A/N: Don't own. Minimal time skip.
Chapter 8
It had been several days since Harry had finally woken up entirely aware. With some decent sleep and no travel he was feeling much better than he had just a few days ago. Reborn's presence also definitely helped with settling his magic and Harry was ecstatic to again feel his magic as a steady hum in the back of his mind.
They had spent the last few days mostly talking, explaining, discussing. And Harry loved it. By now Harry's favorite part of the day was the evenings they spent talking about anything that came to mind. Harry would usually somehow end up tucked into Reborn's side and basking in the warmth of his Guardian and the pulsing of their bond.
Harry blushed at that thought. It still made him slightly anxious, simply because he was not used to that kind of intimacy, to physical reassurance and contact. He had never had that before, had never had anyone who he wanted to be close to, had never had anyone want him there without an agenda. The ease with which they had fallen into this pattern was still confusing to Harry.
Still, Harry loved their conversations and although they had not yet broached the topics of saviors and hitmen, they were definitely working their way towards the more difficult conversations. So far, they had mostly talked about things like Hogwarts and its curriculum or some of the more important Mafia Famiglias.
Still, Harry could see how Reborn was putting together the various clues and crumbs of information into the not so nice picture that was his life.
Right now they were comfortably chatting while Reborn was working on his notebook at the dining table and Harry was in the kitchen preparing some tea. Reborn - the heathen - was still refusing to even try some tea.
Reborn had been asking questions about the Wizarding World, though mostly about harmless topics. They had just been talking about Harry's magic, his treatment at St. Mungo's and how to get in touch with the healers in the Wizarding World.
Reborn inquired about one of Harry's earlier comments. "You mentioned that the usual channels of communication for contacting someone in the Wizarding World aren't open to you right now."
Harry considered how to answer as he settled at the table with his tea and a glass of water for Reborn. Harry knew he was going to sound insane but in order to explain why he couldn't contact the healers he gave Reborn an overview of owl post, communication mirrors and charmed journals. Finally he explained the Floo Network - almost getting a double take from Reborn at that - which led to the topic of magical transportation, including Floo Travel, Apparition, Flying, the Knight Bus and Portkeys. Harry noted to himself that it really wasn't easy to comprehensively explain the Wizarding World.
In return Reborn then explained various applications of Flame abilities such as his Activation for healing or a Storm's Disintegration for complete destruction. They had also talked about mafia organizations outside of Italy, with Reborn describing most of Europe's various criminal underground organizations.
Harry was currently pondering the information Reborn had given him about Britain's criminal underground which surprisingly was mostly focused on trade rather than combative power. Reborn had mentioned one of Britain's larger Famiglias being a trading partner of Italy's most powerful Famiglia and thus under their protection. Apparently, due to the British Empire covering a large part of the world for centuries Britain's mafia still had access to a lot of resources across the globe that weren't accessible to most others.
While he was still mulling that over Reborn asked casually. "I had wanted to ask before, but how old are you exactly?"
"I'm seventeen." Harry hesitated slightly. "Actually, what's the date?"
"August 14th."
"Ah, I'm eighteen then." Harry concluded easily. Age really didn't mean much to him anymore. What did the number matter if you had experienced more in those few years than others had in double the time.
That gave Reborn pause. His Sky was eighteen. He hadn't even hit his twenties yet. Harry had given enough clues for Reborn to be certain that he had been directly involved in some kind of conflict - The-Man-Who-Conquered - so, how old had he been when that had started? Reborn tried to buy himself some time to calm down. "When is your birthday?"
"July 31st." Harry answered with slight apprehension as he could feel Reborn's anger surge along their bond.
Reborn didn't like this. "A celebration is in order then? For the big eighteen?" Reborn inquired, still outwardly calm.
"Ah, not really. I was never really one for birthday celebrations. I'd usually just wait up until midnight of my birthday. So, I don't really need a party or anything of the sort. And in the Wizarding World the age of majority is seventeen, so that has passed." Harry tried to respond casually.
