Giovani Manor

Harry | Morrigan

Harry rushed towards the heavy din of the machine gun fire raging in the hallway ahead. The entire manor was now in a dilapidated state with pieces of roof falling. A flaming roof beam almost landed on him, but Harry deflected it at the last moment by casting the levitation charm on it. The moment was enough to get him on his knees to evaluate the situation before rushing in without taking heed. Harry took cover behind a coffee table and peeked from the side to gauge the "battlefield."

The same robot was present wearing a different face this time around. Parts of its skin and flesh had melted away to reveal hardened metallic bone and mechanical structures underneath. With unnerving accuracy, it continued to fire at the energy shield Harry assumed belonged to Morrigan. The sheer volume of the robot's attack ensured that Morrigan was essentially trapped behind her cover. If she let it down even for a moment to fire back, the robot would shred her to pieces. A large python crawled out from underneath a sofa near the shield and quickly made it towards the robot. Without breaking its rate of fire, the robot raised its foot and brought it down on the snake.

THUD!

The sound of flesh being crushed dully went off in the room. Harry spied on a small crater on the marble floor where the robot had bought its foot. Clearly, Morrigan's distraction gambit had failed. A brief shiver of fear ran through him at its awesome might before Harry swallowed hard. He placed his bracelet back on and felt the magic run over his skin as he became invisible. Harry crouched and quietly made his way toward the robot side. A whirling mechanical sound echoed as the robot's bright neon eyes locked directly with Harry's.

"FUCK! IT MADE ME!" Harry roared in panic as the robot reached towards its leg and began to pull out its sidearm.

The machine gun's weight would ensure the robot couldn't turn that monstrosity over to him on time. With dulled but still present seeker reflexes, Harry aimed his wand at the robot and poured everything he had into the spell,

"DEPULSO!" Harry shouted as a bright purple light erupted from his wand and struck the robot. The robot was thrown back into the manor walls, it broke them and continued falling through the various rooms. Harry grits his teeth in agony as a dull throbbing headache threatens to overtake him and he feels something trickle down his nose. Powering his way through the pain he makes his way over to Morrigan's shield cover. With hazy eyes, Harry briefly struggled with his satchel, pulled out a blue vial, and gulped it in one go. The headache receded slightly till Harry's surroundings were no longer blurred. Morrigan knelt beside him on her hands and knees with sweat pouring down her face. She turned to face her savior and owlishly blinked as she acknowledged Harry.

"y-You came back?" She asked.

"Yeah, well somebody has to ensure you aren't trouble." Harry grinned at her but immediately regretted it as another pain flare went off in him. Morrigan snorted at his response.

"I can't help but get into trouble with your friends attacking me all over, Harry," Morrigan said as she too helped herself to the last potion vial in his satchel. "With friends like you, who needs enemies? Still, you saved me. I guess that is something."

This time Harry couldn't help snort at her words. The two sat with their backs to a heavy mahogany table that Morrigan had initially used for cover. The two briefly sat in silence as the potion went to work on their exhausted bodies. They had been fighting for hours without a break. Lesser witches and wizards had broken doing much less.

"I don't have anything in me anymore. We need to get out of here like right now." Harry grunted.

"True enough," Morrigan said and peered above the cover. "He's a tough bastard. It eats most spells without any damage that would have crippled any flesh creature. Blood boilers, bone breakers, or other curses don't work on it."

A whirring sounded in the hallway and Morrigan nodded at him. It was nearly time for round two.

"We could try to escape. Go invisible and go around it." Harry suggested.

"You tried that. How did it go?" Morrigan said. "It won't work. That thing can somehow see through invisibility. My guess? It has too sharp a sense. It can pick up body heat, scent, and footsteps sound."

She flexed her wand arm and looked much recovered from the earlier fight while Harry struggled to barely stay upright.

"It will take too long to make a spell that covers all these. Time is something we don't have." Morrigan said. "We have no other option. We will have to fight it."

"The others are too busy fighting vampires in the dungeons. They won't be able to help." Harry said.

"Sod them," Morrigan said. "Now be quiet and relax. Let me work this."

Morrigan started waving her wand in intricate motions and chanted spells that transfigured or charmed nearby objects for battle. A ceremonial knight armor came to life and took up a defensive stance near them. Various pieces of wood and other shrapnel came to life and levitated into the air. Morrigan transfigured them all into cannon balls and then took their position higher into the air and surrounded the room. She discreetly got from the cover and aimed at the wall closest to where the robot had fallen through. A glowing rune came to life near it and then vanished.

