Chapter 10: Surprise?

May 2nd, Blackwater Fortress

The woman standing in front of Harry was short, the top of her head would just barely meet his chin. In her human form, her violet eyes captured his attention and he was mildly startled when she closed her eyes. Realizing he still hadn't given her a proper answer he sighed and conjured a pair of chairs. Nothing fancy, but something to sit on while they had their talk. He had conjured the chairs just above the floor so they made some noise hitting the ground. Hearing the sound got Nyx to open her eyes again and Harry gestured at the seat.

Seeing her take the seat after hesitating made Harry realize just how nervous she must be. "We clearly need to talk. Let's try and get this over with quickly so I can handle the reason we came here in the first place. I'm trying to mentally ignore the idea that I've had such a beautiful woman sleeping by or on me for nearly a year so if you could tell me everything you think is relevant, I'd appreciate it. Maybe start with your name from before I gave you one and I'll ask questions when you're done. Fair?" He really hoped her story made sense. He was doubtful.

The witch shifted uncomfortably before starting, "I'm sorry Harry, I can feel your anxiety, I'll try to be quick. My name is Persephone Le Fay. I am technically the Lady of my house, and the first to be recognized by the family magic in nearly eight hundred years. Up until I was twelve, I grew up with my parents. Growing up, I knew I was a pureblood and what it meant. Becoming Lady of the illustrious Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Le Fay at age eleven unfortunately put a target on my family's back. Most weren't aware of us, but of those that were, some had bad intentions. When I was twelve, Voldemort came for my family and finding my parents to be of normal power and ability, he killed them." She had an uncomfortable look on her face, on the verge of tears, but staying strong.

"Abducting me, Voldemort did everything he could to bend my family magic to his will. He was partially successful. You see he could not break my magic's will. However he did successfully break me. Subjecting me to terrible mental attacks and rituals in an attempt to make my magic his own, he broke my body and mind. Voldemort learned he could not take my magic without my magic's consent, but he could bend me to his will. So he did. By the time I was fifteen, I would've done anything he requested of me. Depending on how you look at it though, I was either lucky or unlucky that the rituals truly broke me. I could not fight well, but my ability to learn magic and weave it was unbroken if I was given the time to do so."

Harry was flabbergasted to put it mildly. He wasn't even sure how to respond to what he'd heard. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but decided to just keep his mouth shut and let her continue.

"I became his secret weapon in his ascent to power. Many of the wards he used to defend his properties, even the wards he used offensively, were all developed by me. Runes and wards were a magic I didn't need to be capable of fighting to make use of. I delved as deeply into those schools of magic as I could, even creating rituals for the Dark Lord to improve his power and abilities. This went on for years, I was indirectly responsible for the death of tens of thousands of people. My wards and rune enchantments gave the death eaters the power needed for them to pose a legitimate threat to the world and its order. The wards I developed for Voldemort were used in the attack on your family the night you became an orphan. I'm sorry Harry." Persephone looked scared, scared of how he would react and blame her for their death.

Through the bond, he could feel her emotions. Remembering that she was accepted as his familiar, he had an idea. "Persephone, tell me the truth, did you ever want to hurt anyone when you helped Voldemort?" He could feel the compulsion of his order take effect. He hated doing so, but he felt that was a truth he needed.

"Oh Merlin no. In the rare moments of lucidity, I just wanted to be free of him. But for decades he controlled my every action. His ability to use legilimency is a huge threat and why I've tried so hard to use the bond and strengthen your Occlumency shields." She gave him a light smile and laughed, "After his defeat, I felt free. My mind was still addled and I struggled to recover. About a week after Halloween, I was captured as I hadn't left the safe house he had hidden me in. They couldn't bypass my Occlumency like he could, so I simply refused to talk and eventually they just threw me into Azkaban. I thought it was a nice way to pay for my sins. Willingly committed or not." She seemed to get lost in thought thinking about Azkaban. "The only saving grace of being in Azkaban as an animagus is that the dementors tend to leave you alone. The guards couldn't figure out why they seemed disinterested in me, but I was grateful."

Seeing her space out and losing herself in thoughts, Harry decided to ask the next clear question he thought of. "When did you decide to become an animagus?"

"I actually completed the process around the end of September the year your parents died. Voldemort was very serious about making me his secret weapon. He had me become an animagus in an attempt to fix the problems earlier rituals had created with my body. He was mostly successful in this endeavor, and the bond with you has fixed even more of my body issues. Actually I believe our bond has either temporarily stopped or reversed my aging process. It's hard to tell." Now making direct eye contact with Harry the first time. "Speaking of something you should know. Um you understand that a Nundu is a highly magical version of a Jaguar correct?"

