The next few days flew by for Harry and the group. Tuesday started off with a light workout in the morning for Harry, Dan, Neville, and Ted. The foursome headed out to the country club after breakfast. After buying two sets of clubs, shoes, balls, and everything else for Neville and Ted they hit the links at ten.
It became painfully obvious to Harry and Dan that both Neville and Ted were not good at the sport. Ted was very out of practice and Neville could hit the shit out of the ball but he couldn't hit it straight nor could he putt to save his life. By the second hole the the two were four and ten over par and they both looked like they were ready to snap a club in half. Harry and Dan shared a look.
"How about we play teams until you guys get your groove?" Dan asked.
"Teams?" Ted asked.
"Sure, you and me versus these two youngsters. I'll tee off, then you take the next shot, we'll alternate every other shot and share a team score. Loser buys lunch." Dan said.
"Deal, your team is first." Harry said waving at the tee box for Dan in a mocking way.
"We are going to wipe the floor with you two." Dan said.
"And next time we play Neville will have gotten a chance to play a few rounds of Mini Golf on the roof. Then we'll play for money." Harry said pulling two cigars out and handing one to Neville.
"Yeah! What he said!" Neville said confidently making them all laugh.
By the time they made it back to the clubhouse at half past one their scores were astronomical but they all had a good time. They had lunch at the country club and Harry picked up the tab.
They hung around the house for a few hours after that. Andy, Emma, Ted, Odd, and Amelia came back from the bank at four where they finished the paperwork to move their accounts to the states. Doc Carter showed up at five to administer another dose of the cure and check on Neville's parents. At this point they were up another fifteen pounds in body weight and their brains were healing nicely, but the damage was more severe than DOc Carter first thought. He added another day, maybe two to the recovery time line for the elder Longbottom's. Neville took it in stride. Ne could see how well they were healing. The group headed off for a 'date night' around six. Luna was reluctant to go at first. She didn't want to act like a fifth wheel but Harry and Hermione just hugged her, and pushed her out the door.
Harry drove them to a nice steak house. They had big slabs of perfectly chard meat and huge baked potatoes. They washed it all down with two bottles of red wine. Harry had one glass but stuck with water and coffee. He was driving after all. When they thought they couldn't possibly eat anything else the waiter brought out the chocolate sulfates to much groaning. By the time Harry paid the bill they were basking in a food coma. Harry lead the group out and drove them to the AMC Empire 25 on 42nd street and 8th ave. Harry pulled over on a side street and let them out. He shrank the car and they walked up the block to the huge movie house.
They got tickets to Inside Out. When they walked into the theater Neville and Susan headed off to find seats together and Harry lead Hermione and Luna to the other side. Harry sat between the two girls and they both used him as a pillow. The movie was amazing, especially for Neville, Susan, and Luna. Neville and Susan had never been to a movie theater and Luna had never seen a Pixar animated movie.
When the movie ended Harry looked up a good spot for ice cream on his phone and found an old fashioned ice cream shop only a few blocks away so they decided to walk. They found the little ice cream shop easy enough. Everyone got a few scoops and they again split up with Neville and Susan taking a booth in the back and Harry sharing a table with Hermione and Luna.
"I just wanted to say thank you for taking me along with you guys. But you don't have to keep ruining your date to watch out for me. You two can get a booth if you want." Luna said ducking her head.
"We're happy right where we are and you didn't ruin anything." Hermione said hugging Luna to her side.
"Yeah, it was good spending time with you little sister. And in a few days we'll get Colin over and we'll do this again but as a triple date." Harry said.
"Don't forget Dora and Oliver." Hermione reminded him.
"We're going to need to take the Beast for that many people." Harry said laughing.
"Or three cars." Hermione said.
Harry drove them all back to the house, and pulled into his spot in the garage. He waved Hermione and Luna out of the car but stopped Neville and Susan with a wave of his hand.
"Take your time, we're going to check the mail and talk to Steve. I figure you have about twenty minutes." Harry said putting the top up on his Camaro. As he walked away he tossed a few privacy charms up in that corner of the garage.
True to his word Harry lead the two girls up to the lobby, where he got the mail from Beth, dropped off a two more portkey targets in the portkey room, and talked to Steve about quidditch. The girls sat in the comfortable green leather chairs in the lobby and chatted with Beth. Harry looked at his watch as the elevator dinged twenty two minutes after they came up. A disheveled Susan and Neville walked into the lobby with blushing smiles. Hermione hit both of them with a few charms to fix their clothes and clean the makeup off Neville's face. Neville handed Harry his car. Harry looked at the hotwheels sized muscle car before looking back at Neville.
"Susan hit it with a dozen cleaning charms." Neville said blushing so red he was almost dizzy.
"Right. Good to know." Harry said putting the car in his bag.
Wednesday was full of errands for Harry and Hermione. Starting with meeting Abby at the bank that morning. She was finally back from Paris and she was pissed. Harry asked about her trip and that was all it took to set her off.
