Title: Of Eagle and Lion
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: None.
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I do not own Hermione, or Luna, or Ginny, or Cho, or... I would buy them all but I am broke.
Summary: In an act of desperation, a young Harry Potter's magic goes wild and gives him something that will change everything.
A/N: Ceg, Firstly as I see it, most Imperial Citizens and even Imperial Guard are generally not that familiar with Psykers unless they have direct interactions with a Psyker (or are part of the Commissariat). The Ecclesiarch and their Ordos Militant generally deal with Rogue Psykers and protect the knowledge by killing off anyone who learns too much, so it is likely that your average Guardsman who have never fought besides Sanctioned Psykers or faced Chaos Sorcerers would not even be familiar with Psychic abilities or ever associate that with Magicals. Also I think you are thinking of Sergeant Bastonne from the Codex. I selected Blackstone as a suitable Cadian surname but no, he is not the named character from the Imperial Guard Codex.
The Gryffindor common room was a bustle. One of the Prefects, a redhead by the name of Percy, was giving the first years a speech about where the dorms were located. A number of the older students were milling around the stairs all of them trying to get to their dorm rooms and were in effect creating a traffic jam, while others were spaced around the common room, either standing in groups of friends chatting about their holidays or, in a few cases, sitting in the collection of comfortable chairs watching the pandemonium. This last group consisted of a set of identical redheaded twins sitting in a pair of armchairs off to one side and, on a three seater couch by the fire place, three girls who looked like they were in their second and third years, one of whom had ebony skin.
When the Prefect had finished his speech, the first years dispersed. A couple tried joining the now slightly lessened crowd at the stairs. A redhead by the name of Ron went over to the Twins, who seemed to be his brothers, along with the Prefect. Hermione, ever the logical one, went and sat on one of the vacant chairs to wait for the crush at the stairs to clear, and Neville joined her as he had no desire to be caught in the press.
Harry on the other hand approached the three girls who had watched with scarcely veiled amusement the antics of their housemates. As he approached the girl in the middle stood up.
"Sergeant Potter." She said, bowing her head and making the sign of the Aquila.
"I told you before Katie, unless you want to join the Guard, call me Harry." He replied, also making the sign of the Aquila.
"Katie, you know Harry Potter?" the black girl asked.
"Yes Angelina. We went to the same primary school." Katie Bell replied.
"Hey, I'm Angelina Johnson, this is Alicia Spinnet."
"Pleasure to meet you." Harry said politely. "Oh-Six-Hundred for morning Devotions?"
"Of course. We will have to do them in the common room." Katie replied. "And they confiscated my incense and holy oils."
"WHAT?!"
Harry was sitting fuming at breakfast the next morning. Katie had joined him for silent morning devotions before they had come down for breakfast.
"Mr Potter, you class schedule." Professor McGonagall said.
"Professor, can we please speak in private?" Harry asked, only the iron will of a Veteran Imperial Guardsman keeping the anger out of his voice.
"Of course, Mr Potter. Please give me five minutes to finish handing out schedules and then we will go to my office." The Professor replied.
Harry picked at his breakfast until the Professor returned and then followed her out of the Great Hall and up to her office.
"So, what did you want to talk about Mr Potter?"
"Professor, I understand that a number of items were confiscated from Katie Bell last year." Harry said.
"Yes, I remember that. But what is the relevance?" The Professor asked.
"May I ask why the items were confiscated?" Harry insisted
"Mr Potter, I don't like to be questioned." Professor McGonagall said sternly.
"Professor, I have the same items in my trunk. I need to know why these items were confiscated." Harry replied.
"Very well." McGonagall sighed. "Miss Bell was caught performing ritualistic magic. Mr Filch found her in an abandoned classroom about to perform the ritual. Ritualistic magic is forbidden, mostly because they do not work but the few that do are all extremely dark."
"And did Katie have an opportunity to explain before she was punished and had her possessions taken?" Harry asked again.
"No, it was obvious that she was about to perform ritualistic magic and the rules are clear." The Professor replied. "So as long as you do not perform such then you will not loose your equipment."
"I have one more question Professor." Harry said. "Is religious persecution Hogwarts policy or are all the staff here just intolerant?"
"Excuse me?!" Professor McGonagall almost shouted.
"Katie was not performing Ritualistic Magic. She was performing religious devotions to the Emperor. I know this because I taught her the devotions. What was done was the equivalent of walking up to a Catholic during Mass, stealing and eating all the bread and wine, wiping your mouth with the alter cloth and declaring that Jesus was a fraud." Harry angrily told the Professor. "Now unless you want it spread all over the papers and an official complaint submitted of Religious persecution, I require that Katie's belongings be returned, she is given a formal apology for the confiscation, a space near the Great Hall will be provided for our religious ceremonies which will be open to all and a secured location is provided where I can train and safely secure weapons, which is part of my religious doctrine. And I want it done by the end of the day or you will be explaining why the Boy-Who-Lived left Hogwarts in under twenty-four hours and was never heard from again by the Wizarding world."
