12. They are all people like us
Harry was walking near the Forbidden Forest on the afternoon of Dec. 21. He had just leave from a visit with Hagrid, and was a little sad and angered. His first friend was too much in debt of the headmaster to see the errors his benefactor had committed. He understood that in any confront between Harry and Dumbledore, Hagrid would be inclined to accept the headmaster's words as the best solution and Harry's words as a misconception due to his youth. He was sure Hagrid wouldn't be the only one taking this choice. He feared that other adults, as Lupin, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and several others could do the same. He was sure that a serious confrontation against Dumbledore will be inevitable in the near future, and he was anticipating the problems it would cause. Many girls in the group were worrying about what side their parents would take.
His trend of thoughts was interrupted when he saw some commotion at distance in the Black Lake. Curious, he took his shrunk Nimbus 2000 from his necklace, expanded it and flew there to see what was happening. It could be just the Giant Squid playing, but he needed some diversion to light his mood, so he took this chance.
It wasn't the Giant Squid, but what appear to be two groups of mermaids, a pair of smaller ones, looking quite human, being chased by a larger group of more strange ones. While the first had human faces with honey-coloured hairs and white skin, the other group had dark and wild green hair, a greyish skin and faces that were a mix of fish and human.
From his vantage point he saw as the large group surround the two other and started to close on them, threatening them with their long pitchforks. Confused by such hostility, and worried about the safety of the two smaller ones, Harry dove to the surface of the lake just above the pair. One of them, perceiving his approach, advise the other and both emerge, waving for help, while the large group initiated a frontal attack. Feeling in his gut the need to help the pair, Harry took one hand of each and, controlling the broom just with his knees, went up taking the most direct route to The Room. He didn't know anything about their races, and was afraid about their capacity to survive out of water.
The two he had just rescued were females and about 1.5 meters tall, well bellow the 2.1 meters he calculated their stalkers to be. They were both quite frightened, near panic. Without his magic-enhanced muscular force he was sure he wouldn't be able to keep them from falling. One was talking very fast in a foreign language while the other was silent but shaking a lot. He was so worried about taking them back to water that he practically collide against the wall were the door to The Room must be. Before he could start walking to call for the door, it appeared on the wall and was opened by Luna, the exact girl he was hoping to find, their magizoologist in training.
"Luna… just found them… Black Lake… being chased..."
"Sirens! You found sirens here in Scotland?! Only you, Harry."
Luna concentrated, and The Room changed according her wishes. A small waterfall appeared at one wall, pouring water on a large rectangular pool with a drain at the opposite side.
"Fresh running water, is this what they need?"
"Running salty water, Harry. These are sirens, they live in warm oceans, contrary to the selkies of the Black Lake, who like fresh and cold water."
By then, Susan and the twins came to them and helped to put the two sirens on the pool, were they visibly relaxed.
"The… selkies… they were hunting these two. I think they would have murdered them if I didn't intervened. Why?"
"Enemies!"
For their surprise, the answer came from one of the sirens, the one who kept silent during their flight.
"So… you speak English!"
"Few words… learning." She look around The Room before asking "Are we first?"
"First? First what?"
"Non-humans… unity of species… prophecy… survive Apocalypse."
"Oh, no! Another prophecy? What it says?"
"Wait, Harry! Apocalypse! This is really serious."
"What is Apocalypse?"
"The end of the world… Total extinction..."
"Not total… near total… but… hope… here!" said the siren. She then showed her closed fist before opening her hand slowly. A small flame appeared in the centre of her palm.
"You learned our new magic? How?"
"All world… females only, under 16, make vow… olders don't learn… many coming… So, we first?"
"Yes, you're the first to arrive. Hum, how many more must we expect?"
"Not much… few thousands..."
"A few thousands! And it isn't much?!"
"The prophecy… In Caledonia… Dormant lines with dormant powers… coming to life in the struggles to survive… The awakened will have it all… He will share… A new nation of equals although differents… together surviving the ruins and the end of the days of the Old World…"
"Rest, please. You seem exhausted. We can talk later. Do you need something?"
"Rest will be good. Nothing more for now."
