[Fic] Dreaming of magic: chapter 12 - Harry

[gingerspark]

Title: Dreaming of magic
Fandom: Dreaming of sunshine, Naruto, Harry potter
Summary: DOS team 7 reborn into the Harry Potter universe

Previous

Harry

 

Harry had inherited two different kinds of family magic. The first, the one he and Sirius had been expecting, was the Potter family magic. To the best of Sirius's knowledge, it mostly concerned creating objects imbued with power, or changing their nature. 

 

The magic contained in the second grimiore though, was a mystery. Harry stroked a finger over the clasp holding the book closed and felt the prick he'd expected. He was shut away in the room Grandfather Arcturus had set aside for him to research his family magic in. Under his hands, the clasp shifted, twisting and changing until it separated completely, allowing Harry to open it.

 

He tried to turn to the first page, but the parchment slipped under his grasp. The book fell open in the middle and resisted his attempts to start at the beginning. Frowning, he started to read the page the book seemed to want him to see. The writing was old, difficult to read, and oddly spelled. He'd had a lot of practice reading old stuff written with quills since he came to live with Sirius, but he still struggled. He skimmed the page, catching only the odd word. There was some stuff about a "childe of the house of Potter," and he guessed that this page might be for people in his situation. Sirius had said that he wasn't the first person stuck figuring out family magic on his own. 

 

His eye caught on handwriting that was much easier to read, on the right-hand page. There were two different hands he couldn't read well, but the third looked much more modern. Harry gasped as he looked at the first line written in a spidery hand.

 

Dear Harry,

 

I sincerely hope you never read this, because it means I never had the chance to teach you myself. I'm writing this into the section that should open if you're reading this for the first time alone. I'm sorry we're not there to see you grow up. Your mother and I both hope this won't be needed, but we want you to know that we love you more than anything. 

 

If you aren't being raised by us, then there are a few things you probably don't know. The Potter family has inherited two distinct magics. The first is the magic associated with the Potter name. The second is a result of the marriage between Tatius Potter and Antonia Peverell in 1687. Since then, the Potter family has been in possession of both the fabled invisibility cloak and the Peverell family magic, which concerns death. This is one of the most closely kept of our secrets, and it should only be shared with those you truly trust.

 

Your mother and I (mostly your mother to be honest, she's brilliant) have used the Peverell family magic to set up a defensive array for you. If you've survived and we haven't it probably worked. The notes are in the Peverell grimoire for you. We don't regret it, we wanted you to live, and the price was worth it.

 

We love you, be safe.

 

James Fleamont Potter 

 

Harry re-read the message from his father until his head swam. He felt warm, and his vision was blurry. When he had the message practically memorised, he slowly closed the book and wiped his eyes. Sirius was probably waiting for him.

 

When he left the room, closing the door behind him, Sirius jumped up off the sofa he'd been napping on.

 

"Harry? What's wrong?" 

 

Harry sniffed, trying not to burst into tears. "My dad, my dad wrote me a letter." 

 

"Oh, Harry. Come here," Sirius said, drawing Harry into a hug. "It's alright to be upset."

 

Harry dissolved into sobs, crying into Sirius's robes. It was too much, the more he knew about his parents the more he missed them. They'd loved him so much and he'd never get to meet them. It wasn't fair.

 

When Harry finally disentangled himself from Sirius, he found that he'd been carried to one of the drawing rooms. As he wiped his eyes, feeling embarrassed about crying (he was nine, he was too old for this), he noticed Sirius had called for tea. Dippy had made little treacle tarts, and there was a whole plate of them.

 

Harry tried to ignore the fact that he'd just had a crying fit and grabbed a tart. 

 

"I know what the other family magic is," he said, between bites. He trusted Sirius and he needed to talk about it.

 

"Mm-hm?" Sirius said.

 

"Dad wrote about it. He said it's Peverell and it's to do with death," Harry said. 

 

Sirius, upon hearing the name Peverell, went white. "Peverell? ... Merlin's fucking balls, the cloak." He held his head in his hands. "We used it for pranks. Pranks, fuck."

 

"Huh?" 

 

"It's a hallow, what the fuck?" Sirius said, staring blankly into space.

 

Harry poked Sirius in the side.

 

"Ah!" Sirius jumped. "Sorry, I - fuck."

 

"Why are you being weird?" Harry asked, frowning.

 

"I just realised that the invisibility cloak me and your father used to use to break school rules was one of the Deathly Hallows, I think I'm allowed a little weirdness," Sirius said, looking a bit like someone had hit him over the head.

 

Deathly Hallows? That sounded familiar. Wait - "The Deathly Hallows? From the three brothers?" Harry asked. 

 

"Yep," Sirius said, burying his face in his hands.

 

"My dad's invisibility cloak was secretly the third Hallow?" Harry asked.

 

"Yeah. And we used to use it to put frogspawn in other kids' bags, Merlin." Sirius still seemed a bit upset about it.

 

"So, where is it?" Harry asked. He'd heard so many stories about that cloak, and he was only now realising it was a really important heirloom, not just a cool thing his dad had.

 

"Uh..." Sirius's expression turned stormy. "I don't know. I think James might have mentioned it being safe? I'll meditate and see if I can remember anything else. We'll figure it out kid, don't worry."

 

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

Hannah

 

Hannah bounced in excitement as the leaf in front of her caught fire. It had taken so much practice, almost a year's worth since Sylvanus had set Malfoy on fire. She could finally do it! She'd been managing to set things on fire occasionally for almost three months, but this was the first time she'd managed to do it so many times in a row.

