Welcome back one and all to the next chapter of "The Heir and The Champions" in which we will be jumping from scene to scene and in between a few flashbacks. Not gonna lie the last few chapters got away from me but we're pretty much back on track now.
This chapter might also be a bit late because there is a lot of stuff I want to cover before hitting the Yule Ball and Christmas.
On with the show!
Harry Potter
It has been a week since Harry had his adventure in the Hedge and the following talks with Dumbledore and Zoë, they had gone up to Dumbledore's office to meet with Madam Maxime as Ron and Hermione were asked by the Headmaster to take Gabriella to the Hospital wing. When Harry, Zoë, Fleur, and Dumbledore got to the office, Madame Maxime was already there, she had turned to look as they walked in with a confused faces before seeing Fleur, and then all she did was sigh, pitched the bridge of her nose and had asked what she had done. So, Dumbledore had gone on to explain what had happened between Zoë and Fleur and the fight that almost brought down a corridor on the first floor, as Zoë glared at the Fae, and Fleur had just sat on the opposite side of the room smiling at Zoë with a coy and overly friendly smile.
When the question of what had caused the fight between the two girls came up, it was then that Dumbledore turned to Harry, asking him to explain what had happened between Him and Gabriella.
Harry had hesitated, as much trouble and danger Gabriella had dragged them into, she didn't mean it, she was just a lonely kid looking to play with someone in the only way she knew how. Harry was mad at Gabriella, but he didn't want her to get into serious trouble, so he told everyone in the room a water-down version of what had happened, skipping over the attempted stabbing altogether knowing if Zoë found out she wouldn't hesitate with killing the small child. After he was done, all the Headmaster had done was look him in the eye and asked "Are you sure that is everything, Harry?" Harry nodded his head while looking away from the elderly Wizard before Dumbledore said "As you wish, Mister Potter," and let the matter drop.
While neither Fleur nor Gabriella were students at Hogwarts so Dumbledore could not assign a punishment to either of them, he had banned them from entering the castle until further notice and would leave their actual punishment in Madame Maxime's capable hands. Fleur was sent from the office to collect her sister from the hospital wing before heading back to the Beauxbatons' carriage, all the while giving Harry an odd look as she left. Madame Maxime had apologized about what had happened with Fleur, but Dumbledore had pointed out it was just her fault.
"My guest is just as much at fault as Miss Delacour with her overreaction, which now turns our conversation to you, Lady Nightshade," Dumbledore says with a frown as he leans back in his chair and steepling his fingers looking at Zoë with disappointed eyes, "While you are not a student here, nor are you under my command, I can do very little to punish you for your hasty actions this day, but a punishment is still needed," Dumbledore said as Zoë had crossed her arms and put her nose in the air.
"I have done nothing that I would not do again, Headmaster, why you let those things in the castle in the first place is beyond me," Zoë said snidely as Madame Maxime turned to her with a glare.
"I have explained to you why I allowed them into this school, Lady Nightshade," Dumbledore said calmly, but Harry could see the steel in his eyes, "But your reasons do not dismiss what you did, putting the lives of students in danger with your fight is unacceptable, and seeing that you were invited here by me and that you have broken guests rights, it would be in my right to fully eject you from this castle," the Headmaster said, his voice growing harder as Zoë begins to gape like a fish.
"But, since I neither want to do this nor do I think it would be a good idea to take away Mister Potter's support in this tournament, I will be assigning you a much lighter punishment," The Headmaster said, a small grin growing on his face, "You, Lady Nightshade, will be serving detention," he said to the shock of Zoë.
Zoë was assigned to write lines under Professor McGonagall every night until holiday break, "I will act my age and not as a child," three hundred times every night, Harry could not help but burst out laughing after he was told about what she was to write. After Zoë's indignation was cut short by the Headmaster asking if she would like to go with the other option, Dumbledore turned to Madame Maxime with a question, that is why Gabriella was brought along with her school, seeing that she was far too young to attend, Madame Maxime's answer was an odd one.
"Lestat Delacour, Fleur and Gabby's father iz an old friend of mind, we graduated ze zame year and have been friendz for juz az long," the tall French Headmistress explained, "Hiz work sometimes callz him to vizit the Fae Courtz from time to time, and az you could geuzz, zey are no place for a child, even a child like Gabriella, so she-" but before Madame Maxime could continue, Harry cuts her off for a moment.
