Night had fallen and Harry walked across the lawn to where Hagrid was waiting for him at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He was curious about what the half-giant would ask of him. Harry knew he was capable due to all of his training from Camp Half-Blood because of his own nature as a demi-god, but that wasn't something Hagrid or the school were aware of so what exactly was the purpose of sending a first-year student into a place that at the beginning of the year had been listed as too dangerous for any student to enter.
The groundskeeper stood with his swinging lantern in one hand with a large crossbow in the other. "Evening Mr. Potter," Hagrid greeted the young wizard who had been sent by Dumbledore to assist him in locating any more injured unicorns. He would have been a bit hesitant for a student to be entering the forest but with the explanation of how Harry handled Professor Silvanus Kettleburn's loose chimera, he was sure that the lad would be up to the task with any other harmless creatures in the forest.
Harry followed behind Hagrid for a bit of time. "We'll cover more ground if we split up, you take Fang and I'll go this way," Hagrid suggested as he pointed in a direction for Harry to go and them himself.
The young demi-god wanted to remind Hagrid that this was supposed to be a detention and he should be watched but Harry didn't really care because his thoughts were more on his friends who he was sure had already snuck out of the castle by now. This would give him a chance to find them and keep them safe before they were attacked by what they suspected to be a giant acromantula.
The only hindrance had been that on his path through the dark trees Harry actually found an injured unicorn. Its injuries were far beyond his own capability to heal, and surely this animal would die. Sighing, Harry realized it would be a bad omen to let something resembling purity die from a violent act. Kneeling on the foliage next to the creature Harry found the center of his being. "I call out on this moonlit night, to the Goddess of the Hunt, come aid me in this time to heal one of Earth's most gentle creatures. Give me the strength needed so that an innocent need not perish tonight," Harry's voice carried through the trees on the winds.
It took a few moments for his beseechment to be heard and for the deity to make a decision. But Harry soon heard the rustling of the leaves and a rush of magic he knew was not his own, gently resting his hands upon the unicorn, he closed his eyes and let the divine will take control, acting as the conduit for Artemis to heal the unicorn.
A black ichor oozed out of the wound, and moments later the injury began to close itself up and the animal's breathing started to even out.
Harry stood up and wiped his brow before bowing. "Thank you Goddess of the Hunt for your blessing." He had suspected that Artemis would not have normally aided a boy in any task but considering her domain over the wilderness and animals, an unicorn that had been injured by some dark magic is something that she would attend to.
The unicorn rose off the ground on unsteady legs but soon gathered its bearings before taking off deeper into the woods to avoid whatever had attacked it.
Harry was going to also run off when the sounds of snapping branches drew his attention, quickly unsheathing his own sword and drawing his wand in case it was whatever attacked the unicorn, he was surprised to see a trio of centaurs entering the clearing.
"I am Firenze, and we had word of an injured unicorn young wizard," the centaur announced while looking around and spotting some of the silvery unicorn blood.
Harry nodded back to the centaur as he had very little to fear from them knowing Chiron who explained that the centaur herds near the school could be a beneficial ally if he had need of them. "That would be correct, but I have tended to the wound with the aid of Artemis, all is well."
"She Who Hunts By Moonlight?" Firenze questioned before understanding the situation. "Ahh I see, you are not a normal wizard, what brings a demi-god into our lands?"
The centaurs did not care much for the presence of witches and wizards who would brazenly enter their forests, taking what did not belong to them, but the children of the gods were an exception. "I got detention, and the headmaster sent me to Hagrid to help him find any injured unicorns."
"Then I believe it is auspicious that you had been given this task as it is unlikely the noble creature would have made it through the night had anyone else arrived," Firenze stated. "Tonight is a strange night, much will happen."
"Yeah, I figured as such, I'm not the greatest at reading the stars, but Chiron taught us some," Harry agreed while looking up. "Would you maybe happen to know where my friends might be in the forest? They were trying to stop the sleepwalking curse that has been affecting students in the castle for most of the year."
The centaurs shared a short conversation before turning back to Harry. "Torvus has been talking about regaining his honor after an arrow was stolen by another wizard who was investigating the cursed vault in the forest. We will not go with you, but they are near the acromantula colony, it is located in that direction."
"I thank you Firenze," Harry bowed before sprinting off towards his friends, as he ran he glanced over in the direction of the castle, getting an ominous feeling that someone else was taking advantage of the lapse in teacher's attention. Harry knew the properties of unicorn blood and one would have to be desperate to curse themselves just to prolong their life by a few scant hours, meaning whatever was involved in the school's third floor corridor was also happening at this time.
But his friends needed his help, they were strong witches, and could possibly take care of themselves with the aid of a centaur, but he was a worrier. Leaping over a log he could see the trees becoming denser with cobwebs, the treetops layered in the strands to block out any light from the heavens above.
