A/N: Hello and welcome back to another chapter in this story.
Once again, HowInMadeHowie helped me with the finer details in this chapter. I had some pplotbunnys that tried to jump away from me, luckily he did caught them soon enough.
As for the delay for publishing this chapter, i had some IRL issues again and revising this chapter had also suffered because of this, because i took my sweet time to look at the mistakes i made and HowInMadeHowie had seen to change them. Sorry about that.
Now, off with you and have fun reading this chapter. Until next time
Harry was looking out the window of the Hogwarts Express that brought the students back to London. As much as he liked the school, he was glad to leave it over the summer. His friends were also discussing their own summer plans until the main event later that summer.
Ron especially was ecstatic for the Quidditch World Cup. "Oh, I cannot wait for that match. Watching the professional players that are good enough to play on an international level must be a sight to behold. And who knows, maybe we even see some famous people there. What do you think, Harry?" Ron looked over at Harry to get his friend's opinion.
Harry turned his head away from the window and looked at Ron. "Well, it sure will be something. I cannot wait to study the seekers of the teams and see how they fly. I am sure we can learn something from them."
Hermione bit her lip, as she did not want to imagine Harry using even more dangerous maneuvers during a match. She was nervous every time he sped towards the ground and only pulled up at the last moment. She hoped every time that it worked, and that Harry was not overdoing it.
Ginny was sitting next to her brother and rolled her eyes. Harry noticed it of course, guessing that she was just a bit annoyed that Ron seemed to have only one topic to talk about for this summer. Luckily for her, Luna was sitting next to her with a new issue of the Quibbler in her hands and reading it. Luna showed Ginny some articles in it which caused them both to laugh.
Harry saw Luna often hanging out with Ginny in the library when he was studying with Hermione, Daphne, and the rest of his circle. She was also smiling a lot more than when she had begun school two years ago.
As they were traveling through the countryside, the door to their compartment opened and Harry groaned when he saw who it was. "What do you want, Malfoy?"
Malfoy, his blond hair seemingly having lost some of the shine that was so obvious during their first year in Hogwarts, scoffed and looked around in the compartment. When he noticed Daphne and Tracey were not here, he grinned. "Well Potter, did Greengrass and Davis finally ditch you and your lot? They finally had seen the sense that being in your presence is not beneficial to them. And after this summer, I am sure that it would be even more obvious. Do tell me, have you already secured a spot in the stadium for the QuidditchCup? My father told me that we have one of the top boxes reserved for us. Maybe I'll invite Greengrass and Davis to join me." Malfoy sneered at Harry thinking he finally had something over his rival.
At that moment, Daphne returned back to the compartment standing behind Malfoy. She had just heard what Malfoy said and decided to put him in his place. "For your information Malfoy, Harry has already invited us to the Cup, so I do not think that we would go with you and your family. And according to the seating we have seen, you are even a bit lower than us when the match starts in August. Oh, that reminds me, Harry, I should relay from my father that he would have gladly accepted the invitation, but his company has just gotten a big contract for a special delivery of potion ingredients, and he must oversee the shipment. Could you please inform Lord Black about it, so he can look if someone else wants that spot in the box?"
Harry noticed what Daphne was trying to do and ignored Ron's grunt behind him. "Of course, Daphne, I will inform my godfather about this. Would you like to join us until we arrive in London?"
Hermione looked intrigued, just being a bit surprised how Harry caught Daphne's hint to humiliate Malfoy a bit. For someone like Malfoy, it must be embarrassing that someone would have a higher seat than him in the biggest event for the next few years. Hermione decided to push the proverbial knife even a bit deeper. "Oh Harry, that reminds me, how do my parents come with me? As far as I know, there will be protection against muggles, do you think that the bracelet they must enter Platform 9 ¾ will also work there? I am still waiting for an answer from the Ministry that oversees the final." The bracelets that Hermione was referring to were highly restricted items that are not easily obtained by muggleborn students for their parents to see their children off at King's Cross.
