The Essence of Magic

by IAmOutOfIdeas

AU. After 5th year. Harry's had enough. He's tired of both the Light and the Dark. So when an entity comes to his dreams and has a proposition for him, he accepts. Even though the proposition is to destroy both the Dark side and the Light side... Gray!Harry. Harem. Harry/Daphne main pairing. Indefinite Hiatus

3. Chapter 3

The Essence of Magic

§= Parseltongue

Previously

At that, Harry broke into a fit of laughter, causing all of the nearby serpents to look at him like he was insane. "§ What is so funny, pink-skin? §"

"§ Oh, nothing, just the fact that I never thought I'd hear a snake, much less a basilisk, say badass. §"

"§ Oh, ha-ha-ha, very funny pink-skin. §" The basilisk who made the badass comment replied, very sarcastically, one might add, while also rolling its slit eyes.

Now

Dream

"As I told you, your many allies are aware of what is to come. There is, however, a little something that you need to know."

"What's that?" Harry asked, curious.

"You do not have full knowledge of your heritage, so I have decided to tell you everything about your heritage. You are not only the heir of the House of Potter, but also the heir of the Houses of Peverell, Black, Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Emrys. These are very ancient and powerful houses. As you should know, this makes you Merlin's descendant. So now you are as, if not more, powerful than Merlin himself, and that is without my added strength and power. You are the rightful owner of Hogwarts as well. So when you wake up, the first thing I want you to do is apparate into Gringotts and speak to Ragnok. He will give you your head of house rings and access to your vaults after a blood test to prove who you say you are. After you get your head of house rings, ask Ragnok about the marriage contracts. He will pretty much tell you that you will have to marry multiple witches, for each house has a contract or more. The House of Potter's only contract there is to marry the eldest daughter of House of Greengrass, which is good, because they're a grey family. With House of Black, you have two marriage contracts, one to House of Greengrass, but since the eldest is already engaged to the House of Potter— you— the House of Black will get the second eldest daughter of the House of Greengrass; the House of Black also has a marriage contract with the House of Davis. The House of Peverell has three marriage contracts, one being with the House of Bones, another being with the House of Abbot, and the final being with the House of Patil— count yourself lucky sport, you get twins! *cough* Alright, got sidetracked, the House of Gryffindor has one marriage contract, this one very old, with the House of Bell, I believe you know the person you're marrying, if not, it's Katie. The house of Ravenclaw has a contract with the House of Black, but since there is no woman descendant, you'll have to reinstate Andromeda Tonks back to the family and marry her daughter, Nymphadora. The House of Hufflepuff has two marriage contracts, both of which are with the House of Delacour, I believe you know Fleur and Gabrielle. The House of Slytherin has one contract with the House of Turpin, I believe her name is Lisa. Finally, the House of Emrys has one contract with the House of Spinnet; this contract is exceedingly ancient, going all the way back to Merlin himself, and the very first Spinnet. SO, I feel really bad for you, mainly because of all the headaches you'll get *chuckle*," the Essence of Magic continued.

"Wait, if I get a headache, wouldn't you?"

"I don't have a head, dumbass."

"It was just a question, sheesh."

"Anyways, as I was saying before your exceedingly stupid question, you will end up having thirteen wives, while there are twelve contracts, you can't forget the twin part. Now, another thing you need to know, is that these families are all on their way, they have an instinct on where to go. However, they are going to be staying a small distance away from the basilisk nest so they won't get hurt or accidentally hurt a basilisk in any way.

"The Dementors have already left Azkaban and are on their way to where you are, the basilisk nest. The same is happening with every battle-ready dragon. Unfortunately, the centaurs have decided to stay with the light side, while the werewolves have decided to stay with the dark side. Most of the trolls and giants are also staying with the dark side, however, every single acromantula is joining you. They are all on their way to the basilisk nest as we speak. The vampires may be trying to stay neutral, but the demons and succubi are definitely siding with you. All you need to do to get their help is a ritual and it will summon the demon and succubi armies. Meanwhile, the goblins are siding with you, but they are busy preparing and running Gringotts, so they won't be much help until the war is actually started.

