Harry called for Dobby to get the three girls' trunks to their respective rooms, before he stepped out of the way and let them into the old castle.
Daphne blinked as her trunk disappeared, she turned towards Harry and asked. "Since when do you have a house elf Harry? The last time we were here you did not have one."
Harry smiled sheepishly as he realized he would have to explain about Dobby to his guests. "Ah, that was Dobby, I managed to free him from the Malfoys, where he was mistreated. It seems that Dobby likes it here." Harry called Dobby back, so he could introduce himself better to the girls.
Amelia was rather amused when she heard Harry had freed Dobby from the Malfoys. She heard the story of Lucius visiting Hogwarts the previous spring and presumed that's where Harry acquired Dobby from Lucius. Looking at Harry with a smirk she dryly commented. "In other words, you tricked Lucius Malfoy into freeing his own elf. I never would have expected something so Slytherin of a Gryffidnor."
Harry smiled politely, thinking to himself. 'Well, I am the future Lord Slytherin, I do have to try live up to the title sometimes.'
Susan was in awe how big the castle was while they walked through it, as it almost rivaled the biggest wing in Hogwarts in size, and the school houses many more individuals than this castle does. As they walked through the courtyard, Amelia noticed the obstacle course that looked well used. To not be a bad guest, she would ask later if she could look at it closer.
John and Triss were both walking further back in the group, proud of Harry being a good host to the witches. Even if John knew that Madam Bones would not attack any of them, he caught himself watching for the signs that the adult witch would try to hurt them. He had to remind himself that ONI itself established contact with her as she had the ONI pin on her robe, so he should just relax a bit more.
When they arrived at the entrance for the main hall, Susan and Amelia both stood there with open mouths at the grandeur of the hall. Amelia commented absently as she looked around the large room analyzing the defensive potential of the room. "Wow, even Hogwarts' Great Hall is not as big as this one is. I guess that a part of the castle is built into the mountain behind it. The protection it provides must be great." Harry looked at Amelia with a smile, telling her that it was also nice and cool during the summer thanks to the mountain.
Soon, they were sitting for lunch in the main hall and complemented Dobby's and Yen's cooking, as the house elf had used many recipes the sorceress had learned in the years where they had raised Harry. Amelia thanked for the invite from Yen and enjoyed the meal, a small grin on her lips at the wondrous look the girls had when they noticed the giant skull over the fireplace.
As the girls knew that Harry fought the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, they wanted to know how he killed such a beast and how big it was. This answer was then provided by Amelia, because she was present when the goblins rendered the carcass earlier this year. "As it was almost 20 meters long, it is safe to assume that according to the goblins it had a weight of around a ton. Seeing the skull of the basilisk here in a castle where Witchers live, my assumption that Harry or his friends had something to do with it, was correct. Now Mr. Wulf, can you now tell me who it was that killed that monster?"
John grinned and just pointed to Harry. Amelia had just taken a sip from her goblet full of water and had to cough the water back out because she swallowed it in the wrong pipe. After she caught her breath again, she asked the big man opposite her if he was joking. Seeing John shaking his head in the negative, Amelia turned to Harry "Please forgive me Harry, but it is just a bit unbelievable that a young boy like you can fight this monster, even if you have grown up between all these strong people and trained since childhood. Wait…No…Harry, you are a Witcher?!" Amelia looked at Harry in open mouth shock.
"Well, that took a while, your niece was way faster asking me what was wrong with me when she saw me shortly after I had fought the basilisk, and she had noticed that I had broken a few ribs during the fight. And I must say, it is nice to see that she kept the secret even from her aunt. Makes it much easier in the future if I need someone else to talk to in case Hermione and Daphne are not available." Harry took off his glasses and removed one contact lens from his eye to show Amelia his cat-like eye.
"Well, that is some information I must work through. Another question, and I hope you forgive me again Harry, but as far the magical community knows Witchers are infertile and cannot produce their own offspring. As this could be viewed as killing off a bloodline by some old families, we would need some evidence that your guardians found a way to counter this." Looking over Geralt and the others, Harry noticed that Yen was becoming just a bit red after he had placed the contact lens back on his eye.
