AN: Not really happy with this chapter, it feels too choppy to me. Still, it is what it is, and hopefully, next chapter, after the summoning of Harry's Saber, we can move on to the fourth Grail War. You'll have to wait a little bit for that, as I've yet to finish watching Fate/Zero, bit it hopefully won't be forever away. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter, and if anyone has any ideas or suggestions for me, they are more than welcome to tell me them. Karikirimusi is from Soul Caliber, and Andariel is from Diablo, for those who want to know.
Beta'd by: NIX'S WARDEN
Chapter 12 – Stuff Happens
"Well aren't you in a pleasant mood." The love goddess remarked.
"No, not really." Harry replied. "I've just come back from fighting a foe of literally biblical proportions, one that had been enhanced so it just wouldn't stay dead. Also, unless I wanted to wipe a country off the map, or cause even more damage than was already done, I couldn't use my larger and more powerful attacks. So, with all that, please excuse me if I'm not the most pleasant being to be around right now."
"Huh." Aphrodite blinked. "I guess you do have reason to be moody then."
"Quite." Harry shot back. "Still, I guess I should apologise. Despite my... distaste for deities of your persuasion, I really should be a better host. Then again, you didn't exactly let me know you'd be coming."
A somewhat bemused Aphrodite watched as Harry created several clones which proceeded to set out a table of snacks in the Chamber of Secrets, while the original body moved away to get cleaned up. This... wasn't normally how one acted in the presence of a goddess. Usually, she found humans reacted in one of three ways to her. First off was bowing and scraping, either from awe or fear. The second reaction she usually got was someone denouncing her as a 'false god', and going on about how the ones they worshipped were sooo much better than she was. The third reaction she tended to get was flirting.
Sirius, who'd been the first to see her had fallen into the third category, though she got the feeling that he was simply flirting with her for the sake of it, and not being particularly serious about it. Harry... well, he was treating her like she didn't have a massive amount of power to back her up. Despite being a goddess of love, she was still one of the most well known deities that existed, and as such possessed truly immense levels of power.
"Do you know why he doesn't like me?" Aphrodite decided to ask Sirius.
The duplicates of the boy looked up, but as she wasn't addressing them, they decided to let Sirius answer, curious to see how he would explain it.
"Um, I think, though I could be wrong, it's because love deities often have more to do with lust than romantic love, or even familial love." Sirius guessed, though he thought he was right. "Also, no offence, but the gods could be quite the manipulative assholes when they wanted to be, and it was often humans who suffered because of their childish tantrums."
"A very true statement." Aphrodite sighed, a rather hollow look in her eyes. "Looking back on things, I was an absolute bitch, Athena was daddy's 'perfect little angel'. Artemis was a sexist snob, Ares was..." She trailed off with a huff. "Believe me, hindsight is, as they say, twenty twenty. I am appalled and ashamed at some of the things I did back then, of what we did back then."
"You sound rather repentant." Harry spoke up, the original returning in clean clothes. "I must say, I am rather surprised. The Greek pantheon is one that I'm not particularly fond of, and part of that is due to their excesses and hypocrisy, though their frequent temper tantrums and arguments earned them no favour from me."
"The only thing I can say is 'that's how things were back then'." Aphrodite shrugged. "It was a time of 'might makes right', with each of us gods having our 'champions' that we backed, pushing them into various situations to 'test' them, and then comparing how each of ours did, with the winner bragging about it."
"That's... really not the answer I was expecting." Harry admitted. "I must say, your personality isn't what I would expect of you, and your appearance is also somewhat of a surprise."
"What were you expecting?" Aphrodite asked, taking a generous swig out of the bottle in her hand.
"Not an alcoholic." Harry muttered. "That is something I might expect from Dionysus. From you, I was expecting something far more 'girly', and perhaps even an obsession with pretty little things, looking good, and relationships. I was expecting your appearance to be something like a reverse boggart, with you appearing as an ideal beauty to all that look at you."
"Oh, so you don't find me attractive?" Aphrodite asked. "As for my attitude, well, I've done a lot of growing up since the end of the Age of Gods. Losing most of your family will do that to you, there's not even a half dozen Greek gods left."
"I never said you were unattractive, just that I expected you to look like an observer's 'ideal' female partner, and with your power, I'm sure you could do just that." Harry commented. "And what do you mean 'less than half a dozen' left? The Greek pantheon was rather large, with three hundred and seventy of you if I remember right, or are you just not including the 'lesser' gods in your statement?"
"The Greek pantheon was one of those hit hardest when the fall happened." Aphrodite said, a far away look in her eyes. "The Norse took quite the beating too, and the Romans were all but wiped out. I hear the Shinto and Native American deities came out of it without too much damage though."