"The Dementors will reach you in two days, same as the dragons, and the acromantulas by the fourth day, as they have to travel on foot. As I said before, the demons and succubi will be with you as soon as you complete a ritual to summon them. The grey families that are joining you will be with you as soon as they can, as they still need to bring the necessities with them. So they'll be with you anywhere from one day to three weeks; such a wide time frame is simply because they are not travelling together.

"One last thing before you awaken, and this is very important for your health. You and Daphne Greengrass are soul mates, so I suggest that whenever she arrives, you spend around six or more hours a day with her. She and her family are already aware of this as her parents and your parents figured it out while making the marriage contract. She is also aware that you have other marriage contracts to attend to, and while not happy about it, she grudgingly agreed that you need to fulfill those contracts, because if you didn't you would die or lose your magic. I might as well tell you the truth, she and her family will be there tomorrow, good luck!"

"WAIT! YOU FUCKING DIC―"

End Dream

Real Life

"―K!" Harry yelled. "GOD DAMN IT! HE KICKED ME OUT OF MY OWN DREAM!"

"§ What is all the yelling about pink-skin, it better be important; you awoke me from my beauty sleep. §" The basilisk who was his guide asked extremely irritated.

"§ Don't blame me, blame the bloody Essence of Magic, the prick just dropped a bomb on me by saying my soul mate is arriving later today, AND THEN HE KICKED ME OUT OF MY DREAM! §"

Every basilisk nearby was now awake and aware of the exchange. In response to his rant, they made a funny hissing sound that could be compared to laughter. Looking around, Harry could see every visible serpent making what could only be described as an amused face. He huffed in indignation when he realized that they were enjoying the "show" he had just put on. Really now, you would think a guy would be able to rant in front of a bunch of snakes, but noooooooo. Harry can't do that, it makes Harry bad. I'm starting to regret accepting that damn Essence's deal.

"I heard that," Aforementioned being answered in his head.

Good, you were supposed to.

"This is just too funny."

Oh, thanks, I'm glad that the shock of my soul mate meeting me later today while I'm completely unprepared amuses you. I'd do anything to please you, Harry responded mockingly.

"Oh good, in that case, whine some more, it is incredibly amusing, and not just for me, but the basilisks as well," the Essence of Magic (A/N: Going to start referring to as "EoM" or simply "the Essence", just makes shit a lot easier, fair warning) replied equally, if not even more, mocking. "Oh, and by the way, when I said she was coming here today with her family, I meant in about an hour; soo, good luck!" With that the EoM left Harry all alone in his mind, where his seething anger was soon replaced with fear, and then anger again at the EoM abandoning him.

"Ok, now what the hell should I do?! This is the first time I've actually had to worry about this and shit I'm talking to myself now."

In voice of SpongeBob time announcer: One hour later

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh SHIT!" Harry shouted at nobody in particular. "Ok, calm down Harry and actually― damn it, I'm talking to myself again. In fact, I still am. Fuck this."

"Calm down or you'll end up having a heart attack," the Essence spoke out of the blue.

YOU FUCKING DICK! YOU COULD HAVE HELPED A LITTLE! Harry ranted.

"Yes, yes I could have; but then I wouldn't have gotten to watch you get so damn uncomfortable. Besides, I had my own business to attend to. I can't tell you what, but I can tell you it involves lots and lots of dynamite and an alpaca from Cambodia."

I don't think I even want to know now. Harry thought for a moment before revising his statement, Scratch that, I know I don't want to know.

"Smart choice, if you knew, you'd probably think I'm insane."

Great, just great, I'm helping an insane being that is magic in and of itself. It's times like these that I question my own sanity. I mean seriously, who in their right mind would help any being that is willing to admit that it's insane. Just great.

"Hey! I didn't say I'm insane, although, now that I think about it, I am kind of insane; but that's beside the point! Besides, you're not exactly a sane person. Oh, looky there, it's your SOUL MATE!" The EoM finished in a sing song fashion.

Damn you.

"Love you too."

