Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter 5.

The benefits of Divinity

Harry Potter decided that the forbidden forest would be one of the worst places to be at night.

He was waiting in the said forest for a solid hour to confront a mysterious cloaked figure attacking the unicorns of the forest. He was informed of this by one of the Centaurs, who had taken great pains to meet him on the castle's grounds without arousing suspicion. Harry was almost sure that this would be linked with Voldemort since very few wizards would dare to attack a unicorn. At least, that was what the D-phone told him.

Harry heard a pained scream and immediately used a portal to transport himself towards that direction. He had used a cloak to disguise his face so that only his eyes were visible to an outside observer. He really needed to get one of those invisibility cloaks. Even though he could travel anywhere at will, he could still be seen by others in places he was not supposed to be in.

Harry arrived at the source of the scream to find another cloaked figure standing over an unconscious unicorn. The beautiful creature was chained to the ground and was oozing a silvery fluid that seemed like its blood. Harry immediately willed the figure's legs to stick to the ground.

The figure stilled, realising that their legs were stuck to the ground, and pointed their wand towards Harry.

"Avada Kedavra!"

A jet green light slammed into Harry, pushing him back and slamming him against a tree. He felt extremely weakened and nauseous due to the vile magic.

"What are you?" The dark figure sounded unsettled, seeing Harry struggle to get up after taking the full blast of the killing curse. "Legilimens!"

Harry braced himself, expecting another painful spell. When he saw that the spell didn't do anything, he decided to counterattack. There was one spell that worked beautifully with his powers in battle. This was a spell he learned by himself to give him a fighting chance when used along with his powers.

"Flipendo!" Harry yelled, pointing his wand at the figure. The figure fell back, not expecting his Legilimency to have failed and his target being in a state to attack back. As soon as the back of the man touched the ground, Harry grinned. The battle was won.

Harry watched, amused, as the man tried to move his body. Harry recognised the man's voice as that of Professor Quirrell. So it was indeed Voldemort that he was facing. Quirrel's entire body was now glued to his clothes, which in turn was glued to the ground. Quirrell was unable to get back up.

"Finite! Fini-mmmm!" Quirrell yelled, trying to undo what he assumed to be a sticking charm. Harry quickly stuck Quirrel's lips together, rendering him unable to perform verbal spells. Then, he promptly removed his cloak and threw it at Quirrell, intending to stick it over him to obstruct his sight as well. However, just before the cloak could touch him, Quirrell dissipated to black smoke.

Harry looked around frantically, checking for any sign of the man. He could see or hear none. He was alone in the clearing, the only traces of Quirrell being his clothes that were still stuck to the ground.

Harry stared at the unconscious unicorn, unsure of what to do next.

As Harry bent down to inspect the creature, he heard the sound of a footstep. He looked up to see the last person he expected.

"A-Aphrodite?!"

"Hello, Harry." Aphrodite smiled as she walked towards the unicorn. She put her hands on top of the beast and muttered something. The creature's wounds were closed in the blink of an eye, and its face relaxed as if it were sleeping.

"I must thank you for helping her. You may not be aware of this, but unicorns are one of my favourite beings in this world." She ran her hands through its hair in affection.

"Umm… You're welcome. But Voldemort escaped…"

"That's a pity, yes. But what's more important is that you are unhurt." She beckoned him closer, and Harry obeyed. Aphrodite put her hand in Harry's forehead. He felt as if the ill effects of the dark curse Voldemort had used on him wash away at her touch.

"Hermes has told you, I'm sure, that your body is much less vulnerable now that you are a Minor god. But remember that you are still not immortal, Harry. What you faced today was the Killing Curse, and you will not be able to shrug off more than a few of those. Getting hit by more can actually kill you."

Harry swallowed. It was rather foolhardy of him to have faced one of the most powerful wizards alive without backup. He didn't even stop to think about it when the Centaurs asked him for help.

