CHAPTER 10:

DELIGHTFUL DATE AND DARK DEEDS

As they took the airship from Patch to Vale the next day, Velvet put her hand over Harry's. "So, anything interesting happen at Atlas?"

"Depends on what you find interesting. Training under General Ironwood is hard, though he's better than most people think. Still a hardarse, but he actually cares about people in the end," Harry said. "Actually, I made a new friend there, and I've given her Scroll address to Ruby." On seeing Velvet's look, he said, "It's not like that. She's a bit of an innocent abroad, I wouldn't take advantage of her, let alone hurt your feelings. If I did that, you'd be at the head of a very long line to kick my arse."

Velvet smiled. "I know you wouldn't. So, where's Ruby and Yang?"

"Gone on ahead. Yang knows I want to make this a date, so she's playing babysitter. I was thinking a movie."

"Not that Spruce Willis one," Velvet said. "I'd like to see From Shadows."

"That dramatization of the Battle of Fort Castle?" Harry asked. "I heard the song they're using in the soundtrack on the radio. Okay, why not?" At least it wasn't a romcom. Okay, it had romance, it was about a Faunus and a human on opposing sides of the conflict falling in love, with the Battle of Fort Castle as background, but still…

"Looking forward to Beacon?" Harry asked.

"A little. But there's people from across Remnant who come to Beacon, and not all of them like Faunus. And I heard there's a dangerous initiation each student has to go through."

"You'll be fine, Velvet. Remember that film Hermione's parents brought back from Earth? You're the rabbit."

"I am NOT chewing through anyone's neck," the rabbit-eared Faunus declared with a shudder. Watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail had been a mixed experience for her, and the Vorpal Bunny hadn't exactly endeared her to it, though Harry liked to joke, whenever she wasn't feeling confident, that she was the Vorpal Rabbit. She didn't mind Life of Brian, though.

"Anyway," Harry said, stifling his laughter, "knowing Ozpin, it'll take place in the Emerald Forest. The details are different each year. Just make sure you stock up on weapon photos first. Ruby'll let you have one of her latest version of Crescent Rose, and if you need to snap the Gae Bolg again, just ask. And I know Yang doesn't mind you snapping Ember Celica."

"She just says I've got to look good using them," Velvet said, with a smile.

"Velvet, you'd look good using virtually any weapon…"

Salem peered at the reports on the Scroll she was holding. For all that she preferred to use her Seer Grimm to communicate over long distances, she had to admit that technology was useful. Dr Watts, for all his unnecessary condescension towards anyone he deemed inferior (thankfully, he acted with all due deference to her, though he viewed her with an unhealthy interest given her Grimm nature, just like his mentor, Dr Merlot), was a brilliant scientist and innovator when it came to technology, and she would not have thought of cyberwarfare, to her shame and not inconsiderable annoyance. Communications and the computer networks carried by the CCT may work to, theoretically, bring humanity closer together, but in truth, by relying on it, they had become indolent and weak.

She had amused herself for a time, trolling on chatrooms and BBSes. For all that she was an ancient evil entity that had forsaken much of her humanity, there was more of humanity left in her than she would like, and entertaining herself with petty provocation online actually did much to alleviate her boredom. She was, after all, centuries old, and one thing about being an immortal embodiment of darkness was that one tended to lose one's friends over time, and while Grimm made good pets, she missed human company (and she preferred quality over quantity: for quantity, she could just spawn more Grimm). It was why, on occasion, she contacted Ozpin by sending one of her Seers to Beacon, and made portentous remarks about the past, and how there would be no victory in strength(1).

"So, this is all you've been able to dig up on Ozpin's latest pawns," she murmured, more to herself than anything else.

However, she had an audience, and Dr Watts, he of the sartorial splendour and the overly-groomed moustache, nodded. "Finding information on them was hard, my lady. That in itself speaks of their importance. Ozpin wouldn't be exercising considerable information control unless they were in some way. Even Professor Lionheart seems to not have been kept in the loop. You know I am not particularly fond of failure, least of all in myself, and I take full responsibility for this." It was unusual for the arrogant man to say such a thing, given how much he delighted in putting others down.

"Well, as it happens," Salem said, putting the Scroll down, "we have a novel source of information on them. And from our newest member, no less."

