Sirius half sang.
Harry found himself smirking at that. 'Thank you Ginny,' he thought. He supposed that it was rather cruel to ruin the life of a woman who was now in a non-disclosed hospital's medical wing, unable to string together enough braincells to realize she needed to close her mouth before she drooled all over her shirt. And he supposed it was even more cruel to not reveal to the doctors that she didn't actually have brain damage but instead had been locked into a mental cycle of relieving her most terrible moments thanks to the combined efforts of a pissed off psychic and a cruel Veela.
…then Harry shrugged that off because honestly if it were up to him she'd have just had her throat slit and this was so much better.
"Any idea who the next Minister of Avalon will be?" Harry asked as the news switched back to some Pokemon tournament in Galar. Apparently the champion, Leon, was taking on some rookie.
"No idea," Sirius stated. "Could be anyone."
"Not anyone," Remus said.
"Yes, anyone," Sirius argued with a smirk.
"No, not anyone. Stop trying to fill Harry's head with falsehoods."
"It is my job as part of the older generation to slow down the newer one as much as I can. That's why I de-alphabatized the books in the kid's section."
"…that was what you were doing?" Harry asked. "I thought you got lost looking for the bathroom!"
Remus merely rolled his eyes before speaking up, "As for who could be Minister it can't be anyone. The Gym Leaders and Elite 4 are out, since they are the ones that select."
"How does that work?" Harry asked.
"Normally there would be an election. Anyone can run so long as they get an endorsement from one of the Gym Leaders or from a major group like the Josephs. Sometimes there have been 20 candidates for Minister. That has been years though. With Fudge I think there were only two and he was the best pick."
Harry's brow furrowed at that. "Did his opponent eat his own shit or something?"
"Language!" Remus scolded. Harry mumbled an apology and Remus finally continued. "But since Fudge lost the No Confidence Vote then there will need to be a special election held to replace him. And that doesn't involve the public."
"Why not?" Harry asked.
Sirius chimed in. "Fear that Voldemort killed him and is trying to force in his own candidate."
"Not Voldemort, per say, but some other cad," Remus said, ushering them towards the checkout line, having noticed that it was already getting full even though they weren't in the true Back of School rush time. "What will happen is the Gym Leaders will select their own choices for who will be minister and the Elite 4 will vote. If they can't decide then whoever got a vote from the Elite 4 will then go back to the Gym Leaders for a final vote."
"Sounds complex," Harry said.
"That's politics," Sirius stated. "If we made it easy then people would realize they didn't need politicians and force them all out to go join a circus"
"So if the Gym Leaders have to pick any idea on who they might select?"
Remus shrugged. "Hard to tell with the voting blocks shot to pieces. The Malfoy-Parkinson alliance used to usually get the Greengrasses to go along with them but that is no more. Lucius will try to force in a yes-man but Fudge was his guy and everyone knows he is on the outs the moment you graduate so he is basically a lame Ducklett. The Clearwaters and Diggorys will sometimes work together but I doubt it. The Weasleys never nominate anyone as they tend to prefer to play kingmaker. The Lovegoods… well, Xeno will nominate Luna."
"Seriously?" Harry asked.
"He nominated her when she was a fetus," Sirius stated. "I did like his campaign slogan for her: 'She beat out 3 million other swimmers, she can win this one too!'."
Remus rolled his eyes and continued on. "The Potters and Longbottoms used to have an alliance that would pull in the Clearwaters but that is gone too. Madame Longbottom also is a lame Ducklett since Neville will take over when he graduates so I don't see her making play."
"And I know who I am voting for!" Sirius declared.
"You get to vote?" Harry asked before shaking his head, the answer clear. "You are running the Parkinson gym."
"Yup, so I get to select a candidate." He turned and gave Remus a wink.
"…please don't nominate me."
"Why not?" Sirius asked. "It would be hilarious."
"I quit the Ministry, remember?"
"That only proves you are smart enough to get the job!"
Remus and Sirius continued to bicker about Remus becoming the Minister of Avalon but Harry kept fading in and out of the conversation, trying to hone his Aura senses by focusing in on people. It was hard though, as the bookstore was crowded enough and he honestly wasn't that much in the mood. Aura was nothing like Speaking or Magnus, where he had been able to just click with it. Aura required him to dig far deeper and pull out stuff that he hadn't known was within him. It was frustrating and he kept getting distracted.
It didn't help that at some point during their conversations Sirius had decided to 'tempt' Remus by suggesting he could be his secretary and wear miniskirs.
"That is a Xeno Lovegood idea," Harry pointed out as he handed his books to the cashier and pulled out his bank card (Remus always offered to pay but Harry felt he had a trust fund for a reason, he might as well use it).
