*A lone bloody arm attached to a chuck of torso begins to tap out Morse code*
Welcome one and all to the next chapter of "Bad Moon Rising," in which we see a birthday party for our best boy and Atalanta's first meeting with The Order of the Phoenix before we see a meeting between gods.
On with the show.
Harry Potter
Harry hadn't been this relaxed and this comfortable in a long time; he was currently snuggled between Atalanta, who was behind him with her arms wrapped around him and her face buried in his hair, Lightly snoring away, and Hedwig, who was wrapped in Harry's arms snoozing lightly. He honestly had no idea what had awoken him from his peaceful dreamless slumber as he lay in the dark of his room; he had always been a light sleeper, and the slightest sound was enough to wake him up. But at that moment in time, Harry didn't care what it was; all he wanted to do was curl back up and go back to sleep for the next few hours. His body was still sore and stiff from the quest he had completed just yesterday, and after his reunion with his favorite sister(He had no shame in thinking those words) and a good round of "Name Ten Monsters." with Sirius as Atalanta held him down, both he and Theodore retired early from how exhausted they were with their respective family members.
It wasn't until Harry heard the quick light footsteps coming up the stairs did he know that going back to sleep wasn't going to happen, and only when his bedroom door was knocked on twice and thrown open did he know who it was.
"Harry!" The voice of Hermione rings out as clear as a bell as both siblings have the same reaction to the light in the hallway suddenly flooding the room.
"Oh, gods! Hermione, why!?"
"No! Not the light, turn it off!?"
"Hoot-Hoot! Bark!"
As both Atalanta and Harry bring their arms up to shield their faces in an overdramatic fashion, Hedwig barks at the bushy-head girl who had interrupted the sacred snuggle time.
"Oh! Atalanta! I didn't know you were here," Hermione says as she walks into the room and turns on the lights, causing both of the siblings to curse at her, "Honestly, you two, it's almost noon; how many more hours do you two plan to sleep?" she says before putting her hands on her hips.
"I will have you know that I am a part cat!" Atalanta snaps at Hermione as she is hiding beneath the covers, "I need at least eighteen hours of sleep and naps to function at peak efficiency, and seventeen of those hours must be accompanied by a snuggle buddy!" Atalanta yells from under the covers as Hedwig hoots in agreement as she flies over to Harry's desk to settle down.
"Come now, Atalanta, surely that is an ex-," Hermione begins to say just before Atalanta cuts her off once more.
"Peak! Efficiency!" The Lioness shouts as Harry begins to roll out of bed, "Wha-? No, Harry, come back! Snuggles!" She moans pitifully before blindly chasing after her silver and gold pajama-wearing snuggle buddy before promptly falling off the bed due to not being able to see anything because of the covers that she had hidden in.
"Owww,"
Harry snorts at Atalanta's antics before speaking, "Hermione is right, can't stay in bed all day," he says with a groan and a stretch, feeling the bones in his arms and back pop and putting on his glasses. Before Harry could say anything else, a new voice spoke up in a hoarse and raspy tone.
"Why is there such a racket in here?" Theodore asks as he walks into Harry's room in his own Brown and Green pajamas that he got somewhere; Harry was betting that Fúamnach had made them.
"Theodore!" Hermione says as she whips around in shock to see the mismatched eye boy standing there rubbing his eyes.
"Oh, hello, Granger," Theodore says politely, giving her a small but tired-looking smile, "I didn't know you were going to be here today," he says.
"Ron and his family are coming over too," Harry tells Theodore before walking over to his wardrobe and opening it as Atalanta untangles herself from the blanket, looking grumpy with her lion ears twitching as Theodore looks at them in confusion.
"She has cat ears," Theodore points out, sounding like he didn't believe himself as Hermione turns back around to look at Harry, who is digging through the wardrobe to find something to wear.
"What is Theodore doing here? And I thought the Hunters weren't allowed on the islands because of-" Hermione asks before turning to look at Theodore, who was still looking at Atalanta with a bamboozled expression on his face as she was stretching out like a cat in her gold lion paw print pajamas, "-You know who," Hermione stressed, thinking that Theodore wouldn't know who she was talking about.
"The Morrígan showed up a few days ago and offered to let a hunter back on the islands if I did a job for her, so I did the job," Harry says nonchalantly as Hermione's head whips back and forth between Harry and Theodore, her eyes wide with shock.
"Why does she have cat ears?" Theodore asks, turning to Harry while pointing at Atalanta as she stands up from the floor with a yawn.
"Technically speaking, their lion ears," Atalanta says with a smirk, her ears twitching back and forth.
"Oh, yes, I can see that now; my bad," Theodore says politely to Atalanta before turning to Harry and asking sharply, "Why does she have lion ears!?"
"Theodore, that's old news," Hermione tells him before turning back to Harry with a look that promises trouble if she doesn't get the answer she wants soon, "What job, Harry?" She asks rather sternly as Harry pulls out his clothes for the day.
"Old news to who?" Theodore asks, his face looking gobsmacked, "Because this is certainly new to Me that someone has lion ears growing out the top of their head!?" Theodore almost yells.
