blööh1 Chapter 22: jlnb, a 9 to 5 fanfic

Magic Multiverse Mayhem (A CYOA Story)

By: Gothicjedi666

[NSFW] - Magic Multiverse Mayhem (A CYOA Story) by Gothicjedi666

Status: ongoing

Published: 2022-09-20

Updated: 2022-12-02

Words: 109018

Chapters: 64

Original source: https/forum./threads/19736

Exported with the assistance of

Magic Multiverse Mayhem (A CYOA Story)

Introduction

Setup and Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

Part 12

Part 13

Part 14

Part 15

Part 16

Part 17

Part 18

Part 19

Part 20

Part 21

Part 22

Part 23

Part 24

Part 25

Part 26

Part 27

Part 28

Part 29

Part 30

Part 31

Part 32

Part 33

Part 34

Part 35

Part 36

Part 37

Part 38

Part 39

Part 40

Part 41

Part 42

Part 43

Part 44

Part 45

Part 46

Part 47

Part 48

Part 49

Part 50

Part 51

Part 52

Part 53

Part 54

Part 55

Part 56

Part 57

Part 58

Part 59

Part 60

Part 61

Part 62

Part 63

Part 64

Setup and Part 1

Made using the Magic Multiverse Mayhem by graevface.

Setup

You

Gain: 5 Magic

Gain: 5 Points

You are the one going through the CYOA. All the choices here affect you.

Easy

Gain: 20 Magic

Gain: 10 Points

Elder Blood (The Witcher)

Cost: 7 Magic

Incompatible: Fluke

You possess the Elder Blood, a magical bloodline that grants you the ability to travel to other worlds and vast magical power.

Adaptation

Cost: 20 Magic

You have the ability to adapt to the magic of whatever world you go to. It takes time for this adaptation to take place, generally in the range of several months and it is dependent on a variety of factors such as the complexity of the magic, how common it is, and its strength. If that world has multiple magic systems, then you will gain them according to the most common order.

Earth (Harry Potter)

Gain: 5 Magic

Gain: 5 Points

The Harry Potter series focuses on the protagonist, Harry Potter and his introduction into the secret Wizarding World and his conflict with the Dark Lord, Lord Voldemort.

The Leaky Cauldron

Gain: 1 Magic

Gain: 1 Point

You appear in the Leaky Cauldron.

Chamber of Secrets

Gain: 1 Magic

Gain: 1 Point

You appear at the time of the second Harry Potter book.

Clarity

Cost: 0 Magic

Cost: 4 Points

Your mind has been made to be exceptionally clear. Your ability to focus and comprehend things has increased.

Archive

Cost: 0 Magic

Cost: 4 Points

Your memory has been enhanced to be nearly perfect. You won't forget anything important, although the minute details may escape you.

Sharpshooter

Cost: 0 Magic

Cost: 3 Points

You have greatly enhanced your aim. You intuitively can aim any device you know how to operate with nearly perfect accuracy.

Return

Cost: 1 Magic

Cost: 3 Points

The items you have bought in the Items section now return to you if you lose them.

Firearm

Cost: 0 Magic

Cost: 1 Point

You have a handgun of some sort.

Valyrian Steel

Cost: 1 Magic

Cost: 2 Points

You have a Valyrian Steel weapon of some sort.

Bag of Holding

Cost: 2 Magic

Cost: 2 Points

You have a bag which can hold more than its volume inside itself. When you put your hand into it, you will automatically find what you're looking for.

Inventory

Handgun

Remington Model 700 bolt-action hunting rifle

Longclaw

Pouch of Holding

Maple Wand

Thestral-hide coat

Dragonhide Boots and Belt

Goblin-Silver Dagger

Shotgun

Potions

Ingredients

Instant Fortress

Everlasting Rations

Goggles of Night

Amulet of Proof against Detection and Location

Ring of Mind Shielding

Ring of Feather Falling

Wand of Fireballs

Wand of Firebolt

Wand of Lightning Bolts

Wand of Magic Detection

Wand of Magic Missiles

Wand Of Web

Wand of Entangle

Boots of the Winterlands

Earing of Comprehend Languages

Mithral Armour

Alchemy Jug

The Staff of Magnus

The Eye of Magnus

College of Winterhold Robes

Enchanted Clothing

Dwarf-made pots, pans, cups, cutlery, etc.

Bars of metals from Skryim.

Lots of soul gems.

The story can be read at if you prefer that site.

Magic Multiverse Mayhem (A CYOA Story)

Part 1

Diagon Alley. The Wizarding World.

I'd not really believed that magic was actually a thing when I'd first begun to explore the possibility that it existed. I'd imagined, and hoped that there was more out there than what science could explain, but it had taken time for me to accept the truth.

It had all started after some relative of mine, one I couldn't recall actually ever meeting, had died and despite me not even attending his funeral, he'd left me what at first looked to merely be some books on the occult. No one had ever left me anything before so I'd been very interested in what had been delivered to my home.

This unknown great-uncle of mine had been a big fan of the weird and the whacky, and once I'd started understanding his research I'd been able to unlock the magical potential that my relative claimed was in our bloodline.

Not that I'd thought that any of it would work out until I found a real pouch of holding, one that had been left behind by now dead relative, a man who in his journal claimed to have the magical power to travel to different worlds after awakening the power within.

Further evidence that my great-uncle hadn't simply been a crazy old man had been provided in the form of a sword. At first, I thought that it was just a replica of Jon Snow's Longclaw, only the sword had great balance and the blade was very sharp. It was no mass-produced piece of merchandise of that I was sure.

So this meant that unless it was a very good replica forged by an expert metalsmith, the world of ASOIAF actually existed somewhere in the vast multiverse. Not that I had any intention of going anywhere near that hellhole unless I had a good reason and a lot of magical power to use to keep myself safe.

Once I'd gotten tangible proof of the existence of magic I'd devoted myself to finding out if I could use magic and I too had awakened the Elder Blood within me. As it turned out Elder Blood is not just part of the lore for the Witcher franchise, it's a real thing, and it allows you some things that are very impressive.

I discovered that I was a user of magic. I was a carrier of the Elder Blood and within me, I had the power to travel to different worlds. I also possessed vast magical power that I simply needed to learn how to unlock. My great-uncle's research would be a great help with that even if his work was lacking in much detail.

Once I'd felt confident enough I'd tested my power and had transported myself around my world, and then I'd begun to venture further. Later on, I'd done what anyone with the talent to travel the multiverse should do, I'd gone to a world where human civilization had collapsed so that I could stock up on gold.

I'd not remained in that world for that long because while awakening my talents had changed me my skills and knowledge weren't well suited for keeping me alive in that world. I didn't want to get myself killed before I'd really even started on my path to power. Thankfully I'd only had to shoot one zombie with the gun my great-uncle had left me with everything else.

Zombies don't seem to last very long once they run out of people to eat and/or infect. This makes sense as they are still corpses and decaying. They don't heal so those little cuts and bruises that humans often get, start to take their toil. Zombies simply fall apart and then stop being able to move. As I discovered for myself.

The dangers of the multiverse were why I'd come to the setting of a series of children's books to learn magic. As long I avoided the Death Eaters and their master I should be fine. Given enough time I knew that I would unlock the ability to learn the local magic because that was another talent of my bloodline. My home universe must simply lack any systems of magic to learn.

I wondered if my great-uncle had gone out into the multiverse and bitten off more than he could chew and then limped back home to die. Not that I knew for sure he was dead as I'd not seen a body, and I couldn't recall anyone ever mentioning a funeral. I wondered if he had faked his death and gone looking for a more meaningful life out in the multiverse.

Perhaps I should go back to my world and fake my own death once I had the means to do so, but I felt that my family would understand me leaving if they read the note I'd left behind. While they didn't know where I was going I'd left them with the impression I'd taken a chance to go off and explore.

I pushed such thoughts so as to better focus on the present as well as the future and I felt glad that ever since I'd awakened the potential of my bloodline I had an easier time focusing. Even my memory seemed to have improved. A byproduct of accessing the Elder Blood and I wondered what else it would change about me.

Looking around I assured myself that I was really here in Diagon Alley, in the Wizarding World, and while a few people had given me odd looks, perhaps because I had a sword strapped to my back, most of the natives were happy to ignore me as they focused on their own business.

Maybe it wasn't just the sword? My muggle clothing might be catching people's eyes as while many of the children wore such clothes the adults all had on their robes. I would have to buy some robes if I wanted to blend in, and so I hoped that I'd find some simple ones that didn't make me look like a fool. Otherwise, I would need to limit the amount of time I spent in the magical community.

I did consider hiding my sword in my pouch of holding, but I wanted it within arm's reach in case anything went wrong. I didn't know when I'd arrived and if the Death Eaters made an appearance I only had so many bullets on my person. Not that I really knew how to use a sword, but it would be better than nothing.

Another factor in the looks being sent my way could be how much I was staring at the buildings. It was just like in the movies only the alley was even bigger and there were side streets that contained businesses that I couldn't recall reading about in the books or seeing in the movies. I would have explored them during my time in this world.

The building that soon had my attention was Gringotts bank. I soon saw a sign that told me that the bank's motto was Fortius Quo Fidelius, a Latin phrase that I felt sure meant strength through loyalty.

Once I got inside the bank, I'd disarmed myself first so as not to cause problems, I saw a poem that made me smile.

"Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn,

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there"

Upon seeing a free teller I went over.

"Excuse me, sir," I said "Do you by any chance convert gold into currency?".

This part of my plan was risky as while it was easy to pick up gold in one of the many worlds that had been overrun by zombies or in which human civilization had collapsed for some other reason, it was just lying around, the goblins might decide to take what I had by force or inform the Ministry that there was an unknown man going around with lots of gold on his person.

I'd considered just exchanging gold directly for services, and I might get away with that a few times before the Ministry found out, but I'd much rather get some proper money and shop the normal way even if it meant waiting as then I'd draw far less attention to myself. Until I mastered a few types of magic I was too weak to risk tangling with even the incompetent Ministry of Magic.

"How much gold?" I was asked.

I placed a bar of gold on the desk, one that had its purity and weight on display but no hint of its source, something that made me think it wasn't exactly kosher. The goblin licked the bar and then ran some sort of instrument over the metal.

"Wait here" the creature instructed.

He took the gold with me and hurried off. I forced myself to look relaxed, but I was actually rather nervous as very soon I might need to outrun some greedy goblins and teleport myself out of this universe, as it turned out I need not have worried. As I was soon escorted to a posh office.

Part 2

Part 2

Gringotts. Diagon Alley.

Despite it being summer there was a lit fire in the large and posh office. I quickly looked around to see shelves crammed with books, scrolls, and a few devices I had no name for, The large wooden desk was similarly cluttered with bits of parchment, bottles of ink, quills and an abacus as if this was a bank trapped in centuries past. Oddly I found it to be rather charming rather than primitive.

"I am Bloodaxe," said the goblin as he gestured to a seat made for a human rather than a goblin "I will be your account manager".

Just like that, I had an account with Gringotts and as hoped they had realised that they'd make more profit from working with me than finding some excuse to rob me before feeding me to a dragon.

"I am Macross" I stated.

Naming anything or anyone had never been a strength of mine and I'd gotten that name from a fantasy series. I'd wanted to choose a new name for myself as I was very different from the person I used to be. Besides, I did wear a lot of black clothing.

"No family name?" I was asked.

The goblin was already taking notes.

"I'm what some people call a Muggleborn," I said, trying not to lie "My family name means nothing here".

The goblin didn't visibly react to this information. I doubted they cared who opened up vaults as long as it made the bank some profit.

"How much gold would you like to be converted into galleons?" was the next question.

I was pleased that the bank wasn't wasting any time with needless small talk. Goblins don't like humans and I didn't care about them so the sooner this was done with the better. I just needed to make use of the bank's services.

"A lot" I answered.

After reaching into my pouch of holding I laid enough gold down to make the goblin stop and stare for a moment. The account manager took his time, or maybe it was her time although I got the sense that this was a male goblin, in inspecting the gold. Weighing it, licking it, and then running some device over the bars.

I'd taken more gold than anyone should ever need because I knew that I couldn't just go back and get more whenever I felt like it. I had to stay in a world for months to adapt to it.

At least according to my great-uncle's notes and since I didn't know if that time could be broken up or not I would have to remain in this world until I felt sure the process was complete.

"Not stolen" Bloodaxe muttered.

How he could tell that I had no idea I was just pleased that they had decided so. I supposed that it could be considered salvaged rather than stolen since it had been owned by organisations and people who no longer existed.

"I'd like about 10% to be converted into pounds" I mentioned.

Once I have some command of the local magic I might be able to whip up a muggle identity and open up a bank account in that world where it mattered if you had a form of ID or not. The magical world didn't seem to care about such things as far as I could tell. As for the Muggle world, I'd need cash and lots of it.

"That won't be possible," said Bloodaxe "I don't we have enough Muggle money in the bank to cover more than 2%. I suggest keeping half of this gold in a vault and converting the rest".

Since the value of gold tended to fluctuate and this world was in the early to mid-1990s I could not have known how much to bring. I might have gone overboard.

"If you think that is best," I said.

The fees and charges for renting a vault meant nothing to me as within a few months I could just go and get more gold.

"Does Gringotts involve itself in real estate?" I asked.

Since this was the country's only magical bank and the goblins minted the currency it made sense that any business transaction that involves more gold than a person carries in their pockets would involve Gringotts somehow.

"There isn't much demand for property," said Bloodaxe "Most wizards inherit family property, however, a few families were wiped out by the Dark Lord, so you might be able to find someone willing to sell and we can help with that".

Given that I would be unknown to the Purebloods I doubted that any of them would sell to me.

"We do have contacts in the muggle world" mentioned the goblin "We work with a few squibs and muggle-borns who could help you acquire a property in the muggle world. Such properties can be brought into the magical world. It's rare, but it does happen".

I would want a home that could be hidden from everyone. Something I mentioned to the account manager.

"That's not something we handle directly," said Bloodaxe "However, we can act as brokers if you're interested and take care of the details, if you are willing to pay the fees".

As I'd suspected they had their claws in many pies.

"I'd like a home as soon as possible," I said.

Bloodaxe made a couple of appointments with me in the future. He could only convert a small fraction of my account into cash right now, as such I would have to wait for more. That would be fine as my needs were simple. At least for now.

If I understood things correctly, I might be to start casting the more simple spells used by wizards in this world within the next couple of weeks, but it would be at least three months before I could match an adult wizard in terms of spellcasting.

Later on, I would need a large library, a potions lab, room for casting spells, dummies to practice offensive spells upon, and so on. As such purchasing, a large house in some remote part of the country seemed like a good idea to me.

In the short term, I'd be fine with a trunk full of books and my tent, and maybe enough equipment to brew a few simple potions.

Bloodaxe rang a bell and soon a goblin came in to collect some of my gold, the rest I would take to my new vault once this meeting was over. Another employee of the bank brought in tea and a copy of the local paper for me to relax with while matters were taken care of by the goblins.

Given that the paper was reporting that Lockhart would be doing a book signing today I now knew that I had arrived within the timeline of the book series as planned.

That had been what I was aiming for even if I had hoped to arrive during Potter's first year at Hogwarts so that I would years to prepare for Voldemort's return.

I had a couple of years before he was active again and I should have learned plenty of magic by then. If I ever did get involved I didn't even need to kill the guy if I could simply incapacitate him for a time I transport him to some nasty world and just leave him there.

Before too long passed another goblin appeared with folders full of properties that could be purchased with Gringotts acting as a broker so as to smooth things along. Bloodaxe went through them with me.

Since I was Welsh by birth I picked out a lovely place in Bala, Gwynedd. The beautiful nine-bedroom period country house was a large white building with plenty of windows that offered great views of the surrounding countryside, including Bala Lake and the Berwyn mountain range according to the file.

"Six of the bedrooms are ensuite and there are three reception rooms," said Bloodaxe "Far more than you need, but you can covert rooms".

I might even have people who joined me on my travels. It was possible as I could transport more than myself from place to place. In theory at least. As such having a home and base to operate out of made sense.

"Currently, it is run as a guest house, and even if you offered more than the asking price you'd have to wait until the summer season ends before the building could be closed and the dwarves could be sent in to fix the place up".

The only thing I knew about the dwarves of this world was that they were willing to humiliate themselves when Lockhart wanted to do something for Valentine's day. If they did manual labour, including building and converting houses, and if most wizards inherited property then I could see why they would be desperate for work.

"Get it done as quickly as possible and I'll pay a nice bonus," I said "I want the best wards money can buy".

I had some more business to handle before leaving the bank.

"That will take a few weeks once the summer season ends," said Bloodaxe "But with the right motivation it should be done before Halloween".

By motivation, he must mean bribes. Not that I minded as I had the gold a man could ever want and more.

"There's also a property here in London that I wouldn't mind owning, but there's no rush" I mentioned "Number 12 Grimmauld Place. It's currently owned by the Black family, but they are all dead or in prison as far as I know".

I might be able to deal with the Horcruxes myself and if not then I could at least point Dumbledore in the right direction. That was a long-term concern.

"Oh, and I want to commission the creation of a goblin-silver dagger," I told Bloodaxe.

He made an appointment for me to meet with a smith who could make such a weapon for me. The cost would be great and goblins only lend their works to humans for a lifetime, but I didn't care about that.

I fully intended to obtain immortality and I wouldn't need any Horcruxes to manage that.

Part 3

Diagon Alley. The Wizarding World.

The cobblestone street was packed with a greater number of people than there had been before I'd gone into the bank and there were a lot more children running about than I could comfortably navigate around which resulted in me getting run into a few times as I began to do my shopping.

Gringotts had been able to quickly convert some of my gold into wizarding and muggle money, I now had thousands of muggle pounds on my person and an expanded pouch full of fancy coins.

I'd also opened up a vault under the name Macross and I planned to fill it with gold and treasures that I obtained from different worlds. I would also create a new vault when I got myself a nice home as I wouldn't want to put dangerous objects on display no matter how secure the house should be.

There was also a need to have somewhere to store gold that didn't depend on trusting the goblins. I'd do business with other banks in different worlds, and I planned to keep a large amount in my new home.

While I owned a very nice pouch of holding thanks to my great-uncle I preferred to keep my most vital of supplies, such as food, water, money, clean clothing, a first aid kit as well as some other odds and ends, within it.

As such one of my most important purchases was a simple-looking trunk, one with a few compartments that would much larger on the inside than the external dimensions involved should allow. It was charmed to be light in weight no matter how much it contained.

I brought a wizarding tent, which should be more comfortable than anything muggle-made. I needed one since I wasn't able to purchase a home right away. I would have to wait for more of my gold to be converted into money and then for the property to be changed from a muggle one to a magical home.

If the tent got uncomfortable then I could rent a room at the Leaky Cauldron here in London, or maybe the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmede rented rooms? This was something I should find out.

It might seem more sensible to stay here in the alley so that I would have easy access to all the stores, but it would only be a matter of time before people began to talk of a stranger with a lot of gold started to circulate as this was an insular community.

So it was best to hide out in the countryside while the weather was warm and the mages here were quick to forget the news if their treatment of Harry Potter was anything to go by. They changed their opinions on him every year so any rumours about a wealthy new wizard should be forgotten in a matter of weeks.

Since the brewing of potions tended to be something common to many systems of magic and because I had the potential for great magical power even if I didn't have the skill, I decided to purchase a lot of potions supplies and to trying brewing more complex concoctions as time passed so as to measure my growing talent.

I purchased the best money could buy here. I got myself a few silver cauldrons, crystal vials and brass weights. As well as a lot of ingredients, all of which I was able to easily store inside my new trunk that had been enchanted to be easily carried around.

Since I had no desire to be flying around I ignored everything to do with Quidditch and brooms. I didn't need to pay them any attention as I didn't need to blend in so there was no point in worrying about such things. Besides, I can teleport anywhere I want to go.

The same went for anything to do with stargazing. It seemed pointless to me as I fully intended to travel through space one day, once I had plenty of magical powers and artefacts to protect myself with. Compared to that possibility the idea of staring at bits of light in the night sky seemed rather pointless to me.

When I went to the crowded bookstore I got to watch Lucius Malfoy and Arthur Weasly get into a fight. Once the Death Eaters were out of the way I decided to carry out a plan I'd come up with since I'd read the notice in the paper.

I'd realised that if I came across the Weasleys I might just be able to get my hands on a Horcrux as well as prevent a lot of problems at Hogwarts over the next school year.

"Excuse me has anyone seen my book?" I asked the family of redheads who might have a dark-haired boy with them it was hard to tell in this crowd "It's a little black book with the name T.M Riddle on it? I dropped it".

Ginny didn't even hesitate to hand it over and I paid her a few sickles as a finders fee and told her to have some ice cream on me. She thanked me and I moved on not wanting to draw more attention to myself.

I now had a Horcrux to attempt to destroy. I didn't think basilisk venom was something you could buy because how the hell would anyone harvest the stuff? As for Fiendfyre I wasn't even going to think about messing with something so deadly. But there were plenty of other venoms and other nasty substances. Something was bound to work and then it would just be a matter of hunting down the other Horcruxes. If the mood took me.

Again that was a long-term concern. In the short term, I needed to focus on my magical education as right now I couldn't cast any spells, but that would change over the next few months and I could start studying the theory right away.

I went into the second-hand bookstore as I had no desire to risk infecting myself with whatever it was that made the wand wavers stupid enough to believe that Lockhart was anything more than a preening fool whose greatest achievement was giving bored housewives someone to think about while in bed with their husbands.

The second-hand bookstore was cramped due to the poorly stacked books, dusty and most importantly free of customers. As I moved around the store I left my trunk near the counter and when I'd filled my arms with books I'd leave them on the counter for the sales wizard to sort out.

I ignored the subjects of Divination, which was something you had to have a special talent for, as well as Transfiguration as while it could be of use it looked very complicated and I would need to streamline my magical education.

Unlike the young witches and wizards who were just starting to learn, I didn't have access to Hogwarts teachers and its vast library so I had to focus on what I felt would be easier to learn on my own. Once I'd obtained some form of immortality and fancied settling down for a while, then I could come back and maybe hire tutors in the subject.

For now, I wanted to focus on Charms as they had many practical uses,. Defence Against the Dark Arts was something I needed to learn so that I could defend myself. Potions for both medical and enhancement purposes were important. As for herbology that was required because I would like to supply at least some of my own potion ingredients.

I couldn't spend all my time studying and gardening seemed like a good way to get my nose out of a book once I had some gardens. I would have to hire a house elf to maintain the property as after a few months here I could move somewhere else to carry on with my studies.

My shopping was done for now so I decided to stop for some ice cream and I got something simple as some of the options here at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour sounded unpalatable to me. I couldn't imagine anyone enjoying strawberry-and-peanut-butter ice cream so I went with a nice raspberry ripple.

I sat and thought about where I was going to camp out. The muggle parts of this world should be like mine and I could bring myself to anywhere I wanted to go as long as I could clearly picture the location in my mind. In the end, I decided to head to Cornwall some of which I'd seen during my childhood.

With the muggle money I'd obtained and the fancy tent, I should be able to live quite comfortably. Only returning to the wizarding parts of this world would only be necessary if I needed certain supplies and to attend appointments at the bank.

That seemed like the best way to do things. I would get to travel and see more of this country when I wasn't studying.

Part 4

Diagon Alley. The Wizarding World.

I never would have imagined that it was possible to get bored while studying magic, but I had somehow managed it. I felt more able to focus than I ever had before and my memory was better than ever, still, there was only so much studying a person could do.

To be fair, while my tent was very comfortable and short of a washing machine it contained everything I needed (and you can have people to clean clothes for you) it simply wasn't a stimulating place to live in. I had no television or anyone to talk to during my downtime.

Listening to muggle music on a portable radio and studying the theoretical parts of the local magic system could only take up so much of my time before I started to get antsy. As such, I'd begun to go out into the world, forcing myself to exercise in the Muggle part, and it seemed much easier than before to focus on getting myself into better shape.

In other good news, I'd started to brew my first potions and despite some minor mishaps I was starting to be able to brew some simple concoctions. No doubt a true potions master would think them terrible, but since I'd just started making potions I was happy with my process and I knew that I would improve further given more time.

Some potions could help you become physically fit and aid in maintaining that good shape, but they were complex creations and I'd be better off buying them rather than drinking my homemade ones. A good reason to come back to the alley.

As a reward to myself, I'd decided that I should go and buy my wand. I'd needed to return to the wizarding shopping centre in any case because I got through potion ingredients at an alarming rate.

While brewing I'd had to wonder how Hogwarts managed to keep its students supplied. Sure the greenhouses could supply some of what was needed, yet even with that, the school must be spending a great deal of its budget on potion lessons.

Thinking about potion lessons had led to me realising that I was going to need to have some greenhouses set up on my new property. A great expense no doubt, however, it would be worth it. I would need to be very careful when growing any magical plants I found on other worlds.

Before obtaining my wand I'd gone for an appointment at the bank (taking the chance to secure the diary Horcrux as I felt tempted to write in it and wanted it out of sight) so that I could speak with a goblin smith about commissioning the forging of one of their weapons as planned.

I needed something that could destroy Horcruxes and perhaps other cursed items that I came across, and serve as a close combat weapon. I had the sword known as Longclaw, but it wasn't suitable for fighting in a confined space should that prove necessary and daggers are much simpler to use than swords. Since I was a novice at using magic I couldn't depend on it to protect me either.

At some point, I really should see if Longclaw can destroy Horcruxes as a goblin-silver dagger isn't enough on its own. Arya did kill the Night King with just a dagger made from the enchanted metal so it wasn't a totally crazy idea.

Once done with the bank I headed out into the alley and stopped at a clothing store to pick myself up a dragonhide jacket as they looked cool. I would one day soon need to fashion for myself a signature outfit of some kind. Something that people would identify with me, but for now I was comfortable wearing simple muggle clothing.

With that in mind, I used some of the money the bank had finished converting some of my gold into to purchase myself a pair of stylish dragonhide boots as well. Wizarding clothing had all sorts of charms on the to help keep clothes clean, comfortable and undamaged.

Even though it was important for me to obtain a wand I wasn't happy having to depend on one. A wand or something like it would be too easy to lose or it could be taken away from me.

Still, I needed a wand to carry on with my education as I got the sense that the adaption process was coming along nicely and I looked forward to the day when it would simply be one weapon in an arsenal at my command.

Ollivander's store was dusty and smelled a bit funny, not to be sexist but it could really do with a woman's touch, it was more neglected than anything else. I intended to limit my time here as much as possible and I avoided breathing through my nose.

"Anyone in?" I asked.

Before long an elderly wizard came to the front of the shop and took a moment to inspect me.

"You've never been here before" he commented "Do you need a replacement wand?".

I didn't want him to think I'd just entered the magical world so I had to carefully lie.

"My magical education has been rather limited," I said, speaking the truth as much as possible "I've recently come into some money so I thought I'd best get myself a proper wand".

Ollivander looked pleased.

"You always get the best results with a wand that is matched to you," he said, "Or rather a wand that chooses to you".

Soon began a rather dull and long process of finding a suitable magical instrument for me. Dozens of wands, made from more kinds of wood than I could keep track of, came and went as Ollivander narrowed down his search through some process that made sense to him.

"Phoneix feather for sure," said the old wizard "It is the rarest kind of wand core, but we're just not getting a reaction from unicorn hair or dragon heartstring. Phoenix feathers are capable of the greatest range of magic, although this wand will take longer than others to be tamed for lack of a better term".

Ollivander vanished into the back of the shop for a short time.

"I find that phoenix feather wands are always the pickiest when it comes to potential owners" I was warned when he returned "That said, I think you'll find yourself with a superior wand if the two of you can learn to work together".

Before much more time passed I was presented with a wand made of maple with a phoenix feather as its core. It was 12 inches of wood that had been carefully carved into the needed shape.

"In my experience witches and wizards who are chosen by maple wands are by nature travellers and explorers" I was informed.

Made sense since I planned to go out and see many worlds once I had more ways to protect myself.

"To work right a maple wand needs a witch or wizard with some ambition" I was told "This isn't the kind of wand that will be content with household charms".

The wand was a dark brown in colour as it had been varnished. At its base, it had what could be considered a pommel and a bump of sorts about a third of the length of the wand. Clearly, that was meant to be a grip. The wand ended at a point that could take someone's eye out if you weren't careful.

Its physical appearance didn't matter much compared to how it felt. The wand seemed to belong in my hand, it was comfortable and I got a sense of warmth from it. There was no light show or anything, but I waved the magical tool it did generate a few sparks.

"Not an energetic reaction" commented Ollivander "However, it does seem to like you".

Since I knew the theory I attempted to make some light.

"Lumos"

The light was feeble yet I was pleased since I'd been a mere muggle not so long ago.

"Keep at it" advised the wandmaker "You'll learn to get along".

I soon purchased a holster along with a brush and some polish. I would need to take care of this wand as I might not be able to simply return to this world and replace it. Once I had learned to use this wand I could also look into getting some spares if that was possible.

Part 5

The Room of Requirement. Hogwarts School.

This castle was supposed to be the safest place in the magical world. I proved that to be false as others had when I'd teleported myself directly to the seventh-floor corridor outside of this room.

I felt a little disappointed that it was so easy to get into the school, but it made sense as if the House Elves can pop in and out then why not people who use different forms of magic? I had the Elder Blood I wasn't going to be stopped by a few wards meant to stop wand wavers.

Thinking about that made me wonder if I could so easily get out of Azkaban should I ever be arrested, or could I make my way into the most secure parts of the Ministry with such ease. I didn't wish to test either of those, but it was something to keep in mind for the future.

Teleporting myself into Gringotts held much more appeal than visiting Azkaban or the Ministry as then I could get access to Hufflepuff's cup which was also a Horcrux. Again that was something to consider later since I didn't yet have a way to deal with those abominations of magic.

After focusing on what I wanted I'd made my way into the Room of Requirement, to be specific I was in a room that seemed to be filled with Hogwart's lost property. This place had been a school for a thousand years that was a long time for people to lose things. The school had been home to many students over the centuries, evidence of which was all around me.

Most of what the room contained was broken and damaged furniture. Since it was easy to repair things with certain spells I figured that this junk must have been damaged by magical mishaps that prevented using spells to fix them.

Given that the Defence Against the Dark Arts job was cursed I suspected that the class had more than its fair share of disasters that had resulted in the school needing to replace all the desks and chairs.

When I'd been shopping in Diagon Alley I'd had the chance to acquire plenty of trunks for store only I'd not purchased them because I'd intended to find some means of entering this room. Why pay when I could get some for free?

There were plenty of chests about that were still in working order if a bit battered. No doubt abandoned by the children of parents who had the money to replace everything their child wanted to have replaced.

Aside from trunks, this room might contain the local version of pouches of holding. Which were bags that had charms on them to expand their internal space much like the one my great-uncle had sent me along with Longclaw.

It would be useful to be able to carry more stuff around with me as I was going to need to spend months in those worlds that had systems of magic that I wanted to learn so it would be important to make sure that I had everything I needed.

Between my gold and the fact that I found an entire chest full of jewels in this room, I didn't think I'd ever need to worry about spoiling any kids I ever got around to having.

Not that I intended to waste my time raising any brats. Having children would be a waste of my time and rather pointless if I obtained proper immortality. I should look into birth control potions so that I don't knock up some poor women in a room I never returned to.

These trunks would serve my needs well enough as I had a lot of stuff that I wanted to be packed away. I wasn't foolish enough to handle anything here with my bare hands so I would make use of my dragonhide gloves and take the chance to practice the levation charm.

Wingardium Leviosa was one of the few spells that I could cast and that made sense since it was a first-year spell. I could also cast a decent Lumos if I needed some extra light. Those spells might be very basic, but I was actually pleased with my progress when it came to spellcasting since I'd not been magical for very long.

It was good that there were so many abandoned trunks as I soon found that this room contained what seemed to be thousands of books. More than enough to stock my future libraries.

In the near future, I intended to employ the curse breakers at Gringotts to go over all that I salvaged from this room and the expense would be worth just to have these books.

I found some toys as well, such as flying catapults, Fanged Frisbees and some other stuff that I felt sure came from Zonkos joke shop that I ignored as I had no interest in things meant to entertain children. If I ever did I certainly wouldn't let any child I cared about near such items as they all looked rather dangerous.

Another thing to stay away from was the bottles of congealed potions. I even saw some other bottles than contained some sort of mist and for some reason, I got a vibe of evil from them.

When I came across a collection of weapons they all went into their own trunk. I collected several rusting swords, a very heavy-looking bloodstained axe and a club that must have belonged to the enormous stuffed troll nearby.

I spent what felt likes hours going through personal effects so as to separate stuff like hats and cloaks from the jewellery that I wished to collect.

As the jewellery boxes I'd found began to fill up, I wondered if there was anything out there that would buy any of this stuff or if I was going to end up with a vast collection of expensive accessories for women.

Perhaps I should look into becoming the silent partner of a second-hand store. Heck, I could open one and sell the junk I found here. I could have someone run it for me since I would be away a lot.

When I stopped for some lunch I spent some time wondering why none of the school's many house elves had enquired about my presence or gone off to inform a member of staff about me being here.

I could only conclude that they simply did care what people got up to. Besides, it wasn't as if I was endangering anyone other than myself. House Elves seemed content to mind their own business and get on with their work, aside from Dobby

After I'd taken my break I found the lost diadem of Ravenclaw, that had been made into a Horcrux, it was resting on a chipped old bust of an ugly warlock out in the open. Voldemort must have thought this room to be much more secure than it actually was.

I'd given the Horcruxes some thought and I'd wondered if a sword made from Valyrian steel might be powerful enough to break one of the abominations as to destroy one you had to damage it beyond magic's ability to repair, or something like that.

I withdrew Longclaw from my pouch of holding and when I was ready I brought it down on the diadem. I got knocked on my ass due to an outburst of energy, but the sword did its job, the diadem (which had thankfully been inactive) was broken as was the ugly bust. In my view that was a nice bonus as it really had been an eyesore.

Since I knew that the remains of the Horcrux would likely still contain dark magic I carefully moved it to the chest I was filling with stuff I suspected of being cursed. The trunk contained a banjo that for some reason I felt needed to be destroyed.

Even the things that looked harmless, such as a set of dominoes, I handled carefully as I didn't want to have to visit St Mungos. I needed to keep a low profile as much as possible

The Horcrux was not the only thing in the room that I knew for sure was dangerous. I found the Mirror of Erised. I noticed it because the sheet covering it had slipped enough to expose some of the backwards writing. Since I had no desire to see what the mirror would show me I carefully covered it back up.

When I realised how much time had passed and I was losing the light, I began moving the trunks closer to the door so that they would be easier to find upon my return meaning that I wouldn't have to spend time looking for them.

I couldn't teleport directly into the room, as it might not exist when no one was in it, so I would have to be very careful when I visited the school in the future as the school would soon be full of children.

Despite the risks, I was going to need a lot more time to fully uncover all the treasures of this room and I didn't wish to be seen taking so much to Gringotts so I would take one chest at a time to the bank.

The Curse Breakers would destroy or uncurse everything they could and I would sell off most of the stuff. The goblins were willing to work as brokers so I hoped to be able to remain unknown to anyone buying any of this stuff and to make a profit from what I didn't wish to keep.

Part 6

The Gaunt Shack. Little Hangleton.

I'd come to this charming little bit of the British countryside because it was the ancestral home of the Gaunt wizarding family, a run-down place located in a clearing in the woods near a road that was just outside the charming village of Little Hangleton.

I would make my way into the village sooner or later as I had business within a certain graveyard. I didn't want Voldemort returning to power in case he attacked my home, killed any friends I made in this world, or disrupted my ability to shop in Diagon Alley for needed supplies.

The former Gaunt residence was a shabby little shack that had once housed Marvolo Gaunt, his wife, their son Morfin, and daughter Merope. While time might be to blame for its current poor state I remembered from the books that it had never been a place that anyone other than the poorest of the poor would want to live within.

This was odd since they should have been able to improve the shack with magic. I could only assume that centuries of inbreeding had taken away the intelligence required to plan out such improvements and the magical skills needed to carry out such designs. Nor did they have the wealth required to pay others to do the work as I would have.

What really mattered about this location was that after the last of the Gaunts had died or been locked up in Azkaban, the residence was then used as a hiding place for one of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes, the ring that he stole from Marvolo Gaunt after framing the man for the murder of the Riddle family.

I wanted to destroy the ring and claim the Deathly Hallow so as to help weaken Voldemort and to increase my own power. With that stone, I could question some of the greatest magic users of all time (at least in this world) on a variety of magical topics and this would make learning magic much easier.

That was the least the stone could do if used correctly. I could solve murders by questioning the victims, I could speak to historical figures to learn more about the past, and find the location of lost treasures by seeking information from those that hide their fortunes. Assuming that I could find some way of compelling them to talk to me.

If he could understand modern English then I wouldn't mind having words with Herpo the Foul, the inventor of Horcruxes in the hopes of finding out if I could use the diary to defeat Voldemort or gain power from it.

Of course, I would use the stone carefully as it was possible that the magical artefact was actually meant to drive people to kill themselves. If there were any hints of that then I was going to throw the stone in the ocean after putting it into a heavy box.

Although there was little evidence of this aside from the tale of the Three Brothers the only two people to die while possessing the stone didn't really die because of it.

Dumbledore was cursed by the ring the stone was attached to because his desire to speak with the dead and seek forgiveness from them overrode his common sense. As for Harry Potter, he'd decided to die before he used the stone.

"Shouldn't be more than half an hour, Mr Macross" I heard someone say.

I turned my head to see William 'Bill' Weasly the eldest son of Arthur and Molly Weasley who had graduated from Hogwarts a couple of years ago and now was a Curse Breaker. He was working under several more experienced wizards to aid me in obtaining the stone. He would be working in Egypt in the future, right now he was here backing up other Curse Breakers because I paid for their services.

"There's no rush," I said "And it's just Macross".

This team of Curse Breakers had been rather easy to hire even at short notice since I could afford to throw some gold around and it would be well worth the expense as once I had the stone I could learn the locations of many hidden treasures and other lost secrets.

What was going on here would be hidden by magical contracts, but it was legal since the Gaunt Shack had become the property of Gringotts due to unpaid debts. I'd simply purchased the property while hiring the Curse Breakers.

I wondered if Voldemort had ever returned to this place since laying his Horcrux to rest here. Was he so arrogant that he simply assumed that the defences he'd laid down as a sixteen-year-old boy would work against Curse Breakers? Or did he think that by never returning here and thus not drawing attention to the place, it would help keep the Horcrux secure?

"Can you tell me anything about this object we're supposed to be finding?" asked Bill.

Due to the laws of this country, I'd needed to buy the Gaunt Shack, and the land it was built on, from the goblins in order to claim the ring legally, the goblins had taken it in payment from the Gaunts due to non-payment of loans once the last of them had either died or been locked up for the rest of their lives. It was worthless, but by buying it I owned anything found on the property since there were known Gaunts left to counter my claim.

Voldemort could legally challenge a claim since the goblins didn't care at all if you were born outside of marriage or had a different surname because they tested inheritance via blood, but Tom Riddle was officially dead so that wasn't an issue.

"It's just an old ring," I said "A gold ring with a black stone. I suspect that it has been cursed so please be careful. It's a family heirloom".

Just not an heirloom of my family.

"We can contain a Cursed object" assured Bill "It's the shack I'm worried about I don't think it will stay standing for much longer. Not now that we're removing the spells cast on it".

This didn't concern me.

"I don't care about the shack," I told the young wizard, "I think it will be best to dismantle it all and burn what's left"

Bill Weasly agreed with me.

"There's dark magic here, has been for a long time," he said "Before we go I'll lay down some fresh muggle-repelling wards so that they stay away from here".

That would be wise and I wasn't at all worried about any of the Curse Breakers saying anything about me owning this place and recovering a cursed object because these wizards all worked for Gringotts, not the Ministry which was heavily compromised, and they'd all signed magical contracts that prevented them from giving anyone details of their work.

"We've got it!" declared one of the older Curse Breakers.

He'd just come out of the shack and he was carrying a heavy-looking box in his hand that must contain the ring. The box was special, meant to safely contain cursed objects.

"It's got a compulsion charm on it and some nasty curse I got rid of, but there's still something dark about it" I was warned

The thing about compulsion charms, a type of spell which can compel a person to perform a certain action, is that they aren't hard to resist even if you don't know how to make use of the mind arts to help control yourself as long you are aware of them.

Ginny Weasly being a little girl, feeling homesick and lonely was compelled to write in the diary due to such a spell, but even then with the diary having taken hold of her she still managed to resist long enough to try getting rid of the Horcrux for a time.

Voldemort must know that a magical compulsion that he'd put on the ring wouldn't work on someone with the skills required to get past the defences he put up. Perhaps he was so arrogant that he just assumed that his compulsion would be more effective because he'd placed the spell on the ring himself. Even teenagers who aren't evil can be very sure of themselves and do underestimate those they see as inferior despite them often being the superior ones.

"Thank you, gentlemen," I said to the group as I took the box "Forgot about this and enjoy your bonuses".

I imagined that Bill would use the extra money to spoil his large and somewhat poor family so lucky for him I would be sending more work his way as he would be part of the team that was going over the stuff I'd pulled out of the Room of Requirement.

As for me, I had other matters to attend to in the area.

Part 7

A/N said:

If he arrived a few months earlier he could have made a play for the Philosopher's Stone, but then I suppose there's plenty of similar items of power out there.

Gold is easy to get when you have access to the multiverse and there are far superior methods of obtaining immortality as well.

Maybe he could hire tutors to help him learn the local magic faster, and make it more engaging?

I plan to do that once the MC has a house.

shipenterce said:

Minor plot-hole: In part three Macross buys a trunk in the alley, but when exploring the Room of Requirement he says he didn't buy any trunks.

My fault I should have said that he didn't buy more than one trunk.

AdmiralRafriit said:

Swapping daddy Riddles bones? In some stories the MC swaps them with a coked up hookers bones but what if he transfigures the bones of an animal like a pig and swaps those instead. Can we get pig head Voldemort?

No, because the bones need to pass inspection should someone more competent than Wormtail ends up performing the ritual.

Yinko said:

Or just kidnap an Oxford professor of Classics and have him translate the Ancient Greek for you?

Better to record what Herpo says with some sort of self-writing quill and then hire a professor to do some translating. By the time he or she would be done the MC should be able to wipe a person's memories. Lockhart can do it so it can't be that hard of a spell.

Morkail said:

Nice intro, wonder if he plans to go after the hollows.

One of them at least.

Graveyard. Little Hangleton.

Like the now dismantled Gaunt Shack, this graveyard was located just outside the village of Little Hangleton. Both the graveyard and the Riddle House were clearly visible from the hillside above the valley as I'd seen for myself when walking towards the village from what remained of the Gaunt family's property.

By the time I'd gotten here, it become dark enough to do my work with little fear of anyone seeing me and if they did there were spells to handle that problem by messing with people's minds.

Granted I'd never tried them on human beings before and I might not have the power to cast the spells, so it was good that I could just teleport away if things got rough. Not anything sort of a lynch mob was something I needed to worry about as I did have a gun. I doubted that there were any armed police to call upon in the area.

From up on the hill I'd been able to see that there was another graveyard behind the local church. I figured that the one I was in now must be for the Riddle family rather than the whole community. This was easy enough to confirm since nearly everyone here had the name Riddle on their gravestone. Did most of the women who married into other families end up buried elsewhere?

As for Mister Frank Bryce, the Riddle's groundskeeper who was thought by the local muggles to be the one who killed Voldemort's family, he lived in a cottage on the grounds that was located right next to the graveyard and was separated from it by the stone wall that wouldn't have hidden me from view if he looked out in the graveyard while I was working.

Due to one set of the cottage's kitchen windows facing the graveyard, I'd know that I would need to deal with Mr Bryce before coming here. I didn't want him knowing about the coming switch and somehow ending up letting Voldemort know if the Dark Lord ever came here. The Dark Lord was known to enter people's minds.

Stunning an elderly gentleman was risky, but I'd needed him out of the way for a time. Stunning him was safer than shooting him and less cruel than assaulting him before tying him up. Besides, it was one of the few spells that I could actually cast and was rather easy to use.

Even though I was here to take an action that could save hundreds, maybe even thousands of lives, I still felt bad about attacking an old man, so to make myself feel better if nothing else, I'd left Frank with some muggle money. Enough that he could go on holiday at least.

I knew that I would need to toughen myself up. I might have to do some nasty things in order to achieve the power I desired and there would be forces out there that I couldn't simply run away from since there were others who travel to different dimensions.

For now, my focus was on the newest graves here, those of the three Riddles who'd died decades ago and who had been the last of the Riddles to be buried here as no more came after them. The Dark Lord's paternal grandparents and father were the last and had all laid to rest in this graveyard shortly after being murdered by the self-styled Lord Voldemort.

It was also the site where Lord Voldemort would return to power or would have been able to if not for me taking steps to prevent this from ever happening.

To start with I dug up the grave of Voldemort's father and I was thankful to find only a few bones as the man had been buried for more than forty years so the worms had done their work.

I carefully placed the remains of the muggle Tom Riddle in a pouch. This was a man I felt bad for even if he had abandoned an unborn son since he'd been magically drugged and repeatedly raped by Voldemort's mother until she got pregnant.

Given that their relationship didn't last very long, he might have not believed that Merope Gaunt was pregnant he could have thought it to be a lie by his abuser to keep him around. It wasn't as if she'd be the first woman to do something underhanded to keep a rich husband.

Even if he had believed her I couldn't blame Tom Riddle for not sticking around and looking after his rapist. Perhaps he should have kept track of Merope in case she was pregnant, but this had been a long time ago when you couldn't just track someone's progress online.

Thinking on I decided that this was all the fault of Voldemort's mother really. I had no sympathy for that woman at all. If she'd not roofied a man she had a crush on a lot of death and suffering would have been avoided.

While I'd intended to rebury the muggle Tom Riddle I realised that it would be safer to destroy his bones just in case Voldemort had some way of tracking his father's remains. I wouldn't put it past the Dark Lord to know a spell for such a thing.

These bones were also very old and from a man who died decades ago. I needed them to pass for the bones of a long-dead non-magical so they had to be as normal as possible. This was why I didn't use animal bones or a woman so as to hopefully mess up the ritual even more.

My plan depended on Wormtail, or anyone else trying to carry out the ritual. not bothering to check if anything was wrong with the bones, although how he would do that I had no clue, did they have magical DNA testing?

I didn't want to use any of the other Riddle's remains in case somehow the bones of Voldemort's second cousin Jermory Riddle would somehow work for the ritual. I didn't know enough about magic to know what would happen if he used a different relative's remains.

Once the bones were in place I covered them up and used a potion meant to speedily grow plants and a packet of grass seeds to make it seem as if the grave was overgrown by plant life.

It needed to look as if no one had ever messed with it, and it should look okay by the time Voldemort took up residence in the manor. Assuming he ever got that far.

This plan to prevent the return of Voldemort to power was far from flawless, but it was just one plan of many and might never matter since I was working to prevent his return.

Taking out the Horcruxes was just part of the overall scheme to defeat the Dark Lord and to make sure that the world I would be spending a lot of time in didn't burn in a civil war.

One of my plans involved using my Deathly Hallow to summon and trap Voldmort's spirit. If I could contain the spirit within some sort of object that I could seal away in a secure container, and then abandon him somewhere on a lifeless planet then would solve a lot of problems.

If I dealt with the Horcruxes then Voldmort's spirit might just fade away even if he wasn't killed in some way while he had a physical existence. Harry Potter wasn't a proper Horcrux and might be enough on his own to tie Voldemort's spirit to this plane of existence.

Although the Prophecy might do something to cause things to work out so that Harry Potter still ends Voldemort no matter what I did. Not that I had much faith in prophecy so I wasn't going to worry about it.

Part 8

Trek said:

I really doubt this and mc has no reason to believe any of this. The multiverse is potentially infinitely large and multiverse travel is very likely ultra rare. Sure local multiverse travel is pretty common but traveling to new settings is ultra rare. For example, most multiverse travel techs or powers can get to other universes within its own multiverse but it can never visit say the fallout universe.

He is unlikely to run into another true multiverse traveler even if he tries to find one. Still if this is not the case and there are more of them out there then he should really try to visit worlds where he knows there are none or are unlikely to visit as they have likely had way more time to prep and grow strong than mc himself.

He's just being overly cautious. It's best to prepare for the worst.

A/N said:

Making your own gold, and presumably other things with local alchemy, is still something useful, and elixir of life can probably be used for more than immortality. Even then, it would be a useful trade good.

True, but there are easier ways. Grab some water from a Fountain of Youth if you want to extend a person's life and there's a spell in Skyrim you can learn that lets you turn iron into silver and then silver into gold.

This new chapter, I think it skipped where he got the new body from? I'm tired though.

If you do notice a mistake let me know so I can correct it.

Chara Dreemurr said:

Ah yes, a world with a fate/destiny system literally pointed out and you chose to ignore it… Pretty sure that's gonna end terribly but it'd make some decent story XD

Does it have a fate/destiny system or is the prophecy only valid because Voldemort believed it to be?

sandmanwake said:

How did the curse breakers remove the horcrux from the ring without damaging it? Can it be done on Harry?

They removed the curse that killed Dumbledore from the ring they didn't undo it being a Horcrux.

"It's got a compulsion charm on it and some nasty curse I got rid of, but there's still something dark about it" I was warned

Yinko said:

Is there any reason not to just kill Harry? Just drop him in the middle of Azkaban and let the dementors do the job for you. Clean and no mess with prophecy.

Well, he is an innocent child. Most people couldn't bring themselves to murder a boy.

Arzte said:

Don't quote me on it, but isn't it canon that most prophecies in Harry Potter don't come true? Even if they did, it's generic enough that it could have already been completed by the first time MoldyShorts was defeated, or talking about a different Dark Lord altogether (admittedly this one's a stretch) what with him being an Auror in canon and all.

I'm sure Dumbledore mentions that. The prophecy about Harry and Voldemort only works because Voldemort believes it.

Number 12 Grimmauld Place. London.

"I'm impressed that you were able to purchase this property so quickly," I said to the goblin known as Sharphook who was taking care of this matter for Gringotts "I thought it would take longer given that all the people with a claim to it are either dead or locked up in Azkaban".

It was just a shame that the home I wanted to buy from the muggles and then be converted hadn't been sorted out so quickly. Although living in a magical tent wasn't so bad since it had modern comforts and by moving around I was hard to find. Not that anyone should be looking for me.

The non-human and I walked into the house after a large group of curse-breakers went in, intending to cleanse the building of any cursed objects they could find. Those people removed curses laid on tombs from thousands of years ago as such they wouldn't have a problem with a few dark artefacts left behind by the Blacks.

"Sirius Black was quite eager to sell" Sharphook informed me, "He told the bank employee who managed to get into see him that he'd be happy to get rid of it. He doesn't even want the money, he instructed us to divide the gold between a few different people".

If not for the fact that it was magically protected even from the likes of Voldemort I doubted that Sirius Black would ever have gone near the place, but the Order of Phoneix had needed a safe house.

As for me, I had plans for this property beyond acquiring the locket Horcrux, this house was going to become my version of Marvel's Sanctum Sanctorum, the place I would use for the storage of magical items and books that I didn't want in the house I lived in.

While I had no interest in the dark arts (as people who used them rarely lived happy lives) I knew that magical items can be dangerous even if the intent behind their creation wasn't to harm others. Best to keep that stuff separate from the house I might have guests in.

"Mr Black requested that we make it known he was never given a trial" mentioned Sharphook as we ended a living room of some kind "Gringotts agreed to this term and informed the public".

The goblin took a copy of today's paper out of his leather suitcase and I skimmed the front page to find that someone had tipped off Rita Skeeter. She had made the fact that Black never got a trial seem like some sort of evil conspiracy by the Ministry. She'd phrased things in such a way that I suspected that people would soon be demanding the Black get his day in court for everyone to see.

"We leaked the information to Miss Skeeter" I was told by the goblin "She's always good at getting the public riled up and we'll push for a trial as well. Any expenses for this will be charged to your main vault".

That didn't concern me at all as the chest full of jewels found in the Room of Requirement had turned out to be real and worth more than enough to cover my expenses. The goblins didn't care where they got their wealth from and had a lot of influence due to their control over money.

"The gold paid for the house will be divided between Harry Potter, Remus Lupin, and Andromeda Tonks" Sharphook was now saying "He didn't want a knut for himself".

I wondered if Lupin would accept the money since he thought Sirius Black to be guilty. As for Potter, he didn't even know he had a godfather so this should all come as a surprise for him.

For a moment I wondered if I should try to expose the fact that Wormtail was still alive. I knew where he was right now and it might be a good idea to tip someone off because if the rat finds out that Black might go free he could flee the country. If Peter went looking for Voldemort then I would be very glad that I'd replace those bones at the graveyard.

Since I knew that Voldemort would most likely travel to Riddle Manor once he returned to the country and that this would take some time I might be able to handle him myself. I still had time to learn plenty of magic and Gringotts might be able to help me get in contact with some fighters who didn't work for the Ministry or Dumbledore.

The goblins had their claws in many pies and I had the wealth to take advantage of that. Hiring some mercenaries and securing their services for a time with magically binding contracts would be expensive, yet worth it.

That was something to keep in mind if Voldemort got back into the country. It would be best to prevent that if possible. I could try to deal with the rat myself, but I could see that going wrong as while getting into Hogwarts wasn't an issue for me I didn't want to draw Dumbledore's attention to me and that would happen if something went wrong.

Besides, I had better things to be doing with my time. I needed to look into getting tutors as the books would only take me so far.

"Does Gringotts have any contacts at the DMLE?" I asked, "I'd like to tip them off about something, but I don't want it being traced back to me".

The Curse Breakers were moving from room to room, collecting cursed items that would be cleansed if possible and destroyed if not. They were far too busy to overhear anything I had to say.

"All Gringotts customers have a guarantee of confidently" I was assured, "We wouldn't have remained in business for centuries if it were otherwise".

A fair point.

"And we do have contacts in that part of the Ministry" I was told, "Aurors who wouldn't mind making a bit of gold on the side".

It was nice when the Ministry's corruption served my purposes.

"Peter Pettigrew is alive and hiding out as a rat called Scabbers at Hogwarts," I told the goblin "And Barty Crouch Senior is hiding his son at his family home".

If Sharphook had any emotional reaction to this news he hid it very well.

