Harry Potter and the God of War
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Chapter 4
As Hermione talked to Mimir the finer details of Hogwarts' history, a knock on the door was heard and entering the room were the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang champions, Fleur Delacour and Viktor Krum.
"Allo? We are not interrupting, are we?" Fleur asked kindly as she looked at Harry and his friends. Ron was gawping almost slack-jawed at the part-Veela girl to which Hermione not so subtly elbowed the ginger-haired boy in the ribs. Giving a short yelp, Ron bowed his head sheepishly, his ears and cheeks going red as tomatoes.
"Not all, lass," Mimir replied to Fleur's query cheerfully. "Miss Granger was just explaining the finer details of Hogwarts' history," he then said.
Fleur gave a little start as she realised that Mimir was a talking head. "Sacre bleu! A talking 'ead? How is zat possible?" she wondered out loud. Even Viktor looked surprised at seeing Mimir.
"Topic for another time," Mimir said. "What brings you here, young miss?" he asked politely.
"Ve heard Potter vas well enough to receive visitors," Viktor said in response to Mimir's question. "Ve hoped to see how he vas doing," he added.
"Of course, may we know your names, please?"
"Désolée. Je m'appelle Fleur. Fleur Delacour," Fleur introduced herself with a polite curtsy.
"Viktor Krum," Viktor gave his own name.
"A pleasure to meet you both," Mimir said cheerfully. "I am Mimir, and this is Kratos," he told the two champions. Kratos gave a silent nod of his head in greeting.
Fleur then glided over to sit beside Harry. "How are you, 'arry?" she asked him kindly.
"I'm fine," Harry said in response to Fleur's question, slightly dazzled by Fleur's Veela allure. "But…" he faltered and both Fleur and Krum had saddened looks at what Harry meant.
"Oui, 'e was a very kind boy. 'E deserved better," Fleur said sombrely, and Krum nodded in agreement.
"So, I take it you know each other?" Mimir asked in open curiosity.
"Mhm. 'Arry, Cedric, Viktor and I are all champions. We were selected to take part in the tournament," Fleur said. "Although 'Arry was chosen against his will," she added ruefully.
"Part of the plan that snake-faced bugger did to get to him, I'll bet," Mimir remarked knowingly.
"Pardon. Snake-faced? Do you mean You-Know-Who?" Fleur asked cautiously.
"If that's what you call him, then yes," Mimir said. "But why call him that? Why not call him by his name?"
"It's because during the war, You-Know-Who put a spell over his own name that if anyone spoke it, he himself or his followers would show up to kill or capture whomever said it," Hermione explained.
"Hmm, clever of him, I have to admit," Mimir muttered. "But I imagine you would've intentionally said his name, wouldn't ye, Brother?" he asked Kratos humorously to which the burly ash-skinned warrior grunted in response.
"So, You-Know-Who 'as returned?" Fleur asked.
"You needn't fret, lass. Kratos and Lady Freya took care of the bastard and his goons upon arriving," Mimir laughed. "And Harry saw it all, didn't ye?" he asked Harry to which Fleur and Krum looked at the boy who nodded in confirmation.
"Dieu merci, I dread to zink what might 'appen if zat monster still lived," Fleur said with a relieved smile.
"Aye, but compared to the things Kratos has fought, Voldemort was nothing but a wee worm." A collective wince from nearly everyone in the room was noticed.
"Please do not say zat name out loud," Fleur said pleadingly. "Zere are still zose who remember ze things zat monster has done," she explained.
"If you say so," Mimir said placatingly. "So, you and Mr Krum are from different schools?" he then enquired and both Fleur & Krum nodded. "Well, seeing as you're both here, might I ask what your schools are," he requested.
Smiling brightly, Fleur detailed the history of Beauxbatons and Krum gave some details of Durmstrang. Neither of them went into too much detail such as the exact locations of their schools, but they did give plenty of insight into the curriculum of their schools.
Then Madame Pomfrey came bustling in and said, "Oh, for heaven's sake! This isn't a waiting room!" she told them all exasperatedly. "Potter needs some rest now and he won't get any of it if you all keep him awake!" she added.
"Fair enough. Time we all let the lad get some sleep," Mimir said agreeably, and Kratos grunted in acquiescence. With Madame Pomfrey shooing them all out, Harry was then allowed to get some rest.
As they headed away from the Hospital Wing, Hermione spoke with Mimir, "So, when you said You-Know-Who had more of those soul leeches, what exactly did you mean?" she asked.
"Well, it's a foul bit of magic, little sister," replied Mimir with a disgusted look. "By committing a vile act of murder and a ritual, you can break off a piece of your soul and place it into a container of your choosing," he explained.
Krum who overheard the conversation chimed in, "Do you mean horcruxes?" he asked with a look of curiosity.
"Hor-cruxes?" Hermione parroted the strange. "Is that what they are called?"
Krum nodded. "Mhm. They are foul dark magic. Used by vizards who are afraid of dying," he said.
"And you said You-Know-Who made more than one?" Hermione asked Mimir who confirmed it with an, "Aye."
"How many do you think he made?" Hermione said with a worried look in her eyes.
"It is usually common to make one or two," Krum put in. "One as a main and the other as a spare," he said with a grim look.
