A/N: Here's the next installment of Progenitor. Hope you like it and as always, review. By the way, if anyone has any way for me to make the setting more accurate, please tell me what I could do.

Travelling to Athens was one of the most miserable things he'd ever done. Greece was hotter than he expected it to be, and was too wary of the men he was travelling with to use magic. He wouldn't get into trouble with anyone for using it, granted, but he didn't want to draw too much attention to himself. His robes did that job well enough already.

Aside from the sweltering heat, the "road" they were following was little more than a thin path by the monstrously high cliffs they were travelling by. He had nearly tripped several times, and was well aware of his travelling companions laughing at him.

But what was by far the worst factor in this journey was the great amounts of magical creatures that roamed the land, untamed and free to exercise the great power they were born with. None were very aggressive, and most were weak enough that they were practically harmless, but he'd seen griffins soaring through the air and circling them several times.

It was because of this that he kept a firm hand on his wand at all times. The other men didn't seem too concerned with the creatures, although they still periodically glanced upwards at the griffins.

On the second day, Harry was in worse shape. He was sore, dirty, and still couldn't drift away to use refreshing charms on himself. This situation reminded him far too much of the miserable year he'd spent hunting horcruxes, and even then he wasn't nearly as sore.

The men he was travelling with didn't slow down for him either, and just laughed at him as he struggled to keep up with their brisk pace. He knew that he wasn't in the best of shape, since it wasn't necessary for any of his work, but this was simply embarrassing. And since he wasn't able to use charms – something that would easily even out the disparities between his physical and magical strength – he wasn't even able to make use of his own strengths.

When he saw a mountain in the distance, he could almost feel the pain his legs would be going through. In an attempt to take his thoughts off the future pain, he attempted to start up a conversation.

"So how far away are we from Athens anyways?" Harry asked.

One of the men, Agathon if he remembered correctly, shrugged his shoulders as he answered. "Not much longer. I recognize the landscape. When we get past that mountain," he said, pointing to it, "we'll be able to see it."

"Ah," he said, trying to judge how far away it was. An awkward silence ensued, only to broken by Harry once more. "What does Athens look like anyways? I've never been."

Agathon smiled as he reminisced about the ancient settlement. "Not much more impressive than our village in a lot of ways. It's bigger, of course, and definitely richer. But the only remarkable thing about it is how old it is. There are old buildings and temples around the city, although no one really knows who made them. Other than that it's just a normal town."

After Agathon's informatory speech, Harry remained silent. He was trying to put the tiny, splintered pieces of Greek history he knew together. If he was lucky, those scraps would give him at least some form of date.

He continued to muse on it even as they climbed the treacherous slopes of the mountain an hour or so later, and almost tripped over surprisingly thick roots several times. Harry always managed to catch himself at the last moment, although that didn't keep the Greeks from snickering at him again.

It really was quite irritating.

But all that irritation vanished as they reached the peak of the mountain. Harry was still for a moment, gazing at the view in awe.

Three other mountains surrounded Athens, which was plainly quite small compared to its vast surroundings. But it made up for it with plenty of ancient looking ruins that dominated the areas around the inhabited city, their crumbling stone walls making the place look far more regal than it truly was.

Harry shook his head after a while and began to follow the path downwards, quickly reaching his travelling companions. They were clearly accustomed to the sight, as they spared no attention towards the view.

Agathon chuckled at him when he finally caught them. "It's always like that the first time you come here. You'll get used to it."

When they finally reached the town, Harry was struck by just how small it was. Even he'd seen photographs of Athens, despite his immersion in the magical world. It wasn't nearly as large as many of the cities he'd seen, but Athens was still a city that dwarfed this town a million times over.

Its small size didn't keep it from being extremely busy, however. The salty sea air seemed to invigorate the populace as they bustled around. Many were simply people carrying goods to the small market or walking down to the crude port, where simple, yet sturdy, boats were awaiting. They were clearly primitive, and were only large enough for a few people at the most, but Harry had a feeling that they were more resilient than they looked.

Aside from the more mundane villagers and townspeople, there were also several people that were much more dangerous looking. They seemed to be hunters, and had different features than the people of Athens. The difference was subtle, but it made their scowling faces look all the more alien to the townspeople. Of course the bows and simple knives that the hunters possessed likely helped.

Harry didn't like the predatory gaze they aimed at his group, although he knew he would easily fight them off should they try anything. He was relieved when the group grew closer to the market and the hunters left them.

Agathon turned towards him. "The Elder did not say whether you would be returning to the village or not, nor of your other plans. So, will you be returning with us?"

He wasn't hesitant in his answer. "I think not. But," he said, "one day I might return."

The man nodded his consent. "Very well. But," he whispered to him, "Here's a word of advice. Did you see those hunters?"

"Yes. They seem…different."

