Hello one and all, and welcome back to another chapter of "The Heir and The Champions"

But before we get to the upcoming chapter, if you go back to the poll announcement, you'll find that the announcement is replaced with a short story of something fun that has been scuttling around in my head for a few days. It's a completely different setting and theme and not needed to read for this story if you don't want to, but please do so if you want, and tell me what ya think about it when you comment on this chapter.

And to the one guest reveiwer, while in classical Greek myth, you are correct on who Persephone's mom and dad are, Persephone as a myth has existed for faaaaaar longer then the classical Greek myths, she is technically a goddess that predates the Greek pantheon and she is mentioned in the Iliad and the Odyssey more times then Hades as the ruler of the underworld and those two myths are old, like 10th to 9th century BCE old.

But, first, let's see what that pesky cat is up to, shall we?

On with the show!

Cait-Saith, Gate of Skye.


It moves into the chamber as quietly as a mouse and as gracefully as any of its kind can when strutting into a place any sane person would avoid, luckily it wasn't. The chamber was dark and damp as the last time it was here so long ago to visit the Queen of Shadows to bother her about one thing or another, and just like last time, the gate to the land beyond life thrummed and hummed with death as the crimson mist that acted as it's door silently twisted and turned like fresh blood in a cauldron, it chuckles at such a nostalgic sight before him and grins as he watches the shadows on the wall tear itself off the wall and stalks forward in the form of a hound and grows at Cait-Saith.

"Oh, come now little puppy, no need to get so uptight about little old us," the cat says with an unnerving grim as it continues to walk forward without fear, its long black tail swaying like a snake.

The hound growls and snaps at the cat, lifting its muzzle to show off its teeth.

"Bare your fangs at someone else, Hound of Ulster, we both know we are no threat to you, and neither are you to us," the cat says with a roll of its eyes before walking right past the hound, "we're just here to pay a visit to Scáthach, and a friendly one at that, for we are painfully aware that even at the height of our power we could not harm your teacher, foolish hound," Cait-Saith tells the shadow dismissively before hopping up the stones at the base of the archway. It frows at the swirling gateway to the Land of Shadows, it had always disliked the realm that Scáthach called home, it was far too close to Terminus if you were to ask them, but still, the King of Cats leaps into the gateway falling through shadow and time to land on the crystal floor of Dún Scáith's throne room.

It was just as It remembers it from so very long ago before it had slipped beyond the hedge to hide from the Romans that had come to their land and bound the other gods, The King of Cats walks deeper into the throne room and up the steps of the throne to jump up on the ledge that leads to the windows that overlook the crags and plateaus beneath the castle. Cait-Saith sees a curious sight from his vantage point, a large beast of scales and gold, swatting and trying to crush in its claws a smaller shadow dancing around the creature, the smaller shadow moved with practice grace and struck the beast with a crimson lance, knocking the creature back and forth In an almost playful manner.

The creature continues to struggle against the shadow, roaring loud enough for even Cait-Saith to feel its bones rattled, but the shadow just laughs before her lance ignites in the curse created by it before she strikes the beast with the spear, sending off the plateau and deep into the shadows of the crags. The shadow then turns, looking up at the castle, right at Cait-Saith, the King of Cats smiles back before jumping off the ledge and making its way over to the throne before jumping onto it, making a quick circle before laying down, tucking its paws beneath it and curling his tail around it, and waits.

It doesn't take long for the shadow to show up.

"And to what do I owe the dubious honor of hosting the King of Cats for?" Scáthach asks as she enters the room, stepping from the shadows in battle outfit with her spear in hand, a bored look on her face as she looks at Cait-Saith on her throne with distaste.

"Scátty! It has been too long! How have you been?" the cat says with a grin, its tail swishing back and forth.

"Do not call me that, Cait-Saith," Scáthach says with a glare, "I will ask again, what do you want?" she asks with a bit more heat to her words.

"What? Can't an old friend stop by to say hello while you're still stuck in your prison, we would imagine that you've been very lonely with only monsters for company," the King of Cats says as it tilts its head, "After all, we were so close back before the Romans came and sacked your castle and killed all your little students," it says with its grin widening as it sees Scáthach grip her famous spear harder.

"By friends, do you mean all the times you snuck into my school to trick my students beyond the hedge and play your, shall we call them, pranks?" Scátchach asks, tilting her head as she walks forward.

"But of course, however else did you think we meant?" Cait-Saith inquires with a smirk.

Scáthach sighed as she closes her eyes, feeling a headache coming on, she had forgotten how annoying the King of Cats was, "If you are here to reminisce about old times and ghosts, I will happily throw you into the crags and see what you make of the ghosts down in them," she offers as she opens her eyes and rises her brow at the cat who just chuckles.

