a realm unknown

by Alley_cat34

Summary:

Harry Potter had been resigned to another Awful summer at the Dursleys, with the added bonus of dealing with the trauma that the Tri-wizard tournament and Cedric's Death left him with, and then a small brown owl stole his wand and led him into a realm populated with witches, demons, and a human muggle who could perform magic. how will Harry navigate this new world while using it to escape his own problems at home?

Notes:

an idea thats been bothering me for a bit and that I worked on alongside Professor Potter, hopefully I"ll continue

Chapter 1

He was wondering if this was how the rest of his summer would be.

It had been two weeks since he’d returned to Privet Drive and he was ready to leave. To top off the usual scorn and hatred he was subjected to, he had to deal with the night terrors that came with seeing Cedric Diggory die and being held under the torture curse by Lord Voldemort.

He was terrified the war would start and he’d be targeted while he couldn’t use magic; he’d been on edge since he’d returned and had immediately began his correspondence with his friends and started trying to hang around the living room to hear the news to try and see if Voldemort would try and make any moves.

Other then getting chased out of the house by the second day, Harry had heard nothing, if Voldemort was making moves, it wasn’t in the muggle world just yet, and with hedwig returning with only a letter from Sirius telling him to keep his head down, he was out of ways to get information.

Still, there was nothing to do in the beginnings of a heatwave, and the flower bed he was laying in so he could hear the tv was also one of the few spots where he could find a cool breeze; Merlin knew he wouldn’t find it in his small room. Hedwig had likewise taken to hanging out with him in the shadows of the house.

They’d both relax in the shade, waiting out the hottest parts of the day listening to the television until it was time to make dinner for the dursley’s, Hedwig would go off to hunt and would return in the late evening when the streets had cooled off and Harry had received the prophet, reading the headlines to see if anything had happened in the wizarding world; throwing the issue into the corner with a defeated sigh before he’d try and fail to sleep through the night, worry over his friends lack of response, voldemort, and nightmares of Cedrics death kept sleep from claiming him; Leaving him exhausted for the next morning to begin the cycle again.

And then things changed.

While Harry had been lying in the flower bed, absentmindedly petting Hedwig’s chest with his finger, he noticed something peculiar.

A tiny, brown owl that was standing on the ledge of the window leading into his room, it seemed to be struggling with something and Harry idly wondered if one of his friends had sent a letter.

“Hey.” Harry softly called up, making the Owl turn its head to look at him, it blinked before it turned back and began struggling again, Harry raised an eyebrow when he saw it carry out one of Dudley’s old game consoles by the wires, the electronic bouncing precariously by the plug ins, “why would-” he stopped as he noticed a familiar strip of wood in its beak, “hey-HEY!” he shouted as it took off, Hedwig jumped off his chest as Harry jumped to his feet, “bring me back my wand!”

Hedwig took off into the sky after the smaller owl, but-surprisingly-she didn’t try and knock it out of the sky as she’d usually do against rival owl’s. Mostly because her human was directly under it and she didn’t want him getting hit by the stupid box the tiny bird was carrying.

Harry was surprised the little bird had the strength to carry the console and his wand, and still have it in him to fly fairly fast. In no time at all the bird was flying between the trees in a small forest beside the playground. “Come on!” he griped, dodging between trees as the owl dove into the doorway of an abandoned shack, “Nowhere left to hide,” Harry called out as he and Hedwig ran through the entrance.

And immediately came to a skittering halt as the summer heat gave way to an almost blistering cold, Harry stumbled a bit as his first few steps took him into almost six inches of snow; Hedwig landed on his shoulder, looking about in surprise as Harry himself gawked at the sight before him.

He was standing on what looked to be the knee of a giant dead monster, a fairly large sized town nestled between its ribs, with other smaller settlements scattered about, “I don’t think we’re in Surrey anymore Hedwig.” he mumbled, looking back to see the way they’d arrive fold up into a suitcase with a large eye on its front.

By right’s he should be freaked out-he was on the knee of a giant dead monster after all-but with the past few years he’s had, he could only really offer raised eyebrows and a look of confused astonishment with an equally confused Hedwig.

“Eda! We’re supposed to be learning a new spell!” the almost whiny voice of a girl had Harry tensing as he spotted a duo standing not too far away from where he was, one older one younger, both dressed for the weather of the knee-mountain he’d found himself on, the older one was looking over the console the owl had, while the younger was standing behind her, stomping her foot in irritation.

Neither had noticed him yet.

“Pipe down Luz!” the earlier named Eda said as she stowed the console into her hair just under what looked like a spider hat, “this was a short notice trip so me and Owlbert have to make up some work time, besides; this is the first time i managed to get this thing to open up somewhere else. we’ll learn a spell just as soon as-Owlbert where’d you get a wand?” she asked in surprise, holding up the thin strip of wood. Sniffing it before picking her teeth with the end of it.

“Oi! That’s mine!” Harry finally spoke up, indignant at the way the woman was treating his wand; he was also reassured that these two at least knew what magic was, maybe this was some kind of settlement out in the channel?

Both jumped, turning towards Harry as he stomped over, shivering a bit as Hedwig’s eyes zeroed in on ‘Owlbert’, clicking her beak in intimidation as Owlbert hopped from foot to foot nervously.

“Where did you-you’re from the human realm too!” the girl-Luz-exclaimed excitedly, pointing a finger at Harry's ears.

“Erm…i suppose?” Harry said in confusion, then shook his head, “your ruddy Owl stole my wand, i’d like it back now.” he said almost sternly.

“What’s it worth to ya?” Eda asked, smirking at the boy.

“Eda,” Luz chided, swiping the wand out of her hand, “sorry,” she apologized to Harry as she handed his wand back, a few sparks flying out of the end as it was returned to him. “Wait-you can use magic? Even though you’re human?”

“I’m pretty sure we’re all human.” Harry said as he stowed his wand in his back pocket and crossed his arms to try and ward off the cold, “and I heard you talking about learning a new spell.”

“Oh! I’m not a witch,” Luz said, waving her hand quickly, “I’m from Massachusetts! I only found out about it earlier this summer and Eda helped me find these glyphs I can use despite not having a bile sack.” as if to prove her point, she pulled out a small slip of paper with the aforementioned ‘glyph’ drawn on it, she tapped it and the slip of paper crinkled up and turned into a floating ball of light.

“Wicked,” Harry breathed, his earlier irritation gone in the face of impossible magic, “I didn’t know Muggles could do magic.”

“Muggles?” Luz asked, testing the word and frowning a bit, “is that a slur?”

Harry blinked, “I…i’m not actually sure.” he mused, a bit uncomfortable at the glare luz was leveling at him, “it’s what the wizarding world calls non-magical folk.”

“So you’re a witch? From the human realm???” Luz asked eagerly.

“Wizard,” he corrected, glancing at Eda and finally noticing her pointed ears and the fang that was poking out from under her lip, “i’m not sure the difference, but i’m pretty sure i don’t have a bile sack.”

“A wizard here is just a pretentious guy who likes to wear jim jams and carries glitter in his pockets.” Luz pointed out helpfully

Harry opened his mouth to refute that, but well-the headmaster flashed through his mind and he had to nod a bit begrudgingly, “not far off the mark now that I think about it.’ he mumbled.

“You sure you’re not just from the palm or something kid?” Eda asked dubiously, absentmindedly summoning a coat for him as he shivered again, “and put that on before you catch your death out here.’

“Thanks,” Harry said, slipping the slightly too big jacket on, “and yeah, I'm from Surrey, England."

“I knew that was the accent!” Luz declared triumphantly, “wowzers! British wizards! To think there’s magic in my world and I didn't even know it!”

“Oh…well, technically mu-non-magical folk aren’t supposed to know about magic.” he said a bit uncomfortably, deciding not to use the word ‘muggle’ when Luz narrowed her eyes at him, “the government tends to obliviate the ones who find out, and the wizards and witches that break the statute of secrecy are typically sentenced to azkaban.”

“That’s stupid.” Eda blew a raspberry, “magic is supposed to be free and unrestrained! No matter what realm you’re from!”

Harry blinked at that, “right, not in surrey.” he mumbled at the reminder that he was no longer in his typical realm, “how did i-well, get here? And can you send me back? I’m sort of…well, not needed, but I might be.”

“Might be?” Eda asked at the same time Luz asked, “do you have to leave? Maybe you can help us find a new glyph!” she had jumped into his personal space at this, leaning in close with pleading puppy dog eyes.

“I-er-i’m not allowed to use magic outside of school.” he stuttered, glancing away as he blushed a bit. He shared a glance with Hedwig, who ruffled her feathers and jumped onto Luz’s head.

“And you have an owl too! Come on!” she cheered, absentmindedly petting the regal bird who was making herself comfortable in her hair, “you have an Owl, Eda’s the Owl Lady, we live in the Owl House! It’s fate!”

“I’m not sure about fate.” Harry deadpanned, chuckling a bit as the girl teetered back and forth a bit as he took the wind out of her sails, “most wizards have an owl, they’re great messengers.”

“We use crow phones,” Eda said, cleaning out her ear, “oh, and Scrolls, but those are expensive.”

“But sooo fun.” Luz sighed.

“...crow phones?” Harry asked stupidly, “never heard of them.”

“Your loss,” Eda snorted, then popped her back, “welp, me and Luz have a spell to learn, and you’re in a different realm so I doubt whatever school you’re going to can track your magic use here. So what do ya say kid? Wanna learn some demon realm magic?”

Harry hesitated, then Hedwig took off into the sky, heading for a nearby tree to roost for a bit and Harry sighed, “guess we can stay for a bit.” he said.

“Great! What’s magic like for our realm? Do you need your wand for all of your spell casting? Do you have a different kind of magical organ instead of a bile sack?”

Eda laughed as Luz started dragging harry up the knee, the boy struggling to answer her tirade of questions as they went. “Who knew there were magical beings in the human realm.” she mused to herself, frowning a bit, “I’d never heard of it…” she shook her head and tuned back into the conversation when she heard Luz let out a startled ‘weh!’ she looked up and saw the Blight siblings had stumbled upon them and their new friend just a few yards shy of the old ruins.

“Amity!” Luz exclaimed, her face flushing just a bit, “How-uh, what are you guys doing up here?”

“Hey Luz!” Ed and Em greeted, peering around their sister, who was likewise just a bit flushed “hey, who’s your new friend?” Ed asked, pointing at Harry, who’d been watching the interaction with mild interest.

“Harry, Harry Potter.” Harry greeted the boy, raising an eyebrow at Luz as she recovered from whatever spaz attack she’d had.

“You’re a human too?” Em asked, quirking an eyebrow at him in interest.

Harry’s lip twitched, “to a degree.” he said, “i’m not here for long.”

“A-anyways what are you guys doing up here?” she asked in confusion.

“Oh we’re helping mittens here learn a new spell.” Ed said, wrapping an arm around Amity, “a way to say ‘sorry’ for reading her diary.” he grinned as Amity glared at him. “What about you two? Is this a date?” Harry had to hide his laugh as Amity suddenly whirled around to glare at him AND Luz.

“I just met Luz today,” Harry said, smirking at Amity and making her bristle a bit, “she’s learning a new glyph and I've got nothing else to do today so…” he shrugged, “I'm tagging along.”

“A new glyph?” Amity asked, the heat in her words fading as she looked at Luz inquisitively.

“Yeah, i’m starting at Hexside so-”

“Do you know anything other than the light glyph?” Amity asked, her eyebrows creasing a bit, “you have to know at least two spells or they’ll stick you in the baby class.”

Luz’s eyes widened, “o-oh yeah! I totally know two spells!” Luz stuttered, “I'm-I’m totally ready!”

“That’s great!” Amity said with a small smile, “Well then I guess I'll see you at Hexside.”

“I guess you will!” Luz said, her voice wondrously higher, “until then I'm going to be learning magic from the most powerful witch on the boiling Isles!”

“Luz!” Eda shouted as she ran over, holding up a huge pile of snow, “Get a look at this snow! Really feel the magic!”

Harry snorted alongside Ed and Em, “a-any ways we gotta go!” Luz said, shoving Eda away, Harry trailing after them, “Nice to meet you folks.” Harry said politely as he jogged to catch up, “so, how do you learn the glyph’s?”

“Uh…well I saw this one in a picture of Eda performing the light glyph.” Luz said, holding up the slip of paper so Harry could look at the glyph.

Harry pondered that. “And that didn’t pan out when you tried again?” he asked.

“Not so far.” she shrugged, “in my defense not all spells can be easily photographed.”

Harry paused at that, “fair enough,” he muttered, as Eda settled onto a crumbling wall, watching them with a smirk. “Any other ideas?”

“Eda said magic is everywhere here.” Luz offered lamely, then brightened, “why don’t you show us some of your magic! Maybe it’ll help!”

Harry raised an eyebrow at that, “you just want to see me perform magic.”

“Yeah, plus I'm curious to see if you do get swarmed by government agents-are they like the men in black?”

“Nowhere near as fun.” Harry said dryly, then sighed, pulling his wand out and looking around, eyes narrowing on a smudged abandoned glass cup on the ground, with a muttered incantation and a swirl of his wand, the glass shuddered and turned into a cat, its hair shiny and glass-like. “Almost,” he grumbled, "I can turn a porcupine into a pincushion and back but a cup into a cat still has glass hair.”

“That’s amazing!” Luz exclaimed in awe.

“Not too bad kid,” Eda hummed, inspecting the cat as it jumped into her lap, “the hair’s soft, only looks like glass.”

“That’s a relief, at least it’s not going to shred someone's skin.” he said, raising his wand to turn it back; only for Luz to stop him.

“You can’t just endow an inanimate object with life and then take it away!” Luz exclaimed, “That's mean!”

“It’s a cup.” Harry said in confusion.

“But it’s a cat.” Luz said, pointing at the purring animal eda was currently petting.

“No, I'm pretty sure it’s still a cup.” Harry said blandly, “at least, professor McGonagall never said anything about it.”

“It’s still a cup Luz,” Eda deadpanned, “but it’s also a cat, magic weird’s like that. Honestly it depends on if you want to keep a cat around, is it still taking magic from you?

“Uh…no, from what Professor McGonagall says if it’s a place of strong magic then it won’t revert back until you perform the counter.”

“So Cuppy the Cat stays!” Luz declared.

“Cuppy the Cat?” Harry asked in an amused confusion.

“Yep. Cuppy the Cat.” she said fists planted on her hips, “also, looks like you’re not going to be arrested!”

“That’s a relief.” Harry said, twirling his wand and sending a fireball into a small pile of splintered wood, reveling in the feel of being able to use magic freely as the fire warmed them.

“That’s awesome!” Luz cheered, “do you have anything less fireball more…fireworks?”

Harry grinned, “perriculum!” he proclaimed, sending several streams of magic into the sky, each one exploding into multi-colored sparks to Luz’s delight and Eda’s amusement.

“That’s awesome! How do you-wait…” Luz muttered, squinting up into the sky, “what’s…”

“Hmm?” Eda hummed, looking up and squinting to try and see what Luz had spotted, the sun was slowly dipping below the horizon, and the stars had begun to shine in the purple sky.

“It’s…a light glyph!” she shouted, pointing at the stars.

Harry blinked and squinted a bit, “you’re right,” he said in surprise, looking at the constellation, “that’s amazing, i wonder-” he stopped as Luz suddenly knelt down and scooped some snow out of the ground, squinting down at it, “what are-” he started, ducking when she flung the snow away from her and rummaged around in her backpack.

“Magic is all around us!” she whispered as she finally pulled out a notepad and drew what was no doubt a new glyph. She didn’t look up as she pressed her hand against the paper and it froze and turned into a block of ice the size of her palm and about half a foot tall.

“A new glyph!” Eda cheered, jumping up and making Cuppy jump away with a grumpy look at the woman as she swept Luz up with a big hug. “Good job kid!”

“I couldn’t have done it without Harry’s fireworks show!” Luz said, grinning at the British boy who was smiling watching their antics.

“I’m sure you’d have looked at the stars sooner or later,” he looked back up, “there may be more glyphs in the stars; I'm pretty sure I can see others, but the light glyph is the biggest one. I just need a good telescope for the others.”

“Uh…i don’t have that.” Luz said a bit dejectedly.

Harry hesitated, "I have one, back home.” he said, checking his watch, surprised to find it was a lot later than he’d thought, “I could go back and grab it, bring it back here-er, but it is late…”

“You can come back tomorrow.” Eda said with a smile, “the door’s tuned to wherever you’re from, so just come through when you want tomorrow, Owlbert goes scavenging in the mornings, and Luz likes to crack it open so she can use her wiffy or whatever it’s called.”

Harry raised an eyebrow, “Muggle technology works here?” he asked.

“Why wouldn’t it?” Eda asked in confusion.

“I…don’t know, it doesn’t work at Hogwarts, I heard Ernie complaining about it when his gameboy exploded.”

“...that’s a volatile reaction.”

“I thought the same.” Harry sighed, then perked up a bit, “but I can definitely come by tomorrow with my telescope so you can see the stars better.”

“Thanks a lot Mr. Potter!” Luz said with an overexaggerated British accent, “oh! And bring some clothes and what not! We can make it a sleepover! I'll even call Willow and Gus! They'd love to meet a human witch-wizard, sorry.”

Harry shrugged, “words interchangeable here from the sounds of it.” He said lightly, his smile a bit troubled as he wondered if he should ask someone for permission for a sleepover in another dimension.

He was sure Sirius would okay it, but he also wasn’t sure he should be sending letters saying where he was going to be. Especially since his last attempt had been largely ignored, “I’ll pack for the occasion.”

“Great! Might be later in the afternoon since I have my entrance exam for Hexside tomorrow!”

“You’re learning your second spell a day before your entrance exam?” Harry asked in confusion.

“...It’s not like I knew I needed another spell.” she muttered dejectedly, arms falling alongside her head.

Harry chuckled, “I’ll bring some of my old school books, maybe you’ll find something you can do.” He didn't know how useful they’d be, but they would stop taking up room in his trunk at the very least.

“That sounds great! I can compare them to Eda’s!” Luz cheered.

“I still have textbooks?” Eda asked in confusion as she summoned the door and unlocked it, “weird, anyways, we’ll see ya tomorrow kid!”

“See you tomorrow,” he echoed, whistling as he called out, “Hedwig!” causing the snowy owl to fly over and through the door, Harry followed right behind; immediately taking off the jacket as the lingering heat from the day immediately made him break out in sweat, he tucked it under his arm as he walked, his mind buzzing.

He’d just been in another realm.

He was going back to it tomorrow.

Should he write to Sirius? Professor Dumbledore? This was big, far bigger than his typical adventures, wouldn’t this need to be shared immediately?

A part of him burned to tell someone-anyone-what he’d just experienced and seen, but the other reminded him no one had answered his last round of letters, and it probably wasn’t a good idea to draw attention to an unknown realm in the middle of a war. Who knew what Voldemort would do with an entirely new avenue of magic? One that muggles could be taught.

He shook his head as he quietly entered the house, ignoring the harrumphing of his uncle as he headed up to his room, immediately met with a familiar face.

“Hello Fawkes,” he greeted. Smiling a bit as the phoenix trilled happily at him, Hedwig immediately flew over to her cage, dipping her head a few times towards the legendary bird, “what are you doing here?”

Fawkes held his leg out, showing off a letter.

Harry carefully took the letter and opened it, his barely improved mood falling immediately as he read.

Dear Harry,

I am writing to inform you of a decision I have made to help keep information safe and secure. I am sorry to say but it is not safe to trade letters as you have been; I am sorry to tell you that both Young Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger have been told not to write to you; their current location cannot be revealed.

I ask that you be understanding in these trying times and stay safe within your aunt and uncle's house.

Sincerely,

AD

Harry stopped himself from crumpling the letter up and throwing it out the window, Fawkes gave a soft, commiserating trill that eased some of his anger, “thanks for bringing this Fawkes.” he said, smiling when Fawkes dipped his head elegantly, “I don’t have anything to send to him.”

Fawkes let out a few warbling notes that eased the last of his anger as he disappeared in a flash of flames, with a sigh he sat down and wondered if he should’ve told Dumbledore about the door to another realm, before shaking his head and standing up, grabbing one of Dudley’s old rucksacks and a worn dufflebag and started stuffing clothes into it, he didn’t have much-which was fine, that meant he could bring more of his books than he had initially planned, he even packed his wizard chess set so he could show Luz more differences in magic between the two realms.

As he packed, he began to wonder-if he wasn’t allowed to write to anyone-if it would be a good idea to just stay in the demon realm. It was most likely far more secure than privet drive, and he felt a thrill of excitement at the idea of pulling one over on Dumbledore and exploring an entire new realm.

By the time he laid down for the night he’d made up his mind to ask Eda if he could stay for at least a few weeks, and even packed up a few of the smaller salvageable electronics from the trash pile that was Dudley's old toys; the owl lady had made it clear she dealt in human trash so maybe he could barter for a room.

WVWVW

“Boy that was crazy!” Luz sighed as they landed just outside of the Owl house, taking her tattered jacket off as they did, “what spooked the Slitherbeast so much?”

“I think the noise you and baby blight made during your practice pissed him off.” eda said with a smirk as Cuppy the Cat jumped out of her hair and stretched, “but hey, at least she helped you figure out how to better direct that new Ice Glyph!”

Luz smiled, "I'm glad we figured it out, who knew the glyphs were out in nature!”

“Not me, that’s for sure.” Eda snorted, letting go of her staff and letting Owlbert fly towards the house, “stroke of luck that mopheaded kid was there.”

“His name's Harry.”

“Eh potato potato,” she shrugged, stopping luz before she walked in, “hey, if he does come back tomorrow…try not to crowd him, alright?”

Luz tilted her head, “what do you mean?” she asked.

“I’ve met a lot of kids in bad situations Luz,” she said with a sigh, “and whatever Harry’s tied into, it’s not good. You could feel the tension flowing off of him. And he was barely keeping himself up; kid was exhausted.”

“So he’s angsty?” Luz asked.

“That’s…an easier way to explain it, but not entirely accurate.” She shook her head, “Just…be a bit more mindful, you don’t know what he’s been through…neither do I for that matter, but it bears considering.”

“Okay Eda,” she said looking a bit more contemplative as she picked up a purring Cuppy and carried her inside. Eda sighed as she followed her into the Owl House and found carnage, “what the heck happened in here!” she exclaimed, looking between Hootie and King and the shredded stuffy toys littered around the room.

“We're having a moment!” King snapped defensively.

“Nobody can understand the bond we forged today! Nobody!”

Eda blinked, “oookay…”

WVWVW

Harry woke up before the sun had risen, hoping not to be spotted as he quietly snuck out of the house under his invisibility cloak, he'd managed to tuck his firebolt under it along with the hefty rucksack and duffle he'd packed and he was reasonably sure the rest of his stuff would be picked up by the order sooner or later.

And if not, he'd figure out how to replace everything then.

By the time he reached the old shack the sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon and a familiar glow lit the outline of the shack door.

Harry pulled his cloak off as it opened and Owlbert flew past them, hooting in surprise before continuing on his way.

Harry waved after him as Hedwig landed on his shoulder. “Well Hedwig, let's go haggle with the hag.” He whispered to his familiar as he entered the shack and into a rustic looking living room that was dimly lit by a few candles, Eda was standing there, eyebrow raised.

“I could hear you, you know.” She snarked at him, making him cringe, “what do you want to haggle over?”

“Er sorry-I um…was wondering if-well if it's alright, if I could stay here longer than just the night.” He said awkwardly, pulling the rucksack off, “I brought some more of Dudley's junk that your owl seemed interested in, a-and I'm not opposed to working for my keep-” He stopped as Eda started laughing.

“Kid, you're already doing a better pitch than Luz had for wanting to stay here.” She chuckled, “now, I'm not opposed to letting you stay here-gonna be crowded but I'm sure we can figure something out-but before I allow that I've got some questions about what's going on in your world. Yesterday you made it sound like you were on call, and now you're trying to crash here. So I wanna know what's got you twisted in knots.”

Harry hesitated, “it's a long story.” He muttered.

“Why do you think I opened the door so early?” She said blandly, “we have at least three hours before Luz is up to get ready for her test, and another hour after before she even has to be at the school. So take your time.”

Harry sighed and put his things down, walking over to the couch and sitting down heavily, “it started on Halloween, like it always does.”

WVWVW

Mundungus Fletcher yawned as he looked at his watch, he'd managed to wake up about ten minutes before Arthur came for his shift. He was even able to properly greet the man as he appeared under their warded guard post, “any movement?” Arthur whispered.

“None that I saw.” Dung said, "He's keeping low, must not be happy about Old Alby's choice.

Arthur frowned at the man, “Albus.” He began, shooting the sheepish man a look, “is adamant there should be no risk…no matter what the rest of us said.”

“kids gonna go starkers with that nonsense.” He muttered, then shook his head, “im headin’ to the pub, be back to relieve Dora at midnight.”

“Don't be late Dung.” Arthur warned as he settled in, watching the house with a sad gaze.

He wished he could just take Harry back home, but Dumbledore had been adamant, and with the death eaters back he didn't want to risk the poor boy's life.

He just hoped Harry understood.

WVWVW

“-and after that, I was sent back to my relatives.” Harry said, his hands shaking a bit as he finished recounting the happenings of his fourth year, the entire story of his four years at hogwarts had worn on him, as had the recounting of the triwizard tournament,“I've been waiting for the war to start and-well, yesterday I was told I needed to keep quiet and not send out any letters in case they're intercepted.” He glanced at Eda, who wore a heavy frown, “I figured the demon realm was safer than my relatives' place. And if I can do magic here I can…I dunno, train.”

“Some would say this war isn't your concern.” Eda said carefully, “It's the adults responsibility to stop this dark lord-”

“-doesn't seem to matter when he keeps coming after me.” Harry said darkly.

Eda sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, “touche, alright kid; I can see your logic and I know better than anyone what being cooped up against your will does to you, so I'll let you stick around.”

Harry relaxed just a bit.

“However,” Eda continued, and Harry tensed again, “you'll be doing the same chores Luz does, extra duty on cleaning Hooty-if you want training, that'll do it.” She leaned in, “you'll also be helping me at my stand in town. I sell human wears and with two humans around I'll be able to get double authentication!”

“Don't know how good I'll be at that.” He said, “after all, I'm a wizard.”

Eda rolled her eyes, “not the point, but anyways! Since you're here you can help me get breakfast started, we'll need to be at Hexside early or Bumpykins will be upset!”

“...Bumpykins?” Harry asked in confusion.

Eda cackled, snorting a bit, “Yeah he hates when I call him that.”

Chapter 2: first day in a new world

Summary:

a deal has been made and a magic school is ready to be visited.

Luz was ecstatic when she came downstairs and found Harry helping Eda make breakfast.

“You got here early!” She cheered, flopping into her seat as Harry put a plate in front of her.

“I had some things to talk about with Eda.” Harry said as he sat down with his own food, looking dubiously at the almost purple strips of fried meat that eda had called ‘snacon’. “I'll be staying longer than intended.”

“That's great! Oh! Maybe you can enroll in Hexside too!”

Harry made a face but then thought about it: he wanted to train his magic, what better place to do it? “Maybe.” He allowed, but then shook his head and took a bite of the snacon. It was a bit spicy, but Harry was surprised that was all it had against it, “this is great.” He mumbled around a bite.

“Good to know you can eat our food too, Luz almost burned her tongue off the first time she ate snacon.” Eda said.

“It was sooo good but soooo painful.” Luz sighed dejectedly as she tossed her snacon to King, who happily chowed down on it.

“And…you were just…fine with me trying it?” Harry asked incredulously.

Eda shrugged, “I healed Luz easily last time that happened, at best it was gonna be funny.”

“...anyways.” Harry turned back to Luz, “what's the test to get into this school?”

“You have to know two spells and impress principal bump.” Luz said, “oh, and a written test but Eda got me.ready for that."

Harry looked at Eda with a raised eyebrow, “if my kid’s getting into classes then they’re gonna at least know the basics of witchcraft.” Eda grumbled.

“Hmm, so I'd have to pass a written test as well if I wanted to go.” Harry mused, “wonder what's different between our worlds.”

“Thats nerd talk that you can get into with Dweebus and glasses.” Eda rolled her eyes, glancing at the clock as the two teens finished their food, “alright, time to go you two, I saw that broom Harry, go ahead and follow me.”

Luz gasped, “you have a magic broom!?” She almost demanded.

“Best one on the market right now.” Harry confirmed with a grin, heading over to his stuff and holding the well kept broom up. “The Firebolt, I won many a Quidditch match with this baby.”

“Quidditch?” Luz asked in wonder, “is that like Grudgby?”

“Do you play it on brooms and dodge metal balls?” He asked seriously as they walked outside and he mounted his broom, Eda mounting Owlbert as Luz jumped on behind her, Hedwig took off leisurely into the sky, wheeling about above them as she waited for them to leave.

“I don’t think the balls are metal and we definitely don’t play it while flying.” Eda said, looking bored, then grinned,“Let's see how fast that thing can go!” Eda suddenly took off and Harry blinked before grinning and kicking off the ground, easily catching up with Eda. who increased her speed when she saw the broom truly wasn’t a push over, soon they were zooming across the sky and Harry lost himself in the feel of flying unrestricted through the sky. Unafraid of teachers calling him out of bounds or muggles spotting him. He’d had to let Eda lead the race since he didn’t know where they were going. But as they went diving towards the steps of a grandiose complex, Harry took his chance and zipped forward, barely pulling up in time to come to a skidding stop just as Eda landed with an affronted look.

“Fastest broom on the market.” he bragged.

“You got lucky, so lucky!” Eda said with a stubborn frown and crossed arms “I had a passenger!”

‘Sounds like an excuse.” Harry taunted.

“We got here a whole ten minutes faster.” Luz said in surprise, then looked at his broom, “can I try that later?”

“If it'll work for you.” He said with a shrug, he'd let just about every one in the boys dormitory try it out at least once; hell Ron had standing permission to use it whenever Harry wasn't. “But it's a professional racing broom, so you know. Be careful if you can.”

Luz scoffed, “I've flown with Owlbert before.” Luz said flippantly as said bird landed on her head. “It can't be faster than this little angel.”

 

Harry just grinned in response before putting his broom in a demonic-like stall that immediately latched onto it.

“You may have to fight for it back at the end of the day.” Eda warned, “they like nice things.”

“Brilliant.” Harry said dryly as they walked into the school, almost immediately running into a man with impressive academic-like robes and what looked to be a red creature eating the top of his head. “Bloody hell, is that thing eating you?” Harry asked, cringing when Eda hit him in the back of the head, ‘erm, sorry sir.”

“Its quite alright young man.” Principal Bump said easily, he held his hand out and the creature flew off his head and into his hand in the form of a little gremlin atop a staff, allowing Bump's hair to fall out luxuriously, “frewin helps me see.” He said, scratching the underside of the creatures jaw fondly as it purred in contentment. “You'll learn one day the importance of your Palisman familiar.”

Harry smiled as a leisurely flying Hedwig landed on his shoulder, “I know how it is with familiars.” He said, scratching Hedwig's chest gently, “though I don't think Hedwig can do that.”

“You certainly seem to have a theme, don't you Eda?” Bump asked, “Did you find another human in the time we last met?”

“He kinda stumbled on us.” Eda said, nudging Harry forward, “a bona-fide Human Witch.”

“Really?” Principal Bump asked, intrigued.

“Really.” Harry confirmed, producing his wand, igniting the tip with a silent lumos and pulling his shaggy hair back to show off his round ears. “Born and raised in the UK. Ran into Ms. Owl Lady and Luz yesterday.”

“Are you trying to enroll?” He asked.

“I'm still not sure-” Harry started, only to stop when Luz was suddenly hanging on his arm.

“Come on Harry! It'll be fun!” She begged, making him blink at her familiarity, “what's the harm?”

“None I suppose.” Harry said slowly, “but I have to go back to Hogwarts in August-:

“-I'm more than willing to provide transcripts so you might gain some credit with your other school.” Bump offered, “while I understand the hesitation-i can only assume you're on break-but an abroad semester always does the mind wonders! And I'm sure you'll learn important magic while here.”

Harry gave a hesitant nod, “I guess it can't hurt.” He allowed, smiling a bit when Luz started cheering.

“Well then! I'll just duplicate the tests and Eda-” He turned to the older witch, “you have paperwork to fill out.”

Eda groaned, “Alright I guess I needed something to do while they were being nerds.” She grumbled.

Harry shared a grin with Luz as they were ushered into a classroom. “Can't wait to see what spells you're gonna show off.” Luz said as they got to their desks.

“I've got something in my back pocket.” He said confidently. Honestly if the patronus didn't impress he didn't know what would. “You sure you got all this down?”

“To a pat!” She cheered, cringing when the new professor that took Bumps' place shushed her as he placed the tests in front of them from the harness that kept him strapped to his Abomination.

“No talking, no looking at each other's papers.” he instructed strictly, giving Luz the stink eye, “I’ll be watching you closely.”

Harry raised an eyebrow as he looked at Luz, who just chuckled sheepishly and made a ‘later’ gesture with her hand. Harry shrugged it off and focused on the test.

When it was all said and done, Harry was confident at least half of what he had answered was correct, a lot of the spell theory was the same, but beasts and potions both had several differences when it came to shared animals and animals that he’d never encountered; Whatever an Eyegoblin was, he didn’t want to meet one.

He put his pencil down and glanced at Luz, surprised to find her already done and happily patting her hands against the desk. The professor gathered the papers and gestured to the door, “the auditorium is down the hall to the left, professor Bump will be there in thirty minutes.” He said, “no dallying.”

The two quickly left the room, “you were far too confident in there.” Harry said, making Luz grin smugly at him.

“I practically inhaled all of Eda's old textbooks and her reference material was great!” She chirped.

“I was the same back when I first started Hogwarts back when I was eleven.” Harry admitted, “I read all of my books three or four times.”

“D'awww,” she cooed, “were classes as magical as you thought?”

“Some of them.” He mused, “others are just as bad as any boring class back in the mu-non-magical world.” He then glanced back to see the teacher still watching them, or more specifically; Luz, “what did you do that he's this suspicious?” He whispered to her as they rounded the corner.

“I maaaay have first visited here pretending to be another student's homework.” Luz hummed, the perfect picture of innocence as Harry started laughing. “Jokes on him though, he couldn't tell I wasn't an abomination until Principal Bump threatened to dissect me.”.

Harry paused in his laughter, then it doubled; they had to stop walking for a bit so he could catch his breath, "that's brilliant.” He wheezed, “was your disguise that good?” He saw the abomination the professor had been using to walk, her disguise had to have been impressive. But Harry was baffled when she held her phone up to show her “disguise” which was abomination slime caked over her clothes and hair throwing a peace sign up from a giant pot.

It didn't take long for Harry to start laughing again.

When they finally reached the auditorium, Eda was already waiting; looking exceedingly sour.

“How was the paperwork?” Harry asked, grinning at her glare.

“It went great, your middle name is Tanner now.” She deadpanned.

“Bit longer than ‘James’ but I'm sure the change will grow on me.” He quipped.

Luz glanced at the heavy curtains, “so, finally to the important part.” Luz said, a bit nervously.

“You good kid?” Eda asked her.

“I'm freaking out.” She admitted, “what if I fail? What if I mess up? What if I die?”

Harry snorted, making both look at him, “sorry, just reminding me of something.” He coughed, “but you'll be fine, you have the spells and the old duffer obviously likes you so…” He trailed off awkwardly.

“What he said, but more confident.” Eda said, patting Luz's shoulders, “you got this kid, now you go out there and show Bump what the Bad Girl Coven can do!”

“You're both right.” Luz said with a fortifying breath, then turning to the still closed curtains.”

“From humble beginnings-”

Harry blinked as he listened to Luz Monologue like it was an after school cartoon, “do uh…do i have to-” He started hesitantly.

“No.” Eda snorted quietly as she saw Luz freeze a bit when she realized only Principal bump was in the auditorium, “Luz is her own kind of dork-hey kid! Do the thing!” She whisper shouted to her protégé, who perked up immediately.

“Oh yeah!” Luz declared, flashing her glyphs, “people say humans can't do magic! But with focus, and dedication-” she slapped one down and created a pillar of ice before spawning a light orb atop it, “I have found magical glyph’s!”

“Amazing! I’ve never seen magic used like this.” Bump gasped, “but is it enough to pass?” he wondered aloud.

Eda started motioning for her to bring on the pizazz while Harry was shaking his head at her not to.

Luz-Naturally-went with Eda’s motioning and turned around, “ah look what i can do!” she shouted as she turned her eyelids inside out, “bleep-bloop-bleep!”

Unfortunately for Luz, her sudden motion had her slipping on the puddle that had formed under her conjured ice, causing several glyphs to fly out of her pocket, causing another spike of ice to shoot up and spear Luz’s hoodie, hanging her out above Bump.

“Bloody hell.” Harry whispered as Eda winced.

“I failed, didn't I?” Luz asked a second before the ice crumbled and she collapsed in front of Bump.

“Believe it or not, I’ve seen worse.” he said, giving her a thumbs up, “welcome to Hexside!”

“Oh yeah baby!” Luz cheered, jumping back up and almost slipping again if it weren’t for Eda steadying her. “Uh…should I clean this up?” Luz asked, motioning to the shattered Ice.

“I can take care of the Ice.” Harry offered, stepping forward and waving his wand “Draconifus.” he incanted as he did, and with a ripple of magic, all of the ice turned into an assortment of dragons, each one a copy of one of the champions dragons. With the smallest being a Swedish short-snouts and the largest-about the size of a small dog- being the Hungarian Horntail. The dragons quickly drank up the water puddles before immediately bolting for a nearby open window that Harry hadn’t seen, before he could cancel the spell they were gone, “oh…erm…that doesn’t count against me right?” Harry asked and Bump checked a small crystal ball.

“Hmm…they’re leaving hexside, so they’re not my problem.” he said with a shrug, putting the crystal ball away, “if they return i’ll have you at the forefront of any collection efforts; now, what were they going to do if that window hadn’t been opened?”

Harry paused, he’d only really commanded them to clean up the water, he was debating whether to send them back behind the curtains or under some nearby towels when they went for their freedom, “toss up between backstage and those towels. “He admitted, " I couldn't decide. They wouldn’t have attacked anyone-i’m not sure about now but-”

“-like i said, not our problem unless they come back.” Bump said seriously, “anyways that was one spell, you still need to show another.”

Harry nodded and focused on his feelings for his godfather and his friends and proclaimed, “Expecto Patronum!” and Prongs exploded from the tip of his wand, cantering about the room to everyone's astonishment.

“I can feel the purified energy from here.” Bump said in surprise, “what is it?”

“The Patronus Charm.” Harry said as Prongs cantered up to him, bowing for a moment before fading, “a charm designed to protect against one of the foulest and darkest creatures of our world.”

“Well I'm impressed.” Bump whistled, “you’ve definitely passed-though I ask that you learn how to use Spell Circles as soon as you can, a bit of a requirement that I’m showing a great deal of leeway since you’ve only been in town for a few days.”

“Ah, thank you sir.” Harry said, a bit stunned as it hit him that he’d actually enrolled in school during his summer break, "and I'll do my best.”

“We’ll workshop it.” Eda said, nudging him as Luz hugged him.

“We passed!” Luz cheered as Principal Bump handed them the results of their written tests, “and I got a 94 on the written test! Hex yeah!”

“69.” Harry said, rolling his eyes at Eda’s ‘nice’ as he glanced at Bump, “that’s passing right?”

“Close enough.” he said with a shrug, “general knowledge isn’t as important once you’ve chosen your track-which i want both of you to think about.” he warned, “come monday morning you’ll both have to decide on which of the nine tracks you’d like to study.”

“Wait-you mean i can’t study them all?” Luz asked, groaning when Bump shook his head.

“Per hexside policy, you must ‘hocus focus’ and put your energies into a single magical track, if you have any questions I can answer them both now and Monday morning.”

“What are the nine tracks?” Harry asked, and Bump drew a spell circle that summoned a pamphlet.

“This will tell you all you need to know,” He said, “anything else?”

Luz and Harry shared a look, then shook their heads, causing Bump to smile, “then enjoy the rest of your weekends, I’ll be seeing you both first thing Monday morning.” With that, Bump left the auditorium.

“This is great!” Luz cheered, skipping ahead of Eda and Harry as Harry looked over the pamphlet, “We gotta celebrate!”

“For getting into school?” Harry asked, glancing up at Luz.

“Of course! It's a big hurdle! And besides Gus and Willow are already coming by later so-” she paused then grinned, “Eda! Can we get pizza?”

“That human realm food?” Eda asked, “I thought you didn't want to be spotted back home.”

“Well, I'm not the only human around anymore.” Luz said slyly, looking at Harry, who blinked.

“It's been awhile since I've had pizza.” He said slowly, “so it could be fun.”

Eda blinked, then shrugged, “Alright then, it's your money.”