Harry frowned. "I apologise, that was insensitive of me, bringing up bad memories like that. Still, I wonder, why are you even here? I can understand if my arrival in this world woke you up, but you have sought me out, and I find myself wondering why."
Aphrodite shrugged. "I don't know really. It wasn't like I had anything better to do, and I really don't care at all about the modern world, so I decided to come here, and see what exactly you are, because I wanted to do so."
"You have no purpose." Harry commented, analysing the goddess. "You have no reason to be, yet you're too stubborn to fade away. Your domain is love, yet you no longer meddle with the affections of humans. You're like a soldier with no country to fight for, simply wandering wherever the world takes you."
"Accurate." Aphrodite agreed. "But what does it matter? Like you said, I have no purpose, and I've already told you my family is all dead, so what reason do I have to go on? I exist, or more accurately subsist, but I have no goal, no objective, nothing that I really want from 'life'."
"There's not really much I can say to that." Harry frowned. "I can't give you a reason to live, or some target for you to aim at. All I can really do is make you the same offer that I've made others who have survived the fall of the gods."
"I wasn't asking you to give me a reason to live." Aphrodite blandly replied, rolling her eyes. "Though, this mention of an offer, what is it?" She asked.
"I have created a world attached to my own soul. In it, there are a great number of beings, from all 'walks' of life. I can offer you a place there, if you so wish it, and you may accompany me on whatever adventures I end up in as I travel from world to world." Harry said.
"What's the catch?" Aphrodite asked. "No one simply gives out an offer like that without expecting something in return."
"There's no real catch." Harry replied. "Just so long as you can get along with others, or at least abide by the rule of 'live and let live', then there won't be a problem. Whatever else you want to do is entirely up to you." Harry paused. "Oh, aside from simply bring whoever and whatever you want into my Soul World. It is a place of my creation, and whether or not someone is allowed there is up to me, okay?"
"And what sort of reason would you bar someone entry?" Aphrodite prodded him.
"If they piss me off." Harry replied flatly. "I don't intend to invite any humans into my Soul World, but that's purely down to my own personal bias against said species. If someone intentionally harms my Soul World, or intends to, then they will suffer for it, and if someone attacks an individual under my protection, they will also suffer for it."
"So it's a case of who you decide is 'worthy', I see." Aphrodite pointed out.
"I would have thought that was obvious." Harry chuckled. "My world, my rules."
"That's a rather autocratic way to do things." Aphrodite shot back with hooded eyes.
"True, I suppose." Harry shrugged. "But it's not like I'm forcing anyone to actually do as I say. I made an offer, and you can choose to either accept or decline. Simple. As. That."
Aphrodite leaned away from Harry, before throwing her head back and laughing uproariously.
Harry used this small break to examine Aphrodite a little closer. In actual fact, she looked rather mundane. She wore a snug-fitting pair of jeans, a slightly tight dark red top, and a pair of boots with a small heel on them. Her hair was a burnished copper colour and fell to her mid-back.
In truth, aside from her divine aura, the only thing that really set Aphrodite apart from an ordinary human was the way her eyes wouldn't settle on a single colour, and were constantly cycling through a million different colours and a thousand different shade.
"I'll think about it." Aphrodite said, after her laughter had eventually stopped. "It's not like there's anyting binding me here, and maybe a change of scenery would do me some good."
"The offer will remain open then." Harry said. "It's been a pleasure speaking with you."
"Oh? What gave you the impression that I was leaving?"
xxxxx
When Harry turned up at Breakfast the next day, everything seemed normal. It was only when third period started that Aphrodite decided to show her face, and the way she did so was rather... explosive to say the least, as was the method she chose to prove her claim of divinity true.
Harry was grateful that he had the mental strength necessary to pull through that, though he still would probably never look at turtles, hamsters, or lettuce the same way ever again.
Anyway, the students and staff of Hogwarts took the fact a goddess would pop up every now and then surprisingly well. There were still those who didn't believe she was who she claimed to be – notably, purebloods who were raised to believe muggles had worshipped powerful witches and wizards as deities – and there were also those that sought her favour – such as girls seeking to 'catch' their perfect man, though she also had a few males ask for her help too.
Still, there was a goddess at Hogwarts, and things proceeded fairly normally. Of course, what most didn't know was that there was more deities than just Aphrodite wandering around. Amaterasu was pretending to be a student. Harry himself was a divine manifestation of Angra Mainyu, and added to that, he had the power to summon several more gods and goddesses that had formed contracts with him, ranging from Hel, the Norse queen of the dead, to those like Shiva, the Hindu god of several contradictory forces.
Harry actually made use of the fact Aphrodite was so visible to begin a few subtle plans of his. Nothing major world changing, but there were a few ideas swimming about in his mind that he felt he could indulge in. One of his plans revolved around the Ministry, and another of them centred on the school.
It would be a while before he saw results within the Ministry, but Hogwarts gave him almost instant feedback, which was rather disappointing when you thought about it.
