Chapter Seventeen...
The Serpent's Lair - Part 1!
(Melody Granger!)
20th of June 2012:
No one said anything about what happened at Merlin's Station, seeing that it didn't feel right to do so right now. However though, on the ride to the Granger's home, Hermione asked, "Mum, where's Mel? I thought she'd come with to pick me up as well."
"Mel?" Harry asked, wondering who or what owned the designation.
Hermione's parents give her a look, and Hermione blushed as she said, "Melody, or Mel for short, is my sister."
"…You have a sister?" Harry asked with a surprised blink, completely shocked. She'd never mentioned anybody but her parents.
"Sorry, but every time we talked about the summer, or what I did over Christmas, we always get interrupted." Hermione blushed at this, "I meant to tell you, but things kept coming up."
It was true, whenever they talked about their families or the plans for the summer, things kept on coming up. Either their friends wanted something, or it was because the problems they had with Ron. And to be honest he never thought about asking about it either. "So what's your sister like?" Harry asked his friend.
"I've been told she's very smart, but she lacks the drive I do so she can become very unsure about things." Hermione explained, trying to remain unbiased. "She's also shy around new people, that much I can tell you first hand. Expect to be avoided until she grows used to you being around and warms up to you. So where is she Mum?"
"She decided to stay behind with her friends, she wasn't up to the trip. So how was your time at Hogwarts you two?" She inquired with interest.
For the remainder of the trip the four of them talked about the past year at Hogwarts. Harry didn't know Hermione was going to censor the events of the year, not understanding the danger of telling parents their daughter had her life in mortal danger, but did know enough to at least mollify them when he explained that the Magical World, while wondrous, was also dangerous. The Troll sneaking in was a rare event, like a dog wandering into an elementary school. To stress the importance of not yanking her from the magical world completely he explained that without the proper training, Hermione's magic could be a danger to both to herself and everyone around her. The Elder Grangers weren't happy, but they could accept that logic, helped by Harry's promise to keep Hermione safe.
Any other twelve year old promising this would have been written off, but there was a feeling around Harry, like an unseen aura of power and security. Hermione just barely resisted the urge to sigh with relief when her parents dropped the idea of pulling her from school and settled for a strongly worded letter to their Head of House about their lax security measures.
o0OoO0o
The Granger's Residence:
It was about two hours later when they got to a town called Winchester. They pulled into the driveway of a big garden and the large, two story white house it was attached to. The garden had beautiful flowers, bushes and trees. Harry stepped out of the car, same as Emma and Hermione, but Dan stayed inside the car. "I'm going to get Melody, see you soon." He announced with a blown kiss to his wife.
As the car pulled away and drove off Harry looked around and said, "These are really well cared for." He said with experience as he examined the flowers.
"Thank you Harry, it's a hobby of mine I started to pass the time but grew to love." Emma said with a proud smile, "Now let's go in and I'll do dinner and Hermione can show you around the house."
They did just that, Emma heading for the kitchen while Hermione gave him the tour. The first floor had a living room, study with a small library, Dining Room, kitchen and a Small Bathroom with a loo and a sink and a Games Room with a pool and foosball table. On the second floor they had five Bedrooms and a Bathroom; this one larger and sporting a bathtub. The Master Bedroom had its own bathroom, but that was the Elder Granger's Bathroom - Parent Privileges, Hermione had quoted - so Harry put it out of his mind.
Once Harry had a good idea of where everything was they went back to the living room, where Emma was watching TV. "You have a wonderful home Emma." He complimented.
"Thank you Harry," Emma returned. "Did Hermione show you what room was going to be yours?"
"No." He answered. His attention had more been on the games room and the study.
"Sorry Mum, I forgot to." Hermione said sheepishly.
"Well you can have one of the bedrooms on either side of the bathroom, they're guest rooms." Emma explained.
"Thank you Emma." Harry said gratefully. "Is there anything I can do to help?" He asked, feeling like he should be doing something in return.
Emma waved him off though. "No Harry, you're the guest and so you should relax." Next to him Hermione voiced her agreement. "Why don't you watch some TV. Hermione can you help me set the table while I finish up?"
With that Harry began to watch the TV, squirming in place as he sat gingerly on an unfamiliar couch, some irrational part of him worried he was going to break it somehow and get kicked out. He was hoping that feeling would fade.
Before he had a chance to dwell on it further though the front door opened and Dan's voice called, "We're home!" followed by the shuffle of shoes being taken off. Harry first look at Melody was her fond smile as she finished telling her Dad what she'd been up to with her friends. She had shoulder length, wavy sandy blond hair and muddy blue eyes set in a slightly more gentle version of Hermione's face.
She froze as she saw him, so Harry took the initiative, giving her a wave as he introduced himself. "Err, hey, I'm Harry Potter; one of Hermione's friends from Hogwarts." He said slowly, it felt completely foreign to the concept of introducing himself to his friend's siblings.
Just like Hermione said Melody seemed to look unsure of herself before she responded with a quiet, "Hello." before she made her towards the stairs, her gait slightly hurried.
Dan chuckled at Harry's curious expression. "Don't worry, she'll get used to you quick. Just give her some time and she'll be like a whole new person."
Just as he said that Hermione came in and saw her father, "Hi Dad, Mum thought she heard you and wanted to let you know she wanted you in the kitchen." Dan thanked his older daughter and left, leaving Hermione to tell Harry, "Dinner will be ready in ten minutes, Mum wanted me to tell you so you'd have time to wash up."
Harry nodded and went to the downstairs bathroom to wash up.
o0OoO0o
During dinner Emma looked up from her food and asked, "Harry, has Hermione told you what we have planned for the summer?"
Hermione blushed, and Emma quickly deduced she already knew what Harry was going to say. "Last I heard the trip to France was planned, but I never asked further for details, since I was happy that I was going somewhere in the first place." Harry answered honestly, not sure why Hermione and now Mel were blushing, or why Dan was chuckling at his girls.
"You see the reason that Hermione didn't tell you and the reason she and Mel are blushing is because it's a bit embarrassing for them. You see, one of the locations we'll be visiting is a nudist beach, although clothing is optional." Emma revealed with a grin. Both Emma and Dan chuckled as they watched Harry slowly work that out, before his facial colour matched their daughters'.
