A/N: Okay people. The second chapter for Brothers of the Flame is here.
Before I get to the actual chapter, I would like to address a few things. This being one in regards to pairings. I got a comment for my other story, which is also starting up, that they were happy with my pairings, as long as it contained no slash.
Now, as much as I can't stop bigots from reading my stories, I will make the executive decision on the pairings, and refuse to announce the pairings before I write a chapter in regards to said pairings. This is more so that people will read the story based on whether it sounds good or not while in its starting chapters, rather than have them reading based on the pairings in the story.
On that note, have fun reading my story, and I will try to finish writing the second chapter for A Tale of Two Avatars.
-Line-Break-
It had taken Mephisto the better part of the past twenty four hours to finally make it to Hogwarts. As much as he had his own private jet, it was still incredibly tiring on the millennia's old demon. Though he could have snapped his way to Hogwarts, he had to be wary around his nephews, as they were entirely unaware of their inheritance.
Right this moment, however, Mephisto was pacing outside the gates onto the Hogwarts grounds pondering how exactly he was going to get into the grounds. He had owled Dumbledore the moment he had stepped off of the jet in London, to inform him of his eventual arrival, but was now growling a number of obscenities under his breath aimed towards the old coot.
Dumbledore had, in fact, met Mephisto at the gate, but refused to let him entre the grounds due to his obvious demonic looks. Dumbledore still stood at the gates, waiting for a reply from Mephisto about this 'sudden revelation', when the idea hit him as if he had just walked into a wall.
"Stand back, Dumbledore, I'm going to attempt something here" Mephisto warned, watching as the old man stubbornly refused to move. "Don't say I didn't warn you, old man."
"What exactly are you doing, Mister Pheles?" Dumbledore inquired as he watched the oddly dressed (for Dumbledore at least) man raise his right hand.
"Watch and you shall see" the demon replied while gathering his magic. "Eins, Zwei, Drei."
On drei, Mephisto snapped his fingers together loudly. All seemed quiet for a moment as nothing happened. Dumbledore frowned at the demon, while said demon just smirked at the gate.
With a large boom sounding out across the castle grounds, the anti-demon wards surrounding the castle visibly shuddered, stubbornly holding for a few seconds, before they shattered with an ear splitting smash. Students stared out of the windows in utter shock, the older levels wondering how one man had managed to bring down such powerful wards.
"Now where were we, Dumbledore?" Mephisto quietly asked the old man, abstract horror written all over his face. "Ah, I remember. Where are my nephews?"
Harry looked around wide eyed in Dumbledore's office, wondering what exactly had happened. A man wearing a full white suit, white top hat and holding what looked like an umbrella was sitting in one of the chairs opposite Dumbledore's. He had dark purple hair, something the Aunt Petunia would have an absolute fit over.
He had only been in the office for the past ten minutes, having woken up in said man's arms while on the way to the office. There were others in the room as well, including Ginny's parents, Arthur and Molly Weasley, as well as Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father. Everyone was staring at him, even the previous headmasters in their portraits had stopped to stare at him.
The reason being was that he was covered from head to foot in dancing, light blue flames. Oddly enough, they had not burnt his clothes or his hair, or even himself for that matter. He could feel their warmth as they flitted across his skin, but there was no pain. 'Why is this happening to me?' he thought. 'And why am I not being burnt? I've burnt myself plenty of times while cooking for aunt Petunia but this is a first.'
He suddenly saw something move behind him, just outside of his vision. He turned to look, but saw nothing there. However, everyone in the room had gasped loudly when he turned, and quickly faced the rest of the room.
That was when he saw it. A long, thin mass, covered in black fur, and topped with a dark blue tuft of hair. He followed the mass until it went out of his sight behind him. He grabbed the mass and felt a shiver run up his spine as he pulled. 'So that's why they gasped' Harry thought. His thoughts quickly turned to 'Why on earth do I have a tail?"
