Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling despite my wishes otherwise.
A/N: This chapter took so long to write and I was half asleep when I edited it, I apologize for any serious mistakes. I know this is the longest chapter I've written so far, but I hope to keep the chapters from here on out 5,000 words or more. Anyway enjoy!
When Harry came to he was in the same room he'd been in before with his three pseudo uncles' worried faces above him. Sirius was poking his face at random intervals.
"Paddy, poking cub's face will not wake him up, and poking his face repeatedly will not wake him any faster." At this Harry opened his eyes.
"See Moony! Prongslet did you wake up because I was poking you or not?"
"Moony, Paddy, maybe we should stop crowding him and let him breathe." Peter pulled the other two Marauders away from Harry. "Rise and shine Bambi, you've been out for almost an hour." Harry's waking up had obviously summoned his healer and for whatever reason Ragnok had come with her. Every single able goblin in the ward had stood up and saluted their leader in unison. Ragnok was unfazed.
"Hello Lord Potter how are you feeling?" Harry's three guardians stared in shock as Harry and Ragnok exchanged greetings.
"No need to be so formal you've done me a great service. Call me Harry." Ragnok grinned in that ferocious goblin way.
"You are aware this is the first time a goblin has been on first-name terms with a human since the war Harry?" Harry nodded.
"What will they do? Order me to be rude to you? I'm sure even the ministry isn't that stupid. They've left all their money in your vaults, you could make all of them paupers and where would that leave people like the Malfoys? Also Gringotts has only ever been broken into once and I suspect that was a ruse." Ragnok looked at Harry speculatively.
"Of course it was. And I've always suspected that your clueless act was just an act. Thank you for confirming it for me." Harry shrugged sheepishly. "Now then back to business. Aether has confirmed to us that you are on their roster for school this year. I'm sure you'll be taking Soul Magic so that you can destroy the last of the horcruxes. I'm afraid we won't be able to destroy or locate the last three horcruxes, for now all we can do is confirm that there are three left. I've spoken to our king, Jareth has decided you will have the aid of the goblins and hobgoblins across the realities in your future endeavors." Harry smiled and nodded.
"I owe you a life-debt Ragnok." He pulled out his wand. "I, Harry James Potter, swear on my magic that I will do anything I can to aid you, Ragnok, until my life debt is repaid." Harry's uncles gaped, but Ragnok acknowleged the debt,
"So mote it be." A golden glow signified the completion of the oath. "Well then Harry, I will escort you all out of the bank. Come again soon." With that Ragnok escorted Harry, Sirius, Remus, and Peter to the doors of the bank. There he shook their hands and well aware of the bystanders made his dramatic exit as dramatic as it could be for someone 4'5". Remus finally regained his ability to speak as they made their way down Diagon Alley.
"Harry you never fail to surprise me. You're on first name terms with the leader of the goblins in Earth Reality, can call on goblins to help you, and you owe a goblin a life-debt. You are aware of the ramifications of this right? The only ways to cancel that life-debt are to save his life or for him to explicitly say that he's cancelled your debt. Granted it will also garner respect from the goblins and hobgoblins. It is a good thing you'll have allies at the Aether." Harry remembered he had a question from earlier.
"Speaking of which, you said that out of the 8 students who attend Aether every year only 2 or so graduate. Why did you all survive?" Sirius decided to explain this one.
"We aren't human prongslet. Remus is a werewolf, and both Peter and I are fae. The two humans who graduated from Aether from our class were your Mum and Dad. Both of whom had ridiculously large magical cores, and a couple of special abilities you'll start noticing sometime soon. Actually I suspect Prongs wasn't completely human anyway. There were actually 10 humans that year and one more human graduated, but we don't count him because he was turned into a vampire unwillingly when he was 19." Special abilities, what special abilities would he not have noticed? Well actually the real question was what special abilities would he have noticed. He hadn't been able to use magic since the end of the school year and somehow he knew these special abilities had something to do with his birthday, which was today. Peter cut in,
"Speaking of special abilities, how far along are you in wandless magic? You're going to need to know a bit more than 'really powerful mages can use wandless magic' to go to a school like the Aether." Harry, despite rationally knowing that Peter couldn't possibly know how far along he was in magic, was annoyed that they thought he was that far behind. In retaliation he charmed Peter's hair bright pink. Sirius and Remus stifled their laughter while Peter looked at them confused.
"Well that answers our question. I always wondered why Furball and Prongs were so good at wandless magic, maybe it's hereditary." Harry finally conjured a mirror for Peter who immediately used a Finite Incantatem to realize it wouldn't work.
"Alright Bambi, as much as I appreciate the joke we're attracting the attention of everyone in the alley and you aren't diguised." Harry immediately took off the charm. Sirius on the other hand disguised Harry with a wave of his hand and charmed Peter's hair pink with purple spots. Peter grinned, "That my dear Padfoot was a formal declaration of war. I'd watch myself carefully for the next month or so if I were you." Harry poked Remus,
"Should I be worried?" Remus shook his head.
"Don't waste your time worrying, prepare for anything and prepare a couple retaliatory pranks just in case. There's no such thing as bystanders when two Marauders are involved in a prank war, even less so when they're on opposite sides." Harry nodded while trying to figure out how mad Sirius would get if he charmed his room green and silver for a week. They kept moving down the street.