"Gringotts will tip off the right people for a small fee," he told me "If your information is correct it will embarrass the Ministry. Never a bad thing for the goblins".

No more of that was mentioned because Bill Weasly, who was again going to be getting a nice bonus for his work, came into the room to give a report.

"We've found a house elf," he told us "We've stunned it".

The elf didn't belong to me as did everything else in the house, he belong to the Black family so he would have to be sent to the Malfoys or the Tonks. It wasn't my concern as long as the elf didn't return here and there were spells that could prevent that.

"We've found a number of cursed and illegal items," said Weasly.

I was presented with a list that was updating itself as more objects were discovered by the Curse Breakers.

"Destroy anything that is dangerous if you can't make it safe" I ordered.

Due to the security ensured by contracts, the employees couldn't tell the Ministry what they had found here. I would happily pay to keep it that way even if it meant forking over more gold in the future.

"It would be better to take all the books with us and then hand over the dark stuff to the Ministry without telling them where it comes from" advised the redhead "We can put the books that aren't so dark in your vault so you can collect them later".

That was fine with me. I was no light wizard, but I had no desire to be a dark one either. As for the Ministry asking questions, that was what bribes were for.

"Whatever you think is best," I said.

I wasn't experienced enough with the local magic or the magic users to decide for myself.

"Sir, we can deal with the pests as well," said Weasly to Sharpclaw "But that will take a few hours even with the full team. The team leader thinks we could still be here well until the evening, there's just do much to go through".

The goblin looked at me.

"If you're willing to pay for overtime then I see no problem with this," he said.

I agreed and the young wizard soon got back to work.

Before long another wizard came into the room and the locket Horcrux in a box meant to secure dangerous objects. I only opened it long enough to be sure that it was the correct item.

"We had to stun the House Elf to get this off him" I was told.

I hadn't destroyed the ring yet since I wanted to question Herpo the Foul about the Horcruxes in case there were ways to use them against Voldemort or to empower myself. It would be good to have a spare in case anything went wrong.

Part 9

LollipoPReapeR said:

MC should get a bunch of house elves to take care of his houses. As long as he isn't like Hermoine, elves are far too useful not to use. Honestly they're incredibly undersold in canon.

I fully intend for him to employ house elves and to treat them well.

ganshunter1 said:

Why abandon dark books? If he doesn't use it, at least he could have references against those that do.

He'd care if he only had accesses to this one world, but it's not worth getting into dark magic when he has access to the knowledge of the multiverse and becoming a dark wizard might cause certain people to reject him as a student or ally later on.

One day he could be learning from Doctor Strange and learning spells far more powerful than anything in a dark arts book in the wizarding world. Long term it just wouldn't be worth it.

Plus the books themselves might be cursed, pick up the wrong one and who knows what could happen to you. If you can curse a ring to wither someone's hand and kill them a book might be cursed to melt your eyeballs or worse.

Trek said:

If dark magic actually does something to the users depends on the version of the world mc is in, really giving up knowledge is never a good idea no matter what, who knows a few thousand years down the line some random dark book could be the key to a projects success.

Who knows how many useful and unique magics have been banned and labeled as dark when there is plenty of useful stuff in them. Maybe one day mc can go loot the ministries book collection it should contain pretty much everything.

Read my above statement. It just isn't worth the risk.

Xion930 said:

Ok i need to ask what's going on with the banjo?

The banjo is mentioned in the book series as one of the items in the Room of Requirement. I just decided to have it be a cursed item. It's not at all important to the story,

Arch2431 said:

Except Dumbledore's statement in that conversation is suspect at best. Not only does he have a long standing disbelief in Divination. making him biased, the context of that conversation is more about what the prophecy means to Harry and Voldemort rather than the Metaphysics of the setting.

Evidence in canon very strongly indicates that there is in fact some manor of Fate at work. Every instance of Divination in Canon did in fact come true, and not just the two Prophecies we see but the casual predictions as well. Seriously, I suggest you google Trelawny's predictions, it's crazy how many came true even if not in the way it was expected.

All that said it's still your story so you can just decide whether Divination is phony or not in your world.

Predications are vague enough that you can interpret them in a number of ways and they often only make sense after the events they mention come to pass. So overall Divination is useless.

If Voldemort had never heard the prophecy then it never would have come to pass since he never would have marked Potter as his equal if he hadn't gone after Potter as a baby. As such prophecy is best ignored

On the hand, if Fate is a real force with power then it's also best ignored because there is nothing you can do to avoid it anyway and any attempts to avoid it normally end up bringing about a bad end. The story of The Appointment in Samarra is a good example of this.

A/N said:

Getting rid of the books pains me. He might never want to actually perform darker magics, but having resources to research and counter them would be useful.

I already covered this.

Gwynedd. Wales.

I had not expected this property to be ready so soon. From what I'd been told via a letter from the bank, my promise of a large bonus had lit a fire under the feet of the dwarven workers resulting in them converting the large white building into a wizard home in a couple of weeks rather than the predicted month and a half.

In my view, that was well worth paying a big bonus for and it made me wonder if the dwarves had much else going on in their lives. If not then it was good that I still had greenhouses for them to put up.

If I had been intending to live in this world full time, rather than simply using it as a place to stay when not adapting to the magic of some far-off world, I might have felt inclined to look more into the situation of the dwarves and to see if I could use their poor economic situation to my advantage in some way.

My current intentions were far less ambitious and while I hired the dwarven workers to fix up Grimmauld Place that would likely be the last time I had need of their services. My focus was on learning the magic of this world and to that end, I needed a large home even though I lived on my own.

Having extra bedrooms could be useful if I gained followers of some kind, or made myself a harem, because why not? but mostly the bedrooms had been converted into spaces useful for a wizard. The house now contained a potions lab, a duelling area, a study and a large library as well as what a home should contain such as a kitchen, bathroom, living room and a proper dining area.

There were features of the house that I wasn't too happy about such as the elf I'd purchased to take care of everything while I was away. I didn't like owning a creature that was basically a slave.

However, I couldn't just abandon the property for months at a time (or perhaps more if time moved differently in other realities) and so I'd needed a House Elf. At least Tippy wasn't too bright it had been easy to trick the magical being into accepting an allowance meant to cover expenses such as wearing a clean uniform, I learned fast never to use words such as wages or clothes around a House Elf.

Sooner or later I'd have to hire an elf to look after my other house. That might take some time as House Elves weren't that common, nor were they cheap to buy, not that there was any rush.

"Sir your guest is here," said the elf as he popped into the library.

The Curse Breakers had done as they promised and dealt with the books that were dark by Ministry standards at least and many of the ones I'd found at Hogwarts had been left by children so they'd been cleared rather quickly by the hard-working wizards and witches who I was happy to pay overtime to. I'd always gotten the impression that most wand wavers were lazy, but Curse Breakers were different.

Quite a few of them taken from the school had clearly come from the library and then hadn't been returned. I'd left them behind since they belonged to the school and should be left for future students to find.

Even with those books removed and many from the Black library having been handed over to the Ministry. I still had more to read though than I could get through even if I spent years doing nothing other than studying, and that wasn't counting the books I'd purchased.

There were books that were legal to own but existed in a moral or legal grey area, that would be kept safe in my Sanctum Santorum. I wanted my public house to be a safe place for visitors, even children should one or more somehow find their way inside the house.

It just made sense to me now to have a home open to people and one hidden away as that made it possible for me to take further advantage of what this world had to offer.

"Take him into the drawing room and serve tea" I ordered.

The drawing room was just the space I'd chosen to receive guests in. It was comfortable enough for the role.

"Yes, sir," said Tippy before he scampered off.

House Elves were a subservient race to the wand wavers, yet they could be very firm about some things, such as terms of address. I should be referred to as Master Macross, and it had taken some effort from me to get Tippy to agree to simply call me sir.

I didn't rush to the drawing room as that would make me seem too eager. Instead, I wandered in after making my guest wait for a short time.

"Mr Macross," said the wizard as he stood up.

I wondered what Remus Lupin, the man I had hired as a tutor as even my library could only take me so far, would think of the owner of this fancy home when he saw me in my comfortable muggle clothing.

"It's just Macross," I told my guest as I gestured for him to sit.

Tippy served the tea before vanishing off to wherever it was he spent most of his time. There were sets that would pour for you, however, I felt it unwise to have pots and cups full of hot liquid floating about. Call me crazy.

"It's Remus then" he replied "I read your letter and I'm surprised that someone as old as you needs a tutor".

Magical children don't attend some version of Primary School as I did when I was a kid. They are either taught by their parents or tutors. Lupin was for hire in that role and his past experience was likely one of the reasons why Dumbledore had taken the risk of hiring a werewolf as a professor. I didn't he got much work as a tutor given that he was a werewolf and people don't one near their children.

"I didn't have the means to obtain an education in magic until now" I explained "A distant relative of mine passed recently and that changed my situation drastically as you can see by the house. I now have a chance to learn magic and I intended to take it".

Which was all true, it just wasn't all of the truth. I wanted him to think that I just never had the chance to go to Hogwarts or one of the other schools rather than wonder more about my past.

"I have no trouble teaching an adult" he mentioned.

Even if I had ended the curse of the job of Profesor of Defence Against the Dark Arts by destroying the Horcrux stashed in Hogwarts, the two things did seem to have a connection given that the Horcrux was hidden in the castle the same day that Voldemort was refused a job at Hogwarts, I didn't think Lockhart would last due to him being a total fool.

As such Lupin might still end up teaching at Hogwarts. However, if Sirius Black got out of Azkaban legally then Lupin might never be hired by Dumbledore, but that wasn't my problem, and all I could do about it was pay the man well during the time he spent tutoring me.

"I want my education to focus around Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts," I told the werewolf "If you feel something is valid to my education then add it to your lesson plans".

We began to discuss pay and time off. He made the excuse of having an illness to explain why he needed regular time off. Even if I hadn't known about his 'furry problem' I might have figured it out from the dates he

wanted off.

"I can cover the use of the wolfsbane potion," I told my tutor "As long as you secure yourself and take the potion I have no problem with having a werewolf in my home".

In my view, he was no different than someone who'd been infected with HIV through no fault of their own. As long as Lupin took the right precautions I had no issue with him being in my life.

"Please don't let it get around that I'm a monster part of the month" he requested.

He didn't need to worry about that.

"I don't gossip" I assured the man.

We soon got to sorting out a timetable that would see me taking lessons a few times a week that would be focused on the use of charms and defence. I would need to look into a separate teacher for potions and I had someone in mind for that.

Part 10

A/N said:

Not really, sorry.

You covered why he didn't want to learn dark magic, and why handling potentially cursed books is bad, but he did have curse-breakers going over all the items in the house anyway, and being able to look up counter-curses etc would be useful, and handing over books of dark magic to a ministry riddled with incompetents and enemies doesn't seem wise.

The Ministry will store the books in the department of mysteries and forget about them as for counter-curses wouldn't they be the in the defence against the dark arts books?

Even if they are not he has the stone and so can call upon experts to help him. He can discuss counter-curses with long-dead dark lords and get tips from the Founders of Hogwarts.

knyght said:

While risking reprisal I still feel that the appropriate response to that is "Just like my last girlfriend."

I shouldn't laugh, but that was funny

Dalriaden said:

It always amuses me how casually disrespectful MCs are when it comes to certain traditions, don't call me master just call me x or don't address me by rank just call my name depending on the fanfic yet they always see themselves as the good guys for spitting in the face of simple traditions they don't agree with.

Now he is far from the worst I've seen it's just a trend I've noticed.

People need to think that they are basically decent so when doing something bad they will try to make it a little less bad so they can feel better about themselves.

Gwynedd. Wales.

Overall I liked Horace Slugborn who was the tutor I'd hired to teach me about potions. He clearly had a passion for the subject and took the time to explain why certain ingredients were needed as well as why potions sometimes had to be stirred anti-clockwise rather than clockwise.

How you stir a potion can change how the ingredients will react to each other. This can be why potions sometimes explode or end up reacting in ways they really shouldn't.

People with magical abilities can bring out the magical properties of certain substances. If a muggle tried to brew a potion they'd just end up with a cauldron of gloop because the magical properties of the ingredients wouldn't react together properly. Or they could end up making something toxic due to chemical reactions that don't happen as long as the potion is bewed correctly.

Knowing this I was quite surprised by the lack of health and safety involved in these lessons, but the wand wavers were a durable lot and unless an injury was caused by dark magic they didn't have much trouble healing most wounds due to their medical magic. This made them less cautious than they should be.

There were also factors to consider such as the freshness of the ingredients, even something like the phase of the moon when a certain plant is picked can alter the potency of a potion. That was something I needed to know since I was having my own greenhouses set up.

Even the amount of time a potion was allowed to simmer mattered. Certain numbers meant more in magic than others. Three and seven were the most important by far. As such, brewing a potion for the wrong amount of time can render the potion useless.

The power of the witch or wizard brewing the potion also mattered. Someone with a lot of potential magical power, such as myself, could produce a superior potion as we brought out more of the magic in the ingredients, or at least that was what Slughorn told me.

When it came to potions there was more involved than just a lot of facts that needed to be memorized. You had to try to understand why it all worked the way did if you ever wanted to make a new potion or alter an existing one.

"I see Amelia Bones is looking to advance her career" mentioned Slughorn.

He was looking over the newspaper as my latest potion, a brew that acted like a magical energy drink, was left to simmer.

"How so?" I asked.

I'd actually been a little surprised that Slughorn had so quickly agreed to be my tutor. Lupin taking the job without much discussion made sense as for him work was hard to find and I was offering a lot for something he enjoyed doing.

Slughorn was different. The overweight man had his contacts and his comforts, I doubted he needed the money. Even if he did I was sure that his services were in high demand.

Then it struck me that the man might be looking to add me to his collection of important people within the Wizarding World. I might not be well-connected, or be famous for something, but I was very rich and news of my wealth would have gotten spread about even if the details of what was in my vaults would be unknown due to Gringotts being careful about that sort of thing.

Secrecy contracts wouldn't stop people from speculating about me, and I'd been seen dragging entire chests containing valuables into Gringotts to be checked out by their Curse Breakers. Those witches and wizards must be able to say something about their work even if they couldn't share details.

Like with Lupin I'd told Slughorn just enough of the truth to make the local magical people he shared the take with, think that I was the star of a rags-to-riches story, with a distant uncle who had left me a fortune and the chance to become a proper wizard. People love those sorts of stories because they want to think it could happen to them.

I intended to keep my head down as much as possible, but I knew that soon I'd start attracting more and more attention to myself. Hence why I'd already let it slip to Slughorn that I intended to go travelling and wouldn't be spending much time in the country.

That should reduce the number of people who would try to get me to come to their party or dinner and give me an excuse to refuse any invites that I bothered to reply to. The wand wavers were a fickle lot, they'd forget about me once I was gone for several months at a time.

"Bones has advanced up the ranks of the Ministry rather well since You-Know-WHo disappeared despite her department being subject to so many cuts in funding," said the retired teacher "She using this Sirius Black issue to humiliate Fudge while going after Barty Couch Senior".

As I'd wished the goblins had tipped off someone with the DMLE and let them know about a couple of arrests they could make that would make the department look good.

"Fudge was one the Hit-Wizards who arrested Black and Barty Crouch was the one who threw the poor man into Azkaban" Slughorn was now saying "Even the idea that Black is innocent could damage the reputation of both men. A good part of why Fudge got the top job was because he brought Black in".

Which explains why in the book series Fudge wanted Black dealt with so extremely by the Dementors when the man escaped from Azkaban. Fudge knew there had been no trial and wouldn't want one because he'd be partly to blame for getting an innocent man locked up.

"As for Barty Crouch, the only reason he isn't Minister today is because of his son" I was informed, "If he did in fact break his son out as Prophet says then he'll be lucky to avoid the Dementor's Kiss. He could be charged with treason".

It was amazing what the right word in the right ear can do.

"Then there is Pettigrew arrest," said Slughorn "That shook up the Ministry and Fudge will be looking for a scapegoat".

I considered the situation for a few moments.

"Fudge can always pass the blame on" I commented "He can just point to Barty Crouch Senior and blame him since he was head of the DMLE at the time".

Slughorn agreed.

"He will, but it's still an embarrassment for the Minister and Bones wants the top job" the old wizard stated, "If anything else like this happens she'll be the new Minister I'm sure of it. Fudge might even retire to avoid getting caught up in the scandal".

Arthur Weasly might be the only person at the Ministry who is actually interested in doing his job. A shame that he and his family were being investigated due to housing Pettigrew for so many years. I felt sure that Dumbledore would do his best to protect them given how useful they were to him as minions.

"That should be enough time for your potion to simmer," said my tutor "Let's finish up and see how you're progressing".

As amusing as it might be to upset the status quo at the Ministry I'd come to this world to learn magic. As such I refocused my attention on the lesson.

Part 11

Vealie said:

Pretty sure Junior is wrong here.

It's pretty low key but I'm enjoying this story.

That should be corrected now.

The Headmaster's Office. Hogwarts School.

While the body of Albus Dumbledore sat in this office, surrounded by his books, magical artefacts, and fancy furniture, the mind of the professor was lost in thought.

Aside from that recent trouble with Harry Potter and Ron Weasly at the start of the term the school had been peaceful enough as had the larger magical world until recently something had come along to shake things up.

It was fortunate that he had such influence over the Ministry and had been able to use it to keep the Weasly family out of trouble not once, but twice. If the Minister weren't so indebted to Albus then Molly and Arthur's youngest son would have been expelled as soon as he stepped foot into the school.

In the current political climate, there was no way that the Ministry would have attempted to prosecute the Boy-Who-Lived. Young Mr Potter was simple too well thought of by the community as a whole to end up in a courtroom, although that could change if he got into more trouble.

Thankfully, the flying car incident had blown over in the Muggle world as well. There were witnesses, however, they seem to think that had been a trick of some kind, or the work of alien beings from another world depending on what newspaper you ready. No one in the Muggle world was looking for magical explanations for the event.

The second event that rocked the family of redheads was the recent discovery that Ron Weasly's pet rat was in fact Peter Pettigrew a man believed to be dead for over a decade. A few people at the Ministry had been of the opinion that the Weasly family had been in cahoots with the animagus who turned out to be Death Eater. Offering him shelter.

That didn't last long once Dumbledore began to use his influence to meet with certain people and to remind them that Molly Weasly lost both of her brothers in battles with the forces that had served Voldemort. It had easy to spread the idea that Pettigrew had been using dark magic to ensure that he was overlooked.

Doing this had cost him a few favours from important people, but it had been worth it to keep the Weasly family out of trouble as they were among his biggest supporters, and he wanted them around to help keep Harry Potter on the right path.

It didn't help that Amelia Bones had come in person to the school to make the arrest with a team of Aurors while Dumbledore was busy at the Ministry. He'd been trying to help Minister Fudge handle the news that Barty Crouch Senior had kept his son, who he had broken out of Azkaban, as a prisoner at home under the Imperius Curse.

Bones wanted the top job. A high-profile arrest that made the papers and had so many witnesses was just the sort of thing to put her in line for the Minister's job should Fudge fall from grace. That was something which could happen if Fudge lost more support.

The Headmaster was alerted to the fact that someone was seeking entrance to his office, which snapped him out of his train of thought.

"Come in, Alastor" he invited.

Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody was retired officially, but he was not one for extended periods of inactivity and so could be depended upon to aid Dumbledore when he needed someone dependable to do some investigating.

Alastor for all his moodiness had been a great fighter during the struggle with Voldemort, he was a warrior for the light, and would no doubt take up his wand again should the Dark Lord return to power.

"Albus," Moody said with a nod.

The paranoid wizard chose not to sit and his fake eye spun around as it ensured that there was no one about to eavesdrop on this important conversation.

"How goes your investigation?" enquired the old Headmaster.

Moody didn't relax exactly he just seemed a bit less ready to spring into action once he'd finished looking around.

"I tracked the tip-offs to the DMLE to the goblins" informed the former Auror "But they are too tight-lipped to give anything away. My sources inside the bank don't know if anyone informed the goblins about Pettigrew or Crouch or if they've been sitting on the information for a while".

That worried the teacher. The goblins had no love for wizards and might be working to destabilise the Ministry for political reasons. The Ministry was focused on using the new Muggle Protection Act as justification to crack down on dark artefacts and books. It wouldn't do for the Ministry to become distracted from that task by the goblins.

"I did get something from the bank" mentioned Mad-Eye "The goblins aren't talking, but the human workers love to gossip during their lunch break".

Moody paused to drink from his hipflask as was his habit.

"There's a new wizard on the scene, a very wealthy one called Macross," said the disfigured wizard "There's not Macross family, and that's not a muggle name as far as I know. I don't know if that's his first name or family name".

Dumbledore couldn't recall ever hearing of a person called Macross either.

"Rumor is that the man is rich and new to the country, but he sounds British so he might have been around and just gone unnoticed," said Moody "He's brought a couple of properties and he's hired a few tutors".

The retired Auror had more to say.

"Macross makes great use of secrecy contracts so I won't be able to find exactly what he's doing at the bank," said Moody "But he's the subject of gossip so I was able to hear that the Curse Breakers there have been very busy recently, and I doubt its a confidence that some books on dark magic were sent to the Ministry from the bank to be stored properly".

Neither of the two old men spoke as Dumbledore pondered this information.

"I can't help wondering if this has something to with Cygnus Black passing" mused Moody.

Cygnus Black had been a pure-blood wizard and a member of the noble House of Black. He'd been the youngest son of Pollux Black and Irma Crabbe as well as the youngest brother of Walburga and Alphard. His passing meant that ownership of the Black estate should have passed to Sirius Black.

Dumbledore thought that the passing of Cygnus Black could indeed have something to do with this Macross as the painting of Phineas Black, a former Headmaster of Hogwarts, had reported to Albus not so long ago that he could no longer access his portrait at Grimmauld Place. A team of Curse Breakers could have easily disabled the portraits at the Black residence before starting to clear it out.

"Rumour has it that Macross inherited a great deal of wealth before he started throwing money around" reported Mad-Eye.

The Headmaster found that to be very interesting.

"Perhaps this Macross is a Black," said Dumbledore "The family was quite large at one point and with Sirius Black in Azkaban until recently the inheritance might have passed on to some distant relative of Cygnus. Given that I've never heard of him he could have been born out of wedlock".

He would have to chat with Sirius and not just about who might be living in Grimmauld Place these days. It was important that Harry Potter returned to his aunt's house and Dumbledore would have to find some way of getting Sirius Black to agree.

It would have been so much easier if Sirius Black had stayed in prison. That just wasn't an option now, not with Fudge having thrown Barty Crouch under the bus as the muggles would say. Fudge wanted to be seen as someone correcting other people's mistakes, so Black would go free.

As for this new Black with so many of the family either dead or locked up it made sense that someone only distantly related could end up inheriting everything simply because he was the only male left free and alive who could carry on the family name.

"So this Macross Black inherits everything from his distant cousin Cygnus Black and then hires the goblins to clear out the house. The dark magic books get sent to the Ministry to end up in cupboards in the Department of Mysteries and the Curse Breakers either destroy or cleanse anything that seems dangerous" summarised Moody "I can't imagine any dark wizard doing that".

Neither could Albus. A dark wizard might be willing to part with a few old cursed objects that had no practical use, but the Black Library contained knowledge of the most wicked of magics. What kind of dark wizard would give up that kind of power?

"If this new Black is a light wizard or at least not a dark one, then that could have ramifications in our world" stated Dumbledore "I have hopes that Sirius would join us, if he does perhaps he can contact this cousin of his and gain us more support for our cause".

Moody intended to let Albus deal with that sort of thing. He was better at information gathering and duelling than political matters. He wasn't the kind of person who played nice at parties and made friends easily.

"I'll get in contact with a few people and see if they have any more information for us," said Dumbledore "I know that Lucius Malfoy has something planned, Severus wasn't able to get any details, but he is sure that Malfoy has a plan to discredit me and the new Muggle Protection Act. So far I've seen no signs of what he has planned, and I must remain vigilant here at the school".

Mad-Eye would look into it. He knew who to question about this sort of thing.

Part 12

sandmanwake said:

Someone should really tell Dobby that the MC has derailed Lucius's plan.

That could be risky, although I think it highly unlikely that Lucius Malfoy would ever question his house elf about his plan being messed with so there might not be any harm in Macross calling up Dobby and letting him know that there's nothing to worry about.

Assuming Dobby would believe him. I don't know if he ever knew about the diary or if he just overheard something Lucius might have mentioned to another Death Eater.

Trek said:

Hahah they are so out of tough with reality, is it that unlikely that some long down the gene chain rich squibs muggle-born inherits wealth and buys stuff?

I wouldn't be so sure about that. Remember that the Black name is almost extinct within the wizarding world. Wouldn't it be better to let some distant relative or illegitimate whelp inherit rather than let the family just fade into history?

Still this works to mcs advantage, he may or may not want the power and baggage thats attached to families here but at the very least its an option he can exploit.

An option he will be offered in the next story part.

Gringotts Bank. Diagon Alley.

The goblins of this bank did not invest in businesses that existed in the muggle world directly, there were laws against that sort of thing, as you couldn't have goblins working at the stock exchange. Although I was amused by the idea of goblins yelling down phones about buying and selling as prices in stock shifted.

Gringotts goblins cleverly got around those laws by hiring squibs, who the Ministry didn't care about, to act as middlemen for them and that allowed people like me to leave it to the bank to handle most of the work when it came to investing my money.

I had to admit if only to myself, that the goblins had done well for themselves in the world of finances. The wizards and witches of the magical world had given over far more power to the goblins than they could have imagined.

Thinking about that made me wonder who exactly had won all those goblin rebellions in the past. I felt sure that history books printed by the wizards would say they won, but the reality was that the goblins were running quite a lot of the magical world and had influence in the muggle one as well.

Using squibs and Gringotts services that were unknown to most people, also allowed those who were willing to invest in the muggle world's business to do so without actually having to admit where their money was coming from.

From what I understood it was considered shameful to work in the muggle world or do business with muggles when you were a witch or wizard. Not that I cared about the public's opinion and I wouldn't let it stop me from listening to sound financial advice.

What I did care about was investing in the right business as while I didn't need the money, I could just get more gold it was lying around on versions of Earth where human civilization had collapsed, it would be good if I had legitimate sources of income should I be investigated.

I wouldn't be surprised to find out that I'd drawn that kind of attention to myself already what with all the cursed objects and dark magic books I'd wanted to deal with. At least no one would label me as a dark wizard if I was known for getting rid of dark magically items.

Investments were why I was meeting with my account manager Bloodaxe and Alexander Prewett who worked as an accountant for a firm in the muggle world that had some connection to Gringotts. Not that I fully understood the connection.

I understood that he was one of those middlemen who allowed wizards such as myself to make investments in the mundane world without breaking the law since squibs were allowed to live as muggles, and no one on the magical side cared enough to see what they were getting up to.

While I didn't mention it I felt certain that Alexander Prewett was the second cousin of Molly Weasley that Ron Weasley mentioned to Harry Potter. He looked like an older version of Percy Weasley from the films, his looks and the name had tipped me off.

"So what companies are you interested in investing in?" I was asked.

Since I had more money than I would ever need, I'd already invested in what Mr Prewett had suggested, and I had some ideas of my own.

"There's a computer company called Dell," I said "I predict that they will be successful for many years to come".

I knew from my studies of technology in my world that Dell had been around since the mid-1980s and would do fine for a long time to come. The invention of tablets and more powerful mobile phones would cause problems later for PC manufacturing, but I could always sell my stocks before that happened.

"If computer companies are of interest to you might I suggest buying stock in Apple," said Mr Prewett.

There was no guarantee that this timeline would progress as mine had for the muggles, but all investments carried risk and I wasn't gambling with any money I couldn't afford to lose. As an added bonus the investments could make me a profit without me having to do more than attend a few short meetings.

"Sounds good," I said.

I gave the matter of investments some more thought.

"Another thing I'd like to invest in is energy drinks" I mentioned "I have a feeling that it will be big business over the next few decades".

I didn't know the names of any companies involved in the creation of energy drinks, and if they weren't known enough to invest in I could always come back to it later. Mr Prewett could look into the details for me and he was smart enough not to question why I was interested in energy drinks and computer companies.

Once Mr Prewett left to carry out his work I prepared to leave only for Bloodaxe to ask me to stay.

"It has come to our attention that a certain person is looking into you, Macross," said the goblin "We believe that Albus Dumbledore has taken notice that there is a new and very wealthy wizard in the country".

I was not happy about this news, but I kept calm as getting mad at the goblins would at the least be counterproductive and perhaps even dangerous if they took offence.

"He's making inquiries with people who have some influence with Ministry and even Gringotts about a wizard called Macross Black" I was told.

Now I felt confused more than upset.

"Why would he call me a Black?" I asked.

I wasn't even from this world never mind a wizarding family.

"You do own Grimmauld Place" pointed out Bloodaxe "and wizards with your kind of gold don't just pop up out of the ground".

He had a point there. The contracts I'd signed protected my dealings with the bank, but rumours will always get around even if those rumours don't give much in the details. Given that Dumbledore thought I was a Black this clearly showed that even he didn't have much of a clue about me.

"Just because they know you exist doesn't mean they can find you" my account manager assured me "Your homes are well protected and Gringotts will never give Dumbledore any protected information. All he has is a name he got wrong and the fact that you're doing a lot of business with us. He might know that our Curse Breakers have been kept busy, just remember they can't talk about what they have been doing".

Dumbledore must have put together some scraps of information and he'd gotten his facts wrong so there was no reason to panic.

"What are my options here?" I asked.

The goblin considered my words.

"You could just ignore him" offered the banker "He can't force you to do anything and you are not involved with his school in any way. Nor do you have a connection to the Ministry".

I sensed that things wouldn't be that simple.

"The problem is that you don't have a family name and so you don't fit into the wizarding world even Muggleborns have family names they just don't matter," said Bloodaxe "If you were a Black you'd make more sense. Cygnus Black died recently and you could be related to him. The Black family was quite large until recent times and yet now there aren't many of them left. Perhaps we could insert you into the family as a child born out of wedlock?".

I wasn't on the family tree, I'd seen the one in Grimmauld Place, but if illegitimate children don't appear on it then that wouldn't matter, not unless they had some sort of DNA testing spells.

"Is that legal?" I asked.

The goblin made a gesture that gave me the impression that it was sort of a grey area. Given the corruption and ease with which people could be bribed, I could see how loopholes could be exploited and people made to ignore certain rules.

"If you present yourself as the bastard son of Cygnus Black, who died quite young for a wizard and didn't leave a will, then could use the Black name" I was told.

This would be amusing because I'd named myself Macross after the wizard Macross the Black, so becoming Macross Black tickled my fancy.

"Being born out of wedlock will explain why you lack any formal education due. You've been hidden from the world makes and so your recent hiring of tutors becomes understandable" the account manager was now saying "Sirius Black will be able to claim the Black family vaults since he is the last legitimate Black, but Cygnus Black didn't know that Sirius Black was going to be freed from Azkzban so he made you his heir, or so Gringotts would make it appear. The Black family has been around for a long time so there can be vaults hidden from even Sirius Black".

The goblin was now looking over some paperwork.

"I think it might be best however to make you a legitimate descendant of Marius Black, he was the grandson of Cygnus and Violetta Black née Bulstrode, he was disowned when he turned out he'd been born a Squib" Bloodaxe was now saying" He disappeared into the muggle world and Gringotts can claim to have found you on behalf of Cygnus who was desperate for an heir. You'll be a half-blood wizard who Cygnus welcomed back into the family so that you could carry on the family name".

The goblin seemed pleased by this idea.

"Being a half-blood will cause a lot of purebloods to look down on you, but since you are known to be wealthy and could have the right name I doubt they'd do more than mutter behind your back" I was assured, "The name can open certain doors for you and money talks. Even the more dedicated blood purists will ignore your blood status if you are rich or talented enough".

That was true. The first Death Eaters would have known that Voldemort was a half-blood and Snape another half-blood had been a member of Voldemort's inner circle from what I understood.

"We can spread rumours of your wealth to help smooth things over" Bloodaxe offered "Overall becoming Macross Black descendant of Cygnus and Violetta would be easier to arrange since the muggle world is easy for people to have disappeared into and no one knows what happened to Marcus Black".

Nor would they care to go find out.

"Sirius Black is unlikely to kick up a fuss since he'd known to be against Blood Purism and was disowned," Bloodaxe said, "It isn't as if you need access to the family vaults so he can keep the family fortune".

I gave the idea some thought and began to wonder about something.

"What's in it for you?" I asked, "This seems like a lot of trouble to go through".

Sure they could charge me for setting this up, but I got the sense that this idea aided Gringotts more than it seemed.

"We get another important wizard as a client and the Black name still holds weight" I was informed "This could be of use to the bank in the future".

That made sense and I decided to sleep on it before deciding if I wanted to become part of the Black family. It could be useful to be part of this society, but on the other hand, it would draw more attention to me. I would have to measure the pros and cons before making my choice.

Part 13

Grimmauld Place. London.

The training dummy was an odd device that looked as if the top half of a wooden Death Eater had been attached to a unicycle. The device, that I had salvaged from the Room of Requirement, was bewitched to move and roll around on its own accord, and when knocked down by a spell it would right itself. The dummy even had a fake wand so you practice disarming and a bullseye on its chest for obvious reasons.

The features made it an excellent target for those who sought to improve their spell-casting, and while it didn't compare to trading spells with another wizard I wasn't ready for that sort of thing as such the dummy was useful to me.

"Expelliarmus"

The wand of the fake Death Eater went flying through the air more energetically than I would have expected. I hadn't yet learned many spells to be used in combat and when I did get the hang of one the results were impressive. I clearly had a lot of raw power to throw around even if I was lacking in knowledge.

Since the training device wasn't complex enough to be able to recover its own wand, I had to go recover it. This meant travelling the length of the training room which seemed to be too big to fit inside the house, but that didn't mean much with magic, and like many of the rooms it was different than it had been when the house was owned by the Black family.

The dwarves I'd hired and paid very well for their efforts had done a wonderful job of turning Grimmauld Place into The Sanctum Sanctorum I desired. The house was free from spying portraits and much more well-lit thanks to the windows that had been installed. I figured that getting rid of all those dark artefacts aided in transforming the house in a way that could be felt rather than seen.

Despite having gotten rid of many books that were dark by the standards of the Ministry as well as those that had been really dark, the library here was impressive as quite a few books had been cleared and there had been plenty in the Room of Requirement to fill up the shelves here. As such, I had a lot of research material.

Aside from having a kitchen, living room, bathrooms and a few bedrooms, The Sanctum Sanctorum also had its own fully stocked potion lab in case I wanted to brew up a potion while here.

The rest of the rooms were meant for the storage of magical artefacts that I intended to gather from across the multiverse in case I had use for them or if I felt that they needed to be kept away from people. The basement had been transformed into a vault for the storage of treasure.

Until I advanced enough to be able to cast the fidelius charm, so as to fully hide the house, it would be risky to bring artefacts here, but the house how defences and not many people knew where it could be found since it didn't appear on any maps.

I returned the fake wand to the training device and prepared myself for some more practice. There were a number of combat spells I wished to learn how to use. Being able to disarm, stun and otherwise disable my enemies would be quite useful in the future. Once an enemy was helpless it would be much easier to kill them, assuming that I could bring myself to actually kill anyone.

"Stupefy"

According to the book I had open on a nearby lectern, this charm was exceptionally useful in duelling, as it can quickly end a duel without causing lasting damage to whomever you fired the stunner at. I knew that spell would useful to me should I end up in a world where important people frowned upon killing even in self-defence.

The next spell I focused on was called Flipendo and it allowed you to physically repel an opponent, knock away an obstruction, and even blast apart more fragile objects. These were all spells that a first-year Hogwarts student could learn, but considering that I'd only been learning magic for a matter of weeks I was making very good progress.

I kept practising simple spells until I noticed that it was getting dark outside, yet I would not be returning home any time soon. I was avoiding seeing anyone as much as possible now that I had the attention of Dumbledore. It was best to stay out of sight and hope that I was forgotten about as soon as something interesting happened.

Sensibly I'd decided against getting involved in whatever political machinations the goblins were involved in and to focus on learning magic, the thing I'd come to this world to do when I wasn't allowing myself to be distracted.

Slowly I made my way up into the attic, a space used for complex magic such as rituals, or so I hoped, right now it contained the irate spirit of Herpo the Foul, who despite having created a Horcrux had gotten an afterlife because he'd also figured out how to unmake his own creation.

"Have you reconsidered?" I asked.

The spirit did not long belong on this plane of existence. Staying here too long made the departed soul uncomfortable for lack of a better word and so I'd chosen not to send him back to what Dumbledore would call 'The Next Great Adventure' and this could be considered torture, but I had no pity for Herpo given the harm his creations had done.

"I will not tell you how to create a Horcrux" he insisted.

I'd assumed that the spirit would speak ancient Greek, so it had been a surprise when he first talked to me in modern English. Although given that the ghosts of Hogwarts, some of which had died about a thousand years ago, also spoke modern English thEn it shouldn't have been shocking.

"There are better ways to avoid death" I stated.

Over in the corner on a simple wooden desk, a quill was recording every word spoken in this room so that no knowledge granted by Herpo would be lost. Just because he'd been a dark lord that didn't mean he was ignorant of magical subjects some would consider being light in nature.

I'd been intending to have the spirit's words translated by some scholar who I could pay to do the work for me. There were quite a few famous universities in this country and one of them was bound to have an expert on ancient Greece.

As for immortality, there were plenty of ways to obtain that. I could go and find a Fountain of Youth or obtain some elixir of life, or I could acquire one of those golden apples that appear in myths. Creating a Horcrux, which could interfere with my Elder Blood abilities, wasn't even on my list.

"I want to know if there is some way of using a Horcrux against its creator," I said "Can they be used to weaken the wizard who made it".

Herpo didn't answer right away he was deep in thought.

"There is a ritual," he told me "I did not create it as I unmade my own Horcrux when I began to seek to undo my sins, but I did learn of it after I died".

He had my undivided attention.

"Another dark lord who created one of my mistakes had his Horcrux stolen by an enemy, a dark wizard who wished to usurp him" I was informed, "That wizard absorbed the Horcrux and gained some of his foe's power, using it to defeat him".

Similar to how Harry Potter used his connection to Voldemort to defeat the Dark Lord.

"The dark wizard did not become a Horcrux?" I asked.

I didn't want to be connected to Tom Riddle like that.

"The soul is not a pie to be cut up into slices" the spirit explained, "When a Horcrux is created only a small sliver of the soul is separated. Think of them as anchors keeping the soul in this world. But that anchor can be melted down and the metal used for other purposes".

I got the sense that Herpo the Foul was doing his best to simplify very complex ideas. I doubted that there were words that could properly express what Herpo was trying to tell me.

"If you possess a Horcrux of your enemy you can absorb the fragment of soul and add to your own, making it a part of you, taking some of the power and knowledge from your enemy as our souls contain our experiences of life".

It was possible to add to your soul. How interesting.

"Can you tell me about the ritual?" I requested.

As Herpo instructed me I got the sense that performing this ritual more than one would be unwise as I didn't want to become like Voldemort, and it would be best to keep a Horcrux around in case I learned of some way to use them against the Dark Lord in the future.

I also didn't want to even think about performing the ritual until I'd adapted to the magic of this world as something could go wrong otherwise. I'd have to wait a while and prepare myself until I felt ready to acquire some of Voldemort's knowledge. Doing so could advance my education in magic by years, but it wasn't without risks.

Adding to my soul might change me as a person and lead me down a dark path to becoming someone like Voldemort. Was it worth it to take a shortcut and risk getting lost on the way? I wasn't in any kind of rush or danger so it might not be worth it. Something to consider.

Part 14

Grimmauld Place. London.

The former Dark Lord known as Herpo the Foul and I had come to an understanding.

Spending more than a short time in this world was unpleasant for spirits, the reformed dark wizard wasn't upset about this, so I got the sense that I'd annoyed him more than anything else by forcing his spirit to stay in this realm until he began answering my questions, however, that might have just been him being stoic.

I hadn't totally ruled out the idea of absorbing the bit of soul in one of the Horcruxes, it was just that given my lack of knowledge about magic it seemed foolish to perform the ritual. If I had been in some sort of danger or if my time was limited in this world then that would be a different matter. As it was the ritual was something I could look into later. No sense in deciding on a course of action right now.

Herpo seemed content for me to call upon him for about an hour out of every 48. Any more than an hour and he began to get frustrated. Although that might have something to do with me not being a very good student by his standards. Herpo knew how to make powerful monsters and cast complex spells I was far below him in terms of magical knowledge.

My most advanced spell was normally taught to 4th-year students and I could only cast it so well because unlike a Hogwarts student I wasn't taking classes I'd no interest in. Add to that ever since I'd awakened my Elder Blood I had much better focus and memory than I'd had before.

"The creation of a Horcrux is not an easy affair" the spirit let me know.

Herpo would not tell me exactly how a wizard or witch took a bit of their soul and placed it in an object, and there was more to it than simply killing an innocent or all the Death Eaters would have a few by now, but he was willing to take me through the spell required to turn an object into something suitable to be a Horcrux so that I can undo them.

I'd decided to keep the diary locked away in case I ever wanted to perform the power stealing ritual or if I found some way to use a Horcrux to attack Voldemort. The others I would try to unmake as they were priceless artefacts, and if I just smashed them then magical relics would be lost.

Better to try to reverse the spells performed on them because the artefacts would be mine to do with as I saw fit. If I had no use for them I could sell them or trade them, or just donate them to Hogwarts.

"You will have to counter every spell cast upon the object," said Herpo "Stripping away its defences one at a time before undoing the enchantments. Before attempting to unmake Voldemort's mistakes you will learn the spells required to secure the container".

Human souls, intact or in pieces, aren't meant to inhabit objects there is magic keeping the soul in the item, remove those spells and the soul will be cast into limbo without destroying the Horcrux itself. At least in theory as Herpo undid his Horcrux using his remorse for past actions he didn't dismantle it magical as we planned to do with Voldemort's Horcruxes.

Upon first hearing about this I'd been a little upset as I'd destroyed the diadem. If I'd secured it I might have been able to undo the damage done and cleanse the diadem. Then I would have more than one relic of the Founders.

However, all might be lost when it came to diadem. I'd given the remains over to Gringotts to be handled by the Curse Breakers, and they'd thanked me for returning one of their creations to them even if it was damaged as the diadem had been made of goblin silver. It seemed likely that they could melt down the corrupted diadem and reuse the silver.

They'd placed in my vault the sapphire that had been part of the diadem as they had no claim to the gem, it was free of dark magic and it was still enchanted as such I figured that I had at least part of the diadem and if I called Rowena Ravenclaw she could perhaps tell me how to make a new diadem. That might take years, but it was worth looking into.

As for the spells required for unmaking a Horcrux they were carefully written out on the blackboards I'd brought up into the attic. I figured that mastering all of these charms, even with Herpo's help, would take a while, but I was in no rush, and the work might go more quickly if I focused all of my free time on the project. I could even summon up masters of charms to aid me in understanding the theory behind each of the spells.

"I'll summon you again in a couple of days," I told Herpo "We can't start practising the first charm then".

We made our goodbyes and then I decided to summon up Miss Ravenclaw. As I did I noticed that the stone felt warm when normally it was cold.

"I was wondering if you would call upon me," said Rowena Ravenclaw.

Right away she reminded me of more than one school teacher with her stern look and hair tied up so as to not get in the way. The dress she wore was very old-fashioned even by the standards of witches.

"Good job dealing my diadem, young man" she praised "That tacky thing has been nothing other than trouble since I made it".

I would have expected her to be made about me destroying her heirloom

"About the…" I started to say.

She didn't let me finish my sentence.

"I assume you're going to ask about the sapphire," she said as she gestured towards the gem which rested on a nearby table "That gem is the true source of the diadem's power, the rest is just meant to keep the gem touching your head. In retrospect, a headband would have worked just as well and might have stopped my daughter from running off with it".

Well if nothing else learning this saved me a lot of work. I didn't need a fancy silver accessory I'd be happy to make use of a simple circlet. As for the sapphire, if I could summon the souls of the dead with a gem that had been attached to the ring Horcrux then it made sense that the sapphire could be safe and a powerful tool.

Voldemort's corruption had not been able to taint either of the stones. This suggested that his power did not measure up to that of the Founders of Hogwarts or the three brothers who made the Hallows. Assuming that some manifestation of Death hadn't made the Hallows. I wouldn't rule that out.

"Just be careful to use it in moderation, Macross" I was warned "I became rather dependent upon my diadem during my life and once I lost it I was never the same. Use it only when you need to, or just take a wit-sharpening potion, that can have a similar effect even if it isn't as potent".

This was not going as expected. The relic of the Founder didn't sound as impressive as I'd hoped. Although legends do tend to exaggerate so I shouldn't be so surprised.

"How do you know about me?" I asked.

Herpo hadn't been able to explain what the afterlife was like, I doubted that a living person could understand, but I knew that the souls of the dead had at least some idea of what was happening here in the land of the living.

"I've been keeping tabs on diadem since I died" I was told "I was quite happy when you broke it with that fancy sword of yours".

That made sense. If I'd made a relic and someone had befouled it as Riddle did with the diadem I'd wanted it destroyed too.

"Don't tell anyone you have even a part of the diadem" Ravenclaw ordered "Enough people have wasted their time on this world looking for it".

I had no desire to be killed for it or for some fool to try to rob me so I agreed.

"Helega will want to talk to you about her cup when you get the chance," said Ravenclaw "And Salazar will tell you all about the locket".

Hufflepuffs cup never caused any trouble even as a Horcrux, at least not as the others had, and it might have some interesting properties. I also wondered what the locket did and couldn't wait to find out.

Ravenclaw didn't waste time with pleasantries so soon her spirit was back where it belonged and I felt the stone hallow getting hot. Clearly, I'd been overusing it and should practice moderation with the artefact.

I was pleased by the idea that I now owned my own soul stone and mind stone. Granted they don't compare to the ones in Marvel, but given my level of experience, that's a good thing as I wouldn't be able to handle them.

With this in mind, I carefully secured each stone separately in boxes meant to contain dangerous magical objects.

Now it was time for some practical work down in the training room. I had training dummies to batter around. It was best not to spend too much time with dead people and so it was good that I made my tutoring sessions.

Part 15

Gwynedd. Wales.

Before today's lesson began my werewolf tutor placed a copy of today's paper on the desk that was otherwise covered in things we used during lessons, such as spare bits of parchment, a few textbooks, bottles of ink, quills and so on.

I picked up the paper and soon found the article that had gotten Lupin's attention. It was hardly front-page news, yet there was a noticeable article written by Rita Skeeter, who else?, that speculated that I was an unknown member of the Black family due to me having so much money and because I'd purchased one of their properties.

Thankfully Grimmauld Place hadn't been named which meant that the contracts were still in effect. Not many people knew about either of my houses and I'd rather keep it that way as I had important things that needed my attention. I didn't wish to be bothered by people from the Ministry wanting 'funding' or by those who wanted to add a rich wizard to their social circles.

"So Macross, are you a Black?" asked Remus Lupin.

Given that this wizard was a member of the Order of Phoenix and a friend of Sirius Black I knew who he'd been reporting to. I knew that Dumbledore had shown an interest in me and while he'd not tried to contact me directly it might only be a matter of time before he tried to set up a meeting.

Even if he accepted that I wasn't a Black I could see why he'd want a wealthy wizard on his side. Voldemort wasn't dead and Dumbledore knew that the civil war would start up again. Wars are expensive things and those fighting the Death Eaters would need support.

"You signed a contract that is supposed to protect my privacy" I reminded Lupin.

I felt fairly certain that he straining the agreement and could up violating the contract if he carried on like this.

"This isn't part of your lessons and I'm not asking as your tutor" stated Lupin "Sirius wants to know. He's my friend and has a right to know if he has more family".

I didn't have to give him an explanation and I was considering firing the man, but he was a decent teacher. Besides, it wasn't as if I was a Black and trying to hide it, these were just rumours that had gotten out of hand.

Given the author of the article, it was possible that the goblins had leaked the idea to her. There seemed to be some political reason as to why they wanted me to take the name Black, but I wasn't going to involve myself in their plans.

"I don't claim to be a Black and I never will," I told Lupin "I just purchased the house in London because I wanted to invest my inheritance in stocks and property".

Lupin didn't seem surprised by what I told him.

"Sirius will be disappointed he doesn't have more family out that there aren't blood purists" mentioned the wizard "He didn't know for sure that you weren't related as the bloodlines of squibs can't be traced like they can with wizarding families and there is a theory that muggle-borns are actually descended from squibs send to live in the muggle world. It makes more sense than them just popping up at random".

I could understand why some of the wand wavers would think that. Magical ability runs in families so it could be genetic and if it is then it makes no sense for any gene or genes responsible for allowing a human to use magic to suddenly appear in the DNA of people who are born to non-magical humans.

It might be the will of fate or maybe some higher power is going around giving muggle children magical power for some reason, or it could be that the muggle-borns were exposed accidentally to something with a lot of magical power when they were young. It was all speculation and nothing that I need to concern myself with.

"Can we get on with the lesson?" I requested.

I hoped that Lupin would pass on the news to interested parties and that would leave me alone in the future. If this didn't blow over then it would be awkward the next time I went to Diagon Alley for supplies.

If didn't already exist I should look into the possibility of a mail order system. If there were a few House Elves out there looking for work they'd be great for delivering parcels as they can just teleport around. I could offer the startup funds for such a business and be a silent partner.

Perhaps I could send my own House Elf out shopping, but I didn't want all my time locked up inside one of my homes. I would just have to put up with any stares I got when visiting the shops.

"Yes, let's get on with it" Lupin agreed.

He told me to turn to a certain page in the defence against the dark arts books he mostly taught from and I read the spell we'd be covering today.

The Full Body-Bind Curse known as Petrificus Totalus, also known as the Body Freezing Spell, was a curse that temporarily paralysed the opponent as the name suggested. It can also be used on inanimate objects but is almost useless unless it is a moving object.

If the spell was used on a car I could see it either causing problems and horrible injuries or possibly being used to prevent an accident if you were fast enough with your wand and the spell worked the right way. I wondered if I could test that safely.

I recalled how Hermione Granger used this spell to completely freeze Neville Longbottom's body. He was stuck and therefore unable to prevent the Golden Trio from leaving the tower. If a small girl could learn to use this spell then I should have no trouble mastering this bit of magic.

"Despite it being labelled as a curse it isn't really dark magic," Remus Lupin told me "In fact, this spell is mostly used by inexperienced witches and wizards for defence. It is considered harmful because once you have someone paralysed it is much easier to harm them, but there are other spells that do the same thing".

The book mentioned a spell caused Immobulus (the Freezing Charm) that wasn't called a curse and it could affect an entire room of people if cast by a powerful enough witch or wizard. Hermione Granger again showed her skill with spells by incapacitating a pack of pixies when they were terrorising a classroom.

"I consider this spell to be useful for defence as while the person paralysed will be back in action soon enough the spell will you give plenty of time to run away or you can use a more advanced spell to then secure your attacker, so as you can imagine Aurors make use of this spell," said Lupin "For now we'll focus on paralysing some living beings".

The tutor reached into his pockets and took out some snuffboxes, that he used magic to turn into a group of white mice, or rather back into mice as he was undoing a transfiguration spell he must have cast on them earlier.

To my surprise, the small mammals didn't seem bothered by their transformation, yet I couldn't help thinking that this was some sort of animal cruelty. More so when Lupin instructed me to use Petrificus Totalus on the small furry creatures.

None of the animals acted distressed when I hit them with the spell and I quickly learned to remove it with Finite Incantatem, it was only a minor spell and therefore easily reversed. Waking someone up from a stunner was a bit harder so I could see why Stupfy was a more popular spell. Anyone getting stunned is going to feel a bit groggy after being woken up.

This spell was easy to get working. I had a lot of raw power and an eagerness to learn so it didn't take me long to get to the point that the spell worked every time I used it and seemed to last for a while. I would need to practice this spell some more for it to work on human-sized creatures as there were much larger.

Then there would be people and creatures who could resist magical attacks, but this spell could serve me well enough when dealing with normal people and animals.

"Are these real mice?" I asked as I stopped each one of the scurrying creatures from moving around, "They don't seem distressed by what I'm doing to them".

While I was no expert on the behaviour of rodents, I felt fairly certain that real mice would be attempting to run and hide at this point.

"I conjured them this morning," Lupin informed me.

Conjuration magic only creates things for a time before they fade away as such these weren't real mice. Some sort of temporary energy to matter conversion I assumed.

You can't really create or destroy matter just change it from one form to another. As such you can't just make things exist with magic, at least not for long. Or at least that was my understanding of how it worked in this world. The rules could be different elsewhere.

"You can transfigure something you've conjured?" I asked.

Lupin confirmed this to be true and I was impressed by his level of skill with magic.

"Mice make for good target practice since they are small and move quite

quickly if you give them a prod but they aren't easy to carry in your pockets," said Lupin "Once you get used to the body-bind I'll get the mice moving more quickly so you can get some target practice".

I got back to work and focused on mastering this spell.

Part 16

The Ossuary. Wizarding World.

It took me a moment to recall how Horace Slughorn of all people was able to talk me into coming here tonight as this was not going to be pleasant. Then I reminded myself that he'd bribed me with the promise of supplying me with a very special potion. I badly wanted some Felix Felicis and Slughorn was one of the few potion masters around who could supply me with a bottle.

Given how quickly I'd been promised some by my tutor I suspected that the retired teacher had some stashed away. This made sense as it was hard to make, it wasn't something you can just throw together. However, if he took the time to make a few large batches he could end up with dozens of small vials that he could trade or sell whenever he wished.

He was willing to give it away to school children so he must be able to replenish his supply.

In return for my vial of the useful liquid, which I figured could come in handy one day during my travels, I'd agreed to attend a Halloween party at the manor owned by the Bones family. When I'd used the floo network to get here I'd called out The Ossuary, a suitable name for the home of a family of people called Bones.

Despite the name, the manor house was a brightly lit place. I'd have been much more amused if it had been built in the gothic style or at least there were some skulls on display. Alas, it was rather dull, there were portraits around, some works of art that were pleasing to look at, but other than that the house didn't have much going for it.

Perhaps because Amelia Bones, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, was known for putting in many hours at work this place lacked that lived-in feeling that made a house a home. Although she was supposed to have a niece. Did she live elsewhere or did the Bones family just stay in parts of the house? Only making use of more of the house when they had a need to.

