Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Chapter 6.
Minor Godfather
It was a typical Monday for Harry Potter at Hogwarts. Not that he knew what a typical monday would look like in Hogwarts, since it was just the start of his second week here. He was enjoying lunch in the Great Hall with his friends when Professor McGonagall stood up from the head table. Notably, the headmaster was absent from lunch today.
"Students, we regretfully inform you that Professor Quirrell, your Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, has… disappeared."
Having expected this, Harry curiously noted the reactions of his friends. Hermione seemed horrified, but most of the others seemed relieved. Surprisingly, many of the upper years looked like they expected something like this to happen. Harry could see Ron's brothers gleefully accepting money from a few upper years -something about a bet, from what he could overhear.
"We are unsure of when we will be able to resume classes for the subject, as it will depend on locating Professor Quirrell or finding a suitable replacement. The fifth- and seventh-year students will have their lessons handled by Professor Snape for the time being, but we are currently unable to accommodate any other years due to our pressing schedules. We assure you that we will come up with a more permanent solution for this by the end of this month. Meanwhile, we encourage you to discuss the textbook material in groups and meet your head of the house to clarify parts that you feel difficulty in grasping. Thank you."
The hall broke to murmurs as McGonagall sat down. He could see that most faces in every house except Ravenclaw were gleeful for the free time they would get. Gryffindor fifth and seventh years looked sour at the prospect of another class with Professor Snape.
As soon as they exited the great Hall after lunch, Hermione pulled Harry, Ron and Neville aside.
"So, how are we going to do this?" She asked.
"Do what?" Ron asked confusedly.
"Study in groups, of course!" Hermione all but shouted. "I've never done anything like this before, but I think we should arrange for daily meetings -one hour at least, because we won't be able to learn as fast as we would with an instructor. We should make a list of books we have to read. Maybe we can divide textbooks among ourselves and one person can present the contents of one chapter every day. We should be able to complete everything by Christmas and we can revise starting New Year…"
Ron had started to go green, and he turned around and made a run for it. Neville frantically looked at Ron and back at Hermione, unable and unwilling to choose what course was best for him. Harry just shook his head in dismay. His duties in Olympus were already taking up so much time, now he had this to deal with. He was, however, grateful to Hermione for taking the initiative. He needed to learn how to defend himself, if last night was anything to go by. He couldn't just rely on buying divine powers with his stipend. Actually, learning spells could eliminate a host of divine powers from the list of things he needed to buy.
"Harry," Hermione looked at him earnestly. "Could you please find us an empty classroom to study? I'm afraid the common rooms are going to be terribly crowded with this new situation. I'll take a look at the books in the library and see which ones we can use as a textbook…"
"Okay, Hermione." Harry nodded, confident in his D-phone's ability to find a good place. "Don't worry about it. I'll find a place by tomorrow."
"That's great, Harry!" Hermione beamed, glad that she has atleast one enthusiastic supporter. "Neville, could you please convince Ron and anyone else you know to join us? It'd be better to have a bigger group of seven or eight people, so that we can cover a lot of ground."
Neville wilted, not wanting to go around and nag others to join a study group. "Um… will we have people from different houses?"
Hermione stilled. "That's brilliant, Neville! Of course! We can have more diversity, and those students can ask their house head as well in case of doubts. We can benefit from the expertise of all four heads of houses!" She grinned in delight.
Harry whistled appreciatively as he toured the Room of Requirement later that day. He had asked the D-phone what places would be the most suitable in Hogwarts for training Defence against the Dark Arts. The phone suggested a few places, and this room was without a doubt the winner by a mile. The room now assumed the form of a large hall with a large open space in the middle. One section of the room had a row of fake targets, while another section had a small bookshelf filled with books on the subject. It also had a large circular table with comfortable chairs, which could be used during discussions. This place was perfect.
"Harry, how on earth did you find this place?" Hermione asked in amazement as she looked around their new Defense Against the Dark Arts training room.
Harry smiled, a tad nervously. "I was just walking around the castle, trying to find a good room, and then it appeared, just like that."
"Don't be ridiculous, Harry." Hermione snorted. "I think we can meet here tomorrow, Neville should've finished recruiting by then. I've talked to a few people who seemed interested, too."
Harry nodded, looking forward to the discussions himself.
As Harry prepared to leave the Potions class that day, Professor Snape called out to him.
"Not so fast, Potter. Stay back."