"O-oh. Yeah, that would certainly do it." Harry rambled, not sure how to take this development. On one hand he wasn't all that bothered about being around naked people, because of his club. But on the other hand though, he was coming on this holiday to get away from the naked people as puberty hit him, and his hormones were running loose and needed a place where he didn't have to deal with naked women. But at the same time, this holiday was better than dealing with the women at the club who should they find out about him hitting puberty, would tease and try to fuck him. At least on this holiday, he wouldn't have to deal with that problem.
"Yes, it's something of a tradition for our family, a time to let our hair down you could say." Emma explained to a shocked Harry. "It started with me and Dan's parents, they were both nudists, believe it or not. Dan and I both went to the same beach and happened to meet and fall in love. Dan and I aren't nudists like our parents, but we do go to that beach every year; both for ourselves and so our daughters can experience what we did and hopefully find love like we did."
"When do we leave?" Harry asked Emma.
"First of July; we'll be staying there until a week before you start your second year, so we can get yours, Hermione's and Mel's items for Hogwarts when we get back."
Harry attention perked at the mention of getting Melody school supplies too. He hadn't known she was Hogwarts bound as well. "So, Melody, you're going to Hogwarts too, are you excited?"
"Y-Yeah I am." Melody said shyly before she went back to eating her food, hoping the topic would change again so she wasn't in the spotlight.
"It was shocking when Professor McGonagall informed us that both our daughters were Witches." Emma explained to Harry, who noticed that Melody seemed to flinch at the word witch.
"Oh!" Harry voiced out loud without meaning to as he figured it out. "I didn't have to deal with it since 'Wizard' really doesn't have anything negative tacked onto it, but it must feel pretty strange to suddenly be called a witch, right?" He guessed.
Melody nodded, "I'm… still getting used to it. It still feels like whenever someone calls me a Witch they're accusing me of something. It would be easier if we were all called Mages, or even if Witches were called Sorceresses instead." She admitted slowly.
"I can see how that would make the transition easier. Speaking of which, I've noticed we really don't have a word to describe all of the Wizarding World as a whole, unlike the Mystics. I've been using Magicals, but that's just my unofficial name." Harry admitted, happy that he was holding a sort-of conversation with the previously reclusive girl.
Hermione took that moment to finally voice what she wanted to say before Harry spoke up, looking faintly ashamed. "I'm so sorry Mel, it was such a small thing among the huge revelations that I completely forgot about it. I should have warned you about the labelling issue."
"No worries Hermione." Mel said with a smile.
"So what would you prefer to be called?" Harry wondered.
Mel thought about it about this for a moment before she said, "I think I would like to be called a Mage, since it doesn't mean male or female, and I for one think it shows that we can do more than most think a Witch or Wizard can do. Like these Mystics that Hermione told me about, we can do so much more with magic if we only put our minds to it, like using the elements and such."
Harry considered her perspective and found he agreed with her. "If that's what you'd prefer I'll use it if you like, but the Magical World, for all its wonder, is a pretty close minded place. There are still many who are against the Mystics because of what they are able to do, and Mages as you call them are too lazy to learn how to use the magic differently. Worst case scenario you're looked down upon for being a silly Muggleborn who's so arrogant she feels she needs a fancy title. Best case scenario nobody cares and it catches on." He finished quickly as he noticed her depressed look.
"Thanks for the warning." Melody said, her smile returning at Harry's assurance.
As this was happening Hermione and her parents smiled at the youngest Granger opening up to Harry; they were worried that Melody would be shy around Harry and wouldn't be able to talk to him for quite a while. Their worries were unfounded however, Harry was apparently quite skilled when it came to socializing the standoffish Granger daughters. Hermione and her parents shared thankful smiles Harry was integrating so well so quickly and started discussing what Hermione had learned about the Wizarding World in the hopes to learn more about the world and see where they could fit into it, leaving Harry and Melody to finish their conversation. When they did so the two joined it; the five of them talking for almost an hour before they realized how long they'd been sitting there in front of empty plates and started cleaning up. not long after the children were sent to bed.
o0OoO0o
23th of June - The Granger's Residence:
It has been a few days since Harry arrived at the Granger's and Harry would readily admit he was enjoying himself. Unlike his bedroom at the Dursley's, this one was by quite a bit bigger, and everything was just a higher quality; the bed softer, the lamp brighter, the blankets warmer. Even should he sleep in his room at his club, it wasn't as good as this, something he would have to change now.
He also found he didn't have to cook anything for anybody to keep the peace, which was a shock. Although he had to admit he did like cooking well enough, so he did make snacks and even lunch for everyone on several occasions. He had no chores, nor have to be at the club for any reason, all he had to do was enjoy his summer. It was just too weird to do nothing though, and he insisted he be able to do a few jobs around the house, as thanks for having him. Something he didn't think he could get used to, he liked to keep busy, and he enjoyed running the Abyss, even if the paperwork was hell, and the people were a pain in the ass. But it wasn't something he would change. But it was nice to have some free time, to relax and not worry about people cheating him and the other problems that came with running an underground club.
Outside the house Harry went his time working in the gardens in the front and back yards with Emma's blessing once he explained that he took care of the Dursley's garden, because it was relaxing work for him, and learning to swim in the backyard pool with Hermione and eventually Melody's help - something he didn't really needed to know until now. The backyard was surrounded by huge trees and bushes so no one was able to see what was going on in the garden and the nearest house was about five minute walk away.
It was currently a few days since Harry got to the Grangers, and he hadn't yet started to do any of his training yet. He knew he couldn't use his wand, as it had the Trace on it that would inform the mooks at the Ministry of Magic that he was doing magic. He was almost certain they couldn't detect him using his Mystic powers because they didn't interfere in the past, but he wanted to wait a few days before he restarted his training and test his luck.
But now that he had a few relaxing days, Harry decided it was time to start training again. It was doubtful he would get any time while in France, so he wanted to get some time in now. He and Aneira situated themselves in the backyard as the elder Grangers were at their dental practice in London and Melody and Hermione were in the Games Room.