"Those fucking rich French Wizards! If I could kill half of them I would! They are so disorganized. On top of that they are rude, short tempered, sexist, and they treat the people that work for them like dirt. I literally contemplated how bad a French prison would be and if it was worth the trade off for the satisfaction of knowing I ended a few of those assholes!" She said looking dead tired and enraged.
"So is this a good time to talk about starting salary for the job in my new company?" Harry asked.
"You know what? Sure, why not? What are you offering? And don't fuck with me Harry. I will kill you. American magical women's prisons are nice." Abby said taking a deep drink from her coffee cup.
"Well you make what, about $350,000 a year here right?" Harry asked.
"Not even close. Try about $95,000. Are you offering me $350,000 a year? Because if you are, I'll turn in my paperwork right now." Abby asked.
"No I'm not offering $350,000 a year." Harry said laughing as he waved her off. When he saw her slump into her seat he struck. "I'm offering you one million dollars a year, full magical medical, an enchanted company car, and an apartment in the Potter building. I want you to run the company with me." Harry said with a smirk. She looked at him and blinked a few times before her face shifted back to anger.
"I said no games." She said sounding hurt.
"I'm not playing any games. I'm dead serious. Starting pay is one million US dollars a year. You'll get a nice sized raise every year on top of that, if the company makes money. I'm also offering you a signing bonus of a hundred thousand dollars if you join today." Harry said with a smirk. Abby looked too shocked to speak so Harry kept talking. He wanted to lock her down today.
"Obviously don't piss off your bosses here at the bank but the quicker you come work for me the faster we can can start getting shit done. I know you have a few girls that work for you out there in the bullpen. You can bring them all along at twice what they make now. No car, or apartment for them but you will have full control over a team of about ten office workers to handle your paperwork and schedule. You'll be in charge of the day to day operations of the company through the different department heads. I'll take important meetings and handle the big decisions. You handle the rest. You'll work for me and you'll be second in charge in the pecking order. I'm not going to sit here and blow smoke up your ass Abby, this is going to be hard work. Long hours of keeping on top of everything. But I can tell you two things. You'll be treated with respect by everyone, and you'll have my full support and backing. I trust you. In the short time we've know you, you've treated us with respect and you've always had the solution to our problems." Harry said.
"My God you're not kidding." Abby said sitting up in her chair and looking far more awake then she was a few minutes ago.
"I'm one hundred percent telling the truth. There will also be a chance for a huge bonus of another million dollars if you can get the company up and running by the new year. If you can do it by the end of October I'll make it three million. As you can see by the things I asked for over the phone earlier I'm already starting to lay the groundwork. I need you to pick up the ball and run with it. We need an office building. It has to be big enough to house between 350 to 500 agents, and all the staff they need to do their job. It has to have a floor dedicated to magical research, as well as a floor to house prisoners for a short time until they can be handed off to the proper authorities. I also want a floor to house a bunch of healers to take care of the staff and troops, a cafeteria, a shooting range, armory, a parking garage with a full time staff of mechanics, and a gym. We're also going to need to build a military base in the middle of nowhere so we can train the tactical troops. We're also going to need to build or buy a little suburb close to the base we build to house troop families. I figure the goblins would be the best place to start." Harry said.
"I'll go talk to my boss, and start the paperwork to quit. I'm guessing I'll have to draw up my own contract?" Abby asked with a smirk.
"No need, my adopted mum will do that. She's going to be the in-house council. Her husband Ted will handle the accounting. Hermione will be the head of the research department. Dan will be in charge of the tactical division. Right now we'll be working out of the Library in my house. As we get bigger and we find our office building we'll move into that. For now everyone is hanging around my apartment at the moment." Harry said.
"Oh, before I forget. I have the contact for dragon hide, he works out of a warehouse New Jersey. He's your best bet for dragon hide unless you want to head to Mexico yourself?" Abby asked.
"What's the difference in price if I make the trip out myself?" Harry asked.
"Well I talked to Carlos, he wants $150,000 a hide. How many do you need?" Abby asked.
"Your grandfather asked for about thirty hides. That's what, 4.5 million dollars?" Harry asked looking at Hermione to confirm his math which she did with a nod.
"In that case you're better off flying out to Mexico and buy hides right from the hunters. I know my grandfather can tan raw hides right off the animel. I'll set it up for you, we have a bank branch in Mexico City. Do you have a portkey? I can send it out there today and and set up a few meetings with local hunters. It's how dealers do it." Abby said.
"I'll need you to accompany me down there. I can't speak spanish." Harry said.
"You kidding? By tomorrow I'll be working for you full time. I'm going to put in my paperwork right after you go." Abby said looking around her big but mostly empty office.
"I'll have your first check waiting for you when you sign the paperwork tomorrow Morning." Harry said standing up to leave.
"I'll be there tomorrow nine am sharp." Abby said waving them out her door.
From the bank Harry drove to the ICW building. This time the gate guard asked to see his ID and Harry had to suppress a smirk. Someone got their ass handed to them. His suspicions were verified when the guards in the lobby asked for ID and cross checked his name on a computer before they allowed him to enter the building armed. They took a trip up to Marcus's office and the security man had three big file boxes waiting for them.
"What's this?" Harry asked.