The other siren intervened for the first time: "I'm Persephone. This my cousin Parthenope. We thank you… saved us. You Peverell?"
"I'm a descendant of the Peverells. My name is Harry Potter. We… hum… we'll let you rest, we can talk more later, okay?"
"You… like us, Harrypotter? You don't think we… fishes? We… friends?"
"Hum… You are people, we're all people. I like you both. We can all be good friends."
With a smile and small bow of their heads the two sirens submerged and the humans congregated in a cosy sitting area near.
"Before you ask, let me tell you the basics about the sentient magical species, Harrypotter."
"Oh, no, not you too. Why are you saying my name as it was just one word?"
"Because humans are the only sentient species that used more than one name for one individual, Harrypotter. You heard them. They gave us their names, one for each of them. If they need to be more specific, they would say something like 'Parthenope, daughter of X', not a surname because they don't have one. When you said your name to them they understood it to be one name, not two. Be happy you didn't added the 'James' part to it."
"Oh, I'm doomed!"
"Oh, don't be such a nanny. We can correct this later. Now, Luna, tell us about this thing about sirens and selkies and what more."
"Right. The basic point is that, contrary to what muggles believe, higher intelligence isn't an exclusivity of primates, the mammalian family that includes the big apes and the humans. It has appeared in several other families, not only of mammalians but also fishes, amphibians, reptiles and birds, well proto-birds to be exact. Most of them live on land, a few on water. Of those who live in water we have three main groups according their origin: fish, reptile or mammalian. Those descendants of fishes included the selkies here in Scotland and the merrows of Ireland. They kept a fishy appearance, their lower bodies are covered in scales and they prefer cold fresh water. The descendants of reptiles are now almost extinct. They included the adaros and oannes and came from the same family of the mesosaurs, were extremely violent to the point that some authors negate them higher intelligence, just a well-developed hunting skill, and their bodies are covered by hard leather. They like swamps, mangroves and other dirty waters. Finally, those of mammalian origin are called sirens and are considered cetaceans, which means they are distant cousins of dolphins, but that is a point of controversy, as some authors suggested they evolved of humans who live in water for a long time. They like warm salty water, living mainly in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. There are also the iaras and rusalkas, who like fresh warm water, but I don't know much about them."
"Well, with different origins, it is understandable the behaviour of the selkies. They don't see relation between themselves and the sirens."
"But they live in very different environments! They probably don't see each other frequently, so why so much belligerence between them?"
"Well, maybe they are as territorial as us humans. We love to establish frontiers and punish whoever disrespect them, even if in ignorance of their existence."
"Well, it makes sense, but what about the ones living on land, Luna?"
"Well, on land we have no species that came from fishes, and the one which came from amphibians, the batracheans, is probably extinct. From reptiles, they came from three main groups. From the theropods, which included the carnivorous dinosaurs, came the saurians, the trolls and the goblins, but the saurians weren't seen since before the foundation of Rome, so they are probably extinct too.
From the ornithopods, or herbivorous dinosaurs, legend said evolved the high-elves, who had then leave this planet. I don't put much faith in this hypothesis. I'm not sure the high-elves ever existed. But the other group, which we now call the house-elves, are still around us. Finally, there are the ornistichians, the bird-like group, from where the harpies came, and from which the veelas had evolved. Veelas are still relatively common in Europe and parts of the Mid-East and Central Asia, while harpies were also extinct around the time of the foundation of Rome due to their hostility against other species."
"Why we learn so little about all this? This is important!"
"Humans are a very proud species. They never liked the idea that other species could be so intelligent as they are, so much that we British magicals call them 'near-human intelligence species', you see? We deny them the possibility of be our equals or, Merlin forbid, betters. We simply avoid talking of them when we can, and use derogatory expressions when we can't."
"You said that veela are descendants of harpies which came from birds or bird-like dinosaurs, but they look like beautiful women and can breed with humans. How is it?"