"Another thing, you should probably get a new wand and maybe some new clothes. I'm not up to date on current Muggle fashion, but I very highly doubt your clothes are supposed to be filthy, dirty, and several sizes too big for you. I hope you'll allow us to get revenge on the Dursleys cub." Moony used his puppy dog eyes which worked fairly well given he was older than Harry by like 8 years.
"Sure thing if there's anything left when I'm through with them." Harry's smile was terrifying and the three Marauders realized there was really nothing they could do to match the kind of terror Harry would inflict on his former guardians. Sirius looked halfway between scared and proud.
"Guess he really did inherit Furball's sadistic streak." Sirius shivered in fear.
"Back to what you were saying earlier, there aren't any wandmakers left we could use. Ollivander disappeared, and if there are any wandmakers left in Knockturn Alley they're either heavily supervised or Tom's allies. I'm perfectly willing to go clothes shopping though." Sirius transfigured Harry's clothes into something he deemed appropriate for shopping.
"Don't worry about the human wandmakers. We're getting you a proper wand and we'll be getting our own while we're at it. We're going shopping in Infinitium Reality. Now let's get to the transfer point. You're going to love this prongslet." With that the three Marauders took off down the Alley twisting and turning, Harry followed slightly slower and he bumped into a couple of people. It went on this way for about 7 minutes until they finally pulled to a stop in front of a building Harry was sure he'd never seen before. It was a sparkling sapphire blue dome with bronze stars painted all over it. Harry had taken enough Astrology to see that the position of the stars was a perfect miniature replica of the night sky yesterday. In front was a pair of ornate golden French doors. He couldn't make out anything through the windows. Sirius being Sirius ran to the doors and flung them open, screaming I'm back at the top of his lungs. Remus and Peter shared a look before strolling in. Harry followed last examining the walls which were the same as the outside. People were constantly coming in and out pressing a star and disappearing in different colored glows. In the center of the room other people were porting in. Peter explained in as low of a voice as he could manage.
"This is what we call a gateway, it's the only way to get from one reality to another. There's several in every reality, we're lucky enough to have this one in the most convenient place possible for now at least. Gateways shift location every couple of weeks. Every star represents a different gateway, or rather more accurately every star is another gateway. There's three main realities Aether, Earth, and Infinitium, the rest are private properties. We've had such fun convincing the muggles and some magicals that Mars is a barren wasteland and that you can't stand on Jupiter because you'd fall straight through to the center. Anyway, Infinitium Reality is that one over there. I believe the muggles call it the North Star. Wandlessly float yourself up to the star and press it." Harry watched as Sirius went first, followed by Remus, then it was his turn. He imagined himself floating towards the star, but he couldn't manage it. Peter understood the problem.
"Sorry Bambi, I totally forgot you need to have a grasp on basic elemental magic before you can levitate yourself, for now just stay still." Harry felt as Peter changed the air currents around him and floated him towards the Infinitium star. He reached out to touch it and fell straight down into the other gateway before catching himself in the air. He tried controlling the air currents around him and kept himself floating and went towards his uncles. Peter followed after him. "That's your special ability from Prongs. He had mage sight and it seems you have some variant. It's very useful for learning pranking charms." Remus opened the doors this time and turned around to face Harry,
"Welcome to Infinitium Reality cub!" A wide-eyed harry stared at the street he was on. All around him were people chattering loudly in what seemed to be many different languages. Some were short, others were tall, some had wings, others had tails, almost everyone had brilliantly colored skin. Fashion here was also very different, he saw one cerulean blue woman who had white eyes and her red hair looked like a staircase. She also had pixie wings and a dress that shone like the sun. He also saw a man with forest green dreadlocks who was a bright pink color that somehow didn't clash with his hair. He was wearing a crisp white business suit. Harry then turned his attention to the shops. Harry was sure new colors that he'd never seen on earth existed here, but seeing as he couldn't compare he promptly forgot about that.
What was much more interesting was the bookstore directly in front of him. The store itself was pretty impressive. Harry estimated it was about 300 ft. high, and 40 ft. wide, at it's widest and longest. More impressive was it's shape. It was literally a ball… and it was rolling along with all the people inside it. He pulled his dogfather with him into the store and just stared in awe. Despite all the rolling not a single book was out of place and he could feel an artificial gravity pulling everyone in the ball to the ground. Gravity here was about as strong as it was at sea level on Earth, but it was slightly disconcerting to watch the windows roll about constantly. Then Harry's attention was pulled to the books. Titles were all in different languages that he couldn't understand.
"Hey Padfoot what language is that?" Sirius peered at the random book Harry had pointed at.
"It's Common, can't you read it?" Harry shook his head. "Oh that's right I forgot, give me a second." Sirius rummaged through his pockets looking for his wand presumably. He finally pulled it out, gave it a wave, and said, "Transferendum!" Information came to Harry instantly. The spell was a charm to translate languages that was permanent. Everyone in the realities used it to understand what others were saying and with a few notable exceptions such as Mermish and Parseltongue it worked and was fairly standard. Harry could finally read what the books said and chose a book on Occlumency and curled up in a convenient inglenook. The Marauders shook their heads, for all Harry looked like James, he was Lily's son through and through. Inherently curious and quick-witted, he'd have no trouble eradicating the Dark lord. After an hour or so Harry had a pile of books on Occlumency and Animagi and was ready to purchase. They took him to the next shop a wandmaker who they guessed was probably a vampire. He was fairly friendly, but he did some weird smelling thing when Harry first entered the shop.