"H-Hold on," Harry says, holding up his hands, he wouldn't normally interrupt an adult with a question, but his curiosity had overcome his childhood in this moment, "H-He goes to the Fae courts? Vol-Voluntarily?" Harry asks, stumbling over his words a bit as Dumbledore and Madame Maxime look at him while Zoë was gapping like a fish at what the French woman had said.
As Madame Maxime simply nods her head, Harry turns to Dumbledore, "Headmaster, I am seriously reconsidering thinking of you as either the most powerful wizard of all time or the most insane one of all time, possibly both," Harry says as Dumbledore just chuckles at his words, "Because I spent all of like forty minutes in that place and I never want to go back again, and this guy goes there voluntarily, he's either around the bend or more powerful than you," Harry says.
"I have claimed to be neither the most powerful nor the most insane person in the world, Mister Potter, so you may reconsider that all you want," the Headmaster says with a smile and an amused twinkle in his eye.
"Anyway," Madame Maxime says, giving Harry a look halfway between angry and amused, "Az I waz zaying, Lestat ask from time to time if his youngest can ztay at Beauxbatons, which I allow because the only one who can control Gabriella is Fleur outzide zere mother and father, we keep her busy with helping out around ze school and bazic schooling to try and keep her out of trouble," Madame Maxime explains.
Madame Maxime went on to apologize to Harry on behalf of the sisters and ensured him that neither was going to escape a proper punishment for what both had done before doing the same with Dumbledore, who reminded her that the girls were not allowed back in the castle until further noticed and that he would be talking to the house elves of the school about bringing meals to the girl's room, to which Madame Maxime nodded in thanks before saying her goodbyes to deal with Fleur and Gabriella. But before Dumbledore could dismiss either Harry or Zoë, Harry had filled them both in on who he had met in the Hedge and what she had told him, Harry told them of Macha and the prophecy that she had told him, of her plans on releasing some Queen.
By the end of his tale, Zoë had a grim look on her face, and Dumbledore was set in a look of deep thought with his eyes far away, especially after Harry had mentioned meeting Death three times.
"But what Queen was she speaking of?" Zoë asks, standing by the window and looking out at the snowstorm that was quickly blanketing the grounds, "I doubt she spoke of the Dread one," she mutters to herself as Dumbledore finally looks up at her.
"Dread one?" Dumbledore asks, curiosity painting his voice.
Zoë turns back to him, and hesitates before speaking, "We do not speak her name in the winter months, but she is the Queen of the Underworld in our part of the world," Zoë explains before moving back to her seat.
"Ah, Persep-" Dumbledore begins to say before Zoë hisses at him.
"Do not!" Zoë had all but yelled, "Speak her name," she says as her eyes flick to the window before glancing around the room in fear, "She is the last Goddess we want to draw the attention of," she says to the surprised faces of both Dumbledore and Harry.
"Is she really that bad?" Harry asks.
Zoë sighs out before sitting down and leaning back in her chair, "She is possibly the most powerful goddess that is connected to Greek myth and she is old, older than most of the Olympian council bar maybe one, but her power is not to be questioned," Zoë says as she turns to look out the window, "I've only met her once when I attended a council meeting on the winter solstice many years ago, I could feel her before she entered the council chambers and interrupted the meeting," she says before shivering, "She came because she was looking for her husband, and she had looked at all the gathered gods as if they were no more than bickering children," Zoë says as she shudders at the memory, "The worst thing about her wasn't the power rolling off of her or how cold the council chamber became, but her eyes, as black as the void between the stars and just as endless and when she looked at me I saw nothing," Zoë says the last part in a whisper, "It was like the end of everything hiding just beyond her eyes, mortal, monster, gods, it didn't matter,"
Harry is quiet for a moment before speaking up, "Macha had the same eyes," and both Zoë and Dumbledore looked at one another with trepidation when he said that.
Dumbledore explained that he had an idea of who the girl was, and called her the Maiden of a triple goddess in Celtic mythology, though, if she was one of them he had no clue who the Queen was supposed to be but would look into it himself and was unnerved to find out one of the other sisters had sent Fáfnir to the first task, as well of having no clue how to stop them from interfering in the tournament further, but he and Zoë would double and triple check everything before the second task just to make sure.
