A/N: and here i am again with chapter 50. Yes, it is a bit shorter then the last few, but not to worry, i am still interested to write.

Thanks to you all once again for motivating me by reading so far. HowInMadeHowie and me are planing about what will happen next in this story, so stay tuned. Have fun and be safe

While Harry was shooting with his pistol, Mr. Lovegood was fascinated about the different firearms that he was looking at. "Incredible how many tools muggles have created to make do without magic. And you're telling me that these could kill anything the projectile hits? This sounds like the killing course, so why are those not banned?"

"Because when someone wants to kill another human being, he would find a way just like you wizards do without using a forbidden curse. An overpowered stunner or a piercing hex does have a similar effect as the killing course, except that the curse does not leave any trace to what had killed the target. In that regard the curse is better, but just like with these firearms there are ways to trace the magic back to the caster. My superiors are working on a method to find any kind of residual foreign magic in a body or an object, as this would be a sign that there was a spell, charm or curse put on that person or object. Even a corpse could still hold this information, at least we hope it is like that as we do not want to kill someone with the killing curse to confirm our theory." Mr. Lovegood turned around at the new voice he could hear despite the earmuffs he had over his ears. John had patiently explained that they could filter out the sound of the firearms so the voices could pass through thanks to a microphone on the side; now Mr Lovegood was looking at another big man, almost as tall as John was.

After Mr. Lovegood asked him for his name, Michael introduced himself as the brother of John, just as he was briefed to do. His mission right now was to find out how much Mr. Lovegood really knew about them, as according to the information from ONI the Department of Mysteries should be a joke in comparison to ONI. It could have been a fluke that the man before him had guessed that the Potter boy had a great potential to wield power in their government, but they had to make sure.

"Ah yes, I heard some things about you from my daughter, I think you met her when you had to patrol the school once? I must thank you for saving her from some bullies back then, she told me when she wrote me a letter about a big man standing between her and some Slytherin students and telling them to walk away now or he would make their daily life a living hell. She really is thankful for your help as she had a much easier time afterwards. Dare I ask you why you reacted this way? To be honest, you had to have a difficult life in your youth to react like that." Mr. Lovegood was talking to the unknown Spartan III and was still wondering how a man can become this big and muscular. He could only assume that it had something to do with his upbringing, as he had only seen John to compare the man before him.

Michael still tried to read Mr. Lovegood, but he had some problems with it because the body language from this man was strange to put it mildly. Mr. Lovegood was behaving like he was just not caring for the others' opinion about him and only wanted to protect his daughter, but Mr. Lovegood would not know what the best approach for this was. Michael became even more confused as he noticed that Mr. Lovegood could move in almost complete silence, something he could only do when he had put his armor in stealth mode.

Mr. Lovegood asked Michael if he could shoot some of the smaller pistols so he could understand that other firearms would not be good for beginners. So, while Michael tried to explain the difference in the firearms, Harry was laying down on his stomach with the SIG 550 put on its bipod and looking through the diopter sight on the rifle to see if he was on target. When he was sure he would hit it, he squeezed the trigger and the small explosion in the cartridge propelled the projectile towards the target. After releasing the trigger again to see if he had hit the target, John called it back to them, revealing that it just a small dot on a piece of cardboard. According to John it would symbolize a target with the diameter of half a meter in the distance from 150 meters away.

"Well hit Harry. Of course, in a real situation the distance to the enemy would be much shorter, but it is good to train for such distances just to be safe you would hit the target with every trigger pull. Now clean the rifle and get your pistol. Today we train to choose the correct targets and switch between them." John was now preparing the firing range for the new exercise, when Luna asked him if she could also shoot a pistol once. She saw how her father asked the other man, but as she did not know him, she was more comfortable with John showing her the basics.

When Harry returned from the small shack where they stored their firearms in the safes, he saw that Luna was getting tutored about firearms and safety rules from John. Somehow it reminded him at the time when John was teaching him just before Cortana had begun her rampancy phase.