 

As the leaf turned to ashes and the sparks dimmed, Hannah placed another dried leaf in the bowl and narrowed her eyes at it. She imagined she looked fierce and dangerous, like Sylvanus did when he was around some of the adults he didn't like.

 

Just like the previous dozen, it sparked, caught, and vanished in flames. She was ready to show her cousin!

 

Hannah hadn't liked Sylvanus when she was little. He'd never wanted to play with her, and he was more interested in reading huge books than spending time with her. He was really boring, even if he was clever. Neither of them had been interested in the other, and their parents had stopped trying to get them to play together when they were really little. Hannah's mum said Sylvanus was just like that, he was an 'old soul' whatever that was, and it wasn't something she'd done wrong.

 

Then Katherine and Naruto turned up, and Hannah got a bit older and realised that she just wasn't clever enough to be interesting to her cousin. It didn't matter. Sylvanus was dull anyway, even if his friends were cool.

 

Or so she thought, until he set Malfoy on fire for being mean to her. It was the coolest thing Hannah had ever seen! Sylvanus had glared, there had been this feeling of...Hannah didn't know how to describe it, but Sylvanus seemed huge and scary and she couldn't move. Then Malfoy's robes had caught on fire, and the feeling had dropped away as he started screaming. Malfoy was an annoying baby.

 

Sylvanus had said she might be able to set people on fire like he could if she practiced, and Hannah had proved him right. Her parents had told her it was just accidental magic, and she wouldn't be able to do it, and she should stop squinting at things, but they were wrong. 

 

Hannah hid the bowl of ashes under her bed and went to beg her mother to let her visit Sylvanus.

 

 

* * *

Sirius

 

Sirius was adding comments to the proposed legislation Amelia had sent him when Remus entered, a contemplative look on his face.

 

"Moony! Rescue me from the paperwork," Sirius begged, turning puppy eyes on his best friend.

 

Remus sighed. "I do actually need to talk to you Sirius."

 

"Yes!" Sirius jumped up from his chair and sprawled on the sofa as a dog.

 

Remus sat next to him and scratched his ears. "Nice as it is to have you quiet, I do need you to talk back."

 

Sirius reluctantly shifted back, slumping across Remus's lap.

 

"I just saw Harry walk up a wall," Remus said.

 

"Ah, yeah," Sirius said. "I've caught him doing that a couple of times. Isn't he brilliant?" He beamed proudly up at Remus. Harry's little bits of wandless magic were fantastically impressive. 

 

"He's still hiding things from us," Remus said quietly.

 

Sirius had known it would take a long time for Harry to adjust from the Dursleys. Harry had made so much progress already. He was trying his best with his schoolwork, putting in effort rather than trying to underperform. He was suggesting things he'd like to do for fun without needing to be prompted. He was even showing Sirius some of the wandless magic Katherine had spent years teaching him, and a few weeks ago he'd even managed to talk a little about living in a cupboard as a child.

 

On the other hand, Harry was still hiding some of his magical abilities, and he still tended to agree and then go behind someone's back rather than argue. Sirius was slowly realising that Harry's history with the Dursleys would never really go away.

 

"Yeah," Sirius said. "I still don't think we should push him if he doesn't want to tell us."

 

"I know," Remus said, running his hands through Sirius's hair. "I just wish he'd trust us more."

 

 

* * *

 

Sylvanus

 

Sylvanus was surprised by the news that Hannah wanted to visit. He wasn't close to his cousin, although she had become much less irritating in recent years. As a child she'd been loud and enthusiastic in a way he'd found grating, but while he no longer wanted to hide whenever she appeared, he still wasn't interested in the band she was fixated on.

 

On the other hand, he didn't actually have anything else to do tomorrow. Katherine was visiting family with her mother, and Naruto was spending the day in his family's greenhouses. He agreed, if hesitantly.

 

Hannah arrived in a wave of bouncy enthusiasm and swept him upstairs, clutching a bag and tripping over her own feet.

 

Sylvanus looked on, slightly wild-eyed, as she slammed the playroom door and pulled a metal dish (was that a dog bowl?) out of her bag.

 

"Watch this!" she told him, putting a crumpled leaf in the bowl and... squinting at it?

 

Nothing happened. 

 

Sylvanus had no idea what she was trying to show him, but she looked like she might cry, face falling.

 

"Wait, I could do it yesterday, I promise," she said, looking frantic.

 

Sylvanus sighed. "Take a deep breath," he said, keeping his voice steady and reassuring.

 

Hannah took a deep gasping breath and let it out slowly. 

 

"Now try again. Pretend I'm not here," he said, deactivating the seal on his eyes.

 

Hannah shot him a shy smile and then returned to squinting at the leaf. Sylvanus could see Hannah's magic moving, traces flickering around the leaf. It was uncontrolled, but - there - the leaf caught fire, burning to ashes in a few seconds.

 

Hannah beamed proudly at him.

 

"Huh," he said. "Impressive."

 

It really was. The trio had done some research after the incident with Auror Moody, and realised that they had far more control over their magic than the vast majority of wizards and witches. Kako said it was probably because they weren't native to this universe and were therefore far more aware of magical energy than most wizards. A lifetime of experience in chakra manipulation helped too. 