"That is a very interesting point I was hoping to discuss later, after the mammalians, but maybe… yes, I think it will do well to talk about it now. You see, there are species we know to have only one gender, and others we aren't sure if they have or not a second gender. For example, we only know about male lycans, satyrs and goblins, and we know or suspect veelas, nekos, kitsunes and sirens can only be female. Except for the goblins, of which we know nothing about their sexual behaviour and way of reproduction, the others are told to reproduce through human partners."
Rosalyn, who had arrived and was listening for the last few minutes, asked "How can it be we know so little about goblins? They are there in Diagon Alley, doing our banking for centuries!"
"They are very secretive and we have being fighting them for the same centuries we know them. Why would they let us know more about them if it could be used against them in their next rebellion?"
"Depending on other species to reproduce seems to be crazy! How that came to be? It is a danger for their perpetuation!"
"Yes, it is, but in some cases it seemed to be their only way of survival. Veelas apparently evolved from harpies, which were being hunting to extinction by men, centaurs and other species they had being preying on their youngers. You see, men are crazy animals when dominated by lust, and they don't keep their interest on the female of their species only. The illness called AIDS by the muggles seems to have spread to humans by some African man copulating with a female chimpanzee and then with other humans. Some people are said to have tried dogs, goats, sheep, big cats, horses, and all kind of other big animals. Legend said that veelas came from captured harpies breeding with men, and similar stories are told for centaurs, lycans, sirens and many others, all about a human with an animal of another species with a little help from magic."
"Magic is involved in these… mixtures? Why?"
"Well, muggles don't breed true with any other species, only with wizards and witches. A muggle man can't impregnate a female giant, but a wizard can, and did. Hagrid is such an example. It is a not very well kept secret that he is the son of the giantess Fridwulfa. Also, while veela can have children with a wizard, there is no record of children with muggles. But, remember, the lack of evidence is not sufficient proof for the veracity of a negative assertion."
"Well, what about the mammalians? Let's get the whole picture of the species.
"Well, we have us and maybe a few others, like Neanderthals and Denisovans, evolving from apes and them our species annihilating or incorporating the others, and I already told you about the sirens, rusalkas and iaras said to be the evolution of cetaceans. The others also seem to be some mixture with humans, and there are many stories about all kind of hybrids with humans but the only known proven cases are the satyr, from goats, the sphinxes, from lions, the centaurs, from horses, the kitsunes, from foxes, and the nekos, from panthers. These still remains until today. The lycans, from wolves, and the lyrans, from tigers, are considered extinct, the lycans in the 15th century in Transylvania, the lyrans around the 6th century in India."
"Most of the species you cited seem to be mixtures."
"Remember that many of them didn't came direct from an animal, but from a sentient species evolved from them that then mixed with humans. Maybe the others like the nekos, kitsunes, satyrs, centaurs… they also could have evolved not direct from a beast but from an intelligent or semi-intelligent descendant that then mixture with us."
"Still, the involvement of humans in most of the intelligent species can be used by prejudiced people as proof of a superiority of humans over all others. I would like to have something to counter this argument."
"And that's why we love you, Harrypotter. You're searching means to defend species you even know exists mere minutes ago!"
.o0o.
With the assistance of Persephone and Parthenope, Harry created some voice-activated devices that Dobby put along with some posters underwater around Helmsdale, the coastal town where the Loch Dubh, an extension of Loch Rimsdale known by the students as the Black Lake, connected with the North Sea. This way any other siren wanting to reach them would avoid contact with the selkies by calling a Hogwarts's elf to bring them directly to the castle. Three days later Leucosia, Peisinoe and Himerope joined them, followed by Aglaope, Ligeia, Molpe and Raidne some days later.
For the species who travel by land the elves disposed other sets of devices and posters in several languages in the outer bounds of the Forbidden Forest, so they could avoid the trolls, acromantulas and whatever other dangers the forest shelters. Luna instructed a group of elves about what species are welcome, how to identify them and where to bring them for an interview before granting them access.
Harry was a little confused with how fast things escalated from him trying to survive Voldemort to a group of students trying to break free from a corrupted and retrograde society to a large group of individuals from different intelligent species trying to survive the end of the world, whose cause they still didn't know.
