Parselmight
AN: I don't anything. I don't own Harry Potter.
"Speech"
"Parseltongue Speech"
'Thoughts'
-
The Magical American West was a leap back in time, just like magical Britain. Although instead of ending up in a place akin to the muggle Middle Ages, Harry found himself in the muggle Wild West.
A desert town stood before him, the ground beneath his boots sandy, and the heat intense. The buildings were wooden, the streets empty, with the sparse hippogriff or thunderbird standing around tied up. He stalked through the town, ignoring the dozens of outlaws and residents that made up the local population.
Just like in Diagon Alley, a Gringotts bank was the center of the town, although this one was wooden yet still looked intimidating. Harry walked inside, and found himself in a comfortable looking room full of goblin tellers along with their respective customers.
He approached a teller, "I wish to gain access to my account."
"Your name?" The goblin asked, and Harry was surprised he didn't snarl at him. He guessed goblins were just treated better in MACUSA.
"Harry Potter."
The goblin nodded, gesturing with his right hand, and soon Harry was following him through the building and too an office full of animal trophies, cabinets, and an ornate desk.
"Ah, Mr. Potter." Said a different goblin from before. "I shall be your account manager for today. All I need is a sample of your blood, if you please."
The goblin gestured to a water bowl that had a knife next to it. Harry walked over to it, cutting his finger and allowing a drop of blood to fall into the bowl.
The water turned blood red, and dissapeared to become a piece of paper. Harry picked it up.
Harry James Potter
Heir of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter
Heir of the Ancient and Noble House of Black
He looked over the paper, pausing in thought as he read over it. It seemed that Sirius had gone and made him his heir, something Harry wasn't aware of but found it wasn't too surprising.
Harry pushed those thoughts away, turning back to the goblin and handing him the paper. The goblin nodded, and pulled out a box that he handed to Harry. "There are your personal documents and affairs Mr. Potter. We recommend you look through all of them on your own time in a safe location. If that is all-"
A loud explosion rocked the building suddenly, and Harry grabbed onto a nearby chair for support while his wand was instantly in his hand. The goblin in the room cursed in his own language, and Harry watched fascinated as he dressed in war gear before running out the room with an axe in hand.
Harry shook his head and followed, and found himself in a horde of armored goblins running down the hall.
"What's going on?" Harry demanded.
"It's those damn outlaws!" Snarled one of the goblins nearby, "The Panpacific Empire they call themselves! Bunch of thugs is what they are!"
Harry turned the corner, and gaped.
An entire side of the bank had been obliterated, and a huge steel vault the size of his aunt's house was being dragged out by a horde of hippogriffs bound to it with ropes. Dozens of rough-looking wizards were orchestrating the whole ordeal, firing spells at every and any target in sight and causing total mayhem.
"There they are! Let's get 'em boys!" Roared the goblin from earlier before he and the rest of the horde charged one of the thugs.
The wizard in question only got two ineffective spells off before the goblins reached him. They tore him to bits, chopping away with their axes before moving on to their next target.
The violent action snapped Harry out of his funk, and he quickly jumped behind a overturned desk. He took a second look and saw that it wasn't just the bank being attacked, but the thugs were rampaging through the whole town, terrorizing the local population and setting everything on fire.
Harry took a deep breath. He knew he should just apparate away back to the Greengrass home, but there was that small part in the back of his mind that whispered otherwise.
He pushed his apprehension down, ruthlessly conquering the construct in his mind that wanted him to flee. He opened his eyes, there was no screaming, no death, nothing.
Harry stood, his wand in his hand and a parseltongue spoken blasting curse erupted from it. It careened across the destroyed lobby of the bank, hitting an unsuspecting outlaw and turning him into a smear on the floor. A dozen other curses followed it like a machine gun spat them out, and Harry soon had their attention.
Three of them fell to his wand before they even blinked, and soon curses were headed his way which he deflected and countered with his own in a practiced rhythm. One of them managed to apparate right beside him, and Harry snapped his neck with a flick of his wand before the man could move.
