A few days later ( Two weeks after Halloween Rituals)
Everybody was back at Hogwarts for some time, after the Rituals they rested for a few days.
When they got back McGonigal walked toward them with a stern expression, she wanted to know why they skipped so many days. Harry just gave the woman a look of pity. it was obvious who sent her and his answer was also predictable 'Family Business'. That's where the conversation ended.
Harry was the Family Head he could leave anytime he wanted and if he needed his family members they would come with him.
So the girls just kept going to classes, while Harry locked himself in his room/lab and once in a while he went deeper and deeper into the forest to blow something up. Since the deeper you went in you were actually going to some mythical forest that Harry still hasn't figured out what it is or where it is. He just kept calling in the Enchanted Forest and looted anything interesting he saw.
Frankly the whole place was like a giant tressure chest for him. Every time he opens it to pick an item out, something interesting pops up under it. Recently he found a small hydra, unfortunately it was from the magical side not the big ones from the supernatural, but it still made his day.
Normally a hydra was a mythical monster that if you cut off it's head two more grow back. This magical variant just regrew its head. Possibly a descendant from the Original Myth.
So what did Harry do?
He pinned the big snake down and kept slicing off its head until he made a giant pile with a hundred heads. The poor thing died from using too much energy to regrow heads, otherwise he would have just kept going.
At the current moment Harry was conducting some tests on a few heads while mechanizing one of the them. Hope just watched with a weirded out expression as she saw Harry put gears and metal pieces into the decapitated head.
"What do you hope to accomplish from this?"
Harry turned to her with a smile "Oh I'm just messing around. You know the game Pac-Man right? Well I'm just going to make this thing chomp its mouth constantly and throw it at the next person who annoys me. It's going to be hilarious"
' Well random soon to be traumatized person i wish you luck' Hope offered a prayer silently when she suddenly got the memories from her clone back at the Manor "Harry what did you do?!"
~ Potter Manor
Melinda and Hope were staring at the girl next to Harry.
"My name is Morgiana, I am a servant of Master Harry, it is nice to meet you"
Harry just facepalmed. Even after a few days he still can't get here to drop the 'Master' thing.
"Harry where did you find this girl. Did you kidnap her!?" Melinda raised her staff as a threat.
Harry opened his mouth but Morgiana beat him to it. "No, I was a slave, he bought me"
...
Melinda and Hope slowly turned to Harry and raised their fists and punched.
" "OWW!" "
They hit Harry's barrier. 'I'm not some simp that will let girls hit me when I don't deserve it'
"Calm down. I saw her while I was in China. She has a strange bloodline so I took her in. Help her get used to our place and make her feel at home. She pretty much has Zero education and is from the middle of nowhere so that will be the first step.
Teach her the basics and some common sense. And for the love of God tell her to stop calling me 'Master' it creeps me out, I have reached the limit to how much I can handle that bullshit. I have to go and delete some of the memories my clone had in Magical China. The Ancient way of speaking they do just rubs me the wrong way and I can't get used to it. "
"Ahhh" Hope suddenly remembered their incident with the Young Master they met. Even when Harry was younger he couldn't stand them.
"So what do you have mind? You usually pick people up because you have a position that you want to fill." Melinda glanced at Harry before returning her gaze on Morgiana. She was calculating, how old she is, how long she has been starving, the degree of muscle atrophy.
It's called Gluconeogenesis. The body converts muscle protein into glucose to sustain essential organs and the brain. But the numbers weren't adding up.
'She is in a significant better shape than expected from someone of her past. She could have lied but that wouldn't fool Harry. Is it the bloodline that he mentioned?' Melinda took one more look at the menace to society and he had a shit eating grin on his face basically screaming [ I know something you don't. ]
"Wipe that smirk off your face and tell me already" Melinda raised her staff
Harry's grin dropped " Killjoy. Let me introduce you properly to the reason why she caught my eye in the first place. Morgiana is a Fanalis the Red Lions, descendant of the legendary creature a mixture of Dragon and Nemean Lion. They had one of the best defenses in the world. And quite frankly I'm severely lacking in people being able to take a proper hit.
She will be my new bodyguard" Harry didn't let anybody have any time to react he quickly turned to Hope and put his hands on her shoulders and smiled "That means your workload is now tripled my full time Assistant."
Hope's mind was running at full speed. ' She processed the words new bodyguard and immediately thought she was being replaced. Then she scolded herself at how stupid she sounds and cursed her low self-esteem. And then the words Workload Tripled stopped her in her tracks'
"I quit"
"Sorry not happening"
Hope went quiet "I want raise... five times more" 'Please find a new assistant'
"You are not getting paid and for that matter you have access to the bank accounts. Try again"
Hope hung her head down 'But the research workload is already bigger because of Harry's mental boost. I will die from being crushed by paperwork. Think Hope think!'
"Uhh, I have vacation days?"
"We take vacations all the time, several times per year in fact."
"Mogiana doesn't know the job, I still need to supervise.'
"... Damn that's actually a good one. Fine teach her everything you know about how I use a 'bodyguard' "
"YES!" Hope did a fist pump.
"I thought you liked researching?" Harry scratched his head and this time Hope deadpanned at him
"I like helping you, not being stuck for a week in a lab without seeing daylight. My brain would fry and I'd burnout. I still don't know how you do it"
Melinda just sighed and patted Hope on the back "Don't even try dear. Harry is special... a special kind of crazy. Normal people like us can't even begin to understand how his brain works."