"A goodie bag full of fun and toys. What does it look like? Its paperwork. More specifically it's the paperwork for Steel Security and Insurance inc. It's everything you're going to need to get the company off the ground. It's a lot of legal documents. I have no idea what most of them are. We had a pack of lawyers draw up the paperwork yesterday. I figured you would want to have your legal council look that over before you sign it. They tell me it's everything we talked about. Tax breaks, legal documents declaring you a military entity, legal exemptions for firearms and explosives, and things like that. It's all in there. You will be granted the full support of the ICW. You are exempt from any laws in this country and any other ICW country in the world. If you're operating in a non-ICW country like say the UK, you are not subject to their laws either under the ICW agent's code of law. We also set aside a slush fund with 50 million dollars. It's what we can spare at the moment. We wanted to help pay for some of the start up costs. Next year we're hoping to double that to 100 million as a contract fee for providing security to the campus here as well as a few embassies around the world in addition to being our ready force like you offered. That frees up 25 million dollars we pay to the clowns downstairs as well as a host of other private contractors we pay for sub par service. We're cleaning house." Marcus said.
"I'll have my second in command look that all over and we'll get back to you with questions and things like that in the next few days." Harry said.
"Take your time, I'm told this is going to be a bit of a process. I have no idea, you'll be dealing with a few of the bean counters from now on for the business side of all this. I'm an ex-magical spook not an egghead." Marcus said laughing.
"Well from one meat head to another I'll pass it all on." Harry said laughing too.
"Good. The less we have to talk about numbers and tax law the better. On the flip side we have moved three of our agents to the UK and they've been setting up surveillance. We should start getting some basic intel as soon as tomorrow or the next day. It's the best we can do until you get people in deeper over there." Marcus said.
"Amelia Bones is planning on heading back to the UK and taking up her position as Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. It's most likely a bad idea but she's a grown ass woman and there's not much I can do to stop her. If she's not captured and killed the minute she walks into the ministry then maybe she can feed us intel from inside the ministry. I'm almost sure it's a bad idea but I will be limiting information she has access to from now on because she's a liability. All they have to do is capture her and interrogate her under truth potion. They have our location, our new names, and half of our plans. I'm tempted to mind wipe her before we send her back. I'm hoping she goes down in a firefight before they get a chance to question her." Harry said in a tone both Marcus and Hermione thought was too cold.
"There are ways to protect her from questioning." Marcus said.
"We don't have time for her to learn mind magic. She wants to head back tomorrow or the day after at the latest." Harry said.
"I'm not talking about mind magic. I'm talking about a runic tattoo that blocks the mind and stops truth potion from working. I'm a spy Harry. It's my job to make sure information come in and doesn't go back out." Marcus said.
"How complicated is the tattoo and can we all get one?" Harry asked.
"Not too complicated and yes you can all get one. I was going to suggest it to you as a security precaution." Marcus said taking off his suit jacket and rolling up his sleeve to show off a tattoo of a black tribal dragon on his upper right arm.
"How long does it take to get something like that done?" Harry asked.
"Not long at all. Maybe twenty minutes for the tattoo and ritual. The dragon is not the tattoo, the few lines of black runic script under the dragon is the tattoo. I got the dragon to cover the runic tattoo. Something I suggest you all get. If the runic script is easy to see the ritual can be broken. So the runic tattoo is easy but the dragon took three hours. We use a magical tattoo shop in the east village. The owner is a Mohawk tribal shaman. He does good work, and his shop can handle six people at a time. You want me to set something up for your group?" Marcus asked.
"Yes please. Set it up for later today if you can. That way I can get Amelia off my ass and she's not a flight risk." Harry said.
"Harry." Hermione said hitting him in the arm for his dismissive attitude towards the older woman.
"What? She's been a dismissive stuck up pureblood ever since she got here. I'm not saying I want something to happen to the old battle axe, I'm just stating facts." Harry said rubbing his arm.
"Still, it would kill Susan if something was to happen to her." Hermione said.
"She has a vest, gun, and a portkey, with a tattoo her mind is protected, what more do you want me to do? I'm already planning on day trips to the UK to get people out. I can't worry about her too." Harry said.
"Well the boxes do have one more layer of protection. In that top box is a dozen agent forms along with the corresponding ICW badges. All you have to do is fill out the forms, sign it with a blood quill and add your picture to the ID with the spell that's included in the box. With that badge you are untouchable. They can't arrest you. They can't question you. And if they do try anything it is your legal right to fight back any way you see fit. I had the ICW security council vote to repeal the non magical war time assistant doctrine. We're working with our old set of rules again. The US government has been itching to get that passed for years. They're the ones that got you half the paperwork in those boxes. If the UK ministry have a problem with you they can call me. That is, if they know how to use a phone. If not, fuck um. Do what you have to." Marcus said with a smirk.
"Thank you Marcus, this is going to make everything a lot easier." Harry said opening the top box and seeing twelve smaller flat document boxes inside. He lifted the lid off the top box and saw a black leather ID holder with a blank ID card and a small gold shield, and a bigger gold shield you could clip on your belt. The shield had a globe and ICW over the top and AGENT under it with a crossed sword and wand.