As he approached the direction he had been given he began to hear the shouts of spellfire, bursting through some thicker webs Harry found that this was not just a large acromantula, it was the size of a mid size sedan. The spider repelling charm simply wasn't strong enough to do more than make the creature flinch. Flipping over Torvus Harry reeled back his hand and drew on his diving gift to form fire in his palm, flinging it forward the power of the sun exploded on the arachnid sending it hurtling back with a screech.
He slid to a stop next to his friends who looked surprised to see him arrive. Pulling out his sword Harry started to look around the surroundings, "We have to go, one spider means more soon."
Merula wiped the dirt off her face from being thrown earlier in the fight. "We can't go yet Harry, we haven't stopped the vault."
The acromantula recovered from the blow and looked more furious. "You will not interfere with my nest, the food will come to me," it announced to the newcomer.
Tonks and Tulip readied themselves to continue the fight when Harry opened his mouth and began to hiss. Stopping dead in its tracks the acromantula scurried away from the clearing deeper into the forest. "Why did it leave?" Tonks questioned why Harry speaking parseltongue was enough to make the spider flee.
"He's a parseltongue," Tulip gasped as she remembered what creature all spiders feared. "The spider must think Harry was calling for a basilisk."
"Why would he think that?" Tonks quirked an eyebrow.
Merula rolled her shoulder and felt a pinch from an injury she sustained in the fight. "Because rumor in Slytherin is that the Chamber of Secrets holds Salazar Slytherin's monster, the king of serpents."
"It doesn't matter, he fell for my bluff," Harry informed the group while moving to free Torvus from the webbing he'd been captured in. "We need to leave because that acromantula is likely to tell every other one that's in the forest about a speaker in Hogwarts."
"We have to seal the vault before we go or the curse won't end," Tulip reminded the group as she ran forward into a hole where the spider had made its nest.
Tonks climbed down after leaving Torvus, Harry and Merula above ground. "So how'd you find us?" Hogwarts self-proclaimed greatest witch asked.
"My detention was to help Hagrid find any injured unicorns, and I did," Harry explained. "After I healed the mare, a few centaurs found me, Firenze pointed me in your direction."
"Guess we got lucky then," Merula ruffled Harry's hair as Tulip and Tonks came back out. "So it's all done now right?"
The two girls shook their heads. "No, it was another false vault, the curse broke when we touched the arrowhead to the vault and inside was this portrait and a sweater," Tulip answered as Tonks showed the portrait of the dragon and the sweater that had been inside for them.
"Yeah and the message from Jacob was that we can find the final vault together and that some 'they' can't be allowed to find it," Tonks sighed because she really thought that they had put an end to all the vaults.
Tulip handed the jeweled arrowhead to Torvus who gave his thanks before running off to show the colony that he had righted the wrong from his past. Harry took a breath and then turned to the girls who were conversing with themselves. "Now I just need to get you all into the castle before I deal with whatever's attacking the unicorns," Harry pointed back towards the castle hoping the witches would listen.
"What?!" Merula whirled on the younger wizard. "You can't be serious."
Harry sheathed his sword before heading towards the school. "Yes, I am. Whatever attacked that unicorn is related to some pretty foul dark magic. So you all should get somewhere safe."
"And let you go off alone?" Tulip gasped at how Harry seemed to be going into more danger.
"That's not happening," Tonks firmly stated while getting in Harry's way. "We can go to my mum."
"I'm not putting more people in danger Tonks, this can be really bad, because I don't even know what it is," Harry protested the idea of bringing more people into this situation.
"Well if you don't want us getting everyone in the castle in an uproar over whatever it is you think you have to do, then we're going with you," Merula threatened the young wizard with dragging more people in.
Harry tried to form words about how insane that would be as he didn't know what he'd be facing, it could possibly be nothing and he was overreacting to a bad feeling or it could be something that endangers everyone in the castle. So finally he managed to sputter out his reply. "Fine, but we go now," Harry said as he hurried towards the castle.
It didn't take the girls long to figure out that Harry was taking them to the third floor corridor, which they had thought would have been involved with the Cursed Vaults but nothing they found ever led them in this direction. "Door's locked," Harry frowned before taking a few steps back to barge through when Tulip drew her wand.
"Alohomora," the red head cast on the lock, freeing it from the spell that had been placed on it to keep it shut. "You don't always have to use brute force, Harry."
Harry rolled his eyes before opening the door and his shoulders sagged. "A fucking cerberus," he groaned because of course one the castle had a monster in it.
"What?!" the girls shouted as they crowded the door.
"Is this the threat?" Tonks asked. "Can't we just shut and lock the door and that's the end of it?"
Harry shook his head and pointed underneath one of the paws of the big three headed dog. "No, look, it's just guarding that. We have to go down."
Stepping into the room Harry could hear the sounds of a harp playing but knew that wouldn't matter much. "I'll get the dog off the door, you three go down, I'll be right after you," rolling his shoulder he knew that the smell of his half-blood would awaken the creature who was already blinking its eyes open.
"We aren't just going to-" Tulip started to complain before Merula grabbed her by the collar.
"He can wrestle a chimera, I'm sure he knows what he's doing," Merula reminded her friends as the dog moved away from the trap door to go after the demi-god. Looking down into the dark, the girls shared a look before jumping down.