Harry thought about it, but Tracey had the answer for this question. "Do not worry Hermione, the wards that will be placed to distract muggles will be placed far out the perimeter of the stadium. So your parents just come with us and there will be no problem for them to see the match. I think it would be funny to see their reaction when they see for themselves that we still ride brooms nowadays. I am sure that they will ask if flying carpets are also real, I still hope that the ban in Britain against them will soon be lifted. Not all witches and wizards fly around on a broom for leisure."
They ignored Malfoy from that point on, who shortly after Daphne and Tracey sat down in the compartment stormed off down the corridor. Harry only heard him throwing a small tantrum that no one respected the name Malfoy anymore and that it should be changed.
Harry lifted Daphne's and Tracey's trunk to the overhead rack of the seats, while they thanked him and sat down at a free seat. Somehow the compartment enlarged itself once more and fit them all well. While Harry finished storing the trunks on the rack, he had a question for the two Slytherins. "Do you mind me asking why it took so long for you to come here? We are already traveling for over half an hour and we normally meet right up before the train even moves."
Daphne sat down opposite Hermione and sighed. "Our 'dear' housemates, especially some older students, wanted to 'talk' with us because of our friendship, Harry." Daphne mair the air quotes over the word talk to emphasize that it was more one sided discussion. Rolling her eyes she continued. "Tracey and I had to endure the whole speech as they tried to convince us that we should hang out with them. We both had heard enough at this point, so we two just took our trunks and left the compartment. Luckily all the older students that attacked you in our first year have just graduated from Hogwarts this year, so there should not be any problems starting next year. Can we change the subject now, I want to enjoy the trip with you back to London."
Harry looked at Callie in his glasses, who just shrugged and then conversed with the other AI that were present.
Luke especially was intrigued about what the prophecy entailed that Harry had heard; granted he knew he or the other AI could not share it with their charges but it did not mean they couldn't discuss it amongst themselves. "I have to say, whatever this dark lord thinks he can accomplish, I am sure that Harry and the others can counter every plan the Dark Lord could think of.
Callie turned towards her 'little brother' and nodded while answering. "It is just to make sure that you all are informed in case the worst case happens and Harry will be unable to fight any longer and myself will be destroyed. Even if this possibility is almost nonexistent, it is not zero. We must wait on how this summer turns out, even the best laid out plans can fail after all. But we all hope that it goes over smoothly and that we can see each other again by the world cup, and maybe even gather more intelligence during the hustle and bustle around the stadium. If a soccer world cup is any indication, it should be filled with visitors from other countries, even if their team did not make the final. So, we gather what we can while our charges have fun."
The other AI nodded as they logged out from their space. Callie looked over the empty room where they met up all these times, wondering why she felt so uneasy right now. She was an AI, nothing bad could happen to her in here. So why does it feel like she is being watched by someone?
Later that day, the Hogwarts Express arrived in King's Cross and the students carried everything they had out the train. While Ron was still grumbling that his tiny owl could not fly home on its own to the Burrow, Hermione tried to convince Crookshanks to enter his carrybasket. Harry helped Hermione take down her trunk from the rack and then moved over to do the same with Ginny's trunk.
But before he could finish that, Hermione surprised him by kissing him on the cheek. With a blush, she told him that it was a thank you for helping her and then she ran out the compartment. Harry just stood still with Ginny's trunk still above his head and looked out the door to the compartment. While he thought about what that was all about, he heard a laugh and looked down at Ginny. Cooking an eyebrow, he asked her what was so funny about this.
Ginny calmed down a bit so she could speak again without a burst of giggles coming from her mouth. "Oh Harry, you should have seen her face when she came closer to you. I never saw her blushing so much before, even when we talked about our crushes. Please do not think that I will kiss you too for helping take down my trunk, I will leave that to Hermione." She then grabbed the trunk by the handle after Harry had placed it on the ground and dragged it behind her out the compartment and later the train itself.