"No, no, we think we will pass on that, but thank you Scáthanna for the offer," it says as it stands and stretches out, "No, but we did meet the most interesting boy just a few weeks ago, oh yes, such an interesting child," it says with a groan before sitting on its hindquarters, Scáthach raises a brow at Cait-Saith, so the King of Cats continues, "His hair was black as slate, and eyes like emeralds, wearing a silver jacket and wielding a very interesting spear," as Cait-Saith talks, his grin grows as he watches Scáthach redouble her grip on her spear and narrow her eyes at the cat, which cause the King of Cats to grin more, "At first we had thought that you somehow escaped your prison and had a child again, but no, we've tasted the boy's blood and know he is not yours, not truly, anyway," Cait-Saith says as it jumps on the arm of the throne before crawling to the top of it to look down at Scáthach.

"And how did you come to meet this boy, and what did you do to him?" Scátchach asks softly to the King of Cats, who could only grin back.

"Why we ate him, of course!" it says with a mad laugh, which almost immediately gets cut off as the shadows grow as thick as the bloodlust rolling off the Queen of Shadows, the curse that embodies the deed that earned her her godhood bursts to life like a wildfire as the floor and walls in the throne room shake and cracks at the force of Scáthach's power as her face twists into a look of pure rage and unrestrained fury.

Cait-Saith immediately back peddles as all the hair on its body begins to stand on end at the danger before him, "We kid! We joke! We jest! We swear it! The boy is alive and inside the school, we haven't touched him!" the cat says quickly as it looks into the blood-red eyes of Scáthach seeing nothing less than the end of its life.

"You better be Cait-Saith, or when I walk the world again your death will last a millennia, do you understand me?" Scáthach growls out at the cat, leveling his spear at it, Cait-Saith swiftly nods his head before jumping down onto the seat of the throne.

"We understand my dear Scáthanna, we will not touch the boy, we swear upon it," Cait-Saith says with a bow of its head, before looking back up at Scáthach, "But we do have a question, have you told the boy yet?" it asks, tilting his head to the left.

"Told him what?" Scáthach says as she spins her spear in her hand before stabbing it into the stone.

"About his connection to you of course," Cait-Saith says as Scáthach freezes before slowly turning her head to glare at the cat, "Ooooooh, my, how interesting, you haven't, have you, my dear Scáthanna?" the grin on the cat's face threatens to split it, "But we wonder why, oh yes, why indeed, after all, you would know best, wouldn't you, Godslayer?" Cait-Saith says before it begins to cackle wildly until it was grabbed quickly by the scruff of its neck and hoisted up by Scáthach and brought face to angry face with the goddess.

"Listen here, fleabag, if you even think about telling the boy I will skin you, if you touch him, your death will neither be swift nor painless, if you so much as look at him funny I will feed you to the ghosts of the Land of Shadows piece by annoying piece, do you understand me!?" Scáthach threatens as she shakes the cat and walks back over to the Gate.

All Cait-Saith could do was meow and yowl before Scáthach throws him like a spear through the gate as it spun through the air, yowling all the way before landing in the lapping ice-cold water just inside the chamber and popping its head back up above the water sputtering.

"Well," it says as it walks to the shore shaking the water off of its coat, "That was rude," Cait-Saith says scathingly, and all he hears is chuffing from the hound in the shadows laughing at him, "Oh, you shut it, Sétante," the cat snaps at the shadows.


Daphne Greengrass, last day of term.

"Do not pry," was what Granger had warned her about weeks ago after the first task. It was after Ancient Runes on Monday falling the task, Granger had at least waited till the end of class before grabbing her arm and dragging her into an empty room without a word, Daphne had first thought that Granger had a problem with her dating Harry, they have been rivals of a sort, it would not be too far fetched to think Daphne was dating Harry to mess with her and she wouldn't have blamed the girl for thinking that because it sounded like just the type of underhanded tactic that a Slytherin could and would use, but to Daphne's surprise, it wasn't what Granger had asked.

"Are you serious about dating Harry?" Hermione had asked, her arms crossed in front of her chest as she looked at Daphne.

Daphne narrowed her eyes slightly at the bushy-haired girl, "If you think I'm just doing this to try and throw you off your game, Granger, you are very mistaken," Daphne said.

"What?" Hermione asked with a confused look on her face, "No, you've never tried to cheat in our little rivalry before, I don't expect you to do so now, Greengrass, I just want to know if you're either going to hurt him or if this is just for a good snog or whatever," Hermione said.

Daphne blinked at that, "Oh, no, I think we are about as serious as we can get," She told her, and Hermione nodded.