"It's devil's snare," Tonks shouted as she felt the green vines start to wrap around her body. This was too much like that one dream she had and she started to struggle.
A shout from above as Harry dived into the hole narrowly avoiding the snapping jaws of Fluffy. He landed next to the girls who were struggling to get their wands out so they could cast some fire. "Oh great, I had a dream like this once," Harry grunted as the vines snapped from his strength. "Funny enough, you three were in it."
"That's really cute Harry," Tulip sarcastically said at the young wizard who was frankly picking up on their humor too easily. "But we can't get our wands up enough to cast an incendio without hitting ourselves. Can you pretty please do something about this."
"Sure," Harry said as balls of sunlight began to form in his palms. The brightness caused the plant to squeal and release its captives, dropping them on the floor.
Brushing themselves off the floor they looked around and saw that the room they were in was a dead end, except for a single door. "Guess that's where we are going next."
Stepping in, they were astounded by the mass of fluttering keys swarming above them. "And let me guess, only one key opens the door," Merula sighed.
"Probably, and if someone got here before us, then it could take us hours to find the right one?" Tulip whined because there were more than a hundred keys above them.
"Wait," Harry said as he was searching the swarm for any indication, and he found it in the center of the pack where it would be the most protected. "That key has a bent wing."
The girls noticed which one Harry had pointed out. "Now we just need a way up there?" Merula commented before Tonks tossed something in her direction.
"Here's a broom, so go get it," Tonks said to the Slytherin.
Merula grumbled because it was one of the shitty school brooms. "If I knew I would have brought the Nimbus Harry bought me," Merlua commented as she chased the swarm.
"Well it'll just take some skill because whoever did it, used one of these brooms too," Tulip shouted up as the witch kept trying to catch up to the keys.
"A little help would be nice," Merula snarled down because she had to contend with a lot of keys to get the one she was focused on.
Tonks and Tulip were just smirking before Harry nudged them. "Alright alright, we're on a schedule," Tonks conceded before firing a few hexes at the outermost keys to thin the cloud so Merula could have an easier time. Snatching the key out of the air, she tossed it down so the door could be opened, but in doing so caused the swarm to become hostile and attack. "Keep it open, I'm coming through!"
Once Merula cleared the doorframe the others slammed it shut, hearing the sounds of the keys embedding themselves in the wood told them just how dangerous that would have been if they stayed in the room. "Hell yeah, I'd like to see Flint do something like that," Merula whooped as she dismounted the broom.
Now that they were clear of that obstacle the next room they found themselves in was a massive chessboard. "Fantastic," Harry groaned because he'd never really been good at chess. The ancient game was good for learning strategy but frankly most demi-gods at camp were doers not thinkers, so the wargames they played tended to be about fast and hard hitting blitzes.
"Oh… oh we might all just be dumb then," Harry thought aloud. Now he was concerned that some part of their divine nature made them more reckless, was it being raised on the stories of old heroes and the need to do impressive acts just to get their divine parent's attention for five minutes.
The three teenage girls watched their friend slowly start to get lost in his own head. "Okay we just need to win this and we can move on," Tulip said while looking around the board.
"Can't we just ignore this?" Tonks complained about having to play chess. It was for nerds and a full chess match could take an hour if it was designed to be difficult. "There has to be an easier way right?"
Tulip shook her head in response. "I doubt it, if we try to cheat all the pieces will attack us. Alright, Merula you take the bishop. Tonks the Rook, Harry you get on that horse and I'll take the queen."
Everyone took their positions on the board and waited for white to open. The first few moves were carefully planned out by Tulip, if she didn't need to put her friends in harm's way she wouldn't, but cutting off half of her non-pawn units was starting to eat away at her effectiveness. If she didn't change tactics then she'd have to put the others into risky situations regardless and it'd be a bigger chance that someone was hurt or worse.
"Knight to- to G6," she said and watched Harry's piece move to cut off the white king. "I'm sorry," Tulip muttered.
"It's fine," Harry shouted as he could see that Tulip was upset for moving him into danger. "This is going to be safer to end it before we run out of pieces."
"But you could get hurt, or… even killed," Tulip trailed off.
The others could see how this match was affecting Tulip and they knew they needed to do something to keep her head in the game. "No way, come on this had to be made by the professors, they wouldn't kill us," Tonks said in the hopes of distracting the redhead.
"Yeah, they wouldn't make this lethal, what if they had to come across and misplayed, they wouldn't risk their own lives on a chance of an error," Merula confirmed even though she had no way to prove such a claim.
Tulip nodded and the game started to go faster. By finally using her friends to attack the tides were turning but she was in a pickle now. She'd have to sacrifice one of her friends to checkmate the enemy king. "I- I don't know who to pick?" she whined because she didn't want to send anyone to get hurt.
Harry could see that each of the girls were going to make that sacrifice. "Me, it has to be me," he quickly shouted over them. The other knights have the horse stabbed, I won't get hit and even if I do. You know that I can't be hurt the same way, it has to be me."
