A/N: and here i am again with another chapter with the help form HowInMadeHowie.
Thanks to you all once again for liking this story so far. Have fun and be safe
"Master Chief, this is Commander Sarah Palmer, CO of the Spartans on board the Infinity. If the assignment would take longer than anticipated, she will be taking over your duties in Hogwarts. If you want to know why she will not take the assignment herself, even as her marks in the Spartan training were remarkable, we need someone with more experience in covert operation than her. As a former ODST, she must forgive me for that blatant assumption, but stealth is not her strong suit. You and the other Spartan II on the other hand were trained to be assassins in the first place; to get the Insurrectionist leaders killed and the rebellion quelled. That we fought against the Covenant with our armor MJOLNIR was an afterthought from the top brass, who first wanted to terminate the Spartan II program completely but after Harvest was glassed saw how much better we were then the normal elite soldiers in any condition, so they took us from our main objective and ordered us to the frontline. Luckily, we are born warriors, don't you agree?" Jerome explained the situation to John, who nodded in understanding.
"So, when does it start and what will be the cover story when the Commander will arrive in Hogwarts and who would know except Triss, Harry and Professor Dumbledore?" John asked Jerome with all the seriousness they were trained to have since they were children all those years ago. Even when he had become used to the peace this place offered and even found someone dear to him, he was still a Spartan. John almost felt guilty training Harry similar to how he was trained, but after seeing those green eyes full of determination, he was reminded that even if John had the choice to not go through the augmentations, John would choose to do them again gladly.
"Good questions Chief. Me and the commander did think of a cover story that I hope is satisfactory. She would pose as a friend of Michael's, who is your brother inside the castle, who did serve in a similar position in the military as you two did. When she is walking through the halls in her own MJOLNIR, it would cause more questions as to how she would be related to you, as the armor she uses is a bit too colorful to fit the same role as you two had in your unit. If you will not return back to Hogwarts before the Christmas break ends, the story would be that you have important family business overseas with your family and had to resolve the issue. Of course, Headmaster Dumbledore will be informed if necessary because if everything works according to plan, Commander Palmer would not need to enter the school. It is just a backup in case gathering the information would take longer than two weeks, and Michael is still on another mission on his own and cannot be called back for a while." Jerome explained the plan to John with more details, as John would need to infiltrate the ministry in complete stealth with the help from the agents in it.
Cortana was looking through her sensors for any unwanted listeners, when she received a message that Roland wanted to talk with her and Callie. According to this small message, they were needed on board the Infinity sooner rather than later. She could not think of any reason why, but she forwarded it towards Callie anyway. She just hoped that when Doctor Halsey had an explanation for it, as she could not think that Callie would need an update on her operating system this soon. Now she was looking for a way they could transfer their cores up to the Infinity, when she got another ping from Roland that transportation would be provided.
In the library, Harry and Luna were reading their school books with Callie projecting on the table and pointing out some mistakes they were making. Harry did not need the help as much as Luna did, but that was only because Potions was not her strong suit and Snape was not the best in teaching students. Callie analyzed everything she knew about him, and he is a prodigy in Potions and Defense against the Dark Arts but to teach students he needs to explain even more as he did until now and help those who had some difficulty to understand the subject like he did. Somehow Snape reminded Callie of Albert Einstein, this brilliant scientist knew many things, but his explanation could only be understood to someone almost as knowledgeable as him. She really hoped that Snape would understand this soon enough and improve his methods like he did last year. She really wanted to speak with him directly, but for now she would have to talk through Cortana with the headmaster about this.
Mr. Lovegood came into the library to look for his daughter and he found her reading a book next to Harry, a boy he was afraid at first being influenced by dark beings. But now looking at him teaching his daughter some things she did not understand, he knew that Harry was a good boy and would do everything he could to protect Luna and his friends. Mr. Lovegood thought that he saw something blue shimmering behind a book, but he decided that it was his imagination because when he looked at the same spot again the blue shimmer was gone from this place and wandered a bit farther down the table. Looking up, Mr. Lovegood saw that the windows had some ornate blue glass on them which would cause a blue light on the table. Harry also grabbed something from the table and put it into his pocket, but Mr. Lovegood did not see his movement as he was looking at the windows before turning to his daughter.
