Chapter 4
The next afternoon saw the Survey Corps checking their ODM gears and strapping them on. Erwin had managed to get permission from Deputy Headmistress McGonagall to use some of the forest for their training. Founder Ymir had sent some of their training dummy titans, including the new ones that were more mechanical, thanks to Eren's connection with previous Erens, some of which were from worlds that were more advanced. They also had the ones that, with titan hardening, were made to look as close to the Armoured Titan as they could make them.
The next morning had been an early start, much to the chagrin of the piles of bodies on top of the shifters. After breakfast, they had spent the morning in the pocket dimension room, training their titan shifters. Luna had watched in awe at the transformations. While she knew of the nine titans thanks to her connection to the paths, she had never been given a full vision of what they looked like.
Luna had been given her very own Scouts uniform, making her an honorary scout. The only thing she wasn't given was the ODM gear since she had not had the appropriate training for it. She had a massive grin on her face as she stood in line with the other scouts, saluting Commander Erwin, after Historia had shown her the correct way to salute.
The pocket dimension had been made to look like the Shiganshina District, to practice their main plans and allowing their titan shifters to get a feel for the best spots to engage the enemy. Luna sat on top of the main wall next to Erwin, watching Eren and Ymir practicing one of their fighting combos.
While observing the training, Erwin was also going over a small list of who would be given titan powers after they hopefully defeated Zeke, Pieck, Bertholdt and Reiner. They had found out early on that Eren's magic had purged out the Curse of Ymir from his body, meaning he did not have to worry about the 13-year death sentence for most titan shifters.
After using Eren's spinal fluid to make Historia into the new female titan and Eren contacted the Founder Ymir, they discovered that she too had not been given the Curse. Not only that, but a piece of his magic had been transferred into her, making her magical. And just like Eren, not only could she fully look into all of the memories of the past female titans, but she could look into the memories of other Historias.
In a moment of inspiration, Hange tested to see if injecting Ymir with Eren's spinal fluid would have the same effect, despite Ymir already being a shifter. They were surprised and happy to find that Ymir had indeed lost the curse, gained magic and past memories of all Jaws titans and Ymirs. The combination of Female and Jaw titan memories, was the reason they knew the current holders of the Beast, Cart and Warhammer Titans.
Erwin looked over the list. 'Let's see,' he thought. 'Armin or Connie for the colossal titan, Jean for the armoured titan, myself for the beast titan,' he smiled at that. He felt honoured that everyone thought he should become the beast titan, who was currently the enemy's war chief. 'And Hange for the cart titan.' Their current titan shifters had suggested the last one. 'I have a feeling they only suggested it to get out of Hange's experiments'
Near the end of the training, Luna got to ride on Eren's shoulder for little while. She rode with Hange for safety, due to not having the gear. Afterwards, they all had lunch before heading outside for the afternoon training with the gear and thunderspears.
Erwin looked over to where Madam Bones was watching, along with some of her Aurors. She was there to watch some of the training, in hopes to maybe incorporate some of it into the Auror training program. The Aurors she had introduced as Kingsley Shacklebolt, Nymphadora 'don't call me that' Tonks and Alastor Moody. Some of the soldiers were slightly put off by Moody's eye that could see through solid things and curious about Tonks' changing hair colour.
Erwin then noticed that some of the Hogwarts students and teachers had also come to watch, including the Potters, Dumbledore, and Flitwick. He walked over to Madam Bones, where she was currently talking Mr Black and Mr Lupin
"Good afternoon, Madam Bones," Erwin nodded in greeting. "Mr Lupin, Mr Black"
"Good afternoon, Commander Erwin," Amelia nodded back. "So, what exactly are you having your soldiers do?"
"Well, first, we'll have some of them working with the usual titan dummies," Erwin explained as some of the soldiers brought out said dummies, along with the armoured ones. "Then we'll be testing out our latest weapon, that will hopefully cause damage to the armoured titan."
"And what is your latest weapon?" Kingsley asked, as Hange, Eren, Mikasa and Armin walked over to the group, carrying what looked like metal spears.
"Erwin!" Hange exclaimed enthusiastically, almost bouncing as she walked. "I found and brought the goodies!"
"Are those the weapon?" Moody pointed to the tubes, using his eye to see some sort of explosive in the middle of the spear
"Yes," Hange answered, holding up her spear. "We call them 'thunder spears'"
"Thunder spears?" They heard an arrogant voice sound over where the students were. "What a ridiculous name." They turned to see Charlie with an arrogant smirked on his face. "What are they going to do to those weird looking dummies, tickle them"
"Charlie!" Sirius scold the boy. "Don't question things you don't know anything about"
"Whatever," Charlie rolled his eyes, while his friend Ron smirked with him, and Hermione eyed the spear in fascination
"How does it work?" Hermione couldn't help asking
"You'll see in a bit," Erwin answered. "First, our usual ODM training." He turned to the assembled soldiers, all standing at attention. "Those without thunder spears, get in position and prepared ODM gear!" He shouted out his orders
"Sir!" The soldiers saluted before heading over to the trees, where their horses were saddled up and waiting. The witches and wizards watch as ten giant figures came out behind the Scouts' castle. They were made of metal, and they ranged from 3 metres to 10 metres. Occasionally, steam sprayed from the joints as they slowly moved, meaning these things were powered by steam.