"Harry you're-" Tulip tried to protest against sending the youngest to take the hit but she knew Harry was right, he was different from them, they didn't know how but Harry's body was far stronger than even an adult. "Fine, Knight to H3."
The stone horse slid across the board to come to threaten the king. "Check," Tulip said with a wavering voice. And as expected the Queen came over and bashed her cane through the horse.
Having expected this Harry dismounted the horse and exited the board. "See, I'm fine, now finish this."
Tulip was relieved to know that Harry hadn't been injured and that he was right that it was the safest for him to make the sacrifice, she sent Merula to checkmate the king and let out a sigh as the king dropped his massive sword.
Tulip let out a cheer as she came over to Tonks and Merula who congratulated her for pulling off that win. Then the sound of clattering as they turned to see Harry hefting the massive sword over his shoulder only for the imbalance weapon made him start to tip over. "I don't got this," Harry said as he fell onto the floor with a thud. "Dammit, too heavy to wield properly."
"You know we're heading into danger, but I'm actually feeling safer that he's not bringing that with him," Tonks said because sure Harry was surprisingly effective with a sword, but something twice his body length was a bit absurd.
"Oh maybe we should have let Harry take the sword," Tulip gulped seeing the still mountain troll on the floor.
Harry walked over to inspect the creature by lifting an eyelid. "He's unconscious, someone definitely got in here before us, we should move on to the next room," Harry dropped the troll's head.
"Who do you think it is?" Merula asked in the hopes that some clues led to the identity of whoever was behind this break in.
"I don't know," Harry shook his head. "Just a bad feeling is all, the professors should be up in their meeting to replace Snape and I don't think a student would be capable of all this."
The final room they entered unearthly black flames sprung up from the ground blocking their progression through the archway. Tulip walked over to a table that held a number of potions. Tapping her chin she deduced that one of the potions would allow a single person to progress further ahead. "Who should we send?" Merula asked as the girls stood around the table trying to figure out which one of them would find out who was behind this all when they heard a crackle of fire behind them.
"Right," Tonks said flatly because Harry had formed his own fire that engulfed the black flame and then suffocated it. "Damn Harry, you really gotta tell us your secret for controlling fire."
Harry rolled his eyes because he liked the girls but he couldn't tell them that he was a demi-god, worst case was that they actually believed him.
Coming down the stairs they were surprised to see Professor Quirrell standing in front of the mirror looking frustrated. Unfortunately a group as large as theirs was noticed in the reflection. "Of course," Quirrell turned on them with a sick grin.
"Professor Quirrell?" Tulip questioned because she thought that Quirrell was a bit of a coward and stuttering teacher and while that had negatively impacted lessons in Defense Against the Dark Arts, she never got the impression that he was evil.
"Dumbledore surely hid the stone so that only you could retrieve it," Quirrell surmised as he raised his wand threateningly. "Come now, I have need of you."
The girls all drew their wands to level them against their teacher. But Harry raised his hand. "What are trying to do?" asking because it seemed that Professor Quirrell believed that he was related to whatever this mirror seemed to be.
Quirrell seemed to have a conversation with someone before he tilted his head. "It matters not, you just have to do what I say, the others are not needed," Quirrell stated as he whipped his wand and sent out a thin red blade of light that the girls hastily ducked.
"That was a Lacero!" Merula shouted as she started to form stone blocks into walls. "He's not using kid spells."
Harry rushed towards Quirrell but took a hard depulso to the chest. "Your time to die will come soon, after you have helped me."
Tulip and Tonks nodded before coming out of their cover at the same time, the Ravenclaw witch spraying water everywhere with an aguamenti charm and once sufficiently covered Tonks touched the tip of her wand and dropped the temperature with a glacius freezing it into harsh icicles. Merula took the cue to come out blasting with confringos and it seemed to put Quirinus on the backfoot when he slashed his wand in a complex pattern and light erupted from the wand using the icicles as prisms to warp and turn the entire room into a deadly laser grid. The girls saw the damage done when they ducked behind the cover made earlier and that it was carved through like butter.
"You ladies might have considered me to be a poor sniveling coward, but even if I was, I still taught the students years above you," Quirrell reminded that while his master's plan required him to act a certain way he was able to teach the seventh years what they needed to know.
Quirrell whipped around to grab Harry in another spell and slam him down hard on the stone, cracking it from the force. "You're certainly strong, but a brute will not stop the greatest sorcerer in the world."
Harry grunted as he struggled against the force pressing down on him. "Pretty sure… that's Merula," Harry shouted as he drew his celestial bronze sword and threw it at Quirrell. To his surprise the blade sliced into the man's throat, he hadn't expected that as he was betting on Quirrell flinching back from it even if it wouldn't do any damage but it had. The man slumped to the ground and Harry was relieved from the magical pressure.
"Jeez," Tonks huffed as she looked over to the still form of Quirrell's body bleeding all over the floor.
"He's dead," Tulip gulped nervously because she knew that the professor was evil and trying to kill them but this was the first dead body she'd ever seen.
