/thoughts/
:Parseltongue:
OooOOoooOOOO
"Ok, so I guess I have to admit that I lied." Harry said into the tense stand-off between the werewolves and the Aurors. "I have been talking with some non-humans."
"No shit." Growled one of the Aurors, not taking eyes nor wand from being trained on the closest wolf.
"But I swear I don't know why they claim I'm their alpha." Harry continued, ignoring the Auror.
"If I might answer that question?" Harry turned to look at the rather average sized werewolf that had spoken. The man had an intense look in his eye as he regarded Harry and ignored the magical might brought to bear on him. He was shaggy, but not in a worn down way like Remus had had as a werewolf, more like a wild animal with its hackles half raised.
"Speak." One of the officials said, but the wolf did not move until Harry shrugged is agreement.
"He is our Alpha as he has upheld the laws of our people and held himself honorably." The werewolf explained, his gaze starting to freak Harry out a little bit with its intensity. Not because of a sense of intimidation- Voldemort made this pup look like a lovesick teen. No, because of the... admiration? A weird emotion in the gaze that neither Harry nor Voldemort (when consulted) could identify.
"I just kicked the crap out of a couple of you and killed those that were going to cause trouble." Harry protested.
"Exactly." The werewolf looked entirely too pleased with himself.
"What?" Harry was lost.
"The first rule of the werewolves is that we cannot discuss it with outsiders." The werewolf looked wry. "Which causes issues, of course, but there would be more if our enemies knew how to manipulate us." He looked pointedly at the Aurors and Ministry officials.
/:Isn't that annoying?:/ Voldemort commented, looking out the left eye at the werewolves. /:They won't explain it while all these people are here, and the Ministry won't leave before they hear it.:/
"Harry O'Donnell, we have to put you under arrest for consorting with non-humans." Minister Bagnold said slowly, watching as about a third of the werewolves shot her hostile glares.
"Yeah, ok." Harry said sarcastically. "Because you think you can take me in if I don't want to after I put the strongest wizard in the world into a coma." Bagnold gave him an uncertain look and Harry had to take a bit of pity on her- she was rather young to be in office, after all. "Can I just have a chat with the werewolves for a bit without anyone trying to kill anyone else?" All the magical humans looked positively scandalized, Myrtle let out a distressed 'eep' and Tom made grumbling disgruntled noises. The werewolves watched Harry, some gazes shifting around the garden before snapping right back.
Harry flopped onto his back and groaned to the sky before sitting back up with a determined look on his face. "Look, you're just going to have to trust me for a second, ok? Unless you want this to get physical. Er... magical?" Harry hook his head. "Whatever. I just want to get this settled before the muffins get cold." He eyed Myrtle's tray longingly.
The tensness in the air was thick enough to cut with a cutting hex. Harry stood, grumbling when the motion renewed his headache, and started toward the invisible battleline. /Voldie- can you set up some sort of ward around the werewolves and us?/ Harry asked absently as he worked on walking in as non-threatening manner as possible to the non-humans. Harry felt a splash of shock from the other soul like cold water before the first threads of a ward began to separate the garden into two sections.
Just before slipping into the area that was now almost another dimension due to the power and archaic nature of the spells, Harry turned around and looked at the assembled people. He threw a reassuring smile at his adoptive parents before announcing, "I'm not ashamed of associating with non-humans who are as intelligent or more so than a human. You all should be ashamed instead of your prejudices. I am going to work out some things with these werewolves. When I come out, I expect you all to have come to a consensus on a truce that you would consider workable between the two of us." He ruined the seriousness of his speech by snickering at the end. "And if being told off like you're little kids by a seven year old doesn't make you ashamed of yourselves, I give up." Harry waved goodby and slipped into the wards despite the protests of the others.
"Man... being superpowerful and immortal is such a pain in the ass!" Harry complained.
/:I agree.:/
"You do?" Harry shouted out loud in his shock.
/:Absolutely. If you are trying to treat the others as equals it is totally untenable.:/
A sharp laugh was startled out of Harry. /Point again, Voldie. I think I need to start quipping back or you'll win the game./
/:What game?:/ Voldemort seemed genuinely confused, so Harry left him to look through their shared thoughts and figure it out on his own while he turned to address the werewolves.