He decided to start off with something he felt was needed; evasion training, whilst he was good, after fighting Quirrell, Harry knew he had to be better. Aneira would throw ice attacks at him and he either avoided or knocked them out of the air with his own attacks when he couldn't dodge. So far he was able to dodge about 80 percent of Aneira's assault when she was firing her slower attacks. "I think that'll do for now girl, let's see if you can ice over the whole pool." Harry eventually said once he felt he'd made some progress.
Aneira sent him an insulted look, telling him that she wasn't happy that he didn't think she could do something as easy as that. She sniffed and suddenly Harry's legs were encased in a block of ice; Harry didn't even notice because he was watching her ice over the pool. Harry laughed it off and soothed her bruised ego with compliments as he melted the ice off his leg.
An hour later Harry and Aneira were going full force, throwing elemental attacks at one another to improve their stamina. Harry learnt fast that the Ministry of Magic couldn't detect his Mystic Powers, or they could but because it was Mystic Powers and not wand magic, they couldn't do anything for some reason. "Whoa, that's so cool!" It was lucky Harry and Aneira were taking a breather at that moment, and their latest attacks had already hit and cancelled each other out that neither of them was hurt.
As Harry and Aneira turned around to see who it was, they saw Melody sitting on the porch, "I'm sorry to surprise you, but I was just shocked to actually meet someone else who has the same powers as me, well, almost anyway. Is… is that a tiger?" Melody asked hesitantly as she stopped gushing about Harry's abilities.
Harry waved it off, "No problem, but next time wait for us to finish what we're doing before you say anything. We're not used to training with other people around and we get pretty engrossed in what we're doing. Oh and that's Aneira." He revealed. "She's a Tigran; a magical animal that can look like a normal house cat, or in this case kitten, or a tiger." Mel looked in awe at this, as Harry went on to say, "So what do you mean by you've found someone who could do the same as you? Are you a Mystic too?"
Instead of saying anything, Mel snapped her finger and between them lightning crackled between her finger - it was like the lightning was dancing around her fingers.
Harry was shocked to see this, Hermione didn't tell him that she had a Mystic as a sister, then again Hermione never got to telling him about her sister. But at the same time he would have thought that Hermione would have told him that she knew someone who was a Mystic, when she found out about him. Either way though, who would have thought that the reclusive and hesitant girl could control such a powerful element? He knew that Charlotte could control an elemental power, and there were a few others, but it wasn't their main skill. It gave Harry another reason to get to know her as her own person rather than the sister of his best friend. "That's wonderful Melody, so I take it that your parents and Hermione don't know about this?"
"Ah… no." Melody said shyly, reminding Harry of when they'd first met and she hadn't opened up to him yet.
"Why?" Harry asked the young Granger.
"I, I was afraid how they would react if they found out." Melody admitted.
"Listen Melody, I know I only met your parents, but I can tell that whilst they would love you no matter what you could do." Harry comfort Melody, "Does Hermione have a skill like this?" Harry inquired. He assumed Hermione would have said something, but she might be like Melody, whatever her powers could be, she was too afraid to say anything. Even when she was asking about his abilities she may have been so focused on him mentioning her own abilities could have slipped her mind in her mental focus.
"Not as far as I know, no." Melody admitted. "When we were younger, strange things did happen around us, but we never realized - or possibly weren't willing to accept - that it was our doing. It was only last year that we found out why they'd happened. Hermione, as you can probably guess, wanted to learn everything from the official books. So instead of experimenting on her own when we found out it was us doing the strange things, when she got her wand and books, she started to learn from them, strictly following the lesson plan inside. However, I was the opposite; I didn't have copies of her books at the time, so I studied on my own. It worked out for the best anyway; I find I learn better with self-study. I eventually read her books, and though they did help with my progress, they all seemed so… rigid. All the books seemed to be missing something. They explained things well enough, but if you wanted to unravel the magic on your own they were sorely lacking."
Harry was impressed at how Melody was acting; over the last few days she acted shy most of the time, but whenever she talked about magic she was like a completely different person. "You're right, I have found that the books only hold the basic information for our kind of magic, the rest is up to the our believe and how much power we were born with. The books are main to learn Wand Magic. They don't do much else for you if you want to learn the how's and why's. I have found the books in the Hogwarts Library a bit more help in that regard, but I've still found it easier to use the books as guides and just learn on my own."
Melody had a thoughtful look on her face as Harry told her this, "Interesting, I can't wait to go to Hogwarts next fall to see what I can learn from their Library. I did something very similar with my sister's books; using them as guidelines to see what I can do, rather than unquestionable proof." Melody explained to Harry, "Unlike my sister I refuse to believe the books contain every scrap of knowledge that exists on this and other subjects in the world. There are just so many things to learn and discover. It seems so… lazy, to think that someone has already discovered all there is to find of even the simplistic applications of magic and the world at large."
"Either way, since I didn't have a wand I had to experiment on what I can do could do without one. I had no real idea how or where to start, no idea about Mystics were real, so I read a few comics to try and see where the people with magic in them started off. It took a while but I found that the most common trait was that the Mages in the stories and comics meditated to gain and control their new powers. So I got a few books and started to meditate, it took a while but I eventually found what I believe was my power within me."
Harry was amazed at the young girl's story, it was almost the same as his, but she didn't have any help from an imaginary friend/sister. He listened as she went on to say, "Once I found my power, the next task was learning how to control it and find out what I can do with it. My first try was shape shifting; from what I read in the comics I needed to focus on what I wanted to look like and will myself to look like it. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to change my appearance to look like another person." Melody looked downtrodden as she was told the skill she wanted to learn the most wasn't possible.
"There's nothing to be down about Melody, you've already made a lot of progress; just focus your willpower and you can do almost anything. I've learnt that as long as your body is able to handle the power strain, you can do anything you want; within reason. All you have to do is start small and keep on training. It'll get easier to do once you learn to get a good mental picture of what you want to do and find what your exact limits are. Just don't be upset if you can't do what you want to do instantly." Harry explained to the younger girl, finding himself comfortable in the impromptu role of teacher he'd taken. "From what I've learnt, the ability to suddenly look like another person of the same gender by changing your appearance is what's called the Metamorphmagus ability, and it's an inborn trait that can't be learned. I've got a few skills already, and I know that there's other powers out there I want to learn. And who knows, there might be other ways to learn new skills that we don't know of yet, we have to keep on looking."
