"Mate, if you don't stop squirming I'm going to turn this tie into a noose," Ron complained.

"No you wouldn't," Harry said only for Ron to give a rather hard tug on the fabric in his hand, making Harry's eyes bulge out slightly before he reached up and tugged on his collar. "Okay… point taken." He forced himself to calm down and take a breath, stilling his body so Ron could focus on helping him tie his tie. "Sorry… maybe I should have just gone down to La Fey's Landing and had Sirius and Remus help me with this."

"They in town tonight?"

"Yeah," Harry said. "After the party I'm going to go down and spend the night with them. Korak gave me the okay. What with…" he waved his hand about as Ron began to reloop his tie.

"Right," Ron said softly. "I get that."

It was October 31st. A day where kids in Avalon celebrated Merlin defeating the Spiritomb that had threatened to consume all of the region. Only that was completely built on lies because Merlin hadn't defeated the Spiritomb. Harry didn't know what had happened in that fight; all he knew was that the Spiritomb was alive (well, it existed… could a ghost actually be alive?) and currently out there plotting how it was going to hollow Harry out like a child sucking the caramel out of a candy and then shove his own existence into the Potter-Shaped shell. The same ghost that had, over a decade ago, decided on this very night to attack Harry's home and slaughter his parents all in the bid to take over his body when he was a child.

'Except it didn't work out quite how you planned, did it you bastard?' Harry mentally thought with a sneer. 'My mum kicked your ass and hurt you so bad it took you nearly 10 years to recover. And I'm going to fucking finish what she started.'

October 31st though. Everyone loved to celebrate and have fun but Harry simply couldn't see the holiday as something to enjoy. First because there hadn't been a Halloween on Little Surrey since Merlin was basically the devil for them; the evil man that had led so many astray with his talk of training Pokemon. The day Uncle Vernon would have considered celebrating a Pokemon-centric holiday would be the day he would have unzipped the fat suit he was wearing and reveal he was really a buxom supermodel who was also a scientist and that the last handful of years had been an experiment for her doctoral thesis.

'And secondly, and I know this might be hard for the idiots in this country to understand, I have no desire to spend the evening celebrating when this is the anniversary of my parents being fucking killed by the monster that half of them would have no problem with ruling over Avalon!'

Honestly Harry more and more was fighting the urge to completely duck out of the party Slughorn was having. Luna had assured him it was just a fancy meet and greet, with people nibbling on food and having conversations. No balloons or streamers, no party games. Far better than the Great Hall where the entire place would be decked out in the eerie and spooky because sure, celebrate death while he mourned it tonight. That was a super idea. Remus and Sirius would be having a quiet, private memorial to remember Harry's folks and then, most likely, get so drunk that they forgot that Harry shouldn't be drinking yet and allow him to begin sampling their booze. Which Harry couldn't decide was the best idea or the worst idea ever. Hermione had been firm when he'd commented on that likelihood that he was being insane because, "Yes Harry, nothing helps better with depression than a depressant."

"You heard from Jasmine?" Ron asked as he finished tying the tie and Harry set about holding still so Ludwig could fuss over him with a lint roller, the chandelier ghost tsking in annoyance as he made sure there wasn't a speck of fuzz on Harry's person.

He managed a smile at that. Jasmine. She was the reason why he wasn't bailing on this party and heading straight for Remus and Sirius' place. She'd responded back that she'd be able to come and was teleporting from Johto to see him… well, doing a series of quick teleports via Pokemon Centers and her own team but still.

"Yeah, she's coming," Harry said.

"How long as it been since you saw her?" Ron asked.

"Overall? Not long. We video chat." And those had settled into a strange place. Both friendly and not falling into the weird silences that could just kill an entire conversation, but lacking in the passion and excitement of their beginning of their relationship. Honestly Harry didn't know if that was because they were out of the 'honeymoon' period or if they were in need of a serious conversation. It didn't help that there were things he couldn't discuss with her that formed walls between the two of them. She knew why he was doing what he was doing but she wasn't happy about it and wanted it all to be over.

