"A lot's changed," Lily concluded as Harry returned to the real world from his journey beyond the veil of death and his eyes flashed for a second with power as he slowly nodded.
"Yes, much has changed, although it's just another minor power boost," Harry informed his mother and the rest of the collective in the room with him. Everything had changed, that was the thought that went through his head.
Faora dropped down on the side of the bed next to Harry. She ran her hand slowly down his face and looked into his eyes to check that his thoughts were still his own. The Kryptonian kept her eyes on his and combed through every single bit of his mind. She tried to see if he was alright, although things were not as they seemed. Her finger lightly traced down the side of his face in the meantime although to his credit Harry sat rigid and waited for her, sitting up straight and being patient with her.
"So, did I pass your test?" Harry inquired of his sister and she smiled.
"Never can be too careful," Faora said in a relieved voice. "So now you're….some kind of master or Herald of Death or what?"
"I'm not sure what I am actually," Harry commented to himself as he placed his hand up on the top of her's and she snatched it in her hand, grabbing it in a tight grip.
"I think you're pretty much the same but I can kind of feel the power coursing from you," Kara said as she leaned in closer to get a more accurate look.
"There's no kind of about it, I can feel that power, and it's amazing," Lily said in an adoring tone of voice as she eyed him. He might have shot another inch or two up in height due to this minor burst of power. "Then again, would you expect anything less from Harry?"
"No one should expect anything less," Faora said as she pulled Harry into her and her strong arms wrapped around his waist. His head rested on her breasts.
"There have been legends of Death….but never with this much power," Diana chimed in as she looked over Harry.
"Naturally, although the legends are people making guesses but there are few who have seen the true nature of the afterlife," Peve commented to them from her post in the castle. "It takes a special kind of person to master Death in all of its forms."
"Naturally Har is the most special kind of person," Faora stated in an adoring voice.
"And Harry's seen the other side," Rose said, she was half curious and half nervous at the mysterious situation.
'Which is just another amazing notch on his belt,' Ginny commented in a gushing voice.
'As if we expected anything else other than breaking all conventional wisdom,' Astoria said in a firm tone of voice as she smiled.
'Naturally,' Harry thought to himself and the smile on his face was wicked, it was one that could not be matched by any means. His green eyes flickered with a steady amount of amusement as he kept his hands placed firmly on his lap.
"So….you're the first person in any living memory to see the other side," Faora said although she smiled. "And you wouldn't do so unless you'd been judged worthy enough to do so."
"No, I wouldn't," Harry agreed with her as he pondered how special this moment was. "And I've got a few new tricks up my sleeve."
"As always," Faora remarked to him, a prideful smile crossing her face.
As if on cue, Harry demonstrated a few of those tricks that he had up his sleeve. He disappeared at will just by closing his eyes. Although the strain of doing so for more than a moment or two would be great until he hit his final maturity.
"That's amazing, self-sustained invisibility, very few wizards ever accomplished it for a few seconds without a cloak," Lily said to him as Harry re-appeared about two minutes later.
Harry's smile became smug and self-assured as he reminded his mother of one clear fact. He thought that this would get easier with practice but he had to state what he thought. "I am the cloak now."
Lily smiled towards him. "Naturally….naturally."
"So, can you do anything else with those powers?" Kara inquired, she was bouncing up and down at the edge the bed in excitement, her breasts swaying as she moved. Harry smiled as he had to temper her a little bit but his hand wrapped around her hand tightly.
"A few things, my spells pack an even greater punch now," Harry admitted to her.
"Just what you need, more power," Faora said but she said this statement with anticipation and pride dancing in her tone.
'There's never too much power,' Emily offered through the bond link.
'That's for sure, because with Harry you can always improve upon perfection,' Amanda remarked.
'Wouldn't perfection technically….'
'Hermione, don't split hairs, Harry can get better because he's Harry,' Amanda persisted stubbornly. 'He's perfection but he can be perfection times twenty if he put his mind to it.'
'Okay, you sold me,' Hermione conceded to them, arguing with the twins was not going to be something that she wanted to do for the sake of her sanity. They would destroy her. Amanda was pretty fanatical towards Harry already and Emily had moments where she could be even worse, oh boy did she ever have her moments.
'I'm glad that we're on the same page,' Emily said to Hermione in a really sweet voice.
'Hermione's got it, no need to take her down a few more pegs,' Daphne stated in amusement. 'So how's Italy, by the way?'
'Lots of sun and fun,' Hermione said, now it was her turn for the smugness to enter her voice.
'And yet we get five straight days of rain,' Daphne commented, feeling envious of Hermione now, although she supposed being a rich pureblood heiress it was within her abilities to pack up and head over to a place with a lot more sun and a fair amount more fun. At least that's what resounded through her mind. Yet, she tried to keep herself from pouting.
'Ah, are you pouting?' Astoria asked her sister.
'I think she is…I think she's pouting….I remember when Narcissa used to do that when she was that age when something didn't go her way,' Andromeda commented through the link.
'I did not!' Narcissa protested with a pout.
'Come to think about it, you still do it,' Andromeda remarked, enjoying the thought of winding up her sister to such a degree and she was not the only one who got her amusement out of this.
'Well given that Astoria reminds me of Bella when she was younger, I guess we have a lot in common with the Greengrass girls,' Narcissa conceded.