It would be four days after that meeting on a Saturday that Zoë had come to find Harry in the Great Hall at lunch, her face blank but a deep pain in her eyes holding a piece of parchment, and Harry knew what it was before she even asked to talk to him privately.
It was Strider.
The quiet and respectful hunter had given her life to save one of her younger siblings from the jaws of a Drakon and had died from its poison and the injuries she had received, but not before killing the beast. Zoë had somehow had a burial shroud made with silver silk and embroidered with white stars and moons, in the middle a large white tree with stars hanging from its branches, and had explained the burial and mourning rights of the hunters to Harry. After a sister had fallen while on a hunt, Artemis would go into seclusion in her temple on Olympus while the lieutenant of the hunt would lead her sisters in preparing the body of the fallen. The body would be stripped and washed before being anointed in oils and crowned with a wreath of silver and Cypress leaves before two Drachma were placed in the mouth and then the body wrapped in a burial shroud of Artemis before the body was cremated in the woods before sealed into an urn.
The hunt would then go into mourning for two weeks, there would be no contact with Artemis, there would be no hunting, and would fast with nothing but water to drink and flatbread to eat once a day, and they would sing dirges and tell stories of the fallen hunter that they remembered. After two weeks had passed, the handmaidens would come and collect the ern before leaving for the fallen hunter's homeland to spread the ashes over the mountains and in the forests so the hunter could ever be one with Artemis' realm. After the Handmaidens returned, both they and the hunters would purify themselves by washing their bodies in rivers and springs before anointing themselves with oil and mint before Artemis showed back up with the rest of the handmaidens before, for a lack of a better term, they would party for a solid week. They would hunt, drink, and feast all in their fallen sister's name, to celebrate their life and the hunts they had been on together.
They were both late to do this, and Harry was not a member of the hunt and was expected to do any of this, but he still did. Harry and Zoë mourned the last of Strider together in the ways of the hunt, even if they could not do it with their sisters, he had sat and listened to all the stories that Zoë had of Strider, how they had first met in 1357 when she was going to be burned at the stake as a witch because she was the only survivor of a plague that had killed almost her who village in northern France. How Artemis had saved her and offered Strider a place within the Hunt, how she had cast away her old name and taken up Strider, how Zoë taught her swordsmanship before Strider went on to do a favor for Hephaestus and saved one of his favorite children at the time had forged her a sword from the Flame of the West for her to use. Harry had asked what would happen to the sword now that Strider had passed on and Zoë had told him it would be either enshrined in the temple of Artemis on Olympus or, if he asked for it, returned to Hephaestus.
Daphne had started to hang around the trio and even eating breakfast with them in the morning, and shocking both him and Ron had gotten along with Hermione as the two now collaborated on homework, Daphne's friend Tracey would sometimes join them, cracking jokes that would cause the other four to blush and stammer as she would cackle, or talking about Quidditch with Ron or board games with Hermione.
Harry had brought Ron and Hermione to his "Detentions" with Professor McGonagall, who after Harry explained why he wanted the two to come, had allowed it. McGonagall's main focus was on Harry, but had invited Ron and Hermione to join as Zoë sat in the stands with a scowl on her face as she wrote her lines till her hand was numb, much to the amusement of Harry.
McGonagall had only asked once where Harry had learned the Gaé Bolg from because she hadn't believed a thing Rita Skeeter had written for a second and knew the origin of the curse and could recite poems off the top of her head about Dún Scaith, in Gaelic no less, and the Woman who had created the curse. Harry had no idea what to tell her, so he just told her about how the Headmaster knew and that she should talk to him about it, McGonagall had frowned at that but nodded before setting him to task with learning Battle Magic.
Harry pushed himself during his detentions, they had moved past defensive Battle Magic in quick time, much to McGonagall's surprise and pride, and moved on to how to use misdirection with it, how with a few extra wand movements and basic charms one can obscure what was what in transfiguration and even showing Harry a favorite tactic of his fathers, thin and nearly invisible glass transfiguration to mix into his creations. It turns out that a simple glass plan could stop the killing curse thanks to how the curse itself worked, but it was also dangerous with the glass exploding in the direction the curse was flying, so one would have to be careful when using it. But the nastiest trick one could do was mix the glass in with other conjurations before banishing it at an opponent.
