Dis Lexics vault of Secrets
Ideas, plot bunnys that won't let go, possible future stories. feel free to pick up the stories if you like them.
And we're back with another entry to the Vault, this time the idea isnt an answer to a challenge, although it does have elements of Twice Blessed in that Harry will be a Twice Blessed. However, the Gods I'm using are a little unusual. Anyway, enjoy!
Mischief and Wisdom
Harry Potter was dreaming. Unlike his normal dreams, which were filled with pain and fear as he watched what he could only assume was Voldemort torture and murder, this one held a more...familial atmosphere, although there was still an edge of menace in the air.
The young Wizard found himself before a massive rock that appeared to rise out of the steel grey ocean and had a massive crack in the ground, as well as a huge peak. Fettered to the peak by a length of golden ribbon was a truly massive wolf with ash grey fur and a set of gleaming white teeth that looked sharp enough to shear through solid steel. The beast lay curled up under a slight overhang, fast asleep. Beside the monstrous hound was a pair of smaller wolves, one with golden fur, the other with silver, but both sharing the same burning red eyes. Suddenly, the island began to shake as the ocean around it began to boil and something huge emerged from its depths. Harry staggered as the ground shook, falling on his ass as he watched in awe as a massive, draconic head breached the steel coloured waters, followed by a neck the width of the entire Hogwarts castle. The serpent's scales were the colour of granite and its eyes a fierce yellow and had a strange, glazed look to them as if the beast was half asleep. Harry gulped as he eyed the fangs that filled the serpent's mouth, each of which was bigger than Gryffindor tower.
Fortunately, Harry was distracted from the serpent by something tugging on his baggy, Dursley issued clothes. He turned around to see a small girl who looked about six wearing a simple black dress decorated with Nordic runes picked out in gold thread. She had jet black hair and emerald green eyes. One half of her face was snow white, while the other was the colour of obsidian.
"'Scuse me mister, but why are you here?" asked the girl, "Normally Mortals can't find their way here."
"I thought I was dreaming," said Harry, "But I don't think thats the case, is it?"
"Indeed it is not," said a deep, rumbling voice.
Harry turned and saw that the largest wolf was now awake and eyeing the boy with the same burning red eyes as its smaller counterparts.
"I would imagine Father called you here," he rumbled, "Although for what purpose I cannot say."
"Tis rare for our Father to call us all together like this," hissed the serpent, lowering his head so he was level with the cliff face, "Last time was to introduce us to Hel. Hmm, I wonder…"
His tongue flicked out, tasting the air, before his yellow eyes widened and a deep, hissing laugh emerged from his throat.
"Ah, so thats it," he hissed, "It seems that the Alfather will be most displeased when he hears of this."
The Serpent bowed his head to Harry.
"Tis a pleasure to meet you little one," he said, "I am Jormungandr, The World Snake. Introduce yourselves, Sister, Doggy."
The wolf snarled at the giant snake, who just flicked his tongue at him. The wolf huffed, before turning to Harry.
"I am Fenrir, the Devourer of Gods," he growled, "And these are my Brood, Skoll and Hati."
The two smaller wolves barked as their names were said by their father.
"I'm Hel," chirped the girl, "Goddess of the Dead and ruler of Helheim. Whats your name?"
"H-Harry," stuttered Harry, his mind currently trying to comprehend the fact he was in the presence of beings from Norse Mythology and were essentially the harbingers of Ragnarok.
His first instinct was to dismiss what was happening as a dream, but it felt far too real for that. He looked at his hands and saw that the skin was split where he had fallen when Jormungandr had emerged from the water, feeling the sting of the wounds that wouldn't be there in a dream.
"Why am I here?" asked Harry.
"You are here so I can acknowledge you as my son," said a new voice.
Harry turned to the source and saw a tall man round the corner, leading an eight legged, storm grey coated horse by the bridal. At the sight of the man, Harrys jaw dropped open. Stood before him was the same man as appeared in the pictures in the album Hagrid had given him in his first year, albeit with a few differences. Most notably was the lack of glasses and the fact that his hair was slicked back as opposed to looking like he had just got off a broom. He was wearing robes off green and gold and had an aura about him that practically screamed DANGER!.