"Let the bastard come." Morrigan savagely grinned. "He now fights on our terms."

Harry nodded at her and hoped her preparation would be enough to kill the thing or at the very least stop it. His thoughts stopped short as two metal containers were flung from the hole in the wall and landed near them. Harry's eyes widened in terror as he recognized the sickly green glowing containers.

"Morrigan! TAKE COV-" Harry was cut short as the containers blew up and rapidly started to envelop the hall in coppery smoke.

"What the hell?" Morrigan yelled but Harry didn't relent and rapidly ran away from the smoke. A whirring flame erupted from the earlier and Morrigan saw it engulf a humanoid figure, but it continued marching onward. She sent a mental note and the cannon balls raced towards the hulking brute two struck their mark and the enflamed wretch fell on one knee. But just as it knelt, it instantly leaped back into the air, pulled out its weapons, and shot the rest of them in the air. Morrigan blinked and raised her wand to fire back, but the coppery smoke touched her despite Harry's best efforts to drag her away from it. She called on her magic and made to fire another valley at it, but instantly her brain went haywire and Morrigan tasted blood on her tongue. With a herculean effort, Harry tossed the taller girl through the window before the smoke could fully engulf her.

Morrigan fell on the outer lawn and saw the machine approach Harry. The coppery smoke had messed with her brain and prevented her from focusing on spellcasting. She made a mental note to investigate this potent weapon later.

"RUN!" Harry yelled at her, startling Morrigan. "Run now damnit!"

"I am not done here!" Morrigan shouted back and got up from the ground.

"You can't use magic anymore. Not for a while!" Harry shouted back. "Run damnit! You can't help if you are fucking dead! I will hold him off! RUN!"

Morrigan grimly nodded in acceptance. Morrigan pulled out the gauntlet she had stolen earlier from the Texan tossed it to Harry in hopes of giving him a fighting chance and rapidly backed away from the window. Harry quickly put on the gauntlet and swirled on his feet to punch the robot nearly behind him. Morrigan watched with widened eyes as its effort dodged Harry's strikes and unleashed a barrage on him. Within 12 seconds, the machine struck 100 times all over Harry's body. Titanium fists struck calcium bones at inhuman speeds, breaking everything, they came into contact with. Yet the machine didn't finish off Harry. Even the mechanical mind of the machine knew the matters of flesh and blood. The machine knew it only had mere "help" in its grasp.

It looked directly at Morrigan. One alpha predator eyeing the other.

It grabbed Harry by the throat lifted it into the air and made a come-hither motion to Morrigan with its silvery hand. Morrigan watched from afar with pursed lips and venomous anger coursing through her veins. That thing had dared challenge her?! People had reduced to naught but humiliation and loss for doing far less to her. She glanced up at Harry's bloody and battered face again to check up on him.

Go. He mouthed to Morrigan through his injuries, and she didn't need to be told again.

The robot watched her flee and suddenly disappear. Its algorithms assessed the surroundings, and it ordered the hardware to switch from heightened combat alert to heightened alert. The hardware let out steam hisses as the damage to itself was assessed. Liquid coolant flowed on overheated nervous connections and processors. Nanites scuttled over muscle fibers blissfully healing the wear and tears. Overall, the damage sustained was minimal. The repressed human mammalian brain couldn't help but cheer at the assessment. It had easily triumphed over perhaps what the best of mages could offer. A notification blip that had been going off on alerts for the last six months came into his view. It was annoying even by the robot's mechanical standards. Still, it viewed it now that the coast was clear.

Blood type matches 100%. Harry James Potter. Alpha Target Identity confirmed.

The machine's processes came to a grinding halt as all the bandwidth was put on testing the authenticity of this statement. In under two seconds, the robot ran multiple scans of its software to check for viruses or defects. They came back negative. It ran 50 tests to check the blood on its hands. It liberally punched the boy multiple times to acquire fresh samples. All the new results vindicated the initial notification. It had him. It had finally found Harry Potter. The torn flesh of the machine still visible around the mouth curved upwards in an echo of a human smile.

Mission accomplished.

It cuffed the alpha target and flung him over its shoulders. It had work to do.

