"And how is it possible for you to Gate here, Mister Potter?"

Harry looked around, but it was just him, Trogg and Tish with Adriana and Ward. The Females had wandered off, most likely to the Common Room, Trogg was watching from the far side of the Courtyard, watching Harry getting reamed by the Headmistress.

"Ah… Headmistress." Harry gave her his cocky grin. "Because I can… My Contract with you… My Heartstone for the Vale in a Tree I am living in… It pisses you off."

"And you are at your weekly limit of cheek boy." Her eyes flashed red.

"Yes Ma'am." He nodded politely. "Is it just your limit or for everyone?"

She just glared at him before vanishing into the void.

"Wow." Ward scoffed as Potter and Tish crossed back into the school. "Your Balls are bigger than His." He thrust his thumb at Trogg.

"And bluer than the night sky." Harry sniffled. "My Witches won't give me any relief."

"Why are you telling me?" Ward sneered.

"I have to tell someone." Harry clapped the man on the Shoulder. "I am reading some books on Warding. A couple of common books that I acquired for Hermione. Do you give lessons?"

"I might after the New Year." And the combat medic vanished in the void.

: And what are you thinking?: Maggie whispered, as Harry headed to the Common Room.

"I have the Heartstone in the Ekele, and she is completely reliant on me and Dobby for defense. As we are still waiting for the Instructor for the Heartstone Studies… I want to protect my investment."

:A traveling Ekele. A self-contained Vale, and you can just pick up and go, either to or from trouble.: Tish snorted. :Who are we kidding… towards the Trouble.:

"Only to protect the innocent." Harry laughed as he turned towards the common room, only to be stopped by Jacques, who now walked with a limp. "And do you want… Dickless?"

The Man blurred as he shifted to a feline form… that would have been a danger to human Harry… but Puma Harry was the one to be there as the now smaller cat fell on. The Fight was quick, but the knife wound Daphne had inflicted a month earlier played a bigger part than the Jaguar-were was counting on, and Puma-Harry had the smaller cat on the floor… belly up.

#Now give One a reason not to rip One's throat out!#

#One's Female has Crippled One! I seek honourable Passage.# Jaguar hissed.

#For that alone One is tempted to break One's Tail and leave One!#

The look of horror on the smaller cat drew a snort from Tish. : And if you are finished pissing on each other… :

#Shut it Neuter!# Jacques snarled, until Puma-Harry snapped his tail.

As the smaller cat thrashed in pain, both the puma and the Kyree pissed on him and walked back to the Common room.

: You do know that you are going to have to kill him now. His Pride will accept no other option.:

: Yes… but I refuse to allow him to make it quick and easy. He has not earned that… besides… I only had you as my witness. I could still be accused of murder… even if my status as Battle Mage would absolve me of any wrongdoing . :

: Still… it would be best to end it quickly… if only to keep the Witches safe. :

The three witches looked up as Harry slinked in… blood on his jaws.

"Harry!" Hermione sighed.

: Jacques. He is still butt hurt over what Daphne did to him last month. He was trying to get me to kill him, quick and clean. Like I'm going to let him go that easy.: The White Haired Puma sprawled at their feet, and began licking his paws, and wiping his mouth and face.

The three snorted, and turned back to their studies.

An ageless Hertasi waddled into the Common Room. Rhal was quick to scurry to his side, her head held low. "Elder, you do us Great Honour."

"Don't chew my tail, I know that I have bucked tradition and delved into the forbidden Arts of the Heartstone Studies. I can tell you are one of Grymsmythe's students. Nice helm." The teacher looked over the room, his eye stopping on the 'Albino' hunting cat at the feet of the three females. "I am looking for Mister Potter… I am told he has something I am not going to believe."

The White Cat stood up on all fours before standing up into a Human that was still cutting his teeth on life. "Sir. My Friend says you are an Honoured Elder, I will treat you as such until you damage your standing in my eyes. You said something about Heartstone Magics?"

"Yes. I am the Instructor of that course and Beast Breeding. My Peers know me as Bastion. I was helping with a Rogue Heartstone in Austria when some idiot tried to restart the Cataclysm. It slapped the Rogue into alignment but then we had to stabilize the whole region."

