Chapter 4 Topside Return

A/N: This Chapter starts just before Harry's Seventeenth Birthday. Big Time skip here. But Harry does finally meet Daphne in this chapter.

" Lord Potter, I've come for you."

Harry turned and sent a small glare to Griphook, " Is that so? Lead me then."

The curt Goblin turned and motioned for Harry to follow him into the main tower of city of Khazad. Inside, past the chamber of mirrors, was a large conference all. In that conference hall, sat the five goblins who governed the British Clans. Ragnok, head of Gringotts, was last and least of these mighty goblins.

The one sitting at the head chair stood up, and shouted in High Goblin, " Lord Harry James Potter! In one day, your prison sentence shall be up, and you shall return topside. As you have proven very useful in your stay here, you shall be given the status of Goblin Champion, a rank equal to Goblin Prince in Goblin Society."

Harry bowed to the High Goblin King, " It is my pleasure to have served you so well, Your Highness."

The High King sneered evilly, " We are not yet finished, Lord Potter. You shall be the recipient of powerful gifts to allow you to destroy the Dark Lord Voldemort. Your armor, sword, and shield have been turned in. By personal request, you will be allowed to keep your Naginata polearm, and the Light Baton for personal reasons. But as of now, you shall be given new armor, sword and shield, along with a personal standard. Your armor will be presented in a ceremony tomorrow. As new Goblin Champion, you shall be allowed to bring one of your companions Topside with you. Who do you name?"

Harry looked at the High King, " Isilde Kottipelto shall be my companion."

Another Goblin looked at him with a curious gaze, " Are you certain, Lord Potter? Isilde Kottipelto has several more years on her sentence based off of medical reasons."

Harry nodded in deference to the questioner, " She is my choice. I would bring Nikolai, but I fear his addiction to Vodka would be rather unhealthy, given my task. Plus, unlike Isilde, Nikolai has no skill with magic. On that note, I would like to be presented with my wand as well."

The High Goblin King looked rather sorrowful, " Unfortunately, that is not possible. Your wand was in the possession of one Albus Dumbledore, who has since passed on. It is now in the possession of one Hermione Granger."

Harry narrowed his emerald eyes in contempt, " Then I shall simply have to take it back then."

A Goblin Mage in the audience stood up, " Lords! I must say that it is possible that Lord Potter's wand may not recognize him anymore after his time down here. I myself can say that his personality is far different now than when he arrived."

The High Goblin concluded, " Then it is likely a good thing we do not have his wand. Not like it was particularly powerful anyway. I've seen flecks of iron with more magic than that thing."

Harry took the insult to his Holly wand in stride, " Then, is there a quick and easy way for me to acquire another?"

The Cold Prince, the only other human present, stood up, " Not likely. We have it on good authority that Ollivander was kidnapped, or worse, a few days ago. We also have it on good authority that a known Goblin friend, Damien Greengrass, is on a crusade to find his daughter. Perhaps the two could work together?"

Ragnok frowned, " Indeed, what has happened to Daphne Greengrass?"

" We believed kidnapped, but worst case scenario is she's a Death Eater now."

Harry spoke up, " Then I will kill her if she is. The Death Eaters are a stain upon the world that must be bleached away. They must all be killed. Not one must survive. Unless they are willing to swear body and soul to Goblin Nation."

The High King laughed, " I like this guy."

Ragnok looked smug, " And you guys thought I was bluffing when I said he would be good."

Charles barked, " Alright fellows, back on topic. Unlike you five, I don't have all day. I have a war to coordinate with the ever growing population of monsters in the Dark Roads."

Harry spoke up, " I believe that the increase in Darkspawn can be linked to the escalation of the War with Voldemort Topside."

Ragnok agreed, " That's probably a good assessment of the situation. Men now die every day in this absurd conflict. We must trust you to bring Goblin Justice down upon the humans."

Harry smiled, " It will be as the Council commands, milord."

The Cold Prince declared, " Then let us bring the matter to a vote! Do we, the Council of Goblin Kings and Nobility, recognize Lord Harry James Potter as Goblin Champion, with it, all the powers and honors conveyed?"

All five Goblin Kings shouted, " Aye!"