Gallow's Humor

An arc of current and a flash of red went across his eyes as Harry's muscles tensed unbearably under their unintended role of being an earthing conduct. He didn't scream though. He wouldn't give the machine the satisfaction of hearing it scream. He grits whatever teeth he has remaining and digs hard. A few unbidden tears escaped his eyes, but they joined in the sweat of his body. He wasn't worried about crying openly. A lever is pulled up and the merciless currents relent in torturing him further. He hung in the air with both arms tied above him by metal chains. His feet barely touched the ground forcing him to constantly rebalance himself and placing further strains on his shoulder joints. Harry gasped out in relief as the torture relented.

"The Union has been most interested in your activities, Mr. Potter. You are a remarkable specimen from a species of cowards and demon worshippers." The robot said. "Unfortunately, for you, this is the end of the line. Your people's last-ditch attempt to scuttle our rise has been eliminated. It is as it was foreseen and as it was meant to be."

The room was extremely hot and humid. The machine looked unconcerned but fleshy mortals had to endure it. The machine peered down at his swollen bloody face.

"As you lay broken and dying, do know this was a survival of the fittest. At its most basic state, biology is war. Just like the Neanderthal and others met their end at their hands. So too your species has and once again meet their ends at our hands." The Robot said. "Our victory is a testament to the superiority of science over the Maleficarum."

Harry remained silent. The shame and self-loathing that burned him was far greater than any heat or the impact of the abdominal intelligence's words.

"Speak." The robot commanded but no words came from his mouth. The robot grabbed his hair a first and forced him to look up at it. Hair was torn from its roots in the robot's grip and Harry yelled in pain. "I order you to speak, wretch."

"what" Harry gasped but was unable to finish it. The robot viciously swung his head by his hair and vigorously shook it. With pain flaring, the adrenaline flowed through him again.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT NOW? YOU WANTED ME NOW? YOU HAVE ME!" Harry yelled at the robot. "JUST KILL ME ALREADY!"

If the machine could have smiled, it would have.

"As tempting as it would be to complete the mission. We still have ways to go, Mr. Potter." The robot said. It threw away Harry and he swung from his chains.

"You decide the level of your treatment here, Mr. Potter." It spoke. "I expect you to think carefully and detail everything you have told of the Union to your friends."

Harry opened his mouth to respond but he saw the robot raise his hand to his ear. Someone was talking to him. The robot came and unchained Harry and dragged him to a makeshift jail cell.

"I will be back. I will recommend that you use this time to decide how you will be treated upon my return." It said and walked away, leaving Harry to stew further in wounds.

He lay there for who knows how long. He grasped as an older pair of hands dragged him over the bloodied floor and lay him against the opposing wall. Harry weakly protested the treatment, but the man easily overpowered his feeble attempts to resist.

"Calm down, son. You are hurt." He said and Harry dropped his hands. He glanced up at the stranger and let out a sharp gasp. He didn't know that ghosts could interact with the physical. Harry whined as he dug his legs in and tried to get back.

"D-dad?!" Harry whispered in astonishment from the corner of his cell. The man chuckled in response as he wiped the blood stains from Harry.

"You are hallucinating kid. My bloodline doesn't have blondes in it." The man said and forced Harry to sit up.

"w-Wh-Who are y-you?" Harry asked the man.

"Henri Potter. At your service." The man introduced himself with a faux head bow. Henri raised a concerned eyebrow as Harry started to laugh uncontrollably.

"Boy the thing hit you hard, but I never knew it scrambled your brains," Henri said but Harry didn't respond. He kept on laughing uncontrollably as tears once again streamed down his face. Henri worriedly moved his hand towards Harry's forehead.

"You are burning up, kid," he said and snapped his fingers in front of Harry. "Snap out of it! You are hallucinating."

"All the time. All the time." Harry managed to get out. "I once again get to die with a Potter."

"Die again with a Potter?" Henri questioned. "Who are you?"

"H-Harry" Harry wheezed unable to control his laughter long enough to give Henri his last name.

"Harry," Henri whispered to himself, and his eyes widened as he realized the thing's incessant obsession with someone similar.

"Bloody hell!" Henri yelled. "You are Harry Potter?!"