"Ok, so what are these rules then? And why is killing you guys somehow making me eligible to be your Alpha." Harry held up a hand just as the spokes-wolf was about to talk. "Wait- first, what's your name?"
The wolf looked extremely pleased to be asked, his eyes turning a lumescent gold and his hair smoothing out. "Vilkatas."
"Ok, Vilkatas... now why am I the Alpha?"
"Well, quite simply, you killed our last one." Vilkatas started.
"Fenrir?"
"Yes."
"Ok, that makes sense. Except that I'm not a werewolf." Harry pointed out. Reasonably, he thought.
"True, but you killed him with your bare hands and even ritualistically pulled his heart from his body. Which is how you released all his unwilling victims from the brotherhood. Such instincts are so..." Vilkatas' eyes were taking on the shine that had Harry and Voldemort both extremely uncomfortable. Even as an insane snake-like Dark Lord there had still been fanboys.
"Ok, snap out of it, you're too old to be looking at me like that." Harry and Voldemort both growled at him.
"Yes, my Alpha!" Vilkatas gasped, crouching down and tilting his head back. The other werewolves looked at Harry with respect and wariness.
"Argh, no grovelling!" Vilkatas winced. Harry rolled his eyes. "Just keep explaining, alright?"
"Yes, my Alpha." Vilkatas straightened slightly, but not fully to the proud stance he had had previously. He coughed nervously. "You killed the previous Alpha in a very traditional way... even if you didn't know it," he continued when Harry's eye started to twitch, "so you were the interim-Alpha. If you did not confirm your claim then we would have found another to take the place."
"I didn't confirm being Alpha!" Harry protested.
"Ah... you did."
"How?" Harry asked. "Oh no..." He groaned in realization. "Something about beating the crap out of you all..."
"And killing those who were going against your will, yes." Vilkatas confirmed. "We werewolves came to see what you were going to do, especially as you are a non-werewolf. You laid down the rules to the first comers, and then enforced the 'no-killing' rules with lethal force." Harry winced at the irony. "And not once did you use magic. You fought us as we would have fought for dominance ourselves- physically, to submission, lethal if necessary. Even in the same form as we were in." Vilkatas was getting that fan-boy look in his eye again, but Harry was in no position to notice.
Harry grabbed his suddenly even more painful head and groaned. "Oh bollocks!"
/:Only you could accidentally police a race of supernatural beings.:/ Voldemort commented, somewhere between laughing and in shock.
"We haven't had such good leadership in such a long time." Came a female voice from beside Vilkatas. "And since you are human, we are so hoping you can help us with the human problem, and give us a place in the world."
/:I take it back. You've become the werewolf messiah!:/
/We have become the werewolf messiah./ Harry shot back silently, Voldemort's entire soul shuddered in revulsion. It was almost enough to make Harry smirk, except for the killer headache and the fact that he was in the same position.
"And you are?"
"Ilimu, Alpha." The dark-skinned, exotically dangerous looking werewolf replied. "I would be honored to serve as your Alpha mate." She cooed.
"What!?" Harry squeaked.
"No, he spoke to me first!" Vilkatas protested hotly.
"WHAT!?" Harry exclaimed even louder, though he was ignored as the two werewolves squared off and started to circle each other.
"You're a male!" Ilimu protested.
"So?"
"When a bitch and a dog love each other very much..." Ilimu started, sneering.
"Hey, both of you, stop that right now!" Harry snapped at them, causing both to flinch and crouch in front of him, whining slightly. Harry ran a hand through his hair in exasperation, making it stick up in all directions. "I'm..." he trailed off as he wasn't exactly sure how old he was. "I'm a little kid! I'm not going to have a mate! I'm not going to hit puberty for..." and he trailed off again at the depressingly long time it would be until he did, and then almost cried when he realized how long it would last.
"It's a political position as much as a sexual one, Alpha." Vilkatas explained eagerly. "We could fight for it, of course, but your preferences are very important as well."
"Which means, of course, that you want someone who will be sexually attractive once you are ready for that." Ilimu added, sneaking a glare at Vilkatas before snapping her gaze back to Harry.
"I..." Harry sputtered. He was sort of used to being the object of desire due to his fame, but this was like a whole other level. "I don't want a harem!" He finally protested. The very idea was horrifying. He knew what girls did when they got into groups and it was positively terrifying.
