I'm gladdened as to the response to this story. Hopefully, it'll become a full story, but I can't make any promises or guarantees.

JAEGEREI

CHAPTER 2:

NO DOUBT THE YEARS HAVE CHANGED ME

The older man, who looked more like a priest than a scholar, sat back in his chair, considering what he was told. Harry watched on concerned. They had only arrived in Byrgenwerth only a couple of days ago, and their road there was long and convoluted. First, they had run away from Castle Cainhurst to seek out the famed Hunter, Gehrman, hoping to become one of his apprentices. For now, he had rejected them, if only because he was currently busy training other apprentices, but he gently directed them to Byrgenwerth, as he was generally based there, bringing scholars the beasts he slew on his travels…as well as criminals who had bounties put on them. Once he had finished one lot of apprentices, he'd take them on later.

They had been accepted, albeit not without suspicion. Maria's origins in Cainhurst counted against her, unfortunately, as it had a bad reputation. And Harry having no background to speak of counted against him.

However, Byrgenwerth, theoretically, was an inclusive seat of learning. Men and women could learn there, and indeed, Caryll the Runesmith was easily one of its most famous members in recent years. Scholarships would be given to those of little means but large intellect, to a degree.

In the end, it was partly Maria's claims that Harry came from another world, albeit passed on discreetly to this man, Provost Willem, that got them to agree to keeping them here. Outlandish though the claims were, it provoked just enough interest in Harry, even if only as a fascinating madman.

Eventually, Willem spoke. "I am sure you realise how…outlandish your claims are, Mr Potter. To speak so readily of coming from another world, one where magic is hidden rather than lost. That you have magic is undeniable, given the abilities you just demonstrated. It is the part about coming from another world that vexes me. However, given the tests I have assigned to the pair of you, I have decided to admit both of you into Byrgenwerth. I will deal with the political issues with Cainhurst."

"I doubt that Queen Annalise will send pursuers," Maria said. "She would view this as amusing. However, many in my surviving immediate family will not be so forgiving. They already looked upon me with scorn for detesting the blood arts of our line, and focusing on pure physical ability."

"Yes, Gehrman's letter stated that you are a prodigy for a girl your age, and your tests show that your mind is as keen as your blade. As for not following your family in their obsession with blood arts…well, we have an adage here, based on an old Pthumerian poem that was translated shortly before this establishment was founded." He cleared his throat, and began to recite.

"We are Born of The Blood,

Made Men by The Blood,

Undone by The Blood.

Our Eyes are yet to Open.

Fear the Old Blood."

The verse sent a shiver down Harry's spine. He was beginning to wonder if coming here was a mistake. And yet, there was nothing but genuine warmth in Willem's face when he said, "Lady Maria Cain, Mr Harry Potter…I welcome you, as students of Byrgenwerth…"

Harry kept comparing Willem and Dumbledore, ever since meeting the former. The two held not-dissimilar ways, with both eccentrics who delighted in acting like fools, but with highly incisive wits. Both had a tendency to believe that they knew best, to the exclusion of everyone else. Both were mentor figures who tried to guide their charges.

And yet, in the end, Harry realised that Dumbledore was far better than Willem. Even with the whole Dursley issue, not to mention Dumbledore frequently hiding secrets, Harry believed the old man to be Willem's moral superior by far. Dumbledore, to his knowledge, had never ordered the genocide of an entire village of people just to satisfy personal curiosity and ambition. Indeed, when he relayed this incident to Dumbledore, the old man looked utterly horrified.

The two of them had taken turns to relay, albeit in summarised form, what had happened in the ten years Harry had lived in Maria's world. This included Maria's background as a renegade Vileblood of Cainhurst. Even in abridged form, it took some time to tell.

By the end of it, Dumbledore looked thoroughly shaken. He took some time to gather himself, before he said, with considerable understatement, "It seems you have been on quite an adventure, Harry, one that makes even your past four years at Hogwarts look tame by comparison. In only 20 days, a decade has passed for you."

"You believe my story, Professor?"