The man in white, who had introduced himself as Mephisto, stood up from his chair and turned to him. Harry still held the sword of Gryffindor in his hand, and held it up apprehensively towards the stranger. The man chuckled slightly, showing off sharp canines, and long, pointed ears.
"Hadrian, how are you?" the man asked loudly in his smooth voice, the others in the room frowning at the wrong name. "May I look at that sword your carrying?"
"First of all" Harry said, tone neutral. "My names Harry. And yes, you may have a look." He handed the sword over, hilt first. "And I'm good thank you, aside from almost dying in the chamber. How do you know me, Mister Pheles, if you don't know mind my asking?"
"Thank you" he said. "And I know you, because I am your real uncle, not those pompous muggles you've been stuck with." He raised a hand for silence from Harry, who had opened his mouth to speak. "And before you ask, I wasn't able to take you out of there for a number of reasons. But now that you have found your true inheritance-" the man indicated the blue flames dancing across Harry's skin "-it is now too dangerous for you to stay with them. Now-" he grasped the sword tightly and took a proper look at it "- what do we have here?"
"That is the sword of Gryffindor, Mister Pheles" Dumbledore replied in a slightly angry tone. "Now hand me the sword, sir. I do not appreciate demons handling an artifact of Hogwarts."
Harry stood there shocked. 'Demon? Dumbledore has surely lost his mind' he thought. But as he looked around the room, the Weasley's looked furious, while Lucius had his familiar smirk on his face. Rather than allay his fears, it simply heightened them.
"Ah but Dumbledore, it's not even your sword" Mephisto said loudly, his face the picture of calm, but his voice gave him away. "And besides, the swords already chosen Hadrian here as its master. I cannot let you stand in the way of this."
Dumbledore was furious, but instead Mephisto took a deep breath to calm himself and turned to Harry, kneeling down to his level. "Would you like me to stop the flames, Hadrian?" Mephisto asked, voice utter calm now.
"Yes please, sir" Harry said respectfully, already trusting the man. "If you don't mind my asking, why do you call me Hadrian, and not Harry?"
"I call you Hadrian, because that is what I named you" Mephisto replied calmly. "In fact, I named all four of you, you know?" Harry looked confused, but didn't manage to ask before Mephisto stood. "Now, can you hold your hands out palms up?"
Harry did as he asked, knowing that asking questions would only make the process take longer.
"Good" Mephisto said quietly. "Now, what hand is your wand hand?"
"My right, sir" Harry replied quickly.
"You sure were raised well with your manners, weren't you Hadrian?" Mephisto said loudly, making Harry beam widely. He placed the sword of Gryffindor across Harry's hands, handle in his right. "Now, this is going to hurt slightly, but whatever happens, don't let go of that sword, okay?"
"Okay" was Harrys short reply, not caring that he would be in pain. He had suffered plenty of pain before in his short life.
Despite a questioning look at the quick reply, Mephisto got started right away. He grasped Hadrian's temples in his hands, thumb on the forehead, pointer and middle finger extended across the side of Hadrian's skull. "Close your eyes" Mephisto said quietly, so only Hadrian could hear. The demon nodded as Hadrian complied, and quickly got to work. He closed his eyes, letting his magic flow around him and Hadrian, searching for his prize. To the rest in the room, dark purple thunder clouds, glowing with lightning surrounded the two. Dumbledore, Lucius and Mister Weasley drew their wands cautiously. When he found what he wanted, Hadrian's magical core, but frowned at what he saw.
He saw the emerald green and golden sphere that was Hadrian's magical core, surrounded by dancing blue and red flames, the same color that the flames dancing around Hadrian would eventually change to when he matured. But what was interesting was the other two things that surrounded Hadrian's magic core. The first was a sickly red and black cloud, oozing dark magic, beckoning Mephisto closer. As he approached, he caught the cloud in his hands, funneling lethal amounts of his magic into the cloud. It shuddered for a moment, before imploding.