"As soon as you fill out the paperwork, it's official. When you get your company up and running we'll knock up a new shield with SSI on it. We've already put out word to ICW countries that we have a proactive fighting force again." Marcus said seeing Harry's smile.
"Thank you Marcus. Thank you for believing in this." Harry said holding out his hand.
"Thank you for sticking your neck out for us. We'll back you up but you're going to be our sword of justice." Marcus said taking Harry's hand.
"I'm happy to do it. I've been fighting my whole life, at least now I'm fighting for a noble cause." Harry said.
"I'll make the call to the tattoo shop, Doris will get you the information." Marcus said.
Harry shrank the boxes and put them in his bag. He stopped off at the reception desk and got the address. They headed back to the apartment and told everyone the good news. Andy and Ted dove into the boxes of documents. While they were doing that the rest of the group filled out the forms and signed them with the provided blood quill. The document flashed and vanished. A second later the ID card in the black leather badge holder updated with a second flash. The card now had their names and Agent numbers. A spell later and the ID card had their pictures too. Harry tucked his badge holder in his jacket pocket and clipped the gold shield to his belt.
When they were all done they sat down for lunch. During the meal Harry got a call from Marcus telling him Richard could fit his group in now. After they finished eating they all piled into the beast and headed to the east village. Harry lead the Beast in his Ferrari with Hermione. Harry found the small shop tucked into an alley off a side street. It looked like a normal tattoo parlor with six work stations. Most of the men in the shop were of native american decent. They all wore jeans, boots, black band t-shirts, and black leather motorcycle club vests with a red hawk on the back. Harry was approached by an older man that looked like he was in his late 60's but Harry could tell the man was way older than 60.
"I am Rick Horn, welcome to my shop. I understand you are all here to get a mind seal and cover tattoo?" He asked in a laid back chill voice that screamed old cool stoner. Between his kind eyes, grandfatherly smile, and AC/DC band shirt Harry liked the guy already.
"We are. Thank you for accommodating us on such a short notice. If I knew something like this was available I would have set up an appointment." Harry said shaking the old man's hand.
"It is fine, we had a slow day today. The ritual takes about fifteen minutes. Depending on the size and complexity of the cover tattoo you want to get we should be able to get through everyone in the next five hours. I think we'll start with you. The rest of you look around and talk to the guys about cover options. The process is mostly painless and with healing spells you'll be able to walk out of here without having to worry about taking care of anything." Rick said.
Rick lead Harry into a back room with a dental chair and tattoo workstation. The room had sandstone slab walls and floor. On the walls were tribal art murals, and buffalo skulls. The floor was covered in lines and symbols. Harry eyed the room around him and Rick laughed.
"Relax dude. It's part of the ritual. This is a ritual room. It helps channel the magic in the air into the runic magic I use. Now where would you like this tattoo?" Rick asked.
"Upper right arm I guess?" Harry said pointing to his right shoulder.
"It's a classic spot for guys. It's also the least painful spot to work on. Strip off your jacket and shirt and set them on the chair in the corner. I need access to your upper right arm." Rick said sitting at the workstation and preparing a fresh needle into a gold tattoo gun.
Harry stripped to his bare chest and took a seat in the chair. Rick pulled a wand from his vest pocket and muttered a few spells at a small thimble of black ink and it glowed. He hit Harry's upper arm with a hair removal spell and a cleaning charm. He finished preparing and turned to Harry with the tattoo gun in hand.
"You ready for this? I need you to hold very still. I'm about to free hand a string of runes on your arm. If I fuck it up we have to cut that patch of skin off, heal your arm, and try again. I can't use a numbing charm with magical ink. I can strap your arm down if you don't think you can hold still, but I don't like to do that." Rick said.
"No, I can handle it. Go for it." Harry said closing his eyes and shutting off his brain. He heard the buzz of the tattoo gun and he felt the sting of the needle for a few seconds before his brain turned off totally. After a growing up in a house where he got his ass kicked on a regular basis, this was nothing. Harry zoned out so hard Rick hap to tap him on the head to get him back.
"I'm impressed and saddened. You didn't move once. You are able to channel your pain. It speaks of a hard life." Rick said with sad knowing eyes.
"A hard life teaches you many things. One of them is that pain is all in your mind." Harry said in a calm voice as he looked at his arm. He saw a string of black symbols. They looked vaguely English but Harry couldn't read it and the harder he tried the more they got blurry in his mind.
"Pain is all in your mind." Rick said with a nod. "You're done, you can go pick your cover up tattoo. Send in the next person." Rick said touching the rune string with the tip of his wand. The string glowed before it sank into his skin and dulled to a light gray.
"Thank you." Harry said standing up and grabbing his things from the chair. He waved Hermione into the room before he took a seat at one of the work stations. Sitting at the station was a big man with long black hair pulled into a braid. He was covered in ink.
"I'm Harry." Harry said holding out his hand.
"No shit? I'm Harry too. Harrison Horn. I see the old man still got it. This looks really good. Was there something you had in mind or do you want to look at the books?" Harrison asked.
