CHAPTER 3:

SUCCUBI, WIZARDS AND DEMONS

Morrigan frowned as she listened to her father's confession. She wasn't actually angry at him: he had explained his reasons for dividing her power, in order that she can grow used to her power. Belial's third of her power would revert to her on his death.

No, it was this other third that was most concerning. "Father," she said, "why was this other third of my power not monitored?"

A sigh that sounded like the distant rumbling of a quiescent volcano, before a voice that sounded like a storm given voice, despite its soft and quiet nature, rang out. "I did not think it necessary. I checked it every half a century, or at least the integrity of the pocket dimension. However, my confidence that nobody would find it was misplaced."

"A rare mistake this is," the short demon attendant Mudo spoke. "Trouble yourself on it, you should not, my lord."

"I agree," Morrigan said. "What's done is done, and you had no way of knowing that those fools could breach the pocket dimension. And the power was felt was sensed at Hogwarts?"

"Yes. Originally, it was in another part of Britain, but I have sensed it at Hogwarts. My daughter, I task you with finding that power. I suspect that it may have developed into another entity. If that is the case, invite them to meet me here. I will decide what to do then."

"And if they resist?"

"Subdue them, non-lethally. I know how much you enjoy combat, Morrigan, and I ask you only that you show the restraint required of my heir."

"Your will be done, Father," Morrigan said.

It was the next day. Harry just wanted to get away from everything, so he went down to the Black Lake, Lilith in tow. Lilith's presence had raised a lot of questions with his friends, especially considering that Harry and Lilith seemed to know each other well. It got aggravating, and it was worse when the Minister denied that Voldemort had revived. Oh, and Barty Crouch Junior had been given the fucking Dementor's Kiss, thanks to Fudge's idiocy.

Harry, therefore, was in a bit of a mood, and so too was Lilith. It took some doing to get Ron and Hermione to hold their questions until Harry was ready (and it was Dumbledore who persuaded them to do so). Harry hoped that Hermione wouldn't go as quixotic as she did earlier in the year when House Elves came up, and, well, given how Ron treated him earlier in the school year, he wasn't sure how he'd take the news of Harry having a Succubus as a familiar. Dumbledore and Sirius seemed open-minded about it, at least, and Dumbledore was hinting that he might not even have Harry return to the Dursleys. Nothing more than hinting, though.

"Damn nosey old goat, poking his nose into my mind," Lilith muttered bitterly.

"I don't like it either, but he probably wanted to see if you were a threat," Harry said.

"Yeah, well, I am, to anyone who is a threat to you. I'm going to demand that he has us stay somewhere other than in that…menagerie."

"You mean with the Dursleys?" Harry asked.

"Yes. The Walrus, the Giraffe, and the Baby Whale," Lilith said. "If he forces us to stay with them, I am so raping their minds into leaving us alone."

"Oh, sounds like fun. I might join in if you cooperate."

The Scottish-sounding purr emanated from seemingly nowhere, before a woman appeared. She had green hair, wearing something like a black leotard that nonetheless exposed a lot more of her buxom body than it should, the neckline lined with what looked like feathers. Her legs were covered in stockings that had bat-like images printed on them. A pair of bat-like wings protruded from her back, and a much smaller pair protruded from her head. Her face was beautiful, inhumanly so, and her light green eyes twinkled with mischief. In fact, there was much about her that resembled Lilith in her own Succubus form.

Harry blinked. "Who are you? Another Succubus?"

"Quick on the uptake, aren't you, human?" the Succubus asked. "Rest easy, I'm not here for you." She looked at Lilith. "I'm here for you. I am Morrigan Aensland. Come with me, please. You have something of mine."

"What do you mean, I have something of yours? I've never met you in my life," Lilith retorted.

"Maybe, but that doesn't alter the fact that my father and I need to talk to you. You are invited to an audience with him. And it doesn't do to keep Belial Aensland, the ruler of Makai, waiting."

"Hey, where she goes, I go," Harry said, glaring at Morrigan. "And don't you think you're conspicuous, turning up like that?"

"I erected wards before I showed myself, the wizards can't see us. And I'm asking this one to come with me politely. Humans aren't invited."

