A/N: Konnichiwa, minna-sama! Isn't a beautiful day? I mean, it may be 98degrees outside with no wind, but I'm sitting inside with the AC blowing, drinking freshly made sweet tea, and reading my fantastic reviews, so who cares how hot outside it is?

Normally I start off a chapter with lines that sound a lot like this, 'I suck!' and 'Nobody likes my stories!' and 'Why don't I just end my suffering now!' But not today people, no siree bob! All those wonderful reviews have put me in a mood that can't be shaken!

So, enjoy my newest chapter and keep pretending you like this story by reviewing!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harry Potter or anything officially related to it. I'm just writing this for fun, not for profit.

Warnings: Mild language. Violence and SLASH in later chapters.

Spoilers: The first four books at least.

Enjoy!

Chapter Ten: Gifts and . . . nothing else happens.
Silence filled the huge chamber as Harry continued to stare. Harry listened to his heart pounding in his ears and wiped his sweating palms discreetly on his pants. Merlin, what am I supposed to say? He thought frantically.

'You could say 'yes', I suppose.'

Harry gasped and spun around, searching for the speaker. "What?"

A rustle behind him turned Harry around again and his five relatives blinked. "Is something the matter, heir?" Merlin asked without emotion.

"Didn't you hear . . ." Harry's voice faltered at the blank looks he received. "Never mind."

'Only you can hear me at the moment, child. Well, what is your answer?'

"How can I answer when I don't understand the question?" Harry asked in frustration.

'You need not speak out loud, you know, Godric might begin to think you really are 'nutso' if you keep it up.'

'What?'

'I can hear you just fine, now do you answer yes or no? Do you plan on fighting or retreating? Saving the world or allowing it to fall into ruins at the hands of the Dark Lord Voldemort? Come on speak up, child, you haven't got all day!'

Harry frowned. 'I'll fight of course. I've been fighting Voldemort since I was eleven, I'm not about to give up now.'

'Then give them your answer.'

'Fine.' Harry's face took on a determined look. "Whatever the burden may entail, I accept it." He spoke clearly and without hesitation.

Merlin's face broke into a grin. "Good answer, Harry." The others nodded with smiles.

'Nice one, heir.'

Suddenly the tiles on the floor began to glow and spin around each other, weaving detailed designs of shining lights. Harry's breath caught in his throat. Amazing!

The lights dimmed slightly but continued to burn as Merlin stepped forward. "I, Merlin Sena, recognize Adamas Harold Leviathan Angeleus Matlynn Gryffindor Sena Slytherin Jamas Kayal Hufflepuff Potter as The One." He raised his staff and pointed it at Harry. The orb at the top turned silver then red then blue then green then yellow and finally settled on a deep gold.

Next Godric proclaimed that he too accepted Harry as The One. "I, Godric Jamas Gryffindor, recognize Adamas Harold Potter as The One." And then Rowena stated her agreement. "I, Rowena Matlynn Ravenclaw Gryffindor, recognize Adamas Harold Potter as The One." and so it went until everybody had claimed Harry as his or her chosen heir.

"I, Salazar Angeleus Slytherin -"

"I, Helga Kayal Hufflepuff Slytherin - "

Harry's mind swirled as much as the lights on the floor did. All those names were confusing. 'Don't worry, you won't need to remember all them for a while, heir.'

'Who are you?' Harry asked the voice, glad to have something to focus his stressed mind on.

'All will soon be revealed heir, have patience."

"Harry?"

The boy in questioned startled and looked up into Merlin's twinkling blue eyes. "Now that you have decided to receive the gift, the reason you were brought here, we will now bestow it upon you."

Harry tensed, but all Merlin did was lay his hand on his forehead. "I give to thee, the knowledge and wisdom of magic."

A bright silver-blue light surrounded him and Merlin. His mind started to pound and throb, like there were sharp, thin nails raking the inside of his skull and some one was playing bongos on his brain. In other words, his head hurt.

Just as he thought he couldn't take anymore, that he was going to pass out from the pain, it stopped. Merlin removed his hand and took a step away from him. Harry swayed, but managed to remain on his feet.

Harry moaned and Merlin looked sorry. "Forgive me, Harry, I should have given you a warning."

Harry clumsily waved his hand. "No, it's okay, just please, for the love of all things holy, don't ever do it again."