Reborn didn't like anything about this. It was becoming clearer with every conversation that his Sky didn't have anyone at home - no one to wait up with him for his birthday, no celebration, no family - and this confirmed all the other hints he had gotten from his Sky so far regarding his home life. Also, his Sky was young, too young - it made his Flames surge protectively, curling around their bond, obsessively scanning the room for threats - and already branded by conflict and strife and pain.
Reborn had very few facts to work with, but what he could put together was just enraging him further. His Sky had a bad home life, no family to speak of, and he couldn't have gotten to experience much of life while stuck in a boarding school in the Scottish Highlands as a teenager. Harry then had gotten involved in a conflict that had branded him a hero - a hero meant sacrifice. Unless Reborn was really misinterpreting anything - like that would ever happen - his Sky had been titled a savior, a conqueror before he had ever experienced love and life and family. And all this had resulted in a magical illness that made his Sky completely defenseless, while Harry's 'friends' were at least partially responsible for him ending up in the hands of the mafia.
Reborn was angry, utterly furious but he could see the apprehension in his Sky's expression, clearly uncertain what had Reborn so enraged - which did nothing to calm him down at all - so Reborn needed a distraction. He asked randomly."How does your pouch work?"
It took Harry a moment to follow that change in topic. He was amazed by the realization that he still felt no fear even in the face of Reborn's fury. Still, he was glad to have something different to talk about as he was uncertain just what had gotten Reborn so angry in the first place.
Harry answered carefully. "The space inside the pouch is extended. We call it Wizarding Space. It can be applied to pretty much everything, like bags or even entire houses."
Reborn appeared thoughtful. "Hm, the Corocos goon told me that they had been trying to go through your things but even though he knew you had a bag he couldn't seem to really remember any details about it."
Harry was getting the feeling that Reborn might have been keeping an internal list of all the things he had wanted to ask Harry at some point but didn't have the chance to ever since they met. That didn't bode well for Harry because there were a lot of questions he had thought to have cleverly avoided and that he would really prefer not to come up again anytime soon.
"Well, for one there are spells on my book bag that would have prevented them from finding the pouch in the first place. Additionally, there are some heavy-duty protective spells on the pouch. It has muggle-diversion, notice-me-not, anti-theft spells and so on. You shouldn't even be able to see much less touch it. Maybe the spells on the pouch are canceled out by the soul bond. I will have to read up on that."
Reborn considered that. Anti-theft and notice-me-not spells? The Wizarding World truly was about as creative with its naming as Harry had indicated before. Though those spells, especially the space extension one, could be incredibly useful. In the back of his mind he was already calculating where he could hide some more weapons around his various safe houses that no one would ever be able to find. Hm, or even better, maybe some form of panic room that no one could find except for him and Harry, for whenever Reborn had to leave his Sky on his own. So many possibilities. Reborn smirked gleefully.
Harry was watching his Guardian with a certain level of suspicion as he could see the increasing glee in his expression. Harry couldn't even begin to guess what kind of plans he was currently concocting. He quickly asked a question, lest this escalate further. He wasn't ready for his Sun to start planning world domination yet. By Merlin, Harry was demanding a vacation first.
"So you said, people are born with Flames but they still have to activate them. When do mafia children usually activate their Flames? What about civilians? Is it an automatic process or does it have to be induced in some way?" Harry stopped himself from rambling any more questions.
Reborn amusedly answered while getting up from the table and moving to the kitchen. "It is actually mostly impossible to just force Flame activation. There are of course ways though this kind of technology has only been used for fights within the Mafia and not to force Flame activation in civilians. The Famiglia that captured you developed a way to force activation based on this technology."
Harry didn't think that sounded at all reassuring. "What if I hadn't had Flames, activated or not?"
Reborn answered while preparing coffee and more tea for Harry. "They had a list of Flame potentials, although I am still not entirely sure how that list was compiled. Though based on what the Corocos goons told me, you were only the second one they tried this on, while the first actually joined the Corocos Famiglia. After proving that the technology worked they picked a potential Sky. If a civilian activates his Flames it is usually at a very young age mostly due to incredibly strong Flames or later in life in case of a life-threatening situation. They probably assumed that a civilian without activated Flames would be a weak Sky that they could force into Harmony with the Elements of their choice."