"Choose a wood and a core from the back. I'd recommend Black Walnut given your elemental affinities." Harry just shruggd and went off in search of his wood and core. As the wandmaker said Harry had a strong connection to a Black Walnut wood, and an even stronger connection to a Hungarian Horntail's heartstring. Harry remembered the dragon he'd faced in fourth year and decided it was a good thing his wand was made of such a strong material. The wandmaker eyed him speculatively and shortened the wood to 12 inches. "The Horntail I harvested this heartstring from was particularly vicious, will you be going to Aether this year?" He just nodded. "Excellent tell Cyrus that Jahan especially recommended you for his class. If he decides to be judgmental about you being human tell him to take a look at your wand and my note. Do this before the school year starts otherwise he may decide to exclude you anyway." Jahan scribbled a note in what looked like Persian, he wondered why the translating charm wasn't working. Then Jahan shooed him out of his shop. He met his guardians at the door and showed them his new wand, and the strange note along with an explanation of what had transpired inside the shop. Peter was the first to speak up,
"Cyrus is a particularly tricky djinn who trains the elementals at Aether. You have to be a natural elemental to get into his class and even then he'll do his best to eradicate any mortal human students who show a proficiency in the subject. However, Jahan is his brother. He's not likely to ignore his brother's commendation. Still, I suppose you should just listen to your instincts." Harry nodded.
"His brother? But I thought Jahan was a vampire? And why does it seem like everyone here will hate me because I'm a mortal student?" Remus explained the rest,
"Cyrus and Jahan both started out as mortal humans around, oh I'd say a few thousand years ago. Jahan was bitten when he was 6 I think, but he kept aging until he hit 25 like all other turned vampires. Cyrus on the other hand went crazy looking for an alternative to becoming a 'bloodsucking parasite' as he put it. Somehow Cyrus was turned into a djinn, and well he's hated humans ever since. I wouldn't remind him he was once human, I think he vaporized one of the third-form students who tried that. Regardless he's the darling of the djinns and has been part of the school since it started. He doesn't like mortal humans, but aside from that he's fair to everyone else. Furball got into it with him a year or so after we graduated, so I'd be doubly cautious if I were you."
"Just great!" Harry snarled, "Another teacher who holds a grudge against me because of something my parents did. Couldn't you guys have made fewer enemies while you were at school?" the Marauders looked confused.
"What do you mean? Has one of the other teachers at Hogwarts been bothering you because of us?" Harry looked at them incredulously.
"Yes! Severus Snape, remember the Slytherin you tormented the heck out of while you were in school? You called him Snivellous and bullied him mercilessly because he was a Slytherin." A look of comprehension dawned on Sirius' face.
"You mean our best friend Talon? We wouldn't have dared bully him, he's terrifying when angry. Not to mention he's really good at the dark arts, he'd give Moldy a run for his money. Also we never discriminated against Slytherins. Prongs memory charmed everyone in Hogwarts to forget the details about us before sixth year and Talon chose to stay. Prongs must have done a very good memory charm for him to think we hated him and pranked him for being a Slytherin. It wasn't like we were all in Gryffindor anyway. Furball was a Slytherin, Wormtail was a Hufflepuff, and Moony was in Ravenclaw. That's probably why the teachers let us get away with anything. We were the only group of friends who ever managed to overcome the house rivalries and I guess they wanted us as an example to show that houses didn't matter. Anyway what did the sorting hat tell you about your house?"
"Well actually it told me I'd be great in Slytherin, but I begged to be placed in Gryffindor because Hagrid and Ron told me Slytherins were evil, and I'd already met Malfoy who was placed in Slytherin," Remus made a face when Harry mentioned Malfoy.
"Lucius Malfoy was the scum of the earth when we were at Hogwarts. I remember Furball turned his hair multicolored for a week the first time he called her the "m" word. Then he went to Nurse Pomfrey, but she turned him away laughing and reminded him that she was a muggleborn. He never insulted Furball again. I told Cissy not to marry him, but it's not like she had a choice. She'd been contracted to marry him since she was born." Harry wasn't exactly surprised, he'd always gotten the impression that Mrs. Malfoy wasn't happy with her husband. Also she'd refused the dark mark several times. He wondered why Remus cared so much. "Well we need to get our wands now, I'll go first." One by one the Marauders got their wands and refused to tell him what they were made of. Sirius explained,
"You're not supposed to tell someone what your wand is made of. It's part of magical etiquette, it's considered rude. Also once you know what the core of someone's wand is you can use it against them. That's why it was such a bad idea for Dumbledore and Riddle to know what your wand core was. Don't make that mistake again." Harry nodded.
"How do you know Dumbledore and Riddle knew what my wand core was?"
"We legilimenced a couple of the bystanders in Diagon Alley. Minnie was shopping for some new books. Now let's go home. It's late and we can go clothes shopping tomorrow. You don't want to be here when the sun goes down." With that they scurried off to the nearest gateway. Here Remus pointed out a star on the Horologium constellation, and off they went.
The gateway spewed them out at the Pettigrew home. Which was an understatement because the house was more of a chateau. They were in the West Wing of the house Peter informed them.