"Can you put this on my arm?" Harry asked holding up his Head of house ring with the wolf head and Steel on it.
"You want the wolf head and Steel or would you like a whole wolf like this?" Harrison asked lifting his shirt to show off a tribal wolf howling at the moon on his chest.
"Nice, but I kind of want the crest for now. I might come back for something like that." Harry said.
"Hey, I get it. It's your house name and animal, that's powerful symbolic magic." Harrison said nodding as he waved his wand over the ring and transferred the image to a sheet of paper.
"Symbolic Magic?" Harry asked.
"There is power in a name. There is power in the effigy of an animal. The symbol you choose to cover runic magic helps you channel power. It might be nothing but a pretty tattoo or it might give you strength when you need it. It depends on how you treat it. This is less Magic and more 'magic'. If you know what I mean?" Harrison said making air quotes.
"I understand. Can you continue the design and add a body? I like the way the goblins made the wolf on my ring." Harry said looking at the wolf head on his ring.
"I can do that easy. It's a simple style. Give me a minute." Harrison said grabbing a pen from a cup holder and tapping his temple with his wand. He pulled a small silver strand out of his head and dropped it into the pen. The pen hovered over the paper and stared to draw. In less than a minute there was a full wolf but it didn't 'feel' right to Harry. Harrison saw the look on Harry's face and smiled.
"You feeling something else?" He asked.
"I am, can I pull a design out of my head?" Harry asked.
"You can. Let me get you a fresh piece of paper. Sit back and pull the image up to the front of your mind." Harrison said.
Harry sat back and dropped into his mind. He concentrated on the image of his ring and found himself on the edge of a thick birch wood forest. It was a moonlight night and there was snow on the ground. Harry looked out over the rolling snow covered hills behind him before turning back to the dark woods. As cold and as scary as this should feel he found the place oddly comforting. Like the feeling of a warm bed on a cold morning. In the darkness he saw glowing lime green eyes watching him. He didn't feel fear, he felt safety. He held out his hand and a big black timber wolf stepped out of the woods and up to him. The wolf stopped a few feet from him and looked at him with calculating eyes as if it was judging him.
"Come boy." Harry said with a smile. But the wolf just barred it razor sharp white teeth and growled at him.
"I Said Come Here!" Harry said in a more forceful and commanding tone. The wolf dropped the act and smiled a wolfish grin as it walked up to him. It had to be about three and a half foot tall at the shoulders four foot tall at the head, and seven foot long from nose to tip of its tail. Harry touched it head and it's eyes glowed the same way Harry's eyes glowed. Harry bowed his head and touched his forehead to the wolf's head and he was back sitting in the Tattoo chair. He touched his wand to his head and pulled a glowing silver strand out of his head. He touched it to the pen and the pen sucked it in. the pen shot across the paper and Harrison smiled.
"Did you see the wolf?" He asked.
"I think I did more then see it. I think I made a connection to it." Harry said watching the pen draw the wolf with green eyes. The drawing almost looked like black fire in the shape of a wolf in profile.
"I'll say. I'm lucky I picked up a supply of magical black ink. This is going to take a while." Harrison said as the pen finished the stylized L in Steel.
"Take your time." Harry said sitting back in the chair as Harrison stuck the paper to Harry's arm and hit it with a spell that transferred the image to his skin.
"Just a heads up, magic ink hurst, a lot. You want a numbing charm?" Harrison asked.
"No, I'll be fine. I'm going back to talk to the wolf." Harry said closing his eyes and dropping into his mind again. He found himself in the same spot and the wolf was there waiting for him. It trotted up to him and Harry bent down to hug the black wolf.
"Do you have a name?" Harry asked looking at the wolf's eyes. He heard the word Shadow in his mind.
"Shadow?" Harry asked and the wolf nodded.
"Okay, Shadow it is. Shadow are you a figment of my imagination or are you something more?" Harry asked. He got the word Guardian in his mind and he smiled.
"You my guardian? Well I'm happy you're here. I always wanted a dog." Harry said with a grin.
Shadow ran into the woods and came back a few seconds later with a stick. He dropped it at Harry's feet and Harry picked it up. He looked at the stick and back to the dog. Shadow nodded to the snow covered field. Harry turned and chucked the stick. Shadow gave a tail wagging bark and took off after the stick. He brought it back and Harry tossed it again.
They played fetch for a while until Shadow lead Harry to a clearing inside the woods where a nice log cabin sat next to a creak. Harry walked into the cabin and saw a fire burning in the river stone fireplace. It was at that point he noticed he was slightly cold. The cabin had a wood table with four chairs, a brown leather couch, heavy wood coffee table, bookcases full of books, and a gun rack in the corner by the door. There was a walled off toilet with a big sink on the wall there was a small pot rack by the fireplace with a few cast iron pots, pans, and cookware. But Harry was only focused on the comfortable brown leather chair with the ottoman and side table with tea set by the fireplace.