Harry, still confused about what this was all about, headed over to Daphne's trunk to repeat the process of taking down the trunk from the rack; when he was kissed on the other cheek for his effort. "Thank you, Harry, for being so considerate. I would be glad if you could write me letters during the summer before we see each other at the World Cup. I want to know how Katrina is doing and having a magical picture with you two would be nice. See you in August." Daphne grabbed the trunk and dragged it behind her while Tracey had taken down her own and grinned behind her friend.
Harry now was truly at a loss on what was going on, and hearing Callie laughing in his glasses did not help at all. Harry would ask Geralt if he could make sense of all of this.
Arriving in Kear Morhen after stepping through Triss's portal, Harry breathed in the clean, fresh air and smiled. "Ah, how I missed this. Nothing against Hogwarts but being so close to the mountains is just different." Just as he wanted to drag the trunk behind him, he heard a pop next to him and saw Dobby bowing to him.
"Master Harry sir, Dobby is happy that master Harry arrived safely. Dobby will take the master's trunk and bring it to the master's room. So please take your time to visit Mistress Yen and young Mistress Katrina, as mistress Yen asked me to tell you to visit them as soon as possible." Dobby then took the trunk and 'popped' away again leaving Harry, John and Triss alone in the courtyard they arrived in.
Triss began to walk ahead, saying that it would be the first time they would see the baby for real and not just in pictures.
As the three walked towards the entrance to the main hall, one wing of the double winged door opened and revealed a smiling Yen carrying her daughter. "Welcome back sorry I was getting impatient to introduce Katrina to you all personally. Come in, dinner will be served shortly." Lifting her daughter just slightly up so the others could see her face, Yen smiled brightly as Katrina extended her small hand towards Harry.
Harry copied this gesture and came closer, resulting in Katrina grabbing his thumb with her whole hand. Harry smiled at the little girl holding his thumb, lifting his hand a bit again while she still held onto his thumb.
She was then placed in Harry's arms, who was looking down with a smile to his honorary sister. Katrina was sucking on her thumb while looking up at him with a curiosity that only a baby could display.
Dobby soon called for dinner, and the people that were still standing in the entrance hall walked into the main hall to enjoy their first evening together this summer. Katrina was placed in a small crib right next to the table so Yen could tend to her needs, if necessary, as quickly as possible. Even when Dobby had offered to take care of the young mistress for her during their meal, Yen declined the offer because she wanted to do all those things that a mother would do. So they ate their dinner while talking about Harry's school life.
Hermione was sitting in her room on her bed, still blushing on what she had done on the train. She was sure that Harry asked himself why she had done that, but when she thought about how his face when he looked at her in surprise while she fought down her own blush, she had to smile at this memory . Leaning back against the wall, she hoped that Harry would soon see the hints on how she felt. 'Maybe I should talk with him when it is just the two of us. I think telling him directly how I feel would be the best for all of us. I cannot hide it any longer that I love him.'
Just at that moment, she heard a knock on her door and saw her mother grinning in the doorway. "Well, look at you, still red as a tomato. I hope the one who caused you to behave like that teenage girl you are is a keeper. So, tell me about him."
Hermione rolled her eyes and repeated what she had already told her mother for the hundredth time already. But every time Hermione did that, she fell more in love with the promising young witcher that has successfully taken her heart without even trying.
Daphne was sitting in her chair next to the desk and looked at a picture she had taken by Colin Creevey. On it she was in the Hogwarts library with her friends, and they were studying something for school. The Daphne in the picture was sitting right next to Harry, smiling brightly at a joke that the boy told her. And when her picture self was looking at Neville, who was siting with them in their circle, Daphne knew that the joke had something to do with him. Remembering the joke, she had to laugh again. 'Oh Harry, I really hope that you will soon see all the hints that Hermione and I sent your way, I am sure that the others already know how we feel about you. But being so oblivious to it also has its own charm, but a girl has only so much patience before she acts. Wait, what if he wants that to happen?'
Now with a new theory in her mind, she took out a bit of parchment to write a short letter to Tracey to ask her about this one. Daphne was sure that her friend also had an opinion on this, as it was possible that Harry was only hard to get and had already feelings for them but did not want to hurt her or Hermione or Susan if he had to choose between them. Daphne had to remind herself if that would be the case, she would tell Harry that he did not have to choose between her and Hermione, as he had to take multiple wives because he will inherit two houses and Daphne would agree to share him with Hermione.