"Little moon, I see that you are studying hard with Harry. I hope you have learned much and did your homework, because sadly our time in this castle comes to an end. Tomorrow we will return to our home and then we will travel once again in search for the elusive snurglack before you return to Hogwarts for the next term. I was also coming to get you both for lunch, as we still have the afternoon to study more if you want. But I would like to see that you both relax for the rest of the day." Mr. Lovegood looked at his daughter like a loving father would, while Luna smiled at him and nodded, grabbing her books and putting the ones she had brought with her back in her bag. When her line of sight crossed Harry's bag, her brows furrowed, and she looked back up to Harry.
"Harry, can I speak with Doctor Halsey again? I want to ask her if she could help me with something." Luna's eyes did not show any bad thoughts about this question, so Harry was thinking about it and asked Callie if she could forward this question to Doctor Halsey. Callie nodded in his glasses and after just a second, she told him that Doctor Halsey would gather them after lunch with the pretense to talk with the young girl alone about the results from the previous tests they had. He just hoped that Mr. Lovegood would allow it without asking to accompany his daughter to the laboratory.
Harry and Luna were walking down to the dining table in the main hall next to the kitchen, where he saw a woman talking with John and Jerome about something, before Jerome said goodbye and left the other two sitting behind. Callie identified the woman and told Harry who she was, as Callie had some things in her database thanks to Cortana informing her about their visitor.
"And Harry, me and Cortana were called from our own commander, so to speak. If you could give my chip to Doctor Halsey later when Luna is going down to speak with her, we could get it over with faster and I should return back today." Callie informed him about her orders from Roland, to which Harry told her with his thoughts that he would do that after lunch.
Lunch was a silent affair, as all the occupants at the table enjoyed the meal. Triss scooted a bit closer to John, as if she was jealous of the other woman who was obviously similar to John, but Harry saw in the body language from the male Spartan that he was not interested in the dark haired woman. Harry really thought that Triss should have learned how to read the small signs that the body language told those who watched carefully, but maybe she was just too distracted to notice it.
"Harry, we need to talk later after you brought Ms. Lovegood down to Doctor Halsey. Something came up that needs my attention." John told Harry as normally he could, but Harry felt that it was an order so he nodded to him before finishing what was on his plate. He thought that it had something to do with this commander Palmer. Luna also looked at the new occupant in the castle with great interest, which was noticed by the woman in front of Luna as the eyes from the woman flickered to the younger girl on more than one occasion.
Soon Harry found himself with Luna down in front of the same laboratory he had brought her last night and stood outside the door to give them some privacy. John used this opportunity to introduce Commander Palmer to him.
"I have received a mission from my superior, so I have to leave for a while. While I am gone, they placed Commander Palmer to help secure this castle as well to train you, and if the mission takes longer than anticipated, the Commander will also come to Hogwarts with the cover that I am away on a family matter and she came after Michael asked her to do that. They were in the same unit, but she had a different role in the military. This part is just in case someone asks her why her armor has a different color than mine or Michael's armor. Speaking of armor, Jerome brought yours with him, so after the Lovegoods leave tomorrow, the commander will help you train with it. She is also proficient in close quarter combat with bladed weapons, so she can show you some techniques that not even the Witchers know. For sword play they are better than we are, but if combat becomes too close even for swords, we have the upper hand with these techniques. Also she will show you how to shoot with your offhand, as this ability is beneficial for your growth in combat. When you can shoot with your left hand, you still can hold your sword in your right hand and switch between ranged and close quarter combat quickly to catch your opponent off guard. Do you understand?" John stood before Harry, who stood in the relaxed soldier position with his hands behind his back and nodded. Turning towards Palmer, John told her that he would trust her with his training, but he wanted daily reports on his achievements.
