Lau stared blankly at the Homunculus in front of him.
"A Philosopher's Stone. Not the Philosopher's Stone. Why?"
Greed leaned back in his chair and tapped his nails on his collar.
"He keeps me on a short leash like some kind of a dog. For him I'm just an errand boy to run a business so that he has the finances for his 'big' plans. The old bastard has been sitting in his chair for over six hundred years and just watching. And he dares to say that he got rid of the sin Sloth..."
The homunculus stopped tapping on his collar and looked at Lau. He pointed to a glass compartment on the front of the hated item.
"This is a container for the Philosopher's Stone. As soon as he finds out that I'm meeting you behind his back... Well, my life will end rather quickly and painfully. I think he already had three Greed's before me? Or just two? I can't remember..." He rubbed his temples, trying to soothe the eternal headache, "Do you know what happens to a Homunculus when he does not satisfy his sin?"
Lau looked at the owner of the Stone of Greed. He can reach out and take it right now, but... The voice of intuition in the back of his head advised that it would be more profitable to keep him alive.
"At first it feels like a weak hunger, nothing serious, it can be quickly fixed. But if you don't fix it and leave it on its own, your hunger will grow until it stops. That's when constant headaches and fatigue begin. After that, the Homunculus loses the will to live. I am already at this stage. And I do not want to end like the previous Greed, an empty shell of once a great being. But this fucking collar is stopping me from getting what I want most right now."
Lau raised an eyebrow in a mute question and Greed spread his arms out to the sides, as if pointing at the whole world at once.
"Freedom, Salazar, freedom. Even your kind, pathetic people have it, but not me. He took it from me, took my life before I was even born. My predecessor wanted to get the whole world... Heh. How the mighty have fallen?"
He shook his head and got up from his chair to look at a small globe hovering over a shelf near the wall. The homunculus took it in his hand and tossed it in the air a couple of times.
"My ambitions have become smaller and after a couple of years, even the energy of the souls in my stone will not be able to support my mind. It will just stop." Greed squeezed the globe and it deformed, completely losing its spherical shape, "My thoughts has already become... Slower. I haven't gotten what I want for too long."
Lau had no sympathy for the artificial man, but he saw what he could get out of this deal. Information is worth its weight in gold right now, and he found a whole gold mine.
"So what exactly do you need a Philosopher's Stone for?"
For the first time in their entire conversation, a small, almost imperceptible spark of life lit up in the eyes of the Homunculus. He smiled from ear to ear and Lau wondered if he could be the second Envy and not Greed.
"This, my new best partner, is a very interesting question."
---
In the corner of the Class 1-A, the atmosphere was colder than Todoroki's ice. Harry stood in front of a nervous Izuku who couldn't even look his friend in the eye. Finally, he began to speak.
"You want to tell me that Shigaraki, threatening you with the death of citizens in the mall, tried to find out why Stain became so popular and the League remained in the shadows."
Harry said without asking a question, it was a cold statement. Midoriya shifted from foot to foot and nodded.
"And you told him everything you thought was relevant instead of using your Quirk or Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist."
Another cold statement and another nod. The holder of the four Philosopher's Stones closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Bang will make you into minced meat for that. No, fuck Bang, I'll make you into minced meat myself."
Such inaction was unforgivable in Bang's Dojo. Of course, the old man put people's lives above everything else, but that wouldn't stop him from killing Tomura.
"But what was I supposed to do?! How am I-"
"If I were in your shoes with your Quirk, I would hit him in the throat with 100 percent strength. Fuck the broken bones, if I can get the bastard, I'll do it."
Izuku was shocked by his words and took a step back.
"B-but that would've k-killed him!" He finally looked the taller teen in the eye.
"Did you count the number of severed hands on his body? I did. There were ten. That's at least five dead people, ten at the most. And these are the known victims. Tell me Midoriya, is it even worth keeping him alive? How many people has he killed already? How many more people will he kill in the future?"
Harry's gaze drilled into Izuku's skull and looked straight into his soul. Finally, Midoriya looked away, interrupting their staring game. Potter found what he was looking for and sighed, the heavy aura disappeared, and in its place came irritation and... Sadness?
"You will have to kill sooner or later if you are going to work as a Hero. It's best to understand this before, Izuku. Ask All Might, he will tell you about the darker sides of the job. Sometimes there are people in the world who will be better off dead. Shigaraki Tomura is just another one of them."
Potter patted Midoriya on the shoulder and left to sit at his table, leaving the second green-eyed teenager with heavy thoughts.
Mina looked at her classmate with interest and poked him on the cheek. She made it her mission to find out more about the mystery man named Harry Potter.
"Say, why do you never tell anything about yourself?"
Harry looked at Mina with a raised eyebrow and removed her finger from his face.
"When was the last time you asked me a personal question? Except for that one time when I spent two hours proving to you that Gin is not my girlfriend."