Harry felt incredibly irritated by this. The Potter luck strikes again.
Reborn could see his Sky's annoyance - he was adorable with his nose wrinkled in exasperation - and continued. "Mafia children usually activate their Flames some time during their childhood. However, the ages vary between toddler age and teens. Activation of Flames after they have reached sixteen is rather rare, though not impossible."
Reborn carried the freshly prepared drinks to the living area and after a moment's hesitation his Sky followed. Reborn thought it was truly charming that Harry still seemed to be slightly nervous about how to act around his Guardian. His Sky always seemed to be making sure that he truly was allowed to be close to Reborn, that he was welcome to curl into his side.
Like he did every evening his Sky initially settled onto the couch next to him sitting upright. Harry accepted his tea with a small smile and a fetching blush when Reborn smirked charmingly at him. Reborn knew by now that their position wouldn't last and that by the time Harry had finished his tea, he would probably be curled into Reborn's side. Reborn thought this little ritual of Harry's to be delightfully enchanting.
"So, at the Mafia Academy they start at different ages then and not like Hogwarts where everyone is sorted into classes based on age." Harry asked while pretending to concentrate on his tea in order to hide his blush.
Reborn was still grinning internally at his little Sky's delectable reactions. But he nodded and then asked another question he had been wondering about. "When you talk about magical education it sounds as though Hogwarts is the only option?"
Definitely a list in his Guardian's head, Harry concluded exasperatedly. He still answered. "Well, Hogwarts is the only wizarding school in Britain. There are other schools around Europe, though pretty much only one school per country."
"One school per country and a boarding school at that? Just how big are these schools?"
"Well, Hogwarts Castle is huge, but most of the castle isn't really in use. While I was a student, there were only a few hundred students at Hogwarts in total. The Britain's wizarding population really isn't all that big currently. Still in the first year of staying at Hogwarts everyone gets hopelessly lost on a regular basis because the castle is humongous."
Reborn considered whether to ask the obvious question here or whether to leave it like he had all the times before. He decided to give his Sky an opening to talk about it but he wouldn't push in case Harry avoided the question. "Not all that big currently?"
Harry paused. Here it was, an opening to mention the wars, to mention Voldemort and cowardly two-faced adults who hid behind a child and horcrux hunts and being so very desperately alone in the face of insurmountable obstacles that the only choice he had seen had been to martyr himself for a world that had never given him a reason to do so and would probably never try to pay him back in any way.
Harry tried to inconspicuously look over at Reborn. The inconspicuous part failed of course, but Reborn was calmly looking back at him, no pressure or demand to give information. Harry pretended to concentrate on his tea again as he flushed.
It was something that had always aggravated him in the Wizarding World. Somehow he had always been expected to reveal anything that happened to him, anything he heard, anything he had been told, even his innermost thoughts. Dumbledore and Hermione had been the worst offenders in this, as not even his dreams had been considered private. Harry's mind had been regularly ripped open for anyone's benefit. Everyone else was entitled to privacy. But not Harry bloody Potter.
He of course understood that with his connection to Voldemort, the information to be gained had been immense and during the war he would have been the first to reveal any visions, had even been hoping for a clue on what Voldemort might be up to. But it had still bothered him that it had been assumed that he was to reveal everything of himself to his friends, to the headmaster, to Snape of all people, without anyone else being held to the same standard.
Once he had gotten over his anger, this certainly had helped drive home the fact that in the eyes of most people, even some of those that he trusted, he had never been Harry. He had always been Harry Potter, the Chosen One. It had crushed something in him.
Not to mention that after the Department of Mysteries and Sirius being killed, Harry barely trusted his own mind. Still, the Occlumency 'training' with Snape was one of the things he had not been able to forgive Dumbledore for. Everyone had known how much Snape hated him, how he had used his position of power over Harry ever since the first Potion's class and still Harry had been forced to let the man into the sanctity of his own thoughts, to give him even more power over Harry. It was unforgivable.