"Oh, is Atalanta here?" a new voice says, and everyone turns to see Ron coming into Harry's room, "Oh, what's up, Atalanta?" He says, raising his hand to wave at her while she just nods her head back before doing a double-take at Theodore, "What's Theodore doing here?" He asks, pointing at the said boy.
"Hey Ron, how ya been?" Atalanta asks before Hermione speaks up again.
"I'm trying to figure that out myself, along with whatever job that the Morrígan asked Harry to do," Hermione says and turns to send a playful glare at Harry, "Oh, also, Hello Ronald, it's good to see you again," she says quickly before sliding past Theodore(Who was still gawking at Atalanta's cat ears,) to hug Ron, one he returns.
"What job?" Ron asks, his face scrunching up in confusion.
"That's what I've been trying to figure out," Hermione says as she steps away from Ron to turn back to look at Harry.
"You know, I've been wanting to know the details about that myself," Atalanta says, crossing her arms and leaning against one of the bed posts to look at her little brother.
Harry sighs as he rubs his eyes under his glasses, "It wasn't that big of a deal, guys," Harry says, causing Theodore to turn and look at him in shock.
"Not a big deal?" The mismatched-eyed boy says in surprise, "We freed five of the Dé Danann; I almost died, and you killed two Fomorians after fighting a legion of ghostly Roman Soldiers and getting hurt," He says, looking at Harry as if he had just two extra heads.
"What?"
"Harry Potter!?"
"Roman Soldiers?"
Harry sighed before giving Theodore a look that could kill, causing Theodore to give him an uneasy smile before backing away from Harry slowly, "It wasn't that bad, guys, just normal demigod shite that I do; it's fine; I'm fine," he says with a bit of aggravation in his tone. But before anyone could launch into any more questions, another voice spoke up.
"Harry's a demigod, what?"
And everyone in the room turns to look at the door to see Ginny and the Twins standing just outside with confused looks on their faces, as though the twins were looking at Atalanta.
"Brother mine, does our resident Hunter of the fairer sex have cat ears coming out the top of her head?" one of the twins says to the other, leaning over to mock whisper it.
Theodore turns on them and points, "See! They're just as confused as I am!?" he says to Hermione.
Harry just groans.
Hedwig hoots in amusement.
Hours later
"Looks like the cat's out of the bag on that one," Atalanta said when both the twins and Ginny started to ask questions about the whole demigod thing, Harry had shushed them and told them he would explain later. Later was only an hour later when the teenagers in the house took over one of the studies on the third floor for Harry's birthday party; other than the Weasleys, who were still in school, Bill had shown up as well with Mister and Misses Weasley. Harry was quick to point out Bill to Theodore as the Ward Breaker he knew, the Heir to the House of Nott, and the oldest child of Weasley, struck up a conversation about the need for a Ward Master that Theodore has; they throw around words such as "Ward Books," "NDC," and, "Legal and contact office," as they spoke. Harry didn't pay much attention to their conversation, too busy helping himself to a lunch cooked by Mrs. Weasley and wondering why she was glaring at Atalanta and being a hair away from rude to her.
When the young teens, Atalanta and Fúamnach(Who was still going by Lupusregina), took over the sitting room on the third floor, Harry explained the whole Demigod thing to the twins and Ginny, who took it surprisingly well, all things considered. He didn't explain it all, just enough for them to understand and explain the oddities about him. Then he went on to tell them all about the job he had done for the Morrígan that he had done with Theodore, even showing off Gaé Buidhe and the standard of the ninth legion he had gotten out of the quest.
Hermione looked gobsmacked at the standard and had gone on a tangent about the historical value of it before Harry had shrug before he admitted he was thinking about chunking it into the ocean to be done with it because "Fuck the Roman Gods," which got a laugh out of Theodore and Fúamnach.
Then it was time for cake and presents, which was still an odd thing to Harry, and bewildered Theodore, for he didn't know it was Harry's birthday, telling Harry he would have a gift to make up for it by the time they returned to Hogwarts. Harry had waved him off, telling Theodore he didn't really care about gifts that much; it was good enough that he was here as a friend, which brought a smile to Theodore's face.
Hermione had gotten him a book of elemental battle magic(that Fúamnach eyed with hunger), and Ron got him an Appleby Arrows jersey with little shooting arrows streaking across it; the twins and Ginny both pitched in to get him a new set of quidditch pads. When Ron asked if Atalanta had brought a gift, she answered that she had brought the greatest gift of all, Herself, which got a laugh out of Harry before she admitted that she was in such a rush to leave camp that she didn't even think about getting a gift for Harry's birthday, which Harry said she was the best gift she could have brought him anyway and the two siblings shared a smile.
It was the sound of a cash register going off that made most of the room jump, except for Harry, Atalanta, Sirius, and Remus(Who had come up with Bill and his parents with the cake), who turned to see a white box with a silver ribbon sitting on the table. Harry jumped at it with a smile while Mrs. Weasley gave the box a hard glare; inside was a replacement for the cuirass and pauldron that were destroyed in his fight with Fluer in the second task and a refill on poison-tipped arrows(Draco poison this time) that he immediately placed in his quiver, along with a few gifts from Sophie, Brittany, Cecilia, Daphnis, and finally Zoë(Which was just a not calling him a brat like always), all which made Harry smile.
