Wow, almost 2000 reviews! I think, with this chapter I'll hit that mark; thank you all!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any other fandom I manage to squeeze in this story.

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Lightning Dragon's Roar
A Harry Potter Fanfiction
By Zero Rewind
© 2015
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Chapter 60: Family History

"Unleash my power." I repeated for what seemed to be the tenth time in the past twenty minutes, before drawing in all of my energy into my center of mass— just above my diaphragm. I held it there for a few seconds, before pulsing it as powerfully as I could.

The resulting blast went in every possible direction. Lightning struck the floor, walls and ceilings of the practice room, singing the paint and burning the wood, releasing noxious fumes into the air.

I opened the window as fast as I could, before pulling my wand out spelling the fumes out, and spraying the room in water to avoid actually burning the house down.

It seemed to work.

"I would say that your new attack is a success." Erebus said as I gathered the energy once more, releasing in a stronger, more controlled burst.

"I think you've mastered it." Erebus told me sarcastically.

"Practice makes perfect." I argued and shook my head.

"You've been at this for two days, already. Enough is enough." Erebus tried.

I began to draw my energy inwards again.

"Just because she left-"

"SHUT UP!" I snapped, my Lightning going out of control and blasting through the wall.

"Shit." I bit out and inspected the damage.

"Harry, are you alright?" I heard Sirius calling out from the kitchen as his footsteps came closer.

"You should tell him, you know." Erebus whispered to me.

I frowned and rubbed at my forehead in circles.

I had ended the war, gotten sent to another planet, actually made my way back to my friends and family, and she just dumped me like that!

As if it wasn't enough that I had to prepare for an alien invasion and find my father, she simply left me a note saying that we were through, and that she went to search for the whereabouts of Tristan.

It made no sense to me.

I thought we were doing great, and this happens.

If I knew where she was, I would try to find her, but her parents and Astoria knew as much as I did.

"I'm fine, Sirius." I assured the man, before waving my wand at the wall. "Reparo."

Immediately, the chunks of stone and the dust that was in the air flew back into the hole in the wall, sealing it and leaving no indication that there was ever a hole in there to begin with.

"Well, if you're sure..." He gave me an uncertain look, and made to leave.

"Actually," I said, stopping the man in his tracks. "There is something."

"Come to the kitchen." He said, beckoning me to follow. "We can relax and talk it out there."

I gave a nod and followed the man to the kitchen, where some leftover pizza lay in an open box. He grabbed a slice and began eating.

I followed suit.

"So, what's the matter?" Sirius said after a few moments of silent eating. "Is this about Daphne?"

"Not really." I said, shaking my head, trying to avoid that particular conversation. "I don't really know how to deal with that, just yet. This is… something else."

"What?" Sirius leaned forward curiously.

"Well, it's a bit of a strange story." I started. "You know how I have a stone that can summon the spirits of the dead and bring them here?"

"Yes, you mentioned that last night, somewhat." Sirius said. "What about it?"

Ah, my first attempt at telling him. I had chickened out halfway and pretended to be drunk and saying random nonsense.

"Well, before I went off to fight Voldemort..." I hesitated slightly, before steeling myself. "I called on the spirits of my parents."

Sirius started slightly. "Harry..."

"I know, it was stupid, but I thought I might not survive the fight, so I wanted to see them, for real." I explained, frowning. "But the weird part was that dad wasn't there."

Silence met my statement. I was about to continue-

"What—" Sirius said slowly. "—Did you just say?"

"Dad wasn't there, Sirius." I repeated, more strongly this time. "Mom said that he subjected himself to a life of slavery for my own life to be spared."

"What?" Sirius blurted again. "James is..."

"Alive? I think so." I answered his unspoken question.

"That's— that's just not possible." Sirius said vehemently. "I… I saw his body, Harry. I saw it."

I shook my head.

"I don't know what to tell you, Sirius." I said feeling a little helpless. "But if he were truly dead, the Resurrection Stone would have brought him to me. If it didn't, then he must be still alive, somewhere."

There was a longer silence, this time.

"...Who did he subject himself to?" Sirius finally asked.

That was easier to answer.

"Mother said a faerie by the name of Leanansidhe." I answered. Sirius winced at the name.

"What do you know about her?" I asked, trying to needle out some information.

"…She is referred to as one of the most dangerous faeries to exist, taking on many human lovers and keeping them until the end of their lives." Sirius said slowly.

"How could she possibly— Ah." I stopped myself. "Glamour. So she operates like Lilith, then?"

"As far as the old texts and scriptures in the Black Library have told me, yes." Sirius said, his eyes darkening.