"Then there are some…things you should know about Harry," Hermione said, her lips pressing together in a thin line halfway through her words.

Hermione had told her not to pry, not to ask questions whenever Harry acted or did something odd, that he was an intensely private person, and that Daphne was far too smart and perceptive to not notice things about him. Hermione warned her not to try and ask Harry about things because he would either clam up or look to escape her questions by just leaving. That Daphne had to wait for Harry to talk about things himself and not push him into it, or he would fight back against it, and seeing just how fearsome the boy could be, that had scared her, he did kill a Dragon with a real-life Artifact of isles after all, but she didn't think Granger had meant it like that thankfully.

So, Daphne found herself waiting for Harry to join her in the entrance hall to go to Hogsmeade for their first real date, which was honestly a bit daunting if she was honest, she hadn't planned on dating anyone while at Hogwarts but, here she was. At least Harry had agreed for them to bring their friends along, so it would be less about just them and more about the group having fun. Luckily she had brought along her secret weapon, her best friend, Tracey Davis.

Tracey was, to put it lightly, an oddball of a girl and a shameless perverted flirt, with a bad habit of having a motor mouth when she started taking but that's why Daphne was bringing her along, Tracey might not seem like it but she knew enough about a lot of subjects so she would never run out of things to talk about board games, card games, football, quidditch, Ancient Runes, which weekly, weird trivia, and all other things. Though she may seem like a gibbering airhead at first, she had cunning in spades, Daphne had seen her more than once talk her way in and out of trouble with outstanding finesse. Tracey was currently leaning against the wall watching everyone escape the castle and rushing through the cold to get to a carriage with a goofy grin on her face.

"Man, I love winter," Tracey says watching a group of Hufflepuff girls rush past them.

"No Tracey, you like leggings and thigh-high socks," Daphne corrects her friend while turning to give her an unimpressed look.

"I know what I said," Tracy says while grinning back at her, honestly, Daphne would tell her to keep it in her pants, but she was pretty sure Tracey never owned any pants to keep it in, so all she does is roll her eyes at her friend's words.

"And speaking of things we like, here comes tall, dark, and broody," Tracey says nodding her head towards the Grand Staircase, and sure enough, Harry, Weasley, and Granger were coming down the staircase with the Lieutenant of the so-called "Hunters of Artemis" tagging along behind them. "Oh, please tell me the bird is coming with us, please," Tracey says with her grin growing and her eyes sparkling looking right at the lieutenant.

"And here I thought you were going to go after Theodore," Daphne says with a smirk at her friend.

"Hm?" Tracey says looking back at Daphne with wide eyes before she starts wildly looking around, "Wait? Is he here?" she asks in a bit of a panic that has a very unladylike snort escape Daphne before Tracey turns to her with a glare.

"Don't do that, you know how I get," Tracey says sharply to Daphne who now openly laughs at the trainwreck that was her best friend's love life.

Daphne just smirks before raising her arm and waving to Harry, who smiles and awkwardly waves back as he descends the stairs. She can see the look of mild distaste from Weasley, though she doesn't blame him considering his family's history with Slytherin house, at least he was polite enough to keep it to himself in mixed company.

When the three Gryffindors and one Lieutenant finally make it to them, Harry speaks up while gesturing to the Lieutenant, "Ah, hope you don't mind, but, umm, Zoë wanted to come with to, ah, get the castle I, ah, I guess," he says, cutely stammering over his words and making Daphne smile.

"So long as she is polite, I don't mind it at all," Daphne says, sending a quick glare at the taller girl who glares just as sharply back.

"Ummm,..." was the only response from Harry as he looked back and forth between the two girls, unsure of what to do until Zoë turns on her heel and starts walking toward the carriages, saying nothing and promising nothing as Weasley just chuckles at his friend's misfortune before the group follows behind the Lieutenant and loading up in one of the carriages, Harry stopping for a moment to pet thin air and thanking it, Daphne has never seen a Threstral, and hopes that she won't for a long time, especially after getting licked by one. Daphne shudders at the memory before climbing in behind Harry.

Daphne had taken her seat next to Harry with Granger next to him, Weasley was sitting across from her, Tracey across from Harry, and the Lieutenant across from Granger, and the best part? Tracey looking up at the Lieutenant with doe eyes and a goofy grin as she scooted closer to the taller girl who was quickly looking distressed.

Has she mentioned how much she loved her best friend?

But before the carriage door could completely shut behind Daphne it was wrenched open before someone threw themselves on the floor of the carriage, hissing at them "Shut the door, shut the door, now!" everyone in the carriage turns to look at the seemingly random person before the least likely person says a name.