"Yeah," Merula nodded while seeing Harry walk over to pick up his sword and put it away.
Harry was just turning to walk towards the girls when he saw Quirrell's body rise from the ground. "I see this vessel is of little use to me now," a horribly broken voice said, slowly one of Quirrell's arms rose to remove the turban revealing a disgusting face on the back of his skull.
"The-Boy-Who-Lived, we meet again," Voldemort grinned at Harry, his one obstacle in life.
"So that's why it worked," Harry surmised that at some point Quirrell's body was so devoid of life it would be considered as just a vessel for some dark entity.
"Yes child, you have finished off the life force of Quirinus but that matters not, as soon as the others are disposed of, your body will make an excellent host for my eternal reign," Voldemort shouted as he whipped Quirrell's body into action, casting a horrid ring of black flames that instantly caused the ice in the room to explode into steam, to which the force of the blast knocked Harry backwards and as he was picking himself up off the floor he could see that Tonks, Tulip and Merula were under an endless barrage of dark magic from Voldemort who even in such a weakened state and using a carcass to channel his magic through was still more than enough for three fourth year students.
Harry's head was ringing and his body ached. He didn't know what to do, his friends were going to die.
"Sol no, The Allfather has forbidden you," Thor shouted up in Asgard as the Sun Goddess vanished. They had been watching the young demi–god in his struggles and were quite proud of his accomplishments, not only of the humility needed in calling for aid in healing a unicorn, but his dedication to protect his friends.
But as the threats mounted the goddess grew more anxious, she worried that her son was heading into a greater danger than he was capable of handling as it had not taken much deduction to discover just who was riding Quirrell like a parasite and what Albus Dumbledore had hidden in the Mirror of Erised.
Seeing that her son was in mortal danger, she had to do something, even if it meant punishment for disobeying Odin's decree against seeing her son. She couldn't let him die without knowing his heritage.
The pain in his head started to subside strangely and the world seemed to slow down. "What's happening?" Harry questioned what was going on when in a brilliant beam of sunlight a beautiful figure made of a starlight and fire descended from above. "Who… mom?"
Sol beamed a smile at her son for recognizing her. "Yes Harry," she said as she knelt next to her son so that she could give him the first hug in nearly a decade since the last time she held him. "It's me."
"But… I don't understand mom? You're not an Olympian?" Harry looked confused because she wasn't like any of the other gods and goddesses he saw on Mt. Olympus for the once a year trip the campers got to see their parents.
Lily crooned her son's hair. "No, I'm not, I'm an Asgardian. I am the Goddess of the Sun and you are my baby boy."
"So why haven't you? Why did you?" Harry stammered while trying to find the right words.
"I wanted to for so long," Sol apologized for the delay. "It took a few years for my memories as Lily Potter to finally get sorted into my eternal being and by then you were already with Petunia. I'm, I'm so sorry Harry for everything you went through."
Harry felt a hot drop of water touch his cheek and turn to steam and he knew his mother was crying. Hugging her tight Harry didn't want her to cry, she was his mum. "It's okay, I got through it."
"You're so strong Harry," Sol smiled as she looked at the incredible young man he became in her absence.
Looking past her, Harry could see that his friend's were struggling, even with the time slowed down, they were losing. No spells they cast could get through the black flames. "My friends," Harry said to his mother.
"I know, that is a powerful spell used by Gellert Grindlewald, Protego Diabolica, the flames of the devil," Sol nodded. If she was selfish and kept enjoying being around her son, they would die.
"I have to help them," Harry told his mom. This was everything he ever wanted, a chance to meet his parent and get to know them, but it couldn't have come at a worse time. "I'm sorry mom."
"Don't be, you make me so proud, there is so much of James in you, he was a brave warrior," Sol said as she started to rise back into the air. "So be brave too."
She disappeared from Harry's perspective and time seemed to start to flow naturally. Pushing through the pain Harry looked at the Dark Lord and stepped forward. This movement was enough to draw attention to him.
"Harry Potter, do you wish to burn along with your friends?" Voldemort grinned as Harry kept approaching. "The fires will not be penetrated by anything, they are too powerful for you to quench."
Harry didn't stop, he stepped forward and it seemed as if the black flames would incinerate him on the spot but they just rolled over his body.
"A Son of the Sun does not fear fire!" Harry shouted as he charged the wizard and flicked his wand, sending a gout of fire at Voldemort who was shocked that the powerful dark magic had failed to harm the child. He deflected and blocked as much as he could but the child was still advancing.
"No, this cannot be," Voldemort shouted as Harry was finally within range and the young wizard's powerful hands grabbed him.
"Burn," Harry said as he pushed forth the divine flame inside him, igniting the monster of a man in front of him in their intensity.
Voldemort screamed before a shadowy cloud shot out of Quirrell's charred corpse that decayed into ash in Harry's hands. "Next time," Voldemort swore as the shade took off through a wall. With the body gone, the black flames died just as quickly. Harry looked at his dusty hands and to the girls who had been moments away from a gruesome death.
