Harry Potter and the Tuath Dé

[morkail]

That was bloody glorious, seeing the slow collapse of the statue of secrecy like this is just awesome. Interesting seeing different gods show up.
Thanks for the chapter.

 

[Wentley]

Oh, sorry! Daphne's given name. I was wondering what it meant.

 

[MaimakteriAnn]

Not sure about the Hindu parts here tbh.

One, it's a living religion with continuity to whatever mythic period we consider 'legit' for worship. Two, it is not the religion of the imperial core and that doesnt give you the same 'punching up' cred as targeting christofascism. Three, the idea of Brahma getting directly involved kinda tells this living religion 'your gods arent as grand as you believed'. Like, afaik Brahma is everything, rather than just being a creator deity, directly interacting with the world like that should be so far beneath Brahma as to be incomprehensible.

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

Not sure about the Hindu parts here tbh.

One, it's a living religion with continuity to whatever mythic period we consider 'legit' for worship. Two, it is not the religion of the imperial core and that doesnt give you the same 'punching up' cred as targeting christofascism. Three, the idea of Brahma getting directly involved kinda tells this living religion 'your gods arent as grand as you believed'. Like, afaik Brahma is everything, rather than just being a creator deity, directly interacting with the world like that should be so far beneath Brahma as to be incomprehensible.

Click to shrink...

This happened in the 14th century, so far enough back for the story to change. As the gods know that Brahma is still around, as they have his crystal. Iirc, Brahma is the only god that is never worshipped because of a curse by Vishnu for being a braggart.

 

[MaimakteriAnn]

This happened in the 14th century, so far enough back for the story to change. As the gods know that Brahma is still around, as they have his crystal. Iirc, Brahma is the only god that is never worshiped because of a curse by Vishnu for being a braggart.

Click to shrink...

Afaik Brahma is also just, everything. Everything good is Brahma, everything bad is Brahma. The whole pantheon are bits of Brahma, but so are every tree, rock, birb etc.

From memory anyway. I could be mistaking Brahma for someone else. It's been a long time. But the idea is that even the fall of the fall of their whole religion would be okay with some gods, because that is part of themselves as well.

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

Afaik Brahma is also just, everything. Everything good is Brahma, everything bad is Brahma. The whole pantheon are bits of Brahma, but so are every tree, rock, birb etc.

From memory anyway. I could be mistaking Brahma for someone else. It's been a long time. But the idea is that even the fall of the fall of their whole religion would be okay with some gods, because that is part of themselves as well.

Click to shrink...

Your memory isn't failing you. But the beliefs of mortals and the actuality of life are often different. The god has been shaped by believers, but is merely older than the presence of humans in the area. Probably the oldest still living being in the world (if you exclude Anand, who is now part of the Morrigan). As Hindu is one of the few religions without much churn in their deities.

He (the personification of human belief) is currently trapped in a crystal prison, but not dead. He (the concept that humans believe in) is too vast to be trapped.

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

I would like to thank Raddaya for going through the Indian and Hindu parts of this and sanity checking them.

---

Chapter 4

Skye slips into a booth in the Sheep Heid Inn and slumps against the back of the seat. Shaking her head slightly, she puts the bottle of wine, bought only because they didn't have mead, and the glass on the table, then slots the staff she's reading between the table and the bench. A slight exertion, and a borrowed memory, sees her glass filled and she lifts it to her nose to nurse it.


Her fingers idly trace the tiny lines on the staff as she thinks about the last couple of weeks. The first few days, she cursed Morgana almost constantly as everything she saw bombarded her with someone else's memories. Then she started to understand the way that the staves were sorted, and that the tiny room was indeed a library. Galling as it was, that's when she realised that Morgana had given her exactly what she promised.


When she finally ventured upstairs, she found Ecne's private collection of planed sticks, each one a small diary in and of itself. Inside a chest were hundreds of neatly tied bundles, stacked end up with a stick that has the number of the bundle clearly visible on the top. On a low slate workbench, she found Ecne's tools, and the sticks he'd been keeping, each one with three small lines running from top to bottom.


"Hey Blue, are you ok?"


Skye looks up as her friend Liz slides into the booth opposite her, "I'm fine."


Liz scoffs, "Yeah, right. That's why you've almost finished a bottle of wine on your own, and didn't even bother to say hi to anyone."


"I've just had a lot to think about."


"What? Like who to approach next to get your PhD proposal approved? Or whether you want to be stuck as a Lab tech for the next 30 years?"


"No, it's just… You ever have one of those moments where something happens and everything you thought you knew is turned upside down?"


"Not really, you know me, I'm still working on my Interpreter qualifications. Though, it's looking like Ancient Celtic may be a useful language to try to learn." Skye can't help it, she starts to laugh, "What. It's not funny, haven't you been keeping up with the news?"


"It's not that! Dr Danann was teaching science at the University, and I suppose you could say she gave me a crash course in Ancient Celtic."


"No! Really?"