Looking into Snape's pensieve had been one of his best decisions in the time after Voldemort's resurrection and before the horcrux hunt. Not because of what he had seen - that had mostly been a hit to his own world view - but because Snape had stopped ripping into his mind on a regular basis. Harry hated that his inability to occlude at that point had been a factor in Sirius' death but he was also convinced that Snape's 'lessons' - torture or mind rape might be a better description - wouldn't have changed anything.
Then Snape had died in the war and Harry would never get to demand retribution for the man's actions against him.
Though this brought him back to the problem at hand. Reborn had been patiently waiting for him to sort out a response and Harry knew that if he wanted to stay away from this topic for a while longer, Reborn would let him.
And that was worth everything to Harry who was rarely if ever given a choice on what to reveal and what to keep to himself.
Maybe it would be best to get the topic of the war out there. He could still keep the discussion of his bloody savior status for later. There were so many topics to be covered just with the war, that it might be best to try and separate the conversations anyways.
Harry knew that though those might all be valid reasons, that it was mostly because he would like to avoid the savior topic at all costs. He was desperately afraid that something in Reborn's behavior towards him would change as soon as he was told about Harry's role in the war. Harry was damn certain that this fear was unfounded, but he couldn't help it. So much of his life - all of his life, even before his parents had died, when his family had been forced into hiding - had been ruled by that single bloody prophecy...
Harry drew in a breath, set his empty tea cup on the table and turned to face Reborn.
Reborn had watched his Sky struggle with himself while considering Reborn's question. There had been so much doubt, so much contained hope and resignation, so much pain flitting through his eyes during the internal struggle, that Reborn wanted to burn down the world around them in order to make sure that whoever had harmed Harry like this would burn with it.
He knew that there were difficult topics to be discussed between them. Harry's behavior, the clues he had given about the Wizarding World and his own life, had made it very clear that there were aspects of Harry's life that Reborn really wouldn't like. However, watching the doubt and pain flit across Harry's expression, Reborn realized that this might stretch a lot further, might be far worse than he had expected.
Even while mostly turned away from him, Reborn could still see the tension in Harry's shoulders, recognized the helplessness and resignation and anger in what little he could see of his Sky's expression.
When he saw Harry draw in a bracing breath before he turned around to fully face him - his Sky definitely wasn't a coward - Reborn focused his entire not inconsiderable attention on Harry.
Harry saw that Reborn had already drawn some conclusions just based on Harry's reaction to the initial question. He could almost feel his Sun's Flames saturate the room around them, warming him, guarding him. And Harry wanted to sigh in bliss at the feeling of protectionsafetycareshelter.
Almost automatically he curled his feet on up on the couch - Reborn immediately wrapping an arm around Harry - and let himself be tucked into Reborn's side. He took a moment to gather his thoughts before starting.
"In the last century there were three wizarding wars in Britain. Not like muggle wars, not between countries and there weren't always clearly defined factions. The wars itself were mostly fought between the so-called light side and dark side, yet again not based on actual magical orientation, but rather on the previously mentioned political definitions."
Reborn hadn't shown any reaction to this declaration, so Harry had been right to assume that he had put at least part of the picture together already based on the various clues Harry had given, consciously or not.
"For the first war the dark side gathered under the banner of a dark lord. It was a German wizard who swept across most of the European Magical World at the same time as the second World War was raging. He was defeated by Albus Dumbledore, who then became the hero of the light side and gained an immense amount of power. But instead of choosing any overt political positions he became the headmaster of Hogwarts."
Reborn could easily see the implications of a war hero as headmaster of the only wizarding school in Britain. Anyone who fought in a war had political interests or at least opinions and something of the war would always remain with them. It was unwise to put a war hero into a powerful position that went beyond politics, as even if only unconsciously he would continue to act on his beliefs and influence those around him.
Also, Reborn definitely sensed Harry's mixed emotions at the mention of this Dumbledore character. There was respect but it wasn't reverence of someone held personally in high esteem but rather like the recognition of a powerful authority figure. There was also a sense of disappointment and anger with the mention of that name.