That would explain why there didn't seem to be anything to do around here. What did witches and wizards actually do with their spare time? They didn't have video games, television with streaming services, or anything like that. They had books and radio, however, yet they seemed to be lacking in even simple stuff like board games. Although I hadn't seen enough of this culture to be sure of that.

Did they spend all of their free time socialising? It must be a nightmare to be an introvert in the magical parts of this country.

I'd much rather be reading or practising the casting of the few spells I knew in one of my homes, but all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy as they say. If I kept myself contained in one of my houses only talking to tutors and spirits then what was the point of being able to travel the multiverse? I wasn't just here to learn magic. I wanted to experience a little of what these worlds had to offer.

Besides, I might start to go a bit funny in the head if I spent too much of my time either studying or talking to dead people.

"This way, sir" directed a smart-looking house-elf.

I kept following the little being as it led me through the large house. Taking the chance to see as much of a magical home as I could.

"Good, Macross you're here," called out a voice.

I turned to see Slughorn who must have arrived just ahead of me as he'd just hung up his coat. His fancy robes weren't doing him any favours. He reminded me of that time my Mum had during a visit to my home, tried to cover up my comfy recliner with some fancy material because she thought it was ugly.

"A deal is a deal," I stated.

He passed the very small bottle and I inspected it.

"24 hours of liquid luck as promised" he stated "Use it sparingly".

Slughorn had already told me that once consumed the potion would ensure, at least until the effects wear off, that all the drinker's endeavours will tend to succeed, but it only changes the odds so that they greatly favour you, it wouldn't give me the ability do something I wasn't normally capable of doing.

For example, if I fell off a building the potion wouldn't suddenly allow me to understand how to use magic to fly, but I'd have a good chance of landing on something that could cushion my fall.

Once consumed, the potion gives the drinker an exhilarating sense of confidence and Slughorn advised that while under the effects I should do what felt right if I wanted to make the most out of the potion.

There were risks involved, if taken in excess the potion causes giddiness, recklessness, and dangerous overconfidence, and it is highly toxic in large quantities not unlike alcohol. Also, you didn't want to run the risk of the effects wearing off while you were doing something potentially hazardous to your health.

Due to the potential dangers, it was doubted that I would ever drink more of this potion than was in this bottle.

I trusted the man to an extent, but I'd be a fool not to test the potion and then the next few hours should be dull enough for me to observe any effects without much in the ways of distractions.

After drinking what I hoped was enough potion to last a few hours, I followed Slughorn to the ballroom and he began to point people out to me as he spoke. As he did I noted that while the large room was decorated it seemed rather rushed to me.

"Amelia Bones rarely hosts these sort of events," the former teacher told me "We all know that she's trying to rally support for when she makes her move to become Minister for Magic and that will require funding".

Magical Britain was actually a democracy, like any other Minister the Minister of Magic was voted for, and in theory, the Minister of Magic is actually answerable to the Prime Minster. Much like the Minister of Education or the Minister of Transport. In practice, the Ministry of Magic ran its own affairs and no one would publicly admit that Fudge answered to the man at 10 Downing Street.

"Funding is why she is interested in having you here, but she won't actually admit it" Slughorn let me know "You should consider offering support, it could make things easier for you in future".

I knew enough about politics to know that no one here would actually be saying exactly what they wanted. There would be plenty of beating around the bush. Lucky for me Horace was willing to explain things, must be the teacher in him.

"Now I made no promises in getting your support I just told her I'd arrange for you to attend," he said.

Which he'd successfully bribed me to do, and at least he was being honest about it.

"If she's trying to gain support then why is the Minister here?" I questioned, having noticed the man who thought a green bowler hat was fashionable "Isn't that risky?".

Slughorn seemed amused by my questions.

"The Minister invited himself along," said Slughorn "Bones could hardly refuse him without making it clear what she is up to. Fudge isn't as foolish as he might seem and he is here to undermine Amelia. You may find them both trying to win you over".

I found this all to be so silly. These people can alter reality by waving a fancy stick around, yet they waste their time and resources playing a version of Game of Thrones.

Granted this version has a nice buffet and no one is trying to kill each other at the moment, but it was still all about making alliances, securing funding, trying to weaken your enemies, and in the end, it would the common people who got caught in the crossfire.

To be fair there were limits on what these people could do due to the need to stay hidden from muggles. Still, it would be nice if they focused more on actually mastering magic rather than exhausting themselves with politics.

"With Fudge is a woman called Dolores Umbridge," Slughorn was now telling me "I don't know much about her other than to keep my distance. I suggest you do the same".

I knew that Dolores Umbridge was an evil woman, a witch who cared more for her own political power than anything else, and she was not so different in my view that the Nazis who sent people to the camps to die in their thousands. If I'd known how I might have sent a bolt of magical power across the room to strike her down.

I'd never wanted to hurt someone as much as I did at this moment. I wasn't a violent person yet right now I felt fairly certain that I could have cast a successful Killing Curse. Not that I was foolish to do such a thing in such a public setting.

"Let me introduce you to the Minister," said Slughorn "Then we'll meet with Amelia".

While he spoke to Fudge I suddenly found myself talking to the Umbitch woman and she started off sounding sweet until I refused to offer my support to her boss. When she asked to speak with me in private I went with the flow. I even let her cast a few spells that would ensure that we wouldn't be overheard. That had been her fatal mistake.

"Now listen here," she said, "I can make life very difficult for you".

That was as far as she got as I caught her in a full body bind before I teleported us both away, despite their being spells cast on wizarding homes to prevent that, and then a moment later I reappeared all alone. I brushed a few snowflakes off my shoulders.

Without planning to I'd just dumped Umbitch off somewhere unpleasant, much like Ancient One had done when she forced Steven Strange to either figure out how to use a Sling Ring or die on a mountain within a matter of minutes due to the extreme conditions.

Madam Umbridge and no Sling Ring and the local magic users have limits on how far they could teleport. Not that it mattered as I'd left the evil witch frozen in place. She'd be dead before the spell wore off.

The fact that I had just murdered a government official was worrying as there was a small chance that someone could find out, but I was still under the effects of the luck potion, so I should be okay. I felt fairly certain that I wouldn't have carried out the action if it wasn't going to be totally successful.

My thinking was that Slughorn had been right and that the potion could be dangerous as I'd killed without giving any thought to doing something less drastic.

Clearly, my thinking had been affected. Not that I get upset about the death of someone who made some Death Eaters pleasant.

I wasn't a fool so I'd taken Umbitch's wand from her despite my judgement having been influenced by the potion, and I would have to destroy it because it was incriminating evidence even if I wanted to keep it as a memento. I also used my wand to cast a few simple spells so that the body bind wouldn't be the last spell cast using my wand should anyone bother to check.

Perhaps I should have felt guilty about killing the evil witch as she'd been a person if barely, but she had been threatening me and I'd rather not have to start over in an alternate timeline if it could be easily avoided. Purchasing property took time if nothing else.

Besides, that woman had been a monster, willing to torture children and I dreaded to think what happened to the Muggleborns who were dragged off to the Ministry during Voldemort's rule. No, it was for the best that she be removed so that she could never harm anyone ever again.

Despite my valid reasoning I badly wanted a drink to steady my nerves so I headed back to the party. Slughorn was now talking with Bones I just about managed to grab a glass of something hopefully for adults only before being dragged into a conversation.

"Amelia, this is Macross, who I am assured is not a Black" the former teacher.

I'd recently found out from my tutor that there hadn't only been a Marcus Black but also a Marius Black, so I could see why someone might think Macross was also part of the Black family. Perhaps I should have given more thought when coming up with my new name.

As for Bones, at least she was supposed to be interested in my money rather than a name I had no desire or right to use. Gold was easy to obtain if I needed more I could call upon the spirits of the dead who were connected to lost treasures and question them about it until I knew where to go digging.

"No family name?" Madam Bones inquired.

I saw no good reason to be anyone other than Macross.

"Family names are for people who have a family in this world," I said.

My words implied that my relatives were all dead, even if they were in fact in another dimension. Although if there is an afterlife then all dead people, not counting ghosts, are in another dimension.

I could see why Bones would want me as a backer. Fudge had Malfoy (who wasn't here since Bones had lost family to the Death Eaters) backing him so she want someone who could counter Malfoy in terms of wealth.

This was something I could do as long as it didn't involve me having to visit the Ministry as I had better things to do with time. Like with other choices I would weigh my options before deciding on a course of action. I figured that it would be best to do so when I wasn't under the influence of a potion.

Part 17

The Three Broomsticks. Hogsmede.

This pub was cleaner, better lit and better smelling than the Leaky Cauldron, it had a more lively atmosphere as well. If there had been any children in here I would say that it was family-friendly.

Thankfully this was not one of those weekends when the students left the castle and came to the village, it wasn't even a weekend. The person I'd come here to meet worked long hours and the middle of the week was the only time she could meet.

Upon entering the local watering hole I was soon greeted by Madam Rosmerta herself, who I knew to be the proprietor of the Three Broomsticks. She was at least in her 30s judging by her looks and likely a bit older since she was running the Three Broomsticks back in the 1970s when the Mauraders went to Hogwarts.

I suspected her looks were a combination of the fact that magical humans can live much longer than their muggle counterparts and a few well-used cosmetic spells. She was rather attractive. In the muggle world, she'd be called a MILF for sure.

Madam Rosmerta was well known by witches and wizards from all over the country, including the teachers from Hogwarts, and even the Minister for Magic himself who would greet her by name in the Prisoner of Azkaban book. Not that this was very odd as the magical world was a small and isolated community when compared to the No-Maj one.

"Nice to see you again, Macross" she greeted.

She was friendly with everyone and no doubt profited greatly in terms of tips.

"Good evening, Madam Rosemerta," I said.

Madam was not an official title in the wizarding world like Minister or Professor, it seemed to be granted by the public to witches who were respected by the magical community or at least those who were important.

"Oh just call me Rosemerta" she insisted before changing the subject

I followed the witch as we moved through the busy pub as she spoke.

"Did you hear about the trials they finally had this morning?" asked Rosmerta as she lead me over to an empty table that I had booked a matter of hours ago "I always had trouble believing that Black betrayed the Potters. I mean Sirius Black was never going to have gone over to the dark. He was always such a kind lad and so loyal to James Potter. I'm glad they let him go".

Indeed I had heard about Black getting cleared of all charges. He'd actually been set free some time ago because there are limits to how long you can hold a suspect and Black had been held for years so the DMLE had needed to let him go even if his lack of guilt hadn't fully been decided.

From what I'd read he'd been at St Mungo's under guard and only allowed a few visitors. Which explained how Remus Lupin had been able to speak with him about the idea that I was a member of the Black Family. Lucky for me the trials for Black and Wormtail were all anyone would talk about so I'd been forgotten about. That suited me just fine.

As for the trials it would have been a simple matter once they used some of that truth potion on Sirius Black. Normally that alone wouldn't clear a person as the truth potion only makes you say what you believe is true. An example of this would be if you asked a Christian and an atheist if God is real you'd get two different answers and neither person would be lying.

In this case, the potion worked because they had Wormtail to question as well and that made it easy to compare the two accounts. It would have helped that Wormtail was likely to be carrying the dark mark on one of his arms and that Black wouldn't have it.

According to the article, I'd read just this morning Sirius Black had been more than happy to admit everything he'd done wrong and while not registering as Animagus was illegal the court had declared that Black had already been punished enough for any past wrongdoing.

Wormtail was sentenced to the Dementor's Kiss. I was surprised to hear that Dumbeldore, who led the trial hadn't prevented that, but even he had to bow to public pressure and Pettigrew would soon be soulless. Which made me wonder how Voldemort would return in this timeline.

I felt sure that his return could be prevented as not every prophecy comes to pass and even when they do they might mean what people thought they meant. The one that concerned Voldemort and Potter might not even be referring to them as it never names Voldemort as the Dark Lord. Perhaps there would be a new dark lord, or maybe there was one already active in some far corner of the world?

Heck, the prophecy might have already been fulfilled as you could argue that Voldemort had been vanquished many years ago.

"Bloody Crouch" the owner of the pub was now saying as she took me out of my thoughts "How could he throw poor Sirius into Azkaban without even bothering to question him, and then free his own son from that horrible place?".

Given that Wizarding Britain had been in a state of war at the time it made some sense for Sirius to be contained in Azkaban if they suspected he was a mass-murdering Death Eater, but there was no excuse for not questioning him because if he had been Voldemort's right-hand man as people thought then he would have had a lot of useful information about the Death Eaters. Yet it had all been swept under the rug.

Fudge was smart enough to blame the former Minister of Magic and Barty Crouch Senior who'd already lost his chance for the top job due to his son being exposed as a Death Eater. Senior would be spending the rest of his life in Azkaban for using an Unforgivable on his son as well for freeing him from the wizard prison.

Junior had been sent back to his cell since he'd been taken out of Azkaban against his will according to the article. He'd never stopped being a prisoner really and so he'd not actually committed any new crimes. That must have saved him from the Dementor's Kiss.

The Minister had spun all of it in an interview, stating that he was battling the corruption of the former administration and while I knew that Fudge was just as bad as those who came before, if not worse, I knew that the real issue was those who whispered in his ear. Lucius Malfoy's influence at the Ministry would only grow as long as Fudge was in office.

At least Umbridge was gone. Once the luck potion had worn off I'd gotten a bit shocked about what I'd done. I should have listened more carefully to Slughorn's warnings about the potion, he had warned me that it affected people's behaviour.

So far it all seemed to work out well for me. No one knew that Umbridge was dead, just that she was missing and no one seemed to care. No doubt Fudge would downplay things so as to look as if he was in total control and there was no evidence of anything bad happening to her.

By removing Umbridge I'd taken care of someone who was a threat to me and as a bonus, I have spared many people suffering in the future and I'd weakened Fudge's position. His losing an important member of the Ministry might just be enough to get him out of office.

There was no way that Bones would let the likes of Malfoy have much influence in the Ministry and this alone seemed like a good enough reason to fund her.

Not for a moment did I think that Lucius Malfoy would accept being removed from the Ministry, I hoped that Madam Bones had good security or she might end up dead before she could become the next Minister of Magic.

"I wonder what this will mean for Harry Potter," Rosmerta was now saying to me "Once Black has recovered will he be raising his godson as he should be?".

If that topic wasn't already on people's minds then it soon would be as the owner of this pub was sure to spread the idea around. I hoped that it resulted in Potter's home life improving as he deserved some happiness, but with Dumbledore around I doubted it.

"Perhaps you should write to the Prophet and ask about that" I suggested.

Again I chided myself for getting involved. There was something about this culture that dragged people into its politics. At least I could avoid the worst of it by going home later and getting back to my studies.

"I might just do that," said the owner of this business after she'd taken my drink order "I knew his Dad and I'm sure James Potter wouldn't have minded me asking about his son".

No sooner had one witch left than another female appeared.

"I thought you'd turn up late," I mentioned.

Can women be on time for dates? I didn't think it was possible.

"I'm not off the clock just yet," said Tonks as she took a seat at the table "I'm supposed to talk to you about a missing person's case".

If my face registered surprise it didn't alarm the junior Auror.

"Who's missing?" I asked.

I'd met Tonks at Bone's party towards the end of the evening while she was working as part of the security detail and we'd spoken just long enough for me to get a date with her. It had seemed like the thing to do at the time while under the influence of the luck potion.

"Umbitch, sorry I mean Umbridge," Tonks told me "She's an assistant to Minister Fudge and she hasn't turned up to work".

I did my best to stay calm.

"The Minister doesn't want a fuss made and my boss doesn't care much if Umbridge ever turns up again. A more senior Auror was sent to check out her home and he found out some worrying things about that woman and the scandal alone is going shake things up at work" I was informed.

They might have found evidence of her bigotry or maybe some of her blood Quills.

"Bones has me chasing down people from the Halloween party as that was when she was last seen" Tonks let me know "And you were seen going off with her for a little while".

I wasn't sure that I was able to hide the fact that I had done something. I would have to speak with care.

"What did you talk about?" I was asked.

I decided to tell most of the truth.

"Umbridge more or less demanded that I support the Minister" I admitted, "When I refused to commit she stated that she would make my life difficult. After that, we parted ways and I haven't seen her since. I don't recall seeing her at the party, but I was with Slughorn for the rest of the evening and there were a lot of people he wanted to talk to".

It seemed that Tonks believed me and perhaps saw the discomfort I must be showing as concern for my own wellbeing.

"If what we've found out about is true then you're not the first person she's threatened," said Tonks "Why didn't you tell anyone about her threatening you?".

Because it was a good motivation for a killer and I didn't want to be a suspect in her murder investigation.

"Tell who?" I asked, "She works for the Minister and he controls the government. I assumed that he ordered her to threaten me. That's why I'm thinking of supporting Bones".

Tonks considered my words.

"I think its more likely that Fudge just told her to win you over," said the Auror "Threats aren't his style, but I'll let the boss know off the record. I don't think you're in any danger, just let me know if anything strange happens. Umbridge might be up to something".

While doing my best to stay calm I ordered some food when Rosemerta came back around.

"Now I'm off the clock" declared Tonks "So tell me about yourself".

I couldn't tell her the actual truth, however, I could speak as if I'd grown up in the muggle world in this dimension and only found out about being magical recently, and wasn't totally a lie. It explained my lack of knowledge about certain things and I told her about inheriting a lot of my great-uncle who had clearly been a wizard. I'd not inherited my wealth from him, but I needed people to think that I had.

Thankfully she soon wanted to talk about her life, and her career, which was far less interesting than it might seem since being Auror is a government job and therefore full of paperwork, meetings and bosses who seemed to delight in making you do all the hard work. Didn't seem that different from a career in the muggle world.

Part 18

Author Note

A short one today as I'm feeling under the weather.

The Three Broomsticks. Hogsmede.

Due to her lack of free time I was happy to go on a date with Tonks when and where she wanted to meet. I got the sense that coming to this pub made the young witch nostalgic for her days as a Hogwarts student as she seemed rather happy while there.

"You're late" the metamorphmagus complained when I arrived.

I'd gotten caught up in my studies and as such, I hadn't realised how late it was getting. Normally I would arrive before the time of a meeting so as to look somewhat eager. Although I was only here a little past the agreed-upon time.

"A wizard is never early, nor is he late, rather, he arrives precisely when he means to," I said as I took a seat.

She didn't get that reference despite having a muggleborn father. Perhaps because the movies hadn't come out yet, and the books were a pain to read. I knew because I'd tried more than once to get through them.

"I dare you to try that line with Bones," challenged Tonks.

As if I'd ever be that foolish and it wasn't as if I would end up working for her.

"No thanks," I replied.

Not long after ordering our meals, the chatty witch got talking about her time at Hogwarts, thus proving to me that this place did indeed make her feel rather nostalgic.

As she talked I heard all about how she'd taken Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Herbology, Divination, and Muggle Studies at the NEWT level. That sounded like a lot of work to me.

I knew why she needed to take most of those exams as Aurors required those qualifications, and Muggle Studies could be useful for any kind of magical police work. For example, if a dark wizard or lesser criminal ever made a hideout in the Muggle world, then knowing how to navigate the mundane society would be very useful, but Divination seemed out of place given her career choice.

"Why did you take Divination?" I asked, "I've heard that it's a bit of a joke of a subject".

I'd avoided that subject during my own research as I did with others because I saw it as a total waste of time. While my magical education did slip into other subjects once in a while I was mostly focused on Charms, Potions and Defence Against the Dark Arts as I felt those subjects would serve me well during my travels.

"I took the OWL with some of my friends" she answered, "It was an easy class so I figured I'd get the NEWT with them too. If I'd failed that exam it wouldn't have stopped me from becoming an Auror, and we mostly used as a chance to gossip".

If the NEWTs were anything like the A-level exams that muggle students take then she must have buried in work during her last couple of years at the school.

"Old Mad-Eye thought I had real potential right from the start" she claimed.

Tonks went on to tell me about how she'd participated in the Ministry of Magic student programme, a special Ministry-sponsored programme that allowed seventh-year Hogwarts students to experience various careers first-hand while under the guidance of a witch or wizard who was a veteran of their craft.

Basically, it was the Wizarding World's version of work experience. I'd done something similar in my last year of Secondary School and I'd ended up spending a week working in the IT department.

"Me and a mate of mine got assigned to the Auror Office and were mentored by Alastor Moody" Tonks let me know "Blimley he was intense".

Our food arrived and I began to eat even as my date nattered on.

"We helped Moody track down a rogue alchemist who was giving people boils with some fake potion," she said.

"That seems like something beneath an Auror's concern I commented.

The Magical Law Enforcement Patrol was tasked with general law enforcement, they were much like the Muggle police you see on the street. Above them were the trained Hit Wizards who were a part of a squad and were dispatched to deal with high-profile arrests, or to deal with magical creatures that needed excess force to handle. They tended to end up in hospital often enough that they had a bed at St Mungo's kept empty for them.

As for Aurors, they were the elite, the dark wizard catchers. Sending Aurors out to deal with a snake-oil salesman would be like sending Mulder and Scully out to catch a gang of purse-snatchers. Although that might be rather humorous to watch.

"Well they wouldn't send a trainee anywhere really dangerous, and a routine investigation is good for showing someone the ropes," said Tonks "And not everyone who trains to be an Auror makes it that far. Some end up as Hit-Wizards or regular law-enforcement so it's good to show them what police work is really like".

That made sense, a rarity in the magical world. Common sense seemed to be rarer in the magical world than it was the in the muggle one.

"Do you have many people dropping out of the Aurors?" I asked.

It seemed as if they would be given the danger and level of skill required.

"Yeah, and it's a real shame, not many people get the grades for it and I've been told we get fewer every year" Tonks answered, "Shame they closed down the duelling club last year that's going to affect the DADA scores".

I knew that Lockhart restarted the club in the main timeline, but I might have prevented that by grabbing the diary. I imagined that having Snape as the Potion's teacher at Hogwarts also hindered the recruitment of new Aurors.

"What happened to the club?" I asked.

Tonks shrugged her shoulders.

"Dumbledore just declared it closed" she answered "He didn't say why".

Given that he hired Snape who he must know was a poor teacher, I couldn't help wondering if the Headmaster was trying to undermine the DMLE by reducing the number of witches and wizards qualified to become Aurors. Since he knew Voldemort was trying to return this seemed like an odd thing for him to do.

"So how's your family dealing with Sirius Black being found innocent?" I questioned,

We made some further small talk as we finished our meals as the dessert appeared Tonks asked me about what I was getting up to.

"Not much" I admitted "I read and practice a lot, and I have lessons with my tutors".

It was clear that she didn't like hearing that.

"Listen to me, Macross," Tonks said in a tone of voice that was far more serious than what normally came out of her mouth "There's more to being a wizard, and to life, than learning about magic. You need to stop working once in a while and have fun before you go crazy or end up hurting yourself with magic you aren't ready for".

She had a point and perhaps I could spend more time taking in the sights. I didn't wish to leave this world, but it was a big world and I could visit parts of it at will.

"I'll keep that in mind" I promised.

Tonks soon invited herself to my place for a nightcap and I didn't need to be a mind reader to tell what she had in mind.

Part 19

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Gwynedd. Wales.

Since this house was meant to be the home known to the public it was part of the Floo network as such all that was required to visit it was a fireplace and to know the address.

Not that this opened up the house to just anyone. For example, if you wanted to visit the Lovegoods, and were prepared to have your sanity tested, you'd call out 'The Rookery' and appear there. You couldn't shout out 'The Lovegood's Residence' and expect it to work.

You had to know the address and it wasn't hard to disable a floor network or to set it so that people could call without being able to use it to transport themselves.

My Floo address was Macross House since I'd never been very good at naming anything and I did come up with something creative I could always pay to have the address changed later on.

"I heard you had some money, but I didn't know you were this well off" commented Tonks.

I'd seen no reason to brag and she didn't seem like the gold-digging type so my level of wealth had never come up during our dates.

"Until recently it was a Bed and Breakfast," I told the Auror as she looked around "I had it converted".

I'd not considered that I might seem as if I was showing off by bringing her here because I wasn't used to living in such luxury. I still felt like I was on holiday sometimes or a guest in someone's else home. I felt more comfortable in Grimmauld Place.

"Gringotts advised that I invest my inheritance in some property and stocks" I mentioned "I grew up in a normal house so this was a big change for me. When I got the money I decided I wanted somewhere out of the way to live and the goblins suggested this place. I actually got in for the gardens. I wanted to grow most of what I need for potions".

Hopefully, I didn't sound like a Malfoy.

"I'll check out the gardens some other time," said Tonks "We can save the tour for later".

I took Tonks into one of the living spaces so we could have our drink only for her to drag me away.

"Take me to your room" she insisted.

I hadn't thought she'd be this forward.

"Are you sure?" I asked "We've only been on a few dates and I don't know much about courtship works in the magical world"

Love and relationships seem to be different for the wand wavers. I didn't want to get tangled up in whatever kind of magic it was that led people to sacrifice themselves for love. A wife and family would just tie me down and keep me in this world.

"Relax" she advised "I'm not looking for a husband. I don't have time for anything too serious because of my work, but as long as you make some time for me I figure we can make each other happy".

If she didn't want any sort of long-term commitment then I was fine with this. I planned to return to Wizarding World between my visits to other worlds as things were peaceful enough here for me to devote myself to studying magic while living in this dimension. If I was gone too often or for too long then she could move on.

"Ahh now this is better,' exclaimed Tonks as we entered the sleeping space "A nice big bed".

Thanks to my House Elf it was a tidy area and didn't smell bad unluck bedroom belong to many other single men. As for the bed, it was a needlessly big four-poster bed with a sinfully soft mattress you could sink into. I always got a good night's sleep when I stayed here and bothered to leave Grimmauld Place.

"I don't think purple hair suits me, what do you think, Macross," the witch asked as she looked at herself in the large mirror "Is blonde better, or do you prefer brunettes".

Since I had no preference for colours of hair I had nothing meaningful to say about the subject.

"I don't think much about women's hair" I admitted.

Tonks was clearly looking for hints about what appearance she should take when we were alone, but I didn't really mind. I found Tonks to be attractive because she actually had a proper personality and didn't care much about politics or judge people on their blood purity.

I didn't think about such things for long as Tonks got my attention by making her breasts which were still hidden under a t-shirt, expand to the point it looked as if she might ruin her top.

Tonks had gone with something of a punk-rocker for our date and it was far more Muggle than I'd seen any witch where. No doubt her muggleborn father had been an influence on her.

"What do you think?" she asked as she came over to me "Big enough for you".

Despite all my changes since my Elder Blood became active, I was still a heterosexual male so the contexts of my skull seemed to have gone into a low power mode, making it hard to think about anything other than getting to fuck her. Which had been her intent I felt sure.

"You can touch them," said Tonks as she suddenly grabbed my hands and placed them on her now large breasts "I'm not made of glass".

I somehow managed to control myself and not jump like she was a wounded gazelle and I was a hungry lion. In anything, she seemed to be the starving one as she was soon kissing me rather passionately as I began to feel her up.

Tonks quickly began to remove her clothes and I tried to do the same. We both staggered around the room. You'd think with the two of us trying to remove my trousers that it would be an easy job, but we only got in each other's way.

The witch ended up throwing herself onto my bed as she finished undressing and she watched closely as removed my own clothing. I unbuttoned the smart shirt I'd put on for the date as the young witch stared at me.

I could tell that she was thirsty for the D. I imagined that she'd not had much chance to be alone with a male of her species she'd since she started her Auror training. I'd give her what she wanted.

Tonks showed me her body and her boobs seemed too big for her small frame as she wasn't a tall woman, or she chose not to be, I didn't know which given her shape-shifting abilities, yet she didn't look comical.

"Big boobs are fun for sex, but they're murder on my back so enjoy them while they last," said the Auror.

She didn't need to worry about that with me.

"I was always more a butt guy" I admitted.

Tonks then took my cock in both hands and began to rub it rather eagerly, as she'd been given a new toy to play with. I returned the favour and did my best to enjoy the large breasts in front of me. She hadn't been at all subtle about what she wanted me to touch.

"Lie down" she instructed.

I did as the witch asked and she soon positioned herself so that she could put my cock in her mouth. She coated it with her saliva and I felt her tongue moving about as she did her best to orally please me. She was rather skilled with her mouth, but I decided that this wasn't something I should mention in case she took it the wrong way.

While I laid back to relax I didn't fail to notice that she had a hand between her legs and that she was rubbing her pussy even as kept her mouth filled with my dick. She was really getting into this, she was the type to just lie there and let the man get on with things.

"Okay, that's enough foreplay" she declared as she flipped over and presented herself "I want you to fuck me".

Her ass also changed so that it became slightly larger and more heart-shaped. This made for an even more tempting target so without delay, I grabbed her hips and plunged my dick deep into Tonks's pussy which was more than ready for me.

No sooner had I started than Tonks began to thrust back against me so that my cock ended up very deep inside her wet, warm cunt that seemed to what to swallow my dick and never let it out.

I couldn't resist giving her big butt a few slaps and she didn't mind at all judging by the noises now coming out of her mouth. I took note that she liked it a bit rough and her words soon confirmed this.

"Harder, Harder, harder!" commanded Tonks.

It amused me that a naked woman with her bum up in the air could still manage to sound like she should be in charge of the situation. It didn't matter that I gave her backside a few more slaps she still kept making demands.

Her hair was night bright pink and I could have sworn her ass had gotten even bigger. I didn't know if she did that on purpose as I'd never looked into her abilities.

"I won't last long if you don't slow down" I warned.

She clearly didn't care.

"Just fuck me!" she yelled.

Urged on by I began thrusting into her at a furious rate. When I looked down I could see my cock disappear inside Tonk's soaked fuckhole. I somehow managed to hold on with one hand so I could slap her bum some more. Something she seemed happy about.

I didn't last long, or maybe it just seemed that way, not that Tonks minded because once I was done and I let go she collapsed onto the bed. Perhaps she was just easy to please or I'd lasted longer than I'd thought.

"You're going to have to move me," said the witch "I can't feel anything below my hips".

I somehow managed to move her without any complaints and clean up the mess we'd made before getting into bed with her as I could somehow still work my legs.

Part 20

Author Note

I am trying for longer chapters I swear.

The Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The Ministry of Magic.

The office of Amelia Bones, the head of the department Tonks worked within, was not a fancy affair, its owner didn't care to impress people and anyone visiting her work area could tell that the office was a busy place. The parchment, quills and bottles of ink scattered around her desk were a testament to the sheer amount of work that got done in this room.

There were a few portraits around of former department heads who would give advice if requested, and while they pretended to be napping or off elsewhere the young Auror figured that they were always paying attention to what went around here as they could access other paintings and that they kept Bones informed of anything important.

Light came in from a window despite the office being deep underground and this allowed Tonks to see that her boss was busy with some important work. Amelia Bones didn't even look up at Tonks as her subordinate entered the important office. She had her nose to the grindstone as the Muggles would say.

"Hey, boss. Just came in dropoff my last report," said Tonks.

The young Auror, who was still considered a trainee, was often given the simplest tasks to do, and interviewing witnesses was one of those jobs, it was mostly tedious work that no one wanted. Tonks was rather good at talking to people because she came off as friendly unlike some of the older Aurors who could be seen as hostile.

"You managed to track them all down then?" questioned Bones.

The head of the DMLE had not wanted to drag anyone for questioning when they weren't even sure if Umbridge had been killed, abducted or if she had simply run away because her job had gotten too much for her.

The Ministry employee might even have gone into hiding because it looked as if she'd threatened quite a few people in the past and she could have upset the wrong kind of person. Forcing her to go into hiding.

Tonks had been sent out to find everyone at the party and to question them without making it look as if they were in any trouble. Her non-threatening nature and junior position within the DMLE made her perfect for the role.

The last thing the Aurors wanted after they'd found so much incriminating evidence in Umbridge's home was for the witch to look like a victim as it could lead to sympathy and Fudge was just looking for an excuse to sweep the whole thing under the rug.

They wanted to bring Umbridge in for questions, but her vanishing was nearly as good as it made the foul woman look guilty. Sooner to later Fudge would run out of excuses and they'd be able to give Umbridge a trial in absentia.

The Minister would be made to look foolish as he'd appointed Umbridge to such an important position and she served as one of his advisors. The Blood Quills alone were enough to cause a scandal never mind the evidence of bribes and threats. This could be just what Bones needed to clear her way to the top.

"I think we can rule out everyone at the party" Bones said as she looked over the report "The only time she was out of sight was with a wizard who is new to Magical Britain. He couldn't have grabbed her and taken her anywhere. If he's hiring tutors to teach him the basics then he wouldn't have been able to overpower Umbridge".

Bones sipped her tea while in thought.

"I can't help wondering if Fudge sent her off some errand he doesn't want to talk about" the older of the two women mused.

In Tonk's mind that seemed far more likely than Macross being able to apparate while inside Bone's home, a place protected by magical enchantments, and then dumping Umbridge somewhere secure or hiding a body. Maybe Dumbledore or You-Know-Who could do such things, but Macross was still mastering the most basic of charms.

"Fudge is still insisting that I have someone out there looking for as if she might be in trouble," the head of the DMLE told the young Auror "So between your training sessions I want you to talk to people who had contact with her before the party. Perhaps she was acting oddly or threatening other people around the office. I need you to find out anything you can".

Before Tonks could leave Madam Bones asked her about something else.

"How is going with your young man?" the boss wondered.

The young Auror knew it wasn't very professional to start going out with someone she'd been sent to question, but to be fair he'd asked her out before Tonks had been sent by Bones to track down and talk to those who had been at the party. Besides, it wasn't as if he was a suspect in any criminal investigation.

"It's going well," said the younger witch "He doesn't mind meeting me when I have the time and I don't think he's brought up me being a metamorphmagus even once".

Some guys she'd been interested in had made an effort to act as if it didn't matter to them, but they were just being nice. Macross hadn't seemed to care at all about her special talent until she used to get his attention. Tonks couldn't help wondering what that man had on his mind that kept his thoughts on matters other than her.

"He spends a lot of his time in study," the young witch told her superior "If he'd gone to Hogwarts he'd have felt right at home in Ravenclaw I'm sure".

The mood became more serious.

"Normally, I don't like involving myself in the personal lives of people who work for this department," said Bones "But I would be grateful if you'd talk to your young man about supporting me. Fudge still has Dumbledore and Malfoy behind him".

Tonks was reminded of a cartoon her father had shown her when she was young. She couldn't remember much of it, yet she recalled that it had involved a man with a little devil on one shoulder and a tiny angel on the other who'd given the man advice. It made her think of Fudge with Malfoy and Dumbledore acting as the devil and angel.

"So I'm going to need more help to dislodge them" admitted Bones.

Tonks would prefer not to be the one who had to talk to Macross about that, however, she understood that Fudge was not a good leader. She believed that Bones could do a lot of good for Magical Britain if she were in the big office. For that, she needed funding and public support. Macross could provide funding easily.

"I'll mention it" she promised.

With that Tonks got back to work as she had a lot of people who she needed to question as her part of the Umbridge investigation.

Part 21

Gwynedd. Wales.

One of the advantages of having Tonks as a girlfriend, although I'd never actually used that word in relation to her as it might give her ideas, was that she knew quite a bit about using spells in a combat situation.

Not only did she have great marks in Defence Against the Darks she'd learned quite a bit from Mad-Eye Moody, who for all his paranoia was still considered to be one of the greatest Aurors in Magical British history.

The witches and wizards of this world mostly duelled rather than really fight. This normally involves two wand wavers exchanging spells and doing their best to protect themselves until one of them is unable to keep going. Rarely does this involve anyone getting hurt in some way that magic can't easily fix. Not unless the dark arts are involved.

Even when these contests of magical skill carry on until someone is dead there are rules involved along with a certain amount of showmanship. Duels aren't just about fighting they are about demonstrating your mastery of magic to anyone watching. It wasn't enough to quickly end the duel, you had to prove your power for all to see.

I had no intention of following the customs of this culture when in a real fight as I'd do what it took to win and more importantly to stay alive, but learning about duelling was still a good idea because it gave me insight into how the mages of this world would fight and I got to learn some spells from Tonks that could come in useful later.

Since I had so many rooms in this house that were unused for anything and because the internal space of a structure such as this can be expanded without altering the outside or making it unstable, I had plenty of space for a duelling room. Tonks had spent some of her free time setting it up for us and was using it to lecture me about magical combat.

She'd make a decent Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher when it became time to replace Lockhart (something I felt sure would happen sooner rather than later even if my destroying of the diadem had removed the curse) despite that she was not much older than a seventh-year student.

"The real trick is not to freeze up the first time someone tries to tag you with a curse" Tonks was saying "I've seen people just stand there and get hit because they aren't used to being in any kind of danger and don't think they can be hurt in a way that can't be fixed by a trip to St Mungo's".

Given that nearly any injury can be healed with a potion it's easy to see why the wand wavers are so reckless at times. Mostly it's dark magic that is hard to heal, more normal injuries simply don't last long under magical medical care, and those that do require long-term care are easily forgotten about such as Neville's Longbottom parents.

Muggles are more vulnerable, the wand wavers seem to have some sort of resistance to mere physical attacks, such as being hit by fast-moving objects during sports games, and since muggles know that they are fragile they are more sensible with their health and safety. Well mostly.

"So I'm going to throw some spells at you and you're going to practice defending yourself until it becomes something you don't even think about," said the Auror.

How effective wand magic would be against the hostile spells used in other worlds was up for debate. I just figured that having some method of defence was better than nothing and I had other ideas able to avoid my death once I began spending time in more hostile environments.

"Just be glad we're not going to do this the way Mad-Eye taught me" she commented.

I didn't bother to ask as I could well imagine what kind of sadist spells the veteran Auror would use to enforce his message of Constant Vigilance upon a trainee.

"We're only going to be using the most simple of spells" insisted Tonks "So prepared to be tickled".

Rictusempra, also known as the Tickling Charm, did as the name suggests upon successful casting, then it will tickle your target and make them laugh uncontrollably. It might seem harmless and to an extent it is, but the main use of Rictusempra is actually rather useful for duelling.

It can make your opponent laugh so hard that they won't be able to move in any controlled way. If you hold it long enough it can cause the person you cast it on to have trouble breathing. Aside from that, it would be nearly impossible to attack someone or defend yourself if you are rolling about on the floor while laughing.

I blocked the minor spell with a decent shield charm and then fired off a Tarantallegra, the dancing feet spell, that Tonks was easily about to protect herself from. She made it look easy.

Much like the Tickling Charm, this spell could be effective in a magical fight because anyone hit by the charm is going to have trouble doing anything else other than trying not to fall over as they are forced to dance.

While spells such as the Jelly-Legs Jinx, which I tried to tag Tonks with, were minor spells, it was best to focus on mastering them before I moved on to anything more deadly.

I had no interest in learning to cast many curses as you didn't need to know them in order to kill people with magic. Even the Killing Curse can be blocked by solid objects or dodged so it would be best to learn a variety of offensive spells.

Spells that used the elements seemed deadly enough to me and I had no intention of ending up as twisted as some of the dark wizards I'd read about. Besides, I have a gun and a magic sword, once someone was disabled I could just shoot or stab them if I really wanted them dead or do what I did to Umbridge and dump them in a hostile location that would kill them soon enough.

Why risk corrupting myself with dark magic when I can shoot someone with my gun?

Tonks managed to get passed by my latest attempt to use the shield charm with The Knockback Jinx (Flipendo) was a jinx that did as the name suggested and I ended up landing on my ass. Thankfully the fall only bruised my pride. My instructor didn't care if I felt bad.

"Come on get up" urged Tonks "You've got a lot to learn about duelling".

Since she was spending a lot of what little free time she had teaching me I did not complain and to be fair I was making great progress even if my offensive spellcasting was mostly limited to spells used by children.

I knew that I would advance much faster in the art of duelling if I learned from an Auror than I could from a hired tutor and if the price for that was getting knocked on my backside then I would happily pay it.

Part 22

Author Note

Any recent comments or queries directed at me have gotten lost in the recent debate. If anyone does have a question about the story then feel free to message me.

Lestrange Vault. Gringotts Bank.

Even for someone like Lord Voldemort, breaking into the most secure vaults inside this bank would be a major undertaking involving a great deal of planning, preparation and skill, due to the many security features used by the goblins of Gringotts.

For example, to merely reach this vault, one must be escorted by an employee of Gringotts and travel in one of their carts. Along the way, any occupants of the cart will be soaked by enchanted waters called the Theif's Downfall, a magical defence that will wash away the effects of even polyjuice potion.

A dragon stands guard at the door and will only be driven back by the sound of a goblin's clankers since it will wish to avoid being painfully punished. Then with the touch of the employee, the door will open, allowing a member of the Lestrange family to enter.

That's assuming you managed to somehow fool the guards and prove that you were a member of the Lestrange family. This wasn't something I could do and I had no intention of going up against goblins or dragons. I doubted that I'd be able to handle a hinkypuff given my current level of magical education.

Thankfully I didn't have to worry about any of that as thanks to my Elder Blood all I had to was visualise where I needed to go and then will myself there. Not only can I move between places in this world I could relocate myself to different dimensions if I desired. Because of my powers bypassing most of the defences was easy for me.

As discovered by Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Griphook during their break-in of this vault, all the treasure inside the vault had been cursed with Geminio and Flagrante. enchantments, Thus, everything here is hot to the touch and will replicate at a rapid rate if touched, until the potential thief is buried and burned.

While these replicates are identical in appearance to the original they have no monetary value whatsoever as they are only temporary creations like the gold coins thrown about Leprachons during the Quidditch World Cup.

I could easily avoid such a fate by teleporting out if anything went wrong, avoiding a horrible death, and I did not need to physically touch any of the treasure while I was here.

Once I had emptied the vault and transferred the contents, then I'd focus on dealing with those curses placed upon everything and that would require a great deal of study. I had plenty of time for that.

The Lestranges' vault contained a great amount of treasure. All around me were piles of coins made from gold, silver and bronze. There were rings, crowns, amulets and no doubt more interesting items kept in boxes. All of which would need to be carefully examined.

I also saw weapons of many kinds, suits of armour, the preserved skins of magical beasts, the bones of dragons, and bottles of what I assumed to be difficult-to-brew potions as well as several books that I felt sure were filled with dark magic.

Given that I had the potential to learn magic from across the multiverse I saw no reason to worry about learning curses, but I would still take the books if only to deny them to others, or maybe I'd claim they came from Grimmauld Place and had them over the DMLE.

The most valuable thing in this vault by far was the cup of Helga Hufflepuff, which was turned into a Horcrux by Tom Riddle. Voldemort chose this vault as his Horcrux's hiding place because not only were the vaults very secure, the Lestranges were among his most devoted followers. They saw guardianship of this treasure as a privilege I felt sure.

Not only was the cup important because destroying or cleansing it would weaken Voldemort, but the cup itself could also be used to lure Voldemort into a trap or at least bring him out of hiding. One day I would be prepared to deal with the Dark Lord, today, I was simply preparing.

Emptying the vault served other purposes. It would remove resources that could be used by the Death Eaters should they become active again and taking their wealth was a good way to punish the Lestranges for all the harm they'd done.

I intended to make generous donations to worthy causes, including the Department of Magical Law Enforcement which had suffered from budget cuts in recent years. The idea of supporting Madam Bones' bid to become Minister with wealth taken from Death Eaters amused me.

Since the goblins of Gringotts would find out that they had been robbed sooner or later I couldn't just go about selling items from the Lestrange vault out in Diagon Alley. But there were ways around such problems.

The thief Mundungus Fletcher could sell things on the black market for me with me carefully hiding my identity so as protect myself from the bank and Dumbledore who Mundungus truly served.

I could also sell gold in the muggle world and get that converted after draining my vaults partly to make my donations. This might cause problems with the local economy so it seemed wise to consult my account manager.

Before coming here I'd considered that I might need to buy more property or make more investments so as not to harm the economy, however, that was a concern for later and a plan of action would be decided by someone with much better knowledge of finances than myself.

For now, I needed to focus on what I was doing here. The trunk I'd brought with me was a multi-compartment. Much like the one used to hold Mad-Eye Moody prisoner so that Barty Crouch Junior could have access to his hair. You couldn't use the hair of a dead person in the potion.

As for the compartments I intended to fill them with a different kind of treasure as I wanted to strip the vault completely. Each compartment wasn't very wide, so it was good that they were very deep. So much so that you could need a ladder to climb out of one.

This required very careful use of the pack spell. I had to visualise what I was doing and remained focused as one by one each compartment was filled with the stolen wealth.

The treasures here would only duplicate if a person who wasn't a Lestrange touched them, so I had to be very careful not to make physical contact with even a single coin.

As I worked the coins went into the biggest compartment and nearly filled it up. The next compartment was soon filled with rings, amulets, bracelets necklaces and things I didn't even know the names for. Then came the weapons and armour all of which neatly packed themselves away. After that, it was the animal parts. Books and potions followed all of those.

I'd practised this spell for hours before coming here, and Remus Lupin had been quite happy to divert from his lesson plans to cover what he thought were spells to be used for harmless reasons at home.

By the time I was done, there was a single knut left in the vault and there was no sign that anyone in the bank had noticed anything had happened. Now it was time to leave and to secure this trunk within Grimmauld Place.

Part 23

Just a quick one today as I working on one of my stories over on .

Gwynedd. Wales.

When she found me I was sitting out in the garden enjoying lunch on a day that was rather warm and sunny for this time of year. Such days were few and far between so I intended to take advantage of this one. The garden was coming along nicely so it was pleasant to sit out here.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" asked Tonks.

Normally I just let her come over when she wished as if nothing else she was a distraction from my studies and sometimes I needed a distraction. This time I'd invited her over after flooing her home and leaving a message with her mother, Tonks lived with her parents, and I had a couple of things that I needed to discuss with the young Auror.

"I was wondering if it would help your career if you could make a high-profile arrest?" I questioned the young Auror.

That got her attention and her relaxed body language shifted as her face took on a serious expression rarely seen on her face.

"What do you know?" she asked.

Quite a bit that she didn't and I was willing to share a little of it with her.

"That bug over there in that jar is Rita Skeeter," I told her.

Not long ago I'd found the reporter trying open a window. No doubt she'd wanted to poke around and dig up some dirt on me. Skeeter enjoyed bringing people down by twisting the truth and she would use words taken from carefully selected people to help make her stories seem more factual.

I'd just donated a large sum of gold to St Mungo's and that made me look very good in the eyes of the public and just the sort of person that Skeeter would get a thrill from tearing down in an article.

Knowing this I'd prepared to capture the reporter, and since I didn't want to waste my energy on her it seemed wise to hand her over to the Aurors even if Skeeter wasn't a dark witch.

Sure she might get out of trouble by bribery, but I didn't have the means or the will to keep her captive for any real length of time. She wasn't worth the trouble and I didn't feel any desire to kill her.

"You didn't transfigure her did you?," Tonks asked "If you did then she's going to counter the breaking and entering charges with an assault charge".

I couldn't even perform such difficult magic.

"No, she's an animagus" I explained, "When I found her poking about she transformed because she panicked and I was able to capture her. Now I am handing over an intruder to the proper authorities as any good citizen should".

Even before Tonks spoke I got the feeling that it wouldn't be that simple.

"Skeeters got a lot of dirt on people," the Auror told me "Enough to keep her out of trouble, and she's got the money to pay the fine".

I'd expected that this was the case.

"If you bring her in then you can make sure everyone knows she's an animagus," I said to Tonks "There are enchantments you can place to detect them, it's just that most people don't bother since animagi are so rare. But once everyone knows how Skeeter gets her information she'll have trouble finding any more dirt and if enough people complain to the paper she can be sacked".

Rita was a bitch, but I didn't think she deserved the dementors. In my view very few people did.

"I didn't think of that" stated Tonks as she tapped the jar that I had the reporter trapped in "And it would get me noticed at work".

Hermione was able to blackmail Skeeter by threatening to go public about her animagus statues so perhaps Bones could do the same. The idea was something I mentioned to Tonks.

"I don't know if Bones will go for that, but I'll run it past the boss," said my girlfriend "I should take her in now and get the paperwork started before this gets too cruel".

Before she did that I had something else I wanted to talk about and it was good that Rita's jar was soundproof as well as unbreakable.

"I heard an interesting rumour that Slughorn passed on to me that might be reliable," I said, whispering needlessly if only to make it seem more important "There's a secret room below the drawing room inside Malfoy Manor where they store dark artefacts. If this is true then it will be well worth setting up a raid on the property".

If I could get Tonks to let slip the time of the raid I could plant some incriminating evidence in that room which I could access as it appears in one of the Deathly Hallows movies. Perhaps I would leave a few things from the Lestrange vault in that hidden space and see how the goblins reacted when they found out.

"Given you caught Skeeter red-handed that should be enough to convince my boss you're worth listening to," said the shape-shifting witch "Malfoy will know the raid is coming, he's got too many friends in high places, but if he shoves everything into a hidey-hole then we can get him into trouble when we find it. I doubt he'd get more than a fine and a slap on the wrist, but Malfoy is friendly with Fudge".

The whole reason Malfoy dropped the diary in Ginny Weasley's cauldron was to discredit her father who was the driving force behind The Muggle Protection Act, a Ministry of Magic bylaw, that was designed to protect Muggles from potentially harmful magical artefacts.

That might have been Arthur Weasley's intent when he wrote the law, but the Ministry was using it as an excuse to conduct raids into the homes of Purebloods and as a reason to confiscate magical objects and books they didn't approve of people having on the pretence of keeping them away from Muggles.

It also made the Ministry look as if actually cared about protecting people and upholding the Statue of Secrecy.

"If we nail him it will make the Minister looks really bad. It might be enough to get Bones into the big office" said Tonks.

Having a Minister who owed me a favour or two could come in very handy one day should I get into trouble with the Ministry and it not be worth building a new home somewhere else.

"You stay for lunch" I invited "Skeeter isn't going anywhere".

Given that she was known to be a big fibber no one would believe her if she complained about unfair treatment. Nor would anyone care even if they did take her at her word.

Part 24

Gwynedd. Wales.

"Your progress is impressive" commented Remus Lupin.

While I had gotten involved in some political matters and I spent time with Tonks I'd still managed to learn quite a bit of magic in the last few months. More than I'd thought possible.

My most powerful spells were focused on defending myself and so some of them were much more advanced than the spells taught in other subjects that I had learned and the magic seemed to be getting easier to use.

It wasn't something I could put into words, yet I knew that as the Xmas season grew closer I was almost done fully adapting to this world's magic. This made sense as according to my great-uncle's notes the adaptation would take less time in worlds that had powerful magic. Well, that was the theory at least. I'd see how things worked out in reality.

As such when in worlds like ASOIAF it should take me longer to start being able to use the local magic than it would when in Forgotten Realms where magic is used all the time by a lot of people. This world had a lot of magic and it was used often so it made sense that I was doing so well.

"I have good teachers" I praised.

Progressing as much as I had would have taken longer with just books. Practical demonstrations and guidance from experienced wizards were of great help to me.

Remus was a dab hand at all kinds of charms, Slughorn really knew his potions, and Tonks was a great dueller. Between the three of them, they'd managed to teach me quite a bit of magic.

"You've mastered the Wand-Lighting Charm," said Remus Lupin, who ignored my praise "The Softening Charm, the Severing Charm, the Fire-Making Spell, the Unlocking Charm, the Levitation Charm, the Locking Spell and then Mending Charm. That's all the spells you could have learned with Professor Flitwick along with a lot of theoretical knowledge if you were in his first-year class".

Unlike a Hogwarts student, I didn't have to wait for the slower students to catch up, write essays, go to detention, or put up with all the other distractions at the school such as nearly dying due to the staff's incompetence, or Snape's bullying of children.

I'd progressed at my own pace. It also helped that Remus Lupin was able to find ways to make the lessons practical so I could better measure my progress as the weeks went by.

Now that I was almost finished adapting it would soon be time to move on. I planned to go to Skyrim to start learning some of that world's magic. I planned to spend quite some time at the College of Winterhold so as to learn some enchanting if nothing else as that sort of magic was very difficult in this dimension.

I intended to return to this world and learn more about wand magic between trips to other realities be they short or long.

Since I didn't wish to die, I wasn't going to go straight to the Elder Scrolls world as that would simply be too dangerous. I was still working on a list of what I needed and I had a memory of a place I could go to that should allow me to get most of what I desired in one place.

For now, I needed to stay focused on my latest lesson. I might be able to keep myself safe with magical items when travelling the multiverse, but it would still be a good idea to master some more wand magic.

"I'd like to work on the summoning charm," I said to Lupin.

Accio was the perfect charm for the lazy people who can't be bothered to get up and fetch stuff, but I could envision more practical uses for the spell as it would allow me to get hold of important things normally out of reach, a situation many an adventurer could find themselves in.

"The Summoning Charm, for which the incantation is Accio, can if used correctly, cause an object at a distance to come flying towards you" explained Lupin "It is one of the oldest spells known to wizardkind".

He demonstrated the spell by waving his wand and causing a quill to come flying over to him.

"It's not a complex spell" the teacher was now saying "However, it can be hard to control as you need to remain focused on what you want to summon. Younger students can have problems with this and so it's not a spell for a beginner, that said you've mastered spells meant for older students before so I think you should be able to manage this one".

Turning it into a practical lesson wouldn't be hard since all we'd need is some cushions or something else that I wouldn't worry about coming flying at me.

"Never try to summon anything larger or heavier than yourself that will not end well" warned Remus "Also the spell doesn't tend to work well on living creatures as those with magical resistance will just be annoyed by it and animals who lack that defence, generally don't like being tugged around".

He also let me know that the farther away the desired object was from the caster, the harder it was to summon. Line of sight works best as you need to be able to visualise what it is you want to summon and that's easier if you see it.

As I expected Lupin conjured up some pillows and I spent some time trying to get them to gentle fly over to me. It didn't go so well at first, the blasted things wouldn't move, and when I got a little frustrated one of them moved but went in the wrong direction.

"You need to really desire the summoned object as you focus on it" I was advised "Remember intent matters with magic".

I did just as instructed. Trying to feel the need to possess the cushion, to want to hold it in my hands, and that helped. I was just about getting the hang of the spell (enough to make the cushions start moving in the right direction) when Tonks made an entrance and she looked as if she'd had a bad day at the office.

"Remus Lupin this is Tonks" I introduced, pausing slightly before saying Tonks so as to make it clear there was something missing "Tonks this is Remus Lupin one of my tutors".