Skye nods, "I'm reading the equivalent of a book at the moment."


"No… show me."


Skye jiggles the staff, "It's right here."


"Say something."


"No, I'm not a performing monkey."


"Please, just for me?"


"No."


"Don't be a bitch, you know I love languages."


"Yeah, well I don't."


"你从来不用我的语言帮助我。我恨你。"[ You never help me with my languages. I hate you.]


"I love you too, and saying that sort of thing isn't going to make me more likely to help either."


Liz stares at Skye in shock, "Skye… How did… What do you… think I just said?"


"The bit about never helping with languages, or that you love languages?"


"Skye, stay right there, I'll be right back," Liz glances at the bottle, "and I'll bring you a new bottle of wine."





A few minutes later, Liz returns with two other people, an older woman with greying hair, and a middle-aged man with a friendly smile. Plonking a couple of bottles of wine on the table, as well as two bottles of beer and two wine glasses, she slips into the booth by the wall so that the other two can slip in on the same bench.


After taking a sip of her beer, Liz says, "スカイ、これらは Sean Lamb 教授とThea Watt.です彼らが私たちに参加してもよろしいですか?" [Skye, these are Professors Sean Lamb and Thea Watt. Do you mind if they join us?]


Skye looks up from the staff, "Not at all, it's a pleasure to meet you both."


Thea smiles at Skye as she unscrews a bottle of wine and pours three glasses, "私はあなたが私に尋ねることを気にしないことを願っていますが、あなたはどの言語を話しますか?" [I hope you don't mind me asking, but what languages do you speak?]


"Not at all, just English, and I guess Ancient Celtic. That's enough thanks." Skye holds her hand up as her glass fills up.


Sean accepts the glass, "यह आकर्षक है, आपने प्राचीन सेल्टिक कैसे सीखा?" [That's fascinating, how did you learn Ancient Celtic?]


"As I said to Liz, it was pretty much a crash course."


"Est-ce Ogham? Pourriez-vous nous lire un peu ce que vous lisez?" [Is that Ogham? Could you read us a bit of what you're reading?]


"Oh, um sure? Nuair a thagann na hionróirí eile ar an domhan marfach, titeann na dlíthe nádúrtha isteach i mbeithiúnacht mar sin gur féidir suas a bheith síos agus síos taobhbhealaí." [When the otherside intrudes on the mortal world, the natural laws fall into abayence such that up can be down and down sideways.]


Thea, speaking in English for the first time, asks, "What does that mean, in English."


Skye startles, and stops to think, "Erm, it's talking about what happens when the otherside appears on earth, and how it affects physics. It's more philosophical than science though."


"Ya veo, ¿y qué te parece?"


Skye looks confused, "Huh?"


"I said, 'I see, and what do you think?'"


"Oh, right. Um. From everything we know about physics, that just can't be true. But, that doesn't mean that there isn't stuff out there that we've missed. I mean, 200 years ago, they still believed in aether, however experiments have proven that it doesn't exist. Which directly led to special and general relativity."

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Daphne twitches as it feels like someone's just poked her, looking around she can't see anyone, so with a shrug, she turns back to the ruined building and sets more of the large blocks to scampering off. Over the last few days, she's been able to clear nearly half of the building, and progress is going faster now that the top of the pile has been reached. In the space they've cleared, some of the refugees have started to put up wooden frames over the foundations as well as digging post holes in the hard packed earth.


As she's moving things, a woman in a UN uniform walks over, "Sorry to bother you, but would you be able to start clearing out the basement before they start building on the rubble. There may be more dead down there, and they can't afford for disease to start running rampant her. Your Mother already does so much for the wounded."


Daphne stares, shocked, for a moment, and by the time she has processed it, and is about to deny that Airmed is her mother, the woman has moved off.

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Airmed shakes her head in amusement at the exchange that's just happened, and looks over at Reginald, "They think that she is my daughter."


Reginald's eyes widen, but the broken arm of the man in front of him is taking up all of his concentration, as he slowly applies what Airmed has been teaching him. Carefully feeling out the wound with his magic, he builds a picture of what it looks like, as well as what it should look like. Once he's done that, he pulls the mist into the arm in order to slowly force the arm to move from one image to the other.


Airmed nods, "You're doing well, just remember this mustn't be a Glamour when you finish, otherwise the bone will never heal. You're using Glamour to change the world rather than overlaying it… Better, though the mist just needs to caress the wound, not permeate it…"

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Padma dubiously looks around the remote valley that Kali has brought them to, at the bottom of the valley is a vast herd of sheep penned in by a low drystone wall. In the distance she can see smoke rising from a farmhouse.


"Sura, why are we here?"


Kali looks amused, and one of her fangs becomes visible in her smile, "To teach you to dance of course. And if the bloodlust takes either of us, there is a simple source of blood ripe for the picking."


"What about the farmer?"


