Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Arcane Academy	By : fazed Category: HP Canon Characters paired with Original Characters > Slash - Male/Male Views: 67607 -:- Recommendations : 8 -:- Currently Reading : 29
Disclaimer: All characters, settings, etc. of Harry Potter are the property of their respective owners, J.K. Rowling. The author in no way profits from this story.

Chapter List
- 23
- 24
- 25
A/N: Sorry about the lack of updates lately. I've had three deaths in the family in the last six months.

Chapter 24

Zenith carefully moved Harry off of his chest and climbed out of bed with a wide yawn. Two weeks into summer vacation, and he was already looking forward to returning. At least there they would have a modicum of privacy. His sex life was practically non-existent at the moment because apparently Locking and Silencing charms didn’t mean anything to people in this household. Just yesterday, Hermione had barged into their room, wanting Harry to answer a few questions about one of his text books. Of course, she’d promptly blushed and stammered an apology when she saw her half-naked friend straddling Tristan’s lap and snogging him heatedly, but it was too late then. Ron took the open door as a signal and waltzed right on in.

A knock on the door made Zenith growl softly. They were starting early today. He stalked to the door, yanking it open and scowling down at a startled Mrs. Weasley. “May I help you with something?”

“I was just going to wake Harry up for breakfast. The poor boy is still far too skinny,” said Mrs. Weasley warmly.

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible. Harry didn’t sleep too well last night,” said Zenith, lying to the woman with a straight face. “I’ll make sure he eats something as soon as he wakes, though.”

Molly sighed in sympathy. “Poor Harry. He had nightmares all night, didn’t he? Ron told me they got so bad sometimes Harry would wake the whole dorm with his screams.” She then smiled and patted Zenith on the arm. “Thank you for taking such good care of Harry. I’ll be sure to save you all some breakfast for later.”

In the face of such obvious care and concern, Zenith felt a little guilty for lying to the woman. However, when he remembered the number of times she had interrupted them at inappropriate times over the last two weeks, he quickly pushed the guilt aside. He smiled instead and said, “Thank you. We would appreciate that.”

Molly turned to leave, and Zenith quickly closed and locked the door, hoping no one else would bother them anytime soon. Unfortunately, his hopes were cruelly dashed when the summon stone on his wristband began to glow. He sighed and tapped the stone, calling forth his familiar. Talbot appeared in a flash of light, and Zenith wanted to curse when he saw the pale green stone in Talbot’s claws.

“Traitor!” Zenith hissed at his familiar. Talbot just dropped the stone and flew over to the bed, squeezing into the space between Tristan and Harry.

A moment later, a section of the bedroom wall disappeared, revealing a picturesque view of a sandy white beach. The idyllic scene was promptly ruined when a tall, slender woman with long blonde hair and dark green wings stepped into the room with a dark glare on her face. Zenith silently groaned, already dreading this confrontation.

“Bianca, why have you come here?” Zenith asked irritably.

“I’m here to take you home, of course,” said Bianca firmly. “Your grandfather has decided that we will be mated during the summer festival in three days.”

“What?!”

Bianca’s eyes darted to the three figures now sitting up in the bed. The black-eyed brunet and violet-eyed redhead were glaring darkly at her, but the fox-eared brunet was staring at Zenith with hurt-filled green eyes. A sinking feeling of dread swept through her at the look, and she looked swiftly at Zenith, her heart shattering when she saw her promised mate hurrying across the room to reassure the green-eyed brunet.

“Zenith, what is going on?” Bianca demanded.

“I’m afraid you wasted a trip here, girly,” drawled Octavius coldly. “Zenith is already mated, and very happily so. He even has the mark to prove it.”

Bianca’s eyes swept across Zenith’s bare skin in search of the incriminating mark and had to bite back a sob when she finally saw it- a diamond composed of four lightning bolts made up of the four elements. “Why, Zenith? We were supposed to be mated. How could you do this to me?”

“That was something you and grandfather decided, Bianca,” said Zenith bluntly. “I told him from the time he first suggested it that I had absolutely no intention of ever mating with you, but apparently he didn’t listen. I’m sorry you were hurt because of this, but the fact remains that I am already happily mated to Harry.”

“What about dracklings, though? Neither male Drackens nor male Kitsune can carry young. Are you really willing to allow your line to die out completely for this boy?” asked Bianca desperately.

“No need to worry about that,” said Octavius gleefully. “Harry’s not a Kitsune. He’s a Kitiara, and Kitiara are perfectly capable of conceiving and carrying a child.”

