A/N: and here i am again with another chapter with the great help form HowInMadeHowie. You may notice that this chapter is much longer than i usualy upload, and the reason for it is that HowInMadeHowie suggested for more details to be explained for what is happening in this chapter. I aggreed to his suggestions, as it did make more sense this way and it is adding well to this story what he wrote into this chapter. So he is, in a way, the co-author for this chapter. So i ask you to visit his profile and read the stories he has on there, to which he did help the original authors too.
As always, i hope that you like the story and have fun reading it. Until next time.
After walking through the portal, Harry soon found himself in the main hall of Kear Morhen and was in wonder how good it looked now. The hall was freshly painted, and Harry was reminded that he had seen a picture in an old book on how the hall had looked in its heyday. Another addition to the decor of the main hall was the skull of the giant basilisk, without the teeth, that Harry had slain earlier this year. Harry just hoped that Susan had not told her Aunt that he had killed it. And if Madam Bones would ask them where this beast came from, Harry hoped that the answer given would satisfy her. After all, Geralt was a known Witcher in the ministry.
Harry looked around with a smile and couldn't help but quip. "Well, color me surprised. Yen, did you overwork Dobby?" Just as he said the name, the house elf popped right next to him and bowed deeply.
"Master Harry, welcome home. Dobby worked hard to get the castle back to its former glory, but Dobby liked the work and received many thanks from Mistress Yen and Mistress Catherine for Dobby's work. Now please allow Dobby to bring your trunk to your room and then clean your clothes, dinner will also soon be ready." Dobby then grabbed the trunk Harry still held with the handle in his hand and disappeared just as Yen came out the kitchen. Harry looked at Hedwig's cage in his other hand, noticing Hedwig looking a bit peeved about being inside it. Harry opened the door and let her out to fly to her place up in a tower.
Yen had a smile on her lips as she saw a surprised Harry looking at his hand. "No Harry, I did not overwork him, he just does what you had told him and looks that Kear Morhen does not fall further down in disrepair. And honestly, I am glad you freed him from Malfoy, as your friend even fixed many things that we still had issues with even with the help from Minerva. Doctor Halsey had told him that he was not allowed in her office, but he just acknowledged it and just told her that he would help her when asked. But after she had found out that Dobby cannot tell any secrets without your permission to a certain individual. So she then allowed him into her office so he could clean it too. Now come and sit down with John and Triss, I am sure that Dobby is already serving dinner." Yen turned around and walked in front of them, with Harry just behind her followed by Triss and John.
Triss was also smiling as she admired the restored castle, looking over to Yen she commented. "I have to say, I am surprised that Kear Morhen had still so much life in it so Dobby could repair it this well. It is nice to see the old castle like this." Triss was looking over the ceiling while holding John's hand so he could lead her while she looked at her surroundings in wonder.
For John it had become natural to hold her hand when they walked side by side, something he had learned would be normal when he had not to fight for his life since he was a young boy. But given the choice if he wanted to change anything in his life, he would change nothing as it made him the man he was today.
As they sat on the table for dinner, the meals appeared just like they did in Hogwarts on platters on the table so they could scoop the food on their plates. Harry looked around to see if he could spot Dobby, but the elf seemingly was nowhere to be seen. He then called him out, with Dobby popping on his side again. "Master Harry called for Dobby. Is something not to Master Harry's liking? Do you wish for something else?" Dobby was bowing the whole time while asking Harry for his needs.
Harry shook his head and asked Dobby if he could look at him. "Dobby, everything is great. But I was asking myself where you were as you do not sit on our table to eat. I can understand that the Hogwarts house elves do not do this with all the students around. It would be cramped in the Great Hall, but here we have more than enough space for you to eat with us." Harry was surprised at the shocked look Dobby had for him.
"Master Harry is too kind, but a house elf should not eat with its masters. It could interfere with wishes the masters have during the meals, so a house elf must wait until the masters are finished with their meal before a house elf is allowed to eat." Dobby was bowing again, hoping that Harry was not angry at him.