And Harry had mentioned a dark lord specific to the second World War, did that mean there had been others afterwards? And who had 'defeated' those then? He really hoped his Sky's mention of being a savior did not come into play here - mostly because it would be quite stressful if he had to get rid of the entirety of magical Britain in revenge for putting his Sky in danger.
"As with any kind of conflict, the victors not only wrote the history books but also changed the political landscape to fit their ideals. The political climate became very favorable for the light side and resulted in the ban of most dark magic, forcing anyone with a dark core to hide their nature. The light side saw the terms light and dark as synonymous with good and evil and entirely ignored the balance of naturally occurring dark and light magic. They considered themselves the protectors of the weak and welcomed muggleborns. In contrast, the dark side not only believed themselves superior to muggleborns but also considered any non-muggleborns on the light side to be blood-traitors. There was no middle ground for either side."
For Reborn a lot of the various clues from before neatly fit into the puzzle with that explanation. Like the mention of the Ministry deciding to ban dark magic and old Magicks.
Harry continued. "As is the norm in a politically oppressive climate like that, about twentyfive years later another dark lord rose to power in Britain and anyone pureblood, naturally dark and even most neutrals rallied behind him. As the light side prides itself to be entirely muggle-friendly in order to make muggleborns feel more comfortable they did not have a recognized lord or anything of the sort. Rather they gathered under the unofficial banner of the last war's hero, Albus Dumbledore."
Reborn listened attentively to his Sky's explanation. His instincts were telling him that this was essential. He could feel Harry's agitation at the description and tightened the arm around his Sky even further.
"Another increasingly intense war started and decimated Britain's wizarding population as well as further splitting the political sides of the war. When the Dark Lord was eliminated the light side refused to learn from their mistakes after the last war, where political and societal oppression had resulted in another war. Instead they escalated the pro-light sentiment and politics to the point where they removed most wizarding holidays and integrated muggle ones instead and even started sorting magical creatures into light and dark categories."
The Dark Lord was 'eliminated', not 'defeated' like the last one? Reborn was missing something here. He just didn't have enough information but he would leave it for now. For one Harry was sharing an incredible amount of information and also he could feel Harry getting increasingly agitated the longer the story went on. His Sky's parents had died when he was young, and based on Reborn's calculation this might actually fit with the dates. Had they died in the second war? What did that mean for Harry's introduction into the Wizarding World?
"This continued for years and at this point Dumbledore had been elevated into several powerful political positions in addition to his headmaster status. Accordingly, the more powerful politicians, even those claiming to be on the light side, started to feel threatened by him. With that the Ministry was brought into the conflict as a defined third faction. Additionally, except for the Minister himself none of the influential Ministry positions are based on elections. Thus most Ministry employees are mainly interested in personal gain, be it in the form of money or power."
Reborn knew very well how easy anyone without additional incentive to keep voters happy was to bribe. It was something the mafia regularly exploited when dealing with politics. However, just how far behind was the British Wizarding World to have a Ministry that still consisted of non-electable politicians?
"At this point the Ministry turned into a cesspool of bribes and personal agendas. The main legislative and judiciary body of the Wizarding World is the Wizengamot which is mostly made up of hereditary seats from old pureblood families. Thus a weird equilibrium developed with a generally light sentiment and with the main political body made up of people who were mostly dark or neutral minded. Politics pretty much stagnated for several years."
"Three years ago the rift between the fractions escalated again. Another war started under the banner of a dark lord while Albus Dumbledore led the opposing side. The third war started under almost exactly the same premises as the last one, though this time there was little actual fighting involved. This war was mostly directed by politics, partially by press fear mongering and largely by terror attacks on muggles and guerilla warfare within the Wizarding World. It destroyed much of Britain's remaining Magical World and the wizarding population was further decimated. The war ended just a few months ago. We are still picking up the pieces."
Reborn took a moment to work through the provided information, marveling at the described idiocy. Three wars because people were sheep, because no one was willing to learn from history's mistakes, because people were only concerned with their personal agendas. He had noticed that there was no mention of how exactly the war had ended and for once Reborn actually briefly struggled with himself before asking carefully. "What happened to the last dark lord?"
