I need just one more vote. All three choices are now tied with each other. So just at the very least, one more vote, and then I will be asking who Harry should be fighting in the upcoming arc.
52
Like Harry told Draco it has been a month since he started training, and now he and Natsu are packing up to go home. Harry had finished studying Spells for Wand Magic, Book of Spells, and he made it part way through Secrets of the Darkest Arts. Harry thought back to what he remembered after learning some of the spells from the latter two books.
The bat-Bogey hex was Ginny's favorite spell when she wanted to hex some poor bugger. Harry had laughed when he remembered; Natsu got concerned as to what happened, only to follow him into his giggles after he told the dragon slayer. Then there was the Bird-Conjuring charm. This charm made Harry think back to when he and Draco were fighting and the blond boy summoned a snake. Well, in the book when talking about the conjured birds it mentioned the snake charm as well. Sadly, it did not say what the spell was, but there was good news, Harry heard it said from memory Draco instead.
There was a spell that Harry thought of never using on a person. It doesn't say in the book what would happen to a person if they were hit with it, but if he had to guess he would say that the spell would do the same to the person as it would an object. The spell, or rather curse, turns thing into a pile of dust. It is known as the Reductor curse. This spell helped him remember a room full of children of different ages learning this spell with his help. Why was he doing that?
{There was a war going on. It was in case you needed to make Death Eater powder. I wonder if you would have been able to use that powder as a potion ingredient.} Fawkes had told him when he brought the memory up with him.
There was a charm that Harry found very useful, albeit not for fighting. There was no lake nearby and Harry was started to really stink. While he was reading Book of Spells he found the answer to his problem: the scouring charm. This may have cleaned him, but he believes that it would never beat a real shower. So with that thought, Harry made plans to take a shower the moment he gets back.
The only other memory Harry recovered after reading this book so far was when he read about the unlocking charm. He couldn't help but think of a giant, three headed dog.
Now, onto what he remembered from Secrets of the Darkest Arts. There were only two that made him remember something. Fiendfyre made him think of the fire snake, but this time he remembered seeing who is was that cast it. It was Voldemort. There was even another time where he, Ron, and another were in a room full of junk, when some idiot cast the spell. The caster died by his own uncontrollable flames. The last thing that Harry remembered from reading the book was Horcrux. He remembers that he was one before, but was able to get rid of it by dying. This memory confused him, because he was sure that he's still alive right now, and even Fawkes didn't have an answer.
"You ready to go, Harry?" Harry turned to the owner of the voice to see Natsu with his backpack already strapped onto his person. He nodded, and then lifted his own bag onto his back.
"Let's get out of here so I can finally scrub my whole body in nice hot water," said Harry, making Natsu chuckle in amusement. While making their way out of the rocky range, Harry thought back to his training.
~Flashback~
"So, what are we doing first, Harry? You want to start with that feend fire or whatever it was called?" Natsu asked as he laid his bag down on one of the higher cliffs so it doesn't get burned in the process.
"Fiendfyre, and yes, I think we should start with that since it's going to possibly take the longest to learn and control," answered Harry.
"Alright! Happy, I need you to stand back unless you want your fish cooked," Natsu said with an evil grin.
"Ah!" Happy shouted with a face of horror. "No, not the fish!" He grabs his little, green bag and cradles it like one would a baby. Without saying anything else, Happy flew up into the sky and landed on an even higher ledge.
Harry chuckled, and then turned to Natsu. "I'll have to look at the book again to see if I got the theory right before I attempt to cast the spell." He pulled out the book that talks about Fiendfyre from his backpack.
He opens the book to the right page, but before he could start reading it again Natsu said, "Where's the fun in reading when you could just cast the spell and see what happens?"
Harry didn't bother to look up from the book. "Unless you want it to not work at all or there is too big a flame for even you to consume, then I would suggest letting me read this," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Natsu pouted, but sat down to wait for Harry to finish reading. After familiarizing himself with the dark spell again, Harry stood up, catching Natsu's attention.
"Are you going to cast it now?" Natsu asked with anticipation.
"Yes. Hopefully this won't be too bad," said Harry. {Fawkes, any advice you can give me on controlling these flames?}
{My advice is to show those flames whose boss,} replied Fawkes.
Harry took a deep breath. He lifted his wand and pointed more toward the lowest part of the pit below them. He didn't have to do any fancy wand waving; all he had to do was say the spell. "Fiendfyre!" Fire shot out of the tip of Harry's wand, not taking on a form at first, but within seconds the fire turned into that of a snake, a cobra to be exact.
The snake hissed in anger, trying to destroy everything within reach. It was, for the most part, succeeding. The rocks closest to the cursed flames are melting into molten lava.
"I see now why you wanted to go somewhere void of all life," said Natsu impressed by the flame's power.
Harry ignored him in favor of trying to get the flaming cobra under his control. The snake must have felt someone trying to put it on a leash, because it turned to face them. It glared heatedly – no pun intended – and then attacked them.