"Samhain. The Gift that keeps on giving." Harry snarled. "I was not trying to do anything other than remove the bloody Soul Parasite from myself. Or rather I was strapped down and the bloody thing was ripped from my skull." He inhaled deeply. "I am sorry that your absence was extended due to the joke that is my Life. You said that you wanted to see my reason for taking your class. This way please." He turned and walked away.

The Instructor frowned before following. "Are you going to tell me what to expect?" He hissed at Rhal as she fell into step behind him.

"If I tried, it would only confuse you, Elder." Rhal thumped her tail on the floor as she scuttled in his wake. "I have been a member of his collective… his Vale, for the last two months, and the only two things I can tell you is , one he has more Power than Brains. He leaves his thinking to his Females. His words. And two, expect the weird around him. I once heard his Primary grumble about his name should include Murphy, but she would not elaborate on the subject. I do know that they call him 'Fate's Bitch', and he just swats Dragonkin like gnats."

They followed the Human into the semi-private room. On one side, a Griffon was lounging in her nest, reading a book. On the other, the upstart was waiting beside a mundane tent. Seeing the two Lizard-kin, he turned and ducked inside.

"What…"

"That's what I was saying, Elder." Rhal ducked her head as her tail twitched. "Expect the weird."

As they followed the boy inside, the Creature Creator gasped. "I can feel her… and she is still…"

"The closest term I have for her is Nursing." Harry sighed. "She is half the reason I have the reserves to burn the World, but the Control not to. Her and Toto."

The Wrysa chose that second to show himself. After returning from The Cliffside City(not to be confused with White Griffin*) Hermione insisted that the Lizard-dog was not only House-broken, but Box-trained. The Wrysa would often hold it just to drop it in the safety of Potter's Master Ensuite. He sensed the new Mage in the room, and closed on him to sniff and 'taste' the little person.

: Elder…not Pack…(respect and awe): Toto projected to Harry. : Protect. :

"Wow." Harry scratched behind his ear. : Good boy. Correct. Elder, Respected. (an image of the Horntail dragon from the triwizard tournament) : Toto whined, and belly crawled to the Older Hetasi, and licked his toes. "I was meaning to instill a deep form of respect, but I think I oversold your Power."

"What did you do?" Daphne had followed them inside. "Compare him to the Dracon?"

"Yes and no…" Harry smiled at the Blonde. "Nesting Mother Horntail."

Daphne sighed and slinked up to swat the back of his head. "Damn Gryffindor!" She was smirking.

Harry just rubbed the back of his head as he led the way down the stairs in the hidden alcove behind the stairs going up to the baths and suites. The first alcove off the steps looked like standard food storage. The next had bottles and kegs in the shadows. The third had four Bikes, a sidecar, a bike-trailer, and a wooden raft…

"So that's where he put it." Harry smirked as he continued down the stairs.

The Fourth Alcove led to a storage of mostly clay and glass jars, filled with a brine-ish liquid holding what could only be organs… "And Dobby's Harvesting Room."

Bastion hissed. "And just what was he harvesting?"

"Wrysa. I ended up killing Toto's Pack after overwhelming his magical intake and imprinting on him. While he draws on me, he can still eat others who I designate as lunch." Harry scratched the 'dog' behind his ears.

"I also teach Beast-Crafting… could I pressure you for some samples?" The old lizard was now literally drooling over the stockroom. Then something caught his eye… "And you have a Coatl!"

"I presume you are doing more than just breeding monsters." Harry glared down at the small master.

"Breeding is limited by Council Law and ICW treaty. What I teach is more fusion Alchemy than true breeding. I am allowed to do class one, two and three creatures in my usual classes. I have Permission to craft a class Four this year because Franklyn's Folly was killed. Wish I could have Salvaged…" He turned to look at the black dog beside the Human. "Where exactly did you find…"

"A Day's flight from Cliffside. And if you want, talk to the Wolfen trio, they were the ones to end that beast. It is possible that they took trophies. I just had Dobby harvest them, and cure the hides. We will talk about Monster Making later. I have a Heartstone that I need inspected, and witches that need to weigh in on your work. Last year, Our Beastmaster crossbred Fire Crabs with Manticores and gave us Blast Ended Skewrts. Spell fire was reflected off their dorsal shell, and with two stingers, one on each end of the body… Their main form of movement involved blasting themselves across minor distances by explosive discharges from under their tails. I will give you his contact information… He likes creatures. Among his pets is a Cerberus named Fluffy, and a Dragon hatchling. We had to wrangle a ride for the dragonette to a reserve to get him to let her go. He was going to keep her in his one room wooden hut until she was big enough to fend for herself in the Forest behind his hut, with the Unicorns, Centaurs, and Acromantulas." Harry shook himself. "And we are walking."