It was clear to me that the witch hadn't intended to come around during one of my lessons. I let her visit as she pleased as if I was doing anything I didn't want her to see, such as learning from a departed soul, I'd do it over at Grimmauld Place.

"Sorry, I've been involved in some raids" she let us know "My sense of time is messed up I thought it was still morning. Ever since they made me a full-time Auror I've been burning the midnight oil".

As planned I'd managed to get Tonks promoted. Skeeter had as expected avoided going to Azkaban, but she was in disgrace, having lost her job, and the paper she'd worked for had publicly denounced her for being an illegal animagus.

Tonks got all the credit for putting that bitch of a reporter in her place, and since no one at the Ministry liked Skeeter the shapeshifter had become very popular.

My girlfriend had let slip the time and places of her raids. Enough that I'd had the chance to drop something incriminating off into the secret room that I'd tipped her off about.

"How did last night's raid go?" I asked.

Since these things tended to end up in the paper there was no harm in asking and getting the news a little early.

"After a trusted and anonymous citizen tipped us off about a hidden stash at Malfoy Manor," said Tonks "Bones managed to organise a raid".

I was that citizen, but my name hadn't been shared publicly.

"Since we knew where to look we found his stash and the frozen corpse of Madam Umbridge" we were told.

I did my best to make myself frown rather than smile upon hearing that.

"Like in a meat locker?" I asked.

I had to explain what I meant by that as magical people used charms to keep food from spoiling. Of course, I knew that there was no meat locker under the drawing room as I was the one who recovered the body and stashed it there.

That had been a bit of operation as I needed to purchase cold-weather gear just so I could stay on the mountaintop long enough to make contact with the body and teleport the corpse directly to Malfoy Manor mere hours before the raid took place.

"Nah, she was just frozen," said Tonks "Given her past history of threatening people we figure that she tried to blackmail Malfoy and bit off more than she could chew, or that Umbridge was trying push Malfoy out of the Ministry so that she'd be his chief advisor".

Since it's impossible as far as the DMLE knows to teleport through the protective enchantments and because only the Malfoys should know about the hidden room, no one would suspect the body had been planted there.

"Malfoy will find a way to bribe his way out of trouble," said Lupin "The

man is a snake".

Tonks smiled.

"Not this time" she let us know "Fudge panicked and threw Malfoy under the Knight Bus. We found Death Eaters robes and a dead body, and there were too many witnesses for a cover-up so the Minister told us he wants Malfoy to serve as an example of how no one can escape the Ministry's justice. He's going to get the Dementor's Kiss".

Fudge wanted to distance himself from Malfoy and remove evidence of his own wrongdoings. A dead Malfoy couldn't talk about the bribes and if he went to Azkaban he'd be kissed in a matter of hours no matter if it was legal or not.

"But I don't think things will work out for Fudge," said the witch "Bones is going to squeeze Malfoy and if he talks she'll ask the court for a reduced sentence. He'll have to come clean about his dirty dealings if he wants to avoid getting his soul sucked out".

She had more to say about this.

"Malfoy wants to stay in his Ministry holding cell under guard because even if avoids the kiss accidents can happen in Azkaban," said the witch "If a Dementor didn't get him one of the inmates could".

Dumbledore would be in charge of that trial and he's known for giving second chances to people who were already on their third or fourth, so he'd likely agree to make some sort of deal that involves Malfoy going to Azkaban for a few years rather than spending his whole life there or making out with a demon.

Malfoy might even avoid Azkaban if he was willing to incriminate other Death Eaters who escape justice. If he did I could see him fleeing the country and hiding out somewhere remote.

"Sounds like Fudge won't be in office for much longer" commented Lupin "Everyone knows Malfoy was advising him and he's been taking hits for a while now".

The werewolf was now clearing up since it looked as if we wouldn't be carrying on with today's lesson.

"Here's hoping," said Tonks.

So I'd become Bone's version of Malfoy through very little effort. One murder, one framing job and some gold spread about was all it took. Bones would still need my money and I would be able to supply her with useful information via Tonks.

Overall I felt pleased with how things had worked out. Bones would be Minister soon enough I felt sure and a Minister who owes me a favour could be useful. Plus Magical Britain would be better off when Voldemort returned, assuming that I didn't prevent that.

I didn't need to be a mind reader to know that my girlfriend wanted some attention from me and a chance to relax so I let Remus know that we were indeed done for the day.

"Macross, I couldn't tell you this with anyone around" Tonks started to say as we headed into the living room we used to relax in "But there is going to be a raid here. The Minister ordered it. at least on paper, either because he found out the source of the tip that brought down Malfoy or he's just hoping to discredit the boss's major supporter".

While there was nothing incriminating here to worry about I was still concerned about this raid.

"Fudge might have someone plant some evidence," I said.

Discrediting me wouldn't help Malfoy, but the Death Eater could have bribed someone to convince the Minister to take me down with him.

"We thought of that so Bones is coming here to handle things in person with a team that for reasons she can't share is made up of myself, Shacklebolt and old Mad-Eye who insisted on coming along" Tonks was now saying "I won't be poking around before then just to make sure everything is hunky-dory".

And by won't she meant she would be, and I didn't mind.

"I'll cooperate" I promised.

Tonks smiled at me.

"I will have to strip search you later in case you have any contraband" she teased "I have reason to believe you might be hiding a deadly weapon in your trousers".

It was a shame that I couldn't take Tonks with me as she was fun to have around, but she had friends, family and a career she was putting a lot of work into.

Ah well, there would be other potential travelling companions out there in the multiverse.

Part 25

Author Note

I'm just wrapping up some of the political stuff in this part.

Graveyard. Godric's Hollow.

While the village was partly buried with snow during this Christmas season there was a bitterly cold wind keeping people inside I noted not long after appearing within the village which hopefully meant an absence of annoying carol singers.

Despite it being Xmas there wasn't much in the way of decorations here, at least not outside people's houses. It didn't feel jolly here at all, if anything I felt as if this place had some sort of sadness to it.

It didn't help that I was currently standing in a graveyard having teleported myself here so as not to appear where I might be seen. This was the resting place for magical families, including the Potters and the Dumbledores. I found the white marble gravestone of James and Lily Potter, by the looks of things it had been tended to recently and that made sense given what I knew.

After stopping at the grave of the Potters for a moment to pay my respects I moved on and found that one house in the village that was decorated. So much so that I found my eyes stinging if I looked directly at the collection of lights.

Not shocking considering that this was the new home of Sirius Black, who had moved into the old cottage that the Potters had once hidden within, no doubt he wanted to make up for all those holidays spent with the Dementors.

I wondered how he'd managed to obtain ownership of the cottage given that the Ministry had proclaimed the cottage to be a historical site so that they could make it into a memorial. It certainly no longer looked rundown, this was somebody's home and the owner had made a great effort to make sure everyone knew it was Xmas time.

If not for the fact that the cottage was hidden from muggles I felt sure that there would be complaints about the overuse of lights from overflying aircraft as well as the neighbours.

"Why did I agree to this?" I asked myself.

I knew it was because Tonks had requested it. She wanted a date for the small party her cousin Sirius Black was having and I'd agreed because I wanted to keep having sex with her. I'd been unable to say no to the woman who had recently told me that she'd kept her old Hogwarts uniform and wanted to roleplay as a naughty student and strict professor.

Not long after knocking on the door to the cottage, it was opened by a small boy who I soon realised was Harry Potter, who must be staying with his godfather over the holidays at least.

Upon seeing the lad I wondered if Albus Dumbledore had managed to come up with some arrangement that involved Harry still going to his aunt and uncles over the summer, but I wasn't going to ask if it wasn't my business. At least the boy would get to enjoy Christmas with his godfather thanks to me.

"Hello, I'm Macross" I introduced "I'm Tonks' date".

As if summoned by her name the witch appeared and Harry moved away.

"You're on time for a change" she commented, after kissing me.

She was never going to let it go that I had turned up for a date once and been late. I'd complain, but she could make her butt and boobs bigger during sex, so she was worth putting up with.

"Did you bring the gifts?" the witch wondered.

Indeed I had. Wrapped up in paper so colourful that it offended my sense of taste was a bottle of oak-matured mead and a selection of the best stuff Honeydukes, the sweet shop in Hogsmede, had to offer. Tonks had been too busy at work to get a chance to do any last moment Christmas shopping.

"Everything okay at work?" I inquired as I handed over the gifts I'd picked out, paid for, wrapped up and then delivered yet somehow were from the both of us "I heard about what happened with Malfoy".

Tonks poured us both a stiff drink before replying. Black had good taste when it came to party refreshments

"With Macnair and Malfoy dead, we don't have a case anymore," she told me "Fudge blamed Bones for what happened and ordered an inquiry, and that's been keeping us all busy".

Walden Macnair had been a wizard and one of Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters, who'd fought in the First Wizarding War, assuming that there would be a second. Macnair didn't search for Voldemort after his first downfall or go to Azkaban, but he would have rejoined the organisation if given a chance.

The Death Eaters who were free must have assumed that Malfoy would turn on them and name some names, as had happened when Voldemort lost his body all those years ago, so they'd decided to kill him.

I guessed that Macnair would have claimed he was under the Imperius Curse again, only he'd been caught by Mad-Eye Moody. After that, the curses started flying and Moody lost more of his body as Walden Macnair lost his life.

Macnair had been the Executioner for the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures at the Ministry of Magic and therefore well versed in murdering defenceless lifeforms. Malfoy wouldn't have had a chance.

"The whole thing has set Bones back on her bid to become Minister, and it's distracted everyone away from Fudge's foolishness" Tonks complained, "Everyone knows Mad-Eye isn't exactly stable and so they think he's to blame, but the boss won't sacrifice Moody so she's taking responsibility".

While I was pleased by the fact that two of Voldemort's supporters were dead this had been a setback as well. I might have to do something drastic about Fudge.

I felt sure I'd find some sort of solution during my travels. I was too eager to go out exploring to worry much about the Minister. It seemed like something I could put a pin in and maybe get back to later if I so desired.

"At least you've got time off now," I said.

She'd be spending it with her family mostly and some of it with me. Once that was over I'd be free to focus on other matters.

"Dinner is going to be a while" announced Sirius as he came into the living room.

Judging by the smell I figured that the meal was ruined so I called up my House Elf and asked nicely for the helpful magical creature to come save us from Black's attempt at being domestic.

"He'll sort it out" I promised.

There were others here. Remus Lupin who I knew and some others who must have been in the Order of the Phoenix along with Sirius. This made them minions of Dumbledore and best ignored unless I had some use for them. I had meant to contact Mundugnus Fletcher about moving some stolen goods, but I'd lost interest in the idea.

The great manipulator himself wasn't here thankfully. He was either at his school or busy getting better control over Fudge who now didn't have Malfoy to do the thinking for him.

The Headmaster had sent letters requesting a meeting and I'd ignored them as I had the invitation for tea from a witch named Zabini. I felt reasonably certain that she was a serial killer who married rich men and then murdered them for their money.

"So Sirius how did you get this cottage?" I asked, feeling curious, "I thought the Ministry turned into a memorial".

I wondered if Harry Potter was happy to be in his parent's home or freaked out. He might not remember this place at all since he only remembers his parents when he's around Dementors if I recall the books correctly. Currently, he just looked a bit bored as children often were at events meant for adults who just wanted an excuse to socialise.

"The Ministry offered me compensation" the Animagus explained "I was supposed to take over this place if anything happened to James and Lily so I requested it. The clean-up and repair work didn't take very long".

It made sense that the Ministry would give it over if it meant Black didn't go around causing a fuss about his wrongful imprisonment.

The talk soon turned to more cheery subjects and while the whole thing bored me I comforted myself with the idea that soon I would be doing things that were much more interesting.

Part 26

Gwynedd. Wales.

One of the easiest ways for someone who can travel the multiverse to obtain immortality was to obtain a Golden Apple from the world of Hercules/Xena. The Tree of Life, the source of the Golden Apples, is destroyed during Hercules' series, but it is possible that you'll get there before that event and can grab yourself an apple or even a few, or in my case half a dozen.

The Greek variety of the Golden Apples (the Norse gods had their own kind) grew from a very special tree which was stored in the Labyrinth of the Gods. This was a maze, full of mythical beings and traps, that was created by the Olympians to protect the Tree of Life

None of which mattered to me since I'd teleported myself directly to the base of the tree, grabbed a few apples and then just left. The walls of the strongest fortress, the best mystical defences, and no amount of magical creatures acting as guard dogs could stop me from taking what I wanted as I knew exactly where to go.

Callisto and Hercules had to traverse the Labyrinth of the Gods to collect the Apples. Hercules needed them to cure his poisoned friends and family. Callisto, who had done the poisoning, wanted to become immortal, as that was her only way to avoid getting stuck in one of the more unpleasant afterlives that dimension had to offer.

In that fictional setting, Immortals are beings who are immune to most physical damage, many forms of magic, diseases and most forms of mundane illness. However, some weapons can kill immortals and there are beings who could slay me even though I'd eaten one of the Golden Apples.

It was even possible for the most powerful of gods to empower a mortal so that he or she could slay lesser gods. A good reason to avoid eating Ambrosia as becoming a god could make you a target.

Immortals also possess eternal life and they are forever young. I shouldn't age another day (something I'd have to handle later if I kept living in this world) and I was glad that activating my Elder Blood had restored my body to something close to its prime. I didn't want to spend my eternal life looking anything other than my best.

Over in the world of Xena and Hercules, creatures are immortal but they lack many of the other supernatural powers of gods. It was possible to upgrade to full godhood via Ambrosia, but I'd decided against that as my ability to traverse the multiverse came from bloodline according to my great-uncle even though it was a dormant trait. As such, if I changed species I'd lose my ability to move from world to world.

Even if I obtained another means by which to travel I didn't think it would be worth it as I could lose that alternate method if I was depending on some sort of device and the gods of that world seemed to be rather petty creatures. I didn't want to become like them.

Besides, I would no longer be a wizard if I ate Ambrosia and there was another advantage of obtaining immortality via the apples. Since they were a type of fruit they had seeds, so I grow my own Tree of Life or even Trees of Life.

There are legends about such apples that mentioned that they didn't grant immortality forever and there are beings who can strip you of your immortality so it would be wise to have a renewable source. A source of immortality that I could even grant to others.

"Take very good care of these trees, Tippy" I ordered the House Elf.

I'd not consumed the seeds of the Golden Apple I'd eaten. Instead, I'd planted them inside one of the magically expanded greenhouses. When larger they could be moved outside, something that might take place decades from now depending on how fast the trees grew.

"Yes, Sir" the magical creature replied, "Tippy will take good care of special trees".

As I headed inside I once against tested my new power again by cutting myself with a knife. My blood did not spill and the wound didn't hurt, it vanished after a second. It seemed to heal at an incredible speed and I wondered if he had limits, if an immortal could be overwhelmed with injuries.

I would never be foolish enough to stand around and let people hurt me so as to find out, and I figured that spells like Fiendfyre might still be able to kill me because of how much damage they could do. Basilisk venom or something similar might also be able to end me.

Since I saw my immortality as a safety net, something I liked having, but wouldn't make use of unless I really had to, I wasn't going to let myself be hit by enemies just see what harm I could shrug off even if the results might be interesting to see.

I still had a few uneaten apples and I was curious about what the fruit could do. In theory, anything short of death should be curable if the person suffering eats even part of the apple. Only eating a whole one grants immortality.

Upon thinking I recalled that there were two magical people who were suffering from an illness of the mind that no magic could cure. Frank and Alice Longbottom, I'd like to feed them a bit of an apple each and see what happened.

When I'd given my big donation to St Mungo's I'd seen the Longbottoms and restoring them to sanity seemed like a suitable Christmas miracle. I could cut the apple into four segments and try to restore four people. No sense in having half a magic apple as it might spoil. Besides the more people who I tried fixing with an apple, the more the power of the apples would be tested.

With that in mind, I headed off to the hospital. To enter those premises, one simply had to step through the window of what appears to be a condemned department store called Purge and Dowse, Ltd. The window acted as a magical gateway to the main building, much like the barrier at King's Cross Station which led to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

I assumed that there was a muggle-repelling ward on the window so as to stop some random person on the street from simply leaning on the window and falling into the magical hospital.

During my tour, I'd been told that the hospital ended up located where it is because no one could find a better place to house it. Everywhere in Diagon Alley was too small, and space-expanding charms have their limits. Someone came up with the idea to build it underground like the Ministry of Magic, but it was decided that going underground was too unhealthy.

Eventually, a normal Muggle building was purchased in London so that patients could come and go while fitting in with the crowds. Not that they always did if the Quidditch World Cup was anything to go by. Lucky for the magical peoples, the mundanes of this world seemed to be very talented when it came to rationalising the strange things that they saw.

Although the hospital was meant for the magical community only, Muggles are admitted when they fall prey to magical attacks, at least according to what I'd been told. I assumed that the non-magical humans had their memories removed before being sent home.

Also according to information gathered during my tour, there were strict guidelines concerning what gifts are allowed into the hospital, for the safety of the patients. This did not concern me however as I was going to bypass any searches.

My destination was The Janus Thickey Ward which was located on the fourth floor here at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. The ward was named for Janus Thickey, a wizard who faked his own death so he could go and live with the landlady of a nearby pub. Why anyone would name anything after someone like that I had no idea. Magical humans seemed to be insane a lot of the time.

The door was locked, to prevent the patients from wandering about in the dark I assumed, but the door to the ward was opened easily enough by a simple unlocking spell. Security was a bit of a joke here in the magical world, something I'd made a mental note of more than once.

This ward housed residents whose minds had been permanently affected by spells in ways that left them unable to live a normal life and they would be considered mentally ill in the Muggle world.

Which meant it was very important that I not wake anyone up. If they did awaken they might freak out and alert the staff. I had no desire to stun anyone here as these people had been through enough already. Hence why I hadn't teleported directly into the room.

I found Mr and Mrs Longbottom in a pair of beds that were next to each other. I didn't need to wake them as I knew that would simply eat any food placed in their mouths. So I fed them a segment of Golden Apple each.

Once I was sure that they weren't going to have fits or any other negative reaction, I made my out of the room and re-locked the door behind me. I was sure that if they recovered that the magical newspaper would let me know.

I knew of a couple of other patients in similar states and they too would simply eat anything put into their mouths. Once that was done I teleported myself away. I would find out the results later.

Part 27

Author Note

Thank you for the suggestions about magical staffs. I'm looking to the ideas you all shared.

[img: proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.wikia.%2Fforgottenrealms%2Fimages%2F8%2F89%2FSigil-5e.jpg%2Frevision%2Flatest%3Fcb%3D20200401142526 =98cb6728bd0471e16b8317273505de25]

Sigil. The Outlands.

The Forgotten Realms was much more than a single world, it was, in fact, a collection of dimensions or planes as they were known here. One of these dimensions was called the Outlands. At the very centre of the Outlands, was an infinitely tall Spire that shoots up into the sky, around the top of which could be found the city of Sigil, the place I was walking in right now.

While the centre of this plane of existence was called true neutral, in terms of moral alignment which was a very important thing in this part of the multiverse, it wasn't so towards its edges.

At the border between the Outlands and some other planes of existence in this part of existence, places called gate-towns exist, so named for the portals to the nearby planes they are built around.

These gate-towns take on many of the characteristics as well as the morality of the plane they have a gate to, and when the balance shifts and they become enough like that plane, they slip into it. So if a gate-town near one of the hells became too corrupt it would be dragged into that hell. This made some sense when you understood how important moral alignment was here.

This was why Sigil remained truly neutral as doing so keeps it stable in a place where the laws that govern other realities simply didn't apply, and since I didn't fully understand those rules, I didn't want to mess with the balance of power here or be noticed by the cities ruler. As such I would do my best to stay out of sight and not involve myself in any local power struggles.

The sole ruler of Sigil was the mysterious and terrifying, Lady of Pain. She rarely if ever communicated with her citizens and punished any who crossed her path or attempted to worship her by flaying them to death or turning them to stone, making the denizens of her city very wary of drawing her attention.

Leaving every day running of the city up to her citizens, the Lady only interfered when the stability of Sigil was in jeopardy. She kept the higher powers (deities and such) who would take advantage of the city's unique location and its many portals, endanger its neutrality, out of the city, she would destroy, or maybe just drive off, any who wandered in.

Sigil's very existence and purpose were a mystery. Some were of the opinion that it had been built by a deposed duke of the Nine Hells, others suggested that it was the byproduct of an insane god's dream, and some even speculated that it had been put together by scattered bits of the Outer Planes shortly after their creation. Another line of reasoning posited that Sigil was a prison for the Lady of Pain herself.

I had no idea of the truth and I got the impression that I would be happier if I remained ignorant as this plane of existence was already rather overwhelming. It didn't make sense and Sigil shouldn't work, yet it did.

The city was crowded with buildings that squeezed over each other and despite the sheer size of the place, everything seem cramped. New buildings, courtyards, and streets were constantly being built, changing the city's landscape and turning old structures into underground crypts.

Sigil's architecture was marked by its iron spikes and bladed fences, serving both as protection against intruders and as a stylistic choice. Stone gargoyles were also typical decorations.

Thanks to my research I knew that Sigil was divided into six wards. Although the boundary between wards was not clearly marked on the city's streets or maps, it was usually easy to identify where you were by the type of business conducted there. Counter-clockwise around the ring, the wards of Sigil were the following:

The Lady's Ward

The richest and most exclusive section of the city, home to the elites of society and of its government.

Market Ward

The main location for purchasing goods and services. It was famous for offering items from numerous planes and worlds. Trade was regulated by the Mutual Trade Association,

Guildhall Ward

Usually counted as part of the Market Ward. Home to the traders, craftsmen, artisans, guild members and other members of the middle class

Clerk's Ward

An affluent district, home to most of the city's lower-rung bureaucrats and middlemen.

Hive Ward

The slum and the ghetto, home to the poor unwanted dregs of the city. A grim and poor place, full of thieves, pawnbrokers, secret slave markets and the insane. There are even gladiatorial pits. I would avoid going there at all costs.

Lower Ward

An industrial district, clogged up with the smoke from the foundries and

from the portals to the Lower Planes

Since Sigil was a prime destination for travellers as well as a centre of trade throughout the local multiverse, the merchants here accepted the standard currency from anywhere on the planes. Most shops and stalls tended to be concentrated within the Great Bazaar in the Market Ward, but there were numerous street markets throughout the city that operated part-time. Day markets traded mostly in food and housewares, whereas night markets offered a much larger variety.

The city did not produce any usable natural resources and had to import even the most basic items, such as food and raw materials. In order to survive, the city capitalized on its most important asset: its sheer amount of portals and the fact that it was one of the most frequent stops for adventures going anywhere in the multiverse.

For that reason, the first priority of any business within Sigil was to accommodate its visitors' various tastes during their stay. There was an enormous assortment of inns and taverns that catered for just about anyone. Such places were usually highly specialized and each tended to evoke the atmosphere of a single location.

With this large flux of travellers often looking to trade their wares, Sigil was famous for being the place where anything could be found for sale. Goods from several worlds in the Prime Material plane, such as bronze wood from Oerth or Fire Wine from Toril were available there, as well as exotic items from all other planes, so it was common for travellers to look for those goods in Sigil rather than going to their sources.

The city also offered a vast array of services supporting traders, travellers, and residents alike. Many people offered their services as bodyguards, mercenaries, and bill collectors. Why anyone would foul themselves by taking on such a hated profession I had no idea.

Many wizards also set up shop in the city, taking advantage of the variety of items that passed through. Sigil was famous for its magic item production. However, prices were considerably high for such items, and their sellers often only kept small businesses that could be difficult to track down unless you knew who to ask about them.

There were a number of magical items that I'd come here to acquire such as an Instant Fortress, as well as a way of remaining hidden from scrying magic. I had a feeling that before I was done here I'd have quite the inventory.

As for finding the right supplier that's why I would need the service of a guide. These Touts were unofficial city guides and was highly recommended that anyone new to Sigil employed a guide, lest they are taken advantage of due to their nativity or simply mugged soon after arriving.

Since there is no central agency or any regulation of the profession, such guides could be little better than the crooks they were supposed to protect people from, either serving to persuade a traveller to the side of their faction or simply robbing their 'customer' once their backs were turned.

I wasn't too worried about my physical safety. It was doubtful that any common crooks carried weapons that could really harm me, and I could teleport out of danger, but I'd rather avoid being robbed and have to start my shopping all over again.

Part 28

Sigil. The Outlands.

After a long day, as much as that term applied in this reality, of shopping I'd settled in at Imel's Happy Tongue, an inn and tavern known for its periodic menu specials that featured food from all the planes. I was staying here despite the danger because some magical items require what is called attunement which requires you to rest while in contact with the magical item.

Since I didn't yet know if attunement was possible outside of the Forgotten Realms multiverse I had to stay here in one of the nicer inns in the city. I was less likely to be robbed or assaulted here as the inn had security and a good reputation according to some of the people who I'd questioned.

So far I'd been able to avoid violence by hiring bodyguards and guides. It might seem as if that was foolish as they could try to steal from me, but any group that did that would soon get a bad reputation that would prevent anyone from doing business with them.

Of course, there were gangs of pickpockets and muggers about, but if they'd targeted me at any point they'd backed off before striking due to my guards. No sense in coming after me if there was weaker prey around I guessed and the guards were getting paid for easy work.

It was one of the Lady's laws that helped to keep visitors safe. Any action which harms the city of Sigil either directly or indirectly will be considered a direct attack against the Lady herself and punished appropriately by either death or being exiled to something called a maze. Since the Lady can deal with deities lesser beings would be no trouble for her.

Sigil was totally dependent on imports and managed by the Merchants Guild that sought to make plenty of profit, therefore only so much crime could be tolerated or people would simply stop coming to Sigil and the city would simply stop functioning.

This city did have law enforcement and a government so it wasn't as uncivilized as some might think it to be and the city catered to tourists so it was mostly the inhabitants of the city attacking each other that caused problems.

Despite knowing this I kept my hands close to my weapons as I was no fool. Not that it had been easy to keep an eye out for trouble while exploring just a few of the many stores here in Sigil. I'd walked until my feet ached and I doubted that I'd seen more than a tiny fraction of what was on offer.

Then there were the different races. Elves, many kinds of humans, dwarfs, halflings, gnomes, some sort of lizard people, folks who looked like human/animal hybrids, part demons, and orcs, I even saw a trio of Mind Flayers who I wisely avoided.

Before coming to this city I'd studied protective enchantments before coming to this reality and while the few spells I'd researched wouldn't stop an attack they should keep low-level thieves away.

Muggle-repelling charms are useless in the Outlands because everyone here is a bit magical, but there were spells to hide you from hostiles that I might have gotten right. Hopefully, they wouldn't be tested while I was here as they are a tricky bit of magic and above my skill level.

My inventory had grown greatly and it was good to have the time to take stock. My pouch of holding was filled with gold bars, coins minted by the goblins of Gringotts, and currency from around the Forgotten Realms multiverse that were made of different metals.

At this rate, I was going to need far more than my Gringotts vaults and Grimmauld Place to store my wealth as well as my other treasures. I really should look into getting myself a castle or some other form of a fortress.

Gun

Longclaw

Pouch of Holding

Maple Wand

Thestral-hide coat

Dragonhide Boots and Belt

Instant Fortress

Everlasting Rations

Goggles of Night

Amulet of Proof against Detection and Location

Ring of Mind Shielding

Ring of Feather Falling

Wand of Fireballs

Wand of Firebolts

Wand of Lightning Bolts

Wand of Magic Detection

Wand of Magic Missiles

Wand Of Web

Wand of Entangle

Boots of the Winterlands

Earing of Comprehend Languages

Aside from a few accessories meant to protect me from attacks I'd gotten some wands. Unlike my maple wand, these ones only contained a single spell that could be cast a number of times before the item needed to recharge and if their power was expended, they can crumble to ash.

That might make it seem as if they weren't very useful, but given my limited magical education and the fact that I could lose my maple wand, it seemed a good idea to have some backup wands for battles. Even if they didn't recharge when in different universes I had other weapons to fall back on and could always buy more.

One of the coolest things I'd been able to purchase was an Instant Fortress. Since I had to spend months in some dangerous worlds in order to be able to use that world's magic it had seemed wise to find a mobile home of some kind and the fortress would do nicely.

The fortress was far from invulnerable it was very sturdy. Unless you had magical weapons that can weaken defences or siege weapons you weren't going to be able to break in. The windows were a weak spot, but I could add some magical enchantments of my own.

In terms of size the fortress was about as long as a shipping container, but square in shape so it was much wider than a shipper container and tall enough to have a second floor. As such it was okay for an adventuring party to sleep or to serve as the mobile home of a wizard.

I'd even gotten myself some gear for spending time in Skyrim. Okay so it was a special pair of boots meant for a very cold climate, but at least I was preparing and I did have muggle-made cold-weather gear from back when I'd recovered Umbridge's frozen corpse.

Not everything I'd wanted to buy was now mine. It isn't always as simple as trading some gold. I'd gone to a tattoo parlour and discovered that any attempts to mark my skin were undone by the power that would prevent me from dying a mortal death.

I didn't know if this would work for piercings as well and that would be something I could test one day. I already had a piercing so I was able to purchase an earring that allowed me to speak and talk in any language I could hear. It was a magical version of Star Trek's universal translator.

People in Sigil didn't seem to require any help with translating. That was either another oddity about this place or some awesomely powerful wizard just kept casting a Comprehend Languages spell over the city.

Before heading off to Skyrim, the land I had chosen to spend at least a few months in so I could start using that dimension's magic I would need to return to the Wizarding World to let my tutors and girlfriend know that I would be gone for several months.

I planned to return to the Wizarding World after spending months in Skyrim so that I could spend time researching and practising more wand magic. Hopefully, I would simply be able to rehire my tutors, but keeping things going with Tonks could be a different matter.

Those were concerns for the future. For now, I needed to rest so as to complete the attunement and tomorrow I needed to go some more shopping as there were things I still wanted to buy here before I moved on.

Part 29

Dimhollow Crypt. Skyrim.

The entrance to Dimhollow Crypt was in the snowy north of Skyrim, up in the mountains. It was tough terrain and far more rugged than I was used to. Lucky for me I didn't need to even try making my way there on foot as I'd teleported into this world and appeared directly at the entrance.

This was good because even with my special coat that was enchanted to keep me warm, thanks to some charms it was cold here. I couldn't freeze to death, but it was still damn uncomfortable.

I felt ready to begin my adventures in the world of the Elder Scrolls. I'd researched wand spells that could be useful, shopped for adventurer's gear in the city of Sigil, and put together an impressive inventory, at least as far as I was concerned.

My intention was to study the local magic during my time in this world and to collect some useful relics. The artefacts could wait as I needed to study magic first. I fully intended for my wands to become mere tools that could be useful but not a necessity as a wizard. I wanted to be able to shoot lightning bolts from my fingertips and hold fire in the palm of many hands.

If past experience was anything to go by it would be weeks before I could start to cast even the most simple of spells that the native mages use. As such getting into the College of Winterhold any time soon seemed unlikely as that centre of learning is known to require more than tuition fees in order to get you enrolled.

Therefore I decided to acquire the services of a tutor as I had done before. My choice was Serana Volkihar the somewhat friendly vampire. Not only was she skilled in the use of spells she learned alchemy from her mother if memory served.

In return for her services, I would offer her shelter and a chance to explore other worlds. Given her family drama, I could well imagine that she'd want to leave this world and I could aid with that. I might even be able to help her with that family drama.

First things first, I needed to make contact with Serana and then make my offer. If she didn't take it I would have to look elsewhere, and while I did have other options I'd prefer Serana as a travelling companion. Even her vampiric nature was much of a concern. If she wanted to be immortal without the blood-drinking then that could be arranged.

I'd considered teleporting myself directly to her resting place, but I needed to get used to fighting and I needed to test my capabilities. Going up against a few vampires would normally be rather foolish for someone at my skill level, but I couldn't be killed by mortal means and if I was captured I would teleport away.

Despite my immortality, I'd spent a fortune on a mithril chainshirt much like one worn by Frodo in the Lord the Rings movies. It could be worn under my clothing, and it felt comfortable despite it being made of metal.

Since there were weapons that can kill immortals it seemed wise to wear some armour as those special weapons still had to wound an immortal in order to work. I theorised that my immortality could be overwhelmed if I was injured enough so some protection for my body seemed wise.

"These Vigilantes don't know when to give up," I heard a voice say as I moved through the underground space "I thought burning down their precious Hall and desecrating their shrine would send enough of a message".

I was able to sneak closer to the sound of the voices without being detected. Vampires have enhanced senses; however, they only work if people with enhanced senses are bothering to pay attention. These creatures were overconfident.

For a moment I wondered why the Dragonborn wasn't here. Perhaps they hadn't joined the Dawnguard in this version of events. They could be busy elsewhere, or even trapped in Apocrypha. Perhaps I would find out.

"To come here alone. A fool like the rest of them" another voice said.

I couldn't see much more than two figures that were standing next to each other while talking, so I decided to get closer before striking. My special goggles only transformed darkness into a dim light so I couldn't be sure that I would hit some rock formation if I attacked now.

"He fought well, I'll give him that" the first voice commented.

I was now in range to use one of my wands, but I had no intention of earning the title of vampire hunter just yet as the two human-sized leeches were still speaking. They might say something that I wanted to overhear.

"All this talk is making me thirsty," the second voice said "Perhaps another Vigilant will wander in".

Slowly I moved a little closer, and I could see that that the vampire's victim was still alive. He was weak, he would need healing, I might be able to help him. I normally didn't concern myself with such things because if I did all I'd ever do is spend my time helping people, yet I felt like making an exception.

"I wish the others would hurry up already" the first voice was now saying "I've got half a mind to return to the castle and tell Lord Harkon what a fool he's entrusted this mission to".

One of the vampires turned his back to me, and this made for a very tempting target so I aimed my wand of firebolts. The spell struck the vamp in the back and since they had a weakness to fire vampire burst into flames, instantly killing the overgrown leech.

I quickly used the wand to set the other vampire on fire, not waiting as vampires can move fast. Only he didn't turn to dust right away so I sent another ball of fire at him while he screamed in pain. This did the job rather nicely.

Once the leeches were dust I left the cover I'd been hiding in. Then I calmly began walking further into the cave.

I healed the dying human, which took some effort as he'd been dying due to extreme blood loss. Lucky for him I had a potion for that, several in fact having stocked up before leaving the Wizarding World behind. The rest was a simple matter of stopping the bleeding.

When I was sure he wouldn't die if I teleported him I visualised the Temple of Mara in Riften and teleported us both there before returning myself back here. The locals would think it a miracle and I would be able to feel good about myself for helping a stranger.

After that, I reached into my pouch of holding and collected as much of the vampire dust as I could fit into the little bottles I was carrying inside the pouch. They were meant to contain potion ingredients and keep them fresh with the aid of charms placed upon them.

I'd prepared myself well for this trip and I had a number of useful items in my pouch, including containers for alchemy ingredients. If I remembered correctly vampire dust could be used to create potions of invisibility as far as I could remember and I would have the chance to experiment later.

These vampires didn't turn everything to ash with them when they were slain. They left behind clothes that would be in a good state if I'd not set them on fire and even a few coins that I took. Shifting through ashes wasn't like looting a fresh corpse.

Suddenly I heard a menacing snarl come from somewhere ahead. Without much in the way of warning, a black hound with jagged teeth and blood-red eyes charged right at me. It was no normal dog; this was some sort of hellhound. Thankfully, these ones were quite visible unlike the ones in the Supernatural series.

From within my coat, I withdrew a shotgun, a little something I'd picked up from the zombie world that I visited when I wanted some bars of gold. I proved to be rather good at aiming despite my lack of experience with firearms outside of video games.

The dog thing yelped as it staggered back. I expanded three shells before the beast finally died. It was no ordinary animal, and it did not hunt alone.

Its mate or hunting partner, drawn to me by tall the noise, was soon wounded thanks to 12 gauge shells. The recoil had taken some getting used to when I'd been practising.

As hoped my shotgun had proven effective against the forces of darkness, just as the great warrior and saviour Ash Williams had shown us. While I didn't have a chainsaw, I did have a magic sword and that should meet with his approval.

With the way clear I moved deeper underground. Keeping an eye out for danger

Part 30

Author Note

You get two parts today as I sadly have nothing better to do.

Dimhollow Crypt. Skyrim.

I soon found myself in a large cavern full of coffins. I found this to be understandably creepy, and I moved slowly through the room my shotgun ready to blast some evil dead. I really wished that I had a chainsaw right now, hopefully, my magic would make up for the lack of proper undead slaying tools.

Suddenly, the skeletons within the surrounding coffins started coming alive, or more accurately they became animate, some bursting out of the containers like a jack in a box, I haven't been scared of something doing that since I was a toddler.

Thankfully for me, they were fragile things just like in the game, as such they were easily defeated by the careful application of hot lead. The only downside was that the noise from all the fighting had attracted the attention of yet another vampire.

The fool came running right at me and the creature took a shot to the head. I watched as she turned to dust, the effect wasn't quite the same as some of the vampires I'd seen on TV, like those Blade the Daywalker or Buffy Summers faced.

It wasn't as loud or as quick, also when this vampire collapsed into ashes she left her clothes behind. She didn't appear to have been carrying anything of value and I had no reason to take her outfit so I just gathered up some of the powered remains as if nothing else the dust might be worth something in trade.

Hopefully, there would be stuff worth taking somewhere further inside the crypt. So far this dungeon-diving adventure hadn't gotten me any real loot. Real adventuring in Skyrim was proving to be disappointing, but this was my first time.

Venturing on I passed through another gate, stopping to harvest some strange-looking mushrooms, and after that, I found myself in what looked like a burial chamber.

All the coffins were open and this implied the use of more Nercomany, which was something I was already sick of at this point. The dead shouldn't get up and walk around, it was super creepy.

I soon came across more foes. The vampires had indeed been messing with unnatural forces as there were draugr here, and unlike those, the Dragonborn would encounter while looking for the Words that made up Shouts, these zombie-like creatures seemed to be under the command of the vampires. This was made clear when one of the blood drinkers ordered the undead things to attack.

This group of undead proved to be tougher than the skeletons I'd faced earlier. They only staggered back when I hit them and I was forced to fall back on my wands as I teleported around to give myself some room. Magical bolts of lightning and a fire-making spell from my maple wand proved to be effective.

At some point, I should seek out a trainer and get some tips on using my sword as my magical attacks were ranged and while I could teleport around a battlefield I was no Ciri. I couldn't just keep disappearing and then reappearing as she did. It drained me.

I would need to learn to fight with Longclaw. A weapon I felt sure would be effective against the undead since it had been when Jon Snow had fought Wights and White Walkers.

Now I faced the last still-standing foe, a vampire who tried to use magic to drain my life force, but before it could do any real harm I stunned it with my maple wand and then set the blood drinker on fire with my next spell.

Immortality or not it seemed wise to take a Cure Disease potion later and to test that my healing factor was still working. No sense in taking chances and becoming a vampire.

Soon after all that fighting, I found a filled soul gem and an arcane enchanter. Judging by the state of both the gem and the funky-looking table the vampires must have brought this stuff with them.

While I had plenty of room on my person for the soul gem I couldn't fit the table in my pouch of holding or expanded bags. I would have to come back for it once I was set up somewhere. Not much of a chore given that I could teleport.

In the next part, there was a waterfall and what looked like graves on either side of a path. It was super strange to see graves in a place like this, where I was from people were buried in cemeteries on the surface, which made it a lot easier for grieving people to visit their departed loved ones.

I had no idea why the people here had gotten into the habit of interring the dead in such hard-to-reach places. Granted it might make it harder for Necromancers to acquire corpses, but if that was the reason then why not just cremate the dead?

"You're mine, mortal!" a vampire bellowed.

That yell broke my trail of thought and the walking leech who dared to bother me paid with its non-life when I hit him with a body-binding curse and then set him on fire. This got me even more vampire ash for potion-making later on.

Moving on again I soon came across two gargoyle statues that were quite eerie, though their eyes were stone it felt as if they stared into my very soul.

A few steps into this area let us know that there were people here as I could hear their voices and I used stealth as I wanted to know if the vampire were talking about anything I wanted to know.

All this sneaking about was proving to be easier than imagined. I half expected to find the words: your sneak skill has increased, to pass my field of vision, but they never did.

Before long I found myself on the ledge of a balcony and I peeked over the edge. This area was well-lit thanks to some torches so I could see two vampires who were talking to someone who seemed to be a prisoner.

Their captive had clearly been tortured; the bruises being evidenced enough of this. The man was wearing but a pair of rags and was kneeling before the vampires like a dog.

"I believe you Vigilant" a vampire was saying "Now go to your beloved Stendarr".

Before the monster could kill the human I fired off another body-binding spell. The spell wouldn't hold for long, but it would do its job. The second proved to be faster than expected. He knocked my wand out of my hand and grabbed me.

That was his mistake as I teleported us both outside into the daylight. The vampire let go of me and tried to cover his eyes as he ran for cover. The sunlight was fatal, but it hurt the creature and even I was blinded for a moment before I teleported back.

The Vigilant was passed out and I used a few healing spells on him that I'd researched before coming here as well as a potion to help him recover. I made a mental note to restock as soon as possible.

I didn't take him to the temple as I'd teleported a lot today and it wearing me out. Besides miracles stop being special if they happen too often. Plus I still hadn't found Serana, her prison had to be done here somewhere.

Part 31

Dimhollow Cavern. Skyrim

"You bit me!" I yelled.

It had all happened so fast. One moment I'd been solving some puzzle, and once I'd done that some contraption, brought up a sarcophagus, which had opened up, and then the vampire within the sarcophagus, had thrown herself at me with such speed that I'd been taken by complete surprise.

"You fucking bit me!" I shouted.

Sure she hadn't been able to do me any harm due to my immortality yet I felt violated. Also I was a little bit worried that she'd infected me with the disease they had here that turned people into vampires.

The illness that makes people into vampires isn't anything natural as it comes from a Daedric Prince making it as much a curse as it is a virus. I would have to take a Cure disease to be on the safe side.

I'd actually come prepared for Serana to be hungry, I just hadn't expected her to be that fast after waking up, so before venturing into this world I'd picked up a jar of Blood-flavoured lollipops. These were sweets sold in the 'Unusual Tastes' section of Honeydukes in Hogsmeade. They were meant to help vampires deal with their cravings for blood. I offered one to Serana who took it and she seemed to enjoy it.

"I didn't mean to bite you" explained Serana as she licked the treat I'd offered her "I've been sleeping for a very long time".

This meeting wasn't going as I'd hoped. I decided to let the matter drop and move on.

"My name is Macross" I introduced "I'm a mage".

She soon told me her name and then she had more to say.

"Who… who sent you here?" she asked.

Her voice was confused rather than hostile.

"No one" I answered "I came here to find you on my own".

Now that I'd had a chance to look at her I discovered that Serena was tall, but not overly so, and somewhat of a beautiful woman, or at least she would have been if she was human.

I didn't know if a female vampire could be considered a woman. Her skin was too pale, and her eyes were inhuman but other than that she was attractive enough. At least for a walking, talking, leech with fangs.

I'd never been a fan of vampires. The blood-drinking makes me a little bit queasy and I'd rather remain on top of the food chain if at all possible.

"There are some people after you" I admitted "Vampires, and the Dawnguard could be here soon".

The Dawnguard would try to kill her, and in her weakened state, she'd be easy prey for them unless she stayed with me.

"Who are the Dawnguard?" she asked.

Serana had a lot to catch up on. Hopefully, I wouldn't overwhelm her during our first meeting.

"They are a group of vampire hunters" I answered "There's been an increase in vampire activity recently because of your father. He was the one who sent the vampires here to find you".

Not because he cared for his daughter. He wanted her blood if I recalled correctly. Although I might not have the details correct in my memory.

"Can you help me get back to my family's home?" she requested "My family used to live on an island to the west of Solitude. I guess they still do".

The woman seemed more composed now. The treat must be helping.

As Serana began to move around the chamber I saw something and a memory was triggered.

"Is that an Elder Scroll?" I asked.

Serana turned her head to see the scroll, which was rolled up and hanging off her belt.

"Yes, it is, and it's mine," she said.

I was amazed by this. A real-life Elder Scroll, I was giddy at the idea of even getting to touch one. Sure they were important in the game, but they were just part of the plot. In reality, the Elder Scrolls were far more than they appeared to be, they could allow glimpses into the future and one had been used to move Aldiun the World-Eater through time.

"It's… complicated," she told me "I can't really talk about it. I'm sorry".

As tempting as it was to claim the Elder Scroll, I knew that using them came with a price and I simply wasn't prepared to handle one. It did need to be secured, but if I wanted Serana as a companion it would be unwise to take it from her.

Besides, it was the bow that mattered. Without Auriel's Bow, the rest didn't really matter much. I just needed to secure that weapon and the vampires would be unable to block out the sunlight. An act that could threaten all life or at least turn Skyrim into a wasteland depending on how far the effect spread over this world.

Given that the sun in this world wasn't a star, it was a hole into a realm of magic if memory served, I wondered if photosynthesis was even a thing here. This world did not work like Earth, so the plants might feed upon the magical energy that bled into this plane of existence by the big hole in the fabric of reality.

Crimson Nirnroot grows underground despite it being a leafy plant, but that might just be a freak of nature.

"I can take you home" I offered to Serana "You should talk to your father about his plans".

The vampire looked around.

"So any idea how to get out of here?" she asked.

I took hold of her arm, and when didn't protest I teleported us both to the bridge that led up to her family home. The castle was huge and in a remote location with only one easy point of access. If it could be cleared of vampires it would make a great base of operations for me.

With the right magic, even a castle could be hidden and defended. Perhaps I would take it over one day and use it to store some of my treasure.

"How did you do that?" Serana "That wasn't like any teleportation magic I've ever seen".

It wasn't yet dark and I could tell that light was bothering my potential travelling companion so I reached into my pouch of holding and took out a pair of sunglasses.

"Try these on" I advised.

She did so and I could tell that she'd become more comfortable.

"Oh, they didn't have these when I was last out in the daylight" she commented.

I could discuss them being otherworldly at another time.

"You can go the rest of the way yourself," I said "I'm not foolish enough to walk into a nest of vampires".

Granted they might not be able to harm, but if they served Molog Bal, then it was possible that dark diety might become aware of me. Best to avoid getting noticed if possible.

"I'm staying in Solitude," I told the female vampire "If you want to know more about what is going on you can find me there".

It would be better for her to start to piece things together by herself and then have her seek me out. So we parted ways and I went to find somewhere to stay.

Part 32

Solitude. Skyrim.

It was late afternoon by my reckoning when I entered the city known as Solitude. The marketplace was packed with people and everyone was minding their own business. If a person had been executed here anytime recently then they'd cleaned up the mess and I couldn't hear anyone talking about the death.

In the game, this city isn't that large in terms of size or in population. In reality, Solitude was a massive metropolitan city that contained many people of different races. Unlike in my world, you didn't just have a variety of humans living together, there were different intelligent species as well.

I'd quickly adapted to the existence of goblins and House Elves, yet seeing a man-sized lizard person walk by took me a moment to process despite me having spent time in Sigil. I even spotted a few elves and I had to remain myself that the dark elves here were not like the drow of the Forgotten Realms.

"If you are heading to the Blue Palace, you might as well be properly dressed," someone said to me.

When I looked back, I saw a female High Elf, who was now standing behind me. High was a good word for this race as if this woman was an indication then they were a race of very tall people. They also thought of themselves as above the other races.

"Something wrong with my outfit?" I asked.

I was wearing black dragon-hide boots fastened with silver buckles. Black jeans. A black top that hid my mithril chainshirt. And over my top was my thestral-hide coat. The coat contained all of my weapons in expanded pockets other than my sword, which I kept on a scabbard that was hung over my back.

My clothes hadn't stood out in Sigil because that place had so many people from different cultures and because there were charms on my coat that were supposed to stop people from really noticing what I was wearing. This local woman had only noticed because she was interested in clothing.

"I wouldn't know where to begin," said the High Elf.

Rather than carry on with that conversation I just turned around and started walking again. I had no desire to stand around while someone insulted me.

I headed into a store called Bits and Pieces so that I could trade some of the salt I was carrying, a valuable commodity in worlds with a medieval level of development, for some local currency,

The store owner and I soon got chatting about this city.

"You know, this place is actually nice to live in," I was told "But a lot of terrible things have happened here over the centuries".

I knew some of what she meant.

"We've had a mad emperor, the Wolf Queen Potema, and recently the High King was murdered by the leader of the Stormcloaks, may the gods curse him. Seriously, this place has bad luck" the local woman informed.

I wondered if the woman had mentioned the Wolf Queen because rumours of Potema's spirit being active had reached people's ears despite the Jarl's wish to keep people ignorant of her attempt to return, or if the businesswoman simply thought that it was just an interesting bit of local lore to share with a newcomer. I would have to visit the court and find out.

If Potema's spirit was going to return then I might need to deal with her. Not that it would take much effort to teleport to her remains, grab them and then take them to the priest for whatever ritual they had here that could force a soul to leave this world.

I might be able to banish her spirit with my Deathly Hallow, assuming that it worked here, as I could summon and dismiss spirits with it. Not that I wanted to do any spirit summoning here in case any of the gods protested.

"Anything worth seeing while I'm here in town?" I inquired of the chatty lady.

I had to be sure that everything matched up with my memories.

"There's the Bards College" the native answered.

I'd spent many hours playing Skyrim, yet never once had I ever entered that music school. I liked music, but I'd never had even a bit of luck trying to sing or play a musical instrument.

There was no fighters or mages guild in Skyrim and that would make it harder to find people who could teach me fighting skills or new spells. Still, it was worthwhile coming here for the shopping and to see the sites.

The local woman went on to explain that Solitude was the capital city of both Haafingar Hold and all of Skyrim. Which was currently ruled by a woman known as Jarl Elisif the Fair, widow of the late High King Torygg.

Also, it was the headquarters of the Imperial Legion that was stationed here in Skyrim. General Tullius commanded the Imperial army from the fortress here that was called Castle Dour. That place didn't sound at all inviting.

Jarl Elisif, resided in the Blue Palace, as expected, and the Thalmor also an embassy that was somewhere hidden in the nearby mountains. I hoped to avoid having run-ins with those bloody Nazis elves.

A good reason why the Legion was posted here had to do with the defensible nature of Solitude itself. The city was set upon a great stone arch that towered above the mouth of the Karth River.

Add to this the city was surrounded by the soaring peaks of the nearby mountains. Meaning that Solitude was a natural stronghold. Another thing worthy of note was that the city happened to be protected from attack from the west by the still-largely intact Fort Hraggstad, which overlooked the Sea of Ghosts.

I paid attention to the woman's words in case any of the knowledge she shared turned out to be useful information during my time in this world.

Solitude was also a major shipping port and an important Imperial supply line, the local geography gave it's port much-needed shelter from the strong winds of the Ghost Sea.

Most of the shipping in Solitude I knew to be run by the Imperial-financed East Empire Company. I assumed that it was something akin to The East India Company back in my world. That organisation had been formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with Mughal India and the East Indies and later with China.

I'd learned from my studies of the history of my world that the company ended up seizing control over large parts of the Indian subcontinent, and parts of Southeast Asia, and it even colonised Hong Kong after a war with China.

I left the shop with the intent of renting a room at the inn that was close to the gates as that would be the first place that Serana would look if she came to the city with the intent of finding me.

Before going to the inn I stopped off at the apothecary to purchase a curse disease potion and a healing potion. I was going to take any chances of getting sick thanks to Molag Bal's STD.

As I walked an old Wood Elf man came over to me.

"Please, you have to help me!" he called out.

I had an inkling about where this could lead, and I had no interest in getting involved in the affairs of a daedric prince who was pretty much an insane demon god. Lucky for me the man lost interest when I didn't pay him any attention and I was able to make my way into the inn.

Once I had a room I would need to seek out the Court's mage. If anyone had books I could buy about using magic then it would be her, and I needed to find out more about the mage's collage before I headed off to Winterhold.

I could afford to wait a while for Serana as it would take a couple of weeks at least for me to adapt enough to this world's magic to start casting even the most simple of spells. In the meantime, I could research some of the theories of magic and brew a few potions.

Part 33

The Blue Palace. Solitude.

Sybille Stentor, a Breton mage, worked in the role of court wizard on behalf of Jarl Elisif the Fair, here in the Blue Palace of Solitude. She was not the most friendly of people, possibly due to her being a vampire, it must be hard to be pals with those who could be your food.

While the Nords living in Solitude got along better with the other races than in other parts of Skyrim, that acceptance wouldn't extend to vampires, so she wisely kept that fact about herself hidden from the public.

I'd not been fooled for a moment as her eyes glowed faintly a yellow-orange colour. and I would ask once we'd gotten to know each other better if she was using some sort of illusion magic to help to hide her vampire features. If she was the illusion had failed with me.

This made sense to me because by her own admission Sybille Stentor was an expert in Destruction and adept in Illusion Magic. I was interested in learning anything she had to teach me, so I'd paid careful attention when she'd told me what types of magic she considered herself to be a master in.

Getting her to agree to tutor me wasn't much work since I'd just bribed her. Court Mages were sponsored by their Jarl, but I knew from experience that potion ingredients alone can set you back quite a bit.

This was why Sybille Stentor had agreed to set some time aside every day to tutor me while I waited for Serana to come and find me. I suspect that Serana was trying to figure out what her father was up to and that she might also be off looking for her mother. Not that she'd have any luck with that given that Serana's mother was hiding in the Soul Carin.

"There are two paths to gaining magical power" Stentor was saying to me as we stood in her workspace "Well three if you count becoming a priest, but they are mostly focused on Restoration".

Since I didn't want anything to do with the Divines I had no desire to learn if they empowered their priests with spells like deities in the Forgotten Realms are known to do, or if priests just taught each other healing magics.

In retrospect, it had been foolish of me to teleport that badly wounded Vigilant to a temple. I would need to be more careful in the future.

"Mages such as ourselves have two ways of gaining power" the vampire let me know "The quickest and most foolish way is to make pacts with the Daedra. The more powerful daedra such as the princes can be very generous with their gifts, but there is always a price to pay".

I suspected that my teacher had contracted the disease/curse known as Sanguinare Vampiris on purpose to become immortal or by accident because she got bit by a vampire during some expedition for lost knowledge or a relic. Most likely the former since there was a cure and a decent mage should be able to cleanse themselves of the curse if that was what they wanted.