"Delphini?" Harry asks before the girl flips over to look at Harry with an equally confused look.

"Pothead?" Delphini asks, "No! wait, no time, shut the door and hide me!" she whispers just before Harry reaches over and shuts the carriage door as everyone else was looking between Harry and the Durmstrang girl with a confused look.

"Who are you?" Daphne looks at the pierced girl with a slight glare, "and how do you know Harry?" she asks.

"What are you, his girlfriend?" Delphini asks snarkily.

"Yes, in fact, I am," Daphne says hotly as she crosses her arms and glares harder at the strange girl.

"Oh!" Delphini says as Harry sits back down, before looking at Daphne up and down, "Nice," she says with a flirty smile before turning to Harry, "Nice catch, Pothead, she's a fox," she says just before Tracey bursts out laughing.

"Delphini, what are you doing?" Harry asks flatly, completely ignoring the comment from the Durmstrang student.

"Depends on who you ask," Delphini says from her back on the floor, "If you were to ask my schoolmates or asshole headmaster, I would be sneaking into Hogsmeade, which is also true, ironically enough," she says grinning up at Harry.

"But I asked you," Harry says as he leans back in his seat and turns to look out of the window.

"Well, in that case, I'm getting away from said asshole Headmaster," Delphini says with a shrug.

"Your Headmaster is Kakaroff, correct?" Zoë asks as her eyes flick between the girl on the floor, Daphne glaring at her in dislike, and out of the window, Delphini just nods, "She can stay," Zoë says before sending a smirk at Daphne who had turned to look at her gobsmacked before Zoë knocks on the roof and the carriage starts to move.

"Do you want to at least take a seat?" Hermione asks, looking profoundly confused at the girl's sudden appearance.

Delphini turns to look at her with a brow raised, "When I'm surrounded by stockings, thigh highs, and amazing legs?" Delphini says with a bit of shock, "Nah, I'm good," she says with a grin right before Tracey claps her hands and points at her.

"Woman of Culture!" Tracey says with a triumphant grin before Daphne facepalms because now there were two of them.


(Don't call me Nympha)Dora Tonks, Three Broomsticks.

It had been a few months since she had last seen Harry, awkward as it was with the whole "knocking his arse over the garden fence" thing, and she was honestly hoping that he was over it, but then the memory of the family dinner comes to mind and she flinches at the thought, she wasn't going to apologize about it. Harry shouldn't have gotten mad over not getting to kill people and yelling in her face about it was crossing the line with her. The only reason she had come was that Sirius had asked her for a favor, one that she would have done even if he didn't ask, apparently the hurricane decided to start studying Battle Magic for the tournament, and Tonks didn't think it was a bad idea, so she had come along to show Harry a few pointers and tricks when it came to studying of being a living Siege engine.

As to why she was currently disillusioned and hiding in the corner was because, well, that was because she wanted to scare the hell out of the boy and have a good laugh.

Remus and Sirius were currently sitting in the private room looking as casual as possible, which they were pulling off perfectly, with Remus reading the Prophet and drinking tea and Sirius poking and prodding the Black family Heir ring that he was planning on giving to Harry with his wand while muttering under his breath trying to either add something to the enchantments or remove something, Tonks really didn't understand artificing the way the two older men did, she was more of an arse kicking machine if you were to ask her.

BOOM!

STOMP STOMP STOMP

BOOM!

"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BASTARD!" an unknown voice screams through the bottom floor of the three broomsticks as someone runs up the stairs.

"Hmm, I feel like this is going to be a thing moving forward, Padfoot," Remus says as he continues to read the newspaper as if it didn't sound like a war was unfolding below them.

"I concur, Mister Moony, should we help him out?" Sirius says before looking up to the door and flicking his wand at the door, opening it just in time to see Harry run in with the most frightened expression on his face but before he could say a word another silver blur charges into the room, and tackles him to the ground. An older girl in a silver jacket much like the one that Harry was now wearing with snow and a bit of muck covering her head was sitting on top of his chest as they wrestled back and forth until the girl finally got Harry's arm pinned under her knees with a vicious smile on her face.

Both Remus and Sirius watch this unfold with amusement on their faces as the girl extends her middle knuckle and begins to rapidly hit Harry's chest, "Name ten creatures! Name ten creatures!" she yells as Harry squirms under her.

"Zoë! Ah! Fucking! Ow! Fuck Zoë stop!" Harry says as he struggles and Tonks watches on confused as to what was going on.

"Not until you name ten creatures we can hunt! Name ten creatures Harry!" the girl yells back.