He sank into the chair and signed. Shadow sat next to the chair and laid his big head in Harry's lap. Harry looked at all the walls of the cabin. The few spots on the walls not covered by book cases had windows and mounted deer heads. Above the fireplace was a green velvet banner with the Steel crest in silver and black. Harry looked inside the teapot and found hot fresh fragrant tea. It reminded him of the tea they served at the castle. He poured a cup over milk and added a sugar cube. He sat back in his chair and sipped his cuppa as he petted Shadow's head.
He took the time to look at all the bookshelves. Each wall of the cabin was about 25 foot to a side and ten foot tall. Each wall had about twenty feet worth of bookshelves about eight foot high. The book shelves were made of the same dark stained wood like the rest of the cabin but the leather bound books on the shelves were grouped by color. Some shelves had green books, some brown, a few of them had red books. But his attention was drawn to the black books. They occupied two bookcases by the bathroom and they seemed to be grouped away from the rest of the book. He didn't know why but those black books bothered him. He set his cup down and stood up much to Shadow's displeasure.
He walked to the bookshelf and picked a black book at random. The book was titled advanced battle spells and shields. He opened the book and was hit with a blinding pain that shot through his head. He dropped the book as he clutched his head. But as soon as the pain hit it was gone and he blinked a few times. Swimming in his head were battle magic spells. They were mostly dark and did area damage but as soon as he tried to think of one of the spells it faded from his mind. Like a name on the tip of his tongue he knew it, but couldn't say it.
He picked up the book again off the floor and braced himself for pain but when he opened the book nothing happened. He looked at the pages and as he glanced at each page the memories of the spells came back to him. He knew this book. He flipped to page 243 and found the gold shield spell. He now knew how to cast it. He flipped to the end of the book and looked at the back cover. Stamped on the back cover was 'property of T.M. Riddle' like a library stamp. Harry almost dropped the book again. But instead of panicking he put the book back. Looking at the spines of the books closer he could see all the titles. Everything from advanced transfiguration to mind arts, and charms to potions. They were all in there. Including dozens of books on dark rituals, blood magic, and necromancy.
He picked up a book on the mind arts and braced for pain as he opened the cover. He was hit with a wave of pain but nowhere near as bad as the last time. This time it felt like he bumped his head on something hard. The book was about 500 pages long and Harry paged through it looking at each page but not reading it. It was like just glancing at the page downloaded the knowledge into his head. But no, that was wrong. He was already in his head. That meant the knowledge was there as well.
No, looking at the pages added neural pathways to the knowledge that was buried deep in his brain. This was a visual representation of his brain. It manifested when he got the mind seal. It was always here just under the surface. It was created when he served the link to Tom Riddle. When he severed his mind from Tom's he took the dark lords knowledge with him. Tom's skills with the mind arts went to work on Harry's brain but he couldn't access it until now. Wait! Where did all the big words come from?
"What the hell? Did I just get smarter?" Harry asked out loud. Shadow looked at him like he was a fucking moron.
"Right, no, I'm still an idiot, I'm just an idiot with the memories of a smart person. I wish I would have paid attention in school." Harry said. Shadow barked and trotted over to a shelf with light blue and light green books. Shadow pawed at the small group of light blue books.
Harry grabbed one and looked at the cover. 'Second grade math' he opened the book as he squinted but there was no pain at all. He looked at the pages and all of a sudden he knew his times tables. He could never remember his times tables. He smirked and looked at the light blue books. He was going to make grade school his bitch. He skimmed the light green books on the shelf and saw that most of the books were compilations of books he was forced to read as a kid.
He moved on to the next shelf this one had navy blue books. He saw dates on the spines. Some books were small, in fact all the books from 2000 to 2011 where very slim. The rest of the years had three or more volumes per year. He grabbed 2005 and flipped to the last page which was numbered 194. He looked at the page and was hit with the week before his sixth birthday. It was boring. He spent most of it locked in his cupboard under the stairs because they knew his birthday was coming up and they wanted him to suffer.
"I have to remember to go back and kill those fucking people. Or at the very least put them in jail." Harry said putting the book back. He walked over to the next shelf and saw dark red books. They all had different subjects he learned in Hogwarts. He grabbed a year one potions book and flipped through it with a grin as the knowledge came back to him full force.
"But how? I'm not this smart?" Harry muttered. Then as if asking the question brought up the answer he was hit with a string of thoughts.
The human brain stores pretty much everything it takes in. No matter how conscious we are of the information. Looking at a book, sitting in class hearing the dead bat belittle the students, and sitting down with Hermione as she explained the homework to him for five years added up to the contents of the book in his hands. Was the book complete and comprehensive? No. But was it more than he thought he knew? Yes. However if he sat down and paged through a potions book in the real world it would make a copy in his head. Then all he had to do was page through it in his mind and he would know the contents of the book.
"I'm going to make potions my bitch as well. This is going to be fun." Harry said looking around the room with a sinister grin. He was about to go back to the black books when he heard Harrison call his name.
In the blink of an eye he was back in the tattoo chair. He blinked a few times to adjust to the light and he smiled as he looked at the raw tattoo on his arm. Harrison hit his arm with a healing charm and the redness evaporated leaving clean healthy skin and an inky black wolf that looked like it was alive. The green eye glowed and the light shifted off the black fur like black fire. He looked at the wolf and Shadow looked back at him. Harry's smile became a wolfish grin.