"Like Harry said, where I go, he goes," Lilith said. "You've got a problem with that?"

"I don't know. Wait, Harry?" Morrigan peered at his face, or rather, his scarred forehead. "Oh, if it isn't Harry Potter? So, what's the Boy Who Lived doing hanging out with a Succubus?"

"I'm his familiar."

Morrigan wheeled on Lilith, peering into her eyes. Eventually, she said, "I think you both had better come with me, then. Don't worry, we'll bring you back as soon as we can."

As she opened a rip in mid-air, Harry said, "Wait, who said we're going with YOOUUU?!" This last part was due to Morrigan grabbing hold of them both and leaping through the rip in the air…

…And they were suddenly elsewhere. In some sort of audience chamber of a castle, with a curtained-off area. Harry was on his feet, pointing his wand at Morrigan. "Okay, that's the second time I've been kidnapped by magical means in as many days!"

Morrigan looked at his wand, amused. "And the first thing you do is whip out your pointy thing and poke it at a woman. Men, you never change. You could've bought me a drink first."

"Morrigan, that's enough."

The voice was calm, but deep and powerful. Lilith glared at the curtained-off area. "A bit late, considering she kidnapped us."

"She brought you here on my instructions, child. She was instructed to invite you here, or bring you here if you were being recalcitrant," the voice rumbled. "I am Belial Aensland, the ruler of Makai. Morrigan is my heir. And you, child, are something of an anomaly."

"Don't you dare call her an anomaly!" Harry snapped.

"And don't you dare speak to my father with such disrespect, human," Morrigan retorted coldly.

"Excuse me? You kidnapped me on his orders, and then he calls Lilith an anomaly, and you expect me to speak to him with respect?"

Morrigan opened her mouth to retort, only for Belial's voice to ring out. "Morrigan, some of his anger is justified. I will tolerate this, for now. Child…Lilith. Approach."

Lilith stood her ground, glaring at the curtained-off area. A sigh that sounded like a gale. "Approach now. I need to check you before I make a decision."

"I don't trust you," Lilith said. Suddenly, she was pulled through the air, and then dropped in front of the curtains. Harry rushed to her side in an instant.

The voice of Belial seemed surprised when he spoke next. "This is unexpected."

"What, that I'd help her?"

"No. You have shown yourself willing to defend her. No…your souls have fused into one. This is…surprising."

"What does this mean, Father?" Morrigan asked.

After a moment, Belial spoke, "Lilith, wizard…I should apologise for the necessity of bringing you here for something that has since proved unfruitful. Perhaps I should explain. When I first adopted Morrigan, she held a great power. Too great, in fact, for her to hold. So I divided her power into thirds. One third I allowed her to keep. Another third, I kept within myself, to be released to her when I perish. And another third was locked into a pocket dimension for safekeeping. Or so I thought. I recently found out that the wizards of your world breached that dimension over sixteen years before. Hmm, yes, your scar. You are the one called Harry Potter, wizard. It seems that somehow, you gained the power that once belonged to Morrigan…and with it, a familiar."

"And?" Harry demanded.

"Yes, Father. What next? Can we get the power from them?" Morrigan asked.

"The only way to do so is to kill them both. But I won't do that."

"Oh? And why is that, Father?" Morrigan asked. She didn't sound disappointed, more curious than anything else.

"I believe that Lilith is the part of you that was sealed away, made flesh. Normally, there would be a link between you two. Once out of the pocket dimension, you would be drawn to each other, to become one being again. But you don't feel that, do you?"

"…No."

"It is because Harry's soul and Lilith's fused at an early stage. The link is broken, and killing them will not release the power to you. And in any case, those of Makai are already on bad enough terms with wizards in general. We needn't draw unnecessary ire by killing their saviour."

"Thank you," Harry said acidly. "And I didn't ask to be considered their saviour."

The chuckle emanating from the curtained-off area sounded like distant thunder. "I'm sure you didn't. But the wizarding world is filled with fools, though the same could be said about humanity in general…and even we Darkstalkers. But inadvertently or not, you are now part of a greater world than even that of Magical Britain. Voldemort will not be your only foe now that you have Lilith bound to you. There are many of our kind who may target you to seek revenge by proxy against my daughter and I, despite the fact that we have only just met. Demitri Maximoff, for example."