Harry names three creatures by the time four other Hogwarts students show up, The bushy-haired bookworm looking at the two with a worried look on her face, a blonde girl yelling at Zoë to get off of Harry, Ron who wasn't ever trying to hide the amused look on his face, and a third girl wearing a beanie of all things looking like she was holding back laughing at everything going on. The older girl, Zoë completely ignored blondie to continue demanding Harry name six more creatures, a few more minutes of watching the chaos and, honestly, the funny situation unfolding before her, Harry finally named the tenth creature (Nunda) and Zoë finally stands up and looks down at Harry with a glare.

"Let this be a lesson for next time you think about dumping snow and mud on my head because I get in an argument with your little girlfriend," Zoë says before stepping over Harry as he curls up on the floor clutching his chest and taking a seat next to Remus who nonchalantly hands her a cup of tea.

But Tonks was too busy looking at the blond girl helping Harry to stand, she could feel the uproar in her chest and the want in her mind as her lips press into a thin line Tonks forces the feeling away with what little training in the mind arts she had gotten because she wasn't about to feel jealous over a fucking school girl that's for damn sure!

Tonks takes a deep breath and exhales to clear her mind before she takes her first step from the corner, but no sooner than she did that, both Zoë and Harry's head snaps to the corner and both seem to take a deep breath through their noses before speaking.

"Who else is here?"

"Is Dora here?"

Both the Hunters ask Sirius much to the confusion of the majority of the room, "Oh, Come on!" Tonks says before dispelling the Disillusion charm she had cast, "I know I also didn't pass it, but how the hell did you two find out I was here?" Tonks says while putting her hands on her hips and noticing both Ron and Hermione's wands have slipped into their hands, "Smart kids," she thinks to herself.

After introductions are made, Ron smiles at her as she rubs his head to mess up his hair to annoy him, they had all sat down for lunch and drinks and Sirius asks how the first task went. Harry goes into detail about what had happened, how someone had interfered with the task by swapping out the relatively harmless dragon (if that was even a thing) with a more dangerous one, how he had used an incredibly powerful, deadly, and dark as all fuck curse to kill the beast while its wings were encased in tungsten of all things, how Harry had used Battle Magic to create enough floating rubble to do so. Even with the other schoolkids interjecting what they had seen, it still felt half explained and by the looks Tonks was getting from Sirius and Remus, they had thought the same.

Tonks had also noticed that the Zoë was glaring at her, and not the normal "I don't know you glare" either, but the "One wrong move and I will skin you alive" type of glare, and Tonks had no clue what the hell she had done to her to earn it so she had just glared back to give her a reason. Then Sirius had asked the big question.

"Well, Harry," Sirius said, placing down his goblet of ale that he had ordered with his meal, "I was wondering if you thought about spending the holidays with us, and by us, I mean me and Remus though Dora and her parents would be coming over for Christmas morning," he asks with a pensive look on his face.

Tonks watches Harry freeze and his hands begin to shake before he puts down his knife and fork and hides them under the table that she had conjured for everyone to eat on. She wasn't the only one who noticed either, both Hermione and Zoë had turned to look at the boy with worry in their eyes the shanking starts to travel up Harry's, for a boy who had just told the table how he had killed a dragon without batting an eye, he looked confused and frightened to no end.

Sirius' face adopts a softer and kinder expression before he turns to the rest of the table, "Do you lot mind if I have a few minutes alone with my godson, please," he says, mostly looking at Remus and Zoë.

Zoë looks between Harry and Sirius, concern evident on her face but as she opens her mouth, most likely refusing to leave while Harry looked to be on the verge of a panic attack, it was Hermione who nudges her and gives Zoë a look, causing the older girls lips to become a thin line before nodding and standing up. The rest of the group, excluding Remus, all stand and leave the room to crowd the hallway just outside.

Tracey seemed confused, Ron was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and an angry look on his face, while both Hermione and the Blonde looked concerned.

"One of those things I shouldn't ask about?" the blonde asks while looking at Hermione, who just nods sadly.

Tonks was about to ask what she had meant, but feels a hand grip her shoulder and begin to drag her down the hall, "Excuse us, I need to speak with Miss Tonks for a moment," Zoë calls out to the small group of teenagers who look at them in confusion.

"Oi, watch the coat!" Tonks snaps at Zoë as she dragged her down the hall, she tries to pull her arm from the other woman's grasp but Zoë had a grip like steel, and before she knew it, Tonks was being pushed into an empty private room. She spins around, almost tripping over her own feet as she levels her wand at Zoë, causing the other girl to pause and narrow her eyes at Tonks that slowly begin to turn an amber color, "I don't know what your problem is with me, bitch, but you've picked the wrong person to fuck with," Tonks says angrily.