The fate of Miraak the first Dragonborn was a good lesson as to why you didn't want to have anything to do with the Daedric Princes. I didn't doubt that I would be of great interest to the Princes, so I would avoid their altars and followers as much as possible.

"Even the lesser Conjuration spells involve a pact with a Daedra" I was told by Sybille Stentor "When you summon a weapon from Oblivion you are binding a minor daedra to yourself if only for a short time".

I remembered reading that somewhere. I wondered if Bound Weapon spells would work outside of this multiverse. My Elder Blood might allow it since I might be drawing magical power from different dimensions already. But it wasn't worth finding out.

"Another way to use Oblivion to quickly gain power is to make use of an Atronach Forge" Sybille Stentor was now saying "This forge can be used to create staffs, spell tomes, and even some potions, by sacrificing certain objects to the Daedra".

Again that seemed like something to avoid and I recalled an old idea that I'd read somewhere on the Internet or possibly come up with myself.

"Wait, does that mean spell tomes are Daedra?" I asked.

Stentor spent a moment in thought.

"The Daedra are not creatures of flesh and blood like we are," she said "They can come in many forms so it is possible".

When you read a spell tome it vanishes. Perhaps it returns to some realm of Oblivion or maybe the very minor Daedra sets up inside your head and that's how you can learn to cast a complex spell so quickly.

There is a certain Daedric Prince who specialises in knowledge and tempts people with it. I could see the Prince turning lesser Daedra into books so as to gain access to their minds. I could be wrong, but I felt that I was on something.

"What's the safer way to learn magic?" I questioned.

Stentor made a small light appear in her hand.

"The other way is slower" she replied "You learn to channel magical energy in different ways, this can result in experiments going wrong, but you're unlikely to risk your soul".

I'd like my soul to stay mine.

"Even enchanting an item using a soul gem is a pact with the Daedra" I was informed, "The Ideal Masters will exchange the power needed to enchant an item for the contents of a soul gem".

I'd never thought the Ideal Masters were actually Daedra. They seemed like something else to me. Not that I wanted to find out and I could always hire enchanters to do the work for me rather than bargain with such creatures. There must be other ways to enchant something. I imagined that it would be a much slower method.

"The best way is to learn from teachers" I was advised "This is the safest, and not always the slowest way depending on the skill of the student, and once you've reached a certain level you can experiment without it being such a risk. You can also become a teacher, it's quite the honour to find a promising student and to nurture their talent".

Given how much she was charging I doubted she thought of me as a promising student. I felt certain that she'd discover that I was indeed talented and she'd warm up to me.

"By coming to me you've chosen the slow and safer path so you might live long enough to actually learn something," said Stentor "Magic or Magicka in the Ayleid Language, is an energy that flows from Aetherius into Mundus by way of the sun and stars, and from it, the realm of Mundus was created".

I knew from the game's lore that Magnus was the god who designed Mundus, the mortal realm, during the time of creation. After it was completed, he left for Aetherius (the magical realm) because the creation of Mundus would have required more of him than he was willing to give.

Something to do with the creation of the mortal realm requiring the gods to sacrifice part of themselves. I couldn't recall the details, but I did know that the Daedra refused to take part in the creation of the mortal realm, unlike the Aedra who did.

When Magnus left he made a hole in the fabric of reality and through that hole, the Magicka of Aetherius flows into the Mortal realm. The great rift he left behind, is the sun itself. Others followed Magnus leaving smaller holes which are the stars, through which Magicka also flows.

This is why the stars which a person is born under have such a great influence on that person's fortunes and fate (horoscopes actually work in this universe) and why many materials which fall from the heavens have great magical properties.

In this world, magic is in everything. It is why making potions is so easy because in this universe as everything has magical properties and people here have magic within them to help bring out those properties.

"Magicka is the energy of all living things and can be harnessed in various ways" I was told "And despite thousands of years of study, there is much we don't know about magic and new ways to harness are learned as ancient knowledge is lost".

She had a real passion for the subject I could tell.

"We'll start with the most simple use of magic," my teacher said, "Which is to create light. You'll need to learn to harness the magical energy that flows through you and to shape that energy into a useful purpose. Doing this is referred to casting a spell".

I'd learned to do that with wand magic very quickly and since this world was even more magical, I didn't think it would take me long to start casting the most basic of spells that this world had to offer.

Part 34

The Labyrinthian. Skyrim.

As we appeared within a large room, Serana and I saw that the Dragon Priest Morokei, who held the prize I sought, was both protected and contained by an energy shield cast by two enthralled wizards.

If I recalled correctly these were two of Archmage Savos' companions that were sacrificed to keep the dragon priest contained so that Savos could escape. Perhaps I was remembering it incorrectly and I really did not care what had happened as I'd come here for the special staff not to pass judgement on someone I'd never met.

"Morokei has the Staff of Magnus," I told Serana as I gestured at the figure within the field "We need to bring that barrier down before we can destroy Morokei and claim the staff".

While I was focused on learning how to cast spells with my bare hands, as any tool of magic you possess can be taken away from you and because shooting lightening from fingertips looks freaking awesome, I knew that you couldn't be a proper wizard until you had a staff.

I recalled Terry Pratchett mentioning something about wizards using staffs because if magic fails you then you have a heavy bit of wood in hand to hit people with before you run away, or words to those effects. In my case, it would be teleporting away after hitting the person.

Even if the Staff of Magnus was not actually something left behind by a being of divine nature it was still a very powerful tool and should belong to someone who would use it wisely.

If the staff could absorb magical energy from enchanted objects as well as living creatures it would be a great way to deal with cursed objects without destroying whatever it was that had been cursed. It would also absorb useful magic in an object, but nothing was perfect.

"When you promised me adventure this wasn't quite what I had in mind" commented the vampire "I've been underground far too much".

I'd not mentioned her being a video game character because she didn't know what a video game was, and telling her that she'd been a fictional character to me until now had been hard on her. She was wrapping her head around the idea of there being infinite universes and that anything that could exist must be real somewhere, including stories.

Not that I blamed Serana for being all freaked out. It had only been a week since I'd woken her up and while I'd been trying to master the most simple of Skyrim's spells, only managing to create weak flickering lights, she'd been trying to catch up on everything she'd missed while taking her centuries-long nap.

As hoped she'd come to find me in Solitude and since I'd been planning to come here to grab the staff it seemed like a good way to show some of what I could do. Actions speak louder than words and there was only so much sitting around while chatting that I could stand.

"We need that staff in case the Mage's College has unearthed the Eye of Magnus," I said.

I explained to Serana that the Eye of Magnus was an ancient artefact of unknown origin. What little I knew about it was that possesses a great amount of magical power and that it can be manipulated with the Staff of Magnus. It wasn't something I'd want to mess with if I had another choice.

The Eye was discovered by the ancient Nords when they were building the city of Saarthal. The Nords attempted to keep it buried, but the Snow Elves, who the Nords were at war with, learned of its existence and coveted it for themselves. The elves assaulted Saarthal to secure this powerful artefact with the intent of using it against the Nords I assumed.

The Nord leader Ysgramor rallied his people and they managed to keep the elves from seizing it. Then The Eye was buried deep below the earth and sealed away because those Nords had more sense than anyone at the College of Winterhold. Some things were best left buried.

The Psijic Order would take custody of the Eye, but only after the Dragonborn stopped a Naziz elf called Ancano from unleashing a major disaster. Only according to rumour the Dragonborn had gone off to Solstheim already and hadn't come back.

I might need to step into the role of a saviour if the Dragonborn was away dealing with some other major problem.

"If the Eye of Magnus is found I want to have the staff ready to deal with it," I said "If the Mages' College isn't digging up Saarthal then I'll have time to figure out how to move it".

I don't want this world to explode while I am in it. I have to stay here for months so best to nip these disasters in the bud. Once I was ready to leave I might be able to move the Eye to the zombie world so that no one would start messing with it.

Why the Psijic Order didn't take the Eye sooner I had no idea. They had power over time and The Eye could be moved safely as the Mage's College manages it.

"Makes sense," said Serana "Well as much as any of this does".

If she wanted my help to find her mother then she would have to help me with obtaining the staff first. I wanted her to get a taste of what travelling with me would involve before we came to an agreement.

"I'm going to set up there," I told the vampire as I took out a gun from my bag of holding "I'll open fire as soon as the shield comes down".

My weapon of choice for this adventure was the Remington Model 700 bolt-action hunting rifle that has a .30-06 Springfield cartridge along with a mounted telescopic sight and suppressor. Just the kind of thing you wanted when you were taking on a dragon priest that can drain magical energy and create shields. I'd picked it up from the zombie world the last time I'd visited.

"What in Oblivion is that thing?" Serana as she looked at my rifle.

I spent a moment wondering how I could explain a rifle.

"It's like a crossbow, but rather than use bolts it fires small metal projectiles called bullets at a high speed. They do a lot of damage. Trust me it will work".

And if it didn't I had other weapons.

"You'll need to deal with the two mages who are powering the barrier," I said "I have a way to stun them".

She should be able to use one of my wands to break the enchantment on those poor mages. They might even survive and leave this place.

I got into position and prepared to open fire. Upon my signal, Serana hit the two mages with spells from a wand from Sigil and the barrier came down. Before Morokei could even start moving I shot him in the chest and he went down.

"Careful he might just be stunned," I said.

I didn't even know if that was possible for an undead creature, but since there was no sense in taking chances I shot him again, and then took out Longclaw as I moved over to what should be a fully dead creature. I stabbed Morokei and there was no reaction.

"So these guns are powerful" commented Serana as I picked up my new staff "Don't let the design fall into anyone's hands".

Uplifting Skyrim might seem like a good idea as with better technology the locals could protect themselves. However, given what happened to the Dwarves I'd decided not to try uplifting the natives

As I held the staff and enjoyed the feeling of power it gave me, Serana went and checked on the people who might not be corpses. Given that they'd collapsed as soon as they were freed I knew that they hadn't seen anything of importance. Before being stunned they'd not had their eyes open so they should be totally unaware of what had happened here.

"Those two mages are dead," she said "I think they have been for a while".

That was a shame as I'd wanted to save them. Morality and good deeds aside, having a couple of experienced mages owe me a favour would have been pleasant. I hoped that their souls had been able to move on at least. I'd have taken death over being trapped here.

"Are we going to look around?" Serana questioned.

That would be a bad idea.

"This place is full of creatures and traps," I told her "I'm not ready for that".

Taking out a few vampires and their minions, or slaying Morokei with overwhelming firepower before he could react, was not the same as dealing with a place like The Labyrinthian.

With that in mind, I teleported us back to my room at the Winking Skeever. I had set up my wizarding tent here so there was plenty of room for the both of us as well as some of my equipment.

"Your mother is hiding out in the Soul Carin," I told Serana.

She'd helped me so I would help her. I'd already explained that I could grant her immortality if she cured herself of vampirism. She wasn't ready for such a change yet and there was no rush since I wouldn't be leaving this world for a while.

"Can you take me to her?" the vampire requested.

I could, but I wouldn't as given the soul-draining effect of the place I might not be able to get us out again, and I wished to avoid the attention of the Ideal Masters.

"No" I replied, "But I can show you how she got there".

Serana could take care of herself and chat with her mother without me getting involved.

Part 35

Valerica's laboratory. Castle Volkihar.

"Now this is an impressive setup," I commented once we appeared inside the alchemy lab of Serana's mother "I'm going to poke around here while you go to talk to your Mum".

I knew how to open the door to the Soul Cairn I just had no intention of stepping through it.

"You're not coming with me?" asked Serana.

I began looking for the journal that should contain the instructions we needed. I felt sure that there was more involved in opening a doorway into a realm of Oblivion (if that was what the Soul Carin was) than throwing a few ingredients in a dish. Hopefully, there was human sacrifice involved.

"The Volkihar family drama is your business," I said "Besides, I'm human. I don't know what kind of effect the place could have on me".

I'm not risking my soul just because Serana wanted to confront her mother and confirm some of what I'd been telling her. I didn't blame her for wanting to verify at least some of the facts, that was only sensible, and I doubted her father had told her much.

"Now that you mention it I'm not sure a human can survive there" the vampire mused "Although you might be able to withstand it if you really are immortal".

I cut myself and let her see the wound heal, but that could have been a trick and she'd been rather out of it when she bit me. I might have to show off a bit before she'd eat one of the Golden Apples.

"It's not my life that concerns me" I clarified "It's my soul".

I did not want a soulless version of me roaming the multiverse assuming that was even possible. My vampire companion accepted my reasoning with a nod.

"Let's say you're right about what my father is up to" Serana was saying as we checked out the shelves "So I cure myself and you then make me immortal. Are you expecting a romantic relationship?".

We hadn't known each other for long, however, if we were going to be travelling together it made sense for her to want to know if I had any intentions towards her beyond simple companionship.

"While I have thought about it" I admitted, "I've no intention of trying to court you're having a family crisis. I figured that if anything did happen it would develop over time and we can deal with the whole 'block out the sun issue' first".

I didn't want her to feel pressured given how much was going on in her life She'd woken up to find that the world had changed and that her father had become a big bad. Given all of that, it was impressive how well she was holding up.

"Well you are interesting" Serana stated "I might stick around".

And if she didn't there were other fish in the multiverse sea.

"Let's see we need, Finely Ground Bone Meal to start with" I read out once I found the right page in the journal "Three Soul Gem shards, Purified Voil Salts and some of your blood. Undead blood to be precise".

The bone meal was on the table by the entrance beneath the mammoth skull, the Soul Gem Shards were found on top of a wardrobe and the Purified Void Salts I located on another table loaded with rare ingredients. The stuff went into a bowl, and Serana added a bit of her blood, she then performed a spell on the mixture.

Before long a portal the Soul Cairn opened one that could be walked down into.

"Your mother is trapped behind a barrier if memory serves," I said as I passed Serana the Staff of Magnus "This should bring the barrier down since it's magical in nature. If it doesn't then you'll have to come up with another solution".

Serana's Mum was a bitch. I would not be risking my life for her.

"Do not lose the staff. I might need to do something drastic about the Eye of Magnus should anything happen to it" I said, "Oh and if you could pick up some Soul Husks I'd be grateful. Your Mum will know what they are".

Of course, I had a few ideas about to handle that situation involving the Eye without the staff. Killing everyone trying to dig up the Nordic ruins and then collapsing what was left of the city was one of them as that would be better than letting the world blow up.

"I'll make sure no one messes with the entrance" I promised.

That was just my excuse to hang around the lab and do some alchemy. I could set up my tent here and thanks to my planning I had plenty of supplies. Plus there were a lot of books to go through.

"Okay well wish me luck," said Serana.

I waved as she went off to go be all dramatic with one of her crappy parents.

Once she was gone I pulled out a large book that contained as many pages as required. It was my grimoire, my book of shadows, and it contained information on spells that I felt were important to know as well the recipes of many potions. When I got back to the Wizarding World I would make a copy to keep in Grimmauld Place should anything happen to this book.

Valerica had many recipes recorded and I intended to copy down the ones that seemed the most useful. I had to make sure that at the start of each recipe, the self-writing quill took down that the ingredients involved all came from the same world and which world that was.

In the Wizarding World, the planet lavender was used in potion-making. Four sprigs of lavender were used in the making of the Sleeping Draught, and it was also used in Calming Draughts due to it having a relaxing effect. Lavender grown here in Skyrim was used mostly in potions that granted temporary magical resistance.

The Skyrim rarity might still work in a Wizarding World as different properties can be brought out depending on the brewing process and other ingredients put into the potion, but that seemed needlessly risky to try when I could just stock up while I was in this world.

Far sooner than expected Serana returned and she brought Valerica with her. Not the result I'd been hoping for.

"You weren't gone for long" I commented.

Serana gave me back my staff and handed over a bag filled with the one plant that grows in that realm.

"For me, it feels like I've been gone for hours," she told me.

I imagined that time in the Soul Cairn must be very strange. Would explain why her mother hadn't gone insane while trapped in there. Valerica seemed in very good shape for a woman who'd been in a realm that could be called Hell for a very long time. This version of her looked like a more mature version of Serana. Her eyes glowed a yellowish colour and her skin was pale. She shared Serana's dark hair and build I noticed.

"Are you pilfering from my lab?" Valerica questioned.

Somehow she made me feel like the kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Mother!" chided Serana "This is Macross. The man who can stop Father from destroying the world and make us both immortal after we get cured. Please be nice".

I'd never agreed to that.

"There are limits to what I can do, Serana," I told her "I can't just go around granting immortality to people".

The younger female vampire did not seem pleased by this news. Neither did her elder.

"So you were lying" Valerica accused.

Serana sighed.

"Do you have any more of those treats?" she asked "Mother is not at her best when she's thirsty".

I did and giving her one might help to break the ice so I handed over a blood lollipop.

"If you can make us both immortal then my father can't just turn us back into vampires, at least in theory" she pointed out "And he would do that".

That was a good point.

"Fine, but just your mother," I said "No one else".

Valerica spoke her mind. I got the feeling she'd be doing this a lot.

"From what I understand you can take us both out of this world," said the older woman "I can take of myself, but I would like to be somewhere far from here and to be able to spend time with my daughter".

She was a lover of potions so I could set her up in the wizarding world once she'd become human again and let her study the potions of that version of Earth. It wouldn't be much trouble because I can hire other people to do most of the work.

"I'm not due to leave for a few months" I mentioned "You'll have to keep your head down until then".

Valerica seemed amused.

"I was successfully avoiding my husband before Serana was even born" she stated.

She can't have been that good at avoiding her husband if she managed to get pregnant with his child. However, I decided not to mention that as some people can't be convinced by a reasonable argument.

"Okay fine" I agreed "Let's go find that cure".

I began to pack up.

"We should get the bow first" I reasoned "Without it won't matter if he has a Daughter of Coldharbor's blood or not. I'll need both of you to help me recover the bow. It's guarded by a powerful vampire who I might not be able to deal with on my own".

With so much to do, I was glad that I had so much time.

Part 36

Auriel's Chapel. Skyrim.

Rather than filling some jug with water and going through a load of Wayshrines while having to deal with Falmer, I'd teleported the three of us directly to the temple. I felt sure that Valerica, Serana and I could handle one vampire even if he had Falmer minions.

"This is a statue of Auriel," Serana said as we looked around "But it's using the older signs of his power. This temple must be ancient. The bow has to be in here".

She still hadn't fully wrapped her head around the idea that this was all old news to me. I felt that this would soon change.

"Arch-Curate Vyrthur is one of the last living Snow Elves, alongside his brother Knight-Paladin Gelebor," I said, "Who we would have met if I hadn't teleported us directly here".

Obtaining the bow would be dangerous enough without having to go through all the foreplay before the big boss fight.

"Not to mention a lot of Falmer" I then added.

Carrying the water would have served a purpose even if it wouldn't have been practical as it was needed to open the door to the temple. Since I had an Alchemy Jug from Sigil, which could provide a number of liquids in different amounts, it wasn't hard to supply the water needed.

As I poured out the contents of the jug it flowed down three channels that had been cut into the stone and then filled the sun symbol which glowed for a few moments. I had been concerned about not using holy water, but it didn't seem to matter.

When we got inside I saw that this place was far from holy and perhaps that had removed a requirement for opening the door. Within the temple beings that had been frozen into statues looked like displays in some sort of museum. Some of the creatures had weapons, and some did not. A crowd of them were around the flame symbol in the centre of the room.

"And I thought the Soul Cairn was creepy," Serana muttered.

Rather than reply, I crept through the statues, careful not to touch them in case that set them free to attack us, as for, Valerica, she didn't seem at all bothered by her surroundings.

Beyond the frozen bodies and the shrine were some skeletons, in various positions that suggested they'd been trying to hide, or escape. Although from what I could only guess. Perhaps the Falmer or someone worse.

There was another hallway, which I assumed led to where the Arch-Curate was waiting on a throne made of ice. That did not look at all comfortable and yet I envied him as I didn't have a throne. Not that I ruled anywhere.

"Ready for this?" Serana whispered.

I didn't reply I just led the way into a hallway, which was uncomfortably narrow, and it led to a cavern filled with a dozen or so ice statues, and at the far end was Arch-Curate himself still sitting.

"Have you come here expecting to claim Auriel's Bow?" he demanded to know "Or have you come to offer me your rather fetching companions?".

The former rather than the latter.

"Is he talking about me and Mother?" Serana wondered "We're not yours to give".

The less-than-friendly Snow Elf didn't answer the question, but he did speak some more.

"No matter, I have what I want" the mad elf declared.

He did something that involved making a bunch of ice statues come alive. Granted they were put down in short order as I had the Staff of Magnus and could drain the magic right out of the statues in short order. Something that caused them to fall apart, or at least those that weren't blasted by the two powerful vampire mages.

"An impressive display," the Arch-Curate praised, sounding like he meant it "But a wasted effort. You delay nothing but your own deaths!"

Then the Snow Elf did some more magic.

"Watch out!" Serana yelled. "He's pulling down the ceiling!"

The warning was unneeded as I'd known this would happen. I channelled my power through the staff and formed a shield around us with a bit of wand magic that I could channel through the staff since it could be used that way despite it not being a wand.

It was a very powerful tool that could absorb, store, and channel magic. It could even be used to send blasts of raw magical power at someone or something without requiring any sort of spell. Perhaps it was truly the instrument of god?

"Finish them!" Vyrthur commanded while waving a hand.

There was shouting as the frozen Falmer and other creatures came at us. This allowed me to use my limited duelling experience to great effect. I made many of the Falmer slip up on the ice-covered floor. Some were paralysed and I managed to set others on fire using a few simple spells that the staff boosted greatly.

My vampire companions cast deadly spells of their own. Falmer, wolves, and even a couple of white-coloured trolls were impaled by icicles and blasted with bolts of lightning. or had the life drained out of them.

"No!" the Snow Elf shouted "I won't let you ruin centuries of preparations!".

This guy was really living up to the stereotype I had about supervillains. They were always so over the top. They all had some sort of need to make everything seem even more dramatic than it was.

"Surrender and give us the bow!" Serana demanded.

The Arch-Curate's response was to teleport away.

"He's up there on the balcony, let's go" the vamp informed me.

I teleported us up there and by this time the Snow Elf seemed to have run out of tricks. He wasn't running low on Mana it's more that there are limits to how much magical energy before you become exhausted. Even a vampire can only channel so much energy before it takes a toll on the body.

Using a staff or a wand makes things much easier even if it does mean you can be disarmed and rendered almost helpless. That was why I wanted to learn magic that didn't require a tool and it was also why I carried backup wands as well as other weapons.

"Enough Vyrthur," shouted Valerica "Give us the bow!"

I got the impression that he wasn't just going to hand it over. In fact, I didn't even know if he had it on his person. Although it seemed likely that he did, given how much he needed it for his master plan.

"How dare you," he said with a sneer. "I was the Arch-Curate of Auri-El. I had the ears of a god!".

Now I was also getting annoyed. The only reason he was still alive was that we wanted the bow and we weren't sure if he had it hidden. So I to put with his monologue.

"Auri-El himself may have been beyond my reach," the Snow Elf said, "But his influence on our world wasn't. All I needed was the blood of a Daughter of Coldharbor, and his own weapon, Auriel's Bow".

I looked at Serana, who was a Daughter of Coldharbor as if to say 'I told you so'. Either Valerica's or Sernana's blood could be used to block out the sun. The only reason I hadn't gone with the idea of killing them both, other than wanting Serana as a companion, was because Molag Bal could always make another Daughter of Coldharbor. There could also be other Daughters hidden somewhere in Skyrim.

"The blood of a vampire… Auriel's Bow…" Serana stammered before going on to speak more clearly "It was you? Macross was right. You created that prophecy?".

A plot twist worthy of a comic book supervillain.

"Yes, my prophecy. One that lacked a single, final ingredient. The blood of a pure vampire. The blood of a Daughter of Coldharbor!" the elf shouted.

He made the mistake of coming within arms reach of Serana as he tried to attack with his knife, she reached out and grabbed his neck, lifting him up into the air. I'd not known that she was that strong.

"You were waiting, all this time for someone with our blood to come along," the younger female vampire said with a growl.

Vyrthur was clearly outmatched by a real vampire

"Let's see if your blood has any power to it!" she then shouted.

Valerica decided to bite the Snow Elf along with her daughter. I'd not known that vampires could feed off each other and it was almost sweet to see mother and daughter sharing. It was also horrible as Vyrthur was being consumed while still alive. Not that he didn't deserve this given that he was trying to end all life in this world.

When they were done they found the bow in a pouch of holding. Since it was a divine tool I didn't touch it in case Auriel became aware of me. That hadn't been a risk with Magnus because he'd fled a long time ago.

"So it was all true," said Serana "What you told me. Father's plan, my blood… our blood".

I decided to wander around a bit while mother and daughter spoke with each other. When they were done chatting I had something that I needed to talk to them about.

"We can store the bow in here," I said.

I took out a sphere which was in fact the gateway to a private space which is unaffected by the world outside. The All-Purpose Pocket Dimension appeared in my hand to be a small glass sphere with a white platform inside of it. When rubbed, the sphere will teleport the user, anything the user is touching and anyone else touching the sphere into itself.

Within the Pocket Dimension, there is a white platform made of marble or something like it. I'd been told that the platform is 20ft by 20ft and the roof is 20ft upward. The platform is surrounded by black, non-transparent, glass-like walls that can be rubbed to make an exit.

I didn't want to use it myself because if the internal space within the sphere counted as another dimension, cut off from this one, then venturing inside might cancel my adaption process and require me to start over or at least delay it.

Overall it was just safer for me to let someone else handle the bow. Besides, this wasn't about me. It was Serana and her mother who were at risk of having their blood used.

"An impressive feat of magic," said Valerica "Well beyond your skill".

Well, she wasn't wrong.

"I purchased it for Serana so that she could take things with her that are too big to carry in a pouch or bag," I said

I fully explained how to use the magical device just to be sure that there were no mistakes. I didn't want to go in after them and teleport them out if something went wrong.

"You don't want it?" Serana asked, "The bow I mean".

My pouches had charms on them to greatly increase their internal space so I was alright for storage space. I could always purchase some local versions of the pouches of holding if I needed them or I could make use of my Instant Fortress.

"No," I said "The prophecy doesn't involve me. I'm just helping you out. This is your responsibility"

There were plenty of other relics that I could claim. My staff allowed me to make use of my potential power far better than anything else I'd tried so far, despite my limited knowledge of spells. Also, the bow had a slow rate of fire when compared to my wands and guns.

"Thank you," said Serana "And I mean for everything".

I got the feeling that I won her over and that soon she'd be saying goodbye to being a vampire. Even when that happened Harkon would still need to be destroyed, but I could leave that to the Dawnguard or come back later with a bomb and destroy his castle.

Part 37

Instant Fortress. Bleak Falls Barrow.

Due to the need to hide both Serana and Valerica from any vampires sent out by Lord Harkon, Macross the Mage had brought them to an underground cavern that was reasonably secure once the entrance had been sealed and Macross had mentioned something about a lack of a convenient backdoor in real life.

The cavern did have a few cracks in the ceiling, but they were high up the mountains and after that tried exploring those cracks would fall to its death or be too big to fit. The cavern had a stream running through it and some bats who minded their own business.

This had been the resting place of some undead creature, but the according to Macross the Dragonborn had come here some time ago and defeated the monster before looting the place, never to return.

The Word Wall was interesting to look at, only since none of them had any experience with Shouts, nor were they Dragonborn, the markings meant nothing to them. Not that this had stopped Macross from taking rubbings of the markings.

After the fortress had been set up the mage had told the two vampires that they would keep moving around for a while in case Serana's father had some way of tracking his wife and daughter.

Neither mother nor daughter knew if Harkon was capable of this, but he could have learned a spell that allowed for tracking or gained an artefact that would let the vampire lord know their location. After all, he had known to send his minions to Dimhallow to look for Serana or the Elder Scroll she carried.

Once they'd become human it was hoped that Serana and Valerica could make use of new names while in this world, and then spend time in one place without constantly being on alert. Harkon had little interest in humans anything other than food and they were hardly helpless women even without their vampirism.

Macross wished to spend at least a few weeks, most likely much longer, studying at the College of Winterhold, as for Serana and Valerica, they both desired to learn more about what they had missed while cut off from this world, and there was always more to discover about magic.

The fortress was not large as it was designed to be moved around and for defence rather than to be a statement of a lord or king's power, yet it sufficed for their needs. Macross had set up his magical tent nearby for those who wished to be alone or to make use of its facilities.

Within the fortress, the top floor was given over to a sleeping area with the rest acting as room for studying. The lower floor was mostly used as a living space and as a kitchen. The kitchen doubled as an alchemy lab since neither of the vampires needed to eat and Macross carried preserved food on his person.

Up on the second floor, Serana was currently lying on Macross's rather comfortable bed committing an act of incest as her new friend fucked her mother from behind. This wasn't so odd for Serana as vampires had a different view of sex than mortals and certain things being taboo lost a lot of meaning once your father has watched you be brutally fucked by a dark deity.

Serana didn't care for marriage and she lacked faith in the idea of family. Back when they were human her parents had not been kind to each other and she'd always been close to her mother. Things had become more strained once they'd become creatures of the night.

Valercia, for her part, kept her face buried between her daughter's thighs, her head held firmly in place by her daughter's hands as Macross took the older vampire from behind.

This hadn't started smoothly. For most humans sex is linked to procreation, it can be an expression of romantic feelings as well. Aside from being sterile, vampires were not mortals, they'd didn't view sex in the same way and for her family, it always been the power that mattered more than love, more than anything.

Macross had been understandably shocked when he found the two female vampires in bed together, but he'd recovered quickly and it had been easy to tempt him into joining in. Serana knew that she and her mother were very attractive women even with their strange eyes and pale skin.

It hadn't taken nearly as long as Serana had expected to get the mage involved and Serana was glad as she was growing rather fond of Macross. He'd done a lot for her in a very short amount of time and seemed intent on doing more. He had a sense of mystery about him as well due to his strange nature that interested Serana.

She could only imagine her mother's willingness to be fucked by a mere human stemmed from her long isolation. Serana had awoken from her long sleep craving more than blood and she'd slept through the centuries. Her mother had endured them.

No one could have endured spending all that time in Soul Carin without going a bit loopy and perhaps her mother was at least partly willing to go along with all of this due to guilt over sealing her daughter away rather than stand up to her husband.

Serana wondered (when she could put a few thoughts together) if things would change when they became human again. Would having sex with her mother feel wrong as it would have done so long ago?

She was willing to cure herself. Immortality without the need to feed, or avoid the sun, was well worth it in exchange for becoming Macross's lover or whatever else he wanted from her. She just hadn't intended to rush anything.

There was no sense in worrying about that now. She was lying naked on the man's bed. They could talk about the details and come to a formal agreement later on.

"Yes, Macross fuck her!" Serana said as she began to relax and really enjoy herself "Fuck my whore of a mother".

If she'd been asked the younger of the two female vampires in the room would have admitted to being impressed that her elder could so focus so well on making another woman feel so good with her mouth while having her own cunt pounded into. Yet Valerica handled it very well.

"Do try to be a little more refined my dear," said her mother when she took a quick break from pleasuring her offspring "You're not a tavern wench".

As it turns out some things never change no matter how long you spend sleeping underground.

"Yes, Mother," said Serana.

The younger vampire woman leaned back on the bed and let herself relax and enjoy the pleasure, only opening her eyes when she felt Macross get off the bed.

"Swap places dear" her mother instructed.

Serana did as she was told and soon began licking her mother's pussy while fingering herself with a great amount of enthusiasm, knowing that soon Macross's cock would be inside her. Something she was looking forward to experiencing.

Until that happened she did her best to bring her mother to what must be a greatly desired orgasm and she could feel Valerica's nails run through her hair in a display of what could be considered affection. She'd never been very maternal even if Valerica could be somewhat affectionate and attentive towards her only child.

"Good girl" her mother praised.

She could have done with hearing that more back when she was both a lot younger and human, but that didn't mean Serana didn't like hearing such an approving tone in her parent's voice, and it only drove her to work her tongue more,

"That's my sweet, pleasure me" Valerica instructed, "You're doing so well".

Before long keeping her attention on that task became far more of a chore when Macross began to take her from behind. Not that Serana minded this at all as it had been a very long time since she'd gotten fucked and the mage was eager to pound her pussy.

Serana moaned like a wanton slut as she did her best to keep pleasuring her mother, but rather than tell her off for being so unrefined, Valerica just grabbed her daughter's head to ensure she remembered to keep using her tongue.

When Macross began to really fuck her all thoughts simply ceased within Serana's mind. Her mouth kept working on its own as she used like a common whore, and she loved every second of it.

Her vampirism kept her body youthful and appealing to the eye. Macross had clearly been attracted to her from the start. She was firm and had just the right amount of curves, at least as far as he was concerned.

Macross had a hold of her hips and was doing his best to spear her womb with his dick. When he came inside her, she could feel the warmth of his seed and Serana felt fairly certain she would have been impregnated if that was at all possible.

Once she'd recovered they would have to talk about making this official. For now, Serana was going to collapse onto the bed and rest. She might feel like moving again in a few hours from now.

Part 38

Morthal. Skyrim.

According to my research, Morthal was supposedly named after the great Nord hero known as Morihaus. If this was true or not I had no idea. and if I ever became a famous hero I sure hoped that the places that got named after me would be nicer than this poor excuse for civilization.

What I did know for certain was the fact that this town served as the capital of Hjaalmarch one of the nine Holds of Skyrim, Holds being what they called the lands Skyrim was divided into politically.

Despite being a capital it was a fairly small, and supposedly humble town of little economic or strategic importance to anyone. Which if nothing else meant that the people running the civil war wouldn't have much interest in the place, and that should be keeping it out of the fighting.

As far as I could see the only sights of any significance here were an inn, the Jarl's home, and a small lumber mill. I had no idea what the people living in this town did to support themselves.

Here in the marshes, dry ground can be hard to come by. This is partly why this town hadn't grown, there wasn't much solid dirt to build upon. Its unimportance was also a factor.

Another thing I'd read about in one of the books I'd acquired was that Morthal was often shrouded in a thick fog and that along with the twisted trees that grow from the surrounding marsh will give it a foreboding appearance that put off travellers. Which was another reason why it wasn't often visited by traders.

Many people choose to steer clear of the place altogether, I'd never done more than pass through when playing the game, and if not for the fact that Serana and her mother had come here for a cure for their vampirism, we wouldn't have bothered to visit the town.

When I saw the place I decided that Morthal didn't look very nice. It seemed downright depressing, to be honest. What didn't help was that there happened to be an unruly mob outside the town's largest building.

"What's the Jarl gonna do about it?!" someone yelled.

Hopefully, this was merely a protest and there wouldn't be any lynching. Since I'd never really bothered with this place when playing the game I didn't know what was going on.

"How are we going to feel safe in our own homes?!" another person called out.

There was a person standing in front of the crowds who appeared to be slightly better dressed than everyone else. I watched him as he held his hands up in front of him, trying to stem the tide of harsh comments.

"Please, the Jarl has heard your concerns, and you have nothing to fear from the new visitor" he stated.

My small group stopped some distance from the crowd and I grew concerned. Apparently, the locals had issues with there being strangers in town, and this could be bad for my group. Strangers were often the first target of mobs when social order broke down and while they couldn't kill me my companions were in danger.

Serana and her mother had sat me down recently not long after we'd had our threesome, it had been agreed they were both my companions and that they would aid me in exchange for a few things from me. I had to keep them both sheltered, safe, and rich, and I also had to ensure that they had something to do with their time.

Valerica had pointed out to me that in order for them be proper concubines, her words not mine, I had to prove that I was above them socially and that I could provide for them. Not that difficult to do since I was rich and I had a large home they could both live in. Valerica would enjoy the gardens in my home in Wales.

When I granted them both wealth and immortality that would be enough in the short term. Normally only the gods can gift immortality and should I do that would prove to Valerica that I was far above the likes of her husband and therefore worthy of having both of them in my household.

Should they be attacked by a mob, then that would destroy their faith in me. As vampires, they could be killed far more easily than they would be as true immortals.

"We won't accept wizards in our midst!" I heard a voice shout.

I figured that we were better off staying out of this mess and taking rooms at the inn. Better to pass ourselves as lost travellers than let anyone know that I was a mage and my companions were vampires. Alas, we had to talk to the mage, it was why we'd come here.

There was something rotten in the town of Morthal, and it wasn't the food, although I planned to avoid that. The swamp around this settlement seemed wrong and it was somehow even colder than normal. There was something supernatural about it.

Once the crowd became to break up my group entered the Jarl's longhouse as the two vampires with me needed to seek out the mage. I'd hoped the speak to the mage and learn from him, but given the tensions around here, I didn't think we'd be sticking around for that long.

I noticed that several people were deep in conversation, one of whom was Jarl Idgrod, who was sitting on her throne, another was some Imperial officer, and the other was probably the steward.

According to rumour, the Jarl was known to be inflicted with visions. The life of a real Seer was not an easy one from what I knew of that type of magic. Not only did sleep not provide the rest that humans needed, but the visions also taxed the mind at the time it should be at least active.

This wasn't so harmful that it killed, but it did often leave Seers tired and ill-looking, I was sure that some went totally mad. Others had been known to turn to drink to dull their minds.

"You're strangely dressed" commented the Jarl.

The enchantments meant to make people not pay much attention to my style of clothing would not fool a true Seer.

"You must be an adventure" she realised "Someone who can help us. I have foreseen a great disaster for my people unless someone helps us".

I'd rather avoid getting involved with the locals, however, since we needed to be here for a few days while the cure for vampirism was sorted out I couldn't just sit around on my arse and let everything go to hell.

"I believe that the town will soon be attacked if we don't do something," the Jarl told me.

That might explain the unease I was feeling. I felt cold here in a way that had little to do with Skyrim's weather. The fog was at least partly unnatural and you didn't need to be a Seer to tell that this town was in danger.

"Tell me about this vision" I requested.

The Jarl did so, and to me, it seemed pretty straightforward. Unless something was done everyone here would be killed by vampires.

Harkon's plan to block out the sun was part of a larger world domination scheme. It would lead to the end of all life, and even if the vampires could live without blood they'd have no one to rule over, but Harkon would hardly be the first insane leader that people mindlessly followed.

Destroying this town could be part of his plans. However, it might be that simple since Harkon was not the king of all vampires and even if was he didn't have control over every vampire. Different groups could have different agendas.

This town was remote and help would not reach here in time even if one of the other Jarls was willing to give it. Not likely what with the unsettled political situation Skyrim found itself in.

"Please!" Idgrod pleaded, "just… do something, do whatever you can to find out what's wrong… please! If you don't do this… my people will die".

Rushing into action would be foolish. I could deal with a few vampires on my terms as there was little they could do to harm me, but that was no excuse to go out into the swaps and stark poking around.

If there were vampires involved, then perhaps one of them was already here in town or could have begun converting people, or at the very least have placed an informer here. They could be behind the civil unrest I'd seen earlier this morning, an attempt to weaken this settlement before an attack.

"Jarl" I was now saying "I'll look into the possibility of a vampire attack. I'll need to do a proper investigation before I act. If I do find anything I will come and tell you".

Serana was proof that not all of the walking, talking, leeches were downright evil, and perhaps there were other vamps out there just trying to live some kind of life, so I should move carefully. I didn't want to piss off a nest of vampires who were just minding their own business as that could be what caused them to attack the town in the Jarl's vision.

"Thank you," said the Jarl "Thank you very much".

I gave the leader of this town a bow of respect, not because she was a powerful leader, but because she clearly cared for the people she governed, even if she was a bit batty.

"You're welcome, Jarl," I said.

With that, I turned and headed into the town my companions had their own business to attend to and I had mine. If I was going to investigate what was wrong with Morthal, the tavern would probably be a good place to start.

Part 39

Morthal. Skyrim.

"Tell me about that house fire," I requested of the woman called Jonna.

Already I had discovered thanks to the liberal application of the social lubricant known as money, that Jonna was the sister of Falion (the mage who could apparently cure vampirism) and she was the owner of the Moorside Inn.

She'd also told me that business is slow in Morthal, and not just because of how remote the town is or because of the civil war that was still going on. That only meant that my attempts to coax further information out of her with a generous helping of coins became even easier

There were troubles in this town, and during times like these people sought out someone to blame, and when they couldn't find the real guilty party, they found someone to blame who might be guilty. Normally an outsider, those that didn't fit in with the group, as they were often the most vulnerable.

Her brother Falion was a conjurer, and while many who studied this school of magic didn't perform any Necromancy, that was part of the school of conjuration. So people might actually have a reason to be wary of him.

Humans often turned on the outcasts of society during troubling times because we were pack animals. It was in our DNA to look after the pack, to defend it against threats, be they external, like another pack, or something internal such as a traitor.

This didn't mean people were bad, it just meant that we needed to try to rise about our more primitive drives when dealing with potential or real threats. This is why civilised people had law enforcement and courts to deal with criminals instead of using mob justice, as that could harm more innocents than even corrupt law enforcement.

"It was Hroggar's house that burned down. He managed to survive totally unscathed" the innkeeper told me "Hroggar claimed it was a hearth fire that got out of control, but a lot of people don't believe him. They think he did it himself. Killed his own wife and daughter".

Perhaps he had. People could go crazy and do bad things, but normally there was a reason behind it. Besides, it takes a special kind of monster to kill your own child.

"Why would he burn down his own house, with his wife and child inside?" I wondered.

This didn't seem vampire-related, although I was sure that it somehow was even if could be possible that there was a third party out there causing trouble, perhaps even planning to set the vampires against the town. Best not to assume anything at this point.

"Well," said as she Jonna lowed her voice, "He's living with Alva now, and that started the very day after the fire".

Now that was interesting. Hroggar may have fallen in love with another woman, and wanted to leave this family for her, however, plenty of men managed that without murdering anyone.

"It ain't right moving in with a new love the day after your kin die so tragically" Jonna muttered

After thanking the local woman, I got up off the stool I'd been sitting on and went over to where Serana was sitting. She'd entered the inn while I was talking to people and hadn't interrupted my intelligence gathering.

"I thought you'd be busy" I commented.

Serana frowned.

"Mother is handling the arrangements," she told me "When I tried to help, I was told to go out and play like I am still a little girl".

I don't think any child really grows up in their parent's eyes at least not completely. I wondered if Serana's mother had actually used those words or if she'd simply told her daughter to go off and find something to do.

"We need to search the remains of the burned-down house, I'll need your help, you might find something I'd miss," I said.

Vampires had enhanced senses and Serana had much more experience with magic than I did. As we left the inn I explained to my companion what the Jarl knew and what I was looking into.

"There's more going on around here than meets the eye" I commented "Time for a little CSI: Morthal".

Serana gave me an annoyed look.

"I swear half the time I have no idea what you are talking about" she complained.

Rather than reply to that, I got with the work. I knelt down in the remains of Hroggar's house and searched around. There was little to find. Everything other than what remained of the walls was ash, and the snow was already covering most of the ash.

It was hard to believe such damage could have started from the fire in the hearth. Sure a wooden house could burn down quickly, but wouldn't the woman and her child have time to run out of the building as the fire spread?

Also, why did no one hear them scream for help and come to their aid? There was no shortage of water around here to put out the fire, the house was meters away from the swamp. Something didn't feel right and there were many unanswered questions.

"I found something" mentioned Serana

She brushed aside a pile of ash, showing me a small necklace. It was silver, or at least coloured that way and had been missed by me. It was a woman's decoration I felt sure.

From the chain dangled a symbol, the amulet was magical I felt sure, but not like an enchanted item. I quickly concluded that it was the symbol of the Divine Dibella, who was the goddess of beauty and women, among other things.

It looked a little pricy for such a poor family. It could be a family heirloom, passed down from mother to daughter in the hopes that the daughter would grow to be a beautiful woman, or maybe a gift from someone wealthy who owed the family a favour.

Something got my attention and I turned around. When I did I saw something, no someone, standing in the corner of the room, it was the ghost of a little girl. The girl didn't seem to notice us at first, she just kept humming to herself.

Ghosts didn't scare me, they were rather common in the Wizarding World and this spirit didn't feel hostile, so I felt calm.

"Hello, miss," I said.

Now the ghost noticed me.

"Hello. I'm Helgi. But Daddy says I'm not supposed to talk to strangers" the dead girl replied "Are you a stranger?"

Well yes, but saying that wouldn't help.

"My name is Macross," I told the spirit "And you're Hroggar's daughter, a stranger wouldn't know that would he?".

The ghost seemed to accept this logic, or at the very least she didn't leave.

"Helgi. Do you know what happened here?" I asked, "How was your house burned down?"

Helgi thought for a second or seemed to, her expression was hard to read as she was partly transparent.

"The smoke woke me up, it was hot and I couldn't breathe. I got scared, so I hid" she told me "Then it got cold and dark. I'm not scared anymore".

By the sounds of things, she may have suffocated to death before her body had been burned.

"Did you see how the fire started?" I asked.

The little girl ignored this question and asked one of her own.

"I'm lonely, will you play with me?" she requested.

Lucky for me I'd always been rather good with children. They can be quite reasonable and they tend to be motivated by their simple desires. Their most important desire is for attention.

"If I do, will you tell me who started the fire?" I asked.

The girl's ghostly face brightened, as in glowed for a moment, which I guessed was a good thing.

"Let's play hide and seek. If you find me, I'll tell you" she promised "We'll have to wait for nighttime though, another person is playing too, and she can't play until then".

That didn't sound right.

"Who are you talking about?" I asked.

Had someone else seen this poor spirit?

"I can't tell you," the little girl told me as she leaned forward in order to whisper, "She's so close, she might hear me. If you find me first, I can tell you".

Helgi's ghost began to fade. I was greatly concerned as it sounded as if the ghost was worried about someone knowing that she was talking to me. Which didn't make much sense as you couldn't harm a ghost, so why would Helgi fear anyone?

Could there be a Necromancer involved? A powerful one could compel spirits perhaps even harm one.

Of course, she might not realise that no one could harm her, and I wasn't totally sure that she couldn't be harmed. Aside from a Necromancer, a priest might be able to exorcise her, although they were far more likely to try to get the spirit to move on naturally than do anything to harm her.

"Who were you talking to?" Serana asked me as I stood up.

I was surprised that she had to ask.

"A ghost," I told her "Couldn't you see her?".

Apparently not and that was odd. Serana is a supernatural creature she should be able to see ghosts. Had Helgi kept herself hidden from Serana? Or could I only see her because I had one of the Deathly Hallows? They were meant to be relics created by Death.

Interesting to think about, but I could look into it later on if I had the time and motivation. Right now I needed to wait until dark and then find that ghost. I didn't know about manifesting spirits, but I was sure that people didn't become ghosts for no reason or the world would be full of them.

Helgi remaining in this level of existence was the key to the mystery, and I would need her help to find out what was going on around here.

I explained to Serana about the ghost and what the spirit of the little girl had told me. I decided that I would go out alone after dark to find Helgi so that I could find out more.

Part 40

Morthal. Skyrim.

"Laelette! No, it can't be!" I heard someone call out.

I turned and spotted one of the men who lived in this town. He was staring at the vampire corpse, which was rapidly turning into nothing more than dust and clothing, with a look of horror on his face.

The female vampire had just attacked me and I'd been forced to defend myself with the goblin-silver dagger I normally kept hidden. The finely crafted weapon had been the only thing I'd been able to reach for when I'd been abused.

I'd become desensitised to violence very quickly, a result of coming to this universe, so I quickly came to my senses and tried to figure out what was going on here.

"You knew her?" I asked the native person "Who was she?".

He needed a few moments to process what he had just seen. The Nords were tough folk, but they were still humans.

"I'm Thonnir, Laelette is… was my wife" he explained

Already I'd figured that it was something like that. I'd not intended to kill anyone, the ghost had led me to the vampire, or the vampire had followed the ghost.

I had a feeling that the spirit of the little girl had led me to the real killer, but I didn't have the full picture yet. Hopefully, the poor child could move on once this was all over.

"I am so sorry, Thonnir" was all I could say.

The local man shook his head, he didn't seem mad at me, just upset. He was holding together very well.

"I can't believe it… she was a vampire, my Laelette was undead…" he muttered.

While this wasn't the best time or place to discuss this I really did need to know more.

"What can you tell me about your wife?" I asked, "Did she disappear or start acting strangely?".

It took some effort, however, he found the ability to speak. I was greatly impressed by his inner strength.

"I thought she left to join the Stormcloaks" was what he told me "I had no idea she was…"

Understandable that he might think that given how people were throwing themselves into that conflict, but in this case, it wasn't the war that had destroyed Laelette's life.

"Did anything strange happen before she left?" I asked, "Did you notice anything weird about her behaviour? It's important, there could be other people in danger".

Thonnir shook his head.

"No… I don't think so… I…" he struggled to say before he realised something "No wait. Before she left, or before I thought she left. She was spending time with Alva, but Laelette always despised her".

He had more to say on this subject.

"The night she disappeared, she was supposed to meet with Alva" he informed "I was later told by her that Laelette never showed up. I never… I never even got to say goodbye".

The man choked up, and tears formed in his eyes as he looked at what remained of his partner.

"I think they might have ended up meeting after all," I said.

Thonnir looked at me with dawning realisation.

"You think Alva is a vampire?!" he asked in shock.

I didn't think Laelette could have been a vampire for very long as she'd only started acting strangely recently and she'd been easy to take down.

Alva did have a reason to harm Hroggar's family, as she clearly desired Hroggar for herself Proven by how quickly they'd started living together after the fire, perhaps she wished to turn him or keep him as a thrall, but Hroggar's family had been in the way.

Alva could have made Laelette a vampire and then sent her out to kill the mother and daughter. That way Alva could ensure that she and Hroggar both had an alibi at the time of the fire.

"It's a possibility I can't ignore," I said.

Thonnir shook his head

"No! That can't be true! Laelette must have met her fate out in the marsh" he insisted "I refuse to believe that Alva had anything to do with this!".

The man shook his head again, and turned away, heading back down into the town. I headed out to find Serana so that I could tell her what had happened.

"Let's find the house of this Alva woman and look for evidence" I decided.

Rather than kick down the door or unlock it magically I simply knocked on the entrance to the house. After a few seconds, it opened and revealed the wary face of Hroggar. Right away I could tell that there was something wrong with him. He didn't seem focused.

"What do you want, stranger?" the man asked suspiciously.

My vampire companion learned in and cast some sort of spell upon the Nord.

"You will invite us in" Serana ordered.

As I'd suspected might be the case Alva had this man enthralled and since my vampire ally was a lot more powerful she had overridden Alva's control. That explained why it sounded as if she was using a Jedi Mind Trick.

"I will invite you in," said Hroggar

We walked inside and I closed the door behind us

"Where does Alva go during the day?" I asked, "Where does she sleep?".

He didn't answer me.

"You will show us where Alva sleeps" Serana commanded.

I didn't mind manipulating people, as everyone manipulated each other either intentional or not, but stripping someone of their free will, even for a short time just felt wrong to me. I'd still do it if needs be, I'd just feel bad about it afterwards.

The vampire's thrall led us down the stairs to the basement and opened up the door. Inside, was a fairly normal cellar layout, with barrels and other items for storage. In the centre of the room was a large coffin, which was currently open. It seemed rather out of place.

Inside the coffin, along with a pillow, there was a small book. Alva's journal it turned out, and when I picked it up to read it the Thrall attacked. I assumed that he'd been ordered by his mistress to kill anyone who messed with her coffin and that command was a strong one as it broke Serana's control.

However before he could strike me, my companion grabbed the man and cast some sort of sleeping spell upon him. Which pleased me as we were going to need him alive for questioning.

"Find something to tie him up with" I ordered

I wasn't used to giving commands, but Serana seemed happy to follow my lead.

"Once we kill this Alva he should return to his old self," she told me.

Not that he'd welcome that once he found out that this family was dead. He'd not performed the deed, but he'd still been involved, the guilt might drive him to kill himself.

I quickly went through the journal and typical villain style Alva hadn't been able to resist going on about her group's big plan. Villians were always overconfident and vampires were arrogant. It would be their downfall.

The Jarl's dream was a very accurate prediction, it seemed like the attack she'd envisioned would become reality in a matter of days. A large group of vampires intended to take over the entire town, with the aim of killing or enthralling everyone.

While it might not seem like my business I had no intention of allowing the vampires to destroy this town, the ghost of the little girl bothered me too much.

I could not just let this go. Still, it wouldn't do to rush into anything regardless of how powerful I was becoming. I would need allies and time to plan some sort of defence.

"We need to talk with the Jarl," I told Serana "We don't have much time".

The planned attack would happen soon.

Part 41

Morthal. Skyrim.

I handed the journal over and watched as the Jarl's eyes began to express horror as she read the text. After a minute, she gave the book to her steward and looked up at me.

"It was Alva who killed the family" I explained to the other members of the court "She didn't set the fire herself, but given that vampires can control their thralls and the vampires they turn, she might as well have started the fire, and now she intends to take the entire town, with the aid of her allies".

The Jarl stood up before addressing her small court. Aside from her steward and an Imperial Guard officer, there weren't that many people around. Understandable since this place barely qualified as a town and it had hardly been an important place even before the civil war.

"Thanks to Macross, we now know the name of our true enemy, the vampire known as Movarth," said the Seer "He was, or rather is, a master vampire whom I believed to have been destroyed a century ago. Now we must ensure he is truly defeated or Morthal is lost".

The Imperial Guard officer stepped forward. I had no doubt that he was going to try to take charge of this situation.

"I'll gather some able-bodied warriors to go and clear out Movarth's lair," he said "It must be close by".

This was actually a clever move as the local people were fracturing, and starting to turn on each other, or at least would if given time. Assuming that the vampires waited that long.

By sending their own people to fight the enemy the local leadership would show them the real enemy and give them a foe to unite against. A clear outside threat had a way of bringing people together.

On the other hand, it was a bit stupid since while the journal mentioned where the vampires were hiding out, it didn't give us more than a rough idea of their numbers, nor did we know much about their defences.

As the fighting men gathered my vampire companions left with the mage the locals didn't care for, leaving me to try to deal with this mess.

"Wouldn't it make more sense to let them attack the town?" I asked, "We don't know what kind of defences they've set up in their hideout or how many there are. But if we let them come to us then we can set traps and try to ambush them when they arrive. They won't be expecting the town to be prepared for their assault".

One of the locals called me a coward. I wasn't offended because I knew that the Nords believe that death in battle will get them into the local version of Valhalla and they are right about that.