She actually enjoyed the look of shock on their faces. Well, Watts was actually gaping, while Hazel was blinking in bemusement, the burly, bearded man, while stoic, showing surprise in his eyes. Tyrian, bless his psychopathic little heart, also gaped, only to burst out into hysterical giggles. The dark-haired scorpion Faunus turned his golden eyes to their newest inductee, who remained silent…but an unmistakeable look of pride and even a little smug triumph glittered in her eyes. "Oh, what a marvellous twist in this performance of Grand Guignol!" he cackled.

Hazel was the first to grasp what Salem meant. "Do you mean to say that these people are from Earth?" he asked.

"More dimension travellers?" Watts added his own question.

"Of a sort. I kept the possibility in mind, given that Harry Potter and Hermione Granger are not names that follow the Colour Naming tradition, though ignoring that style of naming is rare rather than non-existent," Salem said. "In addition, Sirius Black has no apparent relation to Marcus Black, the infamous assassin, based on his physiognomy. Remus Lupin may be a possibility, given that lupin is a type of flower."

"Then please enlighten us, my lady, as to how our newest member banished your ignorance," Watts said.

Salem nodded. "As you know, I am preparing her to become our weapon, a receptacle for the power of the Maidens. Suborning them worked in the past, but Ozpin has set up checks and balances against that. While she was recovering from the latest session designed to allow for the implantation of the Grimm symbiote, I idly mentioned my frustration with finding out information about these people, and mentioned their names. Imagine my surprise when Cinder actually knew the people involved…or at least three of them."

All eyes returned to the young woman who renamed herself Cinder. Pale of skin, gold of eye, her lustrous dark hair partially covering one side of her face, dressed in a slinky red dress. "May I explain, my lady?" Cinder asked.

"You may," Salem said.

Cinder nodded, and then looked at the others. "My birthname is not Cinder, obviously. I was born Cygni Lyra Black(2). While Mistress Salem has told you of my coming from another world, she has not spoken of the circumstances by which I came here. Magic is more prevalent in that world, but we hide from the non-magical, whom we called Muggles. I was, however, born without magic to magical parents, and thus called a Squib. Amongst Purebloods, to have a Squib child was a mark of shame, and my family felt this even more so. They promptly enslaved me to act as their servant."

"Her name, you see, comes from a fairy tale of Earth," Salem explained. "Cinder chose to modify the name of the main character, one Cinderella, a child forced to act as a servant for her step-family. Even those glass shoes of hers are a reference to the story. Given the tendencies of the Purebloods towards inbreeding, it should not be surprising that something like this happened. Please go on, Cinder."

"Eventually, I rebelled, and tried to repair a Vanishing Cabinet in my family's possession. I only succeeded in sending myself here, where I met Mistress Salem," Cinder said. "I knew of Sirius Black, as he was a member of my family. He supposedly betrayed our family in becoming friends with the likes of the Potter family, only to apparently betray the Potters during the climax of the war against Voldemort. Remus Lupin was a friend of both Sirius and James Potter. If he is with Sirius and Harry, it seems that the claims of Sirius betraying the Potters were exaggerated at best."

"What of the boy?" Watts asked, curious, despite his general disdain for Cinder. "How can you know a boy younger than you so well, and not the girl?"

"The girl is probably a witch born to those without magic, a Muggleborn or Mudblood as we'd say back home," Cinder said. "However, Harry Potter was famous, simply because he survived when his parents did not when Voldemort attacked. Supposedly, Voldemort used the Killing Curse against Harry, and Harry survived. You must understand, to survive being struck by the Killing Curse is unheard of. It blasts the soul from the body, even with a glancing hit, and the only way to avoid death is to either evade it or to have something solid between you and the curse. I personally felt sceptical about this. Either the rumours were exaggerated, or someone, probably Harry's mother, found a novel ritual to save Harry somehow. Lily Potter was more of the brains of the family, by all accounts. In any case, the fools of Magical Britain called Harry Potter the Boy Who Lived, held him up to be a messiah. And it seems to be him. In the photos obtained, he has a distinctive scar, like a lightning bolt, on his forehead. Rumours spread of him bearing that mark."

"The upshot is," Salem said, "is that we now have a number of mages, four at least assuming that Harry Potter and Hermione Granger have magical ability, present on Remnant."

