Harry was sitting at Death's back, running thin fingers through their long grayscale hair, twisting and braiding it into increasingly more elaborate designs. The two of them had been talking for what felt like a long time. The topics revolved mostly around the things Dumbledore had done to Tom. Sure, Tom wasn't exactly a nice kid but Mrs Cole's fear of his magic clouded her judgment and she greatly exaggerated the things he had done when talking to Dumbledore. A few of the things had struck a nerve in the professor already clouding his own judgment of the child so when Tom said he could talk to snakes, it was the last thing Dumbledore needed to solidify his view of Tom.
To keep the boy from 'harming' the other children he placed the same siphon on him as he did Harry, preventing all the wandless magic he had been using to keep the other children away from him. After that Dumbledore mostly left him alone just keeping a watchful (maniacally obsessive) eye on him. The actual manipulation didn't really start until Tom's third year. It started with a small compulsion making him more curious towards darker magic and from there it only escalated. Dumbles made sure Tom was sent back to the orphanage every year causing his excessive fear of death and pushing him to look for ways to make himself immortal. Dumbledore placed the book on horcruxes in the library with an alluring spell placed on it keyed to Tom.
Despite Dumbledore dumping the book directly into his lap, Tom wasn't interested in the allure of horcruxes. He was convinced that there was a better way to keep himself alive than splitting his soul into chunks. Despite the book not mentioning any consequences, Tom had realized that there must be something. Otherwise there would be a lot more people around who had made them. When Dumbledore realized Tom wouldn't make any horcruxes without any encouragement, he nudged everyone into the right positions to cause Myrtle Warren's death and subsequently Tom's first horcrux. It had mostly been an accident with a side of compulsion. From there it only took a small nudge from Dumbledore for Tom to make his second.
At that point he was running on twenty five percent of a soul making him less than stable. Three years later he made one more horcrux just tipping him over the line of sanity. Suddenly, them trying to keep their traditions and magic turned into the pureblood rhetoric everyone knows today. It wasn't until he made his last three horcruxes all in quick succession, that he became truly feared. He attacked anyone who got in his way whether they were pureblood or not. The things he once stood for weren't even known to the public. This drastically changed the direction of the war and inevitably led to his downfall.
If Harry was able to get Tom to take back the horcrux in the bracelet that came from his scar then he would be able to work with him. Just that one horcrux would give him back fifty percent of his soul. Honestly with all that he knew now Harry couldn't even hate him. He had been fucked over just as much as harry had. With this whole conversation it had become very clear to him that every single bad thing in his life stemmed from Dumbledore. Voldemort may have been the one who actually killed his parents but if dumbledore wasn't trying to play god none of this would have happened.
"so , Death?"
"Hmmm." Death shifted his head back slightly to look up at Harry, careful not to dislodge his master's hands from where he was braiding their hair. Death was currently sat at his master's feet in the white limbo he so hated. It wasn't meant to be white and blank like this, not that he would tell his master that. It was supposed to shift and change for each person into the place you feel the happiest and safest. It speaks volumes that this space is a sparse nothingness and it makes him hurt for his master and makes him want to hurt the ones who made it this way. He only hopes in time that this place won't stay cold and empty.
"Death, are you listening?"
"Mhmm." he nodded subconsciously to the question and his master let out a soft chuckle. More a single huff of amusement but still.
"I asked why the marriage contract between me and ginny." they felt a frown creasing their brow. He did not like that girl. The second the contract was in place she basically viewed him as her property. And death would not have that happen again. Not that it could. Harry was emancipated, even if no one knew it.
"Dumbledore wanted your political power, Molly wanted your Money and Ginevra wanted you. The rules within the contract would have given them what they wanted. This is where the problem with magical contracts exists. For a lot of people the contracts are there to protect both parties interests which is why they are perfectly legal. There are laws around specific things you can write in them, and I will say the one they wrote for you was all kinds of illegal but, that right there is the snag."
"With the way he wrote it, there would be nothing you could do. Even though it is illegal by ministry law, it was a magically binding contract. If you didn't comply with the terms of the contract you would forfeit your magic. Albus isn't the senile old man he makes himself out to be. He put in a secrecy clause in the terms so that you wouldn't be able to tell anyone about it and if you didn't comply with the rules you forfeit your magic. It's a lose-lose situation. You either marry Ginevre and hand over control of all assets to her, with the stipulation that dumbledore gains all your political power or you lose your magic."