'Should I be concerned with this comparison?' Daphne inquired to Narcissa as Harry was amused by the interplay so he decided to let it go.
'Yes, very,' Narcissa remarked dryly, as she remembered some of the things that her sister got into. 'Make sure….make sure you keep Bella on a leash at all times, Harry, it'll just be far easier that way.'
'Noted,' Harry told her and he could have sworn that he sensed Bellatrix's excitement at being kept on a leash.
Harry felt himself coming to terms with the Master of Death powers that he received for now, although he was sure that he'd explore the full benefits of them in the coming weeks, months, and years.
He had an appointment at the Ministry to keep.
The Ministry of Magic was in a state of transition right now, although there was a lot of headway that had been made in the last week. Now that Albus Dumbledore was dead and buried, they could focus on the future of the Ministry as opposed to the past. Fudge and many of the old guard had been phased out, whether it be through a forced retirement or through more fatal means.
Amelia smiled in a pained way as she heard word that Rita Skeeter was writing a book talking about Albus Dumbledore that would be released by the end of the summer, if not sooner. No doubt it would be the first of many books that would question what many of the sheep thought about Dumbledore. Given the sudden nature of the book being put out, Amelia suspected that it was something that Rita was gathering information about for years, providing she did not have it already written.
Of course, there was no point in splitting hairs over that book because it was going to be put out and people could make their own assumptions.
'Interim Minister of Magic,' Amelia reminded herself as she closed her eyes.
"Fudge left us quite a shitstorm to deal with," Andromeda commented after she let herself into Amelia's office.
"You're not the one who has gotten hold of a shit storm, oh the nightmare of the paperwork."
Amelia and Andromeda turned around and saw Harry standing before them.
"I didn't even know you were here, Harry," Amelia said to Harry, the Ministry wards surely didn't announce him. Then again, Harry was annoyingly resourceful at getting past things that he should not have gotten past.
"I figure that I'd drop by now that some pressing business of my own had been taken care of, although I got a message from Gringotts that indicates that Sirius declined to be instated as the Head of the House of Black, which leaves it to me," Harry told the two women. "And all of the paperwork that comes along with it."
Andromeda winced, feeling for Harry. Paperwork was the least appealing thing of any takeover and taken over the Headship of the House of Black was even worse considering the state it had been left in. She cast him a sympathetic gaze.
"And where is Sirius in all of this?" Andromeda asked him.
"He's on an island owned by the Blacks, the originally named Black Island," Harry informed Andromeda and she nodded.
"Yes, our ancestors did not spend that much time offering up creative names," Andromeda concluded.
'And you compensated too far trying to make up for lost time,' Nym remarked, thinking about her proper name as perhaps an indirect consequences for this. Granted, her shorted name that Harry gave her was not too bad.
'Silence, Nymphadora,' Lucretia said in a stern but playful voice.
"Him and Lupin….I don't want to know," Harry added, thinking about the mental image that was put into his head and trying to push it out.
"Somehow, I wouldn't be surprised," Narcissa said as she entered the office and promptly sank down into a chair. "Well, it's never ideal when you have to fire ninety percent of a department."
"Somehow, I'm not surprised that there were that many idiots in that particular department," Harry commented, he was kind of frustrated having to deal with that.
"You shouldn't be surprised….but yet you are," Narcissa said as she allowed herself time to reflect.
Harry shrugged his shoulders to give her what he thought passed as an honest answer. "Well, I wanted to think a bit better of the people that I had to share the same oxygen with."
'That's a mistake if there ever was one,' Faora commented to Harry as stretched for a second before getting back to work. 'And for the record, you're not the only person who is drowning in paperwork.'
'Could have sworn that was all done by now,' Kara said.
'Almost….at least enough that I'm willing to take a couple of weeks off, just had to fly back to the castle to tie up some loose ends. Though there always seems to be more of it popping up,' Faora informed them.
'You could have flown the paperwork back to the castle and done it there, that way you would have had more time in the real world to get things done,' Hermione suggested.
There was a long pause where everyone took some time to imagine Faora's dirty look.
'I hate you,' Faora remarked in complete deadpan.
'For shame Hermione, you know logic has no place in these parts,' Ginny chimed in.
'Plus knowing paperwork, it would spawn even more if you got it all done,' Narcissa commented in a wise voice.
"As amusing as the banter is, we are getting off topic," Amelia said as she leaned towards Harry. "I completed the sweep of my office as you requested and….well I hate it when you're right."
"Most people do," Harry told Amelia with a smile on his face.
"Yes….well…there were eight different listening charms on the office, recording the conversations that take place," Amelia informed Harry.
"We're trying to make sure the people behind the charms don't learn that we know that the office has been bugged, therefore random idle chatter that's of no notice to anyone has been looped back into them," Narcissa added as she leaned back stretching in her chair. "We're hoping that because of this these people will eventually get frustrated with the lack of information and take more drastic action."
Harry smiled. "And then we'll have them."
'I wouldn't expect anyone from this world to do anything that cerebral but given that it's Fudge who got fooled, it's idiots fooling other idiots,' Jaime said in a calm tone of voice. 'So….we better speak like this.'
'That would explain why Lucius knew so much about Ministry plans,' Narcissa said to them in a dry tone of voice. 'I suspected he had sources in there….'
"Well that takes care of that line of connection," Andromeda muttered. "But following which one lead to Malfoy Manor…."