"DADDY!" squealed Hel as she ran to the man, who scooped the little Goddess into his arms.
"Hello princess," said the man as the horse nuzzled Hels cheek, making the girl giggle. The black haired man put the young girl down next to the Horse where she started petting the magnificent creature.
"So I was right," muttered Jormungandr.
The man nodded to the gigantic serpent, before walking over to Fenrir and scratching the monstrous wolf behind the ears. Finally, he turned to Harry, who looked even more confused than ever before.
"Who are you?" asked Harry.
The man smiled.
"I am Loki, Norse god of Mischief," said the now revealed God, "However, you, Harry, can call me father."
Harrys eyes widened and he took a step back. He wanted to deny the claim, but his entire being was screaming at him that Loki was telling the truth. He could feel his magic reaching out eagerly to the God before him, longing for the touch of a parental figure for the first time in a very long time. However, Harry pulled back, forcing his magic back under control as he glared at the God.
"Where were you?" he hissed, "Where were you when the Dursleys were working me to the bone, forcing me to live in a cupboard and wiping the skin of my back? If you're a God then why didn't you answer my prayers?"
Loki winced with each word coming out of the teens mouth. Fenrir growled and got to his feet.
"You insolent little whelp!" he snarled, "I ought to…"
"Fenrir, enough," snapped Loki.
The wolf growled, but lay back down, although he kept his burning glare on Harry.
"I'm sorry for leaving you with them," said Loki, "I truly am. Despite what people may think of me, I do care for my children. However, the laws set down by my father meant that after my mortal body was destroyed, I couldn't claim you until you came of age."
"Mortal Body?" asked Harry.
Loki smiled sheepishly.
"Ah, I went a little too far with a prank and ended up being thrown down to Earth to live as a mortal as punishment," he said, "it's a favorite punishment of my Fathers to shove his misbehaving sons into Mortal shells and have them live as humans for a few decades to teach them some humility. This time, my Mortal shell was James Potter, a baby that should have died during childbirth. I usually end up in that state once every couple of centuries after pushing my luck a bit to much."
Harry chuckled despite himself, before he caught himself and schooled his features.
"So why are you here now?" asked Harry, "You said you couldn't claim me until I came of age, but I'm only 14."
"You can thank the Goblet of Fire for that," said Loki, "Your name came out of it and entered you into a tournament meant only for adults. The Judges should have disqualified you on the spot since you were in violation of the rules of the contract, something they could have done without any negative affects to you, but by forcing you to compete, and being acknowledged by two Heads of Department, your Headmaster and two independent witnesses, that being Karkaroff and Maxime, they officially declared you of age. In the eyes of Magic and the Ancient Laws, you are now an adult, meaning I can claim you with no problem. It also means you can claim the Potter Lordship and fortune."
"Lordship?" asked Harry.
"Oh, I forgot that Dumbledore neglected to inform you of that," grumbled Loki, "Never mind, tomorrow go to McGonigal and request to go to Gringotts. As a Champion and Heir Apparent of a Noble House, she has to comply. Oh, and you can take anyone you want to act as witness."
Harry nodded, although he still didn't look best pleased.
"Hey, cheer up spot," said Loki, "This won't be the last time we meet. Unlike the Greeks and Romans, there's no law that says that we can't spend time on Earth with our children."
Harry looked up hopefully.
"Really?"
Loki grinned.
"I'll be along for the First Task and I'll even bring your Grandmother."
Harry smiled, a true smile and not the fake one he usually used. Loki laughed and hugged his son, who hesitantly returned the gesture.
"Now, enough with the heavy topics, come and meet your siblings!"
The Norse God wrapped his arm around Harrys shoulders and turned to face his other children.
"Everyone, allow me to introduce you to your baby brother, Hadrian James Lokison-Potter," he said, patting Harry on the shoulder.
"Lokison?" asked Harry.