His little comment started up a whole new debate until Harry finally decided to break away from his guardians for a little bit; Sirius and Remus needed to head to one of the Josephs' main bank branches to take care of some paperwork concerning the renovations for the Black Family Gym and Harry wanted to check out literally anything else other than a bank. Told to be careful and not to get into trouble like he was an infant (which annoyed him…besides, a baby had been nominated to be Minister!) and told to meet up with them at the Pokecenter on 5th Street in 30 minutes like he was prone to running off (which he was and thus he was less annoyed by), the group went their own ways and Harry began to do some shopping of his own.
Feeling a twinge tickling the back of his brain he slipped into the Speaker's Realm just as he had begun gathering up what treats he wanted to get for his Pokemon and looked around till he sensed Leon somehow high above him.
"On a roof," his started stated. "Too crowded and wanted some sun. But Hedwig spotted something."
"What's that?"
"Oh, something interesting," The Noctowl said, perched even higher than Leon. Harry, deciding he didn't feel like playing guessing games, decided to try something he hadn't done since he'd been trying to become a Magnus (something he was ashamed he'd ever forgotten about as it was a rather powerful and useful tool) and left the Realm before diving into his connection with Hedwig so he could see through her eyes. It was strange to do so without feeling his limbs become covered with feathers, but he quickly got back into the swing of it and allowed Hedwig to shift her vision to just what had caught her attention-
"Ah," Harry said, unsure if he should smirk or frown at what he'd just seen. In the end he merely sighed before glancing to Leon and nodding while sending out Dobby and having him teleport his school supplies back to the house before quietly commanding him to take Harry's bank card and get some treats and food for the entire team while he dealt with the issue that had just arisen. "Because its not like anyone else is going to do anything," he muttered to himself as he made his way through the buildings and side streets to reach what Hedwig had spotted two blocks away.
Honestly, he wasn't surprised by the scene before him.
An 11 year old getting ready to go to Hogwarts, most likely the first of their family to go to the school? Check.
An older student, from an Old Family, deciding to taunt and intimidate said student? Check.
No one around to stop it, most likely because they had seen what was going on and decided to dart away rather than anger the older student's family? Check.
Harry knew that, as someone who wanted to become an Aura Knight, that the proper thing to do would be to handle things in a calm, rational manner. To take a moment to gather himself, think things through, and defuse the entire situation.
He knew this.
"Hello Draco," Harry said, lazily stuffing his hands in his pockets and ambling up to the Prince of Slytherin (or at least the self-proclaimed one) and the future Firstie. The kid was trembling like a leaf and had tears in her eyes and in that moment Harry saw Ginger and even though he was smirking inside he was screaming bloody rage. Dumbledore had been teaching him via Holocast how to send out his emotions and keep them from overwhelming him. How to shunt them out into the universe and leave himself in a sea of calm. He used every trick he had to keep himself at peace as he looked at Draco. The smug bastard was dressed in a full suit, a little replica of his father save for his hair being gelled back rather than long and loose.
Because of course it was Draco who had decided to be a prick.
"Potter," Malfoy said with a sneer. "I see-"
"That the trash hasn't been picked up, that they are still allowing filth like me to walk the street, that even here in the greatest city of Avalon the scum still gathers, that traitors and upstarts always find each other. Pick whichever insult you want to use Draco and mumble it to yourself. I'll be with you in a minute." Harry smiled, far more genuine, as he approached the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, I'm not sure what this ass said but I can guess. Everyone knows he's a dumbass, even his own house, so don't worry about any claims he made. Hogwarts isn't bad, you won't die there so long as I'm around, and you completely deserve to go there." The girl sucked in a breath at that and Harry gave her shoulder a squeeze. "I'd say don't worry about being sorted into Slytherin but then you'd have to see more of this prick. So do yourself a favor and ask for 'anything but Slytherin' and I'll make sure my friends in the other houses keep an eye out for you, okay?"
"O… okay," the girl said with a shaky voice.
"Good. Now get on out of here. I need-" he heard Draco finally shift behind him and caught his reflection in a door's reflective surface. Harry thrust out his right hand and fired off a blast from his prosthetic, knocking the Pokeball right out of Draco's hand. There was an added benefit of sending Sid out, the Toxtricity cracking his knuckles as he moved to block the way out of the alley and keep Draco in place. "-to teach the blond nimrod about how things are going to go this year. Okay? Okay." He gave her a little shove, nothing forceful but rather encouragement to get her moving, and the girl hurried off while Harry made a mental note to find out her name and make sure, at least during his last two years at Hogwarts, to do all he could to make her time at the school a happy and safe one. And that would start with… "See you haven't grown up in the slightest, Draco."
The blond, who was rubbing his hand, glared at Harry. "How dare you strike out at me, Potter? And how dare you interfere in my private affairs."
"Oh, I dare," Harry said with mock cheer. "Someone has to keep you from messing with the firsties. Especially since you are so scared of messing with anyone else. Need to find the weakest and most defenseless, don't you? Make you feel like a big man?"
"I am a big man," Draco declared. "I am Hogwart's Top Student-"
"-in being a prick," Harry chimed in.
"-and my family is the most important one in Avalon-"
"-but not Kalos since your father ran like a coward and the actual Malfoy Family is controlled by Fleur's mummies."