Harry's laughter only grew louder at Henri's declaration as a beleaguered Henri walked away him from like he was stung. He desperately paced the cell as his mind tried to figure out a way how the hell this was possible. Unfortunately for him, the only answer he received was the madman's laughter. Henri let out a few panic breaths to stabilize himself. He walked over to Harry and vigorously shook him by the shoulders to gain his attention. Harry didn't stop laughing. Henri cocked his fist and punched him squarely in the face. This got him to shut up albeit a few chuckles still escaped him.

"Look at me, Harry." Henri sternly said and stared directly into his eyes. "Tell me what you know."

A Family Reunion

Henri stared in shock at the man – no not a man but a boy, old enough to be his younger son. Or perhaps a younger grandson a few decades into the future. The old grandma Potter, Hecate rest that hag's soul, had always told Henri to be careful with what he wished for. Dumbledore often repeated that same mantra. Henri knew deep down there was a reason for his suffering. Perhaps if he bore that with a stoic resolve instead of complaining about it, he wouldn't have known the truth. The horrifying encompassing truth of what was truly out there. The air was thick with a suffocating sense of foreboding, a palpable aura of impending doom that encased him like a shroud, ensnaring his every thought in a web of paralyzing terror. Glancing at his cellmate, the young man whose whispered revelations had shattered his world, Henri's gaze burned with a concoction of pity and hatred. The truth, once revealed, could never be unlearned.

He had been ready to bash the kid's brains in. The more cynical side of him believed that this all was a devious ploy designed by the kid. The machine, the kidnapping, the torture, and more- all of it had been designed by him to include himself in the Potter family's fortunes. The kid had shattered that illusion with one single fact.

"As far as tall tales are concerned. This is the tallest I have ever heard." Henri said. "My Texan is off, but I believe that a metaphor for dragon dung being sprouted by a wizard."

"You don't believe me?" Harry quietly said.

"I think this is an elaborate scheme. You want to be included in the Potter will. Not the first time something like this has happened to a noble family. Fake heirs were all the rage a decade ago." Henri said.

"Then don't include me in it," Harry said. "The robot, that's what it is, by the way, will be back to kill us anytime now. What good will your will do then?"

"Prove to me. Prove that you are a Potter." Henri said.

"The invisibility cloak. I know what it is. It's a cloak that doesn't decay, unlike normal cloaks. It affords perfect invisibility to a wizard. Sight, sound, and scent – it hides everything. That's how Charlus gets around Hogwarts with his secret dates." Harry said. "My research into our family, although it was very limited, told me it had something to do with the Peverells."

He knew about the cloak. He knew about the damned cloak. Although his knowledge about the practical usage was immaculate, the kid had zero idea about its truth. Still, he shook his head in amazement at this. The cloak was a family secret passed over the centuries. Its existence was protected by family jinxes, oaths, and blood bonds. It was nigh impossible to break those, especially for a Hogwarts 5th-year student. The crux was when the boy had let down his metamorphic abilities and shown his true face. He looked like the spitting image of Charlus if he was skinnier and shorter. The boy was a Potter through and through.

"You should have come straight to me," Henri commented now that they had calmed down.

"Why?" Harry said.

"Fuck, kid, I don't know. Maybe it's because you are my grandson? You are our responsibility?" Henri said.

"Great-grandson." Harry corrected and Henri dismissed him with a frustrated gesture.

"So, after all this time, we called Grindelwald a madman and dismissed him – he was right?" Henri said.

"Yes," Harry said.

"So why aren't we aligning forces with him as we speak? We should end the right now and attack the muggles while they are distracted." Henri exclaimed.

"You and I both know that won't work." Harry quietly said.

"Explain," Henri ordered and a brief flicker of annoyance crossed Harry's eyes, but he acquiesced.

"The Muggles became aware of us because of Grindelwald's destructive tendencies. The sheer body count he racked up made him attack us." Harry said. "I did consider enlisting in his legions you know. If it comes to a fight, I would rather much back our people all the way."

"I am sensing there is a "but" in there somewhere," Henri said.

"Slavers? Purebloods dining in high places while Muggleborns die by the droves in his trenches? Dark magic? You and I have read his manifesto. A partnership between us would have "first" amongst equals." Harry said. "If we can end Grindelwald before he can trigger the greater war, a lot of innocent muggle and magical lives can be saved. We don't need to fight a useless existential war that will benefit no one."

A brief vision of Grindelwald's breeding facilities crossed Henri's mind, but he suppressed it.

"I suppose." Henri acknowledged Harry's point. "I have seen some of his facilities. The madman will not stop at anything but total victory."