"I hope you understand that this needs to be spoken about when the children are not near us, Madam Bones. How about Harry showing the girls the rest of the castle while we talk about this?" Yen was talking with a higher pitched voice than she normally did, but Harry only noticed this because he was a Witcher, or so he thought. But he just shrugged his shoulders and stood up from the table after he had finished his lunch.
"Come on Susan, Daphne, let's go to the room where Hermione would stay if there was a bed inside." Just as Harry had finished this joke, he was grabbed by the bushy haired girl and dragged towards the library with the other two girls giggling behind them.
Yen looked after the children leaving the main hall and then stood up, asking Amelia if she would like to come down with them to the laboratory where Doctor Halsey worked. Triss also stood up after Amelia and accompanied them down.
—-
In the laboratory, Yen stood to the side to introduce Doctor Halsey to Amelia. "Madam Bones, this is Doctor Catherine Halsey. She looks after our health, but mostly Harry's so he will grow up healthy. She came together with John, who knew her from an exercise his home country and America conducted and then they stayed in contact. After retiring from their respective active service they were traveling around until they landed in Bulgaria and met Geralt on one of his contracts. After that, they came to us and we soon learned who they work for. You should know them too, or so I heard." Yen glances at Amelia's pin subtly.
Amelia acknowledged the presence of Doctor Halsey and saw the small pin they both were wearing on their collar. "Hello Doctor Halsey, it is nice to make your acquaintance. Am I correct to assume that you are also a muggle? Do not worry, my guess is after I heard who you are working with that you also work together with Dumbledore and have his backing. But I would like to know how you and your associate gathered the information about us. But we can correspond later if you are willing, but now I would like to know something else." Turning back to Yen, Amelia waited for the explanation Yen did not want the children to hear.
Yen sighed and nodded, in understanding of Amelia's impatience. "Now, I want to explain first that Harry's ritual to become a Witcher was not the usual ritual, as we had used some dragon blood from a friend of ours. Because of this change, Harry is not infertile after the mutation according to the examination from Doctor Halsey. She then investigated how this could be replicated, and asked me and Geralt if we would be her test subject to reverse it on an adult body. Well, I see that you guessed what happened."
Amelia shook her head confused and interjected. "Wait, as a sorceress you should also be infertile, but thanks to Doctor Halsey over there, who works together with Mr. Wulf for the same organization that contacted me last year, that is a thing of the past? And how do you know that?" Amelia watched both sorceresses sitting before her, looking for every detail she could see.
Catherine, normally not one to stand silently on the sideline, was watching the witch with a mounting curiosity. It seemed that ONI did something good by contacting Amelia, as it was now obvious how intelligent the head of the DMLE really is. Clearing her throat to get Madam Bones attention Catherine smiled and offered her explanation. "Magic, Madam Bones, is a wonderous thing but science is equally amazing in its own right. I have been studying the human body for better part of my career and I can and have, found way to give Witchers and sorceresses the ability to have children."
Amelia was gob smackdd at the idea that muggles could do something that not even magic has been able to do, she turned to see Yen was smiling at Halsey with gratitude in her eyes.
Yen placed a hand on her stomach, smiling. "Well, I felt sick yesterday and had to throw up, so I asked Doctor Halsey to do some tests for my health. And then it was revealed that I had become pregnant thanks to the genetic modification Doctor Halsey had tested me, as Sorceresses were a bit more complicated then Witchers, which she already had cured the negative effect of infertility. As you can imagine, we had thought about Harry being a Witcher, and we did not pressure him to become one. It was all his own decision, but we wanted to make sure that he could have children if he wished for it. Doctor Halsey had found the solution for this problem a few years ago, but as I mentioned before, Sorceresses are a bit harder to cure, but now I and all those who wish to become parents can finally fulfill this wish."
Triss was also smiling, being happy for Yen and looked at Amelia. Seeing the witch nodding with a smile herself, Triss felt a heavy weight leaving her shoulders.
"After this question is answered, I would like to know if Mr. Wulf could show me your obstacle courses that you have in the courtyard. Could you tell me where he is?" Just as she turned towards Triss, as she had noticed how she walked beside him and concluded that those two were an item, the door opened and the man she wanted to see walked in.