"Aye, and from what the old man alluded to, the snake-faced bugger made more than two," Mimir said grimly.
"What do you think You-Know-Who made into Horcruxes? Surely not people," Hermione said fearfully.
"Well, we've already taken care of two," Mimir said confidently. "His snake familiar was one who Kratos saw fit to kill. And Lady Freya already removed the one from Harry. But I don't think the bastard would be stupid enough to turn more living beings into soul containers," he added.
Fleur who had also been listening in on the conversation spoke up, "Pardon, but Curse Breakers often deal with dark artifacts, including horcruxes. Gringotts also has knowledge of such zings," she said helpfully.
"How do you know that?" Hermione asked with a narrowed gaze at the older French girl.
"Bill Weasley. He is a Curse Breaker at Gringotts and told me some of ze excavations he went on," Fleur said brightly.
"My brother told you that?" Ron asked faintly.
"Oh, Bill is your brother?" Fleur asked looking at Ron who bowed his head embarrassedly. "I never would 'ave guessed!"
"Yeah…"
"Well, might be that we speak with Bill then and get some idea of the curse breaking profession," Mimir said cheerfully. "What say you, brother?" he asked Kratos who grunted in response.
"So, what do you think they're doing that Skeeter woman?" Hermione asked.
"Skeeter? Zat dreadful déterreur de scandales?" Fleur asked with a look of disgust and Krum had a very sour look at the mention. "What 'as zat chienne done?"
"She's an animagus," Hermione informed Fleur and Krum. "She can turn into a beetle. It's how she's been getting all those quotes and interviews all year," she explained.
"Zat… Zat would explain much," Fleur said with a nod of realisation and Krum had a very sour look as he remembered something.
"The vater beetle…"
"Well, in any case, Skeeter is being handled and hopefully she gets a life sentence in Azkaban," Hermione said with a look of vindication.
"Aye, let's hope so, little sister," Mimir said.
"So, do you have any idea on what You-Know-Who could've turned into horcruxes?" Hermione then asked.
"We're looking into it, lass. Part of it will involve looking into the bugger's past and knowing what he was like as a young man, and from there we'll be able to discern how he learned what horcruxes were and what he turned into them," replied Mimir. "But in any case, it's out of your hands now, lass," he told Hermione.
"I suppose so," Hermione mumbled.
"Well, how about a change of pace?" Mimir then suggested. "I'm curious about these house elves you've apparently got here. From the description, they're not at all like the elves of Alfheim," he said.
"You 'ave elves where you are from?" Fleur asked with interest.
"Indeed, we do, lass," Mimir said cheerfully. "The Light elves and the Dark elves. Both rival tribes residing in Alfheim, their homeland."
"Alfheim. Zat is from Norse mythology and your name is Mimir," Fleur said as she realised. "You are ze head zat Odin was said to carry with him!" she exclaimed in surprise.
"Aye, the Smartest Head in all the Realms, although it's Kratos who carries me, not the Allfucker," Mimir said with some venom.
"Head!" Kratos barked out.
"All-fucker?" Krum repeated slowly a slightly amused grin pulling on his lips. "That is vhat you call Odin?" he asked.
"Aye, he was a right prick too," Mimir said in response to Krum's query. "Bound me to a tree for 109 winters, torturing me everyday for his own amusement. I'd have stayed there for the rest of my life if Kratos hadn't freed of my bonds."
"Freed you?" Fleur asked looking a little uneasy at what Mimir meant by his words.
"Aye, Lady Freya used the Old Magic to reanimate, although I'm not truly alive anymore," said Mimir.
"Could you, per'aps…?" Fleur tried to ask when Mimir quickly cut her off.
"I know what you're about to ask, lass, and Freya and I told Harry much the same thing: being reanimated is not the same as being brought back to life, true life," he said to Fleur solemnly. "I have no real complaints about my current status since it was a damn sight better than being stuck in that damn tree, but I'm not truly alive anymore," he added. "Trust me, sometimes being dead is better."
"Oh…" Fleur had deflated at this. She had obviously thought that Cedric could be brought back to life.
"Anyway, enough about that. Would you all mind showing me these house elves?" Mimir asked changing the subject.
"The kitchens. That's where they are," Ron said to the disembodied head. "We can take you there," he offered.
"That'd be much appreciated, lad," Mimir said with a grin on his lips as Ron led the group in the direction of the Hogwarts Kitchens.
TO BE CONTINUED…
A/N: Chapter 4 is done and dusted and I apologise for the lacklustre content in this chapter and for it being so short, but I was honestly struggling writing this. Plus, I've been fairly busy with work since it's school holidays where I am and they need all hands on deck at work. But luckily, this coming long weekend I'll be taking some time off to visit my folks and hopefully have some time to relax and brainstorm ideas for this story and other stories.
Speaking of, I recently published a Game of Thrones/DC Comics crossover (another one!?) titled A Young Griff's Guide to the DC Universe and I've set up a voting poll on my profile of which city/region Aegon/Young Griff should land in, so if you have not already, please cast your vote, I would greatly appreciate it :-)
And that's all I have, so see you next time.
Be kind to one another,
Angry lil' elf.