An ear splitting howl of pain ran through the room, making the other occupants of the room jump in fright. But rather than the screaming howl of a twelve year old, it was the screams of pain of a thirty year old man.
"What's going on?" Mrs. Weasley asked Dumbledore. "Will Harry be all right?"
"I do not know Molly" was Dumbledore's grim reply. "I simply do not know."
Still in Hadrian's magical core, Mephisto frowned worriedly at the other thing surrounding the core. Thick, heavy black chains wound their way around the core, restricting its growth, tying it to the ground of whatever room he was in. "What do I do now?" Mephisto asked himself out loud. "If I remove the bind, it's going to cause more pain than I wanted too, but leaving it is going to cause even more damage."
He sighed, and set to work on doing what was there to do in the first place. He summoned the spirit of the sword that Hadrian currently held, whispering to the tall blond man, who eagerly nodded. Mephisto then summoned his magic, channeling it towards the blue and red flames surrounding the core. The flames eagerly rushed towards the familiar magic of the demon, and he channeled them towards the man next to him. The flames surrounded the man, and quickly seeped into his skin. With a small smile, the man disappeared, only small traces of the flames remaining on Hadrian's core.
"Looks like I'm going to have to remove these chains" Mephisto muttered angrily. "Who would do such a thing to such a young boy?"
Mephisto moved closer to the core, feeling waves of unused magic rolling off of the core. The thick black chains were covered in glowing red runes, radiating dark magic, holding back the poor boys strength. This was going to hurt Hadrian way too much for Mephisto's liking. He carefully grabbed the topmost chain in one hand, and with a quick "Eins, Zwei, Drei" clicked his fingers, shattering the chain his hand was on. "This is going to take a while" he said under his breath.
In the room, a pounding wave of greenish-golden magic flew out of the purple thunder clouds, blasting the Weasley's and Malfoy to the floor, and Dumbledore back into his chair. Before the four of them could recover, another wave of magic blasted from the clouds, quickly followed by another.
"What is that, Albus?" Lucius drawled as he got to his feet, grasping a cabinet along the wall. "What is the meaning of this?"
But before Dumbledore could answer, a fourth and final wave of magic came rolling from the wall of clouds, the clouds dissipating as the magic blasted through them.
The sight that greeted them was one of shock and horror. Harry knelt on the ground in front of Mephisto, a long, crimson sword laying in his hands. He was still covered in the blue flames, but there was now hints of red the same shade as that of the blade. Mephisto's rather comical top hat had blown off his head, his immaculate suit now windblown and covered in scorch marks. On top of this, he had a look of pure exhaustion covering his face. In his hand he held a wooden scabbard that looked to be a perfect fit for the sword in Harry's hands. On the scabbard was a swirling pattern of blues and reds, making a flame pattern. At the top, where the sword went into the scabbard, was a large gem of swirling blues and reds, with a solid green at the center.
Mephisto knelt down and slid the sword into the scabbard. As the sword was fully sheathed, the flames surrounding Harry died out, leaving his new tail and elongated ears and canines behind. He seemed to be in pain from the waves of magic, but when Mephisto laid his hand on Harry's shoulder the pained look left his face. As both Harry and Mephisto stood, Dumbledore's face fell. The look that was sent his way by Mephisto looked like it could melt stone in seconds.
"Explain to me, you old fool, why I shouldn't kill you where you stand?" Mephisto glowered darkly. "Why did my nephew have a magical bind on his magic? And where is Hadrian's brother, Drago?"
Lucius and the Weasley's looked like they were going to be sick at this announcement, while Dumbledore tried, and failed, to look invisible. All was silent for a few moments, before Dumbledore answered in a slow, raspy voice.