"You spent a lot of time in there, huh." I noted. "The library, I mean."

Sirius gave a nod, before speaking.

"After you disappeared, I wanted to figure out a method of getting you back." Sirius said. "I didn't know where you were, though, so I was looking up the wrong rituals, the wrong concepts."

"You had no way of knowing." I answered, trying to comfort the man.

"True." Sirius acknowledged. "At the very least, I learned a lot over the past few months."

He left that statement hanging for a while.

"I'm going to look for my father, Sirius." I declared quietly, but strongly. "And I'll find him."

"We'll find him." Sirius corrected.

I dipped my head and smiled, thankful for having him in my life. I couldn't remember a time when Padfoot wasn't looking out for me.

"Maybe we shouldn't tell anyone, though." Sirius continued. "We don't want to get anyone's hopes up and have them dashed."

I nodded in agreement, looking at the man in question.

"I know what you mean." I said. "I'm already feeling way too hopeful about this, and I don't even know where to start looking."

"Hope is a dangerous thing." Sirius said wisely, remembering his happy twelve year-long play date with the Dementors of Azkaban.

"Wow, that's deep. When did you grow up, Sirius?" I said with a smile.

"Yeah, laugh it up, kid." Sirius rolled his eyes, before moving back to the conversation's topic.

"Let's check Gringotts first." He said. "The Potter family vault."

"Do you think they'd allow me in, again?" I asked. "Hell, I don't even know if it's open, or not."

"It opened up the day before you came." Sirius said, moving to put his shoes on. "There was a major change in management, basically."

"I remember." I acknowledged, moving to the entrance and grabbing my own boots, before seeing him back in the kitchen again. "Griphook said something about different factions, but I didn't really care about it— all I wanted to do was escape."

"Yes, the Gringotts manager Ragnok had all of the enemy faction members publicly executed as a show of strength." Sirius informed me, grabbing a folded up newspaper. There were pictures of Goblins in armor, holding weapons over other Goblin's heads.

I skimmed the paper, trying to get a feel for the situation.

"There's even a part where it says that you stopped a dragon from killing other Goblins." Sirius said. "Sorry, I mean killed a dragon. You actually killed a dragon?"

"Yeah. Don't make a big deal out of it, please." I confirmed, as Sirius left the kitchen again, before coming back with my black coat. I put it on.

"Not sure how you can take wearing that." Sirius said, wisely not asking about the fight against the dragon. "It's ridiculously hot outside, you know."

"That would be my doing." Erebus said. "I have limited control over ice."

"Nice. You're like a free cooling charm." Sirius said, motioning for me to grab his shoulder. "You ready, Harry?"

I grabbed his shoulder. I felt the telltale sign of apparition, as my body was squeezed from all directions for the shortest of moments before my surroundings twisted to the apparition point in front of the Leaky Cauldron with a loud crack.

Quickly looking around to make sure we weren't spotted, Sirius and I entered the place.

"Bless my soul, it's Harry Potter!" One of the place's customers blurted out as soon as I took three steps of the place.

Faster than I could say "oh shit", I was immediately swarmed by a mob of well wishers and fans.

"Thank you!" One said.

"You're my hero!" Another yelled out as he tried to shake my hand.

"You saved us!"

"Make a baby with me, handsome!" Holy crap.

I needed to de-escalate this situation.

"Thank you, everyone." I forced what I thought was a charming smile. "I am glad to have helped. Please, will you allow me to pass so I can go about my business?"

It took a few moments, before people realized they were being nuisances and apologized, opening a path for me.

I smiled again. "Thank you."

"You're the best, Harry!" More fangirls began to offer up their praise as Sirius and I went through the door leading to the archway to Diagon Alley. Sirius pulled out his wand, touching it against the correct sequence of bricks that opened the path to the Alley.

"Nice way of handling that." Sirius said as I kept my head down in the crowds, not wanting to be seen.

The people in the Alley were loud, exuberant, and in a general partying mood. So far, no one managed to see me.

"Heh." I said. "I guess Lockhart's lessons were finally good for something."

"Lockhart?" He said as we reached the white marble building of Gringotts.

"Long story." I replied and entered the building, my Godfather following closely behind. I kept my power ready for anything, as the Goblins of the establishment openly stared at me, their gazes decidedly neutral.

It was not a little unnerving. I didn't know whether they saw me as a friend or foe.

"It's you, again." I heard a familiar voice say in irritation.

I turned my head to see Griphook, standing alongside a few Goblin warriors.

"Griphook." I nodded. "I guess I'm glad to see you made it."