"These sheep are owned by a Viasya Sepoy and the Shepherd sees nothing from their wool. If they die, then the Shepherd may be beaten, but the meat will be sold to the Sudra and those without caste, and they will be fed."


"But we are Viasya."


Kali nods, "You are, but you are not Sepoy, nor do you support the oppressors. Neither have you brought slaves back from the lands of the book."


"I see."


"You do not, you are still bright with innocence. But you will, as you follow the dark into its lair and take on its mantle, you will understand. When you understand you will dance, and those that revel in the darkness will know death. Then you will grieve the innocents that got caught in your dance. You will become part of the darkness, but not of it. But for now, you must learn the first steps of the dance. Once you know the steps with two arms, we will move to four, and continue until you reach 10 or are unable to continue."


Padma swallows hard as she realises that the dance that Kali keeps talking about is the dance of death.


For the first week, her progress is slow but steady, and she doesn't lose control even once. Even with suffering the indignity of sitting through the sacrifices. On the 8th​ day Kali stops her.


"Child, why do you stifle your magic? If your magic is not free, if your magic can't sing the accompaniment to the dance, you will never learn."


Hesitantly, Padma releases her hold on the mist and allows her magic to exist without being diverted, as she does Kali praises her, "This is good, more, more, you must free all of it. Show me what you had at the shrine."


Once her magic is no longer concealed by the mist, Padma begins to dance once more, and as she moves her magic moves with her. Nodding approvingly, Kali starts to dance with her, and as Kali's magic starts to sing, so follows Padma's magic. As her arms whip around, so does the wind, and when her foot comes down heavily the earth shakes. When her palms hit the floor lightning rents the sky and her lighter steps bring rain. Kali's own magic brings all that, but magnified by her much larger levels of magic.


As they dance a primal dance the Otherside responds to Padma's motions, singing magic, and rising bloodlust. The world around them changing in response to the dance. Distances warp, and the ground bucks and writhes. Suddenly, she tips over the edge and loses herself to the dance, to the bloodlust, and she is amongst the sheep. Feeding deeply on their lifeblood, and death, a whirling dervish of death and destruction, and a herd of 200 sheep is reduced to none over the span of 15 minutes.


Looking down, Kali struggles with her own bloodlust as she forces her magic to return to the slow song she's so used to. Smiling sadly, she's ready when Padma's eyes clear and her bloodlust is satiated. As soon as they do, she makes her way to Padma's side, and holds her as she cries.


"Do you understand now child?"


Padma doesn't need any clarification, as she can feel the song deep inside her, still singing, still moving, "I do."


"There is another way for it to end, and that is for it to run its course. But only Lord Shiva was ever able to do that for me. How did it feel?"


"Amazing, I was… Until I wasn't, and then it was terrible."


Kali nods and points to a rockfall near where they were dancing, "That happened after you lost control. Hide your magic again, and see if it helps."


Padma does, as she sniffs, "It's still there. It's quieter, but it's still there."


Kali nods, "It always was, but you know what it sounds like now. Come, let us get you home and into a bath. Your body is not yet used to this."


Without thinking, Padma nods and grabs Kali's hand, pulling both of them into the mist, and making her way home. As they arrive in the bath house, Kali asks, "How do you know where you are going?"


Padma turns on the enchanted taps as she answers, "Desire, sort of. To start with, you need to really want to go somewhere, but later you sort of learn what that feels like so you can do it without the emotion."


"I see."

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Maeve sits on her throne looking over the icy landscape that is her realm. Behind her a vast apple tree grows with leaves of ice, and crystal fruits. Arrayed in front of her is her court, their skin darkened to an icy blue, and ears pointed from mixing with the fae.


"My people, we have survived in this court. The Christians thought us beaten, banished forever, when they destroyed our gates.


"But our time is not yet over, for the Queen, The Morrigan, is on the move once more. Some of you have felt the ripples as she acts. So now it's our time. She has claimed our ancient lands, and so we will move on Gaul and stake our claim there. Those that follow the false god will know our vengeance, while those who do not will be treated as the fae treated us."

 

[requiemforasalad]

The last paragraph needs a close quote. Not sure if there's anything missing from the chapter as it feels like quite an abrupt end?

Really loving this story so far.

 

[Tawsnrrtsyip]

"Ya veo, ¿y qué te parece?"


Skye looks confused, "Huh?"

Click to shrink...

This is... odd... to me. At first I thought the lack of understanding was (Ecne, being a god of wisdom and knowledge, would learn these) a matter of age, since Chinese has been written in a recognizable form since the Shang dynasty - ending in 1123 BC - and Japanese, being descended from it, should also be recognizable, though possible amicable relations between the different pantheons could help; Hindi, being derived from Sanskrit, also tracks; as we've seen, the pantheons at least acknowledge each others' existence. French is on the line; it's a fusion of Gaulish - a Celtic language - and Latin, brought by the then rapidly-expanding Roman Empire. Spanish, then, should be easy, right? It's a mix of Iberian, probably another Celtic language, and Latin.