 

Most wizards couldn't perform magic without a focus at all. Children had incidents of accidental magic, but they usually couldn't repeat those feats on command. Being able to perform wandless magic as a child was far less common than they'd assumed. Magic was apparently so much easier with a focus that it wasn't worth teaching children until they were old enough to get a wand. Wizards didn't seem willing to put in the practice to learn wandless magic to any useful degree.

 

Their efforts to teach Harry basic levitation spells had shown that it was possible for children to learn through practice, although Harry was still struggling with tree-walking. It had taken the three of them working together to figure out the errors he was making and explain how to correct them. It would have been near impossible without Sylvanus's ability to see if Harry's magic was moving the way it needed to, and it took more effort than most wizards were willing to put in.

 

Hannah having achieved even a basic fire spell on her own was impressive. Now he was paying attention, Hannah's magic even looked more fire-natured than he remembered. Could persistent practice change a child's magical nature? Chakra didn't work like that, but experience had taught Sylvanus that magic worked very differently to chakra.

 

"Show me again," he said.

 

Hannah obliged, setting another leaf aflame with a constipated expression.

 

"I started practicing after you set Malfoy on fire," she informed him.

 

Sylvanus groaned. "That was an accident. I didn't mean to set him on fire."

 

Hannah stared at him. "You... you didn't mean to?"

 

"Fire slips into my magic a lot. I have better control now."

 

"You can set people on fire by glaring at them though, right?" Hannah asked.

 

Sylvanus buried his face in his hands. That was what the weird squint was for? 

 

"Your facial expression isn't important," he explained. He really hoped she hadn't ended up teaching herself to need it, that would be difficult to unlearn. 

 

"Oh," Hannah said, sounding disappointed.

 

"Watch." Sylvanus breathed a handful of flames into the bowl, using the tiger seal to control the magic. He could do something this simple without it, but that wasn't the point.

 

Hannah gasped, looking awestruck.

 

"This is the tiger hand seal. You need to align your magic with it," he explained. 

 

Hannah bent her hands into an approximation of the tiger seal. "Like this?"

 

"Point your thumbs upwards," Sylvanus corrected.

 

*

 

Harry

 

Harry had a problem. He was trying to teach himself two very different kinds of magic, and he was struggling. 

 

The Potter family magic was coming to him very easily. The family grimoire was full of helpful notes, lots of it was very written recently (and therefore easier to read), and there was a whole section written especially for someone in his situation. He knew exactly what he should be practicing and learning (mostly making things out of clay and understanding alchemical processes), and it wasn't risky at all.

 

The Peverell family magic was another matter. The clearest part of the tome was written by his mother, and it was a really complicated thing about runes (which Harry couldn't read, and he wouldn't even be taught until third year according to Sirius) and sacrificial magic. A lot of it was about death, and the few bits he could decipher were full of warnings. It was scary and confusing, and he didn't know what he should do about it. Harry wanted to know how the runes on his forehead worked and what they did, but he couldn't understand his mother's writing. He didn't know what he should be trying to teach himself before he went to Hogwarts, and he was so frustrated he wanted to cry.

 

"Sirius?"

 

"Mm-hm?" Sirius said, looking up from the engine of his motorbike.

 

"I don't know what to do."

 

"Hmm. You could go flying? Or you could draw? Or-"

 

"Not like that!" Harry interrupted, kicking his legs against the box he was sitting on.

 

"Gimme a sec," Sirius said, fiddling with something for a moment. "Right, then." Sirius sat down next to Harry, wiping his hands on a rag. "What's the problem kiddo?"

 

Harry stared at his hands. "I don't understand the stuff in the Peverell grimoire."

 

Sirius nodded thoughtfully. "Alright. Hmmm. Do you think going over some old books with Moony would help you?"

 

Harry bit his lip. "It might?"

 

"The old writing isn't all of the problem, is it?" Sirius asked.

 

Harry shook his head.

 

"Problem's a bit bigger than that?"

 

Harry nodded. It was much, much bigger than struggling with old writing.

 

"Harry, it's alright not to understand everything right now," Sirius said. "There's no rush. You're only nine."

 

Harry frowned. "I want to understand what my mum and dad did to save me. And there's warnings, I need to know."

 

"Alright then," Sirius agreed. "I think there are a couple of options. We could teach you things you think might help, like the writing or magical theory stuff. Or you could choose a person you really trust to induct into your family magic, and they could help you. I can help you sort out a binding oath for them to take."

 

The second option sounded much better to Harry. He wouldn't have to puzzle through things on his own. Inducting someone into his family magic was a really big thing though. Who should he trust with that?

 

"Katherine?"

 

Sirius smiled. "Katherine would be a good choice. Normally I'd say you'd want someone older, but Katherine is, well, probably better than me at a lot of things. I'm sure she can handle it."

 

"Okay," Harry said. He felt lighter already. "Can we go flying?"

 

* * *

Katherine

 

"You want to what?" Katherine stared in shock at Harry and Sirius.

 

"Teach you the Peverell family magic," Sirius repeated.

 

Was that even a thing that happened? This was a huge gesture of - something. "Why?" Katherine asked.

 

Harry and Sirius shared a look.

 

"The Peverell family magic is dangerous and Harry can't understand enough of the grimoire to figure out what he should avoid," Sirius admitted. "It's done occasionally, in situations where there are risks or things can't be practiced alone."

 

That made some sense, death magic didn't seem to be the sort of thing a child should learn alone. 

 

"Why me though?" Katherine asked. 

 

"You're my first friend," Harry said. "I trust you."

