A.N/ Hello and welcome back to Lord Prowler. Firstly I'd like to answer a couple questions as I usually do.
1. Yes the Tiberius and the other lords in Avalon will find out Harry is alive but not for a while yet. It'll probably happen after the second task.
2. Avalon isn't in a different time, it's a different world/dimension and phoenixes are the only living thing able to travel back and forth between the two but they are only able to connect to the magic of the world they're in. That's why Goldfeather couldn't feel Harry. I will elaborate on this further in a later chapter.
That's it for now let's get to it shall we.
Chapter 6- First Steps
The door to the magic room instantly appeared as he approached. As he entered he took his shirt off and changed. Standing where he once stood now was a large eagle. He spread his large wings and launched himself into the air, taking a few laps around the room he softly landed in his hammock before changing back to normal. He was enjoying his time here so far but he still longed for a way back to Avalon. As he drifted off to sleep he thought of his friends and family wondering what they were doing.
One Month Since The Goblet
His three opponents were skilled for sure but they were nowhere near his level. They'd tried dozens of tactics in their morning training sessions but so far Harry had proven to be better than anything they could come up with. Splitting up, the trio surrounded him with their wands raised waiting for the moment to strike.
Harry smirked at them. Splitting up hadn't worked yet and it wouldn't work this time either. Fleur was the first to make her move with a silent cutting curse, Cedric followed with a bone breaker and Krum looked to finish it with a stunner. They watched as their spells charged the young man and thoughts of victory had prematurely filled their heads. Those thoughts were quickly dashed however as just when their spells were mere inches from landing Harry made his move.
Faster than any human had the right to move he dashed to his right and fired off a chain of spells. Before the other three could even react they were wandless and tied up in chains. Cheers came from the other side of the room as Rose, Susan, Luna and Tonks celebrated his victory. Harry gave them a low bow and turned back to his fellow competitors. He gave his wand a light wave and a set of numbers appeared. "Forty five seconds, fifteen seconds longer than yesterday. I'd say that's improvement."
The three gave him a glare. "Just untie us you bloody showboat." Cedric tried to seem upset but the grin on his face gave away the truth. With another wave of his wand the chains disappeared and they all stood up.
"Now can you tell me where you went wrong. Your strategy wasn't bad at all you just made a pretty major mistake." They all three looked at each other but Fleur was the one to speak up. "We each fired at the same time but only one spell. We were much too confident that you wouldn't be able to dodge three spells at the same time."
Harry nodded to the girl. "Exactly. If you all would've used a chain of spells instead of a singular spell I'd have had a much more difficult time dodging. Don't get me wrong I still would've dodged it but it would've been more challenging." The three nodded. "Alright that's enough for today, same time tomorrow? I say we study the tournament history to see what kind of tasks we should expect."
"First task historically involves some kind of creature. Usually fighting them or trying to get something from them. I've done some studying on the tournament already." Krum said as he adjusted his clothes.
"Well that's settled then, we'll take the day off tomorrow and get back at it on Saturday." Harry waved the other competitors off and turned towards the group of girls waiting for him.
Luna was the first to reach him bouncing excitedly as words poured from her mouth faster than should be possible. "Thatwasamazingcanyouteachmetofightlikethathowdoyoumovethatfasthowdoyoucastwithoutwords!"
Harry placed his hands on the small girls shoulders and chuckled, she was practically vibrating with excitement. "Calm down Luna, I can show you a few things sure but some of it is too advanced for you." He ruffled her hair and looked to the others. Luna had become something of a little sister to him. After he'd talked to some girls in her house and Dane a little...persuading, they'd been more than happy to return the young girls things and the young girl almost worshipped him for doing it.
Susan had already closed the gap and hugged him from the side. "You were fantastic Harry. Rose never mentioned you could move and fight like that. It was amazing." He'd become friendly with the red headed girl, she was very clingy to him and it was kinda exhausting at times. Maybe she just looked up to him as a brother as well.