The prophecy revealed by the sirens didn't point to a specific cause, more to a 'confluence of tendencies' and a 'sum of mistakes covered by a web of lies and deceits', and that 'life could survive by the leadership of the ancient line that conquered Death itself'. It seems that this last expression was what connected Harry to it, as the sirens were sure it refers to the Peverell family.
Saul and Amelia had led a disguised Harry Potter to the Department of Mysteries where he retrieved another prophecy concerning him. Now knowing the secret plans of the headmaster, Harry was still in doubt if his enemy according this prophecy was Voldemort or Dumbledore, but as he saw both as enemies he didn't care too much about it. This prophecy was too vague to be of any help.
The sphinxes Khepri and Maat had visited them on December 23rd and urged them to accelerate their preparations. They would be sending their daughters, Layla and Salma, with some others to them on next Summer, making use of the World's Quidditch Cup final being held in England to travel more easily.
The next day they met a delegation of Veelas led by a matriarch called Bernadette. By them they discovered about a plan of their headmaster to try and make Voldemort come back to Hogwarts: the resurrection of the TriWizard tournament, interrupted centuries ago due to the many deaths of not only competitors but also spectators. Probably Dumbledore would weaken the wards even more for the tournament, making it easier for trespassers. No way he would let it happen!
The veelas would also start to come to Hogwarts next Summer, many with the World Cup Final, some as new students and finally, those currently attending Beauxbatons, with their delegation to the TriWizard Tournament. Harry expressed his reservations about letting the tournament happen, but they have time to study the situation better and reach a conclusion in the following months. The veelas gave them some good ideas of how to make use of the tournament in their own benefit that deserve consideration.
.o0o.
The kids were rarely saw by the staff except at meals, but no one (except Slughorn, still trying to get closer to Harry) had made any complaints. Harry was really happy, getting to know his godfather, listening to tales about his parents, and… discovering about sex!
Rosalyn had waited until Christmas' eve night to introduce Harry to this new and exciting activity. She claimed the boy as hers for that night, with the promise to the other four girls that they would see a new Harry by the morning. And she didn't exaggerate. By next morning Harry was really a new guy, more confident and assertive, with some needed experience under his belt. But the real extent of their experience was way more than Rosalyn was expecting.
She had planned everything in advance, and she guided her boy through everything with no complains from his part. After a light dinner they had a good snog session, followed by amazing oral sex, half-hour cuddling to regain their energy and the tour-de-force: their first anal sex.
For that, Rosalyn had used the extensive help of madame Pomfrey and her perfect lubricant. She had took the stories about sex magic with a great amount of doubt, not believing all the amazing descriptions she had read. She now knew that they weren't exaggerations but instead a meagre and failed attempt to put into words what was so much above what could be described in any language. It was so much better than what she had dreamed to obtain! It was not just orgasm, it was total ecstasy in a really magical way! A fusion of bodies, magic and souls that she couldn't describe or understand, but loved so much!
But of one thing she was sure: it wouldn't be so good if her and her partner didn't develop their magic to the whole of their bodies. Concentrating their magic in a core wasn't really a good idea. It could have helped lots of weaker wizards and witches to learn and use magic more easily at the beginning, but at the huge cost of severely limiting what they could obtain. Damn laziness! And damn mania to seek immediate results!
.o0o.
The smaller group that stayed at the castle was quite active during the Holidays, and not just with the visits they received. With the help of the three adults residing there, the Chamber was totally explored and the elves were adapting sections of it for their non-human members. They didn't want to depend too much of The Room for that, as they considered it too risky. Some new house-elves had arrived, and Dobby told Harry that now they all know to come to Hogwarts if they ever need a new place. Sometimes their owners died without heirs or give them clothes for some perceived failure or just old age, while some couples of house-elves owned by abusive people hid their children from them in the hope they could find better arrangements. Harry assured Dobby that they would all be welcome at Hogwarts.
Articles for the new magazine were coming from the other girls, and Luna was proof-reading them and trying to organize them for the first few issues of the magazine in a way to keep the interest of their future readers and exposed the facts in a coherent order.
.o0o.