What Harry had done was layer four wards on top of each other and interwoven them with both the castle itself and the leylines beneath. One ward was an intent trigger, the second was an amplifier, the third was a reflector, and the fourth bound them all together as a single spell.
What this meant, in simple terms, was that if someone with a certain intent (Harry designated it as deliberately harmful), cast a spell at another person, then they would be struck by their own spell, but at three times the power. He had to tweak it a little, so practising spells in Defence Class (not that Umbridge would allow that) or in a student's personal time didn't set it off, but it was a rather nice piece of work, even if Harry thought it a bit simple.
Of course, as any Arithmancer or Spell-crafter would tell you, binding wards together was a rather difficult task, and time-consuming as well, with a lot of dedicated work necessary to calculate how it would be balanced.
The fact Harry had created the spell in his head, mentally, in less than six and a half seconds at that, would have sent them into conniptions, though the far more subtle and, dare he say it, sinister set up he'd prepared at the Ministry would ensure that things would be a lot more... 'fair'.
xxxxx
The twenty-eight and twenty-ninth of October, that year, ended up being a Hogsmeade weekend.
Harry, surprisingly, received an invitation from Lily Potter, asking him whether he would mind sharing a meal with her and the other Potters. Sirius was invited as well, both of him, as apparently the one native to the current reality had finished whatever mission he'd been sent on.
Harry decided to agree to the invitation, which was for Sunday, but before we get to that, Harry had a previous engagement on the Saturday, as he'd agreed to go to a certain art gallery that would be displaying Liz's artwork starting that day.
xxxxx
Harry felt like he stood out a little while standing outside the art gallery, and he was getting stared at a lot too, but he was used to both of these facts. Then Harry noticed someone else who stood out for certain reasons, but blended in much more than Harry did.
"Rita Rosay-en?" Harry asked, recognising the woman despite never having met her before.
The red-haired and red-eyed woman turned her eyes on Harry, before she raised an eyebrow.
"Judging by your appearance, I can only assume you are the new tenth, the 'Infinite Archive." She commented.
"You would be correct, though it may be easier to simply refer to me as Harry, rather than one of my titles." Harry responded.
"Hmph. Harry? What a common name." Rita sniffed. "Still, your power is to be respected, if nothing else. I presume you are here to view the humans' paltry attempts at creating works of 'art'."
"Yes, I am. More specifically, one of my Servants has paintings that will be shown here, and it is for her that I came." Harry told the vampire.
"I was not aware that you had taken any thralls, nor that you cared for their opinions and desires." Rita commented.
"I meant Servant as in the Heroic Spirit variety, not the more common definition of the term." Harry corrected her. "I have no need or desire for thralls."
"I had heard you possessed powerful subordinates, but Servants? I must admit, I wasn't expecting that." Rita decided to take a closer look at Harry. Yes, rumours regarding him were plentiful, but she had dismissed most of them as being far too fanciful and ridiculous, especially for someone not even two decades old.
"It looks like the gallery is finally opening." Harry spoke up, breaking Rita out of her thoughts.
She sighed in response. "Let us see this 'art' the humans are so proud of then, perhaps one or two might even be good enough for me to remember them for more than a moment."
Harry just gave her an amused look. "You act arrogant and superior, yet inside your... actually hoping to be impressed, aren't you?" He laughed lightly. "Ah, such a strange mixture of hope and contempt is rather intriguing."
Rita shot Harry a sharp look. "Be careful what you say, tenth, I too am an Ancestor, and one with far more experience than you."
Harry chuckled for a moment longer, but let the subject drop.
xxxxx
Liz wished that the gallery wasn't taking place in the mundane world. She was feeling rather nervous, and she found twirling her spear around to be a very calming action to take. However, there might be a bit of an issue if said spear materialised in her hands when she was in a group of regular humans.
With her were some of the other artists that had their paintings, sculptures, and other works of art displayed in the gallery. Liz, personally, didn't get what was artistic about some of them, the 'modern' artists mainly, and gravitated more towards the traditional side of things, even if her own paintings had a more supernatural or fantasy leaning to them.
"So, are you ready to give a speech, Liz? You always seem so confident, it's hard to imagine you not being ready." One of the other artists asked, a young man named Jeremy. He'd several times tried to flirt with Liz, but she'd knocked him back every time. Thankfully, he wasn't being too much of a dick about it, otherwise she probably would have saved herself the irritation and stabbed him.
Liz sighed. "I'm as ready as I'm ever going to be, and seeing as we're giving our talks in four hours, it's a bit late to be worrying about it. What will happen will happen, so just calm yourself down. You're doing yourself no favours stressing yourself out like that."