"Oh, no- you only have one mate of course." Both werewolves assured him.
"I don't want a mate at all." Harry grumbled. Besides not having the hormonal drive at the moment, he had never been that interested in all the people who had tried to get with him for his fame. These damn wolves weren't any better. They were reminding him of a giant canine "Harry Potter Fan Club" with Vilkatas as Colin Creevy.
"Won't you need someone to tell you about the werewolves, where they are, what you are ruler of, what the traditions are?" Vilkatas asked persuasively.
Harry could see that trap from a mile away and didn't answer.
"And won't you need someone to take care of things in your absence and help to uphold your decisions while you are negotiating the treaty with the humans?" Ilimu continued.
The other wolves were all watching the speaker and then flicking their gaze back to Harry.
"You're assuming I want to be your Alpha." Harry crossed his arms over his chest. The reaction was immediate. All the werewolves looked so dejected- the ones in human forms practically fell to the ground and water welled in their eyes, the ones in wolf form had their tails tucked up between their legs and their ears at a pathetic angle. He felt like he had just drop-kicked a puppy, plus Voldemort was affronted at him throwing away such a source of power. "Bloody hell! Surely a werewolf would be a better leader?"
The denials were so overwhelming that Harry had to bring his arms up to physically ward off the overreacting werewolves.
"Ok, ok! I'll stay your Alpha if you are so adamant." Harry gasped out. "Not that I have anything pressing I need to do for the foreseeable future." He muttered. Harry had never been able to say no to a fan that was genuinely happy to see him. He cursed the damn Dursleys and their neglect for making him such a sucker for positive attention in small enough doses. "And besides, 'if the universe plays a prank on you, you play a prank on the world.'"
/:I think that saying is a bit different than what you quoted...:/ Voldemort mused. /:But I heartily approve of your logic. We shall rule this world yet!:/
Harry ignored the other soul and turned back to the two werewolves. "And why don't you both be my... assistants for now." Harry refused to call them mates, since they weren't. But they did have a point that he would need help if he was going to take this nonsense up as a twisted sort of hobby. The two wolves both looked at him, scandalized. "I shall need one of you with me, and one in the field." Harry explained reasonably. "One last question, though- why are some of you in wolf form? It's not the full moon." Harry asked in puzzlement.
"Those are the werewolves that started off as wolves, of course. Vilkatas replied.
"Er... what?" Harry was confused.
"Some werewolves were born that way, some were wolves originally, some human." Vilkatas explained unhelpfully.
"Er..." Harry continued to stare at Vilkatas unintelligently. He was pretty sure that the Monster Book of Monsters had said that all werewolves were infected people.
"That's another werewolf secret, of course, though not really much of one. We don't talk about it, but we don't hide it, either." Vilkatas shrugged. "The humans always ignore that we have brothers with us in wolf form more often than not."
"Hmm." Harry couldn't say he didn't agree with that. Everyone had that sort of tendency...
/:Though not us, of course.:/
Harry couldn't tell if Voldemort was being sarcastic or not. He leaned toward the other soul, but Voldemort crossed his arms over his chest defensively so Harry backed off, confused. "Well... um... do they turn into humans on the full moon then?"
"Yes, Alpha." Ilimu replied.
"Huh." Harry felt his curiosity perk up. "You're going to have to tell me about this more, I think, but maybe not when the Ministry is thinking we're plotting their demise in here." He turned around and realized that he had no idea what the shimmering veil behind him was. It looked like a variation on Protego, that is, from the same warding family, which meant it wasn't linked to a physical object... /Ah... Voldemort?/
/:Yes?:/
/This is sort of beyond my skill level to take down./ Harry was a bit worried that he hadn't even noticed that Voldemort had cast something so impressive through his body. Was the other soul taking over or... the other option seemed ridiculous... but them, maybe that was why Voldemort had seemed so shocked? Harry couldn't have... trust him, had he?
/:Hm.:/ Voldemort made a noncommittal sound but took down the ward without argument. Harry tried to pay attention to what the counter-ward was, but without knowing what it was countering, it didn't make much sense. /:I am no one's servant.:/ Voldemort's mental voice was almost undetectable. If Harry hadn't been paying such close attention to what the other soul was doing he probable would have missed it.