Harry remained in his seat, confused. Draco snickered as he walked past him.
As the last student left the class, Snape moved to exit the room as well, motioning Harry to follow.
After walking behind the man for a few minutes, Harry let his curiosity take the better of him.
"Excuse me, Sir, but where are we going?"
"I'm sure you already know, Mr. Potter. As you did the answers to my questions."
Harry knitted his eyebrows in confusion. What was he talking about? Did Snape suspect that he somehow cheated?
Snape stopped in front of an ugly stone statue, and muttered "Lemon drops". The gargoyle moved aside, to Harry's astonishment. The space it occupied now showed a spiral staircase.
Snape stepped into the staircase, and Harry followed suit. He did not expect the spiraling motion of the stairs, and almost lost his balance as a result.
Snape raised his eyebrow contemplatively. "Didn't see that coming, hmm? So there are limits to your ability…"
Harry started to grow weary. What did they suspect? Did Snape use mind reading magic? Aphrodite had told him that humans would not be able to read his mind, but Snape was acting very strangely. Granted, he didn't know the Potions master for long, but it seemed… uncharacteristic of him.
Harry followed Snape into a large room at the end of the staircase. The room was filled with a collection of silver knick-knacks the likes of which Harry had never seen before. It was also adorned with portraits of old wizards and witches. When Harry spotted Professor Dumbledore in a table, he realized that he was in the Headmaster's office.
"Ah, Severus, thank you. Please take a seat. You too, Harry."
Harry sat down, following Snape's example. He felt a little trepidation. What had Dumbledore and Professor Snape discovered?
"Would you like a lemon drop, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, offering him a yellowish sweet.
"What? No thank you, sir." Harry said, being caught off guard.
"Quite alright." He popped one into his mouth when Snape refused his offer as well. "I find their taste particularly invigorating." He explained as he chewed on it.
"Now, I will get straight to the point, Harry, since we have another meeting shortly after this. One that you may be looking forward to, in fact." Dumbledore smiled. "We have reason to believe that you may be a Clairvoyant, that is, a natural born user of Divination capable of determining facts through extrasensory perception."
Seeing Harry's confused face, Snape took over.
"We noticed that you were able to answer my questions, even though you didn't know the answers the moment you were asked the question. You also didn't seem surprised by the fact that Peter Pettigrew was an Animagus, and was hiding as Mr. Weasley's pet rat."
'Busted.' Harry thought, panicking a little. 'Tell me what Clairvoyant means, in a way that I can understand?' He asked the D-phone.
"Clairvoyance is a lesser form of restricted omnipotence, and enables the one gifted with the ability to determine facts about the world. Depending on the extent of the user's ability, the information may be of events in the past or the present, but foreseeing the future is not possible with this ability. The information may also relate to a specific object or piece of knowledge."
Dumbledore smiled as he saw understanding dawning in Harry's face. "Are we mistaken in our assumption, Harry?"
Harry decided that the ability was his best chance to pass off his knowledge without explaining the source. He decided to confirm their suspicions. He didn't have much of a choice, anyway. He had been careless.
"…Yes sir. Some things just come to me."
Dumbledore took a deep breath. "Fascinating. You must realize, Harry, that very few people have demonstrated the level of ability you have demonstrated. Have you always been able to divine information at will?"
"Not always." Harry said hesitantly. "I think Professor Snape's class was the first time I've done it consciously. I wanted to know the answers so badly, and suddenly I did. With Ron's rat, it was more like a gut feeling."
"A much easier way to answer my questions would've been to prepare before coming to my classes, Mr. Potter. Ten points from Gryffindor for cheating in classes."
"What? But-" Harry cut himself off. He did cheat, and he just admitted to doing it as well. He sagged his shoulders in dismay,
"Harry, do you know how Peter Pettigrew's legs stuck themselves to the ground when he tried to escape?"
Harry did not answer, but began panicking on the inside. 'How on earth can I answer that without-'
"Ah, look at the time! We have to cover a few more things before our next meeting." Dumbledore said suddenly.
"I believe I am late for my class." Snape got up hurriedly and left the room.
Harry blinked. 'What just happened?'
"Divine Intervention. In order to safeguard knowledge of divine existences, the god of Thought and Memory has altered the train of thought of Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape. For unknowingly causing an incident which required Divine Intervention, you have been fined ten blessings."