Flashback

When Harry was 7 years old and his training had begun, John showed him how to shoot with a patience that was uncanny for a man who saw war since he was a teenager. The other occupants in the home from the Witcher's had a theory, as John was also teaching other children in Hogwarts in Physical Exercise and surely had a hard time in the beginning to connect with the students. But after he had finally put a whole class since they entered the school, they had seen that he was much more like a human instead of a machine, as Cortana had called him while she was in her rampancy phase, and they could hear how she cursed his existence as that was the reason she was weak. Harry could not understand why she was screaming this out of the speakers before John took the chip out of his helmet and gave it to Aunt Catherine to fix the AI.

All of them really hoped that Catherine could fix her up again as John was, except for eating, almost all the time out on the grounds and exercising with something out in the woods and Triss was afraid that he would hurt himself without any possibility of contacting them. But just after two days, Aunt Catherine came back out from the lower parts where she had her laboratory with a smile and a small projector in her hand. Cortana looked different then he could remember until then, but that had to be a sign that she was back in action.

"Can I ask what I missed? It seemed that my internal clock had a glitch as the rampancy began. Are John and Triss together now? And where are the children?" Cortana then saw Harry sitting at the table, still a young boy so it could not have been so much time since her rampancy started. Looking back up to her creator, she asked Catherine if she would know where John is right now, because he would be glad that she was back at 100 %.

Just at that moment John came through the door of the main hall, seeing the small blue woman projected in the hand of Doctor Halsey, just like that time they were introduced to each other back in the day. Just behind him came Triss through the door, obviously looking for John to see if he was still alive. Something that Cortana announced as soon as she saw her big partner from the war, but she could not hold back the small remark if she was already replaced by the redhead.

"I mean seriously, I am away for two days and am already changed out? I am shocked!" Cortana said with dramatic flair, thankfully she had a grin on her digital face and that had softened the blow a bit. Especially as she had cursed him the last time he had seen her. John walked towards Doctor Halsey with his hand outstretched, not even asking if he could have his AI back. He was dependent on her; he now knew that much. When she was away, he felt empty and sluggish in his armor, so having her back put his mind at ease.

"Hello Chief, happy to be back. You did nothing out of the ordinary while I was away, I hope. Like making a baby?" At this little banter, John assured her that he was not father material and right now had other plans. Just after that he took Harry to the shooting range so he would not have to endure more teasing from the others or seeing a blushing Triss.

*Flashback end*

Harry asked himself why John had not a child of his own, but as it was now official that he was in a relationship with Triss it was very difficult to make a baby. As a sorceress Triss was unfertile just like Yen was. How that worked was still a mystery to the boy, but Harry knew that Catherine was also working on that since she got here. How she handled all these tasks next to the official work for the superiors from John was also an enigma for Harry, but after watching Hermione doing all her homework almost the same day it was issued, he understood at least that it was not something only Doctor Halsey could do. Another point for Cortana, as she had called his friend a "Mini-Halsey" back in his first year in school.

On the shooting range itself, Luna held the pistol just like John had told her, but her small hand could not hold it in a firm enough grip. Seeing this, John took it back and looked for the smallest pistol he had at his disposal. He soon found the same small pistol which Harry had used when they started, a small Beretta Jetfire chambered in .22 magnum. In his hands this gun seemed laughingly small, but it was just the right size for Luna when he gave it to her.

While she was shooting with it, Harry came up beside her and placed his Walther PPK on the table, preparing it for the exercise John had mentioned. He really liked this pistol, even more after he saw it in the James Bond movies where it was used by the titular hero to fight his enemies. It was small enough so that he could have carried it under his robes without anyone noticing, but as long he would not see a reason to do so it was safely stored in his trunk compartment where only he had access to. While it was powerful enough to defend himself from almost any kind of threat, he doubted just like Ciri did that it would do much against the basilisk, but it could not hurt to try. Well, at least when the bullet would not ricochet from its hide and hit him again. He then noticed that he could not hold the pistol and the sword at the same time in his right hand, maybe John would have a solution for that when he asked him.