"I was an old fool" he started slowly. "When you put Harry and Drago-" Mephisto gave a sharp "Its Hadrian" "-, right, sorry, Hadrian and Drago, I could only look after one and Hadrian seemed to have too much magic for one of his age, and so I put the bind on his core. I put one on Drago as well, though I believe his one should have worn out by now. And last I recall, he was living in Australia."
"It will do, for now" Mephisto said darkly. He turned to Harry and knelt to his level again, grasping the boy's shoulders, staring into his eyes. "Hadrian, would you like to meet the rest of your family? Would you like to meet your brothers?"
"I have family?" Harry breathed in wonder.
"Yes" was the reply.
"You mean I have family that isn't the Dursleys?"
"They weren't your family in the first place, but yes."
"And I have brothers?"
"Yes. Three of them. Your quadruplets."
Harry's eyes looked at Mephisto in wonder, a smile spreading across his face, nodding his head. "Yes, I would like to meet them."
"Good" Mephisto said to him. "Give me your sword, and go grab your things. I'll stay here and wait for you."
"Okay" the boy replied. After he paused he quietly muttered "Uncle", before running out the door.
"Now, while he's getting his things, I'd like to inquire about a few things" Mephisto stated brightly, after having seen the bright and happy look on his nephews face. "I would like to enroll a number students for their third year next year. Lord Malfoy-" the platinum blond perked up at this "-I'd also like you to have a talk to your son. From what I saw in his memories, they do not get along very well and Hadrian has had enough problems in his life. I urge you to at least get Draco to settle the disagreement between the two."
"Yes, Lord Mephisto" the Malfoy lord answered after a minute of thought. At the shocked looks from the rest of the room, he simply stated "I am merely addressing the Honorary Knight with the respect his position deserves."
"I am not entirely sure if I can accept enrolments at this moment" Dumbledore said quietly while the Weasley's still stared shocked towards Malfoy.
"It will merely be a transfer, Dumbledore" Mephisto cut in harshly. "And besides, after what you have done to poor Hadrian, you owe him. It will be his brothers, along with any else at True Cross Academy who may be interested. They will, of course, have the education of their first two years behind them, I can assure you that."
"Of course, sir" Dumbledore said gravely, the twinkle in his eyes lost, replaced with cold, devastating anger, and a touch of fear. "Names will be needed before August twentieth. Now, one question, Mephisto, what did you do to Hadrian?"
"I merely sealed his demon magic into the sword" Mephisto replied slowly, a little wary of Dumbledore now. "He can still summon it, but to have full control of the flames, the sword needs to be drawn. It must stay in his possession at all times, to avoid people abusing his powers." This was directed quickly towards Dumbledore, who had tried to say something. "And no, Dumbledore, you cannot say he can't have the sword, it has already chosen him as its master."
As he said this, Harry burst into the office, dragging his luggage behind him, followed by a red headed boy, and a bushy brown haired girl, who was flustered and almost screaming "But what uncle, you've only got one, and besides, you can't leave right now, the exams aren't even over" in a high pitched, shrilly voice, making both Harry and Mephisto cover their ears in pain. She hadn't even seen his newfound tail, while the red head was starring gob smacked at the new limb.
"Hermione" the red head growled, finally managing to cut through the girls rant.
"What, Ronald, there's more important-" the girl, Hermione, yelled, before cutting short. She had finally noticed the excitedly flailing limb. "Harry, what's that?" she asked stupidly, almost yelling still.
Harry ignored he two, and walked to the white clad man standing in the middle of the round room. "Hey, uncle" he called out excitedly. "My stuff is ready so we can leave any minute now."
"Of course, Hadrian" Mephisto replied brightly to the boy. "I just need to make a few calls to get everything in order for your passport. Why don't you sit down for a minute, you look exhausted?"
Harry thankfully obliged, sitting on one of the overstuffed arm chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk, laying the new sword across his knees. As Mephisto pulled his phone out and started talking into it in what sounded like Japanese, to everyone's shock but Harrys, he slowly closed his eyes and fell asleep quickly.