After they had read some books that would help them with their homework, Susan wanted to know what they could do now. Harry saw the others look at him as he may have some plan in mind. Harry shrugged and listed his plans for the day. "Well, I thought that we could go over our homework with each other and correct them if we made a mistake. As I am sure that Hermione wrote a good essay about the Witch hunts in the middle ages. We can discuss what we wrote down. And afterwards, we can use the rest of the day and try to complete the essay for Snape. And when we are finished, we could watch a movie or go out and train on the obstacle course." Harry looked at the girls and waited until they had decided what they wanted to do.
Susan frowned at the ideas Harry offered. Granted she was not as studious as the others but she wanted to enjoy the outdoors more. "But Harry, we just arrived today and still have some time for our homework. Can we not wait until tomorrow to do them? I want to see more of the castle first, like the lake Hermione mentioned. And as the weather is nice, I would ask you if we could swim in it?" Susan tried to use her puppy eyes, as her aunt called it. Somehow it worked, as Harry tried hard to look serious about his idea to do the homework first. But after Daphne and even Hermione used the same technique, he did give in and told them to get their things so they could go for a swim.
As the girls were led to their rooms by Dobby, Harry was walking out of the library towards the main hall, where Geralt was according to Callie and her sensors. Harry soon found the old Witcher sitting by the fireplace and preparing some potions he would need for another contract he had to do soon. "Hey Geralt, do you know if the lake is okay to go swimming in? Seems the girls want to cool off in the cold water, but I don't know if it's safe to swim. Last time we went fishing in the lake on the boat you mentioned that it used to have some drowners in it."
Geralt frowned as he looked in the direction of the lake below the castle after Harry had asked if there was something dangerous by the lake. "Hmm, I think we have eradicated the drowners and the foglets down there, but I will go look until you come down. As for the animals, I am sure that the bear chased away the wolves from its territory, but it would be safe to watch out either way. We'll see each other later." Geralt grabbed his swords and walked out the hall towards the entrance. Geralt paused and turned and looked at Harry with a thoughtful look. "Oh and keep your blade with you, never hurts to be prepared." Harry nodded knwing what Geralt was referring to. Since Harry's sword had the ability to shift into different weapons it seemed more simplisitic to call Harry's weapon his Blade. .
Harry thanked Geralt and just wanted to go into his room, a small pop Dobby appeared next to him with a small bag. "Master Harry, Dobby has the swim wear from Master's here sir. And Master Harry's guests are still preparing themselves, so Master can wait here until they come back down."
"Thank you, Dobby. But please try to pace yourself with your work, you do a great job on the castle but you are doing the work of many by yourself. Prioritizing usable rooms leaves the unused for last, hat would be great. I just do not want you to overwork yourself just because you feel indebted to me. Do you understand what I mean?"
"Yes, Master Harry sir. In the future, Dobby leaves the small things to Master Harry and his foster family. Dobby has to go now, there is a room further down the chambers underground that needs some repairs before they could be used again." Dobby bowed and popped away, leaving Harry alone in the main hall, as the other adults were somewhere else in the castle. Harry sighed and shook his head, idly wondering if there was any point in asking or telling Dobby to slow down, Harry took the bag and walked to the bathroom to change into his swim trunks. After he had done that, he walked back to the entrance and waited for the others to come down.
He did not to wait long, as the girls soon came down the stairs from the guest rooms. Harry guessed from their attire that they had their swimsuits under their clothes too. They must have changed in the guestrooms before coming down. He also saw them smiling happily as he opened the big door to the courtyard so they could walk to the lake.
John and Amelia were looking at the obstacle courses, while John explained the different exercises they could do with them. Amelia nodded approvingly while she inspected a post where they would jump over. "I heard from my younger Aurors who were in Hogwarts during the last 10 years how beneficial these courses were in contrast to the training we have in our corps. I also have noticed how disciplined those young witches and wizards are, something they themselves credit to you Mr. Wulf. I wanted to thank you for it too, as those recruits do make my work much easier."