" Do we, the Council of Goblin Kings and Nobility, authorize Champion Harry James Potter to be a representative of Goblin Kingdoms and Dwarven Kingdoms, such that an attack on his person is an attack on the Collective Nation?"

" Aye!"

Harry smiled as he was told to leave. Griphook led him out with a satisfied smirk, " Well, Champion Potter, that was very successful. I am told that very few thought you would make through your first day here, and yet here you stand. Goblin Champion. Many humans will never hear the term. How do you feel?"

" Vindicated. I've killed, and I also lost someone I had liked quite a lot to get this far, but I have triumphed. In the end, that is all that matters."

Griphook remembered the golden haired girl that Potter spoke of, and how the two had become friends slightly before the Crystarium Battle. She had died rather tragically only a few weeks before Champion Potter's sentence was up. It had affected him to say the least.

Harry commented, " Well, tomorrow's the last day Griphook. Then it's back to being Potter Fund Manager for you, rather than Potter Prisoner Oversight."

Griphook frowned, " I'll take being a banker any day. Some of your battles gave me jitters."

For a Goblin to admit that something had given him jitters was pretty big, so Harry took it as a compliment. He also decided not to comment on it. Griphook showed him to the Barracks, and let him in. He was immediately confronted by Isilde, who shouted, " Potter! What do you mean you are taking me to the Topside with you?"

Harry frowned at the dark haired woman, " In case it didn't make it to you, I'm allowed to bring one of my squad members up top with me when I leave. Since Nikolai leaves in a couple of weeks anyway, I figured you would be better than the old Vodka addict."

She narrowed her steel grey eyes at him, " All the same…"

Harry cut her off, " Listen, if you would rather not come to the surface with me, and risk another five Topside years down here, that's fine. I would just rather have a little bit of familiarity up there when I go back."

The Fin was taken aback, and sank back onto her bed. Harry commented, " On the other hand, you will receive your wand back tomorrow during my ceremony."

She looked up, wide eyed, " How did you know I was a witch?"

" Not hard. Sometimes, when you really concentrated, objects would move around you. I also recognized your magical aura after Lazarus taught me how to see them. You will tell me some of your background when we get topside though. I tolerated secrecy down here, but I must know all about my companions up top."

She nodded, and then laid down. Harry scowled as he went upstairs to his room. He opened the closet, and pulled out the set of clothes he would be wearing. He immediately decided against the royal purple cloak that Charles had given him, in favor of the fire red one that Lazarus had provided. Maybe if he tried, he could figure out how Snape made his cloak billow?

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( The Next Day)

Apparently, his ceremony was a big deal for Goblin and Dwarven Nation, as both cities sent huge parties to it. He walked down a long, harrowing hallway, with goblin guards all around him. He had no doubt he would be quaking in his boots had he been sent here a year ago. Now, he walked with his head held high and his heart steeled for battle. Large banners bearing a Golden Eagle dotted the building. Harry smiled as he approached the Goblin Council. He bowed in deference.

The High Goblin King announced, " This day we recognize a new Goblin Champion!"

The crowd roared with approval. The King held his hand up for them to silence themselves, " Now, we must pay him the proper respect. We the Goblin Council have voted to recognize Harry James Potter into the office of Goblin Champion, with all the powers and honors it conveys! All Hail Champion Potter!"

The Crowd chanted, " All Hail Champion Potter! All Hail Champion Potter!"

The High King lowered his arms to silence the crowd, " This day we shall offer tribute to the Gods above that Champion Potter shall bring us great fortune and glory! Today, we recognize him as Goblin Champion. He marches to war topside!"

" To War! To War! To War!"

The High King smiled, " Rest assured, my people. War is coming. It lusts for us, calls for us, demands our attention. But we cannot act yet! Due to these treaties that the Clan of Gringotts hath made with the foul humans, we cannot go yet! But Champion Potter is not constrained by such treaties! He shall dethrone their tyranny, and deny them their power!"

The Crowd took up the war chant again, with even greater gusto. The Goblin King shouted, " My people! We are close to claiming our rightful places in this world! So long as the Wizards oppress us, we shall continue to rebel! Now, we must give Champion Potter his gifts."