"Shit!" One of them swore, backing up and hold up a shield under Harry's onslaught. "Shit. Shit. No!"
"Diffindo!" Harry hissed, and the wizard's shield was torn to pieces before he was bisected at the waist.
Harry moved out onto the street, his wand moving at an incredible speed as he sent spells at every enemy he came across. All the while a constant hissing sound emanated from his lips. He already had amazing instincts from dodging bludgers in quidditch, allowing him to easily avoid pretty much any spell sent his way. The rituals he had performed, along with his fast reflexes also from quidditch which he had honed, made him more than a match for any enemy he came across.
Most of the outlaws seemed used to terrorizing unsuspecting weak magicals who put up little to no resistance, and had no idea what to do when confronted head on like this. As such Harry watched as most of them opted to apparate away.
But one remained, a rough looking wizard that looked to be a leader or something. He spoke, "You're a Steward ain't ya? You snake talking son of a bitch."
Harry's eye twitched at the insult. The words he spoke came out a strange distortion of both English and parseltongue, "I'm a Potter actually."
Sometimes after long days of talking only to Asmodai he struggled to talk normally in English, having his sentences come out with a certain serpentine twist. Daphne noticed it immediately, and for some reason she found it a huge turn on.
The man's eyes widened before he laughed, "Ha! You're just some British schoolboy fuck! Avada Kedavra!"
Harry's eyes widened, and his wand whipped up as he tore up a chunk of the road to intercept the unforgivable before banishing the debris back at the man followed by a hail of dark curses.
The man met them with his own, and upped the ante. Harry smirked cruelly as they traded spells, falling into a familiar rhythm. But Harry was faster, and he quickly blew threw the man's shield before hitting him in the shoulder with a piercing hex.
He swore, looking desperate. "Fiendfyre!"
Harry's eyes widened, he had read about that cursed spell. His own wand came up, and a overpowered water charm met the spell before circling it completely. Such cursed fire left unopposed in a wooden and magical town like this would cause a catastrophe.
He cut his hand with an underpowered spell, and blood splattered out, which he used to cast into the fire. It was blood magic, but Harry didn't trust anything else to stop the Fiendfyre permanently. He used his own blood and magic together, allowing it to flow into the cursed flames, and they died away.
"You're something else kid."
Harry's eyes widened, and he spun, only for a debilitating pain to throw him to the ground. He grit his teeth, and saw out of the corner of his eye that the outlaw had hit his shoulder with a dark curse. The man stomped his foot on Harry's hand, trapping his wand underneath his boot.
"I didn't even think for a moment you'd be able to stop those cursed flames. To think-"
"You talk too much."
Harry moved, his free hand moving to the man's lower leg and grabbing hold. He squeezed, and the man roared in pain as his leg was shattered. Harry's wand moved, and the man did the same with his own.
"AVADA-"
"Crucio!"
Harry was slower, but in parseltongue he spoke quicker, something he found more than helpful. The outlaw dropped, writhing in pain and foaming at the mouth. Harry stood up and ended the curse before snapping the man's wand.
"Fuck! Yer a fucking monster." He gasped, desperately breathing in air.
He inhaled a deep breath, stunning the outlaw and bounding him in ropes, before apparating back to the Greengrass home.
"Harry? Who is that? And why are you covered in blood?"
Daphne stood in front of him in the sitting room of the home, no doubt waiting for him to return. She had been beside herself when she found he knew next to nothing about his own finances and family assets, and practically demanded he run to the nearby Gringotts branch and sort it out before they got back to Britain and made it official.
While his trip was resourceful, Harry couldn't officially claim his lordships nor visit his vaults till he was back home, but he could in the meantime gain access to some of his finances. He took out the folder he had recieved from the Goblins, handing it to her before dropping the stunned outlaw from earlier on the floor.
Daphne opened the folder while Harry spoke. "Gringotts was attacked while I was there. It was a mess honestly. He tried to kill me, it was a close thing."
Harry flexed his injured shoulder and hand, and something terrible flashed across Daphne's eyes. "Any idea why?"