Wrong.

Iberian isn't even Indo-European. The Celtic languages are. The Iberian script was derived in part from Greek and Phoenician, but other than that? Totally unique. Course, Spanish has roots in Latin, too, but why would a Celtic god learn the language of his peoples' killers? So. Now I know. Thank you, Phoenix, for helping me learn something new.

TL;DR: I got nerd-sniped and Spanish language history is weird.

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

So. Now I know. Thank you, Phoenix, for helping me learn something new.

Click to shrink...

Lovely theory, and if you don't mind I'm going to borrow it for the professors. The answer is actually far more simple, Skye didn't realize that she was understanding different languages, because she was partially distracted by reading the staff with her fingers, and also talking to the people on the other side of the table.
When she didn't understand the Spanish, it was just after they asked her what the staff said in English, so she was concentrating on the language and not just letting it happen naturally (well, the new naturally for her). So her brain tripped up with the Spanish, because she didn't understand it.

 

[Tawsnrrtsyip]

Lovely theory, and if you don't mind I'm going to borrow it for the professors.

Click to shrink...

Oh, by all means! I'm a bit of a history buff, and languages are a special interest of mine, if you hadn't noticed. The theorizing was a nice little mental workout for me, so it works out either way. If anything related comes up and you need a second opinion, feel free to poke me!

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

Oh, by all means! I'm a bit of a history buff, and languages are a special interest of mine, if you'd hadn't noticed. The theorizing was a nice little mental workout for me, so it works out either way. If anything related comes up and you need a second opinion, feel free to poke me!

Click to shrink...

Thanks, and I'll try to remember. It was interesting using the translator to put in the text, and hoping that it would copy to the story correctly. I just figured that it's the sort of thing that Interpreter professors would do to someone they thought was pretending not to understand different languages.

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

Chapter 5

Freya smiles brittlely at Morgana as they both sit drinking second brew ale as they watch the people below go about their daily lives. Ever since Loki told his tale at the feast, she's felt like Morgana pities them.

Morgana startles her when she speaks, "Your peoples have done well here."

"The mortals have, the Æsir and Vanir, less so."

Morgana nods, "Why did you really abandon Asgard?"

Freya sighs, "Numbers, with most of the menfolk gone we couldn't hold both Asgard and here against the Jotun, or those who call Svartalfheim home. There was also Muspelheim to consider, and the foretelling of Ragnarok."

"It must have been hard, especially if the Christians were as hard on you as they were on us. For we too retreated from the world, and for many of us the cost of doing so was too much to bear."

"May I ask what the cost was?"

Morgana nods, "For some, they sacrificed their domains so that they could support an apple tree. The same tree that granted their followers the magic they needed to travel through the mist. Other, like myself, we fought to buy time for their followers to leave, or like Airmed, were killed while tending the wounded. Some even fell for the empty promises of the Christians, and gave up their domains in order to save their people. You've probably heard of the Sidhe, they were once our followers, and their leaders of the Tuath Dé."

"How did you cope?"

"Badly, I would have gone after the centre of their religion to wipe it off the map, but I first had to make sure my people were safe. Then all of my crows were killed, so I mourned for a few centuries, and then I didn't have the energy to do anything. By the time I was able to bring myself to care about anything, they'd invented the printing press, and I started reading the mortals books."

"The what now?"

"Printing press, it allows them to copy out a book once in metal and then use that to make hundreds or thousands of copies over the course of a few days. Though these days it's more like thousands or millions of copies."

"I cannot imagine such a thing."

Morgana nods, "It's easier if you think if it as mundane magic, especially the most recent things they've invented."

"What sort of things?"

Morgana waves her hand to open a portal, and frowns when it doesn't happen, "If you'll give me a bit, I'll show you."

Starting again, she concentrates on forming a portal, and over the next hour manages to pour enough magic into the task to open a postage-stamp sized portal to her living room on earth.

Freya nods at the portal, "Impressive work without using a ritual or array to help you."

Morgana shakes her head, "I should be able to make a larger portal than this."

Freya shakes her head, "The nine realms are deep within the void, and our legends say that knowledge of their existence is something that Wöden learnt on the tree. Others say that the Æsir found their way to Midgard and met humans there. Whatever the truth is, none have yet come to these realms without already knowing they're here. For that matter, how did you come here, and why?"

Morgana sighs, "Let's answer the why first. Last year I met a woman who embroiders runes into her work, and I thought she might be using your magic. I promised her that I would try and find you and ask someone to look at it. After that, I ended up looking after Marianne over there, then Kate. Then Harry's class mates decided to join him in getting a mundane education, so I set up a school just for them. Between all of that, the time I needed to look for you just wasn't available. I was, however, able to use University archives around the country to narrow down the sites that you were likely to have used. When Harry's school finished for the holidays, it was a simple matter to book a holiday that would cover most of the sites I discovered, and search for a trace of magic that shouldn't be there."