It remained silent for a long time after that, and death was happy to allow his master time to think over everything they had spoken about, that was definitely the reason they weren't interrupting him. It had nothing to do with him not wanting to interrupt his master doing their hair, not at all. Death had never been a particularly vain person, but the way their grayscale hair shifted shades as it caught the light with the different angles in its twists and braids made them look ethereal in a way they never thought they could. In a way they had always associated with their siblings but never themself.
"You said when I go back all I have to do is call your name, right? And you will just show up?" Death tilted their head back and blinked up at him, processing what his master had said before replying a few drawn out seconds later.
"Yes, I will always be there. You have to verbally call me the first time but after that I can communicate with you constantly as long as you don't dismiss me we will always be able to speak to each other. If you formally dismiss me you will have to verbally call me again to re-open the connection." Harry nodded.
"So when am I going back?"
"Whenever you would like. Would you like me to wake you now?" Harry sighed, staring into the pure white around him. It was nice here. It was peaceful. He stared a little longer and realized that the layout, although still that weirdly specific shade of white, had changed. It no longer had the outline of the king's cross but… he squinted at the space around him. It kinda looked like an all white version of Slytherin hall. He smiled, he should go back, it felt like he hadn't seen them in ages.
"I should probably go back." Death nodded before reaching out and tapping the center of his forehead with their index finger. The next thing he knew he was slowly blinking bleary eyes open and looking up at a very familiar ceiling. It just wasn't the one he fell asleep under. Pushing himself into a sitting position he looked around confused. He wasn't in the great hall but in the hospital wing. For once he hadn't actually done something to end up here, so why was he here? He reached over to the bedside table for his glasses when the office door banged open and a ruffled Madam Pomfrey bustled over to him, casting diagnostics and many other spells that Harry couldn't identify. Her hair was messy and she was in what Harry assumed was her pajamas.
"Mr Potter, are you aware of what happened to you?" Harry blinked at her shuffling through his memories in search of what could have possibly happened. Clearly he had taken too long to answer so she moved on to her next question.
"Mr Potter, what exactly was the last thing you remember?" Harry was so confused. Why on earth was he here? Thinking back he realized that Neville may have told the teachers. It wasn't like he just went to sleep. To someone else it would look like he had passed out. Oh Merlin, what if no one could wake him. Harry immediately decided that the best course of action was to plead ignorant of everything.
"Um… I went to sleep in the great hall. Did something happen? Why am I here?" Madam Pomfrey scowled at him in thought.
"There wasn't anything strange that you can remember being done to you or just anything out of the ordinary?" Harry shook his head before pausing. Literally the entire quidditch team knew he had slept through the day before along with the other boys in his dorms. Neville was also present when he passed out. Damn it they would know he was lying if they just asked one other person.
"Um… actually, I felt unnaturally tired for the whole day until I basically passed out at the end. The day before that I slept for almost the whole day. But I feel fine now and I honestly don't understand why I'm here." There, he gave the facts without giving any real information. Madam Pomfrey raised a single eyebrow at him.
"Mr Potter, it is Wednesday night, you have been asleep for over three days. No one was able to wake you or diagnose you." Harry's eyes widened. He had been asleep for three full days. What was even more horrifying was that Albus Dumbledore had had full access to his unconscious form for three full days. He could feel himself shaking as he pieced through his mind and relationships trying to see if he feels any malice for the Slytherins or unnatural fondness for any of the Gryffindors. Which he didn't. His mind still seemed clear and everything seemed untouched but he couldn't be too sure and decided to take a trip to the goblins as soon as possible. Oh fuck, the Slytherins, Draco was going to kill him or smother him to death. Either way he was a dead man.
"Mr potter." He looked back up at Madam Pomfrey, who was looking through all the parchments that had appeared from his diagnosis. "All of the diagnostic charms came back looking fine. I would really prefer to keep you for the rest of the night and check on you again in the morning." He really didn't want to. Sleeping here would allow Dumbles access to him again and he really wasn't keen on that idea.
"But you said all the charms came back clear. I would really rather go back to my dorms for the night." Madam Pomfrey scowled at him, looking wholly unimpressed.
