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Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 347: The Four Travelers
"Oh my… and who is this?" Skinny Harry glanced at the latest arrival with great interest.
"Another one? This is getting out of hand," Neville said.
"Mmm?... I wasn't told there would be other people here. And you lot don't look like dragon handlers to me," the young man in tight leather pants said to them.
"Who the hell are you?" Victoria Black furrowed her eyebrows. There was something about this newcomer that made her uneasy.
The young man's orange eyes met her green ones before he offered her a charming smile.
"Whoa, I haven't seen you before. You must be new at Hogwarts." He approached her, causing her to take a step back.
"I am Lord Hadrian Potter-Black, among many other titles. I'm also the heir of the Four Founder Houses and the creator of the Fifth Hogwarts House… it's a pleasure to meet you."
Victoria's expression softened.
"N-nice… to meet you."
He stepped closer, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"You know… after I deal with this test real quick, why don't you come with me? I have a massive private chamber in my own personal tower. We can get to know each other a bit better… what do you say?"
Victoria's eyes became glazed and lost their brightness for a moment.
"I… I…" She appeared to be in a trance, but then something snapped inside her, and her demeanor returned to normal. She clenched her fists and punched him hard enough to knock him onto his back.
"You bastard! You tried to charm me!"
"I was about to do that," Neville remarked, looking down at the fallen boy.
"What happened? I felt something strange just now," Skinny Harry said.
"It looks like Mister Gigolo over there tried to use some type of compulsion on the girl, and it didn't work out as he planned," the other Harry replied.
"That's awful!" The other Harry looked very perturbed by the mere thought.
The young man on the ground didn't look angry or disappointed. He simply chuckled while clutching his wounded cheek.
"You must have top-notch mental defenses to throw off my charm like that. Now I want you even more…"
"What did you do to me?" Victoria pointed her wand at him.
"Now that she mentions it, I didn't see him use a wand or anything to cast a spell," Tall Harry observed.
"The magic in his eyes," Neville said. "He has demon blood… from a type capable of manipulating the minds of others. Perhaps a succubus."
"I am no succubus!" Hadrian scoffed, annoyance creeping into his voice as he got back up. "On my eleventh birthday, I awoke my latent abilities as an incubus. My charm only works on women."
"He's actually a demon?"
"Those exist?"
"And you tried to use it on me?… That's going to cost you." Victoria's wand began to glow.
"Whoa, hold on! I was just playing around," Hadrian raised his hands defensively.
"Wait," Neville interjected, stepping between them.
"Move! I'm going to curse this bastard!" Victoria shouted.
"And he would certainly deserve it… under normal circumstances, I'd let you curse him until your arm got tired, but now's not the time for that. You all need to find a way back before it's too late," Neville said.
"Go back where? What are you talking about?" Victoria demanded.
"You seem to know what's going on," Tall Harry pointed out.
"Is this one of those weird things that always happen at the end of the year?" Skinny Harry asked. "Because it feels a bit early for that."
Hadrian nodded. "Neville Longbottom is taking charge, and I got rejected by a girl… there is definitely something wrong here. No doubt about it."
"You're so annoying and conceited," Skinny Harry said, crossing his arms. His eyes trailed down from Hadrian's face, taking in his appearance. "You're so arrogant, and… hot."
Hadrian grinned. "I know."
"Ahem…" Neville cleared his throat. "If you can pay attention for one minute, I'll explain. I think it's best if I just say it directly...you've all traveled to a parallel universe without realizing it."
"Pardon?" Victoria raised an eyebrow.
"A parallel universe?"
"Care to explain a bit better?"
Neville pointed around.
"This isn't your original world. It may look similar, but if you take a closer look, you'll notice things are different."
"Now that you mention it…" Hadrian glanced toward the stands.
"My cheering squad was over there. Most of the members of my harem had come to watch me slay the dragon."
"Did he say harem?" both Skinny Harry and Tall Harry said at the same time.
"He's not wrong…" Victoria was scanning a different part of the stadium.
"I can't find my friends… nor Draco. Where are they?"
"Wait! I can't find my Draco either!" Skinny Harry was starting to panic.
"And I don't remember seeing that ugly woman at the judges' table either. Who is that? She looks like a toad. Or that tiny old man who keeps pointing at us," Tall Harry added. His gaze then shifted to where Ron and Seamus were sitting, and his expression darkened.
"Okay, I definitely believe you now… because the Ron Weasley I know is very much… dead."
"Good, now we can figure out how to get you back to where you came from. That being said, there's one more thing that worries me…" Neville looked around.
"Where are your dragons?"
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