“Why don’t you just go home already?” asked Tristan irritably. “There’s no point in further protests. Zenith is already mated, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“Grandpa knew I didn’t want to mate with you, so he never should have encouraged the idea of a union between us,” said Zenith softly.

Bianca’s wings drooped sadly, and she vainly tried to blink away her tears, but they spilled over anyway. She was two years older than Zenith, but she’d been in love with him since he was fifteen. When Skyler Winters had proposed the idea of a union between her and Zenith, she’d jumped at the chance. She could see now that she’d just been fooling herself into thinking Zenith felt the same way about her. Seeing the way he looked at the little Kitiara, she clearly saw just how much he loved his little mate.

Bianca turned away from the heart-rending sight, planning to open a dragon’s gate home, when a soft voice stopped her.

“Would you like to eat breakfast and meet the rest of my family before you go?”

“Are you serious, Harry?” asked Tristan incredulously. “The woman wants Zenith as her mate, and you’re inviting her for breakfast. Unbelievable!”

Bianca scowled at Harry. “Why would I want to do that? You stole my mate.”

Harry snorted at that. “I can’t steal something you never actually had. Zenith courted me, and I accepted. It’s as simple as that.”

“Then what are they? Your paramours on the side?” asked Bianca, sneering at Tristan and Octavius.

“Like Zenith, Tristan and Octavius also courted me. I am mated to all three of them,” said Harry calmly.

“So Zenith wasn’t enough for you, huh? If Zenith was my mate, I wouldn’t need anyone else,” said Bianca fiercely.

“Enough, Bianca,” said Zenith wearily. “Eat with us or don’t, but the subject of my mating is closed.”

“I’m sure Charlie would love to meet you. That prat is simply fascinated with anything dragon,” said Octavius. “He’d be more than happy to ride you all day long.”

At Bianca’s outraged look, Harry quickly added, “He meant your dragon form. Charlie’s a dragon handler at the Romanian reserve, and he’s always wanted to ride a dragon. What kind of dragon are you anyway?”

“Common Welsh,” said Bianca defensively. That was a sensitive subject with her. She was the only Common Welsh in the clan now, and since there were no Peruvian Viper Tooth Drackens in the clan, that made her the smallest dragon in the clan. That, of course, lead the idiot males in the clan to treat her like some weak, delicate flower, and she couldn’t stand that.

Before they could say anything else, Hermione barged into the room. “Harry, it’s time for breakfast.” Halfway into the room, she finally caught sight of Bianca and stopped short. “Who are you?”

“What the hell is wrong with you people?” Zenith suddenly snapped. “Locked doors are usually locked for a reason. Common courtesy dictates that a person should at least knock if the door is closed, much less locked. You would think after the last time you barged in here, you would remember to do that.”

Hermione scowled at the Dracken even as a rosy blush stained her cheeks. “The door wasn’t locked so don’t yell at me. And for your information, the door wasn’t locked last time, either. How was I supposed to know you were… indisposed?”

“I put a Locking charm on the door after Mrs. Weasley left this morning,” said Zenith irritably. Stalking to the door, he looked at it intently, checking to see if the door itself had been tampered with. He finally found a small rune etched onto the doorknob and growled angrily. It was a Key Rune. He heard a muffled, “Damn, he found it.” Zenith growled in fury. Those bloody twins were going to die.

The twins squeaked at the sound and ran for their lives. Zenith started to chase after them, but Octavius grabbed his arm, pulling him to a stop.

"Kill them later, Zenith. The longer you wait, the more paranoid they'll get," said Octavius with an evil smirk.

"Or you can just tell their mother what they did, and let her deal with them. She certainly seems to have them well in hand for the most part," said Tristan, leaning casually against the doorframe.

"You could always do both. Tell Mrs. Weasley what they did but ask her not to say anything right away. Then when they slip, they'll be hit from both sides, so to speak," said Hermione vindictively. “In fact, I think I’ll save you the effort and tell her myself. I owe those two some payback anyway.” With a malicious smirk on her face, Hermione left to inform Mrs. Weasley of the twins’ mischief deeds.

“I told them they would be sorry for doing that to her,” muttered Harry, getting out of bed only to stumble forward a few steps when Talbot jumped on his back. "Oof! Talbot, get off. You're too heavy for a piggyback ride."

Bianca scowled at the pair. That damn pygmy dragon had never shown her that much affection. What made this boy so special?