"Libby!" Peter called for a house elf. Immediately the elf appeared, instead of wearing the usual uniform of a dirty dishcloth, she wore a small yellow dress with the Hufflepuff crest on it. She was smiling and ran over to hug him,
"You're finally home master. How can I help you, Master Peter?" Peter hugged her back and explained the situation.
"Yes, I'm back home permanently, and I've brought some friends with me. Libby you've met Remus and Sirius before. That's Harry, James and Lily's son. Harry this is Libby my head house elf. Harry will be heading off to Aether this year."
"Nice to meet you Libby," Harry stuck out a hand to shake, but Libby decided to forgo the handshake and hugged him instead. Peter made note of the way Harry tensed at physical contact and cursed the Dursleys in his head.
"Master James and Mistress Lily's son is always welcome here. I babysat you when you were just a baby. Where are Master James and Mistress Lily? Why haven't I seen any of you for nearly 16 years? Most importantly why haven't you aged at all except for Master Harry?" Libby looked confused and everyone else flinched as if struck. Surprisingly Sirius was the first to respond.
"Libby, James and Lily died in 1981 and we were placed in stasis for 15 years. Harry was placed in the care of Lily's sister's family. Remember Petunia?" Libby looked angry,
"Who placed Master Harry with horseface? Oh dear come you must eat I can already tell you've been underfed. After you have a full meal you can take a shower and then we can make up your room. I'll send Linus for any belongings you've left anywhere. After your room is made up we can tour the house and gardens. Bye Master Peter, Master Sirius, and Master Remus." The bossy house elf dragged Harry off to the kitchens to get what she considered a proper meal amidst snickers from the Marauders. Harry glanced back and pleaded with them to save him, but they just laughed harder. Instead he decided to plot revenge. Once they got to the kitchen Harry saw all the other house elves wearing uniforms similar to Libby's. The only differences were that the male house elves wore pants and the cooks wore puffy chef hats. Libby ordered shrimp scampi, treacle tarts and pumpkin pasties.
After he ate two helpings of all of his food Libby brought him to his quarters. She drew him a bubble bath and even gave him bath toys. Harry had never been so embarrassed in his life, here he was 17 and in a bubble bath with a rubber ducky. He just hoped nobody would ever hear of this. After soaking in the tub for about an hour he dried off to go join Libby in decorating his room. Libby already had colors on his walls. She was trying to decide between sky blue and mint sherbet. "Do you mind if I ask you something?" Libby gave him the go ahead. "Why are you so well-spoken? All the other house elves I've met had bad grammar and wore dirty dishcloth." Libby nodded.
"All house elves are fairly intelligent to start with. Many years ago we were involved in a war against the fae. We lost the war and the fae cursed us that we would have to be bound to a magic users household or we'll go crazy. Depending on how good the bond is, we can learn how to read and write and speak proper Common. The bond's strength depends on how good our relationship with our master is. In this household we all care about Master Peter very much and he cares about us just as much. Therefore I can read and write. Understand?" Harry nodded. "Good now what color do you want your walls to be?" The walls ended up sky blue with clouds painted along the top. His furniture was all dark brown with gold edging. His bedsheets matched the green of his eyes and Linus popped in with his belongings and a solemn face.
"I'm sorry Master, your owl wasn't locked in her cage properly and she flew away. I can't find her anywhere." Harry was upset, but he knew that Hedwig didn't like being caged up while he was in school. He was sure wherever she was she was happier than she had been with him.
"It's okay Linus, it's probably for the best." Linus nodded and popped out silently. Libby decided to take this time to show him the rest of the house. First she showed him to the library which looked to be as big as the library at Hogwarts and full of even more valuable tomes. She then showed him the Quidditch pitch and the broomshed where his Firebolt was currently stored. She showed him the theatre room, how to get to the kitchen, the indoor pool, the dining room, the ball room and they concluded the tour in the gardens outside.
They were just finishing up the tour when Harry heard a snake's voice in the gardens. Sss Where am I? He went over to the other side of the garden where he saw what looked like an injured cobra but felt entirely different.
You're at the Pettigrew Chateau. Are you okay?
A Speaker? Come here speaker. Harry approached cautiously. I won't hurt you speaker, but can you help me?
What can I do for you?
Reach out with your magic can you sense me?
Yes.
Can you cast a parsel spell to heal me?
How?
Just say heal and channel the magic towards me. I would do it myself, but I'm currently incapacitated and I can't transform. Harry tried channeling magic into her burns and cuts. Thank you speaker. What should I call you?
Harry is fine, what is your name?
Mer will suit. Thank you for healing me Harry, tell me do you have a familiar?
What's a familiar?
That's a no then. A familiar is an animal you have a bond with and can communicate with. They can help you in honor duels and general battles. I wish to become your familiar, I can sense your magic, you will become a very powerful sorcerer.
What's in it for you?
A cunning one eh? As a rule magical animals don't have to become familiars, and I'm certainly no exception. However, we do get a power boost depending on how powerful the wizard we are bound to is. I believe you're powerful enough to allow me to transform into my final state once my magic has fully healed. You'll also get a power boost from me. There is a downside that once bound I can't leave your side without your permission and neither of us can destroy the bond, but I think I'll take my chances.
You keep referring to a transformation, what do you mean by that?
I'm not completely sure. As far as I know I'm the last of my kind and I'm supposed to transform into a bigger form, but I don't know when I'll be able to transform or what I'm becoming.
Very well then, what do I do to initiate the bond?
Just say you accept me as your familiar.
