Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. Only the original characters and plot are the property of this author. This author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media or franchise that is depicted within this story. No copyright infringement is intended, as there will be no profit made from this story by its author. The only places that this author has personally posted this story are on Archive of Our Own, and on Fanfiction*net; anywhere else that this story appears, is a duplicate created by parties unknown and without the express permission of the author of this story.
※ Harry and the Beast ※
※ Ch. 01: Harry's Snorkack ※
A young man with short brown hair and vibrant green eyes that were hidden behind round wire framed glasses released a groan of frustration as he exited Gringotts Wizarding Bank for the third time in as many days. It had been a little over a year since Harry Potter stood his ground against the Dark Lord Voldemort and came out the victor in a multi-generational civil war.
In spite of that fact, the Goblins of Gringotts despised him and wanted to claim as much of his financial holdings in reparations for damages he and two of his closest friends caused to their warrens. Unfortunately, those damages wouldn't have occurred if the Goblins actually bothered to do an inventory on the vaults of convicted Death Eaters, which has led to his regular diplomatic meetings with the leaders of the Goblin Nation and an allegedly neutral representative from the Ministry for Magic.
Harry found his attention being drawn away from his introspection by the sound of glass being shattered into millions of pieces and the simultaneous shrieks of terror coming from people located all along the secluded street known only as Diagon Alley. Looking up, he found his eyes falling on one of the most impossible sights he had ever seen, as the air above the alley was shattering like glass, which allowed a human-shaped figure to fall through whatever that was and collide with the ground.
Harry quickly realized that this figure was both unconscious and completely starkers, which caused him to rush forward with his 'saving people' mentality fully engaged. It completely escaped his notice that he was rushing to the aid of an incredibly attractive woman, since all he cared about was preventing them from being trampled by panicking witches and wizards.
Fortunately, most of the people in the alley were trying to avoid the falling shards of glass, and thus gave him a free route of access to his most recent damsel in distress. As such, he only needed five seconds to reach her, and pull the girl into a Princess Carry, which allowed him to realize that she was in fact a damsel… and that she had a pair of sheep-like horns.
"Potter?" a feminine voice spoke up from behind Harry, cluing him into the fact that people were now beginning to get over their shock. Unfortunately, he didn't want to wait and see how people reacted to his new acquaintance since pure-bloods were still getting used to the fact that Muggles were their equal. As such, he immediately twisted on his heel, bringing the both of them into a swirl of Disapparition, and disappearing from the Alley.
From where she was standing, Unspeakable Queenie couldn't help but groan in annoyance. "Of course, that is completely within his character. Damn noble Gryffindor." With that said, she quickly followed him into Disapparition.
※※※※※※
Harry gasped in shock as the young woman he was carrying punched him in the face almost as soon as they arrived at Twelve Grimmauld Place, proving to him that she was far stronger than she appeared to be and that Apparition was more than capable of shocking an unconscious, whatever she was, into lucidity. Fortunately, Lady Luck was almost always on his side, and the woman's balance was off, meaning that her punch was nowhere near as damaging as it could have been.
"Whu a'a xuia?! Waus, ghhu an?" The woman demanded as soon as she gathered her barings. Only the second question, if that was what it was, was spoken in a very confused tone of voice.
Harry frowned as that was a very odd sounding language, even to him, which is saying something since he was fluent in Parseltongue. Gently lowering the woman to the ground, Harry said, "I don't understand you."
"Eh?" the girl muttered in surprise. "I… er… um… I think… is this the right um… language?"
"Yes. In case you aren't aware, we are speaking English." Harry had no idea why he offered that information, other than for the fact that it sounded like this woman had no idea what language even was.
"E-english?" the girl parotted while pointing at Harry's mouth, and then pointed at her own and said, "Babel."
"Babel, as in the Tower of Babel?" Harry questioned, to which the naked woman shrugged. Harry found his mouth suddenly going very dry as the woman's shrug had caused her marvelous breasts to heave in a way that made it very difficult for him to look at her without a blush appearing on his face. "Let's see if we can't find you some clothes."