But it couldn't. Not yet.

"I meant in person," Ron said."

Harry sighed at that. "Not since the Ministry."

"Damn. Sorry mate."

"It is what it is," Harry said and Ludwig finally allowed him to step away, giving a nod of approval. "Speaking of I should go down and get the others."

"Yeah, Neville was done ages ago."

"Neville is used to wearing suit," Harry said. "The only time I would have been lucky to wear a suit in Little Surrey is at my own funeral."

"…fuck that is dark, mate."

"Then I shouldn't mention its just as likely the Dursleys would have tried tossing me in a trash compactor like a used pizza box?" Harry asked, trying to play that off as a joke but only ending up causing Ron to cringe with worry. "Sorry," Harry finally said with a sigh.

"Just… work on tone and timing, okay?" Ron said. "Maybe work on a Knock Knock joke or something."

"Right."

"Now go have fun."

Harry nodded at that and headed to the dorm's teleporter, appearing in the common room within seconds to find the rather humorous sight of Leon trying to tear the bow tie someone had put on him off and failing miserably. "Stop that," Harry chided gently, walking over and straightening the tie for him.

"Why do I have to wear this? I wasn't invited!"

"Slughorn caught me after potions and asked me to bring you. He said he hadn't thought ahead and that it was disrespectful for him not to let you come."

"He just wants to show off the talking Pokemon," Leon complained, looking at the tie again and clearly debating if he could get away with ripping it off before, with a sigh, deciding against that. "Why can't Hedwig come? She can talk and she can mega evolve now. Much more interesting."

"Would you like to see her in a dress?" Harry asked.

"She could wear the stupid tie," Leon complained. "Even you aren't wearing one!" Harry lifted up his tie but Leon rolled his eyes. "That doesn't count, that's a regular tie. This is a bow tie! I look like I should be stripping for Jynxes."

"Is… is that a thing?" Harry asked.

"…no," Leoon said quickly. "Not at all."

Harry made a mental not to check his dex's browser history the next time Leon borrowed it just as Neville walked up, tugging on the cuffs of his dress shirt. Neville wore the suit well, far better than Harry did. Both of them had grown recently but Neville had come about it naturally, gaining height and muscle mass and losing baby fat as almost everyone in the world did. Emphasis on 'almost'. Harry had come about his growth spurt thanks to mixing ancient mystical arts with foreign energy that may or may not be from another dimension. As a result while Neville had been able to slowly figure out how to look good in a suit Harry felt at once like a child trying to wear a man's shirt and an adult playing around by donning way too tight clothing just to make himself look more muscular. Even though Ron had assured him he looked fine Harry felt utterly awkward in his own skin.

"Was wondering if I was going to have to come up and drag you down here," Neville told him.

"I kept messing up my tie," Harry admitted. "I still have never learned how to tie one of those things."

"Imagine if we have to wear them every day as part of our uniform," Neville commented. "You'd never get to class on time." He looked down at Leon and opened his mouth to compliment the Pokemon.

"Don't bother, I'm not happy about any of this," the Leafeon complained. "Permission to fake getting sick to get out of this?"

"Denied," Luna said with a smile as she joined them. He could tell just by looking at her that she'd decided to go with the Mistress of Veela persona for tonight; it was all in her tone, how her voice sounded more mature and lyrical. It made Harry glad because he knew Luna acted… Lunaish… when she wasn't getting enough happy emotions. Mistress of Veela mode meant that she was comfortable enough with what was going to happen to deal with all the emotions around her. Or maybe that there were enough people having good days that she didn't need to try and inspire amusement. "No one is ducking out. You two can't keep hiding from the world."

"Nice dress," Harry said, hoping that came off as a compliment and not in a creepy sort of way.