Harry was at the boarder of the Forest at morning on boxing day. He had just welcomed a group of nekos, amazed at how easy it would be to confuse their names, as they were so similar: Ai, Aya, Aimi, Aina, Akani and Asami, when he was approached by an old friend.
"Hi, Firenze. Hope the activity around here don't annoy your people. We are trying to not disturb, but with so many people coming and going we can't be sure."
"Hi, Harrypotter" and Harry amazed himself noting for the first time the way the centaur pronounced his name, the same way the sirens did it. "We are grateful that you arrange things so them don't have to cross the forest. It seems you are aware of the shape of things to come and are taking action. That's good to know."
"Yes, it seems I have lots to do in the next few years. We are still learning about it all. Have you any clues for me? I'm still feeling a little blind with it all."
"You're doing good so far. I have more for you than a vague clue, but it is a gift with responsibilities attached to it. Will you accept it?"
At this point he looked back at the forest, from where four young and beautiful female centaurs. Harry was willing to call them centaurettes, but knowing about the pride of this species, decided to wait and see how things go before risking to offend the… girls? He was a little embarrassed by his shortcomings with vocabulary and diplomacy was still just a vague concept for him. Not knowing exactly what to do he chose the easy way of being over-polite. He bowed to their new companions.
"You honour me with your presence" he said after concluding his bows. The centaurettes were behaving like a typical group of human teenagers, keeping themselves close together, giggling a little and acting a little shy but curious. Firenze cut the somewhat awkward silence introducing them to the boy.
"These are Rhea, Iris, Zoe and Thalia, the best four fillies of their generation."
Harry had been cautious not to call them 'centaurettes', but Firenze was using a word commonly applied to young female horses not old enough to be called mares. Was it an internal joke or their established habit? Maybe Luna knew and could explain to him.
"You talked about gift and responsibilities. Are they offering to join our group? Do you want me to teach our kind of magic to them? Sorry, I'm still a little confused."
"We know your group is the one with best chances to survive the coming troubles. This is the bet our nation is doing in your success, so our species could survive the coming darkness if the worst came to be. It is a huge bet of our part, as we are so few. They will help you in any way they can, as will us through them. This is the gift. But they need to learn a lot, and will need your care and protection until they are ready to fend for themselves. This is the responsibility. We'll be watching them from afar, and trusting on you to keep a close eye on their well-being. Do you accept it?"
'Why such huge decisions must always come from nowhere, with no warnings, and to be decided on the spot, with so little time for reflection?' thought Harry. But then he glanced at the centaurettes and saw how nervous they were. 'They want it' was his conclusion. 'I don't know why they want to leave their people and jump in an adventure in such a different world, but they want it, specially Rhea.' Indeed, the auburn-haired had caught his attention since he first saw her. It couldn't be just because her beauty and exposed breasts. The others were equally beauty and exposed. But Rhea shown an inside fire, a determination, a willpower that resonates with his soul. Wasn't it some kind of aberration to harbour such feelings for a member of another species? 'No, she is people. Every two people have similarities and differences. The similarities bring us closer while the differences complement us and help us to be more together than we would be as isolated individuals.' His decision was made.
"I promise you on my life, magic and soul, to protect and care for these precious four with all that I am and have, as if they were of my own blood."
.o0o.
Luna was in paradise with so many new friends of so many different species to tell her in first hand about their way of life, habits, culture, physiology… In truth, all they were learning a lot, and the most varied things. Harry and the twins finally learned to swim. They really learned it, and became addicts. The sirens not just shown them the movements, but also the reasons why they work so better than whatever else they could think of doing. They taught the humans how to obtain the maximum results with the minimum use of force, both with moving on or under water. They also learned a lot about respiration. That helped them not only swimming, but also exercising on land.
The centaurettes taught archery, botany and healing. The nekos have amazing reflexes and elasticity and taught them some tricks and techniques to improve theirs. The only kitsune to reach them so far, Hinata, was a master of disguise and stealth, and taught them all various useful skills. When Susan complained the absence of a veela to teach them how to become more beautiful, Harry had replied that none of them needed it, which made him a very luck guy that night and gave him a goofy smile for the entirety of the next morning. The little group was doing their best to put all the new knowledge in easy-to-follow manuals, guiding the reader step-by-step through both theory and practice of each new skill they learn. Copies were being followed to all the absent girls by the elves, to avoid the use of so many owls being caught by the headmaster.