"Clothes?" the girl questioned in a way that made it seem as though she had never heard of such a concept.
Harry sighed and said, "Fig leaves?"
"Oh," the girl murmured in sudden understanding as she glanced down at her body and realized she was in fact completely naked. Brushing a blue lock of hair out of her eyes, the girl said, "Okay."
"Winky!" Harry cried out, causing a small creature to appear at his side.
"Master be calling for Winky?" the small female creature inquired.
"Please take Miss…" Harry paused and then looked over at his guest while saying, "Actually, do you have a name, or should I come up with one that we can use until I manage to convince the Goblins to create a paper trail for you?"
The blunette tilted her head to the side, opened it to say something, then closed it as her eyes clenched shut while sticking her tongue out of her mouth in an expression of intense thought that Harry couldn't help but to find incredibly cute. "Tri-a?"
"Right then," Harry murmured before turning to his House Elf and saying, "Please take Miss Tria to look for some clothes while I place a Floo Call to the Tonks residence."
"Of course, Master Harry." the small creature said, while both the elf and it's master ignored Tria's annoyed expression at the diminutive she had just been given.
Harry couldn't stop himself from watching the sway of Tria's hips as she followed Winky out of the room, groaning at what he knew to be a relationship ending series of thoughts. Though to be fair to Tria, his relationship with Ginevra Weasley wasn't at all what he had been hoping for when they first began dating. The woman wanted a life where she was the center of attention for as many people as possible, while Harry wanted to merely fade into the background now that his war was over.
What made things even more awkward, was the fact that Harry was the Head of the House of Black, and thus required to interact with the Malfoy family on a regular basis, which meant that he really couldn't marry Ginny since the Weasley family was engaged in a longstanding feud with the Malfoys. With those thoughts in mind, Harry began walking down to the kitchen, which is where the Floo Aperture was located, only to stop when he got to the ground floor landing and heard Narcissa Malfoy's voice coming from the kitchen.
"Miss Greengrass, I just want you to know that this is a really, really bad idea."
"Are you telling me this because of the inactive but very lethal defensive enchantments, or because of who it is I came here to yell at?" a voice Harry instantly recognized as belonging to one of, if not the, most attractive girls in his year at Hogwarts. Hers was a cold and haughty voice that when combined with her signature spell gave Daphne Greengrass the epithet known to all of her yearmates, The Ice Queen of Slytherin.
"Dammit, Narcissa, what's the point of naming you my secret keeper if you are going to give the secret to someone who wants to hex my bits off?" Harry complained as he announced his presence to the two women and entered the kitchen.
"I didn't need the secret to see past your Fidelius, Potter." Daphne Greengrass admitted from only two feet in front of the door he had just walked through.
Her proximity to him, caused Harry to stop and say, "I've already had one embarrassing encounter with a beautiful young woman today, let's not make it a twofer."
"About that," Daphne said while pulling back a little bit. "Why in Merlin's name did you abscond with the detritus from that dimensional rift?"
"Narcissa, why did you allow this bigot into my home?" Harry inquired as he eyed the blonde girl in front of him with a look of contempt.
"Um, excuse me?" Tria's voice spoke up from behind Harry as she descended the stairs that led into the kitchens. "Does this suit me… er, Master?"
Narcissa smirked at the blushing young man as he turned to look at the girl who was actually wearing one of her old dresses, and said, "Harry, dear, why did she refer to you in such a way?"
"I might have forgotten to introduce myself," Harry admitted. "Which means her only knowledge of my identity comes from Winky, my new House Elf."
"Am I correct in thinking that this young woman is who Miss Greengrass was referring to as detritus?" Narcissa queried in an incredibly amused tone of voice as she watched Daphne's scowl intensify.
"In my defense," Daphne spoke up. "I didn't actually see what, or rather who, had fallen out of the dimensional rift."
"Yes, Tria, it is wonderful," Harry informed the confused young woman. "And just so you know, my name is Harry, not Master."
The dress would have looked out of place in the muggle world, but only because it was designed with the fashions of the 1980's in mind rather than the first decade in the 21st century. In magical society however, the dress was still the height of fashion, even if it was a second-hand outfit. It was a yellow sundress with a floral pattern along the hem that made it very clear just how attractive Tria was, which was probably all thanks to Winky resizing it to fit her body.