It was then that Mrs. Weasley produced Hogwarts letters for each of them, Theodore's coming with them somehow. Mrs. Weasley informed them all she would be taking care of the shopping this year for everyone due to security concerns before a sharp gasp escaped Hermione's lips, and she held up a shiny new prefect badge with a proud smile.
"Not much of a shock there, Moine," Ron said before opening up his letter and looking dumbfounded at the sight of his badge. While Mrs. Weasley cheered and hugged Ron, who was still in a state of shock, the twins had another reaction altogether.
"Oh, the shame!" one of them had cried out.
"How could he turn out like this, George!?" Fred asked his twin as he faked sobbing.
"I don't know, brother, mine; I thought we had raised him better," George says, patting his brother's back with a glum and disappointed look on his face as he shakes his head at Ron.
"Oh, shove off you two," Ron snaps at them, his ears turning red, "McGonagall obviously sent this to the wrong person; Harry should be perfect, not me," he says, voicing his own disbelief of it all before Harry snorts out a laugh.
"Fat chance of that, mate, or have you forgotten how many school rules I've broken over the last four years?" Harry asks with a smirk before taking a sip of his butterbeer.
That had killed any further disbelief from Ron before the conversation about what to get Ron for becoming a perfect; Ron had asked for a new broom so he could try out for the quidditch team this year. Mister and Mrs. Weasley had agreed before Sirius said he would match whatever the Weasleys were going to put up for the broom, and they could consider it an early Birthday and Christmas present for his godson's best friend before turning to Hermione and asking if she wanted anything, to which she asked if she could poke around the Black Archives to finding anything interesting. Theodore had commented about how that was an incredibly big thing to ask a Lord of a House; when Hermione had asked why, he explained.
"You basically asked Lord Black for all the secrets of magic his family had gathered throughout the millennials they've been around, asking for access to his family's secrets," Theodore told her with a straight face, but before Hermione could turn to apologize for the unknown slight, Sirius waved it off and told her he more than trusted her with that before extracting a promised to not go into the library alone or try to remove anything from the shelves without him or Remus checking it first; to which Hermione had agreed to and thanked him.
It was then that Harry opened up his letter. When he unfolded the parchment with his book list, he found a smaller purple envelope that he frowned at in confusion before setting it aside and reading the list of books(Already translated to ancient Greek) he would need; he skipped over most of it before looking at his grades which were all marked as A thanks to her being a Tri-Wizard Champion and getting a pass on the finals, the only grade that was different was Transfiguration, which brought a smirk to his face when he saw the O Plus next to it, Harry did not doubt that McGonagall had made sure to show him how impressed she was with his showing with battle magic and learning it throughout last year.
It was then that Harry picked up the purple letter and turned it over in his hands; it was addressed to him and sealed with a bright red wax seal from the Ministry; Harry was confused as to why anyone from the ministry would send him anything until Sirius turned away from the conversation about broom models he was having with Mister Weasley and Ron to see what Harry was holding before letting out a gasp, causing everyone to turn and look at him. While most of the room looked confused at the letter, Remus' eyes widened; Mrs. Weasley let out a cheer, and even Hermione and Theodore looked shocked at the sight of the letter.
"What?" Harry had asked, confused at the looks.
"Harry, do you have any idea what that is?" Sirius asked, eyeing the envelope with an odd look in his eyes.
"Sirius, just assume that I don't know anything about the Wixen World and explain to me," Harry said with a sigh and a roll of his eyes.
"Okay, that's fair," Sirius said under his breath, "That, Harry-" he pointed at the letter in Harry's hand, "-Is a Letter of Apprenticeship," he said with a proud look in his eye.
"A what?" Harry asked, his brow furrowed as he looked back and forth between the letter and Sirius before Remus explained it to him.
"A Letter of Apprenticeship is what the Department of Magical Education sends out when a student is close to graduating and wants to achieve their Mastery certification in a subject; normally, a student has to write to them and send in a thesis on the subject they want to learn more about along with their grades," Lupin explains before crossing his arms and eyeing the letter, "The student has to wait till after they take their NEWT's before they begin to even hope to hear back from them, but there are the rare cases where that student is so exceptional in that field that a Master would seek them out to offer them an early Mastery course," He explained before looking back to Harry.
"The last two people who achieved such an honor were your parents, Harry," Remus said to Harry's shock.
Sirius spoke up next, "James only got one; Minnie had sent him one before his Sixth year, but Lilly, Lilly got them by the hand full from masters across the islands thanks to old Slughorn," Sirius said, the proud smile he had for Harry never leaving his face, "But neither of them had gotten one in their fifth year, you impressed someone, Harry, and if it came with your Hogwarts Letter then it's someone Dumbledore approves of," he said with a smirk as Harry looked back down at the letter in his hand, an odd angry look coming over his face.
"It has to be Dumbledore that sent him that, right?" Ron said, looking around to see most of the people in the room his age nod along with his guess, even Hermione.
"Well, Open it up, deary; we'll need to write them back to tell them you accept," Mrs. Weasley said, clear excitement in her voice, but it died down as she saw the look on Harry's face.