"That's because they are," Agathon said. "You should avoid them; they've caused some trouble for newcomers in the past. Unless you think you could fight them off, you should try to remain as inconspicuous as possible."

"Thanks for the advice," Harry said gratefully. Agathon smiled in return, but opened his mouth once more.

"One more thing. If you seek aid or need help finding something to do, I suggest you speak to Iakchos. He's a cranky old fool, but mention that you're friends with me and he'll give you just about anything you could want. The man has quite a bit of power in this town, and is probably the wealthiest man in Athens."

Harry gazed at him. "Do I even want to know why you're so confident that he will help me?"

Agathon shook his head, grinning. "No, you probably don't."

"Well then," the wizard said somewhat awkwardly, "I suppose this is goodbye for now."

"I suppose it is," the Greek shrugged, "perhaps we'll meet each other again one day."

Harry nodded back at him, and they parted ways. The men from the village merged into the crowd in the market, and the wizard quickly lost sight of them.

Now what was he supposed to do, Harry wondered. He supposed that he would need to buy some of the clothes the Greeks were wearing, and then find some sort of occupation to support himself as he searched for a way home. There was no point in attempting to apparate back to Britain, considering that he was in a different time. All he could do was hope there was some way to transport himself back home.

He truly hoped he would find a way back. Harry wasn't looking forward to spending the rest of his life in a place where he was likely to be eaten by some sort of magical creature. It would be paradise for Hagrid, perhaps, but hell for him.

Harry took his thoughts away from that train of thought. He didn't need to be musing right now; he needed to be finding himself a way to survive.

His talents would certainly be useful, considering that he could replicate food as many times as he needed. And he was quite sure that there were various magical creatures too powerful for the people of Greece to fight off by themselves.

For now, however, he would wander around the town. It was likely this would be his new home for some time.

It wasn't very long before he was bored of the town, having familiarized himself with any landmarks he would need to find his way through it. He was well aware of the strange looks he was attracting with his pale skin and different features, and his long robes didn't help either. They weren't particularly well-suited to the near tropical climate, and he was thinking of abandoning them altogether the moment he received his new clothes.

He needed money for that, of course, and that was why he was currently heading to the home of Iakchos. Harry was quite thankful for the advice Agathon had given to him, knowing someone who could help him was making this go by much faster than it would have otherwise.

That didn't mean it was easy to find the old man's home, however. The streets seemed to be completely unorganized, and any of the townspeople he spoke to either regarded him with suspicion or were too timid to answer him.

Perhaps it was the fact he stood several inches over most of them, an advantage of having a healthy diet since the age of eleven. And probably hidden nutrition potions slipped into his food at Hogwarts as well, he thought to himself.

But as it was, it had taken him quite a while to find someone willing to point him in the right direction. Or at least he hoped it was the right direction.

The fisherman had pointed him towards one of the few ruins that was still sturdy enough to live in, although it still looked as though it would collapse at any moment. A crude wooden door hid the interior of the home from view, and he felt almost nervous as he light rapped on it.

Despite the groans the aged wood emanated, it held strong when it was yanked open by an irate old man. He was even smaller than the other inhabitants of Athens, and was surprisingly ancient looking considering this time period. Most probably would have died from any combination of things by now.

"What do you want?" the man growled, reminding Harry distinctly of Alastor Moody.

"I am looking for Iakchos. Are you he?"

The old man looked up at the much taller man with suspicion. "Depends on who's asking. What's your name, boy?"

"My name is Harry." The wizard said.

"What kind of name is Harry?" The old man scoffed. "But you're right, I'm Iakchos of Athens. Now," he asked, "what do you want?"

Harry answered smoothly. "I'm looking for a new start, you see, and a friend of mine said that you would be able to help me."

"I'm not often in the business of helping others," Iakchos snorted, "and who told you that?"

"A man from a village not too far away from here named Agathon." Harry smirked, "He said you would know the name."

Iakchos sagged in defeat. "Fine, but if you ever see him than you should tell him and that old fool Artaxes that this is the last favor I'm doing for them. And they'd better be grateful for it too."

"I'll be sure to do that," Harry reassured him. "Now, what could I do?"

"That depends," Iakchos said in an annoyed tone, "what can you do? What kind of skills do you have?"

"Err," Harry said, trying to think of any skills he had besides magic. He wasn't particularly surprised when he found that there weren't many. Of course, he could always just make one up. Magic would fix any of the resulting problems.

"I'm good at fighting," he said, "and I'm rather versatile when it comes to survival skills." A blatant lie, of course. The only way he knew how to survive was to hide and replicate as much food and water as was necessary.

"Hmm," the old man grumbled, stroking his wispy silver beard. "We have too many mercenaries and woodsman coming through here as it is. But I think I have a job for you," Iakchos said with gleaming eyes.