"A question, my lady," Hazel said. "Will they be able to have their power drained in the same way as the Maidens?"

"While it is possible, I have spoken with Cinder at length about the nature of magic in her world. The magic of Earth is not as powerful as the power of the Maidens, not unless the mage in question are themselves powerful and experienced, and it is somewhat different to many degrees. Unlike the power of a Maiden, the power of their magic is closer in nature to an innate Semblance, and access to it is controlled more by genetics than other factors. The Maidens' powers, though, are transmissible, in order for them to choose successors. The symbiote only targets the Maidens' powers anyway, not Aura or Semblances, though as magic is tied very close to Aura, Maiden or mage…"

"I see," Hazel said, nodding.

"It may be possible for Cinder to use the magic of her world once she has a Maiden's power," Salem said. "What it lacks in offensive power in some regards, it makes up for in versatility. In any case, the presence of mages from Earth is a cause of minor concern."

"Do you want me to take care of them, Your Grace?" Tyrian asked, grinning madly, as was his wont to do. "Shall I bring them to you wrapped in a little bow? Shall I sting them and let them writhe in mortal agony for their impudence?"

"No, not for now, Tyrian," Salem said. As strong as his devotion to her was, he was also very much a blunt instrument, lacking subtlety. He could stay covert well enough, but at this point, she couldn't risk him going into territory scrutinised by Ozpin and his peons. "I need you to keep crossing names off the list Leonardo helpfully gave us. Doctor Watts, Hazel, I would ask that you continue information gathering about these people along with your assigned tasks. While they are not so problematic as to require liquidation yet, they are still partially unknown quantities that need to be factored into our plans."

"My lady, I would like to pick Cinder's brains regarding the magic of Earth," Watts said. "It sounds fascinating, and of course, there is the tactical importance of knowing what spells and techniques they can use."

"I have spoken with her at length before calling you here. I can answer the questions, and redirect you to her for any information I do not know." Salem then noticed Hazel peering at his own Scroll, frowning. "Hazel? Do you have anything to add?"

"No," Hazel said. Which wasn't unusual for him. He tended to keep his thoughts to himself unless he thought they needed to be relayed. Still, the pensive look on his face, while not unusual, was mildly concerning, though Salem didn't know why…

The movie was enjoyable. True, the romance seemed a little crowbarred in, and a couple of the actors seemed to be phoning it in, but it was an enjoyable experience. And as predicted, the soundtrack was one of the best elements of it.

As he walked out of the cinema, hand-in-hand with Velvet, Harry remarked, "How much of that really happened?"

"Umm, history's not my best subject," Velvet admitted. "But it was based on a novel, and the author admitted that the romance was made up. Though there were some mixed human-Faunus couples involved in the Battle of Fort Castle." She chuckled softly. "Though fighting Faunus at night…almost all of us have great night vision compared to humans, and heightened senses in general. I know enough about history to know that Lagune was an idiot. Like the film, he was promoted because of his connections and rich family."

"Well, I knew some guys like that back home," Harry remarked, thinking about the Malfoys. "Still…you'd think they'd give you more than a pissy island that's mostly desert."

"Maybe, but what the White Fang is doing isn't going to help matters. Maybe Ghira Belladonna didn't do that much, but all the violence that they've done since Sienna Khan took over's only served to have people attack me."

Harry squeezed her hand. "It's okay, Velvet. You've got friends who give a damn about you."

Still, thinking about the White Fang had him thinking about Hazel, his uncle. Not because he was associated with the White Fang. But like many well-meaning Faunus used to be (and maybe some still were) associated with the White Fang, Hazel, once a good man, was intent on revenge against Ozpin. What would it mean if he ever met Hazel again?

Hazel, as he made his way to his quarters, preparing to leave Salem's palace later, found himself troubled. He frequently was, and had been since his sister's death. Ozpin may not have necessarily killed her himself, but he pretty much did the next best thing.

But something marginally related was troubling him. He thought back to the images of Harry Potter that they had been given. Hazel only consciously realised it during the meeting, but the boy looked somewhat like Qrow Branwen. The messy dark hair and the shape of the eyes were not dissimilar. But more disturbing was the familiarity of the features, to that of his sister, Gretchen.