Zenith took one look at Harry and burst out laughing. Talbot was clinging to Harry’s back like a monkey. His front claws were draped over the brunet’s shoulder, his back claws draped over Harry’s thighs, and his tail wrapped around the brunet’s right leg. The funniest thing, though, was seeing the little dragon’s head resting between Harry’s furry ears.

Seeing he would get no help from his three mates, Harry huffed in irritation. But then he remembered the other person in the room. Harry turned wide, pleading green eyes in Bianca’s direction, silently asking her for help.

Bianca actually shrank away from that look. ‘Holy hell,’ she silently thought. ‘It’s no wonder all three of them are wrapped around his little finger. That look would bring anyone to their knees.’ She glanced back at the kit and groaned in defeat. Now the brat’s ears were drooping sadly, and his bottom lip was trembling slightly.

“Oh, alright,” snapped Bianca, stomping over to the brunet. Talbot growled at her when she approached, but she just bopped him on the snout. “Get off, Talbot. You’re too big for him to carry.”

Talbot whinged pitifully and reluctantly dropped to the floor, curling into a ball at Harry’s feet miserably.

Harry smiled at Bianca gratefully. “Thanks, Bianca.” He knelt down beside Talbot and patted him on the head. “I missed you, Talbot, but no more piggyback rides, okay?”

Talbot just gave a growling purr and basked under Harry’s attention.

Harry looked up at Bianca curiously. “Do you have a dragon familiar like Talbot?”

“I don’t have a dragon familiar,” said Bianca testily. She lifted her arm and tapped her summon stone. “Rise, Sorcha!” A small dragon-like creature appeared in a flash of light. The creature landed on Bianca’s arm and trilled softly.

Harry stared at the creature for a long moment before gasping in realisation. “Amazing! You have a Faerie Wyvern!”

Bianca looked at Harry in surprise. “You’ve heard of them?”

“Read about them,” corrected Harry. “I was reading up on dragons and dragon-related creatures because of Zenith, and they were mentioned. They’re unique because they have feathered wings and breathe ice rather than fire.” He walked closer to Bianca and smiled at the wyvern. “It’s very nice to meet you, Sorcha.”

Sorcha just looked away, ignoring Harry. Bianca felt a little smug at the snub, but Harry didn’t seem at all upset. He simply grinned and walked away, moving to stand beside Tristan.

“Can we please go to breakfast now? If we wait much longer, there won’t be anything left,” said Harry.

Zenith sighed and nodded. There wasn’t much point in staying here anyway. He glanced back at Bianca and asked, “Are you coming? You can at least eat breakfast before going back home.”

Bianca sighed in defeat and followed them to the kitchen.

XxX

Severus felt like banging his head against a wall from sheer frustration. The conversation he’d had with Dumbledore two weeks ago was coming back to bite him in the arse.

Flashback

Minerva walked into the Headmaster's office with a determined frown. She had a bone to pick with a certain twinkly-eyed wizard. Shutting the door behind her, she marched up to Albus' portrait and scowled at the man. "Wake up, old man. You have quite a bit of explaining to do."

Albus woke with a start, smiling benignly when he saw his former deputy. "Good afternoon, Minerva. It’s lovely to see you again. What can I do for you today?"

"You can tell me what the bloody hell you were thinking this past year," snapped Minerva angrily, tapping her foot impatiently. "Actually, let's start with fifteen years ago when you left Harry Potter on the doorstep of those disgusting muggles. You knew how they would treat him, and you left him there anyway. And don't give me that crap about the blood wards making it the safest place for him to be, either. It's hardly safe for him when his own relatives try to kill him."

Albus sighed wearily. "It was necessary, Minerva. When Harry defeated Voldemort all those years ago, it was with a price. A piece of Voldemort's soul latched onto Harry, and that is what created that scar on the boy's forehead. Unfortunately, the only way to destroy that soul piece is for Harry to die at Voldemort's hand. Wouldn’t it have been more cruel to give him a happy childhood only to tear it away from him in the end?"

"So you left that poor boy there, knowing he would be abused, so that he would be more malleable to your manipulations," said Minerva bitterly. "I'm glad Remus managed to save Harry from the fate you planned for him. At least, he had one adult he could truly depend on."

"Minerva, the boy has to die before Voldemort can truly be destroyed. As long as that soul shard rests within Harry, Voldemort is practically immortal. You must look at the greater good here," said Albus sternly.

"Surely there is another way," Minerva protested. "Sending the poor boy to his death can't be the only solution."

Albus started to answer when the office door opened once more, and Severus stepped into the room. He smiled brightly at the dark-haired man. "Severus, did you find it? My ring?"