Even Ron and Hermione had gotten in on learning a few basic tricks as Harry worked on conjuring glass and other metals before using the Ineffigiatus spell to turn the material into a shapeless blob that moved like thick mud or water, from there Harry could shape it into anything using his intent or will. It was mainly used as a teaching tool to help the student visualize how conjured material can be shaped into something else slowly. The spell itself was taxing on even someone like Dumbledore from what McGonagall had told him.
But for the next week, all was thankfully quiet in the castle, right up to the point Dumbledore announced the Yule Ball, never had Harry ever seen so many people tripping over themselves trying to get a date for it, even Ron, who had done the single bravest thing Harry had seen anyone done. He had asked Fleur Delacour to the Yule Ball when they had seen her hanging out with Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang out on the grounds, Ron had stopped, swallowed harshly, and marched right to her and asked. She already had a date and had let Ron down softly, but kissed him on the cheek for his show of bravery before he walked back over to Harry and Hermione.
"Sorry Mate," Ron said, his face red as a tomato, "Just had to try," he said with a nod before he turned and kept walking stiffly. Harry had just watched him go, running into a wall when he wasn't paying attention that got a laugh out of him.
Harry was pulled aside by Professor McGonagall a day later so she could inform him of the tradition of the Champion Waltz, the opening dance for the Yule Ball was to be had by the champions and their respective dates, she had asked if he had a date while eyeing his neck with a look that was a mix of disappointment and amusement before asking him if he knew how to dance because she refused to have him embarrassing the house of Godric Gryffindor like a "Great blathering baboon" and was promptly assigned dance lessons with his date for the event. When Harry told this to Daphne, she had given him a look of amusement before saying.
"And who said I would be going to the Yule Ball with you, Mister Potter," while tilting her head up, her nose in the air and her arms crossed.
"Umm, aren't we dating?" Harry asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion that had Daphne blushing a bit.
"We are," she said dismissively while looking at Harry with an expectant look and her brow raised in question. Harry had stood there blinking, unsure of what to do besides shuffling awkwardly before Daphne sighed before pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Harry," Daphne said, "We might be dating but I do expect you to at least ask me to go with you, even if the answer is a foregone conclusion," she said looking back up at him, a hint of amusement curling at her lips.
"Oh, ah, Do, Do you w-want t-t-to go to the, ah, Y-Yule B-Ball with m-me?" Harry stutters out, unsure why he had to ask and fighting against the voice in his head. Daphne gives him an odd look again with narrowed eyes, but hesitates once again with a question before simply nodding and kissing Harry on the cheek before giving him a soft smile.
"I'd love to, Harry," Daphne says with a soft smile.
Daphne had come along with Harry to the dance lessons with McGonagall and the rest of Gryffindor house, all the stern Professor did was raise a brow at the sight of them before mumbling about owing Professor Flitwick five Sickles before moving on with the dance lessons, which, to everyone surprise, even Harry's, Harry was rather good at. Once he had the steps to the waltz down and the sway of the music, He moved naturally to it never once stepping on Daphne's as he silently thanked the blessing of "swift and sure foot".
While to talk of the Yule Ball hadn't calmed down, the upcoming Hogsmeade visit before the end of term had also picked up, and soon Hedwig had brought a letter from Sirius asking Harry to meet him at the three broomsticks for a late lunch that day, he wanted to talk to him about something important, and Harry knew what it was. Whether or not Harry would be staying with him for the Holidays, and for some reason, it had set Harry's nerves on edge. Even with the knowledge that Sirius wasn't like the Dursley, even with the hope that rested on Harry's back in the form of a jacket, even knowing what Zoë would do to Sirius if he did anything like that, let alone what Artemis would do to him, it still scared Harry.
But Harry's anxiety over his coming conversation with Sirius would be pushed out of his mind for an afternoon when he would visit Angelina in the transfiguration wing of Hogwarts.
Harry Potter, Transfiguration wing, a week before the end of Term.
