Chapter 6
Disclaimer: I own nothing. this chapter includes mentions of underage rape.
On returning to Hogwarts by Gating to the Founders' Quarters, Harry, Susan and Madam Bones learn that Lockhart did indeed die of his injuries. The arrival of Lord Greengrass comes as a surprise and reveals Draco was another of Lockhart's 'victims' along with Tracy Davis and Daphne Greengrass. Draco was never a true victim of Lockhart given he apparently used Lockhart's attack to cast a wandless spell in an attempt to bind Daphne and Tracy to him. Draco forgot however, the spell used binds the target to an existing House, meaning Daphne and Tracy are bound to Harry's Houses. A short discussion later, and Daphne is given the status of Lady Slytherin while her best friend Tracy is Mistress Slytherin. Draco, for his crime of attempted line theft, is executed by the same spell that killed Lockhart.
Once the immediate details are taken care of, Susan, Hannah, Daphne, and Tracy join Harry, Harriet and Hermione in sleeping in the Founders' Quarters while the remaining details wait until Saturday when a trip to Gringotts is arranged. While at Gringotts, the status of Hannah is finalized and Daphne's younger sister Astoria is made Lady Gaunt. The most notable event for December turns out to be the planning for a trip to Traveler's Spring to craft regional clothes for the girls that don't have any before using a veritable swarm of mounts to visit the Sylvina Hot Springs. Before the students leave the castle for the holidays, Headmaster Dumbledore borrows some Memory Ink from Harry and records a teleport location for a family called the Dursleys that Harry was supposed to be raised by since they are the last of his birth family.
On arriving at Platform Nine and Three Quarters, the girls wait while Harry Gates into the Dursley living room.
"What are you doing here Freak?" a woman with am unnaturally long neck says when she enters from another room.
"Making contact with the last member of my birth family. Unless I miss my guess, you are Aunt Petunia?" Harry replies just as a large man with no visible neck enters from the garage with a boy who could be mistaken for a baby whale.
"Please leave. After the way you vanished from my doorstep when I rejected raising you, I suspect I'm a Squib and no one in this family likes magic," Petunia says.
"Very well. I see a non-human is a better mother for me than you could ever be," Harry says before Gating back to Platform Nine and Three Quarters.
On arrival at Traveler's Spring, it only takes a couple hours to make four sets of Noble Scholar garments for Daphne, Tracy, Susan and Hannah who use the same concealed corner of the community center Hermione used during her first visit to change out of their Wizarding robes that honestly don't stand out that much beyond being too hot for the climate due to their color.
"It's too bad Longbottom couldn't come with us. I'm guessing Harriet stayed at the castle because she's still not used to being around most males. By the way, Granger, how can you change clothes out in the open? I expected you to have more modesty than that," Daphne comments when the Slytherin and Hufflepuff girls emerge from their changing corner to see Hermione in her Noble Scholar garments.
"Neville would probably be red as a Weasley if he was here. As far as modesty goes, I died from getting my throat ripped out by the local breed of Inferi during a previous visit when it snagged the strap of my bathing suit," Hermione replies casually as though dying is a regular occurrence.
"We should spend the night at the community center. Food will be available on the ground floor for a small price while free beds are on the top floor," Harry says as he guides the group to the iconic building.
In the morning, Harry is greeted by a Windwhip agent who informs him that the July 31 attack by the Crimson army was the result of Aust Followers stealing the Souleye yet again. After a quick breakfast, Harry hands out high-quality staves to the girls and asks them if they want to go to Sylvina Hot Springs or a tour of the major cities of the Haranian continent as well as walk, car or Snowlions to get to the destination. In the end, it is decided the girls will spend the day learning the storage spell from Harry and they will hike to Sylvina Hot Springs the next morning.
As the sun sets on December 22, the six students arrive at Sylvina Hot Springs to find the resort nearly overrun by the Crimson Army. Seeing the uncountable numbers of Crimson Archers, Crimson Brawlers, Crimson Commanders and other Inferi, Hermione immediately swaps out her Noble Scholar garments for her staff showing that any undergarments she wore had been removed before leaving Traveler's Spring. "Why did you remove your robes Granger? We're going into a fight, not a bath," Daphne comments as she pulls her own staff from storage.
"You do remember that I mentioned dying because one of the more brainless types of these Inferi snagged my clothing during my first visit, right? Just trying to avoid a repeat," Hermione says as she uses her staff to deflect a sword strike while using her wand to send bluebell flames into the torso of the attacking Crimson Inquisitor. Susan and Hannah focus more on dodging and staying out of reach while relying on the same bluebell flame spell Hermione uses for attack while Daphne and Tracy use Flame Whips that they learned to cast from their Dark aligned families. Seeing that the numbers of Crimson soldiers is too great to rely on small scale attacks, Harry taps into his minor Songcraft skills and starts singing a song that Hermione actually recognizes. Joining Harry in singing 'This Will be the Day' from the first season of RWBY, Hermione is surprised when the impromptu duet triggers a swelling of magic that builds until the dying note of the song.
