'Thoughts'
Chapter 5…
20th of June 1992:
As Hermione and Harry walked through the portal they came face to face, or rather, shoulder to shoulder, with the normal Saturday afternoon rush. It took a few minutes before Hermione found her parents and pointed them out to Harry. Hermione's father was tall muscular man with short brown hair with a bit of grey in it, his blue eyes scanning the crowd for his daughter and their summer guest. He looked to be in his mid-thirty's. Hermione's mother was… well to put simply an older sexy version of Hermione. It seemed where Harry was supposedly a clone of his father, Hermione was the same with her mother. If Harry didn't know any better, he'd say the woman was in her early twenties.
As Hermione lead Harry to her parents, she called out, "Mum, Dad, over here!"
As the Granger's walked over to Hermione and Harry, Hermione's father said, "Hi sweetie, how are you."
"I'm fine Dad." Hermione said with a smile before she introduce them to Harry, "Mum, Dad, this is Harry, Harry this is my parent's Daniel and Emmaline Granger."
"Nice to meet you Harry." Emmaline said with a smile.
"It's nice to meet you too Mrs. Granger," Harry said with a smile. "I can see Hermione take after you, gorgeous."
Both the female Granger's blushed at this, with Hermione saying embarrassment, "Harry!"
"What, it's true." Harry waved his hands in front of him to ward off her swats with a grin.
"You're handsome yourself young man." Emmaline complimented. Harry could have easily been mistaken, due to his inexperience, but there seemed to be more than just playful teasing in her tone. He decided he would put that info away to use later on if his hunch was correct.
"Thank you Mrs. Granger, but it's thanks to Hermione that I look like this now." He evaded humbly, causing Hermione to blush even more as her parents attention was focused on her. "If it wasn't for her I'd still look like a skinny runt. You already know the reason why." Harry surmised.
Emmaline and Daniel both nodded, accepting him not wanting to talk about it further easily. "Oh, and please call me Emma, Mrs. Granger makes me feel old." Emma said with a smile.
"Well, I wouldn't want to do that, you look anything but old," Harry returned charmingly. "You could easily pass for Hermione's older sister."
"Why you." Emma blushed.
"I hope you're not trying to hit on my wife young man." Daniel interjected with an amused smile. The elder Granger was surprised at the boy's behaviour, from what he'd gathered and been told about his childhood Harry shouldn't exactly be a social butterfly. Then again, Dan admitted to himself, he'd spent 10 months at a boarding school interacting with nothing but children his own age, and Hermione had told her first friend was making progress in his social skills, he just hadn't expected him to be this outgoing.
"Oh no sir, I'm only telling the truth." Harry answered, bringing the man out of his thoughts. "You're a lucky man to have two gorgeous women in your life Mr. Granger."
Daniel laughed happily; the lad was making quite the first impression. His comments could have been mistaken as ass-kissing, but he sounded genuine about his compliments. "Please call me Daniel, or Dan, I would prefer the latter because I'm more comfortable with it but it's your choice. I spent enough time around my father when he worked that I keep thinking people mean him." He admitted with a smile, turning his gaze towards his wife and daughter his expression turned proud. "And yes I'm a very lucky man. Anyway, no use standing around here, let's get your things into the car and we can head off."
Not soon after Harry helped Dan to get the trunks into their black Range Rover CSK and took off, leaving the crowded station behind them.
o0OoO0o
On the way to the Granger's home, Hermione asked, "Mum, where's Mel? I thought she'd come with to pick me up as well."
"Mel?" Harry asked, wondering who or what owned the designation.
Hermione's parents give her a look, and Hermione blushed as she said, "Melody, or Mel for short, is my sister."
"…You have a sister?" Harry asked with a surprised blink, completely shocked. She'd never mentioned anybody but her parents.
"It never came up," Hermione blushed at this, "We talked, but we never did talk about my family."
It was true, although they talked a bit, Harry realized that they never really talked about their families, him because he didn't want to remember his time with the Durselys and her because… well he guessed she was right; he'd never asked. In truth not many people talked about their family at Hogwarts, Harry admitted. He could only guess it was to keep homesickness at bay. "So what's your sister like?" Harry asked his friend.
"I've been told she's very smart, but she lacks the drive I do so she can become very unsure about things." Hermione explained, trying to remain unbiased. "She's also shy around new people, that much I can tell you first hand. Expect to be avoided until she grows used to you being around and warm up to you. So where is she Mum?"
"She decided to stay behind with her friends, she wasn't up to the trip. So how was your time at Hogwarts you two?" She inquired with interest.
For the remainder of the trip the four of them talked about the past year at Hogwarts. Harry didn't know Hermione was going to censor the events of the year, not understanding the danger of telling parents their daughter had her life in mortal danger, but did know enough to at least mollify them when he explained that the Magical World, while wondrous, was also dangerous. The Troll sneaking in was a rare event, like a dog wandering into an elementary school. To stress the importance of not yanking her from the magical world completely he explained that without the proper training, Hermione's magic could be a danger to both to herself and everyone around her. The Elder Grangers weren't happy, but they could accept that logic, helped by Harry's promise to keep Hermione safe. Any other 11 year old promising this would have been written off, but there was a feeling around Harry, like an unseen aura of power and security. Hermione just barely resisted the urge to sigh with relief when her parents dropped the idea of pulling her from school and settled for a strongly worded letter to their Head of House about their lax security measures.
o0OoO0o
It was about two hours later when they got to a town called Winchester. They pulled into the driveway of a big garden and the large, two story white house it was attached to. The garden had beautiful flowers, bushes and trees. Harry stepped out of the car, same as Emma and Hermione, but Dan stayed inside the car. "I'm going to get Melody, see you soon." He announced with a blown kiss to his wife.
