Harry still stood still in the main hall, looking between Yen and Geralt with a big question mark in his head. Callie laughed in his mind, as it should be obvious that Yen was in her sixth month of pregnancy.

"Harry, please do not tell me that you have forgotten where babies come from." Callie laughed even louder when she could read Harry's mind, as he was thinking that he knew where they came from, but still did not really know how they were made.

Catherine was coming up the stairs that led to her laboratory with a tablet in her hand which she was reading something as she came into the hall. "Yen, please refrain from storming out of the lab while I examine you, for the safety of your child. Luckily, we were almost finished, and it seems that it is healthily growing inside you. As for your question on how it would develop with Geralt's mutation and your sorceress abilities, we need to wait until I can take a blood sample after the baby is born, so we can see what kind of genes were passed down onto her."

Looking up from her tablet, Catherine noticed that Harry was standing next to Keira Metz, mouth still wide open. Looking over to Yen, Catherine sighted and turned back around. "Nope, I am not explaining to Harry how babies are made, you can do that yourselves."

Inside Harry's head Callie couldn't help but snicker at the retreating scientist. She made a note to save this for Cortana and the other AIs.

The next day in Hogwarts, Dumbledore was speaking with Lupin and Triss, while John stood by their side, about what would happen during this winter break. With a smile, Dumbledore turned towards Triss. "Thank you Triss, for allowing Lupin to undergo the ritual to become a Lycan. I know it is a rare opportunity and I am sure that Lupin is nervous enough to not speak. And I am sorry that you and John cannot accompany him back home, but we need some extra security here this time, with the Dementors roaming around the boundaries and all." Dumbledore explained for Lupin's benefit, as the others knew the real reason for them to stay behind in Hogwarts.

Dumbledore then turned towards Lupin, still with his twinkling eye and a smile on his lips. "Lupin, I hope for you that this ritual will be a success and that your suffering will end with it. You were too long a werewolf, you deserve this. Please, enjoy this break and when this ritual is a success, enjoy your new freedom. Triss, if you would please open the portal?"

Lupin was standing nervously out in the grounds, so the portal could be opened outside the wards. They still did not know how a portal would react to being opened inside the wards of the school, so they kept it safe for now.

Lupin saw the golden circle open in the air, showing a deep black whirlpool of magic inside the circle. Looking at it with curiosity, he examined the magic used for the portal. Triss stood at the side of the portal, looking at Lupin. "Well, it is not as convenient as apparating, but it would beat that transportation magic for those who use it for the first time. I still remember how nauseating it was to learn how to apparate. Also, with a portal like this, you do not need to go to the destination yourself, which also is convenient if you still need to do something at the place you have opened the portal."

Lupin turned around to say his thanks to Triss and Dumbledore, before he walked through the portal and noticed the sudden change in scenery, before he heard the portal closing behind him. Looking around the courtyard of the old castle, he marveled at the view he saw over the walls. He could only imagine how it would look in the summer months and how good Harry had it in his childhood, growing up without all the influences that modern Britain had. Waiting to be greeted, he soon heard footsteps coming towards him.

Geralt looked at the man that appeared through a portal in the courtyard. To Geralt, it was obvious that this man was afraid of the wolf inside him, and that he had tried everything to not be a danger to society. But Geralt also saw how Lupin cared for others, as he could see how the werewolf was looking at every entrance and exit to escape in case the ritual failed somehow.

After Geralt had made his assessments, he walked over to the wizard and greeted him. To make sure that Geralt would be prepared for everything, he had also equipped his swords just in case. "Welcome to Kear Morhen Mr. Lupin, my name is Geralt of Rivia. I hope the transit through the portal did not make you uncomfortable. Now, if you please follow me, I will show you where your room will be and I also will introduce you to my wife and her friend, who will oversee the ritual." Without waiting for an answer, Geralt turned around and walked towards the entrance to the main hall.