"Well yea, but don't we have more important things to discuss?" Harry's confusion only got more pronounced as she grew embarrassed.

"Harry, many of their characteristics are similar. Such as how much they need to eat, sleep and things along those lines. You will be both lucky and unlucky with one of the characteristics that are different. And yes you will need to handle it." She was now very pointedly looking at the floor while gripping the edge of her skirt.

"Nyx I'm already mentally exhausted and just need you to be clear with me."

"I um, I will be entering my first heat soon. I will need you to either help me yourself, or find someone who will. I uhh…. I would really prefer it be you, as I struggle to imagine anyone else doing so, and I am your familiar after all." She put her hand in her face and waited for the backlash, his comments of disgust. Persephone waited a minute and when she was able to overcome her embarrassment, she looked up, to find Harry doing an excellent impression of a surprised fish.

"Harry?" Patting his knee a few times he rejoined her.

"Nyx what the fuck."

"Well you could theoretically find me another Nundu, or you could learn with me so that when you finally bed the Hufflepuff you'll know what you're doing." Giggling, she felt like she got one over on him when his surprise got him to stop his panic.

"This isn't funny, I am not having sex with a cat." He crossed his arms and pouted. He couldn't help it. Life wasn't even pretending to throw him curveballs anymore.

"Oh we can have sex in my human form. Just be aware my sex drive will be insatiable when the day comes. Jaguars can mate up to 100 times in a day and that holds true for Nundu." She was enjoying the red tint to his face as he succumbed to embarrassment once again.

"Oh come on Harry, I don't want to sleep with random men, or another Nundu. Also it really would be for the best that nobody know what I am."

"Fuck."

"That's the plan." An accompanying smirk from Nyx almost sent Harry over the edge.

Calming himself, Harry looked at her. "Ok I still need a couple questions answered. Like why were you near my home when I found you, and why did you decide to escape if you felt you deserved to be there?" He was really trying to ignore the sex thing for now.

"Well I didn't know where you lived, I had actually been trying to chase after Bellatrix Black, she was supposedly one of the Dark Lord's inner circle and I was hoping to confirm if she thought he was dead or not. The dark mark had started to feel weird and I wanted to know what it meant. That was his own creation, but he never explained it to me. Never caught up to her, just followed where I'd seen her head and was looking for magic when those three death eaters found me. Thankfully Regulus showed up even though he nearly got me before you arrived. I was still really weak from Azkaban." She put a finger to her chin as she took a thinking pose. "As for escape, it was mostly to see if I could right some wrongs." She didn't want to lie to him, but she didn't want to tell him about the Horcrux until she found the last of them.

Harry knew something wasn't right with her answers, but decided not to call her on it. He could feel her good intentions through the bond. The dissonance between her good intentions and the fact he could tell she was lying brought him to the conclusion she thought something was dangerous if he knew. He'd put a pin in that and think about it later. "Ok then, for now I have just two more questions, the rest can be handled another time. Why bond with me? As a witch you should've known what accepting meant."

"Oh Harry as a damsel in distress, how could I not reward a knight in shining armor swinging a sword against death itself to protect me?" Her giggles were really quite musical. "While that was part of it, I was still quite out of it. You should know that your magic bonding with mine had numerous benefits. It cleared my mind, and that by itself is worth being yours forever." Laughing again at his blush, she continued. "You fixed me in a way I didn't think possible and your magic is continuously making me stronger. I should have already been at my peak magically, but every week I notice a change. While the choice to bond with you may have been made when I wasn't of 100% sound mind, I do not regret it at all, only how you found out about it."

"You must have recognized the ward. I didn't know what it was trying to tell me until I actually connected to the ward scheme. I think I'm glad this happened the way it did. I'm mortified enough that I've been masturbating around you where you could see since I didn't know you were an example of what witches should be jealous of. If that had gone on long enough I may have died of embarrassment." He sighed when she couldn't stop herself from laughing at him more. "Then again, to know I've already washed every inch of your body multiple times, I guess the embarrassment goes both ways." She threw a conjured pillow at him.

"Ok last question, since you're Lady Le Fay… do you know if Merlin's family is still around? We thought Morgana's wasn't." He was wondering if their family lines had kept in contact.

"As far as I know, his family line died out a couple generations after he died. According to our family journals, someone hit one of his direct children with a bloodline curse that nobody could figure out how to counter."

"Bummer."

"Quite, now Master, I think it's time I go back to pretending to be a scary Nundu, and you go back up and talk to the goblins." She shifted back to her other form as soon as she was done talking.

