Hello. I'm here with a new installment of this series. I call it a series but a larger storyline is starting to emerge for me. Pretty soon we're going to move from one shots to a longer narrative because the ideas I've been having are too big for one shots (I am not the sort of writer who posts 100,000 word chapters, thank you very much). I guess that will be the start of the main story. There will probably be one or two more one shots before that happens. I'm happy people like what I've been doing so far, especially since my initial intention was just to post a one-shot. It certainly grew from there.
Bit of a data dump in the first part of this one, mainly for the benefit of readers who don't play D&D.
Now let me reply to some guest reviewers whom I cannot contact any other way (also non-guest reviewers):
Thunder Dragon: I'm sorry to hear that things are so difficult for you. I posted your challenge though. You can find it in the Harry Potter / DC Superheroes crossover section under the title of "Thunder Dragon's Challenge: Wizards and New Gods." I hope someone picks it up.
Guest (2/23/19) - It probably would be - and maybe they did. We shall see.
Dragon Fan - As I said above that will be happening soon. If you can put up with one or two more one-shots the main story will probably be starting around the time Harry's Hogwarts letter would come.
Kaiser Dragon - Well I'll see how it goes. I will say that I have the Tri-Wizard Tournament slated for a major role later in the story. Beyond that, we shall see. I don't have the whole thing mapped out and there will almost certainly be changes along the way.
Odin's Eye - You got that right.
UnknowinglyMad - Thanks for the suggestions, especially regarding the attention Harry would draw from other places. As you will see in this chapter I have started to hint at that.
NooShoak - Oh yeah. When mortals fight deities it usually ends badly for them.
Tzapporah - Glad you like the story. I liked your idea and made use of it.
Oh, and I don't own either Harry Potter or Dungeons and Dragons. They belong to their respective creators.
4) AUNT T
It's a well known fact that not all dragons are good. They are like any other race of beings, some are good, some are neutral, some are bad, and some are very, very bad indeed.
It's a matter of cosmic irony that the worst of the worst is sibling to the best of the best. Some say that the guiding force of the multi-verse has a sense of humor and in order to keep a balance between good and evil it has decreed that the arch rival of Bahamut, the king of the good dragons, is none other than his own twin sister. Her name is Tiamat and she is the queen of the evil dragons.
Tiamat is often referred to as the Chromatic Dragon. She has five heads. Each one is the color of one of the classic evil dragons of the Prime Material Plane: Black, Blue, Green, Red, and White. Occasionally some reckless person will state that since Tiamat has five heads, each with its own brain, that she is actually five separate dragons who all share one body.
It should be noted that such a reckless person usually does not live very long after making this statement.
Tiamat maintains her lair on Avernus, the first plane of the Nine Hells of Baator. There, among other things, she watches over the main access way to Dis, the second of the Nine Hells. You might say that it would only be natural for a being like her to dwell in one of the Nine Hells. After all, evil is her nature. But that's not the whole story. What makes an evil being truly evil isn't that they are evil by nature but that they understand the difference between good and evil and they choose to be evil (or to be more precise, since evil people rarely think that they are evil, they choose to behave contrary to what most people would perceive as "good" thereby branding themselves as "evil" in the eyes of society). The most effective tyrant is one who has a good side. It is no accident that Lucifer was an angel before he fell.
Tiamat is no exception to this rule. She does have a good side. It's buried very deep and almost never shows up. But it is there.
Harry James Potter, son of Bahamut and Daranni (formerly James and Lily Potter) was a growing dragon and he was growing fast. At 15 months when he was first brought to Mt. Celestia and had his draconic nature released by his father his dragon size was about the same as his human baby size.
On his second birthday he was a bit larger than a full grown golden retriever.
The following Halloween he had reached the size of a full grown St. Bernard.
On his third birthday he was as large as small horse.
Not that he was big yet in comparison to other dragons. Both of his parents were so large that he could still easily perch on either of their backs and would be able to do this for some time to come.
It was right after his third birthday that his parents took him to his first Dragon Summit.
Dragon Summits are rare but regular events. They happen about once a century or so. The leaders of many of the prominent dragon clans meet together to discuss dragon affairs. These may include (but are not limited to) problems clans face, proposals to better draconic lives, threats from outside (i.e. non-dragon threats), recognition for notable achievements, and so on and so on.
The summits are overseen by the Dragon Pantheon itself. In simple language these are the dragon gods. Counting Bahamut himself and his sister Tiamat there are 12 of them. The chief of these is Io, the creator god of dragonkind and Bahamut and Tiamat's parent. Below him / her / it are the other 11 deities. In addition to Bahamut and Tiamat their names are Aasterinian (Io's messenger), Astilabor (deity of hoards), Chronepsis (in charge of Fate, Death, and Judgment), Faluzure (the overseer of Energy Draining, Undeath, Decay, and Exhaustion), Garyx (god of Fire, Destruction, and Renewal), Hlal (humor and storytelling), Lendys (balance and justice), Sardior (gem dragons and psionics), and Tamara (life, light, and mercy).
For the most part the members of the Dragon Pantheon rarely attend the summits in person. They usually send ambassadors to represent their interests. Now and then, however, one or more of them will attend the summit. Bahamut and Daranni decided to attend the summit this time as neither had been to one in several centuries. They took Harry with them because they didn't want to leave him alone (even with plenty of staff and servants to look after him). They did shield him a bit from the crowds but it was inevitable that he would be seen by many other attendees. Fortunately they mostly cooed over him and congratulated the parents on having a fine young child.