"Yes, I found it, but I'm afraid it was destroyed by Fiendfyre," said Severus smoothly.

One look at Severus' face told Albus the truth. "You traitor. After all I've done for you over the years, you show your gratitude by betraying me."

"After all you did for me? From the time I started school here, you stood back and watched as your precious Gryffindors bullied and mocked me, doing nothing to stop them. Hell, even when Black almost killed me, the only thing you did was assign two weeks of detention and guilt me into keeping silent about the affair," sneered Severus.

"I thought you understood my reasons for doing that," Albus protested weakly.

"Oh, I understood, Albus. James Potter was your precious Golden Boy, and I was the expendable, poor, half-blood Slytherin," said Severus bitterly.

"Severus, that's not-"

"Don't bother, Albus. That's exactly what it was, and you know it. The only reason you gave me this job and kept me out of Azkaban was because you needed me in position to spy on the Dark Lord when he returned," said Severus bluntly.

"What's so special about that ring, Severus?" asked Minerva with a feeling of foreboding.

Albus scowled at Severus and shook his head. Severus, of course, had no intentions of letting the old codger off the hook. "Our dearest Headmaster decided to try his hand at immortality by creating his own horcrux."

"You did what?" screeched Minerva, glaring at Albus' portrait. When Albus opened his mouth to answer, Minerva pointed an accusing finger at the portrait. "And don't you dare say it was necessary."

"Voldemort still has four horcruxes that need to be destroyed, including the one inside Harry," Albus started.

"Actually, Harry is not a horcrux," said Severus suddenly, smirking smugly at the old man. "He hasn't been since his magical inheritance."

"That's impossible. There is no magical inheritance strong enough to destroy a horcrux," said Albus emphatically.

Severus raised an eyebrow and said, "Kitiara."

Albus' jaw dropped in shock. "Harry's a Kitiara? But that's-"

"Impossible? This is Potter we're talking about. That brat has proved the impossible very possible on numerous occasions," scoffed Severus.

"Then there's only Slytherin's Locket, Hufflepuff's cup, and Nagini left to destroy, and then Harry can-"

"Stay right where he is," Severus interjected coldly. "There is no longer any need for Potter to be involved in this war. The horcrux within him has been destroyed. I will find the Dark Lord’s remaining horcruxes and destroy them myself.”

“But, Severus-”

“No, Albus. I’m going to do what I’ve been trying to do since Lily died- protect Harry," said Severus firmly.

"I agree with Severus," said Minerva. "It's time we stood up for ourselves and stopped depending on a teenager to save us."

"We will end this war our own way, Albus," said Severus firmly.

End Flashback

He hated to admit it, even to himself, but he was going to need some help in finding the Dark Lord’s remaining horcruxes. Perhaps that Shadow Demon that was courting Potter would be able to help track them down. He did say that dark magic left a shadow behind, didn’t he?

Severus sighed in defeat. It looked like he was going to be making another trip to Egypt today. An hour later, he was knocking on Bill’s front door. However, when Harry opened the door with a harried look on his face and the sounds of shouting from inside, Severus began to regret his decision to come back here.

“Is this a bad time?” asked Severus caustically.

“Is it ever a good time with this lot?” Harry returned with a rueful smile. “Ignore the noise, Severus, and come inside. They’ll yell themselves out eventually.”

“What is everyone shouting about?” asked Severus curiously.

“A woman from Zenith’s clan arrived this morning intending to claim him as her mate,” said Harry bluntly.

“So Zenith wants to end his courtship with you, and now the family is upset,” Severus concluded.

Harry smirked at his former professor. “Please, Severus. Zenith is mine, and he’s not going anywhere.”

“I see. You chose the Dracken as your mate,” sighed Severus softly. “Well, this was a wasted trip. I was hoping the Shadow demon would be in residence.”

“Octavius is here, too. What did you need him for?” asked Harry curiously.

Before Severus could answer they heard a shouted, “Quit making me into the bad guy! If Zenith had bothered to inform his family about his mating, I never would have come here. We weren’t even aware that he was courting anyone.”

“I sent a letter to grandpa over the Christmas holidays telling him about my courtship,” said Zenith defensively.

“We never received a letter from you. In fact, we didn’t see Talbot for three weeks after you summoned him,” said Bianca tersely.

“I didn’t send Talbot with the letter. I borrowed Bill’s owl to send the letter because I was planning to give Harry a summoning stone for Christmas, and I didn’t want to ruin the surprise,” said Zenith. “Even so, it should have only taken a few days for the letter to reach home.” He turned to Bill. “Did your owl come back injured?”