Luz and Harry shared a grin as Harry reached out for his broom, only to frown when the stall wouldn't let it go.

“Uh-uh.” The stall growled around the broomstick, “mine.”

“...hey Eda-” Harry started, shoulders slumping when she saw the witch in the air already.

“Okay, see you kids at home byeeeeee!” She sang as she and Owlbert blasted off.

“Does she do this often?” Harry asked as he started tugging on his broomstick, not wanting to damage it but definitely not wanting to leave it with the sentient stall.

“Oh yeah.” Luz sighed, “it's like a trademark at this point-here.” She walked over to the trash can and pulled out what looked to be a half eaten hamburger, “trade ya boy.” She said, holding it up invitingly at the monster stall.

The stall immediately released Harry's broom, “gimme!” It demanded..

“Be nice.” Luz lectured.

‘“...please gimme.” It stated.

“Close enough!” Luz said cheerfully as she tossed the burger to it. It caught it with a freakishly long tongue and happily munched away as Luz and Harry took a step back; Harry examining his broom for any damage.

“Thanks.” He said as he finished his inspection, “no damage either.”

“The stalls like nice things and food.” Luz lectured, “nice things aren't food so they try not to do any damage to it.” She motioned to a small stack of trinkets and items behind the stall, “they have collections, I don't think anyone's ever left them a broom though.”

“And I won't be.” Harry said firmly as he climbed onto his firebolt “I'll get snacks for it I guess.”

“He likes Ham-bug-ers best.” She said as she mounted the broom behind Harry, “open up the throttle jeeves!”

“Oi! I'm not a bloody butler!” Harry objected.

“Oh man you have no idea how good it feels to have my references recognized!” Luz laughed, before promptly shrieking when Harry took off as fast as he could safely go. “You jerk!” She laughed as she barely held onto his waist.

“I thought I was jeeves!’he mocked, “hang on to your teeth yank!” With that Harry leaned forward and pushed the broom to its limits, he could hear Luz shrieking and laughing behind him as he did a few aerial stunts. “This is amazing!” She cheered during a loop-de-loop “you get to do this all the time!?”

Harry slowed a bit, “not always.” Harry said over the wind, “can't let non magicals see us so no flying outside of school, and school has rules on when you can fly, where you can fly, how fast you can fly.” He grinned back at her, “it's great to be able to really push the limits, even for a bit.”

“Well then take some.time.” Luz urged him, “I can hold on, broom only feels a bit faster than Owlbert maybe so I can hang on!”

“Are you sure you can handle it?” He asked dubiously.

“I may have weak nerd arms, but I've been on roller coasters, and I ain't no wimp!” Luz declared, “show me what you got!”

Harry grinned and immediately went into a dive bomb, Luz's whooping and hollering echoing in his ears.

By the time they reached the Owl House, both had wild air and wide grins.

“You guys looked like you had fun hoot!” Hooty exclaimed as they walked up.

“Flyings the best.” Harry declared, “also, what the bloody fuck are you?”

“Oh yeah. Eda gave him some special cookies to make sure he'd be asleep this morning.” Luz hummed, “this is Hooty, he's a house demon, and kind of in charge of security around here.”

“Oh, hullo.” Harry said a bit dumbfounded while Hooty bounced excitedly.

“Oh boy! A new friend! I can't wait to tell you all about myself! My hopes and my dreams and-” He was cut off by Luz throwing the door open.

“Nope!’ She declared, pushing Harry inside before Hooty could say anything and slamming the door, “not doing that!”

'That's a bit rude.’ Harry began, but Luz cut him off.

“Nope! Believe me I tried, it isn't worth anything you have.” She shuddered a bit, then brightened as a fluffy skull-headed dog came running out from the hallway.

“Luz! You're back!” The little demon cheered as he climbed the gangly teen and flopped on top of her head, “I didn't miss you.”

“Wicked.” Harry said, “You have a pet demon.”

“Pet!?” The tiny demon snarled, jumping up and unbalancing Luz, pointing a finger at Harry as she tottered from side to side. “I am the king of demons! And I will not be insulted!”

Harry raised an eyebrow and looked at Luz, who motioned at him to play along, “er-sorry for that…your majesty.” He tacked on lamey.

“That's better!” He huffed before finally jumping off of Luz's head, causing the teen to stumble and fall onto the couch, “Luz! King demands numnums!” He shouted as he jumped onto Luz's stomach, giggling when the girl rubbed his belly.

“Sure thing you cute little tyrant.” She laughed, getting up and pulling her phone out, “what kind of toppings do you like Harry?”

“I uh…havent-pepperoni?” He asked, dimly remembering a sad, small slice of pepperoni pizza from one of Dudley's birthdays.

“Oh nice! I can get two pepperoni, a sausage and a cheese!” She made the call and walked off while Harry took a seat beside King, “so, you're the king of demons then,” Harry began, “what was that like?”

“Oh brother, you have no idea! It was great! I had feasts and grand treasures-” King began ranting about ‘the glory days’ and Harry listened with half an ear as he thought about the drastic turn his summer had taken, just yesterday morning he thought he’d drive himself mad waiting for a war that had already started without him as far as he knew; now a day later he’d been signed up for classes in another realm. Hermione would definitely be jealous once he told her, Ron would think he’d gone mad wanting to study during the summer.

Well, it’d be a few months until he’d actually see their surprise. His mood soured as he remembered they weren’t allowed to contact him, and he was sure Mrs. Weasley and the other adults were making sure that was enforced. He could only think of Sirius who’d still try and help them send something. And even his Godfather had told him to keep his head down.

“-and then I ordered his execution! But I took it back for I am a fair and just-but cruel ruler!” Kings declaration pulled Harry back to the present, “so, now that you know all of that, would you like to be a part of my Demon Army?”

“...sure,” Harry said to the child, “Do I need to turn in an application? Resume of some kind?”

“I don’t know what either of those are.” he said firmly, “can you conquer?”

“I can definitely give it the old college try.” Harry said, "I've fought dark lords before.”

“Excellent! Truly you are a strong warrior for my ranks!” King cheered, “you can be a Captain under Luz! She’s my right hand lady!” he glanced around, then leaned in and whispered, “but don’t tell francois that! He’s the jealous type.”

“I’ll keep this secret for the rest of my life.” Harry deadpanned as Luz walked over.

“Pizza’s ordered! They’ll meet you at the old shack in like, twenty minutes.” Luz said as she came back into the living room, swiping the portal key off a nearby nightstand and hitting the eye on it. Causing the door to pop into existence, opening to reveal a green forest and a blue sky. “Whenever you’re ready buddy.”

“You have the money right?” Harry asked and Luz nodded happily, producing two American 20 dollar bills and handing it to him, “It’s 34.56, so that should cover food and tip!”

“Brilliant.” Harry said, pocketing the money, “and I'm sure your friends are on their way.”

“Most likely,” Luz confirmed, "I've got loads of things for us to do! I even got that portable tv to work with the old nintendo!”

 

“I’ve never played one before,’ Harry admitted, making Luz gasp.

“Oh that won’t do! Come on! I got Smash Bros already loaded!”

For the next fifteen minutes Luz schooled Harry in video games, and after a bit of stumbling, Harry was happily throwing Samus Aran around as Link.

“Oh come on! You’re button mashing!” Luz complained.

“That’s how you play games! You said so yourself!” Harry taunted then groaned as she suddenly launched him off the platform, scoring another win for Luz.

“Oh yeah baby! Undefeated!” Luz cheered, doing a little jig as Harry laughed. Checking his watch.

“I’ll run out for the pizza.” Harry said, standing up and heading for the portal door, "I'm calling a rematch when I get back!”

“Rematch all you want, I'll still be undefeated!” Luz said smugly.

“Keep that confidence, it’ll make victory all the better!” Harry said as he opened the portal door, King jumped for his controller and immediately chose Mario.

“I challenge you Luz!”

“Bring it on KD!”

Harry grinned as he walked through the door and closed it, looking around the decrepit cabin in vague interest before walking out and sitting on the steps, it wasn’t long before an old beater car pulled up, a droopy-eyed teen in a Domino’s uniform stepping out of the car with a pizza carrier and a plastic bag with a few bottles of soda.

“Yo bro,” the guy said, looking at Harry in surprise, “you place the order?”

“Yup,” Harry said, handing him the bills, “keep the change.”

“Cool.” he hummed, pulling the pizzas out of the carrier and handing it all over to Harry, “have a good day dude.” he said, slinking off back to his car and driving away without another word.

“Glad muggles aren’t very curious,” Harry sighed, heading back inside, “I’ve got the food-” Harry called as he crossed dimensions once more, pausing at the two new faces in the room, a chubby girl with blueish hair, and a dark skinned boy, “oh, hullo.” he greeted, “I’m Harry, Harry Potter.”

“I’m Willow park,” the girl greeted, waving at him as he walked to the kitchen.

“And I’m Gus!” the boy exclaimed, jumping over to Harry’s side, “and what’s that smell! It’s amazing!”

“That, my dear Gustonimo, is Pizza!” Luz declared, “thanks for grabbing it Harry!”

“No problem.” he said as he set the plastic bag down and opened it, “oh they included plates and cups.” he said in surprise.

“Dominos is good about that.” Luz said, popping open the boxes and filling the house with the mouth watering smell of fresh Pizza, directly summoning Eda.

“You didn’t tell me you ordered!” she complained as she immediately swiped a slice of pepperoni.

“You weren’t here when we were.” Luz said with a shrug, piling a few slices onto her plate, “dig in guys! Just leave enough for Hooty!”

“Such flavors! Delicious!” King cheered as he ate a whole slice in one go, Gus and Willow were humming in delight while Harry savored his first real taste of pizza.

He could definitely see why Dudley would cry when they were younger and his mother said no to this.

“Try the soda too guys.” Luz said with a wide grin, her phone out and recording their reactions, Gus jumped and almost spat it out, “it’s angry!” he exclaimed, making Harry snort while drinking his own and causing soda to spew out his nose. Willow shrieked and laughed as Harry groaned and tried to get the burning sensation of soda out of his nostrils.

“It’s carbonated!” Luz laughed, “it’s not angry! Or sentient!”

“Oh…hehe, sorry.” Gus said as Harry cleaned himself up, “you doing alright there buddy?”

“It’s definitely not a comfortable experience.” Harry said dryly, still grinning in amusement, “still, good drink.”

“So Harry, Luz says you’re a human realm witch?” Willow asked, leaning in curiously.

“Yep, don’t know the full extent of the differences yet, but I'm sure we’ll be finding out.” Harry said.

“You definitely will be,” Eda said around a mouthful of pepperoni, “because you’ll be learning to cast a spell circle tonight!”

“You don’t know how to cast a spell circle?” Gus asked in surprise, “so, how do you do magic?”

Harry pulled out his wand, “every witch and wizard goes to get a wand when they’re eleven." he said, holding it out to Gus, who took it and blinked in surprise, “you can cast magic without one, but it’s extremely difficult.”

“It feels warm…and not at all right in my hand.” Gus admitted, handing it over to Willow; who jumped a bit when she took it.

“Definitely not for me,” Willow agreed, handing it back to Harry, “It felt like it was stinging my palm!”

“The wand chooses the wizard.” Harry quoted Olivander, “no random wand will do, it has to be the one that chooses you. I’m not sure how true that is considering Ron worked with his brothers hand me down wand for the first two years of school but his spell casting has gotten better-” he trailed off, shaking his head, "I've seen Eda use magic, i take it wandless magic is all the rage here?”

“And no incantations.” Luz piped up, humming in delight as she ate, “really the only way you can react to a spell is after it’s cast.”

“It’s usually pretty easy to tell what’s about to happen,” Willow said, making a green spell circle and causing a nearby plant to straighten up and do a little jig, “plant magic is green, Illusion magic is blue, you get the idea.”

“Interesting.” Harry muttered, looking at his finger, “Intent based magic is supposed to be super difficult, I think Professor McGonagall said we start learning about it next year.”

“Really? We learned this in the baby class.” Gus hummed, making a spell circle and creating an illusion of a tiny Harry waving at the real Harry, “you just have to focus your mind on what you want to do, gather your magic at your finger tips and-” Gus swirled his finger, making another illusion of a giant neon sign that said “BINGO!”

Harry nodded slowly and focused, deciding to go the simple route and create a light.

Only he didn’t really know how to focus his magic, so he sat there for a little bit, trying to picture the energy drain he usually felt when casting a spell, and then tried to make a circle.

Surprisingly a small light ring appeared, but it was wobbly and unstable and quickly fell apart before producing anything.

“You can do it!” Luz cheered.

'I wasn't able to complete it.’ Harry muttered.

“Yeah but actually summoning an incomplete ring is great! Nothing happens when I do it!” To demonstrate Luz drew a circle in the air with her finger, but nothing appeared, “so you’re definitely on your way!”

You won’t get it overnight.” Eda said, “but practice makes perfect, what spell were you trying to do?”

 

“Light spell.” Harry said with a shrug.

“Then keep focusing on that, soon you’ll be as good as Luz.” she said smugly, while Luz hit one of her light glyphs to show off.

Harry rolled his eyes, “why can't I just stick to my wand?” He asked.

“Because here they're seen as a cheat.” Willow explained. “Wands here just have magic pre-loaded into it so you can cast without difficulty. Helps you focus but if you want them to consider your spell “learned” you have to do it with a spell circle.”

Harry grumbled something under his breath but nodded begrudgingly.

“So, what do human witches do for fun?” Gus asked.

“Mostly read.” He said blandly, “we do have wizards chess, and Quidditch, but leisure time is mostly spent quietly.”

“That's…boring.” Luz deadpanned, and Harry shrugged.

“That's the wizarding world, there's a lot of amazing works of magic…but at the end of the day if you don't have a radio-or a chess set-it's pretty dull comparatively.” He gestured to the game, “that's the most fun I've had my whole life. Outside of quidditch and flying.”

“He's got this awesome broomstick-” Luz began to tell her friends about the acrobatics Harry had pulled off on the way back home while Harry sat back in his chair, content with the lively chatter and good food.

“Hey Harry.” Eda said, catching his attention, “didn't you and Luz want to look for constellations? It's starting to get dark.”

“Oh right!” Harry said in surprise, having forgotten about his original plans before all the changes. “I brought my telescope from school, and your front yard is perfect for it.”

“Get it set up then! I'm sure the dweebs will like all this intellectual junk.” She snorted

“That's right! You also said you'd bring some of your school books!’ Luz said giddily, and Harry grinned.

“All in the bag.” He said, walking over to the rucksack, “come on, let's go to the front and set it all up!”

“Yeah! Intellectual junk!” Gus cheered, teasing Eda as he ran out after Harry.

“Can never go wrong with nerd speak.” Willow joined in as she happily skipped after the two boys.

“You coming Eda?” Luz asked.

“Nah, you’re gonna cramp my style.” Eda laughed, ushering her out, “go have fun with your friends, see if you can’t find more glyph’s!”

“I wanna go too!” King exclaimed, running out after the older kids.

Eda watched them from the window for a while, smiling a bit as Harry explained the charms on the telescope he brought, as well as how to properly set it up. The three younger kids were listening with rapt attention as he spoke. King was running around the device excitedly, no doubt begging to be the first one to look. And Hooty was…chasing a bug.

Yeah, that tracks.

With a sigh Eda turned away from them and pulled the newspaper she’d swiped from the kids rucksack, as well as the book labeled ‘history of magic’ that she’d noticed had at least one other copy among his collection. “Let's see what we can glean from these two bad boys.” she said as she headed for her room, already looking through the newspaper.

WVWVW

“So you have an entire class revolving around looking at stars?” Luz asked in awe, “I guess that fake Adagast had something right.”

“I’m feeling there’s a story there,” Harry said as he adjusted the telescope, “but yeah, we go up at midnight into the astronomy tower and map stars, classroom sessions are typically explanations on how the different planets react with others in terms of magical influence. It’s useful for rituals and what not.” Harry sat back on his ankles, smiling up at the star strewn sky, “I actually find it a bit relaxing.” he motioned to the telescope, “I think I’ve zeroed in on what I think is another constellation, check it out.”

Luz leaned forward eagerly, looking at the circular formation of stars, “I think you’re right! But it feels…I don’t wanna say ‘wrong’ but like it’s not…right?”

Harry hummed and pulled out an old journal that still had some clean pages, handing it over to her as Gus and Willow gathered around ,”Draw it and see what happens.”

“This is exciting!” Gus whispered as Luz carefully drew the glyph, “we’re discovering old forms of magic!”

“And learning an entirely new form.” Willow added, motioning to the standard book of spells she’d been rifling through, “I’m pretty sure we can do a lot of these spells.”

“A mixing of cultures.” Harry mused, watching as Luz tapped the glyph and a brilliant shock of static arced out and zapped Gus, making his hair poof out, the children laughed in surprise while Luz gushed about another glyph being found. While King happily started looking into the telescope, swinging it too and fro across the sky to see what he could see.

And for the first time in a month, Harry felt at peace.

WVWVW

 

Hedwig was a Post Owl.

And contrary to what many believed, Post Owl’s had a magic of their own. How else do you think they can travel so far so fast?It was a magic gifted to them in a pact long since forgotten. And while many other Post Owls forgot; Hedwig Remembered.

So when her Human had fallen asleep, and the moon was glowing brightly; Hedwig flapped up to the top of the old crumbling tower attached to the Owl House, facing the titan’s skull as she landed. Her large amber eyes seemingly glowing in the moon light as she sat still.

A hush, a whisper, a breeze that ruffled her feathers, she hooted softly into the night sky, her eyes flashing as another gust of wind ruffled her feathers. With a flap of her powerful wings she was in the air, she circled once, twice, then disappeared in thin air; leaving behind a single feather that slowly fluttered away in the wind.

Chapter 3: Training Day

Summary:

Harry learns a bit of Boiling Isles magic

“Hello, little friend; who are you?”

…

“Hedwig? Well hello Hedwig, I’m surprised you could reach me; but then, I feel you’re a very special familiar…would you be willing to help me? As a favor to an old friend?”

…

“Thank you, dear little Hedwig, now fly on home; this really isn’t a place for little familiars.”

Eda wasn’t impressed with either bits of literature she’d pilfered from Harry’s bag.

The newspaper was blatant propaganda, Eda clocked it almost as soon as she started reading. From the fluff pieces that adorned the front to the hit pieces squirreled away in the later pages. It was rot and it wasn’t the kind of rot she liked.

She especially didn’t like the article she saw on ‘Harry Potter, the Boy who Lies.’. A blatant smear piece that had her temper flaring and forcing her to take an elixir before the curse ran amok.

People who targeted children were scum, and she wasn’t at all impressed that an entire government was targeting a single boy for telling-from what she could see-was the truth.

The book was a bit better, ‘the history of magic’ covered the majority of magical history in the place the humans called ‘England’, and while it let her understand how their society worked-it looked like rigid control and stagnation in magic was a common practice in both realms-it also painted a grim picture of WItches being forced to hide themselves for fear of prosecution, of ‘wizengamots’ who appeared to serve themselves more than they served others, oh it wasn’t blatantly spelled out of course; but one didn’t have so many goblin rebellions if they were keeping the needs of the people first.

All in all, Eda wasn’t impressed, and it just served to dip her opinion of whoever took care of Harry even lower. His clothes didn’t fit, he wasn’t well fed, and she could recognize when a kid needs a therapist. And Harry definitely needed a therapist.

He’d explained everything about that war with that voldemort fellow, and how he was back, and how the monster had killed his friend and almost killed him before he’d been able to escape. It made her angry to think he hadn’t been in a healers hut for that torture curse he’d been put under, and she was furious to think that any adult would think it a good idea to leave a kid alone and alienated from any kind of support after witnessing a friend dying. She had some choice words and maybe a hex or two for his guardians when she finally met them.

But that would have to wait, for now she had a company of children to wake up; the night had ran long and the five children were all asleep in the living room, the tv showing the final results of a smash game that Luz had no doubt won, plates with half-finished pizza were strewn about, Luz and WIllow were asleep on the couch, facing opposite directions with King asleep on their tangled legs, Gus was asleep on the chaise, half invisible and snoring away peacefully.

Harry was asleep against the wall, arms crossed, his face was creased and his shoulders were tense; twitching and grunting in what was no doubt a nightmare.

Eda was quick to wake him up, calming the terrified teen before he could wake the others, “Relax kid,” she whispered with a small grin, “was just getting you up, looked like you were having a rough time of it.”

“I’m fine.” he mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, “just a…bad dream.’

“If you say so.” Eda said carefully, “Come on, let's make breakfast for everyone. Then we can work on spell circles for the day.”

Harry got up, popping his neck with a grimace.

“Yeah we’ll figure something out for you that doesn’t involve sleeping against the wall.” Eda snorted, “have you ever slept on a hammock?”

“Can’t say I've ever thought of trying.” Harry admitted as he helped Eda get the kitchen set up, soon food was cooking and the smell was waking up the other occupants.

“Smells great.” Luz hummed as she walked in with Willow, Gus trudging in behind them with King on his head, gently placing the tiny demon in his chair before moving to his own.

“Thanks for breakfast Ms. Eda and Harry.” WIllow said as they dug into the gryphon eggs, “it's delicious!”

“And thanks for letting us stay.” Gus said, patting his stomach as he sighed, “I don’t think I could've moved last night if I wanted to.”

“Pizza is sooo good.” King sighed in remembrance, pausing only a moment before scarfing down the rest of his food and taking off back into the living room to play the nintendo again.

“So, what's the plan for today?” Eda asked, “schools not until tomorrow-”

“-I wanted to practice with the new glyphs!” Luz said cheerfully, holding up the two new ones they'd been able to find, “it's a wind glyph and a lightning glyph! I bet I can do loads with them!”

“And you're still working on spell circles, right?” Eda asked, turning to Harry who created a semi-stable circle that produced a half-flickering orb of light after an uttered ‘lumos’. “And I'm assuming tweedle dee and twerple dum will help you out huh?” She snorted at her own joke.

“I'm down for helping Harry.” Gus said immediately, “but I'm an illusionist so there's only so much I can do.”

“And that's more than enough.” Harry said, “I just need to learn how to do this properly, it feels like something's not clicking.”

“maybe it's just the fact that you've been using a wand as a focus for so long.” Willow supplied, “like I said, we're taught about intent pretty early on; do human witches have bile sacs?”

“A what?” Harry blinked.

“That's a no.” Gus grinned, “we witches are all born with a tiny sac of bile attached to our heart. It allows us to produce magic.”

“That’s…kind of like how magic was explained to me?” Harry began slowly, thinking of the long lectures Hermione used to get into in their first year, “according to my friend Hermione, our magic is produced by something called a magical core-it’s situated in the navel and is the source of our magic.”

“So it’s an organ?” Luz asked.

“I don’t…think so?” he shrugged, “I didn’t really understand it all, I was eleven at the time.”

Eda made a magic circle, which expanded and hovered over Harry’s chest, showing his bones and organs on the inside.

Just underneath his sternum was a glowing mass of pulsating energy, tiny veins protruding from it and following along the same paths as his blood veins.

“Oh wow, it’s like a cleaner version of a bile sac!” Willow exclaimed.

“I’ts not just 'like' a bile sac.” Eda hummed as she swirled her finger again, making it zoom in on the glowing mass, detail filled in until they were all looking at a glowing bile sac. “Looks like witches in the human realm evolved to create a more efficient bile sac, makes sense considering they didn’t have a titan to get their power from; it’s even formed it’s own vascular system-”

“What does the Titan have to do with anything?” he questioned, “also, this feels really weird.”

“Titan’s are beings of immense magic.” She explained, “even after death they produce magical byproducts for centuries. Early witches and Demons were said to have evolved from the Titan’s blood-just a drop contains enough power to power most anything you can think of.” she dispelled her spell circle, “also it was supposed to feel weird, we were looking in your chest!”

“I taste pennies.”

“That’s normal…i think.” eda Shrugged, “anyways, your problem looks like it has to do with how you were taught. You have to use that wand right?”

‘Yeah, every witch or wizard gets one when they turn eleven,” Harry confirmed, “it’s the only way to control your magic-”

“-definitely not the only way!” Eda declared, “magic is a part of us Harry! It’s wild and unrestricted! Sure a wand is a handy focus to bring your energy out, but you yourself are that energy! Think about what I just said Harry; your magical core has a vascular system attached. It’s pumping magic all throughout your body, why would you need a wand to use that? For that matter, why would you need an incantation? Just let your intent and focus bring what you want to life!" To accentuate her point she drew a circle and a ball of golden flames exploded into her hand.

Harry blinked, looking at his wand, then to his hand.

“It’s hard to unlearn things you’ve been taught all your life,” Luz said sympathetically, “I had to relearn how to write because the school made me use my right hand, but i’m left handed…well now i’m ambidextrous because I wanted to be but you get what I'm saying.”

Harry chuckled a bit,” yeah, i get it.” Harry said, reluctantly setting his wand down on the table as he focused, you’re the wand, you’re the wand, you’re the wand and you want to make light. he mentally chanted to himself as he slowly drew a spell circle, it was far slower than he’d tried before, and he could see it was more stable than his first attempts; he completed the circle and it collapsed into a bright orb of yellow light.

“Alright Harry!” Luz cheered alongside Gus and Willow, “congratulations.”

“It takes way too long,” he said, still he stared wondrously at the orb of light that he’d conjured without his wand and without an incantation.

“That’s what practice is for.” Eda chuckled, patting his back, “baby steps Potter, Baby steps. How about we all go to the front and we can tinker and toy around with magic!”

 

The room cheered, even Harry gave a small fist pump and a half grin as they all trooped out to the front yard.

“Oh boy! Company!” Hootie cheered, “finally! I can tell you all of my hopes and dreams!”

“Can it Hootie!” Eda called cheerfully, “we’re training!”

“Oh! Oh! I have targets!” The owl's face suddenly shot into the ground.

“Bloody hell.” Harry jumped as he watched the bird-tube continue pushing deeper and deeper into the ground before stopping, and suddenly retracted back, Hootie’s face re-appeared, several small targets crudely painted like coven scouts clutched in his hands, a few others held in his loops, “I made them of all my friends!”

“Good job hootie! Set them up around the yard!” Eda ordered, turning to both Luz and Harry, “alright, so, we’re gonna have a little challenge here. Whoever gets the most targets wins!”

“Wins what?” Luz asked in wonder.

“The honor of not having to bathe Hootie.” Eda said, jabbing a thumb to the bird-worm, who’d already set up the targets and was now happily rolling around in the mud.

“I thought I was already stuck with that particular honor.” Harry said dryly.

“Consider this your one chance to get out of it.” she cheered, “now-since Harry’s just starting out, let's do a bit of a warm up-Harry! fireball, remember; intent and focus.”

“Intent and focus.” Harry nodded, while Luz started drawing more lightning glyphs so she didn’t have to waste time mid challenge. Harry practiced summoning flames-it took him a few tries to get it right, and a few more tries to get it consistently at the same sluggish pace that was beginning to wear on his nerves.

“Alright! There’s eighteen targets, new spells for both of you so no accusations of a leg up! Lets see who’s the fastest spell slinger!”

“Go Luz!” Willow and King cheered.

“Go Harry!” Gus called, glancing at the other two when they stared at him, “what? Guys gotta stick together.”

Harry grinned at the banter and shared a smirk with Luz, “think you can keep up Potter?” Luz mocked.

“Far better than you can Noceda.” he shot right back.

“Loving the competitiveness, okay begin!”

 

Harry jumped in surprise and Luz-already being familiar with Eda’s teaching style-immediately pulled out a glyph and tapped it, “zap attack!” she proclaimed as a bolt of weak electricity arced out and barely missed a nearby target hanging from a tree.

Harry shot off a fireball, grinning when it hit dead center, his grin disappeared when Luz managed to hit two targets. What followed was carnage; at some point Hootie had taken to setting the targets back up, giving ample opportunity for both to unleash their magic. Both getting faster and faster until Harry’s knees suddenly gave out from under him.

“Woah!” luz cried, running to his side and likewise collapsing beside him when fatigue finally caught up with her, “you good?” she asked him cheerfully.

“Great,” Harry grinned back, breathing heavily as he relaxed on the ground, “who won? I stopped counting.”

“Same.” Luz laughed, “Eda! Who won.”

 

“You’re tied!” she called, levitating a target over them, “first one to hit the target wins.”

They glanced at each other, neither moving to take the shot, “wanna split bathing Hootie so we don’t have to move?” Luz suggested.

“Best Idea we’ve got.” he agreed, and Eda blew a raspberry as WIllow and Gus cheered their tie while King demanded more ‘bloodshed’.

“That was amazing guys!” Willow cheered, “you both were like blurs!”

“Yeah! You really got a handle on that fire spell Harry!” Gus added, helping the boy up while Willow helped Luz to her feet, “I’d say you’re ready for Hexside.”

“Brilliant.’ Harry huffed, glancing at the targets, all of them were scorched, some were missing bits of themselves after being blasted apart by Luz’s lightning, and the yard itself was pock marked with craters and blackened patches of shiny glass. “We really pushed the limit didn’t we?”

“Cause we’re awesome.” Luz retorted, “but I could use a rest.”

“Agreed,” Harry said as they limped over to the house, Eda giving them a once over with healing magic to get rid of most of their aches and pains.

“Good job kids,” Eda praised them, looking at Gus and Willow as they started lining up beside Hooty, who was coiling up in preparation to reset the targets, “you kids going next? Don’t know how well Illusions will work for this-”

“-Actually, there’s a spell we wanted to try out from Harry's book.” Willow said chipperly, “pretty simple one when you get down to it.” Instead of making the spell circle, Willow made a certain pattern in the air with her finger; the pattern lighting up and firing off a bolt of red magic that hit the target on one of the lower rings. Gus likewise copied Willow, though his shot went wide and nailed a pixie, immediately dropping it out of the air.

“Whoops.” Gus blinked, chuckling a bit while Harry sat up a bit straight.

“That’s a Stun spell.” he said in surprise, “how-”

“Intent and focus.” Eda said smugly, “I’m surprised you were both able to do it.”

“Stupefy is a fourth year spell.” Harry said, “feasibly anyone with enough magical power can do it with the proper wand movement.” he blinked, "you're telling me I could have made the wand movement in the air with my hand it would’ve worked!?”

 

“It would have,” Willow said with a smile, “but you were supposed to be learning spell circles, so we figured we’d show it off later.”

Eda started cackling and Harry flopped back onto the ground groaning as the others started laughing goodnaturedly.

The rest of the day was spent trying out new spells, Harry found the ones dealing with the elements came easier for him. While many of the combat and defense spells he'd used during his time at Hogwarts were further beyond him than he'd thought they'd be; Willow and gus found themselves similarly limited, with the stun spell being the only one they could perform adequately. Gus did find he had some talent with the Glacius sell, and had spent a good chunk of their time training making sculptures of different objects and people.

But all too soon it was time for Willow and Gus to head home, saying their good-byes as the sun slowly set on the horizon.

“We’ll see you guy’s on the steps at school.” WIllow promised as she hugged Luz good-bye, Harry highfiving Gus in amusement as the boy giddily cheered about ‘high fiving another human!’.

“Sounds great Willow,” Luz said sincerely, “good night guys!”

“Night!” The two chorused as they headed away from the Owl House, leaving Harry and Luz alone for a moment.

“Today was fun.” Luz said with a grin, nudging his arm and making him smirk.

“It was,” he agreed, making a spell circle and summoning a ball of flame, looking at it wondrously before he clenched his fist to snuff it, “and I've learned a lot as well.”

“Same,” Luz chirped, looking down at the two glyphs, “you know, I still get a weird feeling when I use them, like they’re not…native here? I don’t know if I'm saying that right.”

 

‘Best explanation I've heard you come up with.” Harry said, scratching his jaw as he wondered something, “these titans…there was more than one wasn’t there?”

Luz blinked, “yeah…” she whispered as it clicked, “these are glyphs from another Titan!” she exclaimed, jumping about excitedly, “I wonder how we could find more! Do you think I'd have to go to those other Titans? Maybe if I had my own staff-weh!” she squeaked as Harry lightly bonked her head with her notepad, grinning in amusement.

“How about lets focus on school before you start going on expeditions across the planet.” he quipped.

“Oh, right!” she pulled the pamphlet out, “i want to build my own schedule-”

“-aren’t we supposed to choose a track?” Harry asked and Luz deflated a bit.

“Oh yeah, right…but I just can’t choose!” she groaned, flopping onto the ground, "I want to learn all the magic!”

“What can you actually learn though?” Harry questioned as he sat down next to her, looking up at the sky, “the glyphs are wondrous, but you can’t perform every kind of magic yet.”

“You’re right,” Luz sighed, then perked up, “My potions are pretty good, Eda uses my batches for a lot of her regular sales.”

“I wasn’t the best at potions at school.” Harry admitted, “our potions professor-evil git by the name of Professor Snape-used to say he could teach us to ‘brew fame, bottle glory and even put a stopper on death’. I don’t think he ever really taught us anything other than how to insult school kids.”

“He sounds like a jerk.” Luz said while blowing a raspberry.

“He was,” Harry chuckled, “I don’t think the mans’ ever said anything that wasn’t some kind of quip, insult or biting retort. He really didn’t like me.”

“What about your other teachers?” Luz asked.

“Flitwick is one of the nicest.” Harry mused, “half-goblin, master of charms, mad wiz on the Dueling circuit back before he became our professor, Professor McGonagall was our head of house and transfigurations professor-strict old bint but you have to love her. She’s typically the voice of reason for us hard headed gryffindors. Professor Sprout was always a joy in class-she took a bit of a dim view of me at the beginning of this past year; I was entered into this tournament against my wishes and she thought i’d cheated to get in.”

“Well that’s not fair.” Luz frowned and Harry shrugged.

“Lifes not fair.” he mused, still staring off into the sky as the stars began to appear, he could now mostly point out the constellations that were Luz’s new glyphs’, barely seen with the naked eye and hard to keep in your vision unless you had a magical telescope made to track stars.

“Still,” Luz huffed, then brightened, “any other teachers?”

“Only two others that I've actually interacted with, Professor Trelawny is the Divinations professor-a fraud save for two actual prophecies she’s given from what professor dumbledore says-she likes to predict one students death every year, and so far I've been her favorite subject for the last two years.”

“That’s definitely awful,” Luz commiserated, “it must not be fun to be told you’re going to die.”

“You get used to it,” he said wryly, “honestly the worst part about her class was trying to fake a dream journal-do you realize how many times I've actually had a dream while sleeping?’ Harry shook his head, “anyways, i saved the best for last-Hagrid, Rubeus Hagrid; he was the groundskeeper when I first started hogwarts, and he became the Care for magical creatures professor. He was my first friend in the wizarding world and a kind man; though his ideas of appropriate creatures for class tend to vary from the ultra benign to the mostly dangerous.”

“Sounds like he’d love the Boiling Isles.”

“He would,” Harry’s smile fell a bit as he thought of his first friend, probably at Hogwarts, with no idea that Harry wasn’t where he was supposed to be.

“You alright Harry?” Luz asked worriedly.

“Fine,” he reassured her,” just…thinking.”

“About the tracks?” She asked, trying to get his mind off whatever had upset him.

Harry nodded slowly, “I think I want to try out the Bard track.” He said, "I've always liked the idea of learning an instrument, guess now's as good a time as any to learn.”

“It’s also versatile.” Eda said as she walked out of the house, petting Hooty’s snoozing head before going to stand by the two humans, King was laid out atop her head, likewise asleep. “You can perform most forms of magic using Bard songs; it takes a little longer and if you’re not practiced it can lessen the effects, but being a bard means controlling the battlefield, or directing a party.” She looked at Harry, “Do you have any background in music?”

“Not really.” he muttered a bit self consciously.

“Luckily for you I do,” Eda said with a snorting laugh, ruffling his hair and dodging the swipe of his hand, “and I think I got an instrument or two you can try out real quick to see if it’s what you want to do.”

“Thanks Eda.” he said cautiously, “i can pay you back-”

“Pffft, yeah right.” she snorted, “you’re already gonna be working for me-besides, i feel kinda bad since you and Luz had to clean Hootie earlier while he was hyper.”

“How did he even find the soda?” Luz shuddered in horror.

“So yeah, no sweat. What about you Luz? Decide which Block you want to take in prison?” she teased.

“I was actually thinking of Potions.” Luz said a bit bashfully, “it’s the branch of magic i know most about thanks to you.”

Eda smiled a bit tenderly, ‘well aren’t you just a chip off the old block.” she chuckled, ruffling Luz’s hair much like she had Harry’s, only the girl giggled and ducked away, “you know how to brew most things, so i”m not too worried about that-just remember you’re apart of the Bad Girl coven, and that means breaking rules and learning wild magic!”

 

“I just wish I could study more than one track.” Luz sighed morosely.

“Willow and Gus already said they’d teach us what they know.” Harry pointed out.

“And I’m sure you’ll find ways to study a bit of everything if you try hard enough.” Eda said with a wink, “now come on, before it gets too late for any kind of lesson!”

Harry and Luz got up, following Eda back inside, the older witch was already looking through her piles of junks, already pulling out a flute and a violin, a pair of drums quickly following alongside an old cittern. Though she quickly put that last one up.

“Ready for a music lesson?” Luz asked, nudging Harry.

“I suppose.” he said with a long suffering sigh,smiling as King woke up and proclaimed himself King of Music before immediately swiping the flute from Eda’s hands to try and play the instrument, “here’s hoping King picks up on some of it.” They shared a laugh as the door closed behind them.

WVWVW

Arthur had felt like something was wrong when he hadn’t seen a glimpse of Harry at all during his shift; he'd reported it to Dumbledore but he’d said not to worry and that Harry was fine; that he was most likely staying in his room for whatever reason despite having been outside every other day.

By the time he’d come around for his next shift-with both Tonks and Mundungus saying they’d seen nothing-he had decided enough was enough.

He marched up to the door and knocked on it, ignoring a few of the gawking neighbors as Petunia answered the door and immediately grew angry.

“What are you doing here?” she hissed furiously.

“I’ve come to check on Harry.” he said evenly, going to take a step inside, only to be barred by Petunia.

“You are not coming into this house!” she said firmly. “And anyways the freaks not here.’

“What?” Arthur asked sharply.

“He’s been gone since yesterday.’ Petunia sneered, “I assumed one of you picked him up.”

“When did he leave.” he demanded to know urgently.

“He wasn’t here when we woke up, now if you’ll excuse me-” she tried to shut the door on him, but he very quickly stopped that and pulled his wand, making her shriek and retreat back into the hallway.

Arthur entered the house and closed the door, summoning a patronus, “Albus! It’s Privet Drive! Harry’s gone!” he said before sending the patronus off as he went up the steps.

“You’re not allowed in here!” Petunia shrieked from where she cowered in the hall, “I’ll call the police!”

“You should’ve called them when your nephew disappeared!” he thundered back at her as he went into Harry’s room, his mood further darkening when he found a lot of Harry’s things gone, including his firebolt. By the time Moody arrived with Albus and a few other order members, Arthur had concluded that Harry hadn’t been kidnapped.

He’d run away, and he’d done it without tipping any of them off.

WVWVW

Harry looked at the violin he’d decided to use, Eda had already taught him how to summon it and dispel it to a magical storage space; fairly easy compared to the scales that Eda had drilled him on for the last few hours.

He could definitely follow along with warm ups now, and he was just about to dispel the instrument and settle onto the couch when Eda entered the room.

“What are you doing?” Eda asked him as he set some pillows on the couch.

“Getting ready for bed.” Harry said slowly, glancing at her.

“Well you’re not gonna get a good night's sleep here.” Eda mused, motioning for him to follow her. He did so, his eyes widening a bit when she opened a storage room door to reveal a pseudo bedroom, complete with empty shelves lining the walls and a small desk shoved into the back. Instead of a bed, a hammock stretched across the small room. A thinner mattress and blankets already tied to it.

“It’s not much.” Eda began as Harry stepped in, “but even Luz has her own room. It’s only fair.”

“I…I don’t know what to-thank you.” he finished lamely, a lump in his throat.

Eda smiled at him, “Get some sleep Harry, long day tomorrow.” she walked away, leaving Harry to settle in. the boy climbed up into the hammock-surprised that it didn’t have too much slack and actually supported his weight. He laid down looking up at the ceiling. Wondering what the peculiar warm feeling in his heart was.

A pecking at the nearby window made him look up, smiling a bit when he noticed Hedwig waiting for him to open up; which he gladly did, “hey girl,” he greeted softly as he stroked her feathers and she nipped his fingers affectionately, “where'd you get off to?” He asked, blinking when he felt a chord around her neck, he pulled it off her head.

“Hedwig, who gave you a whistle?”

Chapter 4: Magic Mixers

Summary:

Harry and Luz start their first day of classes, someone stakes their claim.

“What have we found out?”

Sirius stared despondently at the table in front of him, around him the rest of the Order had similar expressions. With Albus Dumbledore looking the most distraught of all.