He wiped the blood off his face, "They were trying to steal the vault, the outlaws tore it out of the bank while fighting off the goblins and causing chaos all around."
Daphne frowned, "And it just happens to be coincidence that you're there as well?"
"I guess so?" He shrugged and gestured at the captive, "He certainly didn't know who I was. He recognized parseltongue though, called me a Stew-"
"-Steward." Daphne finished with a nod. "The Steward family are American parselmouths. They're descendants from the Gaunt family, and are descended from one of the founders of Ilvermorny. He probably mistook you for one of them."
Harry's eyes widened at the information, and he had to remind himself how smart Daphne really was. He made a mental note to research the matter later.
"That makes sense. I think the bandits got away with the vault though, the goblins probably won't be too happy about that."
Daphne's eyes narrowed in thought. "They certainly won't. If I'm right then they probably stole one of the goblin's infamous Wardsafes."
"A Wardsafe?" Harry raised a brow.
Daphne nodded, "Gringotts is based under the Himalayas, and have tunnels that connect them all around the world. I know the German and Egyptian branches are their biggest ones, but they have smaller ones in Brazil, France, and the obvious one in Diagon Alley. They can't reach everywhere, so the goblins have smaller branches that aren't connected with tunnels like the others are. These branches are supposed to have a Wardsafe, basically a large vault connected to the rest of the Gringott's gold supply."
Harry's eyes widened, "So the bandits basically stole a back door into Gringotts, and now have basically an infinite supply of gold?"
"I'm not sure, but it's something like that." Daphne looked at the bandit. "The goblin's keep knowledge about it confidential. I just know about it because my great grandfather helped transport one. Either way, the goblins are going to want it back."
Daphne walked over to the bandit, casting revenerate, then watching as he squirmed. She raised her wand, "Legilimens."
A couple seconds passed, before the man gained a victorious gleam in his eye as Daphne flinched back. Harry walked over and hugged her, "Are you okay?"
She took a deep breath, sinking into him. "I know I'm a good legilimens, but his occulmency is good enough to resist me. I'm sure there's an unbreakable vow in there too."
"I don't know legilimency." Harry breathed, "And I doubt we have the time to brew veritasserum."
Daphne snorted, "It takes months to brew, so no. And I don't feel like going to the trouble of buying some. Unless…"
She quieted at the end, and Harry perked up. "Unless what?"
"I know someone who's good at legilimency. Very good."
"What are you not telling me?" Asked Harry.
Daphne sighed, "A couple things. She'll probably want in first of all. Second, she's a friend of mine from Slytherin."
Harry hesitated, "Do you trust her?"
-
Emma Zabini exited the floo into the Greengrass home. It was common to get a floo call from Daphne, they were friends after all, but visiting each other was certainly uncommon. There were reasons for that of course, Emma never invited friends over to her home on account of her mother. And Daphne wasn't exactly the social extroverted type to have people over.
That, and Daphne Greengrass was the pureblood queen that would never associate herself with scandalous women like those from the Zabini family. Unlike Kassandra, Daphne certainly cared about what individuals she was seen with in public and within her own home. That was why she was so surprised to find Harry Potter waiting for her.
"Emma, thanks for coming." Daphne greeted, an impeccable expressionless look on her face. But she couldn't fool Emma, no one could, she could see the whirling emotions inside the ice queen.
Emma nodded, and Daphne turned to face Harry Potter of all people. "Harry, this is Emma Zabini, Heiress of House Zabini. Emma, this is Harry Potter, Heir of House Potter."
Emma looked into Harry Potter's mesmerizing eyes, something she hadn't done in a year and a half, and found herself met by an annoying hissing noise that threatened to consume her. She stepped back, her eyes widening in shock.
Harry Potter's eyes narrowed, "You're right, she is a legilimens."
"I-I" Emma gaped, "I can't see your mind."
Potter blinked, "I guess it works then."
"You're an occulmens?"
"Not really." Potter answered. "I'm trying to learn occulmency though."
"Impressive." Emma admitted, finally having oriented herself. "I couldn't even touch your mind, not even Snape or Dumbledore managed that."