"Don't worry Master Chief, I will tell Roland to send you the reports through Cortana. Just do not get distracted by it from your mission." Palmer grinned, thinking that she had made another attempt to get John out of his usual behavior, but John just turned around and walked towards his room to prepare for his departure while making a mental note to speak with Triss about his absence in school if it would come to that. Harry had to suppress a laugh at the face Palmer had now, as she could not believe how collected John really was.
In his room, John was packing his bag with some clothes, when he heard a knock on his door and told the person to enter. Triss opened the door and closed it behind her again while locking it. John was just a bit taken back from this behavior, but he knew that he could just break out if she really wanted to hurt him.
Triss knew that John did not like when someone closed a door for his only way out, but she did not want someone storming in this room uninvited for the talk they would now have. "So, I guess you have to leave for a while? How long will you be gone?" Her voice was calm and collected, but John could hear that she was afraid that he would not return. John walked over to her and softly took her in his arms to reassure her that he had a reason to return in one piece. She smiled at this gesture, knowing how hard it was for John to show any kind of feelings because he did not learn how when he was a child. But they had made some progress in that regard at least.
In another place, Hermione was wrapping up her gifts for her friends while humming a song she had heard once when her father watched a movie with her. The movie had reminded her how Harry flew while playing Quidditch. When the pilot in this movie even flew like the plane was a part of his body and evaded all those missiles, she could clearly see Harry evading the bludger last autumn in this game against Slytherin just as skilled as this pilot was. When she thought of Harry, her face heated up once again as she saw his smile after an intense training led by his captain and she fumbled with the ribbon as her hand began to tremble. Luke, her AI could read her vitals thanks to the pendant she was wearing and looked through the other sensors if her parents were nearby. As it was during the day and her parents were working in their dental praxis and the curtains were drawn by the windows, he activated his projector and asked Hermione if everything was alright.
"Yes Luke, I'm alright. Well, if you would count having a crush on your best friend being alright. I mean, even if he would see me like I see him, would he even choose me? Daphne is much better looking than me, and Susan even has begun her puberty, if her chest is any indication of it. Me on the other hand." She looked down at her hands which were still a bit trembling a bit. "What can I offer to a boy who has almost everything? He is strong and brave, does what is necessary, which was proven when he became a Witcher to have an advantage over Voldemort. All I can do is read books and tell them what they need to know." Hermione let her head sink a bit, not noticing Luke shaking his head.
"As I am an artificial intelligence without any kind of understanding how your feelings work, except what hormone cocktail causes these feelings. But I can assure you that you have more to offer than just knowledge. I have read the report from Harry's first game and how you set the robes of a teacher on fire to stop the spell on his broom. Even if you had hit the wrong target, the result was still satisfactory as the broom stabilized afterwards. That is the proof that you have almost as much courage as Harry has, and with your knowledge from the books you can help him prepare for the fights he will find himself in. While you both were looking for more Information about the basilisk, he would have noticed that you can remember all that information a bit better than him and he will remember all those things if the snake comes out in the school again. To be honest, if he was not a Witcher, his chances of surviving this encounter are miniscule, only a miracle could make him come out alive. Like a phoenix flying down and healing him just before he dies." Luke was looking sternly at Hermione, hoping to help her self-esteem a bit with this fact.
Somewhere in a castle far up north, an old man was looking at his familiar as it seemed to have a coughing fit. "Fawkes, if you would just burn now the sickness would go away when you would rise out of your ashes." Fawkes looked at Dumbledore with apprehension, as Dumbledore could not know that someone had predicted a possible future without even knowing it.
Back in Kear Mohen, Harry showed Luna the obstacle courses they could run until dinner, when Commander Palmer stood next to it with a curious look on her face. It seemed that she wanted to see what he could do, so Harry asked Luna if she could wait a bit to show her how this course has to be run. Luna smiled at him and told him to show that woman what he could achieve in this course. When Harry started towards the first obstacle, he jumped over the higher bar with an ease like someone had trained almost his entire life, which in a sense was right. He did the rest of this course with similar ease, much to the surprise of the woman standing beside it, who had taken out a stopwatch from her pocket as soon as Harry began to run.