Harry chuckled and pat her on the back. "Yeah where I grew up you had to be able to defend yourself. It wasn't dangerous per se but you just had to be prepared." He never noticed the girls blush and he Pat her back his focus was on Rose.
"Yeah I forgot to mention that he beat dad and uncle siri in a duel last week. They both moped around all weekend about it." She shrugged and stood next to Harry on the opposite side of Susan. His relationship with Rose was as strong as it was all those years ago. While they were no longer related as he had no Potter blood left in him, he still loved his younger sister.
"I wondered why Potter has been down at work. He looked like someone kicked his puppy, turns out our hunk here gave him what for." Tonks said as she spread out on the couch Harry conjured earlier. Tonks was quickly becoming his best friend once again. The two hung out nearly every evening the auror wasn't working. He never noticed the smirk aimed towards Susan or the glare the younger girl returned. The two girls were well aware of each others attraction to the young man, no words had been said yet but they both were well aware of the competition between them.
They all turned as the door to the room opened and in walked Colin Creevey, a young third year gryffindor. "Sorry to intrude but they need you for the wand weighing ceremony Mr. Potter, I mean Prowler."
"Well let's get this over with then. I'll see you all at dinner. You three get to class, and Tonks, maybe you can actually do your job and try to figure out who put my name in the goblet, it's been a month and you haven't found shit. Just a thought." He laughed as he ran from the room dodging stingers the young auror cast.
Harry followed the young boy to a room near the main entrance. When he entered he seen the other champions were already present. "Ah Harry, there you are. Now we can begin the weighing of the wands. Mister Creevey if you would stay I'd like you to take some photos and maybe ask a few questions for the school paper." Colin beamed at the headmaster and pulled his camera out of his bag.
"Now mister Ollivander here will inspect your wands and then miss Rita Skeeter here will do interviews for the Daily Prophet." Rita have a small wave. "I believe we'll begin with miss Delacour, if you would dear." He gestured to the old wand maker.
Wand lore was never something he was interested in, there were way too many fine details and things to go wrong. Something about the craft attracted the most eccentric people, every wand maker he'd had the pleasure of meeting always seemed to the off their rocker.
He watched the others go through the wand checking and finally his turn came up. When his name was called he walked up to the crazy looking old man and handed him his wand. He held it as if holding a priceless artifact. "You're a long way from home my friend." He held the wand to his ear. "Yes, a very long way. Oh the stories you could tell would rival one much older." He ran his fingers along the length and gently flexed the wood. "Fourteen and a half inches, surprisingly bendy and a wood I'm admittedly not familiar with." He looked to Harry.
"It's called stone oak. Harder than stone but somehow still flexible. We use it for weapon handles, staffs and wands." The wand maker nodded at this explanation before he continued.
"As I said fourteen and a half inches, bendy, made out of this stone oak and a core of... oh my, there are multiple cores in this wand. If my senses are correct they are phoenix feather, unicorn hair, griffon heart string, oh my a nundu fang and a... sweet merlin where did you get this? This is chimera venom. Where did you get such a rare material from, chimeras haven't been seen in centuries." Heads turned to look at the young man, most wands only had one core and very rarely had two but for a wand to have five is unheard of. Especially cores of such dangerous and rare creatures.
"Personal family stock. That's all I'm telling you." The old man looked disappointed but accepted the answer. "I'd give this wand a wave but I'm afraid it would be all for nought. Wands such as this are fiercely loyal to their wizards and will work for no other. It seems to be in working order however so it has my seal of approval."
"Thank you, Garrick. Now we'll proceed to the interviews with miss Skeeter. We'll go in reverse this time so Harry if you would please follow miss Skeeter she'll do a short interview." The woman walked up to him and grabbed his arm. "We'll just go to this side room here where there are less distractions."
As he entered the room and he used the word room loosely, this wasn't much more than a closet, he noticed the woman had undone a few buttons on her blouse revealing more of her large cleavage. While impressive, this tactic only worked on him when deployed by his betrothed, Athena.