"I discovered a Pensieve in the Manor Basement….well actually Gringotts did but we haven't been able to get it open yet," Harry said, although the best Cursebreakers in Gringotts were close to cracking the codes.
"Lucius had many little hidey-holes," Narcissa told him in agreement.
'Fitting for a rat like him,' Daphne commented in an icy voice.
"The Wizengamot are having a session on September 1st," Amelia informed Harry.
Harry nodded, even though Andi would be attending as proxy, it was protocol for him to be informed of all sessions regarding the Wizengamot. He suspected that many of the faces would be completely different. It was a whole new world.
"So, I take it you've been busy, or have you been relaxing since you've got out of Hogwarts?" Andromeda asked, she'd heard a few snatches of conversation through the bond link but she wanted to get the word from Harry himself.
"Depends on what you consider as busy," Harry remarked to her. He saw that he got their attention. "So tell me, what do you know about the Deathly Hallows?"
Andromeda, Narcissa, and Amelia all thought that were in for an interesting explanation.
Dear Harry,
Just got back home after the funeral. I'm in one piece, just thought you'd like to know.
Everything is calming down a little bit here, at least as much as can be expected after the chaos that happened. Dad decided to make up for lost time by starting up the next stage of my training….I feel like I should add "from hell" when talking about it now.
Please tell me that you're going to join me, because I don't think that I can handle the fact that you're not here. I hear that torture is best shared.
That sounded a lot less heartless in my head than it did on paper.
But anyway, in all honesty, I do hope that you make the jump and start training with me soon, I'd love to have you and I'm sure that my father would agree with that sentiment. Plus, I'm sure you have a few things that you can teach me. You'd have a lot of amazing skills that would dazzle me, I have a feeling.
Anyway, sorry if this seems a bit short, but I really got to go. I've got training and you know how that goes, I wouldn't want to be tardy, because I've been given enough of a going over when I'm on time.
Talk to you later,
Zatanna.
Harry smiled, then again he always smiled when he got letters from one of his girls. Although given that he was moving out of Britain in a few months, although he would still be able to get to the Castle because of the portals that would be set up at the BlackGate Manor Estate in Gotham City he'd never be far from his roots and the gifts of the castle. Plus the castle could be a nexus point for all of his girls in due time as he set up more portals.
That was later however, Harry focused on the now and focused on answering the letter before him. Taking a second to collect his thoughts, Harry dove into addressing a response to Zee.
Dear Zee,
I'm glad to hear that you made it home safely.
As for the offer, I figure that it would be useful to learn as much as I could about the field of magic. Your father has seen a lot and done even more, so he might be a valuable tutor. Plus it would give me some time to get to know you better, which I think that we can both agree would be a good thing.
As for my many skills, well that is something that my Collective could attest to for sure. But I'm sure that's not the skills you're speaking about.
Unless you were which means I'm nodding my head and grinning like a loon right now.
Regardless, good luck with your lessons, keep your head up, all that good stuff, I'm sure you'll be able to be the best that you can be at them.
Got some loose ends to tie up around her, helping Amy settle in as Minister, although Andi and Cissa are cutting the workload in half for me with the roles they've taken on in the Ministry as well. But I should be over soon enough, at least sooner than you think.
Cryptic statement is cryptic indeed.
Talk to you later,
Harry.
Harry saw that Pam's was the next on the pile and he was looking forward to what she was going to have to say. With practiced accuracy, Harry delved into the letter, unable to keep the smile off of his face as he opened her latest correspondence up.
Dear Harry,
I survived the latest school year, excuse me as I bask in the glory of it.
Okay, now that my basking is done, on with the letter.
Zatanna gave me a detailed rundown with what happened in the tournament, although I could imagine staring at a hedge for a half of an hour. It might not be that bad but then again I'm planning to become a Botanist, I can see why many people wouldn't find that fun. I wonder if they were indulging in certain herbs when they thought up the tasks for the tournament.
Then again, we've talked about the stupidity of these people over and over again to the point where we've pounded the issue into the ground, so there's really no need to go over that again.
I can't believe college is around the corner, the scholarship offers are rolling in. Given the green that my parents have, I'm going to decline them because I can more then afford to pay my own way in. Better the money goes to someone else who can't afford to pay their way in.
So anyway….it's been an interesting ride, although I've got two more years to go. It's never too late to think about the future, as I'm sure that you think about it every day.
Congratulations on getting top grades at Cambridge by the way. You don't do things half way.
The plants are doing well. They are like children in many ways, sometimes you've got to be firm with them so they act the way they should but also you need to treat them right.
So, I hope to see you soon. Hope you aren't taking too much on. You're supposed to be vacation after all.
Love,
Pamela.
'I'll have you know that it's perfectly within my capabilities to both be on vacation and study my brains out,' Harry told Hermione and her tone faltered as there was amusement throughout the bond.
'I'll let you know that it's within my abilities to both be on vacation and study my brains out,' Harry told Hermione and her tone faltered as there was amusement throughout the bond.
'Yeah, Hermione, besides he doesn't overdo it like you,' Ginny chimed in. She liked Hermione but there were times where the girl could be high strung. It was the first summer without Molly and Ron, which was strange, although oddly peaceful.
Plus Ginny noticed that there seemed to be a lot more food for everyone else now that Ron was departed.