Susan was groaning in her room when she looked at the photo album in front of her. Colin Creevey was a talented photographer and was always close to them when they had their dueling club meetings. In one of the pictures, Harry had just put an older Slytherin student on his behind with a tickling jinx and everyone around them was also laughing at the scene. The Slytherin student in the picture then stood up after being declared defeated and shook Harry's hand to congratulate Harry. Susan, in the picture, was cheering for Harry, obviously from her jumping up and down in the picture.
Susan had told her aunt how good Harry was in dueling, and they both agreed if Harry went all out, he could hold his own even against some trained Aurors as long they were only Harry and the Auror dueling. It was still a mystery how Harry would duel against more people at once, even if he had the small incident in their first year where he was ambushed by 8 older Slytherin students at the time in school outside the Great Hall. But as he did not fire a spell back then, his victory against them was credited to him being just faster than those students could cast a spell. Even her aunt was impressed when she told her the story of the attack on Harry. Amelia had just shook her head in amazement when Susan had told her this story.
Flashback
Amelia was walking up and down the living room after her niece had told her the story of how Harry had fought off the ambush outside of the Great Hall. Still shaking her head, she turned back to Susan. "Eight? EIGHT? Susan, my Aurors can barely stand up against three, let alone four! Moody didn't survive the last war unscathed as you well know, and he was ambushed more than twice that I know of." Susan blinked in shock, she met Alastor Moody once and realized he looked that way because he had survived so many duels.
Flashback end
Susan thought she knew better than that after her time with Harry. He was talented in casting all kinds of spells, most times only Hermione could learn a spell faster than him. Concentrating on the face of the young man that caught her attention after their first duel, her bad mood changed, and she smiled when she noticed his confident grin when he turned around to walk off the stage. 'I really must step up my game if I want Harry to choose me over Daphne and Hermione. I must find a way where I can spend more time with him alone without us studying or dueling. Maybe I can ask him during the Quidditch World Cup if he wants to take a stroll with me while Hermione and Daphne are with their parents. It surely will work out somehow.'
Closing the album, she placed it on her nightstand and laid on her bed, planning on how she would approach Harry the next time she would see him.
A week after Harry had returned to Kear Morhen, it was time for him to leave his home again. He was getting nervous at the prospect to see how big this UNSC really was, as John never told them what was hidden behind the moon, only the name of the ship they would go on. He and John were walking through the forest to the designated landing zone for their transport that was also close by to the Forward Operating base (FOB) the UNSC had constructed on Earth. Harry was carrying a backpack with some essentials, but John had told him that Harry would not have to carry too much, as when they would return he would most likely have to buy new clothes either way. Harry did ask why John was wearing his full armor for this journey. John explained to him that for a Spartan, his Armor was like the Uniform for the Marines, and when he would go to the flagship he was obliged to wear it.
Soon, Harry and John arrived at the clearing where the Pelican was already waiting for them. Its dark green color blended well into the forest, so it was hidden from a quick glance and could only be seen when you knew where to look. Harry also saw the Warthog parked close by, as Doctor Halsey had been driven to the to accompany them. In her words, she was getting too old to walk through the woods.
The back door of the Pelican opened, and its pilot stepped out the hatch. "Master Chief, Doctor Halsey, I am ordered to bring you to the Infinity with a visitor. I guess it is the young man beside you? He matches the description I have received in the briefing." The pilot was not telling them that almost every pilot had seen the footage of Harry flying on his broom during he race against the WASP, and he had to agree with Maverick that it would be interesting to see how the boy handles a fighter in space.