I accept you as my familiar.
I accept you as my bonded. A green glow enveloped him and Mer. She crawled up his arm and hissed in approval. Libby had watched all of this more or less silently.
"Mistress Lily spoke the snake tongue too. You've always spoken it as well. Whenever we needed to understand what you wanted the two of you would hiss back and forth. Master James used to joke he was surrounded by snakes." Harry was stunned his mother spoke Parseltongue? Libby started crying, "Whoever it was that killed Mistress Lily and Master James will you get revenge?"
"I most certainly will Libby. I promise you I will kill him when I'm strong enough." She nodded.
"Good, make it painful. I will tell Linus to set up a snake perch for your familiar and inform the other house elves not to attack her." Libby popped away leaving Harry with Mer. He made his way back into the house to find his uncles. Eventually after wandering around the house for a while and bantering with Mer he found the North Wing. Above there was a sign that read "the Marauder's Den" He knocked on the first door.
"Come in prongslet!" Sirius shouted from the other side. He opened the door. Sirius was sitting criss cross applesauce on his bed with Remus lying on a sun bed reading a book. Peter was in the shower singing Christmas Carols. "So how was today for your 17th birthday?" Harry was surprised he'd thought that in the madness everyone had forgotten his birthday.
"Pretty cool actually. I think this was the best birthday I've ever had." Mer uncoiled herself to look at him.
Best birthday you've ever had? You better say this is the best birthday you'll ever have. You got me for a birthday present. Harry scratched the top of her head fondly.
Of course, you're right you're the best birthday present I've ever gotten. Hey you can understand Common?
Hmph. Remus peered at the snake coiled around Harry's torso.
"Furball had a snake familiar as well, I think it was a baby basilisk. What kind of snake is that? It doesn't have the right markings to be a cobra."
"Well at the moment we don't actually know what she is. Anyway be careful she seems to understand Common. Mer this is Remus, he's one of my guardians. Sirius, the one on the bed is my second guardian, and my third guardian is in the shower, his name is Peter. Please don't attack them unless you have a good reason. Uncle Moony, Uncle Padfoot this is Mer."
These are your nest mates? I will not harm your nest mates without sufficient reason. Tell them it is a pleasure to meet them. Harry passed along Mer's message grumbling about not being her personal messenger. Sirius was sitting on his bed still, his eyes were closed and he seemed to be concentrating on something. Remus understood what was puzzling Harry,
"He's looking at his Occlumency walls. Out of all of us he's actually the best at Occlumency and I'm the best at Legilimency. Peter falls somewhere in between. Pretty unbelievable huh? He just acts like a child because he never had a proper childhood. We need to make you a schedule for the next month so that you're prepared for the Aether. What do you want to do first? Weaponry or Animagi studies?" Remus and Harry came up with a schedule for the next month.
7:00 Wake Up
7:00-8:00 Breakfast
8:00-9:00 Weaponry
9:00-10:00 Occlumency/ Legilimency lessons
11:00-12:00 Animagi lessons
12:00-1:00 Lunch
1:00-2:00 Exercise
Peter finally got out of his shower as they finished up the schedule. "Evening Bambi, I didn't expect you to escape Libby's clutches for another couple of hours or so. Nice familiar she's gorgeous." With that Mer started preening,
Finally someone who appreciates my beauty, I like your nest mate.
You're vain, as a matter of fact you're vainer than some cats I know.
A snake is not capable of being vain. We always have good reason to be proud of our scales. You should be proud as well; you will have scales when you shed your skin.
What do you mean "when I shed my skin"?
What is it that you wizards call it? One of your animagus forms will be a snake. I'm not sure what kind yet, but your form will doubtless reflect how much power you have. Regardless I am a snake and I am proud of my scales because I have good reason to be.
Yes, you are certainly very beautiful.
Sirius finally looked up, "What'd your familiar say?"
"She thinks my animagus form will be a snake. Well actually she said one of them, is it possible to have more than one animagus?" Remus looked thoughtful.
"Many magicals have second or thirds forms, but humans tend to only have one. What kind of snake did she say?"
"Well she's not sure about that either, she just said that it will reflect my magical power."
Needless to say when Harry took his animagus potion almost two weeks later and found out his primary form was a kitsune they were all surprised.
"I'm a fox? Darn and I thought my form would be kind of impressive." Remus shook his head.
"Your form is a kitsune Harry. Kitsune are magical foxes with several tails made of magic. The strongest have nine tails, but there are rumors that there is one with ten. They originated in Japan and local superstition there says they're Kami's, God's, messengers. The truth is that they were created by the werecats and are completely sentient. They are known for their cunning, and can speak mind to mind with anyone they please. Kitsune are incapable of becoming familiars once they grow their second tail. Maybe we should find one so you can speak with it." Thus the Marauders and the junior Marauder set off to some far away place where they could find a kitsune. After a couple hours of searching Peter realized they were going about this the wrong way.
"Remember that Charlus saved a kitsune from a burning building back in 5th year and he decided to stick around in the garden. Dorea nearly had a conniption when he came home all bloody with a burnt kitsune in his arms. He had seven tails, which was the only reason he didn't become Charlus' familiar. Do you suppose he's still at Potter manor?" Then they rushed off to find Harry's grandfather's kitsune.
As it turned out the kitsune had stayed at Potter manor, he had an eighth tail now, and he was hidden in the back gardens.