"Funny." He growled. "I was hoping you'd be dead."

Figures.

"So, are you guys all right with me being here?" I asked tentatively, ready to whip out Erebus and unleash my Lightning at a moment's notice.

"Well…" Griphook said slowly, drawing the moment out. "In short, yes."

"Oh. Okay." I said eloquently, before moving towards Griphook. "In that case, there are a couple things I need to do."

"And those are..?" Griphook trailed off, waving at the Goblin warriors and moving to one of the many vacant heightened desks. The warriors gave a nod, and moved back to the entrance of the bank.

I dug into my mokeskin pouch, pulling out a miniature, closed chest. I tapped my wand on it, and it floated up to the desk, landing in front of the Goblin. Another wave, and the chest resized to its full size.

"In that chest, I found some precious gems." I said. "I want to sell them to you."

"Yes, certainly." Griphook said, though he gave me an annoyed glance as he had to stand on his chair and open the chest himself. The next twenty minutes were spent watching the Goblin in question, carefully scrutinize the rubies, sapphires and diamonds with a slowness that could only be described as deliberate.

Damn asshole.

"Very fine quality, indeed." Griphook said, placing each gem on a contraption that resembled a balance. "Magic conducting, as well? Where did you find these?"

"Dropped into my lap, really." I said with a sly grin. I wasn't going to tell anyone that I had basically nicked them from the Room of Hidden Things.

Besides, it wasn't like anyone was going to miss them, anyway. That room looked like it hadn't been entered in decades, possibly centuries.

"Intriguing." Griphook said. "Gringotts will give you two million Galleons for the lot."

Sirius sputtered, and was about to say something, but I held my hand up.

He quieted down.

"Twenty million." I answered with, giving the Goblin an easy grin.

"Preposterous!" Griphook almost snarled, making the other tellers look at us.

I lost my smile and gave Griphook a stern look.

"I did my research on these gems." I answered back calmly. "They're easily worth one hundred and forty million US dollars, which means around twenty million Galleons— and that's not even considering the fact that you said they were magic conductors."

"Priceless artifacts, as it were." Erebus wheezed out, throwing his own weight into the conversation. "As an ancient, timeless being, I have encountered those who coveted stones such as these. The amount my master is requesting is a paltry sum, in comparison to their true worth."

"Don't think I came here unprepared, Griphook." I smiled beatifically at the Goblin, who knew he was caught red handed in his attempt to scam me. You would think that keeping the miserable fucker alive during the shit that went down at the bank would have meant something.

Hagrid was right about these creatures.

Greedy to the core and willing to scam anything and anyone.

"Of course." Griphook allowed, backtracking on what he said. "My mistake. Of course. May I confer with a few of my colleagues?"

"Go right ahead." I nodded, and said Goblin left in a hurry.

"When did you have time to do this?" Sirius asked.

"Tried to keep busy." I said, referring to the fact that I had a lot of free time thanks to Daphne pulling a Houdini on me. "Figured I'd do something productive like make a stupid amount of money."

"But, I've never seen gems that were worth that much money." Sirius said. "Good find, Harry."

Erebus clattered in his sheath, but said nothing. The gems that I had found were indeed not worth the amount that I had thrown out there— maybe a hundred thousand galleons, tops— but Erebus was a powerful being. I didn't even know how he did it, really. He had transformed into his Demon form, asking me to give him the gems.

I did, and he went to the Dark Realm, before coming back with gems that were vastly different than the ones I had found. I guessed that, in his Demesne, Erebus could do whatever the hell he wanted.

Basically, I could easily become the richest man on the planet, if I truly wanted to be.

Of course, that would be a bad idea, as it would paint a huge target on my head. I was already a big enough target, I didn't want assassins or spies sent by greedy corporations, or the governments coming in to try and eliminate me, or investigate the source of my money.

Plus, it would severely destabilize any economy I might be a part of. Becoming a multi-millionaire was one thing, but becoming a multi-billionaire or even a trillionaire was another thing entirely.

Eventually, Griphook returned with a few of his colleagues— a couple of old looking Goblins— and showed them the gems. They examined them with wide eyes and hushed whispers, glancing at me every so often.

"All right, Mr. Potter." One of the wizened old Goblins said. "We agree to your price."

I gave a satisfied nod.

Sure, I could've milked it for even more money, but twenty million Galleons was already an insane amount, as it were.

"All right." I acknowledged. "But I want the money I made from these gems be deposited into a non-magical bank account."

The Goblins paused, but nodded anyway.

"That is possible. The London's branch of Gringotts has an agreement with the muggle bank HSBC." Griphook informed me.