"You like it?" Harrison asked.
"I love it. Thank you." Harry said look at his tattoo.
"Good, I'm always happy when then the client is happy." Harrison said writing up a bill.
"What's the damage?" Harry asked.
"It took just under two hours, and a lot of magical ink. I burned through half a bottle of enchanted black ink. Plus the cost of the ritual. You're looking at $2,100. You can pay at the counter upfront." Harrison said handing him the bill.
"Worth every penny. I think I might come back and get something on my other arm. Maybe a dragon or something." Harry said.
"I'm here most days, call ahead and make sure I'm in. You're a dream to work on. I'm almost sure you fell asleep at one point." Harrison said shaking Harry's hand.
"I'll call ahead." Harry said grabbing his things off the chair and walking up to the counter. He paid and saw Hermione sitting with here mum by the door. Both Granger girls were looking at the matching book tattoos they got on their left hips.
"I see you got a matching set." Harry said handing the bill to the guy behind the counter along with the cash.
"We did. We wanted the tattoo in a hard to see place and we wanted the same one. Something small and something that means a lot to both of us." Hermione said showing him the book tattoo. The book was small, only about an inch and a half tall and an inch wide, and easy to hide with a shirt or high waisted pants.
"That's cute. I got Shadow on my shoulder." Harry said showing her the wolf.
"Shadow?" Hermione asked.
"I'll tell you later, what do you think?" Harry asked.
"It's a beautiful wolf." Emma said.
"I love it. It's sexy." Hermione said.
"I bet you love it. You are finally dating a bad boy. He has a wolf tattoo, and he made you get one as well. You're a leather jacket short of being a cliche." Emma said in a disproving motherly tone but the smirk ruined the delivery.
"I also carry a gun. I smoke, and I drive a fast sports car." Harry said.
"My god, I am dating a cliche bad boy." Hermione said in mock horror as Luna walked over looking at the crescent moon tattoo on her wrist.
"That hurt a lot more than I thought it would, but it's worth it." Luna said showing thein the small silver crescent moon.
"A moon for the moon child." Harry said.
"I got it for my mum. Her name was Selene. The goddess of the moon. That's why she named me Luna. If Selene is the goddess of the moon and I am the moon, then she's my goddess watching over me from the heavens." Luna said with a sad smile as a tear rolled down her cheek. Harry pulled her into his side.
"That's beautiful Luna." Emma said taking the small girl into her arms and pulling her to sit next to her and Hermione.
"What do you think?" Dan asked as he walked over to the group to show off his new black and white Union Jack under his SAS tattoo on his upper arm.
"Very cool. Do you miss old England?" Harry asked.
"Not even a little bit, that's why I got the tattoo. So I don't forget. Nice wolf. It sure as hell took long enough." Dan said. "It's magical ink. Look how the light dances off the black fur." Harry said.
"Huh, I see it now. Very cool." Dan said. Neville came over with big black and white grizzly bear on his shoulder.
"Very nice." Harry said.
"Yeah, my Gran used to say if I kept getting bigger I'd be as big as a bear. I got it for her." He said with a sad smile.
"You are as big as a bear son." Dan said patting the bigger boy on the back with a smile.
They all took seats and started putting on their shirts. They sat there for another two hours as the rest of the group finished up. Susan got a small skull and crossbones on her hip. It was the old bones house crest from the days when the Bones family were privateers. Dora got a small chameleon on her lower back that shifted colors from green to blue to purple. Ted got the Tottenham Hotspurs' roster on his shoulder. Andy got a little black saggy dog on her shoulder blade for Sirius. Odd Lovegood got a crescent moon in a heart on his shoulder for his wife. Amelia was the last one to finish. She got a red Auror shield and banner that read Steven Bones 1978 - 2001 for her brother, Susan's father, who was killed in the line of duty as an auror just six months before the end of the war. Everyone paid for their own tattoos.
They headed out to a sushi place after that where everyone but Harry and Dan got hammered on sake. There were a lot of though memories brought up in that tattoo parlor for half the group and they tried to drown the raw feelings with drink. It wasn't a conscious decision on their part, it was like the more emotional pain they felt the more they drank. It reminding him that they were refugees of a war torn country. As nice as things might be they were all carrying baggage of their old lives.
Harry also noticed a change in some of them. Odd and Luna sat closer to each other at dinner. As if the two tattoos would bring Selene back if they stayed close enough. Neville had a deep contemplating look in his eyes like he did two nights ago. He was thinking about his legacy again. Harry was sure his friend would be heading back to the tattoo shop for another tattoo at some point that said Longbottom. He knew because he was thinking about getting one that said Potter. Susan felt it too. She sat close to Neville and held his hand under the table. Andy had a sad smile on her face every time she looked at Harry. He knew she was thinking about the cousin that didn't make it off the island.