Without giving the professor a chance to respond, Harry stood up and left the office.
"Headmaster, we have a serious problem." Professor McGonagall said as she walked into Dumbledore's office.
"So what is this problem? Lemon Drop?" Dumbledore replied holding out the tray of sweets to his deputy.
"Mr Potter is threatening a charge of Religious Persecution." The deputy Headmistress replied.
The silence that followed was only broken by the shattering of the sweet tray and the sound of the Lemon Drops scattering across the desk.
Religious Persecution was one of the two oldest, and most reviled, crimes in Wizarding Culture. Anyone found guilty would be shunned and have a kill on site order issued in every Wizarding community in the world. The whole reason the Wizarding World went underground in the first place was to escape religious persecution. The other crime, centuries older, which also had the same punishment was 'Theft of Line'.
The Theft of Line charge prevented 'the unconsenting union of two Magicals which results in either the production of a child by the offending party which under normal circumstances would inherit a significant status within a Magical Family (Magical Family being deemed to include those of existing lineage or among the emergent families), or the dishonour and disinheritance of the innocent party who otherwise may one day have inherited a significant status within a Magical Family'. This law was so ancient that all but a few of the oldest Magical Families would be considered an 'emergent family'. This was one of the reasons why there were so few cases of Rape in the Magical World, because any rape could also result in a Theft of Line charge. This was also why 'Muggle-born' or First Generation Witches were not sexually abused by the Pureblood supremacists, many of whom in their minds saw such witches as less than human, as all First Generation Witches and Wizards are protected under this law as the Head of their Family.
"What does he want?" Dumbledore asked with a sigh, hoping that the demands were not too extreme.
Hearing the terms Dumbledore sighed again. The public apology would be a massive blow to staff credibility, but it could have been much worse.
"Let Mr Potter know he has a deal. Tell Argus to return Miss Bell's belongings and publicly apologise at dinner this evening. Also arrange for a full staff meeting, we will need to inform them of the new development." Dumbledore said, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes.
"I will also inform Mr Potter that he should prepare a briefing document which contains areas where activities or staff instructions may conflict with his Religion, and see if any area may impede educational requirements. In the mean time, Miss Bell and Mr Potter should inform any staff if one of these areas of… sensitivity are raised." McGonagall replied before leaving the Headmaster to his work, and his spilled candy.
Harry sat in his first Potions Class, with Hermione sitting next to him at the workbench. Professor Snape swept in, trying to look menacing. For his part he did a fair job of scaring most of the students in the class. But not someone who knows what it feels like to face down a horde of screaming Orcs, watched thousands of soldiers die under a swarm of Tau Missiles or to see the unrestrained, brutal and deadly efficiency of the Space Marines as they tear through defences that had withstood thousands of Imperial Guardsmen and hundreds of Leman Russ Battle Tanks and Basilisk Siege Artillery Guns. After all that a greasy haired guy, with pail skin and a big nose, in flowing black robes is just not that intimidating. Emperor, most Guard Sergeants are scarier that that.
"Put away your wands. There will be no foolish wand waving or silly incantations in this class." Snape began.
Harry tuned him out, noting though that Hermione was copying his words down verbatim, until he heard his name.
"Mr. Potter. Our new celebrity. Tell me, what is the difference between Monkshood and Wolfsbane?" Snape sneered
"Nothing Sir. They are the same plant, also called Aconite. While highly poisonous it is also quite useful, correctly administered, as a pain killer."
Snape grunted. Harry had read that in one of his Muggle books on herbs.
"Where would you look if I told you to find me a Bezoar?" Snape asked.
"Probably in your supply cabinet, Sir. But if we were in the field, the stomach of a Goat. Less effective Bezoars can also be found in the stomach of Lamas, Gazelle's and, for specific poisons, the stomach of a Platypus."
Everyone, even Hermione, stared at him for that one. The text book only said about the Goat. It's amazing what you can learn from enthusiastic Magical Biologists who are all pleased to meet you, have had one too many pints and are trying to out do each other.
"And what would you get if you added Powdered Rood of Asphodel to an infusion of Wormwood?" Snape growled out, and all eyes shifted to Harry.
"Me? Probably a boiling mess and potentially a destroyed cauldron because this is my first Potions lesson and that recipe is not covered anywhere in the first year potions textbook that you assigned us, Sir." Harry calmly replied.
Snape simply turned and walked to the blackboard. Most of the Gryffindors and some of the Slytherins chuckled softly. Hermione just stared at him in awe. He had been completely respectful while making a teacher look like an idiot. This was a thing unheard of in Hermione's world.
TBC…