As the car pulled away and drove off Harry looked around and said, "These are really well cared for." He said with experience as he examined the flowers.
"Thank you Harry, It's a hobby of mine I started to pass the time but grew to love." Emma said with a proud smile, "Now let's go in and I'll do dinner and Hermione can show you around the house."
They did just that, Emma heading for the kitchen while Hermione gave him the tour. The first floor had a living room, study with a small library, Dining Room, kitchen and a Small Bathroom with a loo and a sink and a Games Room with a pool and foosball table. On the second floor they had five Bedrooms and a Bathroom; this one larger and sporting a bathtub. The Master Bedroom had its own bathroom, but that was the Elder Granger's Bathroom - Parent Privileges, Hermione had quoted - so Harry put it out of his mind.
Once Harry had a good idea of where everything was they went back to the living room, where Emma was watching TV. "You have a wonderful home Emma." He complimented.
"Thanks Harry," Emma returned. "Did Hermione show you what room was going to be yours?"
"No." He answered. His attention had more been on the games room and the study.
"Sorry Mum, I forgot to." Hermione said sheepishly.
"Well you can have one of the bedrooms on either side of the bathroom, they're guest rooms." Emma explained.
"Thank you Emma." Harry said gratefully. It was quickly turning into the best summer ever, and it hadn't even started proper. "Is there anything I can do to help?" He asked, feeling like he should be doing something in return.
Emma waved him off though. "No Harry, you're the guest and so you should relax." Next to him Hermione voiced her agreement. "Why don't you watch some TV. Hermione can you help me set the table while I finish up?"
With that Harry began to watch the TV, squirming in place as he sat gingerly on an unfamiliar couch, some irrational part of him worried he was going to break it somehow and get kicked out. He was hoping that feeling would fade.
Before he had a chance to dwell on it further though the front door opened and Dan's voice called, "We're home!" followed by the shuffle of shoes being taken off. Harry first look at Melody was her fond smile as she finished telling her Dad what she'd been up to with her friends. She had shoulder length, wavy sandy blond hair and muddy blue eyes set in a slightly more gentle version of Hermione's face.
She froze as she saw him, so Harry took the initiative, giving her a wave as he introduced himself. "Err, hey, I'm Harry Potter; one of Hermione's friends from Hogwarts." He said slowly, it felt completely foreign to the concept of introducing himself to his friend's siblings.
Just like Hermione said Melody seemed to look unsure of herself before she responded with a quiet, "Hello." before she made her towards the stairs, her gait slightly hurried.
Dan chuckled at Harry's curious expression. "Don't worry, she'll get used to you quick. Just give her some time and she'll be like a whole new person."
Just as he said that Hermione came in and saw her father, "Hi Dad, Mum thought she heard you and wanted to let you know she wanted you in the kitchen." Dan thanked his older daughter and left, leaving Hermione to tell Harry, "Dinner will be ready in ten minutes, Mum wanted me to tell you so you'd have time to wash up."
Harry nodded and went to the downstairs bathroom to wash up.
o0OoO0o
During dinner Emma looked up from her food and asked, "Harry, has Hermione told you what we have planned for the summer?"
Hermione blushed, and Emma quickly deduced she already knew what Harry was going to say. "Last I heard the trip to France was planned, but I never asked further for details, since I was happy that I was going somewhere in the first place." Harry answered honestly, not sure why Hermione and now Mel were blushing, or why Den was chuckling at his girls.
"You see the reason that Hermione didn't tell you and the reason she and Mel are blushing is because it's a bit embarrassing for them. You see, one of the locations we'll be visiting is a nudist beach, although clothing is optional." Emma revealed with a grin. Both Emma and Dan chuckled as they watched Harry slowly work that out, before his facial colour matched their daughters'.
"O-oh. Yeah, that would certainly do it." Harry rambled, not sure how to take this development.
"Yes, it's something of a tradition for our family, a time to let our hair down you could say." Emma explained to an embarrassed Harry. "It started with me and Dan's parents, they were both nudists, believe it or not. Dan and I both went to the same beach and happened to meet and fall in love. Dan and I aren't nudists like our parents, but we do go to that beach every year; both for ourselves and so our daughters can experience what we did and hopefully find love like we did."
Harry was conflicted about the whole situation. On one hand, the idea was completely foreign, something he'd barely even heard about, much less even considered he was going to experience. On the other hand, he wasn't a half starved shrimp anymore, he had a body to be proud of now and he' be lying if he wasn't still riding on the confidence high of filling out so much over the year. It seemed like every morning he woke up to a slightly taller body, or more defined muscles. For a boy that had been short and frail for as long as he could remember it was exhilarating. "When do we leave?" He finally asked.
"1st of July; we'll be staying there until a week before you start your second year, so we can get yours, Hermione's and Mel's items for Hogwarts when we get back."
Harry attention perked at the mention of getting Melody school supplies too. He hadn't known she was Hogwarts bound as well. "So, Melody, you're going to Hogwarts too, are you excited?"
"Y-Yeah I am." Melody said shyly before she went back to eating her food, hoping the topic would change again so she wasn't in the spotlight.