"I see, we thought we'd hidden the traces of our passing well enough."

"You probably did, but our magic… It is different from any of our neighbours. What you call the void, we call the Otherside, and we learnt to walk and navigate it safely. Part of that is learning how to feel the Otherside. However, as with all magic, ours comes with a price. As we walk through the mist the mist passes into us, and we are never again truly apart from it. Knowing our names give people power over us, and so we began a tradition of having a private name and a public name. In return, we are much more sensitive to the world around us and were also able to teach our gifted children to hide their magic from the scrying spells of the Christians."

Freya nods, "I see. Are you aware that your very presence is giving the Norn's conniptions?"

"They're your seers aren't they?"

"Of a sort, they weave the tapestry of the past and present, while foretelling the future."

Morgana nods, "We are beyond fate. Manannán Mac Lir claims it's because we can retreat to our domains to wait out any prophecy that could possibly be made if we don't like it. Marianne and Harry are only mostly there, so things can be divined about them, but whether they will come true or not is yet to be seen."

"I see, thank you for your honesty. I will talk to Vör and see if she wishes to accompany you. She is known for being cautious and also knows how to use runes with magic."

"Thank you, is there anything we can do for you?"

Freya smiles genuinely for the first time in the conversation, "You already are."

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Lucius Malfoy leaves Gringotts in a towering rage. How dare those little rats stop him from storing an artifact in his vaults. Something something against the conditions of rental. They didn't prevent him from storing the other problematic items over the last week, only this diary. He's running out of time, as there's only so long he can delay the investigation even with his influence.

Twisting on the spot, he aparates back to the manor and stalks to his office. Pulling his secure drawer out, he drops the diary into it and slams it shut.

"Dobby, whiskey!"

A glass of fire whiskey appears on his desk with two chunks of ice floating inside it. Picking it up, he slams it back before slamming the glass back on the desk, where it is refilled. Holding his breath for as long as he can, steam shoots out of his ears, and then a massive gout of flame comes from his mouth. Feeling a little calmer, he starts to look through the upcoming items for the August Wizengamot.

What's this? Muggle Protection Act?

Blah, Blah, a muggle artifact is defined as an item procured from the muggle world, or an item made to look like a muggle artifact, that a muggle would recognise as a normal artifact from their world. Hmm, Blah, Blah, Illegal to own enchanted muggle artifacts that, in normal function would bring harm to a muggle that used it.

Yes, Yes, that's already illegal if you don't know how to work around it. Blah, Blah. The Auror's office will be allowed to search the premises of any magical for which they have Reasonable Suspicion of owning illegally enchanted muggle artifacts.

Blast and damnation, how in Morgana's name has this managed to make it to the docket. Who proposed this blasted thing? Weasley? Speculatively he pulls open his drawer and looks at the diary, two birds with one stone?

"Dobby, let me know when the Weasley's go for their school shopping."

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Dobby might not be a good elf, given the number of times he has had to iron his fingers, or slam his head in the cooker door, but if there's one thing Dobby is good at, it's listening. Both to the Master, and when he's out of the house, the young master in school. Also to the house elves at Hogwarts.

Dobby is also old enough to remember when the Dark Lord went to Hogwarts with dead master. That's how he knows that The Great Harry Potter is not actually dead, but is attending Hogwarts as Harry Danann.

Unfortunately, Dobby has not been able to find the taste of The Great Harry Potter's magic, and so has had to stoop to reading the book of names. Dobby is definitely a resourceful elf now Dobby knows where The Great Harry Potter lives, now all Dobby needs to do is prevent The Great Harry Potter from attending the school.

Dobby pops into the only bit of magic Dobby can detect in the mansion, and looks around the empty courtyard.

As he does, a Sylph flies over from one of the flowerbeds, "Hello."

Dobby looks at the Sylph, "Dobby is pleased to meet you."

"Are you here to play hide and seek?"

Dobby shakes his head, "No, Dobby is here to protect The Great Harry Potter."

"Harry isn't here at the moment, I've been so bored."

"Dobby wonders if you know where he is?"

The Sylph shakes her head, "I don't, but the queen might."

Before Dobby can react, the Sylph has grabbed his hand and pulled him into some fog. Unfortunately, Dobby isn't very heavy, so Dobby can't stop the Sylph, and Dobby can't feel the Master so Dobby doesn't want to pop.

The Sylph pulls Dobby out into a paradise of plants and flowers, and Dobby still can't feel the Master.

"Come on this way, the queen lives over… Oh, the marigolds are in bloom, aren't they so pretty. Hey, this one still has some nectar in it."

Dobby look at the Sylph that is rapidly becoming intoxicated on nectar before deciding that Dobby would be better off trying to find his own way home.

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Parvati flops down on a chair in Lavenders room, "Thanks for letting me come over."

Lavender smiles, "It's not a problem, how was India."

Parvati shudders, "Hot, and a random mixture of terrifying, awe inspiring, and exhausting."

"Did you have to visit your grandparents then?"