Zoë scoffs at her, almost completely dismissing Tonks as a threat, and that had rubbed Tonks all the wrong way for some reason, she was a goddamn Auror for a reason. Tonks decides to end this before it even begins and launches a full-body bind at the women and watches in shock as Zoë swatts the spell from the air with her bare hand before her face twists into anger and she charges. Tonks had seen Harry in action and the raw speed the boy could bring to bear, and at this moment, Zoë matches that speed as she slams into Tonks, one hand wrapping around her wrist and her other hand finding Tonks' throat before picking her up and slamming her into the wall.

"Listen to me, and listen to me well, Harlet," Zoë says with a hiss as she was nose to nose with Tonks, "You are not to come anywhere near Harry alone, if I find out you try to do so, I will drag you before My Lady and we will hunt you like an animal, if I find out you assaulted him, I will break every bone in your body before having my second in command heal you, and doing it all over again, and then I will drag you before My Lady, Do you understand me, Whore?" Zoë threatens, her hand gripping Tonks' throat, normally in a way that Tonks would find exciting, tightly.

Well, that wouldn't do, that wouldn't do at all.

Tonks concentrates and feels her skin ripple as her muscular system thickens and becomes denser than before, with her free hand she knocks Zoë's hand from her throat, shocking the girl before kneeing the girl between the legs causing her to bend over and grunt, losing her grip on Tonks wand arm so the Auror can tear it from her grasp and with a flick sends Zoë stumbling back with a knockback spell.

Blades and disks begin to form from nothing as Tonks plants her feet and bends her knees watching as Zoë draws the large hunting knife at her side and it extends into a long silver blade before growling at Tonks.

"You want some bitch, bring it!" Tonks snaps at the girl in the silver jacket, her conjurations quivering with excitement, but before either of the two women could begin to tear each other, and the room, apart, the door opens as Remus steps in, his mouth open to say something, but stops as he takes in what was happening between the two girls.

"Lady Nightshade," Remus says slowly as his eyes flick between the two in the room, "Harry and Sirius wish to speak with you for a moment," he finishes, his hand slipping into his pocket where his wand was just in case he needed to separate the two girls.

For what felt like an eternity, Tonks and Zoë glared at one another, neither backing down, but soon Zoë lets out a breath and stands up straight before sliding her sword back into its holster, shrinking back down to the hunting knife, "Remember my words, Harlet," Zoë says before turning on her heel and walking pass Remus and out of the room.

Remus turns to Tonks, "What was that about?" he asks, and all Tonks could do is shrug before dismissing her conjurations, but she does catch her reflection in one before disappearing, vivid pink eyes look back at her, and she swears they winked at her before they vanish completely.


Hermione Granger, Hogsmeade, the Shrieking Shack.

Something was wrong with Harry Potter, and at this moment it was his growing frustration with magic. It was very rare that Harry struggled with any sort of magic that he had seen up close and personal, Hermione was honestly curious about how well Harry would do with esoteric magic, the type more based on emotion than with the movement of magic and the will of the caster, she knew he had a lot of trouble with the Patronus charm last year, but she wonders if that had to do with his past and not necessarily his emotions. Hermione makes a mental note to look up a basic esoteric spell to experiment with that wasn't exactly dark or illegal.

But the magic that Harry was currently struggling with was something not even she could do yet, infusing runes with magic. Sirius' cousin, Tonks Ron had called her, was showing Harry how to do it with a simple configuration that was used to reinforce conjurations and transfiguration so they would be harder to simply vanish. Tonks was explaining the technical details to Harry, and Hermione could help but to smirk at the glazed-over look in Harry's eyes as what Tonks said went in one ear and out the other, Hermione had learned a while ago to skip over the lectures and head right into the practical stuff with Harry, but she could help but feel frustrated that she couldn't help her best friend with something and resolves herself to either look it up in the library or asking Professor Babbling how to do it.

The first thing she had shown Harry was a tracking charm, that one Harry had got down easily, the charm had two parts as far as Hermione could tell, first was the spell "Tag" and then the spells "Point". The charm was two syllables that could be cast independently, which was fascinating by itself, but the first part you would cast at your target, Tagging them with the charm, though Tonks did warn him if he tagged someone's shirt all they had to do was ditch the shirt not to be tracked by the spell anymore, the second part however, was far more fearsome in someone like Harry's hands. Whatever the second part of the charm was cast on would automatically track and point to the tag, add in a banishing charm and you have, what was essentially, a heat-seeking missile.