Harry couldn't believe his luck. He would gladly pay the fine if it meant keeping his secret a secret.
"Before we move to our next meeting, Harry, I wanted to return this to you." Albus took out a silvery cloth that looked almost transparent and handed it to him. "Can you tell me what that is, with your ability?"
Harry immediately consulted his D-phone. "This is the Cloak of Invisibility, gifted by Hela, the Norse goddess of Death, to Ignotus Peverell, a wizard. Being an artefact of Hela, it is famed in history as a Deathly Hallow, and its powers of hiding its wearer are legendary. It gifts its wearer powers equivalent to Greater Invisibility."
Harry recognized the name of Ignotus as that of his kindly ancestor he met in Elysium. This was something that belonged to his family.
"It's … a Deathly Hallow, sir." Harry tried, borrowing the term used by the D-Phone. "It's called the Cloak of Invisibility, and was an artefact that once belonged to my ancestor, Ignotus Peverell." He wisely chose to keep the goddess' name out of the conversation, since that would almost certainly invoke another fine and Divine Intervention.
Dumbledore stared at Harry in shock. "Incredible." He whispered. "Incredible."
Harry winced internally. Maybe he should've toned it down further.
"I am returning this to you, Harry. I am ashamed to admit that I was once enthralled by the legend of the Hallows, and had spent a great portion of my life searching for it. Upon seeing an invisibility cloak with properties that no others were known to have in James' possession, I had requested him to allow me to study it. It was shortly after this event that Voldemort attacked your parents' home." He sighed, his eyes downcast. "Perhaps, if the cloak were with them that day…"
Harry winced. Having had an encounter with Voldemort, he was certain that even Greater Invisibility would have their limit against him. It did not, after all, confer the wearer with the ability to be unheard or unsmelt or untouched.
"I don't think that alone would've helped…" Harry said, trying to comfort the man.
"You are truly kind, Harry." Dumbledore said, almost losing his composure.
A brief silence descended on them. Dumbledore broke it with something he had been meaning to ask Harry.
"Harry, with your gift, could you tell me what happened to Professor Quirrell?"
Harry had more or less expected this question, so his panic was not as bad as it could've been.
"He… attacked a unicorn in the forest." Harry began, his mind working furiously to give a good explanation. "Or rather, he tried to. Someone -or something, stopped him before he could take its blood. I don't know what it was that stopped him. I can't see that. But," Harry looked Dumbledore straight in the eye, "One thing I can say for certain, Professor, is that he was possessed by the spirit of Voldemort."
Dumbledore looked stricken, and his face seemed to have lost some color. "The gamble was too risky." He muttered. "To have planted himself as a Professor here… I underestimated him."
Harry had a strange feeling the only reason Dumbledore was so open with him was because he thought Harry would already know everything due to his supposed Clairvoyance. Thankfully, he could bluff Clairvoyance easily, since he had something a little better. He did find out about Dumbledore's plan and the Philosopher's stone last night with the help of the D-phone, so he was able to understand what Dumbledore meant.
Harry was broken out of his musings as the fireplace glowed green.
"It seems our guest has arrived."
Sirius Orion Black, freshly released from St. Mungo's hospital, stepped into the Headmaster's room at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The school was a second home to him as it freed him from the clutches of the Black Household.
He spotted Headmaster Dumbledore, who looked much the same as before, sitting with a young boy who bore a striking resemblance to his brother in all but blood, James Potter.
"…Harry?" Sirius whispered, scarcely believing that this was real.
Harry was at a loss at what to do. What was the appropriate thing to say, or do, when one meets someone to whom he meant a lot to, but he did not know at all? He nodded in response to the question.
Sirius made a dash towards the boy, intending to scoop him up. He checked himself at the last second, unsure if Harry would appreciate such an act. This was not, after all, the toddler he had played with. This Harry was a stranger to him by a decade, and Harry probably remembered next to nothing of his presence in his childhood. He slowed down to a stop in front of Harry, and knelt so that he was eye level with the young boy.
"I'm…" He swallowed. "Sirius. Sirius Black. Your godfather."
Harry had spent a good hour with Sirius in one of the abandoned classrooms of Hogwarts. Dumbledore had excused him from attending the last class hour of the day, and encouraged him instead to get to know his newly liberated godfather. Sirius spoke in length about Harry's parents, and he came to know a lot more about them than what he could glean from his brief meeting with them in Elysium. He soaked up everything Sirius told him like a sponge, eagerly hanging on to every detail and every anecdote Sirius told him.