"Dobby, I read about house elves in the library from Hogwarts, and there is no rule that would tell you that you cannot eat with us. So please, sit down and enjoy your own cooking as it is very good." Harry patted the chair next to him. Dobby was trembling as he climbed up the chair and sat down, snapping his finger so a small plate appeared in front of him with a small amount of food. Dobby then thanked Harry for his generosity for allowing him on the table before eating his meal.
Yen noticed that and now she was sure that Dobby had formed a bond with Harry, as she had asked the house elf multiple times to eat with them so they could get to know him. But he just refused until Harry asked him, so it was now obvious who could order the elf to do something without being asked any questions. She smiled again, as Dobby chose wisely who deserved his loyalty after he was freed.
A week later, Geralt finally returned from Romania after finishing his contract there and was greeted by Dobby asking him if he would like to store his swords in a special closet down in the armory. Geralt thanked the elf, being informed by Yen what had happened in the last few months. "And please watch out for the silver sword, I do not know if it would hurt you by touching it. Keep it in its scabbard. And if you finished with that task, could you please ask Harry to come out to the obstacle courses for some training?" Geralt just wanted to turn around, when Dobby told him that Harry was already there and doing his workout. Telling the elf his thanks, Geralt walked out the main hall and noticed the big skull over the fireplace. Now seeing how big this basilisk was, he was proud how far Harry had come. Geralt then wandered over to the course where he saw that Harry was speeding through all the obstacles with a high speed. Ciri was also standing next to the course, watching the boy. It reminded Geralt how he did the same thing while he was training Ciri when she was younger.
Ciri felt the older Witcher approaching, a skill she had learned a long time ago when she was fighting monsters. "Harry does great, I only had to tell him once to rearrange his blindfold correctly. Even under us Witchers, he can be called a prodigy even rivaling you, Geralt." Ciri turned her head around to smile at her mentor, seeing him nodding in agreement.
"Yes, I heard about the kill. Yen can be very detailed in her letters when she wants to be. Killing a 1,000 year old basilisk at his age? Almost a record. Tell me, does he have the weights on too?" Geralt asked just to be polite to his chosen daughter, as he could tell that Harry had no weights on his ankles or wrists at all. That was something he had to correct.
Calling Harry over, the young Witcher stopped and took off his blindfold. "Hello Geralt, good to see you. How was your contract in Romania?" Harry was honestly curious why Geralt was away for such a long time, so he listened with great interest about how Geralt had to track down a dragon and then prove its innocence for the crimes committed after they had a small talk with each other.
Geralt shook his head ruefully as he thought back on the meeting with the dragon. "I really could have used your ability to talk with snake's and dragons, but luckily for me Borch showed up soon after and translated for me, giving me the hints needed to finish the job. But as the contract was to get the dragon out of the part of the country it had set up her nest, we still needed to relocate her to the dragon reserve where some wizards were working to keep them there. I found out that Borch also lives there, making the job of the dragon handlers easier. As a Golden Dragon himself, Borch is like the king of the dragons that live there now. When he visited us last year, it was because he felt something shifting in the magic around us. He apologized to me that he had to take such a long time before coming to us, but he wanted to make sure that he had covered all possibilities." Geralt looked at Harry, telling him silently that it was because of the thing that was inside him until the ritual that made him a Witcher.
Harry listened with great attention, trying to find all the information told to him. According to the books from Kear Morhen's library about old Witchers, it was a skill very much needed to find out if the client for the contract told them everything they needed to know. But what he just heard told him that there was something else, something he was not ready to know yet. But he told Callie to remind him in a year or two that he should ask this question again.
Callie huffed and put another reminder on his list. "But just to make sure you know; I am not your secretary. You should remind yourself of all the things you tell me to remind you of. I just should be the backup in case it is important to do something you were told to do."
Harry apologized to his partner, scratching the back of his head where the neural interface was as it tickled a bit when Callie was angry with him. A short time later, he was doing the obstacle courses again with the weights on his ankles and wrists just like Geralt told him.
Geralt also warned him that they would increase those weights every day just a bit so his body would get used to it. "We also will train our swordsmanship later, so watch out that you do not overexert yourself while going through the courses."