"I guess I'm just really nervous." Jeremy laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "This is a big thing, you know, it's a massive step and a chance for recognition. I really don't want to mess this up." He licked his lips nervously, before looking Liz up and down. "I- I don't suppose, a-after this is over, you'd like to get a drink with me? I know this really great place that's got a good atmosphere and stuff."
"I've told you before that I'm not interested, Jeremy." Liz told him. "There's someone else I like, and besides, it wouldn't work out between us, for... reasons."
"Just give me a chance, Liz." Jeremy asked. "You never say why things wouldn't work out between us, and I've never even seen this guy you talk about."
"Who said it was a guy I was interested in?" Liz shot back, to knock him off balance. "And I have secrets, Jeremy, secrets that would terrify, horrify, and confuse you. Please, just drop it."
"Liz-" Jeremy began.
"No, Jeremy." Liz said firmly. "It's not happening, so stop trying to make it happen."
With that, she stood up and walked away from the guy, sighing in frustration as she did so. Seriously, it wasn't like Jeremy was a bad guy, not at all, his persistence aside, he'd even made her laugh a time or two. It was just that Harry was the object of her affection.
She didn't know quite when it happened, but she'd fallen for her eccentric master. Initially, she'd flirted with him, or made suggestive remarks, but had not seriously thought a relationship would happen between them. A part of her had been jealous of Altrouge and Len, the two who'd been closest to him. She'd even been jealous of the power Altrouge possessed, even if she didn't use it often.
Even now, she couldn't deny that she envied some of the other girls. Still, she'd had feelings of her own for Harry, and after knowing him for a bit more than three years now, was starting see things settle down with him. She was... content with the current arrangement, even if she would have preferred to have him to herself, or even share him with one or two others.
Harry's personality was simply too large for that, however. She felt like a planet orbiting the sun in regards to him. He drew people in, unintentionally, and then they all simply refused to back away from him. What made it more difficult to dislike it was the fact that she knew he would do almost anything for her if she asked it of him.
That willingness to give her what she wanted was not what really stood out to her. In Liz's mind, the bit that really stuck out to her was when she and Fran had first been summoned, and Harry spent so much of his time teaching them about how to fit into society, what human rights were, and what was deemed wrong in the public's eye.
He didn't specifically tell her what was right and what was wrong, and he never would, but he'd taught her about everything that was thought of as morally reprehensible, what rights and responsibilities people had, and also the repercussions of her actions, whatever those actions may be.
It was that which really stuck in her head, both the fact he gave her a completely open choice, and that he also educated her and assisted in making things clearer, without putting his own bias on one option or another. It took a specific sort of person to proffer options without making their own preference clear.
"The doors are open now." One of the gallery staff spoke up to the artists gathered there. "You're welcome to mingle with them, but please remember to return here in time for your own displays and to answer questions."
Liz did so immediately, slipping out of the door and following the link between herself and Harry, until she caught sight of him. She found him in front of one of her own paintings, this one showing a number of warriors facing off against a nine-tailed fox. What was different about this picture was how it was presented, with heavy, darker colours on the humans, and the fox limping, with innumerable wounds covering it. It made the humans look more malevolent than the 'beast', and it was this theme in her artwork which had really grabbed the attention of certain parties, leading to her becoming a known artist.
Liz didn't recognise the woman stood at his side, however, though she was able to tell that something about her amused Harry quite a bit. It was in the way he put a little more of his weight on the opposite foot, his body ever so slightly turned so he could keep her in the corner of his eye, and the way the very ends of his hair twitched slightly.
Yeah, Liz could read Harry's mood from the strangest of tells in his body language.
"Yo, Harry!" She called out, though not too loudly, as she was in a rather quiet place.
"Hey, Liz." Harry greeted her, not turning around, and not really reacting, having known she was approaching him due to his senses.
"So this is the Heroic Spirit that has decided to dabble in mundane art." The red-haired and red-eyed woman said, turning to Liz. "I will say that you are more skilled than the common filth that attempts to capture an image on canvas, and the style is rather unique and eye-catching."
"Thanks." Liz said, looking the woman up and down. "I don't know who the hell you are, though I've a feeling I'm gonna find out, but my art getting praised is a pleasure."
"Rita Rozay-en." The woman, apparently the fifteenth Dead Apostle Ancestor, gave her name.
"Erzsebet Bathory, or Elizabeth if you prefer." Liz curtsied. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"Yes, yes, pleasantries are over with now." Rita, rather rudely, waved her off. "I'm more interested in the humans' attempts to draw something. Since there is now a 'peace' of sorts within the Ancestors, it has become increasingly difficult to find good entertainment." She glared at Harry. "Therefore I have decided to take a more active role in the artistic world."
"You have?" Liz asked curiously.
"I have indeed. In fact, I've been considering becoming a 'patron of the arts' or the like, but I have yet to find someone worthy." She then eyed Liz's paintings for a few long moments. "So far, you're the one who has come closest to being that, and I will be keeping an eye out for anything further you make available."