"No," Harry said before tossing the letter into the charmed bin unopened, "It doesn't matter who sent it; I'm not accepting it," Harry said with a frown before the letter vanished as it hit the bottom of the bin.
"Harry dear, why not?" Mrs. Weasley asks in confusion what was shared with most of the people in the room.
"Because I already have a Teacher," Harry stated before looking away from the bin, his mind traveling back to a castle wreathed in Shadow and Skye and the Goddess that called it her home.
Atalanta, Grimmauld Place dining room, nighttime.
Atalanta was currently in the dining room of Grimmauld Place, her bare feet kicked up on the table with a mug of cold ale in hand, watching as people arrived by floo and through the front door for the meeting that was about to happen. She was invited to it by Sirius, and from what he explained, it was a meeting of Witches and Wizards that had fought under Headmaster Dumbledore's command last time Voldemort was doing his best impersonation of Xerxes trying to take over the free people of Britain. But now he was trying his damndest to kill her little brother, something she wouldn't allow and something she had been sent to specifically stop by her lady.
She counts the members of the order as they arrive and begins to get settled in for the meeting, fifteen in total; she didn't know whether this was all of them or just the ones that were free enough to show up. She already knew a few of them, Remus and Sirius, of course, then the pink punk princess who sat across from her and refused to even look at her, McGonagall, who seemed unsurprised to see Atalanta and nod to her in greeting, to which she returned. Snape was one of the last ones to show up; he took one look at her before frowning, turning around, and finding some dark corner to hang upside down in like the oversized bat he was. Then there was the Weasleys; Bill seemed pretty chill, and Mister Weasley had that Dad air about him, the kind that made someone turn to him for life advice or a laugh when they were down in the dumps; Atalanta liked him; Mrs. Weasley, however.
Atalanta didn't know what she did to piss the matron of the Weasleys, but she had been cold and borderline rude to Atalanta the whole day, and if it wasn't for the fact that this was the woman who Harry spoke about so highly, Atalanta would have been just as rude back to her.
So, as Molly dots about, setting out plates and cups for snacks and drinks, she takes one look at how Atalanta is sitting before whipping out her wand and flicking it at Atalanta, knocking her backwards, taking Atalanta's feet off the table, before gently pulling her forward and dragging her chair under the table, making her sit like everyone else.
"Do mind your manners when in a home, not your own," Molly tells her with a disapproving frown and a light glare, "It was like you were raised by wolves," she says with a scoff.
While Atalanta would grin and bear Molly's attitude, she was about to pass up a prime opportunity to make a joke, "Well, Not wolves, bears, actually," Atalanta says with a grin to the older-looking woman who levels a disapproving glare at Atalanta as Sirius snorts into his cup at the end of the table. As Molly opens her mouth to no doubt shoot off another remark, the floo flares one more time, and out steps Dumbledore in deep blue robes with shooting stars flying across them, reminding Atalanta of the set of black robes that Zoë had brought back with her. The Headmaster walks into the dining area, greeting everyone with a handshake and by name, stopping once he sees Atalanta and smiles at her.
"Ah, Miss Claydon, it's good to see you in good health," Dumbledore says as he walks up to Atalanta, who stands and takes his offered hand to shake, "I was informed by our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher that she sent you along when you showed up at Hogwarts," he says with a smile, and Atalanta forces one as she is reminded of the woman that had sent her to Grimmauld Place and her off-putting blood red eyes.
Atalanta swallows the discomfort she feels at the mention of the very scary woman before speaking, "Oh, boy, did she ever, but it's good to see you as well, Headmaster; my Lady sends her regards," Atalanta tells him with a smile, it wasn't even remotely true, but it was the polite thing to say. Artemis didn't do "Polite," nor did she send regards that weren't attached to the end of an arrow, but her Lady has said she liked the Headmaster well enough a few times for Atalanta to mad lib for her.
"I will have to send her my thanks for sending such a highly decorated and experienced Hunter such as yourself to help us," Dumbledore says with a genuine smile on his tired-looking face.
"I'm sure she'll be glad to hear that, sir," Atalanta tells him before they drop their handshake, and Dumbledore goes back to greeting the other members of the Order. Before too long, most of the Order had taken seats around the table; Lupin was sitting to her left, and some brown-skinned man with a squashed nose named Mandungus was sitting to her right, giving her the side eye in a shifty way.
"Welcome, My friends, and thank you all for finding time to attend this meeting," Albus says, calling the meeting to order as everyone turns to look at the Headmaster, "But before truly getting into the meeting, some introductions are needed-" he says before gesturing to Atalanta, "-This is Atalanta Claydon from the Hunters of Artemis, Lady Diana has sent her here in a show of support in our stand against Voldemort, sadly she could not send more members of the Hunters due to political reasons with the ICW," he informs them all with a lie; the only reason that Sophie, Brittany, and Zoë wasn't here as well was because of the Morrígan, but the mortals in the room didn't need to know that just yet.
Atalanta just nods and raises her mug at the half-hearted welcome she gets from some of the members, "Miss Claydon here is an expert in covert operations, and we are lucky to have her expertise in this trying time," Dumbledore says before another man with a fake eye speaks up from the opposite corner that Snape was standing in.
"What kind of covert operations?" the man growls out without introducing himself.