Melody smiled warmly at Harry's supportive words; it was nice to talk to someone who had the same habits as her, even better that he'd been doing it for longer and had much to share. Maybe if she played her cards right, she could get him to teach her what he knew. "I didn't know that, thanks for telling me Harry." Melody said with a smile, grateful for the advice, "Since that I couldn't become a shapeshifter like I wanted, I tried to learn other skills. I moved on to elemental skills; it was the next best group of powers I saw in the comics.
"I started off trying the four basic elements; Earth, Fire, Wind and Water, but I just couldn't… feel them, is really the only way I can describe it." Melody explained to Harry, this was something Harry could relate to. As before he learnt his fire powers, he couldn't feel anything other than fire. And shortly after meeting Charlotte, and gaining some skill in his fire abilities, he was able to feel his Earth powers. Earth wasn't his strongest, but it wasn't his weakest either.
"So I thought about the other elements that some of the comic character's use." Melody went on to explain, "There are a lot of elemental powers, but when I went to school one day I finally got an idea for the first element to try. In our Science Class we were told that our body was made up of mainly of water, but also electrical impulses throughout our body. So, since I couldn't control water, I started to try and see if I could control electricity. It took a while, but I eventually realized that I could control the tiny amount of electricity the human body has stored. It took me months to do much of anything besides make my fingers spark. It wasn't until I realized I only had access to a tiny amount of energy that I started looking for ways to increase what I had on me."
Melody started to look sheepish as she slowly admitted. "I tried just wearing thick socks and rubbing my feet on the carpet, but it didn't do much of anything, so I uh… I kinda… stuck my finger in a light socket?"
Harry shrugged off what most people would goggle at though. "I used a candle to check if fire I hadn't created would burn me, so I'm not really the one to judge you for that."
Melody looked grateful to not get a scolding for her actions and continued. "That isn't the only thing I learned though!" She said, her voice actually raising for the first time since Harry had met her as she proudly said, "I also learned to summon and banish things. Shapeshifting may not have yielded any success, but I did learn how to change my body a different way. I read in comics that a character could transform into a monster of some kind, so I wanted to see if I could transform into a monster so I could I could become stronger. I knew it might not be possible to do so, but I wanted to at least try and see if I could." Melody's body started shifting, and she perked up like she remembered something before yanking the back of her waistband down for her pants. Harry was just about to ask about it before a zigzag shaped tail sprung up.
When her transformation was all done Harry stared at her blankly. "You're a Pikachu." He said flatly, as he remembered the Pokemon show that Harry saw Dudley saw one time.
Melody's red circled cheeks puffed out. "I am not! Well, okay, I've never looked at myself in a mirror or anything, but I'm sure I'm absolutely terrifying and powerful."
"You're a Pikachu." Harry repeated. "Not a four legged one though, more like if someone slapped a Pikachu costume on a person." And he was right, Melody still walked on two legs, the only thing that had really changed were her ears had become long and pointed, she'd sprouted a lightning bolt shaped tail, and her hands and feet had become padded. Aside from being completely covered in yellow fur - except for the black tips of her ears and the first half of her tail being brown - a very short muzzle where her lower face used to be, and a very slight bust increase, which Harry didn't even notice, she was largely the same. He'd been expecting something a little more frightening.
Harry smiled cheerfully, causing Melody to come back from the embarrassed mood she'd slipped into as Harry eyed her up and down. "Despite of the craziness of becoming a well known and entirely fictional creature instead of something real, this is really amazing Melody; you have a good grasp of your powers. I hope we can train together some time. You look really cute like that by the way."
"T-Thanks Harry." Melody said bashfully. Though it couldn't be seen through her fur she was blushing at Harry, a boy she admitted was very cute himself, complimenting her. Changing the subject, she spoke as she transformed back. "I was wondering, could I become your Apprentice Master Vulcan."
Harry blinked, not expecting her to even know that nickname, much less make such a request. "How did you hear that name?" He asked first.
"Hermione was talking about her year and she let slip that her and your Study Group called you Vulcan, and a pair of 'trouble making gingers' called you Master Vulcan." She explained. "At the time I wasn't sure why they would call you that, but now that I've seen your powers it makes sense; the Roman God Vulcan was the God of Fire and Blacksmithing. Have you ever thought about trying your hand at smithing?" Melody asked as an afterthought.
"I hadn't, no, but it's an interesting hobby idea once I own a house that could support it." Harry ceded, interested in the idea. "I'll have to look in the library and see if they have any books about getting into the art."
"I'm sure there's something. There has to be, if what Hermione says about the size of the school library is true. If not, I'm sure you'll find something someday." Melody reasoned. "Back to my point, though." She said suddenly. "I'm guessing you know a few things that I don't know, possibly a lot of things. So I wanted to become your Apprentice so you can teach me what you know. I've heard Hermione mention you're a natural when it comes to teaching, what she told me, you are helping a few students to learn how to use their powers and help get better defending themselves with and without magic."
"Thank you, but to be honest I really don't know much, everything I am teaching them is things that I was taught before coming to Hogwarts." Harry said modestly. "I am still learning to this day, and most likely will keep on learning until I die."
"I understand that, but you still know more then me and could help me learn more about my powers and what I can do with them, like you do with your friend Ember. I still want to become your Apprentice. Once you run out of new things to teach me, we can either wait until you learn more, or just start learning together and help each other to find new things to learn. So what do you say, well you help me, Master?" She questioned.
'Damn my fucking hormones.' Harry thought to himself. It's not that he didn't want to help the young girl, as he was already helping his friends at Hogwarts to use their powers and defend themselves. The problem was how his body was reacting to her calling him Master. It wasn't the first time he was called Master, he was often being called it when he was Maverick, and as of late when his friends were joking with him.
But since he hit puberty, in the back of his mind where his darker thoughts dwelled, he was having erotic images running through his mind, and all because of his new hormones running through him. Still, if only for a moment, Harry looked at Melody with a calculating gaze, not just weighing her current worth, but her future value as well.