"The speed the dummies are moving at are similar to the speed that normal pure titans move at," Erwin explained to Amelia when she commented on the speed. "The mechanism used to make them move is similar to the one in our ODM gear."
"Interesting," Amelia nodded, before watching as Erwin pulled out what looked like the handle of one of those guns, she had heard about from some muggleborns in her department. "What is that for?"
"This is one of our signal flare guns," Erwin answered, as he connected a barrel with two red bands around the front end to the handle, clicking it in place. "Main purpose is long distance communication. Red signals titan spotted." He turned to watch as the soldiers, who had ridden the horses to the edge of the forest and were now galloping at the dummies.
He lifted the flare and shot off a column of red smoke. The Aurors, professors and students watch as the soldiers stood on the still galloping horses, they pulled a set of blades out of the gear, and suddenly harpoons and cables shot out, embedding into the surrounding trees. The scouts jumped from their horses' backs and began to fly towards the titan dummies
"As you can see," Hange explained, as Erwin continued to observe the training exercise. "The omni-directional mobility or ODM gear allows one to transfer from a 2D flat plane to a 3D space and to move in all directions." She pulled out one of her blades, allowing those close enough to look at it. "Our blades are made of Ultrahard steel. The only thing known to be about to penetrate a titan's skin."
They watched as the flying soldiers started to cut into a piece of wood at the back of the dummy's necks.
"Why are they just cutting the necks?" Dumbledore asked.
"Titans have an insane regenerative ability, making them hard to kill," Hange answered, being the titan expert. Many leaned in to listen. "The only place that doesn't seem to regenerate is the nape. Once cut, the titan dies instantly and begins to rapidly decompose." 'Well, it's more complicated than that, but they don't need to that,' They thought to themselves
"I see," was all Dumbledore could as he watched the soldiers cut into the dummies. He was having a hard time getting his head around the fact that such creatures exist.
"Um," Lupin spoke up, after having spent the last minute or two, staring at Eren, who was feeling uncomfortable after sensing the man's gaze. "I can't help but notice that Eren doesn't look much like his biological parent anymore. I would know because I was there when he was born"
"Yes," Hange nodded, watching as the Shiganshina trio chatted with each other as they waited for the signal to get ready. "We believe is has something to do with his magic"
"His magic?" Severus asked curiously, he had calmed down a bit after finding out the Potter twin was not raised the same way as his spoiled brother. It did help that he didn't look much like the Potters
Hange nodded, "Yes. Miss Luna explained to us about accidental magic. From what Eren's friends have said, he didn't show much of this so-called accidental magic, and we believe it is because all of it went into subconsciously changing his looks, and possibly his very DNA, to resemble his adopted parents." They looked over at the dummies to see that the soldiers had finished their training.
"Adoption magic," Sirius looked thoughtful, remembering some of the lessons from his Auror training days.
"Adoption magic?" Hermione perked up at the opportunity of learning something new, not noticing Hange also perking up at new information
"Yes, it's a very rare type of magic," Sirius explained. Hange, Erwin, and Levi listening in while also keeping an eye on the soldiers as they put the normal dummies away and started getting the armoured ones into position, their harden titan skin armour glistening in the sun. "Basically, when a magical child is adopted, especially at a young age, they may wish to look like their adopted parents. This could be done consciously or subconsciously. It's what a lot of blood adoption potions and rituals are based off, however, the actual magic, like with Eren here, is still the most powerful form of adoption"
"If the magic is powerful enough," Remus continued. "Then I would not be surprised that if Eren went to Gringotts to have an inheritance test, it will show two sets of parents, with only 5% of blood showing the relation between him and Lily and James"
"I see," Erwin nodded, it explained a few things. 'Though, I believe Founder Ymir might have had a small hand in it.' Everyone turned when a green flare was fired. "Looks like the Armoured dummies are ready," He turned to Armin. "Armin, I'm putting you in charge of this small simulation. There's two dummies, what do you think would make the best strategies against the Armoured Titan"
"Well," Armin got a thoughtful look on his face. "For the first one, we go with the original plan. Blind it and then use the thunderspears to break and destroy it's nape." He turned to Jean. "You can lead the group for that. Mikasa, Eren and Historia, stay. You'll be part of the second strategy." Armin blushed as everyone saluted him before following the orders given.
Everyone watched as the armoured titan dummy was taken down. The students, teachers, and guests behind them were horrified at the damage done by the thunderspears.
Armin took note of the amount of thunderspears used and hope his other strategy works, because that would save a lot of thunderspears. "Ok, my other idea is actually based off the strategy used against the Reiss titan a while back"
"How so?" Historia asked after checking her thunderspear was in place.
