...
The rancid scent of death permeated the air around him as the summoning worked. A red and a black furred leg came out of the flames. The leg was thick with muscle and he knew instinctively if it were to strike him, he would end up with broken bones. Another leg came out and then a large black muzzle. By the length of it he guessed it was some kind of canine. When he could see its large eyes they were blood red. Definitely canine.
It took a minute and a half for it to be fully summoned. The summon stood over three feet tall. The red and black fur was all over it and seemed to pulse with its breath. If Harrison was a lesser man he would have trembled in fear at the sight. This was not a regular summoning even by his standards. This was a Hellhound. A creature summoned from the gates of hell itself.
Was it summoned because it was Samhain? Even with the Veil between Life and Death thinned it shouldn't be enough for him to such a creature. What had drawn it here?
The beast let out a loud snarl the shock wave of which nearly knocked Harrison off his feet. It was powerful! He drew his wand from its holster ready to use his magic against the creature. It would be the first time since he first summoning Harrison would have to fight the creature.
The creature snarled surprising Harrison with its human speech, "Why have you brought me here? A human like yourself should not have been able to summon me!"
Grimly Harrison answered not lowering his wand, "I am Heir Harrison Potter. I have summoned you in order to make a contract."
"You contract with me?!" Questioned the beast in a deep rumbling laugh that echoed through Harrison, "Why would I let a mere human contract with me?!"
Harrison didn't answer. His green eyes flashed with anger however and the air grew hot with his magic. That caused the blood red eyes to focus completely on him. Magical pressure equal to that of a Family Lord pressed down upon him. He pushed back with his own magic not willing to back down for an instance.
The scent of sulfur permeated the air. It made him want to gag but he suppressed the instinct. To do so would be a sign of weakness which could get him killed against such a summon. Their magical presences fought for dominance and control. Harrison refused to budge a single inch with the Hellhound.
It gave a low roar of anger then it lunged for him. Expecting the attack Harrison cast a nonverbal shield. Unlike the usual Protego, this particular spell could stop physical attacks. The Hellhound bounced off of his shield and snarled again. This time he didn't wait for the beast to attack him again.
First spell was a silent binding spell. As he expected it didn't work but right behind it was an ice spell right behind it. That one hit its mark right at the beast's feet. The ground froze half way up the hellhound's legs preventing it from moving. The strength of the spell kept it from breaking through easily.
The Hellhound growled, "What are you? You aren't any regular human?"
Harrison warily answered as he watched it, "Like I said. I am Harrison Potter Heir to the Potter Family. I am a Master of Spacial Magic, Runes, and Inscription. I am apprenticing as a Ward Master. That is all that I am."
For a moment the Hellhound considered him before shaking its head and it said, "No you're something more than just another human. Your magic is different. Darker and with the heat of Hell itself."
What? The heat of Hell itself? What in the fuck did that mean?
It turned its head to the side and laughed, "You don't know! You are a stupid one aren't you little human. No normal human would have been able to summon me. Even amongst your little summoners no one has been able to summon a Hellhound in several hundred years."
Again with this! Harrison was tired of being laughed at!
"What are you talking about? What am I missing?" He snarled.
The creature turned its head to the side in curiosity as it answered, "You are an interesting one human. I will accept your contract. Little Fire Elemental."
Recognition flooded him. Mother fucker. How had he not realized beforehand. The reactions of his magic made so much more sense now.
An Elemental. He was a fucking Elemental. Things made a hell of a lot more sense now. He should have known that it was something like this.
Harrison released his spell allowing the Hellhound to walk up to him. This was far different from any other contract he had made. The Hellhound's muzzle pressed into the delicate skin of the inside of his wrist.
There was a flash of pain as a symbol etched its way into his skin. ᚥᚮᛚᚠ. It wasn't a set that Harrison was familiar with. From what he could tell however it was old. Older than even his Mastery tattoo that was a rune. He would need to do some research. Maybe even contact the Runic Guild.
"When you need me, Little Elemental," growled the Hellhound, "Put a drop of blood onto the rune sequence and call out my name. You may call me, Fenris."
Well wasn't this night full of surprises?
...