Harry was walking down the corridor on the first floor, his Pithos tucked under his arm as he walked at a slow pace, the uncertainty of the Hogsmeade weekend turning in his mind. His visit with Sirius was the first and foremost thing in his head, there was also his date with Daphne during that time, and if Harry was being honest, he had no idea what to do with that either. He didn't really get the whole dating thing, he didn't know if he was supposed to do something or say something, or buy her something, it was all weird to him, Like Daphne's want to touch him casually every time they walked together, like trying to hold his hand or hanging off his arm, but he didn't like it, the touching. He wasn't a touchy person in general and barely let Hermione or Atalanta hug him, it made him uncomfortable like he couldn't get away or react to something, but he was okay with how Daphne touched him in other ways, and the kisses, Harry honestly didn't understand himself but let Daphne do it anyway because it seemed to make her happy.
Harry sighs at his own confusion before pushing it aside as he stops in front of the door he knew Angelina was behind before raising his hand and rapping on the door before waiting for a moment before he hears his Captain's voice call out that the door was unlocked before Harry grabs the handle and twisting it before walking in. Angelina was sitting at one of the desks reading a letter with a frown on her face, right beside the same sword that he saw when he was last in the room floating about a foot off the desk lazily spinning in place, before she looked up to see Harry.
"Well, write about the devil and he shall appear," she says with a shake of her head before folding up the letter and placing it on the desk, "What's up Harry?" she says with a bit of a forced grin.
"Hey, Angelina, you, ah, you okay?" Harry asks awkwardly.
Angelina sighs before closing her eyes and pressing her fingers to her forehead, "It's just my mum, she's being obsessive again," she says in a stressed voice.
"Oh," Harry says because honestly, he could understand being an obsessive person, all things considered, "Yeah, um, I, ah, brought you an early Christmas Gift I guess," Harry says as he walks over to the table and places down the Pithos in front of Angelina, who just looks at it in surprise.
Angelina looks back up at Harry confused, "Are you joking? This is a joke right?" she asks Harry who just shakes his head.
"No, not really," Harry says with a shrug, "I'm going to have a bigger problem than hunting down whatever the hell they want us to hunt, so I might as well try to stack the deck in Hogwart's favor," Harry admits as Angelina reaches over and picks up the Pithos and begins to turn it in her hands inspecting the pictures on it.
"The Fleur bint, right?" Angelina asks without looking away from the Pithos while Harry looks at her surprised.
"Yeah, at the very least I can keep her busy while you go after whatever they put in the woods," Harry says while scratching the back of his head before looking over at the floating sword.
"A deer," Angelina mumbles as she slowly turns the Pithos, "They want us to hunt a deer of some kind, and why does the French bimbo have such a hate boner for you anyway? Did you spit on her baguette or something?" Angelina asks as she looks up at Harry who was inspecting the sword.
Harry doesn't answer her question and asks one of his own, "Is this a xiphos?" he asks, turning back to Angelina's slightly surprised face.
"Yeah, surprised you'd know that," Angelina says sitting down the Pithos before standing up, "My dad sent it to me to try a few weeks ago to figure out if was magic or not, and it is, I just can't get it out of the damn scabbard to examine it properly," She says, standing on the other side of the desk.
Harry frowns a bit before reaching out for the sword with both hands, snatching it from the air he wraps his hand around the handle before Angelina looks at him with amusement "That was the first thing I tried Harry, even put it in a vice charm and hung from the handle to dr-" Angelina begins to say before stopping dead as she sees Harry, with very little effort, draw the blade she had been trying to get out of the stupid fucking scabbard for weeks, "How in the bloody fuck did you do that, you impossible child! Is that silver!?" Angelina all but screamed at Harry as her jaw dropped at the sight.
Harry doesn't answer Angelina as he inspects the blade, because it was silver but not only that, etched in the middle of the blade along the fuller, were the cycles of the moon. Just as his spear once had before it was infused with the essence of Dún Scaith and the curse of the Gaé Bolg, and the most damning thing was that as soon as he drew it he could feel the Hunt pump through him from the sword itself splitting his pupils.
"I think," Harry says slowly as Angelina comes from around the table to get a better look at the blade, "We should go talk to Zoë," he says before putting the blade back in the scabbard with a thoughtful look.
"What? Why?" Angelina asks, confused.
"Because you're right, it's magic, but not in the way you think," Harry says looking back at her, "And it's incredibly dangerous," his tone was flat when he spoke, stopping Angelina before reaching out to grab the sword.