“He left in the early morning yesterday.” Arthur began, rubbing his forehead tiredly, “the Dursleys didn't question it and refused to care when we questioned them beyond the son being miffed that Harry apparently took a few of his broken things that were in Harry's room.”

“Don't you mean ‘duddykins old second bedroom’.” Nymphadora sneered, her hair was a subdued brown and she looked furious as she spoke, “they didn't even consider it Harry's room.”

“Why would he need broken muggle junk though?” Hestia Jones asked.

“Even broken tech can fetch some money if you know where to go.” Sirius muttered, “he probably took it so he had some disposable income.”

“Harry is not that kind of boy-” Molly Weasley began tearfully, she hadn't stopped crying since she'd found out Harry had disappeared and it was honestly wearing on Sirius’ nerves.

“Obviously he is.” He snapped, glaring at Dumbledore, who wouldn't meet his eyes, “there's no point in wondering how he did it-obviously someone-” he and Arthur glared at Fletcher, who had the decency to look guilty, “-fell asleep on the job, the thing we should focus on now, is tracking him down.”

“We?” Snape drawled, eyeing Sirius with a look of smug disdain, of all in the room Snape seemed to be the least affected; appearing more annoyed than concerned, “last I remember, black, you're not allowed out of your Dog House; more to the point, why should we waste resources looking for a spoiled brat who's throwing a fit over being left somewhere safe?”

“Get bent Snivellus.” Tonks spat, her hair flashing red as Sirius glared at the man, “are you really going to sit there and call him spoiled after what we saw-” she cut herself off and she felt some satisfaction in seeing a bit of a flinch in the man's eyes.

He'd seen the cupboard under the stairs after all, the one that still had a crayon sign proclaiming the space “Harry's room”.

“Regardless, Sirius is right,”Albus said, “Voldemort will hear of this sooner or later, we need to have Harry in our custody before he finds out.”

“We managed to track him to the playground.” Arthur began, “but the trail went cold at a shack in the nearby woods; he either figured out how to cover his trail, or he somehow had a mode of transportation we couldn't track, like a portkey or apparition.”

“He's not old enough to know how to-” Molly began, but bit her tongue as she remembered Sirius’ words.

“We should start by visiting what friends he has that aren't here.” Kingsley said, “as well as any areas we think he may run to.”

“That's a short list.” Remus said sadly, “other than Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, and Hogsmeade there's no other places he knows well enough to go to.”

“And the only other person he might go to is Neville Longbottom.” Professor McGonagall said, she'd stayed quiet up until this point, choosing to stare at the table in thought, “perhaps Susan Bones, but they're more passing acquaintances than friends. And it may not bode well if Madam Bones catches wind of this.”

“So, what you're telling me is that we have no leads.” Moody grouched, “the boy somehow found a way to cover his tracks and we’ve got no idea where he’d even go.” he suddenly started grinning, making most uncomfortable with how it twisted his scarred face, “good on the lad I say, if we don’t know where he is then it’s highly likely that the enemy doesn’t know where he is either, so i suggest we watch the house, watch the playground, and keep an ear out for any news. Those of us in the room who are Aurors are duty bound to report a runaway so we’ll talk with madam bones in confidence to avoid arousing too much suspicion.’ he looked to Albus, “until then I suggest we ramp up our moves against Voldemort and his ilk. I’ll want Sturgis and Hestia on a recon mission with me; we’ve had reports of Death Eaters in Southampton and I want to look into it!”

 

The meeting began to break up, with Moody, Hestia and Sturgis immediately leaving while Arthur and Tonks took first watch on the park.

Soon everyone was out of the room save for Sirius and Albus. Neither man looked at the other for a few moments until Sirius turned towards him, tears in his eyes.

“You promised me.”

The words tore into his heart, and Albus sighed wearily. “I know,” he whispered.

“Do you?” Sirius demanded, “you told us not to write to him, you told us he was okay, that you had it handled. Well what do you call him running away Albus? Is that what you called handled?”

“I miscalculated-”

“YOU DON’T GET TO MISCALCULATE!” Sirius spat, slamming his fist on the table, “Damn it Albus this isn’t one of your projects! Could you for once talk about Harry like he isn’t some damned chess piece!?”

Albus flinched at the accusation, and Sirius let out a frustrated growl, heading towards the door, “where are you going?” Albus asked.

“To Surrey, I’ll be watching that shack.” he spat, “and don’t you dare think you can tell me no.” Before Albus could say anything to the contrary, Sirius disapparated, leaving Grimmauld for the first time in weeks.

Upstairs, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were sullenly sitting across from each other in Ron's room, the twins were half-heartedly playing a game of chess on the floor.

“He really did it,” Ron mumbled morosely, “he really did a runner.”

“What could he be thinking?” Ginny wondered miserably, sniffling a bit as she hugged Hermione, who was beginning to cry.

“He thinks we’ve abandoned him.” she whispered, tears trailing down her cheeks, “we listened to Dumbledore and now he’s run away.”

“Hermione it’s not our fault-” Ron began.

“-but it is!” she sobbed, covering her face with her hands, “I knew it would be bad to leave Harry alone after what happened, I knew it! But-but Dumbledore said-and we didn’t even argue! We just-we just-”

The twins shared a look and walked over, both taking a seat on either side of hermione in Ginny-who was also beginning to sniffle a bit-and hugged them both, Fred pulling Ron into his side.

“We have to believe in Harry.” Ron muttered leaning against his brother as he stubbornly wiped his own tears away, “he’s always come out alright, we’ve got to believe he’s gonna do the same here…wherever he is.”

WVWVW

 

Harry groaned as he came to a running stop just at the bottom of the steps leading into Hexside, in front of him Eda and Luz had landed first, with Eda cackling wildly. “You lost this time Potter!”she taunted as Luz jumped off the stave.

“You tripped me on the way out the door!” he accused, "I'd have won without that dirty trick!”

“Excuses, excuses!” she said dismissively as Harry put his broom in the stall, “anyways you two have a great first day, and don’t let the system get you down.” she grunted when King jumped off the stave as well.

“Are you going to class, King?” Luz asked him.

“Nah, baby class is lame, besides; hexside has the best garbage to rummage through!” King cheered before diving into a nearby garbage can.

Harry raised an eyebrow, looking at Luz, “should we…address that?”

“Hmm…nope!” she chirped, “if anyone asks, King, I don’t know you, have a good day!”

“Have a good day whoever you are!” King called back cheerfully, waving after her as she entered the school.

Harry gave the little demon a small salute, “Cheers mate,” he said, following after Luz, who was already greeting Willow and Gus. as well as a newly arrived Amity, who was in the middle of talking with Luz.

“-heard you passed, so congratulations on making the advanced class.” she said, her abomination giving Luz a thumbs up.

“Thanks Amity!” Luz said with a bright smile, then motioned to Harry, “Harry passed too!”

Amity blinked, her mostly neutral expression souring at seeing him, “oh, i didn’t know you were applying as well.” She said a bit stiffly.

“Luz convinced me this was the place to help refine my magic.” he said, glancing at WIllow and Gus, who both rolled their eyes and discreetly made kissy faces behind the two girls backs, “we actually need to go find Bump before the day fully begins.”

“Oh! That’s right!” Luz gasped, grabbing Harry’s arm and dragging him away, “See you guys later!”

Amity glared after the two, before stomping her foot and stalking away, willow and gus sharing a quiet chuckle at the girls obvious infatuation as they followed her inside.

Not too far behind them, Edric and Emira had watched the arrival of Luz and her new friend, as well as the subsequent interaction with their sister, “so…you think-” Edric began before Emira suddenly called out.

“Dibs!”

“Oh come on! You can’t have him, AND the Glandus grudgby captain!” he complained.

“Fine, have Kroakus.” she said flippantly, “I haven’t made a move on her yet, and she’s more your speed anyways. I like the looks of the new guy so I'm willing to take the risk.”

“I still feel like it’s unfair, but I do like Kroakus’ biceps.” Edric hummed fondly, “alright deal! Just don’t try and break this one's heart; Luz is cool and they seem like they’re close.”

“Oh relax Ed, what’s a bit of harmless fun between friends?” she said innocently as they entered Hexside.

Meanwhile Harry and Luz had reached Principal Bumps office, with Luz bursting in with a “hey princy-B!”

“Did Eda tell.you to say that?” He asked wearily.

“Maybe.’Luz chuckled while Harry rolled his eyes.

“She was very insistent.” Harry confirmed.

“I'm glad she's no longer my student.” Bump sighed, “anyways, welcome to your first day of Hexside! I'm glad you're both here.” He said genuinely as he stood up and stepped around the desk, “all that's left to do is get you sorted into your tracks.”

“Are you sure there's no way I can do more than one track?” Luz asked almost immediately.

“Sorry, but one witch. One track. Now, have you both decided? Because if not, I'll have to decide for you.”

“Too bad you don't have a sorting hat.” Harry mused.

“Well we used to have a choosy hat but that…ended badly.”

Luz and Harry shared a look before Luz sighed, “alright, I choose potions.” She declared it a bit forlornly.

“And I wanted to go to the bard track.” Harry said.

“Excellent choices.” Bump congratulated them as he made two spell circles, immediately the sleeves on their uniforms took the color or their chosen track. Red for Harry and yellow for Luz. “Here are your schedules, now there is an inspector that will be about today so please; don't channel your inner Eda's.” He begged them as he ushered them out.

Harry looked over his schedule and wasn't surprised to see it almost entirely full of bard classes, save for a few general classes that were interspersed between each block. He glanced over as Luz let out a disappointed sigh, “chin up,” Harry told her, making her look at him, “there's a lot you can do with potions: didn't Eda show you how to make Alchemist Flame?”

“Yeah, and I know you're right but…” her shoulders dropped and Harry patted her shoulder in sympathy.

“No one's stopping you from a bit of self study.” He reminded her, “and Eda did say there were ways to do it; just keep an open mind.”

“You're right.” Luz said with a small nod before perking up and smiling at him, “thanks Harry! I'm glad you decided to stick around.”

“I am too.” He admitted, jumping when something above them screamed.

“Oh! That's the bell!” Luz said peppily.

“The bloody fuck kind of bell is that!?” Harry demanded to know, making Luz laugh as they headed off to their classes, Harry splitting off from Luz after they passed her potions class.

He was one of the last to enter the bard track home room, many looked up at him in surprise as he approached the teacher, a bug-like man with two pairs of arms and a small set of pincers for a mouth.

“Ah! You must be Mr. Potter.” the man chittered as he walked up, “welcome to the bard track! I'm Professor Beat, Do you have any experience with bard magic?”

“I know my scales.” Harry said as confidently as he could as he summoned his gifted violin.

“Excellent, excellent, I'll have you pair up with Ms. Cadence for the time being; she's top of the class and will get you caught up on everything.” He turned and clapped his hands together, “Ms. Cadence! You'll be showing young Mr. Potter here the ropes!” He called to a dark skinned girl with white hair that was tied back in a ponytail. She smiled and gave the professor a nod in confirmation and waved Harry over.

“Nice to meet ya new kid, I'm Skara.” She greeted happily as she strummed the harp in her hand, tuning it as Harry took a seat.

“Harry, Harry Potter.” He greeted as he looked around the room, everyone seemed to be warming up or playing simple tunes, “so, how does this work?”

“Well typically we practice what spells we can cast on our instruments for the first block to warm up, then it's musical theory and practical application on the spells we got assigned-don't worry, it's the first day so we'll get the spells today-for the second block. And the third block is practice and our general classes.”

“Great, so should I just practice my scales?”

Skara gave him a wicked smile, “nope, because I”m supposed to get you caught up. Which means getting you to our level as fast as I can.” Her smile grew wider at Harry’s uneasy look, “which means I'm about to give you a crash course in every song a good bard should know!”

 

A few hours later.

Harry grit his teeth as he painfully went through ‘the song of strengthening’ once more, he’d played it over a dozen times by now, and it was the fourth song that Skara had taught him. He’d similarly practiced ‘the ballad of blasts’, ‘the sonnet of sleepiness’, and ‘the ditty of dancing’.

Skara was a task master, and Harry had run into a problem every musician faced;blisters, something that he was only allowed to cover with bandaids as the strings rubbed his fingers raw, even managing to split his pinky a bit as the bell rang signaling morning break.

“You can go to the healing track classroom and someone should heal those.” Skara told him sympathetically as he flexed his hand with a grimace, “Don’t worry, by the end of the week, it all turns to callous.”

“Bully for that.” Harry said dryly, making Skara chuckle as he dispelled his violin.

“You know, you’re not too bad. Enough practice and you’ll be a shoe-in for the Bard Coven.” she said as they stood up, “you might even catch the eye of one of the higher ups!”

“I didn’t even use magic while playing.” Harry pointed out.

“Duh, we’re practicing.” she snorted, “but you’re getting the songs pretty decently despite only having like what? A day of learning what scales were? I’m sure when we start practical applications you’ll do great!” she checked her watch, “I gotta go, Boscha wanted to talk grudgby before the second block, see ya in class!” she took off at a sprint and Harry just absentmindedly waved after her as he thought about her words.

In truth he had caught onto the songs fairly quickly, he’d felt a sort of calmness over take him as he’d ran through the simple songs that Skara had put in front of him. The background noise of a dozen other instruments finding harmony amongst each other had helped him focus his mind and memorize things he was certain he wouldn’t have been able to before.

Was it a part of the bardic magic? Or maybe he was just really interested in the subject and that helped him concentrate? Or maybe-

“Hiya!”

Harry jumped as he was pulled into a side hallway, his hand initially going for his wand before he paused-remembering he'd left it at the Owl House; he was distracted from drawing a spell circle by the laughing girl now facing him, her playful golden eyes freezing him in place

“Sorry, sorry,” She chuckled, patting the arm she was still holding onto, “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“I-it’s fine.” Harry muttered, feeling a blush creeping up his neck, “I-erm-Emma right? We met on the knee?”

“Close, handsome,” she beamed at him, no doubt pleased to know he’d somewhat remembered her as she leaned closer to him,, “it’s Emira, Emira Blight.”

“Right, sorry.” He muttered,trying to back up further only to encounter the wall, “Harry Potter.”

“I know,” she hummed, and Harry felt a bit uncomfortable with how her finger trailed along his chest, “I’ve been very interested in you.”

Harry cleared his throat, “I uh…needed to see the healing track.” he mumbled awkwardly, waving his injured hand, “n-not that i’m adverse to talking but-”

“Oh! Sorry,” she said, wincing sympathetically as she noticed the state of his fingers, “First day Bard huh? That’s rough, here!” She made a spell circle and Harry blinked as he felt the skin on his fingers knit back together, “good as new.”

“Amazing,” Harry declared as he rubbed his hands together, “are you in the healing track?”

“Not technically,” she said with a shrug, “but it’s not like anyone important cares-”

“-not anyone important indeed.”

Both teens jumped as they whirled around, Principal bump was standing right behind them, frowning in disapproval, “Ms. Blight, if I remember correctly, you’re in the Illusion track-though you haven’t shown up to class in some time.”

She chuckled nervously while Harry shifted a bit.

“Mixing magic is strictly forbidden young lady, you know that. This time I'll have to do something.” he made a spell circle and the blue sleeves on her uniform turned a dark gray, “it’s the detention track for the rest of the year!”

“Now hold on,’ Harry interjected before Emira could do anything but blanch, “she didn’t do anything bad! She just healed my hand.”

“The rules are very strict, Mr. Potter.” Principal Bump said pointedly, “no mixing magic, especially with the inspector-”

“-but she didn’t do anything wrong!” Harry implored, “surely detention for healing someone is a bit heavy handed! Especially for the year!”

“I understand your frustration, but I will not be bending the rules for anyone.” he said firmly, “So unless you want to join her in detention, I suggest you move along Mr. Potter.”

Harry narrowed his eyes, then drew a spell circle, shooting off a fireball that scorched the wall, “oh no, I-a bard-have summoned fire without my instrument!” he said dramatically, making Emira snort before she covered her mouth.

Bump raised an eyebrow at Harry’s theatrics, “and just when I thought you wouldn’t take after Eda.”

Harry huffed a bit in satisfaction as his red sleeves turned gray, then he remembered he was supposed to be learning new magic and cringed a bit.

“Now march on to detention.” he said, pointing down the hall, making the two teens walk ahead of him.

A few moments later they were in front of a classroom door, “two more for you Professor Greele.” he said to the purple skinned man at the front of the class, his four arms folded behind his head.

“Of course, Principal Bump.” he said with a nod of his head, pointing at the tables in front of him, “take a seat!” he ordered as Bump left.

Harry stepped in and his eyes trailing over the occupants in the room-noting with interest that one appeared to be a dog-before his eyes landed on the fourth and last person “Luz?” he asked, flabbergasted.

“Harry!” Luz cheered a bit, looking far too happy to see him in the same predicament as her. “Got snagged for detention too huh?”

“Yeah-hang on, what did you do to get put in here?” Harry asked incredulously.

“I…maybe sorta looked into a crystal ball.” Luz said sheepishly.

“I thought you were giving potions a chance?” He frowned.

“I was! I even made a decent fog brew and a thunder tincture! But…well the closet was open and the crystal balls were shiny-”she deflated a bit and Harry had to chuckle a bit in amusement

“Well, not like I can talk.I got collared for mixing magic too.” he said as he took a seat beside her, “fireball after he gave Emira here detention.”

“I healed his fingers,” Emira contributed helpfully; sliding into the seat beside Harry, her chin resting on his shoulder and making him tense a bit.

“Really? But that’s so helpful!”

“That’s what Harry said!”

“As interesting as this is.” Greele interrupted snidely, “but this is detention, stay quiet and sit down.”

 

“Come on, it’s not like we’re gonna be learning anything anyways.” Emira huffed, Harry and Luz nodding along with her.

“Is that so? Well how about this.” He drew a spell circle and mops appeared in their hands, “you three can clean this room from top to bottom! Now get to it, and no talking!”

The three teens sulked as they began mopping. Harry ruefully scrubbed at a few spots on the floor, typical Potter luck, he griped to himself, a block of education then thrown into detention because I couldn’t keep my temper in check.

“Hey.”

Harry jumped a bit, looking at a quietly giggling Emira who’d swabbed her way over to him, Luz discreetly edging closer to them to try and pick up whatever conversation Emira was trying to start.

“Erm, hey.” he greeted, glancing at the teacher and surprised to find them asleep.

“Thanks for sticking up for me.” she said, nudging him good naturedly, “though you know you didn’t have to get thrown into detention with me, right?”

“I was honestly just thinking that myself.” he admitted, and she giggled softly,brushing her hip against his and making him blush a bit; “um…bit of a rough break to get detention for a full year, isn’t it?”

“Bump usually returns kids to their tracks if they keep their noses clean for a few weeks.” she hummed, glancing over to Luz as she let out a sigh of relief, “he’s gotta pretend to be all tough on us. But he’s kind of a softie.”

“Isn’t that the truth.” a new voice said, both Luz and Harry jumped and were quickly hushed by Emira and a brown haired girl with a hook in her ears, “follow me,” she whispered to them, motioning them over to the blackboard; she quickly drew a lock and Luz gasped as she tapped the center and a square section of the wall swung out. They all quickly climbed inside.

“What is this place?” Luz gasped as they stepped into a hallway.

“It’s the last place you’ll ever see.”

Harry tensed but Emira rolled her eyes, “come on Viney, these guys are twitchy.” she teased.

The now named Viney laughed, “sorry, i like my jokes.” she said, nudging Luz good naturedly and looking at Harry inquisitively, “this your new boytoy or somethin’ Emira?”

“What?” Harry blurted while Emira just smirked.

“Wow, you work fast, Harry.” Luz said.

“I-we’re not-I don’t-” Harry spluttered, going mute with shock when Emira just looped her arm with his.

“Yeah, yeah, figure it out here in a second-welcome to the room of shortcuts!” she exclaimed as they stepped into a large chamber, Harry and Luz gaped at the multitude of different shaped doors that covered the floors, walls and ceilings.

“Jerbo! Barcus! Come on out guys!” Viney called out.

“How do we know they’re cool man? How do we know they won’t rat on us?” a thin boy with fluffy brown hair called from a second floor railing, looking down at them alongside the dog-boy Harry had noted earlier. The canine barked a few times and the boy beside him relaxed. “Barcus said your aura is innocent and soft, like a kitten.” he said to Luz.

“Aw, shucks.” Luz gushed.

“And he said you-” he looked at Harry, “have problems.”

“I’ve noticed.” Harry said dryly, glancing at Emira who was still hugging his arm.

“So, what is this place?” Luz asked.

“It’s a sort of in between place,” Viney said, “in between a lot of places in the school at least.”

Harry peaked through a door, surprised to see the plant track homeroom where he could hear WIllow worrying about Luz, he closed the door as he realized the implications of the room, “you can go anywhere in the school,” he realized in awe.

“Yep!” Jerbo confirmed, “I found this place months ago when I first got thrown into detention for mixing Abomination magic with plant magic, when Barcus and Viney were thrown in for their own magic mixing I showed them as well.”

“It’s a pranksters paradise.” Luz whistled.

“And that’s what I've been using it for.” Emira chuckled, “well, between looking into the healing track classes.”

“That’s how you were able to heal me, despite being an illusionist.” Harry realized,

“Yeah, me and Ed aren’t big on being restricted.’ she said with a shrug, “when Jerbo told us about this place we were excited to use this place to its fullest.”

“And of course, we give homage to the person who made this place.” Viney said, leading them over to a heavily graffitied portrait, “Lord Calamity!”

“So, everyone in detention right now is here for mixing magic?” Harry asked, looking between the other three.

“Yeah, like I said, I mixed abomination with plant magic; it worked too! The abomination was stable!” he deflated, “but I missed a seed and it made the whole thing go haywire.”

“I was mixing Beast Keeping and healing.” Viney said with a proud grin, “I know some people are uncomfortable with animals, but Puddles was a great assistant! He even gave my patients lolipops! Just because he got a bit excited while I was showcasing-” She trailed off as she grumbled angrily.

Barcus barked for a bit and Jerbo translated for him, “Barcus mixed potions with oracle magic; it worked a little too well and showed the teacher her death.”

“Bad luck mate.” Harry said, looking at them, “it’s such a weird concept to me; back at my old school we were practically required to mix magic.”

“You were?” Jerbo asked in awe.

“Yeah, hold-on…” he went into his satchel, rummaging about the refuse at the bottom before finally pulling out his old schedule and handing it over to Jerbo,“see? I had Care of Magical Creatures, Potions, Transfigurations, Charms, you name it. Hell, Defense Against the Dark Arts is basically taking spells from the other courses and using them against dark creatures and wizards.”

Jerbo held it between his friends, and even Emira glanced at it.

“This is proof that multi-tracking works!” Jerbo cried, waving the schedule like it was a golden ticket, “that the system is flawed!”

“Oh boy, here he goes.” Viney joked, Barcus groaning as he rolled his eyes.

“Poke fun all you want! We all know this ‘one witch one coven’ system is total bullshit!” he said passionately, “why should a witch limit themselves to one magic when mixing magic is so effective!”

“I agree,” Harry said, having already heard something similar from Eda. “magic is supposed to be wondrous and multi-faceted. Restricting it so rigidly promotes stagnation I think..”

“And the blind devotion to the system leads to an easily manipulative populace!” Jerbo cried, sounding overjoyed to meet a seemingly like-minded individual.

Harry thought of the minister and he nodded in agreement, “especially when that system is quick to exploit its power.and influence it to the detriment of its people.”

“Finally! A like-minded activist!” Jerbo cheered, clasping hands with a surprised Harry.

“Why not?” Harry said, glancing at Viney as she started clapping.

“Damn Blight, your new guy can speak Jerbo,” She laughed, “quite the catch.”

“Isn’t he?” Emira preened.

“I don’t remember ever agreeing to that.” Harry pointed out and Emira pouted at him.

“Are you telling me you wouldn’t like to get to know me better?” she asked innocently. Leaning into his side and making him blush once more.

“I-well that’s not exactly-” Harry hesitated, glancing at the audience who were more than happy to watch him flounder, “Luz, want to help me out here?”

“I’m pretty sure he’s single, and he keeps not so subtly trying to check you out.” Luz said to Emira, who shot her a thumbs up while Harry groaned.

“As much as I'd love to watch you tease this poor boy into a stupor,” Viney began, “we are losing some prime studying time in the other tracks so-”

“-oooh, can you show me the beast keeping track?” Luz asked excitedly, tagging along with Viney as she lead her to a a door that looked like a stable.

Barcus huffed and barked and began moving towards a different door, “Barcus is going to peak in on the Potions class,” Jerbo translated, “and I need to brush up on my abomination work so I’ll see you guys later.”

Emira smiled in amusement at the blatant move to let her and Harry have a bit of privacy, “so,” she began, finally letting go of his arm and turning to face him fully, “just so I'm clear; you’re trying to give reasons to not hang out with the cute witch who wants a bit of your time.”

Harry flushed, "I'm not exactly sticking around for long.” he revealed, “i don’t think i’ll even be here for three months.”

“And who says I want ‘long’?” Emira shot back, smirking at his surprise, “what were you expecting,love at first sight? I liked what I saw on the knee, and I liked what I saw this morning. I’m not exactly asking for your hand in marriage.”

Harry blinked, “well then, I…well, I don't think I've ever had an actual girlfriend before.” he confessed.

“Perfect, because I've never had an actual boyfriend before,” She took a step forward and placed a hand on his chest, “I just want to have fun, bit of making out, maybe some cutesy stuff like a date or two, but I'm not expecting a cottage in the woods or somethin’.” she grinned as she quickly leaned up and kissed his cheek, making him turn a deeper red than before, “so what do ya say cutie?”

“I-I guess it couldn’t hurt.” Harry stammered, and she giggled and pecked his cheek again. “Bloody hell.”

“Hey, are you two done being sickeningly cute over there!” Viney called, Luz giggling beside her, “healing 101 is about to start Emira, if you want to peek in.”

“Be over in a second.” she called, “Don’t miss me,” she said with a wink before walking away from Harry. Luz walked over with a low whistle.

“You really do work fast,” she chirped, nudging Harry and making him blink.

“What just happened?” he whispered, mostly to himself.

“I think Emira just made you her boyfriend? I don’t know, I wasn’t really paying attention, but I saw that kiss, big guy.” she heckled and Harry slowly reached up to touch his cheek.

“I’m…I don’t…” he sighed, deflating a bit, “I should just get used to this, shouldn’t I? What’s the harm in a summer romance?”

“If teen movies are to be believed: heartbreak.” Luz said seriously, “but that’s like, a right of passage so…” she trailed off and shrugged, and Harry groaned, “how about you go peek in on the Bard track for a bit, think on it.”

Harry nodded a bit, “you gonna go look at potions?” he asked, smirking when Luz shook her head cheerfully.

“I’m going to go look at the Illusion track, I think I can figure out a way to do small illusions with the light spell if I knew more of the theory, I can talk about it with Gus after classes!” She walked away and Harry took a deep breath to center himself before heading off to find the Bard home room; he cringed when he saw how angry Skara and Professor Beat looked. But he dutifully listened to the class play through a song meant to motivate all those who heard it, and while he couldn’t see the sheet music; he was able to follow along for the most part and could even get the magic to spark from his fingers and make those in the room perk up a bit.

“Good job Harry!” Jerbo cheered, “Really the pick me up I needed before the lunch break.”

“I got sandwiches.” Viney said, making a spell circle and catching the bag that fell out of it. ”‘Spider-steak and cheese!”

Barcus made a spell circle and produced a six pack of kid friendly apple blood.

“You guys are awesome.” Luz declared as she happily accepted the sandwich Viney held out to her.

“Truly the Magic Mixers are a generous people.” Harry said dryly, holding his apple blood up in a salute to Barcus as he sat down by the dog-boy, a sandwich in the other hand, “cheers, mate.”

“We're a tight knit group.” Jerbo said, placing a bag of potato chips down for everyone to share out of. “And we take care of our own, and that's you guys now.”

“Yeah! After we eat, you guys can add your names to the wall of troublemakers!” Viney cheered, gesturing to a wall next to the vandalized portrait of ‘lord calamity’, which was likewise covered in graffiti.

“I would be honored.” Luz said seriously as she settled down beside Emira, who had taken the spot beside Harry. Jerbo was on Barcus’ other side, and Viney had opted to stay standing; leaning against the wall while eating her food.

“Yeah, it'd be great to leave a reminder I was here once I go back to my old school.” Harry agreed.

“What's it like at that other school?” Jerbo asked, “is it hard learning so many different tracks?”

“It's a lot of work for sure,” Harry said as he finished his sandwich and took a few chips, “and the homework can be a bit much; but at the end of the day you're learning magic. Even the purebloods have fun seeing some of the things we can't do yet.”

“Pureblood?” Viney questioned, frowning a bit.

“Yeah, bit of an arbitrary thing really; see society labels everyone by their birth parents.” Harry began to explain, frowning like he had when he'd learned of all of this in his second year, “if you're born from two magical parents who can trace their magic back a few generations are known as pure bloods;Then you have the muggleborns which are wizards who were born to non-magical lines-on earth there's not many who have magic, so it's a bit of a big deal when this happens-and then we have the half-bloods, who are the ones born to a pureblooded wizard and a muggle or a muggleborn-Which is where I'd fall. in the grand scheme it only matters to a small group of people; but those people are in charge for the most part so…”

“That's so odd.” Emira spoke up, “I mean it sounds like a recipe for violence.”

“It is.” Harry said bluntly. “There's a reason I felt like the boiling Isles are safer than where I was.” He shook his head, “I'd rather not talk about it, it's not a pleasant topic.”

“Understood.’ Emira said, glancing back at Viney, easily intertwining her hand with Harry's as she said “So guess who Edric is skipping school to go see today?”

“Croakus?” Viney guessed, her worried frown replaced with a vindicated grin.

“Who else?” Emira laughed, “as soon as I expressed my desire in this strapping young lad here.” She threw a lecherous grin at Harry, which turned into a pleased smile when she found him thoroughly flustered and distracted from whatever had caused his mood to take a dive.

Then the room trembled.

“Does the titan experience earthquakes? Titanquakes?” Harry wondered, then another-more violent rumble hit them and Jerbo had to steady Barcus. Harry was quick to his feet as he helped Emira to hers.

“should we go back to the detention classroom?” viney wondered as she helped Luz up.

“Maybe we should go straight for the hall in case professor Greele is awake?” Jerbo suggested, 'that way we can claim we ran out at the first tremor.’

“Right, which door takes us to the hallway?” Harry asked, unconsciously moving in front of both Emira and Luz as the room shook again, his hand once again unconsciously going for his missing wand.

“This way,” Jerbo said, heading over to a fairly regular looking door, he opened it and froze as they came face to face with a giant snake-like monster as it drained the magic from a gaggle of Hexside Students that had been running in fear., “Maybe not this way.”

The monster roared as it went charging for them, Luz was faster as she pulled her Ice glyph and created a giant wall between them and the beast, who smashed into the ice painfully and screeched in pain and confusion as Jerbo slammed the door shut.

“What the heck was that!” Luz exclaimed as the door shuddered but held.

“That looked like a greater basilisk!” Viney said a bit shakily, “my cousin from St. Epiderm said she saw one-but they’re supposed to be extinct!”

“Haven’t heard that before.” Harry muttered, “but I’m pretty sure Basilisks don’t have arms.”

“What basilisks do you know about?” Viney asked.

“The kind that kills with a direct stare,” he said darkly.

“Terrifying,” she deadpanned, “but these ones eat magic, if we’re not careful-”

“-we should get out of the school.” Jerbo said hurriedly, “flag down someone from the Emperor's Coven-I hate to say it but they’re better equipped to handle this.”

“We can’t just leave that thing to run ramshod over the school.” Harry said plainly. “Who knows how many it’s already drained!”

“Come on Harry, we’re just detention track, we can’t-” Viney began.

“-what happened to Magic Mixers huh?” Luz challenged, “come on! We have friends who are probably in trouble right now! Emira! Your brother and sister!”

 

“Ed should be safe,” Emira said, “but Amity was supposed to be in the showcase for that stupid inspector, Luz is right, I can’t leave her.”

“And I'm not leaving them, or anyone else.” Harry said firmly, looking at Jerbo, “you wanted to show this system is broken? Now's your chance mate.”

Jerbo hesitated, then he seemed to perk up, “alright.” He said, sharing an affirmative glance with Viney and Barcus. “We magic Mixers stick together! So if you guys are fighting that thing then we are too! For the cause!”

“For the cause!” They all cheered before putting their heads together, “alright, so here’s the plan-”

WVWVWVW

Willow glanced around the desk she and Gus were hiding behind, they’d barely been able to dodge into an opened classroom after watching the basilisk drain professor Beat of his magic alongside the rest of his class. “Such delicious morsels!” the monstrous demon shrieked as it sniffed about for its next meal.

“We can’t fight it, our magic will get drained!” Willow whispered.

“Maybe if I sacrifice an illusion?” Gus mumbled doubtfully.

“I can smell you!” shrieked the monster, making both cower as her eye peered into the room.

Only for her vision to be cut off as a thick sheet of Ice suddenly covered the doorway.

“Back off my friends, freak-o!” Luz shouted as she and Viney flew over the Basilisk on her Griffin Puddles, both of them bombarding the beast with blasts of lightning.

“What kind of magic is this!?” the basilisk snarled as it tried and failed to eat the bolts that sent painful shocks throughout her body.

“Now!” Luz shouted as the basilisk reared up; underneath her, two large abominations made of soil and plant matter suddenly burst to life underneath the basilisk, roughly manhandling her towards a now open door in the side of the hallway, Barcus and Emira were holding them wide open, Barcus manning the doors by the hallway while Emira had similarly large doors open leading to the paranormatorium.

“Foolish morsels!” she goaded them as she turned her head down to eat the magic of the abominations, but Harry was waiting for her to do exactly that as Emira's invisibility spell dispelled to reveal him right behind the abominations, violin at the ready;with a powerful chord, magic pulsed out and activated the wind glyphs they’d hidden inside Jerbo’s abominations; sending the basilisk careening towards the open doors; shooting through and down into the paranoratorium.

A few moments later a giant Ice block fell down after her, crushing her and forcing her to throw up the magic she’d stolen.

“Restrain her!” Harry ordered as he and Jerbo slid down into the Paranoratorium. Jerbo’s Soil abominations reformed into bands that quickly went around the Basilisk’s mouth as Harry traced a familiar figure in the air.

“Petrificus totalus!” he shouted, the spell hitting the basilisk and forcing her to go rigid.

“Nice shot Harry!” Luz cheered from the room of shortcuts, “we did it!”

“Hell yeah! Magic Mixers!” Viney whooped, high fiving Emira.

“Barcus! Your clairvoyance potion was perfect!’ Harry praised the dog, “brilliant mate, brilliant!”

“And look at you Mr. Bard!” Jerbo heckled, “you managed the ballad of motivation and that activation chord!”

“Wouldn't have been able to without Emira's Illusions.” Harry said looking up at who he supposed was his girlfriend now. “smashing performance.” He said, tipping an invisible hat.

“We Blights never skimp.” Emira preened as she lounged against the edge of the door.

‘WHAT IS GOING ON HERE.”

The celebrating teens froze as they looked to a newly revived Principal Bump, who was looking between the captured basilisk and the now revealed secret room of short cuts, a little ways behind him, Amity was gathering herself.

“Mixing magic, ditching detention-and you have a secret room of shortcuts!?” he ranted, “I oughta expel every last one of you!”

“Even after we stopped the basilisk?” Harry challenged, “we did that by mixing magic!”

“Yeah! The school would be done for if it weren’t for us!” Jerbo agreed.

“And we wouldn’t have been able to do it without this room,” Viney pointed out, smirking as Luz seemed to pump herself up.

“Think about it Principal Bump: why would students NEED a secret room of shortcuts?” she asked, “they’ve been using it to continue their education! And because of that they saved the school!”

“But the Emperors Coven-” he started.

“That Basilisk got in here pretending to be a part of them.” Amity pointed out, and Barcus let out a low howl.

“Very wise Barcus-okay, I know when to give in to the student body-something my predecessor never learned.” he clapped his hands, “thanks to your stalwart defense of the school I shall allow-on a provisional basis-the creation of a multitrack option here at Hexside, those here will be allowed to choose the tracks they wish to join.” He looked at them expectantly and Jerbo immediately jumped for it.

“Plant and Abomination!” he said and did a small, excited dance when his sleeves turned green and lavender.

“Healing and Beast keeping!” Viney called from where she was, and pumped her fist when her sleeves turned dark blue and orange.

Barcus barked a few times and stood a bit straighter when his sleeves turned a dark purple and yellow.

Emira hesitated, then perked up a bit, “healing and Illusions.” she decided, beaming at the light and dark blue combo.

Harry paused as he hesitantly took out his Hogwarts schedule, “Bard, Illusions, Beast keeping,Potions, Construction and Oracle.” he decided, putting the list away as his sleeves became the most colorful so far; he was reasonably sure professor Flitwick would love the Illusions, and Construction sounded as close to transfiguration as he was going to get.

“Aw, wanted to spend some more time with me?” Emira giggled, beaming at Luz when the girl was approved for all of the tracks.

“If you show up to class that is.” Harry quipped, helping Luz and Viney down into the paranoratorium, his eyes widened and he barely had time to step back so he could catch Emira-who’d chosen to jump from the now closed shortcut door. Her arms hooked around his neck as she kissed the corner of his lips, “you falling for me, Blight?” Harry blurted, and cringed a bit at the laughter that rippled through his friends.

“My hero!” Emira swooned before getting her feet back under her, though she stayed in Harry's arms, “you Owl Kids sure know how to make a statement,” she whispered into his ear, making him smile a bit.

“I'll allow you all to continue using that room.” Bump began, ‘so long as it's strictly for studying. No pranks.”

“We can live with that.” Viney said as Jerbo and Barcus nodded.

“speak for yourself.” Emira mumbled under her breath.

Bump sighed, then smiled at them, “you know, you aren't the first to use that room to study multiple tracks.” He confided in them as he summoned the graffiti covered portrait of ‘lord calamity.’ With a spell circle the graffiti was cleaned, revealing a young, fiery haired Eda. Posing triumphantly.

“Heh, I should have guessed.” Luz chuckled.

“We really should have.” Harry agreed as the doors burst open and the student body began flooding in, Willow and Gus at their head; many were expressing confusion over what happened, while others-whod been in the hallway when the magic Mixers had started their plan-were cheering for them.

“Luz! Harry!” Willow exclaimed as they came to a stop by their friends, skara right behind them, “that was amazing! At least from what we could see through that ice you guys saved us with.”

“That took a bit to get out of by the way.” Gus added, “but still, cool!”

“And I saw you Harry!” Skara said excitedly, “you used bard magic to do that wind attack! It was almost impressive enough to forgive you for getting thrown in detention!”

“It wasn't like I was asking to go to detention.” Harry defended himself, then paused, “hmm, actually that's almost exactly what it was like.”

Skara grinned, then her smile fell as she noticed his sleeves, “you're not going to be a full bard track member?” She asked, sounding disappointed.

“Professor Bump gave us the option.” He said, “and I'm only staying a semester, so I might as well work on the courses that are most like the ones at home-but don't worry, I'm going to be practicing Bard magic whenever I can; dead useful today, if we hadn't of had the ballad of motivation we might not have been able to pull off this scheme.”

“You were listening in on the class!’ Skara cheered, punching his arm, “you're officially forgiven!”

“Yippee.” Harry said dryly and Emira nudged him good-naturedly.

“And what's going on here?” Skara asked playfully, seeing the way Harry had his arms around Emira.

“Fun.” Harry said with a shrug and Emira laughed, which Skara joined in on while Luz and her friends approached.

“Bumps called the rest of the day.” Willow said as she and Skara seemed to share a look that Harry couldn't decipher but neither commented on it as Willow continued, “so we were thinking of going to the market.”

“I could go for a Not Dog after all of that.” Viney chimed in as the Magic Mixers approached.

“I was gonna invite you guys to town anyways.” Skara interjected as a goat-like boy approached, “a few of the other Bard students like to perform in public-helps with the nerves and could get us sponsors-and we typically practice around the market so.”

“Do I have to?” Harry asked, making a face.

“What's the matter? Scared of a crowd?” Emira teased as they all started moving towards the doors.

“Definitley not, I just started learning though.”

“Practice makes perfect.” Gus pointed out, looking at Willow a bit worriedly, but if the girl had any misgivings then she didn't show it.

“Exactly!” Luz cheered, “Besides, this means I can pick some things up before classes tomorrow!”

“I really should just roll with the punches while I'm here, shouldn't I?” Harry wondered to himself out loud, glancing down when Emira nudged his side again.

“You really should.” She said, semi-seriously as she slipped from his grasp, “now why don't you get started on your homework and play us a tune on the way!”

“As your senior in class I second this motion!” Skara declared.

“And as your friend I third it.” Luz laughed to the cheering of Willow and Gus.