"Latest from Kalos," Luna said, giving a little twirl. It was odd, like Luna, but also beautiful, like his adopted little sister. Champagne color with three frills that made it appear like a tiered wedding cake, made of expensive lace that all at once made it light and breezy but also thick and warm due to how it was layered. She wore darker stockings that shouldn't have matched the dress but utterly worked with it and earrings that looked like exploding stars. Her hair was done up and curled at the ends and her natural Veela charms were practically beaming out of her like signal lights. He could tell from the stares she was getting that she was drawing in the attention of others. He knew that Veela could do that… after all, she'd affected him when he'd first met her and it had taken him weeks to shake that off but he'd never seen her turn on her Veela Grace like Fleur had during the Grand Trainer Tournament. But there she was, radiating energy that made everyone want to stop and gaze at her.

"Order it?" Harry asked, trying to make conversation while they waited for Jasmine to text that she was coming in. Normally Harry didn't have problems taking with his friends but at that moment he felt like if he didn't say anything he was going to lose his nerve. 'Damn it, when did I become agoraphobic?' he wondered.

"Kind of. Remember how I disappeared yesterday for a few hours?"

"We assumed you were off teaching Meowths how to dance or something," Harry stated.

Luna waved him off. "That's only on Tuesdays. No, I got permission to teleport to Kalos so Cynthia could take me to a fitting." Harry blinked at that and Luna shot him a look. "Just because you and Jack are being stupid and avoiding each other doesn't mean the rest of us are going to avoid the Pack. Cynthia and Diantha are still my mentors. I'm the Mistress of Veela but I'm also not old enough to rent an auto so they are helping me figure things out."

"Right, of course," Harry said, ignoring that little jab about him and Jack. He didn't want to talk about the Master of Speakers… mostly because if he did he'd reveal what he really thought and what was truly going on between him and Jack and that wasn't something he could share. Not yet. One day, maybe, but not yet. "That was nice of them,' he finally said, cringing at how horribly gauche the comment was. He'd felt like he needed to say something but there was nothing good he could say.

'Its nice that you are able to still to your mentors, Luna. Unlike me who cut off all ties right after the worst night of my life. Did they get the earrings for you too?'

He was saved from his bitter self-chastising by his dex going off. Even though he knew what message it must be he still got it out to check and sure enough it was Jasmine stating she was in Avalon and getting ready to teleport over to La Fey's and then fly over to Hogwarts; the school had, wisely, finally put up anti-teleport tech to keep people from just popping in at the gate. They hadn't even had that during the civil war, thinking that not even Nocturne would be bold enough to attack a place full of children.

Harry's stump ached.

"Jasmine's here," Harry said, making his way towards the door. "Or going to be here… you know what I mean."

"Would you like me to hit you and break your jaw?" Neville asked with a teasing smile. "That way you have an excuse when Jasmine asks you why you're so tongue-tied?"

"…I'm thinking about it," Harry admitted. "When did I get so bad at the… talking… people… thing." His face fell at that. "Arceus."

"Exile does that to people," Luna reminded him. "It was just me and my father for much of my life after mum. Not interacting with others…" she shrugged. "Talking and communicating are like muscles. It's no different than you suddenly stopping your daily morning run and then suddenly deciding it's time to do a marathon. It's going to end badly no matter how determined you are and what you used to be able to do."

Harry flashed an annoyed look. "I talk with you guys."

"Have you MET us?" Luna asked, a bit of her normal, immature self leaking through her mask of Mistress of Veela. "We aren't exactly sane."

"And," Neville chimed in, "we help you out by doing the heavy lifting. You either are in full monologue mode or utterly silent nowadays."

'Secrets do that,' Harry thought to himself. "So that's why you want me to go to the party?"

"Yup," Luna said as they walked down the hall that led from the Tower to the Main Hall. "Well that and it actually is fun."

"How can it be fun?" Harry complained.

"None of the people Slughorn invites are Nocturne sympathizers," Neville stated.