Potter looked at her, "You legilimens everyone you come across?"
"She's a natural legilimens, a powerful one at that." Daphne intervened, "She can't exactly help it, it's almost second nature to her."
"Perfect." Potter walked over and dragged a bound and gagged man across the room before dropping him at his feet and taking a seat. "What exactly did Daphne tell you?"
Emma found herself wondering what the hell was going on. Seeing the Gryffindor Golden Boy acting like this was strange to say the least, and oddly… attractive. She had to wonder what Daphne had done to him.
"Next to nothing, apparently." Emma answered, sending a glare at Daphne. "Can someone tell me what exactly is going on?"
Potter explained the strange story of his visit to Gringotts, only for a bank heist to occur, and for him to capture the currently gagged and bound man who laid on the floor. All the while Daphne stayed silent.
"So let me get this straight." Began Emma slowly. "You want me to rip this guy's mind apart to find out what he knows? Then you're going to take on this bandit group on your own? After I essentially kill him, right?"
This wasn't Emma's first time doing this, but it wasn't exactly something she took joy in. She had ripped minds apart before, her mother had seen to that, but she never did it on a whim.
People had always whispered about Emma's mother, the infamous Black Widow, and both boys and girls alike had avoided her because of it. They whispered behind her back, about how her mother had killed six husbands, something Emma knew was true. Emma herself had killed two of those men after all.
The first one she had killed when she was nine. The man thought too loudly around Emma, always thinking of sex with her mother and what he had done, and was willing to do, to her. Emma had snapped one day, rampaged through his mind in a rage as she tore him apart. By the end of it all he was bleeding from his nose as he spasmed on the floor until his heart gave out.
After that Emma promised to herself never to destroy someone's mind again.
The next one was when she was thirteen, and her new father-in-law of two weeks had broken into her room and tried to have his way with her. She failed to grab her wand in time, and broke her promise as she made eye contact with the man. His death wasn't as unpleased, as he simply jumped through her window and fell to his death.
Emma blamed her mother for it all. The Black Widow allowed such filth into her home, something that never should have happened, and Emma had to suffer because of it.
Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived of all people, was the one asking for Emma to do such a thing again. Such a scenario was so absurd she desperately tried to keep calm and not storm out. But this was Harry Potter, one of the most powerful men in the world, and she had a chance to get in with him.
"I'll do it." Emma decided, "But I go with you to fight the bandits."
Daphne opened her mouth, but Potter beat her to it. "Fine. But you'll be in danger if you go."
"You don't have to worry about me, I'm more than capable of handling myself with a wand." Emma sniffed, "These guys are nothing more than thugs with a few spells memorized. They won't be a threat to me."
Potter sat back in his chair and gestured at the captive. "This moron cast Fiendfyre in a wooden village, nearly killed me with it."
Emma shivered, that was disconcerting. She had been with Kassandra when she tried casting Fiendfyre for the first time, and nearly underwent magical exhaustion putting it out. "You were lucky to be able to stop it, but my point stands. I'm going with you."
"As am I." Broke in Daphne, prompting Potter to look at her worriedly. She assured him with a glance, and he let it go. Emma raised a brow, clearly there was something going on between them.
"Very well then." Potter sighed, gesturing for her to get it over with.
Emma walked over to the bound and gagged man, gently grabbing his chin and making eye contact. The man glared, daring her to enter his mind, and she raised a brow tauntingly. She didn't use a wand, or incantation, slamming into his mind like a graphorn and shredding his occulmency barriers like they were glass.
The man couldn't move away, and Emma charged in, infecting and crushing his neural synapses as she took and took more and more of his brain and branded it as her own. He was squirming in place when she finally found what she was searching for, and she ripped out the information like one does a page from a textbook. Blood flowed from his ears and mouth, running in lines down his neck, and she left his mind, like how a tornado leaves a small town, ruined.
She was in the normal world now, her hand left his chin, and the convulsing man fell to the floor. She looked down at him like one does at a crushed bug, and turned to face Potter and Daphne.
"I have the location, an abandoned muggle town several hundred miles south of here."