 

Katherine realised with a jolt that she'd known Harry for longer than anyone currently in his life. That was huge - she'd been there relatively consistently through his childhood, longer than anyone else.

 

What he was offering was huge though. It was a chance to understand Lily's runes properly, and she might even be able to figure out how to extract the horcrux.

 

"Alright. I'll help. What do you need me to do?"

 

"Help me understand the stupid book," Harry grumbled.

 

"Swear a binding oath to keep the secrets of the Peverell family, and be here at least once a week to work through things," Sirius clarified.

 

Katherine nodded. "That makes sense. I'll bring my notes on Lily's ward. Do you have the cloak yet?" It was possible Sirius had managed to get Dumbledore to give it up early - it was a family heirloom, the man didn't actually have the right to hold onto it.

 

Sirius grimaced. "We don't know where it is. It wasn't in the cottage I don't think, but I don't think James mentioned what he did with it."

 

"Oh! Right, sorry, I didn't realise you didn't know. Dumbledore has it," Katherine said, feeling guilty she hadn't brought it up before.

 

"Dumbledore? Why does he have it?" Sirius asked, outraged.

 

Katherine tried to dredge up the relevant memories. "Uh... I think he's interested in studying the Hallows?"

 

"The hallows? Dumbledore? I didn't think he'd be into that sort of thing," Sirius said, looking a little disconcerted.

 

 

 

* * *

Sylvanus

 

Hannah blew a grand fireball across the garden, and Sylvanus's throat felt tight as she turned to him with a wide smile.

 

"Well done," he said firmly. He hadn't thought he'd ever get to teach a family member that technique, and it wasn't exactly the same, but he felt a small piece of the grief that had haunted him for years crumble. There were no Uchiha children to learn the grand fireball jutsu and there never would be again, but Hannah was who he wanted to carry on that legacy.

 

Hannah beamed and sent another fireball over the lawn, this one slightly more controlled. 

 

Sylvanus had decided to split their teaching time between fire spells and things he'd rather she used in a fight, like stunners. He'd realised while watching her set a pile of damp leaves on fire with a snap of her fingers, that she was likely to reach for fire first in a fight. It was a less of a problem for Uchiha, who were taught to finish an enemy incapacitated by severe burns quickly, but deaths by fire were slow. Sylvanus did remember every death he'd caused as Sasuke and Hawk, a downside of the Sharingan, but he didn't really think about most of them. Of the few that haunted him, most were the ones where someone had burned alive.

 

Sylvanus would much rather his cousin never have to fight anyone seriously, but if she did he didn't want her reaching for fire. Hannah was kind and gentle and had none of the desensitisation shinobi children had. There were plenty of non-lethal spells he could teach her, and those would be less likely to get her in trouble. This world wasn't anywhere near as casual about killing in self-defence as Konoha had been.

 

 

* * *

 

Dumbledore

 

Rumours that Harry Potter was living with Sirius Black had first reached Dumbledore's ears soon after Harry's ninth birthday. He'd initially dismissed them as specious gossip, even knowing Minerva was not prone to idle speculation. Minerva, however, was insistent, and took it upon herself to visit the Dursleys. When she returned with the news that Harry had been taken the day after his meeting with Sirius, Dumbledore felt his heart grow heavy.

 

He was unsure how it had happened, but Harry was now living in the lair of the most ruthless family of Slytherins Dumbledore had encountered. How Sirius could think that was an appropriate environment to raise a child Dumbledore had no idea. He could only hope that Harry's early years would be enough to keep him on the side of the light, even with the malign influence of the older Blacks.

 

As he folded the cloak up (and it burned to give the House of Black one of the hallows) he wondered if either of Sybil's prophecies would come true, or if Sirius had already subverted them.

 

The child of the deer could only be Harry, but what was "written of by muggles" was a mystery. Dumbledore sincerely hoped Harry had already encountered whatever writings it was that he needed to defeat Voldemort.

 

 

* * *

 

Katherine

 

The invisibility cloak sang. Katherine could feel it from the moment she stepped into the manor. It was subtle and powerful, and even knowing that most wizards couldn't perceive the things she did, Katherine didn't understand how it could be mistaken for a normal magical object.

 

Harry put it on to demonstrate, his disembodied head grinning at her.

 

"Isn't it cool? Look!" He put the hood up, vanishing from her sight entirely. Katherine could still feel his presence, but it was muted. The song cloak even seemed quieter to her ears, as if it was trying not to be noticed.

 

"It is," Katherine said.  Harry tried to creep up on her, stepping quietly across the floor. When he got into arms reach, Katherine reached out and poked him in the chest.

 

Harry pulled the hood back. "How did you know I was there?"

 

"You weren't quiet enough, and I can still sense you."

 

Harry pouted.

 

"We can work on those. There's a magical part of the cat's foot technique that should help, and you can use a variant on the tree-walking so you don't leave footprints," Katherine said.

 

Harry nodded. "I'll be impossible to find!"

 

"At the moment you're still visible to anyone who can detect magic, and probably to detection charms, but I think...." Katherine flipped through her notes. "I think being in 'harmony' with the cloak should help with that."

 

Harry frowned. "The scary meditation thing?"

 

Katherine sighed. Harry's first attempt at deepening his connection to the Peverell magic had gone poorly. He'd gone a little too deep and said that he'd felt cold. Katherine had pulled him back with a shadow connection, but he'd been reluctant to try again.

 

"You don't have to, especially not right now," Katherine reminded him.

 

"I want to," Harry said, sounding determined.

