"Hermione, the weird orange thing happened again. This time it merged with my lightning bolt spell." Harry fiddled with his luggage while he left the communication mirror propped up on a dresser. There was a sound of scribbling from the mirror, with Hermione's thick curly hair being the only thing shown as she bent her head over her notes. The last time Harry neglected to inform Hermione when his 'spontaneous orange fire phenomenon' showed up, well, her idea of revenge is something Harry strived to avoid.
"Harry," Hermione sighed exasperated, "you need to be more specific then that. You came back to life on fire. That is not a normal effect of coming back to life-" Ron's voice muttered in the background about how there is nothing normal with coming back from the dead in the first place so what do they know, "And then it keeps popping back up with odd side effects. We don't know what it's doing to you and everything needs to be accounted for to figure it out! Your body temperature alone make this worrisome! And-"
Harry started to tune her out as she went over old information, he could have sworn he had an umbrella. He didn't want to transfigure one, they always reverted at the worst possible moment. And the weather outside would be unforgiving to such a mishap. Preferably, Harry would stay inside with a butterbeer and his broomstick disassembly and polish kit while chatting with someone on mirror. But he was scheduled to meet with Zinovia Argyris, and he had heard stories of how she can wield water and air like it was second nature. And if he had time, a quick look in the library for any benevolent information on parslemagic would be nice. Even if it did mean research. Harry turned his attention back to Hermione as her lecture slowed down in a natural lull before breaking back into the conversation.
"Ok, so I was walking when I came across a floating demon baby terrorizing a man with a dead body." Harry started.
"What." Hermione gave him a flat look, and Ron said something that sounded like 'Oh Merlin, not again' which was ridiculous. Harry has never fought a floating baby before. His luck wasn't that strange. (He resolutely ignored the fact that the very fact that it even happened at all was the problem)
"Exactly," Harry nodded, and proceeded to cover what had happened. Hermione started to rub the bridge of her nose, then her temples. Then he got to the part where the fire wrapped around his wand came in, she grabbed her quill with a mutter about magical tool amplification.
"Harry, what were you thinking or doing when you casted the Fulgur spell? It was the only one with the effect, so what was so different about how you casted it?"
Harry shrugged, trying to recall fight memories a few days after the fact was always tricky. "I just, did not want to be there? I don't know 'Mione, that bloke really needed to get out of there and that kid was not going to let us leave. So I made it happen."
Hermione gave a thoughtful hum as she looked at his statement and was comparing it to previous incidences. "It seems it consistently happen when you're being exceptionally stubborn, or, what? Defiant? But that's nothing new, you've always have a stubborn streak a mile wide," she gave a disgusted huff, "I'm going to have to cross reference everything again. This would be so much easier if this would show up as magic with the diagnostic spells and equipment. Harry, what are you even looking for?"
"Umbrella!" Harry called out from under the bed.
"It's in the loo!" Ron hollered over Hermione's head as she whipped around to stare at him incredulously.
"Why would his umbrella be in washroom? Why do you even know that?" Hermione's incredulousness increased as Harry made a noise of triumph as he exited aforementioned room with a bright yellow umbrella.
"I roomed with him for seven years 'Mione. That's where he always forgets it."
"When would he ever use an umbrella at Hogwarts?"
"Well, Seamus exploded or set on fire everything at some point and we didn't alway have our wands-"
Harry shrugged on his over robe and double checked that he had everything needed before turning to the mirror with a wry grin as Ron and Hermione's conversation had devolved into… The flammability of prank glitter? Harry shuddered, there were some things best left forgotten.
"Well, I really need to get going if I'm going to have any semblance to being on time. Have fun on your political trip to France 'Mione, and have fun being her rescue option, Ron." Harry gave a grin at Ron wry salute and Hermione's expression of determination.
"I'm not getting arrested this time, I've read up the laws on public disturbances and protest regulations!"