Looking up Harry knew that had his mother not come he wouldn't have found the courage to keep going. "Thanks mom," he said quietly as the girls rushed over to check him out.
Once they were assured he was fine, mostly because of him repeating it over and over that the black flames hadn't hurt him, Harry went to stand in front of the mirror, "Now what did he want me to do?" Harry wondered while seeing his reflection with the girls behind him. After a moment his mother's form appeared behind him and gave a wink before she vanished. "I don't think this mirror really did anything at all."
"But it's showing me everything I've ever wanted, Master Auror," Tonks questioned just how Harry wasn't seeing what she was.
Tulip nodded because it showed her something different. "I'm a successful business woman. I make the best joke products in the world."
"I'm the world's most powerful witch," Merula sighed happily. They had all concluded that this mirror showed their greatest hopes and dreams and it was everything they ever wanted.
"It just shows me this room, with all of us in it," Harry just turned away from the mirror with a shrug and a smile that he gave the girls who snapped out of their own little daydream of the mirror and blushed from what Harry had said.
To hear it from him that they were his greatest desire was certainly endearing, downright flattering.
"We should go back now and explain to the school what happened here," Harry suggested because someone was going to wonder where Quirrell went and since the headmaster had hinted at this, it wasn't going to be too long before he came down to check on this trap that had been laid for Voldemort.
Entering the teachers conference had drawn the discussion to an end over what to do. Seeing the four students with scrapes and bruises had been enough for the faculty to know something had happened. "So… long story short," Harry pursed his lips. "I sort of killed another professor."
The faculty looked at Harry in various degrees of shock.
The young wizard just sighed and hung his head. "I'm gonna go to jail."
The professors at the meeting had wanted to immediately call for the aurors, but Albus flicked his wand and sealed the door while also killing the fireplace to eliminate floo access. "Before anyone decides to do anything, Harry, explain," Albus ordered firmly while steepling his fingers. He couldn't simply allow his staff to just run off and get the aurors once again, he needed information now. And he suspected that with Quirrell's absence the identity of who Tom was using was apparent.
Harry took a moment to collect his thoughts before explaining how he had gone to his detention with Hagrid and that he did find a unicorn, while leading up to that point Harry was formulating a lie as to not just say he called for the aid of a goddess to help him. "The injury wasn't that bad so I was able to fix it myself," Harry said before quickly moving to the next point about how he ran off to find his friends.
The three girls explained how they suspected that with all the professors stuck in the meeting that no one would be there to stop any sleepwalkers and that they had to act tonight to stop the cursed vault. Telling their tale of how they discovered all the clues and prepared for their adventure. Andromeda looked quite miffed that her daughter had done something so foolish without even speaking to her.
But when the girls passed over the speaking to Harry who had in their eyes somehow known something was wrong without any possible way of knowing, once he got to the part of Quirrell having his throat slit and the subsequent revelation of The-Dark-Lord's still surviving the professors were instead horrified about the events that took place under their feet.
"And he died," Harry vaguely said in the hopes of keeping attention away from his own actions.
"Harry he didn't just die," Tulip corrected. "Professors, I've never seen the spell Vo- You-Know-Who used, it was like a ring of black fire that he could control with a thought, none of our spells could do anything to it."
Filius looked to Albus as this was a spell he distinctly remembered. "Protego Diabolica," getting confirmation with a nod. "That's not simple dark magic, how are you even alive?"
"We," Merula sighed. "We wouldn't have been without Harry. He just walked through it, it didn't even burn his clothes."
"What?!" Minerva squawked because she remembered that dreadful spell used by Gellert during his war, it would incinerate anyone it touched in an instant. It was not a spell one just walked through. She turned her head to Harry and he just shrunk at the stare.
"The Ministry has to be told," Pomona firmly stated. It was imperative that the government be made aware of what had transpired, a large scale search had to be undertaken.
"No, no they don't," Albus said causing his staff to stop where they were.
Filius huffed and turned back to his employer who was frankly on his last nerve regarding his penchant for hoarding vital information. "And pray tell why should we NOT warn everyone that You-Know-Who is still around so that we can hunt him down."
"Because in the time it takes to even convince them that he never died, and…" Albus raised his hand before pointing at the students. "Their word will simply not be enough. Especially not after Harry's last incident with a teacher."
"We could spend well over a year just trying to convince enough of the ministry to even act on this and we'd be stonewalled at every turn by his most loyal supporters. No, it would simply be faster and safer to act in the dark as he will."
"I am no coward Albus," Minerva said firmly as she would not back down from this fight.
Albus exhaled. "Then I would expect your tenure at Hogwarts to not last for very long if we do go public with this."
"You would fire me?!" Minerva said incredulously at Albus' threat.
Shaking his head. "Possibly. It might not even be my choice, as you know Hogwarts is not autonomous, we cannot simply do whatever we wish without consequence."
"Oh now we can't, not that you haven't been running this like your own fiefdom for years, hiding information," Aurora dismissively cut in, earning a glare from the headmaster.