Harry came out of his mental conversation and saw a family of four, plus three house elves, arrive. Harry inspected the family with a critical eye. The man looked to be in his forties with dark brown hair and sky blue eyes, he was pale like many British people, but not overly so. He looked to be about 5'11" with a stocky build and aura that said that he meant business. Next to him was a tan woman standing a good 5'8" in her mid-thirties with long blonde hair that cascaded down her back and warm, chocolate colored eyes. Her body had curves in all the right places and an air that gave you the feelings of warmth and happiness. In front of her was a girl about fifteen years of age standing at a proud 5'5" that looked exactly like the woman, except with the man's sky blue eyes. In all honesty, Harry thought she was absolutely perfect. To her left was a girl with the man's pale skin, the woman's long blonde hair, and the woman's warm, chocolate colored eyes. She was about 4'7" and looked to be about twelve years old. Once the adults and the fifteen year old noticed him their eyes widened, meanwhile, the twelve year old simply walked up to Harry and looked him straight in the eye.

"Is your hair always like that?" She asked.

Well, that was completely unexpected. "Uh, yeah, it is. I've tried to fix it but nothing works. Anyways, my name's Harry Potter, and you are?" He finally responded.

The girl's eyes widened before she shouted, "DAPHNE! I FOUND YOUR SOUL MATE!" These words caused both Harry and the girl now identified as Daphne go as red as a tomato, for Daphne, whether in anger of embarrassment, is a good question. "Oh, and I'm Astoria Greengrass."

It was at this point that the adults and Daphne came forward. "Sorry about her, I am Dan Greengrass, this is my wife, Eve, this is my eldest daughter, Daphne, and this is my youngest, whom you have already talked to, Astoria." Dan said in a kind tone, holding his hand out to shake Harry's, which Harry grasped in a firm handshake.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Greengrass, and you as well Mrs. Greengrass. It is an honor to meet you. Ms. Daphne Greengrass, young Ms. Astoria Greengrass, it is a pleasure to meet the both of you. My name is Harry Potter." Harry said, purposefully avoiding Astoria's earlier comment as to save both himself and Daphne from embarrassment. Unfortunately for the both of them, Astoria wouldn't have that.

"Yeah, nice to meet you, too. Anyways, Daphne, Harry, Harry, Daphne. Daphne here is your soul mate. So you better treat my sister well or I will hurt you!" Astoria stated firmly.

"Um, okay? Hello, Daphne," he paused in nervousness. "Nice weather we're having?"

His apparent nervousness caused Daphne to break into a fit of giggles, resulting in her family walking towards the large manor that the Essence had recently formed along the southern edge of the ancient basilisk nests. The manor was strategically placed facing down the sloping forest hills, on a ridge, and was surrounded in thick trees for miles along the east and west perimeter, leaving the only entrance the north, which involved going through a large number of basilisk nests just to get to the manor. Thus providing an incredibly deadly fight to any who sought out the manor uninvited, not that they'd get there seeing as the woods for a twenty mile radius were covered under a large fidelius charm, with the Essence of Magic as the secret keeper, leaving the area night impenetrable to invaders. The basilisks, fortunately, avoided the Greengrasses per the Essence's orders, just so the family could get comfortable first. Meanwhile, every basilisk was out hunting in the surrounding woods that stretched on for miles on the nearby mountains.

Finally Daphne ceased her giggling and smiled brightly at Harry before saying, "It's nice to finally meet you."

Harry smiled slightly, "Same here. So how do we form the soul bond? I wasn't necessarily told about this until a dream last night, so I'm new to this situation."

"Oh, um, we have to, uhh, we have to kiss, um, on the lips." Daphne stuttered, suddenly feeling very nervous.

Meanwhile, Harry was feeling the same way, but felt a sudden, irresistible urge to kiss here, which he did. When their lips met, a bright flash of white light surrounded them, but they didn't notice that, they were too busy dealing with the fireworks going off in their brains and the backflips that were being performed by their stomachs. They were focusing on the sensation of the kiss and how their heartbeats were rapidly increasing, but staying in sync. They were also aware that they knew everything about the other. Daphne saw memories of Harry's tragic past, while Harry saw all of Daphne's normal past. They were aware they knew what the other was thinking, thus giving them a way to communicate without speaking. The kiss was a simple chaste kiss, but it spoke wonders about how the two felt for the other. It was like a dam breaking in their minds, releasing all the loving emotions for the other, a dam that previously held them back.