"I'll take it!" Harry said, although he was beginning to have a bad feeling about this. It was not relieved when Iakchos spoke once more, this time with a cruel smirk on his face.

"Good, good. Now," the old man said, "come inside. We'll need to discuss the details."

Harry followed the frail form of the old man, albeit hesitantly. His instincts were screaming at him that he was an idiot, and when the old man openly started snickering at him, he was inclined to agree.

"Damn it," he groaned to himself, "why am I such a bloody idiot?"

It had been two days since he set out on his job, and he was truly contemplating walking away from it. Unfortunately, the old man had warned him that there would be no work for him in Athens if he quit. And since Athens was the only place in Greece that Harry's woefully uneducated mind was aware of, he was cornered.

And so he was still wandering around in the wilderness, looking for the steep cliffs Iakchos had spoken to him about. This so-called job was apparently a suicide mission, judging from how gleeful the old man's expression was.

These last two days had been miserable, and he was still judging the wisdom of travelling so often on such sore muscles. If he failed at this job, however, he wouldn't need to worry about that.

Because he'd be dead. And probably being eaten by some very angry creatures.

The only good thing about this situation was that his rations were still holding out. He hadn't even been forced to replicate them yet, although that even was growing near in the case of the water skin he had been given. He'd immediately transfigured a nearby stone into a modern thermos, and transferred all of the water into it.

He had remembered some of the lessons he had learned from is horcrux hunt and boiled the water, killing the bacteria that he likely had no sort of defense against. The food was surprisingly good, or at least it wasn't as disgusting as the "food" Artaxes had given to him. And the sparse amount of meat he was given wasn't maggot-ridden, so he supposed that was a good thing.

Harry continued to reflect on his experiences and fortunes over the past few days until he stepped out of the forest he was in into a massive clearing. He looked around in awe at the great cliffs that were just ahead of him, and were undoubtedly the cliffs Iakchos had sent him to look for.

Now it was just a matter of not getting killed.

The wizard drew his wand and discarded his robes and supplies. They would only hamper him down in this fight. With a silent charm he dulled his hearing and applied a host of proximity charms, which would tell him when his quarry drew near, around his position, as well as a host of protective enchantments. His last action was to attach a mild sticking charm to his wand hand. He didn't need his wand being knocked out of his hand in the middle of the fight.

Silently commending himself for the incredible stupidity of the stunt he was about to pull, Harry pointed his wand in the direction of the cliff and uttered a word.

He was thankful for his weakened hearing when a loud, piercing noise erupted from his wand. Even with his weakened sense, the shriek still made him want to cover his ears.

The wizard prepared himself as he saw the wild life around him flying and running away. It was scarcely a few seconds later when a massive shadow erupted from a hidden cave on the side of the steep wall of rock, shrieking its own response to Harry's spell.

His eyes widened as the most gigantic griffon he'd ever seen became visible in the afternoon light, its golden fur and fierce yellow eyes seemingly absorbing the sun light. Massive wings with silvery feathers unfurled behind it as it fell, allowing it to slowly glide towards the wizard.

Harry was aware of its curious, yet territorial, gaze upon him, quietly judging whether he was harmless or not. It seemed to judge that he was a threat, as the great creature lowered into a steep dive towards him, great claws outstretched and cruel, hooked beak snapping open.

Had he not taken the precaution of weakening his hearing, the loud, piercing cry the griffin released would have made his ears bleed. As it was, it broke his concentration enough to where he was barely able to erect a shield charm in time to protect himself from the beast.

It shrieked its outrage when the shield caused the formidable creature to glance off of its target, sending it careening to the side. Harry spared no time in firing off a volley of cutting curses at the griffin as it regained its footing.

The avian head released yet another shriek of outrage, and reared up in rage as it felt the magic make contact with its bestial form. Harry cursed when he realized that his spells had scarcely done a thing to the magical beast.

He fired off several more cutting curses at the griffin's exposed throat as it lunged at him. The creature dodged the flares of light with impossible speed, and one of the long, curved claws made contact with his arm.

Harry hissed in pain as he spun away, releasing a blasting curse in an attempt to get the griffin away from him. The purple flash of light made contact with the golden fur of the griffin's chest, causing it to squawk in outrage as it was thrown backwards by the spell's force.

While the griffin was regaining its focus, the wizard quickly used an episkey to heal the shallow gash left by the beast's sharp claws. He quickly utilized the stunned griffin's momentary weakness and backed away.

When he was safely out of the reach of the enraged creature, Harry leveled his wand at the griffin and began firing volley after volley of spells. Most were simple, such as the stunners and minor jinxes that would slightly weaken the griffin, while others were more complex, such as the blasting curses and bludgeoning curses.