Harry let out a long suffering sigh as he summoned his violin, his smile giving away his faux reluctance, “alright, one for the road.” He acquiesced to the cheers of the group.

He lost count of the songs he played.

Chapter 5: a day at the carnival

Summary:

Harry enjoys his time in another universe

Harry woke up to Hedwig tapping his forehead, letting out a loud hoot and screech combo that had him sitting up blearily.

“I’m up girl,” he mumbled, running a hand over her head and quieting her as he climbed out of bed and got ready for the day. Making sure his homework was in his bag before heading to the bathroom to freshen up, glancing up at the mirror as he did so; His hair was a lot longer than it had been at the beginning of the summer-at some point Emira had tied it back with a red ribbon that he now used every morning to keep it out of his eyes; his skin was tanned darker than he’d ever been in his life, a byproduct of living on such a hot and humid island. He’d also put on weight; the days of consistent eating, playing, and training allowed him to keep the weight he’d gained over the year and add some on.

All in all, it seemed his short time in the Boiling Isles agreed with him.

He went downstairs a few moments later to start breakfast; meeting Eda in the kitchen as he usually did in the morning.

“How’s it goin’ kiddo?” she asked with a yawn as she drank her morning cup of apple blood and watched the snacon cook while Harry prepped the griffin eggs, “how’d you sleep?”

“Good,” Harry said, “that dreamless sleep potion is great, though I’m still having trouble waking up in the mornings.”

 

“Eh, it takes some time to get the dosage right.” Eda said dismissively, “don’t worry about it. What’s up at school today?”

“Bard for the first block, then it’s Illusions and Potions come the second. And I round it out with Construction and Beast Keeping in the third block.” he said, passing her the now thoroughly beaten griffin eggs so she could pour it on top of the bacon.

“Will you be playing in the market after school again?” she asked.

“Yeah, Skara says it’s good practice-and we all make a decent bit from passersby tossing coins in our cases.” he said, “and I wanted to get a bit more for a scroll.”

“Oh-hoho, and I'm sure you have a reason for wanting a scroll?” she asked, a teasing lilt to her voice.

“Not one that I'll be telling you.” Harry quipped. Putting an oven mitt on as the timer on the counter dinged so he could pull the biscuits out.

“I already know you’re going out with one of the baby Blight’s.” she said blandly, making Harry blush, “it’s one of the first things Luz told me when you got back from your first day, right before the magic mixing course-which I’m still proud of both of you for by the way.” she added, grinning at Harry; "I'll be teaching you both how to pick locks to celebrate.”

“I already know how to pick locks,” he said, “the Weasley Twins showed me after my second year.”

“Huh…then I’ll teach you document forging!” she cheered, “anyways; I get it, you want a more direct way to contact the Blight girl, how much more do you need?”

“Not much,” he admitted, “two weeks of working the market after school has me close, maybe another twenty snails.”

“Here’s seventy.” she said, tossing him a bag, “from this weekend's earnings at the stand. Luz is getting hers today as well.”

“Brilliant.” he said with a grin as he looked through the bag, “i could take Emira somewhere-” he paused, thinking about how decidedly normal all of this felt. He'd only been here about two weeks and it seemed like he'd settled in without a problem. he traded potion delivery with Luz every morning, school took up the majority of the day before he would split his evening playing in the market, helping Eda at her stand, and training in way of bathing Hooty (it took a surprising amount of strength and dexterity to both catch the crazy house demon, and to hold him down for cleaning) and practicing the spells he learned. He even had friends (though that Boscha girl in potions seemed a bit sour at having been partnered with him;she lightened up when he was passable at prepping ingredients, but she still only seemed to begrudgingly tolerate him) things seemed impossibly great. He was even doing good in his classes! He was good enough with his violin to keep up with his classmates, his Illusions still needed work-he had trouble keeping his constructs stable-but his construction magic was second to none, and he was even doing better at Oracle magic than he thought he would, (Professor Gol had been appalled when he’d told them about Professor Trelawny and their lackluster class. And had resolved to send the wayward teacher a ‘care package’.) by all means he was thriving and adjusting wonderfully to life in another realm.

So why…

“What’s up kid?” she asked as she began sectioning out the omelets she’d made, “trouble in paradise already?”

“Not really,” he mused, “it’s just…well, I'm always waiting for the other boot to drop.”

Eda nodded, “I know how that goes,” she commiserated, “Just remember; enjoy it while it lasts, life's too short to be worrying about the other boot.”

Harry nodded, “thanks Eda,” he said, digging into his Omelet as Luz and King came in, narrating the ‘Luz and King Comedy Hour’. “Really? In front of my eggs?” Harry complained.

“Oh come on Harry,” Luz heckled, “Rye can’t we be friends?”

“Ha! Bread puns! It’s the yeast we can do!” King laughed.

“Ugh, come on! Hurry up and eat so I don’t have to listen to this anymore.” Eda complained, sliding Luz’s cut to her. The teen quickly pocketed it with a happy grin.

“Oh no, it sounds like we’re toast.” King giggled.

“I’m Bread-y for the end!” Luz cried dramatically as she ate her breakfast.

Harry sighed, shaking his head, “I don’t know about a comedy hour,” Harry said a bit mildly, “we do have school after all.”

“Boo, do you have to go?” King asked, looking pleadingly at Luz.

“Sorry King, but I only have about a month left in this place,” she said regretfully, “but I promise as soon as i get home we can pun the night away!”

“So I’ll be staying out at the market longer than I wanted.” Harry said dryly as Hooty suddenly shot into the room.

“Luz! Harry! Time to-” He started hacking until he barfed up a stack of books down between the two disgusted teens, “-fill up those heads with delicious knowledge!” he quickly collected both teens and started taking them towards the open door while they hastily collected their books.

“Uh okay! See you guys this evening!” Luz called as they went.

“I can walk, ya bloody bird-tube!” Harry griped, jumping a bit to get ahead of Hooty, “Merlin, you don’t have to carry us!”

“I just like being close to my friends!” Hooty said happily as Luz gave his head a pat.

“Thank you hooty.” Luz said sincerely as she and Harry headed down the path, “so, did Eda give you your cut too?” she asked with a grin.

“Yeah, I have enough to get a scroll now, what about you?”

“I’m torn on getting a scroll or going for those flying shoes.” Luz admitted, “that or just getting more snacks; me and King go through them so fast!”

“Well, farbeit for me to tell you what to do with your money.” Harry said, "I just want to be able to contact Emira-which I was hoping to keep secret.” he said testily, glaring at Luz who whistled innocently.

“Oh come on! You two getting together was like, the second most interesting thing that day!” she exclaimed, “besides, you didn’t say to keep it a secret so I'm off the hook!”

“You’re most certainly not off the hook!” Harry objected, pausing as he noticed a pair of crow phones flapping towards them, “just you wait, i’ll get my revenge.”

“Oh I’m so scared,” Luz mocked him, likewise pausing as the crowphones swooped down, both relaying what sounded like a recording of a harried Principal Bump.

“Greetings Hexside Student! Today's classes have been canceled on account of a Pixie infestation invading our general studies wing. Classes will resume tomorrow as soon as we’ve put down the uprising-HERMUNCULUS ON YOUR RIGHT! Anyways, enjoy your impromptu day off!” The crows coughed a bit before taking off once more, no doubt to tell more students.

“Well, that’s fortunate.” Luz chirped, “I guess me and King can have our comedy hour after all!” she turned back towards the Owl House, “you coming Harry?”

“Nah, I’m gonna go get that Scroll,” he said, “maybe play some in the market before going to find Emira.”

“Aw, well tell Emira I said hi!” she said, jogging back to the Owl House while Harry continued on-pausing for a few moments to greet Gus and Willow-who were heading to the Owl House-before he was entering town.

It didn’t take him long to find the store that sold Scrolls, and he managed to get one at a bargain since it’d been an older used model, he fiddled with it for a bit, making an account under Gryffindor23 and following Emira on Penstagram before settling on the corner of the market, not too far from where they were setting up what looked to be a carnival.

Skara had told him that practicing in public was a great way to get over nerves and to practice songs for a live audience. It also had the added bonus of showing off for local bards who might be willing to sponsor their eventual applications to the bard coven. Skara herself already had a few sponsors, to include her own father who’d likewise sponsored a few others in their class.

Harry hadn’t picked up a sponsor yet, not wanting to get into anything permanent in a place he wasn’t staying but for a few months, Still; playing in public got him good money and the week of extra practice had given him several songs he could play from memory that were crowd favorites. He’d also practiced a few songs from the human realm that he was sure he could get to produce magic if he could just get them down. He played for about half an hour alone before a few others from the bard tracks joined him; Capra,a goat biped demon and a second year who played the pan flute, and a third year boy named Quen from St Epiderm, who could summon a floating keyboard; they’d become acquainted just a few days before when he’d joined a seven man ensemble in a park a few streets over about three days ago. They played to their hearts content for another hour until a familiar voice called out to him.

“Harry!” The cheerful cry came at the end of a particularly inspired bit of freestyling the three had fallen into, and Harry only had a moment to dispel his instrument before he was catching Emira in his arms, smiling against her lips as his friends laughed. He noticed Ed and Croakus a little off to the sides-Ed was laughing but Croakus looked a bit…jealous? The frog-like girl with admittedly pretty eyes, long black hair and muscles that would’ve made Oliver Wood Jealous; she seemed to be staring at Ed a bit intensely before she suddenly took his hand and dragged him into the carnival. With Ed simply giving a cheerful wave goodbye as he was taken away.

“How do we get a tip like that?” Capra joked, bowing to the crowd as they tossed snails in the hat that Quen had brought.

“We must be doing something wrong if the first year’s getting it.” Quen quipped as he leaned back against the wall, running a hand over his long claw-like locks that were held back by a red bandana-since his hat was otherwise occupied.

“Sorry boys, it’s only for him.” she teased as she kissed Harry’s cheek before taking a step back, letting Harry see her full vest-suit ensemble, "I followed you back on Pensta but you didn’t respond to my message!” she exclaimed, puffing her cheeks out in faux annoyance.

“Sorry, we were entertaining.” Harry said with a grin.

“Doing a right good job of it too until you attacked our violinist.’ Quen said wryly, “anyway we can convince you to let us have him for a few more songs before you whisk him away to an afternoon of debauchery.”

“I don’t know, Debauchery is pretty fun.” she hummed, then laughed, “sure! I’ll even provide some extra visuals.”

 

“Woman after my own heart.” Capra faked swooning as he began to play a tune on his pan flute. Harry soon caught on to the melody and joined in alongside Quen. Emira contributed her illusion magic to create various pulsating lights and fireworks that went off in time with the music; she even created illusions of animals playfully pouncing about the crowd to the music.

Soon though, the songs came to an end and Harry was taking his share of the proceedings-as well as a cut for Emira-and waving good-bye to his friends, who’d teasingly sent him off with a few more heckles.

“So, how was your weekend?” Emira asked as they walked into the carnival together, Emira leaning into his side as she intertwined their hands, “I missed you.”

“Eda had us working a bit overtime with the human treasures stand.” Harry said in a way of apology, “It gave me enough money for the scroll.”

“Which you still haven’t looked at by the way,” she huffed, smirking at him when he raised an eyebrow, “didn’t even check my message.” she said with a fake tremble in her lip, her eyes glossing over a bit like she was about to cry.

Harry was used to this by now, “would you feel better if I looked at it?” he asked faux-seriously.

“Absolutely!” she beamed and Harry rolled his eyes fondly a bit as he summoned the scroll and looked at it, going to the notifications and opening up a message from stunningillusionist34

He blushed at the picture Emira had sent of her in a tank top, posing in front of the mirror, leaning forward a bit as she flashed the camera a peace sign.

“You need a good screen saver “ she teased him as she kissed his cheek, “now, as my boyfriend I command you to win me something fluffy!”

Harry smirked as he put away the scroll, “your wish is my command, Ms. Blight.”

WVWVW

By the time they'd had their fill of walking through the carnival Emira had become the proud owner of three stuffed animals, with only a griffin being recognizable. Harry had won them in between Emira causing light mischief at whatever stand they so happened to be at, a turned around sign here, a ‘kick me’ sign on a vendor's back there; juvenile things that had Harry chuckling a bit when they'd inevitably work. He had to physically carry her a few times when her antics had the stall owners chasing them off, but none were angry enough to truly chase them out of the carnival; so they’d inevitably move on to another stall for the process to repeat. They’d run into Ed and Kroakus-who looked annoyed with Ed’s attempts at mischief and pulled him away any time he and Emira tried to tag team.

“what even is that?" Harry asked, looking at the third and final stuffie that he'd won for his girlfriend: who was happily hugging it to her chest alongside her other prizes. “it looks like a sad cow mixed with a frog.”

“it's beautiful!” she declared, leaning into his side, “thank you for winning them.” she said with a genuine smile.

“Of course.’ Harry said, returning her smile, “you wanted them, for whatever strange reason; how could I not try?”

She hummed, looking down at the toys. “what do you want to do now?” she asked as they left the carnival, giving Capra and Quen a wave as they walked out.

“I've gotten what I wanted today.” He said, waggling his eyebrows at her and making her laugh.

“meandering around with your girlfriend and winning her prizes was what you wanted to do today?” she asked.

“more the first than the second.” He admitted, putting an arm around her waist and making her giggle as she dispelled her stuffies away and suddenly pushed Harry into an empty alleyway, being pulled along by his embrace as she pushed him against the wall.

“And is meandering the only thing you want to do with me?” she practically purred, as she leaned up and gave him a peck on the lips, which he quickly deepened into a full kiss; her arms went around his neck and he barely found the strength to pull back a bit.

“Definitely not.” He said dryly, capturing her lips again as her hand trailed into his hair.

“HEY YOU TWO.”

Harry and Emira jumped away from each other, expecting a coven scout or shop keep, only to realize they weren't the ones being yelled at; they peered around the corner and saw a clown cop stalking towards Capra and Quen, the two older teens looking surprised as the man waggled a Billy club at them.

“You two got a permit to be playing music here?” He demanded to know.

“We don't need a permit to play in the market.” Capra said nervously.

“That's market rules; the carnivals in town now.”

“We're not even in the carnival.” Quen objected, his fingers tapping his keys a bit anxiously. “We're barely in sight of the entrance.”

“You're close enough.” He sneered, thumping the Billy club into his open palm. “Now, you're both coming with me.”

“Oi chucko!”

The clown turned around in time for a blast of sound magic to slam into his chest, sending him tumbling back towards the carnival entrance while a flock of illusory birds swarmed around him, he tried to swat at them but ended up stumbling over into a barrel of what looked to be sentient pickles.

“Book it!” Harry called to Capra and Quen, who immediately took off down an adjacent street while Emira and Harry took off down another.

“Get back here you lousy bard!” The clown snarled as he ran through the illusions and after the couple, sharp toothed pickles gnawing on his arms and chest as he went.

Only to eat a flaming grudgby ball to the face, his fall stopped only by a pulse of bard magic from the delicate notes of a harp that had him pirouette fast before lunging directly into a nearby wall.

“Keep going!” The familiar voice of Skara called as she and Boscha disappeared into an alley while the clown was picking himself up off the ground.

Emira spun a spell circle and the two disappeared In a poof of blue smoke. Emira guided Harry through the crowd and the streets until they finally reappeared just on the outskirts of the city.

“That was wild!” Emira laughed as Harry collapsed against a tree, likewise laughing as Emira fell on top of him, eyes shining, “did you see his face when you hit him with that blast?”

“What about when those birds attacked him with and he fell over trying to hit them?” Harry chortled, arms wrapping around Emira as he kissed her forehead, “brilliant, absolutely brilliant.”

“Ugh, I should've let the clown catch you.”

Harry looked a bit past Emira where an amused Skara and disgusted Boscha stood watching the two.

“Gotta celebrate a successful escape.” Harry quipped as he and Emira got up.

“Thanks for the help you two.” Emira said genuinely, “we probably could have escaped; but help is always appreciated.”

‘No sweat.” Skara said happily, “we were gonna help Capra and Quen anyways when you guys stepped in.”

“It was a good move.” Boscha said begrudgingly, “ruined a day at the carnival, but whatever-carnivals are lame anyways.”

“Sorry about that.” Harry said dryly, “I was gonna suggest to Emira that we go to the Owl House, you two can tag along if you want.”

“Owls? Gross.” Boscha deadpanned, grunting when Skara nudged her, “what? All birds are gross!”

Skara rolled her eyes, “dad was gonna take us to dinner after the carnival, so we can go meet up with him early. But thanks for the offer Harry!” she said with a happy wave as she started walking off.

“Later loser.” Boscha grumbled as she stalked after her friend, cringing when Skara nudged her roughly again, “ow! Stop that!”

Harry chuckled as he put his arm around Emira, heading in the opposite direction towards the Owl House.

Boscha glanced back with a scowl, “I don't know why you want to hang out with that guy.” She grumbled, “sure he's a human witch, but he hangs out with half a witch and Luz-er.”

“I told you to cut that out.” Skara reminded her a bit half-heartedly, “and I told you; Harry's cool, he's climbing in the ranks in class faster than I did when I joined. And I know you're impressed with his ingredient preparation.”

Boscha scoffed, “his ingredient preparation is the only good thing he has going for him.” She griped, “his brewing is the worst in the class.”

“Well whatever, he's one of my friends and me and Amity are trying to be more…friendly with Willow and Luz.”

“But why?” Boscha demanded. And skara chuckled a bit.

“i think Amity's reason is pretty apparent.” She said with a fond eyeroll before she looked down, frowning a bit. “ and Well, I just don't really like making fun of people anymore.” Skara admitted, “it was funny at first but now, i dont know; its lost its luster. and Amity brought it up when she pointed out her sister is dating Harry; we'll have to be at least on somewhat good terms while they're going out. So might as well start somewhere."

Boscha grumbled, crossing her arms. “I don't like how half a-ugh, fine. I don't like how Park thinks she's strong now.” She scowled at Skara's expectant glare, “so she's good with plants, big whoop! And it all started when Noceda showed up.”

“you don't have to like them.” skara pointed out, “but you know how it goes when trends change: you either change with them or get trampled.”

Boscha growled a bit and Skara nudged her best friend, “come on Boscha! Lighten up!” she laughed, “who cares about all this made up drama? Let's just keep doing what we do without putting people down!”

“No promises.” she grunted non-committally. Though she offered a smirk when her friend threw an arm over her shoulders. “Fine, I'll tolerate the losers. But if I have to sit through another one of that Jerbo kids lectures I'm gonna throw a fireball.”

WVWVW

“So, this is the Owl House.” Emira whistled after Harry had bribed Hooty with some table scraps he'd saved. Twirling about as she took in the rustic and lived in living room. “It's…homey.”

“It's definitely a cozy little place.” Harry agreed, leaning against the wall and watching Emira for a few moments as she let her curiosity get the better of her and began snooping about.

Not for the first time that day did Harry find himself thinking about his week in the demon realm, more specifically; he was thinking about his time spent with Emira.

She was like a sentient whirlwind. Flitting from one fancy to another with reckless abandon, typically carrying Harry along with her into whatever hair-brained scheme she and her brother had cooked up. Going from being the most studious person in the room to being the reason no one else could get any work done; The handful of consistencies that Harry could find with her were the bonds with her brother and sister, her love of illusions, pranks and healing magic. And Harry himself.

Even their romance was a whirlwind. From passing acquaintances on a mountain to a couple on his first day of school, it'd gone so fast that he'd barely been able to make sense of the roiling feelings she'd kick started with a simple healing hand and a smile.

“-Titan to Harry.”

Harry jumped a bit as he looked at Emira, she was smiling fondly at him from where she'd flopped down on the couch, “snail for your thoughts?” She asked teasingly as he pushed off the wall and walked towards her.

“Do I get an actual snail or is this a metaphor?” he asked, stopping just beside the couch and leaning over her a bit with his hands in his pockets.

She rolled her eyes, “my interest is quickly dwindling,” she said as she sat up on her knees so she was about level height with him, her hand trailed up his sternum, balling up into his shirt to pull him closer, “come on, what was I doing to get you staring at me all lustful like?”

Harry laughed at that, falling onto the couch and pulling Emira with him, “nothing big.” He admitted as she peppered his face with kisses, making it harder for him to think as his hands settled on her waist,“just…you're a whirlwind you know?”

“I hope that's a good thing.” She joked.

“Definitely.” He said, “I…come to think of it, the only thing not chaotic is your hair and clothes, always perfect.”

“You're sweet.” She giggled, pulling back a bit, “but that's just a concealment stone, I promise I'm not nearly as well put together as people think.”

“A concealment stone?” He questioned, as he cocked his head to the side, “why?”.

She shrugged, “easier to deal with my hair and what not. Plus I deal with the horror every teen must come to grips with,” she sighed dramatically, “acne.”

“The horror.” Harry snorted as his hand came up to cup her cheek, she exhaled with a soft chuckle and leaned down to kiss him, which he gladly returned for a moment before pulling back a bit, “would it-” He hesitated, eyes darting away.

“Hmm?”

“I…would it be alright if-if I saw you without the concealment stone?” Harry questioned, shifting a bit when her eyes widened, “I hope I'm not being rude.”

“Not rude, just…surprising.” She hummed, hand coming up to toy with the gemstone on her collar, one that Harry had noticed before but had never thought to comment on; “most guys and girls I tell just kinda ignore it, and I've gone out without it before, it's no big deal.” she said the last part mostly to herself as she pulled the stone off and her form poofed for a moment.

Not much had changed, her hair was out of its braid and seemed just as tussled and unruly as his did on a good day. And she had some acne on her cheeks and forehead, but nowhere near as bad as Eloise Midgen had.

“I like your hair like this.” He noted, his hand reaching up to run his hand through the tangled yet silky strands.

Emira shivered a bit, suddenly feeling oddly vulnerable, “it's just hair.” She mumbled, blushing a bit as he sat up and kissed her beauty marks, his other arm going fully around her waist and pulling her as close as he could.

“beautiful.” He whispered, then caught her lips before she could say anything else; she melted into the kiss, her hands threading into his hair.

The door being kicked open a few moments later had them jumping away from each other for the second time that day as Eda came striding in with Luz, Gus, Willow and King right behind her. All of them in a cheerful mood.

“Heya kid!” Eda greeted Harry, “you missed a helluva time at the carnival-” she paused as she looked between the two blushing teens, specifically the wild hair on the usually put together Blight twin, “Though it looks like you two had some fun of your own.”

Emira flushed as she stood up and put her concealment stone on, Harry following her lead, running a hand through his hair and fixing his shirt as Luz and her friends snickered.

“We ran into some trouble with a clown cop.” Harry Said, trying to hide his blush as he cleared his throat, Emira shooting everyone a grin as she regained her composure, “only got away thanks to Boscha and Skara showing up in the nick of time so we came back here.”

“Ugh, Boscha?” Willow asked, making a face.

“She's been a lot more…neutral lately.” Luz supplied compromisingly while Gus rolled his eyes.

“That just means she doesn't insult us directly.” He pointed out, then glanced at Harry and Emira, “you got chased by the fun police too? Eda got caught.”

“Hey! That was privileged information dweebus!” Eda exclaimed hotly.

“Is that where the dress came from?” Emira teased, looking at the ensemble Eda was in.

“For your information; it is, but I came out on top and I look hot in this dress.” She said smugly, “so I'll ignore the breach of trust from Goops and the fact you two were rubbernecking on my couch.” She hauled her gold onto her shoulder and headed for her room, “alright I'm going to go count my snails, don't burn down the house and Harry you'reondeliverydutytomorrow morningokaybyeeeeeeee!” she sang as she disappeared.

“what?” Harry exclaimed as Luz pumped her fist.

“alright! No early morning for me!” she cheered.

“Absolutely not fair, “Harry objected, “I had to do yesterday's deliveries too!”

“maybe don't rubberneck on the couch sucka!” Luz taunted, doing a touchdown dance while Harry raised an unimpressed eyebrow even as he blushed.

“do you even know what rubbernecking means?” Harry asked.

“please, I grew up on Tumblr.”

Emira laughed, “as fun as this is to watch-i better head home, I'm sure Edrics home by now and he gets antsy when me and Mittens aren't around.”

“I'll walk you home.” Harry said immediately, walking out with her.

“No detours you two!” Gus heckled, making Willow nudge him while covering up her giggles. Luz had no restraint at all and laughed as the door closed.

“Thanks for the warning Hooty.” Harry grumbled at the bird as Emira took his hand.

“You're welcome, hoot!” The bird-tube cheered, extending off to chase a bug.

“Bloody thing.” Harry grumbled as they walked, “should've known not to trust it.”

“Not the first time we've been caught.” Emira giggled, bumping her hips against his. “Thanks for today, I had fun.”

Harry smiled a bit, “it was,” he agreed, “sucks that we have school tomorrow.”

“Who’s to say we can’t just play hooky?” she asked curiously.

“As much as i’d love to-i need to learn this stuff, it’ll help in the future.”

She sighed dramatically, “Fine, I guess I'll have to steal your non-busy moments when I can.” she said, spinning on her feet and stopping in front of Harry, kissing him under the light of the half moon.

When they finally separated a few good moments later, Emira was laughing again.

“What is it?” he asked, huffing a bit when she kissed the tip of his nose.

“Don’t worry about it,” she told him, glancing at her watch, “I do need to get home though.”

“I’ll walk-” he started, but she kissed him again, cutting off his words, they separated slower this time, Harry resting his forehead against hers as she shot him a teasing grin.

“I’ll be fine, I'm a big girl.” she reassured him, gently pushing him back towards the Owl House, “Good Night Harry,” she whispered as she disappeared into the night, leaving Harry standing alone for a few seconds.

“Bloody hell,” he whispered. Shaking his head with a smile as he turned on his heel and headed back to the house. Surprised to find Willow and Gus gone and Luz heading to bed. “Where’s the minions?” he asked.

“They headed out like thirty minutes ago.” she said, looking at him weirdly, “you’ve been gone like an hour Harry.”

“Oh,” Harry hummed, making Luz roll her eyes.

“You really got it bad, don’t you?” she teased.

“So what if I do?” he asked, smiling in satisfaction, “she wants to have fun, and i’m fully willing to oblige.”

“And I’m really happy for ya kid, really I am.” Eda said as she walked back down from her room, dressed in her pajamas as she drew a spell circle for each of their rooms and then the couch, “but I'm not having witchlings running around here so the beds and couch are now charmed to start screaming if you do more than make out.”

“Why my bed?” Luz objected.

“I’m not taking chances.” Eda huffed, looking at Harry, who was now blushing brightly, “any objections?”

“None.” Harry said, running a hand through his hair, “um…anything else?”

“Yeah, I'm opening the portal in your neck of the woods tomorrow, you got anything you want to do there?” she asked inquisitively.

Harry nodded, “I have some letters I want to send; mostly to reassure my godfather that I'm okay, and Professor Gol gave me a care package to send to one of my teachers; Hedwig can get everything I want to where it needs to go, she’ll just need out.”

“I can handle that,” she said with a nod, “Just remember to get those deliveries done before school.”

“I’ll make sure to leave a bit early.” Harry confirmed as he went to his bedroom, “Night Eda, Night Luz.”

“Night Harry!” Luz called as he entered his room, Hedwig was already roosting in the rafters above his hammock bed.

He pulled his clothes off and decided to take a shower in the morning, easily slipping into his blankets as he thought of the day.

“There might not be another boot to drop here Hedwig.” he said softly, “the coven scouts are a bit of a bother, we seem to get into a bit of trouble every other day but-it’s good here. I…I think this place could be home, if I didn’t have Hogwarts.”

Hedwig hooted quietly, closing her eyes once more.

Harry smiled, “night Hedwig, see you in the morning.” he whispered, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep with thoughts of a messy haired girl flitting through his dreams.

WVWVW

Emira stared at her concealment stone as she lounged on her bed.

“You wanna talk about it?”

Emira glanced over to Edric, who looked to have just gotten home if the lipstick marks covering his stubbly cheeks were any indication. “There’s nothing to talk about.” she said simply.

‘You sure?” Edric asked, “cause usually you’re a free agent by now trying to convince me to dump my partner so we can swashbuckle.”

“When have we ever called pranking that?” she laughed as she set her concealment stone down on the bedside table, turning to look fully at her brother, who was grinning at her.

“Since now, now are you gonna spill? Or am I gonna have to go do some girl talk with Harry?”

Emira rolled her eyes with fond amusement, “there’s nothing to spill, me and Harry are still just having fun! What else can I say?”

Edric hummed, “I don’t buy it,” he declared, “you’ve spent way more time with Harry then your last four boyfriends combined.”

“He’s a good kisser.” she hummed, mimicking Harry’s accent as she said ‘a brilliant time for a good snog, isn’t it?”

Edric laughed at that, “alright I get it, sorry; you just looked deep in thought.”

“Please, there’s nothing deep to think about.” she said easily, even though something fluttered weirdly in her chest, “Harry’s just more interesting than your average witch, I want to see how long we can go.”

“Alright, I'll stop pressing you about it.” Edric said, holding his hands up in surrender,“me and Croaky are gonna play hooky tomorrow, want to ditch class with Harry and we can make it a double date?”

“Harry’s not big on ditching.” Emira sighed, with a shrug, “besides, I really like dual tracking so I have to keep up with my classes.”

Edric groaned, “The one day I wasn’t at the shortcut room.” he grumbled in jealousy, “and you get permission to multi-track!”

“I’m sure if you go talk to Bump he’ll let you multi-track.” Emira pointed out.

“Hmm, maybe when me and Croaky bite it.” Edric said with a shrug, “her brothers keep threatening me and she encourages it, I don't really vibe with that.”

“And that’s absolutely fair, you need me to step in?” She asked, narrowing her eyes in protectiveness.

“Nah, I can handle them.” Edric reassured, heading out of the room, “I’m heading to bed, Night Em.”

“Night Ed,” she called after him, turning her lamp off as she settled into her bed, pulling the unknown frog-cow stuffie into her embrace, the easy smile she’d shot Edric falling as she thought of the way Harry had looked at her.

“He’s the first to ever ask to see me without it.” she mumbled to the little stuffed animal, “he still thought I was beautiful.” Her smile returned, softer than usual as she fell asleep.

Chapter 6: a long day

Summary:

another wizard finds his way to the boiling Isles while Harry deals with the fallout of what happens when heartbreak meets past actions.

Sirius Black hadn’t left the shack in two weeks.

Remus had brought him some food in that time, and Arthur and Tonks would check in on him every now and again, but for the most part he’d stayed in the shack where Harry’s trail had gone cold.

Honestly it was better than being in Grimmauld place, and a few cooling charms kept him from being roasted by the heat wave.

He wondered if Harry was somewhere as hot, or if he’d gone for a more temperate climate; perhaps he went to the coldest climate he could find, harder for someone to find him.

He didn’t know, and a part of him was grateful for that, because at least he was far away from danger.

He wondered if he’d come back for Hogwarts, or if his godson had well and truly gone to ground.

Had he just not listened to Dumbledore, had he just grabbed Harry and ran that night…

His thoughts were interrupted by a weird sound and a glow; Sirius-still in his dog form-looked up as a wooden door unfurled in front of him,a white glow surrounding it for a moment before it died down and the door opened.

And a familiar snowy owl flew out, Hedwig circled him twice before dropping a letter and flying out of the shack and off into the sky above, a brown owl with a sack following after.

Sirius transformed for a moment to pick up the letter, then reverted back to bolt through the door, pausing as he found himself out of the broken down shack in Surrey and inside some kind of market place.

“Hey Mutt! Get back to the human realm!” a woman shouted and Padfoot immediately bolted deeper into the market, “no wait-”

He didn’t listen and instead began sniffing about for the single familiar scent he knew would be here.

He didn’t have to look for long before he was bolting down the streets, barely acknowledging the frankly weird architecture that tried to eat him and odd looking people he passed in his pursuit; unfortunately the trail went throughout town and even outside of it. But he didn't stop for one second.

He only slowed down when he reached what looked to be a large school, sneaking towards the front doors in a bid to not be seen.

A scream made him flinch and dart back to a nearby building, looking back as students began flooding out of the building.

“Come on Harry! Hurry up!”

Padfoot perked up when he heard the name, his tail began wagging as his godson was dragged out of the school, dressed in a multi-colored uniform and looking healthier than he had ever seen. His longer hair tied back, his skin tanned and healthy. He was pretending to look put upon as he was dragged across the campus. The person doing the dragging was a shorter girl with forest green hair and a similar uniform-though hers were only two colors light blue and dark blue her golden eyes twinkled with a haughty mischief that had once graced his cousin Narcissa long ago.

“I'm coming Emira, blimey you'd think we'd be late to the market.” His godson joked as the girl rolled her eyes.

“We only have so long for lunch and I want a Not Dog!” She whined as Harry finally matched her pace, “the stupid stands like fifteen minutes away! And you know they get busy!”

“Five with the firebolt.” He reassured as he fished some kind of treat out of his pocket, “Oi Stan, look lively mate.” He called as he tossed the treat towards some kind of stall and a long tongue lashed it out of the air, bringing it to the peculiar looking creature that held out Harry's firebolt for him.

“Cheers.” Harry said to it as he straddled the broom, the girl hopping on behind him and wrapping her arms around his waist as she kissed his cheek.

“My hero,” she fake swooned as Harry took off into the sky, her laughter following after them.

Padfoot wanted to follow-how better to find out more about what his godson had been up to?-but the firebolt was fast, and he was worried he'd get turned around again; so he headed into the school to see what he could find out.

It was far more modern than Hogwarts: though that didn't say much when the castle was over a thousand years old, the stone columns were still mostly white and there were what looked to be muggle lockers lining the walls alongside sports banners

And then one of the lockers suddenly opened its mouth and tried to eat him, and he started to realize the theme of this place.

“What's that?”

Padfoot turned around, ready to bolt as he saw a trio of children, a short brown skinned boy with light blue sleeves, a plump green eyed girl with green sleeves, and a taller skinny girl with short hair with multicolored sleeves like Harry had.

“That's a dog.” The shortest of the three cheered excitedly, “It's a human realm animal! But what's it doing here?”

“He must have snuck through Eda's portal.” The taller girl Said and Padfoot perked up, so the portal was owned by someone? “We should probably collar him and keep him close; no telling what could happen to a poor pup in the Demon realm.”

“He seems big enough to fight off a lot of the regular demons we run into.” the other girl offered, and then-drew a glowing circle in the air? The circle summoned a long and thin vine from the ground, it suddenly whipped out and around Padfoot’s neck before he could do anything. “But just to be safe.” She beamed as she took the other end of the vine-leash.

“Awesome job willow!” The girl beamed, “I can take him if you want? He'll have to come home with me anyways if he wants to go home.”

“Sure thing Luz.” Willow said, going to hand over the leash before freezing.

“You…good willow?” Luz asked, carefully taking the leash from her friend and not budging an inch when Sirius tried to yank himself away. He froze when he noticed the steam pouring off the girls head.

“I-uh it got really, REALLY hot in here! Whoo!” she huffed as she fanned himself, sweat beading down her forehead, “um…who-who are you guys? And um…who am I?”

Luz gasped, “the memory photos!” she cried and took off down the hall, Padfoot forced to follow alongside Gus, who dragged Willow along after him.

Luz kicked the door into the photo classroom, gasping when she found Amity vainly trying to put the lavender flames out around her workstation, “Amity! You BURNED WILLOW’S MEMORIES!?” she exclaimed in horror.

“I didn’t mean to! I saved as much as I could!”the mint-haired girl cried, showing a picture of Willow and her dads, which immediately caught fire from an ember that blew over, “UGH! Why would they make memories so flammable!”

“This is bad! Amity do you realize-” Luz cut herself off as Willow suddenly threw her arms around both of them.

“Sooo loud!” she giggled, “I can tell we’re all gonna be really good friends!” she laughed again before falling to the ground, Padfoot immediately ran up to the girl, sniffling her worriedly before Luz pushed him back.

“We need to get a teacher-” Gus started, but Amity cut him off.

“N-no! I could get in serious trouble-”

“-Willow will be in serious trouble if we don't do something!” Luz shot back angrily as she started helping Willow to her feet, "Gus, help me, we'll take her to Eda.”

Padfoot watched as the two teens hauled their friend between them and began walking out, Amity following worriedly as Padfoot followed by the simple fact that he was still tied to the tall girl. Faster than he expected they were out of the school.and headed for the outskirts of town.

Sirius just hoped he'd be able to slip away-transforming now would cause more problems than they solved, and he knew the portal was with this ‘Eda’ lady, maybe he could get back through and flag Arthur and tonks down?

Whatever he did, he wouldn't be able to do it until they got to their destination, which took the better part of a half hour. They left the town behind and traveled through the woods for a few minutes before reaching a fairly large house on the edge of a cliff.

He almost had a heart attack when some weird bird tube tried to wrap around him, only for Luz to chase him off with a ‘hooty! Not now!” before she threw the door open. “Eda! We have a problem!”

“Oh hey, you found the dog.” Eda hummed as she appeared from a back room, her eyes widening when she saw the state willow was in, "what the heck happened to flowers!?”

Amity flinched as Luz and Gus shot her a look.

“Amity accidentally caught her memories on fire.” Luz said, and Eda winced.

“Get her on the couch.” Eda instructed, and Gus and Luz immediately dragged her over while Eda snatched the lead from Luz, “let me throw the mutt out before we get started-” she paused as she seemed to take a closer look at the dog, “on second thought, maybe Harry would like a pet.” she said, tying the dog to the rail on the stairs.

Padfoot-for his part-sayed seated like an obedient pet until he was sure no one was paying attention to him, then he began gnawing on the vine, which was surprisingly tougher than he thought it would be.

He paused when he noticed Luz and Amity get transported into Willow's mind, wondering just how dangerous that actually was.

“Hey goops, go interview King outside.” Eda said to the remaining teenager, “I want to make sure I'm prepared if Luz and Boots need me to pull them out fast.”

“Alright Eda,” Gus said, “Come on King, tell me all about your kingdom!”

“Sure thing! It was the greatest castle ever-” their conversation cut off as soon as the door closed and Padfoot froze as he felt the witch glare at him.

“You can drop the act.” she said pointedly, padfoot cocked his head to the side, trying to play it off.

She sighed, “they always think they can pull one over on me.” She twirled her finger and a glowing circle appeared and wrapped around him.

Surprisingly he found himself being forced back into his human form, blinking in confusion as the witch leveled another spell circle at him. “Let me guess…looking for Harry?”

Sirius held his hands up in surrender, “I’m his godfather.’ he said softly, “i’m no harm-”

“-that’s debatable.’ Eda sneered, glancing at the door for a moment before dropping her hand, “Harry’s most likely back at school, and I'm not about to call him back here to deal with you, so head out the portal and I'll let him know you dropped by.”

“You think I'm going to leave after looking for my godson for two weeks?” he demanded to know, jumping to his feet.

“Why not? You left him alone for two weeks before that.” Eda shot back and Sirius flinched.

“You don’t understand….” he said quietly, his voice strained.

“War right?” she asked, “I know that a kid who was placed under a torture curse shouldn’t be outside of a hospital; I know seeing a friend die is something that messes a kid up and that isolation doesn’t exactly do wonders for their mental health!” she took a deep breath, reigning her anger in, “I know he said you aren’t exactly in the legal position to be around-and i get it, really i do-but don’t think that clears you from the blame!”

Sirius felt his temper rise, “who are you to judge me.” he spat, “like you know everything that’s going on in our realm-”

“-you’re right, i don’t know.” Eda agreed, “but I know a kid who needs help when I see one. And I know he needed help because the people who are supposed to help him, failed him.” She felt a bit of savage glee at the way the man slumped. “As of right now I don’t know you, and I don’t know what relationship you actually have with Harry-yes he’s mentioned a godfather,” She added at his stricken look, “but I don’t know if you’re actually him. And I'm not about to risk it, especially when you were being a creep acting like a dog around those kids!”

“It’s not my fault they caught me.” Sirius grumbled, crossing his arms petulantly, “I was only trying to figure out what Harry was up to while he’s been gone.”

“School,” Eda said blandly, “and training, I've taught him a thing or two over the last two weeks, and I'm sure he’ll tell you all about it, after you get back.”

“I’m not leaving.” he said stubbornly.

Eda growled, “look, I don’t know you, and I don’t want you in my house while I have a kid with a brain cooking!”

“And how responsible that was, sending two teens into another's mind.” Sirius shot back.

“I trust Luz implicitly, you on the other hand I trust about as far as I can throw without magic.” she reached into her hair and pulled out the portal key, “So you’re going through the portal until-” a bolt of blue magic cut her off as it made contact with the key and sent it flying out of her hand and onto the table.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Sirius said firmly, his wand out and at the ready.

Eda’s eye twitched, “did you just cast magic at me in my own home?” she asked with a dangerous edge to her voice.

“And if I did?” he challenged.

Eda growled, then smirked, “oh Hooty!”