“No,” said Bill slowly. “To be honest, I thought you had changed your mind about sending the letter because I saw Xerxes later that evening.”

“Oh no,” gasped Ginny with a guilty look on her face. “I-I’ll be right back.” She quickly ran out of the room, almost knocking Harry and Severus over as they walked into the kitchen.

“Look who came to visit,” said Harry, pulling Severus into the room.

“Severus, thank Merlin you’re here. This place is a bloody madhouse,” said Draco, rushing to the professor’s side with a sigh of relief. “Does this mean I can go home now?”

“I’m afraid not, Draco. I’m actually here to speak to Octavius,” said Severus calmly. He looked at the Shadow demon and said, “Can I have a word with you in private?”

“Sure,” said Octavius with a shrug. He followed Severus out of the room.

“What was that all about?” Zenith asked Harry softly.

Harry shrugged. He had an idea, though. Octavius’ ability to see the shadows created by dark magic would be useful in the war against Voldemort. “What had Ginny rushing out of here?”

“The chit stole the letter Zenith sent to his grandfather over the Christmas holidays,” said Tristan nonchalantly.

“You don’t know that for sure,” Ron protested feebly.

“It depends on when Zenith sent the letter,” said Harry reasonably. “If you’ll remember, Ginny was under the influence of dark magic until Tristan’s Aunt Marissa healed her, so if Zenith sent the letter before she was healed, it’s very possible that Ginny did intercept the letter.”

Zenith groaned softly. “I sent the letter four days after we arrived.”

Just then, Ginny came back into the room with a crinkled envelope in her hands. She held the letter out to Zenith with an apologetic smile. “I found this in my desk drawer when I was putting my school supplies away a few days ago. I’m sorry for taking it.”

“It’s alright, Ginny. You weren’t exactly thinking clearly at the time,” said Harry softly.

Draco snorted. “That’s a constant state of being for her.”

Ginny whipped around with a scowl, raising her wand to hex the irritating blond, but Harry quickly snatched the wand out of her hand. “Like being an annoying twit is a constant state of being for you. Do you just not think at all? Do you really think it’s wise to start with the insults when you’re surrounded by the enemy so to speak?”

“It’s not like I had any choice in the matter,” muttered Draco petulantly.

“So you would prefer to be dead?” asked Harry archly. “I knew you were a coward, but I never thought you were suicidal.”

“I’m no coward,” snarled Draco angrily.

“You brought Death Eaters into a school full of children,” said Harry coldly. “If it hadn’t been for the DA, who knows how many students would have died that night.”

“I didn’t have a choice,” cried Draco. “The Dark Lord said he would kill my family if I didn’t do it.”

“Wait, Malfoy let the Death Eaters into the school?” asked Ron incredulously. “Are you crazy?”

“If your family’s lives were on the line, would you choose any differently?” asked Draco coldly.

Ron opened his mouth to answer only to stop when he really thought about. Could he really sacrifice his family for a bunch of people he barely knew? He wanted to say yes, but the thought of losing his family absolutely terrified him.

“Exactly,” said Draco vindictively. “It’s easy to say you would choose differently, but when you’re actually faced with that situation, it’s a whole different story.”

“You’re still a coward,” muttered Ron derisively.

“If anyone’s the coward here, it’s Potter. He abandoned us all just to attend some school that caters to magical creatures,” sneered Draco.

“Harry didn’t abandon anyone,” snapped Hermione. “Remus had to basically kidnap him after his uncle nearly be-”

“That’s enough, Hermione,” Harry interrupted quickly. “I don’t really care what Malfoy thinks of me, so there’s really no need to go into my reasons for being here.”

“What’s the deal with this Dark Lord you’re talking about it?” asked Bianca curiously. “He’s just a wizard, right?”

“If you can still call him that,” said Harry snidely. “He’s more snake than man these days.”

Draco shuddered in horror, remembering the day the Dark Lord had branded him. It was absolutely terrifying.

“But he’s still human,” said Bianca insistently. “And humans, by their very physique, are relatively fragile. They can be hurt more easily than most creatures, and they don’t live nearly as long.”

“While that’s true, Voldemort made sure he couldn’t die that easily. In order to kill him, we’ll have to find the objects he used to store a portion of his soul and destroy them first,” said Harry wearily.

“Are you serious?” asked Bianca incredulously.

