Author's Note:
I'm not going to lie, this chapter was hard af for me. I think I just really struggled with the whole conversation with Dumbledore, but it's a learning experience for me. I think eventually I'm going to need to get an editor or someone else to look over these, but for now, it'll have to do.
----
Harry was keeping something secret. The more things added up, the more sure of her conclusion Hermione was.
Her friend had never been the best liar, and more and more inconsistencies had begun to add up in his behavior.
For one, he seemed much more confident than he had been before. If it was just that, it could be chalked up to getting older but added that she could see more muscle definition in his arms, and she assumed the rest of his body, although it wasn't obvious since he tended to wear baggier clothes.
Then there was his scar magically being healed. His scar had obviously been cursed in some form by that night, Harry even said it burned when he was near Voldemort. If some random wizard in another country could heal it, wouldn't someone have brought that up as an option before?
Then there was the fact that Harry hadn't mentioned the Dursleys once since she'd met up with him this summer. He had a tendency to downplay how much he disliked them, but there'd still be a spiel of frustration when he first saw them again after school let out. Instead, he hadn't so much as mentioned their name, and he had spent all his time staying with Erica instead.
To Hermione, it was obvious where all of these changes originated from. Something had happened to him while he was in Rome, and she'd bet money that Erica was involved in whatever it was and that's how they became friends. She'd mentioned her suspicions to Ron when they'd headed to the common room after the feast, Harry and Erica noticeably being called to speak with Dumbledore.
He'd brushed it off, just saying his friend was acting differently because he'd managed to snag a girl like Erica. In the end, Hermione was on her own to figure out what was going on, and the first step was to get any newspaper, both wizard and muggle, about Rome in the time period that Harry was there.
She'd get to the bottom of this, no matter how long it took.
----
Erica and Harry took a seat as they looked at the elderly man across from them. Dumbledore was looking at Harry with something akin to pride, and it was confusing the both of them.
"I suppose I should begin explanations, but first I'd like you to disarm me, Lord Potter," Dumbledore said.
Hearing Dumbledore refer to him as Lord Potter was jarring, but his request was even more so. "What?"
"I promise to explain everything, but this will make it easier."
Deciding to humor him, Harry raised his hand and cast the disarming spell. Since he became a Campione, he didn't require a wand anymore, even if he liked using it for old time's sake.
Dumbledore's wand flew out of his hand, and as it did Harry could feel a connection forming between himself and the wand, and he figured out what Dumbledore wanted. "Your wand is a grimoire."
"Yes, one whose ownership is determined by conquest. It just so happens that disarming someone counts as conquest."
Erica, having stayed silent so far, chose this moment to chime in. "And what is the significance of the grimoire?"
Harry, meanwhile, mentally called the wand to him, causing it to fly into his hand. When it did, he began to feel the magic of the wand form a connection to the cloak he currently had in the form of his Hogwarts robe. When the connection formed, a blurry image appeared in his mind of a girl trapped within a cage. Her hair was blonde, similar in shade to Erica's, and put up in twin tails. Her eyes were dark red, and she was looking down before her head shot up and she seemed to stare directly at Harry.
"Ere-" Harry muttered to himself, but he couldn't recall the rest of the word.
His muttered words drew Dumbledore's attention, who looked intrigued. "What was that?"
Looking up at the name, Harry responded. "The wand and my invisibility cloak, they're both grimoires from the same god aren't they?"
Dumbledore looked mildly surprised at the connection before he concentrated on Harry for a moment and a look of realization appeared. "Oh, you're wearing the cloak. I wasn't even aware it could do that."
"If we can stop dancing around the subject, why don't you tell us what this whole exchange was about, and then we can get to the matter of you hiding Harry's status," Erica said.
"Very well," Dumbledore said and began an explanation of the history of the grimoires. He launched into an explanation of the Tales of Beetle the Bard, and the legend of the Deathly Hallows. He'd acquired the wand, and when Harry's father had passed away, he'd discovered the truth of the Potter family's invisibility cloak as well. The two, as well as the missing Resurrection Stone, were grimoires associated with the same god of death.
'Then that vision I had was of the god who gave the three brothers the grimoires. Ere-, I need to look into what gods of death have names that begin with Ere.'
"So what do you think happens when all three are gathered?" Erica asked Dumbledore.
"The death god would most likely be summoned, although I don't know if it is bound like the legend says or not. Either way, the grimoires are safest with a Campione."
"Which brings us back to why you hid my status in the first place," Harry said.
Dumbledore sighed and adjusted his glasses before he responded. "I will admit I've made some mistakes regarding you. The incidents that have happened throughout your time at Hogwarts are mine to bear, but they served as one piece of evidence that Voldemort was not gone for good. The other had to do with your scar, which has now thankfully vanished due to your new status."
"What about my scar?"
From there, Dumbledore explained his theory that Voldemort had created Horcruxes, objects with a piece of his soul stored within them, which had only been confirmed after Harry's experience with the diary. He explained that Harry's scar was most likely a Horcrux, albeit an accidental one that was created that fateful night.
"And you never told me any of this!" Harry said, frustrated.
"I did not believe it was in your best interest to know about it at the time. Truthfully, I didn't know how to deal with it and was hoping a solution would be made apparent."