The High King handed Harry a set of black with flame highlight armor, " This is the Armor of the Sentinel. It will protect you from most heavy magic up top. It won't block Unforgivables, but it will handle most everything else. The helm, boots, and gauntlets come with it."

Harry pulled the chest plate on and slid his feet into the boots. He strapped the gauntlets on, and felt power surge in. The High King handed him a shield next. It was a kite shield, with an intimidating dragon breathing fire on it. He shouted, " This is the Shield of Dumat. Engraved with the likeness of the First Archdemon, it is enchanted to be extremely powerful against magic. It will absorb a spell, and transfer the power of that spell into your body. It can even channel a Killing Curse, but doing so will overload the shield. It can also reflect a spell, but keep in mind that there is a recharge time for the effect."

The High King handed him two daggers next. He didn't explain them, but he did pick up a long broadsword next. The High King drew the blade, and it's black blade glimmered at the edges with crimson red fire. He declared, " This is an ancient Goblin Blade called Starfang. Let it serve you well, and drink the blood of thy enemies!"

Harry took the blade, sheath, and belt that came with it, and strung it on. The Goblin King smiled, " Now, let us send you back to the surface. Farewell in all of your endeavors, Goblin Champion!"

Harry smiled as he turned and left the platform. He was led by Griphook back up to the Gringotts bank, where he was met by Isilde. The Finnish witch was cuddling her wand like a newborn child, even muttering to it. I guess that's what happens if your down there too long, Harry thought with smile. He said, " Isilde, I shall proceed first. Our safe house is Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. Have the Goblins give you a port key, but not before I give the signal."

She nodded. Griphook pulled a slender wand out of his own desk, " Champion Potter, I was asked to give you this wand. It is a apple wand with basilisk venom as core. It will serve you well."

Harry took it, and red sparks flew from it like his old wand. He smiled as he left the bank, breathing the warm summer's air for the first time in what seemed like ten years. He was walking towards the Leaky Cauldron when some Death Eaters appeared out of thin air. He thought, Target practice. Perfect.

He strode off to meet them with a smile on his face. Since it was roughly midnight, there weren't many people out, and it seemed like the Death Eaters were actually tasked with attacking Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Thus, he heard a loud cackled he knew and recognized. A cackle that made his blood boil in ways that he'd forgotten could occur. " Kill them all, my Death Eaters! The Dark Lord rewards the faithful!"

Harry intercepted them right in front of the store. His hair had grown long, so it covered his scar, even though his helm obscured it. He didn't bother with glasses anymore, relying more on his magic to sense actions around him. He announced, " I cannot allow you to attack this store."

Bellatrix Lestrange unmasked herself, " Well, that isn't yours to decide not is it? But the Dark Lord likes headstrong people like you. Perhaps you should join?"

Harry sauntered close to the insane witch, muttering, " You know what? I would join, if I wouldn't be a slave. I'm not a good slave. One: I talk too much. Two: I do this,", he slid his dagger out and thrust it into the chest of the insane witch before she could react. He ripped the blade out, and threw it at the nearest Eater, sliding into the eye socket of his mask. Harry smirked as he slid his new shield out, and reflected a cutting curse back at one of his opponents. The opponent fell with a gurgling scream as her blood sprayed onto the streets. Harry looked at the woman behind the mask, and noticed her golden hair and icy blue eyes. Sounded kind of familiar.

Harry noticed that his last opponent refused to attack him and was backing up. He drew his new sword with a look of utter contempt at the cowering Death Eater. He sneered, " Don't bother running, it will only make this hurt worse."

The Death Eater tripped and fell, it's mask fell off. Harry noted that the face beneath it was strikingly similar to the one he had killed just a few moments ago. Sisters perhaps? No matter, the Death Eaters must be removed. Harry drew his wand and pointed it at the cowering girl. He was about to finish her when he was attacked from behind, a conjured arrow hitting his left hand. He turned with a snarl to see the Lord who had voted for him at his hearing approaching. He hissed, " Damien Greengrass. Why are you here?"

Damien glared, " Keeping you from killing my daughter, whoever you are. Daphne, come to me."

Harry hissed as the girl stood up, and ran over to the Lord. Harry frowned, " I won't take chances. By Goblin Decree, all Death Eaters must be removed. Your daughter included."