Harry offered an arm to Tria, who looked at it confusedly for a second before grabbing hold and allowing Harry to guide her over to one of the chairs around the kitchen table, motioning for the other two women to find a seat as well. "Greengrass, I don't think we've ever properly been introduced, but I want you to know that insulting my friends, or those who I have placed under my protection, is not something I will allow any longer."
"I wasn't trying to insult Miss Tria, I didn't even know she was humanoid, much less capable of holding a conversation." Daphne admitted. "But perhaps I should explain why what you did annoyed me. I am an Unspeakable…"
Harry blinked in mild surprise, "Are you even allowed to tell us that?"
"In this room, I have the last living member of the House of Peverell, who may or may not also be the Master of Death, my little sister's future mother-in-law and a visitor from another dimension. Yes, I think I'm allowed to share such information with you." Daphne admitted.
"You know about those… things, do you?" Harry queried, in an annoyed tone of voice.
"I know that the Elder Wand is safely ensconced within Headmaster Dumbledore's Tomb, and that the Resurrection Stone was last seen on Dumbledore's finger shortly before his untimely demise. As for the Cloak, no one has any idea where that is or who it is loyal to, save for the fact that your paternal family does like to gift it's heirs with Invisibility Cloaks prior to their debut at Hogwarts."
Tria's attention kept bouncing back and forth between Harry and Daphne, before eventually focusing her attention on the wall located behind Daphne. Tria's focus startled Daphne, as she glanced over her shoulder and asked, "Okay, what is she looking at?"
"Tria, what has caught your interest?"
"Um…" Tria murmured before refocusing her attention on Harry and saying, "I don't know the correct, um… translation. Babel only works if I know an equivalent term in my language."
"Babel?" Daphne queried in a confused tone of voice.
"As near as I can tell, it is some sort of universal translator or something like that. Although, I'll be very surprised if it lets her read modern languages. Her actual language might as well be Gibberish for all that it seemed like a real language."
"Given the term 'Babel', it's safe to assume that she's speaking in Ancient Sumerian, or whatever Sumerian itself is actually descended from." Narcissa admitted, causing Daphne to look at her in confusion. "Sumerian is a language isolate, meaning that we don't know where it came from. It's written form, known as Cuneiform, is also the oldest written language in the entire world."
This had both Harry and Daphne looking at Narcissa oddly, so she said, "I wanted to be a Curse Breaker before my marriage to Lucius shattered those dreams. In any case, if Tria is trying to come up with a Sumerian name for Death, there are a couple we could choose from, the most notable of those being Ereshkigal and Nergal."
"Ereš!" Tria exclaimed while clapping her hands in agreement.
Narcissa's face drained of all color as soon as she heard which deity they were dealing with, causing Harry to ask, "How bad is it?"
"Ereshkigal is simultaneously the first and last deity I would have expected to be responsible for the Tale of Three Brothers." Narcissa admitted. "And judging by Tria's behavior, it's likely that she's in the room with us, or at least she was a moment ago."
"Okay, so if there is some actual legitimacy to this whole Master of Death title, how about you show yourself Lady Ereshkigal, and talk to us like a normal person?" Harry inquired in a curious tone of voice.
"Mostly because I'm still not sure whether it is safe for me to be in the same room as whatever Tria is, and you, Potter." the voice of a very worried sounding female deity admitted.
"Okay, I'll bite, what is it about me that is worrying you?" Harry asked the female deity.
"Oh that's easy, you hold one of the Thirteen Longinus. Trinkets created by my elder brother for the express purpose of killing other deities." Ereshkigal admitted. "Oh, and I can't claim credit for the so-called Hallows of Death, those are Manannan Mac Lir's toys."
"Okay, then why are you, a foreign goddess of death, in my home right now?" Harry inquired.
"Probably for the same reason that the Goblins are currently entertaining a very peculiar Devil, and the same reason that my nephew is trying and failing to bypass your Fidelius using his Father's Divine Eye in the Sky. But don't worry about that, I'm keeping his attention off of you, for now." the invisible deity admitted.