"Not a bad time Mr. Potter. Now how about you try a harder one while I look that the girl will not hurt herself trying this simple course." Palmer put the watch back in her pocket as Luna now stood at the start from the course while Harry walked over to the next one. They both did a good job, according to Ms. Palmer as she had introduced herself like that to Luna when she asked her name. It seemed that her seer ability did not tell her about from where Palmer came or Doctor Halsey had told her that Luna would have to *play dumb* in the presence of the Commander to make sure that she would not be abducted to be experimented on.
In Daphne's home, Sissi was looking over her sensors in her main projector to see if something was out of the ordinary, but except Daphne's faster heart rate while she discussed something with her sister Sissi could not find anything, so she activated the small microphone in the pendant Daphne was wearing to listen in the conversation.
"How many times must I repeat myself Astoria, Harry is not like he is depicted in the stories about him. And I am sure as soon as he finds a dependable lawyer, he will sue the authors of those books for all the money they owe him and also for the outrageous overselling of his ability." Daphne told her younger sister her thoughts like she did last time to this question from her sister, while she was wrapping her presents for Hermione, Tracey and Harry in green wrapping paper. Astoria was looking at her in awe, as her sister could talk about Harry like he was just the boy from next door, not the celebrity he was for the magical world.
"But sister, I heard many things from my friends that have siblings in the upper years. According to them, Harry Potter is one of the best students in your year, and even beat Draco Malfoy in their duel. So how can you just watch how he will fall in love with another girl and not claim him right now?" Astoria got a light hit on her head when Daphne gave her a small smack.
"Dear sister, I do not know why you think that you have to talk like an adult, but we are just a bit too young to think about those things. And sadly, I must admit that Harry is a bit dense for those kinds of things. If he would not be, he for sure would have noticed that Hermione has a crush on him." In the last sentence her tone became a bit sad, as she still was not over the bit that Harry did spend much more time with the bushy haired witch than with her. She was thinking of a solution, but Daphne soon realized that she would have to find something like a club for all the students. She would ask Professor Snape what he thought about it, but as a back up she would also write to Professor Dumbledore if he could assist her in this idea.
Astoria was looking at her sister thinking for herself once again and stood back up, going over to the bookshelf to look for something she could read, because when Daphne had an idea and was thinking about it, Daphne would need some time before she would notice that she was talking to herself again. Astoria hoped that her sister would finally get over this routine when she would come to school next year so they could spend their time together, as Astoria was sure that she would be sorted into the same house as her sister.
Both girls were soon pulled out of their separate activity when their mother called them down for dinner. Daphne placed the parcel on the others and walked over to her sister to take the book back from her and place it where it belongs. When both girls arrived down in the dining room, they saw that Mr. Tonks was also on the table and was served their dinner from a house elf. Next to Mr. Tonks sat his wife, Andromeda Tonks née Black as well their daughter who had just graduated Hogwarts and was now starting her Auror training, Nymphadora Tonks.
While Andromeda was collected and calm like someone would expect from a Black, her daughter was the complete opposite. While her mother had black hair that did flow open down her back smoothly, Nymphadora hair was pink and spikey, and she was grinning with something like youthful vigor. Of course, she was just 18 years old and this was absolutely a viable behavior for someone as young as she is, but that did show that her parents loved her just like she was and raised her with an open mind.
"Ms. and Mrs. Tonks, how nice of you both to accompany Mr. Tonks to this dinner, especially as Christmas is just around the corner." Daphne greeted the other family with a small curtsy, causing Nymphadora to laugh and Theodore to say that she did not have to do that.
"We have known each other for such a long time after all. It is like you are part of our family too, even if some pureblood supremacist would most likely throw me out of the house just because I am muggleborn. I mean, Andromeda's mother has disowned her just because she had run away and married me. And when Nymphadora was born we did not even get a congratulation card from her." As Theodore told them this little story, he was poked on his side by his daughter, telling them that she just wanted to be called Tonks.
"I mean really, can you imagine how the others react when they hear my name? They all laugh their asses off!" Nymphadora, who wants to be called Tonks in the future, huffed and folded her arms over her chest.