"Well, first, Historia and Mikasa, you are going to blind it, just like the first plan," Armin explained. "Then you are going to use your other thunderspears each on the joints of the titan's jaw. Making it hard for it to close its mouth"
"I see," Eren picked up on Armin's idea. "And just like the Reiss titan, I stuff a thunderspear down it's throat, destroying the nape from the inside out"
"Exactly," Armin nodded at his friend. His three friends performed the plan and just like Armin thought, it worked, meaning they didn't have to waste good equipment
"I must say," Amelia spoke up next to Ewin. "Those thunderspears are useful and powerful. Do you have any that you could spare us, so my guys back at the department can look at?"
"Why would you want to look at those muggle things?" Charles asked, trying to look smart. "We're wizards, we don't need them"
"You never know when you'll be cut off from your magic," Moody said, magical eye remaining on the scouts as they cleaned up the dummies. "There are spells that can bind and drain magic. It's better to have and not need it, than to need it and not have it"
"We would prefer to keep all thunderspears," Erwin answered. "However, we can give you a copy of the blueprints for them. Think of it as a thank you for the talk you had with your newspaper"
The morning after their arrival, the Prophet had the headline 'Boy-Who-Lived and Squib Brother Upstage Champions'. The article had made out that Charles Potter had cheated to get his name in the goblet and that his brother was there because he was jealous and was trying to steal his brother's already stolen fame by pretending to be a soldier. All the scouts ignored the article. The only one to use the newspaper had been Levi, who simply use it to squish a beetle that had landed near his morning tea that morning.
Thankful Amelia had walked into the Prophet's office and made them print an article telling the truth of someone putting the boys' names into the goblet and that Eren Jaeger, previously Harry Potter, really was a soldier, and has been put down as an international champion and guest. Amazingly, the author of the first article, one Rita Skeeter, had not shown up, so they used one of their more truthful authors for the new article
"A copy of the blueprints will do," Amelia nodded.
"Well, while we get them," Erwin said, after giving the scouts orders to start clearing up everything. "Would you and your men care for a tour of our headquarters?"
"A tour would be wonderful," Amelia answered, getting nods from her men.
"I forgot to tell you," Albus spoke up gaining the attention Erwin, Amelia, his teachers, and the other headmasters. "That it is mandatory for the headmasters, champions and two friends of their choosing, to tour each other's current accommodations followed by a dinner from that country." Maxine and Igor looked at him like he had grown a second head.
"I do not remember that being in the tournament rules," Maxine commented, Igor nodded in agreement
"It's a new rule, just for this tournament," Albus quickly said, almost like he was saying the first thing that came into this head. "A way to help international relations and understandings"
"I see," Erwin said, not convinced. 'He just wants an excuse to snoop around our HQ.' "Perhaps you should go first tomorrow. Its only right seeing as you are the host school and gives us time to sort out dinner and making sure our facilities are clean"
"That sounds like a good plan," Igor agreed with Maxine nodded
After planning what days they would do tours and dinners, the teachers and student moved back to the castle, boat, and carriage. Sadly, Luna also left, due to having afternoon classes that she didn't want to miss, she was already in trouble for missing the morning ones. Amelia and her men followed Erwin to the scouts' castle. He first led them to his office.
"I assume you have brought us to your office because there are things you want to discuss that couldn't be said in front of Albus and others," Amelia said
"You assume correctly," Erwin said, taking a file out of one of his desk draws. "We've read the rule book and it mention animagus forms are allowed as long as we have the correct paperwork. Miss Lovegood was kind enough to explain what an animagus was, and Eren has a shapeshifting ability that is a little similar"
"I see," Amelia thought for a second. "May we see this ability of his"
"Of course," Erwin walked to the door, carrying the file. "Follow me. We found a room that, according to the letter attached, is similar to a room in Hogwarts called the Room of Requirement"
"I've heard rumours of it," Tonks said, Amelia, Shacklebolt and Moody nodding in agreement.
As they walked Erwin order a nearby scout to request Levi, Hange, Eren, Historia and Ymir presence in the training room. Once there the Aurors jaws dropped when through the door, instead of an indoor training room, like they were expecting, they were outside, a little way from a giant wall. They listened as Erwin explained that it was a realistic simulation of Wall Maria, with Shiganshina just beyond the smashed-up gate.
Once the requested people arrived, Erwin had the Aurors stand with him, Hange and Levi, the teens walked a metres away from them. after getting the order, they watched as the three teens bit their hands. The Aurors turned away as the teens were encased in a bright orb of golden lightning. Once the light died down, they turned back, only to look up at two towering beings with a smaller one gripping one of their shoulders.
Hange went on to explain the abilities of their 'Titan-Shifters'. They left out how one became a shifter, deciding its best not to let that information out. They knew once Eren revealed his ability at the first task, there would be questions about his abilities and people who would want to have that power for themselves. They did not want greedy people doing things wrong and causing an invasion of titans in this world. They waved the Aurors goodbye after giving them the requested blueprints for the Thunderspears, knowing they now had some good strong allies in this world