Harry simply nodded. “His name says it all. Voldemort, which in French means to flee from death, is terrified of dying. So he used any means necessary to ensure that wouldn’t happen regardless of the consequences.”

“The soul is the very essence of a person. Mutilating it like that only leads to insanity,” said Bianca.

“You’re telling me,” muttered Harry. Tiring of the current subject, Harry said, “So tell me about this festival, Zenith. Is it anything like the festival we had at the school for Halloween?”

“Well, we do have a lot of different types of food and activities, but the highlight of the festival is the dragon races,” said Zenith eagerly.

Charlie perked up at this. “Dragon races?”

“Yeah, a three-man team runs an obstacle course of sorts. There’s a water course, a land course, and sky course. The first team to complete all three obstacle courses wins a prize,” said Zenith cheerfully.

“That sounds fun,” said Harry wistfully.

“It really is,” said Zenith. “Would you like to go?”

Harry immediately turned wide green eyes in Remus’ direction. “Can I?”

Remus groaned under his breath while Bill snickered softly beside him. He never could say no when Harry had that look on his face. He looked at Zenith and asked, “Are all four of you going, or do you plan to just take Harry?”

“Wherever Harry goes, I go,” said Tristan bluntly, looking at Zenith as if daring him to argue.

Zenith just grinned. “Does that answer your question?”

“Since you are inviting someone to the festival, I would like to invite the blond one,” said Bianca. She paused when she saw the disappointed look on the stocky redhead’s face and said, “And that redhead,” pointing to Charlie.

Charlie immediately beamed happily. “I would love to go.”

“You’re inviting me?” asked Draco suspiciously.

“Do you not wish to see a Dracken festival?” asked Bianca. Getting no answer, she shrugged. “Well, if you do not wish to come, I guess-”

“I do want to go,” said Draco quickly. “Thank you for inviting me.”

“We’ll leave after breakfast then,” said Zenith happily. He was looking forward to introducing Harry to his clan. He was sure his grandpa would adore his little mate.

XxX

“What did you need to talk about?” asked Octavius curiously.

“You can see the shadows dark magic leaves behind, right?” asked Severus bluntly.

“Yes, I can.”

“Can you find these shadows from a distance?” asked Severus.

“I’ve never tried it. Maybe if I had a sample of the shadows you’re trying to find, I could possibly track them down,” said Octavius slowly.

“I’m trying to find the location of the Dark Lord’s remaining horcruxes, but I don’t even know where to start. Potter destroyed two on his own, and Dumbledore found and destroyed two others. There are three left, but Nagini must be destroyed last because she is constantly at the Dark Lord’s side. The other two could be anywhere,” said Severus honestly.

“Do you have anything with this Dark Lord’s magic on it?” asked Octavius.

Severus pulled back his sleeve, exposing the Dark Mark on his left arm.

“Do you think these things will all be in Britain?” asked Octavius.

“I’m almost positive of that,” said Severus.

“Then I think we need to get a little closer to the search area before we begin,” said Octavius, grabbing Severus’ arm and pulling him into the shadows. Several minutes later, the shadows stilled, and Octavius delicately pulled a shadow free from the other man’s mark. He then ordered his shadows to search out and find all traces of this shadow. Ten minutes later, he blinked in shock at the number of shadows he’d found.

“This is going to be harder than I thought. There are over thirty different shadows that are identical to these,” said Octavius irritably.

Severus sighed in frustration. Obviously, he hadn’t thought this through completely. He’d failed to take into account the number of Death Eaters under the Dark Lord’s command. “This is going to take forever.”

“Not necessarily,” said Octavius thoughtfully. He could use his shadows to spy on the areas around him, but he’d never used so many shadows at once to do so. He guessed now was the time to try. “Let me try something first.” He pulled a cluster of shadows in front of him, and hazy picture began to form. Two men and one woman were in bed together, and they were definitely not sleeping.

Octavius immediately scattered the shadows and pulled another cluster to him. This time, there were nine masked figures kneeling in front of a snake-faced man. Octavius scattered those shadows and pulled some more to him. The image formed into a room filled with gold and other treasures. The shadow he was searching for, however, was connected an ornate golden goblet.

“Is this what you’re looking for?”

Severus looked at the image and gasped in surprise. “Yes, that’s Hufflepuff’s cup.”

“Let’s go then,” said Octavius, shadowing them to the vault where the goblet was stored.

As they stepped into the vault, Severus raised an eyebrow at the Shadow demon. “How long do you think we’ll have before the goblin’s notice our presence here.”