But the biggest change had to be Amelia. Before they got the tattoos he would have called her a power hungry pureblood fool. Now he had to reevaluate his thoughts on the older grizzled warrior. She kept touching her shoulder. She looked emotionally tired and contemplative. She was polite, quite, and she ignored Susan and Neville's hand holding. In fact when she looked at their joined hands she had a sad smile on her face. As if recalling happier times. The kicker came when Harry brought up heading back to the UK.
"Now that you are protected from interrogation I'm sure you're chomping at the bit to get back home?" Harry asked.
"Maybe." She said shocking everyone at the table. When she saw their shocked looks she shrugged.
"I'm not going back because I want to secure my old job. I want to go back because I'm a department head and I've been gone for days. I vanished the night the Death Eaters attacked the alley and the head of the wizengamot got shot. I've been missing all this time and if I don't show my face soon the rumors will have me on the wanted list for everything. I have to get out in front of it if I ever want to live in the UK ever again. You all saw how fast the public turned on Harry over the years. What do you think the paper is printing about me? I have to go back and tell the truth. Get it out there. We found out the Headmaster is as crooked as the day is long and when we tried to help the kids escape the old man sicked his pet Death Eater on us to get us off goblin property. If the people turn on me then so be it. I'll get out of there and hide out here until we can return. If they don't turn on me, maybe I can sow the seeds of rebellion in the hearts and minds of some of the smarter people. Hopefully we can turn people to our side. I know it's a fool's errand. But I have to try. I've fought so hard to protect the innocent from the last war. I can't just walk away now when the next war is starting up. I have to believe there are good people back home." She said in a thoughtful but sad voice.
"Okay. But you're not going alone and you're not going tomorrow, let's see if we can get some more people out first, then we'll back you up. We'll go to the paper first, you and me both. Once the story is out there and people are open to hearing it then we'll see about you going back. We need to get confirmation from your trusted aurors that they have your back." Harry said.
"It's good thinking but we have to move on this. If we wait too long it gives the other side a chance to get their side of the story out. The person that talks first controls the story." Amelia said.
They headed back to the apartment after that and everyone headed off to bed for an early start. Harry headed to the shooting range for his nightly training. When he was done he locked up the house and walked into his bedroom where he found Hermione passed out on the bed snoring hard.
"You're not the cutest drunk love." Harry muttered as he striped for bed.
He slipped into bed next to his girl and she rolled over and clung to his side as if by muscle memory. Hedwig the dog trotted over and licked his face before going to her spot at the foot of the bed. Harry closed his eyes and he found himself in the cabin with Shadow again. He was dressed in comfortable jeans, a black AC/DC t-shirt, a open button up red flannel shirt, and the soft brown boots he got from Geno.
"Hey boy." Harry said walking over to the black book case.
He skimmed over the titles of the books and pulled out advanced mind magics, advanced battle magic, and the six tome set of transfiguration. He carried the books to the easy chair. He sat down and looked for a place to set his books. A second end table that matched the tea table appeared next to his chair on the other side. Harry set down the stack and took the mind magics book off the pile clinched his teeth and opened the book. He felt the rush of pain but again it was not as bad as the last time. He flipped through the 434 page book and by the time he got to the end he knew Legilimency, occlumency, and quite a lot about mental projection and memory manipulation.
With his new found knowledge he understood how the old headmeaster fucked with his mind. He also confirmed that there was no fix for it. The memory files were just not there. It's as if his mind stopped making memories when the headmaster had him under the spell. That thought made him shiver. Shadow licked his face and hugged him with his big paws. Harry rubbed the big wolf's head with a sad smile. He picked up the next book and opened it with confidence. He felt no twinge of pain. He was a master of the mind arts now. He controlled his mental pathways. Reading the books wouldn't hurt anymore. His smirk got bigger.
Two hours later he knew everything there was to know about transfiguration. He was sure he knew more than even Mcgonagall. He knew not only how to do the anamauge transformation, but he knew the advanced form called polymorph. The spell allows you to chose your form and assume it with a thought. He was going to have to bring Hermione into his mind and show her the books so she could put these skills to better use then he could. He looked at the bookcases and thought about going to get more books but Shadow weighed and grabbed a tennis ball from a basket by the door.
"Okay boy, we'll play for a bit, but then I have to get some rest. This is not really rest." Harry said grabbing the soft brown leather jacket from off the hook by the door and leading Shadow outside into the cold dark snowy woods.
They walked out of the wood to the rolling field covered in snow and Harry chucked the ball. Shadow shot after it with his tail wagging like crazy. Harry pulled a small cigar out of thin air and lit it with a snap of his fingers. He played with Shadow for an hour before they headed back to the cabin.
Harry knocked the show off his boots and hung up his jacket as Shadow shook the snow off his fur. Harry saw the snow on the floor and thought about a mud room, the cabin blurred and he was standing in a small stone mudroom looking at the cabin beyond the doorway. They walked into the big main room and again Harry thought about a place to sleep. The cabin blurred and a bedroom with a big soft bed appeared off the main room. Harry walked into the bedroom and his clothes turned into a set of soft cotton PJs. He climbed into bed and Shadow hopped up onto the foot of the bed. He was out before he knew it. In the real world Harry smiled.