She really wasn't, but the women in his life didn't care. Karin, Azumi, Mina, and even sometimes Izumi asked how the relationship with 'the girl you told us about' was progressing.
"You still haven't completely convinced me."
Harry's eye twitched.
"You didn't answer the question."
Mina looked at the ceiling thoughtfully hummed, she could not remember the moment when she even asked at least something personal from Harry.
"You've got a point. Wait! Does that mean you'll answer all my questions?!"
Sensing danger, Harry chose the only correct option.
"No."
"Aww, man! That sucks... I'm going to ask you anyway."
But this option turned out to be wrong, Mina's trap slammed shut and now the green-eyed teenager had no way back.
"Oh god."
"What's your favorite color?"
He immediately remembered Hermione's restless hair, which forever remained in his memory from the first meeting.
"...Chocolate brown."
"I thought it was black. Favorite bands?"
Well, as a former Brit, he could not help but name these groups.
"Nirvana, The Beatles, Quinn and Russian Hardbass to annoy people who don't get it."
"Erm... I don't know any of them..." Pre-Quirks bands were far from popular today, "Favorite Movie?"
Harry immediately perked up, the previous bad mood after talking with Izuku is forgotten.
"Oh, that's a good one. Have you ever seen 'Calvary'? It came out in 2014."
"No... Maybe sometime later. Ever tried cigarettes or alcohol?"
Fireviskey, vodka with redbull, strange wizarding tobacco, simple cigarettes and so much more that Harry couldn't even remember.
"Yes."
"Huh. Who was your first kiss?"
In both lives, his first kiss was far from perfect. Cho Chang just wanted to forget Cedric's death. And, well, in this life, Harry's first experience was even worse...
"...we'd better not talk about it."
"Interesting... What's your favorite food?"
"Adjarian khachapuri."
"Why are your answers so weird? What even is that?" Mina asked, not knowing what mistake she was making.
"Ho-ho... You don't know? Adjarian khachapuri is one of the most popular dishes of Georgian cuisine. The dish is a large boat-shaped tortilla of soft, airy dough, complemented by a trio of brine cheese, fresh egg and butter. The harmonious combination of crispy dough crust and juicy filling that melts in your mouth makes this dish a real gastronomic masterpiece."
Several of his classmates who had overheard their conversation - not that Harry and Mina were trying to speak quietly - began to salivate. Even Mina herself was a little dazed after this explanation.
"Harry? Please say that you can cook." she said with hope in her voice.
The Dursleys made sure Harry made a great cook. They also made sure he didn't get a bite of food from their dinner table, but that's beside the point.
"From the age of four. For better or worse..."
"Great! Hehehehe... New gastronomic masterpieces are waiting for me in the Training Camp..."
With a crazy twinkle in her eyes, Mina said, wiping saliva off her lower lip.
"Have I awakened a monster?"
Harry asked, turning to Tsuyu, who only nodded. Mina, with a dark aura around her, rubbed her hands together like a villain who came up with a grand plan to defeat his hated Hero.
"Just great."
---
"So, given what happened we'll be on a lookout for those villans. And we had to cancel our usual accommodations at the last minute." Aizawa tore up the Camp manual so that everyone could understand the meaning of all his words, "We won't reveal our actual destination until the Day we depart."
The teacher tore the paper again and threw it on his light wood desk. A wave of confusion swept through the classroom.
"But I already told my parents."
Sero was upset, his mother worried too much about the dangers in his life. He won't even talk about how bad it was for his father...
"That's precisely the point. The school can't control who learns how or what."
Momo was right. The information restrictions was introduced by Nezu to reduce the chance of possible attacks on the UA.
"As long as we're not canceling the whole trip altogether!"
Minoru trained for this very moment. His stealth techniques were already better than the beginner's level due to constant practice. Mineta's eagerness to see the girls in their class without clothes drove him forward.
"You." Said Bakugo, "Broken bones or not, you should've killed him."
Izuku, sitting behind him, tensed and looked at the scars on his right arm.
"Come on, Bakugo! Don't you hear how it was for Midoriya?! Besides, using Quirks in a public place is totally illegal." Toru immediately defended her classmate.
"Do I care? Just break those fucking bones."
"Maybe I should've, Katsuki... Maybe..."
He muttered, looking at his hands in thought and making Bakugo look over his shoulder in surprise at the use of his real name. He snapped at Deku as usual to blow off some steam, but he didn't expect such a reaction.
Aizawa just marked something on his notepad while looking at this scene. Harry, who was listening in on their conversation, nodded in satisfaction. He managed to shake Izuku's worldview, perhaps now he will begin to treat Villains differently. That's good, because if he accidentally kills some bastard with his immense strength, he will recover much faster from shock.
'That's a start. If only I could get rid of his muttering...'
He looked at the calendar and saw that there were only a few days left until the end of the first semester. Training Camp is approaching.