Harry placed the blindfold back over his eyes when he arrived at the start of the course and ran it a few more times before calling it a day. When he arrived in the courtyard, Geralt was already waiting for him with a wooden sword at the ready. In that moment Harry remembered that Geralt had not seen the sword of Gryffindor that was now in his possession. "Before we begin Geralt, can I show you my sword? Maybe it gives you some ideas to modify my combat style and train me more efficiently." After Geralt nodded, Harry pulled out the small dagger and transformed it into the sword of Gryffindor.
Geralt was surprised that such a sword existed in the first place, but after hearing Harry explained to him from where he received it Geralt asked him to go through all the forms he knew and showed him the different techniques how far he had come with controlling the blade.
Switching through all the forms Harry knew and doing all the movements he had trained over last winter; Geralt saw some mistakes Harry had made and corrected them while Harry swung his sword. "If you swung the sword that way, you must stand with your feet more apart. It should also negate the damage in case you would be attacked by another opponent from the side. Do it again." Geralt walked around Harry out of range of his sword, while observing him to find another detail Harry would have to correct. The rest of the day was used for training Harry with Geralt.
All the while Doctor Halsey was working on another pair of glasses and contact lenses for Dumbledore. But right next to her work space, Kalmyia was doing some work on a simulation with what they had found out about horcruxes until now thanks to the small object where they had sealed one part from Voldemort's soul they got when Harry became a Witcher.
Kalmyia was working on different parameters in hope they would find out how they could track the other horcruxes as the report from Callie suggests that Riddle created more than they had anticipated. The diary Harry had destroyed showed every sign to be another of those wretched items, so Captain Lasky ordered them to find another way to track them down next to the boots on the ground finding out what Riddle had done after he left school all those years ago. But they still had not enough information about this man, even after all those years they were in this world.
While Halsey was finishing the glasses for Dumbledore, she heard a pop behind her and turned around to look at Dobby. "Mistress Catherine, Dobby came to tell you that dinner is ready."
Halsey smiled and thanked the house elf for bringing her the information. Normally Halsey would be worried about the invasion by Dobby but Yen pointed out that once a House elf bonds to a family they cannot reveal their secrets. And given how many secrets this old castle held, that did give Halsey, and by extension, Captain Lasky, some peace of mind. "Thank you Dobby, I will come up soon. I just must finish up something."
Halsey placed the glasses down and looked at the Huragok that floated nearby probing the contact lenses with its tentacles. Thanks to its help, she made steady progress even if she done it alone it never hurt to have a Huragok to check her work. She only had to show the Huragok her ideas and it began to work. Halsey wondered if there was some similarity between Huragok and houseelveas as both creatures were happy to work. Although She speculated the reason Dobby's loyalty to the Malfoys wavered was due their poor treatmeant, borderline torture in her opinion. . But Just Bouncing, as this Huragok was called, was just as eager to help like Dobby and was much faster with the small details necessary to make these contact lenses work. Getting Just Bouncing's attention Halsey asked politely. "When you're finished with those could you do a systems check on the glasses to ensure the data stream between the contacts and glasses are solid, thank you" Just Bouncing lifted one tentacle in a mock salute which made Halsey chuckle.
At the dinner table, every resident of the old fortress was present and talked with each other about what they had done over the past year, as Harry and Geralt both were away for the most part. On Harry's lap was his pet snake Cindy curled up, enjoying his warmth even if the castle was warm enough for her to be active. But she had missed him and how his magic felt near her. She would ask him later if he had found out what was calling her when she had visited him in Hogwarts in her cat disguise. But for now that could wait.
As they finished up their dinner, Harry noticed that Hedwig was flying down to him after she was out hunting for herself. He prepared a small piece of meat for her when he saw that another owl was flying behind her. He recognized it as the same owl who brought him the letters from Hogwarts, but he was asking himself if it was not a bit early for a Hogwarts owl to come here so soon after he returned home. But the owl landed in front of Yen and extended her leg towards the sorceress. At Harry's questioning look, Yen answered the unspoken question. "What? I can get letters too from Hogwarts, you know? And I did correspond with Dumbledore before, so if it is about you i will tell you, do not worry."
