Athena's Help
:::SUMMARY:::
Aubrey is finally left alone at his relative's house alone. Fortunately they left him with a long list of responsibilities. But an extra responsibility is flying to him in the form of a wounded owl. Unfortunately he has to work to heal her. Oh boy, here we go!
:::NAME REMINDER:::
Aubrey Ezra Gareth Jason Potter
:::REALLY LONG & THOROUGH DISCLAIMER:::
I do not own anything at all in terms of characters unless stated outright in either the ending or beginning of the chapters individually.
I do not own Harry Potter at all.
I do not own Percy Jackson or any other related or similar Rick Riordan (SP?) books.
I do not own the concept of 'discovers magic early' for the Harry Potter fanon franchise.
I do not own any story that is related to in this fanfiction by having similar items/skills/equipment in them.
I do not own things that are real, historically true or that have come from the two and been altered by myself. For instance, there was a town named gaunt that the gaunt family could have been named after.
I WILL SHOUT AND DANCE~
*\(^_^)/*
GO TEAM POTTERMORE!
*\(^_^)/*
I WILL SHOUT AND DANCE AGAIN!
Chapter 02: Troubles and Familiars
Aubrey sighs happily as he continues brewing the first year potion for boils. One of the other Hecate campers offered to teach if to him and he has been studying like crazy to prepare to be on par with the right level to learn it. This meant that he spent an entire week learning Potions Preparation from a book.
"That's wonderful, Aubrey! I think you did an excellent job! Maybe I need to reward you. I want to take you to Gringotts for an inheritance test. Do you want to bring Nico?" Aubrey squeals as he hugs her tightly before he darts around the room in a hurry to clean up his mess and to bottle the potion. Within minutes he is ready and he takes off to get Nico. Rushing into his cabin where Nico always hangs out he grabs his hand and pokes him.
He looks up at him and Aubrey sees that he is annoyed by the interruption to his book. "Aubrey!~ I want to read!" Aubrey sighs dramatically as he flicks his almost long hair.
"I guess you don't get to see a local Magic Community then, the book must be-Ouch!" Nico grins sheepishly at him from around his waist as he bounces up and down next to him in excitement.
"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Aubrey giggles as he begins racing Nico to the designated place to meet the Hecate Campers for Portkey travel. Arriving in time he sees a group of five older Ilvermorny students ready to do their shopping for the school year. Seeing Aileen, his potions Tutor standing with them he darts over to her and giggles loudly as he beat Nico there. Nico huffs as he comes to a stop next to him. Aubrey sees the Ilvermorny students raise an eyebrow and offer room to grab the portkey.
Aubrey grabs Nico with one hand and the Portkey with the other and Aileen says the password. "Nitwick!" A tug came from their belly buttons and they landed in a pile together laughing. "Stand up, Aubrey. This is Gringotts, the Magical Goblin run Bank. If you would follow me inside?" Aubrey stands with the help of Nico and they look up at the huge building and gasp in wonder.
The building looks like a Greek deco styled temple. It has towering columns and cherubs carved onto the edges of the building with what appears to be a very fine detailing. Thought the buildings next to it and down the street are more colorful Aubrey thinks that the Gringotts is the most beautiful of the buildings in the street that he can see.
Aileen speaks from beside the two of them as the other Ilvermorny students scatter to get their school supplies. "This is the magical part of the United States of America. Built upon the natural resource abundance, intelligence and science of its past, this union is now among the most productive countries in its corner of the world. Their medicine, natural resources and food production are among its current greatest strengths. Unfortunately they lack a lot in science and life expectancy."
The three of them begin making their way inside slowly enough that Aubrey and Nico can look around the building to see the beauty of the place. "America is a Democratic Union. There are quite a few opposing groups against the current leadership and this has been the case for decades. However, the current greatest threat to the nation is the rise of gangs, but the current leadership might sacrifice too much to solve this issue."
Nico begins picking up his pace and Aubrey instantly speeds up to stay with him. Aileen leads them into the entry room where they look at the waiting chairs for people who come to meet together here. "The people of America are gloomy. They live somber lives, but while science is really lacking, their medicine helps relief some of their issues. Religion holds no importance in their lives and, if anything, has made them more wary of strangers. The people of America are moderately spiritual however and they have odd formalities and beautiful customs."