:: What do you require of me child? :: Harry started and then found the kitsune in his alcove. He approached slowly.
"My animagus form is a kitsune. I was wondering if you could help me learn the transformation."
:: You are Charlus' grandson, Harry? My name is Inari the Sly. I will help you understand your soul Harry. :: Harry sat down next to Inari and Inari explained to him what it meant to be a kitsune. :: Kitsune aren't very common. We were created by the werecats to become another species of weres, but there was some kind of mistake. In the end the experiments were buried in the ground and the werecats forgot. A tree sprouted from the ground were the experiments were buried and a being of pure magic was born. It took the shape of a fox as that was the first creature it came across. After a hundred years it grew a second tail, and the tree produced another kitsune to be guided by the first. Every hundred years we gain another tail and the tree produces another kitsune. You will have six tails when you manage your transformation. As you hit your magical maturation your power will grow, in two years you'll grow another tail. You'll have nine tails six years from now. :: Harry spent the rest of the day learning everything there was to know about kitsune. Remus, Sirius, and Peter changed into their second forms and ran around in the garden. Sirius had confundused Moony into chasing his tail. Harry realized that Sirius wasn't a grim now. He was an adorable big black puppy yipping and running back and forth chasing Peter through a rose bush. Harry remembered that this Sirius had never been to Azkaban and still acted like a child, his soul animal was still quite young. He turned his attention back to Inari,
"I'm ready to try the transformation." Inari nodded at him. Harry focused on what he'd been told and felt himself shrinking down into a white green-eyed fox a little smaller than Sirius' form with six bushy tails. He felt unsteady for a minute, but once he got over it he ran circles around Inari yipping at him.
:: Good job Harry! You'll find that you can communicate mind to mind with anyone while in your kitsune form. Let's try some exercises before you shift back into your human skin. :: Inari got up towering over Harry. They ran to opposite sides of the garden.
:: Can you hear me?::
:: Loud and clear, now try speaking to your guardians. :: Harry focused on sending a message to Peter.
::Hey can you hear me?:: Peter ran out from the hole he'd been hiding in and shifted back to a human.
"Sure can, is that your special power from being a kitsune? Can you do that in human form too?"
:: I don't know, want me to try? :: Peter nodded while conjuring a leash and attaching it to Sirius. By now Moony had stopped chasing his tail and was watching with interest. Harry focused on turning back to a human. Slower than he would've liked he returned to his original form. :: Can you hear me now?:: Peter nodded, but Moony spoke first.
"Cub you should probably look at your hair." Harry raced over to the nearest pond and peered at his hair, which was now the same snow white as his kitsune form. He tried a Finite Incantatem just to find it wasn't working.
"Uncle Padfoot this isn't funny!" Sirius shook his head.
"That wasn't me." Mer coiled around him smelling his hair.
It isn't a charm, the scent hasn't changed. As far as scent goes this could be your natural color. Your hair has just chosen a new color.
Why did it choose a new color?
Perhaps this is your defining mark as an animagus.
"Mer thinks my hair is my mark as an animagus." Peter nodded.
"That would make sense. The first time we transformed we gained our animal ears. You won't be able to change your hair color for a few months and yes that does include muggle hair dyes. Look at the bright side you certainly don't look like Harry Potter anymore." One of the traditions at Aether was to choose a new name, it could be just your first name, or you could change your entire name. For his part Harry was partial to the name Dante Jameson, and Peter was right, Harry's scar had completely faded, all the baby fat had melted of his face, he had healed up his eyesight, and his hair was white, he didn't look like Harry Potter anymore. Still, why was his hair white?
:: What seems to be the problem child?::
:: My hair used to be black, and now it's white.::
:: Is that all? Every kitsune has white hair, even the few that were wizards with kitsune souls. When you reach your final maturation your hair will have gold streaks as well. Not that a kitsune souled human has ever reached their final transformation in my 714 years.::
:: Oh thank you for explaining.:: Inari shook his fur out and returned to his spot under a tree effectively dismissing the humans.
"Inari said that every kitsune has white hair, no matter which form is the natural one. Also that if I'm still alive in 6 years I'll have nine tails." Privately harry wasn't sure he'd live six more years, and Inari's words just cemented that belief. At the same time he knew he'd go down fighting and he'd learn everything he could to kill Riddle.
"Well your hair hasn't actually changed, just turned white. You still look a little like Prongs and Lily, but white suits you prongslet." Sirius had transformed back to a human, but Peter had kept the pink leash with rhinestones stuck around his neck. "Wormtail can you please let go of the leash?" Peter shook his head and led Sirius back to the gateway. "Prongslet, Moony help me!" The two shook their heads.
"Don't worry Pads this is just part 1 of my revenge for changing my hair color." Remus and Harry followed at a distance smiling at Sirius clawing at the floor trying to get away from Peter. Harry considered not helping to be his revenge for the harsh Weaponry lessons Sirius had inflicted on him so far.