"Give it more time." Aphrodite smiled. "I am sure that you'll be able to deal with such nuisances in due time, but you should know the limits of your abilities first."

Harry nodded, feeling a little foolish. "Umm… What do you think I should do now? I think he knows who attacked him, and I will see him during the Defense classes…."

"I highly doubt he will show his face in Hogwarts anytime soon. He knows you recognised him." Aphrodite smiled. "You shrugged off his killing curse, and he was unable to read your mind because it is protected against external intrusions by virtue of your godhood. You also stuck him to the ground using a power he had no knowledge of. I am sure he will be much more cautious in dealing with you now, and he is likely to wait until he can get more information or test you indirectly."

Harry didn't know whether this should comfort him or terrify him. An enemy out in the daylight seemed much less dangerous than an enemy in the shadows.

Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, Harry. You will become strong enough to face him. I believe in you. You are a god, after all. One of us. A lowly wizard is not your match."

"Thank you, umm… Lady Aphrodite…"

Aphrodite snorted. "Just Aphrodite will do, Harry." Her face turned serious. "I'm sorry that I couldn't intervene directly in your fight, Harry. By Zeus' order, we are forbidden from directly involving ourselves in the affairs of a minor god until they have proven himself worthy of the title. Besides, we have other restrictions on involving ourselves in human affairs, as the Council of gods set forth. Peitho can help you to a greater extent, though, since I made her your assistant. But even she has limits on involvement."

"Zeus always was an asshole." A lazy voice commented. Aphrodite whipped her head around, jumping up and shielding Harry at the same time.

"Oh, relax, Aph. It's just me!" The voice said in a cheerful tone. Harry identified the source of the voice as a very young man. He was casually leaning on a nearby tree.

"Merlin," Aphrodite said in a less than warm tone. "What do you want?"

"Ouch. Is that any way to address an old friend?" The man pretended to be hurt, his hand clutching his heart dramatically.

"Wait, Merlin?!" Harry exclaimed.

"The one and only." The young man gave an exaggerated bow.

"Don't be deceived by his appearance, Harry. He is a deity who might even be more powerful than Zeus himself."

"You flatter me." Merlin grinned. Looking at Harry, his eyes seemed to shine in admiration. "Harry Potter! Such an honour it is!" He gave another exaggerated bow.

'I can already see why she doesn't like him.' Harry thought, humiliated at Merlin bowing to him. A moment later, he was worried as he realised that Merlin could read his mind.

"You're all so mean." Merlin sighed. "Why do you all treat me so?"

"Because you," Aphrodite said acidly, "Are a self-serving deity who prances around as you please without ever consulting with the Council of gods."

"I admit that I don't much like to be advised by the council of divine dunderheads, excluding you, of course," Merlin amended hastily upon seeing Aphrodite's expression turn dark. "I would love to have your counsel me on anything." He turned to Harry. "She's a bit prejudiced against me, so don't believe everything she says." He said in a mock-whisper.

"What have I said so far that isn't true?" Aphrodite asked crossly.

"I am not self-serving. I serve magic." He said grandly.

"You are magic."

"Correction, Magic is me."

"You are magic first and Merlin second?" Aphrodite asked. She seemed to be considering something, and her expression momentarily flickered. Harry could see a hint of fear in her eyes.

Merlin nodded sagely, ignoring Aphrodite's momentary loss of composure. "It's an important distinction."

Harry felt Aphrodite grab hold of his hand, and they both disappeared from the forest clearing. Merlin looked amused as he was left alone in the forest. "I speak to a beautiful woman for five minutes, and she disappears. Typical."

Harry was momentarily disoriented as he found himself in a different place, Aphrodite still holding his hand. Harry recognised that they were now in Olympus thanks to the unique architecture of the room.

"Sorry about that, Harry," Aphrodite said, releasing his arm. "That being is too unpredictable, so I thought it was best to keep a distance. I didn't think I could protect you if it had some ulterior motive for meeting us."