The window shattered as the bird tube from earlier came rocketing in from outside, its neck bending unnaturally as it did,“you raaaaang~” it sang as it came to a stop beside Eda, wiggling happily as she gave his odd head a pat.

“That I did.” Eda said with a smirk towards Sirius.

“What the bloody fuck is that?” He asked.

“This? Is Hooty.” She said smugly, “my house demon, he protects everyone in this house from any outside threat.” Her smirk turned evil as she spoke to Hooty in a sweet voice, “Hooty, this here is a new friend.” Her eyes sharpened and Sirius felt a thrill of fear run through him, “why dont you treat him to your famous Tea!.”

WVWVW

A little while earlier.

Harry paid for their Not Dogs while Emira happily ate her own, “you have an addiction to those things.” He said as he took a bite from his own.

“Don't be jealous.” She mumbled around a mouthful, making Harry laugh; she swallowed the bite and said, “I’ll eat you up later, sweetie.”

“Your flirting gets bad when you’re hungry.” he noted, grunting when she nudged him.

“Quiet you,” she ordered, “swoon like a good boyfriend.”

“Hey Jerbo!” Harry called instead, grinning cheekily at Emira's unimpressed eyebrow raise as Jerbo and Barcus came walking over from a small Cafe where quite a few hexside students were waiting in line alongside some Glandus and St Epiderm students; most likely done with their own classes for the day.

“Hey Harry! Emira!” Jerbo greeted his fellow magic Mixers, “Em convinced you to get Not Dogs again huh?”

“No convincing needed.” Emira said haughtily.

“Not like I had much choice.” He quipped, grinning when she shoved him playfully.

“Well I'm glad I ran into you: I heard there's gonna be some kind of meet up this weekend.” He whispered conspiratorially, “some like minded students from a few of the other schools are meeting on the knee to discuss the current system. I wanted to make sure you knew.”

“a rebellion?” Emira asked quietly, equal parts excited and scared.

“no, a movement. A quorum to discuss our grievances with the current system.and what we can do to change it!” he got a bit loud and Barcus growled to quiet him.

“I'm interested mate but if you get us busted before the meeting then-” he paused as he heard a familiar scream, “is that-?” Harry trailed off as Edric suddenly appeared in front of them in a puff of cyan smoke. He was out of breath and appeared frantic.

“Ed?” Emira asked, “what happened?”

“So you remember how I said I was going to break up with Kroakus?” he asked nervously.

“BLIGHT!” the double pair of deep, rumbling voices roared, causing most of the students on the street to pause to watch as the two brothers of Kroakus stalked towards the group; they were more toad-like than their sister, with rough bumpy skin and webbed hands that were currently balled into fists. The main difference between the two were the sleeves of their Glandus uniforms; brown and orange respectively, “you made our sister cry!”

“Groakus, Toakus! Guys, buddies.” Ed laughed nervously, “I let her down as gently as I could.”

“And now we’re gonna beat you up as roughly as we can!” the larger of the two growled, making a spell circle and creating rock-like gauntlets from the rubble on the street. His brother's muscles seemed to bulk up as he cast his own spell, tusks and talons growing as he utilized an advanced Beast Keeping spell.

Before either could move, the sound of a violin filled the air, an outline of glowing red magic surrounded the brothers, forcing them to begin dancing as Harry stepped forward.

“Yeah, that’s not happening.” Harry deadpanned, striking a harsh note that caused the two brothers to crash into each other, Jerbo stepped up beside him, two plant abominations sprouting from the ground behind him; sharp thistles growing out of their fists.

“Did you really think we’d let you attack our friend and just..sit back?” Jerbo asked.

“You two stay out of this!” Toakus snarled, lunging towards Harry, who rolled out of the way and hit a power chord that sent the construction magic user sprawling once more, landing beside Ed and Em.

“Hey Ed, wanna see what i learned in the Healing Track?” Emira asked brightly.

“You know I always do,” Ed hummed with a smirk.

Emira rubbed her hands together and made two spell circles that immediately began sparking with blue electricity, ‘zap zap.” she said with an evil grin before grabbing Toakus, frying him with ease.

“Handy.” Ed said, grunting when Jerbo suddenly crashed into him, his abominations a mess of shredded plant matter and smashed dirt courtesy of Groakus, who was doing what he could to hit Harry, whose own magical blasts were doing nothing to the beast-like witch as he danced and juked around the irate witch’s attacks. Across the avenue, several other fights had broken out as Glandus and Hexside students butted heads over the blatant attack on some of their more popular students, even some of the St Epiderm kids had gotten in on the action. “You alright Jerbo?” Ed groaned.

“Hold that thought.” Jerbo growled as he stood and regained control of his abominations, smashing them together and sending the large abomination tackling into Groakus, its mud-like fists hardening into rock as it pummeled the raging demon.

Harry switched gears as he made several spell circles with his bow, utilizing construction magic to send stone hooty golems at Groakus; who was still struggling with the abomination and wasn’t ready for the binding attempt. He crashed to the ground as Barcus strolled over, his oracle spirit carrying a blue-tinted potion that it immediately tipped into Groakus’ mouth.

“Nice work Barcus,” Harry praised the dog demon as Groakus fell asleep,“now lets get out of here before-”

“Coven scouts!” The cry came from the north side of the avenue where several dozen white cloaked men came charging out.

“Before that,” Harry muttered, letting out a startled gasp when Emira grabbed his hand and dragged him away down a side alley, Ed and Barcus similarly hauling Jerbo out of the fray as the Coven guards began casting spells.

“What the fuck-” Ed yelped as blasts of lightning and bolts of magical energy slammed into the students, several crying out in pain and fear as they were roughly detained, “this isn’t normal-”

“We really need to go!” Emira urged their group and they all retreated further down the alleyway, coming to a skittering halt as more guards appeared.

“Isn’t that one of the kids?” one asked, pointing directly at Harry.

“Think so, Gonzo said he was a bard right?” another hummed, leveling his spear, “Come on kids, you’re all being hauled in for questioning!”

“For what!?” Jerbo demanded.

“Assault on a public servant, creating a disturbance, and mixing magic.” came another voice, Harry narrowed his eyes as his friends all took a step back from the golden-helmeted man who floated down on a staff.

“The Golden Guard.’ Emira whispered.

“Yeah, me.” the Golden Guard stated, “a carney cop was attacked yesterday while trying to perform an arrest, he said it was local students; so we’ll be dragging you in today for that-not our biggest priority but it was reported so what can you do? Oh, and for the magic mixing I saw that one do.” he pointed at Jerbo, who looked a bit sick, “and also for starting that riot in the avenue in the first place. Did I miss anything?” He asked rhetorically, his bored and carefree drawl had Harry's temper flaring.

“You have no proof any of us had a hand in whatever assault happened yesterday,” Harry said evenly, “and we didn’t start that riot-and the law says we have to join a coven by the time we’re of age, nothing about mixing magic.”

“Nice attempt at lawyering but you won’t be getting out of this, take them.”

“Split!” Ed and Em shouted as they suddenly jumped forward and created a large spell circle together, flooding the alleyway with cyan smoke and several copies of all five of them, immediately they all took off, Harry making sure to stick as close to Emira as he could as he summoned his broom, they took to the sky a moment before the Golden Guard dispelled the illusions, a few other flying illusions managing to survive and hide their escape.

“Jerbo! Ed!” Emira cried, making Harry look back, growling when he saw his friends pinned on the ground, across the avenue several other familiar faces were likewise detained; he even noticed Skara and Quen roughly being shoved into a paddy wagon. “We have to help them!”

“That’s a lot of coven scouts to get through, we need help.” he glanced about for a few moments, “Emira, make us invisible, I think I see our back up.”

WVWVW

Boscha was furious.

They were only getting some stupid Ham-bug-ers, it’s not like they started the stupid fight.

But no, the stupid Coven Scouts came and started arresting anyone that so much as looked at them funny. She’d been so focused on getting Kat and Amelia out of there that she didn’t notice Skara had been collared until it was too late.

“We need to keep running!” a boy from St Epiderm babbled, “what if they come after us!?”

“Then we knock them on their asses!” Boscha snarled, pushing past a blubbering Kroakus so she could peak around the corner, two scouts were creeping down the alleyway, no doubt having heard her yelling; she was just about to jump out and nail them when a familiar note sounded from an unfamiliar instrument, taking control of the two scouts and causing them to crash into the wall a few times before dropping their unconscious forms on the ground.

Then the human witch appeared in a puff of cyan, Amity’s sister right beside him looking murderous.

“Boscha, they have Skara and-” Harry began, only to be cut off by Boscha.

“I know,” she snapped, “I was about to go thrash these scouts to get her back!”

“The Golden Guard is in the area.” Emira said bluntly before her eyes seemed to zero in on Kroakus, “you.” she spat, stalking towards the distraught girl, stopped only by Kat and Amelia, “you’re the reason all of this happened!”

“What?” Boscha asked, her voice dangerously cold.

“Ed broke up with her and she sent her stupid brothers to try and rough him up! They’re the reason that fight broke out!” she struggled against the two underclassmen, glaring furiously at Kroakus. “You threaten my brother then have the fucking gall to cry over it!?”

“Enough Blight.” Boscha ordered, “we have bigger fish to fry.”

Harry put an arm around Emira, shooting his own glare at the miserable Kroakus. “We need to save the other students.” Harry said, looking at the dozen or so students that were in the back alley with them. “We all know the Conformitorium is a horrible time no matter the reason you’re taken there; and some of our friends are being brought in for magic mixing, we have to help them.”

“What do you suppose we do? Fight the coven scouts?” a St epiderm student snorted.

“Yes.” Boscha growled.

“We only need to distract them long enough for someone to break the wagons open.” Emira huffed, “and if I know Ed, he’ll be waiting for a chance to do so, especially with Jerbo with him; once they escape they can go to Hexside and claim asylum; Principal Bumps gonna be furious the Emperors coven did something like this in the middle of a school day, any problems with students are supposed to be brought to him.”

 

“But won’t we be targeted for attacking coven scouts?” Kat worried, “what if they just arrest us later.”

“If they get to wear masks, then we should get to as well.’ A Glandus boy said, drawing a spell circle and growing a crude owl-like mask from a nearby wooden pole, tossing it to Harry, who nodded in appreciation. “They snatched my buddy while he was cowering by a wall, he wasn’t even in the fight; I'm not leaving him behind.”

 

“Lets do it,” Kroakus sniffed, wiping her red-rimmed eyes, “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen, so I’m going to help make it right.”

“Good,” Emira muttered as Boscha stepped forward, snatching a mask from the Glandus boy who was making them and putting it on.

“Alright, who here has a way of flying?” she demanded to know.

WVWVWVW

Ed grunted as he finally got his feet under him, wobbling a bit as the wagon bounced down the road, “Jerbo,” he whispered, “Jerbo are you here?”

“Over here Ed!” Jerbo called from where he was crouched beside Quen and Skara, Quen was carefully sawing at the ropes around Jerbo’s wrists with a small carving knife he had, a pile of similarly cut ropes around them.

“This is seriously bad guys,” Ed said, hopping over other trussed up students-including Toakus, who was struggling against his bindings with a panicked look in his eyes, “they’re trying to find someone who attacked some guy named gonzo yesterday? And the fight gave them the perfect excuse to haul us all in!”

“We’ll get out of this,” Jerbo reassured him as the ropes gave and Jerbo brought his arms back around, “did they get Barcus?”

“No, I saw him get away.” Ed reassured him, stepping up so Quen could cut his bindings as well, “Harry and Em did as well, which means they’re probably gonna be busting us out.”

“So we’ll be ready.” Jerbo said, glancing around the dark wagon, “anyone got any paper?”

“I got some in my pocket.” a Glandus girl with purple hair said, squirming her way over from where she was lying on her side, “and Groakus has a pencil if you need it.”

“No I don’t,” Groakus grumbled petulantly.

“Dude, you’re the reason we’re in the back of a wagon, give them the fucking pencil.’

“Gavin!”

“No Bria, he has a point.”

“This may have inadvertently been my fault.” Quen said guiltily, “that gonzo guy was that clown cop from the carnival that Harry blasted for trying to arrest us yesterday in the market.”

“That’s not your fault Quen, the market has always been free to play in.” Skara dismissed, “and they wouldn’t have had the excuse to grab all of us if Toakus hadn’t tried to kill Ed.”

“I wasn’t trying to kill him!” Toakus said, affronted, “I was going to hurt him for making my sister cry!”

“What else was I supposed to do!?” Ed demanded, losing his cool for a moment, “you two kept threatening me and Kroakus was encouraging it!”

 

“It was all in good fun!”

“Apparently not if you immediately tried to hurt him when he broke up with your sister!” Jerbo snapped, “anyways, that doesn’t matter! What matters is being ready-”

“-how do you even know your friends are coming to help?” a St Epiderm girl asked worriedly, “what if they just head back to school to save their own hides?”

The wagon suddenly came to a harsh stop as a rumbling filled the air alongside a discordant note that knocked Ed and Jerbo to the ground.

“Oi, Golden Goof! you’ve got some friends of mine!” called a familiar voice from outside of the wagon.

“We have a really good hunch.” Ed said with a grin. “Now, where are those papers?”

WVWVW

Boscha’s plan had been a simple one, the flyers would distract the guards long enough for a few construction track kids to stop the wagons and for Boscha and her team to knock out what guards they could so Emira and her team could get behind the wagons and free the other students.

Harry himself had decided to gun for the Golden Guard, who’d immediately taken off after the flyers. Four students with staves and a pair of flying shoes who immediately bolted when they saw the golden guard giving chase, “Oi, Golden goof!” he called as he fired several blasts of fire at the guardsman, locking his knees around his broom as he summoned his violin, “you’ve got some friends of mine!”

“What the-who are you supposed to be?” the Golden Guard asked as he shielded from Harry’s opening attack, “the Owl Boy?”

“Aye mate, I’m the Owl Boy, hear me hoot.” Harry said as he pulled the bow across the strings. Several razor sharp bands of energy flying from the hissing strings and forcing the Golden Guard to relocate as the attack shredded his shield. Retaliating with several bolts of lightning that Harry weaved between, going into a steep dive as the golden guard seemed to blink out of existence in a flash of red; appearing above Harry in surprise when he realized the boy wasn’t where he was.

“Eda loves that move,” Harry said as he hit another power chord. The blast caught him in the gut and Harry tried to take control of the other teens movements, but a twirl of his staff and a pulse of red tinged magic and he was free.

“Hard way it is then.” Harry grinned, bringing his violin to bear as they charged each other.

Down below them the wagons had been stopped and a furious scuffle had broken out around the wagons, Emira-who was currently sporting a goose mask that hid her identity well-and her team had been stalled almost immediately and were now in a desperate fight against the coven scouts who hadn’t been knocked out by Boscha’s potions barrage or Kat’s flaming grudgby balls.

“We’ll give you cover!” a plant track kid named Angmar told her as he summoned thornvines to wrap up two scouts who were trying to sneak up on them, slamming his own mask covered forehead into one of them, cracking the scouts own mask and sending him crumpling to the ground, Kroakus was beside him, her oracle spirit wrestling with a coven scout while she fired off spectral chains at a few others trying to press their advantage, every now and then hauling a coven scout up and physically throwing them back, “break out the other students!”

“On it!” Emira called, using an illusion to go invisible and sneaking towards the back of the nearest wagon, a few more scouts rounded the corner and Emira flattened herself against the wagon as they surged past her towards Angmar and the rest of her team.

With a grunt she leapt at their backs, the shock-pulse spell meant to restart hearts stunning two of the scouts before they even knew she was there, the third managed to summon a pillar of stone that slammed into her side and pinned her to the wagon.

“Did you kids really think you could beat us?” the scout taunted as he raised a hand to finish her off, only for the wagon to suddenly lurch and throw off his attack, the back doors of the wagon exploded off of their hinges with a blast of icy wind, a few moments later several vines lashed out and swiped the nearest scouts into the sky.

“Back off my sister!” Edric shouted as he jumped out of the wagon and tapped a slip of paper in his hand, a bolt of lightning shooting out and electrocuting the flabbergasted scout. “Hey! It worked!”

“Ed!” Emira cheered, “way to go!”

Ed jumped out of the wagon, helping others out as Jerbo jumped over him, his eyes glowing as the ground around the wagons began to roil and morph. “Tell me how cool I looked later! Lets bust the others out and get out of here!” he cried as Jerbo’s plant abominations finished forming and began throwing screaming coven scouts around with their tree-infused arms.The fairly one-sided scuffle had suddenly become a pitched battle as the students' numbers were bolstered by their formerly imprisoned friends. Harry and the Golden Guard sped past the chaos as Harry dodged blasts from the helmeted witch, he skimmed low to the ground and drew several spell circles along the earth, once again summoning the Hooty Golems and forcing GG to evade the stone creations.

“Yo Hoot boy!” Boscha called up to him, lobbing a potion bottle into the sky that Harry easily caught, wheeling his broom around to speed back at the distracted guard; with a grunt he threw the potion and yelped when it burst into golden flames upon smashing against his cape, “Oi! What are you handing me!?” he yelled down at Boscha, who simply cackled as she threw similar bottles at the remaining Coven Scouts, forcing them to fall back and allowing the students to capture the second wagon.

Harry returned his attention to the golden guard as he finally unclasped his burning cape, “you’re going to pay for that!” he snarled.

“Put it on my tab,” Harry quipped, going for a beast keeping spell this time around as the golden guard once again warped, he fell into a sloth grip roll that saved him from the heavy swipe the newly reappeared golden guard had tried to take at his back, his violin dispelled as he pulled his wand, “Stupefy!” he shouted, the red bolt of magic narrowly missing the golden guard as he backflipped through the air.

A screeching roar distracted the guard from his retaliation as a flock of small dragons came barreling out of the foliage, followed closely by several pixies and eye-bats; all of whom were summoned by Harry's spell, and all of which swarmed the elite while Harry took his chance to rejoin the other students, who were now beating a hasty retreat back to town, the coven scouts all either unconscious or restrained in Jerbo's now inert plant abominations, “we have everyone?” he called, landing in a bit of a run beside Emira and Edric, who were supporting a dazed looking Jerbo between them, “what happened to him?”

“He got a bit carried away with his abominations.” Edric said, looking at Jerbo with a bit of a star struck expression, “he knocked out the last of the guards!”

“And one of them managed to ring his bell pretty good.” Emira added, rolling her eyes fondly at her brothers obvious infatuation.

“The flames of rebellion will not be quenched!” Jerbo mumbled, making Harry grin.

“Bella Ciao, mate, Bella Ciao,” Harry whistled.

“What’s that mean?” Emira asked.

“I’ll explain it when I learn the song, it’s a really well known song of resistance-” he stopped at the sound of frantic wing beats, he looked back to see his dragons fleeing with pixie’s clinging to their back in fright. Behind them, the golden guard was free of the swarm and now gunning towards the retreating students, “Bullocks,” he growled, going to mount his broom before Boscha and Amelia jumped to his side.

“Scatter!” Boscha shouted as she and Amelia smashed some potions on the ground, creating a dense fog that immediately hid the crowd of students; Harry didn’t need telling twice and Hauled Jerbo up so Emira and Edric could likewise run. By the time they had cleared the fog they were almost back in the market place, where a frantic Barcus met them with an out of breath Viney.

“Guys!” Viney gasped, clutching her chest as she tried to level out her breathing, “Barcus said Jerbo got arrested and-what’s with the masks?”

“Long story,” Harry said as he and Emira pulled their masks off, tossing them in the nearby trash, “we have at least an angry Golden Guard on our tails so we’ll tell you later! Lets go!” the group took off once more, heading back towards Hexside.

“How did you get tangled up with the Golden Guard?” Viney asked in confusion.

“Apparently he was leading a raid on the market,” Edric said, “guy came in with like…three dozen coven scouts after Groakus and Toakus started a riot.”

“Croakus’ brothers?” she asked incredulously, “why the heck did they start a riot?”

“Because Ed broke up with their sister,” Emira said, frowning heavily, “they attacked him, Harry and Jerbo defended him, and the other Glandus and Hexside students decided it was as good a time as any for a brawl. Next thing we know Coven Scouts are swarming the place.”

“Why? I mean, I get it, fighting. But like…there've been brawls in the market before, and they usually just call the teachers to handle it once they get everyone to disperse back to class.”

“They were trying to find the students who ‘attacked’ a carnival cop yesterday.” Harry said with an eyeroll, “the bellend had been trying to arrest bards outside of the carnival for playing without a permit; nevermind you don’t need a permit to play in the market.”

“Wasn’t that you?” Barcus asked through his oracle spirit.

“You have no proof.” Harry said reflexively, “either way, we rallied some of the other students who managed to escape the mass arrest and managed to bust everyone out, not sure if any got collared after we made the escape, but-” he stopped talking as they finally reached Hexside, where Principal Bump was waiting for all of them, a heavy frown on his face. Harry noticed Skara and Quen beside him and relaxed a bit, “Principal Bump-” Harry began, stopping when the teacher held his hand up.

“Ms. Cadence has explained most of it.” Bump reassured, “don’t worry, none of you are in trouble; though we will be addressing the appropriate response to your friends being unjustly arrested.”

“We don’t know who that was,” Emira piped up innocently, "just some friendly passerby who decided students shouldn’t be arrested.”

Bump raised an unimpressed eyebrow, but simply shook his head, “whatever the case; you are the last ones to get here,” he gestured to the door and stepped aside to let them walk in, “classes will be canceled for the afternoon while I deal with the Emperors Coven; I for one would like to know what game they’re playing raiding the market for students.” he angrily swirled his finger and the doors slammed shut, “but before I release you all I’d like Professor Althea to examine you; we’ve already seen a few injuries from the fight and I want to make sure none of your parents will sue us if we send you home with an arm missing.”

“Bully for that.’ Harry muttered sarcastically, suddenly feeling very tired as the adrenaline left his system, his hand found Emira’s and they leaned into each other as they walked, they soon reached the paranoratorium where the other students who’d been involved were gathered, Boscha and her team were posted at the doors, Boscha giving a serious nod to Harry and Emira as they passed, “Nice moves out there, Owl Boy.’ she muttered to Harry as he went, “who knew you could take on the Golden Guard.”

“Definitely not the Golden Guard.” Harry quipped, making her smirk. They settled just by the stage, though Skara stayed with Boscha, talking to her in hushed whispers as Professor Althea “went about healing the scrapes and scratches the students had received during their harrowing experience.

“Thanks, Harry.” Quen said softly as he leaned back in his seat, “you too Emira, I don’t know what would have happened if you guys hadn’t convinced the others to help.”

'Any one else would have done the same,’ Harry said to him.

“I don’t know very many people who’d risk treason for a group he met like two weeks ago.” Edric pointed out.

“Other than Luz,” Emira said.

“Right, Other than Luz-is that like a Human thing?”

Harry chuckled tiredly, “I guess so,” he said with a shrug, “I just…did what I thought was right.”

“And we’re all grateful for that,” Quen said seriously, looking around the room where a few other students from the other schools were listening in and nodding along with his assertion, “if you ever need anything, you just say the word.”

“Thank you, Quen.” he said, glancing around, feeling something off, “i’d of thought Luz would have been here by now.” he muttered as Althea finally reached them.

“Oh, Ms. Noceda never came back from lunch,” she said as she healed a cut on Edric’s knee, “neither did Misses Park or Blight for that matter.”

“Our sister?” Ed and Em chorused, suddenly looking very nervous.

“The very same, oh, and Mr. Porter as well. Were they a part of the raid? Perhaps they went home instead of coming back here.” she suggested.

Harry stood up, “I’m going to head to the Owl House to make sure,” he said, Emira jumping to her feet beside him.

“Are you injured?” the professor asked him seriously.

“Not that I know.”

She drew a spell circle that scanned both him and Emira, nodding in confirmation, ‘Neither of you are injured, so you can leave. Please let us know if they were detained. Principal Bump already has the Choosy Hat on a leash.”

Harry blinked, “i-Okay." he muttered, shaking his head as he jumped onto his broom and flicked his wand at the nearby window, Emira jumped on behind him, her arms wrapping around his waist as he sped out of the room.

“I want to go too!” Edric called after them, slumping a bit when they didn’t turn back around, “can’t wait to get my palisman.” he muttered as he walked back over to Jerbo, who was staring at him in amusement.

“You’re cute when you’re pouting.” Jerbo said offhandedly.

Edric blinked and looked at Jerbo, Viney and Barcus likewise staring at him, scandalized and grinning.

Jerbo blinked, “I uh…did I say that out loud?”

WVWVW

 

“Do you think they got caught up at the market?” Emira asked worriedly.

“I don’t think so, I didn’t see them there at least.” Harry reassured, “something else must have happened.” He narrowed his eyes when they approached the Owl House and saw Gus and King outside, worriedly watching the house where Hooty was fully extended inside, the sounds of a tussle coming from the living room, “Damn did the coven scouts get in?” Harry hissed as he dove down.

“Harry!” Gus and King cheered as he pulled up, both he and Emira jumping off his broom as they rushed the house, “Harry some weird guy started fighting Eda!”

“Weird guy?” Harry wondered as he kicked the door open, wand at the ready.

The room was trashed, the center table was flipped over, several book shelves had been overturned, and more than a few of King’s stuffed animals were torn apart.

The reason was obvious, Hooty was chasing after a big burly dog that dodged and ducked the wriggling worm demon as he screeched ‘face my WRAAAAATH!” while Eda was hurling fire balls at the hound, who shifted into a man for a moment to deflect the fire balls and fire off his own spells before reverting once again to escape the bird tube.

All of this was happening over an unconscious Willow, whose head seemed to be emanating a loud ringing .

“Sirius!?” Harry exclaimed, making the occupants in the room freeze.

“Oh, hey pup.” Sirius greeted going to properly greet his godson until Hooty slammed full speed into his stomach, wrapping him up tightly.

“I got him for ya Eda!” hooty cheered.

“R-rela-” Sirius tried to cast another spell, but Eda plucked the wand out of his hand before he could.

“Good job hooty,” Eda said smugly, turning back to the flabbergasted Harry and Emira, “sorry kids! Had a bit of a scuffle-” she paused as the ringing started up again, ‘oh right, I put people in there.” she said, drawing a spell circle and summoning Luz and Amity, both of whom looked a bit disoriented.

“Are…you following any of this?” Emira asked.

“Not at all…” Harry muttered, staring at the now sulking Sirius.

“Long story short; Boots burned some of Flowers' memory photos so I sent her and Luz in to fix her mistake; and Harry’s godfather showed up and wouldn’t leave when I told him too, so I sic’d hooty on him.”

“Amity did what!?” Emira exclaimed, looking at her sister in horror.

“I-it was an accident-” Amity defended herself weakly.

“You accidentally fried someone's brains???” Emira demanded to know, Harry putting a restraining hand on her shoulder as her voice rose in pitch,“Do you have any idea how bad that is!?”

“We fixed it!” Luz rushed to reassure the slightly hysterical girl, looking between the furious Emira and the still confused Harry, “her brain isn’t fried, all of her memories are fixed, it’s okay.”

Emira looked at a loss for words, and whatever she was trying to find to say was lost as Willow suddenly stirred, everyone focused on the girl as she slowly sat up, “willow, you okay?” Luz asked her friend gently.

“...who are you?” she questioned and Harry and Emira tensed, only to let out sighs of relief when the girl giggled, “nah, i'm just messing with you guys, i’m fine!”

“Whoo! My witch!” Luz cheered, hugging her friend while Amity started edging towards the door. Emira stopped her with a look.

“I remember what you did too.” Willow said as she looked at Amity, who cringed as she looked at Willow worriedly, "I'm not saying everything’s alright but…well it’s a start.”

Amity smiled a bit and nodded before finally leaving, Emira pushed Harry’s hand off and rushed after her sister.

Harry hesitated, looking at his godfather, then to Willow and Luz, who were likewise watching him, “I’m going to uh…yeah.” he said awkwardly, following after his girlfriend.

“Harry? Harry, tell the bird tube to let me go first! Harry!” Sirius sighed as his Godson left the room, “Bullocks.”

“Don't know why you think Hooty would listen to Harry to begin with.” Eda snorted.

“...so I'm confused, who are you?” Luz asked.

WVWVW

“Amity!” Emira exclaimed as her sister stalked away from the house, Gus and King watching the two worriedly, “Amity are you seriously just going to run off like that!?”

“There’s nothing left to do,” she said pointedly, “Willow’s okay-”

“-you didn’t even apologize! You fried her brain-”

“-and I fixed it!” Amity snapped at her sister, whirling around to flare furiously, her entire face flushed, “why don’t you go make out with your flame of the week instead of acting like you care!”

Emira flinched back, her legs refusing to move anymore as her younger sister spun back around and angrily stomped away.

Harry shared a look with Gus and King, making the two younger boys retreat inside the house,“you um…you alright Em?” he asked softly, slowly approaching her.

“I’m fine.” she said, though her voice was scratchy. “She’s just…a lot happened today I guess, for all of us.”

“Do you…do you want to talk about it or-?”

“-I’m fine.” She cut him off, still not looking at him.

“...if you're sure.” He said uncomfortably, letting out a sigh as he slowly put an arm around her, relaxing a bit when she didn't pull away and instead leaned into his side,“hell of a day, yeah?” He asked rhetorically, making her let out a humorless chuckle.

“You could say that again.” She said, looking back at the Owl House, letting out a sigh as she took a step away from him, “you should probably go, your Godfather's still being held hostage.”

“I kinda don't want to deal with that right now.” He muttered, “but you're right…you sure you're okay?”

Emira hesitated, then shot him an almost convincing smile, “of course!” She said as she kissed his cheek and took a step back,“and even if I wasn't-this is supposed to be fun, yeah? Well that conversation is…yikes. So…” She trailed off awkwardly, letting out a tired sigh, “we'll handle it. We always do.”

“...I'm here if you change your mind.” He told her, taking a step forward and kissing her forehead, “goodnight Emira.”

Her smile was a touch more genuine when he pulled away. “Good night, Harry.”

He waited until she was out of sight before he turned back around, the door was open and the majority of the occupants were not so sneakily watching him, including his godfather, who was grinning a bit, “glad we made for an entertaining watch.” Harry grumbled as he stalked back to the house.

“I'm just happy to see you alive.” Sirius told him sincerely, “you gave us quite a fright when you left the way you did.”

“That was on purpose.” Harry admitted a bit guiltily, glancing to Eda and the others, “could you…let him go?”

Eda shared a look with the young man before nodding. “Hooty, there's a bug outside.”

“Oh joy! I hope it's a red one!’ The house demon whooped as he rapidly retracted outside; leaving Sirius to stumble back into the stairs.

“Unnerving fellow isn't he?” Sirius asked as he got his feet back under him. He watched Harry carefully, the teen looked on edge, and ready to bolt; he couldn't even look at his godfather.

“Just a bit.” Luz admitted, speaking for Harry, “he's a good boy though…um, I'm Luz! Luz Noceda!”

Harry cracked a smile as the girl cheerfully stepped forward to shake his godfather's hand. Leave it to Luz to break the Ice.

“Sirius Black.” He returned, shaking her hand, “I take it you're one of his roommates?”

“Yep!” Luz said, “he leaves the toilet seat up sometimes but otherwise he's a great-”

“-alright, I'm gonna need you to go.” Harry interrupted her, “please? I…need to talk to Sirius alone for a moment.”

Eda nodded slowly, “Luz, walk flowers home.”

King immediately jumped into Luz's arms, already knowing if he stayed he'd be forced upstairs.

“Uh, right! I'll um…yeah.” Luz said, casually strolling out of the house with Willow and gus, who waved goodbye to Harry.

Eda grabbed one of her jugs of apple blood, “I'll be upstairs if you need anything kiddo.”

“Thanks Eda.” Harry said softly, finally looking at Sirius, the man was still smiling; dark bags under his eyes and clothes rumpled and a bit ragged after his brush with Hooty. He moved aside so Eda could walk by, but didn't take his eyes off his God son.

“You look good.” He finally said as soon as he heard Eda's door close.

“Thanks.” Harry mumbled, glancing down at his dusty, charred school uniform, “I um…bit of trouble in town, we took care of it.”

“Must not have been too bad if you're this calm about it.” Sirius noted and Harry laughed at the sheer absurdity of the notion.

“Thats…” he sighed, shaking his head e
Ruefully as he met Sirius’ eyes once more, “-Theres a lot I need to catch you up on.”

“Well,” Sirius started, walking over to the couch and taking a seat, leaning forward on his knees, “I always find that the beginning is the easiest place to start.”

Harry nodded and sat down in the chaise across from him, “it started when I noticed an owl stealing my wand…”

Chapter 7: a long day for a post owl

Summary:

Hedwig delivers Harry's letters.

The Prophet had caught wind that Harry had done a runner.

It was as bad as Ron expected it to be; an entire front page piece about the Boy Who Lived turned Boy Who Ran. interviews from slytherin students who claimed to be his friends talking about how he’d cracked, and how he’d always been a basket case; Draco Malfoy even laid the claim that he'd made up the incident with the chamber in second year.

That seemed to be the final straw for many and the prophet was forced to print a retraction of that particular story the next day after muggle litigators of all things descended onto their home office.

Apparently Justin Finch-Fletchley had subscribed to the prophet and hadn't liked one of his friends being slandered, combined with feeling like he owed Harry after his treatment the year before and the aforementioned second year and had asked his father to step in.

His father, who was a part of the peerage in her majesty's court-a Baron, but still prominent enough to have a team of lawyers at his disposal. And after a quick look over the actual statute of Secrecy, the appropriate NDA was drafted and his team had been able to do something that no magical litigator outside of the Goblin nation had been able to do before. Take the prophet to task.

Of course this didn't change that the entirety of the wizarding world now knew that Harry was missing, and with that revelation came Owls from just about every person Ron, Hermione and Ginny knew. All of them demanded to know if it was true and if they knew anything.

Ron had elected to ignore the missives, throwing the majority of them into the fire after skimming their contents for anything important.

Hermione had-of course-taken it upon herself to answer all of them, letting them know that they knew just as much as everyone else and that she was thankful for their well wishes.

This-of course-meant that Hermione now had an active correspondence with no less than 30 people, all of whom weren't satisfied with her answer of “we don't know” and continued to pester her.

Ginny sent hexed letters back to everyone who sent her a letter. Depending on how insistent or rude they were depended on the severity. With only little Luna Lovegood getting a letter back thanking her for her well wishes.

All in all, the three were in rotten moods, and were more than happy for the bit of good news Hedwig carried in her claws one Tuesday morning.

“Hedwig!” Ron exclaimed as the bird swooped down and deposited a letter down on the table in between the three before wheeling over to the stove where a gobsmacked Molly was and dropped a letter into her hands before taking off out the window.

Immediately Hermione snatched the letter up and tore it open, shaking a bit with anticipation as she began to read,

“Dear Ron, Ginny, and Hermione (and the twins I suppose, if they're there.)

How are you all? How did the adults take my buggering off? I'm sorry I didn't tell any of you anything, but I wasn't sure my letters had been received before I'd done a runner and I didn't have much time before I'd reached my destination to send anything; so I'm writing now to reassure everyone that I'm safe and unharmed. I won't tell you where I am-Dumbledore was right that hideouts need protecting-but I will say that I have learned so much in the few weeks I've been here; entire branches of magic that I never knew were an option are available to me and I'm bragging just a bit when I say I've been sampling the lot of them.

Don't worry Hermione, I'm making sure to save all of my notes for you, and I've got more than a few new textbooks and artifacts that you'll be able to reference in your own studies. I'm also making sure I'm still having fun-as I'm sure that's what Ron and the twins are worried about-and I'll be bringing back a few new games I've learned.

Hedwig should make a return trip after she drops everything off, so give her your letters when she gets there. I promise I'll be back for the fall semester barring any complications, and that I miss all of you.

I can't wait to show everyone the things I've learned, until then,

Your friend,

Harry

“He's alright!” Hermione exclaimed as she giddily hugged Ron while the twins and Ginny cheered, sharing high fives as Molly began sobbing.

“Oh he's such a good boy, reassuring this old woman.” She blew her nose and wiped her tears as she finished reading her own letter, “oh I hope he's taking care of himself!”

“I wonder what sport he’s talking about.” Ron wondered out loud, “and why is he learning during the break?”

“It’s not like we’re at war or anything.” Fred chimed in.

“Yeah, who’d do something stupid like prepare for it.” George snorted.

“Enough both of you.” Molly said sternly, letting out a sigh as some of the tension left her shoulders, “I’ll have to alert Arthur and Professor Dumbledore…and get a howler ready.” she said darkly as she bustled out of the room.

The four Weasley siblings all shuddered in fear, “Poor bloke,” Fred muttered, “hope he’s ready for his ears to ring.”

 

“Bout what he deserves for giving everyone a heart attack.” George pointed out.

“Do you think she’ll still send him a care package?” Ginny asked.

“Definitely.” the two chorused.

“Do you think we can track him? You know, through the mail?” Ron wondered.

“We could, but I'm sure Professor Dumbledore and Mrs. Weasley will be doing that themselves.” Hermione pointed out, looking over the words as if looking for a hidden clue, “where could he possibly be staying that he’s able to learn new branches of magic and sports?”

“Maybe he went to another country?” Ginny guessed, “what if he contacted Fleur? Or Viktor? Went to the continent?”

“Doubtful,” Fred hummed, “they may be friendly, but I doubt they’d be willing to help him run away.”

“What if he made it to the states?” Ron gasped, “maybe Illvermorny took him on?”

“Oh yeah Ron, he could totally pull that off cold cocked.” George mocked his brother.

“Well it’s not like you have a better guess.” Ron shot back defensively.

“Obviously he found an alternate dimension.” George said seriously, making Fred laugh.

‘Can we be serious?” Hermione demanded.

“Not like we’ll actually guess where he is.” he quipped, “for all we know he buggered off to Africa somehow.”

“Well, all of Africa is about to find out where Harry is.” Ginny said as they watched Molly bustle past with a red envelope. “I’d feel sorry for him if we hadn’t spent the last two weeks worrying over him.”

Hermione huffed and leant back in her chair, “I guess there’s nothing to do except write a letter and wait to see him in August.” she muttered petulantly.

“Look on the bright side Hermione; he’s going to be bringing you new magic to study.” Ron pointed out, hoping to cool Hermione’s ire. “Imagine what it’ll be.”

She got a contemplative look on her face, “what would he be talking about?” she wondered out loud, “what kind of magic is he studying?”

No one had an answer for her.

WVWVW

Albus Dumbledore had never felt more useless than he had these last two weeks.

Harry was gone, his scans and tracking spells had uncovered nothing and the Order's faith in him had been shaken; made worse by the simple fact that his disappearance was directly helped by his decision to put Mundungus Fletcher on the security detail. As well as his inability to truly go and check on Harry instead of relying on his gadgets and artefacts to track his health.

Now he was having to handle the fallout of the Prophet finding out the Boy Who Lived had run away. From parents asking after any kind of information they could, to authorities demanding to know why there was a half-charged blood ward on the property at Privet Drive and why his magical signature was tied to it.

It had led to many a long meeting and more than one reprimand for his part in the whole spectacle, even now he was penning a letter explaining his actions to the ICW and the barely legal bylaws he’d used to carry them out. If he hadn’t already been booted from his position by Fudge’s machinations he was sure this would have been grounds for his removal. The wards he’d utilized were outlawed, after all. And the ancient exceptions he’d used to protect ‘the last scion of a most noble and ancient house’ had barely passed scrutiny. Especially since the house system hadn’t been utilized as a valid form of governance since before the statute of secrecy.

All in all it was a very mucked up situation; and Albus had no one to blame but himself for it. It was he-after all-who’d refused to see Harry in another home. Too scared for the boys safety to remove him from the blood wards, and this past summer had raised concerns of not only the secret of the Order getting out, but of possible possession by Voldemort through his scar.

He hadn’t been able to justify risking not only Harry, but the Order itself, and had made the decision to isolate him; he’d forgotten that he was dealing with someone’s life. And Harry had done the one thing all disillusioned youth did when faced with no help.

He’d run away. And he’d done so in a way that Albus couldn’t track him.

Just where could he have gone? In all his years Albus had never encountered the disappearance of a magical trace such as this, it was as if Harry’s very existence had disappeared in that shack in Surrey, just what had caused it? And how did Harry discover such power?

His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar snowy owl winging into his office.

“Hedwig," he breathed, standing to draw his wand, only to duck when the Owl screeched and swooped down at him, her talons very narrowly missing his eyebrows as she dropped a letter onto his desk and wheeled back out of the office.

Albus watched the owl go, deciding against sending Fawkes after her, and instead focused on the letter now on his desk.

Harry had written, had he come to his senses? Was he in danger? Albus quickly opened the letter to read its contents.

He had to chuckle a bit to himself as he read.

Dear Albus Dumbledore,

I am writing to inform you of a decision I have made to keep myself safe and secure. I am sorry to say but it is not safe at Privet Drive, and I have instructed Hedwig not to wait around for any of your letters, as my current location cannot be revealed.