Sirius seemed to have drained himself by speaking more than he had in the past eleven years combined. When his voice grew scratchy, it was Harry who suggested that he should get rest and he would gladly wait another day to hear from Sirius.
"Dumbledore has given me permission to host you in my home tonight…" Sirius said uncertainly, "If you want to, of course… It's a very gloomy place, but it's all I have at the moment."
Harry nodded eagerly. A part of him was curious to know what a Wizarding home would look like, while another part of him wondered why Sirius would describe his own home as gloomy.
Professor Dumbledore was more than happy to let them use his fireplace for connecting to the 'Floo Network'. It was apparently a magical form of transportation. One Harry was much less fond of after he experienced it. He much preferred Hermes' portals, but how could he possibly use them in front of Sirius?
They had arrived at the doorstep of a desolate building that seemed to be located in London, if Harry could judge correctly from the vehicles that zoomed through the road. The house stood in contrast to the new buildings on either side of it, and would've been a remarkable eyesore to an otherwise upscale area of London. Sirius opened the door and led him inside. He flicked his wand at what appeared to be a covered portrait, and Harry could've sworn he heard a woman's muffled voice.
"That's the portrait of my mother. A nasty woman if there ever was one."
Harry could not grasp what Sirius seemed to be implying. How could one have parents but still not love them? He had, in retrospect, heard other children complain of their parents, but those were minor complaints that held no ill will towards them. What Sirius just told him seemed a bit more than an ordinary child's lament.
"Kreacher! Kreacher!" Sirius shouted into the darkness. Hearing no response, Sirius frowned. "Must've snuck off somewhere. Bloody blighter…" He muttered a spell and the lamps in the house lit up. He walked forward and reached the living room. Harry almost bumped into Sirius when the latter came to a sudden stop at the door to the living room.
"What is it, Sirius?"
"Who are you?" Sirius asked, pointing his wand to the center of the living room. Harry followed his gaze, and was startled when he saw a woman dressed in the oddest of clothes seated in the living room couch as if she owned the place. Her face looked grim, with a hint of sorrow. Her hair was dark to one side, and pale white on another. One of her eyes were full of life, while the other looked like it belonged to a corpse. Her face was youthful on one side, and wrinkled on another.
The woman looked at Sirius disinterestedly, and shifted her gaze to Harry.
"Harry Potter." The woman said, gesturing to a couch placed opposite to her. "I am Hela, goddess of the dead, Queen of Niflheim. We need to talk."
"And I'm Odin, King of gods." Sirius shot back sarcastically. "Get the hell out of my house!" He made a threatening gesture with his wand.
Harry's stomach gave a lurch. Sirius didn't have a clue of the seriousness of the situation. That woman was definitely a deity. He had heard of Hela from the D-phone.
"Sirius, she's telling the truth! Please, put your wand down!"
"Harry, her face is just transfigured. This is someone's idea of a joke at best." His face darkened. "At worst, it could be one of his supporters."
Hela looked slightly amused at Sirius' declaration. "Do us a favor and keep out of this, human." She made a shooing motion.
Sirius took a menacing step forward. At least, he tried to. His feet were currently stuck to the ground, much to his horror. He immediately cast a counter-spell to unstick himself, but to no avail.
Harry snatched Sirius' wand while he was distracted and hopped away from him. "Sorry, Sirius, but you have to listen to me. She's real." He said pleadingly. Sirius looked stunned when Harry grabbed his wand.
He turned to Hela. "Uhh… Aren't you supposed to not reveal yourself to humans? Umm… Ma'am?"
Hela looked impatient. "He is your guardian, is he not? Family or next of kin of those elevated to divinity are allowed knowledge of these matters,"
"Oh…" Harry looked at Hela, and back at Sirius. He swallowed nervously. 'I have to tell him then.'
Harry finished his explanation to Sirius, who looked gobsmacked and bewildered. Hela was currently reclined in the couch, glossing over a book from the Black library with a bored expression.
It had taken Harry a solid hour to convince Sirius that he had not gone mad, and Hela had been of no help whatsoever in that matter. She seemed almost insulted that Sirius hadn't taken her word for it.
"And you became a god through a lottery?"
"That's about the size of it, yeah." Harry sighed for the umpteenth time.