"How is it dangerous? And if it is dangerous, how can you hold it?" Angelina asks, her eyes narrowing a bit.
"Look, just, just trust me on this, we need to go see Zoë, if anyone is gonna know about it, it's probably her," Harry says before he starts to move to the door, Angelina begins to follow, stopping only to run back and grabbing the Pithos before following after Harry.
"Harry, wait up, you're not answering any of my questions," Angelina calls out as she jogs up to her fast-moving seeker.
"Listen, there are some things I can't explain without sounding completely insane," Harry says as he starts to take the stairs up to the fifth floor.
"You mean more insane than you already are?" Angelina quips, only half joking because she knew by how her seeker flies and anyone who flies like that had a few screws loose.
Harry opens his mouth to refute her comment but closes his mouth because his captain did have a point with that one, "It's just that some things go beyond the realm of magic, ya know," Harry says as they reach the tops of the stairs.
"What? Like super magic or something?" Angelina asks.
"Or something," Harry mumbles as he turns a corner and walks up to a portrait of a hooded witch leaning over a cauldron, "Hey, Medea, can you go check if Zoë is in and decent?" Harry asks as he taps on the frame and the witch looks up at him with a smile.
"But of course, dear, just wait right here," The witch says before slipping from the frame.
"Medea?" Angelina asks, "As in…"
"Yeah, but apparently she's not the real one, looks nothing like her," Harry says with a shrug.
"And you know that how?" Angelina asks while crossing her arms and Harry just shrugs just as the secret door opens to a confused-looking Zoë.
"Yes?" Zoë asks, holding the portrait door open with a raised brow but stands aside as Harry pushes his way into the room, "Brat! Manners if you would!" Zoë snaps at Harry as she turns on him, allowing Angelina to slip past her.
"Not important at the moment," Harry says before tossing the sword and scabbard at Zoë, "Check that out, is it what I think it is?" he asks.
"Harry! Don't throw that!" Angelina screams as the sword flies through the air before Zoë catches it with one hand and an angry look.
"You barge into my room over a sword!" Zoë snaps at Harry before pointing the sheaf sword at him, "Give one good reason why I shouldn't beat you with this," Zoë threatens Harry while waving the sword at him.
"It's a priceless artifact!" Angelina yells trying to reach for the sword in Zoë's hand, but she is too busy waving it back and forth like a mad woman for her to get a grip on it.
"It's silver!" Harry says, gesturing to the sword.
"So?" Zoë says, walking forward holding the sword threateningly towards Harry, "How does that excuse you for being rude and barging into a lady's room?! There is a whole host of silver swords," she snaps at Harry, but all he does is snort.
"What lady?" He asks, and no sooner did he, than Zoë cracks him over the head with the scabbard, "Ow! Fuck! Zoë that hurt!" he yells at her as Angelina screams out for Zoë to stop.
"Good! Maybe that will teach you not to be a smart ass with your older sister!" Zoë snaps at him as Harry rubs the top of his head where Zoë had hit him.
"Bitch," Harry mumbles out and Zoë raises the sword again to whack him one more time, but Angelina had had enough.
"No!" Angelina screams and lunges for the sword, grabbing the handle and pulling the blade from the scabbard that Zoë held it by, and as soon as the blade is pulled free, both Zoë and Harry hear Angelina gasp. The two siblings turn to look at Angelina as she freezes before her whole body begins to shake and her pupils split and an animalistic roar escapes from her throat.
"Fuck!" Zoë curses as she ducks a swing from Angelina and Harry dodges back, Zoë calls on the Hunt before tackling the other girl to the ground, right through the coffee table in the middle of the room, "Harry! The sword! Get it out of her hands!" Zoë screams as she wrestles with the Quidditch captain on the ground, trying to hold her down and trying to not get stabbed at the same time.
Harry jumps into the struggle, dodging another swipe of the blade before catching Angelina's hands and forcing them to the ground, and trying to pry the blade from her hands.
"Harry!" Zoë yells as she struggles to keep the girl pinned in place.