'Percy got canned from the Ministry by the way thanks to the Crouch fiasco,' Ginny informed them.
'Could have sworn that already happened,' Kara chimed in sleepily. She had been in bed, which Harry figured was the best time to answer these letters.
'No he was suspended, although the idiots in the Ministry that ran it before sent him home with full pay,' Ginny remarked, amused.
'Not surprised, really I'm not,' Daphne said dryly.
Harry decided to tune out the peanut gallery for a few seconds and dove into writing a response to Pamela.
Dear Pamela,
Good to see that your survival has been ensured, although I didn't doubt that it would be any different.
As for overdoing it, well trying to manipulate a government to run smoothly from the shadows….it's not the easiest thing in the world. Thankfully there are some good people in place that will help ease the transition.
So fingers crossed for me not being held here any longer for something stupid.
Minerva's the new Headmistress, Rose has taken on the role of the Deputy Head at least on a temporary basis, until the twins are done with their schooling in another couple years. Finished fourth year exams and passed them with flying colors.
There was a moment of interruption from the latter.
'Thank you, we are that awesome,' Amanda chimed in with a slight bow.
'I see you've picked up Har's modesty,' Karen commented in a dry voice. 'And Faora's as well.'
'Well, there's nothing wrong with a little bit of ego, perfectly healthy if you ask me,' Jaime interjected to them.
You would say that,' Karen remarked in a half amused, half exasperated voice.
Harry smiled although he had to get back to his regularly scheduled letter, not wanting to leave Pam hanging for too long.
So, just pretty much business as usual for us in the land of the wacky that is the magical world. It's going to feel weird in some way not to go to Hogwarts. As much as it was an exercise of frustration, it was still a place that I gotten used to as part of my life.
Although it wouldn't be the worst idea if I visited from time and time to make my mark on future generations. Perhaps under an alias to spread the gospel but that's a long time off.
And before you say anything, no there is no such thing as too big of a Collective. Especially from someone who could make duplicates of himself.
Yes, the third task was amazingly dull unless you're the one competing in it. Although there was a depressing lack of obstacles in the maze.
Guess we have to make do with what we had to do and there were plenty of fireworks afterwards.
Looking forward's to seeing you soon, let me know if the plants give you any grief.
Love,
Harry.
Two letters down, one more to go, and with eager anticipation, Harry prepared to answer the final letter on the pile.
Dear Harry,
Congratulations on your performance in the tournament and hey, you're finally out of there….well for the most part. I'm sure they're going to find a way to pull you back in.
And that sounds oddly like the mob.
Dad's been dealing with the gangs in this city, things are getting really bad. Especially given the most dangerous threats come from the other cops that are in bed with the mob bosses.
So in other words, just business in usual in Gotham City, nothing that you need to worry too much about, at least nothing that I think that you have to worry too much about. I should….well we should worry about it a little bit.
So….I wonder if you're going to come here to Gotham to stay for a more extended tour. Not that I'd blame you if you didn't because….Gotham…need I say more?
I'm doing rather well all things considered as I said, another year at school down the tubes. It's a matter of survival and it's a game that I've mastered.
Talk to you soon,
Barbara.
Harry reconciled his thoughts and then jumped into answering this latest bit of correspondence.
Dear Barbara,
First of all, nice segue going involving the Mob. I have to say, the comparisons are very apt. Although there are a few differences, but they aren't that abundant, at least not in the way you think that they might be.
Still, good to see that you got another year out of school, hopefully you don't lose your head later on. You're halfway there, well almost. Although it does seem a lot longer on this end.
Just keep your head up Barbara and everything is going to work out for the best. It might seem like sage advice and perhaps a tad cliché but clichés are often such because they work.
The move to Gotham City….well it won't be that soon although I'm sure I'll be able to stop by before I establish a more permanent residence within the city.
Should be able to wrap up a few points now, just got out of school after all, summer is still extremely young.
Talk to you really soon,
Harry.
Harry packaged up the letters, and sent them to Hedwig, who as always was able to carry them off dutifully.
He had business to take care of today. Another trip to the Ministry to check in and the last bit of paperwork, although in a couple weeks, Sersi would be the full time account manager and she was due to be rewarded for her hard work.
"It's going take a fair amount of time to get these portals synced up properly," Harry admitted to Diana and the woman looked over her shoulder. "But I think that I've got it."
Diana smiled as she thought about the ease of getting from the castle and back home. It was going to allow her to visit home more easily, which would make her mother happy. Plus it would allow the Amazons to come over for a visit more often.
It would do wonders of bridging the gap between man's world and the rest of the world. Although she supposed that was the idea of the portal as it had been created.
"We want to make sure they work properly, I've been working hard, trying to figure out how to sync things up between the island and the castle," Peve told them.
"Better for everything to be safe," Harry told them and there was a couple of nods of agreement based off of that point. There was a few seconds of silence before they heard a humming.
Would it be the good kind of humming or the bad kind….well Harry was confident that it would be the good kind of humming.
Diana had another kind of ulterior motive of keeping Harry busy working on the portals. Kara, Faora, Lily, and Rose were planning Harry's surprise party in a few weeks for his fifteenth birthday. It was all they could do to keep the details from him, although keeping Harry busy with projects would prevent him from asking too many questions.
"The influx matrixes are aligned," Peve informed them. "That's good because there is less of a chance of time and space collapsing in upon itself."