"There is also a muggle superweapon that is being in development. A bomb I read about in a history class in muggle school that surpasses the destructive capacity of any muggle weapon ever invented. I believe they will call it the atom bomb." Harry said.

"Oh damn- wait! Why were you in a muggle school?!" Henri said and Harry fixed him with a pointed look.

"No comment," Harry said and Henri slapped the wall behind him in frustration.

Henri turned to Harry. "So, what is it you intend to do about Grindelwald?"

Harry turned away in embarrassment leaving Henri to sigh in frustration once again.

"You have no plan. You have no allies, wealth, or power – and you intended to change the course of it all, not just Britain – how exactly?" Henri said and he once again angrily paced about his cell. "I mean do you even know the sheer inertia of what you are up against, Harry?!"

Because Morrigan Riddle is a wildcard here on whose shoulder I intend to burn it all down. Harry thought. But no need to let Henri know about such things. He didn't need to know Lord Lady Voldemort lest his buddies start another crusade against a girl who had yet to do anything wrong. If there is to be a war, let there be war; The war will be fought on terms dictated by him. Morrigan might have her ambitions of conquering the world and that was fine and dandy. But the cassus belli will be dictated by him alongside the post war order. Harry never had any delusions of being able to beat Voldemort in his original timeline. The gap between their sheer skill, intellect, and tenacity was too wide. Voldemort walked boldly in dark places of the world where an entire battalion of Aurors dared not walk. If Ollivander was to be believed, he did things that no wizard had ever done before. His greatness was a rising sun to Dumbledore's eclipse, cut short by Lily Potter's strange arcane magic. However, Voldemort had proven impervious to death itself. Harry had always assumed Dumbledore had a scheme somewhere that would allow him to deliver the death blow to Voldemort. Anyone who expected him to wage a war against Voldemort akin to Zeus battling it out against Typhoon on Mount Olympus was delusional.

And this all happened before Harry had a fully developed and highly conductive magical core. Now with the core gone, Harry had next to zero chance of winning this thing with his sheer wand work alone. If Morrigan had half the gumption of his Riddle- she would easily rise to become the most powerful mage in the world, second only to Dumbledore. This is the secret weapon that must be leveraged against Grindelwald, Muggles, or even Dumbledore if necessary. A secret hand, a power behind the throne to tame the wild feminine and the unrelenting dragon that was Morrigan Riddle. Tame all the dragon and unleash it on the right foes at the right time. If Hermione's foray into history with Lupin's fireside chats were to be believed, the Voldemort of his time had been led astray by the entrenched establishment and power blocs amongst the Death Eaters. Their unprofessionalism is something that the Order had capitalized on to maneuver the Death Eaters into failure. The Order and the Aurors did outnumber the death eaters 2 to 1 after all. That would no longer happen. The madmen of his time, Bellatrix Lestrange or Rookwood would be leashed and slippery opportunists like Malfoy would be under a microscope 24/7. Morrigan of his time had already shown a willingness to go against the established feudal elite aka Redwoods, if the right alliances were made, the Death Eaters could be leveraged for far more productive purposes.

"Hey!" Henri snapped his fingers in front of Harry, "Hey!"

Harry focuses and returns from his musings to find an angry Henri desperately trying to bring him back to the real world.

"W-what?" Harry said and Henri glared at him causing Harry to sigh as he remembered his earlier question.

"Look, in my time there were powerful forces – world-changing forces that are still young here. If strategic alliances were made with them in their infancy, that would go a LONG way in helping us. In my time these forces fought a civil war against each other causing much destruction to Muggleborn political forces and Pureblood families. Heck, the Redwoods and dime a dozen other families that exist here, were never there in my time." Harry said. "What you can do right now is convince others in your circle to invest in our world. More aurors, more training to muggleborns, stronger institutions, better research & development, and fewer nepotist hires."

"Grindelwald?" Henri asked.

"Will eventually be defeated by Dumbledore just like in my time. I am not too worried about him if I say so myself." Harry said.

"He did?! Hot damn!" Henri exclaimed. "Who would have thought the old man would finally grow such balls."

"Yeah…" Harry muttered not exactly following Henri's line of thought.

"There is just one flaw in your master plan, Harry." Henri said.

"Oh?"

"We are locked up in a prison by a lunatic who is coming back to kill us! How do we get back out to make these plans come to reality!" Henri said.