"Mr Potter it is…" she cast a tempus before continuing. "...12:48am. I think it is safe to say that it is well past curfew. It would be best if you stayed here at least till breakfast." Harry relented and she made her way back to her office. The second she was gone he cast multiple detection wards around himself. He would know the second someone stepped through them. There was no way that he would be taking any chances. Strangely enough he was still tired and fell asleep quickly.
Harry woke to his wards letting him know that someone had passed through them. He opened his eyes to find Madam Pomfrey walking over with a small smile. "How are you feeling? Still tired?" Harry shook his head. He felt fine, better than fine actually. He felt refreshed. She cast one more diagnostic before nodding."Breakfast will start soon. There is a clean change of robes for you in the bathroom." she gestured to a small door in the corner of the room. "There are also fresh towels and soaps. Please Mr Potter, take it slow for the next day at the least and if you start feeling the same tiredness then please come back to see me. Preferably before it becomes an actual problem." She didn't give him any time to reply as she bustled back into her office.
He made his way to the bathroom, taking a quick shower and dressing before walking out of the hospital wing. making his way to the closest abandoned classroom. He wanted to call death before he went to breakfast. He called for death and felt a wave of relief when Death appeared in front of him. But the relief was short lived when he remembered a certain old coot who recently had unrestricted access to him.
"Death, do you know if Dumbledore was able to place any spells, compulsions or anything on me while I was sleeping?" death shook their head.
"No, he would not have been able to do anything. He wouldn't have even been able to remove a single hair from your head. I placed your body under protection just as I brought you over to my realm." Harry let out a breath he was unaware he had been holding.
"Are other people able to see you?"
"Yes, but not the way you do. To others I would look like something similar to a dementor. Their minds wouldn't be able to comprehend the appearance of a god." Harry nodded along in understanding. "Though I can change my appearance to suit my needs." Harry grinned at them but it was too sharp and had too many teeth to be nice.
"So if I asked you really nicely you would stay with me as my new pygmy puff familiar." Harry couldn't hold back his giggles at the thought of the literal Death bouncing around as a Pygmy puff. Death turned to look at him and though he couldn't see Death's eyes he was certain that he was on the receiving end of a Snape worthy glare.
"If you insist on an animal companion, which honestly I personally think is a good idea. I could always just make myself invisible but then you would not be able to see me either and we wouldn't want other people thinking you were insane when you start talking to thin air. I was going to suggest an exact replica of your fox form. A phoenix would bring far too much attention but a fox, though not common, isn't too eye-catching. I can falsify a familiar bond between us allowing you to bring me everywhere and no one would be able to take me away from you. It would also give you a level of freedom in your fox form as everyone would just think it's me running around." That was actually a really good idea. One that Death had clearly spent a long time thinking about.
"Maybe you should go for a walk along the outskirts of the forest. You know, to get some fresh air after not feeling so good for the last few days. And maybe you just so happen to stumble across a black fox and when you make eye contact it just so happens to create a familiar bond. And how unfortunate it is that a wixen and their familiar can't be separated from each other for any reason." Harry felt his lips twitch into a smirk.
"You've clearly been thinking about this, a lot." Death crossed their arms over their chest and pouted at him.
"Yes, well I had a lot of time on my hands. You see, my master decided not to summon me for months on end, leaving me stuck, abandoned, and alone to think about all of this." Harry sent his own glare towards the deity.
"You can't blame me for that. I didn't know I could summon you. It's your own fault for not telling me." Death scowled harder.
"Just go to the bloody forest child." and with those last words they faded into the shadows, disappearing from sight. Harry rolled his eyes but did the same, shadowing to an empty corridor near the castle's exit. There was still a few minutes before the start of breakfast so there was time for him to be seen taking a quick walk outside where it would be plausible for him to stumble upon death.
He walked out onto the grounds and down to the forest, walking along the edge enjoying the peaceful silence while it lasted. He knew after being asleep for three days he would come back to chaos and he wanted to avoid that for as long as possible. He let out a sigh before locking eyes with vibrant green the same as his own. He felt his magic lash out before tightening around the fox form of death and pulling taught. He crumpled to his knees at the sudden rush of magic and death bounded over. That did not feel like a fake bond. That's because it wasn't a fake bond. I artificially created a bond between us. Since we already have one, because you're my master, it was easy to do. Great, you're in my head now? Yep. Death popped the p and Harry felt his eye twitch.