Harry considered how to answer this question. Though why not just tell his Sun. Harry would not yet mention prophecies or the horcrux hunt - or martyring himself - but he could tell Reborn about this at least.
"I killed him." Harry was blindsided by the impact these few words had on his own mind. It was the first time Harry had said it out loud, the first time he had allowed himself to think these exact words. Not 'I defeated him' or 'I vanquished him' or as the Wizarding World had taken to politely refer to it 'I ended the war'.
He had killed the Dark Lord. Voldemort was gone. And Harry was still alive.
Harry felt something in his chest expand painfully, making it hard to breathe, his heart desperately thudding through the ache. And then he was drowning beneath a wave of desperation and relief and anguish.
Reborn had almost wanted to recoil at the statement. Not because of the fact that his Sky had killed someone - he really couldn't give less of a shit about that - but because of Harry's tone. Complete loathing - of the Dark Lord, of himself, of being forced into his role. Complete and utter loathing.
He could feel his Sky's emotions getting increasingly tumultuous, could feel anguish and anger through their bond. And suddenly Harry's Flames were desperately reaching for him along their bond as though pleading for an anchor, for security, for acceptance.
Reborn immediately reached for his Sky. With the direct contact he could feel the emotions along their bond even clearer and the helplessness, loneliness, desperation, anguish, resentment that hit him… Without much thought he dragged his little Sky into his lap, settled him against his chest with Harry's head tucked into the crook of Reborn's neck and curled around him as much as he could. He fed his Sun Flames into the bond while also saturating the room around them.
The anguish in Harry's Flames increased, before something seemed to release.
Reborn just tightened his hold on Harry as he felt his shoulder grow wet, not saying a word while trying to soothe his Sky's anguished Flames with his own.
The British Wizarding World was done. Reborn would personally see to the end of anyone he deemed even remotely responsible for his Sky's pain.
A/N: There be progress!
Ok, I'm missing some information for the next chapters... oh man, this is giving so much away... :) Can someone tell me how the British and the Italian educational systems including universities work? I'm assuming they are different from the German and the American systems. Some pointers would be great.
Also, a reviewer let me know that they are really irritated by me responding to reviews in the chapters. As the reactions to my responses and the discussions around them actually help me with my writing, I do not intend to stop including the responses unless this is a very common opinion. Let me know.
Chapter 7 review responses:
You guys are amazing as usual! Thanks for all the Guardian suggestions, though I am still not giving anything away :) To everyone asking about the KHR timeline, it will probably become clear in the next chapter.
To Arleria: Thank you for your review! It will still take a while until Teddy plays a role in this story, so I can't really tell you yet what the dynamic between Harry and Reborn will be at that point. I don't even know myself yet :)
To Wicken25: Thanks for reviewing! Oh, there will definitely be reactions to Reborn having a Sky with and without actually meeting Harry :)
To PetiteEmperor4: Thanks for your review! Reborn getting jealous of another harmonized Guardian? Not so much. Of anyone else (including potential Guardians) stealing Harry's attention? Oh, definitely :)
To NarutoSpardaUzumaki: Thanks for your review! I'm not planning on anything graphic happening in this story and it will be quite a while until anything happens at all. Should this change at any point for whatever reason, I will give fair warning.
To Guest#5: Thanks for your extensive review! I'm glad you like the story so much. I will keep the HP canon timeline but there will be some changes in character development with Harry's interest in wizarding culture being one example. Harry is at least slightly OOC and most of his researching was done after the war when he had some time to himself to work through various issues. I like Burn me with Fire as well :)
To donnaficfan: Thank you for the review! I love pretty much anything from Araceil, thanks for the suggestions :) Shamal is going to show up at some point though it will still be a while until then.
To writer200z: Thanks for reviewing! Reborn probably won't be leaving Harry's side anytime soon, so he will be there for the confrontations. As for the Weasleys and the teachers Reborn is going to be split between ripping into them (because most adults have screwed Harry over as well) and getting them on his side to get his revenge on the worst offenders. Poppy will happily come along for the ride, glad that someone is finally helping her with keeping Harry safe :)