"It was shocking when Professor McGonagall informed us that both our daughters were witches." Emma explained to Harry, who noticed that Melody seemed to flinch at the word witch.
"Oh!" Harry voiced out loud without meaning to as he figured it out. "I didn't have to deal with it since 'wizard' really doesn't have anything negative tacked onto it, but it must feel pretty strange to suddenly be called a witch, right?" He guessed.
Melody nodded, "I'm… still getting used to it. It still feels like whenever someone calls me a witch they're accusing me of something. It would be easier if we were all called Mages, or even if witches were called Sorceresses instead." She admitted slowly.
"I can see how that would make the transition easier. Speaking of which, I've noticed we really don't have a word to describe all of us as a whole. I've been using Magicals, but that's just my unofficial name." Harry admitted, happy that he was holding a sort-of conversation with the previously reclusive girl.
Hermione took that moment to finally voice what she wanted to say before Harry spoke up, looking faintly ashamed. "I'm so sorry Mel, it was such a small thing among the huge revelations that I completely forgot about it. I should have warned you about the labelling issue."
"No worries Hermione." Mel said with a smile.
"So what would you prefer to be called?" Harry wondered.
Mel thought about it about this for a moment before she said, "I think I would liked to be called a Mage, since it doesn't mean male or female, and I for one think it shows that we can do more then most think a Witch or Wizard can do. From what I've read, most fictional Witches and Wizards use wands or staffs, but I feel that magic can do much more then that. From what I've also read, some Magicals, as you call us, can use many different powers like elemental magic, for instance, that don't fall under what most consider normal. I would have said Sorceress, but from what I've read from Hermione's books that title's already in use along with Sorcerer."
Harry considered her perspective and found he agreed with her. "If that's what you'd prefer I'll use it if you like, but the Magical World, for all it's wonder, is a pretty closed minded place. Worst case scenario you're looked down upon for being a silly Muggleborn who's so arrogant she feels she needs a fancy title. Best case scenario nobody cares and it catches on." He finished quickly as he noticed her depressed look.
"Thanks for the warning." Melody said, her smile returning at Harry's assurance.
As this was happening Hermione and her parents smiled at the youngest Granger opening up to Harry; they were worried that Melody would be shy around Harry and wouldn't be able to talk to him for quite a while. Their worries were unfounded however was apparently quite skilled when it came to socializing the standoffish Granger daughters. Hermione and her parents shared thankful smiles Harry was integrating so well so quickly and started discussing what Hermione had learned about the Wizarding World in the hopes to learn more about the world and see where they could fit into it, leaving Harry and Melody to finish their conversation. When they did so the two joined it; the five of them talking for almost an hour before they realized how long they'd been sitting their in front of empty plates and started cleaning up. not long after the children were sent to bed.
o0OoO0o
23th of June 1992:
It has been a few days since Harry arrived at the Granger's and Harry would readily admit he was enjoying himself. His own bedroom was bigger than the one back at the Dursley's, by quite a bit, and everything was just a higher quality; the bed softer, the lamp brighter, the blankets warmer. Harry wasn't sure if it was because he felt like her truly belonged, and was a wanted presence in the Granger home, or simply because the Granger were more well-off than the Dursely's and could afford better things. It was likely a combination of both, but Harry preferred to think it was mostly the first reason. He also found he didn't have to cook anything for anybody, which was a shock. He liked cooking well enough, so he did make snacks and even lunch for everyone on several occasions. He had no chores, all he had to do was enjoy his summer. It was just too weird to do nothing though, and he insisted he be able to do a few jobs around the house, as thanks for having him.
Outside the house Harry went his time working in the gardens in the front and back yards with Emma's blessing once he explained that he took care of the Durely's garden, because it was relaxing work for him, and learning to swim in the backyard pool with Hermione and eventually Melody's help. The backyard was surrounded by huge trees and bushes so no one was able to see what was going on in the garden and the nearest house was about five minutes walk away.
It was currently a few days since Harry got to the Grangers, and he hadn't yet started to do any of his magical training. He knew he couldn't use his wand, as it had the Trace on it that would inform the mooks at the Ministry of Magic that he was doing magic. He was almost certain they couldn't detect him using his wandless abilities, but he wanted a few days before he restarted his training.
A few relaxing days later he decided it was time to start training again. It was doubtful he would get any time while in France, so he wanted to get some time in now. He and Aneira situated themselves in the backyard as the elder Grangers were at their dental practice in London and Melody and Hermione were in the Games Room.
He decided to start off with something he felt was needed; evasion training. Aneira would throw ice attacks at him and he either avoided or knocked them out of the air with his own attacks when he couldn't dodge. So far he was able to dodge about 80 percent of Aneira's assault when she was firing her slower attacks. "I think that'll do for now girl, let's see if you can ice over the pool." Harry eventually said once he felt he'd made some progress.
Aneira sent him an insulted look, telling him that she wasn't happy that he didn't think she could do something as easy as that. She sniffed and suddenly Harry's legs were encased in a block of ice; Harry didn't even notice because he was watching her ice over the pool. Harry laughed it off and soothed her bruised ego with compliments as he melted the ice off his leg.
An hour later Harry and Aneira were going full force, throwing elemental attacks at one another to improve their stamina. "Whoa, that's so cool!" It was lucky Harry and Aneira were taking a breather at that moment, and their latest attacks had already hit and cancelled each other out that neither of them was hurt.