 

Katherine had spent a good portion of her childhood this time around reading her way through the Urien family library. She was familiar with deciphering hastily written manuscripts in archaic forms of English or opaque tomes in Latin. 

 

The Peverell grimoire was still a challenge. Katherine suspected most of the writers were being deliberately obscure. It was unsurprising that Harry had struggled.

 

The more recent pages were easier to read, and Lily's notes on the rune array she'd designed for Harry the easiest of all. Katherine had understood barely half of how the array had been constructed when she'd adjusted the ward. The contingencies Lily had put in place in the event of her death were thorough. Had Alice and Frank Longbottom not been incapacitated, Harry would have been sent to live with his Godmother Alice rather than Sirius. Somewhere in Longbottom Manor was a vial of James and Lily's blood and instructions for integrating it into Harry's wards, which at least explained why it had been so easy to adjust the way she had. Alice Longbottom and Peter Pettigrew had been trusted with the plans, so no one had realised Lily would never have wanted Harry to live with the Dursleys.

 

 

* * *

 

Katherine had heard from Harry (and Alan, among the various tidbits of gossip he passed on) that Sirius had a fiancé, and she'd expected they'd be introduced at some point. She hadn't expected to be introduced via an incoming bludger, but life was like that.

 

Katherine ducked the bludger easily, redirecting it with a magically enhanced kick out of the corridor and into the courtyard. Harry barreled past her, bent low on his broom and closely followed by a woman in Holyhead Harpies robes.

 

"Whoa, girl, that was a hell of a kick," the woman said, jumping off her broom. "You'd make a good beater," she said, smiling widely.

 

"Um, thanks?" Katherine said.

 

"I'm Carys, Sirius's fiancé," Carys said.

 

Katherine placed her accent as Welsh, possibly actually from Holyhead.

 

"I'm Katherine Darby," Katherine introduced herself.

 

"Ah, Harry's seer friend right?" Carys said. "He talks about you a lot."

 

"Yeah," Katherine said.

 

"Sorry about the bludger," Carys said after a moment. "We probably shouldn't be doing manoeuvrability drills in the halls," she said, looking sheepish.

 

"It's alright, it wasn't going to hit me," Katherine said as Harry reappeared, looking slightly dishevelled.

 

"Hi Katherine! That was so cool, you kicked the bludger like whoomph!" Harry said, gesticulating wildly.

 

"It's time for your lessons with Katherine though right?" Carys said. "I think we might have got a bit distracted," she said, shooting Katherine a guilty look.

 

"Oops. Sorry Katherine! I'll be back in five minutes," Harry said, jumping back on his broom, presumably to change out of his quidditch robes.

 

"You'd be the one teaching him the stealth stuff, right?" Carys asked.

 

Katherine nodded. "Basic martial arts too."

 

"Kid's got pretty amazing reflexes for a ten year old," Carys said. 

 

"He's quick on his feet," Katherine agreed.

 

 

* * *

 

Harry

 

Harry stared at the small snake Katherine was holding up. The snake stared back.

 

"Hello?" Harry tried.

 

"Unless Parseltongue sounds exactly like English, that's not it," Sylvanus chipped in.

 

"Try thinking about snakes?" Katherine suggested.

 

Harry sighed and tried to focus on having a windy-scaly body.

 

"Hello, snake," he tried.

 

"Ssspeaker," the snake said, suddenly interested. Wait, since when could Harry tell if the snake was interested? Harry looked up, shocked. He could talk to snakes!

 

"Well done," Katherine said.

 

"Definitely hissing that time," Sylvanus said.

 

"Ssspeaker, bring me a mouse," the snake demanded.

 

"Sorry, I don't have any mice," Harry replied. "I could get you one later?"

 

"What's it saying?" Katherine asked.

 

"It wants a mouse," he said, feeling a little underwhelmed by the whole experience. He'd thought talking to snakes would be cooler somehow.

 

"Well, you're definitely a parselmouth, and it's your own magic, so that's something," Sylvanus said.

 

"I still don't get why I'm a parselmouth," Harry said. He really hadn't thought he was until a minute ago, no matter what Katherine said.

 

"I don't know," Katherine said. "I thought it might be a side effect of something else, but if it's a natural part of your magic then I'm not sure."

 

"It's not like most parselmouths admit to it," Sylvanus added. "Considering it gets you pigeonholed as a dark wizard in this country. My bet would be on your grandmother's side though, it's more common in India."

 

* * *

Katherine

 

"Can I tell Moony?" Harry asked out of the blue as they were working on understanding Harry's great-grandfather's notes.

 

"Tell Moony what?" Katherine asked. Did he mean the Peverell magic? 

 

"About you rescuing Sirius and stuff," Harry said.

 

Katherine put her quill down. "Why?"

 

"Sirius wants to tell him. Moony's a nice person, he wouldn't tell anyone," Harry said.

 

Katherine thought about it. Remus Lupin was, as far as she could tell, trustworthy. He was very close to Sirius, and Katherine could see that keeping things from his best friend would be difficult for Sirius. They were raising Harry together; it wasn't unreasonable. Although Katherine might have expected the request to include Sirius's fiancé, rather than just his best friend, but Sirius's relationships were his own business. 

 

The risks were relatively small. Remus wasn't going to tell the Aurors she'd broken into Azkaban, and it was unlikely any revelations there would affect the outcome of Pettigrew's trial anyway.

 

"Alright, but you have to tell him not to tell anyone else, okay?"

 

Harry nodded.

