A/N: Hello and welcome back to another chapter in this story.
As allways, HowInMadeHowie helped me with the finer details in this chapter, or else there would be some more plot bunnys around.
Now, off with you and have fun reading this chapter. Until next time
Lupin sat down inside the circle in the dungeon, preparing himself for the ritual. He laid the rabbit in the middle of the circle and placed the dagger that he was given from Geralt for this ritual next to the rabbit. According to Keira, he would have to cut it open so the blood would be drawn to the rune circle itself. This was the only way he could communicate with the wolf inside him, at least according to Keira and her instructions. Looking over his shoulder towards the sorceress, he saw her nodding while she placed her hands on the circle and murmuring the incantation for the ritual at the same time where she set the herbs beside the circle on fire.
Lupin felt the magic around him swelling, telling him that a barrier was erected around him that only he himself could walk through it. Picking up the dagger, he took in a deep breath before he cut the throat of the rabbit and let the blood flow. The smell of the blood and the smoke from the herbs caused Lupin to enter a kind of trance, closing his eyes.
Breathing in deeply, he felt the temperature around him drop and opened his eyes again. Before him was a thick fog, he could almost say that it was too thick to see even his own hand before his eyes. But he still could hear something was close by. Turning towards the noise, the fog seemed to part when a large wolf came closer to him. Lupin could swear that the wolf smiled at him as it sniffed the rabbit on the floor.
Lupin then heard a voice in his head, as the wolf turned his snout towards the wizard. "Ah, finally we meet face to face, so to speak. I watched you for a long time, from a cub to an adult, and I have to say I am proud of you. After all those centuries, all those who came before you, they never understood that Lycanthropy was meant to fight someone too strong for a normal human being. And here you are, trying to hide yourself if the desire to hurt others becomes too great and preparing yourself to try and tame me now, even if my nature does work against it. As it works right now, the curse tries to take over your body as soon as this talk ends as I will revert to the mindless beast this curse made me, and you will need the strong mind you had when you were back in this school of yours to fight me off. When you succeed, you will achieve something that now is only a legend. So, pup, show me if you truly are worthy of this power." Ignoring the rabbit, the wolf made himself ready to pounce at Lupin, who still was sitting on the ground.
Lupin looked at the wolf with a curious gaze, noticing how the claws were digging into the ground. As he also wanted to say something, he stood up from his position to be prepared if the wolf would not let him talk. "It is not that I feared the transformation itself, it was the loss of control that I feared the most. I had searched in every book I got my hands on for a solution; a cure for this curse. I even was in Japan once, where I had asked a kitsune if she could help me, as I had heard that their magic was almost godlike. But she only told me that she would give me some advice, not to be afraid anymore. This ritual we are in was lost to history, only known by those who witnessed it being performed. And thanks to these people helping me now, I am no longer afraid of you. So, bring it on, let's see who will have the final say on what will happen next."
Lupin lifted his arms in a fighting stance, knowing instinctively that his wand would be useless in this fight. The wolf grinned and pounced, mouth wide open and his claws ready to tear the wizard apart.
From outside the ritual circle, Geralt and Keira only witnessed that Lupin's body was changing back and forth from his human form to his werewolf form, but this was expected to happen as long as the ritual was performed. Geralt had his silver sword ready, just in case the werewolf would win. But he really hoped that it would not be needed.
Inside Lupin's mind, Lupin used everything he had except his magic to defeat the wolf. He had trained for a short time in Japan, so he knew at least some martial arts and landed some hits. He noticed that every time he hit the wolf, his strength grew little by little and it was almost intoxicating how powerful he felt. But something was nagging at him. It could not be that easy, could it? "Something is wrong, what is your play wolf? If you can be defeated easily, there would be many more Lycans around." Lupin defended against another swipe from the claws and punched the wolf straight into its chest with a counter move.
The wolf stood still tall and strong, grinning with a growl escaping his throat. "Oh, but you sure noticed that I am indeed winning right now. Tell me, does it feel good, being so strong and only becoming stronger? Make no mistake, if I defeat you here, I will take over your body. So this fight can only end in two ways, either I defeat you or you defeat me, and finally prove to me that you are indeed worthy."