"As much as it beggars belief, Fawkes homed in on your magical signature, your soul, as you might call it. I doubt he would be fooled by Polyjuice Potion or something similar. Thanks to Professor Flitwick's contacts at Gringotts, I have obtained a heritage test that can confirm your identity beyond reasonable doubt…to our allies, of course." Dumbledore went over to a cupboard, and pulled out a bowl, as well as a potion bottle, the latter of which he poured into the former, along with a parchment and quill. "I must warn you, though, it requires at least a small amount of your blood."

Harry shook his head, taking a throwing dagger out from his cloak. "Wait," Dumbledore said. "Allow me to clean that. I'd rather you not get any diseases from that." He then cast Scourgify, amongst other things. As Harry carefully pricked his finger with the dagger, Dumbledore winced. "What you must have gone through, to do so with ease."

"Even before Hogwarts, I was used to pain," Harry said bitterly as he dripped some blood into the bowl, thinking back to the Dursleys' treatment of him, and judging by Dumbledore's wince, he felt some shame and self-reproach at that. "My time in that world only helped in that regard at least."

The quill sprang into life, and began scrawling over the scroll. Eventually, Dumbledore nodded. "Well, I already believed it to be the case, but it seems you are back, Mr Potter. Thank Merlin for small mercies. But I fear you have come back at a bad time for everyone."

Maria frowned. "How so? You say Harry has been absent from your world for but a few weeks, so unless this warlock Voldemort has launched a major offensive, I am not sure how it would be considered a bad time."

"In a manner, Lady Maria, he has launched an offensive, albeit by proxy, and in the arena of politics," Dumbledore said reproachfully. "An area, I am sure, that you are familiar with given your nobility."

"Familiar enough to know it should be avoided like the Ashen Blood plague," Maria said with a grimace. "I believe that Yharnam itself is what you could call a constitutional monarchy, much like your Britain, though Cainhurst and its associated region is an absolute monarchy. I am no stranger to politics in the realm of government, and, as you will have noticed from our tale, in academia too."

"Yes, the clashes between Provost Willem and Laurence," Dumbledore said. "Fudge, doubtlessly spurred by monies put into his pocket by Death Eaters, has launched a smear campaign against me. You are missing, presumed dead, along with Cedric Diggory, and there are dark rumours that there is more to it than that, not helped by what happened to both Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour. Both are fine, in case you're wondering. I told you that it was Barty Crouch Junior masquerading as Alastor Moody who tampered with the Portkey in the first place, but thankfully, he harmed nobody else, though given what happened to both you and Mr Diggory, it is only a small mercy."

Harry gritted his teeth at the thought. "The sad thing is, he was a far better DADA teacher than Quirrel or Lockhart. If he hadn't been Voldemort's lackey, he could have gone far."

"I know. Talent and intelligence can be too often wasted in unworthy pursuits. I speak from personal experience," Dumbledore said solemnly. "Still…I suppose the question is, what is to be done with the pair of you? I doubt I could keep you away from the fight against Voldemort, Harry, and if what you have told me is true, you are now a seasoned warrior, much like Lady Maria here. But returning to your education here may be counterproductive, at least as a student, to say nothing of explaining your return. If you don't mind, I would like to spend a couple of days considering the matter. It would give you time to catch up."

"And where would we stay?" Harry asked. "Hogwarts?"

"No. But nor would you stay with the Dursleys. Explaining away the changes to your appearance will be rather difficult with them, I daresay, and in truth…well, I will explain more later. No, I believe that a solution recently presented itself. Sirius has kindly offered the use of his family's ancestral home to act as a headquarters for us. It is currently under the Fidelius, with myself as Secret Keeper. Your friends have recently moved in there, the Weasleys, along with Miss Granger. Your survival, regardless of the circumstances, will be good news we badly need, even if it can't be made publicly known."

"Well, it would be hard to explain how I became an adult overnight," Harry remarked sardonically. "No doubt they will chalk it down to dark magic. I mean, they thought I was the Heir of Slytherin a couple of years ago."

"Sadly, that may very well be true," Dumbledore said solemnly.

"And you have no idea where Voldemort could be?" Maria asked. "To take him out, and thus remove the head of the snake?"