True, his sister had a more tanned skintone, and hazel eyes, like him. But the shape of the face, particularly around the nose, reminded him painfully of Gretchen. And she also needed glasses herself. His build was also very like Gretchen's: even after training, she was rather short and lanky.

The thing was, Hazel was also aware, albeit dimly, that Qrow and Gretchen were in a relationship before her disappearance. In fact, it was one of the reasons he didn't have the sheer amount of rancour towards Qrow as he did towards Ozpin. Oh, he was livid to hear Qrow was sleeping with his sister, but Qrow would have worked to keep Gretchen alive if he had been able to.

The birthdate given in the files Watts did manage to hack from Beacon (the barest of vital statistics) also corresponded with a possible conception date, within weeks of Gretchen's capture. All of which possibly meant that Gretchen had survived long enough to give birth to Harry. But did that mean that Ozpin had left her for dead, not even intending to rescue her? Or had something else happened?

For the first time in years, Hazel's conviction, born from his anger and fury and hatred, wavered. It was a ridiculous supposition, one supported only by flimsy evidence and a gut feeling, but if he was correct, his nephew was working under Ozpin…and would become another victim to lay at Ozpin's door. If this was his nephew, he needed to get him away from Ozpin, as soon as possible.

The question was, how?

CHAPTER 10 ANNOTATIONS:

So, Harry and Velvet have gone on a date, Cinder has revealed a surprising secret, and Hazel's beginning to put two and two together. Next chapter, Harry is summoned by Ozpin to meet someone very special…

Now, before I go on, I should clarify something. A number of my readers will notice similarities between Cinder's backstory here, and her backstory in EmeraldGuardian7's The Wizard's Apprentice. This is, surprisingly, a coincidence (as mentioned in the previous chapter in one of my review answers). EmeraldGuardian7 and I both came up with these backstories of Cinder being a Squib with connections to the Black family independently, and EmeraldGuardian7 managed to publish their version first. I have asked EmeraldGuardian7 whether I could do the same thing, as a courtesy, and they agreed. The backstories we wrote are dissimilar enough, though.

The Salem scene sort of wrote itself, so there's less emphasis on the date, but that was a blessing in disguise. I actually thought it interesting to write Salem, given how she is characterised in RWBY. The canon Salem has an odd respect for the better qualities of humanity, and I thought I would expand on that. Monolithic villains get boring after a while, and I actually enjoyed, for example, Salem admitting to herself that she's annoyed she never thought of cyberwarfare as a valid strategy.

I also added a bit about Velvet not being so good with history to address a minor plot hole in the canon series. If she is a second year student, why is she attending Oobleck's first year history class?

Review-answering time! Lord Corruption: Huh, I didn't know that, and Julius Caesar is, admittedly, the Roman emperor I know most about.

comodo50: He's more in touch with it, so it's less of a berserker form, but he's still prey to his more animalistic tendencies.

Narutofan8762: I just had a quick look-see on the wiki, and the infection is transmitted by saliva. Hermione was bitten through her clothing, so while it broke the skin, it didn't necessarily infect her, enough to turn her into a werewolf.

Reishin Amara: Oh God no. Though I'm sure if someone hasn't done a fic along those lines already, someone will eventually. Hell, I know of at least two fics were Arturia is Jaune's mother…and one of those has Gilgamesh as the father. No, really. Still, Nero as Jaune's mother? That would be so scary and so awesome and so hilarious.

The-Black-Baron-1943: I'd say what you said was wholly unintentional, but in fact, one of the (admittedly smaller) inspirations for the personality of Harry's inner Grimm was actually Hyde's personality from Jekyll. You know, the Steven Moffat-written and produced TV series starring James Nesbitt. The name had little to do with it, just the popcultural osmosis.

1. A reference to Salem's opening speech in the very first episode. I have to wonder why it seems that Ozpin and Salem are having a conversation, and I'd like to think that, at times, they just call each other up and, well, talk. They're both immortal, they probably have more to talk about with each other than with younger people.

2. Choosing Cinder's Potterverse name was a bit difficult, and as a Black, she also needed to be named for a constellation or star. I nearly went with Hydra Delphini Lestrange, which I used for Frederica Sawyer from Black Lagoon for my crossover Disquiet, but I eventually went for something that evoked Cinder's grace (Cygni is a feminine Greek word for swan), and her darkness (a black swan, as it were).