"Ah, Miss Claydon, this is Alastor Moody," Dumbledore says, introducing the man to him, which causes Moody to growl lowly at Dumbledore, "Please forgive him for his lack of manners, much like yourself, he's an old soldier,"
Atalanta shrugs; she could understand that. "Well, kinda in the name, Hunters of Artemis," Atalanta says, turning to Moody, "I'm an expert in guerrilla Warfare and Hunter Seeker missions; there isn't a Terrain that I can't track prey across, and so long as I can see them there isn't a shot I can't hit," she says with confidence as Moody looks her dead in the eyes as Atalanta looked right back without fear and hard eyes; Moody smirks before nodding.
"Ay, this one will do, Albus," he says before leaning back with a smirk that twists the scars on his face, and Atalanta thinks she found herself a new drinking buddy.
"Now, if no one else has any more questions about or for Miss Claydon, we can beg-" Dumbledore begins to say before Molly raises her hand from her seat, looking at the Headmaster with a frown, "Yes, Molly?" Albus asks.
"I have a question, Headmaster, for you," Molly says, her voice hard as a rock and twice as stern, "Now, as you know, we have had words about Harry in the past, and your choices about where he lived," Molly says before Sirius mutters something that sounds like an amen into his mug of hard apple cider while Atalanta silently agreed with both of them, "But I can not, in good conscience, let you bring one-, one of these- these hussies, around Harry, knowing what they might have done to him," She says, spitting the word onto the table with a glare at Dumbledore as Atalanta slowly puts her mug down and turns even slower to look at Molly, and out of the corner of her eye she sees Snape swiftly moving across the room to avoid the impact zone.
"Excuse you?" Atalanta says, her eyes narrowing into a glare as Lupin, Sirius, and The Punk Princess all freeze, "I'm sorry, my hearing might be a bit off, so correct me if I'm wrong, but did you just ask me to punch you in the fucking throat?" Atalanta growls out as she slowly stands up.
Molly's face turns red as she stands up and leans over the table to glare at Atalanta, Mister Weasley, and her oldest son trying to calm her down, but Molly ignores them and focuses solely on Atalanta, "No, little girl, you heard me just right the first time, I read all about what your little group of hussies have been doing to that poor boy, and I will tell you right now that I won't let you do it anymore," She says as her Husband stands, putting his hands on Molly's shoulders to try and calm her down as Bill stands up to get in between the two women.
"What in the fuck do you mean by that?" Atalanta asks, and before Molly can speak up again and earn an ass whipping from Atalanta, Lupin speaks up.
"I do believe she is talking about the articles that were written by Rita Skeeter about the Hunters of Artemis last year and Rita's own speculations about Harry's…Magic and his relationship with the Hunt," Lupin says with a sigh, standing up and trying to get Atalanta to sit back down.
"What articles?" Atalanta says, confused and angry; Harry liking the woman or not, no one disrespects the Hunt, her sisters, or her Lady like that without getting a proper ass whooping.
"They were posted in the newspaper over here during the tournament last year," Lupin begins to explain as Atalanta turns to look at him, "It insinuated that Harry may have been involved in some elicit blood magic rituals perpetrated by the Hunters of Artemis and that the Hunters of Artemis may be a-a sex cult," Lupin explains, hesitating at the end, not wanting to make the situation worse than it was.
The shock, horror, and revulsion that rolled across Atalanta's face spoke more than any words could say as she looked around the table at the gathered people all looking at her curiously; the only ones who were In the know looked at her with any sort of apology in their eyes, McGonagall and The Punk Princess included.
"What the fuck!? Eww!" Atalanta shrieks before turning back to Molly, "He's like my little brother; that's fucking disgusting!" she snaps, pointing up to the floors above where Harry is.
Dumbledore sighs before speaking, "Molly, I've told you before-" but is cut off by the same woman he was speaking to as she rounded on him.
"You!" Molly snaps at the Headmaster, "Do not get to talk with as many questionable decisions you've made over the years about where Harry stayed; the Blood wards protect him," she says with venom and in a mocking tone as Dumbledore deflates, "Protect him from what, Albus? It didn't protect him from those-those animals you left him with, and they didn't protect him from what her group did to-," Molly begins to yell at Dumbledore, her face growing red as she did, much to the shock of everyone there, until the slamming of a silver mug onto the table cuts her off.
"Enough!" Shouts the Lord of the House at the end of the table before he, too, stands up, "Molly, stop yelling at Atalanta! She is a guest in my home and under my protection, and I will not have you talk to her like that; besides, Most of the tripe that Skeeter wrote about the hunt is wrong," Sirius says, starting off yelling over Molly before bringing his voice down to a normal level as Molly looked at him in surprise, "That woman is practically Harry's sister in all the ways that matter, she would never hurt him in that way; and would actively kick the shit out of anyone who would, Trust me, I know from experience," he says pointing at Atalanta before himself before turning to Atalanta, "And Atalanta, Please, calm down," he says raising a hand in a placating gesture, "I know that it may not seem like it, but Molly is coming from a good place with this, she worries about Harry the same as you or I," he tells her as both Lupin and Arthur get both women to sit down.