Tonks had warned Harry that while the charm was deadly when combined with Battle Magic, it was very simple to overcome. Along with just shedding the article of clothing that was tagged, a simple finite incantatem would spell the charm, or if the tag moved more than fifty feet away from the caster, which would cause the "Point" object to spin in place. Tonks had demonstrated this by creating an animated suit of armor made from snow and ice and tagging it, which had caused Ron to lean over and whisper to Hermione.

"Do you think Harry can do that transfiguration, the one with the suit of armor?" He asked while eyeing the armor and rubbing his chin in thought.

"It looks rather advanced, we don't start animated transfiguration until the sixth year, why?" Hermione asks back, looking at the redhead.

"Two words, Hermione," Ron says, "Giant chessboard," he informs her while nodding sagely at his own words, which causes both Hermione and Daphne to turn and look at him like he had lost all priorities before both smack him on his shoulders.


Scáthach, Dún Scaith, The Land of Shadows.

Scáthach dodges the thrust from her student with a smile before swinging her own spear at the boy's head causing Harry to duck and blindly lash out with his spear, she parries the spear before spinning her weapon with a flourish as she spins around to his exposed back, slashing at it. If it wasn't for the jacket that he wore so proudly, he would have gotten a rather nasty scar from her hooked and barbed spear, but the boy throws himself forward, rolling as he lands as his wand finds its way to his hand and points it at the floor just under her feet.

"Saxum Serpans!" Harry cries, and Scáthach allows the magic to take effect in her domain, as a large serpent of stone rips itself from the floor and tries to wrap around and constricts her, but with a spin of her spear, Scáthach shatters the serpent as if it was made of glass.

"Good, Graeca, but predictable," Scáthach says calmly before she charges her student once more.

It was their last spar before he leaves again for his holidays on the other side of the gate, he had shown up a week and a half ago for more training, informing her of the next task he was to face. The other champions would be hunting a deer, but he was far more concerned about the Aos sí that he was sure that would be hunting him instead. The Aos sí were tricky to fight, even a half-blooded one, they were like Demigods with an inborn battle instinct that could be honed to a deadly edge but with an instinctive nature for trickery and access to the hedge, if it wasn't for ancient treaties her and the other Dé Danann had sworn to uphold she would inform Harry that Rowan wood and iron was his best bet for cutting the girl off from the hedge and those making the fight far easier. But fortunately enough, one of her student's friends was researching them as they fought, and with the way he spoke of her Scáthach was eager to meet this "Hermione" when she was finally free.

Scáthach thanked her student for the wonderful sacrifice that he made in her name with a kiss on his forehead that caused him to sputter and blush like a maiden, she had spent days of fighting the Dragon known as Fáfnir, the beast didn't know when to quit and would always claw it's way back to the plateaus after she had knocked him back down into the chasms over and over again, it was truly a gift that kept on giving. Harry had told her it was a thank-you for teaching him the Gaé Bolg, but Scáthach wasn't a god that cared about sacrifice, she cared about teaching her students and passing along her knowledge, as timeless as it was.

Harry points his wand back at her with a whisper of "sequere" on his lips and Scáthach feels something land on her chest before thrusting forward causing Harry to roll out of the way, but the boy was learning not to waste movement and slashes his wand at the rubble of the snake calling out "Ferrum pugio, punctus!" but Scáthach was on her student in a flash, slashing and stabbing at Harry keeping him focused on her and her spear, her soft smile never leaving her face.

Harry finally finds his feet as he begins to dodge her thrusts and block her slashes, but she uses her strength and speed to make sure he couldn't simply parry them. They finally lock their weapons and her student's face turns red at the strain of trying to hold her back, Scáthach was aiming for the boy's shoulder, to give him a nice cut to teach him to never lock weapons with a superior opponent, but like always, the boy is able to surprise her. He lets himself fall, turning his body to land on his shoulder and avoid her blade as he points his wand off to the left, crying out "Accio!"

Scáthach snaps her head to the left and sees the daggers the boy created from the rubble of the snake fly, but not toward the boy, but toward her. Her eyes widen a bit before she brings up her lance quickly batting away the blades as Harry tries to roll away from her, but with the force of her own will she conjures replicas of our own Divine weapon and launches them down at her student, he dodges most of them before one Pierces through one of his pants legs, pinning him in place, and before Harry could push himself up to free himself, his throat is met with the point of her spear and the smile on her face.

"Very good, Graeca," Scáthach compliments him before dismissing her conjured spear and pulling her divine weapon away from his throat, before offering him her hand and pulling him to his feet, "Are you injured?" she asks, inquiring toward his leg.

"Oh, No, I'm fine," Harry says as he moves his foot around, showing he wasn't bleeding or hurt.

"Excellent," Scáthach says with a smile, "You've gotten much better than when we first met I admit, I think next time we will step up the training past the beginner lessons we have been on," she says and almost laughs as she watches the horror spread over Harry's face.