Natsu stood in front of Harry and started to eat the flames; however, the snake was putting up a bit of a fight. After a few moments, the snake gave up trying to destroy everything and fizzled out so as to not be eaten by a human.
Natsu was a little disappointed when the snake left. He had a small taste of the cursed flames, and they were good with a bit of a sharp, spicy punch to it.
{You weren't showing who the boss was, Harry,} Harry heard Fawkes say, but decided to ignore him.
Harry, Fawkes, Natsu, and Happy looked down at where the fire cobra once stood and saw orange glows from the melted rocks along with black burn marks from where the earth had cooled off.
"Harry, that fire snake was awesome!" Natsu said excitedly.
Harry was able to catch his breath after panting from his effort on trying to control the flames so he could reply to his friend, "I think we should take a break. After that I'm going to work on some of the other spells, and then we'll try that again."
Natsu was dissatisfied, but didn't protest. So that's what they did for the next few hours.
"Incendio," Harry said while pointing to a pile of sticks he collected. Now with the pile lit, he looked back down into Book of Spells. Pointing his wand again, he cast, "Engorgio." The flame got bigger by a lot. He quickly looked at the counter-spell. "Reducio!" The flames went back to its normal size.
With a sigh, Harry cast once more. "Aguamenti…" Water came out of the wand and onto the fire, putting it out.
Well, there seems to be a spell that does something like the Reductor curse. Where this spell would turn objects into dust, and Harry not knowing if it would do the same for people, he found a spell that would definitely turn people into dust – or rather destroy them completely.
Harry found the Disintegration curse within Secrets of the Darkest Arts. If you hit someone with this curse, they will die, it's just that simple.
'Now what to try it out on… I can't use a person,' thought Harry.
He already learned the Reductor curse, so this one shouldn't be much different. He decided to use another rock for practice. He cast the spell, but nothing happened. He tried again, and this time red light shot out and slammed into the rock, completely destroying it. He looked back to the rock that he used the Reductor curse on, only to see a pile of fine powder. The Disintegration curse lives up to its name greatly. There is nothing left of the rock.
Harry was reading a spell that is considered to be one of three unforgivables. The spell in of itself doesn't sound too bad – nothing like the Disintegration curse – but Harry didn't want to use it on his friends without their permission first.
Movement caught his attention from the corner of his eye. He looked down and saw a small, brown lizard. 'Well, that might work,' thought Harry.
He pointed his wand at the lizard. "Imperio…" he cast the spell on the little reptile. The animal froze, and didn't move an inch. Harry ordered it to run in circles, which it did a second later. He gave it a few more commands, and all of them have been followed. He lifted the curse and let the little guy run off again. This was the only unforgivable that Harry decided to learn for now.
"You're going to try Fiendfyre again?" Natsu asked.
Harry nodded, "Yes, I'm going to try again."
"You must be determent to get this right, because it has almost been a full month now."
"I'm aware of that. I'm going to try something different from what Fawkes told me to."
"And what's that?"
"Instead of showing who the boss is I'm going to befriend it."
{"WHAAAAAAAT?!"} Fawkes, Happy, and Natsu all shouted in disbelief.
~Flashback end~
"Harry, snap out of it! We're here!" Harry was startled out of his musing by Natsu's loud exclamation. The first thing he noticed was that it was dark out; the other thing he noticed is that he was a foot away from Magnolia.
Harry sighed in relief. "Finally, that means I can take a shower as well as sleep on a nice, soft bed," he said as he started walking again.
They walked for a few minutes before Natsu had to part ways to get to his place. "I'll see you tomorrow!" he said and ran off with Happy close behind, but they didn't go the way toward their house…
{They're going to crash at Lucy's again,} both Harry and Fawkes thought at the same time.
It didn't take much longer for Harry to get back home. When he got there, Fawkes glided for his perch, and Harry got ready for a shower.
"Well, you weren't kidding when you said you'd be gone for a month," Draco's portrait said.
"Yes, but right now I need a shower and then some sleep. So if you want to talk, wait till tomorrow when I'm more awake," said Harry tiredly.
He left the room with his PJs, walked into the bathroom, took his hot, soothing shower, got out to dry off, and then go back to his room while wearing his PJs so he can face-plant into his bed and go to sleep the moment he walks in.
The next morning, Harry woke to the sound of Fawkes singing quietly. If he listened closely, he could hear birds also singing with him. Harry got out of bed with a yawn and rubbing at his eyes to remove the sleep from them.
"Morning…" he said to his familiar. He heard the door to his room open, and there in the doorway are Castor, Romeo, and Macao. "Morning Cas, Romeo, Macao."
"Harry, when did you get back?" Castor asked.
Harry yawned again. "I got back late last night," he replied. "I was just about to come get you."
"Well, glad you're back, but there is a problem," Macao said, making Harry worried. At seeing Harry's worried look, he continued, "The master has a mission for you, Natsu, and the others of your team. We came here to see if you made it back yet or not."