"You're welcome Madam Bones. I noticed when I arrived in this country that the magical community was lacking in endurance during a duel. Your best duelists do not stand still while throwing around spells, and in the end they were all tired from moving around. I asked the headmaster if it would be possible to teach physical exerise in Hogwarts, so the future generation would be better off in case they had to fight. I also instilled the discipline needed that they trained even after leaving school, was something I hoped to achieve." John remembered when he was in Hogwarts for the first time and that together with Dumbledore there was a heavily scarred man, with a strange blue eye looking at him. John had not seen that man for a long time, but he at least knew that Alastor Moody was one of the best Aurors the ministry had until he retired.
Harry and his friends were walking down the hill from Kear Morhen towards the lake in the valley, Harry was glad he took Geralt's suggestion to bring his blade as his hearing picked up the sound of trampling branches; although the bear sounded like it was miles away he did not want to worry the girls. But he soon saw that this was unnecessary, ahead of them was a bear sitting and watching them. Hermione, Daphne and Susan were at first afraid that it would attack them, but every time they stood still, the bear did waved as it sat on its behind and cocked its head at them as if the bear was asking "Why are you stopping?". Harry soon recognized this bear and explained the special relationship they had with it.
"John was often wrestling with a bear to train while I was younger, and after a while we found out that it was a female and that it brought her cubs with her. And while the mother still wrestled with John, I played with the cubs every time they were around. So they got used to us, but they are still wild animals and can sustain themselves without our help, in contrast to the zoos in the big cities. And now it seems that one of her cubs is now watching us." Harry waved back and walked further down the hill with the girls keeping up with him.
They soon arrived at the lake, which was gleeaming in the sun had some small waves on it that broke on the small shore that was next to the hut where the boats were stored. Looking around, Harry pointed along the lake to a better place with more sun on that spot and walked in front to make sure that the way was clear.
A short time later, Harry was swimming in the lake with a shore with more sunshine, something Daphne took advantage off as she laid down on a towel on the shore together with Hermione, who was using sun lotion on her arms, even if it was not as warm as it was in southern France around this time of the year. While Daphne was wearing a dark green one piece swimsuit, Hermione was a bit more daring as she had a two piece dark red tankini, something that did not clash with her brown hair.
Susan on her end was standing in a black one piece swimsuit in the water and was enjoying the view she wanted to burn to her memory. "It is really a nice place here. I must admit, I am a bit jealous of Harry to grow up in a landscape as pure as this one is. But at the same time, I do not think that it was really a good place for a child, as there was no one around his age. So for this, that Harry turned out as he has is a small miracle. Don't you agree, Daphne?" Susan turned around, seeing Daphne almost dozing off.
"Susan, if you want a hint that almost all the boys in Slytherin are arrogant snobs just because they got money or a big name behind them, please leave it. I want to enjoy the holiday as much as I can before we return to school. And thinking about this only sours my mood." Daphne was lying on her stomach and closed her eyes. She heard Harry swimming in the water, even now he was training.
"That does remind me Daphne, I noticed that you and Hermione were carrying something with you when we walked down here, care to explain what that small thing is? I doubt that it is just a simple small casket." Susan pointed to the small device next to Daphne, causing the blond-haired girl to open her eyes again.
"That is another secret that we must keep, just like we had to until Harry told you that he is a Witcher and that he fought the basilisk. But if he agrees, we can tell you what these things are as Daphne and I wanted to ask him if it would be acceptable for you to know. I mean, I see no hindrance to it, as you also had kept the secret about his mutation from your aunt. And I am sure that she would be very suspicious if there would even be a hint that she would have noticed back then." Hermione answered for her friend, receiving a thankful grunt as Daphne laid back down on her towel and enjoyed the sun. Just then, they heard the two devices beep and Sisi and Luke activated their projectors.
"Please forgive our sudden appearance, but we had to make sure that we had the clearance from way up the chain that we can show ourselves to Mrs. Bones. Callie and Cortana agreed gratefully, so here we are. Can we call you Susan?" Luke turned in his projector, looking at Susan with a questioning look.
Susan for her part had jumped back a bit and was looking at the small blue human figure that came out of the small thing that was next to Hermione. Susan blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Are you a ghost?"
"Ah no, we are no ghosts. Even if I have to admit, we look like we are, I will suggest this view to the others when they are here. It would be funny if we just come out like a pocket ghost." Sisi laughed when she noticed how Hermione was looking at her.