"I would say we've rubbed off on you, but you're the one who set a teacher on fire during first year." Ron chimed in gleefully. Harry cutted off Hermione's rebuttal with a tap of his finger and slipped the mirror into one of his many, many hidden pockets. Sighing mentally at the torrent outside, he readied his umbrella and braved his way to the Kifissia suburb entrance.
Harry peered suspiciously at the bright blue wooden door, he's been through this one but he couldn't remember if it was the Kifissia door or the Kolonaki door, they looked similar but led out to opposite sides of the town.
Athens had a neat shortcut system, if you wanted to go to different districts you could open a specific door in the right way and it would open up into a discrete alleyway. The trick was knowing which doors led to where. The local magicals knew them like breathing, but Harry had accidentally found himself in the wrong part of town more than once. Or simply used the muggle door next to it. That was always awkward.
It was startling the first time Harry went to the Kifissia suburb. The Odeon of Herodes Atticus is the entrance to the main Magical Greek District, being located right by a main performance theater covered many a strange interpretation of muggle clothing. It was also in one of the oldest parts of town and was steeped in ancient history, as expected of Magical preferences. Kifissia was where rich people like to vacation and was significantly more modern than what Harry was used to associating with Magicals.
It was also where Zinovia Argyris lived and gave private tutoring outside of the school months. Harry shifted the doorknob by three quarters and pushed, awkwardly maneuvering his umbrella to go with him. A quick glance around assured him that he managed to get the right door this time.
Closing the door securely behind him carefully made his way out of the alleyway and into the city.
_oo0O0oo_
Zinovia was a fascinating woman. She wasn't traditionally beautiful, with her thick eyebrows, deep set eyes, and a strong nose. But she was certainly a striking figure with a commanding tone that made one want to snap their spine straight and listen.
She was also pelting her student with a paintball gun.
A spark of wry mischief in her blue eyes lit when she confided to Harry that it was a training tactic she picked up from an Italian muggle colleague.
She was a big believer in her students being able to defend against magical and muggle weapons, and guns were most certainly dangerous.
It was also an excellent stress reliever.
Harry was going to have so much fun when Hogwarts started up again.
Perhaps when he was in Italy Harry would be able to meet up with Zinovia's friend Lal Mirch, she sounded like an interesting person.
_oo0O0oo_
Harry held back a frustrated sigh when his translation charm ran out of time again. Sure, it was a simple spell but having to to do it repeatedly was annoying. One of these days he's going to break down and just learn the language. Eventually. French was still confusing sometimes.
He checked how many pages he had left and noted that the was finally near the end, then renewed his charm.
One of the downsides of Magic being a secret society was that even with said society Magical knowledge was jealously guarded. Especially if it was connected to Family Magics, was an obscure trait, or was tainted by a previous Dark practitioner.
This may be one of the most comprehensive books on parslemagic Harry has managed to find, but he was finding a lot of suppositions or just flat out wrong facts intermixed with truth.
Harry sighed. This really isn't his specialty.
There was a lot of insistence that all parslemagic users were naturally good at healing, and Harry... wasn't. He was competent, and knew how to minister basic aid. But he was not a natural.
However, there were some sporadic references to the other known parlsemagic specialties besides healing: rebirth, transformation, and immortality.
Harry wasn't crazy about what that suggested about him. Especially considering his relationship with death.
With a huff, Harry finished and rolled up the scroll. It gave him some interesting tidbits he'll experiment with later, but for the rest of it he'll give it the Potter Special. Ignore it until it goes away or tries to kill him.
_oo0O0oo_
"Damn miser midget, fuckin' hiked up their prices this time."
"Eh, it's not like there's never a benefit when they do. It's just a really, really expensive benefit. Worth knowing who the new Flame users are, though. Especially the unaligned ones. Now hand me that stack of papers, shut up, and work."
Lal... Lal what are you even doing in this story? You were very much not planned. First Viper, then you.
As for the fight last chapter between Harry and Mammon, I hate one sided power scales. They are both powerful in different ways and equally unfamiliar with each other's fire power. I'm going to try keeping things reasonably balanced.
To everyone who faved/follow/and reviewed, I love you all and I hope you continue to enjoy the story!