"What, he told you that?" Harry complained. "I remember the graveyard, Nev. A lot of people I'd have never expected to side with Voldemort were there to jeer at me as I sat there with the stench of my burnt flesh in my nose."

"No, he didn't tell me," Neville snapped back. "But you think I'm stupid enough not to do my research before going into a room filled with a bunch of random people?" He shot Harry an insulted look. "I did my homework. The students that Slughorn invites are all from families that fought against Voldemort or remained neutral. None of them supported Nocturne during the war. I've gone through all their records and those of their family members. Everyone is clean. "

Harry decided not to comment on the fact that Neville was apparently just as paranoid as he was. "And Slughorn?" he asked, a bit less sullen than he had been moments earlier.

"Clean as well," Neville stated. "That's what you have to remember, Harry… Slughorn is all about building up his network. Having friends who are friends of friends. You know what is bad for such a system? Someone getting randomly killed because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and got caught up in a Nocturne attack."

Harry considered that and decided that made sense. If Slughorn truly was how everyone thought him to be, that his greatest concern in life was just building up a bigger web of contacts without actually wanting to abuse that power… then Nocturne would be the worst thing for him. Because Nocturne attracted a certain kind of person, one who wanted there to be clear lines between the haves and the have nots. But Slughorn understood, apparently, that one needed all sorts of people in order to make things happen. Harry had done the same thing with the reformed Order of Moltres…

He scowled at that, a little voice that sounded a touch like Dr. Linda whispering that maybe he had issues with Slughorn because he saw a lot of himself in the man.

"That might be true," Harry said as they passed by some 3rd years who openly gawked at that. "But we can't be sure that's how he is now… or if him is actually him."

"Huh?" Neville said.

Harry sighed in frustration. "That's the problem with all of this," he said, twirling his hand about in the universal sign of one trying to search for answers. "We can't rely upon actual information or research because we have no way of knowing if the person we are dealing with is actually Slughorn."

"Voldemort," Luna stated.

"He wore Moody as a suit and that man was once one of the most fierce Nocturne Hunters Avalon had. But Voldemort… he tempts people and gets them to surrender themselves for their greatest desires. Who knows what he might have offered Slughorn?"

"We really need a way to determine if someone has become his new host," Luna complained.

Neville sighed. "Barty is working on it. But its harder than it should be thanks to… well…" He waved at Harry.

"Me?"

"Magnuses," Neville corrected. "And Speakers. And Veela. Really anyone that knows one of the Arts."

"Ah," Harry said, seeing what Neville was getting at. One of the first lessons he'd learned about the Arts, when he'd actually trained with a Master and not just pieced it together from what Remus and Sirius told him because Magnus didn't have a Master at the moment, was that the Arts were all about reuniting mankind with the Pokemon species. And thus the deeper you dug into the Arts the less human one registered. Harry himself had Long Talked with Leon and Vegeta and Magnused with Hedwig… his DNA was a messy sock drawer. Gigantamaxing hadn't helped matters either. Thus any device that was created to detect Voldemort would trigger on him as well.

Their conversation ended as they walked outside just in time to spot the Skarmory fly in low, landing and allowing its rider to slide off, her hands smoothing out her dress before she slipped on the dress shoes she had in her hands.

"Jasmine," harry whispered.

Seeing her on a computer screen and in person were two completely different things. He'd forgotten how tall she was; Ironside blood she'd once told him. Jack and Jonas passed 6 feet easily and Jasmine just hit the mark herself now thanks to her own Gigantamaxing. She was, if it was possible, looking even more fit than when he'd seen her last. She wasn't bulky or the like but she had clearly been working out to keep her body at its peak after the Ministry. Of course Harry had been doing the same, thus why he felt so awkward in the suit, but at least neither would feel like a rail-thin weakly around the other. Just body builders forced into formal wear.

"You cut your hair," he finally said as he walked up to her. "I like it," he quickly added, just in case she thought it was an insult."