Well, that did wonderful things for Liz's ego.
"There's a session on in a few hours where people can ask the artists any questions they have." Liz told Rita. "You could use that as an opportunity to find out more about them, and perhaps choose someone there whose art has caught your eye."
"Perhaps I will." Rita replied, though her tone made it clear she doubted she'd find any of them appropriate. "Now, seeing as you're here, would you care to speak of your paintings?"
"Sure." Liz replied with a shrug.
xxxxx
A few hours later, Liz, Rita, and Harry were sitting outside a café. They each had a coffee and a slice of cake in front of them, and were discussing the art gallery quite amiably.
"I must admit, I was surprised at the variety of 'art' that was on display." Harry commented. "Paintings were, of course, expected, and sculptures aren't unusual, but those computer graphics were unusual, the ones that were physically impossible, at least by the laws of this world."
"They had no appeal for me." Rita stated. "Such ridiculous things have no right to be called art. I much preferred the more traditional items in there." She indicated Liz. "Your own work was of quite the high standard, and even that man, Hamlin, was better than I expected."
"Thank you." Liz accepted the praise. "Personally, I paint because I enjoy doing so, rather than anything else. Having my work recognised like this is simply a bonus, and it feels good that so many come to see what I've made. What really ma-"
"Liz, is that you?" Another voice suddenly interrupted her as a man came over, one that they recognised from the gallery. His name was Jeremy Slater, and he had seemed a little depressed for some reason, at least from what Harry's senses told him.
Liz groaned. "Jeremy, stop following me! I've told you I'm not interested in you, and you are really beginning to push the limits of what I'm willing to put up with."
'Oh, does Liz have a fanboy?' Harry mentally asked her over their connection as Master and Servant.
'I will never mock you for your fangirl hordes ever again.' She replied.
"Are these friends of yours?" Jeremy asked, looking at the two women across from Liz.
One of them looked rather like an old-fashioned noble. The way she dressed, the way she sat, and even the expression on her face simply screamed 'I'm better than you and we both know it' to him. Her piercing red eyes seemed to drill through him in contempt.
The other one, a young girl, gave off a feeling of amusement. Simply looking at her, Jeremy almost forgot his infatuation with Liz, replacing it with immense lust for this beautiful child, but he didn't. Looking at her, Jeremy could only compare her to the stories of the fair folk, especially with the tales of them entrancing men. Her long purple hair was lustrous, and her skin was silvery pale. What really stood out, however, were her mesmerising and multi-coloured eyes.
Liz sighed. "Jeremy, meet Harry Potter and Rita Rozay-en. Rita, Harry, meet Jeremy Slater, an artist that I've seen several times over the last couple of months." She then turned to Jeremy. "Two things; first, Harry is actually male, not a little girl, and second, go away before I make you."
Jeremy looked like he was about to say something else, but a twitch of Harry's little finger, and he was hit with a mild compulsion to leave them alone.
"What a detestable example of humanity." Rita commented. "How have you not killed him yet?"
"He's actually not that bad, his attempts to woo me aside." Liz shrugged. "Without that, I would probably count him a friend. I have no idea why he won't accept that he has no chance with me and move on to someone else."
Harry chuckled. "He's young, and human. In his mind, all he has to do is impress you and then you'll reciprocate his advances. He probably thinks you and he make a wonderful match, and the fact that you are a very attractive woman has stirred his lust."
Liz gave Harry a flat look. "You're younger than he is." She said.
"I am." Harry agreed. "That I'm at the age of puberty probably doesn't help my case, but I know how people tend to think, and he is a typical male, or at least more 'normal' than I. Aside from that, I can read his soul, picking out the patterns that reflect his thought processes, so I do know what I'm talking about."
"I never said you didn't." Liz replied. "I just hope he picks up the message soon, otherwise I will do to him what I did to so many women centuries ago."
"Understood, Liz." Harry bowed his head. "Now, what do you want to do? This day was supposed to be just me and you after all."
"Oh, I can think of a few things." Liz smiled sweetly.
Rita had to admit, watching this was entertaining, if nothing else.
xxxxx
The next day, Harry and Sirius stood next to each other wearing more formal attire than either usually did. However, both of them had tweaked things to be more in keeping with their own 'style'. Instead of a tuxedo or something, Harry had gone for tailcoats, edged in deep purple, and with the Gorgon's eye insignia where a family crest would usually go. His boots were similar to army boots, but sleeker, more refined, and he had forgone his vambraces for now too.
Sirius, for his part, had gone for something that was a little looser, easier to move in, and less restrictive. Instead of the Black family crest, he'd asked Harry if there was anything appropriate he could use in its place, as he still rather disliked his Black heritage. In return, Harry had designed an emblem based off Primate Murder, who seemed to appreciate it, if the big lick she gave Sirius was anything to go by.