He saw a needy girl, like Ember was, who was so overjoyed that she found someone like herself that she was jumping head first into things, without her usual cautious, hesitant manner. He saw a girl like Ember, that would one day become a very sexy woman, but could be trained and molded into something even greater. Something that would be completely loyal to him, that would be willing to do anything for him, even sexual things. Sure Charlotte and Blink could be said were the same, but Ember and now Melody were somehow different, something he himself could mold to his liking. The other two were loyal and would do things because he saved them, but yet they had their own independence and free will to do what they like. But with Ember and Melody he could sense he could mold them to his liking, and get rid of their independence and free will, so that their actions would be for whatever his needs were, and do so without question.
And then the moment passed, and he was back to thinking about purely the now; how good it would be to help another friend learn how to control her powers, help defend herself and learning new things together at a pace far greater than it would be individually. Harry nodded slowly, a smile growing on his face as he accepted the idea. "Fine, but please call me Harry. 'Master Vulcan' is something a few of my friends like to call me as a joke. I think working together will be very beneficial for us."
Melody smirked, an expression not seen often on her face. "Thank you Master Vulcan, I'll be your loyal Apprentice." Before he could raise a fuss she waved him off. "I'll call you Harry, but only when you're not teaching me. As the way I see it, we can keep the training and friendship separate. During our training, you're the Master/Teacher and you won't hold back, you can do whatever you need to train me, even if I don't like it. This will make things so much easier for us, as you may need to instruct me in such a way that friends can't do, as they don't want to go full force and hurt them and wanting to take it easy on me because I'm you friend. Doing it this way will be better for us, we can take a step back, so to speak, to see the situation from a detached mindset. This way, I believe our friendship wouldn't be damaged, because you are going too far."
Harry nodded, hesitantly at first but growing more sure as he worked it out. He had to admit that in the past few months as he trained his friends, he had been taking it easier on them, as he didn't want to take it as hard on them. But now he was thinking about it, he wasn't doing them any justice, he now saw that them being rough on him made it so he was as good as he was now. So maybe the idea of the Master/Apprentice role would allow him to do things that being friends just wouldn't, he would have to talk to his friends to see what they thought about the idea. Before Harry could discuss it more with Melody, Hermione came out to the backyard… and froze when she saw the slab of ice that used to be the pool. "H-Harry, what happened here?" She asked, wide eyed.
Seeing Hermione, and realizing he'd left the pool frozen, Harry smiled sheepishly and said "Sorry, me and Aneira were training and I uh… kinda forgot about the pool. I'll fix it." He added.
However, just as he started to warm up the water, Hermione cut in, "Harry!" She barked in a loud whisper, looking around frantically as if the authorities were hiding in the bushes, waiting for an admission of guilt, "We're not supposed to do magic outside of school!"
"No, we've been told that we can't do magic with our wands, there's no rule saying that I can't use my Mystic powers. I've been using my Mystic powers for a while, and no notice coming from the Ministry" Harry said with a smirk. His jovial mood vanished, a darker one taking its place. "We can't use our wands because of the Trace on them, but I'll bet certain wards block the signal the Ministry is supposed to get or they use a wand that doesn't have a Trace on it. Without parents that can cast this ward or them not having a wand, we're left with no way to practice magic."
Hermione and Melody both paused as they worked it out. Hermione looked like she was trying to mentally deny it, wanting to believe the people of Magical Britain were better than that, but Melody, with no attachment to the Magical World or it's people, scowled at the very idea.
By the time they came out of their respective thought the pool was once more regulated and back to normal. Harry gestured towards the pool and Hermione wordlessly dove in, not wishing to talk about what Harry had suggested. Melody, on the other hand, walked up next to Harry and whispered, "We'll talk later."
Harry nodded next to her, but goggled when he looked back at her when she walked away. When she'd transformed and pulled her pants down because she didn't want them to rip because of her tail she'd never pulled them back up, so the stretchy material of her pants was still there, just below her butt. "Hmm Melody." Harry said as he wordless pointed to her behind.
Melody's eyes widened as she placed her hand on her naked butt, which was in full view of Harry, and immediately yanked up her pants with a squeak, walking quickly back inside, her face completely red.
o0OoO0o
30th of June - The Granger's Residence:
It has been over a week since Harry came to the Granger's home for the summer, about a week since he and Melody had talked about their powers. The two had really hit it off, spending quite a bit of time talking about magic and even experimenting when no one else was around, at least for the first few days. The benefits of having two minds working together were already showing; Mel - as she'd insisted Harry call her - was able to create a small ball of lightning, something that Mel was proud about and was thankful to Harry for.
Mel had been too excited about finally mastering the lightning ball and had been shooting them at a tree when Hermione came outside to check what the noise was about. She was understandably shocked when she saw what Mel was doing, but was mollified when Harry explained he was carefully watching over what she was doing. She was upset that that 1, her sister didn't tell her that she was a Mystic like her best friend, and 2, her best friend didn't inform her about her sister.
But as Harry explained, it wasn't his secret to tell, all he was doing was helping her to become stronger and better at her skill. Melody told her sister what she told Harry, she was afraid at how she and her parents would think of her powers, seeing that they were different than Hermione's. Hermione told her that she was a fool, that she would never hate her sister, neither would their parents. But she promised that she wouldn't tell them, it would be up to her. Instead Hermione joined these sessions with them, giving any advice she could. It wasn't always useful advice, but they all admitted she was at a disadvantage, not having an elemental ability of her own.
Although he insisted she simply call him by his name Harry quickly discovered that Mel continued calling him Master Vulcan when they were training. Even when Hermione joined, for two days she kept calling him Master. Although when Hermione found about it, instead of trying to stop her sister, she thought it was a good idea when Melody told the reason behind it. Hermione agreed it would allow Harry train not only her sister, but their friends better this way, thinking each other as teacher and student and not friends. Because if training as friends, Harry would hold back on them.
Seeing he couldn't stop Melody, he just went with it. But the problem was that over the last few days, Melody begun to tease him when they weren't training and when they were alone by calling him Master, knowing full well how wound up and flustered it got him when she did so. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, as he was often been called Master at Abyss, but with Melody though, he got a small distant part of him still got a rush out of it. 'Fucking hormones, I hate puberty.' was Harry's thought, being hit by puberty was making it hard for him to think clearly. And the worst part was that, unless he found a way to deal with it, this was going to last a few years. This made Harry curse his hormones and puberty once again.