Nico nods to her with understanding in his eyes. Aubrey follows her past the entry and through the next doors with Nico trailing beside him. Seeing the greeting area the two boy frown, the lines are really long for some reason. Aubrey looks around before seeing a goblin guard and deciding to talk to him. Aubrey grabs Nico's hand and walks over to the goblin. The goblin sniffs at them for some reason.
"Hiya, I'm Aubrey Potter, nice to meet you. Sorry if I offend you in my talking but I don't know goblin customs. I have a question if you don't mind me asking. Is there any possible way that we could get a goblin to teach us to use weapons? We are good students though we cannot read English well, we both know ancient Greek though." The goblin's stance shifts to being interested at the news that Aubrey gives him. Nico is vigor in his bobbing of his head in agreement.
"And what, if I may also ask, are you doing in America?" The goblin asks with a little bit more respect that Aubrey can detect. Aubrey frowns as he looks around Aileen is looking at the two boys with worry.
"Can you make a barrier for a few feet to keep it to us?" The goblin nods as he doesn't expect the request to get his answer.
"It is done. Only the three of us can hear you."
Aubrey smiles gratefully at him, "Thank you, I don't know if you believe in any gods but I found this wounded owl and I nursed it back to health but somehow it turned into a gray eyed woman with a Greek helm and a spear and I think a short-sword. I recognized her instantly and she told me she was Athena. She offered to give me a Blood Adoption Potions to adopt me and seconds later a woman appeared in a green mist with eyes that glowed with the colors of the rainbow. She told me that it would be a good idea and that she was Hecate, the goddess of magic." The goblin whistles loudly at the story.
"I believe you Potter. Though most don't realize it we goblins are constantly using magic to detect lies within these halls. Not once have I seen your aura flare with the telling sign of a lie. No more explanation is needed as I know that Camp Halfblood is somewhere in America. Now may I ask why you didn't inform your Account Manager about the move? We do not have you registered in this country to my knowledge." Aubrey gives him a confused look as he looks at Nico. Nico shrugs as he doesn't know anything.
Aubrey turns to the goblin and sighs deeply. "I didn't know I had an account. Sure I knew that I have some gold I just didn't know it was with Gringotts. I didn't even know about magic until I turned seven a few weeks ago. Can we try to figure out how to settle this? And can I have help suing the person who placed me with the abusive, neglectful, and hateful muggle Dursley family?" The goblin swears loudly as he grabs him and begins dragging him away dispelling the barrier keeping them quiet. He continues cursing loudly in what Aubrey believes is the goblin tongue. After a few minutes they arrive in a healer's office and Harry is forced to sit on the table.
"He has already begun his recovery treatment for the abuse. I seen Will tie him to a hospital bed before since he hadn't wanted to sit still and I thought it was funny that he tied him down but I was still worried about him." Nico answers truthfully. The goblin healer nods to him and quickly responds to him.
"That is good to hear. It appears that his nutrition levels are going back up and he is slowly recovering. He still has to heal a few things though. Especially any submissive attitudes he may naturally have. Besides that he has some damage to his womb. We will have to fix that slowly to make sure he is still able to give birth." Aubrey's eyes water heavily and he begins sniffling. Tremors rack his body as he curls into himself.
Nico is instantly by his side hugging him and Aubrey leans into his shoulder as the tears begin pouring. After what feels like an hour he has stopped crying. The mediwitch has left and just walks into the room with a very large goblin. He looks at the two humans with blank eyes. He has a briefcase and he waits for Aubrey to finish crying. "Aubrey? I think some guy is here to help you get your account settled and to move it here to America." Aubrey sits up a little as his sniffling dies down. Looking up he smiles a little, though it feels more like a grimace to Aubrey.
"Heir Potter?" The goblin asks with a nod and an offer of his hand. Aubrey takes it and shakes it in greeting while giving a nod to him along side of Nico. "I am sorry to hear about the life you have illegally lived thus far, not including camp life. I am here to get an account of your abuse and the manually take memories from your mind. If you feel that you would rather not think of the memories and want me to draw them out I can delve into your mind and gather them myself. I'd rather not breech your privacy unless absolutely necessary though as you are a very respectful client of Gringotts." Nico raises an eyebrow as Aubrey frowns at him.