Yen took the letter and opened it, reading through it and then turned towards Catherine. "Catherine, Professor Dumbledore would like to come over tomorrow around 10 am for the things he had asked you and Captain Lasky about. Would that fit with you? He apologizes for the late letter, but he had a meeting with the ICW and the new head of the board of governors. And Triss, he also wants to talk with us about something after he had seen Catherine."
Halsey nodded and told Yen that she could answer Dumbledore that he could tomorrow morning, until then she would be finished with her things.
Harry, not knowing what they meant, just wanted to ask them what they were talking about when Cortana informed him through his neural implant and with Callie next to her in his glasses. "Professor Dumbledore had asked for similar glasses like you have to talk with us and also have access to some security cameras around the school. Dumbledore will not have his own AI, but I will have some subroutines running for his sensor in his glasses and for him contacting me while I talk with you or John. This way, if something happens all the people involved would be informed at the same time. Oh, John asked if you are up for a training stint in the shooting range after dinner, as it would be time for you to be trained in nighttime shooting."
Harry thanked Cortana and told her that he would go to the shooting range later, but first he wanted to finish some homework. And as the subjects were still fresh in his memory, it would be easier if he would do them now. Cortana nodded and told Harry that he would inform John about it.
A few hours later, John was preparing the assault rifle Harry had used last summer with a night vision scope to aim the firearm properly in the dark, when he noticed something shimmering in a corner from the range. He sighed and walked over, leaning next to the apparition. "Arbiter, is there a reason why you are here and in hiding?" Next to John, the active camouflage was deactivated and the Sangheili revealed himself.
"Do not fear Demon, I do not come with malevolent intent. I just want to see how far the young one has come since the last time I was here. I heard from Captain Lasky that he had slain a mythical beast that even our most seasoned warriors would have problems with." Thel Vadam was talking politely, still having some issues with some English words but he was showing respect to humanity by learning it in the first place and not relying on the translator they had been using.
John smiled at this, even the Sangheili as a warrior race were curious for a boy on another planet because he had defeated a mighty foe. "For your information Arbiter, we do not know what a basilisk would do to your people, and we would not want to find out any way. As for Harry, he was chosen to fight it because he understands snakes and with that, he is immune to the deadly gaze the monster is known for next to its size and venom. He also used a weapon better suited to the task, as he had received a legendary sword for the people in this society. A fair warning though if you want to test him Arbiter, he is much more capable of using the blade in contrast to the last time you saw him. Maybe you must use more of your abilities as a master swordsman." John hid his grin as he noticed the Vadam tense up in anticipation. It was very rare that a Sangheili found another worthy opponent in swordfighting, and Vadam had to admit that what he saw from the adult Witchers were very close for him to go all out. But out of respect he did not ask for a sparring match when he was here last summer.
Vadam cocked his head to the side and regarded his once greatest adversary and now comrade in arms. "So the boy has taken the ritual to become a Witcher then?"
John sighed and nodded. "Yes, it seems the Dark Lord that killed his parents, created a dark artifact that enabled him to possess a young girl. Fortunately we were able to figure that out and get it away from her before it could do more damage." John clenched his fist in anger at the thought of Voldemort. John shook his head and looked up to the stars. "The worst part is, we have reason to believe he made more. Soul anchors, as I understand the concept. He cannot be fully defeated until all of them are destroyed."
Vadam stood stock still in shock. He was at first skeptical of this magic but to hear such darkness existed was a terrifying thought. He murmured quietly as he regarded his ally. "Then this Voldemort truly is a Dark Lord, I am beginning to see why your UNSC is taking this seriously."
Harry found the two individuals talking with each other while John was grabbing some ammo clips for Harry to use. Shrugging his shoulders at his own question of what the Arbiter would want this time, Harry walked over to the rifle on the table and inspected it to see if it was unloaded and safe to use. Satisfied, Harry carried it over to the stall he would use to fire and asked John what the exercise would entail.