"I'm only going to call you Nyx from now on unless using your Lady title would be to my advantage. It'll probably be at the Wizengamot so I hope you've read up on political crap. I'm still learning it all." Sighing he stood up dismissing the conjurations, he spent a couple minutes more in the ward room investigating the wardstone and the magic surrounding it. "Oh, it's drawing power from at least three leylines, no wonder the wards haven't dropped in hundreds of years." Laughing at the cat's shocked face he left the room and headed for the stairs.

"Alright gentle goblins, or rude ones, or greedy ones, whichever greeting you like. I have connected to the wards, as of now any door that opens, you are allowed to inspect the room. Be warned the Wardstone Vault is exceptionally heavily protected and a failed attempt to open the door will at the minimum put you in a hospital bed." Harry was quick and to the point for them.

Ragnuuk laughed, "You lot heard the lad. Rude Goblins evaluate the upper floors, greedy ones evaluate the first floor and basement rooms and the gentle goblins will check the walls and everything up to castle walls." The guards quickly scattered with pen and notebook in hand, weapons mysteriously all gone though the armor remained.

Harry quirked an eyebrow, "Our guards are also the inspectors?"

"Well we didn't really anticipate a problem, but on the off chance there was, we didn't want to be caught in the vault asleep. So we grabbed inspectors that had guard experience as well." Ragnuuk gave a gravelly chuckle. His voice was deep even for a goblin.

"I worry over the cost of fixing this place up. However it appears to be in remarkable condition for its age and how long we've neglected it." Harry made his way back to the entrance hall with Ragnuuk. Both inspecting the treasures lining the walls as decorations, Harry was enjoying the tilt the music had taken in the area. The fortress itself was finally awake. In between answering and asking Ragnuuk more questions about various items, Harry had been inspecting the state of the music and a realization hit him like a brick.

"Merlin's balls it's alive." The awe in his voice was quite apparent.

"Mr. Potter that was out of left field, can you elaborate?" Ragnuuk's face was just one of confusion.

"I can hear it. When we arrived, Blackwater Fortress was quiet. The magic was strong, it thrummed, but it was asleep. I felt it wake up, but until just now, I didn't realize what that meant. Hogwarts is the same. I can feel the magic of the castle and if I ask it the right way, it'll help me. Hogwarts has a genius loci and that's why it's said that there is always help for those that need it at Hogwarts. It's at least partially sentient and actually does help when and where it can." The fact didn't seem to surprise the goblin much.

Ragnuuk shrugged and asked, "So Hogwarts having a genius loci shouldn't be too surprising, it's had hundreds of magicals living in it for nearly a millennium and sits atop three ley lines. The amount of magic focused there is definitely capable of creating something like that. But you're saying that Blackwater Fortress may have something similar?"

"Yes, but there is a major difference. The genius loci of Hogwarts is warm and helpful. The genius loci of Blackwater Fortress doesn't strike me as helpful at all. It feels more like a knight. It's waiting for a reason to pounce. Now that I'm considering it, I can feel its response to my magic. Any Potter that fights within the realm of its influence would be strengthened greatly. Ragnuuk, I think you understand I have to qualify that as a house secret. I'm telling you as our family's bound account manager. I don't even want the Black Family's account manager to know."

"Understood Lord Potter. But it's good to know. If we can convince any future enemies to fight you here, you'll have a great advantage." Ragnuuk started muttering the implications as Harry started thinking more about the Fortress and just why his ancestors built it. The conclusion was obvious, it had been needed for a fight. To deter forces and protect an area. With a large magical population nearby, his ancestors had a goal.

"Ragnuuk, I just remembered another thing you had told me. When discussing the population of some of the magical communities, you mentioned that Hogsmeade was even bigger than Blackwater, but I've been there, it's a small town at best." Hogsmeade had been fun, but it wasn't near the size of Blackwater from what he'd seen.

"Ah, that's because that area of Hogsmeade is the outskirts and there is a decent amount of land between that and the majority of the city. My understanding is that it is heavily patrolled while the children are around so most people tend to shop on other days since Hogsmeade trips are always planned by Hogwarts staff for specific days. You should know that Blackwater only has about 100,000 fewer magicals than Hogsmeade." Ragnuuk pulled out some books from a pocket and handed them over. "Ten galleons for the lot."

"How to not be a tyrant to your people for Dummies." Harry read the first title and sighed. He handed over ten galleons for the small stack of books. "I feel like there will be a lot of jokes at my expense in these books and hope you're proud of yourself."