"I'm fucking trying!" Harry yells as he finally separates Angelina's arms before putting the one that held the blade in an armbar before grabbing the blade with his bare hands and beginning to twist it in the opposite direction, the sword cutting into his palms but before long he's able to wrench the sword free and toss it across the room, "fucking finally!" Harry yells as Angelina continues to struggle. But as Harry jumps up and jumps onto her legs to help Zoë hold the thrashing captain down, she begins to calm down and slowly returns to normal.
It takes a few minutes for Angelina to return to normal, but as soon as she stops moving and lies beneath the two siblings breathing heavily, Zoë begins to push herself up off of the floor as Angelina looks around confused, "Wh-what the fuck was that?!" Angelina asks, sounding confused and scared as she pushes herself up to a sitting position and Harry climbs off her legs.
"That," Zoë says, catching Angelina and Harry's attention as she walks over to the sword laying on the ground, "Was the Hunt," she says as she bends down to pick up the sword and Harry nurses his hand.
"Th-the what?" Angeline asks before yelling at Zoë, "No, don't touch it!" but watches in awe as Zoë picks up the blade by the handle before inspecting it, turning it over in her hand before she turns back to the two students still on the floor.
"Do you two mind telling me where in Hades' gym bag you found the Sword of Peleus?" Zoë asks, shocked.
"Atalanta's old friend?"
"The father of Achilles?"
Harry and Angelina say at the same time before Angelina's head snaps to Harry, her eyes wide, "Atalanta's what?" she asks.
Harry Potter, empty classroom on the fifth floor.
Harry had left the explanation of the gods to Angelina to Zoë after the older Hunter had explained a bit of history about the sword that Angelina had. The Sword of Peleus was the sword that had belonged to the Greek hero from a long time ago, he was an argonaut, the father of one of the greatest Greek warriors to ever live, and more importantly, a hunter of the Calydonian Boar, the monster that was Atalanta's first claim to fame.
Peleus was one of the five hunters who had fought for Atalanta to keep the hide of the beast when one of the other heroes' uncles didn't want to hand it over even though Atalanta had landed the first shot on the monster that hobbled it, making it easier for the rest of them to kill because she was a woman, The other four being Meleager, Hippomenes, Castor, and Pollux. Artemis was so impressed with the hunt of her monster and the valor of the men who wanted Atalanta to be rewarded, she had offered each of the five hunters a boon, and Peleus wanted a sword that would give him an edge in battle. So Artemis had taken his blade and infused it with the power of the Hunt and told him, "Whoever wields this blade will never know failure in the hunt or in battle" before handing it back to him and passing out the other boons, it was at that time that Atalanta had gotten her bow, Tauropolos from Artemis.
When Angelina had asked Zoë how she knew this, Zoë had told her "I know what happened, because Atalanta never shut up about it when we first met five years after it happened," in a deadpan voice.
Harry had left soon after Angelina started asking questions, telling the two girls that he was heading to the hospital wing for his hand, while that wasn't a lie, it wasn't the whole truth either. The Scratch he got from that stupid cat had been bothering him for days now, and now with a fresh wound he decided it was about time he got that over with, so on his way to Madam Pomfrey he had stopped by an empty classroom and call Dobby to bring him a saucer of milk, which the overly excited elf was happy to do before leaving Harry with a bow to return to his duties.
Harry had placed the saucer on the floor and sighed before speaking out loud, "Big ears, Big ears, Big ears," the first drop of blood landed in the milk, "Big ears, Big ears, Big ears," the second and third drop of blood hits the milk, "Big ears, Big ears, Big ears," Harry says with a sigh before pulling his hand away and looking around the dark room, waiting for the stupid cat to show up. But Harry doesn't see it appearing from anywhere but feels the scratch that the cat had given him finally stopped itching.
Harry turns to leave the room and makes it halfway to the door before a sound stops him, and he turns back to the saucer of milk to see the face of a mostly black cat buried in it, moaning as he drank from it, "Mmm, Mmm, that's the gooooood~ stuff," it says as it laps up the milk and blood. After a moment the cat finishes his treat in the saucer and looks up at Harry with its face covered in milk.
"Well, hello, Boyo," It says with its far too wide mouth, "It's been a while, Mister Nobody, tricked anyone with an empty wooden horse yet?" it asks as it tilts its head almost all the way around.
"No," Harry answers flatly, "Did you enjoy your treat?" Harry asks, slipping his uninjured hand into his pocket.