"Tradition," said Loki, smiling ruefully, "Be thankful you won't be adding any more names to that."
The eight legged horse trotted over to Harry and looked him over, sniffing his hair, before looking into his eyes through a pair of massive eyes the colour of molten chocolate.
"You are strong, little brother," it said in a soft voice, "I am Sleipnir, the Steed of Odin. Should you ever need my aid, you may call for me and I shall do my best to answer."
"Thank you," said Harry, feeling more than a little shocked at the offer.
"I'm bored anyway," said the Divine Horse, losing his mystical tone in an instant, "Odin doesn't get out that much. Say, do you happen to have any sugar lumps?"
Harry blinked at the abrupt 180 in Sleipnir's attitude as Loki let out a laugh.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to him," said the God of Mischief.
When Harry woke up the next morning, he had a massive smile on his face that would have taken a blowtorch to remove. He had just spent the night spending time with his family for the first time. He spent most of the night playing with Hel, Skoll and Hoki while Fenrir and Sleipnir kept an eye on them and Jormungandr napped. The Midgard Serpent was one lazy Dragon, not even staying away through Harrys conversation with Loki. Apparently he spent most of his time asleep and only really woke up when something interesting was happening and even then he was always half asleep. Apparently Eir, the Norse Pantheons healer, had diagnosed the Serpent with Narcolepsy.
Harry sat up in bed and looked at his hand, watching as the pink flesh turned dark blue, before fading back to pink. Once his hand was back to normal, Harry let out a sigh and grinned.
"So it really wasn't a dream," muttered the Son of Loki, before opening the curtains and looking at the empty bed next to his, "And it looks like Rons still being a moron."
Harry dressed and went down the spiral staircase into the common room. The moment he appeared, the people who had already finished breakfast broke into applause. The prospect of going down into the Great Hall and facing the rest of the Gryffindors all treating him like some sort of hero was not inviting. On the other hand, he also didn't feel like dealing with the Creevey brothers, who were both beckoning frantically to him to join them. He walked resolutely over to the portrait hole, pushed it open, climbed out of it, and found himself face-to-face with Hermione.
"Hello," she said, holding up a stack of toast, which she was carrying in a napkin, "I brought you this. Want to go for a walk?"
"Good idea," said Harry gratefully.
They went downstairs, crossed the entrance hall quickly without looking in at the Great Hall, and were soon striding across the lawn toward the lake, where the Durmstrang ship was moored, reflected blackly in the water. It was a chilly morning, although the cold didn't bother Harry anymore, but they kept moving for Hermiones sake, munching their toast, as Harry told Hermione exactly what had happened after he had left the Gryffindor table the night before. To his immense relief, Hermione accepted his story without question.
"Well, of course I knew you hadn't entered yourself," she said when he'd finished telling her about the scene in the chamber off the Hall, "The look on your face when Dumbledore read out your name! But the question is, who did put it in? Because Moody's right, Harry, I don't think any student could have done it. They'd never be able to fool the Goblet, or get over Dumbledore's -"
"Have you seen Ron?" Harry interrupted.
Hermione hesitated.
"Erm… yes… he was at breakfast," she said.
"Does he still think I entered myself?" asked Harry.
"Well… no, I don't think so… not really," said Hermione awkwardly.
"What's that supposed to mean, 'not really'?" grumbled Harry.
"Oh Harry, isn't it obvious?" Hermione said despairingly, "He's jealous!"
"Jealous?" Harry said incredulously, "Jealous of what? He wants to make a prat of himself in front of the whole school, does he?"
"Look," said Hermione patiently, "It's always you who gets all the attention, you know it is. I know it's not your fault," she added quickly, seeing Harry open his mouth furiously, "I know you don't ask for it, but, well, you know, Ron's got all those brothers to compete against at home, and you're his best friend, and you're really famous - he's always shunted to one side whenever people see you, and he puts up with it, and he never mentions it, but I suppose this is just one time too many."
"Thats no excuse," said Harry, "He should know better."
"I know that Harry," said Hermione patiently, "But give him some time."