John nodded and walked past the pilot to enter the Pelican, Harry following him closely. The pilot nodded satisfied and pushed the button to close the door after he entered the Pelican to just after Doctor Halsey. The pilot then looked at Harry and smiled. "Please take a seat and fasten your harness. If you have any problems, the Master Chief can help you." Just as the pilot walked towards the cockpit, he stopped and turned back around. "Oh, and fair warning kid. Captain Mitchell hopes that you have read the manual for the Sabre, he will test you after everything is done. And believe me, he may seem aloof at times, but he is a harsh teacher."
Harry nodded and sat down in one of the seats that were bolted at the sides of the craft. Grabbing the harness behind him, he tried to make sense of all the belts until John came over to him and strapped Harry in. After this was done, John just walked to another seat and repeated the procedure.
Harry was looking at the monitors that were placed on the walls and was beginning to get nervous. It would be the first time he would leave the planet and he wondered what Earth would look like from outer space. He had seen pictures of course from the articles that he had read while growing up but seeing it with your own eyes had to be something special. Harry soon felt that Pelican lifting off the ground and accelerating towards the sky, mirrored by the footage on the monitors. He saw Kear Morhen becoming smaller and smaller until he could not see it any longer as they still climbed up through the atmosphere.
The pilot spoke to them through the intercom, telling them that they would soon leave the atmosphere and then would fly towards the moon. "We will travel as fast as we can towards the moon. Make yourself comfortable, it will take a few hours."
Captain Lasky was walking through the hangar bay of the Infinity, having received the notification that his guests would soon arrive. With him was Doctor Selinsky, as the leading scientist on the Infinity it would be his responsibility to augment Harry and make him ready for the GUNGNIR armor. Lasky still marveled at the engineering of said armor system, because if this prototype system really worked out, all the soldiers in the UNSC could benefit from it. 'Well, if all of the soldiers could utilize magic naturally, but we least worked around that shortcoming.' Still, Lasky had to wonder what the boy's limits would be when wearing the new armor.
Dr. Selinsky was reading on his tablet about all the preparations done for the process they would put Harry under. He was a bit curious what they would have to adjust because of the mutation the young Witcher had gone through to become what he was now, a monster hunter. The boy's healing factor was already quicker than Selinsky have thought and the potential resistance against the anesthetic they would use had to be checked first before they hooked Harry up to the machine for the first stage of the augmentation. Growing suddenly can be painful after all if the body is not prepared for it.
Both men soon heard the engines of the Pelican as it came through the magnetic field of the hangar bay and landed close by. As its back door opened, they saw John walking out calmly while Harry was a bit wobbly on his legs. Doctor Halsey followed after him, taking in the sight of UNSC's most ambitious ship. Lasky laughed when he realized that Harry must have experienced what it would mean to be in zero gravity during the trip. When he was closer to the three leaving the Pelican, he held his hand out to greet them. "Welcome to the Infinity Mr. Potter. I hope your trip was a pleasant one. This is Doctor Selinsky, he will work with Doctor Halsey to check you over and then proceed with the necessary preparations. As we have a somewhat tight schedule we need to press on. the Master Chief can show you around the ship after everything is done."
Harry nodded and took his backpack to strap it back on his back before following the adults through the large bay they were in. Harry hid his surprise very well, as he had not thought that the Infinity was so big that it could even keep other ships inside it. Callie reminded him that he had to keep everything he saw here a secret from everyone that is not permitted to know. Harry agreed to it and grinned, now curious what his future would hold for him.
As Harry was following John Doctor Halsey walked up to her colleague as the man handed over the tablet he was going over. Halsey's dry voice made sure the younger man understood her concern. "You'll forgive me if I could not just stay behind and let you work without supervision but I have taken it upon myself to watch over that young man's health since he was a baby." Halsey took the tablet and read over the data that was prepared.
Selinsky sighed and nodded. "I'm aware. I've gone over all the preparations twice and Roland has made sure to check over anything I missed." He paused and leaned forward to speak quietly. "I must confess though, the GUNGNIR armor is something I have not imagined possible. If it works as you have projected it would make the MJOLNIR armor seem like a children's toy in comparison."
Halsey looked up with a smirk on her lips. "That is the beauty of magic. We'll have to wait and see what its full capabilities would be with a Witcher in the pilot seat."