"Alright mister Potter let's begin. Firstly I must say that your reappearance to our world was most unexpected, I think Britain along with myself would like to know where you have been all this time?" Her magic quill floated beside her scratching on the paper.
"Firstly name isn't Potter, it's Prowler. I haven't been a Potter for nearly ten years. Where I grew up however is irrelevant because it's very far from here. You're not likely to find it on the map." Rita pushed her breast together. "Come now Harry the people have a right to know about the savior of our world. A boy that died protecting his sister from the worst dark lord the world has ever seen suddenly reappears thirteen years later alive and well." Her eyes ran up and down the young man. "Very well indeed." She mumbled under her breath.
"All your public needs to know is that I grew up in a very far away land. If they don't like that answer they can fuck off." He calmed himself and took a deep breath. "Look I was entered against my will, I don't even want to be here. I just want this tournament over with so I can go home."
Rita smiled at the young man and scooted closer to him. "I understand completely dear. You were pulled from your home and entered into a dangerous tournament you wanted no part of. I'm sure it's very stressful for a handsome young man like yourself." She placed her hand on his knee. "I may not be as young as some of the girls here at Hogwarts but I promised I'm much more experienced and I'd be more than happy to help you...relieve your stress." She started moving her hand up his leg, slowly working to his inner thigh. "All you'd have to do is answer some questions for me and I'll be anything you want me to be."
She stopped when his hand landed on hers. She looked up at the young man's face expecting to see the flustered look of a teen but instead gasped when she was met with a look of anger. To most people, the growing canines protruding from his lips would be cause for concern but truthfully Rita never noticed them. No, she was much too focused on his eyes. Where before they shined like freshly polished gems, they now looked dull and dangerous. His green eye looked sickly, like a dangerous infection. While his violet eye turned nearly black with only hints of violet remaining. Suddenly her hands were bound together and she was pinned to the wall with her hands above her head.
She squirmed as he held her to the wall, he pulled her arms just enough so she could barely stand on the tips of her toes. She opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by a dangerous voice. "I'd suggest you stop." Her breath hitched in her throat. This voice was a far cry from the one that came from the boy just minutes ago. It sent chills down her spine, it made her feel like she was some kind of prey at the mercy of an apex predator. "Your persuasions might work on others but I can promise you one thing." His free hand came up and roughly grabbed her face, his calloused hand was like sandpaper on her skin and claws threatened to pierce her skin. He bent down so he was face to face with the woman. "They won't work on me."
Warmth ran down her legs as she wet herself. This was a new feeling for her, she was the one that was in control during interviews. She always got what she wanted but this time it seemed the reporter bit off more than she could chew. "P-please, I'm sorry. I didn't know any better. I won't do this again I promise." Tears began well in her eyes, she had doubts of making it out of this room alive but hoped he would spare her.
Just as suddenly as he had pinned her, he let her go. One of his claws grazed her cheek and she hissed as blood started to slowly seep from the small scratch. She fell in a heap to the floor landing in her own urine.
"Don't be so scared my little beetle. I'm not going to hurt you." She paled at this. How he knew she was an animagus she didn't know but it scared her all the same. "Oh yes I know all about your little trick. I'll bet it comes in handy for a reporter."
He squatted down so he was once again face to face with her. "So, this is how things are going to work from now on. You work for me now, anything you write about me or anyone I'm close to will have to be ok'd by me." He stood back up and sat down in one of the chairs in the room. "For this interview you can say I grew up in a far away land and that I was entered into the tournament unknowingly and against my will. I'll have my house elf Milly send you a book with a little history on the Prowler family. There's not much in it but enough to give the people a little backstory. After the tournament is over and I leave Britain you can write whatever you want about me, I don't care."