Lupin grabbed his suitcase when Geralt began to walk away and quickly followed the Witcher. While he followed Geralt, he looked over the grounds he could see and noticed the different obstacle courses and the training dummies with so many cuts on them that could only mean that they were still used regularly. Wanting to ask the Witcher on how many werewolves he had fought, a sudden realization hit Lupin. "If you do not mind me asking, are you the Witcher who killed Greyback?"

Geralt stopped and looked back at Lupin over his shoulder, his eyes almost burning into the werewolf. "Yes, I killed the werewolf called Greyback, as I was contracted. Why, what did he mean to you?" Now, Geralt almost grabbed a sword on his back, making himself ready to fight. Something that was not lost on Lupin, who lifted his hands to show that he meant no harm.

Taking in a deep breath, Lupin could not suppress a smile. "I just wanted to thank you for killing him. Greyback was the one who turned me into a werewolf when I was a child, only because my father angered him by refusing something he wanted. But thanks to you, no other children ever endure what I was put through and for that, I am thankful. If you allow me this question, I heard from Triss that Harry grew up here. Can you tell me how that came to be?" Lupin looked at Geralt with a curious look.

Geralt was just at the entrance for the main hall, when he turned completely to look at Lupin. "Yes, Harry lives here with us. We also trained him in swordsmanship and magic before he began to study at Hogwarts after he had shown interest in those things at the age of seven. And before you ask if he is a Witcher, Triss had sent me a letter explaining that you had the suspicion that Harry was one because he smelled like one. Just for your information, it was also Harry's decision to go through the ritual to be a Witcher, as he sees the possibility that Voldemort will return sooner rather than later and wants to be prepared. Please come in." Geralt gestured for Lupin to cross the threshold.

Lupin was surprised at the honesty Geralt showed him, but when the door to the main door opened, something smelled off. Walking past Geralt, Lupin took in a deep breath and soon knew what smelled funny. "Do you have a pregnant woman in this castle? Is that safe here for her and the unborn child?" Lupin turned towards Geralt with a worried look on his face.

Geralt smiled, being just a bit surprised at how much Lupin had embraced the wolf inside him already without even knowing what he had prepared for by doing that. "Yes, both are safe in this castle. Or do you think I would risk the health of my wife and unborn child?"

Lupin's expression caused Geralt to laugh, as it looked just like Harry did the day before.

In another part of the castle, Harry was training with the wooden swords against Ciri, who blocked him gracefully with a side swipe. Harry grunted and used the momentum to turn around and swing the sword in an arc, but Ciri blocked it again by holding her sword to her side to catch Harry's swing. "Not bad Harry, you surely got better since last time, but Geralt trained me for longer than you have. So, I know some tricks that you do not."

Ciri began to swing her sword in an offensive way, so Harry had to parry the swings with his sword or else he would be hit. This was going back and forth for a while until Ciri suddenly vanished from his sight and Harry used his Quen shield, when he felt the impact from the sword hitting it behind him. Ciri smiled, complementing his reaction time, and trusting his instinct. "Nice Harry, keep it up." Pressing her advantage, Ciri soon could disarm Harry with a swing, but Harry had a surprise for her.

Holding his hand towards the sword, he used the summoning charm that he had read in the library once and pulled the sword back into his hands with the use of wandless magic. Catching Ciri off guard, he spun around and finally placed the blades on her throat. "Looks like I won once for a change." Harry laughed when he heard Lambert's clapping, who was standing next to their training circle.

Walking closer to the two others, Lambert crossed his arms over his chest as he looked for the words to comment on the progress Harry had made since the last time he had seen the boy. "I must say Harry, it seems that your training with John and Geralt shows some results, and with your instinct to use your magic that you learned in that school only proves that a Witcher never finished learning. Ciri, you were too complacent that Harry, until now, was never good enough to be dangerous to you, but I hope for the next round you will take it more seriously. Now we take a break and then continue later."