When he had finished his preparation, he lifted his pistol up and aimed at the target that was highlighted through his glasses thanks to Callie, who got instructions from Cortana on what to do. She changed the colors in his glasses so he could identify the ones he should hit and the ones he had to miss. According to Callie, those were not armed and as such not allowed to be hurt. Harry wondered how that should function if the *bad guys* would not care about that and just shoot at him, whoever was in the way. So, he had to be faster than them, but for his first try it was to be expected that he did poorly. Somehow, he just was not fast enough to acquire the target and identify it as hostile or not. When he asked Callie why she did not change the colors before he had identified them, she told him that he had to do it even when she was not around, as the possibility existed that Harry would be apart from her. Even the neural link was not almighty as a far enough distance and underground they could not make connections with the others.

"Wait Callie, that would mean if the Chamber of Secrets was too deep, we could not call for help when we needed to? How should we solve this problem?" Harry was now aware that he truly could be alone in the chamber, well except for Callie with him as she pointed out to him.

"You always seem to forget that I can help you in an emergency, I am sure that my sensors in your glasses and the matrix-projector will be sufficient to locate a giant snake, thank you very much. But just in case we should ask Dumbledore if we could have some phoenix tears from his bird in his office." Harry had a surprised look on his face, as he missed another shot while looking at Callie in his glasses.

"Wait, that was a phoenix? No book I had read about them had a picture of them, as they are very rare to see." Harry felt something like he got a small slap on his head thanks to Callie having access to his nerves, she could simulate this since she got an upgrade from Cortana. Another surprise for him according to the vitals she registered now. She could have told him about this this morning, but she assured him that she could not control his body at all.

"But it will become handy when we are down in the chamber, as I can give you something like a sense where the danger comes from instead of telling you in words. Of course, we will train with this new ability of mine. I would suggest we go into the forest later today and see how it works out there." Callie was still compiling all the possibilities for her new ability, when she noticed that John came over together with Luna carrying the small Beretta in the carrying case. That was a good test if she could catch the attention from Harry as she manipulated the signals from his nerves to tell him that John was coming from the right. According to Harry's brainwaves he was a bit confused but turned around regardless and looked at John and Luna, while her father was still farther back being instructed by Michael.

Looking at the targets and what the computer could tell him, John surmised that Harry would need more training with this scenario. But for the first time, as a civilian he was not that bad. John and the other Spartans were trained since they were children like real soldiers, so their reaction would be better than Harry's was now. And as Witchers normally use bladed weapons to fight, John could not hope that it would help Harry in that regard.

"Well Harry, it seems you did not do so bad for your first time taking this exercise so I will not punish you for failing this test. But if you do not do better next time, you will run around the grounds for at least an hour, do you understand?" At John's question, Harry nodded and asked Luna afterwards if she likes to be shooting a pistol. She nodded excitedly while she told him how she thought it felt like the first time she cast a spell in class.

"And then, when I pulled the trigger, I was surprised how the pistol wanted to jump out of my hand. I think there are some nargles trying to take my gun away. But the second shot hit the target almost in the middle. I was so overjoyed that I almost placed the barrel upwards, but Mr. Wulf placed his hand over mine, so it was still pointed down to the ground. But he was not angry with me, he just reminded me to make sure that I follow the safety rules." Luna was talking a mile a minute about all the safety rules, confirming that she was very intelligent as she had understood everything without much explanation, just like Hermione had last year.

On the other side of the shooting range, Mr. Lovegood was concentrating on the task at hand, namely to understand how these firearms worked while he looked down the iron sight of the small revolver in a similar caliber his daughter had used before.