Dumbledore looked at her sharply. "Even if I did know where he is, I would not attempt to assault him. He is doubtlessly lying low at one of his follower's homes, which are usually well-protected by magical means, and who are connected enough that any attempt on a raid would end badly for the attackers, even if they survived. And make no mistake, Voldemort is an extremely powerful wizard. I will not say he is beyond you, as you have faced many things that would dwarf him…but you have not faced a wizard as powerful as he is. A single careless move could end in your demise, Lady Maria. Voldemort may be insane and evil, but he is far from stupid. He will not reveal himself until the time is right."

"And yet every hour that you tarry is an advantage to him."

"I know, Lady Maria, believe me, I know. But do not think I have been idle. I have many demands on my time, and until tonight, that included finding a way of bringing Harry back from where he was. That you were brought back with him is…I hesitate to say a bonus, because that feels disrespectful to your relationship, to say nothing of your skills and ability. But to tear you two apart…I would imagine Harry would not be in a good mood if I had done so, to say the least. And as you were both fugitives from this Byrgenwerth place, I doubt you would have been safe for long, depending on their influence, to say nothing of Gehrman's tenacity. We'll discuss what is to be done about Voldemort another time, but I should tell you something, Maria: he is not easy to kill. If he had the capacity to stay dead, then he would have done on that fateful Halloween nearly fourteen years ago. At best, killing his current form can only buy time."

"A warlock is a monster like any other," Maria said coldly. "Even a Great One can bleed and die, as we discovered. Only our prior contact with Mother Kos and our lack of involvement in the massacre of the Fishing Hamlet she held sway over spared us any of the curse she called down upon our fellow Hunters. If a so-called deity and its offspring can die, then so could a supposedly immortal warlock. The only question is one of method. Fire, electricity, acid, poison, the mystic arts, or blades. I have Chikage and Rakuyo, and Harry has Reason and Van Helsing."

"…Excuse me?"

Harry chuckled. "Our weapons," Harry said. "Chikage and Rakuyo are Cainhurst blades, albeit forged by a blacksmith from that world's equivalent of Japan. Van Helsing is a variant of a Burial Blade, a hybrid of scythe and sword, but more suited to my style, while Reason is a hybrid of cane blade and whip."

"The name started as a bad joke," Maria said. "Harry once jokingly threatened to attack him with the whip during a debate, and Laurence said he'd listen to reason. He then named the whip that very thing, and, well, the name stuck(1)." Her expression turned melancholy. "I thought I had known Laurence better than that, let alone Willem, or Gehrman, or Ludwig, or Micolash. And yet…for the sake of knowledge and forcing evolution on humanity, they committed the most heinous of crimes. Rom brought her fate upon herself, but the others…what was their excuse? They sneer at the depravities of Cainhurst, and yet, they did things that were as bad if not worse, explaining it as being part of a search for knowledge. A pretty dress for an ugly truth(2)."

Silence fell upon the three present in Dumbledore's office, heavy and thick. It was the older man who broke it. "Well, I believe we should take a break there, at least for now. It has been a long night for us all. We'll take the Floo from my office…once I have let you into the secret under the Fidelius…"

CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:

So, Dumbledore, Harry and Maria have explained their respective situations.

Now, while Dumbledore's actions in canon are questionable, I do like to vary my portrayals between a flawed, but decent man who has made a LOT of bad decisions, and the bashable Dumbledore. It depends on the demands of the story. I felt a flawed but decent Dumbledore suited the story here. He will oppose Harry and Maria at many points due to their more ruthless methods, but he's not evil, just moralistic and a little controlling.

1. This joke was derived from Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, though the weapon named 'Reason' is a gatling gun that fires depleted uranium rounds in that story.

2. While this phrase might have been used elsewhere, I first heard it in the Game of Thrones special features, Histories and Lore. On Season 3's Blu-Ray, one in particular has Varys and Littlefinger discussing Robert's Rebellion. When discussing why Robert was chosen to lead the rebellion, Varys claims that Robert's Targaryen ancestry gave him a claim to the Iron Throne, to which Petyr Baelish snidely replies, "A pretty dress for an ugly truth: it was war, and he could swing a hammer harder than the other options."