"Alright," said Harry, "But this is his last chance. One more screw up and I will cut ties with him."
Hermione looked at Harry strangely.
"Are you OK?" she asked, "You seem… different. Happier than usual."
"Is that a bad thing?" asked Harry.
"No, not at all," said Hermione quickly, "I didn't mean it like that. I just thought that with Ron acting like a prat you'd be in a bad mood."
Harry had to agree with Hermione's assessment. Had he not met his family last night he probably would have been extremely pissy today.
"I guess you could say I've found something to take my mind of it," said Harry.
Hermione gave her friend an odd look.
"Whats that supposed to mean?" she asked.
"Lets just say that I've learnt some home truths and leave it at that," said Harry, giving her a look that said to drop it.
Hermione was tempted to press for more details, but she knew better than to push Harry as it would just make him clam up even tighter.
"Alright," said the bookworm, "Harry, I've been thinking - you know what we've got to do, don't you? Straight away, the moment we get back to the castle?"
"Talk to McGonagall," said Harry.
"What?" asked Hermione, confused, "Why do you need to talk to Professor McGonagall?"
"Family business," said Harry, "Look, I'll tell you everything after I've sorted it all out, OK?"
Hermione sighed and nodded.
"OK," she said, "But I was actually going to say that you need to write to Sirius. You've got to tell him what's happened. He asked you to keep him posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts. It's almost as if he expected something like this to happen. I brought some parchment and a quill out with me so we can work on it."
"Good idea," said Harry, "Thanks for reminding me about that."
"No problem," said Hermione.
Harry threw his last piece of toast into the lake causing a large tentacle rose out of the water and scooped it beneath the surface, before the two returned to the castle.
An hour later saw Harry heading to McGonagall's office after sending one of the school owls off with his letter to his Godfather. The teenaged Wizard reached McGonagall's office and knocked on the door, receiving permission to enter a moment later.
"Ah, Mr. Potter, what can I do for you?" asked the Cat Animagus, looking up from the esseys she was grading.
"I would like to request permission to leave the school to visit Gringotts regarding family matters," said Harry formally.
McGonagall regarded Harry over her glasses for a moment, before sighing and rubbing her eyes.
"I was wondering when you'd come asking me about that Mr. Potter," she said, "To be honest, I was expecting you last year, but it seems I gave Albus too much credit."
"What do you mean?" asked Harry.
"Albus was supposed to tell you about your heritage when you were 13, as per the law, and take you to Gringotts to receive your Heirs ring, but it seems that he neglected to do so," said McGonagall, "You may go. Here is a permission slip for being out of School in case you get stopped."
She handed Harry a piece of paper.
"You can use my Floo to get to the Leaky Cauldron and please try to be back before Curfew."
"Yes Professor," said a surprised Harry.
He had been expecting to have to pull out the rule book he had looked up to get the Deputy Headmistress to let him go. The Son of Loki quickly vanished through the fireplace before McGonagall could change her mind, leaving the Transfiguration teacher to go back to grading her papers as if nothing had happened.
Harry emerged on the other side of the Floo into a mostly bar. The Son of Loki swiftly made his way through the room, nodding at Tom behind the bar, before passing through the Portal in Diagon Alley that was rather sparsely populated in comparison to the other times Harry had been their. The teen pulled the hood of his cloak up and made his way up to the gleaming white building at the end of the street. Harry entered the Bank, ignoring the bowing guards and the warning poem on the doors and walked up to an empty teller, waiting patiently for him to finish weighing the huge ruby he had on one side of a set of scales. After a moment, the Goblin set aside his scales and gem and looked at Harry over his towering desk.
"How may I help you sir?" he asked politely, although the sneer on his face was anything but friendly.
"I need to speak with my Account Manager if hes available," said Harry, "It has come to my attention that I should have visited the bank last year to receive my Heir ring."
"Name?"
"Harry Potter."
The Goblin glanced up at Harry, his eyes doing the familiar flick to his scar, before he looked back at his ledger.
"You should have received a reminder to come with your monthly statement or on your 13 birthday," he said.