"Why yes! Yes, we did, thank you for asking," the cat says before smacking its lips, "Do we detect a hint of gaminess? A taste of the forest and mountain mayhaps?" it says with a smile, "How very odd, we were sure we would have tasted a bigger hint of death from you, it's there, but far more of an aftertaste than anything, which is odd we had thought you a child of the Scáithanna, with you using her curse and all that," it notes with a purr.
Harry narrows his eyes, "Good, now are you going to go back to the Hedge or what?" Harry asks, not taking the bait in its words.
"Hmmm, we think we will go for the or what here," the cat says with a mocking grin and watches as Harry pulls Serpent-Hunter from his pocket before unleashing it, but still the cat remains smiling, "That is not as big of a threat as it was in the Hedge, Boyo," the cat says dismissively.
Harry dashes forward, with the intent of piercing the cat, but watches, as it leaps into the air just before the tip of the spear touches it before it lands on the haft of the spear perfectly balanced, "Ohhoho, boyo, almost got me there!" the cat says with a larger grin before Harry rips his spear free from the stone and flings the cat it to the air before trying to slice it in half, but before the blade could even hit the cat, it unravels itself into nothingness.
"Oh so close, little half-blood, but sadly not good enough," the cat's voice echoes around the room, "But we must thank you, it's far too long since we were free little shackle-keeper and the isles call to us like our long-forgotten home," it says as Harry freezes, his eyes going wide, "Oh, yes, Cait-Sith, the King of Cats thanks you, Harry Potter, I'm sure we will meet again after our Queen walks free, oh yes, the time is almost upon us," it says as the voice begins to fade with a cackling laugh.
"Oh, fuck," Harry says, "That's going to come back and bite me in the ass, isn't it?" he asks in the empty room.
Ace of Swords
On this card, it shows a silver sword being held by two hands, one masculine with calluses and small scars and olive skin, and the other hand is more feminine with much darker skin but with calluses of her own. A crown of cypress leaves is wrapped around the top as two amber cat eyes stare out from the darkness right below the crown.
It would seem the older more masculine hand is handing the sword off to the feminine one.
Chapter done!
I decided to break this chapter into two parts, it was also going to have the Hogsmeade trip and Harry deciding to go stay with Sirius for the holiday or not, but I cut it out for y'all to have something to read this week.
So, we got a bit of back story on the mad lad that is Lastat Delacour and his trips with his wife past the hedge and into the fae courts.
We learned which hunter passed away and how along with the mourning rights of the hunt, as to why Artemis goes into seclusion is an old myth about the gods and dead bodies not mixing well to the point where the priests from back them wouldn't enter a house with a dead body in it because they feared it may pollute the gods.
Harry learning how to dance and Ron having balls of steel for asking Fleur to the Yule Ball, Harry wasn't even mad at him, he was more impressed than anything. But I'm sure y'all be able to guess who Fleur is bringing.
Harry not liking being touched comes from me, I hate people touching me, holding hands, or hanging off my arm. Anything casual like that I can't stand because of the abuse I faced, and I'm projecting that onto Harry. Why is his sister okay? That's different.
We FINALLY get to that fucking sword, but yeah, the sword once belonged to Peleus, and yes, Atalanta is going to have something to say about it being not in his tomb. The sword is enchanted so that no one unworthy of the Hunt can draw it, before the Dragon Angelina wasn't worthy, but now she is.
Ah, Cait-Sith, the trickster cat from Welsh mythology and folklore. In this work, he's basically a minor god along with being a fae, and soon he'll find his Alice.
Now, the big news, the poll is officially closed at the release of this chapter, and holy fuck it was a close one ladies and gentlemen. I did this poll to one, by time I apparently didn't need, and two, to get you all involved with the fun.
The final tally is:
43 votes for the Hunters crashing the Yule Ball, but Artemis comes to the first task alone.
And
45 votes for the hunters not crashing the Yule Ball, and Artemis showing up with a few of them.
And I shit you not, this thing was neck and neck the whole time, I combined the results from both fanfiction and Ao3 for the poll.
Thank you all for voting!
Hope no one gets mad over the results.
But worry not! I will be filling in that chapter with a short story as soon as the next chapter is posted, so look for the A/N at the top of the next chapter if it's ready.
Kingsaxcul, Out!