As Harry and Aneira turned around to see who it was, they saw Melody sitting on the porch, "I'm sorry to surprise you, but I was just shocked to find someone who has the same powers as me, well, almost anyway. Is… is that a tiger?" Melody asked hesitantly as she stopped gushing about Harry's abilities.
Harry waved it off, "No problem, but next time wait for us to finish what we're doing before you say anything. We're not used to training with other people around and we get pretty engrossed in what we're doing. Oh and that's Aneira." He revealed. "She's a Tigran; a magical animal that can look like a normal house cat, or in this case kitten, or a tiger." Mel look in awe at this, as Harry went on to say, "So what do you mean by you've found someone who could do the same as you?"
Instead of saying anything, Mel snapped her finger and between them lightning crackled between her finger - it was like the lightning was dancing around her fingers.
Harry was shocked to see this, he thought that he was the only one that had an elemental power, but it seemed he was wrong. Who would have thought that the reclusive and hesitant girl could control such a powerful element? It gave Harry another reason to get to know her as her own person rather than the sister of his best friend. "That's wonderful Melody, do your parents and Hermione know about this?"
"Ah… no." Melody said shyly, reminding Harry of when they'd first met and she hadn't opened up to him yet.
"Does Hermione have a skill like this?" Harry inquired. He assumed Hermione would have said something, but like he'd said, it wasn't really something that came up in conversation. Even when she was asking about his abilities she may have been so focused on him mentioning her own abilities could have slipped her mind in her mental focus.
"Not as far as I know, no." Melody admitted. "When we were younger, strange things did happen around us, but we never realized - or possibly weren't willing to accept - that it was our doing. It was only last year that we found out why they'd happened. Hermione, as you can probably guess, wanted to learn everything from the official books. So instead of experimenting on her own when we found out it was us doing the strange things, when she got her wand and books, she started to learn from them, strictly following the lesson plan inside. However, I was the opposite; I didn't have copies of her books at the time, so I studied on my own. It worked out for the best anyway; I find I learn better with self study. I eventually read her books, and though they did help with my progress, they all seemed so… rigid. All the books seemed to be missing something. They explained things well enough, but if you wanted to unravel the magic on your own they were sorely lacking."
Harry was impressed at how Melody was acting; over the last few days she acted shy most of the time, but whenever she talked about magic she was like a completely different person. "You're right, the books only hold the basic information to learn wand magic. They don't do much else for you if you want to learn the how's and why's. I found the books in the Hogwarts Library a bit more help in that regard, but I've still found it easier to use the books as guides and just learn on my own."
Melody had a thoughtful look on her face as Harry told her this, "Interesting, I can't wait to go to Hogwarts next fall to see what I can learn from their Library. I did something very similar with my sisters books; using them as guidelines to see what I can do, rather than unquestionable proof." Melody explained to Harry, "Unlike my sister I refuse to believe the books contain every scrap of knowledge that exist on this and other subjects in the world. There are just so many things to learn and discover. It seems so… lazy, to think that someone has already discovered all there is to find of even the simplistic applications of magic and the world at large."
"Either way, since I didn't have a wand I had to experiment on what I can do could do without one. I had no real idea how or where to start, so I read a few comics to try and see where the people with magic in them started off. It took a while but I found that the most common trait was that the Mages in the stories and comics meditated to gain and control their new powers. So I got a few books and started to meditate, it took a while but I eventually found what I believe was my power within me."
Harry was amazed at the young girl's story, it was almost the same as his, but she didn't have any help from an imaginary friend/sister. He listened as she went on to say, "Once I found my power, the next task was learning how to control it and find out what I can do with it. My first try was shape shifting; from what I read in the comics I needed to focus on what I wanted to look like and will myself to look like it. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to change my appearance to look like another person." Melody looked downtrodden as she was told the skill she wanted to learn the most wasn't possible.
"There's nothing to be down about Melody, you've already made a lot of progress; just focus your willpower and you can do almost anything. I've learnt that as long as your body is able to handle the power strain, you can do anything you want; within reason. All you have to do is start small and keep on training. It'll get easier to do once you learn to get a good mental picture of what you want to do and find what your exact limits are. Just don't be upset if you can't do what you want to do instantly." Harry explained to the younger girl, finding himself comfortable in the impromptu roll of teacher he'd taken. "From what I've read, the ability to suddenly look like another person of the same gender by changing your appearance is what's called the Metamorphmagus ability, and it's an inborn trait that can't be learned. I've read there are quite a few skills you have to be born with if you want to learn them. Animagus magic; changing into animals, and being an elementalist like the two of us are just two examples. Still, it never hurts to try; you won't know if you have the potential if you don't try. And who knows, there might be other ways to learn new skills that we don't know of yet, we have to keep on looking."
Melody smiled warmly at Harry's supportive words; it was nice to talk to someone who had the same habits as her, even better that he'd been doing it for longer and had much to share. Maybe if she played her cards right, she could get him to teach her what he knew. "I didn't know that, thanks for the warning Harry." Melody said with a smile, grateful for the advise, "Since that I couldn't become a shape shifter like I wanted, I tried to learn other skills. I moved on to elemental skills; it was the next best group of powers I saw in the comics.