The girl spoke for the first time, " But I'm not marked! I was forced to fight! My older sister kidnapped me!"

Harry sneered, " Yeah, and I've heard that story a thousand times. I save her, she befriends me, turns me into the dark lord, I deal with torture for weeks, and then break free on a rampage. No thanks. I have enough killing to do as I prune the tree of the Wizarding World as is."

Damien frowned, " Then I hope this assures you,", and cast a diffindo curse on his daughter's left sleeve. It fell off, revealing pale, unsullied, creamy white skin. Harry narrowed his eyes once more, and cast a couple of revealing spells on the arm just in case. They all came negative, though Harry wouldn't have been surprised if his spells screwed up because he hadn't used real magic in so long.

Damien turned back to him, " Now that we have cleared that up, I must thank you for killing my eldest daughter, Lindsey. I've had a bone to pick with her for awhile now, and have been tracking her for a few months now. This is Daphne, my next eldest, and probably the only one on my side. I need your help, Champion Potter."

Harry hissed, " How do you know?"

" I was in Gringotts and saw you walk out. The Managers were practically singing about you though, so it wasn't hard to figure out who they were talking about. But you look a lot different under that armor than the scrawny boy they sent down."

Harry frowned, " Nice to know someone is impressed. Most people aren't going to recognize me unless I go walking around with a sign screaming, 'Hey Everyone! I'm Harry Potter!' Not that I'm complaining about it. Secrecy will work until the Goblins and Dwarves are mustered for war."

Damien's eyes flew open in fear. He exclaimed, " The Goblins can't possibly be thinking of a revolt at this time!"

Harry smirked, " The enlightened Goblin Kings believe that Mankind has failed in its sacred duty to defend the world. They have come to the conclusion that this battle with Voldemort will be better fought using Goblin Steel and Dwarven Ingenuity. Something most humans can't attest to."

Damien whispered, " You sound like you aren't human yourself anymore…"

" That's because I'm not. I'm smarter now than I was before. Dumbledore thought his tools would stay so nicely in the shed? He was wrong. I have only grown more powerful in the Dark Roads than I was before. I really must thank the man when I see him in the Afterlife. Assuming he's not burning in Hell that is,", Harry said with an arrogant twinkle in his eye, very much like the old man he was talking about.

Daphne looked at the new Harry with intrigue in her eyes, " Father, he sounds an awful lot like the one the Goblins call the Cold Prince does he not?"

Harry's eyes flashed, " Speak not ill of the Great Cold Prince. To do so is to risk the ire of Goblin Nation. Of all humans, he alone is privileged enough to lead. Sorry, that's an automated response. Even a mighty commander like Lazarus fears Charles Zoroark. I sometimes forget that I now hold status equal to, and possibly greater than, the Cold Prince."

Damien smiled, " Then we must acquaint ourselves well, and quickly leave this scene. Where is your safehouse?"

" Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Goblins already evicted those living there. Be sure to Apparate to Grimmauld Street, because the wards will kill you if you try to apparate in."

Damien nodded, and apparated with his daughter away. Harry walked into WWW, where he was greeted by Fred and George. They didn't recognize him and pulled their wands. Harry laughed, " What harm do you think those little sticks of wood will do to me?"

Fred and George recognized the tone of his voice, which hadn't changed much. They lowered their wands, and George shouted, " Harry! Mate, it's been awhile. I see the Roads have treated you well."

Harry answered, " Physically yes, emotionally no."

Fred joked, " Eh? Did little ickle Harry get a girlfriend while in the roads?"

Harry's eyes darkened as he reached for the small sash in his belt pouch, " I'd rather not talk about it. It was painful."

Fred and George saw the look of a killer in Harry's eyes. They knew not to step further. Clearly this Harry was not the same meek boy they sometimes pushed around slightly from last summer. This was a man who'd come back from trials they couldn't imagine to lead. Fred decided to change the topic, " So, anything you want to know about up here?"

" Tell me what you know."

" Well, Katie's almost dead. She got hit by some dark curse that sent her neural system into shock. While undamaged, they say she's unlikely to ever waken from the coma she's in. Neville hooked up with Ginny."

Harry muttered at this point, " Huh, that's disappointing. Oh well, better looking women out there. Anything else?"