Harry felt a quick flash of relief- yes, that is what he had been doing- exploiting his prisoner. /Well, then I suppose you will have to teach me the spells so I can cast them, then./ He relied jauntily.
Voldemort hissed at him in half-hearted annoyance. He seemed almost distracted- maybe because of the casting? Harry shrugged and stepped over the former barrier.
OooOooooOOOO
Dumbledore's chest heaved upwards as his eyes opened. He blinked at the serene sky above him and he wondered what exactly had just happened. He had plenty of experience with the mental arts and the various worlds and metaphors that could result from them, but he was pretty damn sure he had just been in some sort of alternate dimension, not just a mental landscape. Which, now that he was not surrounded by the peace and knowledge of the... afterlife... meant that he had almost died. He hadn't faced the prospect of his own death since fighting Grindewald, and he was briefly jealous of his other self who had not only faced actually died, but had a situation where he could resolve these issues more slowly while dealing with another Dark Lord, rather than while half-passed out on the ground after mentally attacking a young child.
"Albus?"
Dumbledore looked up at Tom, vaguely surprised at the concern on the other man's face. They hadn't been seeing eye to eye for the past year or so. "Yes?"
"Oh thank Merlin!" Tom dropped to his knees beside the older wizard. "I'm so glad you're awake! Uh... how many fingers am I holding up?" Tom asked, holding up a thumb.
"Very funny, Tom." Albus said dryly, though he appreciated the attempt at humor, especially when the MediWizards and Witches pushed his estranged friend to the side and started doing actual diagnostics on him. He shooed them away, pretty sure he was fine, and if not, not going to benefit from their help as they were none of them MindHealers. "I'm fine, thank you. All that running around was just too much for an old man." He demurred, standing up gingerly when he discovered he ha a rather impressive headache. Otherwise, however, he felt just fine.
"Albus..." Tom had a shifty look on his face that Albus knew meant he was analyzing the situation and wasn't yet sure how he wanted to respond.
"Tom, before you decide you're still not speaking with me, let me just say that I was... overzealous in my dealing with young Harry." Albus cut him off.
"Oh, really?" Not Tom's face was both more closed off and more hopeful, he was waiting for the other shoe to drop or the trap to be sprung. "What has inspired this change of heart?"
"I'll tell you later, after the situation is more under control." Dumbledore looked around and noted the Aurors crawling all over a ward that he thought looked somewhat like an ancient Proteus anguinus. He stroked his beard before grimacing at the somewhat slimy texture... damn that boy ad his transfiguring skills, anyway. "So, Tom, what exactly is the situation, then?"
"Harry locked himself up with all the werewolves to discuss his role as their leader." Tom replied, his face a totally blank mask as he awaited Dumbledore's reaction.
"Well, he certainly doesn't seem to know how to do things half-way." Dumbledore murmured, shaking his head in wonderment. "He cast the ward, then?"
"Yes." Tom's voice was clipped, but his face was looking faintly hopeful when Albus hadn't reacted negatively to the description.
"Hmm." Dumbledore looked at his friend and came to a decision. "I might be able to take it down, but let's give Harry the benefit of the doubt."
Tom's face finally opened with a smile. "Thank you, Albus."
"For now, anyway, young Harry is in with werewolves, after all."
Tom's face clouded with worry, as did Myrtle's beside him. "Yes." Tom muttered. "Though the werewolves claimed that Harry had defeated and even killed some of their number."
Dumbledore found himself shocked, though he really didn't see why he should be at this point. "I see."
"Even so, he's a little boy, he shouldn't have to deal with all this political nonsense." Myrtle sniffed.
"Dear, it's not nonsense, the non-humans are causing all sorts of turmoil over their rights and with the more radical members of their species attacking wizarding institutions."
"I know that, Tom." Myrtle snapped. "But so far as a child is concerned, it should be nonsense for us grown ups to deal with. And besides, you heard what he said- we are using the same arguments agains non-human rights that the Purebloods use against Muggles and to justify the horrible things they do to their children."
"But Muggles are still human, the non-humans are, well, not. It is a different situation entirely." Tom protested.
"How is it different? They can speak and reason just the same as can humans." Myrtle retorted.