Potter nodded, while Daphne stood and cast the killing curse on the convulsing man. "Anything else you can tell us?"
"They have several dozen wizards there, more than we can handle."
"We should tell the goblins." Replied Daphne quietly, "They'll reward us for that information alone."
Potter shook his head, "It doesn't matter how many they have, I'll kill them all."
Emma's eyes widened comically, the claim was so outrageous yet Potter said it with such surety it shocked her. He wasn't even arrogant, he simply stated it like it was fact. He genuinely believed he was capable of taking on so many wizards at once.
Daphne was shocked too, her reaction just like her own. "H-How?"
Potter had an ace up his sleeve, but he clamped up and looked away.
"Fiendfyre can't kill that many at once." Emma said, "I can cast it, but I'll be overwhelmed before it can do any significant damage. Even if you can do it, it's not worth the trouble."
Her eyes narrowed on Potter, wondering what he had that was so destructive. Fiendfyre was the most destructive spell known in Britain, and France had the Diabolica variant which was rumored to be just as destructive.
"She's right Harry." Daphne said, grabbing Potter's arm. "Tell the goblins their location and they'll handle the rest. Don't get ahead of yourself looking for a fight."
Potter smiled wryly, his shoulders slumping. "You're right, as usual. I guess my Gryffindor instincts got the best of me."
Emma snorted, and Daphne cracked a smile. Potter stood, "We'll tell the goblins, and go with them to recover the vault. We can meet back here in ten if that's fine with you, I need to change."
They both nodded and Potter left. Emma spun to face Daphne, who didn't meet her eyes. "So, you and Potter huh? Can't say I saw that coming."
Daphne's eye twitched, but she blushed. "Yes. We've been together since the start of summer."
Emma's eyes widened, "Wait, so you're actually…"
Daphne nodded.
"You um… You know how big of a deal that is right? Your family isn't exactly light you know…"
"It's complicated." Daphne said quietly, "Potter's done with Dumbledore. We can talk later, just ignore all the garbage you've heard Kassandra's brother spew in the common room."
Emma nodded, returning to the floo for the quick trip home. All the while her mind was on Potter, the attractive boy-who-lived that she hadn't so much as paid a sickle of thought over the years. She honestly didn't know anything about him, and had only Draco Malfoy's rants about him to go on, something she knew now to be totally wrong.
She shook her head, running to her room where she donned a dragon hide cloak that tied tightly at the waist to show off her curves. It was one of many gifts her mother's suitors had gifted her, something she valued little other than the protection offered by such an item.
-
Rodrick Clemenson couldn't help the smug grin on his face as he sat on one of the many abandoned buildings in their town.
Out here in the wild magical west, there were no rules. No aurors to uphold the law, no purebloods to look down on his because he was a first generation wizard, and no one stupid to get in his way. He had been a bandit since the Panpacific Empire found him when he was eight. From there they trained him, helped him loot a wand from a dead wizard's corpse, and trained him.
He loved being a wizard, and the power that came with it. But he wanted more, and this was his chance. That Gringotts Wardsafe was his key to success, a back door into the horde of gold the Goblins held, and with it a start to a new life.
He would no longer have to kill muggles in order to sleep in their homes, or imperius their daughters to have his way with them, now he would finally be able to have an actual witch of his own. Maybe if he was lucky, a couple witches…
He let out a deranged giggle, Magical France sounded good right about now. Maybe he could even find out if those Veela bird girls were real, because he certainly hoped they were.
A scream broke him out of his perverted thoughts, and he looked down from his spot on a ruined saloon to see a couple of his fellow outlaws running around like startled house elves.
"What's going on?!" He yelled out angrily, his temper flaring.
"Anti-apparition wards! We're trapped in! They've found us!" Yelled out a nearby bandit.
He opened his mouth to speak, only to jump slightly when an explosion occurred to his right. He turned, seeing their own wards flare and shield them from a spell that exploded violently. Rodrick paled, whoever had cast that certainly had more magic then him, and he would be lucky to escape with his life if that spell was aimed at him.
"INCOMING!"