"Needed a change," Jasmine said, reaching up and lightly pressing the heel of her hand against the long style pixie cut she was sporting, the tips of which had been died black to contrast with her sunkissed dark blonde/light brown locks. "You wouldn't believe how much time it saves me getting ready now."

Harry chuckled and rolled his eyes upward to draw attention to his own hair. "That's why I've just given up trying to style this."

"Heh, I think combs would get lost in there," Jasmine said before moving to greet Neville and Luna. Harry couldn't help but admire her. The dress she'd gone with was a stunning number; long with spaghetti straps the entire thing was made of shimmering metallic fabric that shifted from green to blue to purple as she moved. It was cut conservatively but with Jasmine's build (she'd have to wear a potato sack to hide her curves now) that could only do so much and she still looked utterly attractive and stunning.

"Breathe, Harry," Luna teased him while Neville and Jasmine greeted each other. "Plenty of time to snog later on."

"I think I like it better when you are using references to jab at me."

Luna shrugged at that. "I like it too but sometimes we have to work with what we have."

"So," jasmine said, finally walked over and looping her arm through Harry's, acting as if nothing had happened and they were on a regular date. Which made Harry smile until he realized that him and Jasmine hadn't… ever really had a date. During 4th year it had been all about the Tournament and while they had gone down to La Fey's Landing once and a while that didn't count as a date in Harry's opinion; if it did it meant he'd gone on a lot of dates with Ron. The summer after had been spent with both of their guardians so there really wasn't any dating… especially seeing as they were on the Whirl Islands and visiting where Lugia enjoyed diving for Shelders wasn't exactly something from a storybook. After that they'd done the long distance thing and the closest they'd come to a date, person in person, was when Jasmine had surprised him over the Solstice Holiday. But that was more of snogging, heavy petting, and one memorable moment where they'd come closest to helping Harry lose his virginity. Not a date.

And that caused him to feel utterly guilty that it had taken his friends kicking him right in the ass to get him to finally take Jasmine out like she deserved.

"What were you three discussing before I flew in?" Jasmine asked.

Harry, not wanting to state that they'd been talking about Voldemort because in that moment he was just utterly tired of everything revolving around that bastard, decided to go with a version of the truth.

"The Arts and how they affect people," Harry said.

"Noticing any changes?" Jasmine asked both Harry and Luna. "Because I haven't gotten a cold since my first Talk."

Harry nodded at that. "More energy. Burning off fat like crazy." If he weren't wearing a suit jacket he would have flexed his arm to show off the new muscles; might not win Mr. Universe but he had reached the point that only Ron could beat him in an arm wrestling contest and only then with his hammer arm.

"Increased sex drive," Luna said casually.

"Wait, what?" Harry said, twisting towards the Veela.

Jasmine though nodded quickly. "God yes. There are some nights were everything looks phallic."

Neville merely adopted an innocent look; only Harry knew that Neville was secretly training to become a Battle Lord, mastering the Galar Art, and thus could very well be experiencing the same changes the rest of them were. Though the sex drive thing… he's assumed that it had merely been him suffering from not seeing his girlfriend as much as he wanted…

Deciding that he really didn't want to talk about such things with Neville and Luna around Harry did a pivot. "And that got me thinking about how bad my training to become a Magnus was. I mean… Luna had Cynthia and Diantha. We had the Whirl Islands training. But with Magnus it was my guardians who honestly sometimes shouldn't be left in charge of a plant let alone a teenager trying to learn a mystical art. Their way of helping is tossing me a book and wishing me good luck."

"Okay yeah, that does suck," Jasmine said with a nod. "I did notice that Magnus does seem to be lacking a Modern Master."

"Lugia hinted it was Avalon's doing… they want to keep the Art weak because they fear what it could mean if suddenly you had people with power." Harry opened his mouth to continue but quickly shut it; no, he wasn't going to spend the entire night being bitter about Avalon and making snippy little comments about it. He was tired of the region being utterly corrupt, that was true, but he was also tired of it ruining his life by forcing him to dwell on it. He was going to save it for the few good people out there who didn't deserve to live under Voldemort's reign and he was going to avenge his parents but after that? He honestly planned to forget about Avalon completely.