Parvati shakes her head and shudders, "Thankfully, no. That would have just been the cherry on top of the cake."

Tactfully taking the hint, Lavender changes the subject, "Listen, I heard from Dunbar that someone saw both Bones and Abbott doing wandless magic in Imber."

"Where's Imber?"

"It's an old muggle village that's now owned by the Imber family, and rents out some of the houses there."

Parvati nods, losing interest in the village almost instantly, "So what's that about Bones and Abbott?"

"Well, Haywood is absolutely certain that it's because of the magic that they're learning in mundane studies."

Parvati shakes her head, "Nope, no, not happening."

Lavender looks surprised, "What? I thought you'd jump at the chance to learn wandless magic."

"I do not want to attract the attention of a Sura, or worse an Asura. It's bad enough that Sura Kali uses our bath with Padma, I dread to think what would happen if Asura Kali took an interest in one of us."

"A what and what?"

Parvati sighs, "A Sura is a god, kind of. There's more to it than that, but in essence they are like gods. Asura are the opposite of that, where the Sura are generous, the Asura are selfish, where the Sura heal, the Asura only bring harm."

"So, Demons?"

"Yes, no, sort of. More like anti-gods."

"So what was that about a Kali sharing a bath with your sister?"

"Look, I don't want to talk about it. It's bad enough that I found out that silk can be covered with so much blood it's impossible to clean. Or that it can hold more than that until you hug someone."

"Parvati what in Merlin's name happened in India?"

"I really don't want to talk about it. Just, keep an eye on my sister's eyes. If they start going wild, run and don't look back."

"It can't be that bad."

"Lavender, you do not know my culture. Sura Kali is… She has a bloodlust, and when she falls into it only Lord Shiva can bring her out of it. Padma, she is Kali's now."

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Albus takes off his glasses and pinches his nose as the entire ICW devolves into shouting at each other for the third time in this emergency session. Putting his glasses back on, he raises his wand and fires three cannon blasts into the air.

Placing his wand to his throat he calls, "Order! Order! We still have the British to hear from."

The French delegate calls back, "What, the British want our aid now, after failing to contain the problem?"

"Point of Order, we have not heard from the British. Mr Crouch if you please."

Barty Crouch Sr stands, "Wizards, witches, and warlocks, we received a letter from the East India Company requesting expertise after they spotted activity from a Sura shortly before they lost coverage in… Nepal. They say that they don't trust the locals to help if this was actually a Sura possibly fighting an Asura."

Suddenly the Sikh, Persian, and Ottoman representatives all stand up and the Ottoman representative states, "The Ottoman empire withdraws their demand until the Sura is contained."

The Sikh representative nods to the Ottoman representative, "The Sikh Empire requests that the Sura is taken care of before we seek a resolution on the other anomalies."

"The Persian Empire seconds this motion."

Albus sighs and looks to the ceiling, 'Thank Merlin for that', aloud he calls, "Show of wands, green for the motion, blue against."

A sea of blue and green lights goes up around the hall, so Albus uses a counting spell to quickly tally the result, "Greens 45, Blues 43. The Greens have it. Are there any other details that need to be considered?"

Barty stands again, "The Company sent a second letter to say that they have lost track of the Sura Kali. However, the muggle worshipers have found a dark skinned muggle girl who they believe to be chosen by Kali. They claim that the girl stood up to Kali with a spear for long enough that a Deva appeared to save her and Kali was so moved by the child's innocence that she claimed her as her own there and then. They have done all the tests they can unobtrusively, including sacrificing a merlin orb as a gift. None of them show any sign that the girl has even a spark of magic."

Albus nods, "Can we capitalise on this, and spin it as a folk story while we help the East India Company return to full detection capabilities?"

Albus rubs his eyes again and stifles a yawn, trying to breach the protections surrounding the sanctuary all day yesterday, followed by this meeting is pushing it at his age.

The Chinese representative stands, "Can we not call on the expertise of Flamel to trap this Sura while we know where it should be?"

Albus shakes his head, "I regretfully need to inform you that Nicholas Flamel and his wife are both dead, and their house destroyed. As you are aware, he would never allow anyone to look at the notes on those traps. I quote, 'If I allow others to learn how to trap them, they may also work to free them. Many of the demons I have trapped over the centuries are too dangerous to leave to chance.' I have seen the location I believe his house was, and there is nothing there but a deep hole in the ground."

Sitting back in his chair, Albus forces himself to stay awake as the members of the ICW squabble over what needs to be done to help the East India Company.

 

[Wentley]

Flamel was known as a 'demon' trapper. Huh. I liked the lockstep change in opinion. Those countries near India sure changed their tune.

 

[TheEldritchNight]

Dark Phoenix you make such a compelling story and I am loving the world building that you are doing with this. We rarely see a Harry Potter story that has wide spread global affects.

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

Flamel was known as a 'demon' trapper. Huh. I liked the lockstep change in opinion. Those countries near India sure changed their tune.