His body turned, and saw a raging firestorm heading towards the town. It slammed into their wards, spreading out against the shield of magic before it broke through. A loud snap was heard, almost like nails on a chalkboard, and the fire broke through the wards before it started consuming the town in flames.
It wasn't the fire that got his attention, as he jumped down from his spot atop the building as a bombardment of spells hit the town. Chaos was the best word to describe it, as buildings and men alive exploded and burned in equal measure around him as spells rained down on them.
He turned the corner, and his eyes widened as he came face to face with their attackers. The goblins were here, and they had certainly spared no expense in the assault. Dozens of mercenary wizards and he could swear even some old MACUSA unspeakables poured in, blasting everything in their path to bits.
One of them was closest to him, some kid with black hair and a fancy cloak that probably cost more than his own wand. Rodrick growled at the sight, his wand moved up, firing the strongest spell he knew, "Confringo!"
The kid moved fast, batting the spell aside with some sort of fancy wand trick, and pointed his own wand at him. Rodrick jumped to the side, into the open street, the kid's own spell missed him and blew a gaping hole in the building he was just in front of.
He turned back to the kid, his wand held threateningly. "You won't stop us boy. That gold is ours! After we kill you-"
Rodrick didn't even see him move, and he was somehow slapped to the side and laying facedown on the dirt road.
"You talk too much." The kid stated as Rodrick reoriented himself, and he felt himself again growl in rage. He moved his wand, using his trusty spell chain that never failed.
The brat shielded them, mixing his own spells in, and Rodrick gaped as the kid calmly walked towards him. His eyes widened in sheer disbelief as the brat effortlessly batted aside his spells aside like they were nothing.
This… This was impossible! There was no way this brat could have this much power!
The kid was only a few feet away now, and Rodrick started panicking. The brat didn't stop, and pulled out a sword of all things.
"CONFRINGO!" Screamed Rodrick, pouring all his magic into the spell and feeling magical exhaustion kicking in.
The brat… The damn brat slapped the spell away with his damn sword! He glared at Rodrick, his sword in hand. The blade suddenly wasn't there anymore, and Rodrick felt blood in his mouth as his side was struck.
He tried to move his wand… one last spell, "Avada-"
He never saw the final blow coming.
-
Emma sucked in a deep breath, "Transmogrify! Expulso!"
The two curses hit, the first causing her target to scream in pain before the second exploded against his body. The wizard fell to the ground dead, the front part of his body open to the world to see his insides.
She was tired, casting that Fiendfyre earlier was a lot, but it had succeeded in shattering the wards around the town. She had never actually used it in a fight before, but had practiced it many times in the room of requirement. The temptation to show off in front of so many people might have got to her, and Potter's reaction made it well worth it.
Emma glanced to her left, seeing a bunch of mercenary wizards run past her and into what looked to be a abandoned muggle bar before they began blowing the insides to smithereens. To her right was Daphne, casting dark curses that made even Emma worry for her friend. The Greengrasses were said to possess an infamous dark library, but seeing it first hand was something else.
Like they discussed, the three had taken the information to the goblins about the whereabouts of the Wardsafe. The goblins had been suspicious about their information, but Potter had managed to somehow convince them they were telling the truth.
From there the goblins had rounded up every able bodied mercenary wizard they could hire, and set off after the town. All they had to do now was kill all those ridiculous bandits and they'd be done with this whole mess.
Potter was further down the road, dueling some wizard before he pulled out a sword of all things. Emma wondered for a second if it was the Sword of Gryffindor, before discarding that thought. The sword was pale and looked almost like a toy, and certainly wasn't made of goblin silver.
Potter had everything she could ever want in a man. In a partner. Power, both magically and politically. He didn't look at her like the rest of the boys who either leered or ogled. He was everything she could ever want, a man so powerful that not even her mother could touch him. Hell, the Black Widow wouldn't even come close to spinning a web around a man nearly as powerful as Potter.
Potter would be hers, or she could be Potter's, it made no difference in the end. She would talk to Daphne, and soon Emma Zabini would join Potter.