Albus cut in before the pair that could really get going. He recognized from the quirk of Myrtle's eyebrow and the twitching of Tom's jaw that they were settling in for a good long debate. And seeing how worried the two of them were, it could become truly epic. No matter what either of them actually believed, they would argue the two sides they had picked fiercely. "What did Harry say about the issue?"
"What?" They both blinked and turned to the Headmaster.
"You mentioned that Harry said something about the non-human issue." Albus prompted.
"Oh, before he went into the ward with the werewolves he said that we all should be ashamed of ourselves for treating non-humans like animals." Tom said offhandedly, making Dumbledore smile a bit at how easily he abandoned the stance he had taken against Myrtle now that the wind up had been broken. It seemed from his phrasing that he agreed with his wife, which the Headmaster was not shocked to learn, considering the man's history.
"I assume the Ministry took that well." Albus said, the twinkle in his eye only slightly dimmed from the headache shooting through his head.
"Yeah." Tom scoffed, turning with worried eyes toward the shimmering ward.
"Myrtle- they got a bit burnt." The three adults turned to look at the young Jeff standing holding a tray of muffins, somewhat blackened at the tops.
"Oh, Jeff, thank you dear." Myrtle said, accepting the tray from him. "I did neglect them, didn't I?"
"Is Harry in there?" Jeff asked, shifting his weight from foot to foot.
"Yes, he is." Tom said gently.
Jeff looked at the barrier with a frown. "He's so..." The young boy didn't finish the sentence, just looked even more worried, his frown deepening.
"We'll figure this out, Jeff." Tom said softly.
Jeff just shook his head.
They all stood watching the shimmer before it delicately folded in on itself and retracted back into a small figure standing on the other side. Harry was backed by two of the werewolves. The rest turned and left casually as the barrier came down, ignoring the Aurors' commands.
"Harry!" Tom, Myrtle and Jeff cried, running forward toward him, closing the distance quickly.
Harry's eyes widened and he cried out sharply, startling everyone. "Myrtle, watch the muffins!" He said, gesturing with his hand and levitating the two batches that had almost fallen to the ground in the mad dash.
"Harry, at a time like this you're worried about muffins?" Myrtle asked incredulously, hugging Harry tight to her and sobbing.
"Myr-tle!" Harry whined, still holding the muffins up with his magic. Wandlessly and wordlessly, everyone noted.
"Don't you whine at me young man! You're supposed to let us take care of you, not the other way around."
"I can take care of myself." Harry huffed as he escaped her grasp and snagged a muffin. "Oh, hey Jeff! Did you come with Tom?" Harry asked in between bites of muffin and moans of delight.
"I did..." Jeff said quietly.
"Harry O'Donnell!" Myrtle gasped, scandalized. "You are most certainly not able to take care of yourself."
The werewolves beside Harry stiffened at that statement.
"Well, fine... maybe I could just take some OWLs or something and then I can?" Harry asked absently, starting on a second muffin and handing one each to the bemused werewolves.
"You cannot take those tests until your magical core is finished growing, otherwise it might..." Dumbledore trailed off from his explanation.
"You mean it might get bigger?" Since Dumbledore had vowed to follow his other self's advice, at least for a while, he could see that the boy seemed more horrified at the thought than pleased.
"Well... maybe." Dumbledore said dubiously. If the boy's magical core got any bigger, he wasn't sure the physical body could handle it.
"Huh." Harry mused, getting that distant look to his eyes that meant that he was talking with the other soul in his head. Albus had to make a conscious effort to not frown in distaste. It was going to take a while to realign his thinking about this situation, but basically being given a prophecy direct from the afterlife... he couldn't ignore something like that.
Dumbledore sighed and snatched one of the muffins out of the air and took a bite. It was, he noted, a sinfully delicious baked good. Very possibly a better reward than winning a duel or being proven right. Which was good, because that was exactly what he hadn't accomplished in the past day. Dumbledore frowned. He could definitely sympathize with anyone that found prophecies annoying. It had been much more satisfying to bring the might of the Ministry down on the confusing enigma that was Harry with righteous anger. But, he mused, looking over at Tom's worried face, it had led to estrangement from one of his best friends.
Dumbledore took another bite from his muffin and pretended it was a lemon drop.
OOooOoOOo
A/N: The two werewolves' names are kinds of shapeshifters/ werewolves from various parts of the world. The ward is names after this worm thing that I found on Wikipedia (because, why not, right? hehe)