 

 

* * *

Remus

 

Remus and Sirius were drinking butterbeer on the grass in the courtyard when Harry interrupted their reminiscing.

 

"Sirius! Katherine said we could tell Moony," he said, making both of them look at him in shock.

 

Remus was well aware that there was something about Katherine Darby that the other two weren't telling him. Sirius treated her with an odd amount of respect, considering she was a child. Not that Sirius was rude to other children, but he treated Katherine like an equal or a superior. It was subtle, enough so that he suspected someone who didn't know Sirius as well as he did would miss it, but it was there. Sirius trusted Katherine, wasn't surprised by her abilities, but when Remus had asked why he'd been firmly shut down. It was something Sirius wouldn't talk about and Remus had accepted that.

 

Sirius looked just as surprised as Remus felt. "Are you sure?" he asked.

 

"Yep. She said to tell you he can't tell anyone else though," Harry told them.

 

"I won't," Remus confirmed.

 

"Katherine broke into Azkaban to help me," Sirius said.

 

"WHAT?" Remus said, gaping at Sirius.

 

"You know the ink on my chest? It's a dementor protection rune she gave me," Sirius explained.

 

"What, um, how did she even get into Azkaban? Wouldn't she have been eight?" Remus asked, struggling to comprehend the possibility that this was true.

 

"She can turn into a shadow," Harry said.

 

Remus turned to Sirius for confirmation, eyebrows raised.

 

"Yeah, she can. That's how she got into my cell."

 

Katherine had always seemed human. She was an odd human, but about what he expected from a seer. They were always a bit eccentric. But it was impossible for humans to become intangible. Or, well, it was impossible to come back once you'd done it. It was possible to turn yourself into water or smoke or whatever, but it was very much a one way thing. Retaining a mind and soul while having no solid form was the province of spirits, the high fae and gods, not wizards and witches.

 

"But..." Remus said, thinking of the bright, kind girl he knew through Harry.

 

"She said she has the blessings of Gelel. I think she's a priestess of some sort. Grandfather thinks she was sent to rebuild the house of Black. We don't really know what she is," Sirius said.

 

Well those were... they were theories. Slightly crazy sounding theories if Remus was honest, but nothing about this situation sounded normal.

 

"She feels a bit like death," Harry volunteered.

 

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked. That little tidbit seemed to be new to him too.

 

"I only started noticing after I got the cloak," Harry said, choosing his words carefully. "But they all do - Naruto and Sylvanus and Katherine. Her more than the boys. They feel like death if I really focus on them."

 

"Huh," Sirius said. "I don't know what that explains, but it feels like it explains something."

 

Remus thought it was intensely creepy, but he wasn't really sure what to do with that thought.

 

* * *

 

Katherine

 

Harry's decision to ask permission to tell Remus but not Carys was explained when Sirius pulled Katherine aside a few weeks before the wedding.

 

"Just to let you know, the Black wedding ritual binds the person marrying in to everything I've already sworn to," Sirius explained. "So um, she's sort of included by default in everything I've agreed to, like keeping your secrets."

 

"And keeping some of your debts secret from her would be against the spirit of the agreement, seeing as she'll be bound to fulfil them without knowing what they are?" Katherine said, following Sirius's comment to its natural conclusion.

 

"Yeah, that," Sirius said, slumping in relief. 

 

"You can tell your wife about me before the wedding, Sirius, I don't mind," Katherine told him. She was beginning to suspect Sirius was really reluctant to ask her things.

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

Draco Malfoy

 

Draco knew Urien had set him on fire on purpose. None of the adults had believed him, but he knew the truth. The thing was, Draco hadn't actually been hurt by being set on fire. It was scary, but he'd been able to get Father to buy him a new broom to make up for it, so he didn't really mind. It was just scary that someone Draco's age could do that. Even Father couldn't do wandless magic, so Draco knew that Urien must be dangerous and powerful. Father had always told him that people like that were worth keeping an eye on, and, in the course of his subtle observation of Urien Draco had learnt a lot. 

 

Urien's two closest friends were Darby and Uzuhara, a mudblood and a half-blood respectively. Darby was the mudblood his mother said he should be careful not to upset, for reasons she wouldn't explain. She'd said it was information from Aunt Cassie, and that meant he should listen. Darby, Draco knew, was a reliable seer, which mother said was the most dangerous kind. Uzuhara was fun and was always trying to draw Draco into some game or other. All three of them were weird. They didn't act like normal kids. It had taken Draco a while to notice, but they were interested in boring adult things like politics and newspapers. The games they wanted to play were fun, but the three of them acted more like adults indulging them than actual kids. Urien especially. If he hadn't looked Draco's age even the adults probably wouldn't have fallen for it.

 

Darby let him ask questions about muggles, which was interesting, even if she wasn't as informed as Father. He found her lurking in the trees at the edge of Sirius's wedding. This was technically the third time he'd found her, but the other two times Urien had been there, and he was intimidating. 

 

Draco was supposed to be on his best behavior at the wedding, and he suspected this had something to with his father not attending due to being 'ill' despite looking fine. Darby didn't mind him asking questions though, so that should be fine.

 

"Is it true muggle healers cut people up?" he asked. He'd overhead Father talking about it with Crabbe's father and he was so curious.

 

"It's complicated," Darby said. "Are you sure you want to know?"

 

Of course he wanted to know. Did Darby think he was some kind of idiot? "Tell me," he demanded.

 

"You know muggle healers don't have spells to affect the inside of the body?" Katherine asked.