"Sorry." Merlin mumbled. "I am sorry, but the others must also give you their gifts and theirs is going to feel the same way probably."

"Dammit." Harry sunk to his knees and panted. "All right, just get it over with, no point in letting the pain go away, just to bring it back. I'm ready."

Godric walked over to him slowly. "Are you sure, Harry?"

Harry nodded and Godric placed his hand on his shoulder. "Okay, if you're sure." Godric cleared his throat. "I give thee, the strength of ten men and the courage of a lion."

Once again Harry gritted his teeth against the pain, only instead of his head hurting, his whole body now felt like it was fire. Pain coursed through him, running up and down his arm and legs, before returning to his chest. His skin itched and tingled and his over-sized clothes didn't feel so big anymore.

Godric took his hand away and Harry bent over, dry-heaving. "Harry!"

"Fine. I'm . . . fine." He gasped and leaned back on his hands. "Man, that was worse than the first one. What kind of gift's hurt like hell?"

"Damn, kid, I'm sorry. Are you sure you're all right? You look awfully pale."

Harry just breathed deeply and nodded again. "Who's next?" He went to stand up and nearly fell over. Looking down, Harry's mouthed dropped open. Hid body had grown a couple of inches and he had gained a little weight. "What happened?"

"I gave back what those stupid, nasty, selfish, idiotic, all-round awful, Dursleys took away from you." Godric growled the name Dursley like it was a curse. "All those years in that dark cupboard and little-to-no food did some damage to your body and I fixed it. Unfortunately, I can't just give you the strength right of ten men right off the bat, you'll have to practice and become stronger on your own, however I gave you the ability to become as strong as ten men, so as long as you work for it, nobody will be able to beat you in a arm-wrestling match."

"Arm-wrestling? Yes, I'm sure that's what he should do with his new strength. Arm-wrestle." Salazar snorted in the background.

"Shut it, Snake-boy!"

Merlin glared at them. "Enough, both of you. Rowena, I believe it is your turn."

Rowena regally took Godric's place in front of Harry and touched his temples with her fingertips. "I give thee the gift of mercy and healing, May you use it wisely, my heir."

Harry had braced himself for the pain he was sure that would accompany the transfer like the others, but was pleasantly surprised at the warm, tingling feeling that washed through him from his head to his own fingertips. The minor scars he had received from his painful childhood and the few during Quidditch and his general stay at Hogwarts disappeared. But his lightning bolt scar that had forever marked him as the Boy-Who-Lived and the pale, thin line on the crook of his elbow, where Wormtail had taken his blood, remained.

"Are you all right, Harry?" Rowena looked into his eyes and removed her hands.

"Yes, ma'am." He replied with a smile. "I feel wonderful."

She smiled back at him and moved away. "Your next Helga."

Plump, tiny little Helga stood before him and cradled his chin in her hands. "Don't worry, Ro and I aren't as harsh as Merlin and Godric." She patted his cheek reassuringly and grinned.

"I trust you." Harry told her seriously.

Helga blushed and whispered. "You're so sweet, my heir. I'm glad you're The One, peanut."

Harry sighed at the nickname but otherwise ignored it. He didn't mind it that much.

Helga stood up straighter. "I give thee the gift of Tier Taal and the ability to morph at will."

Harry saw flashes of images, all of animals, speed through his mind as his throat and tongue burned. The images he saw the most clearly were of a lion, a badger, a snake, an eagle, and an oddly colored Phoenix.

Animals randomly passed and he heard snippets of different whispered conversations.

And just as suddenly as it had begun it all stopped and Harry was left out of breath and slightly woozy. "Wow, that sure was . . . well, it was something, all right." He panted. "I'm just not sure what that something is at the moment. At least it didn't hurt."

"One left." Godric said and Harry looked at Salazar who had remained quiet for the most part.

Slytherin stepped forward and stared unblinkingly at him. "This will hurt much more than the others, do you understand, heir?"

Harry swallowed nervously, but met Salazar's gaze and nodded. "Yes, sir, but I will endure it if it will help me save those who fight against Voldemort."

Salazar suddenly smiled and put his hand on his shoulder. "I knew you wouldn't back down." His smiled turned proud and a little arrogant. "You're my heir after all."

"Oh for the love of God, can you get any more conceded?"