The wolf attacked Lupin again and again, the feeling of his body becoming stronger with every hit Lupin landed, almost overwhelming him. When the wolf stopped for a short time, Lupin looked down on his body and noticed that his hands almost looked like when he was in his werewolf form. Opening his fists, he took a deep breath and concentrated. It seemed that he and the wolf both knew that the next attack would be the last one in this fight.
Geralt tightened his grip on his sword when the light inside the circle dimmed and Keira was pushed back from it. It had been a long time since this ritual was performed, and even they did not know how it looked like when it had been successful. A small dust cloud was inside the circle, only obstructing his view on Lupin for a little time until the wizard stood up from his kneeling position. Seeing how the body shrank back down to his original height, Geralt allowed himself to see if Keira was all right.
Lupin looked at his hands, feeling incredible. His senses were even sharper than they were before, allowing him to smell all the different herbs in the dungeon. Closing his eyes again, he tried to call the wolf back in his mind. Surprisingly, it answered. "You have proven yourself worthy, Remus Lupin. This strength will serve you well in the future. If you need my advice, just call me and I may answer. Until then, farewell."
The next day, after Lupin had a good long rest, he taught Harry some dueling spells, to which Harry showed that he was a natural with the basic spells. "I must confess, I am surprised that you can cast all those spells already. Maybe I need to rethink my opinion of the dueling club, as it is obvious that all of you have made much progress since it was opened again. In my time, it was not allowed for below third years to access the club, as the teachers were thinking that you need to be older and have learned some responsibility before trying to hurt your friends. That did not stop my friends from pranking others almost everyday mind you." Laughing at the memory of the one prank that was almost a legend in Hogwarts, he was also sad that he would never see his friends in the complete group.
Harry noticed that Lupin's laugh soon stopped, and his teacher looked sad. Trying to change the subject, he asked Lupin what kind of pranks his friends did, for example. Also, if his father was in that group of friends in the first place.
Lupin laughed again, telling some pranks they had done together. "And when we had left the corridor, the charm activated like we had planned a day later, something that I had noted in an essay a year later when we had to give something about this subject to Professor Flitwick. Ah, that was some good times back when I was called Moony by my friends. You can call me that when we are private by the way. I feel like we would have taken you into our circle when your father would still be alive."
Harry looked at Lupin with a surprised look, now almost sure that his father had made the Marauder's Map. But to make sure, Harry asked Lupin about this fact. "Thank you. By any chance, do you know the names Padfoot, Wormtail and Prongs?"
This on the other hand surprised Lupin, who nodded and explained the different nicknames they had during school. "You know Harry, these nicknames had a reason. When I began my education in Hogwarts, I was already a werewolf. In fear that I would never make any friends, I didn't even try to find some, but your father talked to me almost every day after we were sorted into Gryffindor. Together with Sirius, both of them soon found out about my problem, but instead of pushing me away afterwards, they were looking for a solution to keep me company during my transformation. Back then, the ritual to become a Lycan was lost to history, so they looked for another way. And Peter came up with the idea to become Animagi, as a werewolf would not attack an animal. After some years, they succeeded to become Animagi. Your father became a stag, Sirius a big black dog and Peter became a rat. While they were in their animal form, I was calm enough and even could sometimes remember what we had done during the night of a full moon. I was happy back then. But Harry, where do you know these names?" Lupin looked at Harry curiously. 'Surely he did not find…'
Harry thought about whether he should tell Lupin about the map, something that Callie told him he should do. After all, maybe Lupin knew something about the map that could help them to catch Pettigrew. "Well, I am in possession of a piece of parchment, I am sure you know which one I mean. It was a gift from friends in Gryffindor, and after I saw what it can do, I decided to give it to John as it would be beneficial for him to ensure the safety of the school."