.o0o.
Harry never had such a wonderful Christmas before. He never had so many people he loves around him, from all kind of places and all kind of species, and so many others from all around the world writing to him and sending him all kind of wonderful gifts, from humble hand-made cards to the most precious artefacts and works of art. He cherished every single one, and tried his best to send back something in return to every one that had wrote to him, but it would be impossible to answer them all before the New Year. He was a little sad for the delay but, as most of them had really put effort in finding something he would appreciate, he was trying to do the same instead of the easy route of a standardized answer, and that took some time.
At New Year's eve Alastor Moody came to join the staff at lunch, being presented as their new teacher of Defence. A look at him made the girls wish to be better than him at defence so they could avoid such large collection of scars and defects. They were also rambling if Moody was his real surname or just an alias based in his usual personality.
He kept in silence most of the time, but was studying the few teens in the castle with great attention. Besides Harry and the five girls in his group there were another three boys in the castle: two Ravenclaws preparing for NEWTS and a fifth year Hufflepuff. But Moody's attention was mainly on Harry and the three Slytherins. Rosier and Carrow were families that provided several faithful followers for Voldemort, and not knowing the girls, he just assumed the worst and was very suspicious of them.
Two days later Alastor was very intrigued. His special eye wasn't helping him so much. It works just fine most of the time, but as soon as he tried to spy a person, student or staff alike, the image was blurred and revealed nothing. He was sure that Potter was the responsible for the malfunction, but why the boy wasn't concealing just his own actions? Why protect the others too?
Three of the boys were always easy to find, normally they expended their time at the Library. But Potter and the girls were never found out of the meals, as Slughorn had pointed to him more than once. And he never saw the six of them at the same meal. Every time at least one of them was missing. Why?
To answer his question he decided to use a little trick. At lunch time the day after boxing day he left early and hid in an alcove in the entrance hall, under his invisibility cloak. He was ready to put some surveillance charms on the Carrow twins when the point of a wand at the back of his neck made him stop.
"Potter?"
"What is your game, professor Moody? An old man like you cursing little girls in their backs isn't what one would expect from a famous auror. Are you just a pervert or is there some more reasonable excuse for this?"
"Do you know those girls? Do you know the fame of their family?"
"Better than you, for sure."
"How can that be? What do you mean, Potter?"
"Can you keep a secret?"
"Sometimes, when it's for my benefit."
"Well, that's for you to decide. If you want some answers, you'll vow to keep them from reaching others. What I want you to know right now is just this: don't try to use your wand on students or staff again, except for self-defence or teaching purposes, or you'll be no longer welcome here."
"So, it's really you who stole control of the wards. Someone will be happy to know."
"Someone already knew it, you'll only confirm his suspicions. He was just unwilling to believe. Still want answers?"
Instead of giving the vow, Moody chose to try to surprise the boy. He ducked and turned quickly, firing a stunning charm and preparing to raise a shield next. He woke in time for dinner, but not feeling well after hours in a bad position on the hard and icy ground.
.o0o.
"Thank you for accepting my invitation for a walk, Luna. I'm in real need of your expertise…"
"I'm always ready to help you, Harry, in any way. And I'm happy to be here with you. You want to know about interspecies relationships and sex, isn't it?"
"Is it so obvious?"
"How could it be more obvious? You just said you are in need of my expertise, after an entire morning parading your erection around us, and all the looks you gave to some of our guests… Yes, it is pretty obvious, don't you think?"
"Well, I'm a teenage boy, and those… females, most of them don't use any clothes at all, and even you and the other humans… with the room kept so hot… you're using less… And did you see what our guests with a tail are doing? They raise their tails when they have their backs to me, totally exposing… Argh!.. It's too much!… Luna, don't laugh! This is serious! I almost jump on Rhea today! That… girl… she just turned me on so easily!"