"These have been beginner lessons?" Harry asks, shocked.

"Oh my yes, I've only been using Battle Magic towards the end of our spars, now I believe I will be using it from the start," Scáthach says with her grin turning sadistic.

Harry sighs before running his hand through his hair, "Man, Teacher, if this tournament doesn't kill me I'm pretty sure your gonna," he says with a chuckle before looking at her with a shake of his head.

Scáthach chuckles with him, "If that happens then I look forward to the fight that your mother and her lieutenant will bring to my realm," she says morbidly knowing the only reason that the Lieutenant wasn't here with the boy was she had agreed to helping another one of the champions hone the gifts imparted on her by an artifact of Artemis.

They fall into a comfortable silence for a moment before Harry speaks again with a sigh, "I have to go," he says, and all Scáthach does is nod.

"I'll see you after the holidays, Teacher," he says with a smile, "Hopefully, we'll get to celebrate them together soon," Harry says before turning around and walking towards the Gate.

"I would like that too, my dear student," Scáthach says watching him leave, and knows that soon was much sooner than the boy thinks. But as Harry steps past the gate that separates the Land of Shadows from the material world, she frowns as the words of Cait-Saith come back to her.

"About his connection to you of course,"

"After all, you would know best, wouldn't you, Godslayer,"

Scáthach hopes and wishes that the boy would never find out, would never have to find out about it, as she turns on her heel and walks back to her throne to wait for the boy to return once more, knowing her hopes and wishes were for naught.


Harry Potter, Gate of Skye.

Harry steps from the gate and immediately drops to his hands and knees as a wave of fatigue and sore muscles hit him as if Cernunnos had body-slammed him into the castle floor, He crawls over to one of the stones to lay back against. Harry had expected this and had called to Dobby to bring him some ambrosia from his trunk as soon as he stepped out of the gate, Zoë was also supposed to meet him here before they went back to the castle and pack for the trip back to London in the morning.

Sirius had offered for Zoë to stay at his place over the holidays for Harry's sake because his stupid brain keeps thinking that leaving Hogwarts means going back to the Dursley for some stupid reason. Sirius even offered Zoë the lady of the house's sweet, which caused Zoë to turn to Sirius with a glare that could peel paint before the man quickly explained that it was because it was one of the only rooms in the house that had a private bathroom, which had calmed Zoë down.

Harry closes his eyes, hoping that Dobby would get here soon, he didn't want another run-in with Macha or her "Sisters" and whatever the hell they were planning anytime soon, and thankfully Harry hears footsteps coming towards him, light and quick like all the house elves had.

"Dobby, I'm buying you so many socks this Christmas, I swear," Harry says out loud so the little elf could hear him.

"Az zweet az zat iz, I am not zis Dobby, you peak of," A voice says, causing a cold shiver to run down Harry's spine and the Hunt growl in his mind, His eyes snap open and he turns to look at the entrance of the Chamber and sees the last person Harry ever wanted to see when he was in this state walking towards him.

Because walking toward Harry, with a wand held aloft and bathing the Chamber of Skye in soft wand light, was Fleur Delacour smiling cruelly at him.

"Ello, little 'Arry," She says, smiling wide and showing off her fangs as her eyes change to their golden-orange color.


Two of Wands

On this card, it shows crossed wands, one of Holly and one of Blackthorn, over a small globe. On the right side of the card, half the face of a boy with slitted green eyes can be seen, on the right, half a face of a girl with blond hair and golden-orange slitted eye, below we see a group of people in the snow just outside a rundown shack and above, a black cat is curled up comfortably in the nook of the crossed wands.


Chapter Done!

And whoa boy! Did this end on a dosy, I wonder what Fleur wants with our best boy? Is she gonna eat him? Bully him? Invite him to a picnic? I guess you're just gonna have to tune in next time to find out.

Cait-Saith is such an asshole and I love him for it.

What's the connection between Scáthach and Harry? Well, I hinted at it when they first met, but for those who haven't figured it out, well, you'll just have to wait to find out.

The longer I thought about Tonks meeting Zoë, the more I realized that Zoë would know something would be up and confront it like she always does.

Harry was on the verge of a panic attack because his brain equates leaving Hogwarts to "going back to the Dursleys" even if he knows he's not, something like that isn't something you can logic out of it's ingrained deeply into him.

Anyway, I think that's all the important stuff.

The next chapters are:

The Knight of Swords

The Ace of Wands

An Artemis interlude

A very Harry Christmas special(Yule Ball)

And then we jump right to it:

The Devil (Part One)

Kingsaxcul, out.