"I can honestly see that," Neville stated. "There is a long history of Masters and Mistresses of the Arts seizing power for themselves, becoming greedy and feeling that might makes right."

"It's still stupid though," Jasmine argued. "When you make something restricted you only encourage someone to look into it more to find out why its restricted."

"Which is why Avalon doesn't restrict it," Luna chimed in as they returned to Hogwarts and began to make the long walk towards where the Slug Club party was being held that evening. "They just allow enough for people to think they are getting the full set of powers so they don't ever question it."

"Do you think there is a Master of Magnus then?" Harry asked, envisioning some old guy locked away on some island, writing out journals about the secrets of Pokemagnus while being cared for by armed guards.

"I doubt it," Jasmine said with a shake of her head. "A secret is only as powerful as the people that know it… and the fewer are always the better." Harry hid his grimace at that; Jasmine was 100% right on that one. "I honestly wouldn't be surprised if no one in the government right now even knows about any plan, if there was one, to get rid of the Master of Magnus." She paused. "Assuming there even was a plan."

"Right," Harry admitted, knowing he tended to always see conspiracies with the Avalon Government… because there tended to be… when it could have been completely innocent what had happened. Not involved at all. It was entirely possible. After all, Speakers had been left without a Modern Master for hundreds of years due to their war with the Element Benders. The Aura Knights were down to just Dumbledore. Death happened. Knowledge was lost because a Master couldn't teach all to the next to take command, or the heir would die and another not be selected in time.

"Although," Luna said with a slight smile, "one could argue there already is a Master of Magnus."

"And that would be?" Jasmine asked.

"Harry."

He blinked at that. "Excuse me?"

"Hedwig," Luna stated, stopping so she could kneel down and adjust Leon's bow tie (Harry's Pokemon having quietly broken away from the group in an attempt to get the hated thing off). "You and her have done something no other Magnus has done in ages. Mega Evolution. That is a rather powerful thing you two did."

"But I don't even know how we achieved it!" Harry complained only to stop and actually think that over. "Well… we did have the those goodies we took from… uh, you know where." He glanced about to make sure none of the other students were listening in as he didn't want to have to explain the Magnus Ring he was still wearing on the middle finger of his left hand. There was simply no way he was ever giving that sucker up. "Its not a Mega Stone, we know that. And I remember what I was feeling when Hedwig and I joined together…"

"So you might be able to do it again?" Luna pressed. "With another Pokemon?"

Harry had been thinking about trying to Magnus with another member of his team. He'd Long Talked with two Pokemon and was debating who would be next. Lugia had said that Magnus Users could merge with multiple Pokemon. So why not have that option up his sleeve? Except… it wasn't supposed to be done and all the books Remus and Sirius had given him said that it was impossible. Yet Harry was willing to bet that with practice… he could do it.

"Yeah… I guess."

"Then you are the most skilled Magnus user around," Luna stated.

"That is known of," Jasmine chimed in. "There is always the possibility that the true Master is hiding."

"Let's hope that is the case then," Harry said with a weak smile. "I really don't want to add another title around my neck. I feel like I'm being dragged down as it is."

"Right," Neville stated. "I can see that."

"But don't think you can run away from this," Luna pressed, staring at him in a way that reminded him of when he'd first met her and he would become lost in her gaze due to her powers. "Magnus might need you to stand up."

"Why is it always me?" Harry complained.

"How many people throughout history have asked that very same question?" Luna murmured before turning away from him and continuing walking once more, making it clear that she'd said her peace.

"And on that note…" Jasmine teased, "I think its time we headed in and faced the Slug Club."

Harry could only nod in agreement as he escorted Jasmine the rest of the way.

'Here we go…'