He stood up and walked towards the door. As he grabbed the handle he stopped and turned back to the woman. "I think it goes without saying that the events in this room are to never be talked about. Oh, and clean yourself up my little beetle. You're a mess." He chucked to himself as he left the room. Rita curled in on herself and cried, this definitely hadn't gone how she expected.
Harry spent little time with the other champions and the judges, leaving as soon as they had the clue to the first task. Rage boiled inside him as he walked down the hall. How dare that woman try that with him. In Avalon such things were punishable by exile. The media was could be trusted to not use backhanded tactics like that to get information. Such things were another reason he preferred his home over this place.
He entered the great hall to see bustling students studying and eating lunch. His attention was grabbed by someone waving at him. He looked to see Rose standing on one of the benches surrounded by her friends, and admittedly he was beginning to call those same people his friends. He walked over to the group and was unsurprisingly addressed by Susan first. "Hi Harry! I went ahead and made your plate. I know you like meat so I put lots of chicken and beef for you." Her face was beet red as she held up the aforementioned plate and true to her word it was piled high with lots of meat. The others all snickered at the smitten girl and it only caused her to get redder. Though he was hungry the anger from the previous events ruined his appetite. "Thanks Susan but I'm not eating. I just came to tell you all I won't be available for the rest of the day. I'm going to go walk around the forest and clear my head."
The redheaded girl looked disappointed that her efforts were for naught. "Everything alright Harry?" Rose looked concerned for her older brother. No everything's not alright, I was just sexually assaulted by a reporter old enough to be my mother how would you feel if it were you. Well that's what he wanted to say anyway. "Yeah I'm fine just want to get out of the castle for a bit. I haven't been out since Tonks took me clothes shopping and I'm just feeling cooped up ya know." Rose gave him a skeptical look before nodding. "Ok just checking."
Luna jumped out of her seat and clung to his side. "Can I go with you pleeeeeeeease. I love the forest, all the little magical creatures scittering around. It's like my second home." Harry laughed and ruffled up her hair. "Not this time moon. I just want to be alone right now but I promise I'll take you one day alright." He waved to the group and left the hall.
Susan was currently pouting and Rose was comforting the girl. "Why does she get a nickname while I just stay plain old Susan? She doesn't even like him like I do, she sees him as an older brother. It's not fair." Rose rubbed the girls back and gave the others dirty looks when they laughed at the girl. "You lot shut up. Neville, you can't even be in the same room as Hannah without becoming a stuttering mess and Ron, Lavender only has to say hi to you and you're like a love struck puppy for the rest of the day." The two boys quit laughing and grumbled to themselves as they went back to eating lunch. "Susan you need to just woman up and tell Harry how you feel. If you keep trying these little acts like making his plate at breakfast, lunch and dinner he'll never catch on. Do I need to remind you that you're not the only one vying for his attention." She tilted her head up towards the professor's table where Tonks was sitting. The auror just happened to look up at when Rose gestured to her. She gave Rose a small wave but looked at Susan with smirk and a wink. "That's not even mentioning all the other girls that look at him."
Susan's ears went red at this. "You're right. Hey! There's a hogsmeade weekend this week, I'll ask Harry to go with me!" A smile threatened to split the girls face. "I'll ask him tomorrow at breakfast. I'll ask Lavender to help me with my makeup and what to wear. I need something that shows off the goods, it's about time I get something out of these things." She pushed her breasts together causing Rose to laugh.
"If you think that'll work I say go for it." Rose waved her wand and gasped. "Shoot we're gonna be late for potions, let's go!" The small group of friends all jumped from the table and ran from the hall.
Harry spent most of the afternoon just walking. Every now and then a creature would come up and express their excitement at his family being back in their world. A herd of unicorns had even approached him and asked for him to bless a new partnership. Things like that were why he loved being part of house Prowler. Helping people made him feel good sure but helping and assisting creatures had always made the worst days great to him.
As the sun started to set and the stars began making their appearance, he was reminded of a letter he received when he first arrived. Deciding there was no time like the present he set off to meet with the centaurs.