It was just the other day that Hermione asked if they could try and see if she had any powers. Instead of trying a few days, and finding out that she didn't have anything, Harry told her the truth. That they'll try to do so, but it'll be most unlikely that she would be able gain any powers like the Mystics have. Most Mystics find their skills way before learning what they really are, and those who did know about magic didn't have her problem, her belief in books and logistic.
Harry told Hermione that most Mystics rely on their belief in imagination, and believed that there was more out there than what people and books told them there was. She, on the other hand believed in what people told her, and what was said in books, and so, to gain extra powers that wasn't in the books, or scrolls that they might find, it could be very hard for her to gain new powers. As her mind and magic is now set up to the belief of what is said in books, rather than imagination.
Seeing how depressed Hermione was at this thought, Harry and Mel were quick to point out she was the smartest person they knew and her quantity of known spells was way above Harry's. Not to mention just because she needed a wand to cast magic now, didn't mean she couldn't do everything Harry and her sister could do, they just needed to find her the right spells. Harry said that if she wanted new skills, all they had to do was find them and learn them. Hermione smiled as they told her this, knowing that her friend and sibling and would try and help her in any way they could.
The last week or so wasn't all about training, Emma took Harry and the girls clothes shopping. Seeing that their old clothes had gotten too small for Hermione and Melody, and most likely Harry too. Harry was happy to pay for his own clothes, but Emma wouldn't have it, said for what he had done for Hermione in the last year and saving her life, she would pay for the clothes - it was the least she could do. Harry wasn't happy about that, it felt like they were doing so much for him already and it felt like he was freeloading. Still, there was little Harry could do about it, so he went along with things.
Not only that, but twice that week Harry Jumped back to Surrey to meet up with Charlotte and Blink, and make sure that Abyss was running fine, and make appearance as Maverick. Also during this time, Harry did some sword training with Syrio.
Although it had only been over a week since Hogwarts broke up for the summer, Harry was getting worried about Ember and his other friends; they hadn't yet replied to any of his letters, or written any of their own letters yet. He knew they had their own plans, but writing a letter didn't take all that long, just a few minutes for a short letter would have eased his worry a great deal. Not only that, but Ember said she would reply once she settled in.
It was now the night before they were meant to leave for France and Harry had just brought up the issue with Hermione. Emma, nearby, heard his worries as he explained them to her daughter and spoke up, "You know Harry, they might just be busy and haven't had time to reply. Some people have a great deal of trouble writing letters, and they may want to make them perfect before sending them off but don't have the time."
"I know Emma, but I thought that at least one of them would have replied." Harry said, "Not only that, but Ember who is staying with a new family seeing that she didn't have one before, would let me know that she would write in a few days after she settled in. She isn't the type to say she would do something and not to." Here Hermione agreed with Harry, saying that for anyone else it might be possible, but for Harry who was her first friend and someone she trusted, she wouldn't be late with a letter.
Emma had no real response to that. Harry's social circle was pretty good sized, the chance of none of them being able to spare half an hour to write something was very small. Then a thought came to her, as she said, "You did say that some of your friends don't have an owl right?" Harry nodded in affirmation. "Maybe they haven't had time to get to where they can use an owl and post the reply. You said the Weasley twin's owl was old, so maybe they decided to wait until they can get to another owl before writing to you, and if your friend Ember is with them, she is waiting to post her letter at the same time if she doesn't have an owl of her own. As for the others, as highly unlikely it is, it is possible that their owl may have some kind of avian illness, it was on the news lately that a few wild birds have been taken ill recently. So it's possible that might have happened. Hopefully by the time we return from our trip they should have replied to you, if not you can ask them when you get back to Hogwarts why they didn't write you back. Until then relax, hopefully the trip will put your mind off things."
"You're right Emma." Harry sighed. "I'll be able to ask them about it when I return to Hogwarts. Like you said, I'm sure there's a logical explanation for everything."
Harry had just finished saying this when a small, emaciated looking creature literally popped into their living room; literally appearing out of nowhere with a popping sound. The creature seemed to ignore everyone else in the room and zeroed in on him, who was staring surprised at the pointy eared being just like everyone else in the room.
Now if it was another time and place, if Harry had a different upbringing, he would have been kinder to the creature in front of him. But this Harry wasn't that person, and so didn't care if he upset the creature. Harry shifted into a ready position, his expression dark and cautious as he said, "Who or what are you?"
"D - Dobby, sir. J - Just Dobby. Dobby is a House-Elf." the creature said fearfully as Aneira who was lying next to Harry hissed at it, as she awoke from her sleep, "Dobby heard that Harry Potter was going back to Hogwarts, even though Dobby hoped that should Harry Potter sir thoughts that if Harry Potter's friends didn't write to him, Harry Potter wouldn't go back to Hogwarts. Dobby must warn Harry Potter, Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts."
Harry scoffed at the idea and looked at the weird creature in front of him as if he was mad, "Not going back to Hogwarts, pff like that's going to happen… hell would have to freeze over before I don't return to Hogwarts. I've -" Then Harry thought something that this… Dobby thing had just said. "How do you know my friends haven't been writing me?"
Dobby shuffled his feet. "Harry Potter mustn't be angry with Dobby. Dobby did it for the best-"
"Have you been stopping my letters?" Harry asked darkly with flames in his eyes.
"D-Dobby has them here, sir." The elf stuttered fearfully. Stepping nimbly out of Harry's reach, he pulled a thick wad of envelopes from the inside of the pillowcase he was wearing. Harry could make out his friends' handwriting.
Dobby blinked anxiously up at Harry. "Harry Potter mustn't be angry… Dobby hoped… if Harry Potter thought his friends had forgotten him… Harry Potter might not want to go back to school, sir…"
Harry wasn't listening. He made a grab for the letters, but Dobby jumped out of reach.
"Harry Potter will have them back, sir, if he gives Dobby his word that he will not return to Hogwarts. Ah, sir, this is a danger you must not face! Say you won't go back, sir!"
"That's not going to happen." Harry stated firmly as he grabbed Dobby's arm, quickly throwing the small creature over his shoulder and making his way into the kitchen as his Tigran followed him. He looked back over his free shoulder and said, "I'll be back in a minute."