"I'm not anything special. I'm just trying to make sure that I don't 'accidentally misplace' my money by placing it in goblin care without treating you properly. But besides that I was raised with manners drilled into my head. I guess it is just a habit to be respectful to my elders and I have no doubt that you are older than me which lets me know that you deserve respect. The only time that people don't have my respect is when they lose it by their actions toward me or other foul deeds I've seen them do around others. Take Nico's sister for example; Bianca di Angelo let her friends bully her brother and I do not like that at all as I see it as abuse." Nico deflates a little at the thought of his sister causing Aubrey to gently clasp his hand. The goblin looks interested for some reason at Nico's name.
"Ah, is Nico di Angelo from Italy?" Nico nods as he looks down. "I see, your family has always been a very magically inclined linage. I'm surprised that you managed to go forward in time. That, in and of itself, is an amazing feat never done before by wizarding kind. I feel that I must ask that you take the Inheritance test. Maybe starting with the basic one and then using an advanced one once your identity is confirmed." Nico looks up blinking a few times. Shaking his head he clutches at his head for some reason as he groans. As he began to whimper in pain the mediwitch began casting diagnostic spells and she gasps for some reason.
"He isn't simply displaced n time, he has no memories from before the age of ten! There isn't even a hint of a memory! It is like he was born at the age of ten instead of being a baby when he was born!" She exclaims loudly. Nico sighs as he stops whimpering. Sitting up he nods.
"I'll take the test but I doubt that I am him." Aubrey gently hugs him as he looks at him.
"Don't worry, I'm beside you the whole way." Aubrey smiles at him and Nico gives him a small, weak smile. It doesn't reach very far. "But first let's get the memories settled. That way when we transfer both accounts here we can share the same account manager. Okay?" Nico nods to him solemnly. Aubrey turns to the goblin lawyer and tells him he is ready. For nearly an hour and a half they gather evidence from Aubrey's memory and they get ready to send the evidence to the International Confederation of Wizards. The Dumbledore Team won't know what hit them when the American members give a vote of no confidence at the next meeting before putting that in front of them as evidence of his crimes.
(*)
The goblins told him, in a simple explanation, that they believed that their British cousins, and therefore the Goblin Nation as a whole, owed him greatly. The goblins had been attacked by Voldemort and several dozen of their people had been killed by the loathing beast. They even killed a few members of the High Goblin Council that they have in place of Goblin Royalty, which they have had ever since the deals made with humans prohibited royal goblins. The goblins promised to help him get even with Dumbledore for the crimes he committed toward him and to help provide him with tutors of any kind.
This makes Aubrey happy since it means that they might be able to find him a tutor for help him and Nico to learn weaponry skills. Aubrey smiles softly with a twinkle in his eyes as he looks around the shared room for him and Nico to stay at Gringotts as slightly honored guests, more so for Aubrey for the reason stated. Aubrey giggles, "The bed is huge, and look at the dozen pillows!"
Nico grins infectiously at him as he replies, "I think it has more than twelve pillows myself. It is big enough for us both to share..." Nico grins at him with his own eyes shining. He jumps onto the bed lays down sighing happily. "This is so soft..." Aubrey snorts at him.
"You are just happy that we can cuddle all night. I do disagree with you with regards to the size. It looks big enough to hold two or three centaur together." Nico laughs at Aubrey as he gingerly hops onto the bed. The healing medicine he has been given to help him with recovery makes him sensitive to the touch for some reason. The Goblins have pleaded that he stay there at the bank to recover and Aubrey agreed to stay as long as they help him get supplies to learn all sorts of stuff. That is why they got the room, besides the fact that Aubrey asked to have Nico stay with him, they go everywhere together after all.
"Yeah, but I'm happy they didn't make us leave. Maybe we should try giving them a thank you card for the room. Can you call Mipsy and ask her to request a short term loan from the goblins to get us some art supplies? I like markers myself since they are naturally bright. Can we ask her to get us a 60 count package? Maybe one for both of us to have as our own..." Aubrey grins at him, he knows that Nico secretly loves drawing the animals and creatures he sees at camp so he simply nods. He has snatched his notepad before and looked at it before.