*He is surprisingly good, at least for a man who shot for the first time. * Michael thought while he watched Mr. Lovegood hitting the bullseye once again. Michael told Auntie Dot to report this to the Infinity, while Mr. Lovegood checked the revolver if it was really out of ammunition before placing it down at the table and turning towards the Spartan who just stood there.

"Mr. Wulf, I must thank you for this opportunity to see how muggles fight nowadays. Sadly, I must admit that our understanding of the non-magical people is, well nicely put, old fashioned. Some of us still believe that they still use single shot front loader rifles and pistols like they had during the colonial times. Of course it is understandable when the ones in power in our society did not fight in any war between muggles the last 150 years and they do not want to listen to the muggleborn witches and wizards who could tell them all the new technologies muggles used in warfare. At least our leaders know about electricity and the newest clothing trends to blend in the muggle community enough to hide themselves. But I am afraid that the next time the wizarding community will have another war between themselves, the muggles will notice us and come at us with force. And that will be the time we have to humble ourselves and ask for help from others who were more open minded and implemented muggle technology in their own forces. And yes, if you wanted to ask, as far I know only our own ministry is this close-minded to ignore the muggles as much as they can." Mr. Lovegood had a sad look on his face that had nothing to do with his daughter, if only he would not be afraid for her safety.

As they all were now done with shooting, they walked up to the castle for lunch. Luna asked Harry what they were doing in the afternoon, when Harry reminded her that they still had some homework to do. Luna was excited and asked if the nice blue ladies could help them in their studies, to their luck Mr. Lovegood was in a deep conversation with Michael as they walked out towards the kitchen, so he had not heard her. But just as Harry wanted to tell Luna that they could help them if they did not know any further, he saw Jerome coming into the great hall with a grim face.

John noticed it too and asked him if anything bad had happened. Jerome sat down on one of the robust chairs that could hold a Spartan, nodding to Harry to signal him that he should take Luna to study as this was a grown-up affair. After Jerome also had made sure that Michael had taken Mr. Lovegood to the kitchen, to ask the women there if they needed help, Jerome listened for the door closing behind them. He then turned towards John and began to explain. "I think someone is snooping too deep in our businesses. Somehow, I got an anonymous message telling me that they know who really is providing our funds and that we should just stop with our meddling. Of course, I reported this immediately to ONI to find out what was going on, but for now they told me to stay put. Now, you know me, I do not like to stay put but as the figurehead of the foundation, I can't do much in the field. So, I asked Captain Lasky for permission to use the rest of the red team to seek out any kind of information. He accepted, but only if you would lead them for the next two weeks. As soon as you say yes, I have the armor for the boy right here to give it to him." Jerome lifted an armored case on the table, showing John that he had indeed the Marine-armor he had requested.

"And before you ask why I need your approval for this assignment, this armor is no longer the M52B variant. This is a prototype our research team developed specifically for this world, and they would like to test it on an inhabitant from this planet first. According to them, this armor is not only bullet resistant, but can also withstand extreme heat and cold, as well protect you from being pierced through the chest, arms or legs. The helmet has of course all the same features we already know, like the air filtration systems, but there is an AI slot like with our MJOLNIR helmets to help the combatant in a hazardous environment. As this is secret information, I will give your protégé the rundown instead of you when you are out on that mission. Now Spartan S-117, do you accept it?" Jerome, knowing full well that John did outrank him in the military, still knew which buttons he had to press to get John ready to go.

John was thinking about this assignment, he was sure that he could ask another Spartan to take over his duties in school if this assignment would take more than 2 weeks. It would only involve watching over the students to make sure that they would not hurt themselves and patrolling the corridors. But in his head, he could not think of anyone who could be considered good with children. It was this moment when the door opened again and a female walked into the main hall, someone he never saw for himself before. And as he did not have his helmet on right now, he could not count on Cortana identifying this woman for him. But her movement showed him that she could be another Spartan IV, just like Sergeant Buck was.

After making sure that they were not overheard, she looked directly into John's eyes and began to speak. "To be honest Master Chief, I thought you would be taller."