“They’ll only know someone was here when the owner of this vault reports the goblet stolen,” said Octavius with a sneer.

Severus quickly pulled a rucksack out of his pocket and lowered it over the cup. Once the cup was completely covered, he pulled the rucksack upright, making sure the cup stayed inside.

Octavius silently pulled Severus back into the shadows and began his search once more. Several disturbing images later- really, just how depraved were these people- Octavius saw an image of a toad-like woman, wearing a golden locket with a large S on the front. Seeing that the shadows were attached to the locket rather than the unfortunate looking woman, Octavius shadowed them to the room she was in.

Severus cursed softly and quickly stunned the woman when he saw exactly who had the locket. “How in Merlin’s name did Umbridge get the locket?”

Octavius froze at the name. “Do you mean Delores Umbridge?”

“You’ve heard of her?” asked Severus curiously.

“Harry has a permanent scar on his right hand because of her. She made him write ‘I will not tell lies,’ with a Blood Quill until the words scarred his hand,” said Octavius, staring at the woman with loathing.

Severus’ jaw clenched in anger. Snatching the locket away from the woman’s neck, he shoved it in the rucksack with the goblet. His fingers itched to curse the woman. He reluctantly walked back to Octavius’ side, expecting the teen to take them back to Egypt. However, as the room began to fade from view, he saw dozens of shadows converge on the unconscious woman, dragging her into the shadows, as well.

“What are you doing?” Severus hissed angrily.

“That woman will never be able to hurt my mate again,” said Octavius coldly.

Severus wasn’t upset that the woman was dead. He was just upset about the ruckus that would ensue when someone found her body.

As if Octavius heard that last thought, he said, “Don’t worry, Severus. After my shadows are done with her, there won’t be anything left to find. Just don’t tell Harry what I did. He’s too soft-hearted for his own good.”

Severus just shook his head. He was just thankful these kids were on Harry’s side because they were more terrifying than the Dark Lord.

When they made it back to the cottage, they found Harry waiting for them. The brunet’s ears perked up eagerly when he saw them. “Did you find them?”

“Find what, Potter?” asked Severus impatiently.

Harry gave him a ‘don’t be stupid,’ look. “The horcruxes, of course. That is why you needed Octavius’ help, right?”

Severus sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Yes, we found two of the horcruxes. Now I shall take my leave to destroy the damn things.” With that said, he stalked out of the room and left the cottage with a nary a word to anyone else.

Once Severus was gone, Harry turned back to Octavius with an excited grin. “Guess what, Tavi?”

Octavius smiled fondly at the brunet. “What?”

“Zenith is taking us to his home for the summer festival. We’ll get to see a dragon race, too,” said Harry, almost bouncing on his toes from excitement. “Oh, and I brought you some breakfast since you were off with Severus. Here!” Harry pulled his black-eyed mate over to the nearest table, where a tray of food was sitting.

Octavius sat down on the bed and pulled Harry down onto his lap. “Share it with me. I’m pretty sure you were too excited to eat much earlier.”

Harry blushed guiltily and snagged a piece of toast off the plate.

Once the food was all gone, Harry practically jumped to his feet. He was looking forward to visiting Zenith’s home. He quickly dragged his black-eyed lover to their bedroom and pushed him toward his trunk. “Zenith said to pack enough to last a week,” he said, grabbing his school bag out of his trunk. Stuffing several sets of clothing into the bag, he hurried to the bathroom to grab his toiletries only to find that Octavius had dumped all of his clothes out of his bag.

“Here’s how to pack properly,” drawled Octavius. Flicking his fingers, he sent several shadows to the pile of clothing and watched smugly as they neatly folded the clothing and placed them in the bag.

“Smug bastard,” muttered Harry with a fond smile, dropping his toiletries into the bag.

Octavius just smirked at him and calmly packed his own bag. Once everything was packed, he picked up both bags and followed Harry out of the room. He almost laughed, though, when he saw Harry’s tail practically wagging in his enthusiasm.

“All done,” Harry announced as he walked back into the kitchen. “So when are we leaving?”

“Are you really that eager to get away from us, Harry?” asked Hermione with a snort of amusement.

Harry grinned unrepentantly at his friend. “Dragon races, Hermione. I’ll miss you, though.”

“Call us on the orb so we can see a little bit of it, too,” Ron demanded eagerly.

“Now that, I can do,” promised Harry.

Zenith finished the rune array on the kitchen wall and cut the palm of his hand. Pressing his bloody hand in the centre of the array, the wall faded out of sight, revealing endless ocean and a gorgeous sandy beach.