 

Duh - muggles didn't have magic. Draco gestured for her to continue.

 

"So if someone has a problem like appendicitis, or needs something removed from inside their body, muggles can't just spell it out," Katherine explained.

 

"So they die, right?" Draco said.

 

Darby winced. "No, that's where surgeons come in. Surgeons are a special kind of muggle healer. They cut someone open, fix the problem, and then the person gets better."

 

"Doesn't that hurt?" Draco asked. It sounded awful.

 

"The person gets put to sleep, like a muggle version of the somnolius charm, so they don't feel anything. It's usually fine. My mum has a scar on her stomach from where she got her appendix taken out," Darby said.

 

That sounded a bit less awful, but it was still barbaric. "Is she - you know, alright?" Draco asked. He was sure Darby would be upset if her mum had been cut up, even if her mum was a useless muggle.

 

"She's fine Malfoy, this was when she was twelve," Darby said. 

 

"But muggles don't have healing charms, do they?" Draco asked.

 

Darby looked confused. 

 

"So they just walk around bleeding forever if they get cut?" Draco said. Honestly he had no idea how any of them were still alive.

 

Darby put her hand over her mouth, eyes doing something odd. "No, Draco, people heal without charms. Everyone does, it's just a lot slower."

 

"Really? Are you sure?" Draco said. That didn't sound right - cuts didn't just heal on their own.

 

"Yes, Malfoy, I'm sure," Darby said. Draco suspected she might be trying not to laugh at him.

 

 

* * *

 

Katherine

 

Katherine watched Sirius, the man beaming as he whirled Carys around the dancefloor. It was a very different sight to the man she'd first met, huddled in a filthy cell. He was healthy, happy and even looked younger. Harry was sitting with Remus, watching the couple with a smile on his face. The elderly members of the house of Black were at a table nearby. They were increasingly frail, but Cassiopeia looked satisfied and Arcuturus looked content.

 

"We made the right choices," Sylvanus said from beside her.

 

"Yeah, we did," Katherine said.

  

 

* * *

Sirius

 

"I want to try removing the horcrux from Harry's scar," Katherine said, sitting in Sirius's office a few weeks after the man returned from his honeymoon.

 

"There's a fucking horcrux in there? I thought you said it was a protective array!" Sirius said, failing to contain his anger.

 

Katherine hunched her shoulders. "It is, it just has a horcrux trapped in it," she said.

 

"Why didn't you say?" Sirius asked, trying to stay calm. 

 

"It's not influencing him or anyone around him because the array is still functional. Until last month, the only method I knew of getting rid of it was a killing curse to the face, and I don't think either of us wanted to risk that," Katherine said.

 

"Shit, sorry, I know you have good reasons - " Sirius said, regretting losing his temper. Katherine wasn't holding it against him, but being rude to a powerful ally was stupid and he knew it. Especially over seer things, Katherine didn't have to tell him anything and probably had good reasons for the things she kept to herself. "I'm sorry," he repeated.

 

"It's fine," she said. "I'm pretty certain I can remove it safely now."

 

Sirius winced at "pretty certain". He trusted Katherine, but pretty certain wasn't the same as safe. Wait, last month? Was this because she was working on the Peverell family magic?

 

"What are the risks?" he asked.

 

"The horcrux is weak, it's just an anchor point, so it won't be able to possess anyone. Removing it shouldn't destabilise the array, now I know how it works, and it's so strongly protective that destabilisation shouldn't hurt Harry either way," Katherine said.

 

"Worst case?" Sirius asked.

 

"Um... destabilised arrays can explode?" Katherine admitted. "But it should work, and I can contain it if things go wrong."

 

"What happens if we leave it alone?" Sirius asked. He was reluctant to let Harry walk around with a bit of Voldemort's soul stuck in his head, but if it was safer...

 

"It's a spiritual connection to Voldemort. It could be hijacked to give Harry visions," Katherine said.

 

Sirius wasn't an idiot. It probably couldn't be hijacked by anyone but Voldemort himself, and even if Katherine hadn't come straight out and said it he knew what the horcruxes meant. 

 

"Alright. You need someone to cast fiendfyre?" Sirius asked.

 

"Sylvanus might be able to manage, but just in case," Katherine said. 

 

Sylvanus what? The kids still didn't have wands, Merlin.

 

 

 

* * *

 

So it turned out that Sylvanus could cast wandless magic on par with Sirius's wanded spells. He had better control of it too, incinerating the wisps they'd extracted from Harry's scar with a flick of his fingers.

 

"Is it dead?" Harry asked, peering at the place the green-black traces of Voldemort's spirit had been.

 

"It's gone," Katherine confirmed, grinning triumphantly at Sylvanus.

 

"How many are left now?" Sirius asked.

 

"Five," Katherine said.

 

Sirius's skin still crawled every time he thought of Voldemort mutilating his own soul like that. He had to have been mad to start with to even try it once. To do it seven times - Sirius was certain Voldemort was both less stable and less powerful than he might have been. Regulus might have been easily led, but Sirius wasn't surprised to hear he'd defected immediately after finding out about them. If only Regulus had come to Sirius for help, had talked to someone. But there was no use in wishing, things were what they were.

***

Hello! I emerge from the depths of nanowrimo to give you a surprise chapter! I haven't been doing much editing, but hey, I've got over 100K drafted now, so that's cool.

Thank you to my betas, who are all amazing and patient people.