At this moment, Harry heard his name being called from the window from the main hall and apologized to the other two when he began to walk over. Ciri was standing next to Lambert and smiled. "Would you believe me that I did not hold back after he had used Quen? I thought if he was good enough to use that ability when I just vanished from sight, I could ramp it up. But having him beating me after I thought that I had won is really satisfying in a strange way. Do you agree with me on that?"

Lambert looked over to Ciri and laughed out loud. "Yes, I saw that. It was refreshing to see this, to be honest. But it seems that the only ones who can beat him now are Geralt and John. At least if we count the humans, I am sure that the Arbiter can beat Harry very easily. All we can do now is become better ourselves and hope to be a challenge to him in the future." Lambert shrugged.

Harry entered the main hall and walked over to Geralt, who sat with Lupin at the table. Greeting his professor, he sat next to Geralt and wondered why he was called here. Lupin smiled at Harry, but Harry saw that it was a sad smile.

Lupin then explained why he had called Harry here. "Harry, I need to tell you something. As you may have suspected, I was in the same year as your parents were. Even more, I was a close friend of your father and was distraught when I heard that he was killed by Voldemort." Lupin paused expecting the usual reaction to hearing the Dark Lord's name but Harry didn't even flinch. Not sure to be surprised or not Lupin carried on.

"After I had mourned the loss, I asked the headmaster if you had survived, but all he told me was that you were safe. Seeing you after all those years on the Hogwarts Express, I was happy seeing you so strong and surrounded by your friends. It reminded me of the time back then when James and Sirius came into my life together with Peter, and I promised myself on the train that I will protect you from now on." Lupin smiled ruefully and shook his head. "But seeing this castle and how strong you really are made me realize that you do not need my protection, but my guidance to become even stronger. So, if you will have me, after the ritual, I would like to teach you more dueling techniques so if the need arises you are prepared even better." Lupin knew he did not need to explain the ritual he was about to undertake as he had a good feeling Harry already knew.

Harry grinned, thinking about all the spells he could learn from father's friend, so he accepted. "Thank you Professor, but I hope you will not be disappointed when I do not have much time after the ritual, as my training regime with the obstacle courses and Ciri takes much time from my schedule. But if the weather does not allow it to be outside, we can study the spells you want to teach me before returning to Hogwarts. I still do not know if me casting a spell here would be registered in the Ministry, and I do not want to risk my expulsion from the school."

At this moment, Dobby popped in with a small snack for Harry and a larger plate placed for Geralt. "This is for Miss Yen, Master Harry. And Dobby heard Master Harry's question, Dobby be thinking Master Harry can cast all the spells Master Harry wants here, as the trace would have a hard time tracking Master Harry with so much magic around. Wizard detection is not accurate enough to see who casts it either way, so normally in magical families the children can cast spells inside their home without the Ministry knowing it, as they would think that it was one of the parents."

Harry facepalmed, causing the other two men to snicker. "Man, now I remember how McGonagall had told this to Hermione the first time I met her in Diagon Alley. In that case Professor Lupin, I will be in your care if we have the time."

When Harry grabbed his snacks, Yen sat down at the table and eyed her plate with hungry eyes. Geralt lowered his voice so only those with enhanced hearing could hear him. "I really hope for you Harry, that your wife will not have such crazy cravings when she becomes pregnant."

Lupin had to bite his lip to keep from laughing at the expression on Harry's face. Having seen how Lily was when she was pregnant with Harry he couldn't deny Geralt's offhand comment.

The next day, Lupin was standing in the main hall, with Keira looking in a book at what would be needed for the Lycan ritual to be successful. "Well, first off, we need something like a sacrifice for the wolf inside you, so I would suggest you go hunt a small animal in the forest. It must be killed with your bare hands, so no magic or the wolf will not be satisfied. After that, we need to burn certain herbs in a circle around you and you must meditate and speak with the wolf; coming to an agreement for the future. Your mind needs to be strong, otherwise the wolf will take over your body and the ritual will fail. If that happens, Geralt will be forced to kill you. So, are you sure you want to go through with that Mr. Lupin?" Keira looked up from the book, already beginning to draw the circle on the ground where Lupin would need to meditate.