I absorbed that information, and nodded.

"Yeah, that works; you can deposit the money there under my name." I agreed, and held out my bandaged up, right hand.

Griphook gave me a strange look— as if he wasn't sure what to make of me— but shook my hand anyway. Griphook then searched a few of his drawers, before fishing out a sheet of paper that looked like it hadn't been touched in years, judging from the fact that he had to dust it off.

I guessed wizards never really put their money in the non-magical world.

I took the sheet and a pen, looking over the form, before nodding and taking the time to fill it out. Once I was done, I handed the piece of paper back to him, and he stamped it, before separating it into two sheets— one for Gringotts, and one for me.

Well, say what you will, but at least Goblins had a semblance of an idea how the non-magical world worked.

"A pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Potter." Griphook said, calling a few workers and having them haul the chest elsewhere. He steepled his fingers, and addressed me once more. "Is there anything else I can assist you with?"

"Yes, actually." I gave a nod as I folded up the paper before placing it in my mokeskin pouch. "I would like to visit the Potter family vault."

"Of course." Griphook nodded, before yelling something out in his language. It was really all gibberish to me, but as best as I could figure, he was calling someone else over.

True enough, another Goblin showed up, looking at Sirius and I expectantly.

"Corkfoot will escort you to vault Eighty-Six." Griphook said/ordered. "The Potter vault."

"Thank you." I said, following the new arrival— Corkfoot— to the carts which led to the vaults. The ride itself was par for the usual course, an unsafe rollercoaster ride through the chasms of Gringotts bank.

Sirius gave a loud whoop of joy as the ride twisted and turned, before we reached our destination.

"Vault Eighty-Six." Corkfoot spoke, moving towards the vault door and running his fingers on it. A series of clicks and clacks were heard and the thick, metal circular door opened, revealing the mountains of Galleons within.

I entered the vault. It was much bigger on the inside— it was mostly gold, really. There a few trunks, but they were filled with worn books and mementos that old members of the family kept, and didn't want to get rid of.

I decided to keep them there.

No sign of anything my father left behind. It looked like the trip was for nothing.

Wait…

Off to the side, I could see something different— a gigantic, beige stone tablet, written in a strange language that I couldn't quite decipher. The tablet said:

"Fy enw i yw Aeron Potter. Rwy'n ysgrifennu hyn yn y gobaith o gyfathrebu â ddisgynyddion y dyfodol ynghylch natur ein pwerau dros mellt. Ers blynyddoedd, yr wyf wedi chwilio y byd bell ac agos. Rwyf wedi ymladd y creaduriaid hynafol y byd ysbryd, y fampirod y llysoedd coch, du, gwyn a jâd. Yr wyf wedi cyfarfod â'r Archif. Rwyf hyd yn oed wedi ceisio allan i'r cyngor Dreigiau.

Rwyf wedi cyrraedd ateb.

Mae ein Mellt yn dod o'r tu mewn, ond nid oedd y ffordd hon bob amser. Yn un o hynafiaid ni, nid wyf yn gwybod a fydd, pa mor bell yn ôl, neu hyd yn oed pam; ond hynafiad hwn wedi cyfarfod y creadur o mellt Alastor. Cuddiodd Alastor ar ffurf cleddyf hymgorffori mewn creadur marw er mwyn denu ei ysglyfaeth yn, cyn ceisio ladd ysglyfaeth.

Mae ein hynafiaid oedd yr un cyntaf yn filoedd o flynyddoedd a oedd yn ddigon cyflym i osgoi ei ymosodiadau dro ar ôl tro. Arno ef, ei fod roddwyd yn rhodd. Anrheg sydd wedi blodeuo i mewn i'n hud teulu: mae'r Golau Glas y Potters.

Os ydych yn meddu ar y Golau Glas, yna sianelu i mewn tabled hwn."

I guessed it was written by someone called Aeron Potter, but the rest was completely beyond my grasp.

§Welsh.§ Balthazar hissed out. §Give me a second here to read this.§

"When the hell did you learn Welsh, Balthazar?" I blurted out. "You were stuck to me this whole time!"

§This was before that incident.§ Balthazar said. §The tablet says:

My name is Aeron Potter. I write this in the hopes of communicating with future descendants as to the nature of our powers over Lightning. For years, I have searched the world far and wide. I have fought the ancient creatures of the spirit world, the vampires of the red, black, white and jade courts. I have met with the Archive. I have even sought out the Dragons council.

I have reached an answer.