"You need to work on that sense of humor Sisi, so do not try it. Because ghosts are not blue, they are white transparent and do not flicker when someone pushes your projector around. But I am happy that we can include Susan in our small circle." She smiled at Susan, who calmed down a bit but was still watching the small figure with a wary eye.
Susan frowned as she looked between the two projections in confusion. "If you are not ghosts, then what are you two?"
Harry's calm voice almost started Susan as she momentarily forgot he was still nearby. "They are AI, artificial intelligences created by my Aunt Doctor Catherine Halsey. She will join us for dinner later." Harry was coming out of the lake, walking over to his towel, causing Hermione and Susan to blush when they looked at his lean body. Daphne was still laying on her stomach with her eyes closed, so she missed the spectacle. "And if you want to ask what they can do, they help us with studying sometimes, but tests are still something we have to do ourselves, as they turn off during those." Harry thought about that small white lie, so Susan would not think that they would cheat. Callie did not turn off during a test, she was just silent.
Susan did not miss what he said earlier and jumped onto what he just said. "Wait, you said to us? Does that mean you have one too, Harry?"
Just then, another beep was heard as Harry took the small projector out of his bag and placed it next to Sisi and Luke. Callie projected herself and bowed a bit in front of Susan.
"Hello Susan, nice to finally meet you personally. I am Harry's AI partner, my name is Callie. As you may have guessed, we need you to keep our existence a secret just like you kept it a secret that Harry is a Witcher." Callie stood on her projector and looked at the young witch before her.
Susan nodded in agreement and sat down to talk with the AIs and her friends about all the things she wanted to know. As the day moved on, they grabbed their things and walked back up to the castle to enjoy their dinner. Harry told the others that Susan knew about Callie and the others, so they were not surprised when Hermione and Daphne placed their matrixes on the table and let their AI talk with Susan and the others on the table. "What do we do this evening? Should we watch a movie?" Hermione looked around the table, just looking at Harry for a moment longer than the other.
"Movie? What is a movie?" Susan tilted her head to the side and had a questioning look in her eyes.
"Oh dear, you will like them. See them like a muggle explaining magic without believing that it exists." Yen smiled at Susan and was looking over a list they had with the names of the movies they wanted to watch. You could almost see the question mark over Susan's head.
After dinner, Harry led his friends to the room where they had the television with the small video player attached to it. Hermione was now looking over the list and stopped her finger on a specific movie. "If we want to show Susan how muggles view magic, this movie from Walt Disney is very good. I saw it with my parents in the cinema when it came out, as it was one of the only movies I could watch at the time that was appropriate for my age." She stood up and walked over to the shelf where the cassettes were and pulled it out.
"Sword in the Stone is an animated movie, so there will be no real people in it. But it is funny, so we have something to laugh about." Hermione placed the cassette in the player and sat herself on the sofa.
"Why is the sword in the stone? That does not make sense. Oh, do you mean this movie is about the legend of King Arthur? So there is also Merlin depicted?" Daphne sat next to Hermione on the sofa, grabbing the popcorn from the table in front of them which Dobby had brought there.
Susan on her end of the sofa was looking at the dark device in front of her and wondered how it all worked, as the movie began to play and she was sitting with an open mouth. "Oh Merlin, how do so many moving pictures fit into this box? And since when is there such a clear sound?" Susan leaned forward as the opening of the movie began and the children saw Merlin using magic for the first time.
Harry was sitting on a wingback chair and was laughing when there during the duel between Merlin and the witch, just as his friends were almost rolling on the floor when Merlin used his magic to turn himself into a bacteria and caused the witch to become sick after she had turned into a dragon. "Can you believe how that could be possible, and that a muggle came up with that idea? Oh, please tell me there is more." Susan grabbed some of the popcorn, thinking that she would need a drink soon. Just then, Dobby appeared and placed a water bottle and some glasses on the table. Thanking him, she took one and filled it with water while the movie was closing its story.
After the movie, Hermione explained the questions Susan had for her about the movie, as she had seen the movie with her parents. "So, this movie comes from a studio in America and now we can see it thanks to these cassettes? Somehow I am now sad that I did not take muggle studies this year."