"I started offtrying the four basic elements;Earth, Fire, Wind and Water, but I just couldn't… feel them, is really the only way I can describe it."Melody explained to Harry, "So I thought about the other elements that some of the comic characters use. There are a lot of elemental powers, but when I went to school one day I finally got an idea for the first element to try. In our Science Class we were told that our body was made up of mainly of water, but also electrical impulses throughout our body. So, since I couldn't control water, I started to try and see if I could control electricity. It took a while, but I eventually realized that I could control the tiny amount of electricity the human body has stored. It took me months to do much of anything besides make my fingers spark. It wasn't until I realized I only had access to a tiny amount of energy that I started looking for ways to increase what I had on me."
Melody started to look sheepish as she slowly admitted. "I tried just wearing thick socks and rubbing my feet on the carpet, but it didn't do much of anything, so I uh… I kinda… stick my finger in a light socket?"
Harry shrugged off what most people would goggle at though. "I used a candle to check if fire I hadn't created would burn me, so I'm not really the one to judge you for that."
Melody looked grateful to not get a scolding for her actions and continued. "That isn't the only thing I learned though!" She said, her voice actually raising for the first time since Harry had met her as she proudly said, "I also learned to summon and banish things. Shape shifting may not have yielded any success, but I did learn how to change my body a different way. I read in comics that a character could transform into a monster of some kind, so I wanted to see if I could transform into a monster so I could I could become stronger. I knew it might not be possible to do so, but I wanted to at least try and see if I could." Melody's body started shifting, and she perked up like she remembered something before yanking the back of her waistband down for her pants. Harry was just about to ask about it before a zigzag shaped tail sprung up.
When her transformation was all done Harry stared at her blankly. "You're a Pikachu." He said flatly, as he remembered the Pokemon show that Harry saw Dudley saw one time.
Melody's red circled cheeks puffed out. "I am not! Well, okay, I've never looked at myself in a mirror or anything, but I'm sure I'm absolutely terrifying and powerful."
"You're a Pikachu." Harry repeated. "Not a four legged one though, more like if someone slapped a Pikachu costume on a person." And he was right, Melody still walked on two legs, the only thing that had really changed were her ears had become long and pointed, she'd sprouted a lightning bolt shape tail, and her hands and feet had become padded. Aside from being completely covered in yellow fur - except for the black tips of her ears and the first half of her tail being brown - a very short muzzle where her lower face used to be, and a very slight bust increase, which Harry didn't even notice, she was largely the same. He'd been expecting something a little more frightening.
Harry smiled cheerfully, causing Melody to come back from the embarrassed mood she'd slipped into as Harry eyed her up and down. "Despite of the craziness of becoming a well known and entirely fictional creature instead of something real, this is really amazing Melody; you have a good grasp of your powers. I hope we can train together some time. You look really cute like that by the way."
"T-thanks Harry." Melody said bashfully. Though it couldn't be seen through her fur she was blushing at Harry, a boy she admitted was very cute himself, complimenting her. Changing the subject she spoke as she transformed back. "I was wondering, could I become your Apprentice Master Vulcan."
Harry blinked, not expecting her to even know that nickname, much less make such a request. "How did you hear that name?" He asked first.
"Hermione was talking about her year and she let slip that her and your Study Group called you Vulcan, and a pair of 'trouble making gingers' called you Master Vulcan." She explained. "At the time I wasn't sure why they would call you that, but now that I've seen your powers it makes sense; the Roman God Vulcan was the God of Fire and Blacksmithing. Have you ever about trying your hand at smithing?" Melody asked as an afterthought.
"I hadn't, no, but it's an interesting hobby idea once I own a house that could support it." Harry ceded, interested in the idea. "I'll have to look in the library and see if they have any books about getting into the art."
"I'm sure there's something. There has to be, if what Hermione says about the size of the school library is true. If not, I'm sure you'll find something someday." Melody reasoned. "Back to my point, though." She said suddenly. "I'm guessing you know a few things that I don't know, possibly a lot of things. So I wanted to become your Apprentice so you can teach me what you know. I've heard Hermione mention you're a natural when it comes to teaching."
"Thank you, but I really don't know much." Harry said modestly. "There are many things I haven't tried, or know nothing about; I'm still learning what I can do."
"I understand that, but you still know more then me and could help me learn more about my powers and what I can do with them. Not only because you have more experience, but because a second head is always better than one lone perspective. I still want to become your Apprentice. Once you run out of new things to teach me we can just start learning together. So what do you say, well you help me, Master?" She questioned.
Harry liked the idea of having a student, someone with powers similar to his own he could talk to and experiment with. However, this was really the first time Harry's had ever been called master in a tone that wasn't joking, or light hearted; in the back of his mind darker thoughts dwelled, but were held at bay by how happy Harry's life had been, and the lack of hormones needed to fuel them. Still, if only for a moment, Harry looked at Melody with a calculating gaze, not just weighing her current worth, but her future value as well.
He saw a needy girl, so overjoyed that she found someone like herself that she was jumping head first into things, without her usual cautious, hesitant manner. He saw a girl that would one day become a very sexy woman, but could be trained and molded into something even greater. Something that would be completely loyal to him, that would be willing to do anything for him, even sexual things.
And then the moment passed, and he was back to thinking about purely the now; how good it would be to help her and have someone to help him in return, learning new things together at a pace far greater than it would be individually. Harry nodded slowly, a smile growing on his face as he accepted the idea. "Fine, but please call me Harry. 'Master Vulcan' is something a few of my friends like to call me as a joke. I think working together will be very beneficial for us."