"So hypothetical question time," Harry said slowly. He knew that there was no chance of this failing because he did this but he figured that he would get all the points out on the table in the interest of full disclosure. "What would happen…what would happen if this failed?"
"Given that I'm able to control this, we can pull out before the portal is established," Peve informed him.
"Right, that's good," Harry remarked in a pleased tone of voice, although he kept his fingers crossed never the less as the portal fired up.
"Ready when you are," Diana offered her bonded.
'And I'm ready to receive you on the island should this works,' Hippolyta said through the link. She did hope that it did, because it would allow them to go on and off the island with greater ease.
Harry had to give the word to open the portal.
"Fire it up," Harry told Peve and she immediately prepared to do so.
"It will charge in fifteen seconds although I recommend waiting twenty to actually step through."
It was a very long twenty seconds but then again the anticipation always made time slow to the absolute worst crawl possible. At least that's what Harry found from his experiences. He heard the humming of the portal rattling to life and his eagle ear listened closely for anything that might sound off.
Soon enough he would be able to experience Paradise, being able to walk back and forth.
"So, are you ready?" Diana asked to him and Harry watched the portal, he saw the hints of the very familiar island.
'Best vacation spot in the world,' Harry told Diana and she smiled. 'And by that, I mean that I'm ready.'
'I figured as much,' Diana remarked in thinly veiled amusement as she closed her eyes and prepared to be brought through the portal with Harry.
The portal opened up wide and Harry and Diana made their way through it to the island.
They had arrived in Paradise and came face to face with Hippolyta, Donna, and Artemis, among other Amazons.
"Harry, it worked!" Donna cheered in an excited voice as she threw her arms around Harry and Harry pulled her into a hug in response, as he leaned forward and gave her a passionate kiss which the young Amazon returned.
"Of course it did, did you expect any differently?" Harry asked her and Donna shook her head in negative.
"Never would have in a million years," Donna remarked to him with supreme faith dancing through her eyes. He leaned down and kissed one of his wife's on the mouth once again.
Harry felt her snugly wrapped around him but he saw the Queen eye him with a hungry look although for the moment, she settled for hugging her daughter.
"And I'm feeling a bit left out of the fun and games," Hippolyta told him and Harry pulled her into a hug and offered her a kiss which she took without hesitation.
The other Amazons would have their turn and then much more.
"We need to make sure the portals work both way," Diana said. "What I want you to do is wait for us to leave….then send someone through a few minutes later."
"Right," Hippolyta commented with a smile that crossed her face. She waited for Diana to give the word and she'd be there.
Harry and Diana exited the portal from the island.
The first half of the test ended up for the best, as in that they were back in the castle. Now they had another part of the test that they needed to execute. All they could do was wait and watch. The best case scenario would be that they would be able to open the portal from the other end of the gateway.
Only those who had been bonded to Harry would be able to open the portal, which cut down on any potential security problems that would manifest from this situation. At least that's what Diana and Harry figured as they braced themselves. A second later, the portal would open, they would know whether or not someone would be able to enter the portal and make their way into the castle.
'The wait is the worst,' Harry told Diana and she nodded in agreement, her arm wrapping around his waist and leaning against him. The dark haired princess kept her eyes steady on the swirling vortex.
Artemis was the one who had been elected to be the guinea pig. She smiled as she had a good look around the castle. The red haired woman's hair framed her face and after a second she flipped it out of the way.
"Amazing," Artemis told them all and Harry's smile grew wider. She looked around the castle with wide eyes. "I'm disappointed that the portal was not opened up much sooner than this, it would have been wonderful to be able to visit this castle before now."
"Well you'll get your chance now," Harry told her with a smile crossing his face.
"I better test the portal on the other end," Artemis said but she stole a quick kiss from Harry before she departed. There was a sense that there would be more to come.
'And why is that I think that the castle will be overrun by Amazons before too long?' Lily asked although she was amused by the thought.
'Probably because it will be,' Harry remarked although he was looking forward to that himself.
"I swear, if you put my past in a children's novel, you could make a bundle."
Jaime made that comment as Harry and herself walked outside of the castle, although they were still within the time dilation bubble.
"I never discovered this place in my world, providing that it existed," Jaime said to Harry but then there was another point that she was going to make. "Of course, whether or not existed….we can go back and forth on that with all of the changes already."
Harry understood what she meant immediately, while Jaime was extraordinary and beautiful in her own way, then again what else could Harry expect from a female version of himself, there were a few key differences. Other than the obvious biological differences, as well as the fact that she did not come from the same crystal that Harry did, which meant that she wasn't a child of Zod. He wondered if her mother was impregnated by different means or perhaps that Lily was not cursed by that Snape.
"The Dursleys were idiots in that world as well, so no real change there," Jaime added and Harry smiled.
"Well at least some things are consistent throughout the multiverse.'
'I'm sure there's some fucked up world where Petunia was actually a decent person and Vernon was a handsome man,' Rose remarked to herself more than the others.
'It would have to be a statistical improbability,' Faora offered, she refused to believe that the Dursleys were anything but genetic flaws. The rare blemish on Har-Zod's extended family tree. Given the photos she glimpsed of the Evans mother, she was a sophisticated beauty as well, which made Faora wonder what the hell happened to Petunia.
'I'd have to go with Faora on this one,' Kara commented, although she supposed that it could be possible, there were many things that would be possible that should be considered to be impossible, at least that's what she figured.