Lupin nodded, assuring her that he was aware what the risk of this ritual was. "I did read up about this ritual back in the headmaster's private library after I had asked him if he knew this method. And to be honest, after all those years of being afraid of myself and searching for so many ways to hold the wolf back when the full moon rises, I am not afraid to die if this ritual fails. It would only mean that there is one less danger in the world. I will look for a rabbit; I sometimes remember when I was a werewolf. The next day my breath smelled like raw rabbit meat, so it has to be the favorite prey for the wolf; except for humans of course. But I prepared everytime the full moon was upon me and I retreated deep into a forest, where the wolf was never tempted to hunt a human. Please prepare for the ritual, I will be back shortly." Lupin left the main hall, leaving Geralt and Keira alone in front of the fireplace.

Keira looked at Geralt with a serious expression. "I must say, Triss really is a good judge of character. Every other werewolf we had met was never this strong in character like Mr. Lupin is. I can see that he accepted early after he was bitten that his life would never be the same, and with this mindset he already came to an agreement with the wolf inside him. The only thing that is now needed, for both to talk things out as soon as he comes back with the rabbit."

Geralt nodded, his swords on his back. Looking into the flames, he thought back on all those years since Harry had come into their lives. "Be honest with me Keira, did you ever think that we would ever come to a point where we try to help a werewolf to become even stronger than us, when Harry, John and Halsey were not with us? Do you think we have become soft?"

Keira laughed, causing Geralt to look back at her. "Honestly Geralt, you give the saying 'The hardest person to know, is yourself the meaning it deserves. I still remember how you found me on that island after lifting the curse on the tower and how I deceived and manipulated you to do that. And I also remember how you talked me into going to Kear Morhen instead of my original destination. You had forgiven me back then for everything I had done, and now you think that you have become soft? I think Yen being pregnant made you think about your choice to still work as a Witcher?"

Geralt looked at his friend, a smile creeping on his lips. Somehow, he needed to hear just that to be sure that the way he had chosen was the correct one. "We will fight with Harry in the upcoming war; you know that right Keira? There is no way around this. If you and Lambert want to go away, I would understand. And if you go, could you please take Yen with you? I do not want to-."

Keira cut him off with an angry glare towards the white wolf. "If you even think that we will abandon you or the others, you need to have your head checked. We fought alongside you against the wild hunt, even if I could have been far away from it. The baby and Yen will be safe, even if Voldemort comes with full force, I promise you Geralt. And do not forget our friends down in the valley, who they have to get past first."

After that small speech from his friend, Geralt looked back into the fire, wondering if the UNSC ever encountered a giant.

In Malfoy Manor, Mr. Smith was watching Lucius pacing up and down the office. Something was bothering the blonde man, so much was obvious. But he waited for the man to speak about it himself, or else it would look like he did not respect Malfoy, even if it was true. The longer he had to work with this man, the more he wanted to put a bullet into Malfoy's head. 'No, a bullet would be too quick for this…wonder if I can borrow a plasma sword and cut him to pieces.' Smith was not normally this cold hearted but Malfoy really does not deserve a quick death.

Lucius was thinking about how he should phrase his problems so Mr. Smith could help him without thinking that he was desperate. At least it was not a money problem per se, as he had enough money put aside that he could live multiple lives with the same lifestyle he had right now. No, his concern was the future of the family name. "Thank you for coming, Mr. Smith. As you may know, my son would have inherited the lordship of the house Black, but I was told that he is no longer the heir apparent. Now, I have searched far and wide for the true heir, but as you may have guessed already, I was not successful. Even with my contact inside Gringotts only telling me that the paperwork was handled by only one goblin, who had handled the finances for the Black family for generations. Now I know that this would be asked of you, but I know that you have the skill to find out what I want to know. Can I count on you?"