The Grangers were so mystified at the odd sight of the strange creature appearing in their house that they didn't know what to say or do.
o0OoO0o
Harry pulled the squat, little elf along, as he entered the Grangers' kitchen. His resolve hardened to the point he wouldn't consider an alternative. With one hand, he held both of the elf's wrists into a bind. He wrapped his hand around the handle of a nearby drawer, reaching inside to grab a delectably sharp steak knife. Harry made a few cut on the creature's body to make a point, before placing the blade at Dobby's fleshy neck.
At once, the elf's lips curled in defiance. "Dobby is used to these types of punishments at home, Harry Potter sir!"
Harry snarled, and forced the elf's hands to the nearby gas stove, turning it on, immediately. He placed Dobby's hands on the surface - moments afterwards, Dobby's bulbous eyes watered.
"Harry Potter sir, must not go to Hogwarts!" Dobby snapped his fingers and moved to the corner of the room. Here Harry threw a few fireballs at the damn thing who had his letter's.
"If you don't give me my letter's I'll see how long a creature like you takes to die under flames." Harry sneered, he had no problems with House-Elves seeing he had many at The Abyss, but he didn't like those who stole from him. At the club he allowed others to do his dirty work, as whilst he has been Maverick for a few years, he was still a child. And so he didn't have the guts to do such things, make threats yes, but he would have others to do his work, but it was about time to do his own dirty work.
However, Dobby popped out of the way as Harry threw a fireball as a warning, but as the House-Elf did Aneira turned into her tiger form and lunged, her fangs nearly piercing the house elf's delicate skin, as she snarled.
Harry smirked, patted Aneira on the head,
"Now, Dobby, my ravenous, captivating familiar will consume you - of course, that could be prevented if you agree to give my mail back - so, Dobby, what will it be? My letters, or your life?"
"Dobby, Dobby will give Harry Potter's letters back to him." The House-Elf said in fear.
Aneira loosened her hold and transformed back into her cat form, as she did, the Granger's came into the kitchen to see what was going on, only to see a pasty white and shaking Dobby stumbling behind him. Dobby wordlessly shoved a thick packet of letters into Harry's hands, which almost fell to the ground in the haste to give them to the last Potter before he left, but not before shakily telling Harry to not go back to Hogwarts and he would make sure that he didn't if Harry didn't listen to him.
Staring at him Hermione asked, "Harry what did you do to the poor creature?"
Harry looked at her in disbelieve, that so called poor creature was keeping his letters from him, and that in Harry's book allowed him to do whatever he needed to do to get them back. "I convinced him what a bad idea it was not to give my letters back to me, that's all…" All four of them looked at in disbelief, they knew there was more to it than met the eye. Harry realized this, and knew they wouldn't give up until he told them. "I threatened him with Aneira, telling him that if he didn't give my letters back and stop stealing my mail I would feed him to her." They didn't need to know what else he did to the House-Elf.
The four Grangers now understood the reason for Dobby to be white as a ghost and shaking when he left, they all knew what Aneira looked like in her tiger form. While his methods made the elder Grangers uncomfortable they couldn't think of a better way to have gone about it, so decided to change the subject.
"So what was Dobby?" Emma asked after a few moments, "He said something about being a House-Elf?"
"I don't know." Hermione admitted, "I haven't started to read about magical creatures yet." To be honest, until now she really didn't have a reason to look them up yet.
Then they looked at Harry, who looked a bit sheepish as he said, "I only know this because I was bored and had nothing else to do during our exams, so I just picked a book at random book to read, and it was about Magical Creatures coincidentally enough. The Summary on House Elf history was pretty slim, the author didn't know where they came from but could only guess they were either made of solidified magic gathered over time in magical hotspots or an offshoot of another race that died out. House Elves can use a unique kind of magic and are symbiotic in nature. The book says that they're a Servant Race bonded to a Magical Family. The family doesn't need to be particularly powerful or old, just as long as they're magical and had money, though the older families are the ones with the most elves through virtue of the creatures living so long."
"That sounds like maids and butlers that we have in the normal world," Dan noted. "but the way that Dobby character looked and acted, it was if he was some kind of badly treated slave."
"You might not be far off there." Harry shook his head sadly. "The book explained that while most were treated like hired help there are those who treat their House-Elves badly. To most Muggleborns it doesn't help that the House-Elves don't get paid."
"What?! That's horrible!" Hermione exclaimed, an opinion that was mirrored by the other Grangers with nods of agreement. "That's sound exactly like slavery! We should free them somehow."
"Don't even think about it Hermione." Harry snapped at her, shocking the Grangers. "You're just proving the Purebloods right about not having Muggleborns into the Wizarding World."
"What do you mean?" Emma asked Harry, concerned. Harry had explained about Purebloods, Half-Bloods and Muggleborns a few nights ago when she was talking about the Wizarding World.
"Most Purebloods believe that Muggleborns shouldn't be allowed into the Wizarding World, Half-Bloods are barely accepted, but are more accepted than Muggleborns." Harry explained to the Grangers. "The reason for this is because Muggleborns often try and alter or outright change their customs. I'm sure everyone with common sense can clearly see that some customs should be changed the way, but how the majority of Muggleborns go about it is wrong. Most come into it thinking they're superior to the Purebloods because they think that most of the Purebloods customs are barbaric and backwards. Considering some of the customs are barbaric and backwards this standpoint can be forgiven, but it doesn't change the fact that Muggleborns think they know better and it goes to their head. When Muggleborns want to change things, they often get a big head thinking they are right, and force the changes instead of talking to the authorities and elected officials."
Harry sighed, "I blame the Purebloods for part of this, because they don't - and even actively prevent - teach and explain about their customs to the Muggleborns. Like Hermione just demonstrated it's easy to make a snap judgement, but we don't have all the information. For instance, House-Elves need to bond to a family, or even a location if there's enough magic, if not they slowly go crazy and die, in that order. Not only that, but it's only possible for the Master of the individual elf free a House-Elf by giving them clothes." Harry gave Hermione a pointed look when he said this, as to warn her, as he knew if he didn't, she would do something stupid and try and free the House-Elves somehow. "So not only would you need to convince hundreds of people to give up their free servants, but you'd also just end up killing them. Not even Hogwarts can support that many House Elves. The only true 'free' Elves, is the ones that live in areas that have high amount of magic. Sadly there aren't that many places in the world, and the majority of these places have other creatures that live there that need that magic, creatures that would fight to the death to defend their home from other creatures that want to move into their land if they need to, if the land didn't have enough magic for them all. So if you really want to help them, I'd suggest making it so there are laws in place to regulate how they're treated."