"My concern is that if you all die in battle then they'll be no one left to defend the town," I said "Who will protect your children then?".

The whole argument soon became moot when an alarm bell rang. The town was already under attack.

"Alva must have reported back to Movarth" I stated.

There was no more need for any words, the vampires had clearly stepped up their timetable.

We all raced outside to see the few guards this town could support were battling with what I guessed to be enthralled Nords and creatures the vampire's somehow controlled.

When I saw the group of Frostbite spiders moving into the town I knew that I had no choice other than to act. Well, I could have fled, however, I wasn't a coward and my vampire companions still had business in this town.

I took my staff in hand and then waved it while casting a spell.

" Arania Exumai!"

Only the spiders went flying into the air as if they had been tossed about by an invisible giant. Not a well know or normally very useful spell, but I'd learned it a while ago since I knew it wasn't complex magic, and because I'd known about the huge arachnids they had in this world.

The power of the spell was magnified by the Staff of Magnus and I imagined that even the tiny spiders in people's houses were thrown about. I felt glad that it was unlikely that anyone around here kept a pet tarantula.

"You're a mage!" someone yelled.

I'd already come up with something to say about knowing spells as I'd figured that might see me use magic while in this town.

"Adventures pick up a few tricks," I said.

There was no time to discuss it anyway. As I had to stun some of the enthralled warriors, an act that I hoped would snap them out of their condition.

Then came the vampires and I knew Movarth when I saw him because he looked the least human of all the vampires. He sent a bolt of lightning at me and I was barely able to shield myself from the attack. I kept the magic flowing through my staff as the bolts struck it.

My shield collapsed and I felt pain, but it did little more than prevent me from focusing enough to attack the vampire.

Movarth stopped zapping me when he was attacked by a Nord warrior who had been Alva's husband. He was not happy about losing his wife, but his rage didn't help him, as Movarth simply batted him aside.

At least this gave me time to send an incendio spell, one that was greatly magnified by the power of the staff. It set the Master vampire on fire and soon turned into ashes due to vampires' weakness for flames.

With the loss of their master, the remaining vampire turned and ran. They were smart enough to realise that this town wasn't going to fall to them.

"That was over quickly" I commented "Not much of a battle".

Real life can be very anti-climactic.

"This was just a skirmish," said one of the warriors "I've seen real battle".

The Imperial Officer came over to me.

"We should report this to the Jarl" I saw you turn Movarth into a pile of dust. I'll have his ashes dumped in the marsh".

A needless precaution perhaps, but Movarth had been thought dead before, so deposing of his ashes might be a good idea.

While I had no proof that I'd slain the master vampire, the leader of this settlement didn't need much convincing when I told her that I had slain the big bad. I did have the backing of a member of her court even if he was one of her subjects due to his loyalty to the Imperial Legion as well as a few other witnesses.

"I believe you, Macross," the Jarl said to me "We are in your debt".

The Imperial Officer made his report.

"All of the vampires were destroyed or they fled," he said, "From what I knew of vampires they will scatter and go looking for easier prey. We lost a few people, but it would have been much worse with the aid of this mage".

"They will be remembered," she said to me "And we should all be glad that their deaths weren't in vain".

There was a concern that I felt needed addressing.

"The fact that I am a mage has been exposed" I mentioned "Your people aren't exactly friendly towards my kind".

My concern was that they would seek someone to blame for all of this and my little group couldn't leave just yet.

"I will call everyone in town and then address them" promised the Jarl "I will tell them that the vampires have been planning this attack for some time and that you came to aid us. I will impress upon them that you acted on our behalf".

That should keep things civil enough for us to finish doing what we came here to do.

There was some talk of a reward, but since this was a poor town and I was already very wealthy I refused it. That should make me seem even more heroic in the eyes of the natives.

Part 42

Author Note

No one brought me any coffee on my Ko-fi page

Instant Fortress. Somewhere Under Helgen.

I'd relocated the fortress so that we could hopefully get some peace and quiet before moving on to the College of Winterhold. No one lived in what remained of Helgen aside from some bandits who were picking through the ruins, and the way down here had collapsed during the dragon attack.

Perhaps Helgan would be rebuilt one day, but that wasn't going to happen while the civil war was still going on. Even without that conflict, this was a dangerous time for the people of Skyrim. It felt good to know that I had helped to make this country safer and not just by spoiling Harkon's plans.

We'd found a cavern that was more than large enough to contain my fortress and the two bears living here had been enthralled by Serana and Valerica using some magic they'd been able to call upon long before they became vampires. The bears were an extra layer of defence.

Serana and Valerica were now human again, and they needed time to come to terms with what that meant for them before we went to Winterhold. They had both lost abilities when they freed themselves of the curse of vampirism, but for everything they'd lost the two of them had gained much more.

They could walk in the sun without it hurting them. They could sustain themselves on normal food, although I didn't think we could actually starve to death, and Serana at least seemed very pleased with the ability to enjoy food. I figured that her mother was more controlled about it and she was hiding her supply of Honeydukes chocolate that I'd gifted to the both of them as the younger woman had gotten a taste for chocolate.

Serana had commented that while her senses had dulled for the most part in other ways they were better than before. While she couldn't see very well in the dark anymore, and there were spells to get around that, she could taste better as she was no longer focused on blood. She could also better appreciate the smell of flowers and such.

Overall the trade-off was worth it because unless we were attacked by beings with the powers of a god or by someone with a weapon meant to slay immortals we were all far harder to kill than any vampire. Recently I'd fought in a skirmish with a master vampire and he hadn't been able to do much than distract me with a little pain.

Currently, Valerica was lecturing me about the importance of proper wards, as creating magical barriers for self-defence was some of the most basic magic a mage was expected to master after we do stuff like create light and begin channelling the elements in battle.

This was important because even with the Staff of Magnus I hadn't done a very good job of shielding myself during that last fight and even if I couldn't be killed by our enemies, I could be disabled and that could cause problems. Sure I can always teleport myself away if I was captured but I could lose people I intended to protect or be prevented from acquiring a powerful item.

The lesson came to an end when Serana climbed up the ladder and joined us. We were up on the second floor of the Instant Fortress as it was a comfortable place to be when you wanted to study

Serana had been in the wizarding tent making use of the shower. The Instant Fortress lacked running water, but it was far more secure than the tent so everyone slept within its strong walls. Leaving the fortress was risky, yet the lure of a hot shower was too great to resist.

"I've forgotten how cold it is in Skyrim when you're human" she commented as she let her towel drop to the ground.

Becoming an immortal human had improved her already impressive body because she looked more healthy now, more full of life. Her breasts were just perfect for her body in my opinion and very distracting as she well knew.

"I don't think we can get sick, but do be careful, my dear" Valerica advised her child.

Right now Serana's nipples were standing at attention due to the cold. Her body was toned and she'd shaved off her public hair I noted.

"I haven't had to shave for a good long time," she said when she realised what part of her I was so focused on "I decided to do a proper job of it".

She made some comment about my magical shaving kit, or I assumed she did, I wasn't really wasn't paying attention to her words.

"I'm glad it's so warm in here," said the former vampire as she moved over to the bed.

That was because everything had warming charms placed upon them. I didn't mention this as Serana had her bare snatch on display and she wasn't being very subtle about her wanting to me pay her attention.

"Why don't you take a closer look" she offered.

It wasn't hard to figure out what she wanted from me.

"Do you want me to lick your pussy, Serana?" I asked her.

I wished for her to beg if just a little.

"Please, my lord," she said.

Valerica had told me that as concubines they were above any servants in my household, but not as important as any wives or children I might have, they weren't quite family, nor friends, since friends consider each other to be equals and these two women were in my service in exchange to certain privileges.

I didn't want either of them to be formal with me at least when we were alone but having Serana call me lord was pleasing to my ears. Of course, she knew that, and she was giving me a sexy look with her now blue eyes.

Serana relaxed on the bed as I went over to her. I lowered my head and I could feel how hot she'd become between her legs. Her pussy seemed like a furnace now when compared to how it had been when she was a member of the undead.

The former Daughter of Coldharbor was definitely turned on by everything I was doing to her. She moaned loudly as I ran my tongue along her slit, and lapped at her clit before focusing simply on pleasuring her. She was becoming soaked between her thighs.

After a while, I got a finger involved and began doing my best to make her cum. Serana greatly enjoyed receiving oral sex and I wanted her to beg me for it more often. I felt sure she'd fall into a submissive role as we got used to being intimate with each other.

"Are you going to join us, mother?" Serana asked, "I know things are different now that we are human again, but I hope we can still enjoy each other".

Serana and I moved so Valerica could sit comfortably on the bed. Only she decided that she would sit on her daughter's face once she had undressed. Valerica also looked better naked than before. I didn't have a MILF fetish, but I was happy to fuck her as well.

Once she was settled, I positioned myself and slid slowly into Serana even as she began to pleasure her mother with her skilled tongue. As a human the younger of the two now former members of clan Volkihar was warmer, wetter and even tighter than before.

I focused on my own pleasure, barely noticing the sounds the two women were making, Serana's were muffled, but loud enough that some of them registered with me despite how distracted I was right now.

My pace increased as I got closer to the climax that I desired. Given how wet Serana seemed right now I felt sure she was looking forward to me cumming inside her and I felt glad that I took a birth control potion as I didn't want her to have to go through a pregnancy while adapting to all the changes in her life.

Not that I thought about that for long as I was too busy making use of Serana's cunt as a cumdump. I filled her up and then moved away from the two women once I could get my legs to move. They didn't even stop what they were doing so I got to listen to the fun noises they were making as I relaxed for a while.

The College of Winterhold could wait a few days. I still needed time to adapt to this world's magic and I had someone here who was more than capable of teaching me the basics. It would be good for us to stay here and rest. Once I got the college I would be spending a lot of time studying so I would take this chance to give both of my companions some attention.

Part 43

The College of Winterhold. Skyrim

After stopping off at the local store to purchase the dragon's claw that would open up some tomb, if only because I wanted something fancy to put on display in one of my homes, my small group attempted to gain entry into the magical centre of learning.

"Cross the bridge at your own peril. The way is dangerous and the gate will not open. You shall not gain entry" a voice said.

Those were the first words I heard upon my attempt to enter the College of Winterhold. Not entirely unexpected given that I'd played Elder Scrolls: Skyrim and it was also very amusing to hear them spoken by a real person, assuming that had been an actual living being speaking.

There was no one outside of the college waiting for us. The voice came from something I could only think of as a magical intercom that took the form of a lit-up crystal sitting on a pedestal. It had started glowing once we made it to the bridge and I figured that there must be some enchantment in use to alert someone inside the college.

That made way more sense than having someone standing around in the cold just in case a person or persons happened by who was seeking entry.

"What do you hope to find within?" the voice asked.

Valerica and Serana, who were going by Val and Sera, admitted to their desire to acquire knowledge of magic discovered in recent centuries. Valerica sought information on advances mostly in the field of alchemy as that was her passion.

As for me, there were a number of acceptable answers, but only one that I could give truthfully without giving too much away.

"I want to know how to use my power," I said honestly.

The voice told us to wait and before long someone did come out to meet us. We were asked to prove that we had some skill in magic. When it was my turn I moved over the broken part of the bridge and channelled my vast powers in a repair spell. Without the staff, I could not have done this, with it I repaired the bridge and the stone lost reformed even from the dust. Broken pieces seemed to fuse together without any heat, it was as if time had reversed and the bridge had never been broken at all.

Since it was possible that the Arch-Mage of this College might recognise the staff I would be careful not to show off like that again. I'd only done it this time to make it clear that I had a lot of power, and more importantly because the bridge was dangerous. I can teleport and can't die a mortal death so falling off the bridge wouldn't be a big deal for me. I'd rather not have to go after one of my companions if they fell.

"That takes it out of you" I admitted.

Even my companions, who had seen me do things with magic some would think to be impossible, took some time to get over their shock at that display.

"I've never seen such power," said the Altmer Mage once she found her voice "I think you'll make superb additions to the College".

In response, I gave this female my most charming smile. I didn't find her very attractive but I knew that most women wanted to think that men found them physically appealing even if the man was a member of a different race. The Altmer don't do anything for me, they always come off as arrogant.

"Once you're inside, you'll want to speak with Mirabelle Ervine, our Master Wizard," our guide told us "Please, follow me".

As I'd been instructed to I reported to the Master Wizard with my companions in tow.

Once she'd spoken with our guide, Faralda was her name, Madam Ervine gave us a quick tour of the College, showing us to the shared quarters, where we would be sharing space with my fellow apprentices, or at least that was Ervine's plan.

"Would it be possible to have private quarters?" I asked.

Before Madam Ervine could refuse I showed her an oz bar of gold. Many of which I'd picked up from a version of Earth that no longer served as a home for humanity.

"We don't have many students or any guests these days due to the dragon crisis and the ongoing civil war," said the high-ranking mage "And I'd be lying if I told you we didn't need the extra funding".

I handed over two bars as I could afford to be generous.

"My companions are above the apprentice level" I explained "They might attend the odd class, but mostly they will be doing our own thing. I would like to attend as an apprentice. I hope the payment makes up for any disruption we cause".

This information surprised the mage.

"Faralda told me that you repaired the bridge" the mage mentioned "Hardly the act of a novice".

I'd been expecting her to bring this up.

"Raw power isn't an issue for me" I informed the woman "What I need is to learn how to use my talent as my education has only just begun".

Another reason for me to show off was that I wanted the teachers to know that there was a new student here with plenty of potential power who needed guidance. That should make me very tempting as someone to tutor. Throwing around a little gold should also help to smooth things over.

I was provided with a fresh set of robes, complete with a hood, meant for apprentices. Given that clothes were expensive in this world giving out robes was expensive and these were enchanted as well.

Sera and Val, best not to even think of them by their old names and risk using them out loud, had a lot of experience with magic so the classes taught to students had little interest to them. However, I wished to learn about the classes so I went with Ervine once my companions decided to settle in.

The Master Wizard then took me down to the Hall of Elements, which I remembered was the location for lectures and group study sessions. I could recall that one of these sessions was led by an experienced Mage called Tolfdir.

As for the Hall of Elements, it was a large enough space for practical lessons, and it also had the seals of the College decorating the floor and a well in the centre which was projecting a beam of Magicka upwards.

I could sense the history and power of this place. The college had been around for a long time and many students would have come here to learn from those wiser in the application of magic.

Standing in the middle was a group of four people. Three were dressed in apprentice robes and the other was an old man, with grey hair and an impressive beard. This was, no doubt, Tolfdir as he looked much as he did in the game.

"Welcome!" the old Mage said in a friendly voice "We were just beginning today's lesson. Please, join us".

I nodded and stood next to one of the other students, whom I recognized as a Nord. As a rule, the natives of Skyrim didn't much trust magic, unless it was something enchanted as they loved enchanted weapons and armour, but there are always a few exceptions.

"So, as I was saying, the first thing you must understand is that magic is, by its very nature, volatile and dangerous" the wizard was now saying "Unless you can control it, it can and will destroy you".

In this world, anyone could learn a few spells if they were willing to either pay for spell books or come to learn at a place like this, but the ease with which magic could be used made it more dangerous for novices, who could easily destroy themselves by throwing too much power around. Then there was the lure of Oblivion, the promise of power for those who made pacts with the Daedra.

"Sir, I think we all understand that fairly well," interjected one of the students. "We wouldn't be here if we couldn't control magic".

Despite what I had just been thinking I knew the student had a point. These apprentices were not mere novices, these were adults and they wouldn't have even been able to enter the college if they didn't already know how to cast some spells.

"Of course my dear, of course," Tolfdir replied "You all possess some inherent magical abilities, that much is not in question. What I'm talking about is true control. It takes years, if not decades, of practice and study to become a Master of Magic".

This was also true. I had plenty of raw power as my fixing of the bridge had shown. Yet I'd hardly call myself a Master of Magic.

"Then, what are we waiting for? Let's get started!" said another student.

Those words had come from a Khajiit.

"Please, please, this is exactly what I'm talking about. Eagerness must be met with caution or else disaster is inevitable" our teacher warned.

Some people would only ever learn that lesson the hard way.

"But, you have no idea what any of us are capable of" argued the Nord student "Why don't you give us a chance to show you what we can do"

That was when Tolfdir turned to me.

"You've been quiet so far. What do you think we should do?" I was asked.

I could feel the eyes of everyone else on me. What words I spoke next would create a strong impression among my new peers. Our teacher was right to be cautious about magic, for it could be dangerous if used recklessly, only if I said that I'd just sound like a teacher's pet

Also, the Nord student did have a point. It at least made sense to do something practical to start off with, so we could get a taste of what we were in for and a good teacher could use the lesson to help get his point across.

"I'd like to see what everyone can do" I finally said, "If only to better measure our level of control".

It never hurt to check out the competition. I'd like to know what my fellow students could do.

"See, he agrees with us too!" said the Dark Elf in the group "Why don't you actually show us something?"

She seemed a little too eager to me, but this was early days so it was best not to judge anyone just yet.

"All right, settle down. I suppose we could try something practical" the teacher said, giving in. "In continuing with our theme of safety, we'll start with wards. As you know wards are protective spells that block magic. You should all already know how to cast a ward, so we'll see if you can successfully use it to block spells".

That was exactly what I would have done in his place. Tolfdir was a smart gentleman and I was sure I could learn a lot from him. It also matched up with my memories of the game a little too well. I was concerned about interference from higher powers.

"Would you mind helping me with a demonstration?" the teacher then asked of me "Are you at all familiar with warding spells?".

Val had been lecturing me on them recently.

"A little," I said.

The wizard wasn't concerned.

"That's alright, we can expand on what you know. If you'll just stand right over there" Tolfdir instructed.

I did as I was bidden and resisted the urge to reach for my wand or my staff. A simple shield spell would have sufficed here, but I had come to this place to learn the magic of this world and besides if I used the wand it would raise all sorts of questions I simply wasn't prepared to answer. Using my staff just once had been risky enough.

"I'll cast a spell at you and you block it with the ward," said the wizard "Here we go"

Our teacher told the others to go and stand away from him, so they wouldn't get in the way. Then Tolfdir took his position facing me.

"Now, cast the ward spell and keep it up" the teacher commanded.

I lifted my hand and channelled my power so that a shimmering wall appeared before me, it was an effort to sustain a shield like this but I had the power to keep it up for a long time it just became a matter of concentration. Which could be an issue if you knew an attack was coming. It was hard not to try to duck or end up like a deer in headlights.

"Hold still" I was told.

Tolfdir prepared a fire attack and sent it at me. The bolt hit the ward and I was in no way harmed. The apprentices were very impressed by our little show despite the fact that this was pretty basic spellcasting.

"Excellent work!" Tolfdir praised.

I smiled due to his words.

"Well, I think this is an excellent start," said the wizard "I'd like you all to continue practising ward spells, please, and to give some thought about how you'd get around a ward. As our new student demonstrated a direct attack was not very successful".

The students were already in discussion.

"We'll reconvene here tomorrow. That's for today, thank you" said the teacher as he left.

No mention of them digging up a city. At least not yet. Good, that meant I had more time to prepare.

James Thomas is creating Self Insert Fanfiction ()

Buy me a cup of coffee (Ko-FI)

Part 44

Author Note

Supporters can on my Ko-fi see the drafts I have for a story I'm working on that is pretty much a science fiction version of this story.

Hall of Elements. The College of Winterhold.

Once the lesson had ended I intended to go see what resources the college had given me to work with, but my way was blocked by the Khajiit student. Now I could see his face close up I had to admit that his moustache kinda worked despite him being a cat person.

The other two apprentices had moved closer, but I didn't get any sense of hostility from them, they were merely curious about me.

"What do they call you, Imperial?" the catman asked.

I wasn't actually an Imperial since I was from Earth not Nirn, but I was of Western European stock so in Skyrim I passed for an Imperial. It made sense what with me being British, I even sounded like an Imperial.

"People call me Macross," I informed my new peer.

That wasn't an Imperial name, and it was good for me that no one questioned it.

"And you?" I asked.

Rather than answer my question the cat guy inquired about something else.

"You are new, yes? Have you mastered the Expert level Destruction spells yet?" he questioned.

This wasn't mere curiosity anymore. The cat guy was sizing up the new competition and he wasn't being subtle about it.

"Not yet, but I will," I answered.

Actually, I wasn't too worried about Destruction magic as my staff allowed me to blast things and I owned a few guns. I just didn't want this guy to think he was above me.

"Ah, this is good, J'zargo will know them first," he said "But it is good to be around skilled Mages who may be able to keep up with J'zargo".

Either this guy had a huge ego or all his people referred to themselves in the third person. It could be both in this cat's case. I wouldn't rule it out as I'd not interacted with members of his race even in the game.

"Not everything has to be a competition," I said.

Students would compete against each other even if the college was the kind of place meant to let someone learn at their own pace, but as long as things didn't get out of hand I didn't see any harm in a little friendly rivalry I just want to get dragged too much into it.

"Oh, but you are wrong" stated J'zargo

I decided to humour the cat guy.

"Well then, may the best man win," I said with a smile.

I hoped using the word man wasn't racist in this context.

"Yes, J'zargo will win" the cat guy replied.

With that, he swaggered off and I once more tried to leave only to find the Dark Elf blocking the door.

"Excuse me…" I started to say.

She wasn't listening.

"Before you even ask, yes I have an ancestry steeped in magic and no, I don't want to talk about it," she said, "Yes, I know Winterhold used to be full of my kind and no, I don't care that they're all gone now. Does that cover everything?".

No, not really.

"Actually I just wanted to get past you," I told the Dark Elf.

The elf looked a little ashamed of herself.

"Nice to meet you," she said, staring the conversation over.

We shook hands like civilized people.

"Macross" I supplied.

Hopefully, she'd think it was nothing more than an odd Imperial name.

"Brelyna Maryon," she told me before apologizing "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound rude, I just…"

I waved my hand in dismissal. I'd played Morrowind enough to have some idea of how her culture worked.

"Think nothing of it. I can imagine you must get asked a lot about being from one of the Six Houses" I said, "But politics isn't an interest of mine so I won't be bothering you about it".

I'd been dragged into it enough when staying in the Wizarding World. There was something about that society which dragged people into the gaping maw that was the Ministry of Mage.

"Thank you for understanding," she said, with a small smile.

She didn't seem to want to move so I decided to keep talking.

"So what are you studying here?" I inquired.

It seemed like a harmless enough question.

"Conjuration, but I know a little bit of Destruction too and I wouldn't mind learning more about it" she answer before asking a question of her own "What are you here to study"

Everything other than Conjuration as I wanted nothing to do with Daedra.

"I'm not focused on any one type of magic" I carefully explained to the elf "I just want to learn as much as I can. I've explored enough of Skyrim to know what I'm not prepared for what is out there".

If not for my ability to teleport and the fact that I can't die a mortal death I would have gotten myself into a lot of trouble. I was self-aware enough to notice that my raw power and immortality were making me reckless. I would need to do something about the Thalmor before word of me fixing the bridge with magic made it to the embassy.

"Oh, so you're an adventurer," the Dark Elf said.

Well, I'd had what could be called adventures and could have more given the land I was currently in.

"I've enjoyed, some success," I told the woman.

News of my wealth and power would spread through the college soon enough. There was no need to brag.

"I'm sure you must have some wonderful stories," said the Mage "Perhaps you could regale me with a few tales over dinner sometime".

Was she considering me as some sort of romantic partner? If so I would need to talk to my companions about this as while I wasn't romantically involved with either of them, if I got myself involved with a woman in that way it would impact them. I would at some point have to explain my situation to Brelyna as well. That could be awkward.

"I'd be delighted" I replied.

Again I attempted to leave, only for the last of my classmates to strike up a conversation.

"New here too, eh?" he inquired, as we shook hands "The name's Onmund. I already know yours".

He was a Nord and big for one even of his race, taller and bulkier than most Nords I'd met. More importantly, he was noticeably taller than me. It made me feel small.

"It's good to meet you," I said.

Unlike many Nords, who had a valid reason to hate Imperials due to still ongoing war, Onmund didn't look down on me for being a slightly different kind of human being.

"I'd hoped I wouldn't be the only Nord" Onmund commented, sounding sad about it rather than angry "Should've known better".

The lack of Nords here didn't surprise me, but it was a topic of conversation so I went with it.

"You're right it is no surprise," Onmund said once I had prompted him to talk further on the subject "Nords generally don't trust magic, never have. Throw in the Oblivion Crisis, which was caused by magic users and the more recent troubles with the Aldmeri Dominion, who are elves and magic users. And finally, take the fact that the College is the only thing left standing after most of Winterhold was destroyed. It's all fairly damning".

Sometimes there were good reasons to be prejudiced against a group, it was unfair but it could also be sensible.

"Well when you put it like that, I suppose they do have some justification" I admitted "I just hope they don't make life difficult for me".

It would be simple for me to teleport away and never come back but I wanted to make use of this place's resources. I could still adjust if I went to the Imperial City to find out what happened to the Mages Guilt, but I knew this place fairly well, and that made it safer for me.

"Is it easier to be a magic user where you're from?" the Nord asked.

I didn't even know if my native world had magic users.

"You can learn to get by," I told the native of Skyrim.

Since I didn't want to answer any more questions about where I came from I decided to change the subject and ask Onmund to show me around as I hadn't yet seen all of the college.

Part 45

Follow me on Ko-fi if you want to read drafts of story parts and my supporters get access to stuff I'm posting as part of a plan for a new story.

The College of Winterhold. Skyrim

From what I understood the College wasn't in the habit of keeping track of its student's whereabouts, they didn't even keep a close eye on what projects we got up to. You could get away with Necromancy and Deadra Summoning as long you did it down in the Midden. So the fact that I'd teleported back my Instant Fortress last night should be unknown to anyone.

"I enchanted your clothing as you requested," said Val as she entered my private room without bothering to knock "None of the enchantments are as strong as they could be since you insist on not using the souls of people to bargain for power".

Sacrificing what passed for souls in animals is one thing, people are another matter. Not that I personally did any sacrificing as I didn't want the Ideal Master to take notice of me.

"So I paired the enchantments when possible to increase their strength" I was informed.

All of my socks would help me to move more stealthy, my jeans were meant to boost stamina, and even my boxers were now magical as they'd been muggle-made and didn't have spells on them already. Having boxers that helped you carry more weight around could be quite useful. My t-shirts boosted the protection offered by the light armour I wore. My coat, my boots and my belt had already been enchanted in the Wizarding World. As for my accessories, they came from Sigil and had powerful effects.

"The leather bracers I was able to get done just this morning," Val said to me "They are enchanted to increase your ability to wield weapons. They can be hidden by your robes or your coat".

Each was a minor enchantment, but combined with the artefacts I already carried and my growing power of magic, they should be useful. This was something I was grateful for, but the former vampire ignored my thanks. To be fair enchanting clothes would be simple work for her.

"Any progress in that other matter?" I asked as I gave Val some money so that she could replenish her supplies.

I'd discussed with her the possibility of creating a potion that would explode or start a big enough fire to burn down a building or at least heavily damage one even if there were people trying to put it out. My stunt with repairing the bridge would cause me trouble unless I dealt with the Thalmor.

Simply killing them wouldn't work as that would get the organisation riled up, I needed to make the destruction of their embassy look like a magical accident so that their own mages were likely to be blamed, or at the very least there would be a long investigation.

"That will be done before midnight, my lord" she promised.

She had no more love for the Thalmor than I did and no one would question her working on potions all day as she'd already set herself as the college's unofficial master of alchemy. The college didn't have a potions mistress, and since I'd been very generous with my donation I didn't think the staff would complain. They wouldn't make it official either and that was fine since Val wasn't going to be hosting any lectures, unless someone asked her to, nor would she refer to herself as a teacher.

"Thank you," I said as the woman let herself out.

As I changed into my robes my stomach rumbled and I reached into my pouch so that I could make use of my Everlasting Rations. I ate as I made my way to my next lesson down in the Hall of the Elements. Once there I found Colette Marence, a Breton Mage, who was starting today's lesson.

"I would just like to remind everyone, once again, that Restoration is indeed a valid school of magic" Marence was saying "It is absolutely worthy of research, despite many of the notes I've had left in my bed, on my desk and on occasion, my meals. Anyone suggesting that Restoration is better left to the priests of the Temples, I think, is forgetting a few things"

While I didn't need to worry about healing myself I did use magic sometimes to help others. Frank and Alice Longbottom for example. Although I preferred to use potions of healing as learning Restoration magic could take many years and my golden apples allowed me to cure anything short of death. One day I might get around to learning healing magic. I had the time.

"Firstly, the ability to repel the undead cannot be ignored" the mage was now saying "Skyrim is well known to be full of Draugr, ancient Nord warriors who cannot find peace. I submit that everyone teaching at this College has, at one time or another, relied on one of the Restoration spells that can keep them at bay".

I never had needed to use that branch of magic to deal with the undead but I had lots of wand spells to help me and they were no were near as draining as Destruction Magic could be. Plus shotguns were really effective against the undead.

"Secondly, how can anyone forget wards? They have become essential to any mage working in dangerous situations. They are counted upon every bit as much as Candlelight, or Invisibility" the mage went on to say "But more importantly, wards have saved lives. This is a simple fact. Every Mage in this College regularly uses wards for practice, so as to avoid physical harm. I truly hope that these points actually sink in and that more care and thought will be given to this subject in the future. Thank you".

That was when J'zargo started practising his lightning bolt spell on one of the mage lights. The cat man was very devoted to his mission of becoming a powerful user of Destruction magic.

"Well cast," complimented Onmund, as we came over to where the cat guy was working.

"Of course it was. J'zargo cast it, so it was bound to be good" the Khajit stated.

And I thought I was too overconfident.

"You seem very sure of yourself," Onmund noted.

"There is much for J'zargo to be sure of," said the cat man with a big grin. "There is skill in magic, there is charm. J'zargo will be successful, of this, there is no doubt".

He so needed to be taken down a notch, before he got hurt, but that wasn't my problem.

"I remember you mentioning that you're something of an adventurer. I heard that the Librarian is looking for someone to collect some rare books" my new Nord classmate said to me "That could be a good test of our skills".

And it could be rewarding. I was always on the lookout for new books as I wanted to build a proper library in my two homes. However, if I took some of the other students with me I risked showing off more of my power than I wanted people to see if things went poorly, or if I didn't then someone could get killed. It seemed better to go with my former vampire companions if I bothered at all.

Before anyone could commit further I heard the door open and close. Then I felt colder for a few moments due to the wind. I turned, expecting to see Tolfdir but it was in fact Brelyna Maryon, the somewhat attractive Dark Elf. She saw me, smiled and then came so that she could stand beside me. She hadn't exactly been subtle in her interest in the new guy yesterday and she was less subtle now.

"You're not joining in?" she asked me as the cat guy started showing off once again "I'm sure you could teach him a thing or two".

Skyrim spells weren't like the ones you could cast just by waving a wand, they took more out of a person and I wanted to save my energy for the lesson that would soon take place.

"I'm happy to watch for now" I answered "I'm still new here I don't want to push myself too hard too soon".

The Dark Elf was wearing a hood so I couldn't see her expression, but I got the feeling that she was disappointed. By now she must have heard about me fixing the bridge and she no doubt thought that I was a very powerful mage. If she expected me to throw around that kind of magic often then she going to be disappointed.

Judging by her body language she seemed a little preoccupied with something. She was fidgeting, fiddling with her fingers and looking this way and that. Perhaps she had been looking for a distraction?

"You okay?" I asked, adding concern to my voice.

Something was really bothering her.

"I hope I practised enough with the ward spell. I hope I do alright. I think I will. Maybe I won't. Maybe I'll fail. Maybe I'll have to leave if I fail. I don't want to leave. Do you think I'll do fine? Do you?" she asked.

The last time I'd heard someone speak like that was a friend of mine who was about to have their driving test. I was a little surprised that the Dark Elf was so nervous, she had seemed fine yesterday.

"Don't worry too much Brelyna," I advised.

I never got the chance to offer any further advice.

"Ah, good, you're all here," said a voice

We all turned to see that Tolfdir had at last arrived.

"I'm glad to see you've all been doing something productive while you were waiting for me," said our next teacher.

Colette Marence was not much of a lecturer she'd given up and gone already. Tolfdir however looked ready and able to impart knowledge.

"It seems that you all have particular talents in magic. It shall be gratifying to see you harness them and, I hope, become exceptional mages" Tolfider told us.

That was the plan.

"Some, more so than others," J'zargo muttered to himself.

His words were ignored.

"Now then, let's see how well you've been practising with ward spells. Macross, as you were my practical assistant yesterday, perhaps you would like to try first" he suggested.

As the newest student, it made sense that Tolfdir wanted to see what I could do as it would help to figure out how much help I needed.

"As you wish," I told the wizard.

I moved to go stand in the same place I had on the previous day. Tolfdir summoned a ball of fire and sent it at me only a second or two after I had set the shimmering wall that was the ward. It was a good thing I didn't end the spell as he then sent another. I blocked a few magical attacks, but it was much harder without my staff or my wand.

"Excellent work, Macross," he said, as I walked back to the group "You managed to sustain your ward for longer than I expected. Next time you'll be able to hold it for longer. But I don't want to tax you too much so we will let someone have a turn".

I knew that every time I performed the spell it would become a little easier to sustain so his method of teaching was an effective one. No doubt tomorrow he would send more magical attacks my way and I would block them all.

"Yes, sir" I simply replied.

I then stood back then to watch the others in action. Onmund was next up to go. He held his ward for a good few seconds, but it failed when Tolfdir sent his second firebolt at the tall student. The poor Nord had to dive out of the way. He was quick for such a large fellow.

Tolfdir put it down to the big man not having practised enough but phrased it in such a way that the blow was softened and Onmund was encouraged to try harder next time.

"It gets easier to hold the ward the more you practice," I said to Onmund "You know since Nords are hard to hurt with frost spells if I learned a frost spell you could practice your ward while I train in Destruction".

Onmund politely accepted my offer.

J'zargo proved to be a pro at wards, he blocked a total of seven attacks until he was overwhelmed, and when he did the cat man nearly collapsed but someone managed to stay standing. He'd over-extended himself in an attempt to prove his skills and this was pointed out.

Finally, Brelyna went to have her go. Tolfdir sent a firebolt at her and her early nerves vanished.

"Very good" praised our teacher "Tomorrow will do this again and discuss countering wards".

With that, the lesson was over as they tended to be far short. Most of our learning was done via research or one on one tutoring. I had some research to be getting on with, including learning a weak frost spell.

Part 46

Supporters of mine on Ko-Fi will get to read the drafts I have for my planned Technological Transdimensional Turbulence story.

The next part of this story can be found by my supporters on both and Ko-Fi

The College of Winterhold. Skyrim

While I'd only been for a few days I was pleased with the amount of progress I'd made. I didn't have a way of measuring my adaptation to this world's magic outside of my gut feeling, however, I felt as if I was progressing faster than I had when in the Wizarding World. Being here at the college where there was so much magical energy and so many people using it was speeding up I felt sure.

Also just last night, I'd started a magical fire at the Thalmor embassy so that the Nazis elves would be distracted for a while looking into that and wondering how some enemy had so easily snuck inside their well-defended embassy. I hoped that they'd think it was an inside job and investigate their own people. Meaning they'd have less attention for everyone else.

Remembering how the mixture Val had given me began to bubble when I added the seed to the mixture she'd prepared, made me smile. I'd teleported some distance away and I'd been impressed by how quickly the smoke appeared and the shouting of panicking elves had put a smile on my face.

I was by no means a sadistic person it was just that there was something very pleasing about screwing with the Thalmor.

"Can anyone tell me what spell is best for defeating a ward?" asked Tolfdir.

Since I'd had my magical shield destroyed by a certain kind of spell I knew exactly what spell could be used to defeat magical defences.

"Through personal experience, I've found that lightning-based attacks are effective against wards" I mentioned.

My short and intense magical duel with that Master Vampire in Morthal was fresh in my memory. If I'd not eaten that Golden Apple my journey would have ended that night. I simply wasn't ready to take on such powerful enemies and so it was good that I was focused on my education these days.

"Yes, lightning is the best way to break through a ward spell. I think a small demonstration is in order. Macross, would you mind helping me?" Tolfdir requested.

I wondered if he kept singling me out for these demonstrations because he was trying to get a measure of my power, or if he just thought I had some promise as a student.

"Not at all, sir," I said.

"Wonderful. Now, if you could take this amulet, we can begin," Tolfdir said while pulling a small amulet out of his top pocket.

Unlike in the game, you can wear more than one amulet, but magical items are very

expensive so few people can afford to wear as many as I could. Plus amulets can get tangled up or caught on something.

"Good. I would like you to cast your ward and hold it while I send some lightning at you. I just want you to hold the ward until it collapses" the wizard said "That amulet will absorb most of the energy from the lightning attack".

I was fine with this as I'd been hit with this kind of magic before and it hadn't done much that distract me with pain.

"Now, please stand on the seal over there and cast your ward" I was instructed.

I moved over to the seal we had used in previous lessons and held up my hand. The now very familiar shimmer of a ward spell appeared before me.

"Now, hold your ward steady, and I'll try to break through it," Tolfdir said, as his hands began to glow with electricity.

Soon Tolfdir was sending streams of sparks at my ward. The shield held for a couple of seconds, but then collapsed completely despite the power I could put into it. The sparks briefly covered me and stung me a little before Tolfdir put his hands down, and as the spell faded it really tickled.

"Excellent work, my boy. Are you alright?" he asked,

I was actually okay. Aside from the fact that I couldn't stop laughing for a few moments. Tolfdir must be able to weaken his own attack as the ward collapsed and that combined with my own strange nature as well as the amulet had taken the sting out of that assault.

"Fine thanks," I said before returning the amulet.

Tolfdir smiled before speaking.

"As you can see your warding can not protect you against all kinds of attacks," said the teacher "And if you find yourself going up against a dangerous mage you should have an idea of what to do. Lightening attacks are just one way of defeating wards".

I'd likely teleported myself behind the hostile mage and just shoot him.

"Now who else would like to try and sustain their ward while under attack by a lightning spell?" he asked.

Everyone volunteered and since this lesson had taken place later in the day than was normal we all went off for dinner right afterwards.

Nearly the whole college, but not that Thalmor git had gathered in a room that contained a long wooden table and some chairs. For dinner, we had cheese, salted horker meat and few slices of roast beef, and green apples which weren't easy to get this far north.

Even my two former vampire companions had come out of their rooms, although they were deep in discussion about something and I didn't bother them. They still had a lot of history to catch up on.

I was a little wary of eating food prepared by people who didn't have refrigeration or knowledge of germs, but it wasn't as if their cooking could kill me, and I had potions for pretty much every illness should the worse happen.

"How goes your research?" Faralda asked her fellow staff members as she drank some wine.

Faralda was the Altmer mage who specialized in Destruction Magic, she was also charged with not letting the riff-raff into the College.

"I had a small breakthrough with my research," one of the other staff members said "The Dragonborn kindly gave us some more samples of dragon's scales and bones. What about your work? How does that progress?".

From what I knew the Dragonborn had sailed off. Had they returned or had they just sent some materials to the college via a third party? I should find out more about the Dragonborn at some point if only to be sure I could avoid them. I didn't want to get involved in their insanity.

"Nothing to be said, there's no progress when Nirya keeps bothering me and Collete keeps making speeches on Restoration magic" the Altmer complained.

Given that Collete was here that was a bit mean of Faralda to say that. As for Niraya, both she and Faralda spent a lot of time with Sergius Turrianus who was the college's master of enchanting, as such they were rivals.

"And you junior mages?" asked the Arch-Mage "What have you done during your self-study session? Aside from enduring Collete's speeches".

I wouldn't mention my sneaking out.

"J'zargo practised his fireballs… it did not go too well. J'zargo burnt J'zargo's fur in the process" my fellow apprentice confessed.

The cat guy then lifted his tail, showing charred fur on the point of his tail. It looked painful, but since I didn't have a tail I could imagine how bad it must be. Also, I had to wonder how he'd managed to throw a fireball at his own tail.

"Now you understand why I urge caution," Tolfdir said.

Thankfully for the cat guy, no one decided to lecture him further on the subject.

"And you Onmund?" the Arch Mage asked next "How are your studies progressing".

"I still don't understand why I must do low-level spells first" Onmund moaned "I am ready for more advanced spells".

"You can't ever hope to master Chain-lightning if you can't even do your Spark spell properly. It takes full concentration of the mind to control the sheer force of lightning. Learn from J'zargo's error" Faralda advised.

Nords weren't well known for being cautious. There were exceptions of course and hopefully my classmate would be one of them.

The Arch-Mage continued by asking Brelyna about her research.

"I found some good materials thanks to Urag, but I'm mostly helping him to arrange the library," she told us.

The library was always lending out books and new ones came in from time to time. The Orc, who had already left the table to get back to work had a hell of a job on his hands. The library you see in the game is just a fraction of the reality and it's no wonder that mage side quests involve recovering books.

"You might be our next librarian soon. Poor old Urag barely manages to take care of his collections" Toljfir commented before turning to me "I hear that you've been practising wards and minor frost spells with Onmund".

I didn't think it was worth mentioning, but apparently, it needed to be discussed.

"Frost magic is ineffective against Nords," I said "Onmund needed some help with his wards and it seemed the safest way".

I saw some nods of approval.

"Another thing is that I need to remind you to start your research projects" the Arch Mage was now saying "Your friend Brelyna has already been doing some research"

The project was a big deal because you had to come up with some sort of thesis or dissertation much as you would for an academic degree in my word, or you couldn't graduate from this college. Not that you really needed to do it as any student could stay as long as they wanted at the college, but if you wanted to be a court mage or to ever become a member of staff at the college then you had to do a decent dissertation.

It didn't have to be original research you could simply do your own analysis of an already well-explored topic as long it was your own work and offered something of value or you could even try to disprove another person's work.

Given that to pass the thesis had to approve by a committee made up of several of the staff at the college they'd know if it wasn't a student's own work. In essence, it was like a master's degree in magic and some students spent up to two years in research before feeling ready to present their findings to the staff.

"I just don't have any ideas" Onmund complained.

Perhaps I could help him with that as well.

"Excuses… excuses, go read in the library and you'll eventually find some topic that catches your interest," Faralda said.

I already had a few ideas about mine. Not that I was in any rush, I just liked the idea of being a College of Winterhold-approved wizard.

Part 47

Supporters of mine on Ko-Fi will get to read the drafts I have for my planned Technological Transdimensional Turbulence story.

Saarthal. Skyrim.

Days turned into weeks as I settled into life at the college. I'd devoted myself to the study of using magic in combat and to protect myself. Learning new spells was slow going, but once I could cast the spell I had no trouble powering it. I'd mostly focused on Destruction magic and defending myself with magic.

I'd picked up a few other tricks along the way as I kept my focus on learning what I needed to know in order to handle the dangerous land that was Skyrim.

When it became time to go to Saarthal I felt somewhat ready for the trials ahead. I knew already most of what was going to happen and I had the Staff of Magnus. Should everything go as planned I should end up as Arch-Mage, a position that would give me access to all of the college's resources.

Our teacher, Tolfdir was already waiting for us when we reached the entrance. Getting here hadn't taken long because as it turned out the College of Winterhold did have access to some teleportation magic and had set things up so that mages could between here and the college via some platforms. I felt fairly certain that there had been something similar set up between the Mages Guild buildings in Morrowind.

"And here we all are. Shall we step inside?" he asked.

I spoke for the group. My progress with magic over the last few weeks had put me at the head of the pack. Being wealthy helped with that and I was the most mature of the apprentices.

"We're ready, sir," I told him "Let's go".

We began heading inside.

"Alright. Please stay close to me while we're inside," he warned us, "it should be safe, but it's always better to be cautious".

He opened the ornate iron doors and led us as we descended the narrow staircase into the ancient city. The ruins were a combination of natural stone combined with wooden supports and struts, which were new, but the stonework was old yet still in good shape. The ancient Nords sure knew how to build places to last.

I noticed the many urns, intact and broken, lay scattered around the place, along with the remains of skeletons, a skull here and there. I wondered if these were the remains of people who had fought and died to defend this city from the Snow Elves.

So far, there wasn't anything of major interest. However, I knew that would change as we ventured further into the ancient settlement.

As Tolfdir told us a little about the ruin's history, Brelyna sidled up close to me. We'd spent some time together when she was out of the library and I was studying under Tolfdir who had decided to mentor me in one on one sessions.

"Well, are there any questions before we begin?" our teacher requested.

There were none.

"Macross, why don't you and Brelyna see if you can assist Arniel Gane?" the mage suggested to me.

That suited me fine and the Dark Elf seemed pleased as well.

"He's interested in the magical items found here, from what I've heard," I said.

Tolfdir was pleased that I'd learned about this place before coming here. I even had a crude map.

"Yes, he'd appreciate any help you can give in finding and cataloguing any magical artefacts that can be found," the old man said as he pointed out where Gane should be on the map "Any enchanted items will do; the usefulness is irrelevant. If you do find something, then the whole class can look it over".

And possibly I'd keep a few things for myself.

"Now, what shall we have the rest of you do?" our teacher wondered.

"J'zargo will find something… worthwhile to occupy his time," said J'zargo

With that, he slipped away. No doubt he would go looking for things to stuff into his pockets. Not that I was going to judge him as I had similar intentions.

"All right, everyone. Let's be careful, but have fun!" our teacher called out.

I rolled my eyes a little upon hearing Tolfdir's words. What, did he think we were still children? Then again given that wizards could live a long time he would naturally see us as reckless youths when compared to him.

Before long Brelyna and I were descending further down into the excavation site. After crossing over a stone bridge and ducking into a side passage, we met a balding man in mage robes, and he was leaning over a table nearby.

"It will take forever to sift through all this," he said.

This man sounded tired and a little frustrated. He certainly seemed as if he needed the help.

"Excuse me, sir. Tolfdir sent us to help you" I told Arniel Gane

He turned to me, and I saw the large bags under his eyes which were caused by him

getting little sleep.

"Oh, you must be one of the new apprentices then," said Arniel Gane "Fine, fine just don't make a mess of my work, all right? I've only looked through a portion of this section. You can, uh, search the area north of here. Can you do that?".

I nodded.

"Yes sir, I'll let you know if we find anything" I answered.

While it took some time to find anything we did discover two enchanted rings, I could tell that they were enchanted, however, I didn't know what sort of enchantments they carried, only that it wasn't strong magic. An experienced mage could tell if something was enchanted without having to test the item.

As we looked around some more, I found an amulet that did seem to contain some strong magic, and I knew it was important so I took the amulet off its stand and then turned around, intending to report back to Gane. But my way was suddenly blocked by metal spears that had risen up out of holes in the ground.

I began to look around for some kind of release mechanism that would lower the spears, a chain, a switch. But there was nothing. Nothing that would open it. I would have to teleport myself out with Brelyna.

"Are we trapped?" asked the Dark Elf.

Unless there was a hidden switch I would have to expose some of my true power to Brelyna and hope that she could be trusted.

"What in the world was that racket? Is everything alright?" someone asked.

Tolfdir turned up before I could free us. Not that it mattered as I was fairly certain there was another way to go from here, and I was supposed to take that route. My memories of these events from playing the game weren't perfect, however, I felt sure that I was on the right track.

"Hmm, perhaps that amulet is important somehow" mused the mage as he studied the situation "Is there some way you can use it?".

I looked down at the amulet that I held in my hand. It did seem to have a very powerful enchantment on it, and that made it somewhat risky to simply put on. It could be cursed, only I couldn't really be harmed by simple magic, and someone at the college should be able to undo any minor effects.

As soon as I put the amulet on I immediately felt some energy surge through me. Somehow, my magic felt a little stronger, it must be giving me a boost. Due to my Elder Blood, I already had great power so I'd likely hand over this trinket to the college. I needed enchanted items for sure, but not for a power boost.

"Did you see that?" the teacher asked,

I then looked at the wall I got the amulet. It had changed.

"Some kind of resonance between you and the wall," said Tolfdir "it must be connected to the amulet!".

He was right, I could remember now. I clapped my hands together and formed a firebolt in the space between them, then I fired it at the wall, which soon crumbled away.

"Well, that's one way of doing it," Tolfdir said.

As the dust settled I saw that there was another passage behind the wall. Also, the spears had vanished.

"This appears to lead somewhere" the teacher was now saying "Let's see where it goes."

I ended up letting him take the lead down the passage with Brelyna bringing up the rear. It led down a naturally formed cave, one lined with torches that lit themselves up as we got near them. Also, I saw patches of moss that were clinging to the walls, something Val might care about as it might be usable in a potion. I'd mention it to her late in case she wanted to come and collect a sample.

"Why in the world would this be sealed off from the rest of the settlement?" Tolfdir "What is this place?".

Before long the passage had ended, opening up into another room. Right away I noticed that there was a stone table in the middle of the room, as well as several pieces of ancient tools placed atop it, along with a few candle stubs. The tools must be used for whatever process of mummification it was the ancient Nords had used.

Another thing I took note of was the three stone coffins, one on each wall, and they were propped up against the walls. Thankfully, whatever was in them stayed in them, at least for now.

"So, this was all that wall had sealed off" Tolfdir was now saying "A small burial chamber for the ancient Nords of great importance perhaps?".

I wanted to be relieved that it was nothing more dangerous here than cobwebs and coffins. However, I knew for a fact that there was something down here that could destroy this entire world.

Tolfdir looked around.

"Perhaps we should take a look in some of these coffins," he suggested. "Now, please be careful. Who knows what we're going to find".

I couldn't help feeling amused for some reason.

"If we end up releasing some ancient evil, don't worry, I'll say it was my idea" I promised.

Tolfdir chuckled and Brelyna let out a nervous laugh. Our good mood didn't last as when I opened a coffin and got grabbed. Lucky for me I'd been expecting something like this and had my goblin-silver dagger in hand and that ended the threat rather quickly. If I had not seen it coming then that would have been quite scary.

We wisely didn't bother anyone else's eternal rest. None of the other dead had started moving about so it didn't seem as if they would unless we bothered them. We couldn't let our intellectual curiosity get the better of us. Not that I'd been in any real danger.

"There may be more of them," my teacher warned.

After descending more stairs, there was a gate to the next room. A skeleton was hanging on the wall next to it, held by iron shackles. I tried not to look at it, instead, I pulled the lever next to the door.

This room was larger than the last one. There was a bridge in the centre, which was surrounded by candles that had somehow been lit, and the bridge crossed over a cage, which was showing the floor beneath.

About a dozen coffins were placed in groves in the rock around the bridge so that they surrounded us. I looked down through the cage floor and saw that there were rows and rows of coffins, descending into the darkness below.

Before long I heard the sound of coffin lids hitting the floor and I saw their occupants stepping out. I sent a firebolt at the closest draugr. My magic took that undead out of the fight, at least for the moment, but there were still four more around the room. Two were charging over the bridge with battle axes, the other two shooting from afar with bows and arrows. One of them was aiming right at me.

We three mages raised our wards with one hand and sent out magical fire attacks with the other. Arrows bounced off our wards as the fire magic proved to be effective against the undead. Burnt undead bodies are no fun to be around, but it was better than joining them as corpses.

Once the fighting was done I checked on Tolfdir, who was looking through the floor at the ancient morgue that was below us.

"I've never seen anything like this before in Nordic ruins. Why just look at all these coffins!" he said to me "This bares closer investigation. I'd like to stay a while and examine this area".

Fate must intend for me to find the Eye of Magnus, and to prevent it from blowing up the world. Although I did have to wonder why The Psijic Order, who would later take custody of the Eye of Magnus, didn't just take it now. Perhaps they weren't prepared yet or maybe it had been shielded from then until now?

I'll catch up with you as soon as I can" he said "And Brelyna, Macross if it is hazardous, please be careful".

Brelyna didn't speak she just followed me.

"Of course, sir" was my reply.

Time go find the Eye and get this show on the road.

Part 48

Saarthal. Skyrim.

The Nords or the Psijics, or whoever had set up the defences around the Eye of Magnus, certainly hadn't wanted the powerful artefact to be accessed easily and despite that making sense, it was still annoying. Brelyna and I had to fight our way through quite a few draugr, then solve a pillar puzzle, as well as disable a trap that involved spears.

"Did something just happen?" I asked.

We'd just entered yet another underground tunnel when I felt something strange happen. I couldn't put it into words, I just knew that something had taken place that was out of the ordinary. I was starting to be able to sense these things.

"Did you see him?" Brelyna asked.

I couldn't see anyone.

"See who?" I asked.

It didn't take long for me to figure out what she meant as the mage did her best to explain what had just happened.

The Psijics had made contact with her rather than me. I was hidden from divination magic so it made sense that the Psijics hadn't contacted me. A real shame as I'd been hoping to meet with someone from that order in the hopes of convincing them to take me on as a student.

Now it seemed as if they'd focused on Brelyna. That they thought she was the one to handle the Eye of Magnus and become the next Archmage. That could be a good thing for me as if I became the leader of the college it might get in the way of me spending months in other worlds adapting to more systems of magic.

If Brelyna became the next Archmage I could enjoy the benefits of having a friend in a high position without the responsibility. If I offered to fund the college and gave them other means of support she'd become dependent on me to keep her role.

Such concerns were for later as for now, it would be best to help guide Brelyna rather than give her too much help. I would step if things got too bad, I didn't want the Eye to blow you and kill everyone, but I needed to help my Dark Elf friend grow into her role, rather than do all the work for her.

"Hold on, Hold on!" someone called out.

Turning I saw Tolfdir running towards me. Once he'd caught up he stopped to catch his breath.

"I thought it high time I caught up with you two," he said.

The old man seemed no worse for wear, yet I was concerned for his well-being. I'd become rather fond of Tolfdir, he was a good teacher and he cared for his students. He wasn't a young man and this expedition was dangerous.

"Did you make it through alright, sir?" I asked.

There might have been a small chance that we'd missed some draugr on the way here. The few that Brelyna had needed to deal with went down easily enough, but it wasn't always easy to tell the difference between a proper corpse and one that would attack when your back was turned.

"Yes, it was all quiet," he told me "You two really are skilled mages if you made it through all that".

All it had taken was some fireballs and some quick thinking.

"Thank you," I said

"Should we press on?" Brelyna asked.

The older mage nodded and we walked into the next corridor. Proceeding with caution, we descended the stairs and we found the Eye of Magnus with a large chamber.

"Well now… would you look at that" Tolfdir said.