" The old man kicked the bucket. Killed by Snape they say. Neville was there, but he won't tell anyone everything. Bill got hurt pretty bad from Greybeck. Oh, by the way. Bill and Fleur getting married here in a week or so. You want to come?"

Harry smirked, " Can I wear my armor?"

George laughed, " Mum'll freak, but I don't see why not. You look better in that armor than dress robes anyway. You can come as our guest, since Mum's probably forgotten you existed."

Harry laughed, " She will wish that indeed. Well, I'd better be going. I've got some people to collect."

With that, Harry up and left the WWW store. In a second, he was back at Grimmauld Place. He cracked open the door, and walked into the house that had been Sirius' hell.

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( A few hours later)

Harry pulled a bottle of Vodka out of the fridge ( habit already picked up from Nikolai), and tossed it to Isilde. He offered one to Damien, and one to Daphne as well. Damien accepted his, but Daphne glared at him disapprovingly. Harry took a swig, and commented, " What? When you're fighting for your life day in and day out, you pick up on some bad habits."

Isilde smiled, " I see you're in pretty good spirits, Champion Potter."

Harry leaned back in his chair, " Let us move to the foyer, and explain everything to each other shall we?"

The party stood up, and lounged onto the sofas and chairs in the foyer of Grimmauld Place. Harry had already threatened Old Bitch Black with his blade, figuratively and literally, so the old wench promised to shut the fuck up while he was working. Harry asked, " Now, we need to do some heart to hearts here. Damien. You first."

Damien took a drink and introduced himself, " I'm Lord Damien Odysseus Greengrass, youngest of four sons. I'm 39 years old, and have three daughters. My only son died of a small accident when he was five. My oldest daughter sold my family to the Death Eaters, and my youngest followed her. I only recently came across a lead that my middle child, Daphne here, was going to be Imperiused and used in a suicide raid on the Weasley store."

" So you were going to take on your oldest daughter, Bellatrix Lestrange, and a couple of other Death Eaters by yourself?"

Damien smirked, " Trained by old man Moody, and old man Moody's teacher myself. I was Dorian Theriot's last pupil before he died of cancer. I spent three years as a Top Auror, youngest ever, before being booted out for excessive force. I spent the last ten years working as a Hit Wizard and an assassin as well. The money keeps my family afloat despite the best efforts of my older, and understandably bitter, brothers. You see, the Greengrass family chooses it's Lords via merit, not primogeniture. However, almost our entire fortune is still tied up because of all the challenges to my parents' wills. I want you to understand this one thing. Family is most important to me. If you had made good on your threat to kill Daphne, or even tried to, I assure you this. I would have fought you, and even if it meant the curtailing of my own life, I would have fought you."

Harry smiled at the man, " Good, it is nice to see true nobility in these dark times. Now, Daphne, you?"

The blonde nodded curtly, and introduced herself, " I'm Daphne Anastasia Greengrass. I'm seventeen and was kidnapped from my family during a feud. My mother was Imperiused, and my sisters are Death Eaters. Since father was already gone, I couldn't escape, and was forced to fight as an unmarked recruit. I was supposed to die in this battle, as the Dark Lord claims to have foreseen Harry Potter's uprising, and waned to nip it at the bud. He wanted you to kill me, an innocent caught in the wrong place, to discredit you. Much like Fifth Year, if you remember."

" As if I could ever forget,", he muttered with a dark scowl.

Daphne smiled at him, " Well, father intervened, so you didn't kill me. I shall tell you, I've long wanted to meet you, Harry Potter. I'm sure you can understand my reservations about approaching you at school. And I've already talked about my sisters, so I think we can see that it has played out well."

Harry smiled back, " Well, nice lady, I thank you for your interest. But for now, I'm keeping my options open. Isilde, you are next. Do be truthful now, I want to hear this myself."

Isilde shuddered, her dark hair shimmering in the dimly lit room, " I'm Isilde Frieda Kottipelto. I look seventeen, but I'm supposed to be twenty two. I've been in the Dark Roads for five surface years, fighting with an enchanted bow for survival. My sentence kept getting extended because I had trouble staying healthy. Eventually, I ended up on Champion Potter's team. Now for the real story."