"Sure, sound great but let's not limit ourselves to just markers. Let's get some paint, crayons, oil pastels, and a few other things. Maybe even a few other things to decorate our room, like craft kits." Nico's eyes sparkle as he hugs Aubrey gingerly, he seems to be frightened that he will hurt Aubrey but Aubrey understands that it might be necessary.
"Gosh, Aubrey. I really do love you so much. I don't know what I would do without you beside me." Aubrey blushes at the declaration as Nico carefully cuddles into his side.
"Nico! Oh gods, you're turning into a mush-muffin on me!" Nico pouts at him knowing he can't swat him and he separates from him as he begins giggling at the term that Aubrey created.
"I am not, I bet that you are with how much you coo at the Unicorns that we seen a few halls down the corridor." Aubrey blushes at being caught again. He has always loved cute things and for some reason the tiny unicorn called to him, its magic kept licking at his own as the Unicorn neighed as it tried to get out of the corral to reach him. Once he asked the nearby goblin about it he replied that he didn't know what was wrong with it.
CLOP, CLOP-CLOP, CLOP, CLOP-CLOP!
Aubrey opens the hallway door a little more and sees the same Unicorn neighing at him anxiously as it paws its hooves on the ground. Aubrey gently reaches out for the tiny thing and caresses her head gently as he sits on the floor next to her. To his great surprise the two of them glow brightly when he first touches her. Yelping at the very bright light that nearly blinds him for several moments he covers his eyes as they begin watering badly. "Ouch... my eyes hurt. Are you okay, little one?" Aubrey asks her as he begins checking her over for wounds.
'I am fine, Aubrey.' Aubrey meeps as he lands on his butt from where he has been kneeling then he yelps in pain as he stares into the unicorn's eyes.
"Did you just talk?!" Nico laughs at him and kneels beside him.
"Silly Aubrey, the Pygmy Unicorn just bonded with you. She is now you're familiar and she will probably be here for you for the rest of your life. Hopefully you can still get an owl for mail if she isn't too possessive. Some pure creatures, like the Pygmy, are very possessive and will become territorial if another of the same species comes near their bonded or their bonded's home. Ask her what her name is, please. She will probably want to be called by her name." Aubrey nods at Nico as he knows that he has done the research on the magical creatures more than Aubrey has. As he turns to the Pygmy he hears her voice again.
'I am Celestia, the Pygmy Unicorn of the Starfield herd of the New York branch of Gringotts. I am very happy that you have a very good friend. I can tell that he is powerful and that he gets along with you a little too well. But that is not what I want to talk about right now. Does your friend normally get along with animals? I need to know this for certain because I can feel a nearby creature, on the surface, calling out for him. I can lead the two of you to the creature and I am sure that you will have enough money to buy it. And you will have time to select some art supplies like I heard the two of you speaking about.' Aubrey gently pats her head now that he knows that she will get along with his friend just fine. Turning to Nico he repeats the question in his own words earning a frown.
"Not really, I never have gotten along with animals. Most of them are frightened of me for some reason. They all run away terrified, I guess it might be my godly parent who frightens them so. What did she say after that and what is her name?" Aubrey blushes at forgetting to introduce them to each other.
"Nico Di Angelo meet Celestia, the Pygmy Unicorn of the Starfield herd of the American New York branch of Gringotts. Celestia, meet Nico di Angelo. She says that she feels a creature on the surface that wants to bond with you. I hope that it isn't hurting anyone while trying to get to you. Let's go find it!" Aubrey grins infectiously as Nico starts trying to look innocent and a throat is cleared from beside of Aubrey. Jumping he whirls toward the person who turns out to be the Lawyer helping the two of them.
"We have managed to get the evidence to the American Members of the International Confederation of Wizards and they have agreed to speak of it while giving Dumbledore a vote of no confidence. After he has a majority of the vote they plan on unleashing the evidence against him and kicking him out of their group or banning the British Isles altogether if they do not select a new leader. Now if you are going out into the human parts we request that you take some Gringotts employees to keep you safe and out of harm. We don't mind you even exploring New York but we ask that you make sure to let us know ahead of time when you plan on going out. Since this is your first day here this time will be excused as you hadn't planned it yourselves. Follow me." Aubrey stands and follows behind him with Nico and Celestia trotting after the two of them.