"Who?" Harry asked.

"A most arrogant vampire," Morrigan remarked haughtily. "My father exiled him to your realm centuries ago when he attempted a coup d'etat. He and I have clashed on occasion. And Father, would Night Warriors be of any concern for them?"

"Potentially."

"Night Warriors?" Lilith asked.

"Humans who hunt Darkstalkers," Morrigan explained. "I know of two. One, Donovan, tends to hunt down Darkstalkers who prey on humans. Another, Baby Bonny Hood, is considerably less discriminate, murdering those who are merely trying to live a normal life, for money. While I can handle them, you are still something of a fledgling, even if you have part of my power. I have three centuries of experience over you."

"She tore apart a whole gathering of Death Eaters with ease," Harry said. "She's not weak, and she can fight well."

"Death Eaters may be powerful wizards, but Night Warriors push themselves to human limits and beyond," Belial said. "They need to, in order to be able to fight Darkstalkers."

"Oh joy, more people after us," Harry said flatly. "That's all I need."

"You should be used to that, Harry," Morrigan said with a careless shrug. "You've already had Voldemort on your case since you were a baby. And you've doubtless had sycophants sucking up to you to bathe in the reflected glory of your fame. I've had men and women chasing me for centuries for various reasons, whether they wanted me dead, or merely in their bed. I'm sure the same can be said for you."

"Morrigan, there is a time and a place for such levity," Belial chided his daughter softly. "This is not it." Harry then felt the ruler of Makai's attention come back to him, even if he couldn't see so much as a glowing eye or two in the darkness of the curtained-off area. No, just an unnerving attention from the shadows, as if the very shadows were a single eye. "As this is partly the result of a decision I have made, I should take some responsibility. You both have been thrown into a world somewhat beyond your ken. Lilith is effectively Morrigan's sister, and Lilith cannot live without Harry. And as my heir seems determined to defy my will and visit the human world, perhaps she would like to act as your guard and a trainer, to get your skills to a level that would be considered respectable for a scion of Makai."

"Uhh, what?"

"He means I get to be your bodyguard and tor…I mean, trainer. You're pretty scrawny, you know. Wizards, don't know the first thing about physical fitness," Morrigan said with a scoff.

"He's scrawny partly because the humans he was left with are spiteful, pathetic specimens of their species, who treated him like a damned slave," Lilith scowled.

Morrigan peered more closely at Harry, before remarking, "And yet, the wizards put you up on a pedestal."

"The wizards are credulous fools, even if their folly and foibles are merely those of humanity magnified," Belial said. "We will return you to Hogwarts soon, before your presence is missed for too long. Morrigan will be accompanying you both. I believe she has met the Headmaster on a prior occasion."

"How was I to know he was gay?" Morrigan scowled. "Back then, he was a real looker. But no, he had eyes only for Gellert, and look how well that turned out! And we didn't part on the best of terms."

"Nonetheless, Morrigan, you will accompany them as bodyguard and trainer," Belial said. "And please be discreet, my daughter. I know that is sometimes a foreign concept for you."

"Discretion, a foreign concept to me?" Morrigan asked with blatantly false innocence. "Father, you wound me so."

"Don't we get a say in the matter?" Harry asked.

Lilith shot him a look. "Maybe…but if we can get stronger, enough to face Voldemort and the Death Eaters, and any Night Warriors or Darkstalkers, then I'll take what I can get…even if I'm still not sure we can trust either of them."

Morrigan walked up behind Lilith, and hugged her from behind, albeit in a vaguely seductive manner. "Don't be like that, my adorable little sister. I'm going to be sticking by you two for a while. I'm sure it will be interesting, to say the least," the Succubus purred.

"That's not reassuring," Harry said…

CHAPTER 3 ANNOTATIONS:

So, Harry and Lilith have met Belial and Morrigan, and have gotten the truth out of him. Unfortunately, they now have a gooseberry in the form of Morrigan. Joy.

No numbered annotations this time…