The Next Room off the stairs Harry didn't remember. It was Large, empty, and the light globe glowed softly

"What do you mean, you don't remember this room?" the Elder hissed.

"Well… I have not been down here since her growth spurt." Harry wiped his face. "The Tayledras are helping with her care and the like, but they are not Heartstone Tenders. They don't even have their own birds… and I think they are spoiling mine!"

"Like anyone could spoil that feathered Bitch anymore than you." Daphne was looking rather paler than usual in the glow of the lights in the tunnel.

Tish snorted from her side.

At the next level, the Arch was more reinforced, and a little larger, but Harry still had to duck to enter as did Tish and Daphne. The Stone itself was half again as big, and rather just slate grey, it now was marbled with jade, gold, and ruby veins in lightning patterns.

The Elder flickered his tongue. "She sleeps. She is happy, and feels safe." His tongue flickered some more. "Baring being forced awake, she should sleep for another century. She is using you to tap the Either. I will give you the Basic Study Guides for Heartstone Warding."

"Can you make it two copies? My Queen will want to read up on it too. She is going to be my second for anything that needs a light touch, but she is a low Master Class at best."

The Elder tasted the air again. "It will depend on what you're doing. But if She is the Brains… It would prevent you from doing something stupid and…"

"Don't!" Daphne shouted. "Do Not give Him ideas. I have seen him do the so-called impossible just because someone said he Could Not, Should Not, or that it was a Bad Idea."

"Normally I would object… but this last year…" Harry sighed.

Bastion turned to the Hertasi in the bone helm. "And why are you with him?"

"It started as a way to inspect a Death-Walker…" She began.

"Death-Stalker." Harry smiled. "According to Soran and Kyra, I have been dubbed a Death-Stalker by the American Wizard Tabloid Press."

"They don't know the half of it." Rhal sneered at him, "Then I learned that he has a Vale in an Ekele, it is both mobil, and expanding. The Baths alone are worth the hassle of his Fate."

: He is Dhorisha'ke'a'char.: Tish rested her chin on his shoulder.

Bastion looked at the boy, the wolf, and the boneheaded… He turned slowly to the human female. "And your reason for following this …"

"We use the word 'Male'." Daphne smiled as she reached up to ruffle his hair. "The main reason I am here, is because the alternative is worse. With him, I have Power, Money, and Access to studies that are denied me and my Line. The Second reason is when he slips his leash… Me and my Family will not be in his Path" She turned to look at the short Master. "Before him, I was looking at being a plaything for a bootlicking Social Parasite that has even less Brains than Death-Stalker, and less magic than brains."

: And now she only has to worry about being the Plaything of his Queen.: Tish smirked.

SPRB

As they returned to the common room of the Ekele, they noticed that everyone from within the Ekele had entered the tent and was sprawled about.

"So…Elder." Star stood up. "What can you tell us about… our Baby?"

"She is sleeping as she grows. In your terms of her being a baby, she is in her second Trimester, and if she does not need to awaken suddenly, she will continue to grow and sleep for the next hundred years. If she is jared awake… she will use her link to Potter to defend herself… including healing and 'evolving' him to better defend her. I am sending him the basics on Heartstone Maintenance…"

Hermione perked up.

"Yes, I am getting you your own copy." Harry grinned at her as the other Brits snickered at her. Then he grew serious. "I need to clear my mind… I am going to do some Yoga."

As the … Human male stepped to the side and proceeded to bend and stretch, the Females watched him.

"What is he doing?" Bastion hissed lowly to Rhal.

"Yoga." she hissed back. "A form of meditation that loosens the mind and the body at the same time. He and the human females do an hour each morning. Because he is a Brawn… his mind works better if his body is in motion."

Bastion grunted "True with most warriors."