They went down to Hogsmeade together, the two of them chatting the whole way there. Sirius asked about Harry's projects and how they were going, while Harry asked how things were going for him. It turned out that Harry had almost finished upgrading Prisma's coding, which would hopefully help her develop a personality, and Sirius had actually become quite friendly with the Astronomy professor, Aurora Sinistra.
"Really, how is that going for you?" Harry asked.
"It's quite interesting actually." Sirius admitted. "Aurora was a Slytherin when I was at Hogwarts, so, you know, I didn't really think much of her, and apparently my alternate is... rather 'cheerful' all the time, and so Aurora isn't at all close to him. She was really surprised at how different he and I are."
"Hmm, well, we're going to be meeting him at this dinner thing today, so you'll get to know him a bit better there." Harry shrugged.
"Yeah." Sirius agreed. "It's a shame the invitation was for just the two of us. If it were otherwise, I might have seen about asking you to see if Touko would be willing to join me here, and you could have brought at least one of your girls."
Harry snorted. "I'm more curious about how Lily convinced James to sit at the same table as me, his 'distaste' of me hasn't abated in the slightest. I think adding Altrouge or someone to the mix would make him explode or something." He then gave Sirius a mischievous look. "Also, Touko? Just how serious are you two?"
"I don't actually know." Sirius admitted. "I mean, I like her, and she's not half as weird as most people you know, but I don't know if I like her like that. I've never really had a serious relationship, and with Azkaban, well, who was I going to romance there, a dementor?"
"That's a disgusting mental image, thank you very much." Harry replied. "Still, good luck with Touko, it'll be interesting to see how that pans out."
"Thanks, Harry." Sirius said. "Now, let's get ourselves off to the restaurant."
Harry nodded, glancing around at the students that were in Hogsmeade that weekend, before pausing.
"Something the matter?" Sirius asked.
Harry didn't reply immediately, but a handful of golden threads manifested in front of him, which Harry examined closely for a few moments.
"Hmm, yes." Harry eventually answered Sirius. "There's going to be trouble later, but what kind? I felt the twitch in the threads of fate, so it's going to be close to me, but what will it be?"
"For those who only speak English?" Sirius prompted.
"Something nasty is going to happen around here soon." Harry informed him. "No idea quite what, and with Fate, soon could be anywhere from seconds to centuries, though I'd put a guess in at less than two hours, maybe three."
"Anything you can do about it?" Sirius asked.
"Not until I know what's actually going to happen." Harry replied with a shrug. "At that point, I can probably handle whatever it is with little difficulty." He then let the threads dissipate. "So, shall we go and have this meal then?"
"Sure." Sirius said. "I know where we're going at least."
"And I can detect the souls of the Potter family." Harry added dryly. "So I'm not exactly going to get lost, am I?"
"Knowing you, nothing would surprise me." Sirius remarked.
"Let's just go." Harry sighed.
xxxxx
Things were a bit awkward when Harry and Sirius arrived at the place, the 'Griffin's Claw' as it was called. Lily smiled at them, Rose and Blake greeted them with smiles, and Sirius' alternate even looked somewhat curious. James Potter, however, did nothing but glare at Harry, which really messed with the pleasant atmosphere.
Food was ordered and drinks were brought out. In order to not make things more tense, Harry purposefully didn't bring out a goblet of blood to drink from, no matter how much he liked the taste. He didn't order butterbeer though, that was really something he didn't like too much. Instead, he had fruit juice, apple and mango, and drank that instead.
Sirius and Sirius managed to get quite into a conversation of their own. Harry listened with one ear as the native Sirius talked about everything that he'd done over the last decade and a half, while his Sirius told him of the fantastical sights he'd seen since he got out of Azkaban, and hanging around Harry and his family, he'd seen a lot of weird shit.
"So, I've heard from Rose and Blake that you've been teaching them a few things." Lily decided to try and talk to Harry, and that was one of the few things she knew. Granted, it was more that she'd overheard her daughters discussing it rather than being told by them, but it was still something.
"Yeah, just some elemental manipulation for now mainly. Lightning for Blake, and Ice for Rose. Those elements are actually rather complimentary, with ice being one of the best at defence and lightning being great at offence. They've got a good grasp on it now, so we moved on to summoning and contract magic." Harry answered her.
"Is that so?" Lily asked, looking at Rose and Blake.
"Yes, it is." Rose replied.
"We haven't made any contracts though." Blake added.
"We've met some of Harry's-"
"-and we really want to make contracts-"
"-but we don't know how to find any beings-"
"-that would be both interested in it-"
"-and would agree to whatever terms are set."
"So what summons do you have, Harry?" Lily asked, though inside she was wondering just what on earth a wizard or magus would summon. Would it be something demonic, as certain groups of muggles would have you believe, or were they normal looking animals, or magical ones, or something?