Harry sighed, " Now, we enter territory that even I haven't ventured. I warn you, I already knew everything Isilde just told you, from either witnessing it or her medical records."

She sent a glare at Harry, " Well, you all know how the Scandinavian Countries still use Magical Monarchy? Well, I was once the crown princess of Finland."

This even took Harry by surprise. " I was a gentle young woman. My family still believed in the old virtues of arranged marriages and the such. They often tried to pair me with men I was immensely incompatible with. Sometimes they were significantly older, sometimes they were younger. Well, I finally met one my age. We instantly grew to like each other, but my sister was jealous. She slipped a Fury potion into his wine one night, and he was able to overpower me. He had his fun, but I killed him for it. My family was outraged, just as my sister had planned. They sold me to the Goblins for a pittance, and disowned me. I hold my wand in my hand, and I realize that this is the first time in five years I've even seen it. I thank Champion Potter for saving me from that hell."

Harry frowned, " It is a good thing I had not been told this, lest I hunt them myself. I wonder how they could have blamed you for what he did? Is it always this way?"

Damien spoke up with an angry look, " Amongst the old lines, it is. Likely, her father saw it as an insult that she would do such a thing. I remember my grandfather telling stories of the old Contracts. They would have these little trial clauses and such. I don't know if they are as bad elsewhere, but here in Britain, they were outrageous. Thank God that the Ministry outlawed them."

Isilde eagerly nodded her head, " They're probably worse elsewhere. My parents just played it off as him using Clause 9 of his contract. So they punished me for breaking it."

Damien grimly nodded as well, " That's how contracts work. The people who break them are the ones who get in trouble, no matter how justified it is. I admit, it is not my favorite part of history. I didn't think other countries would still be using them. We're ass backwards here in Britain, and yet they're outlawed."

Daphne added, " Not entirely true, father. I've heard Draco talk about how his father had found loopholes in the legislation and was trying to find away to force me and Tori to marry him. Then again, I almost wish Astoria would marry him now. That way she'd find out how atrocious the people she assorts with truly are."

" There can be no saving the dark,", Harry said with a sad expression, " It is unfortunate, but also a very real possibility that one of the casualties of the coming war will be your family. I can't guarantee your survival even if you're on my side, and I can damn sure guarantee I shall show no mercy."

Damien answered bluntly, " I would expect nothing less from the man the Goblins call Champion."

Harry smirked as he placed a hand on the helmet of the Sentinel, " Excellent. I declare this to be formation of my council of humans. My own set of retainers for the coming battles. Now, I will be honest with you all. So here comes my introduction."

Harry smiled as he imparted his tale, " I'm Harry James Potter, Champion of Goblins. For the last year, I've toiled away, slaughtering hordes of unspeakable monsters, and over that time, I've realized something. Magic, good or evil, is not the savior of the world we wizards make it out to be. In fact, I've come to understand why Goblins hate wizards so much. It's not because we are assholes to them. It's because we use our magic in such careless ways. Right now, we deal with a Dark Lord who's killed hundreds, tortured more, and casually tossed aside so many others. All magic we perform has a cost. Whether it is an indirect cost to our own magic stamina, or the creation of a creature, it all has a cost."

Damien looked at Harry, " I've often heard of that. The Darkspawn of the Dark Roads, I believe, are created by the oversaturation of magic underground. In essence, Magic gives birth to these horrendous creatures. They either can't or don't think, but they only kill. For years, the Goblins have been using their criminals to fight them."

"It's worse than that. The Goblins use not just their own criminals, but human criminals as well. They've discovered a form of Dimensional Magic that allows them to travel the worlds. They kidnap others to fight the monsters as well. And yet, to this day, no Goblin or Dwarf has ever been able to approach the area where they all originate. We've deduced that all Magic coalesces to one location, yet have never been able to reach it. We need more warriors, more power, to defeat the Dark Creatures. Yet our cries for Surface aid goes unanswered, and Wizards continue to create more Creatures."

Daphne pulled her wand out of her robes and looked down at it, " I've never thought or heard of such a thing. Is this how it really works?"