Harry took that moment to look death over. The black fur was thick and so soft. He wondered if that's what he felt like in fox form? It felt way softer now then when Harry was in his inbetween state. Just like his fox form, Death had white fur on his belly, paws, tips of his ears, and a small patch right where his lightning bolt scar would sit on his forehead. Like this he was also able to notice an iridescent pattern on his front legs and sides that he didn't think he had. You do have them. They are the markings from the hallows. They mark every one of your forms. Harry hadn't even noticed that. I am an exact replica of you in your fox form. There are no differences. You can inspect me later. Right now you should get to breakfast. I want to try the delicacy you mortals call bacon.
He stood up carrying Death, who was curled up in his arms, happily purring away. Harry couldn't help scratching around his soft ears pulling happy little chuffs from the fox. He had to remind himself several times that this was the literal god of death and that he shouldn't be treating him like a cute little puppy. Though now that Harry thought about it, he had spent hours or maybe days playing with said entities' hair. Harry walked into the hall, still cradling death in his arms as he made his way to the head table and over to McGonagle. As soon as she saw him she let out a weary sigh.
"Mr Potter, why do you have a…" she stared at the ball of fluff for a long moment. "Fox? with you?" Harry pulled on his most innocent expression before starting his story.
"Well Professor, I just went outside for a little bit of fresh air. After the last few days I just wanted to stretch my legs, but when me and the fox made eye contact my magic kinda just latched on and I didnt want to leave him. I don't think he wants to leave me either. I was wondering if I would be allowed to keep him with me?" Several of the teachers suddenly straightened, paying closer attention to their conversation. Lupin and snape were looking between him and the fox in utter confusion and incredulity, respectively.
"Are you saying…" The conversations in the hall quietened down at the shrill tone of her voice. "…that you've formed a familiar bond with the fox? Mr Potter, That is extremely rare for someone your age." Harry was pretty sure half the hall was listening in on this conversation. He did his best to make a confused expression, tilting his head to the side ever so slightly.
"Is that what a familiar bond feels like? Like there is a tangible string of magic connecting the two of you?" McGonagle looked close to bashing her head on the table but before she could speak up, professor sprout interrupted.
"There is a simple way to determine whether this is in fact a familiar bond." she swished her wand in a complicated pattern and for a moment you could see a deep green string of magic connecting the two of them. It was quickly gone. Are we done? Can we get a bacon yet? Harry just ignored death as he waited for the teachers to speak. Judging by the looks of shock on their faces they hadn't actually expected there to be a bond. A moment later McGonagle cleared her throat and spoke.
"Mr Potter you may bring him with you throughout the day, no one will stop you. I will make sure to inform the rest of the staff and the elves will provide appropriate meals. Now go eat breakfast." Harry didn't wait any longer to turn and leave. He heard McGonagle speak as he walked away. "It hasn't even been eight hours since he woke up from his last incident." Harry smothered a chuckle as he walked over to the table of red and gold. He only managed to make it halfway before being tackled into a bear hug. He stiffened immediately at the contact before realizing it was Neville.
"You scared me half to death passing out like that." Neville let go before leading him to the table where he and the other boys were sitting. As soon as he sat down a plate popped next to him filled with what he guessed was food for Death, but Death just ignored it and stared at the plate of bacon in the center of the table. Harry put several pieces on top of the other food and pushed it towards him.
"What happened to you Harry?" Hermione was staring at him intently. He knew there would be questions but he really couldn't be bothered with them right now.
"Not a clue. One minute I went to sleep in the great hall, the next I was waking up three days later in the hospital wing. Honestly you probably have more information than I do." she did not look happy with the answer but she wasn't angry at him. More the fact that she didn't know something. She opened her mouth seemingly to ask another question when Neville cut in first.
"What's their name?" Harry looked at the fox happily munching his bacon and was about to answer when his mind went blank. He couldn't just call him Death. What do you want me to call you? I am Death. Yeah I can't call you that. People will look at me weird. He felt Death's sigh of exasperation, which was decidedly a very strange feeling to have in his head, before he spoke again. Azrael, Time often calls me Azrael. It's the only name my siblings call me that I don't completely hate. It's Kinda unoriginal but better than Death I guess.