First Sirius had Harry learn how to heal cuts which really wouldn't have been so bad if his method of teaching harry to heal cuts was to actually kick his butt with a sword and cut him open in a bunch of different places. He'd run off to the library to find a charm to heal himself. He decided he'd take a proper healing course once he started at Aether. Sirius' next lessons had also just been him beating the crap out of Harry. Although to be fair Harry had improved tremendously and at least Sirius didn't taunt him while they fought. He also had to admit that Sirius was a good swordsman. He much preferred learning Occlumency with him though. Together they came up with strange ways to keep intruders out of their heads. Harry's favorite is a sphinx with insanely hard riddles wired to kill the intruder even if they answered the riddle correctly. Padfoot's favorite is a cute little kitty that rubs up against the intruder and then turns into a giant nundu who immediately neutralizes the intruder. Exercises with Peter were almost as bad as Weaponry with Sirius with the only difference being that Peter actually taught him the healing spells to patch himself up.
He caught up with the rest smirking about a prank he'd planned as retaliation for his first Weaponry class.
"Well now that you've managed to shift into your form there's really no need for you to do your meditation exercises. We'll use that hour as just time to spend in our animagus forms."
"Uncle Moony why can you shift into an actual wolf? I thought werewolves could only change on the full moon."
"No, that's just a myth Greyback likes to take advantage of. Werewolves can shift into wolves or half wolves whenever they like and they always have complete control of their minds. The full moon just makes us stronger, and I've heard of werewolf cults that worship the moon. Another special trick is that we can phase a part of our body. For example we can grow out claws, or teeth for a fight. Our other special abilities include faster healing, more stamina, and we're faster than mortal humans. Overall we're on par with vampires, but with the use of cruor sorcery a human can get up to our level."
"What's cruor sorcery?"
"Ask Padfoot when he's done being humiliated by Wormtail. Cruor sorcery is his specialty, he even has a mastery in it."
"What's your specialty?" Remus grinned ferally.
"I'm glad you asked. Mind magic's are my specialty, I can trap someone inside their mind without a hope of ever getting back out leaving them in a mindscape designed to drive them insane and back again. If they ever do manage to escape they'll have serious mental trauma impossible to overcome. The best part is that while trapped in their minds they can feel pain caused to them by their mindscape. Personally I think ripping out a spine and shoving it down Abraxas' throat was a rather nice touch. After that I broke every bone in his body and summoned his kidney from inside his body. I even left him a message in his blood next to him for when he woke up." Harry remembered that Moony was rather bloodthirsty when sufficiently riled. He made a note to never seriously anger Moony, and followed after him.
"What'd he do?"
"Abraxas Malfoy paid Greyback to bite me and kill my mother when I was 6. Apparently he had some sort of grudge against my father. I only found out when his son taunted me about it in 5th year. I glanced over his mind and just barely refrained from killing him. He was still in St. Mungo's last I checked." Harry nodded he'd heard that Moony had lost his mother when he younger and lost his father while still at Hogwarts, but he'd thought Greyback's attack was random.
"What's Uncle Wormtail's specialty?"
"Wormtail has this weird weather thing. When he was younger and had no control his emotions would trigger some serious storms at Hogwarts. Even now if he gets angry enough he'll start a hurricane out of nowhere. His specialty is Runes though, he became an apprentice to Futhark. I'm not sure, but I think he's also completed his mastery. We all did under different masters we learned of through our contacts at Aether. Your mum had an elemental mastery, and your dad had a mastery in necromancy. Your mum was actually a shaman and we suspect that's why she was perfectly in tune with her elements. She had control of water and earth in case you were wondering." Harry nodded wordlessly.
"I thought necromancy was dark magic?"
"It is, your parents weren't perfectly light you know. They were whatever works kind of people. We didn't forgive easily, and Wormtail told us how the marking process used to work. For it to set properly you had to bathe in the blood of an innocent muggle family and enjoy it, and even after that if you felt the slightest bit of remorse the mark faded away. We killed every death eater we could. We've all killed, actually we had killed before that. It's nearly impossible to get through Aether without killing someone, and we weren't exceptions." Remus watched Harry carefully. If he couldn't accept this he wouldn't be able to go to Aether, and he might not be able to kill Voldemort.
"I understand. Many of the death eaters escaped justice claiming they'd been imperiused. The rest stayed in Azkaban, and when Tom came back to power he had a ready army in Azkaban insane enough to do anything he asked. The death eaters should've been kissed, not pardoned." Moony nodded solemnly.
The rest of the month flew by with occasional interruptions to routine such as the time Harry made Sirius' food taste like dog food for a day and the time Sirius charmed Harry's pants to soak through and make him look like he'd peed himself and stick to his skin for two. Harry couldn't remember ever having as much fun any summer before, and the day before he left for Aether he decided to pay the Dursleys a visit. Dudley opened the door,
"Hey Harry! I like the hair, anyway can I talk to you for a minute?" Harry nodded and took in Dudley's appearance. He'd lost weight, an unhealthy amount of weight. He also had a black eye and bruises on his arms that looked an awful lot like handprints. "I'm sorry for the way I treated you. I guess that without you around Dad decided I was a better target. He hits Mum now too. We're moving out today while he's at work. Now that it's happening to me, well I can't excuse the way I treated you. All I can say is that I was raised to hate you, and even that isn't a good excuse. But even though I treated you like crap you still saved me from those damntors. I'm glad you found somewhere else to live." Harry nodded.
"In different circumstances maybe we could've been friends, but for now all I can say is that if I ever see you or your mum again I probably won't restrain myself from killing both of you. Good luck Dudley!" With that Harry made his way past Dudley into the house. He'd wait here for Vernon to come home from work. He only had to wait a couple of hours, he was twirling his wand in his hand when Vernon came home. He'd already thrown up the most powerful privacy wards he knew.