Melody smirked, an expression not seen often on her face. "Thank you Master Vulcan, I'll be your loyal Apprentice." Before he could raise a fuss she waved him off. "I'll call you Harry, but only when you're not teaching me. We can keep the training and friendship separate, and you won't hold back, you can do whatever you need to train me, even if I don't like it.I thinkit'll make things easier for us. You may need to instruct me in such a way that friends can't do for whatever reason, it it'd be better to take a step back, so to speak, to see the situation from a detached mindset."
Harry nodded, hesitantly at first but growing more sure as he worked it out. The Master/Apprentice role would allow him to do things that being friends just wouldn't. Before they could discuss it more Hermione came out to the backyard… and froze when she saw the slab of ice that used to be the pool. "H-Harry, what happened here?" She asked, wide eyed.
Seeing Hermione, and realizing he'd left the pool frozen, Harry smiled sheepishly and said "Sorry, me and Aneira were training and I uh… kinda forgot about the pool. I'll fix it." He added.
However, just as he started to warm up the water, Hermione cut in, "Harry!" She barked in a loud whisper, looking around frantically as if the authorities were hiding in the bushes, waiting for an admission of guilt, "We're not suppose to do magic outside of school!"
"No, we've been told that we can't do magic with our wands, there's no rule saying that we can't do magic without them." Harry said with a smirk. His jovial mood vanished, a darker one taking it's place. "We can't use our wands because of the Trace on them, but I'll bet certain wards block the signal the Ministry is supposed to get or they use a wand that doesn't have a Trace on it. Without parents that can cast this ward or them not having a wand, we're left with no way to practice magic."
Hermione and Melody both paused as they worked it out. Hermione looked like she was trying to mentally deny it, wanting to believe the people of Magical Britain were better than that, but Melody, with no attachment to the Magical World or it's people, scowled at the very idea.
By the time they came out of their respective thought the pool was once more regulated and back to normal. Harry gestured towards the pool and Hermione wordlessly dove in, not wishing to talk about what Harry had suggested. Melody, on the other hand, walked up next to Harry and whispered, "We'll talk later."
Harry nodded next to her, but goggled when he looked back at her when she walked away. When she'd transformed and pulled her pants down because she didn't want them to rip because of her tail she'd never pulled them back up, so the stretchy material of her pants was still there, just below her butt. "M-Melody." He squeaked, his voice cracking awkwardly for reasons Harry didn't know. When she turned around he wordless pointed to her behind.
Melody's eyes widened as she placed her hand on her naked butt, which was in full view of Harry, and immediately yanked up her pants with a squeak, walking quickly back inside, her face completely red.
o0OoO0o
30th of June 1992:
It has been a week since Harry and Melody had talked about their powers. The two had really hit it off, spending quite a bit of time talking about magic and even experimenting when no one else was around, at least for the first few days. The benefits of having two minds working together were already showing; Mel - as she'd insisted Harry call her - was able to create a small ball of lightning, something that Mel was proud about and was thankful to Harry for.
Mel had been too excited about finally mastering the lightning ball and had been shooting them at a tree when Hermione cam outside to check what the noise was about. She was understandably shocked when she saw what Mel was doing, but was mollified when Harry explained he was carefully watching over what she was doing. Hermione soon joined these sessions with them, giving any advise she could. It wasn't always useful advice, but they all admitted she was at a disadvantage, not having an elemental ability of her own.
Although he insisted she simply call him by his name Harry quickly discovered that Mel continued calling him Master Vulcan when they were training, only when Hermione wasn't around, despite his instructions. She would tease him when they weren't training and when they were alone by calling him Master, knowing full well how wound up and flustered it got him when she did so. While he put that out of his mind, a small distant part of him still got a rush out of it.
Once Hermione was happy they were taking the precautions needed to keep safe, she asked if they could try and see if she had any powers. After several days of failed attempts at trying to find any extra powers she might have, a depressed Hermione realized that she didn't have any inborn traits. But Harry and Mel were quick to point out she was the smartest person they knew and her quantity of known spells was way above Harry's. Harry also pointed out how absurdly rare his and Mel's situation was; the fact that two elementals were born so close together, and in such close proximity was almost unheard of. Not to mention just because she needed a wand to cast magic didn't mean she couldn't do everything Harry and her sister could do, they just needed to find her the right spells. It also wasn't like Elemental and Metamorphagus magic was the only kind of inborn trait or special skill out there, they just had to keep looking for these skills and how to make them work. Hermione smiled as they told her this, knowing that her friend and sibling and would try and help her in any way they could.
They were briefly interrupted from their training when Emma took Harry and the girls clothes shopping. Emma had clicked her tongue when she saw the state of Harry's wardrobe and didn't rest until he had a completely knew one, which she paid for. Harry wasn't happy about that, it felt like they were doing so much for him already and it felt like he was freeloading. Still, there was little Harry could do about it, so he went along with things. Both Mel and Hermione both agreed to force Harry to have some fun; all training and no fun makes Harry a dull person. So they helped him to learn to swim, and played a few games in the Game Room and finished up their homework.
On another front, Harry had started to get worried about his friends; they hadn't yet replied to any of his letters, or written any of their own letters yet. He knew they had their own plans, but writing a letter didn't take all that long, just a few minutes for a short letter would have eased his worry a great deal. Old insecurities were rearing their head and it wasn't a nice feeling.