Bianca immediately stalked through the gate with Draco and Charlie following after. Tristan grabbed Harry’s hand and pulled him through the gate followed by Octavius and finally Zenith. As the gate closed behind them, Harry looked at his surroundings in delight. This place was simply beautiful, lush and full of life.

“You two, follow me. You’ll be staying at my place while you’re here,” Bianca said to Draco and Charlie.

“And you’ll be staying with me, of course,” Zenith told Harry, Octavius, and Tristan. “This way.”

They walked along the beach until they reached a rocky cliff. Harry looked around curiously, trying to find a path to get to the top of the cliff, but there wasn’t one. Before he could ask Zenith for answers, however, the Dracken stepped behind him and grabbed him by the waist, flying into the air with a strong flap of his wings. As they flew higher, Harry was amazed to see that several homes were built into the cliff itself.

Zenith flew almost to the top of the cliff before landing in one of the large, open doorways burrowed into the rocky cliff. The doorway opened up into a massive cavern, sectioned off into separate rooms. The stone architecture reminded him of that old cartoon he’d seen Dudley watch when they were younger- the Flintstones, he thought it was.

“This is amazing, Zenith,” said Harry sincerely.

Before Zenith could answer, Octavius and Tristan stepped out of the shadows beside them. Octavius raised an eyebrow and said, “This is quaint.”

Harry punched him in the arm. “Don’t be rude, Tavi. It’s wonderful.”

“It’s certainly interesting. It kind of reminds me of the Elvin homes I saw a few years ago. They tend to build their houses in the treetops,” said Tristan thoughtfully.

“I see you finally decided to come back home, Zenith. And we have uninvited guests, as well.”

Harry looked at the doorway and saw an older version of Zenith scowling at them. Zenith sighed loudly and frowned at the man. “They’re not uninvited because I invited them here, grandpa. And of course I came home. What else was I supposed to do when you sent Bianca after me?”

Zenith’s grandfather smiled widely. “Great! The mating will be held in three days then.”

“Oh, hell no it won’t!” snapped Harry before he could stop himself.

The older man turned toward Harry with a dark glare. “Excuse me?”

Harry straightened his shoulders and glared right back. “I said no it won’t. Are you going deaf in your old age?”

Zenith snorted slightly as he tried desperately not to laugh. The look on his grandfather’s face was comical. He clearly couldn’t believe that this tiny fox-child was standing up to him like that.

“Who the hell do you think you are? I am Zenith’s grandfather-” snarled the older man.

“And I am Zenith’s mate, so back off,” growled Harry coldly, the temperature in the room dropping several degrees.

The old man’s jaw dropped in shock at the claim, and he turned to Zenith for confirmation. However, Zenith was too busy laughing to confirm anything. “Zenith Waverly, I want an explanation right now.”

Zenith finally got his laughter under control and answered his grandfather. “Grandpa, I want you to meet my mate, Harry Potter. Harry, this is my grandfather, Skyler Waverly.”

“I would say nice to meet you, but so far it hasn’t been,” said Harry bluntly, still scowling at the older man.

Octavius snorted in amusement at Harry’s response while Tristan smirked.

“And just when did all this happen? And who are they?” asked Skyler, pointing toward Octavius and Tristan.

“I, along with Octavius and Tristan, entered into a formal courtship with Harry over the Christmas holidays. I sent a letter informing you of this, but unfortunately, the owl never made it here,” said Zenith. “Well, to make a long story short, the mating was two weeks ago.”

Skyler looked at the four of them for a long moment and sighed in resignation. “All three of you are the fox-child’s mates, aren’t you?”

Tristan quickly covered Harry’s mouth with one hand to keep him from saying anything over the ‘fox-child’ comment and said, “Yes, we are.” A moment later, he hissed in pain and quickly removed his now singed palm away from Harry’s mouth. “You didn’t have burn me, Harry.”

Harry scowled up at the redhead. “I couldn’t breathe.”

“Sorry,” said Tristan apologetically.

Harry nodded and took Tristan’s hand, healing the slight burn. “Well, dragon-man, can we stay for the festival, or should we go back home?”

Octavius snickered. Harry was always such a riot when he was in a snit like this.

Skyler finally cracked a smile at the tiny brunet. “Welcome to the family, young Harry.”

Zenith broke out in a wide smile and grabbed Harry around the waist, spinning him in the air several times. “Now that you’re part of the family, it’s time to show you the secrets of Nido di Drago Island.”
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Arcane Academy