He took a deep breath as he winded down. "Sorry to rant like that, but that needed to be said before Hermione built up steam." He returned her mock glare with an amused smile. "Now if you don't mind, I'll see what these letters say, I'll see you all in the morning." Harry finished before bidding them all good night. The Grangers returned the gesture, still thinking about what he'd said; if nothing else could be said about the family, it's that they were thinkers through and through.
An hour later Harry finally finished reading his letters. They were all pretty basic; 'How are you doing, I'm doing blank. I'm having a lot of fun with blank, how is it in a Muggle house?', questions and such like that. Ember sent a letter saying she was ok, and Ronald Weasley was behaving himself at the moment, and that she would write more in a few weeks. He quickly replied to the letters, making a small identical message at the top of all of them explaining why he hadn't written back to them and that he might not being able to write back even now that he'd fixed the problem since he would be going on holiday the next day.
The only letter of note was from Susan. She explained that she had talked to her aunt and during their talks the subject of Familiars and eventually Aneira came up. Amelia, Susan's aunt, had ended up wondering if he and Aneira had bonded completely. Susan went on to explain the process in case he was unfamiliar; it was simple enough, Aneira would bite him hard enough to make him bleed in her Tigran form so she could drink his blood and her saliva would be in his bloodstream. Harry briefly wondered why he hadn't done it before, but then remembered he would be left bedridden for several days so their magic could intertwine, and so he hadn't had time while school was still in session.
Harry replied that he had not bonded with his Familiar, but likely would when he got back from France and had a few days he could spend out of commission.
Hedwig looked delighted at all the mail and glared daggers at him when he tried to tell her which letters were for who. Harry chuckled, gave her an owl treat in apology for his lack of faith in her abilities and a scratch on the neck in the spot she really liked and sent her on her way. After that was all done he had nothing left to do, so he turned in for the evening.
To be Continued!
Author's Note - Please read to the end: Here ends the first part of the new saga of The Serpent's Lair Saga, I would like to thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it. For those who want to know, this is the year that the lemons begin, and so when you see this ( . Y . ) the lemons will soon begin and has ended. It'll also be the year Harry gets darker too, so please suspect a few twist and towns. But when you review I would like to ask you to give me ideas for the summer chapters, whilst I have a few ideas to make the summer longer, at best I would say it could make at least one maybe two more summer chapters, but I want at least five or so chapters for the summer. At the moment I have two chapters from the original version of this story and as I said maybe one or two new chapters if I am lucky. So any ideas will be welcomed.
I'm still looking for a Co-Writer, not a Beta Reader, as I got someone for that, but I would like a Co-Writer. I want one because I only use basic words as I am dyslexic, but I want someone to help me to use other words much better for what happens. Not only that, but I want a Co-Writer who'll give me better ideas for what should happen in a chapter. As I have been told that sometimes what I write isn't always the best option/outcome, and so would like a Co-Writer to discuss my options and so do better in the story.
I hope what I have done with the chapter, and how I set things up in the story. I'm still looking for OC Mystics, and if you were reading the side story, I'm looking for OC Books of Zeref's: Etherious. If you can help me, please let me know of any ideas you might have. Any that I like, I'll use in this story and give you thanks for them.
With all the new stuff that I have added in the first two saga, I would like to ask what you would like to happen during the summer holiday and during the second year. As there's so much to add with the Mystics, and a few things that I have added in the side-story.
I still would like to know what other Technomagic Cyborg could have, what skills he can gain over time? At the moment he has the basics skills, but I would like to hear what you would like him to be able to do.
There is another question I would like you to think about: should I have the basilisk killed at the end of the saga or not? I say it is more useful dead and being in the money as I think about it. But I would like to hear your thoughts about it, and I'll go with the most outspoken thoughts. (Going to have a poll about this soon.)
During the second year, what pranks should Harry and the twins pull? I hope you can help with this as I'm wanting a few magical and non-magical ones. Please help me out here, as I'm after some ideas and would like to use some of them soon. I'm now looking for a prank that the Weasley Twins could pull on Harry first, as it'll start off a prank war between the three of them, any ideas please let me know.
I'm still after ideas of how Harry could turn his friends Dark and joining him, instead of using Confundus Charm. Any and all ideas are welcomed.
Just a reminder, if I get a flame review and they are guests and aren't helpful I'll be removing them. But if they point out a problem that needs to be fixed, or ideas that I could use to make the story better I'll keep them. I'm not against flame reviews, but only if they are helpful and help me to become a better writer. Otherwise I don't want to know about them. Please consider this when reviewing, as I don't want you to waste your time or mine in useless flame reviews that if not going to be helpful aren't going to be seen.
One last thing, I'm going to put up a poll now, as to know who should open the Chamber of Secrets, Ginny or Ember. Both got good reasons for me to do so:
Ember: Further contrive loyalty, within Ember to Harry.
Ginny: Simply put, make it so that she is indebted to Harry. (If you pick Ember, please let me know your ideas on how to add Ginny.)
Either way, I would like to thank you once again for reading and I hope you spare a few minutes to leave a review and let me know what you think of the chapter, and any ideas you might have for the future chapters, and any powers you would like to be used in the story.
Next on Rise of Overlord Vulcan: In the next chapter, Harry leaves England for his holiday. Harry also meets Lockhart, and the daughter of Bellatrix Lestrange, Anastasia - read side story to learn more. If you got any ideas for the next chapter, I would like to hear them, if possible ideas on how to make the part with Lockhart better. Next chapter won't be as fast, as I'll be needing to write most of it from fresh.
(Beta's Note: I plan on contacting Rowling about making Vulcan into an animated series/cartoon. And I would like to know on beforehand if there is anyone who knows, and is skilled, how to make a cartoon/animated series…. Because if I get permission from her to make it I would want to start right away.)