We'd emerged into a room with a grand and very high ceiling. But what got our attention wasn't the size of the place, rather our attention was drawn to what we found in the room.

There was a formation of four tall pillars. These were engulfed in a flowing field of oddly coloured energy. At the centre of this was a gigantic, floating orb, glowing with the same energy and decorated with strange symbols. I could feel the power radiating off it.

"I never imagined we'd find something like this," my teacher said with awe and fascination in his voice. "Why is this buried so far within Saarthal?".

While keeping our eyes fixed on the orb, we headed down the wooden ramp towards it. We were so transfixed by this awesome sight that we almost didn't see a body propped on the throne at the head of a table. Thankfully we all noticed the movement of the undead and the sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath.

"Draugr!" the old wizard called out in warning.

In short order, I sent three firebolts at it. Two of them hit it, and they had absolutely no effect. I tried again, watching as the fireballs hit the monster and exploded on impact but they did nothing more than cause the monster to fall over.

The elderly wizard sent a stream of sparks, but they didn't work either. They crackled all over his body and did nothing to him. This thing was immune to our magical attacks.

It turned to me and sent a shard of ice flying from his hand at my head. I raised a ward in order to protect myself.

"Keep it busy, I'll try to drain some of its power!" my fellow mage called out.

Brelyna and I would have to keep its attention on me so Tolfdir could work his magic. Literally. Thankfully this wasn't hard to do as the powerful undead thing wasn't very fast or agile. I had a sword of my own, and while I wasn't trained to use it, I only had to distract the undead creature not defeat it.

"There! Attack it now!" the old wizard shouted out.

I backed off as Brelyna sent fire at the creature. Soon, it was down on its knees, overpowered by the magical flames. It might be able to use the power of The Eye to recover so I knew that it needed to be destroyed.

"Let me finish it off!" I called out.

While it was distracted by the whole being on fire thing I strode up to it and drove my blade through its chest from behind. It gargled and slumped to the ground, lifeless, well more lifeless than it had been before.

I found two items of interest on the draugr's body despite might dislike for touching dead bodies. One was what looked like a piece of a magical amulet, part of a set if I remembered correctly. The other was a writ of sealing, a piece of parchment placed with the body to keep it from walking about or leaving the tomb if it did. Not that it had worked.

It read:

Be bound here, Jyrik, murderer, betrayer

Condemned by your crimes against realm and lord.

May your name and your deeds be forgotten forever

And the charm which you bear be sealed by our ward.

Interesting. This guy must have done something pretty bad to be buried all the way down here. It had something to do with the Gaulder legend if I recalled correctly.

Long ago, Archmage Gauldur was murdered by his three sons, who stole his amulet of power and divided it among themselves. They immediately began a rampage around Skyrim. This attracted the attention of the High King Harald of Skyrim, he sent his best warriors and his personal battlemage, a man called Lord Geirmund after the sons.

A great chase ensued, from the wilds of the Reach to the glacial north. One brother is said to have perished in the ruins of Folgunthur, at the Foot of Solitude. The others were run to ground soon thereafter.

Perhaps I should check the notes I had in my Book of Shadows and go after the other parts of the amulets. Since I could teleport around it shouldn't take long.

"Well, this is absolutely fascinating," Tolfdir was saying "This is amazing, absolutely amazing. The Arch-Mage needs to be informed of this at once. He needs to see this for himself. I don't dare leave this unattended".

I soon decided what needed to be done.

"Brelyna, if you head to the library and start looking for anything we have on this thing I'll go alert the Archmage," I said.

Tolfdir approved of this.

"Good thinking, Macross" he praised, "please hurry".

Brelyna and I headed off to the entrance of the city with the intent of using the teleporter there to quickly return to the college.

Part 49

The next part of the story can be read by supports here or here

Folgunthur. Skyrim.

Not long after informing the Arch-mage of the discovery, I'd decided to slip out, taking Serana (or Sera as she was referred while we were staying at the college) with me so that I could complete the Gaulder Amulet quest and obtain a greatly desired prize. I'd left Serana's mother behind, letting her know that I wanted her to keep watch over the Eye of Magnus while I was gone.

We wouldn't be gone for long and it should take the Arch-Mage and his fellow staff members at the College, at least a few hours to move the Eye of Magnus back to Winterhold.

"Any Draugrs in here?" Sera asked as we entered the dangerous ruin.

I knew for certain there would be in the game, but since I had never entered this place in real life I couldn't be totally sure.

"Probably," I replied. "Just be on your guard".

As we continued forward, we soon found a sight that would give most people nightmares for weeks to come. There was blood all over the floor and a few dead bodies lying about. The smell was just terrible.

The dead people here weren't equipped right to be adventurous, they looked more like a group of miners, some sort of treasure-hunting expedition gone wrong I assumed. It had happened recently.

"Watch for traps," I said.

We came across a very large chamber but before we could move through it, we saw the coffins along the walls begin to break open. A pair of Draugrs emerged and we quickly sprang into action.

As two Draugrs ran straight towards us, I attacked them with lightning and blasts of fire, while Sera did the same. Between my raw power and her experience, we made short work of the undead, unlike the foolish treasure hunters.

Beyond the next door, there was a spiral staircase then we found a rickety wooden bridge leading to a platform. All of which were just above the large chamber we'd gotten ambushed in only moments ago. As we crossed the bridge to the other side, we noticed even more blood stains on the platform.

The body of a Dunmer mage lay dead on the platform, and he was covered in more of the red stuff. Right next to him lay a journal, and a large claw that was made out of ivory. I also noticed a small pedestal with an engraving of some sort on it. It resembled the shape of the ivory claw I'd just found.

I knew exactly what to do here, but I didn't rush things. Instead, I picked up the journal from the floor and started reading it. There was never any harm in having a bit more knowledge about the places you were exploring.

"What does it say?" the former vampire asked me once I was done.

Then I read it again only out loud, it told me nothing that I didn't already know, due to playing the game, but I placed the journal in my pouch of holding anyway. I had entire libraries to fill in my homes and journals could be part of those collections.

I picked the ivory claw up from the floor and Sera watched curiously as I placed the claw onto the pedestal. It clicked into place and I turned the claw key. Then we heard a rumbling as things began to move. Soon we had a path that would allow us to move onwards.

As we moved deeper into the ruin we established a comfortable rhythm of attacking our foes. They would appear and one of us would blast with lightning in order to stun the undead, and then the other would use fire to destroy the monsters. How you could stun the undead was a bit of a mystery. I could only assume that the magic animating them was disrupted.

The undead things couldn't hurt us and the traps were easily dealt with by me using The Impediment Jinx ( Impedimenta), to slow the movements of the traps.

Finally, we came upon a door. It had an engraving similar to the one on the pedestal that I had used the ivory claw to open. Above the slot were three discs, each with an engraving of a different animal on it. I proceeded to stick the ivory claw into the slot.

As in the game, I rotated the lock until the animals matched the ones on the claw and then I pushed the claw and the door began to open. Why the combination was on the back of the claw I had no idea, but the ancients who built this place must have had a good reason that made sense to them at the time.

Soon enough we found ourselves in a gigantic crypt. It was too dark to see much but it felt creepy enough to be the right place.

"I think this is it," I said "The room where one of Gauldur's sons is buried"

Just then, as if in response to my statement, there was the sound of stones breaking. I watched as the lid broke off a stone coffin and a Draugr climbed out of it.

"Wo alok dilon," the undead thing spoke "Fen dir!"

That didn't need translating as the undead thing raised up his sword and charged towards us. I took out my staff and with the use of my limited wand magic I sent the undead flying into a wall with the Banishing Charm. When the creature got up it return the favour by using a Shout to knock Serana and me over.

That was when other Draugrs broke out of the coffins along the walls and joined the fray. They didn't last long either as I was able to use my staff to deal with them. Bursts of magical power emitted by the staff struck them down. The raw magical energy stored within the staff easily dealt with the lesser undead.

The boss of this dungeon was harder to take down. He could teleport over short distances and used that to try to attack from unexpected directions. He appeared behind us and Shouted again to disarm us.

Alas for the undead creature the staff came flying back into my hand, which was not something I'd known could happen, and after blasting the monster I drained the magical energy that was animating the corpse.

Once the fighting was done I took the scroll that was resting on top of the altar, unrolled it and read it out loud.

"Be bound here, Mikrul, murderer, betrayer. Condemned by your crimes against realm and lord. May your name and your deeds be forgotten forever. And the charm which you bear be sealed by our ward"

After that, I recovered both The Gauldur Blackblade, which had an absorb health enchantment in the game if I recall correctly and part of the amulet.

"Now we need to grab the last part of the amulet before we repair it," I said to Serana

"And I know exactly where we need to go to do that".

This little adventure should be over in a matter of hours.

Part 50

The next part of the story can be read by supports here or here

Geirmund's Hall. Skyrim.

According to the journal I'd picked up from the leader of that failed treasure-hunting expedition, Sigdis Gauldurson was the brother to who killed Lord Geirmund after the defeat of his two siblings. Sigdis fell in the lengthy battle and Geirmund's Hall was to be his final resting place, forever sealed and protected. Only it wasn't as I easily got in. If there had been magical protections here they'd long since faded away.

Serana and I found Geirmund's Hall on an island east of Ivarstead, in the waters of Lake Geir. Compared to the other two tombs, Geirmund's Hall was rather small. I felt unimpressed, to say the least.

"Not much of a hall, is it?" I said,

I'd have called it Geirmund's Hole In The Ground.

"What do you mean?" asked Serana.

"This place is called a Hall, but it doesn't look anything like a hall," I explained "It's more of a hole or just a cave".

She had nothing to say about that so we proceeded further into the cave. Looking around it became clear that this place was no Bleak Falls Barrow that was for sure. Serana wasn't fond of being underground due to having been stored away for centuries. I would move quickly for her sake.

The only immediate threat was a swarm of skeevers, basically giant rats that lived in the darker, danker places in Skyrim, as most rats generally do. On their own, they didn't pose much of a threat but the trouble was they were never alone and they carried debilitating diseases that you could catch if they bit you.

Not that there was much risk of that as the two of us were more than a match for them and the vermin were swiftly reduced to corpses before they could hope to sink their teeth into our flesh. Not that they could have infected us since we both had eaten golden apples, yet being bitten was still something I wished to avoid.

After that, we all jumped down into a pool of really cold water and we began wading until we found a room. There wasn't much in the chamber, just a few urns and a soul gem which we did take. I used wand magic to quickly dry our clothing and I was glad that I had kept on studying that branch of magic because it could be very useful sometimes.

The next room contained a puzzle which was easy enough to solve. The symbols on the left wall had to be matched with those on the left side of the cave and the same for the right side. After we had lined up Eagle-Whale-Snake-Whale the door opened for us and we proceeded on

In the next part of this dungeon, we both took on a draugr that came to meet us. They never even got close to try stabbing us as we just blasted them with magical attacks.

"Poor defences" I commented.

In the main chamber, we found the body of the Arch-Mage Geirmund, who lay upon a

cold stone slab. Beyond him, I saw what I assumed to be the way into another chamber.

"This doesn't seem right" I muttered.

Dungeon diving in Skyrim normally took longer than this, there should be more traps and creatures to fight or simply more rooms with some sort of treasure in them. Not that I really needed to find some treasure since I was already very wealthy.

I'd noticed the lack of loot when compared to the game, and I'd put that down to other adventures getting here before me or reality just being more stingy with the treasure, but this was different, it was as if the real Skyrim was both much bigger and yet somehow smaller than it should be. Perhaps it was just my exceptions that had been either too big or too small. Real life had a way of disappointing you while also sometimes being more bizarre than any fiction.

The corpse of the Arch-Mage held the key required to enter the next part of the tomb

As we did a coffin lid was kicked off and a horn-helmeted, heavily armoured draugr emerged from the coffin, before drawing an ancient sword and leering at us. I could see a glowing amulet hanging around his neck. It would soon be mine.

"Sigdis Gaulderson, I presume," I said, "You have something I want".

Rather than reply, the undead thing vanished in a flash of purple light. I could have sworn I heard him chuckle at us as he did.

"Where is he?" I wondered.

I took out the Staff of Magnus and put up a protective barrier.

"There!" Serana called out "Also there, and there".

On each of the three platforms, there was a draugr that looked identical to Gaulderson. From this distance though, it was impossible to tell which one was the real one.

Two of the drauger were drawing bows, and the other prepared a different kind of attack.

"FUS"

My barrier protected us from the magical attack and while I kept my left hand firmly gripping the staff I used my right to send out blasts of lightning. Serana unleashed spikes made out of ice that caused the illusions to fade away when struck.

He vanished just as we prepared another attack. We tried quickly to take out the copies, but he was teleporting around too fast for us to get a good shot at him, keeping us confused and annoying me.

"How are we supposed to hit him when we don't even know which one he is?" asked the former vampire.

Rather than give her a verbal answer I just took out my pistol and quickly shot all three of the undead things as firing a gun is much faster than casting spells. Only the lack of spare bullets kept me from using it more often. Due to my shooting, the illusions vanished and the real monster was knocked into the water.

After passing the staff to Serana, I took out my sword and went over to what remained of Gaulderson as it tried to pick itself up. Longclaw was very effective against the undead and the monster soon stopped moving.

No one in my small group had a use for the bow as none of us was an archer, but it would be worth something in trade or I could place it on display in one of my homes. The amulet was what I cared about and I now had all the parts. I just had to go and get the parts put back together.

The amulet would boost my already impressive powers, allowing me to do more with my limited knowledge, and when I had the knowledge required to be a proper wizard I would be an extremely powerful one.

That put a smile on my face.

Part 51

Reachwater Rock. Skyrim.

After a quick trip to Geirmund's Hall to pick up the last part of the amulet and an enchanted bow that no one in my group had any use for but I would keep anyway, we headed to the one place in this land where the three parts of the amulet could be made whole again.

My companion and I were currently beneath the surface, I seemed to be spending a lot of time underground ever since coming to Skyrim. The entire country was like an iceberg in that most of it was hidden from sight.

"Let's be quick," said Serana "I've had enough of caves to last me a lifetime".

We followed a dirt path that led us up to a natural platform that was above a pool of water at the centre of the cave. Upon this platform was a tablet, and upon that tablet was written a warning, a message telling me not to enter the tomb and that its occupants should be left to rest in peace.

As if to reinforce this idea that it was best to leave this place as quickly as possible, we found the body of a dead adventurer. He was dressed in iron armour and was gripping one of those fancy dragon claw keys in his cold, dead hand.

Normally I'd pay attention to the health and safety warning, and not go poking around the dangerous area, but these days I was a lot harder to kill and could teleport away from threats, as such I wasn't concerned.

Quickly I moved to take the claw, knowing now its value both as an artefact and as a key. After I had taken the key we approached the great stone door that stood atop the ramp.

"Would you like to do the honours?" I asked.

Serana rotated the symbols so that they matched those on the claw, having seen me done this before, and turned the lock with a grinding of stone. A cloud of dust escaped through the cracks as the door descended, revealing the opening. We proceeded slowly forward as other doors along the way descended one at a time, one after the other with the same echoing grinding of stone.

Once we got past the stone doors we entered a large room, it was grand, almost like the hall of a great king. However, I knew it to be the final resting place of a powerful mage who had lost his life due to betrayal by his own flesh and blood. In my view, this was a valid reason for me not to have children.

Great columns lined the room on either side, now cracked with age and lined with roots and moss, much like the walls that encircled it. The stairs led down to a space which was filled with many different stone coffins. At the end was another coffin, and an altar of some sort with three parts. One for each piece of the amulet, like this had all been expected.

"Come on, let's reform this amulet and get out of here," I said to Sera.

Gently, I put the first fragment on a panel and it began to glow in a golden light, when I placed the following segment on the second plinth, it got the same reaction. The final one had the same effect, only this time accompanied by a sudden, foreboding rumbling in the walls, enough to make me wonder if an Earthquake was about to seal us in this tomb.

However, that wasn't what happened. Instead, some spirits appeared, the spirits of the mage's sons, and they hovered before the coffin of their father. Mirkul, Sigdis and Jyrick if I had their names right. While I'd defeated them before that didn't mean that they were no threat to us now.

This was confirmed when one stood forward, drew his sword and vanished in a flash of purple light. As he reappeared on the other side of the room, I heard the sounds of coffin lids being kicked open and slamming to the floor. The draugr within them stepped out, drawing bows, clutching axes and swords, getting ready to attack.

Soon were fighting for our lives, or perhaps not given our immortality, since it was unlikely that these spirits could actually kill us. It was best to assume that they could do some harm and to act upon that. Serana brought up a ward to protect us as I blasted the undead with the Staff of Magnus.

Once the first son had been defeated for the second time I turned to see that he had returned to the altar, and he was now kneeling in a position of surrender beside the spirits of his brothers. The remaining thralls, who were still standing, now keeled over and became lifeless corpses once more, the influence of their master now gone.

"One down, two to go" I muttered.

The next brother laughed, and it was a dead, hollow sound, which he made before he vanished in the same flash of light.

"This might take a while" I moaned.

Hopefully too long. I had other things I needed to do today and with that in mind, I blasted anything that moved with the Staff of Magnus.

Once the fighting was done I felt a great deal of satisfaction at finishing the quest to gather the parts and then repair the Gaulder amulet.

It was over now, the three sons were gone, their vengeful spirits were banished for good and their father could get some well-earned rest. At least that was the sense I'd gotten once I'd gotten the amulet restored.

"It's beautiful" Serana stated.

I turned back to the altar, staring into the light that shone from it. Suspended in the golden light, fully completed and whole for the first time in many, many years, was the amulet of Gaulder, the one that had given him his unique powers and that his sons had so lusted after. They had used the pieces of the amulet to spread havoc and destruction across Skyrim before they were stopped. Now, it was time to use it for better purposes.

My intention was to have my other companion disenchant my amulet that kept me safe from Divination magic and then to make some copies as rings so that we could all benefit from the protection. With the Psijic Order sticking their noses into the college's business it would get my whole group some defence against scrying. I would like to study with that group, but I wanted to make contact on my terms.

"Let's get back to the College," I said to Serana.

I'd really had enough of old tombs and so had she.

Part 52

Winterhold. Skyrim.

I stood close to the large orb that had been transported here and now floated in the centre of the lecture hall. It certainly was an amazing discovery, there was no denying that. It was probably the most unique and powerful magical artefact ever found in Skyrim, perhaps all of Tamriel. I couldn't help but be in awe of it.

If the relic wasn't so dangerous I might try to take it for myself, but I did know how dangerous this object was so I didn't want it in the same dimension as myself as long as there was a chance it would go boom. This was why I had to let events play out as they did in the game, at least for the most part.

Okay, so I had the Staff of Magnus as such I could one day, learn how to control this orb, but I might kill myself trying and the task of handling this thing had fallen to someone else, so I figured all I needed to do was help my Dark Elf friend when the time came.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tolfdir coming over to me.

"I understand that you have been doing research on the Eye," he said.

So far I hadn't been able to find much. Brelyna was doing most of the work and I had my own studies to be getting on with. However, I had come across a little tidbit that she'd missed.

"Yes sir, I have," I confirmed. "I found a book called 'Night Of Tears.' There was mention of an object of great power that men and mer fought and died over at Saarthal. There wasn't any great detail, but it can't be a coincidence that we found this at Saarthal".

Soon Tolfdir would realise what I had known all along, that if people had gone to war over the Eye of Magnus in the past then they might do so again. The College could be in trouble. Groups like the Thalmor would kill everyone here in order to possess the Eye.

"Hmm… that is a rather grim discovery," he said sombrely. "But still, at least no one died over it this time. I'm sure that as long as we treat it with respect and caution, everything will be fine".

I knew that things wouldn't be okay, not unless I ensured it, and I didn't think that he really believed it either.

"What have you learned so far?" I asked.

More information wouldn't hurt.

"Well, why don't you have a look, see what you can tell me," the wizard said.

Not much really, I'd never seen anything like the Eye before, and in reality, it was more alien than I could understand.

"It's big. It's floating. It's glowing" I said "It's a giant levitating sphere".

That wasn't all I had to say.

"The writing on it isn't Aleyid, or Dwemer, or Daedric, or Falmer" I went on to say.

Oddly I couldn't read any of the symbols on the Eye, which meant either they were total gibberish, or something about this relic prevented the enchanted item I wore that translated things for me from working.

I'd already checked out a bunch of written languages from this world, and I could normally understand at least part of what was being said. I would at least recognise a few symbols if it was Daedric despite me wanting nothing to do with them.

"They're unlike anything we've seen before" my teacher was now saying "this marvellous object. It practically radiates Magicka. And yet it's unlike anything I've felt before".

We spent a few more minutes studying the Eye trying to figure out: what its purpose was, where it came from, who made it, and what could be learned from it. Already there was a theory going around the college that it had been given, in the early days, as a gift from the gods to mortals. That this orb was how the first mages got their powers.

I myself postulated about the Eye's practical purposes. Considering that it seemed to radiate Magicka then it stood to reason that, if it were harnessed correctly, it would not only give you great amounts of magical energy it could also increase a mage's power. I didn't need the boost myself, but it could be used as a power source for some great magical construction.

"Arch-Mage Saren and I are working hard on the subject of the Eye," Tolfdir told me "While you are entitled to help as well, it would be advisable for you to continue on with your own work and not get too distracted".

I was leaving the hall when the Thalmor adviser came over to me, and I had to use all my self-restraint not to blast him into atoms. I really didn't like the Nazi elf.

"I'd like to know why there's someone claiming to be from the Psijiic Order here in the College," said the High Elf "More importantly, I'd like to know why he's asking for Brelyna and why he wants you to join her in the Arch-Mages quarters".

From the way he spoke, it was like he thought it was somehow my fault. This whole thing clearly had Ancano more than a little rattled. Unlike me, he hadn't expected one of the Psijiics to appear here. Now that one of them had, he was in a position of ignorance and he didn't like it. He was the kind of man who preferred to know everything that was going on in the world. Or at least that was the impression I got from the elf.

As soon as we were alone my wand came out of my sleeve and I disabled the elf before teleporting us both to Bleak Falls Barrow. Before he could get over the shock of what had just happened I shot the elf and then teleported myself back to the college. I wasn't completely unbothered by what I'd done and I'd been planning to get rid of him for a while. He was no different than Umbridge really.

I headed to my destination as if nothing had happened. It would be a while before anyone reported the elf as missing and the Thalmor Embassy wasn't in any state to handle the mer's disappearance. Even if someone did look into it there was no evidence of anything criminal having happened.

When I entered Savos Aren's quarters I thought that they were very impressive. The room was grandly sized, aligned with display cases containing soul gems, from small to large as well as some interesting items connected to different kinds of magic, such as Vala stones.

An alchemy table stood here as well, laden with ingredients for those with the skill of potion-making.

At the centre of the room was a tree, with plants like lavender and foxglove growing around it, decorated with glowing mage lights. Aren and the Psijiic mage stood in front of it, apparently deep in discussion. They turned at the sound of my footsteps.

I couldn't be sure, but I thought that he was the same Psijiic as could be seen in Saarthal. The one who appeared to Brelyna and warned her about the consequences of finding the Eye of Magnus. If it was him then events were in motion as I'd expected they would be.

"Ah, there you are Macross," Arch-Mage Aren said by way of greeting.

The senior wizard then turned back to the Psijiic.

"Now then, shall we…"

Before he could finish that sentence Aren and everyone else was frozen in place as time stopped, leaving only myself and the Psijiic free to move. Seemingly satisfied the spell had worked, the mage looked at me.

"It is good to meet you in person, Macross," he said to me. "My name is Quaranir of the Psijiic Order".

We shook hands.

"Nice to meet you too," I said while glancing at the frozen form of Arch-mage Savos Aren "Wish I knew how to do this whole time freezing trick".

Somehow I didn't think this Quaranir person would teach it to me just because I asked.

"I've given us a chance to speak privately. I can't do this for long, so we must be brief" he said.

Since there was no sense in delaying the member of the Psijicc Order simply got on with things.

"The situation here at your College is of dire importance," he began to explain, "and all our attempts to contact you have failed".

There were reasons for that, but if they weren't going to share their knowledge with me I was going to tell them what I could do. Perhaps I would get the chance to study with them when I wasn't such a novice at using magic.

"Many in the Order believe, as I do, that if the Eye remains here, it will be misused. We believe something will happen soon that cannot be avoided. Your efforts should be directed towards dealing with that event, but we cannot predict what that will be" I was told "I fear I have already overstepped the bounds of my Order, but I will offer this: seek out the Augur of Dunlain here in your College. His perception may be clearer than ours".

Consulting the Augur happened in the game so it made sense to do so here.

"I am unsure where he is, but he is within the College," Quaranir said to me "Surely one of your colleagues must know where he is. Your fellow apprentice Brelyna has a part of play in all of this so stay close to her".

He was down in the Midden if I remembered correctly. Still, I would double-check that and then take the Dark Elf with me.

"I am sorry I cannot provide further help, but this conversation requires a great deal of effort on my part" Quaranir informed "Now, I'm afraid I must leave. It is within you to succeed, never forget that".

The current of time returned to what it should be, and everyone who had been frozen suddenly seemed a little ill, but the effects didn't last for long.

"I'm sorry, were you about to say something?" asked the Arch-Mage.

He looked rather confused and I didn't blame him.

"There's been a misunderstanding," the monk said innocently. "I clearly should not be here. I shall take my leave".

This was surprising news to the Arch-Mage who made no move to stop his visitor from leaving.

"I feel so strange…" Aren said as he gazed thoughtfully at the tree in the centre of his quarters. "I'm… I'm not sure what happened…"

While I would have liked to have filled him in Quaranir wouldn't have gone to the trouble of freezing time if what he'd spoken about was for more than my ears. Even Brelyna had been frozen in time. So clearly the Order knew that I was no normal mage.

"Sir, do you know anything about the Augur of Dunlain?" I asked.

His expression became more stern at the mention of it.

"Has Tolfdir been telling stories again? I thought I made it quite clear that this was a subject inappropriate for conversation" said the leader of the college "Please don't allow him to continue to discuss the subject".

I knew now to seek out Tolfdir. I might as well go with the flow of events until it was time to act. Ancano wasn't the only fool in Skyrim who might try using the Eye to boost his powers.

"Excuse me, sir, I have studies to attend to," I said to the Arch-Mage "Come along Brelyna".

It took him a few moments to reply and my fellow apprentice was only now starting to come to her sense. Being frozen in time, or whatever it was that just happened to them, had something of a negative effect on people. Perhaps that was why the spell if it was a spell, had to be used sparingly.

"Of course," the Arch-Mage said absently while staring off into space.

Quickly I took my leave with Brelyna in now, heading back down to the Hall of Elements. It was unsurprising to me to see that Tolfdir was still present, studying the Eye intently. He really wanted to figure the thing out.

"Excuse me, sir," I said.

He was so engrossed in it that he didn't hear me.

"Tolfdir!" I yelled.

He snapped his head around.

"Oh, I am sorry my boy. The Eye, it is most intriguing" he said, "What do you need, Macross?"

Yes, something very important.

"We need to find Augur of Dunlain" I answered "Do you know where he can be found?".

It down was in Midden, but if he had directions to the right chamber I'd be grateful.

"Now, there's a name I haven't heard in a long time," he said thoughtfully "I suppose he's still down in the Midden, but I haven't really checked. Are you going to see him?".

Once I had indicated that I was going to do that I got precise directions. I would have to explain to Brelyna why we were going down into the Midden once we were on our way. I wasn't sure how much time we had. Even with me having gotten rid of the Thalmor agent other people would come for the Eye of Magnus soon enough.

"Do tell him 'hello' for me, would you?" Tolfdir requested.

I could do that.

"Thank you for your help," said my fellow apprentice.

With that Brelyna and I got moving.

Part 53

The Midden. Skyrim.

We'd climbed down into a cave that was coated in snow and found a ceiling that was covered in icicles. Beyond the cold cave was a stone room with a door leading to the next area, and there was something magical in that place. I could sense it.

An eerie, icy mist hung over the ground as we cautiously walked in. A pile of wood was stocked in the corner to the left and, curiously, there was sweeping brush in a basket that was propped next to the door. By the looks of things, someone had been down here doing some cleaning.

Did the college have its own janitor? I couldn't recall seeing one, but there must be at least one person going around doing some cleaning. Maybe they had their own version of House Elves or human-sized cleaning staff who I just hadn't noticed. I really should check on that and find out more about this place worked.

I slowly opened the door and stepped into the room beyond, I saw a draugr come shuffling towards us. Not that this really mattered as Brelyna and I simply blasted the undead thing with fire before it get close enough to strike at us.

Slowly I lead Brelyna into the chamber that housed the Auger. The door opened, revealing a large, floating mass of energy. I should have been more impressed, but compared to the Eye, the Auger wasn't so cool, although I could certainly feel a lot of power here.

"Tolfdir says, hello," I told the Auger.

It didn't reply to that.

"Do you know why I am here?" I asked.

Those who have sent you have not told you what they seek. What do you seek?

Since we required information I figured that I should ask another question.

"Can you tell us about the Eye?" I requested

Be careful of the temptations of power. Your path can be a dangerous one.

Well, that wasn't very helpful. I didn't think that I was going to get a straight answer from this thing and since I had the Staff of Magnus I didn't really need to. I had been hoping for confirmation that I did indeed need the staff and that I could handle this crisis. I didn't think I was going to get it.

"My path?" I asked.

When I got no answer I turned to Brelyna.

"Do you want to ask anything?" I wondered.

She'd been silent this whole time.

"I've been talking to it," she told me "I just don't understand what it is saying. Apparently I don't need to do anything after all".

Since I had the Staff of Magnus there was no reason to leave the college and that foolish elf was gone so perhaps I'd changed things too much. The Psijiic Order seemed to think that something was going to happen. Perhaps their ability to divine future events was limited as was this creature's ability.

"I guess all we can do is try to research the Eye further," I said.

Perhaps I shouldn't have killed Ancano? No, letting him live would have been foolish he could have blown up the planet by messing with The Eye.

We headed out of The Midden and went to check up on The Eye only to find that we'd been gone for longer than expected, so it was now nighttime, and far more importantly The Eye was gone. Giant floating orbs of vast magical power don't just vanish so the staff were busy searching the college.

"There you two are!" called out Tolfdir "Where have you been?".

I answered for both of us.

"We went to see the Auger" I answered "It wasn't very helpful".

Tolfdir looked very worried.

"Ancano is missing as is The Eye," he told us "It seems clear that he somehow took it, but we can't figure out how he got out of the college. The Eye is too big to get out of here unless it went through the front entrance and he would have been seen".

The passageways of The Midden were simply too narrow.

"I think the Psijiic Order is behind this," I said.

If I'd muddled up the timeline they might have decided to act sooner rather than after disaster was averted.

"The Auger seemed to think that the danger has passed" informed Brelyna "Or at least that was the impression I got so I think Macross is right. The Psijiic Order must have taken and hidden The Eye".

Perhaps the Thalmor could have done this, but there'd be some sign of their presence and with the Embassy having burned down so recently it seemed unlikely that they could have acted this soon. Was there some other group involved?

"That does make sense," said Tolfdir "Perhaps Ancano tried to stop them?".

The old wizard stopped to consider the idea further.

"I'll talk to the Arch-Mage about this," he told us "You two should return to your rooms while we finish looking around".

Might as well. I had studies to be getting on with. Brelyna and I went our separate ways. I found Val and Sera, it was important to keep using their fake names even in my own mind, waiting for me in my room.

"Are you both okay?" I asked.

I could tell right away that something was wrong.

"Mother has done something," the younger of the two women told me "I'm not sure if it was good or bad".

I didn't need long to grasp what this was about.

"Did you do something to the Eye?" I asked.

The older woman presented to me the All-Purpose Pocket Dimension, a portable gateway to a private space which is unaffected by the world outside. I'd gifted one to Sera so that she could more easily secure the bow that her father wanted to use with her blood to block out the sun.

"You took The Eye" I realised.

I was both shocked and grateful when Val reminded me that The Eye by itself isn't dangerous unless someone tries to mess with it. It had been safe underground for centuries and could be contained within the Pocket Dimension forever, at least in theory, and she'd taken it for me to care for.

"And no one saw you?" I asked.

Val seemed insulted by my question and to be fair it was rather silly since no one had clue what had happened to The Eye.

"I was practising magic before either of you was even born" she reminded us before explaining herself further "The Eye is too dangerous for this world. It needs to be guarded and you already have the one tool that can even allow someone to even attempt harnessing its power".

She had good points. I could always stash The Eye on a planet where no people were around to mess with it and the Pocket Dimension could keep it secure for as long as we were in this world.

"Good job" I praised.

Perhaps one day I could make use of the Eye, for now, I would be its guardian and go back to my studies. I still had a lot more to learn about magic.

Part 54

The College of Winterhold. Skyrim.

As I'd predicted the staff here at the college came to believe that Ancano somehow stole The Eye and that resulted in the Arch-Mage declaring that the Thalmor would be turned away from the college in the future. This new policy might cause problems for the college, but the Arch-Mage had little choice in the matter.

Once the fuss died down we students all went back to our studies and while I'd not focused on any single branch of magic I'd been able to make progress in all schools of the arcane art, aside from Conjuration.

"You can speak Daedric?!" Onmund said in surprise "Why would you wish to talk with such foul creatures?".

That subject of discussion had come about due to the morning's lecture on Daedra Summoning, something I had no interest in doing, however, it made sense to learn about what Conjurors, mages who specialised in dealing with Daedra, could do as I might have to fight them.

The lesson had ended but we were all still in the hall expressing our opinions, and Brelyna was trying to explain what was wrong with Onnmund's question. J'zargo and I simply listened.

There is no Daedric language to speak as far as anyone knows. There are Daedric letters that have their Tamrielic equivalents and the symbols are sometimes used to represent aspects of magic. For example, Oht (O) is represented by the symbol for an Oblivion Gate.

"I've always found Oblivion and the many varied realms and entities that inhabit it absolutely fascinating. Why do you think I got into Conjuration?" replied Brelyna the Dark Elf "We know so very little about them even after studying them for centuries. There's still much to learn about Oblivion I'd love to visit one of the planes".

Onmund continued to stare at her, fearful concern for his friend now present in his eyes.

"Summoning lesser Daedra is one thing," the Nord said, "but to actually travel to those evil places you'd have to be mad!".

I didn't even summon Daedra. It simply wasn't worth the risk of being noticed by the Princes.

"I'm not foolhardy enough to actually enter one of them," Brelyna told her Nord friend" I am well aware that the realms of Oblivion are dangerous, but to call them 'evil' is far too simplistic. The Daedra, particularly the Princes, are very different from us and given to extremes, with motivations we mortals can rarely grasp".

She had more to say on the subject.

"They certainly are capable of evil, yes, but they aren't inherently wicked" the Dark Elf was now saying "You have to remember that they aren't different from the Aedra, what humans call the Divines, except that they refused to help create our world. Isn't that what "Daedra" means in Aldmeris? 'Not our ancestors' while Aedra means 'our ancestors'".

That was actually true. The Nine Divines, or eight while the Thalmor were around, were not that different from the Princes. Talos had been human at one point so he wasn't truly an Aedra but he was still a god, which could be confusing for some.

"Some people would call that heresy" Onmund said in a tone which suggested he did.

Nords got really upset about religious matters when other people told them who and what to worship, which was why Ulfric Stormclock had been able to use the issue of Talos' worship to rally so many Nords to his side.

"This isn't about religion, this is about coming closer to understanding the nature of entities that, for better or worse, exist alongside our world. Isn't pushing the boundaries to see what's beyond what being a Mage is really all about?" Brelyna said before turning to me "You agree with me, don't you?"

My policy on this matter was already well known.

"I would never involve myself in the affairs of the Daedra" I stated "But I don't think I have the right to tell other mages what they can and can't do".

Before this could be discussed further someone came over to speak with us.

"Ah good you're all here" Savos Aren the Arch-Mage said upon seeing that were still in the hall "Urag recently reminded me of certain volumes that he would like back in the library, and I think you should fetch them for him".

If I recalled correctly some former students had taken them when they left the college because there were things here that were forbidden for mages to study.

"I heard that some important books have become lost" Onmund stated.

"Before any of you arrived here, a few of our members were involved in research that went beyond what is allowed here" Aren answered "When they wouldn't desist, they were… persuaded to leave, but not before one of them stole a number of books and supplies from the College".

I had to wonder what they were up given that mages performed Necromancy and conjured Daedra down in the Midden. Then upon thinking about it I decided that I likely didn't wish to know what they'd been doing.

"Now that isn't the real issue" Aren went on to say "What really matters is that they are still active and recently they have started causing enough trouble to get the attention of some of the local villages. If they are allowed to keep harassing people then the College's already dubious reputation will suffer even further, but your priority is those books".

Perhaps the staff should go out and deal with this, but given recent events, I could see why the Arch-Mage wouldn't want to leave the college undefended.

"Last I heard, they'd taken up residence inside an old abandoned fort northeast of Whiterun called Fellglow Keep" we were informed, "I'm told your combined talents will be useful for a venture like this, which is why I am entrusting it into your hands".

Sending the students seemed foolish. Mind you this is Skyrim. Life can be violent and short in these lands.

"Sir," asked Brelyna "What did they do?".

Savos Aren gave her a sharp look before answering.

"All you need to know, Apprentice, is that they endangered the safety and well-being of this College and its residents, which is something I will not tolerate," the Arch-Mage said in a harsh tone of voice that soon softened "I'd like this solved peacefully, if possible, but do not let your guard down. Their leader, Aranaea, is particularly dangerous".

This time none of us spoke. I was thinking that it might be time to show more of what I could do. I got on well with them and trusted them to an extent. I didn't want any of them to die because I wanted to hide most of what I could do.

My three fellow apprentices could be useful allies in the future even if it didn't look as if anyone of them would be running this place any time soon. Besides, the risk to me was minimal since I could always go to another part of this world and carry on with my studies if things didn't work out.

"Now this is a volunteer-only task," said the Dark Elf Arch Mage "No one will think less of you if as a group you decided you are not ready".

The old spell caster directed us to go speak with the librarian before we left on our mission, assuming I even went.

Part 55

Blackreach. Skyrim.

Rather than go off with the other apprentices to acquire some books from dangerous rogue mages, with no reward offered, I was staying devoted to my studies and I didn't feel bad about that as I could just donate more gold to the college.

Since my studies included learning alchemy from Val we'd recently covered some of the more exotic plants including nirnroot and I'd mentioned the existence of crimson nirnroot, a special variant of nirnroot that can be found exclusively here in Blackreach. Similar to regular nirnroot, the crimson variety makes a humming sound that lets you know when a plant is nearby.

Val had apparently never heard of it, or if she had it was a memory lost to time, and so she had more or less demanded that we go out to acquire some. Since she'd acquired the Eye of Magnus for me, which if nothing else I could to keep the Staff of Magnus charged, I'd decided that we would go and acquire some samples for her research.

My first impression of Blackreach was that the place had a certain beauty about it that was unlike anywhere else I'd ever been before. Skyrim was a brutal place, but it had some impressive sites. Plus the game didn't prepare you for the sheer scale of places like this.

What little light there was down here emanated from the giant fungi that had some sort of bioluminescence effect going on, as well as a large and dim sphere that must have served as a fake sun at some point, it had either grown dim over time or it was simply simulating nighttime and would glow brighter at other times.

In the distance, I could see a dark and towering structure, a place I knew had been a stronghold of sorts for the Dwemer (the dwarves) in the distant past. The city was easily equal in size to some of the human settlements of this world. While the possibility of looting the underground settlement held appeal to me, it wasn't the main reason why Sera, Val and I had ventured down here.

We did not immediately begin looking for the special nirnroot as once we had realised the sheer scope of Blackreach, it became clear that we could be here for some time and that we'd have to come back later unless we could find somewhere secure to sleep that could contain the Instant Fortress.

"Let's check out that building" I decided.

Once I had used the unlocking spell to get the door open I led the way into the dwarven-style house before allowing the others to step inside. The ruined Dwemer building had been small on the outside, and the inside was no different. It was clearly meant for a single occupant.

Upon looking around I saw what appeared to be a quaint hovel, at least by my standards. Anything within that was of Dwemer make had to be centuries old at least, and yet it was a good state despite all the time that had passed.

While looking around, I could see the bowls on the shelves still all intact, and shelves that looked as sturdy as they must have done hundreds of years ago. Nothing human-made would be in such a good state after so long.

All the bowls, plates, cutlery, pots and pans found their way inside my bag of holding. The items were rare even here in Skyrim and would be unique elsewhere. Perhaps I would sell them to a collector or use them in one of my homes.

Looking at the non-dwarven stuff I saw that there were the remains of a blanket on the bed, and scraps of cloth scatted about the place as well the rotten remains of a book. Only the items required for alchemy and enchantment remained intact, having been preserved with magic.

I'd seen such magic before. Val had used some sort of powerful spell to keep her alchemy lab in order while she was hiding out in the Soul Carin. I'd have to investigate such magic further once my education in magic had advanced further.

Also, there was a skeleton. Sera examined the body while her mother went over to the ingredients and the enchantment equipment to see what could be salvaged. Such things were never cheap and demand was always high so simply having gold didn't always ensure that Val could purchase what she desired for her potions.

The body had two Dwemer arrows stuck within its ribs, yet the door had been locked, the man, if this was a man, must have been able to stay alive long enough to seal himself in this small building. Impressive considering that he'd had two arrows in his chest at the time. I didn't think the Falmer would have locked him in.

"The skeleton isn't a human's" Sera reported "This was a male Altmer, and he died some time ago as I'm sure you can tell. I can't be precise on long he's been down here, and the cause of death should be obvious".

She must have made an extensive study of anatomy at some point in her life to know someone's gender and species just by looking at their skeleton. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Val had cut open corpses as part of her daughter's education. As long as they hadn't been killed for that purpose or were alive when they started I didn't mind as medical students in my world cut open bodies to learn about human biology.

A journal was clutched in its fingertips, which Sera noticed and tried to remove, when she did the skeleton's hand crumpled into dust, she just brushed the dust off and then handed me the journal so that I could read it.

Given the good state of the journal, it was safe to assume that some sort of preservation magic had also been cast upon it. Being here in Skyrim for real had taught me that there was a lot more to the local magic than throwing fireballs around and summoning daedra.

"His name was Sinderion," I told the group "and he came here looking for Crimson Nirnroot just as we have".

Spoiler

4E 58 Second Seed, Middas I've spent a large portion of my life unraveling the mystery of the nirnroot and yet I still feel unfulfilled. The trilling sound this strange herb emits seems to taunt me, to push me even harder to discover its secrets. Even after a generous and indomitable traveler became a field collector in my stead, and provided me with five score of the nirnroot, I was only able to muster what I consider a mediocre alchemical creation at best. This only served to strengthen my hunger and whet my appetite for the solution.

It wasn't until over fifty years later that the answer to my prayers was carried into my basement workshop at the West Weald Inn. The first thing I heard was the familiar tone - that unmistakable warble unique to the nirnroot. But when I turned around, my heart leapt and a chill ran down my spine. This was indeed a nirnroot, but of a variety the likes of which I have never seen. The herb was awash in a spectacular array of red hues, each leaf seemingly emblazoned with innumerable variations of crimson. I couldn't move - I was completely transfixed. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined a species of nirnroot with such a unique property.

After an awkward silence, I finally managed to stammer out a few questions to the traveler who'd brought me this treasure. He told me his name was Obeth Arnesian, a treasure-seeker from Skyrim. Apparently, he'd been exploring a vast subterranean network of grand caverns called Blackreach and had stumbled across what he dismissed as "a noisy red weed." His expedition was largely unsuccessful and he didn't want to leave the caves empty-handed, so Obeth picked one of the crimson nirnroot to bring home. He said that it took some time, but eventually he was pointed my way and that perhaps I'd pay a fair price for it.

Before I could gather my wits and ask anything else, Obeth offered to sell me the crimson nirnroot sample, a map showing me how to find Blackreach and the strange key needed to breach its outer defences. It took me mere moments to decide. Obeth left Skingrad a thousand septims richer, but I would have easily paid ten times that amount to obtain the sample alone.

It took a year of planning, but I was able to pack up and sell my workshop and make my way into Skyrim. Before delving headfirst into Blackreach, I knew I needed to set up a new laboratory, but wished to do so in seclusion.

After making inquiries at the College of Winterhold, of which I was an honorary member, I was directed to speak to Avrusa Sarethi, a student of botanical alchemy who had a small farm near the city of Riften. By bartering my knowledge of nirnroot cultivation, I was able to secure Sarethi Farm as a launching point for my field research. I kept the knowledge of the crimson nirnroot a secret from Avrusa, but imparted everything else I knew to her in exchange for her hospitality.

A few months passed, but I was finally ready to enter Blackreach. I used the Runed Lexicon that Obeth had provided and descended into the depths. My goal was to gather enough crimson nirnroot to produce my greatest alchemical creation to date - I was certain it would take at least thirty of them to provide the necessary catalyst.

This brings me to the present. My initial research seems to indicate that the crimson nirnroot has a similar affinity for moisture as the garden variety, but also maintains some sort of symbiotic relationship with the enormous fungi that inhabits Blackreach.

It is my guess that the fungi itself is a source of water, absorbing it from the moist subterranean air like a sponge.

This provides the ideal environment for the nirnroot to grow. Unfortunately, the crimson nirnroot appears to have a vastly shortened lifespan, and they are in no way plentiful down here. Gathering thirty of them will be quite the challenge, but hopefully the denizens of Blackreach will allow me to gather my samples unhindered.

"Alas, they didn't," I said once I'd finished reading out loud "Poor man he was so close to getting what he wanted".

Val, who had by now finished packing up everything worth taking including the potted crimson nirnroot, looked over at me. Sera had found me a small object that was called an Attunement Sphere. I'd have to research them as I couldn't recall exactly what they were for.

"Once we get to the college we should finish this Sinderion's work and publish the results" she suggested "We can share credit so that he is remembered".

That sounded like the right thing to do. I was surprised that she was the one to suggest it.

"We need to find out if there is somewhere secure, or somewhat secure, where we can set up the fortress, or if we are better off just teleporting back here later.

There was a lot more down here than crimson nirnroot and I had plenty of pouches of holding and expanded bags to fill.

Part 56

Blackreach. Skyrim.

After a lot of fighting and a great deal of looking around, we managed to find somewhere down here that was acceptable as a location for our base of operations during our stay. We'd thinned the numbers of falmer who lived down here, but there were still plenty more of them out there so we had to be careful.

I'd set up the wizarding world tent and then put up all the protective spells I'd been able to research using the books on magic I'd brought while in the Wizarding World. I wasn't sure how well they'd work. Still, they were better than not having magical defences and I'd blocked the entrance as best I could.

My companions had also placed magical traps around that acted a little like landmines. I'd not advanced enough in my lessons about the local magic to start making use of such spells so it was good for me that I had companions who were experienced with that kind of magic.

We weren't totally secure, but the monsters down here could be handled, and the danger was limited. The Instant Fortress was too big to set up inside and I didn't want us out in the open in case there were any giants down here. I was sure that there was at least one of them roaming around in Blackreach when I'd played the game.

The dwarves called this place the War Quarters according to the words carved into the stone sign. This was the dwarven version of a barracks and we'd found the building to be devoid of any creatures or automatons, it was also in good shape, the walls seemed solid and there were no holes for anything nasty to use to crawl inside.

These barracks contained a sleeping chamber, with seven beds arranged in a fan formation. Aside from that, there was a room with a stone double bed in an alcove. This was the part of the building where I'd decided to set the tent up. I guessed that the room with the double in it had been for the officer of the troops who would have shared the other room.

The empty room nearby was likely to be some sort of training area or maybe a meeting hall for briefings. The building was nearly empty so it was impossible to know. It seemed likely that treasure hunters had cleaned this place out a long time ago, or maybe it had been emptied by the falmer for some strange reason.

While my companions sorted through the loot we'd collected during our explorations of this wonderful place I began making some notes within my grimoire. I filled the book with more than knowledge of spells and the recipes for certain potions on its pages. I also recorded some of my own thoughts and interesting bits of information that I picked up during my travels.

"Blackreach was originally colonised by the Dwemer of Skyrim. They built a number of Great Lifts to provide quick transport to the surface, and connected Blackreach to three of their settlements: Alftand, Mzinchaleft and Raldbthar".

I'd like to explore them as well, but this plane of existence kept nearly getting destroyed or at least greatly endangered, so I didn't think that we'd be here much longer than it took for me to fully adapt to the local magic. Between the dragons, the vampires, the first Dragonborn and the Eye of Mangus there were a lot of threats in this world to even immortal beings.

"While down here they constructed roads and buildings, going so far as to create the Silent City in the centre of Blackreach" was what I said as the quill wrote my words into the book with no need for me to do any actual writing "By the looks of things Dwarven Centurions were installed to guard the cavern's roads".

Those few we'd seen were inactive and I had no desire to mess with them.

"The Dwemer farmed mushrooms which seem to grow very well in the damp environment. If we ever try to grow some of our own we'll have to try to recreate the environment in a greenhouse" I said to the quill.

The plants down here lived in very different conditions than most other plants, there was no true sunlight in Blackreach or any pollinating insects as far as I could tell. Val was very interested in the local flora and I had more than land back in the Wizarding World for more greenhouses. Letting her grow stuff would keep her out of my hair.

"Blackreach is a deep underground cavern which has developed its own ecosystem due to its unusual size and time spent undisturbed by the rest of Nirn" I recorded "Blackreach has plenty of natural resources that I plan to take advantage of including some interesting minerals".

Some of which the dwarves had gathered, smelted into bars, and then just left lying around after they disappeared from this world.

"The Tower of Mzark, which can be accessed here in Blackreach, contains a device used to transfer the knowledge of an Elder Scroll onto a lexicon" I added to the record "However I'm sure the Dragonborn has used the lexicon and I don't know where to get one of my own. A shame as we have an Elder Scroll that could be read".

I stopped the recording and looked over the bit of paper that Sera had just passed to me. I now had a list of resources we'd gathered down here. The dwarves had left quite a bit lying around.

34 Souls Gems of different sizes

14 bars of Corundum

6 bars of Ebony

4 bars of Dwarven metal

3 bars of Gold

2 bars of Moonstone

3 bars of Orichalcum

3 bars Quicksilver

3 bars of Silver

Pots, pans, knives, forks, spoons, and a lot of junk made from dwarven metal had been found. No sign of any weapons or armour, and that made me think again that we weren't the first party of treasure hunters to come down here.

I looked down the list and found that I was rather impressed by the sheer amount of mineral wealth to be found down here. No wonder the dwarves had built the Silent City and claimed this massive cavern. Blackreach provided a fortune in just soul gems.

Thinking on it I wondered if the goblins of Gringotts, who were famous for their ability to horde and make use of certain metals, would make of these minerals. What would they trade for even a small supply of Moonstone and Ebony?

"We've gotten plenty of that crimson nirnroot that my mother is so interested in" Sera let me know "More than enough to brew up all kinds of potions and she's set herself up in the other room so as not to be bothered by us".

I was pleased to hear this, Val was much easier to live with when she could indulge in her interests.

Not that I had time to dwell on that matter as I soon found myself being dragged to the bedroom part of the tent and I was practically thrown onto the bed by Sera who was clearly eager for my attention. To be fair I had been distracted by my studies quite a lot of the time.

After leaping on top of me like she was still a step up the food chain, her mouth found mine as we made out, only stopping to remove an article of clothing, before resuming our kissing. Despite our mouths being busy we were both naked very quickly and I was already hard. I enjoyed how much warmer her body had become once she'd rid herself of the curse of vampirism.

I began to play with her pussy, checking that she was wet before I gently inserted a finger inside her. She gasped as I did and then smiled at me as she grabbed my cock. It took a bit of effort to try to get off as she used her skilled hands to pleasure me. Sera really knew how to please a man.

My companion lost interest in the foreplay before long. She wanted me inside of her sooner rather than later, and she made that very clear when her following actions. She manoeuvred herself so she was sitting on my cock, pressed against my body, rubbing her pussy along my shaft. She might want me inside her, but she also wanted to tease me a bit more or maybe she was teasing herself. Thankfully not for long.

Grabbing the base of my cock, she lifted herself up and positioned it at her entrance. I watched my cock disappear inside her and not for the first time I wondered how any woman could enjoy being penetrated or even how they had room inside for my cock given all their baby-making equipment.

She placed a hand on my chest and then she began slowly moving her hips. I watched the former vampire slowly ride my dick. I focused a lot on her breasts which looked very large given how close they were to my face.

As she began to move faster and fast her breasts bounced up and down. I did manage to look at her face a few times and unless she was acting it looked as if she was very much enjoying herself. I did have to do anything other than let her ride me. Something she did with great skill.

"If you don't slow down, I won't last much longer," I warned her.

She leaned forward, pressing both hands into my chest, and started to ride me even faster than before, as if she wanted to desperately make me climax.

"Cum inside me," she said.

I did about thirty seconds later, although that was just a guess, and her hungry pussy felt as if wanted to gobble up every drop of cum I had to offer.

Part 57

Markarth. Skyrim.

Since Val wanted to get right to work studying crimson nirnroot I'd left her at the college to get on with that while I took Sera with me to go and acquire more materials for my own needs.

The city-state of Markarth was situated deep within a part of this country known as the Reach. It was part of the Druadach Mountains that made up the border between Skyrim and High Rock. A place that would have taken us some time to reach if not for my ability to teleport around.

Markarth, was actually built on the original dwarven settlement, once known as Nchuand-Zel, which was built around a large rock formation with twin rivers flowing past. This gave the settlement access to plenty of clean water and had the terrain been flatter, and safer, they could have gotten a lot of farming done around here.

Most of the industry in this part of Skyrim involved mining and smithing. There's gold in them thar hills. Silver too, and no doubt some other metals. Not that I had any interest in non-magical metals as I could those easily enough elsewhere.

While the city itself wasn't the safest place you could find yourself, going outside of the city meant entering some very hostile territory, as this part of the country was filled with bands of those Forsworn nutters, and the Divines only knew what else.

The seat of power in Markarth was the Understone Keep, that place contained an entrance to Nchuand-Zel, which could be found underneath the city, and it was the focus of my interest since I'd come here primarily to acquire more of the dwarven metal.

My interest in dwarven metal mostly had to do with it being in such short supply. No one knew how to make more of it and I figured that people with an interest in metals, such as the goblins of Gringotts, might be willing to trade something I wanted for the material.