"A mission? I just got back," Harry complained. "How long would it take?"
Macao shrugged his shoulders. "It will take you a few days to get there, I think. The mission itself might take less."
Harry sighed, "How important is it?"
"It's one of the three top Dark Guilds known as the Balam alliance, if that helps any."
"Which one?"
"Oracion Seis…" Harry's eyes widened just a tad bit, but at last it wasn't either of the other two. He heard that they were worse and had more members.
{That might just tell you something, Harry. If their numbers are small, then that just says how strong each of them are,} Fawkes said.
{I understand that, Fawkes. We'll just see how this plays out, but I wish that it wasn't one of the three, because if it wasn't I would have been able to decline.} Harry turns to the three humans in the room. "Alright, let me get ready and I'll get something to eat while listening to what the Master needs to tell us."
The three mages nodded and left the room. Harry got up and got dressed. Once he finished getting ready, he left the apartment with his son, his son's friend, and his son's friend's father. They made it to the guild just as Natsu did. They all go in, and Macao called out, "Master, I found them!"
"Ah, I see you four made it back safely. Tell me, how did training go?" Makarov asked.
Harry and Natsu grinned. "It went well," Harry said. "I'd say that I have gotten a lot stronger since the last time you saw me." He ordered some food right after he finished speaking.
Makarov grinned in return. "That's great news! I'm guessing that Macao told you what I wanted to talk to you about?" he asked. Harry nodded, but Natsu looked lost. So for the dragon slayer's sake, Makarov said what he needed to tell them anyway. "Natsu, you, Happy, Harry, and Fawkes will be going with Erza, Lucy, and Gray to meet up with three other guilds. The four guilds are making an alliance. You're all going to be fighting a dark guild, but they are not like the ones you have fought before. The dark guild you will be fighting is Oracion Seis, one of the Balam Alliance."
"We'll be fighting one of the top three Dark Guilds?" Natsu asked excitedly just as Harry's food arrived.
"Yes, but you all should be careful. I already told your other three teammates about the mission so they will fill you all in on the details. You're mission is to defeat them and hand them other to the newly formed Magic Council. Can I count on you to help with this?" Makarov questioned.
Harry nodded, "Yes, you can. I just wish I had more time to spend with Cas, but I see that this is very important." He turns to his son and says, "I'll make this up to you. Think of what you want and/or where you want to go and I'll do it once I get back and rest for a day, okay?"
Castor nodded, but there is a firm look in his grey eyes. "Just make sure you come back in one piece," he said.
Harry smiled warmly. "I will…" he said."Just make sure that whatever it is you think of for when I get back it won't cost too much money. I still have yet to see if I can convert these coins into Jewels." He held up a galleon for Castor to see.
His son nods his head in understanding. Castor didn't move for a moment or even say a word, but then he launched at Harry with his arms out. Harry caught him and hugged back. He can tell that his son is worried just by how tightly the kid is hugging him. He rubs soothing circles along his back and whispers sweet words into his ear.
Castor pulls away while wiping at his eyes. He threw a hard glare at Harry before saying, "Come back to us safely… got that?" he demanded, and Harry nodded in understanding.
"I swear to return to you, Castor," Harry said, and then got back up. He turned to Macao and asked, "Can you watch him a little longer?" Macao nodded with a fatherly smile on his face. "Thank you, Macao; you're the best." Harry then turns to Natsu. He sees that Lucy, Erza, and Gray are with him and Happy already. "I guess we should be going?"
"Alright Team Zeal! Let's move out!" said Erza powerfully.
"AYE SIR!" Happy and Natsu shouted while the others just cheered for the upcoming challenge.
TBC
Harry has remembered a lot in this chapter. If I had repeated a memory from before please let me know. Thank you! ^-^ I also hope you like the little flashback for Harry's training. Next chapter is the real start of the next arc as I'm sure you have already noticed.
Two more things I need to say before letting the others come in. 1: I thought that maybe the Disintegration Curse may have been the Reductor curse, but I decided to make it its own spell. 2: Yes, Harry has befriended the Fiendfyre. I'm not going to tell you how yet, because you'll start to figure it out when Harry meets Cobra in this arc.
Voldy: Wait…he still doesn't have –
Enj/Dark: *removes Voldemort's mouth so he can't say anything* I'm not going to allow you to finish that line. I'm also not going to confirm or deny your suspicions.
Natsu: What was he just about to say? :(
Zeref: I guess we'll just have to find out when we meet this Cobra guy.
Harry: I think I know what she's talking about, but I have no idea how it's possible if it is indeed what I'm thinking.
Enj/Dark: I have an explanation already set. It was something I always believed in, so I don't even need to write it down to try and remember it. Anyway, Voldemort, here's your mouth back.
Voldy: I hate how you have so much control in this world. *glare*
Zeref: Harry, it's your turn.
Harry: Please review!