"As you may have suspected Harry, sometimes we have to fight during the night and even if you would be prepared to do that with a sword, I want you to use a rifle to take out your targets before you would have to pull out said sword. The possibility would exist that there would be multiple enemies during the night attacking you, and this way you can reduce those numbers and make it easier for yourself. Now, if you look at the scope you see that there are dials on the side of it. Using them, you can turn it on or off and also change the contrast to your vision. I want to test if your eyesight is similar to the adult Witchers or if you would need to train it. If you are ready, look through it and aim towards the targets and when you are sure to be ready, shoot." John explained the attachments to the AR-15 Harry never had used until now except some theoretical lessons so he would know how to handle it.
Harry soon fired the rifle towards the targets, using different settings on the night vision scope to find out what was best suited to his eyesight. He soon found out that he did not have to use these because of his Witcher senses and turned it off, being more comfortable with the wider field of view that it provided. After finishing another magazine, Harry removed it and placed it next to the rifle and called the targets to him.
John was looking at the grouping and was satisfied at the precision. "Well, it seems that you did got rusty during the school year. We will repeat this exercise another time, now we will go into the dojo so the Arbiter can see how far you have gotten with your swordsmanship. The reason we do it now is that you have to fight through the whole night without a break, so having a master swordsman here right now is very beneficial."
Soon they found themselves in a dojo where they could use the lights to see the other. As Harry wanted to grab a wooden sword, Vadam asked him if he would not have a real sword. "Well, I have one, but after defeating the basilisk it was imbued with its venom and now has its properties. And as we do not know how you would react to it, it would be safer to use wooden swords for now. But I can show you afterwards what it can do in my hands." Harry prepared his stance that he felt most comfortable with while the Arbiter took another wooden sword, as his plasma sword could destroy the wooden ones even in training mode.
"As you wish, young one. Now show me how far you have come." The Arbiter jumped towards Harry and raised his sword, so Harry lifted the wooden sword to block it and redirected it to the side. But just before the swords would clash, the Arbiter revealed that his swing was a feint, and he redirected his sword to the side of his target.
Vadam wanted to see how fast the boy would react to this change of the attack angle and was pleasantly surprised as his sword hit the wood blade after Harry tilted the blade downwards so it would block the plasma blade. The Arbiter pressed his attack further and used more and more of his abilities while Harry was blocking and looking for a gap in the defense of the swordmaster. But as the Arbiter was more experienced in contrast to Harry, he did not show one for enough time for Harry to use.
Harry was beginning to breathe harder as he blocked another swing of the alien sword master. He had to admit that the Arbiter was much faster than him and that he still had much to learn. But even standing his ground against such a good fighter was a feat to brag about. Not that he would of course, but while he blocked another swipe again Harry noticed that he learned many things he could use.
And then Harry saw it, the small gap he could use when he would be fast enough for it.
The Arbiter was just preparing an overhead swing when he saw Harry crouching down and swiping at his legs. Vadam jumped up to evade it, even if he was sure that the boy would not have enough strength to trip him up. But just as his feet lifted from the ground, the Arbiter felt a kick in his stomach, and he fell on his back. Just as he about to stand back up fast enough to counterattack, Harry had placed the tip of his blade at his throat.
John watched the exchange with great interest. He knew that the Arbiter still held back in this sparring match, as John had not felt any intent to hurt the boy. But for Harry to seize the minuscule moment to turn this match in his favor only showed that him becoming a Witcher had made a difference. "Well done Harry, even if the Arbiter was not fighting with his whole skillset. But the fact that you have beat him is a good way to see your improvement to last year. And now we also know how far we can push you in the training from now on." John helped the Arbiter up as Harry took a step back.
Harry was breathing hard and placed the sword back in its place. He knew that the Arbiter was much stronger than this match had shown it and that Harry still had much to learn. He hoped that the Arbiter would stay a while longer, as he also could use a refresher in the skill to feel the opponent nearby. The exercises he got last year helped him but he wanted to know if he did them correctly. He somehow had the feeling that he did not improve over the year he tried to.