Harry didn't respond but looked out of the bars of their cell. He had made a gamble. A "friend" outside, if she ever considered herself that, should be making efforts for a rescue attempt. An ultimate test to see if his overtures to Morrigan have or will bear fruit in the future. Despite the circumstances, Harry's subconscious sent only peaceful vibes to him, as if everything would be ok – Morrigan would find him. The alternative was too horrifying to think about.

Santa Monica Beach house

Morrigan Riddle

Morrigan cursed the size of American states for the three hundredth time this day. If it was Britain, her scrying efforts would have yielded more results. The sheer size, scope, and population density of muggles and magical made for poor search efforts. To exacerbate the situation, she had neither a scrying mirror nor a vase. Thus, she had to do with a muggle one that had little to no sensitivity for detecting magical signatures or waves. Finding Harry had become like finding a needle in a haystack. She sighed as she placed her feet at the desk to relax for a moment. The rustling sound told her the papers had fallen. She glanced below at them only to snort in annoyance.

Arithmancy had proven useless. Any attempt to scry or divine his coordinates had resulted in the most maddening of numbers that had no meaning. All the numbers came back in their 3s. A powerful symbol of chaos and madness. Hours passed, the room enveloped in an eerie silence, broken only by the occasional rustle of parchments and the soft murmurs of incantations. Exhaustion began to weigh heavily on her, her eyelids drooping as she fought to stay awake, her mind clouded with the unrelenting frustration of her fruitless search. With a wearied sigh, she slumped forward onto her desk, her body giving in to the relentless pull of sleep.

As the minutes ticked by, a sudden jolt of awakening shot through Morrigan's body, her senses heightened by an inexplicable feeling of urgency. With a start, she pushed herself upright, her eyes widening as a strange compulsion drew her gaze toward the ornate mirror that adorned the far corner of the room. Morrigan pulled out her wand and cast a few detection spells, but nothing came out. She gave her wand a few swishes that resulted in nothing. No sparks or magical build-up came forth. Icy cold panic gripped her heart and bile rose up in her throat as Morrigan desperately tried to control herself. Her heart raced uncontrollably as she stumbled across the desk and almost had her mirror fall on her.

Focus. Focus. Focus. Focus. Focus. Focus. Focus. Focus. Focus. Morrigan chanted to herself as her darkest fear had come to life. Magic had abandoned her. That had to be it. That is why she couldn't find Harry. That's why that Muggle filth had chased her off. Dumbledore would probably cry with glee as they threw her out of Hogwarts and back with Muggles. The orphanage would probably boot her out to the streets too since she was too old anyway. She felt a coppery, metallic tang on her tongue and a wave of cough overtook her. She spat at the blood on the ground below to prevent nausea from overtaking her. Morrigan stumbled back from the bloodstains, horrified at the sight of her own mortality. She averted her gaze from the hideous sight and gasped out in horror as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

Her breath caught in her throat as she approached the mirror, her reflection staring back at her with an unsettling intensity. Yet, subtle differences marred the familiar image, casting an eerie aura that sent shivers down her spine. The reflection's eyes glowed a fiery, angry red, its skin a sickly, cracked shade of gray that seemed to ooze darkness. It was as if a corpse had been possessed by a demon from muggle hell.

The reflection's lips curled into a menacing smile, its voice a haunting echo of her own. "Why the long face, my love?"

"I- I – I hav-e problems." She stuttered, unable to keep her fear in check. Her occlumency had been blown to the wind. "M-y magic's - "

The reflection nodded in understanding; her expression was one of paternal understanding.

"Yes, my love?" The other Morrigan said. "Your magic is gone?"

Morrigan nodded yes.

"Come now, my love, you and I both know that is impossible. Our brain is far too developed to fall prey to such superstitions, unlike these fools that we call muggles." The other Morrigan said grinning. Her teeth were sharp with fangs upfront and dark as coal. Morrigan violently shuddered at the sight.

"My love, why don't you tell me what's really long? Why the long face?" The other said.

"I am not strong enough," Morrigan mumbled, trying to hold back tears. "What if I can't find Harry? What if I am not strong enough to defeat the muggle? What if all my allies deserted me? What if they find out the truth."

At those last words, a few treacherous tears did fall and Morrigan was unable to control a sob from escaping her. She could hear the other Morrigan tutting at her.