Five minutes later and they have five human wizards guiding them to the surface. Another ten minutes later and they are on top of the ground with Celestia leading the way. The seven of them follow her towards the sound of howling. Soon enough they come up to a pet store with a ruckus going on inside and Nico darts inside with Aubrey following after him. Seconds later a deep black furred hound stops in front of him. It looks to be as tall as he is and it simply stares at Nico eerily and Nico reaches out to it despite the protesting cries from other adults.
A smaller glow engulfs the two and the hound happily begins licking Nico's hand earning a giggle from Aubrey. Once they helped correct the cages in the store the manager allowed them to purchase the 'Grim Wolf' and they left the store quickly. Aubrey grins at the way Nico kept talking to Kuro, apparently he is Japanese born. "...and that is why I won't leave Aubrey. Sure, I know you might not like him but he defended me from bullies who kept hurting my feelings and I adore him for it. Okay?" Aubrey continues looking around before muttering under his breath.
"What are you looking for. We might be able to help." Says one of the escorts for the trip. Aubrey blinks a few times before smiling at the man and nodding to him.
"We are looking for a crafts and art supplies store. Can you help us find one?" The man nods to him gently and takes the lead while making sure they didn't lose the two children. After a few minutes they come to a store with colorful displays full of painted artwork, art supply kits and even a few muggle supplies.
"This is the best place in the alley but it is expensive. Director Franor told us that everything is going to be paid for by the goblin nation so you are very lucky. Do you need help choosing supplies?" Aubrey nods as Nico does and the seven of them enter the store. Harry automatically goes to the area where he sees markers, paint and other coloring supplies.
"We plan on getting at least one of the coloring supplies in each type of kit for each of us. After that I want to get a few crafts like making a figurine or something. I've never made crafts for me but I did make things to decorate before and everyone was delighted with what I came up with for some reason. Besides that I want to get a few things to deposit the stuff inside of, like a pencil pouch for the markers, oil pastels, and the other coloring stuff but one for each thing. Maybe a binder to keep them in if there is anything like that." The five guards nod and they gently tap Nico and Aubrey to get their attention.
They look at the five adults ready to get reprimanded. The guard surprises them instead. "Director Franor told us to keep two with Nico and three with Aubrey. If you want we can split up to get the supplies. Aubrey, since you seem more towards the crafting kits three of us can go with you to get those while the others get the coloring things. Maybe we can get some paper-doll stuff to create gift cards and all that. Besides that there are stencils that you can use to create a new paper doll. Sure it doesn't have a face but it can have a multitude of creature parts, like centaur body, mermaid body and a few others. Do you want those?" Both boys nod eagerly as it can help them make their thank you cards.
"I'd like some of those too. Maybe getting at least one of every stencil would be wise." Aubrey nods vigorously in agreement earning a very big smile with one side higher a little.
"That sounds great but the stencils come in book series. Do you want all of the books?" Both boys say yes over and over as they jump up and down again and again. The man chuckles as he gently begins leading Aubrey away with two others following. Aubrey goes over to the stencil area and helps to grab one of each. A few of them he got the last ones of. After that they headed for the paper section and got at least ten sheets of each decorative scrapbook paper sheets. The three with him sigh before one raises a hand wanting them to pause.
The third man, as it turns out to be, turns toward Aubrey with a small smile. "Hey, if you would like we can get a camera for both of you and a scrapbook to keep pictures of life events inside of. A scrapbook normally keeps pictures of certain things. I see that both of you like animals and creatures so you might be able to take pictures of them and put those picture in one book and pictures of other things in other books. Do you want to give it a try?" Aubrey grins happily at him as he nods to him. The four of them go off again and soon have even more scrap-booking supplies which include muggle style stickers, iron on saying, and even a few dozen series of stamps to color in and attach to it. Then they go back to the paper section and pick up a whole sheath of pure white paper.
As the go up to the counter they see that Nico and the others have already paid for their half of the stuff. "What took you so long, Aubrey?" Aubrey grins at him as the register girl sighs deeply as if she should have expected for there to be more. They look to have everything in two bags, each one for one of the two boys. Aubrey points at the stuff and after a few minutes understanding dawns in Nico's eyes. "We can take pictures and put them in those books!"