"I scammed a Lord for ten galleons. Of course I'm proud of myself, Lord Potter." Ragnuuk certainly had a smug grin and Harry contemplated throwing him out a nearby window. Blackwater Fortress seemed to take that thought as an invitation to show what it can do. The drapes of said nearby window shot out, enveloped the goblin and deposited him through the now broken window in less than a second.

By the time Harry had run outside and found Ragnuuk, he had gotten the impression that the Fortress seemed pleased with itself. Thankfully he found Ragnuuk unharmed and laughing as he dusted himself off.

"Well Mr. Potter, I will refrain from scamming you in your own home from now on. I was given a very interesting show of what efforts could result in."

"I'm just glad you seem unhurt, the Fortress seemed to respond to my frustrations without a direct order. It's effectively confirmed now. So when I inevitably bite the bullet to have the play fixed up, please make sure whoever is paid to do so, is respectful. I fear the fortress could potentially protect itself if displeased." Harry ran a hand through his hair and wondered how often things like that will happen in his new home. He really did like the idea of living somewhere capable of protecting itself.

Harry decided he wanted to see the Lord's Office and led Ragnuuk and Nyx to the room. He was unwilling to admit he was disappointed there were no magical portraits of his family here. Hoping to learn from his ancestors he settled on looking through journals he found.

Roughly an hour later the Goblins all found him and started listing off the items they found that needed attention. "To simply fix the damage to the structures we found, that would be nearly 1,675,000 galleons. Examples are the damaged outer walls and the leak in the basement store rooms. Fixing the magic sequences in many of the rooms would be another 200,000 galleons. Examples of this are the built in notice me not charm of the Lord's Office door is not working. And many of the spare bedrooms' magical locking functions are not working properly. Replacing furniture alone will cost roughly 135,000 galleons if we only stick to the rooms you're most likely to use. However if we replace everything, the price to replace all furniture is estimated at roughly 450,000 galleons if we stick to similar quality, though if you don't mind low quality items, that can be lowered considerably. There is also a dueling room we would like to update and refurbish with new advanced training magic. This would cost roughly 310,000 galleons by itself. Adding in new wards that were invented after the Wardstone was created will be tricky, but can be done. With ward work, we also include magical oaths that the work will be done with honesty and integrity. The cost of the ward additions would be about 1,200,000 galleons. There is also a dock with a ship that has been magically maintained, but in bad shape from the long years of disuse, a forge and crafting room and a magic stable that can fit numerous different types of animals. You will actually need to handle the stables before we can refurbish the building. We believe you are the only one that can do so without immediate death being an option. The rest of these options will simply be another 130,000 galleons. What would you like us to do Lord Potter?" The Lead evaluator seemed to have spoken without breathing and was now drawing in a couple large breaths.

"Alright before I go to the stables for a surprise, what is the total estimate, and Ragnuuk, will I have the galleons for it?" He felt surprisingly powerful sitting at this desk. Harry liked it. Of course from the perspective of the goblins, a young, but extremely powerful and deadly lord was looking at them with piercing eyes as he sat up straight and just seemed to project power at them. The XXXXX beast cleaning her paws to the side of the desk didn't hurt the image.

"The total would be roughly 3,965,000 galleons and yes, we would only have to dip into what you've earned on your own. There would still be roughly 78,000 galleons in your trust vault after that. Plenty to finish school with and do more." Ragnuuk had pulled a calculator from seemingly nowhere, he really wanted to learn how they just seemed to have things in their hands.

"Ok Ragnuuk, draw up the contract. Send it to Shafiq for me so I can have my solicitor look it over and if he ok's it, you can start the work. The first day you start work, I will want everyone here at the same time, that way I can give them all temporary access to the fortress and not have to come back and forth. Wait. How long will the work take you? I would like to be able to move in at the end of the school year."

"We can focus on the specific rooms you need to live comfortable and have them done first. All the work total will take roughly two months. But the Lord's room, bathroom, kitchen, traininghall are probably what you need most. We will make sure they are done before you need them. Is that ok Lord Potter?" Ragnuuk remembered the trip out the window and didn't even try to oversell. The other goblins had given him some odd looks. He will have to explain to them later.

"That will work for me. I will have a house elf named Mercury joining me here when school is out. I don't know how goblins and house elves interact, but I will not tolerate abuse towards him. I accepted him into service with the notion he will be a part of my family, and I do not let family be abused. I apologize if that statement may have offended you, I don't mean to imply you would treat him badly, but he escaped an abusive home and wanted to be clear."

"We understand Lord Potter, now about that stable situation. There's a scary snake in there. You took out a basilisk as a fourteen year old, we are hoping you can handle this one too." One of the "Gentle" goblins that had evaluated outside had spoken up.