'You would….wouldn't you?' Karen thought in amusement although she did have a good, if rambling, point.
"Anyway….how much changed?" Harry asked to Jaime as she walked beside him.
"I'll guide you through the easier things," she commented after a pause as they sat down on a bench in a magically created park area. A house elf popped over and got them a drink. "Although some of the other things…they require more elaborate explanation."
"I see," Harry stated slowly although he did wonder what she meant by more elaborate explanation. Something like that was going to require him to learn even more than he did at least at this time. His green eyes did lock onto hers.
"Story starts the same, nutcase Dark Lord hears a Prophecy, gets an idea in his head that it applies to him, even though it may or may not, but he's paranoid, so he kills parents, I get sent to the Dursleys….but accidental magic for females are a fair amount more unpredictable then it is for males," Jaime told him and there was a second where Harry nodded. "They died in a car accident when I was ten years old."
"Of course," Harry told her and he motioned for Jaime to continue. She did.
"Andromeda took me in, along with Nym, although Lucius tried to get custody of me, likely to use me as some bargaining chip to make sure Draco didn't fall into certain undesirable behaviors," Jaime added and there was a moment where both Harry and Jaime shuddered wanting to be sick at the thought of Draco Malfoy liking females. It was completely absurd. "I was sorted in Gryffindor….although where else would I go? I thought the same thing that you did, it would be better to do what was expected of me."
It was a logical assumption to make and there were many people who would think that Harry should have been sent to another house or they would have, had they know about his true nature. The problem with being sent to those other houses was that there would be far more eyes on Harry and would not allow him to do what he needed to do.
"There's a lot of the same, the Stone, the Chamber, the escape from Azkaban, up until the tournament," Jaime stated as she closed her eyes.
She loathed the tournament and she loathed the fact that Snape's creepy obsession with her mother caused him to take an interest in her. Her world's Dumbledore had been a little less willing in pulling the trigger on Snape when he got out of control.
"Voldemort returned in that world," Harry told her as he grabbed Jaime's hand and squeezed it, a gesture which she appreciated with a smile crossing her face.
"Yes, and if I had known then what I know now, I wouldn't have….well it doesn't matter now, does it?" Jaime asked Harry and Harry's gaze focused more firmly on hers.
"Well, it's valuable information that helped me make sure that Voldemort didn't return, so I would have to say that it mattered a lot," Harry told her with a smile and a squeeze of her hand.
Jaime nodded, appreciating the sentiment that Harry gave her although she felt that it would be foolish to take this much credit.
"It wasn't me who defeated Voldemort in this world, that was primarily you're doing," Jaime told Harry, wanting to make sure that credit was given where credit was due. Harry had almost finished off Riddle completely by the time she made her presence known to him.
"I like to think of giving credit where credit was due although we won't have to worry about the worst case scenario," Harry remarked to her and he fixed eyes on Jaime's. "You still miss them, don't you?"
Jaime's smile increased as it widened across her face. There was a few seconds where she paused and nodded.
"Yes, I miss them but life goes on, like it or not," Jaime told Harry with a smile on her face as she scooted towards him and draped an arm over him. "I met Karen and well the rest is history from there."
"And then you arrived in this world," Harry told her. "So did you…."
"Yes, I got the Hallows but it appears they got lost in translation," Jaime told him but she figured more or less that one set of Hallows per world was obviously the point of order. At least that's what she assumed happened but she could be completely and utterly wrong, at least that's what she assumed. "I thought that were a set of overpowered trinkets although I don't think that I got around to mastering Death to the extent you did."
'Didn't we have to duck and run pretty quickly after you got them?' Karen asked.
"I didn't properly unite them in the castle, so there's that, although it allowed me to survive Riddle's little scheme," Jaime commented.
"So when you killed Voldemort, his ritual to return him back to life also offered an added bonus of wiping out every foolish wand waver in Europe," Harry said as he smiled although it was strained. Voldemort was many things and it appeared that he was a sore loser on top of being a coward.
"Yes, and everything went to hell in the year or so following that, although that world made this one look like Paradise," Jaime concluded thoughtfully.
"Very nice," Harry said to her.
"Yes, rather," Jaime told him. "And there weren't that many bad times, although the good times….well there were a few bad times as well. It was a balance of everything."
Jaime relaxed in Harry's grip, his strong arm wrapping around her. This got her a sense of clarity all things considered, she supposed. Her smile widened immediately as Harry pulled her into his grip and Jaime's head rested on his shoulder.
"But we're here in the now," Harry told her and Jaime nodded to him.
The future was bright, it was really amazing, and the two of them would experience it together, along with several others.
"So, you're thinking that you might have picked up some of my powers?" Nym asked him and Harry nodded, they were at the Ministry during some downtime.
"Well, given my powers, I'm able to copy the powers of the females that I've mated with," Harry told her and he placed his hand on hers. "And given the number of times that I've had sexual relations with you, it's inevitable."
Nym smiled and had one of those expressions that "say no more."
"Given that I'm going to be spending a lot of time in alternate identities, considering the nature of what my plans for the future are. I'm going to need to master these powers straight away," Harry told her and Nym placed her hand upon his. "How did you master them?"