"And now, Harry's status as a Campione means that Voldemort's threat is non-existent to him. Do you think the diary was the only one he intentionally made?" Erica questioned.
"I'm not sure, but I have my doubts. Voldemort never knew how to do anything in moderation." Dumbledore sighed again before continuing. "In the end, now that Harry is a Campione, the next time he runs into Voldemort he has a good chance of ending him for good. I hid his status because if whatever form Voldemort is now in hears what he has become, he will flee."
"So you're baiting him," Harry commented, frustrated with everything that had been hiding from him. "Fine, if he shows up I'll end it, but I don't want you meddling in my life anymore."
"I understand, but I will not hide anything from you any longer. Britain is now your territory, and as the head of the Wizenmagot I now defer to you."
Erica took this moment to chime in. "Ha, nice try. Harry is currently associated with the Copper-Black Cross."
"Does your association not already have a contract with Lord Salvatore Doni?"
"There's no quota on Campione, and you know how Lord Doni is. Harry is actually available and willing to help if he's needed."
Harry watched them go back and forth, and watching as Dumbledore began to try to condescend to Erica to get her to back down, he couldn't help but have his image of the man destroyed. Even if he'd decided to be upfront now, it was only because Harry had become so powerful that he couldn't afford not to be. If he had never become a Campione, he would've stayed ignorant of all of this.
"I'm associating with Erica, I don't want to get any further involved with either organization than that," he finally said, putting his foot down.
Erica looked suitably pleased by that, while Dumbledore thought for a moment before nodding his head. "Very well, but should I receive news of a potential Heretic God, would it be acceptable to talk to you to deal with it?"
"That's fine, I want to help stop attacks."
"Then I think the two of us should be getting to bed," Erica said, standing up and Harry followed suit.
"I hope that one day you might understand why I did what I did," Dumbledore said as they walked out the door.
"I doubt it," Harry muttered to himself.
----
The walk to the Gryffindor Common Room was quiet. Erica was deep in thought while Harry didn't know how to feel anymore, and decided to focus on the wand that now sat in his hand as he walked. Erica had shown him how to put an illusion over it to make it look like his other wand, so now he was trying to get a feel for the grimoire.
"It's not worth thinking about, you know," Erica said all of a sudden.
That statement didn't make any sense to him, but Erica clarified. "Back in the office, you were thinking about what would've happened if you'd never become a Campione, weren't you?"
"How the hell did you know that," he said in shock.
An airy laugh escaped Erica's mouth as she smirked at him. "I've gotten a pretty good handle on you this last month. It's not worth thinking about what ifs, that reality never came to pass. You met me, killed a god, and now look where you are. You've become a king, and I for one am glad I met you."
Something about her tone relaxed Harry a good deal because she was right. If he'd never killed a god, maybe he'd have continued to be ignorant, maybe he would've continued to be a part of Dumbledore's schemes. In the end, it hadn't come to pass, and he was all the better for it.
"You're right, I've got it pretty good now," Harry said and turned to Erica, turning her to face him and tilting her head up to look at him.
"Oh, got me all alone in a dark corridor and now you're going to have your wicked way with me, Devil King?"
Harry leaned down, kissing her lightly before he started to pull back, only for Erica to wrap her arms around him and pull him back in. They kissed for some time before pulling away, and Harry cleared his throat.
"Right, I'll settle with that for now."
Erica's amused smile served to clear his head. "Oh you will, will you? Point to me."
They continued to walk back to the common room while Harry studied the wand again before he let out an amused snort.
"What is it?" Erica asked.
"I figured a grimoire containing a god's authority only managing to slightly strengthen wizard magic was a little underwhelming. Turns out, none of them understood what it could actually do."
"And what is that?"
"The Elder Wand contains part of the authority of a god. If the wizards were using it properly it would've burned them out like using the cloak did to me in Rome. The true authority actually strengthens a Campione's magic so that any spell they do can somewhat pierce through a god's magic resistance and affect them."
Learning that had certainly made him value the Elder Wand a lot more. He'd been worried that magic wouldn't be all that useful to him now that he'd become a Campione and had the authorities of literal gods, but using this wand would let magic at least be somewhat effective. It wasn't on the level of a true authority, but at least it wouldn't be entirely negated.
When they reached the common room, Harry was left at a loss as he realized he hadn't gotten the password from anyone, but thankful Erica had gotten it from McGonagall when he hadn't noticed.
When they entered the common room, they found that everyone had gone to bed beside Hermione, who was sitting at a table with a lamp lit, reading a book.
"You waited for us?" Harry asked.
"Thought someone should, and we all know Ron was never going to manage to stay awake long enough," Hermione said, closing her book and standing up. "I also thought I'd help Erica get situated in the girl's dorm."
Erica looked touched, and a smile made its way onto her face as she gave Harry a kiss on the cheek before making her way over to Hermione and hooking her arm with hers.
"Well then, I believe the two of us have a dorm to get you. I'm sure you'll have suitable sweet dreams," Erica said, sending a teasing wink at Harry before the two of them made their way up the girl's staircase.
At this point he was just ready to go to bed, so he made his way straight to his bed, passing Ron who was passed out and snoring. The cloak became a loose night shirt and he laid down, closing his eyes and ending his first night back at Hogwarts.