"Freak! I thought you had learned what was best for you and run off! You're even more freakish now!" Vernon made as if to hit him, but Harry just pushed him back with wandless magic. "You can't use magic they'll expel you from that freak school you go to!"
"Not quite Uncle Vernon, they'd expel me for using magic while under 17. As of last month I am officially 17, or did you forget?" Harry said putting as much venom as he could into his voice.
"Dumbledore said you would never hurt us!"
"Dumbledore is dead in case you didn't know, but he's never had any control over me anyway. Anyway I have someone who wants to meet you. She's heard many stories about you." With that Mer slunk down to the floor and drew up to her 7 feet in height watching Vernon. "Uncle Vernon meet Mer, she's a magical snake and she's my familiar."
"This isn't real! This isn't real! This isn't real!" Harry had learned when he was 6 years old that Vernon had ophidiophobia, he was afraid of snakes. Or perhaps terrified would be the most appropriate word.
"Mer has a special kind of poison. It's a paralytic that will keep you awake through all the pain we'll put you through and then keep you awake once we're done with the final phase of our plans for today." Mer bit Vernon and Harry approached a whimpering Vernon. "Where to start where to start hmm? Oh I know you broke both of my legs 'by accident' when I was ten." Harry flicked his wand at said bones and heard the audible crack they made. "You know for all you complained I was a freak you were an even bigger one. Honestly what normal person locks up a child in a cupboard?" Vernon finally got angry.
"You're calling me a freak? You're a good for nothing wand-waving lunatic. What normal person tortures a family member?" Harry smirked.
"Then I suppose it's a good thing I never made a claim to normalcy." With that Harry proceeded to break Vernon's bones and tear out chunks of skin. At one point he even electrocuted him and charred his privates. By the time he was done Vernon was unrecognizable and still conscious. He was trying to whimper, but Harry had already torn out his voice box. There was no outward sign that he was still alive, and Harry had dulled the noise of his heart beat so that no one could hear it. "Now for your final punishment, they should find you tomorrow. I know that you've put it in your will that you want to be buried, and you will be. You'll be buried alive and die in maybe 10 years. Maybe it'll take longer, potions was never my forte. Drink this." Harry tipped Vernon's head back and poured the potion down his throat. "Goodbye Uncle." With a cheery wave Harry disapparated to Diagon Alley to find the gateway which was now next to the Leaky Cauldron. He made his way home whistling a jaunty tune and cleaning off the knives he'd used to rip into Vernon. He felt satisfied now that he'd tied up that loose end. He ported to Pettigrew House wondering if that counted as the first life he'd taken, after all Vernon was still alive and would stay alive for 10 more years.
"What'd you do to him prongslet?" Sirius was bouncing up and down in anticipation. The other Marauders were seated on a plush couch and Harry sat down next to him.
"Whoa the smell of blood is overpowering my nose!" Harry noted that using Moony's werewolf senses against him could make for an effective prank. He decided to work on that later and told them in gory detail exactly what he'd done for revenge. Peter whistled in appreciation.
"Damn Harry remind me to never piss you off. That is terrifying." Sirius was covering his privates as Harry retold what he'd done to Vernon's rather unimpressive equipment,
"I guess you really are ready for Aether. Have you already packed everything?"
"Have you met Libby?" Harry countered. "She insisted that she would pack everything for me and apparently the trunk I chose has a direct connection to the bank and can't be opened by anyone besides me. Can you tell me what the family motto's translation is?" Sirius raised his hand,
"Pick me pick me! Okay the motto is Praesis ut Prosis ne ut Imperes and comes from Latin. It means 'Lead in order to serve not in order to rule'. Originally it was Merlin's motto and as I'm sure you've heard by now, you are the last direct descendant of Merlin. Alden Potter married Merlin's only daughter over a thousand years ago. All the other offshoots have mostly died out though." Harry decided he liked the motto and would keep it as his personal motto.
"How am I getting to Aether?" Peter answered first.
"You have to go to the pick up point, from there the Headmistress will take you to the school. Don't ask me how she does it, all I know is that she can hop between realities fairly easily. Some of the elder djinns can do it, but I've never heard of anyone besides them who could do it. Anyway we're meeting her by the gateway we used to get to Infinitium the first time. That's called Wizard's Way, she already knows you're coming."
"What's her name and what is she?"
"Her name is Morgana Le Fay, and she's human. Or at least she used to be, now she's a being of pure magic, similar to a kitsune. She came to the school a thousand years ago after Merlin defeated her to lick her wounds. Since then she's become stronger than most magicals. Don't worry she won't hate you for being a Potter, I don't think she even knows the Potter's are Merlin's descendants. Regardless, Headmistress Le Fay is the only reason humans can still apply to Aether. She's pretty strict, but she also has a wicked sense of humor. You'll like her, trust me." Harry nodded and prepared for tomorrow.
Is this a cliff hanger? I'm going to sleep right now so I suppose I don't really care but I guess I'm sorry anyway. Did you like the kitsune white hair thing? What about Morgana Le fay? And what did you think about what I did to the Dursleys? After turning Petunia and Dudley into Vernon's victims I couldn't torture them, but I think I did a pretty good job with Vernon. I'm sorry if this wasn't up to par but I've never actually written a torture scene. Hopefully by the end of the fic I'll be better at it. So... that's it I guess. REVIEW PLEASE!