Harry narrowed his eyes in contempt at his own wand in his hand, " When Wizards could cast magic wandlessly, there was no concern for the Creatures. The magic filtered out and was cleansed. But when the first Ollivander invented the first wand back in 32 B.C, wands amplified magic considerably. Before that, only the most powerful wizards could cast magic. Staves were just walking sticks. But after that, magic became so powerful and concentrated, it needed a way out. So the creatures came into being. Because the first wands were invented here in Britain, the Creation Mechanism is located somewhere in the Dark Roads under Britain. Goblins have long searched for a way to destroy it, but alas, with their ties to the top, they can't descend and remove it. Wands also generate what is called Negative Energy. You see, magic creates certain creatures like Fairies as is. But it is when this Negative Energy is infused with the normally benign Magic Energy, the creatures become monstrosities."

Harry placed his right hand over his left eye, and smiled, " While I was in the Dark Roads, I wasn't wasting my time swinging a sword and being a slave driver. My commander taught me some pretty exotic magic. One of them, is Aura Magic."

He removed the hand from his eye, and it was now glowing a faint blue, hardly discernible if you didn't look hard. He explained, " This is a little secret that helps explain why Moody can see people, even if they are invisible. As you know, his fake eye is vivid blue right? This sight is the same color."

He acted like he was turning a knob on the side of his head for emphasis, and the light began to grow, " I can intensify the power to better see everyone's Auras. For example, I can hardly see Isilde's normally, because she hasn't used magic in so long, but I can see it clearly at thirty power. But Damien's is like the light of thousand suns at this level, because he's a powerful, if brash, wizard. Daphne's kind of a mix, not extremely strong like her father's , but not weak like Isilde's. You can probably see why I would keep this turned off right? Someone like Dumbledore would blind me."

Harry placed his left hand over his right eye, and removed it, revealing a pale red glow, " This is my other Eye ability. Flash Acuity, the ability to make a one-time read into the opponent's mind. It's like Legillimency, but more powerful, and I can only use it once on a person before it becomes useless. I can even alter the way someone thinks if I use it right. Lazarus wouldn't let me try it too much, because I accidently turned a Goblin into a vegetable the first time. Apparently, if you have high magical power, you can force it to work more than once on someone, but at the risk of damaging their mental abilities. Frankly, if I wanted slaves, I would have joined Voldemort a long time ago. But since I don't, I didn't."

Isilde looked a little nervous as she said, " Anything else we should know about?"

Harry smirked, " Not at the moment. Lazarus knew a lot of magic for a guy who couldn't really, well, use it as often as he needed. Some of the stuff he taught has some potentially lethal side-effects."

Everyone paled at that. Harry kept his arrogant smirk. It was the truth. Some of the magic that Lazarus had taught him were less than harmless in their Real side effects, and might even give Voldemort pause about trying. Lord knows, that Soulstorm spell in particular looked dangerous as hell. Why does everything Lazarus taught me seem to involve the risk of either losing my soul, getting corrupted, getting killed, or otherwise being bodily harmed? At least Flash Acuity doesn't have any unhealthy side effects. For me at any rate.

Harry leaned back with a yawn, " Going to bed guys. Pick a spot, Goblins coming by in the morning to finish the ward retouching. Have a nice night."

With that, he got up and went to bed. Back down stairs, Daphne commented, " I liked him before, but I really like him now."

Isilde chuckled, " He's an acquired taste at the best of times, and here you two had never met before? And you already like him? Don't waste your time anyway. Harry's probably better off waiting to grab one of the Claimed from the Eluvians. They'd suit his personality better."

Damien scowled at the two females, " Not the time for this discussion girls. And I don't care that you're twenty two Isilde. Last time anyone anywhere saw you, you were seventeen. Get over it. And for you, Daphne, keep yourself together. Remember that Champion Potter was about to kill you, and would have, had I not stepped in. He's obviously quite different from the one you admired at Hogwarts."

Daphne scowled at her father, " All the same, father. I actually think this personality suits him better than the old one he used to have with Weasley and Granger. Much more forward I might say. I hope you and him can work well together, Father."

Damien smiled, " I'm pretty sure that we can,", but he was also thinking, Or I might be a dead man pretty soon. I may have family problems, but I like my head on my shoulders as much as any guy. Anastasia, I hope you're ok. If you aren't, then Daphne'll be the only one left. And I don't know if I could take that.