Aubrey nods to him once as an answer. Nico grins and after they have everything purchased they return to the depths of Gringotts with their goods and look at the crafts. "Let's start out with the Thank You cards to test the supplies. Maybe we can make a picture of us waving at them to show our gratitude. Maybe put a little of our clothing styles into ourselves and write thank you bellows it. At least, that is how I'm doing mine." Nico nods as they begin working.
Aubrey makes himself have black pants with different rainbow patterns in the form of the solar system with legs that flare a little, a white dress shirt with the same design that has flaring sleeves, and a gray vest with similar designs. After that he puts some kind of leg warmers that are pure white around his calves and puts a solid black pair of gloves as his hands. Nico quickly hums as he looks at his own piece. Aubrey sees him with a skeleton hoodie, a deep black pair of pants with skulls on it and a very black mess of shockingly black hair. It feels right for some reason.
"Let's put ours together and both of us write a thank you note on one side each." Aubrey nods in agreement as he begins picking out a paper. His eyes dart to one that makes him happy. Reaching out for it he realizes that Nico is reaching for the same one and they giggle at each other as Nico picks the first one up. Aubrey carefully glues his onto it while Nico is practicing writing with a quill. "I can write mine now, I was practicing while you glued your half down."
Aubrey allows him to glue his part on and slowly begins writing with the quill like marker until he could get it to look decent. Looking up he sees that Nico is writing his part so he goes to practice a little more. Once he has his writing flowing somewhat gracefully despite the slow speed he takes the card and writes his thank you note.
Thank you for letting Nico and I stay here. We really appreciate it. ~ Aubrey Ezra Gareth Jason Potter.
Aubrey smiles at his handiwork before looking at Nico's side to read it.
Thanks for buying me the Grim Wolf that bonded to me and thanks for letting us stay here. ~ Nico di Angelo.
Aubrey smiles satisfied that they both wrote something different. Though a little of Nico's writing is spelled differently but that should be alright. Peeping outside their door together they both jump at the sight of the goblin guards who just raise an eyebrow at them with amusement. "Can we give something to the director?" They ask in sync. The guards nod as one of them motions for them to follow after him and the two boys hurry to keep pace with him. After about thirty minutes of walking they come to a large pair of double doors and the guard briefly knocks.
"ENTER!" A very loud voice that sounds like gravel calls. The two boys peep inside to find him meeting with a few more goblins and they look at him apologetically. "Don't just stand there, Potter, Angelo. Enter and tell me what you need." The two boys dart over to him and sheepishly hand him the paper. He gazes down at it and his eyes soften at the gift.
He turns and yells for another goblin. He darts over and then Franor tells him something and the goblin nods to him. He darts over to the door and opens it to see the other side. He uses a simple sticking charm and attaches it to his door. "I assume that is for all of us, especially since it was this council that requested that you be allowed to stay. Correct?" The two boys nod to him and turn to leave before a hand softly pats their heads affectionately. "I am happy that you do not take our hard work for granted. If you need anything, either one of you, do not hesitate to let me know." Aubrey grins widely and grabs Nico before he can leave who looks at him confused.
"We need to learn how to fight the Greek monsters. We are demigods and they normally try to eat demigods in general. Even if the teacher isn't the best we have no doubt that he or she will be better than nothing. The other campers don't want us training too much without them constantly watching us and while I understand the need to be careful we still might need time to learn stances with practice weapons spelled to weigh about the same." Nico nods curtly as he realizes his plan. Franor nods to the two of them as the assistant comes back over to his side.
"Fetch Rurgurt for me, Gregarf." Gregarf bows as he rushes out of the room to find somebody. Just as he was leaving Franor conjures two more seats a little smaller than their own. "Please, feel free to have a seat. We are discussing what we can do to help the two of you." They look at each other and Aubrey plops down before yelping and jumping up.
"You should be more careful, the nurse told you to be careful of sensitivity, remember?" Aubrey nods to Nico as he gingerly sits down this time. Sighing in relief at the lack of pain he looks at the goblins who look worried for some reason. He knows that this is going to be complicated compared to other things they might have met about.
/.-.-.-.\