Lupin nodded, accepting the mindset from a young Witcher, using the map to protect people. But Lupin asked if he could look at the map when they return next term, to which Harry told him that he would discuss it with John, as the map was in his office. "But I do not think that he has something against it, as long as the map stays in his office for safety reasons." Lupin smiled, telling him that he agrees with these terms.
Harry and Callie thought it best not to mention seeing Pettigrew on the map because they did not want to have Lupin rush back to the castle to confront his old friend. Harry realized that that would be very emotional news and likely why Lupin wanted to see the map, aside from using it to look for Sirius that is.
A few days later, Christmas was upon them, and Lupin was invited to stay in Kear Morhen so he could train his new form a bit more before returning to Hogwarts. He had declined, as he wanted to see how this new form would impact his daily life.
Harry woke up on Christmas day and walked down to eat breakfast, when he saw that there was a pile of gifts by the Christmas tree. Harry smiled at the sight, but he hoped that his friends also liked the gifts he had sent them.
Hearing a hoot, he looked up and saw Hedwig and Sarina sitting on a perch by the window. Hedwig flew down to land on his shoulder when he sat down at the table, nibbling on his earlobe. Harry gave her some of his bacon before grabbing some toast and butter. Yen also came out of the kitchen, carrying some plates while trying to move quickly. Dobby appeared by her side and took the plates out of her hands. "Mistress Yen, let Dobby do his work. Mistress needs to rest, so the child will be born healthy. Now sit down, Dobby will be there shortly. Good morning master Harry and happy Christmas." Dobby brought the plate to the table, where Yen normally sat.
Groaning, Yen sat down while placing her hand on her stomach. "I had thought that it was so strenuous to be pregnant, but this is ridiculous. I still can do my chores as efficiently as before, even when I cannot crouch down as I normally would. But either way, happy Christmas Harry, hope you slept well last night. I swear, Hedwig was flying back and forth while Dobby worked overtime to get the presents sorted. Geralt should be here soon; he was out with Lupin to see what progress was made with the training."
Harry nodded, eating his breakfast before he would go out and go over some obstacle courses. John would know if he had paused his training. Hearing someone coming into the main hall, he looked over to the door that led to Doctor Halsey's lab, as Catherine came out with a tablet in her hand.
Sitting down, Catherine picked up a cup of coffee and still read over the data on the tablet. Thanking Harry for the sugar he handed over, she took half a spoon full and put it in her coffee. "Thank you, Harry, and happy Christmas."
Later that day, they were sitting by the fireplace, where the Christmas tree was placed in a safe distance from the fire. Harry was smiling as he grabbed the different presents for himself, after he had given Geralt and Yen the presents he had bought for them. Geralt had thanked him for the new sword stand, which he could use when he was home for his swords to maintain them. And Yen was already reading a small part of the book about ancient runes, it was the same book he had bought for Hermione.
Opening the first gift, he saw the book, Quidditch Tactics for Seekers, from Hermione, laughing a bit as they seemed to have a similar thought about the gifts for each other. Flipping through it for a bit, he saw some interesting moves that he could try in the next practice session with the team. Placing the book to the side, he grabbed the next present, reading that it was from Daphne.
She had bought him a training snitch, it seemed to have two settings, depending if he was on a broom or not. Letting it fly for a bit, he soon caught it again and placed it back in its case. He then placed the case next to the book from Hermione, before taking a bigger present from the pile.
According to the note, it was from Susan, and it was revealed that it was a very good protective vest made out of dragonhide, that could even stop some minor curses and spells next to minimize the damage from something hitting you. Thinking on how this would grant him many advantages in a match, Harry made a mental note to thank her when they were back on their way to school.
After thanking Catherine for the sunglasses that were linked to his neural interface and the dragonhide boots from Yen and Geralt, they all were surprised that there was still a present left. Harry looked at the note, raising his eyebrow. "Well, that is strange, I do not remember ordering something via owl. Do you think I should open it?" Harry asked Yen, who was now looking at him and the present in his hand.