"I still don't believe it…" Sirius muttered. He believed Harry hadn't gone insane, but his claims were another matter. Was this some intricate hallucination by the death eaters still at large?
"Shall I take you to Niflheim to prove it?" Hela snapped at last.
"No, don't!" Harry said urgently, sensing danger at Sirius' interested look. Sirius had no idea it may be a one way trip. "Please. I'm sorry, but he didn't know about any of this and all I can do is stick things and turn invisible. All wizards can do that!"
Hela sighed and made a slashing motion with her finger. The space in front of her seemed to tear. Harry watched, terrified, as a gigantic fiery head poked out of the distortion in space. The head had two horns on either sides, and eyes that glowed red as if they were on fire.
"I am at your service, my Queen." The figure dipped its head and said reverently. The voice seemed to invoke a sort of crude fear in any who heard it.
"Proof enough for you?" Hela asked Sirius, who had gone pale. Sirius squawked out an affirmation, his body trembling in fear at the unearthly creature.
"You may go." Hela dismissed it. The being bowed again and disappeared into nothingness.
"Wha… Wha…" Sirius took deep breaths to calm himself down. "What in Hell's name was that?"
Hela looked amused at his fear. "Feyr, my pet. A being some might call a Greater Demon."
Sirius swallowed. All his Gryffindor courage seemed to have vanished at the sight of the being, which seemed to be terror incarnate. He would never shoot his mouth off in front of this woman again. She was positively dangerous.
"What did you want to talk about, Ma'am?" Harry asked, hoping to appease her.
Hel made a shooing motion at Sirius again, and this time, he complied with the greatest haste. Knowing that Harry was also a god -and wasn't that a strange thought -and that he was also protected by other gods made him confident that the woman would not harm him. At any rate, she didn't seem to have any ill intent towards Harry. He didn't need to anger her by further annoying her and make her antagonistic to Harry.
As Sirius reached his room upstairs, he began to have second thoughts on leaving Harry alone with that goddess. He almost made to turn back, but he was stopped by a familiar voice.
"Harry won't be harmed, Sirius. So let them talk." The voice said. When Sirius turned around, he was struck again by the same vision of beauty as that he had seen in St. Mungo's. The nurse whose arrival had somehow cured him of his trauma at Azkaban.
"Hello." The woman smiled radiantly, stepping closer to him. "Do you remember me, Sirius Black?" She whispered.
Sirius swallowed. "Uh… Nurse Peitho?"
Peitho grinned, and gave Sirius a peck in his cheek. "Good boy." She whispered. Blood rushed to his cheeks and the place she kissed felt like it was on fire.
"A-are you a goddess as well?" Sirius asked. He would've described her as a goddess even without his current knowledge of the existence of divinity, just from her appearance.
The woman giggled. "You flatter me, Sirius Black." She gently steered him away from the door and sat him on the bed. She sat next to him and leaned forward. Her face was just inches away from his.
"I am Peitho, goddess of Persuasion and Seduction. A pleasure to meet you." She said the last part in a whisper.
Things clicked for Sirius. That explained her behavior. "The p-pleasure is mine." Sirius struggled to control his rapidly beating heart.
"I think we will be seeing a lot of each other from now, Sirius." Peitho used his first name now. "I am Harry's assistant, his helper in the ways of Divinity."
Sirius' eyes bugged out. "W-what? But I've heard of you! Aren't you Aphrodite's companion or something? How on earth did you become Harry's assistant?"
Peitho nodded in agreement. "Yes, I am. I assist Lady Aphrodite, whom Harry had the occasion to befriend on his first visit to Olympus. He is quite lucky in that regard. She assigned me to help him, since he is young even by human standards." She smiled at Sirius. "You do not have to worry about his safety with Lady Hela. Aphrodite is a formidable goddess if angered, and Hela knows it well. She will not harm him. Besides, harming a god of the Olympus Pantheon will invoke the wrath of Zeus. Not many gods would willingly risk that."
Sirius blinked hard. First Hela. Then Peitho, Aphrodite and Zeus. The names were all legendary, but the myths were all apparently real. He snorted at the ridiculousness of the old Black family notion that gods were powerful wizards worshipped by muggles due to their ignorance.
"Shall we make this house a suitable place to stay while those two chat?" Peitho had somehow snuck her hand to hold Sirius' own. Sirius started sweating at the close proximity of a woman whom he knew to be an actual goddess. Sirius had to admit, she was a little too good at seduction.