"I'm calling him Azrael." most wixen wouldnt understand the relevance of the name anyway. Actually, would you rather me give you a name. At that death looked up from his food and straight into Harry's eyes. Oh, sweet abyss, no! I don't need any more names thank you. Well that's fine then. Azrael it is. Hermione's head snapped towards him.
"Azrael? Like the angel that separates souls from bodies? The angel most commonly known as the angel of death?" Harry wanted to glare at her so bad. Of course she would know all about it. He couldn't tell her that Azrael named himself. Instead of glaring he looked at her in confusion.
"The what? I mean I heard the name before but I don't know about all that. I just like the name and so does Azrael." Hermione looked at him in disappointment, shaking her head at his ignorance. If it meant the conversation was now over he didn't care. It wasn't long before they were all done and Harry was shadowing to Slytherin hall for his usual free period with the Slytherins. he had a feeling this one was going to be particularly unproductive.
He pulled off his glamor ring and settled into the sofa with a book settled on top of death who was once again curled up on his lap. Master, did you just place a book on me, despite me being a higher entity? Death are you currently curled up on my lap like a cat, despite being a 'higher entity'? Death made a huffing sound before replying. It's comfy and you're warm. Right, and I want to read. It was about five minutes later that the door was flung open and Draco ran in. He pulled Hadrian off the sofa and into a crushing hug. Death and his book went tumbling to the floor with a loud yawl from the former. I should bite him for that. Draco pulled back before slapping him on the arm.
"You idiot, what in magic's name did you do? We were all worried." Harry looked between them, genuinely surprised to see that amount of concern on their faces. Harry bent down scooping Death back into his arms and settling back on the sofa. When Draco tried to sit next to him death started to growl. He shall not sit near us. Harry gave an apologetic smile to Draco.
"You didn't make a good first impression." Draco winced slightly and moved to the armchair next to Hadrian, so there were at least two armrests between them. That seemed to be enough to satisfy Death and he didn't growl when Theo took the seat next to him on the sofa. I like this one's magic. It's interesting. Harry looked down at Death who was staring at Nott. Harry looked over at the other boy, allowing his eyes to switch focus. Looking at magic was like looking at the water drops on a window pain instead of looking through it to the world outside.
Theo's magic was cold like ice and spread out along every surface like frost spider webbing through the air around him. Where others moved like water, in tendrils poking at their surroundings, Theo's spread everywhere seeming not as contained as everyone else's. Hadrian was pulled back to their conversation by Pansy breaking the silence.
"We'll get back to the new familiar later but first, what happened to you?" Harry sighed knowing that this would be his entire life for the next few days.
"I don't know. I went to sleep in the hall and woke up in the hospital wing. That's it. That's all the information I have. It's fine though, nothing happened." Draco looked like he was gearing up for a rant when Theo cut in before he could start.
"It's not fine. Someone put you in a magical coma. What happens if next time you don't wake up? We don't even know who did this to you or what spell, enchantment, curse, or potion they used. I have never seen something like this or even heard of something that was able to block all kinds of magic and physical harm the way this did. I hate to point this out, but the only person I can think of who could, and would have made this would be Snape." Both Harry and Draco froze. Draco was looking at Theo in shock, clearly wanting to deny it but it also looked like he somewhat agreed. Harry needed to stop this immediately.
"No, Severus did not do this." tell them that it was magic from the veil but that it's personal. It has been documented before that people have been pulled by the veil during samhain. In every one of those instances the person it happened to wouldn't share anything about what happened due to its extremely personal nature. Harry felt uncomfortable about lying to them like this. Though was it really lying. Technically he was pulled by death which many refer to as the veil and it is personal. "I can guarantee this won't happen again." he held up a hand when it looked like they were going to interrupt. "It's personal so I don't want to go into detail but the veil pulled me in." There were a few gasps but Harry didn't let anyone ask anything. "I would also rather no one else know about this. I'm sure that should certain people become aware of this happening that they would stop at nothing to find out exactly what I saw." They all immediately nodded and every one of them let out a sigh of relief.
"We won't ask about it but thank Merlin it wasn't anything sinister. At least we know that there isn't some new danger we need to worry about."Everyone seemed to share that sentiment.
"So now that there isn't another big bad evil out to get Hadrian, can we move back to the new familiar. What's their name?" pansy moved forward holding her hand out to Death. I am not a pet. If she touches me I will bite her.