Daphne was observing the older girl, well knowing that she was a metamorphus and could change her appearance however she wanted. That was also the reason why she did so well in the Auror squad specialized in covert operations, or at least that was what Tonks was telling them. Daphne smiled at her and sat next to her on the table, asking if Tonks could tell her some new stories.
"Ah, I don't want to talk about work while on break, please forgive me. But do tell me, is it true that you are friends with Harry Potter? I can remember before his family went into hiding how cute he looked. We had visited them with Sirius a few times, and Harry even could already fly on a toy broom which Sirius had gifted him. Is his hair still just as unruly as his father's?" Tonks leaned into this conversation with Daphne, as she answered the question from Tonks and told her how Harry did in school and how he befriended at least one year mate in every house.
"And would you believe it, when he beat Malfoy in an official duel, he did it with no effort. And even when a snake was flying towards him, he stayed collected and spoke to the little snake. Somehow, it looked cute when it was so docile wrapped around his arm. I really wish now that I could understand snakes. According to the Patil twins, it is not considered a dark ability where their parents' come from when you can talk with them." Daphne looked at her parents, hoping that they were not shocked that Harry could speak parseltongue. She was surprised when her father turned to Theodore with a curious look and smiled.
"It seems that Harry Potter has more secrets than any of us. But that will be something for another time, as when you mentioned Sirius Black young Tonks," Tonks grinned at the older man for respecting her wishes, "I wanted to ask Theodore if he had found anything regarding his trial or lack thereof." David waited for the other man to answer, but they both were interrupted when Andromeda almost lept from her chair and looked furious.
"Are you telling me that my cousin did not have a trial when he was arrested, but my deranged sister and her cronies did? No Theodore, I will now go to the Ministry and show them what a Black can do. I always had suspected that Sirius did nothing of what he was accused of, and I am sure that it would have come to light when he would've gotten that trial!" It took all the strength of her husband and her daughter to get her to stay in the room and not storm off to do something she could be regretting later. Theodore told her and the others in this room that he was still looking into this miscarriage of justice, but until now he had to get over some hurdles along the way.
"At least Amelia Bones is helping me, as she also found it strange that he would betray his best friend to You-Know-Who. If we finally find enough evidence that Sirius is innocent, I will make sure that he can leave Azkaban for good, and even fight for compensation from the Ministry. Now Daphne, Astoria, what I told you must stay a secret, please keep it that way. When you want, your father could either remove this memory from you or place it under a spell so you would only remember it after the trial. Whatever you choose, I want to make sure that you know it is your choice." Theodore looked between the Greengrass family, receiving nods from the two girls. They chose that their father should remove that memory, so there would not be any risk of them revealing any information to someone. But before David could do that, Daphne wanted to know why they were told in the first place.
"Daphne, you are the heir to House Greengrass, and as such I wanted to show you and your sister that I trust you to make your own decisions, even if you are still underage. And do not misunderstand me, the memory that we talked about someone who is in prison without a trial will still be with you, you just cannot remember who it was. After I remove this information, we can go to eat dinner." David was smiling at his daughters, who both nodded now in understanding as he pointed the wand towards them and used the spell to modify their memory. Just a short time later, they were sitting on the table with plates full of food before them.
When the sun was about to go down, Yen asked the children if they wanted to watch a movie before going to bed. Luna, who never saw a movie and wondered how that would look to watch one, sat next to Harry on the sofa in front of a television that was placed in a corner from the main hall and was one Yen and Geralt had bought from a muggle shop to keep it a secret that they had something from the UNSC down in a closed of part in the basement.
"How about *Aladdin*? I am sure you would like it Luna, you will see how muggle see magic in their fairytales and it is interesting how they try to explain all these wonders." Yen placed the disc in the player underneath the television and pressed play. It did not take long until Luna leaned forward with glee about how easy the rascal called Aladdin jumped between the rooftops to escape the guards who were chasing him because his monkey had taken some bread without Aladdin being able to pay for it. She found Jafar a bit creepy and asked Harry if the muggles really did think that all the magical people were evil. Harry then pointed out that the Genie also used magic to fulfill his master's wishes, so the muggle knew that if magic existed, which it did but they the muggle did not know that, it was to the one who uses this gift to make it good or evil.