I ask that you be understanding in these trying times, I shall endeavor to make the train come August.

Sincerely,

HP

His own words, thrown back into his face in a bid to reassure him that his young charge was safe and sound.

It stung a bit that the young man still didn’t trust them with his location, but Mad-Eye was right; if they didn’t know where he was, then their enemy most likely didn’t know where he was either.

Still, Albus would worry, and exhaust all avenues available in finding his wayward student, the fate of the wizarding world depended on it.

WVWVW

Sybill Trelawney had just poured herself a morning glass of Sherry when a letter was deposited in front of her; she barely registered the owl that winged away before focusing back on the fairly plain piece of parchment.

She carefully picked it up and opened the flap, jumping a bit when the letter expanded into a medium-sized cardboard box, a letter pinned to the top of it that she slowly took and read.

Dear Professor Trelawny.

My name is Professor Gol of Hexside School of Magic and Demonics, it has come to my attention that you have been teaching the subject of Divinations (or as we know it here; oracle magic) without the proper equipment. And while I understand the limitations of a school budget, I cannot-in good conscience-allow you to continue without the basics of our craft.

Within my care package are several oracle stones and crystal balls with my more trustworthy oracle spirits bound to them, please utilize them to their fullest extent, I’ve also taken the liberty of including several of our starter guides and handbooks; so that your new students may have a more sturdy base to begin the subject with.

I hope this letter finds you in good health, and I wish you luck in the coming school year,

Sincerely

Professor Demetrius Gol.

Trelawny put the letter down, staring at the box with wide, covetous eyes.

She knew what Oracle spirits were, of course she did; every mystic and divination expert worth their salt knew of the rare spirits that once helped priestesses and fortune tellers across the world focus their gifts and aid them in just about every ritual and divining source.

A supernatural mishap over six hundred years ago had mostly wiped out that particular subclass of spirit; a cleansing aurora caused by the clashing of two heavenly bodies had exorcised the majority of them alongside other more malevolent spirits; and unlike those other malevolent spirits, Oracle spirits took millenia to form-needing the years and eons to properly lose their sense of self and attune to the divining energies of the world;Diviners and Oracles across the world suddenly had to utilize their chosen craft with a major component missing. Possible, but extremely difficult for any without even a passing affinity for the subject. She herself had struggled and worked to even get to the mediocre status she knew she held. And any hope of finding an oracle spirit this day in age that wasn’t already held by one of the many ministries across the world was laughable at best; as far as she knew only three of the ancient spirits were known to exist in the UK, and all of them were bound to the Department of Mysteries.

Shakily she opened the box, her breath hitching as she looked at the nine purple gems and six small crystal balls. Each of them glowing with a purple energy she’d seen only once when she’d been lucky enough to gain an audience in the department oh so long ago.

Ever so slowly she reached out and placed a gentle hand on one of the warm orbs, “teach me,” she whispered, almost begged.

And the spirit obliged.

WVWVW

Rubeus Hagrid sighed as he finished packing for his trip. He was proud that Dumbledore had trusted him with such an important task, and he was thrilled that he’d be able to do it alongside a woman he held affections for (even if she largely loathed him now).

But any pride at the show of trust from his oldest friend was lost under the misery he felt in knowing that Harry was still missing.

He knew the lad could take care of himself, and he knew that he would turn up sooner or later safe and sound like he always did; but that didn’t stop Hagrid from worrying, especially when he found out Hermione and Ron hadn’t known what he was up to-those three told each other everything, and if Harry wasn’t telling them things then he must have been in a bad way. Sadly, there was nothing Hagrid could do for his friend; Dumbledore himself couldn’t track him and the greater minds in the order couldn’t do more than scratch their heads in confusion at the situation.

If they were struggling, then what could Hagrid hope to do? It was one of the larger reasons he’d agreed to going on the mission to the giants, and he would have to leave soon if he wanted to meet up with Olympe at the three broom sticks.

He’d just locked his door when he spotted a welcome sight flying towards him from the castle. “Hedwig!” he cried jovially, holding a hand out for the majestic bird to land, which she happily did, nipping at his fingers as he pet her, “how are ya girl?” he asked her with twinkling eyes, “this mean our ‘Arry is back?”

Hedwig chirped and held a foot out for him to untie the surprisingly thick envelope, hopping onto his shoulder after he’d relieved her of that final burden and opened it. Surprised to find a book-about the size of his hand-and a letter.

Dear Hagrid,

I’m sorry for worrying you(and the others) with my scarpering off, I’m not back, but I wanted to reassure everyone that I’m safe and well and that my location is guaranteed secure from Death Eaters. I also wanted to send you a bit of knowledge I learned during my travels.

The book I sent is ‘Beast Keeping 101’, it’s a handy little guide to the beasts and demons-many of them rare in our neck of the woods-and spells that can be used to subdue and calm them. A wand isn’t needed for any of them, and I know you’ll be able to use them like they’re supposed to be used. You’re one of the best when it comes to magical creatures after all.

I promise I'll come by for tea once I’m back at Hogwarts, and I’ll tell you everything about this wondrous place I'm staying in. Until then,

Your friend,

Harry.

Hedwig flapped her wings to steady herself as Hagrid started sniffling, wiping away tears with a large stained handkerchief, “‘e thinks abou’ his ol’ friend Hagrid while off on an adventure,” he blubbered, looking at the book and letting a fresh wave of tears fall, “and ‘e even sent me a souvenir! Such a good lad.” he wiped his eyes once more and placed the book in his front breastpocket, “that’ll be good readin’ for me trip.” he sighed, scratching Hedwig’s chest with one hand as his other went into a pocket for a piece of parchment and a quill, “give me a secon’ to scribble somethin’ for ‘im, i’m abou’ to head on a mission, so i’ll have ta make it short!” he grinned at Hedwig, “I hope you’re keepin’ ‘im out of trouble.” he said as Hedwig preened. Hagrid quickly wrote a note out, expressing his thankfulness both for the book and that Harry was safe. And that he’d see him once he returned from his own adventure. Once he was done he folded the note and tied it to Hedwig’s leg. “Give ‘im my best girl, and keep yourself safe, it’s a dangerous world out.”

Hedwig hooted and took flight, disappearing from view in a few moments, and leaving Hagrid optimistic about the journey ahead.

WVWVW

The small cabin built on the shore of an obscure loch was not one that particularly saw visitors. And truly the woman who lived a peaceful life inside it’s stone walls didn’t expect anyone to visit her this far from civilization.

So it was always a nice surprise when one of her old friends would come by to visit. And truly this was an old friend, one from well before the fall of her pantheon. She’d gone by many names and forms, but the form of a snowy owl was her most preferred.

“How are you, my dearest friend.” she whispered as the beautiful bird landed on the chair that sat beside her own, both overlooking the still waters of the loch that reflected the non-light of the aurora, "you always brighten this old woman’s day with your visits,” she smiled when she noted the letter tied to her leg, “and while you’re on business as well, I’m happy to be so important to you.”

Hedwig hooted and hopped onto the arm of the chair.

“An adventure you say? And here I thought you had resigned yourself to the job the young druid had imposed upon you.”

Hedwig screeched, her feathers ruffling angrily.

She laughed, “I know, I know, but I have to tease when I get the chance, who knows when the next time I’ll see you is. Last I heard you’d decided London was a nice change of scenery, have you decided you miss Rome? Or has that detestable Hawk finally convinced you the Americas are your new ‘green pastures’?”

Hedwig chirped, hopping from foot to foot as she did.

“A familiar? Now that’s a role you haven’t taken in centuries! I’m happy for you, i know how hard it is for you to trust again.” she beamed, “I hope this young Harry has been treating you properly, young Wizards are always so dismissive of their familiars.”

 

Hedwig shook her head, trilling quietly.

She smiled, “well I'm happy for you, though I’m surprised you came here, usually you don’t come to me until you’ve closed a chapter in your life. Did you just want to catch up?”

Silence followed this question, and she looked at Hedwig, the bird stared back with large, unblinking eyes.

She frowned a bit, “are things truly so dire?” she asked her, “is your wizard truly in that much danger that you’d ask me such a thing?”

Again Hedwig made no noise, simply staring at her old friend with resolute eyes.

“I have not watched over a mortal in many a century,” she mused, “and my magic is weak compared to others you could go to, what you’re suggesting puts your immortal life at risk, my old friend. Are you sure?”

Hedwig dipped her head gravely, and she sighed, “Then I give my word, as long as an altar is made he shall be protected by the ancient rites…i hope you know what you’re doing, old friend.”

Hedwig hooted and jumped onto her friend's chair, nuzzling the suleviae as they watched the aurora, neither truly knowing what awaited them in the future.

WVWVW

“You really made a life for yourself here, didn’t you pup?”

Harry looked up, he’d spent the last hour telling Sirius what he’d been doing since he’d ran away, he expected the man to be livid, maybe demand he go back with him at that moment (Eda wouldn’t let that happen, but it was still a fear) “I…yeah, I guess I did…” Harry mumbled, shifting awkwardly under his godfather's steady gaze, “I…wasn’t planning on it, I always planned to leave at the end of the summer…but there’s something about this place.” he mused, looking to the window where he could see Luz and King messing around with her glyph’s, “I don’t know how to explain it, but this place, it’s special.”

“And I'm sure the green haired girl I saw giving your cheek a kiss helps with that.” Sirius teased, making Harry blush.

“Emira is…well, it’s not like I expected someone to grab my arm and tell me i’m they’re boyfriend.” Harry chuckled fondly, “i’m sure if I’d said no I’d of had a series of pranks hit me that would’ve made the Weasley Twins jealous.”

“Oh, so you found yourself a troublemaker huh?” Sirius asked with a laugh, “you know that’ll make the end of the summer that much harder, right?”

“I believe her exact words were ‘who says i want long’.” Harry said dryly, then blinked, “wait, you’re not going to take me back?”

Sirius shook his head, “even before you told me your side of everything I wasn’t planning on bringing you back unless you wanted to go back.” he admitted, “I trusted Dumbledore and it ended with you running away. I’m not making that same mistake again Harry; if you say you’re going back to Hogwarts at the end of the summer and want to spend the time until then here, then I’ll back that play. On the condition that I be allowed to stick around, not going to dog your steps every hour of every day, but I want to be around in case something happens.”

“I…you’d have to talk to Eda about that,” Harry said carefully, “she’s the one who decides who gets to stay in her house.”

“And I don’t have to stay in the house,” Sirius said, “I could go find a room in town-do the people here use Galleons?”

“Snails, I heard there’s Titans that do use Galleons but they’re too far away and only the Goblins are allowed to exchange the currency. So they don’t tend to accept them.” Harry went into his pocket and produced a copper-like coin that he flicked over to Sirius, who examined it.

“Interesting,” he muttered, at the design that mimicked a snail's shell, “this place is…weird, are you sure it’s safe?”

“Well, safe is a subjective term.” Harry huffed in amusement, “there’s always the threat of a larger demon eating me, or the Emperors Coven arresting me while i’m strolling about, but that requires both to be able to catch me. And I’ve gotten pretty good at evading them.” he hesitated, “I even freed some people today-other students who got caught up in a sting operation. We sprung 'em before they got to the Conformatorium.”

“You lead a jailbreak!?” Sirius yelped in shock, ‘b-but what if those scouts decide to come and arrest you!?”

“They’d have to get around Hooty first.” Harry scoffed, “and you saw how hard that was, besides-we hid our faces with masks, and Principal Bump was furious the coven would overstep like that-they don’t usually arrest students for fights, at worst they send them off back to school for detention. He won’t allow them to be so heavy handed unless they had an actual reason.”

“Aside from a carney being attacked, which you also had a hand in.” Sirius pointed out.

“That Carney was trying to arrest Bard’s for playing in the market, something that Bonesborough itself made legal. I promise Sirius: I'm staying on the right side of legality whenever I can.”

“And you’re a bard.” he said, with some disbelief in his voice, “did you even know how to play an instrument before you came here?”

“Nope,” Harry said cheerfully, “you either learn fast or you change tracks, and I wasn’t about to change tracks after the blisters I had to suffer through.” he summoned his violin with a swirl of a finger, catching it with a challenging smirk, “you want me to prove it? I can make you dance the merengue.”

Sirius laughed, “no need pup, I believe you, especially with that bit of wandless magic you just showcased.”

“I say do it anyway!” Eda’s voice came from the stairs, making both look over as she sauntered back into the room and smirking at the two, “it would make up for him wrecking my living room.”

“I didn’t tell you to sic your demented house demon on me.” Sirius pointed out, yelping when Eda spun a spell circle and all the wreckage from their fight cleaned itself up, including pulling the out of place couch out from under Sirius so it could reposition itself.

“You’re lucky magic makes things so easy.” Eda snorted, “and that i’m not like my mom, she’d have made you clean the place up yourself without magic!” she huffed a bit, then grinned, “anyways, is my part time help still allowed to stay here? Or am I gonna have to fight you again.”

“No fighting necessary.” Sirius said easily, “and I’m sorry for things getting heated before, I didn’t want to leave without talking with my godson. I can go now if you’d rather.”

Eda glanced at Harry, who had a hopeful expression, “no need to go running to the human realm with your tail between your legs,” she said, rolling her eyes, “but I'm running out of storage rooms so you’re gonna have to figure your living arrangements out on your own. I won't stop you from coming around though, hell you want to stay for dinner?”

“Dinner sounds great actually.” Sirius admitted, “I haven’t had much except gas station snacks for the last few weeks.”

“And it doesn’t seem like you had much of anything before that, so you’ll enjoy the full course meal.” she heckled, heading into the kitchen.

The door burst open and Luz and King strolled in, “we allowed back in now?” Luz asked.

“Even if we aren’t, I’m bored so I'm not staying outside.” King declared, hopping onto the couch and pulling the nearby crystal ball over.

“So how’s everything over here?” Luz asked timidly, looking between Sirius and Harry.

“Everythings sorted.” Harry said, glancing at Sirius, who was looking at the crystal ball in confusion.

“Are you about to divine the future or something?” He asked the kid.

“No, my shows are on.” he said, as if it was obvious. The crystal ball flicked to life and began playing one of King’s favorite demonic drama’s, something that Sirius was likewise transfixed by.

“How wondrous,” he whispered in awe, sitting down beside the little demon child.

“It’s just a magical tv, is he-” Luz trailed off, looking at Harry for an explanation.

“He’s been in the equivalent of magical jail for the last twelve years.” he said, “Just got out a year ago-well, escaped is more accurate, and we don’t have a magical tv equivalent so this is…a novel experience I guess.”

“Lily showed me something similar once,” He said softly, mostly to himself but still catching Luz and Harry’s attention, “she was so furious when she realized one couldn’t work in a magical household.”

“Lily?” Luz whispered, so the enraptured man wouldn’t hear her.

“My mother, she and my father aren’t…well, aren’t around.”

Luz blinked, she’d known that, on some level; Harry had never talked about his parents, and had told her he’d lived with his aunt and uncle. “Oh…” she uttered, suddenly realizing she didn’t know very much about the boy who was like a cool older brother to her.

Harry glanced at her, “Don’t worry about it,” he said gently, “It’s not like it happened a year ago, I was one when it happened. And it’s not like anything can be done about it now.”

“Still…” She mumbled, and he nudged her arm. Smiling at her when she met his eyes.

“Don’t worry about it,” he insisted again, “now come on, classes were canceled after lunch but we still have homework.”

“Classes were canceled? What happened?”

Harry paused, “I guess there’s another story I have to tell.”

Chapter 8: Bella Ciao

Summary:

the Owl Kid's attend a meeting on revolution.

Amity hesitated just outside Emira’s door. 

She had been avoiding her sister for the last three days, her anger at the older girl had cooled the same evening it had boiled over and she’d been left feeling guilty for snapping at her; it was made even worse when Edric had told her what had happened that got classes canceled for the afternoon.

Her brother had nearly been hauled into the Conformatorium, and it was her sister and Harry that had saved him. 

No wonder she’d been so livid at what Amity had done, she was probably envisioning the Emperor's Coven coming to arrest Amity for what she’d done to Willow, and unlike Ed she wouldn’t have had the luxury of the Scouts being the aggressors.

Shame had kept her away for the last few days, but Amity couldn’t ignore the guilt gnawing at her anymore. With a deep breath she knocked on the door, slumping a bit when it creaked open to reveal that Emira wasn’t home yet. And who knew if she would be; she liked to gallivant across town with Harry after all. 

The human teen brought up conflicting feelings in the youngest Blight, the boy hadn’t done anything to earn her ire, yet any time she saw him around Luz she felt such a heavy loathing that she did what she could to limit contact. The thought of him dating her sister wasn’t unpleasant, but the distaste she had towards him wouldn’t disappear and she didn’t fully understand why.

A flash of a goofy girl with the most expressive brown eyes went through her mind and she shook her head.

“Amity?”

She jumped, whirling around to find Emira approaching, toweling off her damp hair, “you alright?” she asked gently, looking a bit uncertain as she joined her sister in front of her door.

“Um yeah…I just…” Amity hesitated, looking away.

Emira smiled a bit and opened her door fully, “how was your day?” she asked as she ushered her younger sister in, “I heard you got top marks in your Abomination test, congrats.”

“T-thanks, it was…well not easy but…” Amity floundered a bit, feeling oh so very small as her sister flitted around the room, getting ready for…something. “Are you…about to go somewhere?”

“Yeah, Jerbo invited the other magic mixers to a gathering, Harry’s going so I thought I'd tag along,” she paused as she noticed the way Amity’s face scrunched up at the mention of her boyfriend, “you know, you’ll have to get used to him eventually.” she teased lightheartedly, “he’s sticking around for the foreseeable future at the very least.” 

“He is your longest relationship,” Amity admitted, then took a deep breath, as she bowed her head, her hands twisting around each other as she finally gathered her courage, “I’m…sorry, for snapping at you…you know, the other day? I shouldn’t have done that…and I shouldn’t have said what I did, I just…I'm sorry.” She finished lamely.

Emira paused, looking at her nervous and guilt-ridden sister, with a small, fond smile she took a few steps to the poor girl and hugged her.

Amity tensed, not used to such affection even from the normally affectionate twins. 

“It’s alright Mittens,” Emira said gently, “I was…I shouldn’t of been so…you were right, you’d fixed it, Willow was safe I just-” she sighed, relaxing a bit as the girl finally returned her hug, “I was just so scared, I’d almost lost Ed and then I’d heard you were missing and-” she cut herself off as she heard Amity sniffle.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice so small, “I didn’t mean…”

Emira held her for a few moments, “It’s alright,” She said softly, “I know I haven’t been the best sister…but I want you to know that I do care about you Amity, despite how we acted towards you; Ed and I both love you, you’re our little sister and nothing will change that.” she squeezed her sister and held her out at arms length, wiping away the tears still on the younger girl's cheeks, “now no more of that, yeah? why don’t we have some girl talk before I have to head out?”

Amity smiled, “I-I’d like that,” She admitted.

“Great! So tell me, have you made a move on Luz yet?” she teased, giggling when Amity blushed a furious red.

“I-what? I don’t-she doesn’t-but-Emira!”

Emira laughed, “I’m sorry, I'm just teasing, but I see how you look at her.” she pointed out as she guided Amity to her bed, getting her to sit down on the edge as she knelt on the plush surface behind her,  “Mind if I brush your hair?”

“N-not at all…and I don’t like Luz…like that.” Amity added hastily as Emira pulled the top knot out of her hair and began gently brushing the mint strands. 

“I’m not the one you have to convince of that,” Emira hummed, “would it be so bad if you did?”

“I suppose not…” Amity admitted, relaxing as she got comfortable with her sister, “it’s just…well, I was…I wasn’t exactly the best person…when it came to her, and her friends.” 

“Did you apologize?” Emira questioned.

“How do you even apologize for something like almost getting her dissected…” she muttered, mostly to herself.

“Well,” Emira began, “speaking from experience; you just have to bite your lip and say it.” she nudged her gently,  “you forgave me and Ed for almost exposing your diary and nearly getting you and Luz killed, right?”

“Yes.” Amity said, frowning at the reminder. 

“So, what makes you think Luz wouldn’t accept your apology? Especially Luz, I love the girl but she’d probably forgive someone for stabbing her if they had a good enough reason to do it.” 

Amity chuckled at that, “she really is forgiving, isn’t she?” She asked fondly, frowning in thought, “Let's pretend like I do like her like that…do you really think she’d say yes to going out with me?”

“There’s only one way to find out, oh sister of mine.” She teased, humming happily as she began braiding Amity’s hair, lengthening it with a small bit of magic,“I think she would, but it doesn’t matter what I think, what matters is what you think. So what do you think?” 

Amity didn’t say anything, but she seemed to relax as Emira finished her work, “not exactly your style,” She admitted as she looked at the crown braid, smiling as she twirled her finger and caused a few small white flowers to spring out between the weaves,   “but it’s still cute.” 

“How did you and Harry start going out?” Amity questioned, making Emira grin.

“Oh that’s a simple tale; I told him we were going out and he went with it.” she said with a shrug. 

Amity blinked, “it’s that easy?” She asked in awe.

“At least with Harry,” Emira admitted with a laugh, “I think he’s just as happy to have a bit of fun as I am.”

“So you two aren’t dating for…more?” Amity asked uncertainly.

“We’re teenagers Ams,” Emira giggled gently, “I’m more concerned with next weeks healing test than I am with whether or not Harry and I go the distance, he’s fun; but I’m not going to lose sleep if he decided tomorrow that he wanted to call it quits.”

Her voice was easy, but Amity could see the flicker of hesitation in her sister's eyes, “he’s your longest relationship in…ever.” Amity pointed out, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you stick with someone for so long.”

“What can I say? He’s a lot better at staying on my good side.” She laughed, “he doesn’t push me when I’m uncomfortable, he joins in on whatever scheme or prank Ed and I are cooking up-I may not expect a cabin in the woods but I wouldn’t be opposed to keeping him around for as long as I can.”

Amity smiled a bit at that, “you said you were going to a meeting tonight?” 

“Mhmm,’ Emira hummed, “bunch of students from the other schools want to talk about the problems we’ve all been having with coven scouts lately-i’d invite you, but i don’t think it’s your scene.”

Amity paused at that, the Emperors Coven was what she’d been working towards for years now, both of her parents expected her to join their ranks and bring prestige to the family.

But…

“...what if I wanted to go?” She asked carefully. Looking at her sister, who looked a bit surprised.

“I’d ask if you were sure about that,” she said gently, her voice lowering a bit "it’s a meeting, but to the wrong person it could look like treason, and I know some of the students going there are definitely going to be talking like it is…are you sure you want to go?”

Amity took a deep breath, “I’m sure.” she said firmly.

Emira nodded, “alright,” she said, “then you can tag along with me and Ed when we go to meet the others. Just…try to remember that the Coven system won’t be very popular here, so don’t take anything they say too personal; I know you’re still close with Lilith.”

Amity winced at that reminder, but nodded, “I understand…and…well, me and Lilith haven’t exactly been on good terms since the covention.” 

Emira nodded in sympathy, “I know you didn’t like that trick she pulled. Have you talked to her about it?”

“She doesn’t like when I bring up that day.” Amity said dejectedly, her smile returning when her sister hugged her.

“Sucks for her then, maybe you can get the Owl Lady to tutor you, that would really ruffle her feathers.” Emira smirked when Amity started laughing, she checked her watch, “we still have some time, want me to do your make up?”

WVWVW

Harry glanced around the dark alleys of Bonesborough as he and Luz silently made their way towards the park that Jerbo had told them to meet at. Both wearing old cloaks that Eda had leant them. Things had been tense around Bonesborough since the failed marketplace raid; while the Emperor's coven had been stalled and put in check by three of the largest schools filing complaints and threats over the harsh detainment of their students. In response their presence had doubled in the area, with Bonesborough being the center of their focus; coven scouts patrolling the streets were now a regular sight, replacing the scarce coven guards from the conformatorium in detaining and harassing the citizens of the town. Watching Hexside and her students for any excuse to detain or arrest any of its occupants, but especially the multi-trackers-Viney had been harassed just the day before during break, Puddles overenthusiasm almost getting both hauled in before Professor Hermunculus intervened; something similar had happened to Barcus and Harry thursday evening while they'd been shopping for potions supplies; the coven scouts had detained them for two hours as they searched the two boys for contraband, Barcus’ warning glances being the only reason Harry hadn't blasted the lot of them with his violin. Which then led into another uncomfortable stand off in the market when a few members of the bard coven stood alongside the students in solidarity when they went for their regular evening play. No spells were fired but the stand off had ended with most students going home early save for a few of the more dedicated like Skara and Quen.

Even now, with the sun gone and the streets deserted; coven scouts walked their beats and interrogated anyone that looked even a little suspicious, forcing the two teens to stick to alleyways and shadows to avoid the majority of the patrols. 

“I still can’t believe we’re about to go to a secret rebel meeting.” Luz gushed quietly beside him.

“Won’t be secret for very long if you’re any louder about it.” he whispered back, making her slap her hand over her mouth, peaking around a corner to make sure the coven scouts hadn't heard her, “honestly between you and Jerbo it’s amazing the scouts aren’t already waiting for us.” 

“Well I'm sorry for being excited to live one of my fantasies in real life.” Luz rolled her eyes, not sounding very sorry at all, “come on! We’re like Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia! Only without the whole incest subplot due to bad writing!” 

Harry laughed at that, “does that make Emira Han Solo?” he wondered, being passingly familiar with the franchise through forced outings with Dudley. 

“A lovable rogue with a fast mouth and a faster trigger finger? I think the only problem is that it makes Ed Chewbacca.” the two shared a laugh as they finally reached the park-it was the smallest in town, and far enough off the beaten paths that the chance of a coven scout stumbling upon them were low, where Harry could already spot the silhouettes of Viney and Jerbo, both likewise wearing cloaks. Barcus was approaching from the opposite direction, not wearing a cloak but with a different pair of glasses than he usually wore. “Cool, you invited Luz too.” Viney cheered as they congregated around a toothy slide.

“Not like I could keep her away once she heard about what happened Tuesday." Harry said dryly.

“Yeah, it’s baloney that the Emperor's Coven would just round up people like that! And us Owl Kids don’t stay quiet when there’s injustice!” Luz declared, quieter than Harry expected, but loud enough that he still felt the need to shush her. Even as their friends cheered her on quietly.

“Glad to hear we have an eager revolutionary.” Emira’s voice said from beside Harry, he raised an eyebrow as she and her brother appeared beside him, Amity a few steps behind them looking a bit awkward.

Luz let out a startled ‘weh!’ as she stumbled over a nearby teeter totter at the reveal of the Blight siblings. Harry snorted in amusement as his arm easily went around Emira’s waist, “always one for dramatics.” He teased her.

“You know how we operate.’ she said with a shrug, "I hope no one minds, but Amity wanted to tag along.”

“Oh? Finally seen the emperors coven for the hypocritical tyrannical overlords that they are?” Jerbo asked, crossing his arms, wincing when Viney slapped the back of his head. 

“Ignore him, it’s good to have you with us, Amity.” Viney said genuinely.

“Yeah! It’ll be great!” Luz agreed as she got back to her feet and threw an arm around Amity’s shoulders, making the girl blush, “we’ll be like Azura and Hecate when they went against the Chaos Commune!” she then leaned in a little closer, “love your hair by the way, hair crowns are awesome.”

“Y-yeah! Like Hecate and Azura.” she stuttered, “a-and thanks!”she added hastily,  shooting her sister a look when she giggled.

“Am I missing something?” Harry whispered to his girlfriend, who simply shushed him. “Anyways, guess we need to get to that meeting; Jerbo, where is it?”

“Partially up the knee.” Jerbo began as they all started walking, “just before the maelstrom begins. It’s an abandoned mine that was tapped out way before even Belos came to power, perfect place for a movement like ours.”

“Is there even really a movement right now?” Amity questioned, genuinely curious.

“Of course there is.” Jerbo said, chest puffing up a bit, “a movement begins as soon as a group of people come together to achieve a shared goal! I’ve been talking with other students in the other nearby schools for months now! I’ll admit it wasn’t popular until the Tuesday Market Riot, but we’re gaining traction!” 

“And tonight’s meeting could change everything.” Edric added from his spot beside Jerbo, “there’s some big names that should be there, including the Toad siblings.”

Emira frowned.

“You promised you’d play nice.” Edric reminded her.

“Define ‘nice’.” 

“Not starting a fight.”

“I made no such promise.” 

“She didn’t, she specifically made sure violence was still on the table.” Harry reminded Edric, who groaned.

“If they don’t start anything then I won’t have to flatten them.” Emira said flippantly, “I still say they shouldn’t be allowed to be a part of this, it was because of them that we had to spring everyone.” 

“Everyone makes mistakes.” Luz said, “and you said Croakus helped with the jailbreak.”

“She did,” Emira grunted sourly.

“And Toakus and Groakus helped bust people out of the second wagon,” Jerbo supplied, “so play nice. I won’t have it said that the Magic Mixers were the reason this movement was Dead on Arrival.” 

“You’re…really serious about this.” Amity noted as they left Bonesborough behind.

“Resistance is a serious matter,” Jerbo said, speaking a bit louder now that they were in the forest, “the Emperor has stagnated our progress, made it a crime to embrace our very nature, it is the right of every witch to practice magic as we see fit!”

“But if the Titan thinks it’s bad…” Amity trailed off doubtfully.

“Who’s to say the emperor can even talk with the Titan?” Viney asked her gently, “a lot of factions have claimed to have a connection to the Titan over the centuries, the Skull Tribe, the Swampy Toes Raiders, even the Caplacier Priests claimed to have power gifted to them by the titan. None of them could prove that was the case, and the Emperor is no different.”

“The Caplacier Priests are actually a good example of the Emperor's cruelty.” Edric added, remembering a tidbit from one of Jerbo’s many speeches over the years, “the order as whole hadn’t resisted his rule, only said that he wasn’t the voice of the titan. The Emperor wiped out their entire temple in one night. Not even ruins are left.” 

“You don’t wipe out a group of peaceful priests if you have good intentions.” Jerbo translated for Barcus, who didn’t want to summon his oracle spirit and draw attention to their group. “Especially when all they did was disagree with you.’

Amity looked conflicted, but held her tongue.

Luz fell into step beside her, taking her hand to reassure her and making the poor girl jump, “you alright Amity?” she asked her, bumping shoulders with her.

“I’m fine.” Amity reassured as she fought to control her blush, especially when Luz didn’t let go of her hand, “I just wasn’t ready for…well this. I kind of tagged along on a whim.” she looked behind them nervously, Bonesborough was a fading field of lights by now and the ground was beginning to get steeper as they reached the base of the knee, far too late to turn back, especially now that Luz was holding her hand, “I didn’t think very many people had a problem with the Emperor…to find out different is…humbling, I guess.”

“It’s never fun to find out what you believe in isn’t as popular as you thought.” Luz said sympathetically, glancing up at all the older kids who were letting them have their moment, only Emira and Harry seemed to be eavesdropping. “But no one’s expecting you to be a rebel, you know? No expectations except that you show up with an open mind and a willingness to talk about our differences.”

Amity smiled at the girl's optimism and found herself intertwining their hands, “hey Luz?I’m…sorry. For how I was…you know, when we first met.”

Luz looked at her in surprise, “oh, you’re forgiven.’ she said with a beaming smile, “all water under the bridge at this point amiga. If it makes you feel better, I’m sorry for pretending to be an abomination; me and Willow were teeechnically cheating so I can understand the reaction!”

Harry rolled his eyes, “she’d forgive a guy for stabbing her if he had a good enough sob story.” he muttered to Emira, who smothered her laughter and nudged him.

“Hush you, they’re being adorable.” she whispered back, glancing back at the two girls who were now chatting about the Azura books, their hands still conspicuously intertwined. 

“Halt!” The command had the entire group freezing, Harry took a step forward alongside Emira as three figures stepped out from a nearby copse of trees. “Who goes there!”

Harry raised an eyebrow as Jerbo stepped forward, “those who seek to discuss the truth!” he declared.

The three figures shared a look and stepped to the side, the copse of trees disappearing to reveal an old mine shaft hewn into the side of the mountain. “Glad you guys could make it.” a familiar voice said from just inside the mine shaft.

“Boscha?” Amity asked in surprise as her triclops friend appeared from the tunnel, Kat and Amelia flanking her like they always did, “you’re a part of this too?”

“Recent development, and Grudgby still takes priority but-glad to see you here Blight.” Boscha said with a grin, it fell a bit when she noticed Luz, and the way their hands were still clasped  together, “oh, hey Noceda.” She said blandly,

“Hey Boscha.” Luz greeted jovially, not appearing to be affected by the sour girl's demeanor.

Boscha sniffed and focused on Jerbo, “you’re the last group they're waiting on, some guy named Atticus doesn’t want to start until you’re in there. I was coming out for some air.”

“Then we better not keep him waiting.’ Jerbo declared, heading deeper into the mine shaft lit by glowing green crystals.

Amity pressed herself a bit closer to Luz, blushing at Boscha’s teasing smirk as they passed by, “so,” she started, trying to find anything to distract her from her quickening pulse as Boscha fell in step behind them, “who’s Atticus?”

“Atticus Leonis, my cousin.’ Viney said happily, “he and Jerbo have been having talks about the system for years now, they fell out for a bit after Jerbo broke up with my other cousin Annathea; but they reconnected a few weeks ago after Old Matthias was arrested for being a wild witch.” 

“He’s the one who started pushing for a more involved movement.” Jerbo admitted, “and after Harry challenged us with the basilisk I wholeheartedly agreed; things are still a bit frosty after the break up, but the movement is more important than hurt feelings.” 

“A lot of that going around.” Harry observed as they started to approach what looked to be a large cavern, “how many students are you expecting to be here?” his eyes widened as they stepped into the cavern and he got his answer. 

Several dozen students milled about in a cavern almost twice the size of Hogwarts Great Hall, from Palm Stings to Bonesborough and everywhere in between the students were all grouped by their school affiliation, and all appeared to be agitated by an argument that a few students were having in the center of the cavern.

“-we should be putting our energy into resisting the coven scouts directly!” a boy from Glandus shouted,his tentacle-like limbs gesticulating wildly as he spoke,  “they’ve been coming out in more force since their botched operation on Tuesday and a few of our younger years were almost collared because of their increased patrols! We should mask up and remind them why that’s a bad idea!”

“Striking out at the scouts will just put a target on all of our backs!” another student from Manubrium’s school of Mystics rebutted, tapping one of his horns as he spoke, sneering at the boy condescendingly, “we should all make a collective effort to avoid the coven scouts, ease their ire and they’ll ease their hostilities!”

“Implying that we’re the problem,” Quen spat from where he sat among a few other St Epiderm students, “outside of the Toad siblings, none of us were agitators at the market place on Tuesday; they not only detained us-violently-but they specifically went after the students who were too terrified to do more than cower! Tell me how we ‘ease the ire’ of those who are actively creating hostilities!?”

“This situation goes beyond the coven scouts as well.” Jerbo called as he walked into the middle of the conversation, “the Empire as a whole has begun to crack down on anyone who so much as sticks a toe out of line. More people have been arrested on charges of wild magic, many being arrested mere hours after being kicked from one of the lesser covens, Hexside itself has been having to deal with budget cuts because the emperor's coven doesn’t like the idea of a multi-track option; despite there being no law against the creation of such a track, or the fact that the emperor's coven itself permits its members to mix magic.”

“It’s a catch 22,” Harry noted, “you can’t join the Emperor's Coven unless you show yourself proficient in all forms of magic, but you can’t learn all forms of magic because the Emperor's Coven is restricting that privilege.”

“And who are you?” the Manubrium boy asked rudely, “I know Nelumbo and Clawstag there, but who are you?”

“Harry, Harry Potter.” Harry said, “Foreign Partisan.” His lips twitched when he heard Luz whisper ‘like Lafayette!’ somewhere behind him.

“And the Owl Boy,” Quen added, causing a whisper to ripple through the crowd.

“Owl Boy?” Amity questioned, looking at Luz.

“When they busted everyone out someone came up with the idea of wearing animal masks to protect their identities.” Luz explained, “Harry wore an owl mask, I guess the look stuck.’

“Well, ‘owl boy’ this is a Boiling Isles problem, I don't think we need ‘foreign partisan’s’ making the situation worse.” he scoffed.

“The situation is already as mucked up as it can get, mate.” Harry shot back, “I doubt me putting my two snails in at a meeting specifically meant for it will change matters.” 

“But what stake do you have in this?” another girl asked, the shawl and robes she wore marking her as an attendee of Latissa’s Oracle school and hid her features save for a set of pitch black eyes. Her voice was more amused than questioning, “why insert yourself into our problems?”

“The mark of a good man is that he stands against injustice wherever it may form.” Harry said carefully, feeling a bit pretentious as he spoke, “I may not be here for long, but my friends are making a movement against a tyrannical government, the least I can do is offer my aid in whatever way I can.” 

“Potter’s already proven himself,” another voice joined the conversation, pushing through the crowd until he was standing beside Quen, his mane of russet fur ruffling a bit from a stray breeze blowing in from the entrance, his muzzle twitched a bit as he bared his lion like fangs at the boy, “he saw students being arrested en masse on a flimsy excuse and rallied those willing to free them; I don’t want to hear naysaying from those who weren’t even there to witness the altercations.”

“Atticus.” Jerbo greeted with a grin, “I thought you were waiting for me to start.”

“People start talking, I can’t stop it.” he said with a shrug, looking at the gathered masses, standing to his full height, “I shouldn’t be the one to remind you all of the law regarding Bards playing in public areas.” he began, and the entire cavern was silent as everyone listened with rapt attention, “nor should I be the one to have to tell you all that it is not normal for wannabe Carney clowns to have so much influence that they’re able to get the emperors coven to conduct a raid on an active and legal marketplace over a bruised ego-corruption and nepotism run rampant in the Empire, and it’s a disgrace that it’s become so blatant!” he began to pace.

“So what can we do?” he asked rhetorically, inclining his head to the Glandus student who had spoken before, “do we strike out? Go against the Emperor's Coven blow for blow? Or do we do as our friend from Manubrium suggests and bow our heads? Fall in line and hope the blows stop coming?” he chuckled ruefully, “well my friends, I am here to tell you that the blows will not. Stop. Coming. Bullies never stand down when you submit to their torment; they double down, and revel in their perceived power; and the Empire of the Boiling Isles is the largest bully you will ever face; Belos and his minions will never be satisfied with your capitulation, there will always be another reason for a raid, another justification for an arrest. There is no end to corruption until WE put an end to it! Until someone stands up against the damned bullies!” he shook his head, “originally this was just a meeting about trying to get multi-tracking in all non-specialty schools, but it’s grown into something bigger than that! The Emperor’s coven is making moves to further suppress us and we must act to make moves of our own!”

“If we stand against the Emperors Coven then we will lose.” the Manubrium boy objected, to a chorus of agreement from students from all schools,“I’m sorry Atticus, but we can’t hope to match that power-”

“-he’s not asking you to match it, he’s asking you to resist it!” Jerbo shouted, “there’s more than one way to resist a tyrant! And we’ve been working to make sure we can do it safely! Peaceful protests, food runs, striking out directly against the coven scouts is suicide-but running interference so wild witches can get away? Information gathering so we can keep our community safe from any plans the emperors coven can come up with? Even just speaking out against their injustice will show them that we are not going to roll over for their bullshit anymore!”

“The Scouts aren't worried about injuring people.” A Glandus girl pointed out, absentmindedly tapping the antlers that peaked out from her auburn hair, “you expecting us to get jacked up to prove a point?” 

“I will never ask that of you,” Atticus insisted, “but the fact of the matter is; they’re going to injure us anyways, and while we will advocate peaceful protests, we will defend ourselves against aggressors!”

“Why do you think I’m here?” Boscha asked, smirking when the other girl bristled, “you should know I run the best Defense in Grudgby this side of the Isles Ukla, you’ve yet to get through it.”

The girl made a face, but nodded begrudgingly.

“I’m in.” Quen declared, stepping forward, “I’m tired of having to walk on egg shells every time I want to play in the market, and I’m not going to be standing on the sidelines while my friends fight for me, not again!”

“I’m with you on that!” Toakus exclaimed, “we messed up-seriously, Edric, everyone, we’re sorry-but we saw the Emperors Coven for what it was that day! And we’ll stand against them again with all of you if you’ll have us!”

“Water under the bridge.” Edric said easily, ignoring his sisters glare and the several unimpressed looks that were shot his way, “look, I know not a lot here want to listen to a Blight tell you what to think or how to react, but I was at the market when the Emperor’s Coven Raided, I was thrown in the back of a paddywagon for the grand crime of being attacked in the market place! And they would’ve nabbed my sister too if Harry didn’t have his broom. We’d have been held hostage in the Conformatorium for who knows how long if Jerbo hadn’t remembered the glyph’s he did. Or if Harry and the others hadn't come after us. Imagine if they’d been ready to act the moment the Emperor’s Coven started their raid.”