"Probably some damned demons or something equally as foul." James near spat, glaring at Harry. "There's a good reason summoning fell out of fashion centuries ago. No good wizard would dare associate with anything that dark and evil."
"James!" Lily reprimanded her husband. "Let him speak first, at least let him answer the question. He might not summon demons, but something else."
"Actually, there are demons that agreed to be summoned by me, and not just weak ones either, Andariel, the Maiden of Anguish, is one of them." Seeing James get ready to insult him, Harry moved on quickly. "I also have angels on my contract. None of them are particularly powerful, none of the Archangels have agreed to contracts yet for example, but there's a fair number of them. I also have a number of yokai and fae that accepted my offer, and a number of heroes and gods also agreed."
"Gods?" James snorted. "There's no such thing as gods. That 'Aphrodite' that's wandering around is a powerful witch, yes, but that's all she is. It was muggle ignorance that led to them worshipping powerful witches and wizards as their deities."
"Not true." Harry shook his head. "I have personally come into contact with a number of gods and goddesses, and have a few dozen that agreed to being summoned." Seeing James once again about to argue, Harry held up his hand. "I can see this is something we won't be agreeing on, so shall we just drop it?"
James reluctantly agreed to that, and so things were kept relatively pleasant.
The food was brought out before too long, and everyone dug in to what they'd ordered. For Harry, it was basically a Sunday dinner, and he had to admit, it tasted good. That reminded him that he hadn't yet taken over the Hogwarts kitchens and taught the house elves just what cooking was.
There were a few more questions and answers during the meal, but it wasn't until that was over with and desserts had been ordered that anything particularly noteworthy was asked. It was, once again, Lily who asked the question, wanting to know what his plans for the Christmas Holidays were.
"I'll be out of the country for a while then." Harry answered her.
"Really?" Lily asked in surprise. "Why?"
"The Fourth Grail War." He replied.
"What is this 'Grail War'?" The native Sirius asked. "It sounds unpleasant."
"Every sixty years, an artefact known as the 'grail' will choose seven people who will then summon a Servant." Harry began to explain. "A Servant is a duplicate of a hero, summoned from the Throne of Heroes in order to do battle. When only a single Servant is left, the grail will appear before them and grant the Servant and Master a single wish apiece. At least, that's how things are supposed to be."
"Servants? Heroes?" Lily asked worriedly.
"Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Berserker, Caster, and Assassin. Those are the seven regular classes a Servant can be summoned into. As for the heroes, they can be anyone, people such as King Arthur, Herakles, Siegfried, and so on and so forth." Harry explained.
"That girl that injured Snivellus, she was one, wasn't she?" James questioned him warily.
"Correct, and I do believe I said so at the time." Harry responded. "She is Jack the Ripper, an Assassin class Servant. In fact, I've summoned all but a Saber class Servant myself, and I am rather curious who will be compatible with me."
"Is that so?" Lily asked. "Can I be there when you summon them?"
"I don't see why not." Harry replied. "I will want you to not be close to the circle in order to not influence the summoning though."
"Okay, I can agree to that." Lily agreed, already imagining what a summoning would be like.
"Then we have no prob-" Harry cut himself off, earning him a sharp look from his Sirius.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Several adult humans have just apparated into Hogsmeade." Harry answered him. "I recognise some of them, Death Eaters."
Lily jumped to her feet. "It's a Hogsmeade weekend! The students!"
She was about to rush out the of the restaurant, but by the time she'd got to her feet, Harry had already vanished.
"Calm down." Sirius said. "Attacking children is one of the things that can set Harry off rather badly. By the time we get outside, they'll likely all be dead."
Lily didn't really listen to him, and simply threw a handful of galleons down on the table before rushing out after Harry.
xxxxx
"So easy." Harry sighed, as he drove a Black Key into the eye of Amycus Carrow. "They're barely worth the effort." He complained. "You know what, I think this is a good time to send a message." He decided.
"Andariel! Cu Chulainn! Oni!" Harry called out, summoning the Maiden of Anguish, the Hound of Ulster, and a dozen Japanese demon-like creatures wielding kanabo, studded clubs. "The ones wearing concealing black robes and wearing masks are your targets, take them out!"
Andariel, a tall woman, two and a half times the size of the average human, with blood red hair, and four appendages on her back, each tipped with a vicious looking spike of bone. She grinned at Harry, before stalking off to torment and kill whatever Death Eaters she came across.
Cu Chulainn, however, saluted Harry, a somewhat bloodthirsty grin on his face, before he dashed off at top speed, seeking to let Gae Bolg drink the blood of his targets. It might not be a fight that's truly worthy of him, but he was a somewhat honourable man, not fond of attacking defenceless children and terrorising them, so he had no problem lending his aid.