"Sorry, Harry, but it's just too funny! I'm sure Rhea, well, all of them I think, would be delighted if you 'jump on' them. I'm still learning about them, but I believe you aren't wrong in thinking that they are offering themselves to you when raising their tails."
"But… but… Is that normal? Don't you think I'm a kind of pervert or… or… I don't know, some aberration? Would you be able to… to respect me if I indulge in a relationship like that?"
"I wouldn't have any problem, Harry. I see them as people, and I think it's natural for people who like each other to search for some intimacy. It can be harder for other girls, but I think that after they have some contact with our non-human guests they'll also see them as people and wouldn't mind it either. And if they couldn't see them as people, maybe their place isn't with us."
"You… you think our group could break apart because of it? Do I must to avoid it at all costs to keep the group united?"
"No, I don't think you must avoid it, and I don't think the group would break apart of it. Maybe some individuals wouldn't agree with their inclusion as 'full people'. I think we'll be better detecting them and, if they were unable to change their opinion and accept the non-human intelligent beings as at the same level they accept humans, I think we'll be better off seeing them go."
"I… I don't feel at easy with the idea of losing partners."
"That's because you are a good person, and is trying to save everybody. But if someone refuses to be saved, refuses to see reason, what can we do? We can't force our will over them. That would be against our principles."
"Yes, I think you're right. Thank you, Luna. Your support is very important to me. But… well, what if…"
"Sex?"
"Yeah. What would result of sex with them? Do you know?"
"I could confirm with the kitsunes that they are a female-only species that perpetuate itself doing sex with human males. There are many stories about it in the Japanese folklore and the ones with us here confirm them. So, you must treat them the same as us humans: magic will probably help to get them pregnant the first chance it have. The nekos and sirens are the same, but it seems that sirens have difficulties getting pregnant. There are some cases of… male nekos, but it's hard to call them males at all. When this happen, the male neko will be attracted by men, not by female nekos. But about the centaurs, I have no idea. I talked with them, and they aren't sure either. It seems that no cases of such mixed relationship occurred in many centuries. Human females aren't equipped to cross with male centaurs, and female centaurs are rarely seem by humans. You really impressed them, Harry Potter. You're the first human to saw a female centaur in maybe two millennia. They have some ancient legends, but they are contradictory: some say the progeny will be human, others that it'll be centaurian."
"This is so complicated..."
"You can make it easy treating us all in an equal way. We are all too young to be mothers and, anyway, we have a lot to do until we have the time and peace for it."
"All equal? Well, I think I can do that."
"Good. Now, this seems such a good place for us to rest for a while, don't you think? Would you mind to be with a human girl for a while, Harrypotter? Or just the non-humans catch your attention nowadays?"
.o0o.
"Your boy is really good, Albus. He catches me trying to put tracking and eavesdropping spells on the Carrow twins, and almost made me shit myself. It was a long time since the last time someone took me so easily."
"Yes, it seems mister Potter became quite proficient in hiding, spying and deceiving. I'm still in doubt how to react to these developments."
"I don't think it is a good idea to confront him directly, if that is what you're thinking to do."
"I fear it would come to it some day, but I'm inclined to wait until it was unavoidable."
"Why unavoidable? He seems to be a good boy. I don't think he'll abuse his powers if you allow him to live his life as he pleases."
"That's something I can't allow. Mister Potter has a destiny to fulfil, and the path to success is hard and narrow. He can't be so free as he desires, I'm afraid."
"The prophecy? I thought it was fulfilled in Halloween 2001."
"You know Voldemort is still around, searching means to regain a body. I'm afraid only when he was really gone would be possible for mister Potter do as he wants. Until then he must be carefully guided to complete his task."
"And you want to be the one guiding him."
"It's not what I want, but what I must do."
"I think you're deluded. And I think as soon as you try to take control of his life you'll have your ass kicked out of here before you could react. Can't you work with him, instead of against him?"
"I'll try, because we still have some time. But there are a lot of things that need to happen next year, and I'm afraid mister Potter wouldn't like them. Maybe, if he shows himself receptive to my reasons and I'm able to explain some of them beforehand, we could avoid a major confrontation. But I have few space for concessions..."