The kiss only lasted for about two minutes, but it felt like an eternity for the new couple. Unfortunately, they both drew back, as they needed to breathe. However, they kept their foreheads pressed together and were holding each other closely.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the couple, the rest of the Greengrass clan watched in silence as they saw the magic of a soul bond take place. Eve had tears pouring gently down her face, while Dan was damn close to letting his own tears flow free. Astoria, however, was not yet mature enough, and found the entire seen gross and walked back into the manor so she could get away from all the drama.

The couple finally opened their long closed eyes and stared into the others, both immediately falling into a trance at seeing their opposite's windows to the soul. The two of them stood like that for what would end up being hours until the manor's (courtesy of the EoM ) house elves, obtained by the EoM to save them as they rely on serving others to survive and cannot live for long while free, came out to retrieve the pair for supper.

The two reluctantly drew apart, but made sure to maintain a firm grasp on their soul mate's hand as they were walking into the manor. Once they got inside, they went to the dining room where they saw the rest of the Greengrasses helping themselves to a nice feast. When they saw the couple the adults had knowing smiles on their faces while Astoria just frowned due to not understanding what was really going on.

Daphne and Harry then proceeded to take seats right next to each other, making sure they were extremely close to the other, and started putting food on their plates. Since they could not hold hands, they settled for the next best thing and made sure that their legs were constantly in contact with the other's leg. While the couple was eating, the Greengrass matriarch and patriarch both looked at each other before nodding. This resulted in Dan speaking, "We've been thinking, since it is very important that soul mates that have actually created their soul bond to be with the other constantly, that the two of you can share a bed together. We trust that the two of you will not do anything inappropriate, at least not anytime soon, but since we don't want to take too many chances, Daphne, your mother is going to teach you the contraception charm in after supper. We do hope the two of you wait, but we cannot forbid it, as you two are obviously in love, but we can try to prevent it, at least for a month so the two of you can get adjusted. Please keep in mind that we are only looking out for your best interests." At this, Dan looked like he had just had a sudden epiphany and whispered to his wife. When he pulled back he had a full-fledged grin stuck on his face. He finally decided to tell them what had him grinning, "Now that we think about it, you two are not going to be able to go back to Hogwarts now, so there is no real reason for you to not do anything of the sort. So Harry this is your one warning; hurt my baby girl, and you'll be dead. Onto a different matter now, about your education, how are you going to be able to continue your educational career?" Dan stared at the two intently, who were bother rose red from the previous topic of the discussion.

"Uh, well, sir, we don't really need to continue it anymore. Seeing as Daphne and I know everything the other knows, and I know everything the Essence of Magic knows, there's not really anything more for us to learn. Oh, by the way, in case you are unaware, the being that contacted you is called the Essence of Magic, and is pretty much everything magical and magic related. The reason it hasn't really done anything major yet, other than kidnapping me," the last part he muttered under his breath before continuing, "is because it is still weak. It was asleep for a long time and it will take some time for it to fully awaken again. The way I was told, the more supporters we have on our side, the faster it will awaken, thus the faster we will win the war."

The two adults had a flabbergasted expression pasted on their faces at what they had just learned. Dan finally managed to stutter out, "W-wait, are you saying we're working with the being that makes up everything magical?" Harry simply nodded. "And it has long been asleep and has only recently begun to awaken?" He asked incredulously, resulting in an affirmative nod from Harry. "Well, that explains how we got here so fast," he finally muttered.

"Speaking of here, where exactly is here? The Essence never told me nor did the basilisks." Harry asked.

"BASILISKS?!"

"Oh, yeah, don't worry though, I can control them. Plus they are siding with us and are fanatically loyal to the Essence of Magic." Harry replied nonchalantly.

"Uh huh… well to answer your question, we're currently in an isolated part of southern Ireland, surround by mountains." Dan finally answered after getting over the shock of the basilisks.

"Oh. Wish I knew that."

"You did, because I did," Daphne added, exasperated.

"Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that, heh, sorry," Harry answered sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck out of sheer embarrassment.

"It's fine. Anyway, let's go to bed Harry. We've got a long day tomorrow." Daphne said with a finality that neither Dan nor Harry thought to question. She grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him up the stairs to the master bedroom, which belonged to Harry, courtesy of the Essence, where they did they're nightly routines before snuggling up close to each, spooning, and falling into a dreamless sleep.