Finding the herd was easy enough. He wasn't however expecting the entire herd to meet him at the gate to their camp. Two individuals stood at the front, he could only guess that this was the patriarch and matriarch of the herd. As he walked up they took a low bow. "My lord, it's truly an honor to finally meet you. I am Firenze leader of the forbidden forest herd. This is my bonded, Nova. And this is our son, Bane." He gestured to a young centaur to his left.
Harry gave them a bow in return. He clasped hands in a warriors embrace with Firenze and Bane."The honor is mine. The centaurs always have been great ally's and friends to my family. I would like nothing more than for us to remain the same, and please call me Harry. That goes for all of you." He walked over to Nova and kissed her hand. "I'm afraid you've ruined the night sky for me lady Nova. How can I ever look to the heavens again knowing that true beauty is here on earth with me."
The centaur matriarch blushed and chucked at the young man. "You're too kind my lord. Won't you honor us by joining us for the evening meal? We'd be most pleased to host you."
"I would be delighted to join you, I actually skipped lunch today so I'm famished." Firenze clapped him on the shoulder. "That is wonderful, come everyone to the village. Tonight we celebrate!" Cheers rang through the forest as the herd made their way back to their village.
Once they were back at the village the centaurs got to work. Bonfires were lit and a variety of meats and vegetables were set to roast. When the food was done they all gathered around the dying fire enjoying the warmth of the low flames and hot coals. "My lord, if it's not to personal of a question, how did you get the scars on your face." Firenze smacked his son. "Bane! That is much too personal, you were raised better than that." He turned to Harry was enjoying a large venison steak. "I'm so sorry my lord, I don't know what came over my son."
Harry waved the centaur off as he swallowed his food. "No, no, it's quite alright. And I believe I asked you to call me Harry. Anyway these scars have a funny story." He ran his fingers over the three scars that ran down his face. "I got them from being attacked by a rooster." Silence washed over the herd. "Are you joking?" The question came from an unknown centaur from the crowd.
"Nope, I got these when I was nine years old. I liked chasing the chickens on a local farm back home and one day the rooster finally had enough of me bothering his ladies." He chuckled to himself as he recalled the day. "My mother was apocalyptic when she saw my face. Father had to stop her from leaving the castle and strangling the farmer, he said it was a good lesson to learn. I have no idea what that lesson was but I never chased chickens again." They all had a nice laugh at his story. The night continued much with much of the same. Stories were told, music was played and dancing was done. This was the closest to home he had felt since he got here and was exactly what he needed to get his spirits back up.
He'd left the centaurs around eleven o'clock that night. As he made his way back to the castle he noticed something on the ground. Bending down he stuck his fingers in the thick silvery liquid and gave it a smell. "Unicorn blood. What could be stupid enough to harm a unicorn.?" Looking around he noticed more blood in the distance. Deciding to follow he turned into a house cat and crept through the forest following the blood.
The trail led him to a small clearing deep in the woods. The stopped at the edge and saw his quarry, laying injured on the ground was young unicorn foal. He could see the foal was still breathing but only just. The problem was the black spectre over top of it. He could hear it sucking the blood out of the young unicorn.
Deciding he'd seen enough he changed back and jumped from the brush into the clearing wand held high. The spectre rose from the foal and turned to its new visitor. It was roughly in the shape of a man, it had no features other than two blood red orbs Harry assumed were its eyes. The two stood I'd the clearing for what felt like minutes but could only have been a few seconds before the spectre made its move. It rushed Harry with an ear piercing shriek and its arms stretched out. He was ready for this however and rolled to the left before casting his spell. "UMBRA ABIIT!" A bright white spell rushed at the shadowy figure and cut through its midsection. A loud agonizing scream filled the air as the figure writhed in pain. Slowly the shadows filled the hole in its body and it stopped moving. Looking Harry in the eyes one last time the spectre let out another shriek before taking off into the night sky.