---
"What? Some kids from class 1-A are getting extra lessons? That means some of you failed?!" shouted some smug blond whose name Harry couldn't even remember, "Huhh? Huw weird is that?! Everyone knows that class 1-A is totally superior to class 1-B, but now this?! Wo-!"
Kendo approached the guy and knocked him out with a chop on the neck. The girl caught his unconscious body before it could hit the ground.
"Sorry." She muttered and carried her classmate with his belongings to the bus.
"Who's the git anyway?"
Harry bumped his shoulder against Izuku to get his attention. The green-eyed teen was never good at remembering the names of people he didn't like. It took most of his first year at Hogwarts to remember that Malfoy's name was Draco.
"Huh? Oh, that's Monoma. He's that class 1-B guy who hates us for some reason. His Quirk can copy other people's Quirks, so don't let him touch you."
This information raised a couple of questions in Harry's head.
'How will he react to a Philosopher's Stone? Which of the four will he copy, if he can do it at all? Will he die if he tries to copy the Stone itself? Better to keep him at a distance.'
Class 1-A boarded the bus and everyone sat in their seats. Potter got the sit next to Bakugo, and the green-eyed teenager thanked the Higher Powers for the fact that he just sat there silently on his phone and did not try to start a conversation. Harry pulled out his headphones and immersed himself in the world of music for the duration of the trip. His Basilisks already sleeping in their favorite places on his body.
When their bus stopped and everyone went out into the street, the dense forest in the mountains appeared before the teenagers. The branches of the trees swayed in the wind and Harry suddenly had a bad feeling.
'Isn't this the same forest Bang threw me into so I can learn how to survive in extreme surroundings...?'
"Hold on, what kind of rest stop is this?"
"Pee... Gotta pee..."
"Right? And where's class 1-B?"
Potter frowned at the all too familiar forest. He fought earth monsters for two long weeks and at the same time tried not to die of natural causes. When he returned to the Orphanage, Azumi gave him a four-hour lecture on how to be careful in training. Harry didn't mind at all, but being neat in a forest full of monsters who want to cripple you when you're thirteen is a little difficult.
"Please tell me this isn't Beast's Forest. Once was enough for my bones."
Sensei looked at him without showing any surprise at this information and continued to speak.
"Of course, we stopped here for a reason."
"Heya, Eraser! Sorry. Haven't seen you in a while."
Two women in Hero costumes stepped out from behind the bus and Harry recognized them immediately. The woman on the right began their traditional greeting, striking a pose strongly reminiscent of a feline.
"Rock on with this sparkling gazes!"
The woman on the left also took a similar position and continued.
"Surprisingly cute and catlike!"
"We're the Wild Wild Pussycats!" they ended up together, striking a group pose.
Harry just looked at them without blinking, turned around and startet walking, earning a couple of surprised looks from his classmates.
"Harry? Where are you going?"
Mina asked with a confused expression on her face.
"No. Fuck no. I'm going ahead. You guys are on your own."
The woman with light blond hair pulled back in a low ponytail, long bangs and blue eyes tilted her head to the side and smiled brightly as she straightened the skirt of her blue suit.
"Good luck Potter! Our base is where it was last time. But there will be a lot more dangers in the forest now!"
Harry just growled something in response - going up to the fence near the short mountain on which they stood - and stretched out his right hand forward. A second later, Rowena immediately slithered out of his sleeve, increasing in size to 23 meters in length and acquiring a much more threatening appearance. Everyone's jaws hit the floor, except for the three Heroes and the kid who was standing next to Mandalay and Pixy Bob. Potter jumped onto the back of the Basilisk and Rowena slipped into the forest with surprising speed for her size, leaving a long trail on the grounds behind her.
"Hehe... The boy still hasn't forgiven you for that sneak attack. But now he never lets his guard down."
Mandalay chuckled into her cat paw gauntlet. Pixy-Bob just snickered near her. Madalay was a rather tall woman with brown eyes and red hair styled into three bangs going across her face.
Students in Grade 1-A simply watched as the huge snake calmly smashed its way through the forest.
"He could've take us with him..."
---
All the members of the Vanguard Squad were sitting in the bar of the League of Villains, they were fully prepared for the attack on the training camp. Greed looked at his 'allies' and memorized the most problematic ones for his plans. He didn't tell Potter-Salazar-Lau about the impending attack, so as not to raise suspicion... And so he would have a better chance of obtaining the Philosopher's Stone if their deal fell through.
Mister Compress was an actor himself and might have noticed something wrong with Homunculus. One of the Twice clones could accidentally see something that was not needed and tell the main body. And their leader was smart enough to notice his lies.
Dabi looked at his subordinates one last time and began to speak.
"Does everyone have the equipment the Boss provided? Great. Our capture targets are Potter and Bakugo. No-kill target is only Midoriya. He belongs to Shigaraki, according to him... You know your roles, so we're moving right now. Kurogiri."
The bartender, without saying anything, warped them away to their destination.