"Okay, this is infinitely worse than abducting a dimensional traveler, Potter." Daphne admitted. "You have devils and…"
"Angels," the deity offered.
"Right, and angels, who are after the girl." Daphne complained. "I'm gonna have to…"
Suddenly the air within Twelve Grimmauld Place came alive, as long dormant defensive enchantments began activating one after the other, all at Harry's behest. "Lady Ereshkigal, if you would be so kind as to show yourself, I won't have to classify you as a threat to my guests."
"I'm right here," admitted a beautiful, but very short woman with long golden hair, as opposed to Daphne's platinum locks, and red eyes that could have been carved from ruby's. Her outfit was extremely ostentatious, being some sort of unitard with lots of frilly accessories and a long overcloak thrown on top.
"Thank you," Harry said with a nod of appreciation. "Now, I want to know exactly why Heaven and Hell are so interested in my new friend."
Ereshkigal frowned as she said, "I'm fairly sure the Devil could care less about Miss Tria. Her interest is in you, Harry. As for Heaven, I think their leader has already noticed the startling similarities between your friend and the entity which ultimately got my brother killed."
Harry blinked and then turned to look at Tria, and then back at Ereshkigal and asked, "Did you just blame Tria for the Biblical God's death? And while you're answering that, are you truly saying that God is dead?"
"No, I do not blame Tria for my brother's demise. As for whether the imbecile is actually dead or not, I suppose it depends on whether you actually know how to kill a Thought-Form." On seeing the blank looks everyone was giving her at that statement, Ereshkigal clarified her statement, "A nonphysical entity or object that is created by the thoughts of actual physical entities, and which exists solely on the Mental or Astral Plane. In other words, as long as people continue to believe in, and adhere to, my brother's teachings, then he will continue to exist in a manner of speaking."
Harry nodded his understanding, "Now then, what was that you were saying about me possessing a power which can kill a god?"
"Ah yes, your Longinus is particularly frightening for deities who govern fate," Ereshkigal admitted.
"Which includes just about every Death Deity in existence," Daphne admitted in an overly helpful manner.
Ereshkigal nodded her head and said, "While that is true, it doesn't actually matter right now, since I'm not actually a Death Deity."
"Okay, explain that to me," Narcissa interrupted. "Isn't your relationship with Nergal simply an earlier version of the myths relating to Hades and Persephone, just with the gender roles reversed?"
"While that is basically true, it doesn't really change my statement since not even Hades is a Death Deity." Ereshkigal admitted. "With that said, Nergal, may maggots forever feast upon his remains, actually was a Death Deity."
Harry snickered at the confused expression which appeared on both Daphne and Narcissa's faces. "She's talking about the differences between the rulers of the land in which the dead reside and the deities responsible for ensuring the dead reach the afterlife."
"Tria, what does my name mean in English?" Ereshkigal asked while looking at the quiet but attentive bluenette.
"Oh, um…" Tria murmured. "I think it comes out to 'Queen of the Great Below.'"
Harry's eyes suddenly widened as he stood up and began walking up the stairs to the ground floor, causing the women behind him to glance back and forth, before Ereshkigal sighed and stood up so as to follow him. This caused Narcissa to say, "Tria, please stay with us."
"But…" Tria started to protest, while watching as Daphne flicked her wrist and released a long pointed object into her hand, with Narcissa doing the same.
※ Chapter Completed ※
Author's Note: This story was being written as a response to a challenge which was issued by Phantomace13. The challenge gave me the option of having Harry rescuing a fully mature woman, whom I have chosen to call Tria, that he would ultimately end up marrying; or one where Tria manifested as a little girl that Harry would quickly adopt and raise as his own daughter.
For those of you who want to know what our characters look like, well… Ereshkigal looks like a blonde and red-eyed Rin Tohsaka from Nasuverse (obviously), Tria looks like Ganyu from Genshin Impact, and Daphne's appearance is based on an image I saw of a blonde woman in a bikini created by the Pixiv Artist known as Lebring.