The Arbiter regarded the boy critically as he had to admit he was rather surprised with his improvement. "I can see how being a Witcher has given you a bit of advantage in speed but speed and strength do not make up for experience. Do not feel too hard on yourself, young one. I have decades of experience in swordsmanship, and I had to adjust to using this wooden one as well. Now then, you promised to show me your legendary sword." To Vadam's confusion he saw Harry pull out a dagger from his back. "That is not a-" Vadam's words died in his throat when he saw the dagger extend and grew into a silver sword.
Harry showed the Arbiter the hilt of the blade. "If you look here you'll see the name Godric Gryffindor engraved here. He is my ancestor, one of the four Founders of Hogwarts, the school I attend. He commissioned the goblins to craft it and later imbued his magic into it. Only a True Gryffindor can wield this blade and only his descendants can utilize the magic." Harry showed the Arbiter that various forms he has been using the sword in, extending it into the glaive that slayed the basilisk and a javelin. "Interesting thing about this sword is if I throw it at range, I can call it back to my hand."
Vadam slowly nodded his head. "That, indeed, is a weapon of legend. Though you may not need to prolong combat with the venom on the blade, your enemies will not know of the danger of the venom until it is too late. I suggest you guard that secret, it may not seem honorable but it will give you an advantage." Harry nodded his understanding.
The next day, because Dumbledore came to get his new glasses, the Arbiter had to go to the FOB and wait for the headmaster to go back to Hogwarts. He did not mind at all, as he could use the time to see how the Spartan IV did train in this base. They seemed to have learned something from the Spartan II that had survived the war.
Up in Kear Morhen, Dumbledore waited in the main hall for Halsey and talked with Harry who had his books on a table to do his homework. Dumbledore took note of the assignment Harry was working on and offered his experience. "I see you are still very studious while you are on summer break. I am glad to see that you take your classes seriously and do your homework as soon as possible. But if I can make a suggestion to this essay, this potion can be best brewed if the ingredients are picked just at a full moon at midnight. Of course in a pinch you can use the ingredients that where picket when you could get them, but the effectiveness would be reduced in the end."
Harry thanked Dumbledore for his tip, but he explained that this essay was just a rough draft until Hermione, Daphne and Susan would come to visit, so they could compare their essays and correct it when they would agree that this would be better.
Dumbledore smiled, thankful that Harry seemed to foster those friendships with students from other houses that he had established in his two years in Hogwarts. Dumbledore was also seeing that the teaching methods from some teachers seemed to have changed to accommodate the higher standard Harry's year seemed to have established, which also helped the younger students as they would be better educated in the future.
Soon Dobby appeared next to Harry and Dumbledore, telling the wise wizard that he would lead him to Halsey's laboratory. Dumbledore thanked the house elf and told him to lead the way.
In the laboratory, Catherine told Just Bouncing to hide in the corner behind the cupboard so Dumbledore would not see him. Just Bouncing followed the order and just before they heard a knock on the door, it had pulled all his tentacles behind the cupboard.
Catherine smiled after telling Dobby that they could enter and greeted the old wizard. "Ah Professor Dumbledore. Nice from you to wait for me, sorry for the small delay."
Dumbledore smiled politely and waved off her apology. "To be fair, Doctor Halsey I should be the one apologizing. I had not foreseen the emergency meeting of the ICW after the students went home for summer break."
Halsey nodded her understanding as she did expect the headmaster to arrive earlier in the week. "It did give me an opportunity to make sure the finished products were working properly. Testing is not something one should rush especially for these. Please have a seat."
Dumbledore looked at the offer chair and chuckled. "You'll forgive me but I'm an old man and I have come to enjoy my comforts." WIth that Dumbledore took out his wand and conjured a comfortable chair with cushioned seat and back. After taking his seat he looked at the scientist expectantly.