Stepping back as the flames died Harrison considered what had just happened. His newest summon was one of the hounds of hell. On top of that he learned why his magic reacted the way it did. A bloody Elemental. Of all the things he considered that was not one of them.
Elementals. A forgotten branch of magic that had not been seen in hundreds of years. No one knew exactly why, beyond that it was the fault of a Dark Lord. How it was passed down was even forgotten. Harrison doubted the Potters were Elementals. The Evans family were muggles. Or maybe squibs if the rumors on how muggleborns came about was true.
From the corner of his eye Harrison caught Tom standing in front of a Veil for the Samhain ritual. He wondered what the other was seeing tonight. Then he turned away. It was none of his business. Who and what one saw during Samhain was incredibly personal. To ask was one of the biggest insults someone could give. Even staring at another's ritual was considered rude.
The next set of runes he drew were for the Samhain ritual. On the ground before him in the middle of the new sequence he placed a cloth to act as a Veil. The flames from within him that he finally understood lit the Veil up. As usual it was smokeless and as his summoning had done it went from orange to green to black as the veil opened.
A black void enveloped him taking away his senses and leaving nothing in its place. No matter how many times he performed the ritual the feeling was disconcerting. All he could feel was the magic and how his calmed. The fire that was always burning turned into a low ember.
As he took a slow breath of the cold air. It seeped into him freezing the young wizard to his very core. This was not normal. Even for a Samhain ritual. Was he missing something?
"Oh," came a voice that sounded as if was everywhere and nowhere at the same time, "A little wizard. It has been many years since I had one of you appear in my domain. Are you the little Elemental who called one of my hounds?"
Harrison looked around trying to see who was speaking yet all he saw was darkness. What the fuck? There was no way.
In an instant the darkness faded and a figure in black stood in front of him. A hood kept its face from being seen by him. The oppressive air however was unmistakable. Death magic which meant this could only be Death. This was neither normal or like anything he had read before. If he survived this he was going to have questions for a certain Master of his.
"Have nothing to say little wizard?" Asked the figure with amusement, "With your gall in speaking to my hound I would have thought you'd have the same attitude with me. Maybe you're not like your ancestor."
Somehow Harrison got the feeling the entity in front of him was disappointed. His ancestor? What? This was not what he was expecting of this evening. Damn his Potter luck.
Gathering his wits and courage Harrison asked, "My ancestors? What do you mean, Death?"
"He speaks," exclaimed Death, "I was surprised by your appearance as well, little wizard. It's not often your kind surprises me anymore. Your kind usually so predictable. Yet here you are. A Potter whose Peverell Blood is strong. Far stronger than any in your family in the last 100 years or so."
"Peverell?"
Harrison had heard of the Ancient Family but he didn't know the Potters were related. In fact he thought they were taught that the Peverell Line had died out. Was he mistaken? Or was that another lie his family had told?
Death sighed, "So many traditions and histories forgotten by your kind. One would think that a family blessed by Death would be more memorable. Yet now it is nothing more than fairy tales now."
The Tale of the Three Brothers he realized. Bloody hell. If that story was true then that meant the Hallows must exist. There had to be wizards who realized this. They had to be hunting for it... Grindelwald. Grindelwald must know and that must be the weapon everyone said he was looking for.
"Ah so you know the story," said Death amusedly breaking through his thoughts, "You're right. The Dark Lord is looking for the Hollows. It was why he attacked your school. Looking for the Hallow you carry. And why he will be looking at someone close to you. As they too carry one."
Harrison wracked his brain for any important artifacts he carried. Almost all of them were ones he had gathered at school or created. Nothing that would fit one of the Hollows. At least until his eyes trailed to Death. The dark cloak he was wearing was billowing in an invisible wind.
A cloak that allowed him to avoid even Death's eye. The stark reminder of the story that he had forgotten. A cloak of invisibility taken from Death's own cloak. The Potter's invisibility cloak that had lasted generations. The amusement became sharper but still he didn't understand who close to him could have another.
"Who is the person close to me?" He asked curious and cautious.
"Now that would be telling," said the entity, "No you will have to find that out on your own, little wizard. Don't let Grindelwald gather all three or your kind will regret it. Now it's time for you to go."
Harrison reached out a hand as the darkness began to return, "Wait..." But it was already fading and he return to the physical world.