"His name is Azrael." Please don't bite her. As she moved her hand forward death moved away, off of his lap and curled up between him and Theo with his face smooshed into the back cushions of the sofa. I didn't bite her. Now do your job and don't let them touch me. "I don't think he really wants to be touched." Pansy looked a little disappointed but backed away. For the rest of the free period they all just talked about what he had missed over the last few days.
The next few days were spent in the same way, with him reassuring everyone and explaining he didn't know what had happened. Or for the rare few (Lupin, Snape, and Neville) he gave the same story he gave the Slytherins about the vail pulling him in. Soon enough it was his Saturday relive and Harry was nervous. He had spoken to Melia on Thursday and she told him that the clan's Suzerain was asking if he would be free on Saturday for the meeting he requested. Harry had completely forgotten that he had asked to talk to her but happily agreed to the meeting.
Now though he wondered why in magic's name he thought this was a good idea. Who are you bringing with you? Harry looked over at Death. What do you mean who am I bringing? Why would I bring people? Death changed into a more human form before continuing.
"You are the Imperial Prince of the Selegen court and you are about to go to a formal meeting with the third most important member of the Harpy race in their own territory. Please don't tell me that you thought this would be some casual meet and greet." Harry felt the blood drain from his face. He had not thought about it like that. Death sighed. "Master it is more than likely that she invited their queen as well as the right wing. It is most common for someone to bring what people refer to as your right and left hand. The two people you rely on most. As well as guards."
"Can't I just use you and Deoguard or something?" Death hummed.
"You could probably get away with using me but the Deoguard aren't considered creatures by the court. They would work as guards but not advisors." Harry could probably bring Snape… "No. You can't do that either. Snape's not a part of the Selegen court." Harry sat thinking for a while.
"What about Goruk, he's my financial manager. Technically he is the being I would most consider an advisor, or there's Moony but he is more family and I would rather not mix him up in this. Plus there isn't enough time to explain everything to him." Death nodded.
"What race would you like me to represent?" Harry just blinked at him for a long minute.
"I don't know. You decide. I need to go talk to Goruk. I will be back soon." Harry shadowed into a side street right by gringotts before walking up the steps and through the open doors. It was still rather early in the morning so the bank was void of any patrons. The head teller goblin was at his side immediately, walking him down one of the corridors.
"Sorry for my presumption but you are here for Goldtooth, yes?" Harry nodded and they continued to the doors of his office. Goruk was sitting behind his desk inspecting a rather large gem when Harry walked in. As soon as he looked up and saw hadrian he started cleaning off his desk marking legers before closing them, putting things in draws, and tidying parchment into stacks. Harry just waited until he was finished.
"I apologize for the sudden meeting, Goruk, but I was just made aware that I may have made a rather large mistake and I need your help in rectifying it." Goruk raised an eyebrow.
"And what mistake might that be Hadrian."
"I set up a meeting with the left wing of the harpy delegation without considering my own position within the court. It would be improper of me to show up alone and I only have three people who fit the criteria of advisor. One is a wixen." Goruk bared his teeth slightly. "I will not insult any other race by bringing a wixen with me." Goruk seemed to relax slightly at that and Harry continued. "The second is basically family and until I discuss it with him more I won't be bringing him with me."
"He is not a wixen?" Harry shook his head.
"He is a werewolf." Goruk nodded and Harry continued. "The last is you." Harry had never seen a goblin truly shocked until that moment. "The meeting is today at twelve. I have someone else to stand on my right, but I ask you, Goruk will you stand on my left for this." Goruk placed a closed fist over his heart before bowing.
"It would be a pleasure to stand with you. I am not a part of the goblin delegation so there is no conflict of interest." oh thank magic. Harry hadn't even thought about that. If he had been part of the goblin delegation and he brought him with them it could have caused problems. "What will you be bringing with you?" Harry looked at Goruk with resignation.
"What exactly am I supposed to be bringing with me?" Goruk smirked at him and Harry resisted the urge to smash his face into the desk.
"It is a common practice for the one visiting to bring food or drink that can be enjoyed during the meeting. I would suggest some form of sweets like, Cakes, pastries, chocolates, or fudge. It is difficult for harpy's to source sugar since they can't go into human markets and most wixen in England won't sell to them either, so sweets are harder to come by making them a very precious treat."