"Well….as Mum will no doubt tell you in embarrassing detail, my hair kept turning different colors when I was young depending on my mood," Nym told him as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "I didn't have any control of it, and it wasn't until my teenage years that I mastered the changes and got the full benefits of being a Metamorphmagus."
Harry smiled, and what major benefits they were.
'And they have many benefits,' Lily remarked to him knowingly. 'And not all of them are pleasure.'
'I'm sure that people have tried to use Nym's powers for purposes of pleasure,' Faora commented in a calm tone of voice.
'Actually the two guys that I dated had no imagination, they wanted to see me in my natural form,' Nym commented in absolute disgust.
'Which shows a disgusting lack of understanding how Metamorpmagi work,' Vega said wisely through the bond link. 'There is no natural form.'
'Nym was even shape changing in the womb, I'd imagine,' Lucretia chimed in.
'The intense stomach cramps that I received confirm this fact,' Andromeda agreed to them as she closed her eyes and recalled that time. It was quite the adventure, her pregnancy with her daughter.
'And this week on stories that mortify….this,' Amanda remarked in a mock announcer voice.
Harry smiled as he brought things back on topic, as things often got off topic with the background chatter that was going on.
"There's a science….well there's a process behind the shifting," Harry told her. He remembered that trying to apply any kind of science to magic was going to set him up for heartbreak.
"I guess in a sense, one could look at it that way," Nym agreed as she shifted towards him with a smile. "There is a process to this, it's like trying to teach yourself a new skill. It will take focus at first as you have to will yourself into doing it."
"Right," Harry told the young Auror as she shifted so he could study the process.
Nym was glad to do something constructive with her time in teaching her bonded a skill that he wanted to pick up.
"Let's try with something easy," Nym suggested, although she figured that it was almost insulting to start with such a rudimentary and dare she say it, baby step with Harry.
"Okay, I'm game," Harry told her, a smile crossing his face as he motioned for her to go on. He wanted to figure out what his limits for these powers were, if he had any limits at all.
"I know you are," Nym told him as a smile crossed her face. "I want you to grow and shorten your hair."
Harry thought that was a minor thing but he was not about to complain about it. The emerald eyed wizard closed his eyes in order to focus.
"Remember to concentrate, it's no different than performing a spell without a wand," Nym advised him.
'Except instead of being an external source, it's within your body,' Andromeda added, remembering the lessons she had to give her daughter when was young to get the power working so she did not become a muddled mess and suffer headaches as she strained to force the changes or worse; keeping them from happening.
"And what Mum said," Nym remarked to him with a smile.
"Well, your mother knows best," Harry said.
"Except when it comes to naming her daughter," Nym commented in a sweet smile as she watched Harry.
Much to her pleasure, Harry's hair got really short. He did not look good with short hair….well actually he looked kind of better with longer hair than he did with shorter hair. Nym wondered what he'd look like bald but this was neither the time nor the place.
"Good, now change your nose, make it really big," Nym remarked before she thought of a visual aid. "Make it Snape size."
'And we're marring a perfectly good face,' Lily commented in disgust. She could not think of Harry being Snape's son because the visual was all wrong and it was completely disturbing to think about.
Lily would make out with a troll before she let Snape touch her in any way. Not that he could seeing as how Harry had thoroughly disarmed him and what was left of Snape was currently rotting in a padded cell at 's.
Harry grew his nose and Nym closed her eyes.
"What are you gawking at, Miss Tonks?" Harry asked in a picture perfect imitation of Snape which caused Nym to shiver immediately. "Don't be such a dunderhead."
Nym's eyes widened as she locked them onto Harry's, her agitation swimming through her voice as she told him in a crisp and cool voice "Don't ever do that again." Causing a smile to cross Harry's face.
Actually she was kind of curious how he managed such a good imitation of Snape, although there were many Hogwarts students who could do a Snape intimation, to varying degrees of success.
"Right….turn into a female copy of yourself," Nym remarked.
She realized that this might not be as big of a challenge for Harry as the visual aid was presented to him. The wizard in question closed his eyes and shifted his features around. It took a bit to deal with certain things and trying to deal with female parts was different than male parts.
"And….I didn't expect you to get that for the first time," Nym stated but Harry raised an eyebrow, he was not about to be defeated by any means.
Nym shut her mouth immediately and waited for Harry to shift his body parts. His hair was long, dark and wavy. His green eyes were there but his facial features were softer and more feminine. He managed to have a pair of breasts that were on the level of Karen's.
'I'm not sure if I want to be really turned on or really disturbed,' Karen chimed in through the link.
'All of the above,' Astoria remarked.
Nym took a few minutes to take in Harry's female form and she seemed to take the longest time to return to something that vaguely resembled coherence. The woman shook her head and coughed a slight bit.
"Harry….you can change back, you've done well,' Nym thought to him.
Nym checked her clock in her office at the Ministry. It was a good thing that she managed to control her own inhibitions somewhat because the desire to motorboard Harry was overwhelming.
Now there's a sentence that she never thought she'd say.
Nym went through some more exercises, although nothing that disturbing again.
Of course Nym keeping Harry at the Ministry was so certain people could finish the final preparations for something special.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"
Harry smiled as a lot of his bonded arrived.
"I could have sworn that I told you not to bother with something like this," Harry said after a moment of silence.
"And I could have sworn that I told you that I have selective hearing," Lily fired back with a wide grin. Harry's eyebrow raised as she pulled her son into a hug and gave him a deep kiss on the mouth.