"No, we cannot. Do you honestly believe that the board of governors would not intervene? An organization headed by Lucius Malfoy?" Slowly rising from his seat he loomed over his staff. "Do you believe those who still hold loyalty to him would not smear us as crackpots or power hungry conspirators? That they could not convince many parents to remove their students from these halls?"
"Where would they go?" Septima asked because Hogwarts was the only magical school for most of these children.
"There is nothing preventing them from forming another school, it would be paltry to have the ministry fund an alternative to our "lunacy" if they so deem it. One that would no doubt be run to the exact whims of Voldemort from the shadows to have years to indoctrinate and groom his own personal army of children."
Albus slammed his fist on the table, startling those for how worked up he was getting. "Do you believe yourself capable of in a few years time if open war broke out, striking down some of your own students? If somehow Susan Bones was removed from this school, would Amelia be able to order her own aurors to kill her or simply do it herself?"
"That would never-" Pomona tried to protest but was cut off by Albus.
"We would never have a dark lord, that is what was thought and then Grindelwald forced the entire world into conflict," Albus bellowed. "And it would be fairly simple to paint us as the bad guys if we are seen protecting Harry Potter anytime he kills a professor."
Turning his ire to the young student. "I understand that with Quirrell you had no choice, I commend you even for putting a stop to his nefarious scheme and protecting this school. You did the right thing, the good thing, but you are a student who in one year has already committed what some might consider two murders. In the future what else could happen that might be of benefit that would look unseemly, if we go public with every action of yours then it would be a paltry effort to make you out to be an unhinged, violent lunatic that we are protecting from the legal consequences of his actions."
"That alone would be enough to have many parents call for our removal, at which point we would be easier to pick off by Voldemort and his forces," Albus started to wrap up his rant as he wanted to get back to instructing his staff on what was needed to cover this up. "If the people the public can look to are no longer there when Voldemort finally steps into the light, then they will bow to him. We cannot take needless risks without considering the worst case scenario."
Sitting back down, Albus sniffed heavily. "So no, the ministry will not be alerted to Quirinus' demise, official records will state that he simply could not handle the stresses of continuing his career as an educator, this will be backed up quite easily with student testimony about his skittishness in teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"But what if someone looks into that further, surely the ministry will wonder where he went?" Andromeda asked because she needed to speak to her daughter and could not do so in front of Albus now.
"I will alert the Head Unspeakable about certain details regarding Quirinus, that will keep any deep investigations from looking into it," Albus answered as he knew the Unspeakable's neutrality will prevent them from siding with them unfortunately, but it also meant that they will not aid Voldemort in anyway either.
"For the time being, the best I am able to do for your actions Harry is to give you a special commendation for aiding the school," Albus nodded at the young child. He saw Harry nod back to him as he turned and pushed the girls out even though they protested that more had to be done. War was on the horizon unless someone could put an end to Tom's madness before he fully returned to life.
Out in the halls Harry could see that Tulip, Tonks and Merula were upset. "I cannot believe him!" Tulip shouted and pointed at the door.
"He's going to let that madman go free because it'd be difficult to tell the public what really happened," Tonks pulled at her hair.
Merula just looked pissed beyond belief at the inaction being done.
"Well he's not wrong," Harry shrugged and his declaration made the girls look at him in disbelief. "I'm not saying what he's doing is the right thing to do, it's not the honest thing to do but you heard about Snape, he wasn't the only one who supported that psycho, there are others. Maybe people would believe me or maybe they would look at how I killed Snape and think I need to be locked up."
"We'd be taking a big risk that we can convince enough people to take up arms against him and there's a very real chance that most people will sit back and wait," Harry ran his hand through his hair. "I want this to be a world where when we point to bad people, that everyone acts to stop it, but we don't. Hell Merula, half of the students in our dorm would leave Hogwarts to join him now, and that's probably not the only students who would go either."
"So we do nothing then!" Merula snapped at Harry.
"No, we get ready," Harry said firmly to the girls. "We know he's still out there and what he was able to do with a body as weak as Quirrells. That means we need to be prepared for him and whoever else he recruits because he was looking to take over last time, I doubt he's just going to retire to a nice tropical island this time."
"How do we do that?" Tulip nervously asked because tonight had been the most action packed of her life, she didn't know if she would want to do it over and over again in the future with more fighting.
"Training and preparation," Harry shrugged. "We don't know what we'll be faced with in the future so we just have to be ready for anything. But tonight has been exhausting so we should just get some rest."
The girls finally took a moment to realize that it was nearly morning now and just how tired they were. Nothing could be done talking any longer that couldn't be had after they had rested, so Tulip bade them goodnight before heading up the stairs while Harry, Tonks and Merula started to head downward.
Once in his dorm, Harry instead of climbing into bed, went over to his trunk and pulled out a chest that he kept his ingredients in. Calling on the aid of the gods was only to be done rarely as they were very fickle beings but he had to talk to his mom again. Kneeling on his floor Harry settled into a meditative state and called out for her.