It was now the night before they were meant to leave for France and Harry had just brought up the issue with Hermione. Emma, nearby, heard his worries as he explained them to her daughter and spoke up, "You know Harry, they might just be busy and haven't had time to reply. Some people have a great deal of trouble writing letters, and they may want to make them perfect before sending them off but don't have the time."
"I know Emma, but I thought that at least one of them would have replied." Harry said.
Emma had no real response to that. Harry social circle was pretty good sized, the chance of none of them being able to spare half an hour to write something was very small. Then a thought came to her, as she said, "You did say that some of your friends don't have an owl right?" Harry nodded in affirmation. "Maybe they haven't had time to get to where they can use an owl and post the reply. You said the Weasley twins owl was old, so maybe they decided to wait until they can get to another owl become writing to you. As for the others, as highly unlikely it is, it is possible that their owl may have some kind of avian illness, it was on the news lately that a few wild birds have been taken ill recently. So it's possible that might have happened. Hopefully by the time return from our trip they should have replied to you, if not you can ask them when you get back to Hogwarts why they didn't write you back. Until then relax, hopefully the trip will put your mind off things."
"You're right Emma." Harry sighed. "I'll be able to ask them about it when I return to Hogwarts. Like you said, I'm sure there's a logical explanation for everything."
Harry had just finished saying this when a small, emaciated looking creature literally popped into their living room; literally appearing out of nowhere with a popping sound. The creature seemed to ignore everyone else in the room and zeroed in on him, who was staring surprised at the pointy eared being just like everyone else in the room.
Now if it was another time and place, if Harry had a different up being, he would have been kinder to the creature in front of him. But this Harry wasn't that person, and so didn't care if he upset the creature. Harry shifted into a ready position, his expression dark and cautious as he said, "Who or what are you?"
"Dobby, sir. Just Dobby. Dobby is a House-Elf." Said the creature, "Dobby heard that Harry Potter was going back to Hogwarts, even though Dobby hoped that should Harry Potter sir thoughts that if Harry Potter's friends didn't write to him, Harry Potter wouldn't wouldn't go back to Hogwarts. Dobby must warn Harry Potter, Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts."
Harry scoffed at the idea and looked at the weird creature in front of him as if he was mad, "Not going back to Hogwarts, like that going to happen… hell would have to frozen over before I don't return to Hogwarts. I've -" Then Harry thought something that this… Dobby thing had just said. "How do you know my friends haven't been writing me?"
Dobby shuffled his feet. "Harry Potter mustn't be angry with Dobby. Dobby did it for the best-"
"Have you been stopping my letters?" Harry asked darkly with flames in his eyes.
"D-Dobby has them here, sir." The elf stuttered fearfully. Stepping nimbly out of Harry's reach, he pulled a thick wad of envelopes from the inside of the pillowcase he was wearing. Harry could make out his friends' handwriting.
Dobby blinked anxiously up at Harry. "Harry Potter mustn't be angry… Dobby hoped… if Harry Potter thought his friends had forgotten him… Harry Potter might not want to go back to school, sir…"
Harry wasn't listening. He made a grab for the letters, but Dobby jumped out of reach.
"Harry Potter will have them back, sir, if he gives Dobby his word that he will not return to Hogwarts. Ah, sir, this is a danger you must not face! Say you won't go back, sir!"
"That's not going to happen." Harry stated firmly as he grabbed Dobby's arm, quickly throwing the small creature over his shoulder and making his way into the kitchen. He looked back over his free shoulder and said, "I'll be back in a minute."
The Grangers were so mystified at the odd sight of the strange creature appearing in their house that they didn't know what to say or do. By the time they recovered Harry was already walking back into the room with a pasty white and shaking Dobby stumbling behind him. Dobby wordlessly shoved a thick packet of letters into Harry's hands, which almost fell to the ground in the haste to give them to the last Potter before he left, but not before shakily telling Harry to not go back to Hogwarts and he would make sure that he didn't if Harry didn't listen to him.
Staring at him Hermione asked, "Harry what did you do to the poor creature?"
Harry looked at her in disbelieve, that so called poor creature was keeping his letters from him, and that in Harry's book allowed him to do whatever he needed to do to get them back. "I convince him what a bad idea it was not to give my letters to me, that's all…" All four of them looked at in disbelieve, they knew there was more to it then met the eye. Harry realized this, and knew they wouldn't give up until he told them. "I threatened him with Aneira, telling him that if he didn't give my letters back and stop stealing my mail I would feed him to her." There may have also been fire and a kitchen knife involved in that threat, but they didn't need to know that.
The four Grangers now understood the reason for Dobby to white as a ghost and shaking when he left, they all knew what Aneira looked like in her tiger form. While his methods made the elder Grangers uncomfortable they couldn't think of a better way to have gone about it, so decided to change the subject.
"So what was Dobby?" Emma asked after a few moments, "He said something about being a House-Elf?"
"I don't know." Hermione admitted, "I haven't started to read about magical creatures yet." To be honest, until now she really didn't have a reason to look them up yet.
Then they looked at Harry, who looked a bit sheepish as he said, "I only know this because I was bored and had nothing else to do during our exams, so I just picked a book at random book to read, and it was about Magical Creatures coincidentally enough. The Summary on House Elf history was pretty slim, the author didn't known where they came from but could only guess they were either made of solidified magic gathered over time in magical hotspots or an offshoot of another race that died out. House Elves can use a unique kind of magic and are symbiotic in nature. The book says that they're a Servant Race bonded to a Magical Family. The family doesn't need to be particularly powerful or old, just as long as they're magical and had money, thought the older families are the ones with the most elves through virtue of the creatures living so long."