Catherine was a bit amused by the headmaster's quip. Though she was a bit envious of the chair he made. Shaking her head she cleared her throat. "I have two packages here for you, in one are the glasses you asked for, in the other are the contact lenses that would show you all the things you need just like Harry's glasses do. But as your style of glasses is different to Harry's, this is the best solution. I can help you place those contacts on your eyes, if you want to." Halsey placed the two cases on the table, while Dumbledore thanked her and requested her help with placing those contacts in his eyes.
Taking off his glasses he waited for the doctor to stand up and open the smaller case and remove the contact lenses. Halsey told Dumbledore to tilt his head back and look up to the ceiling. Taking a lens between her fingers she carefully lowered it to his left eye and lined it up to the cornea, once it was in position she let go and let it fall into place. Asking the wizard if he can see clearly with his left eye and getting confirmation the lens was working she proceeded to apply the lens to his right eye.
After making sure the contacts were secure in place Halsey handed him his new "glasses''. Once Dumbledore put the new frames on he was surprised to note they fitted themselves automatically. Halsey noted his surprise reaction to the auto resizing feature of the glasses. "What? You thought magic had the monopoly on auto sizing? WHy do you think the contact lenses fitted perfectly. Anyway those lenses are fully light sensitive. Which means if you are exposed to very bright flashes they will automatically polarize and protect your vision. If they detect an environment with low or no light it will give you the option to turn the night vision feature on. When paired with the glasses sensor suite you also have a motion tracker, thermal imaging." Halsey paused at seeing Dumbledore's confused look. Explaining for the wizard's benefit, Halsey clarified. "You'll be able to see the heat. A useful tool if someone is under a disillusioned charm." Dumbledore nodded his understanding. Halsey continued. "You'll also have limited macro and microscopic vision. The ability to see a bit further and see small objects up close. All of the sensor features can be activated with a thought." Halsey paused as she tried to remember what other features the headmaster should be aware of then remembered the last one. "Ah and the last one should give you some peace of mind, the ability to know a cloaked Spartan is nearby. Mind you, you will only see an outline of their armor but that will tell you they are using their active camouflage."
Dumbledore was now looking at all the symbols that seemingly floated just in front of his face. He looked at Doctor Halsey when she asked if everything was working well for him. "This is truly a fascinating technology your people have, Doctor Halsey. I thank you very much for giving me this tool, I am sure that it will help us in the future. Now, if you would allow it, I would like to talk with Ms. Merigold and Ms. Yen about something else in your laboratory." Halsey nodded and while she called for Dobby to summon the two sorceresses to join them.
Dumbledore heard the door opening and turned around to greet the two sorceresses. "Thank you all for granting me this meeting. First, I want to apologize for the late letter, after I had asked to come as soon as the summer break began, but the ICW had an urgent meeting which I had to attend. And just after that Dowager Longbottom asked for my presence in a meeting of the board of governors so we could discuss the next budget for the school. Now, as for the reason I asked for this meeting beside getting the glasses, I have hired a new teacher for the Defence Against the Dark Arts post. His name is Remus Lupin, a very good wizard and much more capable than Mr. Lockhart was. But there is a catch, and there is the point I want to discuss with you all. Mr. Lupin is a werewolf, not by choice of course. He was turned when he was a young boy by Greyback; thankfully Geralt killed that monster. Now as for the question I have for you, on one of my travels I heard about a ritual to turn a werewolf into an even more powerful being, a Lycan, in full control of their mind. So, I wanted to ask you all if you could perform that ritual and make Remus into a true Lycan."
Triss looked at Yen before turning back to Dumbledore. "I guess this is the main reason why you agreed to make me the assistant to the professor. To answer your question, we have to judge him first before we decide to do the ritual. I am sure you had heard about the Lycans that were not good people. I hope this answer is satisfactory for you."
"It is, thank you Triss. As for the other point, I want to discuss what we know about Tom Riddle." Dumbledore bowed his head towards Triss.
"Ah yes, this man is really a mystery. Cortana did help us to make a psychological profile with all the information we had gathered . We think that your suspicion that he made multiple horcruxes is valid enough to investigate it." Halsey pointed to the hologram table where Cortana then materialized herself.