"Got it, I'll go check it out. I know you all aren't scaredy cats, but if it's another basilisk I'm going to kick fate in the nuts for trying to give a basilisk another shot at me." He grumbled and got up from his desk. He liked the thought of everything here being his.

Following the goblins outside Harry was directed to the stable. He stood outside it and looked back at the goblins, "You guys are making me nervous, if this is a prank there's going to be hell to pay."

"We promise it's a snake and from what we know, you'd be best to handle it." They watched Harry shrug and walk in. "So it wasn't just me that was completely unnerved by that thing right?"

"No, that damn thing scared the hell out of me. The way it looked at me? I thought I was going to be eaten." The goblins started discussing if they should call backup

Inside, Harry found the inside of the stables were huge. Clearly there was a space enchantment on the building. He also found each stable seemed to have its own habitat like a zoo. The numerous corpses were not fun to see, but it told him that his family used to keep a wide variety of magical creatures. He couldn't help but wonder why his family abandoned this place. Getting to the last stall he finally heard movement. Looking in he found a creature he wasn't expecting. It was a snake alright, and it was huge. Not as big as the basilisk he fought, but still extremely large. It had midnight black scales and blue eyes, but it was the horns that gave it away as it sat in a deep pool of water.

He opened the door, but before going in, "Stay out here, you'll know from my emotions if I'm in danger, and it could possibly see you so stay out of sight." Chuckling at Nyx's huff of frustration he walked in. The horned serpent looked at him with an appraising gleam to its eye.

Harry wasn't sure what to expect, but the hissing that sounded elegant was not it. " I see you know of my kind and because of what else I see, I believe it would be best to be straightforward and honest. I was able to use my innate abilities to evade the wards, I have not lived here for long. I came here solely to bond to you as a familiar. You accepting the bond is the only way I live more than just the next year. I can't see much after that as fate is not letting me so that I can't influence you to make other choices. "

"Can I not go one day without my so called Potter Luck fucking me over." He couldn't help but say his thoughts out loud before hissing in response. " I already have a familiar, I have not heard of anyone having two. Or is fate throwing me a bone and going to allow me to live if it means you get to as well. "

The serpent looked pissed at that, " I do not know all, only what is shared. The dreams have been recent, so I believe you will survive, though I did see you being unconscious for several days afterwards ."

Harry threw his hands up, " Fuck it, crazy is part of my life. I'll give it a shot. I need all the power and allies I can get, and a second familiar if I can survive it could be just what I need. You'll have to wait a few weeks though. I have to finish my school year, then once I move into this place, I can take a few days to handle it. In the meantime, don't hurt anyone if you can avoid it. I'll let everyone know to leave you alone. "

" I agree speaker, but please do not make me wait too long. There are many things coming that need handled, that which can only be done after we bond. Once we bond I will help with all I can as it is my very survival at risk. " The horned serpent bowed its head at him and relaxed into her pool giving one last statement. " Please do not tell Persephone of our bonding until after we attempt it. It will assure my death. I am only safe because she cannot understand us. She is still a broken woman. "

Harry stilled and looked at her, "If you do anything to hurt Nyx, I'll use your horns and gem as an accent to the armor I'm having made from the sixty foot basilisk I killed. I do not make threats when it comes to the safety I care about. It is an assurance."

Properly admonished the serpent at least had the humility to look ashamed. "Please understand it is my life at stake, I will not just roll over and accept it. Persephone will do her name proud if she is made aware of my goal. She is possessive and dangerous. I simply won't survive her outburst." She sounded desperate.

" I get it, I just had to be clear for my own reasons. She is my family now. I don't have much left and I have less that I actually care about. I'll be back for good in a few weeks. Don't cause trouble ." Harry really hoped it'd go fine.

The next few hours went smoothly, Harry forgetting that the goblins prepared for nearly everything, the paperwork was ready almost instantly and getting the workers together only took an hour. Harry was surprised that he made it back to Gringotts on time. Professor Sprout retrieved him an hour before dinner and before he knew it the day was done, but not before inviting everyone he liked to spend a week at his castle the second or third week of august. Susan specifically received two invites. The first was like the others, but the second was to spend a day just the two of them out on the town in Blackwater.

Remembering the kiss on his cheek he received for his efforts, sleep came easy to the boy who lived. His life was a mess and getting messier, but he wouldn't be satisfied until he'd done his best to truly live his life. Of course Nyx's future needs quickly threw a wrench into his plans, but that could be handled….. Right?

End of chapter 10