"He confirmed to be in control of the castle and that you knew it, and even offered to give me some answers, but he asked for a vow of secrecy."
Albus took his wand and used several detection spells around his office. "Not the elves, then" he muttered to himself. He then put some extra anti-eavesdropping spells, just for security.
"It was just yesterday morning that I could confirm he was the owner of the castle and the one in control of its wards. That he was already informed of my results by noon is admirable… and terrifying."
"And he isn't using the house-elves to do the spying?"
"Oh, I'm sure he is making use of our little friends, but it seems he has also other means. I couldn't detect any elf here, and still I'm expecting him to know about this little conversation of us soon. The castle can do great things for whoever is in control, and I'm finished underestimating this resourceful boy."
"Why would he protect the Carrows? Do he really knows who they are? He insinuated to know them better than I!"
"And he indeed know. That's one of the things I discovered yesterday. Let me tell you all about my adventures. It started in the afternoon of the previous day, when I received information from Gringotts about the Potter's vaults. You see, I was expecting that Harry would rush to take control of his family's assets as soon as he could, and that was a serious mistake. He wisely avoided doing that, and that's why I took so long to consider him emancipated and in charge of the castle. Only after receiving this correspondence I reconsidered this point and saw the fault in it. So, I leave the castle yesterday really early, and went first to the Ministry. There I consulted a most marvellous enchanted object, The Book of Registries. I use a special charm to filter all entries of this year related to young mister Potter. For my surprise I found 34 entries, 31 of them being him taking the head position of some ancient house, plus 3 about him taking concubines."
"The Carrows and the Rosier? They are Potters now?"
"Yes, they renegade their original families and were accepted by Potter as concubines to some old and long inactive families."
"Smart girls. I see now that they are Slytherins for the right reasons. But I would still expect some vengeance from their former families."
"And this is why they stayed here. With young Harry controlling the castle, there isn't a safer place for them."
"But the one from the Rosiers, she'll end her studies next year."
"And Harry won't make her leave, I'm sure."
"This Book of Registries, it doesn't registered the change in ownership of the castle, did it?"
"No, but two of the families the young mister Potter was able to claim headship were Gryffindor and Slytherin."
"Oh, ha-ha-ha. Would like to see the faces of these two knowing a single and same person is the sole heir for both their families!"
"I'm not sure they would mind so much. They were friends and partners at Hogwarts. I think much of what is said about Slytherin is nothing but manipulated deviations devised to create a conflict that never occur, or at least never occur with the intensity and for the reasons we now believe in."
"Well, I'm not so sure, but it can be. These purebloods idiots are well able to do it. But what about me? What you expected me to do of Potter's offer and all this spying around?"
"It wouldn't be of any help if you discover things but aren't allowed to tell me. Harry is a smart boy, I doubt he would let any hole in the vow he would ask of you. Anyway, I don't think he is acting alone. At least he has three Slytherin concubines to advise him, and I suspect he has much more help than them."
"Sirius Black?"
"Yes, and maybe Amelia Bones and her niece, and also the Lovegoods."
"The five girls in the castle plus some of their parents. Could they be here, in the castle? Black is still a fugitive, and no sighting has been reported. Amelia and Xeno also weren't seen around for some time."
"It's a possibility. Young Harry has access to a most secret place to keep them, Salazar's Chamber of Secrets, and lots of elves to help keep them there safe and comfortable."
"Well, I don't see any problem with this, and I hope you don't either. But what you expect of me now? Just a teacher?"
"Just a curious and observant teacher, always trying to evaluate the real capabilities of his students and always worried about their security and well-being. We can re-evaluate things in the Summer and see if some change is needed."
"Well, this I can do. You know how curious and observant I can be. I can even tell you some of my discoveries, if I think you deserve to know."
.o0o.
Author's Note: the names for the non-human girls may sound strange because they came from different places: Greece for sirens and centaurs, Japan for nekos and kitsunes, Egypt for sphinxes, and I'll be using mainly French and Bulgarian for veelas.