"I'll take that as a compliment." Peitho grinned, still holding his hand.
That was how Sirius realized that she could read his mind.
Harry fidgeted uncomfortably at Hela's stare. Sirius had left them a minute ago, and Hela was yet to say anything.
"So, Harry Potter." Hela began at last. "Minor god of matters that concern sticking and unsticking of substances. As I said earlier, I am Hela, a major deity that controls the dead. I share the responsibilities of this position with some other prominent major deities, like Hades in your Pantheon."
Harry nodded. 'Why did she want to see me? Does it have to do with the Cloak of Invisibility?' The D-phone told him that it was gifted to his ancestor by Hela.
"Indeed, yes. It does have to do with that." Hela looked Harry straight in the eye. "I want it back."
"…Oh." Harry hid his dismay. He did not have any rights to it except that it was a family heirloom. Hela made it, after all, and gave it to his ancestor. She had the right to reclaim it. Besides, the cloak was not worth angering a Major Deity. He could always buy Greater Invisibility from Hermes in the future.
He took out the cloak, which was placed in his robe pocket. The pocket had been charmed to hold much more than it seemed on the outside. "Here." He handed it over to Hela without complaint.
Hela took it back with a nod of approval. "Divine artefacts are not meant to stay in human hands for such a long time." Hela said. "It was my poor judgement to not ask it back from Ignotus on his death. We are unable to interact freely with the mortals, so I could not ask any of his successors directly either." She made a waving gesture towards Harry. "I bequeath you, Harry Potter, the powers of Greater Invisibility without restriction and Grant Invisibility with restriction in return for the Cloak of Invisibility."
Harry gaped in astonishment. He did not expect anything in return.
"It's only fair." Hela shrugged. She slowly got up. "If you find and return to me more of my Hallows, you can expect similar rewards."
"A moment please, Lady Hela." Harry was surprised when Peitho strolled into the room, Sirius in tow.
"Peitho?" Hela frowned. She then noticed a golden chain in Peitho's hand and an oval locket hanging from it. "Ah. I failed to sense this." She looked embarrassed at the admission.
Harry was shocked when the D-phone refused to answer what he was looking at, on grounds that it was classified. The only fact it told him was that it was a locket that was retrieved by Regulus Black, Sirius' younger brother, before his death.
Peitho handed it over to Hela. The latter looked questioningly at Sirius.
"I cannot take this without the permission of the owner of this house."
Sirius nodded vehemently. "Please take it, your Ladyship. I don't want it in my house." He eyed the locket with more than a little fear.
"Well then, thank you." Hela accepted the locket, and it burned to a crisp as soon as she held it. "He has more." She said with a frown.
"Umm… Excuse me, but what is that?" Harry asked, gathering some courage. Even Sirius seemed to know what that was!
"Oh, I believe Hades restricted this information from the D-phone." Peitho nodded understandingly.
"It's a soul anchor, or a Horcrux as wizards call it. It anchors a human soul to the world by binding a fragment of it in a container such as that locket. It is a means to cheat death devised by wizards of old." Hela explained. "This particular one belonged to the wizard known as Voldemort. He has made more of them. Needless to say, I am not fond of these artefacts as they bypass the laws set by gods."
"But how is that possible?" Harry asked, appalled. How could wizards defy gods?
"Merlin is lax with what he allows his followers to do." Peitho shrugged. "He does not care for the divine council or the rules we must obey. We lack the power to prevent the existence of such an artefact precisely because Merlin allows its existence."
"One of these days, I hope he falls from his high pedestal. His day of reckoning shall come." Hela muttered darkly. Peitho looked a tad frightened, almost as if she expected Merlin to jump out from the shadows any moment.
"I thank you, Sirius Black, for allowing the destruction of this artefact. I owe you a favor, you may call upon me if you need it repaid." With that, she vanished from the room.
Peitho whistled appreciatively. "Her favor shouldn't be taken lightly." She advised Sirius. She then waved cheerfully at Harry. "Hey boss!"
Harry smiled, already used to Peitho's behavior. "Hey Peitho. Good to see you. Thanks for dealing with that …thing." Harry said, looking at the ash that was left of the locket.
"My pleasure." She chirped. "This place is awful, by the way," She said to Sirius. "Where's that elf of yours, Kreacher?"
With a small crack, an unsightly creature appeared in front of them.