"-so it is completely in my right to remind such weak trainers like that girl who their betters truly are."
Harry chuckled. "So you were telling her about me?"
"Merely telling her about how things are now. She won't be able to be protected like you expect, Potter. Things are different at Hogwarts. Suppose I have you to thank for that. Tell me… get any other teachers killed?"
Harry knew he should have seen that taunt coming. Should have been prepared for it. But he hadn't and now all he could do was let it burn his soul and move on.
Draco smirked at the blow his words had delivered by Harry forced himself to not react any more. No, he chose instead to begin to walk around Draco, keeping his movements loose even as he kept his eyes scanning the other teen, ready to leap into action if he tried something stupid. It was something that Jack had taught him… and Harry used Dumbledore's lessons to push aside the pain he felt at the memory of his former mentor. "You know, I joked about how you are so predictable earlier but you've surprised me, Draco." The blond glanced at him, for once proving wise enough to realize that an insult was coming and not blindly assuming Harry was preparing to compliment him. Maybe the idiot could learn. "Normally by this point you will have insulted me somehow. Most likely about my skill, though you honestly can't do that anymore since I whipped your arse last year, or my lineage. That is the one I would have expected you to turn to but I guess it makes sense for you to avoid it… after all-" he leaned in and whispered, "-I'm not the only one with a dead mummy, am I?"
Draco snarled and whipped around only for Harry to grab him with his left hand and lift him right up off his feet, pushing Draco forward until he slammed the blond prick into a brick wall, his fingers digging into the soft meat of Draco's throat. The blond's eyes went wide as, for the first time, he registered how much bigger and stronger Harry was now. Gone was the scrawny little orphan that had first arrived at Hogwarts; he was dead and in his place was a nearly 6 foot tall teen who no longer needed glasses and could easily benchpress 200 pounds without breaking a sweat.
"Normally I'd have no problem playing with you Draco. Let you make your little comments, get off a few insults, before I mocked you right back or maybe even engaged in a battle. But see… things have changed. I have changed. And I've decided that this year I am done passively allowed evil people to harm the innocent. I wasn't for sure who was going to deliver this message but thankfully you volunteered!" He made sure to grab Draco in such a way that the blond twerp could actually breathe and talk but there was enough force being placed on his neck that he was too scared to realize how safe he actually was. Jonas had shown him this, how to trick someone into believing they were in far more danger than they were. Fear was an interesting and if used right could truly tell a far greater story than any words could.
That said, words could create fear just as well to.
"I'm done playing nice with all of you. In first year I was too startled by everything to actually stand up for myself. But we aren't actually in first year anymore, are we? We're in our 6th year. A lot has happened. Your daddy kissed the feet of the man that killed my parents. Is buddies with the monsters that took my hand. Cheered as they promised to rape the woman I love!" He pulled Draco back slightly before slamming him into the wall again. "As such I am introducing three new rules to Hogwarts. And you are going to be my messenger and make sure that everyone understands them and how things are going to be now."
"I'm… I'm not your-" Draco began to say only for Harry to smack his head against the wall just enough to rattle him.
"Yes, you are," Harry growled. "Rule One: I will give out everything I receive. You treat me with kindness and I will be your greatest champion. You ignore me and follow my rules and I have no problem doing the same with you. But if you come at me? I will burn you." Harry eased his grip on Draco just enough to get him to pay attention before he continued. "Rule Two: My Pride… is mine. Any attack of them is an attack on me. Any kindness done to them is a benefit to me. They are an extension of myself." He pressed his thumb into the soft flesh just below Draco's jaw and the Slytherin began to kick wildly in pain. Harry continued for several moments, just to make sure Draco understood that he wasn't playing around, before easing up once more. "And finally… you seem to believe that your blood and your money mean that you can do whatever you want. Well, you can do what you want. Absolutely. Just as I will do what I want. And what I want to do is remind you that actions have consequences. So Rule Three: Hogwarts is MY house. It belongs to me and I will PROTECT my house!" He leaned in and hissed with utter venom, "And all who go to my house? Are under my protection. That little Firstie you decided to torment? She is the last one you will ever bother."
He lifted his right hand and allowed the false flesh to swirl away to reveal the blaster hidden in his palm. Harry's mask of humanity shattered and he snarled, baring his fangs as his talon-like nails lightly scratched at Draco's neck, not enough to leave a mark but enough to promise pain.
"If I find out you have bothered a single student at Hogwarts… NOTHING will be able to save you. I will end you, Draco. No letting you off with a warning, no forgiveness and letting past sins go happily by. You won't get to cut a deal and marry some sweet girl and raise another blond little twerp of a son to carry on your legacy." He pressed the blaster to Draco's check. "I will END you."
With that he spun around and threw Draco onto the ground, recalling Sid while Dobby popped in behind him at mental command and warping Harry away before Draco could roll onto his back. Like he hadn't ever been there at all.