As it turned out, Bahamut and Daranni weren't the only Pantheon members who were attending the summit this time. When they arrived neither of them was pleased to find out that Tiamat was also present.
"Should we leave?" Daranni whispered to Bahamut.
"No" Bahamut replied, "she won't try to do anything here. The summit is too important and too public for her (or anyone) to try to threaten or harm one of the attendees."
"That's all well and good" said Daranni, "but I'd just as soon keep Harry out of her way."
"Of course" echoed Bahamut, "There's enough at one of these summits to keep anyone busy the entire time. Hopefully it won't be too difficult to keep away from her."
Naturally it didn't work out that way. Before the end of the first day Bahamut, Daranni, and Harry came face to face with Tiamat out on the grounds of the summit area. What happened next would be talked about amongst dragonkind for a loooooong time to come.
"Hello dear brother, and dear brother's mate" said Tiamat in five silky voices as all of her heads spoke together. It was true that each of her heads had its own personality and thoughts but they were also all linked mentally into one overall mind and when that mind exerted full control they would speak as one.
"Tiamat" said Bahamut politely but curtly. Harry was perched on his mother's back staring at Tiamat in fascination. The chromatic dragon noticed him quickly.
"So this is your newest brat" said Tiamat looking at Harry "interesting. He looks just like both of you. Why would I expect anything better? The universe just isn't that kind." Daranni opened her mouth to retort but before she could say anything Harry flew down from off her back and stood in front of his parents facing Tiamat.
"You have five heads" he said in a high voice that was filled with wonder at seeing such a sight. Tiamat looked at him, suddenly taken aback at both the statement and the complete innocence with which it was made.
"Yes" she managed to say.
"That's great!" the young dragon said looking up at her, "I wish I did too." All ten of Tiamat's eyes got wide when she heard that.
"Do you?" she said looking down at Harry, "why is that child?"
"It would be neat" Harry said without any hesitation, "just like you're neat."
"Am I?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" declared Harry who quickly transformed into his human self and began clapping his hands for emphasis. "Neat! Neat! Neat!" He laughed and stared up at Tiamat's five faces. Tiamat backed up a step in surprise as she watched Harry clapping his hands. Something happened in that moment that had not happened in many, many centuries – if ever. Somehow, looking down on this child who was her nephew and had just declared her to be "neat," Tiamat felt her notoriously hard and cruel heart start to soften. She crouched down to get a better look at him. As she did both Bahamut and Daranni moved forward.
"Oh relax" Tiamat snorted "I'm not going to harm your precious son." With that she proceeded to ignore the two adult dragons while lying down to get nearer to Harry.
"So" she said, "you are Harry."
"I'm Harry" he said, "who are you?"
"I'm your Aunt T" was the reply.
"Aunt T!" said Harry clapping his hands again, "Aunt T! Aunt T! Aunt T!"
"Well aren't you just the cutest thing!" declared Tiamat with laughter in her voice.
"I don't believe this" said Daranni to Bahamut as she watched the interaction between her son and sister-in-law.
"That makes two of us" murmured Bahamut.
After a few more minutes Tiamat looked up from her talk with Harry.
"How ironic" she said to the two adult dragons, "I thought I would hate any offspring of yours, but I think I'm going to enjoy being Harry's aunt."
"How... nice" said Daranni, not sure what else to say. For once there was no malice in Tiamat's faces as she looked at them.
"Isn't it?" Tiamat said as her faces all became serious, "you should be careful with him. There will be a lot of people who are going to be very interested that you have a new son. And I don't mean just in our pantheon. "
"I'm aware of that" said Bahamut, "there is always a lot of interest whenever someone powerful has a child. Daranni and I won't be letting Harry out of our sight until we're sure he can defend himself."
"Good" said Tiamat who looked down at Harry, "well nephew it was nice to meet you. Be sure to come visit me some time." She looked up at Harry's parents and laughed at the expressions of horror on their faces. "You're still so easy to wind up" she said to Bahamut before turning around and walking away.
There was a long moment where neither of Harry's parents said anything.
"That was – unexpected" Daranni finally said when she found her voice again.
"It was" Bahamut said nodding his head, "I can't remember the last time Tiamat actually was anything that resembled nice."
"She still hates us" said Daranni.
"Yes" said Bahamut, "she probably always will. But for some reason she likes Harry."
"Do you think she meant it?"
"Oddly enough, I do."
"Even if she did" said Daranni, "there is no way I will let Harry visit her in Avernus."
"Definitely not" agreed Bahamut, "let's go home. Our ambassadors will take care of any other unfinished business."
During his younger years Harry would only see his aunt on very rare occasions, and even then only under the extremely watchful eyes of his parents. Tiamat's affection for him seemed to be genuine. Every year she would send him a birthday present, one that was always harmless since it would have to pass through rigorous inspection before being allowed anywhere near Harry. The cards that went with the gifts were always signed "love from your Aunt T."
THE END of Aunt T
A/N - And that's that. Honestly I don't know if it's plausible in real life D&D for Tiamat to act like she does in this chapter but I like the the family dynamics it sets up here and hope you do too.