Harry processed that information. The goddess Aphrodite was almost afraid of Merlin, the figure who is revered like a god by wizards. Apparently, he was a god. A powerful one at that.

"Is he a Major Deity?" Harry asked curiously.

Aphrodite considered the question and motioned him to sit down on a couch. Harry obeyed, and she sat down next to him.

"I am unsure." She said uncertainly. "Zeus is wary of him. The way he speaks makes me believe he is a Primordial Deity, or as some call them, a Supreme Deity."

Harry gaped. "He's that strong?" Harry had only heard whispers of beings so powerful that their control over the domain exceeded even the greatest of gods. They were variously known as Aspects of the World, Primordial Deities, or Supreme Deities.

"He identified himself as magic first, and the person Merlin second. That itself means he has transcended the concept of personalities and unified with his aspect. I know very little about their kind, and I can tell you even less. But be cautious around him, Harry. Don't let him sweet talk you to doing something stupid."

"What would he need me to do?"

"Beings like him have their own ideas of how the story of the world should unfold. They play the world to do their bidding and watch its plight in amusement. I'm not saying that Merlin is like that because I don't know him well enough to judge. But most of us Olympians are wary of Primordial Deities for a good reason. Please remember that."

Harry gulped and nodded, now understanding the seriousness of the situation they found themselves in earlier.

Aphrodite ruffled Harry's hair affectionately. "Don't worry, Harry. I don't think he's evil. He has not interfered with the affairs of the world much since that time he incarnated as Merlin and involved himself with the affairs of Camelot. But it's always better to be safe than sorry."

So the being they met has been around for much longer than Merlin. "What should I do if I meet him again?"

"Try to keep your distance, but don't offend him," Aphrodite advised.

A knock sounded on the door, and Aphrodite bade the visitor to enter. In walked Peitho, with a golden envelope in her hand.

"My lady." She curtsied to Aphrodite. "My boss." She curtsied to Harry as well, this time in a teasing tone.

"Ah, so it's time for Harry to receive his first payment." Aphrodite smiled upon seeing the golden envelope.

"Yes, my lady." Peitho handed the envelope to Harry with a brilliant smile. "Congratulations on completing your first week as a god, Harry. Your joining bonus of one hundred blessings, and the first week's stipend of ten blessings." She handed over the cover to Harry.

Harry accepted the cover dumbly. "I get paid?"

Peitho laughed. "He was going to work for free." She snickered.

Aphrodite smiled in amusement. "Yes, Harry. As far as those elevated to godhood by the divine Council are concerned, you get paid an amount every week for your contributions. The payments are in a currency called 'blessing' and can be used to buy almost anything from Hermes."

"You can buy anything from food, clothes and money to lesser divine powers like Clairvoyance, invisibility, and so on."

Harry perked up at that. "How much would it cost to buy invisibility?"

"The least expensive variant should cost… ninety blessings," Peitho informed him after a moment's thought. "It's called lesser invisibility, and it shields you from human eyes and from that of most magical creatures for less than an hour. You can use it once in twenty-four hours."

"How do I buy it?" Harry asked with a large grin. That would solve his number one problem of moving around.

"Just take out the letter from the envelope, and request Hermes to grant you lesser invisibility," Aphrodite instructed.

Harry took out the letter, which read:

"Harry Potter is owed 110 blessings for his services to Olympus. Signed -Plutus, God of Wealth."

"Hermes, god of Merchants, I pray to thee to grant me Lesser Invisibility in exchange for my blessings." Harry relayed his thoughts by telepathy in a manner similar to how he would request Hermes to grant him a portal.

"Granted." Harry jolted when he heard a voice echo in his mind. When he looked at the letter, it now showed that he was owed 20 blessings.

"That was a good choice, Harry. Human wizards will not be able to detect you when you use this. However, it does not make you intangible or inaudible, so they may still detect you by other means." Aphrodite told him.

Harry grinned. Being a god was not so bad after all.