Our Lightning comes from within, but it was not always this way. An ancestor of ours, I do not know which, how far back, or even why; but this ancestor had met the creature of Lightning Alastor. Alastor hid in the form of a sword embedded in a dead creature in order to lure its prey in, before attempting to slaughter the prey.

Our ancestor was the first one in millennia who was fast enough to dodge its repeated attacks. Upon him, it bestowed a gift. A gift which has blossomed into our family magic: the Blue Light of the Potters.

If you possess the Blue Light, then channel it into this tablet.§

"The source of your power is that sword?" Erebus said. "I should have known."

"You know what this 'Alastor' is?" I asked curiously.

"It is a living Devil Arm." Erebus said. "Known as the Thunder Sword and the Spirit of Lightning."

"Interesting." I mused. "So, the source of my power comes from this sword?"

"It would seem so." Erebus answered.

"Then why is it…" I said slowly. "That the dragon was enraged by my use of my Lightning?"

"Because Alastor also had a third name." Erebus said dramatically. "The Lightning Dragon."

Alastor the Lightning Dragon.

"But, you just said he was a Devil Arm!" I blurted out.

"Dragons are powerful forces of the universe, capable of transforming into anything they please. Capable of becoming so called 'Devil Arms'. I suppose the correct term for Alastor would be a living 'Dragon Arm'— it makes no difference. Devil Arm or Dragon Arm, he is a powerful being, and you should take care when dealing with him." Erebus explained. "Pour your Lightning into that tablet, like it asks."

"You still alive in there, Harry!?" I heard Sirius' shout. "I can't see you behind your mountains of gold!"

Leave it to Sirius to kill the mood.

"I'm fine!" I yelled back. "Just checking all of this stuff out! All of my obscene wealth! You wish you were as rich as me!"

"…My dick's bigger." He replied.

I rolled my eyes at his halfhearted reply, and shot a bolt of Lightning into the tablet— enough to strike it but, nowhere near enough to damage it. It lit up with energy for a few moments, before dying down.

A few seconds passed.

Nothing.

"Um— oh, there it is." I was about to say, as a strong grinding sound of stone against stone was heard at the large base of the tablet. Before my eyes, the base opened up, revealing a lightning bolt shaped earring.

I bent down, and picked it up. The material felt metallic, but strange in my fingers. Concentrating harder onto it, I let my energy connect with it, and drew back as I understood what this thing was.

"An impressive creation." Erebus praised. "The words on the tablet changed."

I looked back at the tablet. It said:

"Rwy'n rhoi fy etifeddiaeth i ti, fy ddisgynyddion. Mae'n clustlws sy'n amsugno y pŵer o'r amgylchedd ac yn rhoi i chi. Ddefnyddio'n dda ar eich ymgyrch."

§It says: I give my legacy to you, my descendant. It is an earring which absorbs the power from the environment and grants it to you. Use it well on your quest.§ Balthazar quickly translated.

"How did he even make something like this?" I wondered, and put the earring on, feeling the surge of energy coming from it as it pierced my earlobe, healing the wound almost instantly.

I fiddled with the earring a few times, until I was sure it wasn't going to hurt me, in anyway. Anyone who tried to grab onto it would find that their fingers simply slid off the smooth metal. Perhaps it was enchanted to be this way— I had no idea.

"Good find." Erebus praised again.

"Agreed." I said, heading out of the vault, informing Sirius of what happened.

I might not have found anything of my father's, but this was definitely something worthy of note.

"You trying to channel your inner Bill Weasley?" Sirius teased as we made to exit the bank.

"Hey, Bill's cool, all right?" I automatically defended Ron's eldest brother.

"True. True." Sirius said as we boarded the cart. "Next stop, Godric's Hollow."

"My parent's house?"

"Yeah."

"...Right."

"Yep."

Well, that was going to be a depressing fest.

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That's another chapter done!

Some of your suggestions were really good, though I want you all to know that there is definitely a limit to how strong Harry will get. I don't want him to be a powerful force of nature. He's still mortal. Having Harry defeat a fleet of Goa'uld warships in a head on power fight... That's never going to happen. At most, he could match their blasting power for a few shots, but that's it.

The way I see it, this could go down in several ways.

- Harry infiltrates the bases of system lords, takes control of their ships and smuggles them to Earth so that they're reverse engineered by the scientists.

- Harry enlists the help of high ranking faeries but pays a terrible price (not really a smart thing to do)

- Harry, with the help of other wizards, witches, true mages, etc. create a magical weapon using the planet's energy to destroy their enemies. A magic "cannon", as it were.

What do you think? If you have any similar suggestions, let me know.

It just needs to be plausible and believable (in the relative terms of my story, of course).