"Pardon me, but I have never received any mail from Gringotts," said Harry.
The Goblins frowned.
"I see," he said, "Well, no matter, I believe that Master Blackfang is available. If you would follow me."
The short banker hopped of his tall chair and made his way around the desk, before beckoning Harry through a pair of double doors, leading the green eyed boy through a maze of passages until they reached a pair of double doors made of black wood and bearing a brass plate that read:
Blackfang
Potter Account Manager
Harrys guide asked Harry to wait in the hall for a moment, before disappearing through the doors, leaving the teen alone. A few moments later, he came back out and beckoned him in. The office was quite large, with white marble walls that were lined with weapons. At the other end of the room was a large desk made of the same wood as the door behind which sat a rather large Goblin clad in a miniature suit.
"Ah, come in Mr. Potter," said the Goblin, "My name is Blackfang, the Account Manager of the Potter Vaults since your Grandfather. Please, have a seat."
He indicated to one of the chairs in front of the desk.
"A pleasure to meet you Mr. Blackfang," said Harry, taking the offered seat, "And please call me Harry."
"Then you may call me Blackfang," said the Goblin, opening a folder on his desk, "Now, we have a lot to do today and time is money so lets get started. First of all, I'm afraid I have to ask you to perform a blood test to ensure that you are indeed Harry Potter."
Harry nodded.
"Alright, what do I have to do?" he asked.
"Take this dagger and cut your palm," said the Goblin, handing Harry the weapon, "Then, allow three drops of blood to fall on this paper."
He slid a piece of paper across the desk. Harry did as he was told, wincing as the sharp blade cut his skin. Once the required three drops had fallen, the cut healed up and the Goblin took back the dagger, cleaning it off with a spell. Harry watched as the blood was absorbed into the paper and writing began to appear.
Name: Hadrian James Lokison-Potter
Species: ⅓ Ice Giant, ⅓ Aesir, ⅓ Titan
Parents: James Charlus Potter (Human form of Loki Odinson), Lily Ann Potter nee Evens (Human form of Metis)
Grandparents: Oceanus and Tethys (Maternal)
Fárbauti and Laufey (Paternal)
Odin and Frigga (Paternal, adopted)
Siblings: Sleipnir (Older half-brother)
Fenrir (Older half-brother)
Jormungandr (Older half-brother)
Hel (Older half-sister)
Athena (Older half-sister)
Heir to: Potter (Ancient and Most Noble Lordship. Vault available)
Asgard (Prince. No Vault available)
Jotunheim (Prince. No Vault available)
Peverill (Ancient and Most Noble Lordship. Vault available)
Slytherin (Through right of Conquest. No Vault available)
Contracts/ Debts owed: Ginevra Molly Weasley (Life Debt, Soul Debt)
Hermione Jean Granger-Sifsdaughter (Life Debt)
Sirius Orion Black (Life Debt)
Severus Tobias Snape (Inherited Life Debt)
Invalid Marriage Contract to Ginevra Molly Weasley (Signed by MW and APWBD. Invalid due to Guardian usurpation and Life Debt)
Goblet of Fire contract (Unwilling subject)
Vaults: Trust (Contains: 20000 Galleons)
Potter (Contains: 200000 Galleons, treasures, books and weapons)
Peverill (Contains: 1000 Galleons, treasures and books)
Evens Personal Vault (contains: 2000 Galleons and Lily Potters notes)
Harry Potters Vault (contains: Divine Gifts and books)
Other Information: Soul Fragment of TMR detected
THUMP!
Blackfang looked up from the test results and saw that his client had fainted.
"Well, hes taking it well," he muttered, before calling a grunt to take Harry to the medibay.
Better to get that Soul Fragment out now while he was unconscious.
And I'm going to end it there. This is a story I probably will continue, but first I need to decide whether or not to send Harry of to CHB because this is going to be a cross with PJ. I'm also not sure who to use as a paring in this story, so suggestions would be welcome. I hope you enjoyed this entry to the Vault and that you all decide to leave me lots of lovely reviews!