Atalanta sits down before sighing and putting her face into her hands, "The Hunters of Artemis isn't a sex cult; we are the exact opposite of a sex cult," Atalanta says before turning to face the still red face of Molly Weasley.
"Perhaps," Arthur says softly and carefully, "You could explain what the group is and your relationship with Harry is, in your own words, because I can speak for both Molly and me when we say we see Harry as another one of our children, that we worry about him just the same," The father says kindly as his wife nods beside him as he pulls her into a side hug. Atalanta sighed again because she could tell that Arthur was speaking from the heart and truly believed every word he said.
Then an idea hits Atalanta, an explanation that would explain everything without revealing too much to the mortals that didn't need to know yet.
"The Hunter of Artemis is a very old organization; we've existed since the early days of ancient Greece, hence the name, The Hunter of Artemis," Atalanta begins, looking over to Molly, "When we join the Hunters we undergo a ritual, a very old one from the very founding of the group, in the ritual we swear ourselves to the hunt, we take oaths of chastity, of purity, and swear off any form of romantic love and in return, we become stronger, faster, and with greater senses, sharper skills, and an aversion to aging" Atalanta explains before leaning back, explaining it to everyone in much the same way she had explained the Hunt to Harry almost two years ago and thanking Madea for answering her questions about magic when Atalanta was bored on the Argo.
"If we fall in love or have any form of sex, we break those oaths and are ejected from the hunt in shame, so if we were a sex cult, we couldn't do our job," Atalanta explains to everyone now looking at her and listening.
"What do you mean by an Aversion to aging?" one of the other members asks, a tall, dark skin man.
"I may look like I'm in my late teens-" Atalanta says, gesturing to herself up and down, "-But I can very confidently say that I'm older than anyone in this room," she says, waiting for a beat as everyone looks at her with wide eyes, before adding on, "Put together," she says with a smirk before picking up her mug of ale and taking a sip as everyone looks towards the Headmaster, who merely nods his head.
"How old are you then?" The Punk Princess asks with a raised brow.
"Want to know what ancient Greece was really like?" Atalanta says to the shocked table.
"That doesn't explain your group's relationship with Harry," Molly points out, because a seemingly ageless hunter sitting at the table was secondary to her worry about Harry and that, that Atalanta can respect.
"Once in a great while, under a certain moon and strange stars, a child can be born with the same power and abilities that one of the Hunters of Artemis have; it's rare and normally just girls because, once again, Artemis," Atalanta offers and Molly nods along before speaking.
"And you're saying that Harry is a child like that?" Molly asks, and Atalanta nods.
"Yeah, we knew, years ago, that a kid was born with the blessing, but we could never find them because we thought we were looking for a girl because, Ya know, Artemis," Atalanta says with a shrug, "But then, about two years ago, the current leader of the Hunters, Lady Diana, heard about a kid killing a basilisk in Scotland and on a hunch she looked into it, she confirmed most of what she was looking for in a child born with the blessing in their blood from Dumbledore, and she sent me to help him understand the blessing," she tells Molly, leaning forward on the table, "You have to understand that a child born with this magic naturally is incredibly powerful and dangerous, Lady Diana was one such child, and she rose to lead the Hunters within ten years of joining," she says.
"Will Harry be forced to join the hunters?" Arthur asks, a protective tone to his voice, but Atalanta shakes her head.
"No," Atalanta says, "The Hunters are a female-only group. Even if it wasn't, it's a personal choice to join the Hunters of Artemis and never forced, but while Harry can't join officially, you could ask any of the Hunters how they see Harry, and I have no doubt each and every one of them would answer the same way, that he's our little brother and we protect our own with our lives," she says softly and solemnly while looking over at Arthur, "Even Lady Diana, arguably the coldest one in the Hunters sees Harry somewhat as a son, which is why she sent me, and trust me, she wanted to come herself," she tells the gathered group before leaning back in her seat.
"He is lovable like that, isn't he?" Molly says softly, speaking about Harry before putting a head over her face in embarrassment as Atalanta notices the Punk Princess across from her looking away at Molly's words, her own face red with embarrassment for some reason; Molly sighs before turning back to Atalanta, "I'm sorry dear, for the-the things I said and how I acted," She says softly to Atalanta, who nods in return.
"Harry told me about you before; he spoke highly about you and never said a bad thing about you; if I knew that this stemmed from a misunderstanding, I would have talked to you in private about it," Atalanta offers, watching Molly nod at her words, "And sorry about, you know, the threatening to, ah, punch you in the throat," Atalanta says with a bit of a grimace as Molly waves it off.
"Water under the bridge, my dear," Molly says with a smile as Atalanta nods with a smile of her own.
"Now, since we have had an explanation from Miss Claydon on the nature of the relationship between Harry and the Hunters and the power Harry has, perhaps we could move-" Albus begins to say but stops as he looks up and into the kitchen door behind Sirius with a confused look, causing the rest of the Order to turn to see the odd smelling maid girl that Atalanta hadn't seen without Theodore by her side loading up a tray with drinks and snacks while humming to herself, "Excuse me, Miss," Dumbledore calls out to the Maid, causing her to turn to look at all the people now watching her.