“I agree,” The Oracle girl from before said, gesturing to her classmates, “my classmates and I joined our power together to scry the future, many strands and fates branch out from this moment, not all clear, and none set in stone,” she looked to Atticus, “chaos shrouds your resistance in doubt, the decisions between now and the conclusion too numerous and too wild in their variations to glean more than a passing hope of success; but that is what rebellions are built on, is it not?” she tilted her head, “yes, I think we will back your play, Atticus.”

This seemed to be the needed push as other students began to voice their approval.

The Manubrium boy grumbled as he crossed his arms, “fine,” he grumbled, sharing an uneasy look with a few others, “but I’m not putting any of my classmates in danger for any of your stunts Atticus; so you better have a good strategy going into this.”

Atticus grinned, “our first protest is the monday after Grom.” he began, “between Jerbo and I. we were able to secure permits to protest in Latissa and Bonesborough, but I ask that as many students from as many schools perform a walk out after first period is called in session.”

Once again the crowd began murmuring to each other, and Jerbo stepped up, “we’ve talked to as many principals as we could over the last three days.” he explained, “most understand the reason for this walk out and support it whole heartedly.Some in Palm Stings and near the skull are against it; it’s up to you to decide if the walk out and protest are worth it.” 

“We’ll be meeting multiple times over the next week to better coordinate with those who wish to participate in the two protests; and to those of you who wish to protest closer to home, we will work with you to get the necessary permits in time.”

“What if you want to work with the Owl Boy!?” someone shouted and a chorus of agreements rose up with the voice, “we want to fight!”

“I’m not in charge of whatever Defense Force they’re putting together.” Harry said, looking to Boscha, who smirked. 

“Odds are the defense force is gonna be the ones most in danger of being arrested or detained.” Boscha said, looking around as everyone quieted down, “we’ll be using Angmar’s mask Idea again, but anyone who’s joining should understand that we’ll be the targets, we’ll be the ones to run interference if the scouts get too aggressive with the protestors, if we decide to help wild witches then we’ll be the ones attacking the prison transports, and I do mean attack.” she paused, letting the weight of her words settle on everyone, 

“I’ll be honest, I don’t care about most of this.” she admitted, strolling across the central pit that had been created for those speaking, hands in her pockets as she dismissively waved off an affronted looking Jerbo, “I’ve heard your reasons a thousand times Nelumbo, and I’m sure I’ll hear them a thousand more before all this is over; I don’t care, it doesn’t affect me; just like it doesn’t affect the Blight’s, until it does.” her expression turned dark, “they attacked my friends, hurt them, it didn’t matter what their last names were, if they were innocent or guilty; there’s still three students at the healers because of their opening attacks; one of whom is apart of my crew, that’s what I care about.” She looked at Amity, then to Luz, “I'm a bully.” she stated bluntly, making Amity flinch, “I’m mean, and callous and I don’t particularly care about other people's feelings unless they’re my friends, and even then it’s a coin toss. But it’s like Leonis over there said; the Emperor’s Coven is the biggest bully you’ll meet, and I don’t like my turf being encroached on by a bunch of glorified nepo babies.” she looked back around, “I’m willing to swallow my pride to take a swing at the new kid on the block, damned the consequences, and  I don’t particularly care what your reasoning for doing the same is; so long as you do it, and you do it without worrying about what mommy and daddy will think when they pick you up from the Conformatorium. If we get there that is.” she locked eyes with the Manubrium boy, who looked a bit sick, “yeah, didn’t think of that, did you?” she mocked him and the others who suddenly looked extremely doubtful, “the scouts weren’t firing sleep spells at the market, and when we fought them they weren’t afraid to break bones and fire off some of the more lethal spells. Are any of you actually ready for that?”

“Are you?” Harry questioned, making Boscha’s head snap towards him, three eyes glaring, “the Boiling Isles is full of perils that could get you killed.” He raised his voice as he stepped forward, his arm falling away from Emira’s waist as he went, “we all know that, we all know that the wrong step, the wrong path taken, even cutting through a particularly dense patch of grass could see you eaten; but this isn’t the natural order of eat or be eaten, or survival of the fittest; this is a fight, and a fight that could very well end with your life on the line. None of us have fought a fight like that-despite Boscha’s correct assertion that the coven scouts weren’t particularly holding back during the jail break, they weren’t aiming to kill.” 

“That can change with this movement. They could decide to label you all terrorists and do away with the whole, bad, crop. But that’s the rub isn’t it? That’s the reason we’re doing this, because the government is ready and willing to enact violence on its people at even the slightest hint of perceived resistance. They’re trying to make it the natural order so you won’t question it; just like you won’t question a Slitherbeast for eating your friend who taunted it, or a fairy for sucking your blood. They want you to think it’s normal for the supposed ‘protectors of the people’ to attack and hurt you, so long as they have a reason that they made up.” he shook his head, “at the end of the day, Boscha is right; you have to ask yourself if you’re ready to lay your life on the line; if you’re willing to martyr yourself for a cause that’s bigger than you.” He took a deep breath and summoned his violin, magic collecting at the tips of his fingers; Quen perked up, as did a few other Bards in the room as they felt the familiar pulse of magic, “there’s a song, adopted by resistance fighters in a terrible war in the human war. It’s been a staple for resistance groups and partisans across history ever since. I feel it appropriate to play here if you’ll allow me.”

When no one refused, Harry began, plucking the strings to a tune none had ever heard before, the strings began to cry as Harry sang,

“I woke one morning, and there were soldiers, oh Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao! I woke one morning, and there were soldiers; the invasion had begun,”

“Oh rebel soldier, please take me with you, oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao ciao! Oh my rebel soldier! Please take me with you! For I fear I soon may die.”

“And if I die here, with the resistance, oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao! And if i die here! For the resistance! You must lay me in my grave.”

“Among the flowers, up on the mountain, oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao! Among the flowers! Up on the mountains, let me lay among the brave!”

“Some day the people, will pick the flowers, oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao! Some day the people, will pick the flowers, and they will remember my name.”

“This is the flower, of the resistance, oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao! This is the flower! Of the resistance! And those who died for liberty!”

As he sang other bards joined in, their magic joining together to wash over the crowd, inspiring them and showing them a vision, some could see glimpses of the resistance Harry sang about, of men in a mountainous country resisting a harsh rule that saw them tortured and killed; and those brave men continuing on in spite of the threat until they succeeded, they saw unarmed citizens storming capital buildings and wrestling with soldiers in cities and towns wholly unknown and alien to them, desperately struggling for just a taste of freedom and liberty. Others saw the echoes of their own past; of witches and demons fighting against an oppressive force set to conquer the Boiling Isles by force. Their final stands, their passionate proclamations even as they fell in their entirety. They saw those left hide away and speak of their disobedience in shamed whispers, if they speak of them at all. 

All saw what their resistance could be, what it could turn into. What the Boiling Isles could truly be outside the choking grasp of the emperor and his coven. They saw what they could help bring about. Even after Harry ended the song and the other Bard’s dispelled their instruments. 

“Bella Ciao,” Harry said, solemnly, “or ‘beauty bye’.it was a farewell, a farewell to your loved ones, to the easy route, to the corruption of the system. These men were prepared to fight for their beliefs; for the people around them, many never got to see the world they created for those left behind; they never got to see the good their actions led too. But they still had faith, faith that they were working towards a better world; faith that their comrades and leaders would pick up the torch and carry it to the pyre, that they would give their all just as they did to see good and justice prevail!” he looked up, some tears in his eyes, “I lost a friend to the evil back home. He was killed in a place where he should have been safe; and his death has…dragged me down for months now.” he sniffed, wiping away his eyes as he looked at the crowd once more, hanging on his every word, “If I can prevent that from happening again; if I can protect someone-even a stranger-from the same fate as Cedric then I’ll consider this movement a success.” he turned to look at Atticus, “If I can fight against an evil that’s willing to go to those same lengths then I will do so, and I will do it with every fiber of my being until the fight calls me home.”

The room erupted into cheers, applause filling the caverns as others gave their own declarations; declarations to protect their friends, to fight for a country they could all be proud of. 

“Thank you,” Atticus said, clasping Harry’s hand as he stepped forward once more, the room still clamoring as he spoke over them,”and when the time comes for you to face that evil, I for one will be right alongside you! To fight against oppression just as you are willing to do so now!” he whirled about, “this is our declaration!” he proclaimed, “here and now, is where we rise as one voice, one vision, to stand against the Tyranny of the Emperor's Coven!” the cheers swelled once more, “To fight for a witches right to all of their magic! Not just some of it! And for true justice to prevail over the corrupt misdealings of the conformatorium!”

“Tear it down brick by brick!” one student shouted.

“Down with the Emperor’s Coven!” another exclaimed, to the general cheer of the crowd. 

Harry stepped back into the throng of people,  nodding at the few who offered their raises or condolences, until he made it back to Emira, who put an arm around his waist.

“You alright?” she whispered to him.

“Fine.” he reassured her, and he meant it, he felt better after getting that off his chest. “I didn’t expect to bring up…well, it doesn’t matter now, it’s all out in the open.”

Emira squeezed him reassuringly, resting her head against his shoulder as the meeting began to wind down.

“That was…wow…” Amity whispered to Luz, looking at Harry with new eyes, “I never knew Harry…”

“I didn’t either.” Luz admitted, feeling a familiar rush of guilt from not learning more about her friend, “he’s a real private person.”

Amity leaned into Luz as a few students moved towards the exit, the meeting had cooled from Harry’s impassioned speech and it was now focusing on the actual logistics of running a movement like this, “Jerbo wasn’t lying either, there’s a few prominent people here.”

“Like who?” Luz asked, wanting to get her mind off of Harry for a moment.

“Well there’s Celeste Thornberry,” she said, pointing to the Oracle girl, “she’s one of the most prominent students on the isles, people say she’s a shoe in for Osran’s apprentice when she graduates next year,” then she motioned to the Manubrium boy, who was having a hushed discussion with Jerbo, “and then there’s Marcus Flintwhistle, he’s the son of a prominent member of the Healers coven. And over there is Bran Storlos.’ she motioned to a large ox-like boy who was speaking into a crow phone, he gave them a friendly wave when he noticed them looking, “he’s graduating this year, beast keeper who already has a few acres set aside for a few beasts he’s tamed over the years. He was Glandus’ star Grudgby player before-” she was cut off as the cavern suddenly gave a violent shake. Knocking a few off their feet.

“What the heck was that!?” Luz exclaimed, looking around as dust and pebbles fell from the roof.

“Something’s happening, something bad.” Atticus muttered, “everyone out of the cavern! Now!”

“Come on stringbeans!” Viney shouted, scooping Jerbo and Barcus up and throwing them over her shoulder as she took off for the exit,

They all took off running, a few pausing to help friends or others who’d fallen. The cavern shook again and cracks began opening up beneath them, 

Ukla stepped forward, slamming her fists into the ground and causing the earth to stabilize, sand and other spare bits of rubble that she could find filling in the cracks. “Run! It won’t hold for long!” she urged everyone, taking off alongside Boscha as more tremors filled the cavern.

Luz helped Amity to her feet as they tried to follow the stragglers, Amity let out a gasp as she felt the ground under her give, “Luz!” she cried as she dragged the girl down, hanging over a rapidly widening pit as Luz struggled to keep a hold on her. 

“Amity! Hold on!” Luz grunted as she tried to haul the girl up, “HARRY! HELP!” she screamed.

“Luz? LUZ!” Harry shouted, he’d been about to run through the tunnel after the others when he’d heard her call his name, Emira right beside him screamed when she saw the danger her sister was in. Both began running back, only to be forced in the tunnel by Atticus, “Stop! That’s my sister!” Emira screeched, struggling to push against the boy's impressive bulk. Harry managing to slip past him, dodging falling stalagmites in a bid to reach his friend. Atticus looked back, his eyes widening as  he spotted the two girls in danger, he let Emira go and raced after the two.

Luz yelped as the ground fell out from under her, barely able to latch onto the last bit of ledge left.

“Luz.” Amity whispered, terrified tears running down her cheeks as the human frantically tried to pull both of them up. 

Harry slid across the ground as he dove for Luz’s hand, catching it just as her grip slipped, “I got you,” He reassured, the tremors had stopped, but Emira and Atticus both had to tread carefully on the unstable ground, several other holes and chasms having opened up in the large space; leaving what ground left crumbly and unstable.

“Go get Ukla, or another construction track student!” Emira ordered Atticus, who immediately began heading back to the tunnel, wary of tumbling down into the dark abyss.

“Come on Luz, pull!” Harry ordered as he strained to haul them both up, letting out a quick panicked breath when he felt the ground give a bit under him.

Luz looked at the rapidly crumbling ground, then down at Amity and the abyss below, Amity’s tear streaked face breaking Luz’s heart, “I can’t make an abomination.” she whispered, she could feel her hand slipping from luz’s and desperately tried to hold on,  “My flask fell.”

Luz looked back up at Harry, letting her hand go slack, just as she felt Amity leave her grip, “I’m sorry Harry.” she said with a watery smile, slipping from the boy's grip.

‘NO!” Harry shouted, creating a spell circle,“arresto mementum!”

He didn’t know if the spell worked, both girls disappeared into the darkness before he could confirm.

“LUZ!”

WVWVW

Outside the mine, overlooking the entrance, Kikimora of the emperor’s coven let out an unimpressed hum, “it doesn’t look like your plan worked.” she said to one of the scouts, “the students were all able to get out. Even the leaders.”

“Should we move in to arrest them ma’am?” the scout leader asked, saluting as he did so.

“...No, there’s far more students than I expected, besides; if they connect us to the attempted cave in then it may spark more resistance; Mark any of the more noteworthy ones for future interrogation and pick up and fall back..” she turned away, stalking away as she huffed, “this would’ve been easier if they’d all been crushed.” she muttered, rolling her eyes, “I guess the Golden Guards mess will have to resolve itself.”

Chapter 9: Into the tunnels

Summary:

Harry leads a rescue effort to search for Luz and Amity, who find that there's much more to learn from the knee than they previously bargained for.

“LUZ! AMITY!” Harry called down into the chasm, “CAN YOU HEAR ME!? LUZ!”

“Keep it down!” Ukla snapped at him as she secured another portion of the ground, helping a few other students who’d fallen into other pits out, none being nearly as deep as the one Luz and Amity had fallen into, “we don’t know what caused this yet! For all we know you’ll start a cave in!”

“We have to help them somehow!” Emira shot back, likewise trying to spot her sister, tears trailing down her cheek, “we have to get down there Harry.”

He tested the edges of the ledge, grimacing when a bit of it crumbled away, “I don’t know how we’ll get down there, my construction magic isn’t refined enough to make any kind of stairs out of this.” 

“I can do that!” a familiar voice called, and Harry raised an Eyebrow when Mattholomule carefully jogged over from the entrance, followed by Atticus and the magic mixers.

“I have flyers heading to town for help.” Atticus said, “anyone not injured or crucial for any kind of rescue are headed home.”

“Most of those trapped are easily retrievable.” Ukla told him, “the hardest to reach are the two who fell down there; no telling their condition, but everyone up here won’t need too much in the way of healing.”

Edric went to his sister, a worried frown, “we sent Barcus to the Owl House, were you or Harry able to spot them?” 

“Nothing, the chasm is too deep.” Emira said, worrying her lip as she stared down the chasm, jumping a bit when Harry put an arm around her.

“They’ll be alright,” Harry reassured her, his eyes darkening a bit as he too looked down into the abyss, “my spell made contact, I just know it. They’re just too far down, they can't hear us.”

“I hope you’re right.” she whispered as Matt started forming the stairs, testing their stability as he went ahead.

“Don’t crowd up! This rock isn’t exactly the best material to work with!” he called back.

“I’ll stay up here to inform the Owl Lady what happened.” Atticus said ."As well as help with the rest of the rescue.”

“Viney, up front with me and Emira,” Harry said, ushering the worried girl up to stand with his girlfriend,  “we’ll need you both if they’re injured.”

“It sucks that the collapse caused most animals in the area to run for it.” Edric muttered as they slowly followed Matt down the newly created stairs, “a few muddlebats would’ve been helpful in finding them.”

“Viney’s the best tracker out there,” Jerbo reassured him, “and besides, they should just be at the bottom. We’ll get them back and into healnig hands in no times.”

“I hope you’re right,” Edric said, worriedly, relaxing just a bit when jerbo reached out and took his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“I shouldn’t have just ran.” Viney whispered as they went, “I just grabbed Jerbo and Barcus and booked it, I didn’t think to even look back until I heard you scream Emira.”

“This isn’t your fault,” Emira whispered back, a bit despondently, “It slipped my mind that Amity had tagged along tonight, and then I heard Luz and-” she sniffled, and Harry put his arm around her once again.

“This isn’t anyone's fault.” Harry muttered, pushing down his own guilt to reassure the two girls, “freak accidents happen, let's focus on finding them and getting them out of here.”

Emira nodded, but didn’t say anything as they continued down, harry lost track of the time as they slowly wound down the sides of the cavern, a few were-light’s produced by Viney illuminating the way until-finally-they reached the bottom, a thankfully flat landing that lead to three tunnels. Each going deeper into the knee. The group wasted no time in looking for signs of the two missing girls.

And found a smashed flask of abomination slime, the slime conspicuously missing, a few loose sheets of Luz’s glyph paper.

And claw marks. 

And blood. 

Viney immediately studied the tracks while Harry stopped Emira from crying out for her sister.

“If there’s something down here we don’t want to attract it’s attention,” he whispered to her, staring intently at the blood as if it could tell him what happened to his friends, “there’s not enough blood for either to be too hurt, whatever made those marks might have just stumbled upon what they left behind.” he felt her nod against his chest and let her go gently when Edric walked past them; first looking at the claw marks, then the blood, then making a weird yipping sound that echoed down the tunnels.

A few moments later a cacophony of yips answered and Edric winced alongside Viney.

“Marrdregs,” they said together. 

“Marrdregs? Those dog things?” Harry asked. Thinking of the reptilian-like dog creatures they’d been shown in beastkeeping, they were known on the planes of the left arm where the wind magic they directed with their horns was most effective, “but they’re not native to tunnels like this.”

“That’s what’s concerning.” Viney growled, “that cave-in probably wasn’t an accident if they’re here.”

“Who’d want to hurt a bunch of teens?” Edric asked.

“Does that really need to be asked?” Jerbo asked darkly, glancing at the three tunnels, “Viney, can you track Amity and Luz?”

“Yeah, looks like the blood is Luz’s, and it’s trailing that way so if I just-” She spun a spell circle and grinned when the blood on the ground lit up neon green, a trail of tiny neon green droplets lighting up down the right tunnel. “This way!” she took off and the rest followed closely behind, save for Mattholomule, who called after them.

 “I'm gonna stay here and reinforce the stairs! I'll let everyone know what's going on!” turned around and focused his magic while muttering, “like I'm about to go running off into abandoned tunnels after friggin marrdregs.” 

WVWVW

Eda woke up to the sound of laughter coming from her living room, “whassat?” she mumbled, stumbling out of her nest and padding down the stairs, “King! I thought I told you it was bed time as soon as Harry and Luz got back!” she griped, glaring at King as soon as she stepped into the living room, raising her eyebrow at Sirius Black, who was sitting beside the young demon, both still laughing at whatever brain rot they had been watching on the crystal ball.

“They haven’t gotten back yet,” King said dismissively, “and Sirius got back so I let him in.”

“I can see that.” she sighed, flopping into the nearby chaise, “how'd you check in go? Do you need to do a piss test for your PO?”

“...i don’t know what that means.” Sirius said blandly, “but I managed to convince Tonks and Arthur to cover for me while I stick in the realm, Hedwig got back with me so Harry has some mail-where is he?” he asked curiously, “I asked King here, but he didn’t know anything beyond ‘some boring meeting’.”

“A couple of students across the Isle want to organize some protests.” Eda said flippantly, “It doesn’t sound too interesting but they got invited so they went. Figured it’d be over by now, but they are teens; maybe they turned it into a rave or something.” 

“Happened my sixth year at Hogwarts," Sirius mused, “we got together with a bunch of ‘like minded peers’ after we found out that half of the slytherin house was set on joining Voldemort. It ended with a rousing speech from Lily and several kegs of Rosmerta's best mead courtesy of me and James.” he chuckled to himself, “I think that’s where James and Lily really started to warm up to each other.”

Eda nodded absentmindedly, picking at her teeth as she glanced out the window, her eyes narrowing when she saw a figure flying towards the house on a stave. “Owlbert.” she called, catching her staff as she walked outside to meet a dog demon that awkwardly leapt from the Palisman he no doubt had to borrow as the Hornbill shifted from its staff form and began chattering at him angrily.

“Hey, Barkey right?” 

“Barcus.” The boy corrected her, and Eda was glad she’d listened to Lilith back when they were kids when she’d convinced her to learn lycanthro, “but that doesn’t matter, there was an accident at the meeting.” 

“What happened?” Eda demanded to know, a swirl of her finger changing her pajamas into her usual dress.

“Some kind of freak cave-in.’ Barcus said, “Most got out unharmed, few got caught in the rubble-Luz and Amity fell into a chasm, Harry and the others are no doubt mounting a rescue-” he stopped talking as Eda turned back into the house.

“Oi Black! Get your scrawny ass out here, the kids need help!” she hollered into the house, turning back to Barcus, “thanks for the heads up kid, does your toucan friend mind if a friend hitches a ride back?”

“He’s not mine.” Barcus said, leaning away from the hornbill as it squawked indignantly at Eda. “and I’m pretty sure he’s a Hornbill.” 

“I don’t care,” she deadpanned as Sirius finally stumbled out of the house, King right behind him, “kids got caught up in a cave in, and while I'm sure Harry and Luz have it handled; I want to make sure they have actual back up.” She mounted owlbert as the Hornbill transformed and fell into Sirius’ hands.

“I…how does this work?” He asked hesitantly. 

“I’m pretty sure it's just like a broom.’ Eda said, swaying a bit as King dove into her hair, “now hurry up! Kids need help!” she rose into the air and saluted Barcus, “thanks again kid, help yourself to tonight’s leftovers if you’re hungry, Byeeee!” with that she blasted off into the air.

Sirius sighed and climbed onto the staff, “okay so do i just kick off the ground or-WHOA!” he yelped as the Hornbill-finally getting fed up with the situation-took off as fast as it could into the sky. Sirius cursed all the way. 

And behind them, Hedwig winged after them, her eyes flashing as she disappeared. Leaving behind a single feather that slowly floated down to land gently on Barcus’ head. The boy's oracle spirit peaked out from a purple gem on his glasses  and gently picked the feather up. 

“Thats interesting.” Barcus hummed as his glasses glowed with oracle magic.

WVWVW

Harry's spell hadn't connected with either of them. 

But Luz had been able to pull a wind glyph and managed to cushion their fall, leading to a rough tumble into an adjacent tunnel, Luz let out a cry as she felt a stabbing pain in her arm, she clutched at the appendage and flinching when she felt blood trail onto her hand.

“Luz!” Amity cried, hobbling over to her, “are you alright?”

“I think I got stabbed by something.” she winced when she felt something sticking out of her shoulder, jagged and sharp. 

“It’s glass,” Amity said, her voice shaky, “I’m going to-” she reached out to try and pull the shard of glass out but Luz flinched away.

“W-wait!” she cried, “we need something to stop the bleeding first.” 

Amity paused before looking down at the cloak Emira had loaned her, “here.” she tore a strip off of the bottom, “do you want something to bite on?”

Luz shook her head, gritting her teeth as she limply held her arm out for her, “Just do it quick before-” she whimpered as Amity quickly pulled the surprisingly long sliver of glass out of her shoulder and immediately bound the wound with the rag, “ow.” she hissed, putting a hand over the bound wound and giving Amity a smile, “thanks Amity.”

Amity nodded slightly, “we need to head back up,” she said, “they’re probably worried sick-” she cut herself off at the sound of yipping echoing throughout the tunnel, “What was that?”

Luz got to her feet and pulled out a light glyph, activating it and brightening the area better than the glowing crystals could; they were at the mouth of a tunnel, a rock-pile from the cave-in behind them, alongside a smashed bottle of Amity’s abomination slime, “found what stabbed me.” Luz chuckled good naturedly while Amity summoned the slime to her, creating a saber as the yipping got louder, coming in the direction of another tunnel, “I don’t like the sound of that.’ Luz muttered, eyes going to the little light ball as it suddenly began to float away from her palm, trailing off deeper into the tunnel.

“Whatever those things are, they’re coming for us.’ Amity said, getting into a defensive stance before Luz was grabbing her hand with her non-injured one, dragging her further down the tunnel, “Luz! What are you doing!?”

“We can’t fight whatever those things are in the open like that, easier in a tunnel.” she said, ears pricking a bit as the distinct pitter patter of dog-like feet reached her ears, “it sounds like dogs. A lot of them!”

“I don’t know much about beasts.” Amity confessed, glancing back, she could see shapes moving in the dark, about where the rubble pile was, “They’ll be on us soon!”

Luz reached into her pocket, pulling out an Ice glyph that she activated to create an ice wall between them and the beasts, who impacted against it with a harsh ‘crack!’, the ice was transparent enough that she could see the frankly astonishing number of reptilian like dogs with horns protruding from their foreheads, “yikes, Marrdregs, don’t usually see those in tunnels, thankfully that should be enough to hold them for-” she stopped as she saw wisps of vapor-like magic trail off of the ice, causing it to crack and crumble in places, “or not,” she grabbed Amity’s hand and took off down the tunnel again, ‘Something’s pulling the magic this way! Including from my Ice creations!”

“It’s not pulling magic from my abomination slime.” Amity said, frowning as she looked at the light ball that was still moving through the tunnel, “is it…is it pulling on your glyphs?”

Luz frowned, but shook her head, “whatever it is, it’ll have to wait, Marrdregs are pack hunters, and if they already have us in their sights then we need to keep moving. If I know Harry-and I like to think I do-then he’ll be down here in no time to help.”

“The twins too.” Amity admitted softly, “they wouldn’t leave me behind…” 

Luz nodded, shooting her as good a grin as she could manage, “we’ll make it out of this, Amity, I promise.”

WVWVW

The marrdregs whined and clawed at the slowly crumbling ice wall, yipping and baying as they paced back and forth until a sharp whistle called them back, obediently bowing their heads and cowering as a tall man hidden by the pitch darkness stepped forward, his silhouette barely framed by the rapidly fading light of Luz’s spell.

“What have you found for me, my sweet little friends.” the voice rasped, old and tired, his hand trailed against the ice, slowly curling into a fist, as his frame.shook with rage, “Wild Magic.” he spat, smashing a fist into the wall and causing it to fully crumble, the magic still being pulled from the rapidly melting pieces. “They must know…they have to know…lead me to them!”

WVWVW

Harry was starting to feel a bit anxious as they continued down the tunnel, they’d come across a few spots where it looked like Amity and Luz had come into conflict with the Marrdregs. Crumbling shelves of Ice giving off wisps of magic and splattered blood and abomination goo from Amity’s own scuffles covering the walls alongside the melted glass that Luz’s Lightning produced. Everyone had quickened their pace when they continued to stumble along the carnage; Jerbo gathered the bits of abomination that Amity had been forced to leave behind while Viney and Ed did all they could to try and glean the exact size of the pack they were tracking.

“Over thirty signatures,” Ed muttered, his eyes glowing as he studied the scratch marks while on the run, “and some of them are…weird, like they’re off somehow.” 

“Could be enhancements from their handler.” Viney said, eyes likewise glowing, taking a whiff of the air as they passed a junction and directing everyone down the right tunnel,‘“i’m also picking something up that’s not Marrdreg, whatever it is; it's not native to the knee.”

‘Which means trouble.” Edric muttered, “I wish Batric was here.” 

“Think about your muddlebat later Ed.” Emira said, her eyes narrowing as she noticed something ahead, “guys, we’re coming up on-” her eyes widened as an orange glow suddenly filled the air in front of them; “Watch out!” She screamed, causing everyone to drop to the ground as a fireball soared over them.

“That’s your one warning! Reveal yourselves!” came the snarled cry from an aged voice, Jerbo peered up and let out a startled gasp, “the Golden Guard?”

Harry’s head shot up, to his shock it was indeed the Golden Guard.

Or at least, a Golden Guard.

The man in front of them wore the same helmet-though it was dull and pitted- but his cloak was a mottled gray and white, the armor underneath was thicker, dull, and a faded gray with chips of gold paint peeling off. He had multiple belts strapped to his chest and waist; pouches, potion bottles and even bladed weapons. He was thicker than their Golden Guard as well as taller. Easily standing above Jerbo’s height, one hand was raised above his head, holding a brilliant golden flame that illuminated his form and the lurking figures of his Marrdregs behind him.  

“That’s right.” the man gruffed, eyes narrowing from behind the mask, “Now reveal yourselves! Step into the light! And no funny business: I'm already on the trail of two wild witches, I’ve no hang ups about tussling with more!”

“Wild witches?” Harry questioned as he got to his feet, approaching with his arms raised, showing off his Hexside uniform, “we’ve lost our friends down here! Are you sure they’re wild?”

“Hexside?” He whispered, a bit of aggressiveness bleeding from his stance, “your friends are down here? What are Hexside students doing in an abandoned mine!?” he demanded to know, “This is no place for students!”

“A Party.” Emira said quickly, “we found a cavern that looked secure-but something caused a cave in! My sister and her friend fell down here and we’re trying to find them!”

the remaining aggression bled from his frame, “My word-perhaps I’ve made a folly, allow me to-” he paused, his eyes narrowing at the multi-colored sleeves on the boys uniform, as well as the panic and worry in all the teens that wasn’t for their missing friends, “your sleeves, they’re multi-colored.”

Harry blinked, “er-yeah?” he questioned, “Hexside just implemented a multi-track option.”

Instantly the man’s stance turned aggressive once more. “The Emperor’s Coven would never allow such sacrilege!” he snarled, the Marrdregs growling low in their throats, causing a wind to pick up, “you’re here to help the wild witches!”

“They’re not wild witches!” Viney shouted back pleadingly, “one of them’s human! She uses glyph’s-”

“Wild Magic!” He spat, his beasts snarling at the words.

“They’re glyph’s that belong to the Isle’s!” Jerbo snapped back hotly, “Luz found them-”

“HERESY!” He roared, cutting the boy off, his entire frame shaking in anger, “HERESY AND SACRILEGE! Only the Emperor can commune with the Titan!” he shook his head as if to clear it of fog, “you’re attempting to trick me, even now you delay my capture of the Acolyte and my mission! I won’t let it happen!” he whistled sharply and the Marrdreg’s charged, two of them bulking up as the Guard spun a spell circle. “Detain them!”

“Right.” Harry muttered, his violin falling into his hand as Emira summoned it for him, stepping behind him as he played a quick ditty; half of the Marrdreg’s-including one of the enhanced ones began awkwardly dancing to the tune. leaving them wide open for Emira’s fireball that scorched them into unconsciousness, both retreating to allow Viney to step forward, two spell circles already prepped.

“Bestial Blessing: Gryphon strength!” she declared as her already impressive muscles bulked and feathers sprouted around her neck, with a screech she tackled one of the enhanced Marrdreg’s, wrestling it to the ground while Edric actually managed to wrestle control of three of the smaller Marrdreg’s away from the guard. Giving Jerbo the space he needed to dodge around the final Marrdreg and rush the Guard, a spiked fist of abomination goo in his hand.

A blast of red magic interrupted his attack; a broken mechanical staff was brandished in the old man’s hand, sparking with barely stable magic and holding Jerbo in place, “you’re no match for me; wild witch.” he growled, his booted foot coming up to kick Jerbo harshly in the chest and sending him flying back;the Abomination slime around the young boys fists being pulled from his grasp by the Guard and reshaped it into a spear that he immediately threw at Viney; Harry’s blast of sound magic being the only thing to stop the girl from being skewered as it splattered against the cave wall.

“Sic’em boys!” Edric ordered his newly Acquired Marrdreg’s, who’s horn’s immediately began glowing, stirring the air in front of them until a tornado was tearing its way towards the Golden Guard, who brought the tail of his cloak around in front of him; creating a magical shield that easily dispelled the winds. “Uh…that’s all i got guys, if i send Rudy, Tudy and Barcus Jr at him he could regain control!”

“Did you really name them mid battle!?” Emira demanded to know as she healed a disoriented Jerbo. 

“”Well forgive me for becoming attached!” Edric shot back as Viney finally put the Marrdreg she was wrestling with to sleep, “how about our old favorite?”

“Ooh, good idea!” Emira praised him as Edric made the spell circle, immediately several copies of Harry, Viney, Edric and Emira were created. All of them charged at the Golden Guard, who brought the staff up. Its end glowing an ominous red.

“Expelliarmus!” Harry called, his wand out and the blue bolt nailing the staff head. 

The Guard snarled as he spun a spell circle, a large wave of rock plowing through the illusions and nearly burying Viney had Jerbo not managed to pull her out of the way.

“You think I can't handle a bunch of brats!” He spat, grunting when a fist hit his chin and a foot slammed into his gut, a puff of cyan revealed the twins right beside him, grinning.

“Like we haven't heard that before.” Ed scoffed, disappearing in a puff of smoke when the Guard punched him.

“Yeah, old people always underestimate us.” Emira sighed, winking at the guard as a blast of fire shot through her illusory form, courtesy of Jerbo; who formed his reclaimed abomination slime into a pair of short blades that he clumsily swiped at the older man. barely dodging out of the way when a rock pillar shot from the ground, Jerbo’s eyes sharpened as he spun a spell circle and thornvines exploded from around the pillar, all of them lashing towards the Guard, who was forced to jump back as he pulled two potion bottles off one of his belts, hurling them into the plants and turning to run as fire exploded from the shattered glass. Engulfing the plants in a brilliant burst of flames. 

"Don't let him get away!” Viney shouted as Harry turned a part of the tunnel into sand to smother the burning vines,  Emira and Ed immediately reappeared beside Jerbo and all three took off down the hall, Harry taking up the rear as he played a song of swiftness. Magic engulfing all of them and making them faster. He added the song of strengthening and the ballad of motivation as they entered another large cavern, several different tunnels and even half-destroyed mine tracks filling its space. With several levels rising ahead of them into the face of the cavern. The Guard was waiting for them,  a third of the way up and his hands curled into fists. 

“You're outnumbered! Just surrender!” Harry urged him, violin poised and ready to play as Emira summoned green flames into her hands. Edric stood beside her, the Marrdregs he'd gained control of growling in preparation.  Jerbo had managed to mix the abomination slime into the silt and soil surrounding them and create two medium sized abominations, and Viney had given herself another Bestial blessing, sharp talons and harsh amber eyes glaring up at the lone guardsman. 

“Am i?” He asked mockingly, whistling sharply and making Viney wince. 

Grunts and growls filled the cavern as the tunnels seemed to come alive with movement. the five teens slowly huddled together defensively as two Slitherbeasts stomped out of two of the tunnels, accompanied by several large Mole-like animals with a chitin carapace. From another tunnel came medium sized rat-like bats that screeched and cried as they whipped about the golden guard defensively. A few more Marrdregs came slinking out from the tunnel directly behind him as something even more hulking slowly stomped its way out of the darkness, it's red scales like rubies that glinted in the dim light, dazzling them as it's powerful limbs carried it down to be at the forefront of if the massive pack. 

“Two slitherbeasts, seven Rolly Moles, a swarm of rat-bats, about six more Marrdregs, and a red Drake.” Edric said, swallowing nervously. “Anyone else feeling like we're biting off more than we can chew?” 

Harry shared a look with Emira, her eyes shown with determination.

And Harry smirked.

“Yeah, but when has that ever stopped us.” He asked as he brought his violin to bear.

“Take them!” The Golden Guard spat as he stalked into the tunnels, construction magic sealing his route behind him as his animals roared as one and rushed the teens, who likewise gave battle cries of their own as they rushed to meet them. 

WVWVWVW

Luz let out a ragged breath as she incapacitated another Marrdreg with a wind glyph that sent it crashing into the wall alongside two of its pack mates; whirling around with a lightning glyph Luz was ready to continue the fight  only to find herself coming face to face with Amity, the girl was likewise out of breath, her clothes a bit ragged from their tumble and subsequent fights, a cut on her cheek from a wind attack that had sent a particularly sharp piece of rock slicing into her, her golden eyes were a bit wide from the adrenaline running through her as well as the surprise at finding Luz as the only other one standing at the moment, her hair had fully fallen from their braids and now sat wild and tussled in a way that made Luz's heart skip a beat.

Amity coughed and pulled the last of her slime back from where it had formed a sharp spike pointing at Luz's throat. “Sorry, I didn't realize…” she trailed off as she looked away, blushing a bit.

It took Luz a moment to click back into reality, “o-oh, no problem!” She stuttered, quickly pocketing her glyph before she accidentally set it off, “I almost fried you so…” she trailed off awkwardly, kicking the last fading bit of her failed ice wall, “it's a good thing whatever draining the glyphs are only affecting the glyphs from this titan.” She muttered, mostly to keep her mind preoccupied as she looked around the tunnel they'd been fighting in for the last five minutes, Marrdregs were scattered about, either unconscious or whimpering on the ground from whatever injury they faced; A few lay on their side unmoving and Luz very quickly ignored those ones. “There were more here…right? Did something spook them?”

“No, we were getting overwhelmed.” Amity admitted, glancing back down the tunnel they came from, the distant echoes of thunder-like noise making her ears twitch. “Maybe another part of the pack ran into trouble?”.

“You think it's Harry and the others?” Luz asked, perking up.

“I don't know…” Amity hesitated,looking back at Luz then back down the tunnel, “these tunnels go all throughout the mountain, who knows what demons and beasts live in these tunnels. For all we know they're fighting a Slitherbeast, or-or a griffin that wandered down here, or maybe-:

“Mrrow.” 

The two girls blinked and turned back around, Amity conjuring a ball of her lavender fire to make sure she hadn't imagined that sound.

And she hadn't, sitting behind them, licking its paw daintily, was a cat. A white cat. 

“Uh…hi?” Luz questioned, making the cat open its blue eyes to stare at her, “are you lost little guy?”

“Mrow.” 

“I don't know what that means.” Luz sighed, jumping a bit when the cat suddenly trotted over and rubbed itself against her legs, purring all the while, “well, i guess that answers that!” Luz cheered, making Amity chuckle.

“Even in a tunnel, being chased by a pack of wild Marrdregs, you manage to make friends.” She said fondly, and Luz beamed as she picked up the cat and began to pet it. 

“If this little guy-sorry-girl got in here, then maybe she can lead us out!” Luz said. And the cat gave a meow that sounded like a confirmation. “This is great! We might be able to meet up with Harry and the others on the surface!’

“And leave a trail just in case they're down here too.” Amity added with a genuine smile that had Luz grinning. 

“This is great! We're saved!” 

“I wouldn't say that. Wild witch.” 

A hiss and the sound of a shield going up was the only warning Luz had before flames washed around the two girls, barely diverted by the opaque blue shield that the cat had created between them and the imposing figure of the Golden Guard stalking towards them. The flickering flames made his visage all the more terrifying. 

“You've managed to beat my beasts.” He grunted in begrudging respect, sneering at the cat who jumped from Luz's arms to hiss and spit at him, fur standing on end,  “and you even managed to find the temple guardian. But this is as far as you get.”

“H-hold on! I'm not a wild witch!” Luz cried, “can't we-” She yelped as Amity tackled her to the ground, the cat leaping away as another burst of flames broke the shield. Both girls rolled to their feet, Amity's abomination slime forming into a spiked bat while Luz pulled a glyph.

The guard seemed to become livid, “you even brandish those foul sigils of Wild magic like the Bard and the abomination witch said! I knew my instincts weren't wrong!” 

“Wild magic?” Luz asked, looking at the glyph, “this is a glyph from the titan-”

“SACRILEGE!” He screamed, stomping his foot and sending several pillars of rock rushing Luz. Both she and Amity struck, lightning tearing through the attack while a follow up swing from Amity's bat took care of any pillars that lingered, Luz retreated further down the tunnel while Amity gathered up all of her slime and set it sliding across the ground, making it pop up behind the guard and try to wrangle him. 

The guards cape seemed to flash and the abomination splattered along the wall, a Blight?” He questioned, advancing on the girl, as she scrambled back away from him, her abomination struggling to reform behind him, “the eyes are similar, as is the magic, but the hair-”

“-get away from her!” Luz shouted, wind glyph slamming into the man's chest. 

The explosion of wind sent Amity tumbling, Luz would have followed suit had the Guard not grabbed her by the throat. 

He had barely budged, the wind billowing his cloak and sending him sliding a few inches back, but he otherwise was unmoved; hauling a thrashing Luz up as his other hand pulled a knife.

“I take no pleasure in this.” He told her seriously, his red eyes stern and cold up close. “but the Acolytes of Caplacier Temple are all subject to its extermination, even new ones.” 