As the last note of the song fades, the excess magic forms a portal above the fighting and spits out a familiar nine-year-old girl wearing what Harry recognizes as a full set of Hiram Guardian Plate and holding a Hiram Guardian Short Sword with a Hiram Guardian Shield in the off-hand. Opening with a Shield Bash, the new arrival displays decent skill in Shadowplay combine with all the ferocity of a Battlerager. "Stori?! What are you doing here?" Daphne says when she notices her little sister butchering the Inferi without the aid of any obvious magic.
"Not the time Daph. I need to focus on using this heavy blade since I don't have a proper wand to deal with these Dark creatures. You'll have to introduce me to the bushy-haired girl later since she's probably another of Harry's contracted wives or mistresses," Astoria replies as she disarms a Crimson Commander.
"I'll take care of the rest of this wave," Harry says before he starts singing 'Time to say Goodbye' from season two of RWBY. Hermione joins in when she identifies the song and once again the excess magic builds until it forms a portal on the dying notes of the song. This time, the familiar figure is an accident prone Hufflepuff in the male version of Hiram Guardian Cloth and wielding a Hiram Staff. Surprisingly given his performance in his classes, Neville appears to make an excellent Cleric with mastery of Vitalism skills at least as great as Harry's. Neville might actually be better at Mirror Light and Antithesis, since Harry favors Stalker's Mark and Mana Bolt with the occasional Serpent's Glare.
Despite the help of Blighter Astoria and Cleric Neville, it is another two hours before the Crimson incursion is eliminated. With the threat gone, attendants light the lamps scattered around Sylvina Hot Springs revealing that Neville does turn Weasley red once he realizes Hermione is naked. Despite reservations from Daphne and Neville's blood flow problems, Astoria strips out of her armor and stores it in a locker at the main building before the group sits down to a slightly late dinner. Over the next two days, Daphne, Tracy, Susan, Hannah and Neville eventually strip naked as well while enjoying the soothing waters of the hot springs.
On Christmas morning, Harry and his friends are surprised by Fawkes delivering several presents for each of them. Harry gets a basic quality flute from Hagrid that was probably hand carved by the part human gameskeeper, a box of Chocolate Frogs from Hermione setup ahead of time and a Cloak that used to belong to his father from an anonymous sender. (Likely Dumbledore.) Rather surprisingly given it is a Wizarding item, the cloak is of a quality at least as good as Awakened Hiram Guardian equipment. An even bigger surprise greets the students when they return to Hogwarts at the end of the holidays and Harry reflexively hisses at the new Defense Professor, Remus Lupin.
"Canine Animagus form?" Harry asks Professor Lupin after apologizing for hissing at him.
"You could say that," Professor Lupin replies. "Now we need to start class. This semester, we will be reviewing what you have already learned and going into more detail, particularly on Vampires and 'Zombies' such as Inferi."
Other than a working holiday for Easter break, things settle into a routine for the rest of the school year with evenings being spent teaching Songcraft theory to Hermione or investigating/keeping an eye on Professor Lupin who turns out to be a Werewolf. Harry's nights are spent having frequent intercourse with Susan while Hermione pleasures herself in a nearby chair, Daphne, Tracy and Hannah get in some extra studying and Neville and Astoria practice their Aurorian magic. Harriet spends most of her time in the spare bedroom but slowly spends more time with the others who live in the Founders' Quarters until the final day of school.
"I can't believe no one is looking twice at you wearing Harriet like a Muggle backpack," Neville says to Harry as they walk to the carriages pulled by skeletal horses that will take them to the Hogwarts Express for the ride home.
"Warm kitty. Safe kitty," Harriet mumbles from her face being buried in the fur of Harry's neck.
"I'll see you at Platform Nine and Three Quarters at the latest. I'm going to get some exercise now and perhaps you can get permission from your parents/guardians to spend the summer with me," Harry says before dropping to all fours and running down the dirt road to the nearby village where Harry can smell the metal, oil and smoke of the Express. Somewhat surprisingly, Harry and Harriet actually beat the carriages to the Express. Once the carriages arrive, Neville, Hermione and Harry's harem meet up with Harry and together they find a compartment to share on the ride to Kings Cross.
On arriving at Kings Cross, the group is met by Lord Greengrass, Madam Bones, Drs. Granger, Lord Abbot, Lord Davis, and Madam Longbottom. After hearing what their charges want to do, the guardians give their permission for the group to spend the summer in Haranya. Opening a gate, Harry directs the Hogwarts students through to Traveler's Spring where he makes another set of Noble Scholar garments for Harriet. Knowing that Harriet still has issues being around males even when fully dressed, Hermione leads her to the changing area all the other girls had used after Astoria uses the concealed corner to change into her Hiram Guardian plate armor. Last of all while still in Traveler's Spring, Neville uses the concealed corner to change into his Hiram Guardian cloth armor.
Over the next week, the group patrols the Solis Headlands killing Bandits, Pirates, and hostile Elementals. Exactly one week into summer vacation, Hermione channels magic into her Lute and starts singing 'When it Falls' from RWBY season 3. On the dying notes, the magic of Songcraft slams into Hermione instead of the Pirates they are fighting, turning the bushy-haired bookworm into a Werefox with white fur, her six tails and paws tipped with caramel fur. Thanks to her new non-human features, Hermione reworked both her Noble Scholar garments and her Hogwarts uniform into a harness + skirt configuration that allows four of her tails to act as a fur coat while leaving a full range of movement for the other two tails.