"I do not believe that you would have learned much in that class, as it is so out of touch that it is laughable. The last time this class was updated, muggles invented electricity. And as you saw, muggles are even so far away that we can carry around another person with us in these devices and watch movies that are over an hour long. But let's not talk about school, I will study tomorrow enough to make our head hurt. Can we watch another movie?" Daphne was looking hopefully at Harry, who would disagree that their head would hurt tomorrow after they studied and finished their homework.
Looking at the clock, Harry saw that they still had some time to watch another movie and walked over to the shelf and looked over the selection. Taking out another Disney movie, he placed it in the same place he had taken out the other cassette before. "That is called Hocus Pocus and is newer than the other movie. It shows how muggle depict magic in a modern world, as the movie before played in the dark ages from Great Britain. After this movie, we should go to our rooms and sleep." The girls nodded happily and sat back down on the sofa while the movie began to play.
The next morning, Harry woke up to a soft hooting from his open bedroom window. Opening his eyes, he saw Hedwig was sitting on the windowsill of his room before she turned around to look over the grounds. The sun was just about to rise over the horizon, so it was more than bright enough for him to see there were some packages at the end of his bed. Dobby must have used his magic to untie the parcels from the owls which delivered them, so Harry could sleep in peace. Harry smiled as Callie wished him a happy birthday and he got out of bed to open his first present. Or at least he wanted to open it, but something was inside vibrating and making a snapping sound. Reading the card attached to it, he now knew that it was from Hagrid and that Harry could use it in the upcoming school year.
Harry looked at the shaking package warily and mused to Callie and Hedwig, who was watching the commotion from her perch. "Well, it looks like there is a book inside it. But just in case I will open it later. Now, what do you have inside?" Harry took the next gift, which was wrapped in a red wrapping paper and had a small bow on it.
Deciding to ask Dobby if he could bring those gifts to the main hall so he could open them after breakfast while his friends could see him, he picked up some training clothes and was going out to the courtyard. John would surely be out there and training.
Susan was turning in her bed in the morning, becoming aware of her surroundings. She smiled when she remembered the laughter they shared during the second movie, as it was a good joke how the muggles see older witches in this movie. She giggled again at the thought, while she got out of bed and got to the bathroom to clean her face and wondered if breakfast was already prepared. Just then, she heard a quiet grunt from her open window and decided to look out what it was. She looked down to the courtyard and saw the obstacle courses that she had noticed when they walked through the gate. She watched how Harry was running through them as fast as he could, but Susan saw that these courses were much more advanced than they had at Hogwarts, as there were some pendulums that Harry did not manage to evade in time.
Falling down from the course again, Harry grunted and tried to stand back up to catch his breath. John sighed and shook his head. "Enough Harry, I told you that this course is too much for you. Rest for a while before we go to eat breakfast."
John was standing next to the course, having watched Harry fail multiple times. "I hope this lesson will help you in the future, know your limitations and work inside them. Of course, we train to push through them and try new things, but in a serious situation that could mean that you will be killed. Understood?" John saw how Harry nodded in agreement, as the young wizard sat down and breathed deeply.
Harry sighed and frowned as he gazed at the course before him. "I just thought that if I use my magic this way and with the Witcher mutation, that I could make more progress if I pushed myself past my limitations. I even told Callie to be silent and not warn me when the pendulum came too close for comfort. I wanted to run this course before I return to Hogwarts, somehow I have a feeling that I need that training. Even if I plan to have a quiet year for a change." At this, both Harry and John were smiling at the small banter they had.
As Harry walked into the main hall, he saw how the girls were sitting at the table while Dobby brought the food with his magic to the table. Harry saw that all the food he could wish for was on the table and sat down next to his friends. When he heard all the birthday wishes from his friends, he mused about if he should just relax today and work on the homework tomorrow with the rest.
A/N: Aaand another chapter from my story uploaded. Thanks to HowInMadeHowie for his help with some timing issues that would have thrown the chapter out his hinges. A small hint for the next chapter though, as some may have thought that the chapter ended on a strange moment. I wanted Harry's birthday to be fully described, so it will come up in the next chapter togehter with the shopping trip for the schoolsuplies.
Poor Harry with three girls out shooping.
As always, i hope that you like the story and have fun reading it. Until next time.