When the movie ended, Luna was happy that it ended on a happy note and asked if they could see another movie, but her father reminded her that they would leave early tomorrow, but he will see if he could also install something similar in their home. He even asked Yen where they had found this apparatus, as he would not know what it was called. Yen answered all the questions, as thanks to the rune work they had found for it to function even in a magic rich environment without shorting out it should also work in the home of the Lovegoods.
The next day in Kear Mohen, Harry woke up a bit earlier than usual, as he wanted to make his morning training before the Lovegoods would leave the castle to go on their small excursion. When he looked over to his window, he saw that Hedwig was already sitting on the sill of the window and looked at him angrily, as he had closed the window during the cold of winter. Harry apologized to his owl, but he was sure that she did not fly into the glass as Hedwig was a very smart owl. She then stretched her leg out towards him, letting Harry know that she had a letter in her talons. He also noticed that the ribbons who would hold it to the leg of an owl were torn apart.
"Hedwig, how often should I tell you that as long as the owl delivers letters that are not dangerous you can let them pass. But I am curious about who this letter is from, so thank you for the delivery, you can go down to the kitchen as I am sure that some bacon will be prepared for you." Harry scratched her head affectionately and turned around afterwards, hearing Hedwig hoot softly and flying away again. When he looked down at the letter, he searched the sender on it and soon found that it was from Susan Bones. Opening it up he read it:
Good morning Harry and happy Christmas.
I am not sure what I could send you as thanks, but I just got an owl with the report card for last term. Thanks to you and Hermione I improved immensely in all my subjects and when my aunt found out the most obvious reason for it, she practically ordered me to thank you for it. Do not worry, a similar letter is on its way to Hermione too, I just hope that her parents do not freak out when an owl suddenly appears in the living room. Sadly, I do not know what I could give you as a gift, so I hope you are not disappointed that there is no parcel with the owl.
In the hopes to see you again soon in Hogwarts, I once again wish you a happy Christmas.
Susan
Harry folded the letter back to its original form and put it into a drawer he had for them. He was about to call Hedwig back to send a reply to Susan, when he saw that there was already some parchment and a quill on his desk. Wondering how it got there, he looked around in his room and soon found Cindy sneaking under a stone next to the small heating unit that kept his room nicely warm.
"She must have noticed what you wanted and prepared accordingly Harry. For a small snake, she really is intelligent." Harry could hear Callie through his neural implant in the back of his neck and hurried over to his bedside table to get his glasses. Placing them on he saw his AI smiling at him with some fake snow falling behind her avatar.
While he walked back to the desk to write his reply to Susan, he asked Callie if she also celebrated Christmas like they did. "Well, we do not get gifts like you do, but even we see how happy you all are when receiving them and so we try to copy this. But so far, only me and Cortana are in a festive spirit. Luke, Sissi, Sandy and Nami could not contact us for a while, as they have no clearance to use the satellite that the UNSC had placed in orbit, but I am sure that this will soon be solved." Callie looked over the letter that Harry was writing and told him that it was a nice reply. She then checked her sensory archives for any indication that Susan could like Harry just like Hermione and Daphne did, of course she did not tell her partner about her findings. Callie really needed to talk with Sissi and Luke about this, as according to wizarding law Harry could take multiple wives as his status as heir of multiple houses would require him to make sure every house had at least one heir. And that this can not be achieved with just one wife was still a mystery to the AI, but she would not question it if Harry would be happy with this arrangement. And she had noticed that his hormones did react when Hermione or Daphne were close by, just not enough that he would notice it for himself.
Callie still needed to prepare a speech when Harry inevitably would ask her or another adult woman in his life why he was feeling so funny when Hermione was smiling or Daphne was looking at him with her blue eyes. Callie would ask Cortana if she would help her with that when they were transported to the Infinity.