Reaching her hand towards Harry, he gave her the present and let her do her thing. She was looking at it and Harry could feel that she also used her magic to look for anything dangerous. But finding nothing that would explode in their faces, she gave it back with the remark that it seemed to be a broom.
Harry looked at the present, not knowing what he should think about it. "If it is a broom, and it is said that I ordered it, I wonder if someone ordered it in my name." Not wanting to wait any longer, he removed the wrapping around the broom carefully, but his mind stopped when he saw his name in golden letters on the handle. Now throwing caution to the wind, he grabbed the handle and tore the rest of the wrapping away and looked at it with wide eyes.
Before him now was a Firebolt, freshly polished and shining in the firelight. Catherine and Yen were looking at it with caution, while Geralt was taking a deep breath. But whoever sent Harry the broom, did not leave any trace on who it was.
"Well Harry, if you did not order this broom, whoever it was must really like you. Can you think of someone?" Geralt looked over to Harry, who slowly lifted his head.
In his head, Harry was going through all the scenarios and even asked Callie if she had noticed something. She was combing through all the footage she had collected over the last term, even asking for help from some new subroutines in the system. And with just the inkling of a possibility she tasked one of them to look for a big, black dog. A few milliseconds later, she got an alert. "Well look at that, it seems someone was watching the match against Slytherin. Mr. Black was sitting on an empty row right on the top. He must have seen how your Nimbus was destroyed and then used a trick to order you a replacement. Maybe we should ask him when we see him after taking Pettigrew into custody." Callie showed the relevant footage from the match in Harry's glasses when he was flying over the stands and there was Sirius in his dog form seen in a frame.
Harry told the others what Callie had uncovered, as he had the matrix in his room. Catherine and Yen placed their hands on their chins though, while Geralt was smiling. He then addressed Harry with the same smile as he talked to him. "It seems that Sirius does take his duty as your godfather seriously after all. Be sure to thank him when he is free. Now go and fly for a bit, it seems you are eager to do so." Harry leapt on his feet and grabbed the broom, running out the main hall with the laughter following him out.
Flying through the cold air over the trees, Harry noticed how different the Firebolt was to his Nimbus. It felt almost like it was linked to his nerves, as he only had to think what he wanted to turn and then it just happened. The first time he was surprised, but he soon found his rhythm on how to fly it. He knew that he would need some time until he could use the broom to his full potential, but he felt confident. He wondered how the other teams would react when they saw him fly the Firebolt, but the only funny face he could imagine was Malfoy's, causing him to stop midair as he had to grab his stomach because it hurt a bit when he laughed so loud.
As Harry flew through the air, Geralt helped Yen to step out the main hall and sit down on a bench in the courtyard. Watching Harry fly through the air, both of them smiled as they could hear him laugh when he flew over them. Yen looked at Geralt and kissed him, before telling him how happy she was. "It was really the best choice to take Harry in all those years ago. I just hope that our child is as easy to handle as Harry was."
Up in the air, a patrol from the FOB was flying in formation over the valley in their Wasps when one pilots noticed Harry flying below them with great speed. Using the camera system in the Wasp, he zoomed closer to Harry, making a comment to his wingman. "Hey Devildog, do you see what I'm seeing? There is that kid from the old castle flying on a broom it seems. Man, he is a natural, look how close he flies to those trees. You hold the pattern, I'll try to get a closer look."
Devildog sighed, but agreed as his leader broke off from the formation, but not too far away so that he could help in an emergency.
Callie soon notified Harry that something was coming closer from above, picking up the signature on her sensors. Harry stopped and waited until Callie confirmed that she had established a communication link. She also laid a filter over Harry's glasses so he could see the outline of the camouflaged aircraft.
Harry could hear the smugness in the pilot's voice as he addressed Harry.
"Hey there kid, this is a new kind of flight for me. How about we see how fast this stick between your legs really is? If you can keep up with me, I will talk with the higher ups if you could fly with one of these babies for a change." The pilot rocked his wings to signal Harry what he meant.
Harry, looking over the aircraft through his glasses, grinned and placed himself right next to it and told the pilot to go ahead.