"That sounds like maids and butlers that we have in the normal world," Dan noted. "but the way that Dobby character looked and acted, it was if he was some kind of badly treated slave."
"You might not be far off there." Harry shook his head sadly. "The book explained that while most were treated like hired help there are those who treat their House-Elves badly. To most Muggleborns it doesn't help that the House-Elves don't get paid."
"What? That's horrible!" Hermione exclaimed, an opinion that was mirrored by the other Grangers with nods of agreement. "That's sound exactly like slavery! We should free them somehow."
"Don't even think about it Hermione." Harry snapped at her, shocking the Grangers. "You're just proving the Purebloods right about not having Muggleborns into the Wizarding World."
"What do you mean?" Emma asked Harry, concerned. Harry had explained about Purebloods, Half-Bloods and Muggleborns a few nights ago when she was talking about the Wizarding World.
"Most Purebloods believe that Muggleborns shouldn't be allowed into the Wizarding World, Half-Bloods are barely accepted, but are more accepted than Muggleborns." Harry explained to the Grangers. "The reason for this is because Muggleborns often try and alter or outright change their customs. I'm sure everyone with common sense can clearly see that some customs should be changed the way, but how the majority of Muggleborns go about it is wrong. Most come into it thinking they're superior to the Purebloods because they think that most of the Purebloods customs are barbaric and backwards. Considering some of the customs are barbaric and backwards this standpoint can be forgiven, but it doesn't change the fact that Muggleborns think they know better and it goes to their head. When Muggleborns want to change things, they often get a big head thinking they are right, and force the changes instead of talking to the authorities and elected officials."
Harry sighed, "I blame the Purebloods for part of this, because they don't - and even actively prevent - teach and explain about their customs to the Muggleborns. Like Hermione just demonstrated it's easy to make a snap judgement, but we don't have all the information. For instance, House-Elves need to bond to a family, or even a location if there's enough magic, if not they slowly go crazy and die, in that order. Not only that, but it's only possible for the Master of the individual elf free a House-Elf by giving them clothes." Harry gave Hermione a pointed look when he said this, as to warn her, as he knew if he didn't, she would do something stupid and try and free the House-Elves somehow. "So not only would you need to convince hundreds of people to give up their free servants, but you'd also just end up killing them. Not even Hogwarts can support that many House Elves. The only true 'free' Elves, is the ones that live in areas that have high amount of magic. Sadly there aren't that many places in the world, and the majority of these places have other creatures that live there that need that magic, creatures that would fight to the death to defend their home from other creatures that want to move into their land if they need to, if the land didn't have enough magic for them all. So if you really want to help them, I'd suggest making it so there are laws in place to regulate how they're treated."
He took a deep breathe as he winded down. "Sorry to rant like that, but that needed to be said before Hermione built up steam." He returned her mock glare with an amused smile. "Now if you don't mind, I'll see what these letters say, I'll see you all in the morning." Harry finished before bidding them all good night. The Grangers returned the gesture, still thinking about what he'd said; if nothing else could be said about the family, it's that they were thinkers through and through.
An hour later Harry finally finished reading his letters. They were all pretty basic; 'How are you doing, I'm doing blank. I'm having a lot of fun with blank, how is it in a Muggle house?', questions and such like that. He quickly replied to the letters, making a small identical message at the top of all of them explaining why he hadn't written back to them and that he might not being able to write back even now that he'd fixed the problem since he would be going on holiday the next day.
The only letter of note was from Susan. She explained that she had talked to her aunt and during their talks the subject of Familiars and eventually Aneira came up. Amelia, Susan's aunt, had ended up wondering if he and Aneira had bonded completely. Susan went on to explain the process in case he was unfamiliar; it was simple enough, Aneira would bite him hard enough to make him bleed in her Tiger form so she could drink his blood and her saliva would be in his bloodstream. Harry briefly wondered why he hadn't done it before, but then remembered he would be left bedridden for several days so their magic could intertwine, and so he hadn't had time while school was still in session.
Harry replied that he had not bonded with his Familiar, but likely would when he got back from France and had a few days he could spend out of commission.
Hedwig looked delighted at all the mail and glared daggers at him when he tried to tell her which letters were for who. Harry chuckled, gave her an owl treat in apology for his lack of faith in her abilities and a scratch on the neck in the spot she really liked and sent her on her way. After that was all done he had nothing left to do, so he turned in for the evening.
TO BE CONTINUED!
Authors Note: Here ends another chapter of Vulcan, I thank you for reading and I hope that you keep on reading and enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing this. I hope you like Hermione's sister, the idea for her just came to me when I thought on what I could add to the story. I hope that if you enjoyed the story, you'll spend a few more minutes and review this story.
Now you'll notice the reference of Pokemon, and all you Pokemon Fans out there know that they won't out in this year, 1992, but for Mel's Monster Form, my beta reader and I decided to alter the timeline a bit to fit it into the story. So you know, the plot for this story has changed, so I need some help with a new one. As I'm not doing the Overlord plot and that has altered what I have planned so I would like to hear your thoughts. I'm still doing to have Fairy Tail, and most likely Charmed, but not sure about the how they'll connect now… so if you got some ideas please let me know.
This is what Mel well look in her Pikachu form, albeit far less busty and curvy, for now: smosh-pit / 052011 /