Several of the oni had followed after Andariel, and several more had wandered off on their own now that they'd been given their instructions. One had remained with Harry, ready to follow him to his next target. This oni, Kamikirimusi by name, was relatively human looking, aside from the small pair of horns on her head.
"Are you with me?" Harry asked.
"Yes." She replied.
"Then let's go!" Harry called, heading off to where he could detect the nearest Death Eater.
"I will not hold anything back!" Kamikirimusi called out, charging along at Harry's side.
xxxxx
"What the hell is that?!" One Death Eater called out on catching sight of Andariel. "Did the Dark Lord send it to support us?"
Andariel lunged forwards, one of her spikes being driven through the shoulder of his wand arm, while her hand broke the wand, and the arm that held it, in two. She chuckled at him.
"Oh no, your precious 'Dark Lord' has nothing to do with me being here." She breathed a mildly poisonous mist at him. "My master is by far superior to yours, I would even venture that I am better than he is." She sniffed slightly. "Ah, I can already smell your fear, but it is such a pity I don't have time to play with you. So, be grateful that your death is quick, though I might ask my master if I can play with your soul later on." Another of her bone spikes was shoved into him, this time piercing right through his heart.
"Already done with the rest?" She looked at the oni that had followed her and their blood-stained clubs. "Truly, these humans are so fragile, it's almost not fun killing them." She said, before leading her small group to the next lot of Death Eaters.
xxxxx
"-twenty one, twenty two, twenty three, twenty four, aaand twenty five." Cu Chulainn kept count as he slaughtered his way through the Death Eaters and the creatures they had brought with them. "Man, these guys are weak. Just how are these guys terrorising an entire country?"
He ducked as a mangled body of a Death Eater flew over his head. He looked back to see Harry and Kamikirimusi coming his way, the oni holding her kanabo in such a way that told him it was her that had whacked her opponent hard enough to launch him through the air.
"Where's the leader of this lot?" The Irishman called out. "I want to take a crack at him, maybe he'll give me more of a fight."
"He's not here." Harry replied. "This attack on Hogsmeade, during a weekend where the students are in the village, is only part of his overall attack plan. I can feel deaths occurring in Diagon Alley as well, and there's a few attacks on muggles throughout the country. I wonder why Riddle suddenly decided to make a big attack like this?"
"Well it won't be as successful as he'd like it to be." Cu Chulainn shrugged, putting his spear over one shoulder. "He'll be down a fair few followers after this, and the failure is sure to have an effect on morale, yeah?"
"True enough, I suppose." Harry agreed. "Perhaps this will be enough to convince the Ministry that they have to take a firmer stance against these attacks, and allow the Aurors to fight back with lethal force. I doubt half of Riddle's underlings would be as willing to go through with these attacks if they knew they might die."
"Yeah, yeah." The Irishman waved him off. "My part's done now, so call on me again when there's a fight I can really sink my teeth into, got it?"
"Understood." Harry replied as Cu Chulainn returned to the well of souls. "However, I don't know when that will be, as most of the fights in the coming Grail War have already been claimed, and Voldemort simply isn't worth it."
"Harry!" A voice called out, causing Harry to turn around.
Lily was rushing towards him, her wand out as she looked all around, seeing that all of the Death Eaters were, well, dead.
"Well, you wanted to know what I could summon, and now you've seen a handful of them." He grinned at her.
xxxxx
Harry was mildly amused as he listened in on the two Sirius' conversation as they headed back to the school.
"Did you see the size of her rack though?" One Sirius said.
"Yeah, but I'd steer clear of her myself, that look in her eye had me shivering in dread without even being near her." The other replied.
"Still, demonic stuff aside, she was hot, you've gotta admit." Sirius one nudged Sirius two in the ribs.
"She's the Maiden of Anguish, one of the Lesser Evils, with capital letters and everything. There's no way in Heaven or Hell I'm going to try and screw her, no matter what." Sirius two declared.
"Still, do you think Harry would summon her again if I asked him to?" Sirius one, the native version, asked.
"I doubt it." The other Sirius replied. "I think he summoned her to get a feel for how she acts and how strong she is. It hasn't been that long since Harry gained the ability to summon so many beings, and he already has a lot that have agreed to be summoned by him."
"Speaking of summoning, when are you going to get your Saber, Harry?" Lily spoke up, trying to get the two men to shut up about Andariel.
Harry mentally went over a few calculations. "End of term, just before we break up for the Holidays." He said. "Don't worry, I'll let you know when I'm doing it so you can watch."
""Can we watch too?"" Rose and Blake asked as one.
"I don't see why not, but it's not my permission you need." Harry replied.
As one, the twins turned their best puppy dog eyes on their parents.
"We-we'll see about it." James grumbled, getting a small smile from Lily.
Even James Potter was not immune to the cuteness of his daughters.