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( Neville/Hermione/Ron)

A more fit, capable, yet still somewhat inept, Neville scowled at his erstwhile "friends" as they continued to prepare for their Horcrux Hunt. Neville wasn't exactly sure this was the type of adventure he wanted to take part in. He would be much better at organizing the students into resistance groups, because someone evil was sure to be appointed after Dumbledore's death.

Hermione scoffed at Neville, " What would be the point of this if the Chosen One isn't tagging along? After all…"

Neville glared, " I won't be your handbag in this battle, Hermione Granger. I'm the Chosen one in nothing but name. Hell, I shouldn't even have that. It should be Harry's title. You're more the Chosen One than I am. All I know about Horcruxes is that you have to use Basilisk venom, Avada Kedavra, or Fiendfyre to blast them. You've been channeling Dumbledore with the rest."

Ron tried to keep the peace, " Listen, it might be best if Neville doesn't come. Plus, someone needs to look after Ginny and the others."

Hermione sent a withering gaze at Ron, " I don't think Ginny will need any looking after, Ron. You need to fess up and admit that your little sister isn't so little anymore. If anything, she's a more capable wizard than you are."

Ron blushed furiously, but bit his tongue. Ron was more powerful, but Ginny had a clear skill advantage over him. Hermione actively kept a list of who's power was what, and calculated a value based on how they performed. Ron was power level 1012, and Ginny was 954, but Ginny was significantly more skilled. But no Weasley, save the Twins, had values higher than two thousand. Bill was the highest with 1873. However, that paled to Fred and George, with matching 7000. Hermione's own value, as done by someone other than her, was roughly ten thousand. Harry's was unknown.

If you took into account his various heroic deeds, he would be in a legendary class all by himself. But if you factor in his lack of spell knowledge and actual talent with spells, then it was much lower. A more feasible twenty thousand, as compared to Voldemort's one hundred thousand or Dumbledore's ninety. It was even lower if you factored his not so high intelligence and penchant for following orders in.

Neville saw the list, " Hermione, why do you bother keeping this list? Power comes in more ways than just, well, power. Like cunning, courage, willpower, etc."

Hermione scowled at him, " Nonsense Neville. Skill, knowledge, and power. Now, finish packing Ron. I need to finish translating the Three Brothers."

Neville thought, Me or Ron could just tell you, but we would rather see you work for a change. Dumbledore spoiled you rotten during the last year. We need that mind of yours to actually work.

Ron's mum called up, " You three better go to bed! The Wedding's early!"

Ron shouted, " Alright Mum!"

A/N's: Well, if anyone's been wondering why I've been gone so long, well there's a reason. One: Writer's Block! It's such a bitch sometimes, especially when you use a lot of references in a story, while not trying to make it overtly a mix of two universes. I give this warning: Prepare yourselves for battle in the next chapter. I mean it this time.

Harry Has New Magic?: Yes he does, and he wasn't wasting his time down in the Roads just swinging a sword, as he said. Next chapter will have some examples of both Flash Acuity and Aura Reading, as well as some other little tricks Lazarus ( a Grey Knight from WH40k. for those who couldn't guess) taught him.

Daphne: Well, it's natural they wouldn't be instant friends, not given this Harry. And I thought it would be interesting for the situation to be different. Harry actively trying to kill her. I just think it would be nice to see the "Other" side of the old " Daphne gets saved by Harry" cliché.

Armor of the Sentinel and Starfang: Armor and weapon from Dragon Age Origins expansions.

Shield of Dumat: A shield with the symbol of the First Archdemon on it. In Dragon Age, Runes with Dumat's symbol gave weapons additional damage to Darkspawn, and armor higher resistance.

Naginata: A remnant from when this story was going to originally feature Harry being a Samurai ( an effort to go the opposite of Harry being a Ninja).

Canon Pairings: Generally, the canon pairings get the middle finger in my stories, especially Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione. Although I can firmly say that no pairing has suffered quite as much abuse in my stories as Bill/Fleur, even though that's really one of the only ones I don't have an issue with. Be prepared for battle in the next chapter.

Finally, I'd like to give credence to a reviewer who said he would be interested to see what it would be like to have Harry leading an army of Goblins. Stick around. You'll find out.