Down on the ground, Geralt and Yen wondered what Harry was doing, when Caterhine came out to the courtyard with a small projector in her hand. On it, Callie stood with a smile on her lips and a small window on the side of her holographic body before enlarging it. "Harry found a challenger in the air, and now thanks to my sensores we will see if a magical broom or our technology is faster in the air. I also tapped into the communications channel that the pilots use to talk with each other while on patrol, so we can hear when he begins to see that Harry should not be underestimated in the air." Callie explained what was going on above them .
The only thing that could be seen in the air was Harry suddenly accelerating with top speed, while on the ground Callie used her connections link to display the placement from the two people racing right now.
The pilot smirked, when he flew over Harry, thinking that he had him now. Looking through his targeting sight to see where the young teenager was under the Wasp, he was surprised to not see him there. Looking over the other camera feets, he gasped when he saw Harry barrelrolling around the Wasp and even gaining more speed. "You little fucker, you were playing with me! Let's see if you can handle this."
The pilot pushed the thrust to the maximum that the Wasp could handle in a safe manner, but Harry held on to his pattern around the Wasp, even when the Wasp was banking right and left to evade some obstacles that were in the way as Harry pulled ahead and gave the route to follow.
Geralt was watching Harry directly without looking at Callie's holographic image, studying young Witcher's flying. "Well now, I wish I could fly like that. It would be so much easier to fight against flying monsters this way."
Hearing this, the others on the ground laughed and on the holographic image, they saw Harry just flying through the forest while the Wasp had to fly over it to not hit any trees.
A half hour later, both Harry and the pilot flew again over the courtyard of Kear Morhen, making Callie calling the impromptu race over. Stopping almost on the spot, Harry waited until the Wasp was hovering in the air. Flying a bit closer, Harry smirked and waved his hands."It seems that I won, now when can I expect to fly one of those?"
Unbeknown to Harry his race with the Wasp was tracked by the FOB and the people on duty in the monitor room were impressed with Harry's flying. The officer on duty made the suggestion to pass on the recording to Captain Lasky and Maverick for review.
Captain Laskey called Maverick to his office to look at the footage. It was obvious that Harry had the better acceleration in comparison to the machine, but the Wasp pushed itself as fast as it could. Being a patrol craft with the main use being observing the ground and air for any kind of intrusion, it was not the fastest that the UNSC had to offer.
Upon reviewing the footage Maverick grinned, asking Laskey if it would be possible to let Harry fly Sabre to test the true skills of the teenager in the sky. After a small discussion, Maverick left the office with an even bigger grin on his face.
Back down with Harry, Callie received a data packet from Roland, containing the training manual for the FS-1000/G Sabre, an atmospheric capable space fighter. With the data packet came the message that Harry should study this manual, as he would need it next summer.
The rest of the winter break flew by, and before he knew it, Harry was sitting in a compartment from the Hogwarts Express and waited for his friends. His new broom was stored in a shrunken state in his trunk in the luggage rack.
Harry did not have to wait long before he heard Hermione looking for him in the corridor of the train carriage. Standing up and looking out the door, he saw her walking down and looking through the windows and apologizing when she saw that it was not Harry who was sitting there. "Hermione, I'm over here. How was your holiday in Switzerland with Daphne's family?"
Hermione was happy to have found Harry and smiled widely when she walked over at him. Her smile caused Harry to have to catch his breath. 'Really, where does that lead to? Do I really fall for Hermione? And if so, what about Daphne and Susan? I feel the same thing when they smile at me in the same way as Hermione does. Oh Callie, what should I do?' Harry thought worriedly to his partner.
Callie laughed, showing her avatar in his glasses. Sobering up Callie tried to explain that this was something she can't help him with. "I cannot help you Harry, this is something every person needs to find a way out of it for themselves. But I'm sure that, for whatever you decide, the girls will understand. They are very good friends after all and would not split up just because a boy decided to begin a relationship with one of them. So how about you wait and see where it leads?" Internally Callie was amused that it took Harry this long to realize he was in a situation that all the high technology and intelligence in the universe could not help him. 'Ah, human emotions, I'm still undecided if I want to experience them myself but it's so entertaining to watch him squirm.'