“n-not…ac-ack-” Luz struggled out, her lungs were on fire from the lack of oxygen, and her arms were starting to fail her. 

“you use their magic! Their guardian came to you!’ he accused her, the knife pausing for a moment and his grip easing just a bit, his eyes showing a hesitant pity as he took the time to explain it to the girl, “ignorance is not a defense, youth is not an excuse; all Heretics and Wild Witches shall meet the same end! And by my writ as the Golden Guard, and my mission against Caplacier, I sentence you-” 

“-let go of my friend!’

The Guard  let out a cry of pain as an arrow made of abomination slime slammed into his shoulder, making him drop Luz, who wasted no time to slap an Ice glyph onto the ground, another wall of ice sprouting up between them and the guard, another hiss from the cat seemingly reinforced the wall; the magic leaking from it slowing to a crawl as another shield appeared. 

“Luz! Are you alright?” Amity asked her worriedly, dropping the abomination crossbow she'd made to save Luz's life, for once thankful for those long hours helping her family showcase abomitech.

“Fine.” She croaked out as she took gasps of air to feed her needy lungs,  coughing as she massaged her throat and looked through the shield and ice at the Golden Guard, who seemed to be ranting and yelling at them as he punched the ice wall. “that guys nuts!’

“who knows how long he's been down here-ed talked about that temple he was ranting about on the way here, the whole temple got destroyed!”

“Mrow.”

The girls looked at the cat again, now several paces away and looking at the girls imploringly. Her tail twitched as if pointing down the tunnel. 

“Or maybe it didn't." Luz whispered, slowly standing and approaching the cat, “he called you a temple guardian, I doubt you'd still be around if you didn't have a temple so…do you?”

Amity's breath hitched as the cat nodded and took off down the tunnel, looking back every now and again to make sure they were following, “do we…do we follow?” she whispered.

“It’s either that or wait for Senor Loco to break through the Ice.” Luz pointed out, holding a hand out, “Come on Hermosa, together.” she said with a smile.

Amity felt a thrill run through her, despite not knowing what that word meant; she took Luz’s hand and together the two ran deeper into the Knee after the white cat.

Chapter 10: relics of the past

Summary:

secrets long since hidden are revealed as students fight for their lives.

"This is not what we expected."

"To think the temple survived the fall of its order, Orion; how did you not know?"

"The Emperor has found ways to hide from my vision, when he attacked Caplacier temple I could not see, I heard the cry for my help and I did what I could to bestow what blessings I could but…well, its hard to tell what's being asked when you can't see and the entire order from the highest priest to the lowest neophyte is begging for your help…I lost much of my time there, and when the Emperor moved on all I found was a chasm with no sign of the temple, all of their voices…gone…I had never even dreamed that they were hiding, even from me."

"Do you think they will share their knowledge with the young one? She has shown herself capable."

"I worry that there is nothing but bones and ash left, but we can hope..

Atticus didn't know what to do.

The rescue topside had gone off without a hitch, the few students who'd been caught up in the collapse had been pulled from the rubble and taken outside to be healed by the healers that had stuck around. Ukla herself had went home, exhausted from being about the only construction student with the skill to help everyone.

Atticus had done what he could; his healing magic was second only to his cousin and he was strong enough to help move some of the more infirmed students out of the cavern. But now his usefulness had come to an end, and all he could do was stand at the edge of the stairs, staring down at the speck of light that was his friends; recovering two girls he'd stopped Emira from saving. Even if for only a few seconds.

What was taking so long? Surely they'd found the girls and were bringing them up by now? Has something else happened? Perhaps another cave in?

"Atticus."

The soft, far away drawl of Celeste made him jump a bit as he looked at the shawl covered girl, her eyes judging him in a silent amusement.

"You're overthinking Attie." she whispered to him teasingly.

"I can't help it." he muttered, looking back down, "they've been gone for too long. Something must have happened."

"Something definitely happened," She hummed, and he looked at her sharply, "something is always happening." she laughed at him, "I don't have to be a seer to tell you that, I don't know what's happening down there, but I've divined their fates, all will return to us safe and with some having grown better for it."

Atticus relaxed just a bit, "you have no idea how much that helps, Celeste."

"Oh I really do." she snorted, hands folding together in her sleeves, likewise staring down into the abyss, "you've never been particularly hard to read Attie, at least not for me."

"Titan could you two just make out already." Bran rumbled as he lumbered over, the large boy stepping carefully so as not to undo all of Ukla's hard work, "any word? have they come back up yet?"

"Nothing yet Bran," Atticus told him regretfully, his fur puffing up a bit in embarrassment while Celeste simply chuckled at Bran's heckle, "you should head home, it's getting late."

"Nothing at home but the animals," he grunted, "and they're already watered, fed and bedded down for the night; our missing friends are more important."

"Do you even know them, Bran?" Celeste asked curiously, "I don't think I even saw you speak with them at the meeting."

"I know Jerbo," he said simply, "and I know Edric, he helps out on the ranch sometimes, good guy, soft with the animals; sometimes too soft-what was I saying again?"

"Our missing friends are more important." Celeste prompted him gently.

"Right. Any word?"

Atticus and Celeste shared a sympathetic look, but were stopped from answering as an out of breath Mattholomule pulled himself up from the makeshift stairs, "oh thank titan!" He sighed as he collapsed forward, "I didn't think I'd make it back up!"

"Matt!" Atticus exclaimed, rushing to the boy's side, "what happened?"

"No idea." he grunted as he got back to his feet, "I stayed behind to reinforce the stairs while Harry and the others went ahead, couldn't have been more than thirty minutes when the whole place started shaking! I almost fell back down!"

Atticus turned a worried eye back down to the dark chasm, his hands curling into fists.

"Atticus," Celeste said warningly.

"They might need a Healer-:

"Both Emira and Viney are competent healers.' Celeste reassured him.

"And if they're injured too?" He demanded.

"They're not." Bran muttered, his ears now shaped like a bat's, "there's fighting going on down there alright, fierce fighting. But I'm not hearing anything to suggest someone's injured."

"Then we need to go and help them with whatever fight is going on down there!" He argued.

"Atticus you're not a fighter." Celeste said blandly, "the last fight you got into Jerbo ended up having to carry you !"

He growled at the reminder but Bran simply began walking forward, "Bran?"

"I'm the only one here currently with fight experience," he hummed, picking up Matt as he walked by-to the boys' protestations, "go grab Boscha, she's been worried over the Blight girl so this'll give her something to do."

Celeste sent a spirit while Atticus stopped him, "are you sure, Bran?" He asked worriedly.

"I am, I took my potions today, and I've only lost myself once." He shot his friend a smirk when the lion boy winced,"I see those looks you and Celeste give each other, I'm not an invalid." With that he started down the stairs again, Matt rushing to reinforce them as the heavy demon lumbered down into the darkness.

Atticus weighed his options, coming to a conclusion as two unfamiliar adults came flying towards them from the tunnel entrance, Boscha and Celeste's spirit right behind them.

"Hey, Lion boy!" Eda the Owl Lady called as she came in for a graceful landing, her partner crashing into the ground a split second after the Hornbill-Atticus' own palisman by the name of Sazu-transformed back into his regular form and flew over to Atticus. "Where's my kids?"

"Still down there." Atticus said, putting a foot on the first step, Celeste's warning glare ignored, "I was about to go down to lend aid-one of their party came back up to inform us there's some kind of fight down there-"

"-then you better stay up here," Eda told him, heading for the edge, "not to knock ya kid, but I know Harry and Luz can handle themselves, I don't know you, and i don't know if you can handle yourself, so you stay up here and be ready to call the cavalry in if we don't make it back up." she turned to say the same to Boscha, who cut her off.

"-my friends down there old-lady, I already stayed behind once because Viney told me too; and I like her a hell of a lot more than you." she snapped.

Eda blinked, "point taken," she reached into her hair and pulled King out of her hair, depositing him into Atticus' hands, "watch that, we'll be back." Once again Owlbert changed into his staff form, this time Sirius jumping onto the back before Eda went flying down into the cavern, Boscha growled but pulled Atticus out of the way so she could go running down the stairs.

"You saw this, didn't you?" Atticus asked, looking at Celeste, who tilted her head, "you knew the Owl Lady was about to get here."

"I knew we'd have help, but I also knew that if you went down there you'd be putting your life at risk when it wasn't needed." she put a hand on his shoulder, "trust our friends, Atticus, they will make it out of this."

Atticus sighed, letting his shoulders slump, "you're right. But damn does it leave a bad taste in my mouth."

King wiggled out of his grasp and climbed up into his mane, "hehe, your manes softer than Eda's." he said, glancing at the abyss with a worried look, "Luz and the others will be fine…right?"

Celeste smiled as Atticus rushed to reassure the boy, not minding one bit that the young demon was nestled in his hair.

WVWVW

Luz was a bit surprised how long they'd been walking without obstruction, she'd assumed the Golden Guard would get through the shield and her ice wall sooner or later, but it looked like she'd underestimated the little cat that had assisted them.

Who was leading them with utmost confidence as it went down different tunnels and crevices and stopping only to make sure the two girls were behind her; they'd seen many wondrous things on their trek; including a small cavern filled with thousands of multi-colored gems that glowed with an ethereal light and led into an underground ravine with water like stardust due to the glittering sand underneath it, fossils that had crystalized and gilded from some unknown natural occurrence lined the walls and ceiling of the tunnels as they went from the uniform mines to natural formations.

"Luz, look." Amity whispered, making Luz look ahead, her eyes widening at the unnatural structure in front of them.

It was made of a purple-ish blue stone, pitted and cracked from some unknown attack; crumbling towers and ramparts towering over them and fusing with the cavern roof above, empty window frames where stained glass had once filled the space in between left the entire structure looking ominous; the vines and moss that grew all across the structure not helping one bit.

"It's bigger than Hexside." Luz said softly as they carefully climbed the mud covered stairs that lead up to the giant doors of the temple, a very familiar symbol etched into its stone facade with faded gold.

"That's…that's the light glyph." Luz whispered in awe and Amity squeezed her hand, making her look at the mint-haired girl, who inclined her head; motioning to the cat, who'd lagged behind their steps, the cat seemed to be jumping from stone to stone in a repeating pattern until-with a flash of golden light, a see-through dome appeared around the temple.

"At least we know we'll be defended here." Amity said, looking back at the door, "Come on, let's go in, maybe we'll find out what that guy's deal is."

Luz nodded and helped Amity push the doors open-surprisingly difficult. Especially when it became apparent that the cat didn't have a surprise glyph in store for opening the door.

But soon they managed to crack it open enough to squeeze their way inside. Both gasping in shock at what they found.

The inside of the temple was as derelict and moss-covered as the outside, with the added ambiance of skeletal remains littered across the floor of the entrance hall; some in different colored robes and shawls with a glyph inscribed on them, others in the very familiar armor and cloaks of the Emperor's coven, weapons lay strewn about among the dead, the magic long since drained out of them by the passage of time. Broken potion bottles and crumbling stone constructs marking the ferocity of the battle alongside dried out abomination slime and broken instruments. Much of it was coated in a thick layer of ash, with a few skeletons being reduced to nothing but charred shards of bone alongside the melted stone that they sat in.

And looming over it all, its wings spread wide and its toothy maw open to the sky, was a dragon.

A stone dragon, easily larger than even the Slitherbeasts that roamed the Knee, a few cracks marred its weathered surface and moss and lichens clung to its feet and claws but otherwise the stone creation seemed to be in good condition.

"The massacre of the Caplacier Priests." Amity whispered, gingerly stepping around the bodies as respectfully as she could, Luz following her steps. "Ed was right." She felt sick when she saw the broken husks of Palisman scattered about as well, "what could have done this?"
"Look at the coven scouts," Luz said softly, motioning to the soot-stained cloaks, "a lot of them were crowded around the door, like they were running from something."

Amity shivered, pressing herself closer to Luz as they stepped out of the corpse-strewn hallway and walked around the dragon, Luz staring up at its baleful eye that seemed to pierce directly into her soul.

'...Neophyte…'

"Huh?" Luz looked at Amity, making the girl jump, "did you say something?"

"Nothing." Amity said with a frown, likewise glancing up at the dragon for a moment before turning away, 'lets go find that cat, this thing gives me the creeps."
Luz nodded, ignoring the whispered word as she followed Amity into a central Atrium, three other large halls branching off from it; three old banners barely hung above the entrance of each one. Other rooms and halls branching off from each main hall.

"That's the Ice Glyph!" Luz cheered, pointing to the hall to the right where the blue banner with the Ice Glyph swayed a bit, "these other two must be the ones i haven't found yet." she looked at the red and green banner, committing the designs to memory as she drew the red one on one of her remaining blank slips of paper, activating it and grinning when fire burst into her palm, 'that's so rad!-oh!" she gasped as the fire seemed to suddenly be pulled from her grasp, streaming straight for the dragon, the flames were absorbed into the rock like a sponge.

And another crack appeared, small compared to the others, but definitely there.

Both girls blanched, "let's not do that anymore." Amity said, and Luz nodded immediately.

"Yeah, bad enough we got a beast keeper down here trying to kill us; let's not give him a literal dragon for help." Luz shook her head, looking around until she spotted the cat beside a small door between the fire and ice glyph halls. The two rushed over, blanching at a few more skeletons of priests that they stepped over with whispered apologies as they entered the room.

It seemed to be a workshop of sorts, shelves and cabinets lined the walls, holding equipment for all kinds of magic; from dusty potion bottles with curdled contents to the worn and once cared for collars and harnesses for beastkeepers and their beasts. Amity was even surprised-and thankful-to find abomination slime, still good in the air tight jugs that held them, though they'd need rehydration and some magic. "We can arm up here." Amity said softly as Luz looked over a stack of dusty books,wondering if they were in good enough condition to pick up before a glow caught her attention, "hit the Guard hard when he gets-Luz?" She asked as she noticed the girl walk away, she caught the glow as well and followed the girl into the back of the room, where two more skeletons lay, priests-though neither had shawls like the others; they were huddled together on an old bed, one curled into the others chest as if sleeping as the other curled its arms protectively around them. Their robes stained in long dried blood.

The glow was emanating from the closed fist of the second skeleton, and the cat was batting at it, looking at Luz imploringly.

"what is it?" Luz asked softly, gently reaching out to pry long dead fingers away from a tiny trinket, a blue stone that glowed softly between the white bones that slowly released their long held treasure; Luz held it up to get a better look at it, noting the infinitesimally tiny runes that seemed to cover it.

"Thats a memory stone." Amity said in wonder, "They're extremely hard to make. There's a way to activate them, if you just-' she reached out and ran a thumb across its surface, smiling when the blue turned to a soft white and the stone began to float.

Luz took a step back as a shadowy figure appeared, he was a thin man, with round glasses and weary smile, his hair was short and his plain white robes were specked with blood, Luz glanced from the apparition to the bodies on the bed, noticing the glasses on one of them, "this must have been just before they died." she whispered.

"The Titans blessings be upon you, who has found this memory stone." the apparition said softly, as if he truly meant what he said to a person he'd never meet, "if you are watching this, then that means we have failed; Emperor Belos has seen to the destruction of our order and this temple- our final resting place-is all that remains of our faith. We held our tongues when the young warlord began his conquest of the Isles; many far crueler and competent have tried their hand at unifying these isles and all have failed…all before him.

Still, we refused to address him as a threat until he began encroaching upon our freedom to worship the Titan;those who know how to listen know that the Titan does not wish to be worshipped as a deity, nor does he wish to restrict our natural power, and his power is not 'wild' it is simply magic in it's purest form…" he sighed, wincing a bit as he did, "After weeks of negotiation we thought we'd found a common ground, we thought he understood…but we were wrong, and we didn't know until his scouts were burning our library and killing anyone who stood in their way; I saw the emperor himself-tearing Palisman from their owners and devouring them…that is not a witch, or even a Demon; i don't know what that is. But as a result, the head priests of Caplacier combined their power to try and defeat this foe; they succeeded partially; the Emperor's army was decimated. But it came at a cost, I'm sure you saw the statue of the dragon in the entrance hall; it is no mere statue, what you saw was the attempt of our head priests to drive off the foe; and their eternal tomb thanks to the accursed Emperor. They are still alive, trapped in stone, unable to be free because I am not long for this world…" he swayed a bit and Luz noticed that the blood stains had grown, his words had started to slur and stutter a bit, and his eyes grew a bit dim.

"we sank Caplacier Temple, to protect what was left from Emperor Belos and his minions, but one is still down here; hunting us, l-looking for the temple so he may finish cleansing our order and wiping the last remnants of the titan's true faith from the Demon Realm. He injured me before I could fully hide the temple from him; and even now he's looking for me, he won't find me…and he won't find this temple, not if I can help it." familiar form suddenly appeared on the man's shoulder, having jumped from somewhere, he absentmindedly scratched behind her ears, as he swayed under the weight, his words had gotten softer as he spoke, the strain from his wounds beginning to catch up with him, he let his hand fall and the cat jumped away, "good girl…I have tasked Ghost to weave enchantments after my passing, and to deny him that which he seeks for as long as she can…but s-she can't hold him off forever; if she activates the temples final defenses then the hour is nigh and he is close to finding you and the temple…p-please; you MUST wake the high priests, he is too powerful for anyone else; the glyph's can do it…you just need…need…a big enough combination…i couldn't…I don't even think I can make it back…but I must…" he looked up again, eyes pleading as a tear trailed down his ghostly face, mixing with the blood that was beginning to collect at the corner of his mouth, "Don't let them destroy all that we've created, don't let them pervert the Titan for their own greed, free them, protect this tomb…even if it's only for those who died in it. May the Titan bless all that you seek to accomplish…my friend." his hand closed around the memory stone, the sound of his uneven footsteps filling the otherwise silent room, the sniffling of another person slowly drifting in.

"Harwin?"The voice was raspy, wet, and weak. The sound of bed springs creaking met their ears for a few moments.

"It's me…it's done…'

"Good…we…we did our duty, didn't we?"

"We did…sleep now Valda, I promise things will be better when you next wake."

"Will we see our friends?"

"We will…we…will…" a soft, final exhale, a worried shake that had Harwin's hand opening just a bit, displaying the worried, blood streaked face of a young witch, her black hair plastered to the side of her head by an unknown liquid, her eyes full of grief and sorrow even as she couldn't find the strength to pull herself from the cold embrace of her lover to truly check on him past the weak shaking of his chest.

"...Harwin?" she whispered, her voice breaking a bit, grief filling her words even as they faded, "i-it's alright, you're just…you're just tired…so am I…he's right…things will be better…when next…we…wake…" her head fell against his chest, that final jostle covering the memory stone for the final time.

The actual memory stone stayed suspended in the air for a few more moments before it turned blue once more and fell to the floor, Luz following suit a moment later as her knees gave out.

"Luz! Are you alright?" Amity asked worriedly, kneeling down beside her.

"They just wanted to live in peace…" she whispered, tears trailing down her cheeks as she looked at the embracing skeletons, "they thought they were safe…and Belos…he…he…" she started sobbing as Amity hugged her, holding her as she vented her grief for innocents long since gone.

"mrow."

Luz looked up at Ghost, the cat's eyes full of grief, sympathy, and understanding.

"You've been down here, all this time, protecting this place from the Golden Guard." She whispered, a small, weak smile breaking out when the tiny cat purred and rubbed up against her side, "good kitty…good Ghost."

The temple shook, dust shaking into the air as the rumbling disturbed artifacts long left abandoned.

"He's found the temple." Amity whispered, looking up at the ceiling as it shook and creaked, "what do we do?"

"We free the dragon." Luz said, standing up with an air of determination.

"H-hold on Luz-" Amity started, wincing when Luz looked back at her sharply, "how do we know that dragon won't attack us the same way the guard did? What if it mistakes us for an enemy? And besides, we know at least Harry is down here, we can defeat him without risking y-us." Amity corrected herself.

Luz thought about it for a moment, "Harwin said the dragon is a fusion of the head priests, the priests aren't malicious, look around; this place is laid out more like a Hexside study room than it is an armory. And maybe I'm wrong, maybe these priests are horrible people and Harwin's playing us for suckers from beyond the grave…but…forty years trapped in stone is long enough-" Luz's voice cracked and her head fell, "isn't it?" She asked weakly.

Amity felt her heart ache for the sad girl, she'd discovered the glyphs of the Isles all on her own, to find out that not only was there a temple dedicated to something she'd spent weeks looking for; it was the very wild magic that Emperor Belos had outlawed and tried to eradicate.

The Titans magic.

"Okay." Amity said softly, taking Luz's hands gently into hers, making the girl look up at her, eyes glistening with tears. "We'll free them, and we'll stop the Golden Guard, together."

Luz smiled, her eyes sparkling in spite of the tears, "together, Hermosa.'

WVWVW

The battle for the mine tunnels had been going well, at least in Harry's opinion.

Edric and Viney had worked together to bring the Marrdreg pack under their control, immediately commanding them to whip up a tornado to throw the Rat Bat's into disarray as Viney tackled one of the Slitherbeast, wrestling with it as the other tried to tangle Emira and Jerbo in it's sticky web while the Roly Moles-true to their name-attempted to roll over Harry and Edric. All of them were saved by Harry's Bard magic, taking control of their movements and moving them out of the way, "don't stay in one place!" Harry shouted, rolling out of the way of a swipe from the drake.

Emira spun a spell circle, creating a mirror image of the Drake that had it rearing back in surprise and hostility, perceiving a threat to its territory that wasn't there as Jerbo's abominations went up against his own Slitherbeast, his eyes beginning to glow a deep purple as he struggled to contain the rampaging beast.

Meanwhile Ed was doing what he could to keep the Rat Bat's off his friends backs while commanding what remained of the marrdreg pack to harass and distract the Rolly moles,the sharp teeth and wind magic of the Marrdreg's corralling and herding the giant beasts in a way to keep all of them separated and his friends out of danger.

Viney snarled as she hefted the Slitherbeast up and over, slamming it harshly into the ground as she spun a spell circle in an attempt to restrain the stunned beast, but the drake's head seem to snap towards her and it suddenly abandoned the illusion it had been squaring up with to charge the distracted girl.

"VINEY MOVE!" Edric shouted, catching the girls attention and giving her the precious seconds she needed to brace herself and catch the Drake's tail, her feet digging into the ground as she struggled to hold the attack back, her eyes widened when the Slitherbeasts fist caught her in the side, sending her crashing into the side of the cavern.

"Viney!" Emira called worriedly as she rushed to her friend, Harry drawing the attention of both the drake and the slitherbeast with several blasts of Bardic Magic,

"Viney, are you alright?"

" m'fine," Viney mumbled dizzily as she pulled herself out of the wall, Emira immediately healing the cuts and scrapes she'd received from her scuffle, "that hit me out of my blessings."

"Can't you and Ed control them like you did the Marrdreg's?" she asked, glancing over as the Marrdreg's began harassing the drake, the Rat Bat's having finally been driven off.

She shook her head, "they've got a deeper connection with the guard than the Marrdreg's did, it'd take someone way above our skill to do it." she stood up, kicking off her boots to reveal cat-like paws, "this might knock me out of commission once it wears off, so pull me out if it looks like I'm about to pass out." She spun a spell circle and slammed it into her chest, her brown eyes flashing amber as fur started sprouting across her body.

"Viney?" Emira gasped as the girl let out a spitting hiss, looking much like her lion-like cousin save for the gray spotted coat and lack of a mane, with another hissing snarl she took off across the cavern on all four, a speeding ball of fur that slammed into slitherbeasts gut, claws raking through its pelt and splattering blood across the cavern floor as the Slitherbeast howled and snarled in pain, trying and failing to hit the much smaller target off of it.

The Drake roared and tried to move to help but Harry kept its attention, his blasts of sound magic smashing into the side of its head as the stone pillars he spelled with his feet launched out to hit its paws and shins; "Ed! Focus on the Rolly Moles!" he called and Ed whistled sharply, sending the pack straight for the Rolly Moles as Jerbo finally pinned the Slitherbeast.

"I can't hold it for long!" Jerbo shouted, his glowing eyes flickering as he fought to keep the struggling beast down.

Ed turned to try and help Jerbo, his moment of distraction allowing one of the Rolly Moles to escape the Marrdreg's and make a beeline straight for him.

"Ed! Watch out!" Emira pushed her brother out of the way and sparked her hands, grunting as the Rolly Mole flattened her; but not before her hands made contact and she fried the beast as it passed over, she sat up in surprise at the sandy ground that had saved her from anything more than a bruise, grinning a bit when she noticed Harry had been watching and had softened the ground the minute he noticed both herself and Ed in danger, she jumped to her feet and helped Ed to his, both watching as the now smoking rolly mole unfurled and stumbled back to it's pack mates, shaking the static from it's limbs as it did, "take out those Rolly Moles before another gets loose!" she urged her brother, "I'll go help Jerbo!"

"Got it!" Ed nodded and they both disappeared in a puff of smoke, Ed reappearing beside his Marrdreg's as he started directing them in a wide circle around the Rolly Moles while Em appeared atop the Slitherbeast just as Jerbo was losing his grip.

"I learned this one from the Owl Lady!" she called as she extended her pointer fingers and drew a large yellow spell circle, "Sleep spell!"

The spell hit just as the Slitherbeast reared up, launching Emira into the air as her sleep spell took hold and the beast crashed back to the ground with a loud snore. Emira landed in a roll, managing to get her feet back under her as she skidded to a stumbling halt beside an out of breath Jerbo, "you good?" she asked him a bit shakily.

"Just gotta….get my breath back…" he rasped out, glancing over to where Harry and Viney were still fighting with the drake and the remaining Slitherbeast; it looked like Viney had largely won her fight, though she appeared to be unconscious beside the whining beast and in pain beast.

"I'm going to go check on Viney and that Slitherbeast; Viney wouldn't forgive herself if it died because of all of this."

"Go ahead, I'll help Ed as soon as I'm able." Jerbo reassured her, and Emira took off across the cavern once more. Covering her face as Ed's Marrdreg's began whipping up a powerful gale that forced the Rolly Moles to huddle together in an attempt to shield from it.

The drake had retreated back towards the tunnels, snarling and roaring at Harry as the young Bard stood between it and the rest of his friends, it hadn't responded to any of Harry's beastkeeping spells and Harry was a bit worried it would retreat to the Guards side.

He began utilizing construction magic once more to try and trap the drake, but it swept its tail out to destroy what constructs he'd managed to make and then threw its head back and roared.

Immediately the Rolly Moles dove down into the ground, digging fast and quickly, the Marrdreg's returned to Edric's side as the cavern began to shake.

"What the-" Jerbo started before the ground beneath him started to crumble, "HOLY-" he cried out as he plummeted, saved only by a frantic Harry's construction magic, all over the cavern, chasms began opening up, forcing the students to run too and fro as they tried to evade the Rolly Molly's terrain changing until all that were left were dozens of stone columns that Harry and the others were balancing precariously on, Edric looking particularly vulnerable with twelve Marrdreg's likewise clinging to his.

With a roar the drake leapt out, its feet easily balancing on the different columns as it effortlessly stalked around the stranded teens. Its scales began to glow a ruddy red as the temperature in the cavern spiked.

"It's a fire drake!" Edric called, already drawing Ice Glyph's onto the pillar, producing a nice chill for a few moments before the magic seemed to be sucked from the glyph's, and the glow from the drake intensified, "okay, we need a new plan!"

"Watch over Viney," He told Emira as he ran to the edge of the pillar and leapt, a light note causing him to jump higher and fall slower than normal, he began firing off blasts at the Drake once more, blue energy tinged with ice as he whispered 'glacius' to himself as he played. Each hit that landed froze a portion of the drake, though it quickly melted before it could do more than hinder its movements.

Edric glanced back down, barely able to make out the Rolly Moles roaming around the pillars, apparently waiting for something; what became apparent when the Drake roared and one of the Rolly Moles suddenly curled up and launched itself into the pillar Harry had just landed on, the boy barely able to save himself with another light note and some construction magic to launch himself away onto another pillar.

"We have to stop the Rolly Moles or Harry's gonna bite it!" Edric called over to his sister, hesitating for only a moment before he spun two spell circles, "Ed Patrol attack!" he ordered the Marrdreg's, who all bayed and howled as they launched themselves down at the Rolly Moles, wind magic cushioning their falls and allowing some to tackle one or two of the Moles together as Edric jumped down to assist them, illusions of other-lesser animals that Ed knew letting out shrill shrieks and cries as they flew around the Moles heads, throwing the blind animals into confusion.

"Lame!" Emira heckled her brother, making sure Viney was stable before likewise jumping down after her brother, spinning a circle to make more copies of the Marrdreg's to further the Rolly Moles as she threw a couple of fireballs.

"I'm working off the cuff here, give me some credit!" Edric laughed. Ducking as a large chunk off ice sloughed off the drakes side, "your boyfriend really is somethin' Em." he gulped, vaulting over the Ice to try and spell one of the Rolly Moles to sleep, jumping back in surprise when all the spell did was make it stumble a bit and it retaliated with a swipe of it's long claws, luckily Ed's marrdreg's were fast and four were quick to tackle the larger animal back to defend their master. "Their hides are thick! I can't summon a sleep spell strong enough!" Edric called to his sister as her own attack failed to knock the Rolly Mole out.

"Maybe I can try."

Edric blinked as he looked over, a familiar hulking form falling from the entrance to the cavern and impacting on the ground without slowing or even really showing that the fall affected him besides shaking out one of his legs. "Bran?" Edric asked in surprise.

"Hey Ed, see you got some Marrdreg's under your command, hope you know they need regular care to be happy." he lectured as he spun a spell circle half the size of Ed's, the spell slammed into the Rolly Mole and even managed to knock it back as the spell took hold.

"I do, but-what are you doing down here-and is that Mattholomule thrown over your shoulder?"

"Huh? Oh yeah," Bran pulled the shaking Mattholomule off his shoulder, setting him down on his feet, before he stopped a charging Rolly Mole with a single hand, keeping it in place as he looked down at the frightened boy, "he was helping me keep the stairs stable until the owl lady came by, figured jumping was faster."

"I didn't have to be a part of this…" Matt whimpered as he curled up on the floor, the Rolly Mole Bran had stopped following a moment later after another sleep spell from said boy.

"The Owl Lady is here?" Emira asked hopefully, grinning when an explosion rocked the drake and left it crashing off of the pillars with a pain filled roar as a familiar gray haired woman flew over, dropping Sirius off the back of her stave as the man rained stunners down on the drake, transforming into his dog form to easily jump between the columns and transforming back to continue throwing stunners and explosive hexes at the beast.

"Sirius! Eda!" Harry cheered, blinking when three potion bottles soared overhead and smashed into the drakes side, a flash freezing solution coating its body in ice. "Boscha?" he asked as the potion track student jumped from pillar to pillar.

"Where's Amity?" she demanded to know as she reached him.

"Down a blocked passage," Harry said as he started playing a low, sweet tune that began to lull the already lethargic drake to sleep. "The Damned Golden Guard thinks she and Luz are Wild Witches, set his pack on us so he could chase after them."

"The Golden Guard!?" Eda exclaimed as she came in for a landing. "What's he doin' tryna kill a bunch of kids! A drake isn't anything to sniff at!"

"Not the same Golden Guard and we seemed to hold ourselves well." Harry reasoned as Jerbo helped a recently roused Viney off the pillar. Bran had wrangled the last of the Rolly Moles and was looking over the Marrdreg's with a critical eye, his eyes turning to Viney with honest surprise as he took her form in.

"Wildheart?" he questioned the girl, who nodded with a wince, "surprised you were able to pull it off; didn't think you had enough beast demons in you to pull it off."

"Half on my ma's side." Viney said proudly, then groaned as Jerbo helped her sit down against the pillar, "didn't think it'd hurt so much."

"First transformation's always the hardest," he said sympathetically, patting her shoulder gently, "we'll get you out of here in a moment," he turned to the drake as it began glowing once more, attempting to shrug off the sleep spells and stunners it'd been hit with, growling and snarling as it got a second wind, "none of that now." he tutted, waving off Sirius before the man could fire off anymore stunners, "you're injured and cold, any more hits and you might pass; you're a credit to your master but-" he grabbed the drakes snout as it tried to weakly lunge for him, smashing its head into the ground and holding it there until it stopped squirming, "-it's time for bed."

"Blimey." Harry breathed, "I spent the better part of forty minutes trying to put that bloody thing down, and you accomplished it in thirty seconds flat."

"I've been at this awhile…who are you again? We've met before…"

"Harry Potter."

"Oh right, Owl Boy, have you found the girls yet?"

"I-no, we got cut off." Harry looked over to the blocked off tunnel and jumped over.

"Bloody hell," Sirius exclaimed, seeing how far and high his godson jumped, "what spell is that?"

"No spell, just bardic magic." Eda explained as they followed Harry on Owlbert, Emira and Edric easily climbed up the walls to meet them, alongside Boscha, "it's inherently tied to movement and sound, so influencing the body and the immediate area is easy-like the air-walk ditty."

"Also songs of strengthening to help gain height and a light note to make the descents easier." Harry said, landing in front of the tunnel, "he ran down here to go after Amity and Luz, we need to catch up before he hurts them or worse!"

"Jerbo and Viney are tapped out," Emira told him, "we need to get them back as well."

"You kids should handle that," Eda said, "between me and Black we should be able to stop the golden guard before Luz and Boots get too injured."

"We're not going back!" Edric objected, "my baby sister is still in danger!"

"Yeah! We're still good to go!" Emira added, glancing over to where Bran was slinging Jerbo over his shoulder and cradling Viney in the crook of his arm, "Bran can get them back, we can help you!"

"I can," Bran called up, "drake is fine, once it wakes up it'll heat itself back up naturally and move on,Slitherbeasts too, so no need for me down here."

"You don't want to fight?" Boscha asked.

"I take care of animals, and help friends; but friends don't need my help any further and the animals are all fine; best I go up and give Atticus an update before he wears a trench in the ground."

"Can I go with you?" Mattholomule begged.

"Doubt you want to go with them." he grunted, turning around as he walked away.

"See you guys in a bit!" Jerbo called up, Viney waving back after them, "give that Guard a good kick in the ass for us!"

"We'll make sure to get some memory tweezers to showcase!" Edric called back, he and Emira waving alongside Harry.

"See, it all works out," Harry said, pulling his wand and using it to guide his construction magic clearing the way, "we're wasting time! Let's go!"

"I still don't like the idea of the kids coming along," Sirius muttered as he trailed after the eager teens.

"They're not going to take no for an answer, and we might as well use the back up we got." Eda hummed, nudging him with a grin, "Come on Black, haven't you ever done anything wild for a friend in need?"

Sirius paused at that, Remus flashing through his mind, "I guess you're right." he mumbled, watching as Harry led the three other students deeper into the tunnels, such a familiar sight save for the green eyes that flashed in the light.

WVWVW

The barrier fell ten minutes after the girls had left him behind, but that was okay, the lingering trails of wild magic led his path forward, and his own magic cleared a way through the terrain without much problem.

He wondered if the other wild witches had handled his beasts, he knew the drake was powerful enough, but that bard seemed competent; and those two beastkeepers may have made his beasts easy pickings, but that didn't matter, rock and bone shifted and made way for him as he strolled after the last dregs of magic that Caplacier temple would see, soon his mission would come to an end and his Emperor would reward him for his faith.

He need only finish his mission, and he'd be able to go home.

He pulled out his old compact, looking at the cracked mirror as he activated its magic once more, its surface shadowy and incomplete-likely due to how deep in the mountain he was.

"My emperor, I am closing in on caplacier temple, requesting support from local coven forces to deal with resurgent wild witches." he paused, waiting for a response that would never come, "will continue on with the beacon intact, please my emperor, one more push and your goals will be in sight." he closed the compact, clenching his fists.

One more temple to burn, one more rebellion of wild witches to quell, then he would no longer be needed, he'd finally be able to rest.

All he needed to do was wipe out a few more wild witches.

WVWVW

Luz carefully drew out the design with the paint they'd found, standing up straight every now and again to make sure everything was symmetrical before continuing.

"The light glyph is done." Amity told her as she walked over, looking at the two completed glyphs that she'd helped Luz make, each one larger than the dragon itself, "how's it going here?"

"Just…a bit…there!" Luz declared happily, looking down at the now completed fire glyph, "Just need to make the last one."

"We'll get it done faster together," Amity said, glancing up at the banner for a reference, only to nearly lose her balance when something shook the temple, Luz was barely able to steady her as Ghost hissed. "Oh no…"

"He found us," Luz said grimly, "I'm not sure if only three will be enough-'

"-then make the last one, I'll hold him off." Amity said, going over to the flasks of abomination slime she'd refreshed.

"Amity you can't!" Luz exclaimed, trying to stop the girl, "he trounced both of us the last time we fought!"

"I only had half a bottle of slime then, I have a lot more this time." She turned around, meeting Luz's worried eyes as she took her hands, "I just have to hold him off, I know you'll get the last glyph done in time; so don't worry." she hesitated, then balled up the last of her courage to lean in and kiss Luz's cheek, "I promise, Hermosa." Amity turned and ran off before Luz could say anything, Ghost right on her heels as she headed for the front doors. "And when I get back you'll tell me what that means!" she shouted, not looking back as she shouldered the door open.

Luz finally seemed to take a breath, her hand reaching up to touch the spot Amity had kissed, "Dios mio," she whispered, shaking her head as she ran to the last hall to get the final glyph drawn.

Amity kept her back straight as she walked out of Caplacier temple, her eyes narrowing when she found the Guard slamming a rock-encased fist into the shield, small cracks forming on its surface with each hit.

"Blight?" the guard questioned as he noticed her, pausing in his onslaught, "come to your senses and returning to the emperor's side, are you?"

"No," Amity said firmly, "I'm here to hold you off."

"How sad, a Blight falling from grace." he sneered.

"Care to look in a mirror?" Amity shot back, "I was always told the Golden Guard was the pinnacle of the emperor's coven; a stalwart guardian of the people who put justice and honor above all else…and yet the only guard i've ever personally met tried to kill my friend, and the only other one I know of tried to arrest innocent students and didn't shy away from hurting them in pursuit of that. I'd call that a fall from grace, if you were ever up there to begin with."

"We do what we must in the name of the Emperor." he rumbled, "I'm sorry to be the one to shatter the illusion; but I am here to dispense his word! Nothing more nothing less; His will is the Titan's will, and the Titan's Will shall be carried out without hesitation or remorse." With a grunt he punched the shield again; the entire thing spiderwebbed and shattered, sparks and wisps of magic falling away and trailing into the temple. "These priests conducted Heresy against the Emperor, his order was to wipe the temple, every acolyte and neophyte put to death, its head priests petrified and smashed. The survival of the temple leaves the Titan's will incomplete, and I have spent my life searching for it while dealing with that accursed relic of wild magic deterring me at every step!" he spat at Ghost, who hissed in response, "and now I am but a few steps from seeing my mission complete, and I will not let a friends child stop me from seeing it through! I will not let ignorance and good intentions stop me from doing what is right, by the Titan's will-"

"-what proof do you even have that the Emperor can talk to the Titan!" Amity demanded angrily, her frustration finally boiling over, "what did these Priests do other than point that out that justifies killing them all!? I've walked throughout the temple while you've been playing catch up; all I've seen are rooms full of books and equipment meant for learning, nothing to suggest they even wanted to resist the Emperor! And that memory crystal…" Amity felt tears gather in the corners of her eyes, "all my life I was told I was to join the Emperor's coven, to bring prestige and honor to the Blight family name, but after everything I've witnessed them do-everything I've seen you do-I'd rather become a wild witch than EVER join the Emperor's Coven."

"-tread carefully, Baby Blight," the Guard warned, a bit frantic, "you're speaking Heresy-"

"-i'm speaking the truth!" Amity snapped, "and if that's heresy, then consider me a wild witch. You might be content with hurting people in the name of the Emperor; and maybe I thought that was the right thing to do not so long ago; but now I know that the only right thing to do is to stand against injustice. And right now? That means standing between you and this temple."

"...I admire your conviction, if nothing else." he sighed, stomping the ground and making a spike of Titan bone protrude out of the ground, which he easily broke off and wielded like a spear, "come then, Blight. Die the death of a proud wild witch!" he launched the spear at her, and already Abomination slime was flowing out, prepared to defend its mistress.

But a familiar cat was faster, another shield stopped the spear before it could get close to Amity as Ghost jumped in front of the girl, her snarling form morphing into a small statuette of a sitting cat, a long lavender staff materializing underneath her.

"Ghost?" Amity asked in surprise as the newly formed staff flew into her hands.

'I'm glad I got to connect with one of you!' a soft, female voice whispered in her mind, 'you've got a good heart, Amity Blight, and I can't wait to see all the good we can do together!"

Amity felt her heart well up, and she smiled as she grasped Ghost confidently, shooting a look at the furious Golden Guard as he retrieved his spear, "lets try that again." she said, Abomination slime pouring out of the flasks she prepared to swirl around her protectively.