"My love, we both know you can easily handle him now that you know his techniques, that infernal smoke of his. The muggle is irrelevant. You are at the top of the food chain, my love. A dragon to their petty little snakes. So, tell me love, what ails you?" The other said in a sickeningly sweet voice. "Tell me, love, when we were alone in that dark timeout room, the things they did to us – I got us through that, didn't I? When little Dennis Bishop and Amy Benson sought to take liberties where they ought not to – who was it that horrified their tiny little souls into silence? I have always been here, haven't I?"

"Yes," Morrigan acknowledged.

"And when that bitch Myrtle dared poke her nose. Who was it that silenced her and fooled Dumbledore?"

"So, love, why don't you tell the real reason you are afraid?" The other said. Morrigan didn't reply but looked away and wiped her tears.

"SAY IT!" The other roared at Morrigan.

"i-i-I I want them to love me." Morrigan choked. "I want them to be my friend."

"DING DING DING! AND THE MILLION GALLEON GOES TO MORRIGAN RIDDLE!" The other exclaimed and Morrigan openly wept now.

"A slimy disgusting part of you still craves those inbred freaks' willing loyalty. You want all of them to forget to open your little half-blood lineage. Don't poke too deeply into our whore of a mother and sit in their cozy manors drinking wine and eating cheese. Just letting the ages pass by while Muggles reach the stars." The other spat out. "You forget the cardinal lesson of the universe, my love, might make right."

"After everything we have done, you are still a little girl waiting for a knight in shining armor or a mooomyyy or a fucking daddy to come up and save you from the dark – never mind the fact we are dark!" The other said.

She forced Morrigan to step up forward directly forcing her to look at the eldritch abomination.

"At the end of the day, my dear, all these petty little words, legislations, and those cozy wizengamots are just those, words. Winds in the air. Worthless. You are a half-blood. Yet they will bend the knee to you all the same. If they don't, we will shatter their spines till they can't do anything but kneel!" The other yelled while Morrigan sobbed.

"Power is power. Those who hold that will make even tigers follow them like sheep." The other spat out. "Love, romance, friendship – all those bullshit distractions. A flaw I intend to correct my dear. I will rip that out of you with a surgical precision." She held up Morrigan and looked at the satchel that contained her prize, Magic Most Evile. "Oh yes, my love, we will render you pure and turn you into a God that you were meant to be – like Zeus of old."

"h-h Harry?" Morrigan stuttered.

"Oh, don't get me started on that twink of yours." The other spat out and sighed. "I suppose even Gods will need their concubines every now and then."

"Siiiigh. Focus your arithmancy on yourself. I can't believe you haven't figured out the truth of it by now." The other said. "Cast your runes and they will sing. Go. Get your twink."

Morrigan eagerly nodded and made to leave,

"And remember" The other called and Morrigan turned to listen. "Have fun with him. But do not let him outlive his usefulness. He too will betray you like all others. Temper your "allies". You are their mistress; failure is abhorrent to you."

Morrigan nodded in affirmation. With newfound steel in her soul, she left the building to claim her prize.

Cautionary Recon.

The robot stepped out and warily scanned its surroundings. Its sensors had picked up a disturbance a while back. Rokko had been sent away for his own security should the mages mount a rescue effort for their boy. His eyes zoomed in meticulously, taking in a lot more than organic eyes could receive.

A lone female approached her in the middle of the road. She was carrying a wand.

The machine immediately pulled out its gun and started firing but the bullets simply phased through her as if she was a mirage. A quick diagnostic test reported that its optics were in optimal condition.

Analyzing battlefield reports. 90% chance of an illusion. The system's output. The auditory sensors picked up a whistling approaching from the air. The machine swirled to shoot at it and it couldn't even hold its shock in place. A car fast approached it from the air and slammed into the machine with its front. The machine couldn't dodge and its sensors went haywire in reporting damage to hardware. Still the titanium skeleton held firm, it was designed to endure much, much more. The machine held the car up and tossed it to the side. It immediately took out multiple cannisters from its skeleton and lobbed them around. A coppery gas began to engulf the area but the cannisters were suddenly levitated and thrown away in different directions.

Conditions met. Threat level high. Enter second high battle mode.