Harry agreed with her and gave way for Hermione to enter the compartment, just as he saw Daphne coming around the corner with Susan and Tracey. Smiling at them, he signaled them that he would wait for them to enter the compartment.
Hermione sat down, trying to calm her heart down after seeing Harry. It seemed that over the winter break he had trained even harder, as she could see that his muscles grew a bit and were now almost straining the shirt under his jacket Harry wore. That together with his green eyes sparkling and his captivating smile when he looked at her was making her more determined to tell Harry how she felt soon if he would not notice it first himself. But she was also afraid when she saw Daphne, Susan and Tracey entering the compartment as Harry had held the door open for them. For now, she would just see how the others reacted when Harry finally noticed how they felt for him.
When all were seated in the compartment, the girls thanked Harry for the gifts he had got them for Christmas. Daphne was even wearing the jade earrings he had gotten her, presenting them proudly while Susan lifted her necklace up so the others could see it. Hermione was a bit sad that she did not get any jewelry, but the book she had gotten from Harry was a good read. She was of course almost through with it, having learned many things that she showed Harry in the next Ancient Rune class.
Next to them, they could hear Tracey huff, crossing her arms and asking Harry why she did not get any presents from him. They all felt that it was meant to be a joke, so soon they laughed as the train began to depart towards Hogwarts and the next term. After they had finished laughing, Daphne asked Harry what he got for Christmas.
Just as Harry wanted to surprise them with the news about his new broom, Oliver knocked on the door to their compartment and asked if he could speak with Harry. Harry, already guessing about what his captain wanted to talk about, asked him to enter the compartment so they could talk.
Oliver smiled and closed the door behind him, greeting the girls sitting there. After that, he looked to see if the door really was closed and began to talk. "Thank you Harry for letting me in. I wanted to ask you if you got a new broom, the next match is soon. And you cannot even think of trying to play with a school broom." Oliver's tone was a mix of scolding and exasperation, hoping his star seeker would see reason.
Harry laughed and opened his trunk, pulling out a shrunken down broom. "As a matter of fact, yes I got a new broom for Christmas. What you are looking at right now is a-" Harry's words were cut off by Oliver's excited reaction at seeing Harry's broom.
Oliver cut him off mid sentence with an almost girly shrill voice. "WHERE DID YOU GET A FIREBOLT FROM!" Oliver gasped and stared at the broom. Trying to compose himself Oliver apologized. "Oh, sorry Harry, but I was just surprised. But with a broom like that we cannot lose this year. My apologies to you Slytherins, but it seems that your house will not take the house cup for another year." Oliver grinned when he saw that Tracey and Daphne both just shrugged their shoulders, not caring who would win as long the matches were fun.
Oliver looked at Susan with a hopeful look. "I know you Hufflepuffs value loyalty, but I don't suppose I can ask you to hold off telling your housemates about this." Oliver knew he was asking a lot of her but he was hoping to keep this knowledge quiet until the day of the match.
Susan looked between Harry's broom and Oliver's hopeful look. Normally she would spread this to her house's Quidditch team but she was also loyal to her friends too. Shrugging her shoulders and winking at Oliver. "I never saw any broom or you acting like an excited girl. Perhaps I should mention that last bit to throw off any mention of the broom?" Susan teased.
The others laughed at Oliver's reaction and he decided to be the better man and wave it off. "Alright I'll see you at practice Harry." Quickly leaving the compartment he went looking for his chasers.
Daphne was looking curiously at Harry, as she had noticed that he had said that he had gotten a broom, not that it was delivered to him. It was like he did not expect the Firebolt coming, which was strange as she had asked the shopkeeper in Hogsmeade about that, and Harry's name was on the list as the one who ordered it. She would ask him when they were alone, nothing she could do now as long as Tracey and the others were here.