"I will think of something, thankyou for saving me from another social faux pas. I do have to be on my way though there is a lot to do before twelve. I will collect you from the lobby at 11:45 if that is alright with you." Goruk nodded and hadrian bowed before leaving the office and shadowing back to Slytherins quarters.
"Kreature!" there was a pop and Kreature was standing next to him. "Kreacher, would you be able to get me a large array of cakes and sweet pastries?" Kreature nodded and popped away.
"Get them lace." Harry turned to look at Death and choked violently. In their place stood a tall visibly female vampire. She was dressed in a tight fitting black dress that was cut right on the knee. Her nails were long and painted a blood red that matched her lips perfectly. The stiletto heels she wore were the same blood red. Her iris was as black as her pupil, making her waist length honey blond hair stand out amongst the red and black.
"Really? You went with the most cliche vampire look there is? Honestly, I don't know why I expected anything different. So what do I call you when you're like this?" Death gave him a shit eating grin, exposing his sharp fangs and making him look more menacing than usual.
"Morticia." Death looked so proud of themself in that moment that all Harry could do was sigh.
"Why get them lace?" Death, because he was not calling them Morticia, shrugged.
"Harpy's find great value in delicate things. Due to their talon-like hands they find it difficult to create delicate jewelry, pottery, or fabrics. Though you might want to steer clear of gifting any jewelry to anyone. A lot of races use many variants of jewelry to propose marriage. It's easier to just not give any then to memorize what race gives what. You don't want to accidentally ask someone to marry you." Harry decided to engrain that knowledge into his brain and promised himself not to give jewelry to anyone.
"Goruk said I should get them something edible that we could eat or drink during the meeting." death shrugged again.
"He's not wrong, it is the most common thing to do, but you don't have to." There was a small pop and Kreature was there holding out a pastel green stack of cake boxes. Kreature placed them on the desk before carefully opening each one. Inside was a large number of perfectly uniform cakes, tartlets, pastries, and macarons. Harry cast a stasis charm as well as a sticking charm on them to make sure they would all arrive in one piece. He thanked Kreature before closing the boxes and shadowing to the outskirts of Hogsmeade and walking into the forest.
He kept walking until he felt the biting cold and aura of misery that indicated a dementor's presence, he paused then called out. "Deoguard?" He waited but soon he found several shadows creeping towards him. He stayed still and waited. When they were within a reasonable distance of him they all took a knee waiting for orders. Like this with seven dementors bowing to him it really hit him that he wasn't just Harry, not even just a normal wizard. He let out a ragged breath that formed a white cloud in the frigid air.
"I need two of you to act as guards for me today." The one closest to him raised its head.
"Our commander asks, how soon would you need the escort and where would you like us to meet you?" Harry thought about that for a moment.
"The meeting is at midday but I would like to be there around 11:45. Do you know where Morsegrave Tower is?" the creature nodded its head.
"The commander states, they shall be waiting for you at the tower by the time you arrive." Well that was incredibly easy. Is he supposed to just leave now or what?
"Um… Thank you for your cooperation. It is much appreciated. I'll be heading back now." The creatures didn't move. "You can return to whatever you were doing before." At that they all rose in unison and dispersed. He shadowed back to death and groaned. He just wanted a better understanding of the Selegen court and now he has the feeling that this wasn't going to be as simple as him asking a few questions.
When the time came he shadowed him and death to Gringotts, meeting Goruk in the lobby.
"We'll be traveling by portkey, is that alright?" Goruk nodded, leading them to a room off of the lobby that allowed for portkey use. They all held on to the fang and hadrian spoke the activation phrase. Goruk did a double take at the portkey, inspecting it closely before nodding once and turning to the building. Harry could practically see him salivating. As they got closer Goruk spoke
"It's made from white statuario. The entire thing is made from white statuario. How on earth?"
"It was made almost two thousand years ago by Alexia Peveral." Goruks head whipped towards him so quickly Harry was pretty sure something cracked.
"Are you bringing me to Alexia's Library?" The goblin sounded hysterical.
"Yes this is where we're meeting the Harpy delegation. Is something wrong?" Goruk shook his head.
"No, I just got the privilege of telling our archivists that I got to see Alexias library. It's basically a legend among creatures. Only twenty harpy's in every generation are allowed to enter the library, no other creature has been granted the privilege until now." Oh, Harry has a bad feeling that he is about to do something that will have more consequences than he planned for. Well, fuck.