Harry responded by wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her in tightly against him.
"Harry, good haul this year, and you haven't even unwrapped the presents yet!" Sirius cheered as he arrived at the room, along with Remus, although his mustache was shaven.
There was an incident involving angry girl scouts, hedge clippers and vodka that caused his mustache to be lost that Remus preferred not to speak of.
'To be fair, he wouldn't be allowed in this castle if he had that thing on his face,' Peve thought to them in amusement.
'That's extremely true,' Harry agreed, he could barely keep the amusement off of his face and he went around to greet everyone.
Andromeda, Bellatrix, Narcissa, Lucretia, Nym, Kara, Karen, Faora, Jaime, Diana, Hippolyta, Donna, Artemis, Vega, Lily, Rose, Amanda, Emily, Daphne, Astoria, and Anastasia were all in the house. Oh Sirius and Remus were there too. Hermione and Charlotte were celebrating with his other self in Italy still, although for some reason the bond had been inactive. Actually Harry knew and he approved of those thoughts.
"James would have killed to be in this place," Remus commented. They had heard about the legendary castle but no one had been allowed inside without the permission of the head of the house or one of his Alphas.
"I hope you gentlemen enjoy the inside, although this is one area of a bigger castle," Rose explained to them. She knew that the higher that they were up the bond structure, the more of the castle that they had been permitted to explore although Harry could grant special permission as need be.
The magic of the castle prevented otherwise.
"It's as amazing as I thought," Daphne remarked with a whistle.
"Fit for a king," Vega added with a smile across her face.
"No, Harry is greater than a king, he's a god," Astoria informed them and there were very few people who would argue with that sentiment especially coming from this witch.
"You won't hear any different from me," Lucretia remarked and Harry turned towards her.
"How goes the next stage of your Chemistry mastery?' Harry asked her.
Lucretia smiled at the thought of it as she informed him. "Well as you know, the major work of it was done last year. But there's a few more things that I need to learn about."
She smiled at Vega, her sister had a wide smile on her face.
"And Vega has a big announcement she's just been dying to tell you," Lucretia remarked to Harry and Harry raised an eyebrow as he motioned for Vega to speak.
"Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher at Hogwarts," Vega announced with a bright smile.
"So, are we going to tell people that the curse is over since Riddle got popped off?" Narcissa asked.
"No, let them be superstitious and stupid, if they can't do the research and realize when the curse started and ended, then that's kind of their problem," Bellatrix said and there were several nods based off of this statement.
The party kicked into full degree, although Harry suspected that it would be a great party as his mother planned it.
Lily smiled, despite Harry's attempts to argue against it, she was certain that he enjoyed the party that she set up for him. She had one small Birthday party when he was one year old for him, but only Andi and Nym was there. Although it was the thought that counted and not the scope, at least as far as she was concerned.
"So, I suspect that you're living it up on Black Island," Harry told Sirius.
"Well after fifteen years in hell, I suspect that I deserve a little R and R," Sirius said but then he saw the glare on his godson's face.
"That might be true, but you did kind of dump the Black Headship on my lap without any warning," Harry told him.
Sirius recognized the Lily glare, even though it was coming from Harry. He gulped, revenge might in fact be forthcoming.
"Ah….well you were going to get it anyway," Sirius stated evasively as he told him. "Did you have Andi and Nymphadora reinstated into the family?"
"Done," Harry told him, that was one the first things that he had done.
"And thank you," Andromeda, although given the old management of the Black family, she wouldn't have accepted a reinstatement from anyone else but Sirius or Harry.
"Even though most of our girls in question are Potters," Lily concluded. Although it was nice that she did not have to change her name.
Sersi was such a helpful goblin, although Lily suspected that since she thought the world of Harry and thought that he was essentially a god, it would only go without saying that she would help her. Lily did get the documentation that she needed to return to the world of living, for better or for worse.
'Harry, enjoy the party, but after it's done, I need to see you, at the stroke of Midnight if you will,' Peve thought to them. 'Bring Rose, Lily, Jaime , Karen, Kara, Diana, and Faora with you but no one else.'
'That's an oddly specific checklist,' Harry thought but his mind was on Peve's and no one else.
'Hi Harry….sorry we couldn't make it,' Fleur interjected through the bond link. 'We're actually visiting family back home and you know how family can get sometimes.'
'Annoying,' Gabrielle breathed in a disgusted tone.
'Gabi, that wasn't very nice,' Fleur said in a firm voice.
'Well, you're kind of exhibit A of this,' Gabrielle commented through the bond link.
'Do I have to give you a spanking?' Fleur asked her younger sister in an exasperated tone of voice but there was slight snickering that resounded through Gabi's tone as she fired back.
'You mean like the one that Kara gave you the night of the Goblet of Fire drawing?' Gabi asked.
Fleur remained silent, not wanting to acknowledge that this happened or admit how much this turned her on.
'Girls, are you going to behave or am I going to have to both give you a spanking?' Appoline inquired to them through the link.
'For the record, that sounds really appealing,' Jaime added in the bond link.
'Well maybe that could be Harry's belated birthday present when we have a chance to see him,' Appoline suggested.
Harry thought about that and was intrigued about that. Although in the back of his mind, he wondered Peve wanted to speak with him about, he had never heard her seem so urgent.
Now Harry was going to sit back and enjoy the show.