This is the penultimate chapter of the pre-hogwarts stuff, there's only one chapter to go before the hermione stuff starts!

I am editing some of the early stuff too, and I'll be starting to post the edited version to ao3.

Comments are always appreciated, they're why I keep writing.

Comments

[john_burton_lee]

Yay! Hannah joins the ranks of terrifying little Hufflepuffs. I get the feeling the they won't be known as the house of Duffers in Harry's year. :)

[gingerspark]

they're going to upend the entire reputation of Hufflepuff in magical britain tbh.

[john_burton_lee]

I just realized. Dumbledore knows that Harry is living with the Blacks now. Does that mean they went and hexed the Dursleys?

[gingerspark]

oh yes, absolutely XD

[ghost_squid]

The kids in their year are probably either kind of used to Team 7 weirdness by now because of exposure, or are muggle-born and assume children raised around magic are just Like That. The magical children who managed to avoid them all growing up will be EXTREMELY lost, but will go with it since everyone else is treating it like normal. Half of them are bluffing, but all of Team 7 and their friends are so nice they don't even want to question it. The older kids though?? The first time a prefect catches one of their firsties climbing up a wall to avoid the trick staircases they are going to have an anxiety attack.

The teachers are probably going to be in camps of "they're prodigious, but ultimately good kids who go out of their way to help their classmates. I don't have favorites but they're definitely my favorites" or "at best they're mildly connected to Strange Gods, but I saw the smile-y blond one's eyes glow red as they growled at an upperclassmen who brought a first year to tears by calling them 'mudblood', so it's more likely to be evil spirits. Or they're all inhuman, which is maybe worse", and not really have a lot of people who fell in the middle. It doesn't help that they keep infecting the other children with their Strangeness through proximity. Inter-house cooperation is at an all-time high. So are the teacher's stress levels for peacetime, but sometimes life's just Like That.

I love... pretty much everything about this AU. Thank you very much for sharing more of this!

[gingerspark]

Some of them are very used to it (Hannah, Harry, Neville, Hermione by the time she starts Hogwarts) but a lot of them, even the ones who know them, have like, met them at parties a few times, and are in no way prepared for any of this.

I'm so excited to start posting the hogwarts stuff tbh, they're going to freak people out so much.

I'm so glad you like it!

[spiritualatheist]

Thanks so much for the chapter! Malfoy being oblivious to such plebian things as natural healing was hilarious.

[gingerspark]

Yay! It was really fun to write, I'm glad you liked it!

Ahhhhh

[math_is_magic]

Ahhhhh, I lOVE it. And I am SO HYPE for the stuff coming up. Omg, you teased us so bad with that troll scene and your speculation on the triwizard tournament... I can't wait. This is all so great. Oof, Dumbledore's worry about the 'slytherins' and thinking the wrong prophecy and then like. Slowly being forced to realize that the prophecy and the Blacks both defer to Katherine... XD

Re: Ahhhhh

[gingerspark]

I'm still slightly amazed people are excited about this story, it's wonderful to hear.
XD the troll scene made me happy

Slowly figure it out? haha, he's going to have a sudden realisation that just because something is a prophecy doesn't mean it's important. Probably shoved in his face by a pissed off snape.

[mermel]

This has fic has had me cackling like a maniac or just straight up having to hold my hand over my mouth to not laugh out loud at inappropriate moments x'D
Draco is being very adorable in his confusion in how the human body works haha
Really looking forward to the storm they are bringing to hogwarts (not like they don't bring one with them everywhere).
Have you thought about shikako recreating the touch blast?

Amazing

[rugglet]

Gods, I love this story! It is absolutely amazing and never gets old no matter how many times I have re-read it. Really hope you get some inspiration to write some more of it soon.

Very curious!

[arubaturos]

I just stumbled on this recursive crossover and I absolutely love it!!! Are there any chance you would upload your snippets of them in hogwarts?

What happened?

[salvare7097]

So what happened to this thick I’m enjoying it and then it stops at chapter 12? What happened? Is everything all right on your end?

[slowmercury]

I still come back and read this sometimes, this is such an interesting take on HP and I love all your characters. There were so many fun details and world building.

Things I enjoyed on the reread include but aren’t limited to:

Everything Cassiopeia Black, and her new protege/BFF Alan. The scene where she personally tested Shikako’s runes before allowing Arcturus to use them was also great. I also loved her assessment of the party she reintroduced Alan and Shikako at (tacky gazebo, mediocre food, great social engineering environment)

Sirius’ assessment of the effect living with the Dursleys had on Harry. That gets glossed over often, but here even though Harry has improved in some ways he’ll never be untouched

The Urien family magic. It’s just so cool!

None of the ninja kids or the ninja kids’ friends realizing that their magic use is that unusual. Neville can basically keep up with their levitating, and he still thinks he’s a magical dud (edit: it just occurred to me that Neville might go for Hufflepuff here. It’s where all his friends are headed [except Harry] and he won’t have the “Hufflepuff = duffers who are useless for anything else association” here)

For that matter, Hannah Abbot, budding pyromaniac. She’s the best

Kakashi getting a real family with supportive parents who stayed and adoring younger siblings and dogs (one of whom is venomous, haha)

Sasuke being able to summon Susanoo but refusing to

The kids trying to clear the debt with House Black only to dig the hole deeper, and them going “whew, that’s sorted” instead of recognizing the miscommunication. Although by later chapters, the kids and House Black do seem to have settled more into an alliance than a contract where everyone’s tracking favors meticulously