"Oh my," she says, with a surprised look on her face, "Please, forgive me for intruding; I only came down to bring up more snacks and drinks up to the children; I had asked the Aos sí here, but he was very rude to me, but I will be out of your hair in just a moment," she says with a bashful smile.
Dumbledore blinks a few times, looking confused as he narrows his eyes at the maid, "While that is all well and good, I find myself at a loss of who you are," he says slowly and carefully.
"Oh, how rude of me," The maid answers as she walks into the dining room before curtsying low to everyone, lifting her dress as she does, "I am Lupusregina, the maid and caretaker of the Noblest and Most Ancient House of Nott, it is a pleasure to meet you all," she introduces herself right before Moody growls and pulls his wand and levels it at the maid who squeaks and cowers before it, "Please sir, I-I-I do not k-know what-what I've done, but I'm am defenseless squib, sir," she says shaking in her maid outfit.
"Bullshit," Atalanta thinks to herself as she watches; the girl was lying through her teeth; she smelled like ancient wood and blood. Atalanta turns to look at Dumbledore, who is watching what is happening with a confused frown on his face. Both Atalanta and Dumbledore share a look before Atalanta gives him the slightest nod; something is off with the maid.
"What the hell is a maid from the house of Nott doing here in headquarters!?" Moody nearly shouts as he turns to look at Sirius, "That family is rotten to the core; both the boy's grandfather and father fought for the enemy; why the hell would you invite him here!?" he says, just before Sirius draws his wand and aims it at Moody, much to the shock of the room.
"Put the wand down, Mad-eye; now," Sirius growls out like a large guard dog giving a warning to a trespasser.
"P-Please, don't talk about-about Master Theodore like that!" The maid yells at the ex-auror, "He isn't like his fool of a grandfather or the-the worm that was his father; he's a good boy, a sweet and noble boy, d-don't say that about him!" She snaps at the scared man and speaks with pure hatred when she speaks of Theodore Snr.
"Think you can take me, Black?" Moody says, turning to glare at Sirius with one while keeping his magical eye on the maid.
"I don't give a damn if I can or not, but she and Theodore are under my protection, so I will damn well try," Sirius tells Moody as sparks shoot from his wand.
"Gentleman!" Dumbledore snaps, causing both men to look at him, "We are here to fight our enemy, not each other! Alastor, put your wand away, now!" he yells, and after a moment, he drops it with a growl before Dumbledore turns to Sirius, "Am I to understand Young Theodore is here?" he asks, and Sirius nods as he drops his wand as well.
"He's here for Harry's birthday, their friends," Sirius tells the Headmaster.
"And Harry trusts him?" Albus asks, and Sirius nods once again, "Then that is good enough for me, Miss Lupusregina; you have my apologizes for how Alastor acted, but he is in charge of most of our security, and you took some of us by surprise," Dumbledore says with a bow of his head.
Lupusregina nods her head meekly as she looks around the room, "If you'll excuse me, Mister-" she says before pausing and looking at Dumbledore.
"Oh, how rude of me; please excuse me; I am Albus Dumbledore," he tells the Maid with a smile as the look of recognition enters Lupusregina's eyes.
"I've heard of you from Master Theodore," the maid says with a smile of her own, "You're the Headmaster of Dú-Hogwarts, yes?" she says, smiling sweetly as the eyes of McGonagall and Snape snap to the maid before Albus Narrows his own.
"I do indeed hold that honor, miss," He says carefully as the maid nods slowly as well; she bites her lips looking behind her and back in the direction of the stairs before looking back at the Headmaster with an unsure look.
"Master Nott would not like me talking about his private business, sir, but…." She says, trailing while she looks around the room with fear in her eyes.
"But what, Miss Lupusregina?" Albus asks.
The maid hesitates only for a moment longer before speaking, "A few days ago, a man by the name of Lucius Malfoy stopped by Brí Leíth invoking an old friendship with my master's father to speak with him," she says, causing Moody's eye to spin in its socket and Snape to narrow his eyes.
"Do you know what he wanted to speak with young Theodore about, my dear?" Albus asks, an eyebrow crawling upwards.
"I was not privy to the whole conversation, Headmaster Dumbledore, but from what I had heard when I had brought them tea and before I had to take out the trash, was that Lucius was looking to gain access to the Nott Family Archive," Lupusregina says, giving Dumbledore a look that bore into the man's skull, "He also hinted at he was not doing it for himself, but for another and refused to name who out of fear, Master Theodore then kicked the man out of Brí Leith and advise Mister Malfoy to not darken his doorstep again and to tell his Master to go to, if you'll excuse my language, sir, eat shit," she explains, blushing a bit at her own words.
Dumbledore pauses for a moment before turning to look at Snape, who sharply nods to the Headmaster before Dumbledore turns back to the Maid, "You have my thanks for this information, my dear, but perhaps you should go back to the children upstairs," he tells her with a soft smile before the Maid curtsies once more, before gathering up snacks and drinks and heads out of the kitchen and back upstairs.
After a moment of sitting in silence and letting everyone calm down, Atalanta turns back to look at Dumbledore, who speaks up once more, "Now that everyone is calm and settled, shall we begin?" and at the nods of everyone at the table, Dumbledore continues, "Now, before we get to shift rotations and new information, has anyone new news they would like to share?" The Headmaster asks, and Sirius raises his hand, and Dumbledore nods to the Master of The House.