"K-Kreacher is here." The creature said with a trembling voice, avoiding eye contact with Peitho. "He lives to serve the House of Black." The small creature looked pitiful, with wounds and scars covering its body. It seemed to be shaking in fear in front of Peitho.
"Hey, I won't harm you." Peitho said gently. She placed her hand on Kreacher's head, and his entire body seemed to glow. His wounds healed, scars faded, and he seemed much healthier than before.
Kreacher looked at his body in amazement, and eyed Peitho reverently.
"Kreacher thanks G-goddess Peitho for her kindness." He said, his voice constricting with emotion.
"Kreacher, can you help Sirius look for and destroy any object with dark magic in this house?"
"If it pleases goddess P-Peitho…" Kreacher trailed off, and eyed Sirius distastefully. "And the will of House Black."
"Yes, Please." Sirius nodded, amazed at how well Peitho was handling Kreacher. Maybe he should try to be kind to him as well. The thought had never crossed his mind before, with the creature being one of the sources of his misery during childhood. Seeing Peitho being kind to him and his gratefulness stirred something in him. Even his terrible mother treated Kreacher better than him. What Kreacher did at his mother's behest was not his fault, after all. Sirius decided to give Kreacher another chance.
Kreacher disappeared with a nod. Peitho gave a satisfied smile.
"How did he know that you're a goddess?" Harry asked curiously.
"He was eavesdropping in our conversation." Peitho said, making Harry feel stupid. "Besides, magical creatures can feel that we are different, as they are more attuned with nature. I believe he didn't answer Sirius' call earlier because he was terrified of Hela's presence."
Sirius nodded. Kreacher had good sense then.
"Why don't you go help Kreacher, Sirius? I shall make the dinner."
Sirius and Harry gaped at Peitho. A goddess… Cook?
"What? I'll have you know that I'm an excellent cook, if I do say so myself." She moved towards the kitchen with those words.
Sirius looked at Harry, releasing a forlorn sigh. "I wish I had a girlfriend like that."
Harry shook his head in amusement and followed Peitho to the kitchen, not about to burden her with all the cooking.
The next day, Harry seated himself in the discussion table in the Room of Requirement. Nine others were present in the room. It seems Neville and Hermione were quite successful in convincing others to join.
Besides himself, Hermione, Ron and Neville, the room also hosted Hannah Abbot Susan Bones from Hufflepuff; Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein from Ravenclaw. Unbelievably, Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis from Slytherin had also joined their little club. This was something Ron wasn't so Happy about, but he didn't speak up due to Hermione's glare.
"How on earth did you find this place?" Terry Boot wondered, looking astonished at how perfectly the room fit their requirement.
"Just luck." Harry shrugged, laughing nervously. He was told not to inform others of his Clairvoyance, unless he trusted them implicitly. Not a lot of the study group seemed convinced at his explanation, so Harry hurriedly changed the subject.
"Has anyone looked at the textbook?"
"I've just looked at three of the listed reference books besides the textbook." Hermione said, disappointed at herself. "That too, only the first few chapters."
"I've read the textbook upto Chapter five, nothing else." Daphne said in a clipped voice, seemingly a little miffed that Hermione was so ahead.
"Just two chapters for me." Tracey Davis said indifferently.
Others followed suit, and Ron seemed to be getting both embarrassed and annoyed. "I didn't read anything." Ron said finally. Hermione looked at him disapprovingly.
Harry sweated bullets, regretting bringing up the topic. "Just the first chapter." He said, wilting at Hermione's look. "But I know how to cast an offensive spell!" He added, trying to salvage his reputation.
Daphne's eyebrows shot up. "He's one-upped us there." She said, some humour in her tone when she realized that even Hermione couldn't cast any of the self-defence spells yet.
"I focused more on the theory." Hermione said, embarrassed. "Can you show us the spell, Harry?"
Harry nodded, and walked towards a training dummy. When he was about four meters away, he yelled "Flipendo!". The dummy was knocked back by a few feet. It then collapsed, falling flat on its back.
Anthony whistled appreciatively. "Sweet."
"Mate, that was wicked!" Ron grinned.
Harry blushed as everyone made noises of praise.
"That's amazing, Harry! Maybe you can teach us that first. Learning more spells may give us get a better feel of using magic, which can help us understand the textbook better." Hermione said.
Harry looked at the expectant faces and prepared himself, hoping that he was as successful teaching it as he was learning it.