Click to shrink...

Sura's are gods, and given that it's Kali, they can probably be forgiven for not wanting the possibility that she will cross the border.

Dark Phoenix you make such a compelling story and I am loving the world building that you are doing with this. We rarely see a Harry Potter story that has wide spread global affects.

Click to shrink...

Thank you, though it's just really covering what each of the main classmates are doing. Along with reading up on European conflicts at the time.

 

[morkail]

So a single point of failure on what was keeping all these different gods off earth? As it stand now they no longer have anyone who can trap these entities and the wizarding worlds magic despite being so versatile Isn't capable of countering them. But it seems the magical worlds leadership isn't yet aware of how bad this problem is going to get.

Also one has to wonder if there is any connection between the magical world being able to separate it self from the mundane world and seeming the mundane world work to keep that secrecy on the fact the church would need to call on mages to help kill or trap a god every now and then.

Loving the build up here sooner or later this is all going to explode in some fashion.

Thanks for the chapters.

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

Also one has to wonder if there is any connection between the magical world being able to separate it self from the mundane world and seeming the mundane world work to keep that secrecy on the fact the church would need to call on mages to help kill or trap a god every now and then.

Click to shrink...

The statute of secrecy was only possible because of the church causing the surviving gods to hide and keep their heads down. The churches mages are just Christian Magicals that live under church rule. Flamel was a Mage rather than a witch/wizard which is why he wasn't caught up in any of the inquisitions.
As for the single point of failure, Flamel wasn't the single point of failure, his cottage was. A heavily fortified, and well protected point of failure, but still the single point of failure. If the cottage hadn't been stolen, then it would have set the church back a year or two while their mages learnt from the material in the vaults, and a new guardian was chosen.

 

[requiemforasalad]

The statute of secrecy was only possible because of the church causing the surviving gods to hide and keep their heads down. The churches mages are just Christian Magicals that live under church rule. Flamel was a Mage rather than a witch/wizard which is why he wasn't caught up in any of the inquisitions.
As for the single point of failure, Flamel wasn't the single point of failure, his cottage was. A heavily fortified, and well protected point of failure, but still the single point of failure. If the cottage hadn't been stolen, then it would have set the church back a year or two while their mages learnt from the material in the vaults, and a new guardian was chosen.

Click to shrink...

Adding to this: HP is a world where individual power matters. Grindelwald and Voldemort were uniquely powerful and built their followings around that power. Dumbledore and the Founders are all well above the average wizard.

There's also a significant amount of unique power. Parseltongues are rare. Each of the Founders had secrets and unique trinkets that were either incredibly hard or impossible to reproduce. The Hallows are unique and their wielders hold unmatched power if wielded correctly.

It's entirely in keeping with the narrative if Flamel WAS a single point of failure, and only reinforces his focus on extending his own life, and that he was well funded and supported to do so.

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

Adding to this: HP is a world where individual power matters. Grindelwald and Voldemort were uniquely powerful and built their followings around that power. Dumbledore and the Founders are all well above the average wizard.

There's also a significant amount of unique power. Parseltongues are rare. Each of the Founders had secrets and unique trinkets that were either incredibly hard or impossible to reproduce. The Hallows are unique and their wielders hold unmatched power if wielded correctly.

It's entirely in keeping with the narrative if Flamel WAS a single point of failure, and only reinforces his focus on extending his own life, and that he was well funded and supported to do so.

Click to shrink...

Flamel was very much unique in that respect, though I tried to convey that he saw the extended life as a duty rather than something he wanted to do. As it stands, the philosophers stone was unique (though in theory a few more could be made) because of who was trapped inside, rather than the method of creation.

Spoiler: Don't look if you don't want to know who's trapped in the philosophers stone before it's revealed in the story.

The Goddess Hebe from Greek mythology

As such he had a much larger grasp of everything in that vault, and could use the spells and rituals without needing to refer to the source material.

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

Chapter 6

As they're getting ready to return to Midgard, Vör approaches Harry, "Danannson, may I ask a question?"


Harry looks up from packing some of his new clothes in his trunk, "Sure, what do you need?"


"How do you handle being Ergi?"


Harry sighs and closes his trunks so that he can sit on it, "In my culture, it was uncommon but accepted for people to take the oaths of the warrior or women's court even though they were not born to it. They were highly encouraged to forsake the oaths they were born into, but it was not a requirement." A dual timbre seems to fill Harry's voice, "That was something the Christians brought with them, and one of the reasons why we fought back against it so hard. Don't get me wrong, compared to modern society there was an awful lot wrong with mine. Least of which was the divide between farmers and warriors or hunters. For many of the kings, the farmers were a renewable resource, so as long at the cattle were well kept and what grains were farmed rolled in, they were happy. Even the, all menfolk were expected to know how to defend themselves and their families. My sister often forgets the farmers, as she was always more interested in the comings and goings of the warriors and answering the call to battle. An aspect that [I/Brigid] neglected, and [Harry/I] [is/am] correcting. Vör, you should be aware that trying to tie people to the circumstances of their birth will lead to resentment, which is why your prophecy of Ragnarok was doomed to come to pass. First, you didn't trust Loki when he learnt the ways of magic, and then you bound one of his children out of fear of something he might do. Finally, you bound Loki and subjected them to torture."