Mr. Smith sighed internally, but his face did not betray his reluctance to give Malfoy this information. But he was still not ready to reveal to Malfoy that the Black heir was Harry Potter. "I will ask my friends if they can find Mr. Malfoy. So, I will take my leave now." Mr. Smith stood up and walked out the office. Outside the door, Narcissa was waiting for him to bring him to the exit of the house so he could leave this place.

While they were walking away from the office, she handed him an envelope with information about what Lucius was planning. Glancing inside it after turning around a corner of the corridor, he thanked her with a smile. "Thank you, Mrs. Malfoy. With this information, we are a step closer to getting every Death Eater that had escaped Azkaban after Voldemort vanished. I do know how great the risk is for you to work for us, but as soon as we have your husband and his friends in custody, I will ensure your safety personally. I hope to see you again soon." They had arrived at the front door of the manor, with Mr. Smith bowing towards Narcissa before he walked towards the gate of the property.

Narcissa was smiling, happy that she could help bring her "husband" behind bars in any way she could. After hearing what had expired since she was by all means enslaved by Lucius, she had to bring up all her willpower to not set Lucius on fire. With the help of Mr. Smith, Narcissa had reached out to her sister Andromeda, asking her if her husband could investigate the marriage contract between her and Lucius. If there was even the slightest possibility of him doing something against her will, she would see that the contract will be voided as soon Lucius would be dealt with by the men that worked with Mr. Smith. She knew that this would be a death sentence, but she couldn't care less about that fact. "I do hope so too, Mr. Smith. Until next time."

Back in the forest outside Kear Morhen, Lupin was looking at the tracks of a rabbit hopping through the forest. Thanks to his keen senses, he soon had located the rabbit that would do nicely in the ritual. Thinking about it, he had some small doubts if it really would work, but as soon those thoughts came, he squashed them down again. There was no turning back now, and he will see it through to the end. And if the ritual worked, the first thing he would do is go to Severus and apologize for all the things his friends had done while Lupin just stood beside them. And when he found Sirius, he would not hesitate to fight him with his new strength, except what he guessed was true.

Frowning in thought something puzzled Lupin, thinking back he once saw Ron with his pet rat walking through the corridors, and something felt odd about that rat. It was like he had seen it before, but that was years ago. And no common rat would live that long. Maybe, with the new abilities, he could smell what was going on with that rat. If he just had the Marauder's Map, he would be certain by now. But reproducing that piece of magic would need all three off the original creators, and as two were dead and one on the run, there was no possibility to create a new one.

Lupin heard a twig snap and looked up, seeing the rabbit looking at him. And just behind the rabbit, was a young wolf, maybe not even two years old by this point. But what was strange about this situation; the young wolf did not try to pounce on the rabbit, but stared directly into Lupin's eyes, as if he wanted to test the wizard before him. Lupin knew what to do, and jumped towards the rabbit, pinning it to the ground and snapping its neck. Nowhere was it written that the sacrifice needed to be alive when the ritual happened.

A few hours later, Lupin entered the grounds of Kear Morhen with the rabbit dead in his hand, seeing that Geralt and Keira were waiting for him. Geralt nodded, while Keira grinned. She looked over the rabbit and then looked Lupin in the eyes. "Well, that is a nice sacrifice. Now let's see if the wolf in you is also satisfied by it. We will hold the ritual inside the dungeon, just in case something goes wrong. The doors are strong enough to hold you back. Please follow me."

Keira led the way to a small room, where she had prepared the runes for the ritual while Lupin was out hunting. Lupin really hoped that it would work out in the end.

A/N: Hello and welcome back to another chapter in this story.

This chapter is also shorter than the last one, but we think that it is good the way it is. Now lets see who can spot the Quote from a game in this chapter.

Small hint, it is from a Final Fantasy game

Also, once again, HowInMadeHowie helped me adding some more details and corrected some mistakes i made or did not describe it well enough.

Now, i hope you all had fun reading this chapter. Until next time