"Elder." Steel-Lotus stepped forward. "We came to learn new and better Hunting Skills to improve our survival to Heal the Land… But …"

"You two have become linked to this Vale-in-a-Ekele." Bastion grunted as his tail thumped the floor in amusement. "And you both signed up for Heartstone Magics?" They nodded. "Then you would balance his power, her control, and your experience for any working your 'Stone will need in the coming years."

"As Experienced Heartstone users, I do believe that Harry would welcome you to join us." Hermione purred. "So… should we move on you are welcome to join vale k'Potter. You have until the Solstice to decide."

Harry shifted to his next pose. "If Hermione says yes, and Crook and Hedwig have not said no… then you are welcome." Two breaths, and he shifted again.

"Is that really any good?" Star pointed at Harry.

"It is said to improve sex." Hermione was watching Harry move and stretch, her Ears up and her tail flicked back and forth. "It mostly just improves how limber you are, with minor muscle control. When we decide to allow him to use us, he will be nice and flexible."

"With a stamina endurance factor…" Susan Bones purred, also wearing togs. "We have taken to joining them before Breakfast, just to be able to be ready for his attention."

Master Bastion hissed, and was gone.

SPRB

Tom sipped his beverage, as he watched the night sky.

He ignored the man on his knees at his side. "Tell me again why He Failed."

"Master. He found himself in the wrong room… as it was a lithinfold… he might have won his way out. But then something drove the creature off him and Potter showed up and tripped the Department's security alerts." Malfoy mewled. "The Unspeakables moved in and captured him."

"And why was I not told that Potter had returned?"

"Because Yaxley was in St Mungo's… his face shattered." Luci looked up from where knelt. "Potter was there to answer the Inquiries in Dumbledore's Death. Snape was present for the Questioning of the Lord Potter-Black, and Floo Called me the instant he was free. As you were sleeping, and the Boy was gone, I let you sleep so that I could have all the facts when you woke up."

"We need to Reclaim the Black Mantle." Tom Riddle hissed.

"Potter has made remarks that look like he is baiting me to challenge him in a Duel. I want to challenge him, but You have expressed an interest in dealing the Coup-de-Grace. If I challenge him and declare you my Champion… he could declare another his champion and we would have exposed you for nothing."

"When is Dumbledore going to be laid to rest?" The pale Master hissed as his eyes glowed.

"Next Week my Lord."

"File the Paperwork… Issue the Challenge, include in a private note that I will be going to the Service. Either Potter will be there to face me or the Sheep will know that their Heroes have failed them!" the silver goblet was crushed in his grip.

The Hissing Laugh filled the Dark.

SPRB

It was well after Curfew when Minerva stumbled into the Headmistress's Office from the Floo.

"Well, Missy. Do I want to know what you are doing out of your bed at this time?" The Hat smirked from atop her head. In fact It was shifting its weight to guide her to the Desk.

"You know damn bloody well what I was doing. Now I need a new Potion instructor." She collapsed in the very comfy chair. "Any Ideas?"

"Horus Slughorn." the Hat chuckled down at the witch as she began to fade from reality. "Sleep, I will take care of it." As soon as her gentle snores mixed with her purr filled the room, the Hat focused its magic… activated a dicto-quill.

"From the Desk of the Headmistress of Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Potion Master Horus Slughorn, retired.

The position of Potion Professor for the Owl Students and below has been detained for illicit potion brewing. As our current Potion master is now our DADA Professor and only dealing with the NEWT students, we are in need of a skilled instructor who is seeking a comfortable position with access to all that Hogwarts has to offer.

This includes access to the Student Body to extend your web of contacts and the like. You know the activities of last Year, and the Yule Ball. It has been tossed around about making it a yearly occurrence. It would then be acceptable that your 'Slug Club' Parties be covered by this policy.

It is even conceivable that Lord Potter could be enticed to join your extra-curricular social club. But you did not hear this from me, and I will deny the thought ever accrued to me.

The Desk of Headmistress of Hogwarts."

The Quill returned to its holder, as the Hat summoned an Elf to roll and seal the letter into a scroll, wax stamp the Hogwarts crest, and send it by Owl, only for the newly crested Phoenix Fawkes flashed in and grabbed it the scroll, trilling her laughter.

"And now… We watch the Show."

TBC