A gauss rifle immediately exited from the machine's legs and it redirected power from non-critical systems to sensors. It sent a massive sonar wave to engulf miles of desert around it. Infra-red was useless in such conditions. Immediately its sensors blared as a figure hiding from the nearby field was picked up. The machine turned its ire on the target and let loose. A massive arc of red-hot lasers zingd forth and obliterated the tree line, but the intruder was faster. The fallen trees and branches immediately transfigured into flaming iron spears and hurled themselves at the machine. The machine fired back at the incoming projectiles and missed the discarded car creaking.

Morrigan lunged from her cover in the tree line and transfigured the metal car into a hulking behemoth of metal. Its sheer mass resulted in a perfect transfiguration of a similar creature. It immediately pounded with both fists at the robot causing it to wobble. The remaining spears, now unable to be deflected, lodged themselves deep into the machine's torso. With a whirling sound, the behemoth was cut in half by the Gauss rifle. The glowing red eyes now glared at Morrigan, but she wasn't deterred in the slightest.

"You think you are strong, muggle. With your technology and hand might?" Morrigan purred and the machine tilted its head in response, as if considering the challenge.

"Let me show you the true might of the dark side," Morrigan said and the robot leveled its gun at her. Before it could fire the embedded spears caught alight and tore open into the inner wires of the machinery. Morrigan didn't relent and yelled, "CORROSIVE!"

A toxic, green liquid spewed forth from Morrigan's wand and slammed into the kneeling aflame form of the robot. Upon impact, a vast sizzling sound echoed through the area as the acid went away at the metal. The machine lost its balance and fell flat on the ground now that its hands and knees were dissolved in the acid pool. Still her heartbeat in a savage desire for revenge, she raised both of her hands into the air and slammed them down alongside her magic. Massive arcs of electricity materialized and repeatedly pummeled the area where the machine lay down, leaving massive craters in its wake.

Morrigan glared at the spot where the charred remains of the machine lay unmoving. She walked over to it and couldn't help but mock its fate.

"Not so tough are you now? You are a one-trick pony. Nothing more." She said and stomped in its twitching metallic hand.

The eyes of the robotic skullface suddenly glowed blue and Morrigan instantly conjured a shield in expectation of an explosion.

"Deadman's switch activated. Liquidate all prisoners." The machine spoke and then the light of its eyes went out. Morrigan dashed towards the thing's hideout.

Harry and Henri panicked as a thick liquid began to fall and Harry recognized it by its smell to be gasoline. Panic engulfed Harry as he recognized the sheer danger, they were in. Henri and Harry desperately pounded at the gate in a bid to force it to open.

We are going to die! Harry despaired not noticing a shadow fall across the room.

Bombarda! A voice sounded off the hideout's door was blown open. Morrigan ran in, her nerves still not bothered with a timer on the wall reading 5 seconds remaining. Her eyes spotted Harry beating at the cell door. With a flick of her wand, the gate was torn open.

2 seconds remaining.

Accio Harry! She intoned and Harry immediately flew towards her. She grabbed him by the neck and Harry realized what was happening.

"HENRI NO!" Harry howled seeing a limping Henri dash from the cell and try to jump out of the window. The oil had deeply drenched his body.

1 second.

Harry felt the tell-tale sign of a portkey working and the room vanished from his sight.

Terminate.

The house immediately caught fire and a massive explosion rocked the area.

A New Fate.

A 10-year-old Michael Rokko nervously approached the house where his mysterious robotic guardian had dropped him off. He hesitated for a moment before tentatively pushing the front door open. To his amazement, the door slid smoothly across as if by some unseen force, granting him entrance. He stepped inside cautiously, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings.

The interior was bathed in an otherworldly glow, casting long, eerie shadows along the walls. Michael ascended a spiraling staircase to the top floor, his heart pounding with a mixture of trepidation and wonder. Upon reaching the top, he was greeted by a mind-boggling array of technology, with strange buttons and shiny wires that seemed to pulse with an enigmatic energy. He couldn't begin to comprehend the purpose of the complex machinery that surrounded him.

Lost in the surreal environment, he was suddenly startled by a smooth, resonant voice that seemed to emanate from a large screen in front of him. "Welcome, Michael," the voice intoned, its tone both reassuring and strangely distant.

"Who's there?" Michael asked, his voice barely above a whisper as he glanced around, searching for the source of the disembodied voice.

"I am your guide, designed to assist you in your new surroundings," the voice replied, its words echoing through the expansive chamber "You may call me Nexus. Are you ready to begin?"

Author Notes: Please Review.