Leading up to Harry's birthday, the group camps out on the wild coast east of Sylvina Hot Springs and focuses on helping Hermione adapt to her new form while gradually getting Harriet used to being in the presence of males in various states of dress. By the time Dobby, a former Malfoy House Elf before that House was dissolved, shows up with a warning of bad things planned at Hogwarts, Harriet is mostly comfortable nude in mixed company, but still knocks the poor House Elf out and clings to Harry before Dobby can say a word. Once Dobby delivers his message and Pops away, Fawkes Flames in with Hogwarts letters for everyone. The only real differences between Harry's first letter and this year's letter is the grade of the 'standard' books and the Defense texts.
Once everyone gets dressed in their British attire, Harry opens a Gate to Diagon Alley and the rest of the day is spent buying school supplies, including a wand for Astoria, before reserving a few rooms at the Leaky Cauldron for the final month of summer vacation.
Shortly after boarding the Hogwarts Express, the group encounters a girl with Weasley red hair and a disturbingly familiar bit of Dark magic in her trunk. "I don't mind if you join us Weasley. Be nice to have someone my own age in the compartment. You go by Ginny, right?" Astoria replies to the redhead in welcome.
"Yeah, I don't think anyone actually goes by their full name in the younger generations. Maybe I could show you a few entries from my new diary," Ginny says as she pulls the Dark artifact from her trunk.
"You wouldn't happen to have found that diary in your school supplies after your family bumped into Lucius, would you? The magic on it feels similar to what prompted the Goblins to destroy the Gaunt ring," Harry says when he notices the diary is the source of the Dark magic. After Ginny confirms the circumstances in which she obtained her diary, Harry hits it with a Vitalism spell to destroy the Dark magic while leaving the diary itself intact. The diary is cleansed, but unfortunately the darkness was a spirit or soul fragment that had already started to latch onto Ginny. With the anchor to the diary destroyed, the soul fragment merges with Ginny and she chooses to go by Tam since the fragment was a boy named Tom.
On arrival at Hogsmeade Station, Tam and Astoria meet up with a dotty looking blond named Luna and an obvious Muggleborn named Colin who is holding a camera as the first-years gather around Hagrid for the trip to the lake while Harry and the other second-years commandeer one of the skeletal horse-pulled carriages for the direct trip to Hogwarts. The Sorting before the Feast is just as interesting this year as last with Creevey, Colin being sorted into Gryffindor and Greengrass, Astoria grabbing everyone's attention when she gets sorted into Founders' Quarters with Harry, Hermione, Susan, Hannah, Tracy, and Daphne. Luna is sorted into Ravenclaw and a fight nearly breaks out when Ron learns Ginny has a new name and Tam is a Founders' Quarters. Fred and George side against their younger brother when Harry mentions the cursed diary Tam probably got from Lucius.
On Saturday morning, Harry wakes to the reactivated rape ward alerting him to a rape in progress in last year's forbidden corridor. Immediately Gating to the source of the alarm, Harry finds Luna with tears pouring from her eyes and blood leaking from between her legs where a pair of Slytherins have entered her from both front and back while a third Slytherin has his meat shoved down her throat. Without hesitation, Harry uses three of his tails to throw Mana Bolts at the chests of the Slytherins, killing them instantly only seconds before Professors Dumbledore and Flitwick arrive. Only after Flitwick tidies up the corpses does Harry realize he is no longer a normal Firran. Looking in a mirror conjured by the Headmaster, Harry sees that he now has nine bushy tails and feathery dragon wings along with a scattering of greenish-blue flames. If he has to guess, he would say he is a WerePhoenix-Dragon.
With a moment's concentration, Harry transforms back into his normal pure Firran form just in time to hear Dumbledore mention a possible death duel so a wand first owned by a Peverel ancestor can be properly handed down to him. "You haven't botched your Headmaster job badly enough for me to kill you yet Professor Dumbledore. I suppose I could aim for literally disarming you, if you insist I earn the wand now," Harry says as he briefly transforms his claws back into their WerePhoenix-Dragon form. Professor Dumbledore replies with a cutting curse that Harry dodges before removing the Headmaster's wand arm with his normal claws.
As Dumbledore's wand arm hits the floor, his wand flies towards Harry and meets both the cloak from Christmas and the Gaunt stone both of which popped out of their storage dimension. When the three objects meet, they flash a pallid green before merging with Harry's scar. With the objects absorbed, Harry subconsciously emits a massive aura of Death. "I suspect the legends surrounding the Tale of Three Brothers and the Deathly Hallows is slightly off. As the owner who united the Deathly Hallows, you appear to have become Death itself rather than its master as the legends claim," Professor Dumbledore says before suggesting Harry and Luna continue with their day while the House Elves move Luna's belongings into the Founders' Quarters where Luna will be protected by Harry and his harem.
AN: Thanks for reading and please review.