He was giddy with excitement because he knew who his mother was, he could finally have a chance to get to know her. But as he waited for her to come to him, he started to grow disheartened because she wasn't.
Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and turning his head his face turned to confusion because this woman wasn't his mother. "Who, um I'm sorry," Harry bowed to the obvious goddess. "I had meant to contact my mother Sol."
"I know Harry," Frigga consoled the child, she gently guided him towards his bed and sat on the mattress with him. "I am Frigga, Goddess of Marriage and Motherhood. We in Asgard have been watching you."
"But why didn't my mom come?" Harry asked the kind goddess why she was here in place of his mother
"The Allfather had forbidden your mother from contacting you," Frigga said and could see the shock on his features. "But not out of malice. You are aware of a Symbol of Power, and that cloak that belonged to your father was one such. A Deathly Hallow."
Harry looked to his trunk and his eyes widened that he was in possession of Death's symbol. Surely that would not end well for him. "Do not worry, you have done nothing wrong, in fact Death has left his three symbols in the mortal world for someone to gather them all. But your mother marrying your father, even if she did not know put her under scrutiny for being so close to it."
"So I should give it away?" Harry considered.
"No, it's yours," Frigga stopped Harry from simply divesting himself of what could be beneficial to him. "It belonged to your father and he would want you to have it. I know, I asked him."
"You did?" Harry looked up at Frigga who nodded.
"Your father resides happily in the halls of Valhalla," the goddess explained. "We have been watching you with great interest Harry. Mostly Thor and Loki are trying to cause problems."
"What?" Harry blinked.
"That discussion with that horrid man, Loki interfered. He cast some magic to make Snape confess what he had done," Frigga slowly gave Harry a hug because he definitely needed one. The actions of Loki in the last couple of days had caused Harry to go through much hardship.
"Oh then I should probably thank him," Harry said tiredly as the amount of effort he had to put in today as catching up to his young body. "So what happened to Snape, if dad when to Valhalla, then where did Snape go?"
"He went to Niflheimr," Frigga answered. "The realm of the dishonored dead. His cowardly actions towards you sealed his own fate. Severus had a second chance to put his past anger behind him when you entered the school. He could have buried his hatred of the dead rather than turn it upon an innocent child."
Harry nodded. "So what happens now? Am I ever going to see my mom again?"
Frigga nodded. "Most certainly, but she's going to be punished by the Allfather for disobeying him. So for the time being she won't be able to visit you."
Looking sullen about not being allowed to see his mother, Frigga patted him on the shoulder. "Does this mean I'm not going back to Camp Half-blood?" asking what would happen to him in a few weeks when the semester at Hogwarts ended.
"You can still go back there if you would like, since we Aesir aren't nearly as… reckless with having children, we haven't had a need for a specific camp to raise our children. The camp is a convenient place to stay protected from any monsters over the summer, as I doubt your headmaster would approve you boarding over the break," Frigga explained.
"Students can do that?" Harry looked confused how that would work, since that seemed to mean that some teachers would have to stay in the castle over the summer to supervise them so they didn't break anything or get up to more trouble.
"Some who have no guardians are allowed, in your case, it might cause more problems trying to explain to him that you are no longer with your relatives, so it would be better for you to return to camp. As you said, dark times are coming and it would be better to train for Voldemort's return than to become complacent," suggesting that he go where he has the most resources to improve. "But for now, you need to get some sleep."
Harry thought it was weird that he was being tucked in but it was something he couldn't remember ever happening before. As he closed his eyes he hoped that he'd be able to see his mother again soon.
During the last few weeks of the school year, Harry noticed that the teachers seemed to be acting odd. Tonks told him what her mother was telling her, that the headmaster was pulling double duty as a self-appointed general against Voldemort. And this was causing tensions to rise among the staff who were very low on their trust in the headmaster for how much information he had been keeping to himself.
But there wasn't anything for Harry to do, it wasn't likely that he would be able to act openly and he didn't even know where to start. So he went through his lessons until the last day of school.
"But Harry, how will we know where to send our letters?" Tulip whined that Harry couldn't give a direct address to this camp he stayed at in the best he could tell them was a business that dealt in strawberries.
"Trust me, I'll get your letters," Harry assured the redhead that he would stay in communication.
"We're going to miss you," Tonks told her little friend because in the span of a year he really situated himself in their group, hell he'd practically been the reason they were a group now rather than trying to compete against each other to get anything done when searching for the cursed vaults.
Merula just scuffed her foot on the train station floor. Now that she had friends, the thought of just being left alone in her parents house because her aunt only checks in to make sure she's not dead didn't sit well with her. "Could you maybe find time to visit," rubbing her arm.
Harry took a moment to think and figured that while it would be expensive to pay for the portkeys, he could do it, his parents had left him with some money. "I would love nothing more than to spend my summers with you all. So I will definitely be finding ways to come see my favorite witches."
The three girls blushed at the declaration and so they said their goodbyes and went off while Harry activated the first of many of his portkeys that were sent to him.
Once on campgrounds again, Harry wasted no time in getting back to his training.