"Taili Peverell came for a visit a few days ago," Sirius says, and the table descends into chaos once more as Atalanta sighs; it was going to be a long night.
Harry Potter, 12:09 Am.
Harry yawns as he walks back to his room; it had been a long day with his birthday party, explaining the divine stuff to the twins and Ginny before telling them all the stories he couldn't beforehand. The worst thing about the day was when two crows showed up, pecking at the window to be let in, and before Harry could stop him, Theodore had opened the window, thereby letting Anand and fucking Macha crash his birthday party; at least Anand brought cupcakes and a gift(a set of tarot cards she made herself) to make up for Macha using him as a seat again after ordering him not to hurt her, the sadistic little brat. The crows of the Morrígan fled before the ending of the Order meeting after wishing Harry a happy birthday before both of them kissed him on both of his cheeks and flew out of the open window.
After that, Theodore stayed up until an hour ago, leaving with Fúamnach after reading a note that the Headmaster had left for him, and the rest of the people started to wind down for the night. The twins and Ron took over a larger room on the second floor while Ginny and Hermione took the ladies of the house's room for themselves. Harry was on his way back to his room after doing his nightly ritual and looking forward to another snuggle puddle with Atalanta and Hedwig as he walked down the hall.
"Psst, Harry," a voice whispers, causing Harry to turn around to see Dora's head poking out the door to her bedroom in her pajamas, looking at him. Harry looks back down the hall to the door that leads to his room, where he knows Atalanta is waiting for him to snuggle up with; he turns back and sees Dora gesturing for him to come over. Harry sighs but walks over before Dora opens her door the rest of the way before casting a privacy ward around them and turning to Harry, "Hey," She says before opening her mouth, closing it, and looking away.
Dora takes a deep breath before taking out a present from behind her back and offering it to Harry, all without looking at him.
"You didn't have-'' Harry tries to say as he takes the present from her, blushing himself, but Dora cuts him off.
"I know, but-but I wanted to," She admits before taking a deep breath and looking at Harry in the eyes, "I'm-I'm sorry about being a bit of a bitch to you the last few weeks; I've been- it's been-," Dora sighs before looking away from Harry's eyes once more.
"No, it, ah, fine, I understand, Dora," Harry says; he didn't understand how she felt about him, but he did understand the feeling of being trapped in something you didn't want to be.
"Yeah," Dora says in a whisper before looking back at Harry, "Well, go on, open it," she tells him to avoid an awkward silence, and Harry nods before tearing open the wrapping paper. It was a set of books, "The Auror's Handbook." and "Blade and Rune: a study of Weapon Enchanting."
"There books old Mad-Eye gave me when I was his apprentice in the Auror Academy to help me improve my battle magic and tactics; I just thought, you know," Dora says, shrugging and biting her lower lip before looking away from Harry again, it was almost like she couldn't stand looking him in the eyes for too long.
"Yeah, no, thats-these are awesome, um, tha-thanks," Harry says before looking away from her and peering back down at his door, unsure of what to do or say.
"That's good," Dora says, bobbing her head, before looking back into her room, then back at Harry, "I've got to crash soon, the inquiry at work is over, and they didn't find anything, so I'm allowed to go back to work, so gotta wake up early for it," she says, turning back to Harry who was tapping the books against one another and nodding.
"Yeah, I was about to pass out, too," Harry says with his head never stopping as his eyes flick between looking into Dora's(Which were quickly turning Pink) and his door.
"Do you want to-" Dora begins to say in a breathless tone of voice, almost taking a step toward Harry, but she freezes before quickly squeezing her eyes shut and her lips pinched together in a look of turmoil before she just nods her head, no longer trusting her mouth.
"I'm just gonna go, so, ah, yeah, …" Harry says before he begins to turn away from Dora; he didn't want to aggravate the curse or her divine blood any more than he already did, he didn't want her to suffer any more than she did around him. But as he turned to walk back to his room, he felt Dora's hand wrap around his wrist, making his head snap back to her face; she was now his size and looked around his age as her eyes burned a bright, vivid pink. And with a simple pull on his arm, Harry was dragged right back to her before she tilted her head and planted a kiss right on his lips.
Harry didn't know how long they stood there before it felt like a forever before Dora pulled back, her eyes open, and was now burning with hunger; Harry had just enough time to gulp before Dora pulled him into her room before she slammed the door behind them.
Harry would emerge from the room ten minutes later, face beet red and clutching the books to his chest and a line of bite marks hidden under his shirt and across his collarbone, matching the same marks that Dora now had.
Chapter done!
Hands hurt; figure this shit out yourself.
They didn't fuck.
Next chapters are:
Breaking the Habit(Harry faces his tormenter after long last.)
I fought the law(Harry stands trial and watches as a pan of fudge gets roasted.)
I really want to stay at your house(we finally make our way back to Hogwarts, but first, we find out what happened between Harry and Daphne.)
Devil's Daughter(Time for an old perspective becoming new once more.)
Hot for Teacher(Y'all know exactly what's going to happen here.)
Kingsaxcul, Out!