Harry dramatically grabbed his heart "Ouch. True, but still Ouch"
While the banter continued Morgiana was quietly just watching. This was all new to her, this scene of peace and joy. If it was always like this, then she is going to like this new home.
~ Hogwarts.
It was late at night, after Snape was done with his duties and gleefully docking a lot of points from some Gryffindor's who were sneaking in the hallways after curfew.
So now he was double checking the schedule for tomorrow. But the only reason he does this is to see if he can make it even more difficult for the other students. It must be in the curriculum of the year and most of his Slytherins must be able to successfully brew the potion.
Snape smiled as he saw that there was something that he could do.
But then the mark on his forearm started to burn. 'The Dark Mark' Snape quickly pulled out his wand and was about to cast several anti curse spells and a diagnostic one.
' How disappointing Serverus ' a cold malicious voice appeared in his mind. A voice that brought back many bad memories.
' The Dark Lord!' he was shocked, he had never even heard of something like this, he knew of course about Telepathy and that an experienced user in Legilimency could communicate only through thoughts with another person.
But he was alone in his office
' Serverus it seems me being indisposed has caused you to get quite rude and arrogant. Thinking about me in this way'
'Apologies my Lord, you have never showed this spell before and it caught me by surprise' He even properly bowed, despite being alone. He didn't know how this was happening or if he was being watched as well. He was doing his best to stay calm and not let any stray thought appear. Otherwise it could cost him his life.
A cold laughter echoed in his mind. ' No need for the theatrics Serverus. I am already aware that you have completely betrayed me, well in my eyes. The more accurate description is that you were playing both sides to guarantee your safety, but you should know better than most that is also a betrayal'
Snape culched his robes until his hands turned pale. He hasn't felt this hopeless in a long time, but there was nothing he could do, no enemy to strike. If Voldemort could speak to him through some unknown means that most likely suggest he could kill him as well.
'But no matter'
"Huh!" Snape couldn't help but speak out loud. Voldemort is forgiving him? Impossible.
'Serverus, you seem to be confused so let me enlighten you. Currently I find your betrayal so meaningless that I can't be bothered to deal with you'
Snape stood there shocked. This was new and it somewhat hurt. He had prided himself of being a Master Potioneer, someone whose skills were recognized by even the Dark Lord. His dueling skills were also among the best. Yet now, he was something insignificant, like a bug on the side of the road.
'The reason why I am even talking to you is because you will do something for me. Pass on a Message to Harry Potter and I will release you from the Mark. Refuse and I will just spread the news of you all your missions when you were a Death Eater. I will enjoy watching you run like a little rat, much like the Peter Pettigrew you despised.'
Voldemort transmitted the message to him and the pain lessened. The link between their minds was gone.
Snape's thoughts were all over the place, he couldn't keep a calm mind, not after that. 'A messenger, that's all that I am good for. And I have to give it to that brat' he culched his hand and smashed several bottles that were on a nearby table.
His hands were shaking, his pride shattered. But he still had to do it. If it meant getting free of the Dark Mark, he would do anything.
~ Underworld. Fallen Territory.
Grigori. Meeting room.
Azazel looked at the people in the meeting room. These were the upper ranks of Grigori and each one had a sour look on their face as they read the reports in front of him.
"Well things have completely and utterly gone to shit" Shemhazai deadpanned as he placed the papers back down on the table.
"No kidding, the bats are escalating. First it was Katerea Leviathan now even Shalba Beelzebub has joined the fray. Razevim must really want that girl"
Penemue sighed as she rubbed her temple " Well apparently Metatron dropped down, its only a matter of time before the other follow or just decide to nuke that entire area. If the Old Satan Faction keeps going like this the New Satans will have no choice but to intervene. "
"We can't allow Heaven or Hell to get to the Grall, otherwise we would be in a bad position. On the other hand we also can't just let other factions get it either. Who knows what monster they will bring back from the dead. That will just come to bite us in the ass later." Azazel said calmly as he took a big gulp of Fire whiskey.
"That is an understatement, with the power of the Grall any faction could raise their dead with a snap of a finger. They could even poach figures from other factions, they could revive the dead from other factions as slaves." Shemhazai got a chill down his spine. Imagine all of the enemies you have killed getting revived and all coming for revenge together.
Penemue just lifted her glasses a bit "The biblical factions are currently in a cold war. But we usually unite if another big faction decides to attack us or muscle into our territory. Things are different now since we haven't been attacked in a very long time, and unlike the Angels and Devils we actually have a pretty good reputation and relationships with other factions"
"Still we can't just let the situation keep going as it is. It's unfortunate for the young Damphir, but she has be killed. The Sephiroth Graal can not fall into their hands. A pity, I would have liked to study that particular Sacred Gear" Azazael shook his head before taking on a more serious look.
"Grigori will join the war. The sole objective is killing the Damphir. Baraqiel, Kokabiel get our armies ready, you two will lead them to the front line as a distraction, kill as many as you can to drag things out, but keep our people alive"
"FINALLY!!!" Kokabiel stood up and yelled with a crazy expression on his face
Everybody ignored him and Azazel kept talking "Me and a few others will attempt to sneak in and assassinate the girl. Get your asses moving, it's time to remind the world that Grigori still has some fight in them."