After he made sure the thing was gone he rushed to the injured unicorn. As he knelt down beside it he took in the extent of its injuries. He could see it was a young female, blood seeped from the numerous wounds in the poor filly's fragile body. "It's ok little one, I'm here. I'm gonna save you I promise." The young filly lifted her head slightly, the strength was quickly leaving her.
"H-hurts." The cry came out barely a whisper. "S-scared." He placed his hand on her side. "Shh it's ok, I'm gonna make it all go away." Harry worked as fast as he could. His wand was blur as he healed cuts and puncture wounds. Tendons snapped back together, muscle knit themselves whole and skin patched with nary a scar. When he was done she was as perfect as the day she was born.
Unfortunately it wasn't enough. Even as she lay on the ground healed, he could feel the strength leaving the poor creature. The blood loss was just too much. Blood replenishers didn't work on unicorns, their magic would override the lotion leaving it useless.
He turned when he heard something approach from behind. Wand drawn he was expecting to see the spectre again only to come face to face with a herd of unicorns. "Mama. Hurts." They all turned to the young filly. A grown female made her way over to her and laid down. "I'm here my child. I'm here." She nuzzled her baby while the stallion of the herd made his way over to Harry. "Thank you my lord, it all happened so fast. The spirit came out of nowhere, I thought I had run it off but when we found Maia missing I feared the worst. Thanks to you my daughter may live to see another day." Harry looked over to the young filly. "Will she make it? I could feel her strength fading." The stallion snorted and swung his head. "We will do our best. Our species is strong and our healing is complicated but hopefully she will make a strong recovery."
Harry nodded to the stallion and walked back over to the young unicorn. "You better get better you hear me, Maia. I'll be coming back to check on you, so I want you to get strong and healthy so me and you can have a race." The young filly's ears perked up at his words. "Race? Make friend?" Her voice was still weak but seeing her perk up made him feel more optimistic about her recovery. "That's right. You're my new friend so we gotta have a race to see who's faster." He sat down beside her and gently rubbed her head. He was only there for a few minutes before quiet snoring could be heard as the exhaustion took over and she fell asleep.
Standing up he was stopped by the filly's mother. "Thank you my lord. Without you I would have lost my daughter, I'll be forever in your dept." He turned to face the mare. "Don't thank me yet, I was nearly too late getting here. Just make sure she gets better, that's all I ask." He turned and left the clearing continuing his trip back to Hogwarts.
As he mad it to the door of the castle he stopped and looked back towards the forest. "If you think I've forgotten after all these years you're wrong. I'd recognize your magic anywhere you bastard, I don't know how and I don't know why but you survived that night just the same as I did. I may not know how I did it last time but I can promise you one thing. I will end you again, and this time there will be no coming back." He slammed the door behind him as he ended the castle.
Out in the distance and shadowy figure floated in the air. How dare this welp threaten him! Him! The great Lord Voldemort, the most feared dark lord the wizarding world had ever seen! Once he figured out how to regain his body he'd bring hell upon all those who'd stood against him starting with the Potter brat. Oh he may have a new name and a new look but deep inside he was the same cowering child. It was only a matter of time, time was something he had plenty of after all. A dark screeching laugh filled the air over the forest fading away as the spectre of the dark lord merged into the shadows.
A.N/ What is up my people! Sorry about not uploading last week I got so busy with work and other things that I didn't have time to write. I think I'm gonna have to move to a bi-weekly uploading schedule for the foreseeable future. Lot of things coming up so a weekly upload just isn't possible. On the bright side you guys will get longer chapters and with more time to do it I'll be able to add more details and scenes so win win. I want to thank everyone who followed, favorited and reviewed. You guys are awesome I never expected this to get the attention it has so far. Anyway please follow and favorite if you liked it and please leave a review. I do take your reviews into consideration, there's been more than a few suggestions I've added that someone mentioned in a review so you never know you might have a part in this! I hope you all have a fantastic week and I'll see you next time!