Harry almost felt sorry for the griffin as it was bombarded with the myriad of spells. It had had virtually no time to recover after that initial blasting curse, and was now being pummeled senseless by the magic. All the majestic griffin was capable of doing was squawk angrily and unfurl the massive wings on its back in an attempt to intimidate him.

Unfortunately for Harry, the griffin managed to dodge one of his badly aimed spells. It was bleeding and certainly had several grievous injuries, no matter how powerful its resistance to magic was, but that only served to accentuate the rage that had gathered in the griffin's eyes.

It charged forward, heedless to the curses the wizard was firing at it in panic. When the griffin was only a few meters away, it leapt at the wizard with outstretched claws and hatred in its eyes.

Harry managed to dodge its razor sharp beak as it snapped at him, but was less fortunate when it came to the claws. Two of the griffin's massive paws landed on his chest, knocking him to the ground. He collided painfully, and was momentarily stunned. All he was aware of was the massive weight of the griffin focused painfully on his chest, and the smell of bloody feathers and fur.

He only managed to snap himself out of it when the griffin shrieked its triumph to the sky, a high, shrill note that sent any remaining wild life surging away. Harry fumbled with his wand, which had remained in his hand thanks to the sticking charm, and managed to aim it at the griffin's head before he closed his eyes.

"Lumos Solem!" Harry yelled as the griffin's shriek of triumph finally ended. A shriek of pain emanated from the griffin as the light of the sun burst out of Harry's wand and into the powerful creature's eyes. The wizard was thankful for the spell as the pained griffin backed off of him, trying to paw at its eyes ineffectually.

He groaned as he leapt up from the ground, ignoring the spots that the spell had caused in his own eyes. Harry was well aware of the pain in his chest whenever he took a breath, and silently cursed at the griffin for making his injuries that much more complicated to heal.

The wizard ignored his pain for the moment and leveled his wand yet again at the pitiful looking griffin, which no longer looked quite as majestic. Its injuries were obvious, and there was plenty of blood staining the fur coat, which Harry doubted was his.

Harry was aware that he was beginning to feel light-headed, and knew that he had to end this battle quickly. His mouth formed the words that he had hated so much throughout the years, but sometimes necessary in order to save something pain.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" He roared. An emerald flash of light blasted out of his wand, the blinding light illuminating the clearing for a brief second. It made contact with the griffin, whose injuries had weakened it enough for it to be affected by the spell.

He sighed as the powerful beast slumped to the ground, the fierce golden eyes now glazed and empty.

Harry walked to a tree, momentarily abandoning his slain adversary. He quickly cast a myriad of rudimentary healing spells over himself, and sighed in relief as the worst of the injuries knit themselves together again.

It was slightly painful when his cracked rib molded itself to its original form, but it was much better than dying from an organ that got cut by any splintered bone.

After about an hour, Harry felt good enough to collect the proof that he had slain the griffin. He walked over to the fallen beast on unsteady legs and plucked several feathers and summoned one of its claws from the massive paws.

When he had put his trophies in the bag Iakchos had given him, he waved his wand at the ground. Harry felt somewhat mournful over the killing of the griffin, and felt that he should at least try to give the symbol of his Hogwarts house an honorable burial.

A massive pile of dirt was torn from the ground, leaving a wide rectangular space. Another flick of his wand levitated the griffin, and a few motions of his wand had the once majestic creature lying firmly in the ground. Several more flicks were required to get the wings in a dignified position, and he looked at his handiwork for a moment before replacing the dirt over the broken body of the griffin.

He took one last look at his defeated foe before he returned to Athens.

Harry dropped the bag on Iakchos' table, smirking at the old man's bemused expression when he saw him.

"You're still alive?" the old man said in both wonder and annoyance. His eyes narrowed, "Judging from that insolent smirk you actually completed the job, or at least got someone else to do it for you."

"Trust me, old man," Harry said, "I finished the job."

"Then show me the goods," Iakchos growled.

Harry complied with the request, untying the bag to show the old man the griffin feathers and claw. Iakchos took one of the feathers and looked at it for a moment before turning back to the wizard.

"I don't know how you did this, but you did." The old man laughed for a moment before continuing. "Of course, if you just found these in the wilderness somewhere and that troublesome beast shows up again I'll just have to run you out of town."

"Don't worry," Harry retorted, "I'm not enough of an idiot to try that. Now, how about my payment?"

"Fine," Iakchos scowled. "I'll get it to you in a moment. But if you need a job later, I'll likely have one. There are plenty of monsters that are causing trouble," he growled at him, "and I'm interested in seeing if your luck holds out."

Harry simply smirked at Iakchos as the old man placed a small leather bag in front of him, the tell-tale jingling of metal giving away its contents.

"Don't worry Iakchos," he called as he left the ruin, "I'll be back soon enough."

But for now, he needed to buy some clothes that would let him blend in with the average Greek. Then his attempts to get home would begin.