Dumbledore nodded in silent greeting to the AI, turning to Halsey he nodded towards her. "Good, then I will give you more information about the possible objects he may have used to make those horcruxes. I have here two memories that I had gathered in the last few decades as I did not believe that Tom was dead and looked for something that I could use if he returns. I believe I am close to finding another object, but I cannot guarantee it. If you want to ask, it has something to do with the first memory we are going to watch, I will explain more while we are viewing it. That memory is one from the last relatives Tom had, and I think it is an important one."
Dumbledore called for a Hogwarts house elf to get his pensive so the four could watch the memories Dumbledore had collected. Unbeknown to the group as they disappeared into the stone bowl Cortana was pouting because she was unable to see the memories with them.
As they returned from watching the memories, Halsey was scratching her chin in thought. "That does not exactly tell us how many he has made but it does give us a starting point." Halsey paused in thought. "Do you know of other Founders artifacts?"
Dumbledore stroked his beard in thought. "The only other one has been lost for centuries, I would not know if Tom has found it or not." Dumbledore shook his head and sighed. "Nor would I know how many, but I would guess no more than seven."
Halsey looked to the other two sorceresses and they all looked grim at the thought of so many horcruxes. Halsey turned back to Dumbledore and gave him a warning look. "Whatever these objects are that we seek, Headmaster, I would suggest that you are not going alone to get it. Riddle's profile suggests that he has no regard for human life and would prepare something deadly for a trap. I will let Captain Lasky know that you will ask for reinforcement when the time comes." Halsey looked at the old wizard pointedly. "You are not a young man anymore, wise you may be but this is not an old man's game anymore." Dumbledore thanked her and then said his goodbye as his business was finished for now.
Yen and Triss were also thinking about what they had seen. "So you want to tell us that we are looking for the artifacts of the founders of Hogwarts? That is a bit far fetched, but it somehow fits Voldemort's profile. Now, as for the number of horcruxes he made, this is still a big question mark."
"As for that question, i have another lead, but the man who may hold the information is hard to approach at this moment, even for you Ms. Yen."
Harry was walking out to the grounds to get some fresh air before training together with Geralt. The school break had just begun and he was happy, but something was bothering him. He had told Susan that he was a Witcher, but what would happen if Hermione and Daphne asked him to show Susan Callie? That was a possibility that he would have to discuss with John and Doctor Halsey, but he did not think that it would be an issue when he would tell them that Susan had kept the secret of him being a Witcher a secret, as there was no talk about that in school. So, Harry though, there should not be any indication that Susan would tell someone about it or that he had an AI. But as their visit was still a few weeks away, he could plan how to approach this.
Before Harry registered how fast the time flew by, it was the day before his thirteenth birthday. Triss was out with John to get Hermione, Daphne, Susan and Amelia Bones to Kear Morhen. Because Amelia, as the only adult visitor in this small group, had never been to Kear Morhen and could not apparate to this place, they had to be collected from their meeting place.
Harry was soon notified that a small group was coming up to the castle, Callie then clarified that Hermione wanted to show the castle from the outside to the two new guests who would be seeing the castle for the first time. Concluding that his partner meant Susan and Madam Bones, Harry stopped his run on the obstacle course and walked towards the entrance. Looking down the path, he noticed that his friends either shrunk or that he really had a growth spurt. As he was now 5'10, he had to admit that it was now obvious that girls did not grow as fast as boys did. Internally, Callie facepalmed, she wondered if Harry would notice girls did grow just not in height.
Hermione, Daphne and Susan on their end were surprised at how much they had to look up now to look Harry in the eyes.
Amelia in her case was watching out for any dangerous animals that could come out of the woods, but when she saw a bear looking over to them and sitting down so it could make a waving motion with its paw, causing a small snort from the adult woman and some ahhs from the girls.
"Well it is really nicer here when there is no snow laying around. And the lake is not so far away, so maybe we can even go for a swim when it gets too hot around here." Hermione explained to the two Bones witches what it would have been when they would come during the winter. When she saw Harry looking at her with a grin, she shut up and blushed. When would she finally get over this stupid habit?