Another option was to learn how to smith the metal and use it to forge stuff that could normally only be found in this universe. I'd like to find out if it was possible to acquire such skills quickly, via some magical means perhaps, but if needs be I could learn the slow way. I had time for such things.

I might even discover how it was made. The dwarves had been very advanced, but they weren't more sophisticated than some of the civilizations out there that had experience with both magic and science. There were many experts I could one day consult.

Nchuand-Zel had been a major dwarven city back in its day, so it should be able to supply with me plenty of the metal. I could then pay someone to melt it all down and turn it all into ingots. Anything I made from the metal would be inferior to real dwarven metal craft, so hopefully, we'd find some good stuff while exploring the dwarven city, such as real arms and armour.

"Oh good morning," the old man in charge of the exploration of Nchuand-Zel greeted Sera and me. "Forgive my foul mood. We lost another mercenary to that damned spider. My research is halted until she's taken care of, and I can't find anyone competent enough to get rid of her".

While neither of us looked much like adventurers really, we were both powerful mages and easily capable of dealing with some massive spider, even if I'd rather not tangle with such a creature due to my distaste for such creatures.

"Perhaps we could be of some help," I offered.

The scholar went on to tell me about the big ass spider that had appeared without warning and had started killing anyway who tried to go down into the dwarven ruins. Apparently, the Dragonborn had never stopped by this part of Skyrim and dealt with it.

"I would be in your debt," then the man who I thought was called Calcelmo, replied, "and you would be paid for his services".

The money didn't matter, but I'd take it anyway so as not to appear suspicious. Besides, I could always set up another vault somewhere.

Sera and I headed underground. It was clear to me right away that there had been workers done here recently and that they'd left in a hurry. Tools had been dropped and there was a wagon full of dwarven metal. I decided to leave these samples alone.

Calcelmo likely knew about these samples and would notice if they went missing. I'd rather not upset the man and end up in trouble with the local authorities. Sure I could teleport away if I did, but there were bound to be better examples of dwarven craft further down.

We encountered some small frostbite spiders along the way. Since spiders were not known for group action I assumed these to be the offspring of the big spider we were supposed to be taking down. They didn't last very long as by now I'd gotten rather good at zapping monsters with lightning.

The things really creeped me out so I gingerly stepped around their corpses. I could tell that my companion was amused by my actions even if she didn't say anything on the matter.

"This won't take long," said Sera.

The sight of the massive arachnid made me shiver. I'd never seen such a gigantic spider before. Yet for all its size it didn't last long as my companion strikes the monster with cells made from magic as I zapped it with lightning.

Once the big spider was dead we set around burning the eggs sacks that contained spiders that had not yet hatched. This was a good thing we were doing because if we didn't the young ones would soon be born and they'd head up to the surface in search of food.

Given the sheer size of the spiders and the amount of young they had, I had to wonder why they weren't a more common sight. Did they have a natural predator? If so I felt fairly certain I didn't want to meet that predator.

The big door on the opposite side of this chamber was heavily covered with the spider's silken webs that we set on fire since for some reason webs of magical spiders were very flammable and burned away quickly.

Upon closer inspection, I found a carcass that was still wearing the uniform of an Imperial soldier. Sera approached the body and examined the corpse. I still hadn't gotten used to seeing the corpses of people.

Soon she handed me a note which was addressed to someone called Salonia. The soldier had apparently been hired to guard an expedition into Nchuand-Zel. The soldier's name was Alethius. I wondered if he'd died doing his job or if the whole expedition was now dead and dried up in cocoons.

While I read Sera went over to the massive spider and began to do something that made me feel a little ill.

"Mother would never forgive us if we didn't harvest the venom of such an impressive specimen," she said.

I decided not to watch the venom milking.

"Are we going to enter the ruins?" Sera asked me once we were both back in the tunnel.

I was itching to delve further into the ruins right now, but I knew that it was best to let Calcelmo know the spider would no longer be a problem.

"We'll go deeper underground," I said "But let's check in with the guy who's supervising this site before we do. I'd rather not upset the Jarl if it can be avoided".

With that we headed out, walking so as to make sure we'd gotten all of the spiders as we left. I wanted to make sure that we did a proper job before we claimed our reward.

Part 58

Markarth. Skyrim.

The old man in charge was somewhat grateful for our efforts and he paid us a nice amount of gold coins for slaying that massive spider, then he ranted about how he would be able to get back to work. I waited until he was finished before showing him the note.

"Hmmm," he commented as he read it over. "Where did you find this?".

I hadn't. I wasn't in the habit of touching dead bodies.

"On a corpse in the spider's lair," Sera replied "I found it on the body of someone in the amour of the Imperial Legion".

Hopefully, this robed guy hadn't been overly attached to the dead man.

"He must have been someone from Staubin's little group," he stated while putting the note away "A brave scholar, but not very wise. I assume you're anxious to do some exploring of your own?".

Indeed we were. I desired a great deal more in the way of the dwarven metal as aside from trying to figure out how it was made I wanted to learn to use it to forge some weapons and armour.

"We'd like to look around" I answered.

I wasn't going to mention my desire to loot the ruins.

"Very well," he said "You've proven your skill. If you find anything useful, please bring it to me, including any notes you may find from Staubin's group. I doubt he's alive. It was weeks ago when they wandered into the ruins, but there's a chance they uncovered some useful information before meeting their demise".

Now that we had permission it was time to go back down. It didn't take long to get back to the doors because we'd already cleared the way and when we made it we were able to open the large doors and enter the dwarven city.

Nchuand Zel was amazing even when seeing it through a set of night-vision goggles or via a spell which had the same effect on a person's vision.

Sera and I were standing atop a ramp gazing out over the underground city. Various buildings and towers reached great heights despite the fact they had been built without a sky overhead, and they were all connected by narrow bridges.

The entire city was built within an underground cavern that was lit by some sort of bio-luminescent mushrooms that lined the ceiling and walls of the cavern. So that even without my special goggles I would be able to see where I was going as long as I was careful.

Still, I was glad of the glasses as they allowed me to see the underground city in great detail. I had never seen anything like it before. It far surpassed the expectations I had from playing the game. I was so glad that I had come to this great Dwemer city.

Okay so it wasn't as impressive as Blackreach, but it would have been worth coming here even if it was just to see the sites. This was a big part of what made travelling the multiverse so worthwhile. Acquiring power and wealth would be rather hollow if I didn't get to explore places like this.

"You do take me to some wonderful places" Sera commented.

The prospect of such explorations was part of what I'd used to entice her to become my companion.

"I did promise that we'd see some sites," I said "I just didn't think we'd be bringing your mother along with us".

Val could be abrasive, but she was a skilled alchemist and skilled with magic, so overall she was worth keeping around, it was fairly easy to keep her occupied. Plus there was the mother/daughter kink factor. I'd never thought I could get into that.

"That wasn't my intention either" stated Sera.

We stopped talking when we both spotted movement.

"Falmer," Sera whispered.

They were once a great race of elves, who were called the Snow Elves because of their choice of habitat, which had been the snow-covered mountain ranges of Skyrim and Morrowind if my research was correct.

In the past they had fought against the Nords, the Chimer, the ancestors of the Dunmer aka the Dark Elves, and the Dwemer, the Dwarves, in order to maintain their hold on their lands. When it looked like defeat was imminent, they asked the Dwemer for help. Which had been a huge mistake.

Their elven cousins agreed to hide them within their underground cities, but they tricked them, feeding them some sort of fungus that caused blindness. From then on, the Snow Elves became slaves to the Dwemer.

The Dwarves were gone now, but after centuries of living below the ground, the Snow Elves were now known only as the Falmer, a grotesque, blind race who prowled the shadows, who were willing to eat humans, and they struck fear into the hearts of those who dwelled on the surface.

They roamed the ancient ruins as well as caves that they had found access to because of their proximity to the underground cities, and any unprepared explorer who delved into the depths often found themselves at their mercy, not that they had any.

"Unless you want to fight all of them were going to need to employ some stealth" advised Sera.

Turning invisible would be pointless since the hostiles here were blind and we might lose track of each other, so it was making noise we had to worry about. There were spells to muffle sounds and this was a good chance to practice using them.

Not that this helped much as it turned out that the falmer could detect us anyway if we got close enough. Maybe they had Daredevil sense or something similar.

Before long we entered one of the buildings, and we quickly took care of any Falmer that we came across as we crept through the ruins. They couldn't actually hurt us, it would have just been easier to sneak around. Plus fighting the Falmer meant running the risk of damaging the artefacts that I wanted to claim.

This building appeared to be a residence of some sort, as it was divided into various living areas. I figure at some point in the past that several family groups had probably dwelled within the building.

It quickly became apparent to me that the Falmer had set up their own dwellings within this building. They lived in odd-looking tents, which I had no desire to examine, the Falmer were a crude race and I wanted nothing from them.

I did claim the pots, pans and so on that were made of dwarven metal because they were valuable and I could sell them in different worlds to people who wished to collect such things, or maybe I could melt them down.

It was here that we found two corpses, who in life had obviously belonged to the expedition that had died down here. One was a guard, the other appeared to have been a mage or scholar, perhaps both.

Sera discovered a diary on the mage and by reading it I discovered that this man had been named Stromm. He had opted to stay behind with the guard to research the dwellings further and had written his findings in his diary. I pocketed the small book with the intention of giving it to Calcelmo when next I saw him.

"I think that's everything of value in here," I commented.

We took one last look around in case we'd missed something important. It didn't look as if we had.

Back out in the caverns, we found the next portion of the passageway to have been flooded. But since I could teleport us we didn't have to worry about getting wet in order to reach other parts of this underground city.

Inside the next part of the city, along with several more Falmer, we found weapons, armour (most of which we took leaving only a little behind for future explorers) and many inactive Dwemer automatons that could be mistaken for statues or some sort of art.

I knew that some of these ancient creations still worked in the ruins, even hundreds of years after the disappearance of their creators, and I also knew that no one understood how they worked,

As we explored, we encountered a few more dead guards from the previous expedition as well as another researcher. Sera found his notes on his corpse and passed them to me so I soon discovered his name had been Erj.

Within this part of the ruins, I found plenty of dwarven metal that I could recycle later that had been gathered by the Falmer for some reason. What the purpose of these bits of junk was I could only guess and this was neither the time nor the place to inspect them.

Before long we continued on to the next building, and this one was full of steaming pipes and dozens more Falmer. Thankfully the nasty creatures only had arrows and swords, so they weren't much of a threat to people who couldn't be harmed in mortal ways.

It wasn't long before we found ourselves in a room that contained the corpse of a guy called Staubin who as Calcelmo had mentioned was the leader of the group who had come down here.

"Staubin knew that they were too outnumbered by the Falmer to fight their way out" I explained after reading his notes "He wanted to turn the automatons on".

Not such a terrible idea as they'd kill all the Falmer and take losses while doing so. Perhaps enough to make it possible for what was left of the expedition to leave. Alas for them they'd not made it far enough.

"I don't want to battle one of those giant centurions," Sera said to me.

That didn't concern me too much as I had no intention of fighting those creations.

"If there's ever going to be a full expedition down here then we need to clear out the Falmar," I told my companion "We can turn on the defences, teleport out and then let the Falmar and the centurions destroy each other, then anyone else coming down here will only need to deal with the survivors".

And they'd know how to turn the defences off as I could leave instructions.

"Maybe we could wait and deactivate them ourselves" suggested Sera "You could teleport us back here in a few hours to switch it all off. If it is that simple".

That did make sense.

"Okay we'll do it that way" I agreed.

We moved on and soon found what we were looking for as we climbed a ramp. We took out a lone Falmer mage who had some sort of staff, and then we let ourselves into a small room which had a lever in the centre of it. That mage hadn't even been able to ward himself and thus had fallen quickly.

"That must be it" Sera stated.

It might be the on switch for one of their lifts, but if it was that was fine as it would just lead to more exploring.

"I think so," I replied

While preparing to teleport us away if this went wrong and caused a cave-in, I pulled the lever. It was a bit stiff from so many years of remaining in one position, and even with Serana's help, it was a bitch to move.

Loud mechanical sounds filled the space around them as pumps and gears began to work again, and whatever mysterious machinations that controlled the automatons started to do their work. Before long we began to hear sounds of fighting in the distance. The automatons were doing their job and the Falmer weren't going to go down without putting up a fight.

"Okay let's get out of here and come back in a few hours," I said to my companion.

I might even be able to salvage some more materials from the automatons. Then I would seek out Calcelmo and give him the notes we'd found.

Part 59

Gwynedd. Wales.

I'd left Skyrim as soon as I'd felt that I'd adapted fully to the local magic for a few reasons. To start with my relationship with my fellow apprentices had soured because J'zargo had been killed by the rogue mages they'd been sent to recover the books from.

Brelyna and Onmund had both become distant when they returned to the college and I didn't think they blamed me totally, nor did they hate the Arch-Mage as it had been a volunteer assessment, but clearly they both felt that J'zargo would be alive if I had gone with them, and they could be right.

Without the near disaster involving the Eye of Magnus nothing really changed at the college. I'd spent the rest of my time there in intense study. I still had years to go before I mastered Skyrim schools of magic.

At least I'd not burned any bridges. I was free to return to the college in the future and I would go back to Skyrim to pick up some things I'd never gotten around to collecting. For now, I intended to stay here in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter to study more and to take care of some business.

Serana and Valerica, it was safe to use their names in this world as Harkon had no agents in these lands, were both experienced mages and would be able to teach me more about the magic of their world. Assuming that Valerica could be dragged away from her studies of this world's magical plants.

Already she was casting some minor spells to see if she still had access to her magic, and her powers seemed to be working. Although that might be because she'd brought some of her world's energy with her. Only time would tell if she would need to return home to her universe due to being incompatible with this one.

"So Macross, this your country estate," said Valerica "It has potential".

That was a somewhat accurate description of the place. I'd told my two companions about my properties in this world before now. Now that they were seeing it in person they had a much idea of the standard of living I could offer.

"I own the house and the surrounding land" I confirmed "Mostly the land is used as gardens for magical plants and I have a few greenhouses, but other than it's not much of an estate. I don't keep any animals here".

This was somewhat like an English country house owned by the gentry. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a townhouse, which I also did, and had ownership over land in the country. I didn't own that much land, so I didn't consider myself to be any sort of nobility.

In the Muggle world, such estates had a great deal of indoor and outdoor staff, as such country houses were important as places of employment for many rural communities. This was less true in more modern times due to the industrial revolution which made cities and towns more important than they had been in times past, however they were still important places.

Since Valerica was a medieval noble in some sense, she saw my country home in that way, and so it didn't surprise me much when she asked to be put in charge of the lands here as well as the house.

"Mother we've been in this world for less than half an hour and you're already taking charge" complained Serana.

Since I didn't want to run the place I was happy to have her do it.

"Your mother will make a fine…"

I wasn't quite sure what the title would be.

"Seneschal" supplied Valerica "I've run estates like this before. With your wealth, you should have no trouble buying up the surrounding land if we require more room. We'll need more greenhouses and fields to use as pasture land for useful animals".

If enough land could be purchased and then warded properly it should be possible to safely keep some magical creatures here or mundane kinds. I didn't need to keep chickens, cows and goats, but Serana's mother wanted them and I could acquire some more house elves to take care of them.

Overall, I saw no harm in letting Valerica run an estate for me while I did more interesting things.

"I did think about planting some trees that have wand-worthy wood" I mentioned to Valerica "They are used in broom manufacturing as well and a forest filled with the right kind of trees could be profitable".

Magical plants from other worlds would need to be kept inside greenhouses because it can be dangerous to introduce alien species to this environment can cause problems. As a child, I remembered hearing about how grey squirrels that were imported from North America overtook the native red squirrel population and nearly wiped them by being more successful.

I'd need to check with my account manager at Gringotts and perhaps some parts of the Ministry to make sure that I could legally grow trees that could be harvested for wands and brooms. There could be families out there that had control over such things.

"There will be plenty to keep me busy," said Valerica as she walked away "I'll catch up with you after I've inspected some of the grounds".

I stopped her for a moment before calling for my House Elf.

"Sir is home!" called out the happy elf.

I'd explained to my two companions about House Elves and since they dealt with the daedra in times past a House Elf didn't freak them out. They were also used to having servants so they didn't care that Tippy was basically a slave.

"Tippy the ladies with me are Serana and Valerica Volkihar," I told the magical creature "They are my companions and you will treat them as if they are my family. I want you to go with Madam Valerica, show her the greenhouses and then the house".

That would keep the older woman busy for a while and I could get into my study as there were things there I wanted to check. Serana took my arm as I led her into the house.

"Despite my complaints about her need to control people, I'm glad mother has found something to do with her time" the younger woman mentioned "If nothing else it will keep her out of my hair".

Valerica wasn't much into going off and exploring. At least not when compared to her daughter. It was best for us all if she remained occupied at home.

"Keeping her to run things makes sense" I stated "I was thinking about selling some of the stuff we found in other worlds in a shop. Nothing dangerous or powerful, more like curiosities and luxury goods, but with me having to stay in other universes for months at a time it wasn't practical. Your mother could easily manage to keep this place in order and manage a shop if we get her the right help".

I'd need a couple more House Elves to do the work here and there were bound to be a few muggle-borns or squibs who could work in a shop. If the Weasly twins could set up a successful business then there must be people around who can run one for me and Valerica would just need to pop in once in a while to make sure things were running smoothly.

The Weasly twins sold prank products not medical potions so imagined that I might be able to have my shop sell things like invisibility potions even if I couldn't sell healing potions. I would need to check out what laws the wizards had to govern such things. I didn't even know if they had health inspectors or an MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) type of organisation.

"What about your townhouse?" questioned Serana "We will be staying there?".

Given their past, the two former vampires got on very well, yet despite this, they would need to spend time apart.

"This house is known to the public" I explained to the mage "I come here to meet with visitors and to take lessons with my tutors. My townhouse is less well-known and more secure. That's why I do my research and keep some of my treasures. I go there when I want to be alone".

I had more to say about the place.

"It used to be the family home of some dark witches and wizards, I had it cleared out, but it a still a bit gloomy," I told her "If you were still a vampire you might like the place as it doesn't get much sun. It's smaller than this manor and doesn't have a garden so I figured that your mother would want to stay here".

That house was also where I intended to put some interesting objects on display. Such as the dragon-claws that I'd picked up during my travel.

"Sounds like it could do with a woman's touch" hinted Serana.

It would be good for us to have somewhere away from her mother.

"Let me check my mail and I'll take you to the townhouse for a tour," I said.

I was expecting to see quite a pile of letters and newspapers on my desk, the lack of them was surprising. I wondered if my mail had stopped for some reason, but I felt sure that Tippy had taken care of everything.

Upon checking the papers I found out why my desk was not as burdened as I'd imagined. If the newest paper was today's edition then I'd been gone just a bit more than three weeks rather than several months as planned. It took me a few moments to begin to process this possibility.

It was interesting as it meant that time might be running faster in Mundus than it was here, and somewhat of a problem as I'd been expecting Tonks, who I had been sort of dating, to have moved on while I was gone. If I had only been gone for three weeks then seeing her again could be awkward.

I explained to Serana about the time difference and she seemed confused.

"So you've been gone weeks?" she asked "Is it a big deal? It's not like your ageing".

Well, that wasn't a concern at least.

"I was hoping to set up lessons with smiths and warriors in Skyrim" I mentioned "If time is passing at a different rate in your homeland then it will be nearly impossible to be on time for appointments".

Serana had taught me a little about fighting with a dagger. Many mages used them as backup weapons for when the enemy got in close.

"I can see that causing you some trouble," she said "Maybe you should make use of that Sigil place you told me about".

Before long I noticed that she seemed as if she had something else on her mind.

"What's the matter?" I asked as I began to look through my letters.

My account manager at the bank wanted a word, it didn't seem urgent, and I'd been invited to a few more social events that I didn't care about. Dumbledore was asking again to meet with me. The man really needed to take the hint and go bother someone else.

"Macross, I need to talk to you about something. One of the reasons why Mother is interested in having a nice home to live in is that she wants a grandchild or two," Serana let me know "She's offered to look after any children we have so that we don't get tied down. I think she wants to make up for her mistakes with me".

Valerica didn't exactly regret sealing her daughter away because Serana needed to be protected from her father, however, the older woman recognised that she'd gone about it the wrong way. She might see doting on a grandchild as a way to correct that mistake.

"And what do you want?" I asked.

At the end of the day, it was Serana's choice as it was her body that would make any babies. It wouldn't be too much effort for her to tempt me into providing some DNA even if breeding didn't appeal to me, and it wasn't as if I'd have to do much if Valerica wanted to do the work. I was rich and didn't have to do much actual parenting.

"I don't want to have children right now" she admitted, "I'm not a family person, I don't want to be a wife and stay at home, but I do like the idea of having a daughter of my own to teach as my mother taught me, or a son if he takes after you rather than my side of the family".

Made sense to me.

"So Harkon isn't on the list of baby names?" I joked.

Serana punched my arm.

"Daughters are the way to go" she stated "There must be a spell to ensure that".

I didn't doubt that we could find somewhere, but I had other concerns.

"We might not be able to have children" I warned Serana "Some kinds of immortals can't and I'm not from your world. I don't know if we're compatible in that way".

Granted humans and elves could have children together in her world, but they were at least from the same plane of existence, I'd evolved from primates, Serana's people had been treated by divine beings. We might seem very alike superficially, however, we were very different in some respects.

"I'd already thought of that," she told me "I figured that we could just have lots of sex and if I don't get pregnant we can talk about adopting a child. Skyrim isn't exactly lacking in orphans".

If Valerica wanted a child to raise then maybe going to Skyrim and bringing a war orphan here wasn't such a bad idea. Children were adaptable in a way adults weren't. Perhaps they could learn wand magic and go to Hogwarts one day. Even they couldn't learn that kind of magic everyone who lived in Mundus was magical and that talent could be nurtured.

Something to think about.

"Let's get you set up in my townhouse before we start worrying about children," I said "We need to find out if you and your mother can even live here before anything else".

Earth had different physical and metaphysical laws than Nirn. I worried that Serana and her mother might get sick or lose their powers due to magic being different here. If so perhaps the Eye of Magnus could be of aid. I would look into that later if it was required.

Part 60

If you're enjoying this story and can spare it then leave me a /gothicjedi666

Grimmauld Place. London.

Since I'd been able to summon up the spirit of Herpo the Foul using my Deathly Hallow sometime ago, and he the mage who'd created the first Horcrux, I had quite a lot of information available to me on that most horrible of magic.

Once I'd shown this work to Serana she'd requested to be able to examine a Horcrux. She was an expert at Soul Magic, which as the name suggested involves using magic to manipulate souls. I should have remembered that from how in the game she gets the Dragonborn into the Soul Cairn.

Plus there was that mage who puts the Dragonborn's soul into Azura's Star and then gets it out again. That was a complete soul and so it made sense that extracting a fraction of a soul and putting it into a soul gem should be possible.

Despite wanting some distance from her mother Serana soon recognised that it would be for the best to bring Valerica here and seek her aid with the project. The two former vampires soon began working out a way to defeat Voldemort using their knowledge of soul magic.

I'd left them to it most of the time that they'd been working at this as I'd had a meeting at the bank. I was in the process of buying up the land around my house in Wales and purchasing property in Diagon Alley so that I could open up a new store that sold stuff from other dimensions in this world.

The extra land was needed for the addition of more greenhouses and we hoped to add homes for magical creatures to the estate, as well as a small forest made up of trees that could provide for wands and brooms.

This wouldn't take too long as I was willing to throw money to get things done and the goblins were pleased that I was investing more of my gold into some property. By opening up even a small business I would be helping to keep money in circulation by hiring people and selling items, rather than hoarding so much of it. Which was better for the economy.

When I'd returned they'd told me that they had made some progress and that they should be able to destroy the Dark Lord.

"So how is this going to work?" I asked as I watched the mother and daughter study the Cup of Hufflepuff "How can you use this Horcrux to destroy Voldemort?".

That was the whole point of our gathering here and combining our collective knowledge.

"I believe we can use sympathetic magic to soul trap all of the soul pieces of this Voldemort by drawing the soul piece out of one of these Horcruxes," said Valerica "However there are protective spells placed upon this cup".

In sympathetic magic, a person or thing can be supernaturally affected through its name or an object representing it. Voodoo dolls are an example of this as is the ability to bind or even control certain types of supernatural creatures by knowing their true name. This was one of the reasons why I went by Macross these days.

Given that his Horcruxes were defended against sympathetic magic, Voldemort must have studied Voodoo when travelling the world to learn magic before returning to Britain and declaring himself to be the Dark Lord. That or he'd found instructions that told him to properly defend his Horcruxes in some book.

"I could just drain the Horcruxes of magic," I told the women "But then we'd lose the objects that were made into Horcruxes and the bit of soul would get stuck somewhere between here and the afterlife".

According to the spirit of Helga Hufflepuff, her cup was the prototype for the special plates and such that are used in Hogwarts. Food and drink are transported from the kitchens to the Great Hall thanks to Hufflepuff's enchantments. The cup only worked within Hogwarts due to the magic and so had no real use to me.

I might simply donate the cup to Hogwarts, and claimed to have found it while off on my travels. Or maybe the Smith family would offer something in reward for the cup as it had belonged to a member of that family before Tom Riddle took it. I didn't need more money, so hopefully, they had some old books on rare bits of magic that they would be willing to trade.

"What we need to do is strip away the protection of the object," said the older of my two female companions.

Serana drew our attention to the board where I'd stuck up some papers that contain important information.

"According to your notes Harry Potter is an incomplete Horcrux and might not have the proper protections," said the younger woman "Maybe we can use him?".

I didn't like the sound of that.

"He's just a boy" I pointed out.

I might be a bit of a bastard at times, but I'm not going to harm a child.

"A soul can be removed from the body without killing the body," said Valerica "We have plenty of healing magic to aid in keeping the boy alive".

That wasn't the only concern and I wasn't the only one who realised that.

"What about the prophecy?" asked Serana.

Her mother didn't seem bothered by this.

"Your father believed in a prophecy," said Valerica to her daughter "He believed he could block out the sun and make it so vampires become the rulers of our world. The bow he needs for that is downstairs in a display case and he can no longer use our blood. Prophecies are only possible futures, they are not absolute, you have proven this".

She had a point. Besides the prophecy Dumbledore believed in is so vague in parts that it might not apply to Voldemort at all, nor does it say that the Chosen One will be born as the seventh month dies, it says approaches so it could mean that the Dark Lord's equal could arrive in the county at the end of July.

"We need this boy" stated Valerica.

I could get him. Given the hour he'd be asleep in his dorm room and I can teleport into Hogwarts whenever I wished. The concern was that Dumbledore could track Potter here if the boy just vanished.

"How long would you need him for?" I asked.

If the spell to remove the bit of Voldemort's soul could be done quickly enough then I could teleport into Hogwarts, grab the Boy-Who-Lived, teleport him here, let the ladies do their thing, and then drop him back off again. I'd have to stun him so he couldn't identify us.

"Mere moments," said Valerica "I just need to take the soul fragment out of the boy and place it in a soul gem, then I can use it to gather the other pieces. Once the parts of the soul are contained we simply send them to the Soul Cairn".

A fitting fate for Voldemort, for his shattered soul, to be consumed. As for Potter as long as he didn't die I could fix him up with a segment of a golden apple. He might come out of this healthier than before.

"Couldn't we just soul-trap a Horcrux and then destroy it?" I asked, "Then you'd have your soul fragment. The diary doesn't really have any value".

Valerica had already considered this.

"I would still need to draw the fragments of the soul to one place" she explained, "Including the bit of soul in the boy. He could be harmed or even die if he isn't here to be tended to".

And even if she fails to gather all the fragments of the soul then we can at least stop Potter from being a Horcrux. Once he isn't one anymore then I can sacrifice the other containers if needs be even if I'd rather not as the cup and the locket are worth a lot.

"Will you have enough power?" I asked.

They drew power from Aetherius for their magic, and that dimension was far away. Gathering magical energy from that realm was harder for them when not in their home universe it turned out, but there were enchanted items to help boost magical power as well as potions that could help with that.

The two mages weren't cut off from their magic because their souls had a connection to Aetherius that couldn't be broken by mere distance. My powers worked differently so I wasn't affected by being away from Aetherius at all.

"I'll borrow your amulet," said Serana "Mother can use your staff".

The reforged amulet boosted a person's energy levels and not just the amount of magical power they could access. It was a very useful enchanted item. As for the Staff of Magnus, it was charged with lots of magical energy and that power could be tapped into. The amulet and the staff must also have a connection to Aetherius that had been maintained.

"I'll bring you the boy once you're ready," I told the former vampires "We'll need to send him back to his school as quickly as possible in case Dumbledore tries to track him here".

What would become of Potter if he wasn't a Horcrux anymore? Would the Headmaster groom him as a replacement? He wouldn't know right away that Voldemort was defeated, would he?

These were thoughts for later. For now, I needed to ward this room in every way I knew so as to limit the possibility of Dumbledore being able to track Potter here when I grabbed him.

Part 61

If you're enjoying this story and can spare it then leave me a /gothicjedi666

The Hospital Wing. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy.

Albus Dumbledore prided himself on being a man who normally had a decent idea of what was going on. Even when he didn't have all the facts he was able to draw some conclusions and come up with theories based on what information he could easily gather.

Not this time, he was mostly clueless as to what had happened to Harry Potter last night, beyond what the school's healer had been able to tell him and what his own spells had confirmed once he'd been able to get a good look at the Boy-Who-Lived.

All he could do was speculate based on what little information he'd been able to gather so far and that was proving stressful because the ideas he was having were very worrying ones.

From what he'd been able to piece together, very late last night Harry Potter had vanished for a time from within his dorm room in Gryffindor Tower here in the castle.

No one had seen him leave, nor did they know if anyone had entered the tower, the Fat Lady who guarded the entrance to the tower had not opened for anyone past curfew aside from when the patrolling prefects had done their duty.

Dumbledore only knew for sure the boy had left the castle as he'd been alerted by the monitoring devices that had woken him up. If not for them it might have seemed as if Potter had somehow been transported to the hospital wing.

By the time the Headmaster had dressed, double-checked his devices, and begun trying to locate Potter, the boy had been returned to the school via some unknown means. The young wizard had been gone for mere moments, yet had come back drastically changed.

Dumbledore had long been aware that a part of Tom Riddle had somehow ended up inside Harry Potter. It was what confirmed Albus's theory that Voldemort created at least one Horcrux and possibly many more.

Now that scar was gone. It had been healed after the part of Voldemort's had been removed and the Headmaster had cast a number of very rare spells on the boy to be sure of this. There was no trace that he'd ever been hit by the Killing Curse. It was as if some great power had healed Potter.

This should not be possible. Dumbledore had researched Horcruxes and come to the conclusion that the only way for the Dark Lord to be defeated was for Harry Potter to die.

Things had suddenly changed. The scar was gone, somehow purged, and the Boy-Who-Lived had been healed. According to Madam Pomphrey the lad wasn't just in good health he'd been healed of past injuries and his eyesight had somehow been fixed. This was all impossible as far as Dumbledore knew.

Somehow a person, or perhaps a group of people, whose skills surpassed that of the great Albus Dumbledore, had kidnapped Harry Potter, removed the piece of soul from him, healed him and then deposited him here in the Hospital Wing before Dumbledore had been able to start tracking the young wizard.

The idea that even a group of wizards working together could do this was worrying, to say the least. There were ways in and out of Hogwarts, but you couldn't just appear, grab someone and then vanish into thin air.

Not even Voldemort could do something like this and even if he had found a way the Dark Lord would have killed Potter rather than have gone to the trouble of returning him.

Dumbledore could only theorise that a group of powerful wizards and witches somehow knew about the Horcruxes and were taking steps to ensure that Voldemort was defeated.

Given that they had healed Potter rather than destroy him suggested that they were good people, working against the dark and that they had access to powerful light magic that counter the evilest deeds of Voldemort.

However, no such group should exist without Albus knowing about it. Wizards of that calibre were rare and those inclined to battle the dark saw Dumbledore as their leader and flocked to his banner.

Yet there seemed to be a group working to defeat Voldemort if recent events were anything to go by.

The death of Lucius Malfoy had been unexpected even if wasn't odd that the Death Eaters who had escaped justice would want to silence the man before he could talk and expose their crimes. Malfoy murdering Umbridge had never made sense to Dumbledore.

Driven by his own cleverness rather than the evidence the Headmaster convinced himself that there was a group of witches and wizards out there who had their own agenda and that they must be foreign or he'd already know about them. They had their own agenda that involved taking down Voldemort.

Dumbledore also wondered if they were good people because if they were then why wouldn't have come to him with their plan to help Harry Potter? Perhaps they sought to remove Voldemort for less-than-noble purposes and wanted Harry Potter alive for some reason.

That was something to dwell more upon when he had the time. For now, he needed to soothe Siruis Black who had just rushed into the Hosptial Wing. It wouldn't do for Black to remove Potter from Hogwarts due to concerns for the boy's safety.

Diagon Alley. The Wizarding World.

"This will do," she said.

Valerica of the Volkihar Clan, the estranged wife of Lord Harkon, and mother of Serana Volkihar was pleased by what she saw and the direction her life was going in. Leaving the Soul Carin when Serana found her and attaching herself to the household of a new lord had proven to be the correct thing to do.

There were a few things about being a vampire that Valerica missed, but they were unimportant compared to what she'd gained. Now she could walk in the sun, and be nourished by normal food, as a bonus her new form of immortality protected her from death in ways vampirism never could have.

Reconnecting with her daughter was also pleasant as was being able to leave her fool of a husband behind. Harkon would never find her here and she had a new world to learn about. It also helped that her new lord saw value in her skills and Serana seemed taken with the young wizard.

Letting the two of them go off to explore and develop their powers made sense to Valerica. She didn't share their love of adventure having gone through that period of her life a long time ago. Such things were best left to those who had their youth.

For her, it made sense to run Macross's household and business interests. She was even willing to raise any children her daughter wish to have as while immortals don't need heirs it would be nice to have someone to pass on her knowledge to and she was too old to be getting pregnant.

As for the store, it was small, but since it was located in a busy shopping centre that was to be expected as space would be limited even with the aid of magic. The entire building had some appeared between two existing stores, an impressive feat.

Valerica knew that even on a quiet day, there would be plenty of people passing by who could be drawn into the store as the magical humans of this world saw no reason to rush about and this shop would offer items of interest to a population that rarely saw anything new.

The novelty of there being a new business in the alley would wear off after a while and Macross had told her that the magical people of this nation had a rather limited population, so Valerica knew that profits would not be great, but making money wasn't the point.

Macross was so wealthy that he had to invest some of his riches into business in both the magical and non-magical world in order to avoid destabilising the finances of this isolated community. That was what the goblins who rank the bank had told him so when Macross had been setting up vaults for both mother and daughter.

Valerica found the idea of goblins running anything to be amusing. She knew them as tribes of savages living in caves, yet she had seen for herself that they could be more than barbarians and had been wise enough not to express her opinions on the matter.

What mattered was that the influence of her lord over this community would spread and Valerica would reap the benefits of this. She'd been involved in politics for longer than most people lived and while Macross had no desire to get involved with the politics of the magical community she wouldn't mind at all.

"It's good that they managed to set this up so quickly" stated Serana "I worried that you'd be bored while Macross and I were gone".

While their lord finished up some business at the bank his two companions had headed to the store to start putting it in order. Valerica wanted the store opened as soon as possible as it would allow her to start meeting some of the magical humans. She would use her position to start making allies and to discover who would be her enemies.

They'd gotten rid of that Voldemort by sending his spirit off to the Soul Cairn and with him gone the former vampire could focus on spreading her influence over this community like a spider spinning her web. She would entrap both allies and enemies in the web.

"Money can make many things happen," she told her daughter.

Macross's wealth would be of great aid to her as she made a place for herself in this world.

"There's more to life than riches" Serana chided.

Her daughter was quite right. There was power, influence, and wealth. These things mattered and she would acquire more of all of them.

Part 62

Gringotts Bank. Diagon Alley.

I hadn't just come here to finalise the lease of the shop, I was only renting the property as outright buying a building in the shopping centre would have taken far too long to sort out, as while here I'd found out that some of the work I'd requested done by the goblin smiths had gotten done.

"They are so beautiful" I commented.

Coins aside, goblins are not in the habit of mass producing anything as such each of the bullets resting inside the velvet-lined box was a miniature work of art.

These 24 bullets were made from goblin silver which meant that they were forged with magic to make them more durable and like goblin-made blades, these bullets could take in properties that would make them stronger and repel what would weaken them.

These bullets would not become tarnished and if exposed to a poison they would take in the essence of that substance, even basilisk venom a substance that could destroy even a Horcrux would only make a goblin weapon even deadlier.

I had a small supply of acromantula venom. As a poison, it could paralyse a living creature and I would like my bullets to have the ability to disable a target like that.

On the subject of acromantula, I had no doubt that soon I'd be taking a trip to the Forbidden Forest to acquire some fresh venom for Valerica who want to compare it to the venom of Frostbite spiders that were native to her homeland.

"We goblins are not as ignorant as most magical peoples are about the weapons of the muggles" stated Ironhammer, the goblin smith who had made these bullets for me "We know that recovering the silver to be melted down and used again would be difficult".

Goblins believe that the person who creates something is always the true owner as such I was only renting these bullets. However, there was a loophole of sorts in that rule, if a goblin-made object is lost then it can be compensated for without making an enemy of the goblin race. It would cost a fortune so it was good that I had many of those.

"Losing such fine work would be a shame," I said to the goblin who wore overalls and an apron rather than a suit "But that was reflected in the price. We have a deal Ironhammer".

These projectiles were worth any price as far as I was concerned. Not only were they durable silver, something I could end up very grateful for such I encountered a werewolf, but the bullets could also be made even more deadly. Due to the magic involved these bullets should be able to kill creatures that don't normally die when shot with a gun. Such as Vampires who were also a concern for me.

"Gringotts doesn't normally make such deals" the goblin was now saying "But if you could acquire some samples of the strange metals you showed us I would be willing to forge more bullets for you made from our silver and those metals. I have peers who could even create rings or amulets that would be yours in our eyes since you would be providing the raw materials".

I was surprised to hear this. I'd been under the impression that goblins simply didn't make deals such as I was hearing. They must really want more of the metals I'd brought here from Skyrim for their smiths.

Of course, I had no doubt they would keep most of the magical metals I brought in for themselves, but I could always get more, and since I was the only supplier the goblins would bend over backwards to aid me so as to keep the samples coming.

"We can make an arrangement," I said.

I'd considered going to the dwarves for the forging of magical bullets, however, that race tends to be better with materials such as wood, steel and glass, dwarves are builders and very good at it. I'd hired them again recently to build a workshop and more greenhouses on my property.

"Your account manager can finalise a deal," said the smith as he turned to leave "I look forward to forging for you, Macross".

For a goblin that had been downright friendly. The magical being who directed me back to my account manager's office was far more formal. I knew that the goblins would honour any deal they made with me and that they bargain hard so the following talk would be an important one.

Shop. Diagon Alley.

A short time later I was walking out of the bank with a contract that gave the goblins the right to forge any exotic metal I could import and only they could sell items forged from those metals.

This wouldn't stop me from trying to work with those metals I just wouldn't be able to sell any of my work in this world. That was fine with me as I can get money anywhere and the magical people of this world wouldn't be much interested in buying whatever I forged anyway.

When I entered the new shop, which had been named Trinkets and Tronkets, for reasons that made sense to Valerica, I found that my two companions were hard at work setting things up. Already the shelves were partly filled with items from other universes, mostly from Skyrim.

We weren't allowed to sell potions used for medical purposes, you had to be a licensed apothecary to do that, but we did have potions for sale. Ones that granted invisibility for a short time, for pranking for example. We also had potions that let a person breathe underwater for a time. No need for gillyweed here.

I'd picked up some fine clothing that the two former vampires had put on display, but I didn't expect that such things would get much interest. The circles, bracelets, necklaces and amulets, made from bronze, silver and gold, rather than more exotic metals, had minor enchantments upon them to boost magical power and would sell well.

On some of the shelves, I could see mammoth tusks, the fangs of large predators, furs, and things I didn't even have names for but must have been collected by hunters back in Skyrim before being purchased by me.

In display cases I could see some daggers of different designs, they were just steel weapons of different kinds that might look good on a mantlepiece. They were locked up so that no children could hurt themselves by messing with the weapons.

We even had a display of wines that I'd acquired from a few different worlds. Arbor gold from Westeros, Alto Wine, Stros M'Kai Rum, Spiced Wine, and Cyrodilic Brandy from Nirn. They were next to some chilled bottles of mead. Thankfully you didn't need a fancy licence to sell strong drinks in this culture.

The counter had some gems that could be viewed along with some fancy-looking rings of Nordic style. Along with some minor bits of art, statues and figurines carved from different materials, such as bone, ivory and wood.

"You did good work here" I commented.

The store wasn't big enough to put a lot of merchandise on display, and that was okay as there was room in the back. Before Serana and I went off to spend months on a single world, I would make sure that Valerica had new novelties to sell.

"Serana did most of the work" stated Valerica.

A young witch I didn't know came out of the back and headed out the door.

"I just interviewed her for the job" the alchemist explained.

My intention was to leave the running of this place to Valerica and not involved myself much once it was set up. I just wanted her to hire muggle-borns or squibs as such people had trouble finding work in the magical parts of this world

"Do you plan to open soon?" I asked.

I did want to be here for the grand opening.

"We will open our doors to the public on Monday morning," said the mage.

That was good to hear. Valerica would have plenty to keep her busy while Serana and I went off to the next world.

Part 63

North of the Wall. Westeros.

I'd not intended to visit this reality anytime soon and while I had no intention of sticking around long enough to adapt to this world's magic, there was something magical here that I wanted other than some expensive wine.

I'd decided to take a break from my studies in order to pick up some materials for Valerica who had been working very hard for me recently. She'd set up the shop I wanted and she'd taken over the running of my estate, and that meant she was doing stuff like answering letters for me that I didn't deal with, and going to the Ministry for me, and that was something else that I didn't wish to deal with.

As for Serana she was helping her mother and tutoring me further in magic as I would need to know a lot more about casting spells before we went off to spend months in some dangerous universe.

My target of interest was the weirwood tree, an odd plant native to Westeros that had strange properties. They were the focus of worship for both the First Men, the humans who first settled this part of the world, and the Children of the Forest, who along with the giants were native inhabitants of Westeros that had been pushed out of the warmer lands in the south by the humans of this world.

I wasn't going to hurt the tree aside from upsetting the locals who might object to it violently, I didn't wish to anger the old gods in case they turned out to have some sort of power, although if they did then the Andal invaders wouldn't have been able to cut down so many weirwoods. Still, it seemed best not to risk it when all I wanted was a jar of leaves and some twigs from the ground.

Ollivander the wandmaker might like a branch from this tree as I felt sure that the wood would make for a wonderful wand, but I was trying to avoid harming the tree. I considered going to the Children of the Forest and asking them if there was a way to safely harvest wood from a weirwood, but I could do that during another trip if I so desired.

Very carefully I took a sample of the sap that was leaking out of the tree from the eyes of the face that had been carved into the tree by someone. This weirwood was the centre of a village, only the occupants of this settlement had fled some time ago.

The buildings that made up this crude village were made up of wooden shacks all built around the pale tree. As I inspected the village I noted that everything other than the wood used to make the dwellings had been taken and the shacks didn't look damaged. Whoever had lived here seemed to have left because they wished to and they'd been given time to evacuate.

Despite the fact that I was invisible and had spells cast upon me to reduce any noise I made I somehow managed to attract the attention of someone, or rather something.

My spell of invisibility came to an end as I was forced to defend myself from a pair of wights that rushed towards me. They were hard to see as it suddenly become colder and a snowstorm was starting. Lucky for me I was well-practised in summoning up flames and making them do my bidding.

The two wights, the undead slaves of the White Walkers, burned and dropped to the ground like puppets with cut strings, the magic animating them undone by the touch of fire.

I considered simply teleporting away, however, I wasn't in that much danger really. I couldn't be killed by mortal means and as I took the Staff of Magnus out of my bag of holding I felt its power surge through me. Along with the amulet I had more than enough power to deal with a White Walker, and its minions.

If things did get a little dicey I would then teleport away and never return to this frozen wasteland. There were weirwoods south of The Wall if Valerica found the leaves and twigs to have useful magical properties.

When the snow began to settle I heard an unnatural noise as more wights began heading my way. I moved and began setting fire to abandoned homes. The magical flames spread quickly, providing me with light and forcing the wights to slow down as they charged.

I used the Staff of Magnus like a canon, firing off fireballs that exploded when they struck their target, spreading more flames and so it was a good thing that I was mostly surrounded by snow.

The wights didn't use ranged weapons and so as long as I stayed alert and kept throwing magical flames around none of them could hurt me, and their crude weapons couldn't have slayed me anyway.

When an undead giant came charging at me I actually smiled as this thing might be more of a challenge than the wights made from dead men. Giants were naturally resistant to magical attacks, but I had the staff of a god so that hardly mattered.

The spell I used was Bombarda Maxima was the incantation used for the strongest variation of the Exploding Charm. It provoked large, violent explosions capable of demolishing entire walls, and while it was an advanced wand spell I didn't need to be an expert at it since the staff did most of the work.

I blasted the undead giant with enough force to bring down a well-built wall. The wight's chest exploded as it fell back, crushing other wights and setting one of its arms on fire as the limb crashed into a burning building.

To my surprise, the wights then stopped charging, and a group of them even moved apart so as to allow another group to get closer.

The fires died down as the masters of the wights approached. I saw six of them on horseback, the steeds were no more alive than their other slaves. There were no ice spiders to be seen, and I was glad of that as I'd had enough of oversized arachnids.

Soon I saw the Night King, who had dismounted from the undead horse he must have ridden here along with five of his fellows and perhaps hundreds of wights, more than enough to bury me by their sheer weight of numbers.

For a few moments, the White Walkers and their wight slaves all just stared at me, in some attempt to unnerve me I guessed, and it was somewhat effective, had I been a mere human then a mixture of the sheer cold mixed with the fear would have frozen me more than the cold alone which seemed to be increasing by the moment as the fires faded.

Smartly, I'd prepared for the cold by placing warming charms on all of my clothes and chugging down a potion that helped to protect myself against the biting cold.

Not that I dwelled on the weather for long as one of the Walkers began to move towards me, it took its time and didn't even raise its ice spear until it was a few meters away. I wasn't even sure that it was going to try to kill me until it raised the weapon.

Before the ice spear could connect with my body I'd pulled out my pistol and shot the creature. The bullet fired was not only goblin silver it had been exposed to dozens of magical substances such as the venoms of creatures. Not that this meant it could kill a Walker.

As it turned out the bullets were able to kill White Walkers. My foe shattered into ice and a moment later there was no physical proof that he'd ever existed. The bullets really had been worth every sickle I'd paid for them.

The Night King upon seeing his follower fall simply gestured at me and the army of wights that had been standing behind him and his fellow White Walkers, they all screamed before they charged at me.

Dozens of dead men, women, a few different kinds of animals and even children, were now rushing towards me with the intent of adding me to their growing ranks.

The simple fire spell called Incendio normally wouldn't produce enough flames to aid a wizard much in this situation. I wasn't like most wizards, the staff I wielded became like a flamethrower, and wights burned as I slowly spun the staff around.

Those that didn't burn in my magical flames spread out, but so did the fire as I quickly set ablaze the buildings that made up this village once again, undoing whatever effect the Walkers had on the area, at least for a time.

I controlled the fire enough that it stayed away from the Weirwood tree. I could feel the magic of the tree and I could have sworn that it was somehow supporting my efforts, although I had no time to examine that feeling.

While the wights could not get me their masters had no such problem. The four Walkers and the Night King, strode through the flames as if they were protected by some invisible barrier of cold, and perhaps they were.

This allowed them to withstand the magical fire, but not my weapons, and the Walkers didn't seem to understand that a gun could fire more than once. Perhaps they thought it to be like a crossbow? No matter the gun did its job and killed most of the Walkers.

The big bad known as The Night King wasn't destroyed, instead when he got shot the ancient creature simply fell over and soon got back up again. I had no time to reload so I secured my weapon and took my sword from its scabbard.

With Longclaw in hand, I teleported myself behind the boss Walker as he stood up and then I stabbed him in the back. It worked as it had the show and the Night King shattered, the remaining wights, held back by the flames, all dropped to the ground.

"Most overrated big bad ever" I muttered.

Now that the battle was over I took the time to burn all of the corpses while making sure that the fire didn't spread through the woods. None of the bodies so much as twitched even as I made sure consumed by magical flames.

Then I decided to go home and get some rest. Using so much magic, even with the staff and amulet to aid me, was tiring. My powers were not unlimited after all.

Part 64

Shop. Diagon Alley.

After a lot of preparation, our store would be opening its doors tomorrow for a grand opening. I'd paid for adverts in both the Daily Prophet and the Quibbler, the only wizarding publications I'd ever paid any attention to and I'd seen enough people looking through the windows to be sure that there was a lot of interest in this new business.

As for me, these days I was making use of an enchanted item that I'd picked up during my last visit to Sigil. It was a thin piece of crystal that when placed on the cover of a book allowed me to quickly read its contents via a spell called Scholar's Touch.

It was limited to a few uses per day and I didn't even use it that often because the human mind can only process so much information, but it was greatly aiding my magical education since I was able to read a lot more than normal. This new item, combined with my tutoring sessions should turn me into a master wizard much sooner than expected.

Although given that I'd recently defeated the Night King, some of his underlings and a lot of wights, I figured that I was already quite powerful by some standards and that I would soon be able to risk venturing to more dangerous dimensions in the hopes of acquiring knowledge of magic even greater than what I already knew.

"These wands seem to be simple enough to produce" declared Valerica as she came out of the workshop that took up one of the backrooms with a wand in hand "I should be able to create more of our own versions".

Hearing this pleased me. I'd lent Valerica my enchanted crystal so that she could study the books I'd purchased on enchantments from Sigil. This combined with her already great knowledge about all sorts of magic meant she'd been able to figure out wizarding world versions of the wands that I purchased from the D multiverse.

Unlike the wands made locally by people such as Ollivander, these wands were loaded with a single spell that could be cast a number of times before the wands needed to be reloaded. Much like a gun only rather than load the wand directly you simply required a magically rich environment, such as this shopping centre, and time.

"The spell formulas have to be carved into the inside of the wand, and only certain woods will work" Valerica let me know "It is time-consuming work".

She had more to say on the matter.

"The more simple the spell the less time it will take to create a wand that can cast the spell," she explained "I have made a test wand with a standard cleaning spell ready for you as you requested".

I inspected the wand. It looked more like a stick than the work produced by Ollivander, yet it was more than enough for my purposes and I felt sure that Valerica would make more attractive wands as she perfected the process.

"Simple spells would be best," I said to the former vampire "And you might be able to outsource some of the labour to the dwarves".

At the very least they could be paid to gather suitable wood. These wands didn't need fancy cores so that would save a lot of time and effort. Valerica would have to do the detailed work and it would still be time-consuming so supply would never meet demand if enough people become interested.

My test subject should be here soon. A member of my target audience had agreed to meet me here and as it turned out he was early.

"Mr Flich, please come in" I greeted.

Argus Filch is the caretaker of Hogwarts, he was not a well-liked man, but what mattered was that he couldn't use a normal wand. He was a squib and since his kind weren't muggles, squibs were noticeably different as they weren't affected by muggle-repelling wards, and it was my hope that he could use the special wands I wanted to sell.

It should work as squibs are able to use wizarding devices that have their own innate magic, such as the Secrecy Sensor, and the wand does all the work.

I doubted that there were enough squibs around to create much of a market since they were cast out into the mundane world, however, that wasn't a big concern as the wands could be used to cast spells that even trained wizards could have trouble with. Besides, these wands were just one item I wanted to sell.

"Your letter said that you had a way to help me with my job" he stated.

Indeed I did.

"This is a new kind of wand," I told the grumpy man "They don't require you to be able to cast a spell, you just need to know how to make them work, and then they do the rest. Each can be enchanted to cast a single spell six times a day. The wands recharge depending on how much magic is around so if you keep them at Hogwarts they should keep working".

It was actually seven times that the spell could be cast, only using a wand seven times could result in them being broken, so I decided not to mention that.

"This one is loaded with a standard cleaning spell" I explained.

I spilt some harmless fluid on the floor and then passed Filch the wand.

"Go ahead and try it" I offered.

It didn't take the man long to figure out that intent was what directed the wand and he seemed pleased when it worked.

"I figured that a cleaning spell would aid you most at your job," I said.

The caretaker inspected the magical device.

"It bloody works" he stated.

As I'd hoped it would.

"We need someone to help us to test out the prototypes," I told the caretaker "Would you be willing to test them and write to tell us how they work out? We'd send the wands to you via an owl, the wands won't cost you a knut as long as you tell people where they come from".

To my surprise, the man mumbled something and then embraced me. I hadn't been expecting that. Having a wand, even one that just cleaned up stains, seemed to mean a lot to him.

"I'll test them for you and takes notes about well they worked" Filch agreed

once he'd calmed down.

There wasn't much more to discuss his part of this arrangement so the man was soon heading back to Hogwarts or whatever it was he went in his spare time.

"I'm going to have to train the staff to help me make these" Valerica commented "I think they'll be more demand for them than you think given how lazy the magic users of this world can be".

I'd not considered that, but it would make sense for them to buy wands that can cast spells they struggle with rather than put more effort into learning.

"At least you can handle the Ministry if they get involved," I said.

They might try to regulate the wands so that couldn't be loaded with spells they deemed dangerous, and I was glad that Valerica could handle those fools, she'd mastered politics centuries ago.

"Be a good boy and let me get back to work," said the former vampire "Take Serana out, I have this store handled".

I didn't take offence at her words as she talked to everyone as if they were children at times and to be fair compared to her we were.

I'd actually been thinking about setting up another shop in Skyrim, somewhere in Solitude, as that city was less hostile to outsiders and magic than other places. I'd need to stock up the place as I could be out of contact for months once I decided to go and attempt to adapt to some world's magic. Thankfully, that wasn't much of an issue as I could fit entire warehouses' worth of goods in a few trunks.

"I'll be back tomorrow" I promised.

For now, I had some goods to gather and I would need to find someone to run a store for me. It shouldn't take long given that time passed more quickly in the Elder Scrolls verse I could spend days there and return here to find that only hours had passed by.