Salazar ignored the co-founder in red and put his other hand on Harry's head. "Brace yourself."

Harry took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Ready."

"I give thee the gift of cunning and wisdom of the Dark Arts."

A/N: It's been a while since I've done this but now I just have to!

Thanks to my Reviewers!

DarkFarieQueenI'm so happy that you found this story amusing, but it was supposed to be serious! You know dark, angsty, dramatic, and a real tear-jerker! You've crushed my tiny little ego into nothing! Nothing, I tell you, nothing!

P. S: Yeah, right! Serious? Me? Ha, the idea is laughable/ Goes back and reads The Golden Lion and Silver Dragon/ Oh wait, maybe I can be, but not in this case! Thank you, I was afraid that nobody liked my attempt at humor! So, thank you again!

P. P. S: Harry's name is long, isn't it? But I've always loved Vash's name in Trigun (anybody who has seen that anime will know what I'm talking about.) so all I did was use some made up names and a few names that I liked or names of some of my favorite characters, and viola! Harry has his new name!

Muimui.8: Glad that you think it's funny and I hope the later chapters won't be so confusing! Thanks for your review!

Lady Sakura Cosmos: Thank for reviewing! And I totally agree with the long name. I was probably on drugs or something at the time. Ha, Ha. No seriously, thanks for taking time to tell me you like the story!

P. S: I don't do drugs. Just thought that I should tell you that. Not sure why though.

NiNa: Okay, I thought about your suggestion about updating once a day and, although I'm flattered you what chapters that fast, I have to ask, ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME!

Update once a day? My brain would explode if I had to use it that often! But don't worry I will update as fast as I can. And everybody will believe Harry when he 'wakes up', so be at ease about that!

P. S: And I loved your review, so no you didn't give me a headache, I don't think any positive review could do that! Thanks for reviewing and I'm thrilled you liked the story!

AthenaKitty: It's you! I thought that you had given up on me! I'm so glad that you didn't and are still reading my stories. Thank you! Anyway, yes, some questions will kind of be answered, and come on, what's a good story without a little character torture/Crickets. / Okay, maybe, I'm just mean.

Oh, well, some things we'll never know! Thanks for the questions and I hope you'll find the answers you were looking for, if not well, to bad.

P. S: Kidding! I was kidding! If you have anymore questions feel free to ask!

ShivaniBlue: OMG! Thank you! That has to be one of the best, if that the best, review I ever gotten! And it wasn't even about the actually story. LoL.

But thank you, and I am enjoying writing fan fiction, so I am going to continue. No matter what anybody says. Bwhahahaahhhhhhh/CoughchokeCough/

Sorry for taking so long to thank those who reviewed the earlier chapters!

Tantan: Thanks for the review and I hope you're still reading the story to see this!

Mika: I like Godric and I like funny people, so I just had to make him the goofiest of them all! Thanks for the review and I'm happy you like a goofy Godric too!

XxX-PhoenixGirl-XxX: Hello! Waves Back Thanks for the Review, Leontine! And as you can see I haven't stopped updating! And it's reviews like yours expressing concern about me quitting this story that keeps me writing! So keep 'em coming! Thanks again!

Yana5: Thanks for reviewing and I hope the story hasn't become un-cool for you, Ha ha!

Storm101: Not going to ask what! OMG, is it that bad?

P. S. Oh, well, at least you acknowledge my story by leaving a review/message and don't pretend that it doesn't exist because it was so bad!

ShivaniBlue: Hi again! Yes, Harry will meet Salazar and yes, Harry will come to look past the ways he had been taught about all Slytherins being evil, but will he accept Snape or continue to see him as 'a greasy git'? Maybe, maybe not, I guess you're just going to have to keep reading the story, aren't you? lol.

Yana5: Yes, yes it is.

SpaceCatdet: Thanks for reviewing and the Highlander x-over suggestion!

TykerBell: Thanks for reviewing and the boost in confidence!

AthenaKitty: Questions, questions, who's got the questions? It's AthenaKitty! I'm not sure how long Harry will be 'gone', but it shouldn't be that long and his training will come later, in his own time period, and since I'm a little late answering your questions the others should have already been answered in the new chapters. Keep up the questions!

Well, I don't think I missed anybody, but if I did I'm sorry and I'll be sure to thank you in the next chapter!

Guten Tag - Reine