Vör retorts, "You have no idea of what you speak. Those things were done justly."


Harry nods, and in the same double timbre, responds, "Indeed, the writings that were left behind show that you believe that. Though Harry does not yet understand all that [he/I] [had/have] read. When you come to earth you will see many things that seem wrong. Remember this feeling when you feel like questioning their reasons and methods. For what is right and moral is not a certitude, but a reflection of our societies. Also, ask yourself this, if my [sister/mother] was mortal, would you respect her for being a warrior and also a woman?"


As Vör looks at him strangely, Harry jumps off his trunk and runs off to find Marianne and some of the other children to practice his sword work.

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Dora steps out of the mist next to Mihaela for the 3rd​ time since Morgana went on holiday, a bullet catches her in the leg before she's able to raise the bulwark that she's been using, at the same time she staggers backwards as a large calibre bullet slams into her upraised shield. Around her, the sounds of gunfire and artillery are loud, as the UN unit that Mihaela part of is being overwhelmed. As she ducks down, a mortar lands beside their armoured vehicle, spraying dirt and rocks everywhere, while also overturning the vehicle.


Bringing up a muffling barrier, Dora shouts, "What in Morganas name is going on?"


"The British announced that they would be sending troops to the region because of the widescale conflicts that are going on, so the Serbians seem to have decided that this is their last chance at a soft target."


A lull in the shooting sees the rest of Mihaela's unit hurry into the cover that she's provided, along with a reporter and a cameraman. Dora stares at the camera for a long moment, before a tank round slams into the shell she raised, leaving hairline cracks visible on the safe side of the granite. After repairing the wall, Dora repeats her tactic of raising the golems, before looking for the tanks. Where before, they've been easy to see, the Serbians have instead raised large plywood screens in front of them. Which means that while she knows they're there, she can't just change the barrels to snakes. As they open fire at her again, she ducks back, only to hear a metallic crunch of steel on stone. As she's about to poke her head around again, one of the soldiers hands her a mirror. Through the mirror she can see a massive armoured vehicle with thick, spinning chains along the front of it. Though most of the vehicle is surrounded by plywood, obscuring it from view.


Not even noticing that she's started using Celtic, she calls "What on earth is that?"


After Mihaela translates the question, a soldier looks at the mirror before saying, "Demining vehicle."


"What?"


"Mine Sweeper!"


"Right, fine, no more Miss nice witch, I've tried to be nice and they're just doubling down."


Dora releases her magic from the mist, and idly notes as she destroys the spell that Morgana put on her last year. Wracking her brain for something suitably terrifying to use against the soldiers, she discards the wizarding dragons as too small for her needs, as they're only barely bigger than a couple of tanks. Then she remembers a poster she saw in Cockburn Street, Edinburgh and a smile stretches wide across her face. Raising her hand, without her shield, she pushes her magic out as an invisible shield as she stands up and walks around the barrier, already starting to grow in stature.


Stepping out, she is met by a hail of gunfire that impacts her shield as she pulls deeply on the mist while holding the image of the dragon in her mind. As she walks towards the troops, she drops to all fours and the gunfire slows as the ground drops away below her and wings spread from her back. Behind her, her tail lashes the ground, scouring it of trees, vehicles, and other debris before skittering over the well anchored granite shield she left, as though it is a pebble. In front of her, the soldiers now scurry around like ants as they rout and run as fast as they can away from her.


Finally, the mist stops filling her as she now matches the body she was picturing. Flapping her new wings raises up clouds of plants and dirt, as well as sending the nearer troops cartwheeling to the floor. That done, her wings settle comfortably over the barrel of her body.


In front of her the tanks have started to reverse course, and are firing shells as fast as they can, and they feel like hard peas against her hide. Pulling in a deep breath, she leans forward, her neck easily closing the gap that the tanks built up as she breaths out a gout of fire in a wide arc that leaves her feeling lightheaded, like she's used too much magic. For nearly 100m, in a wide cone, in front of her the ground has turned to liquid, and everything caught in it has either melted, or is in the process of melting. Beyond the direct fire, explosions go off inside the tanks as the heat has cooked off the fuel and ammunition. In all, for nearly 250m everything is dead or dying from the heat.


With a tired nod, Dora slips into the mist and allows the glamour to fade away as she makes her way home.

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A rainbow of scintillating light appears over Björkö island and shoots down to the same place that Morgana and family left from.


"See I told you Luna, I detected the nesting place of the crumple-horned snorkack. And my device has just gone off again, we must be close."


A girl's voice responds, "Yes Father."


Harry and Marianne both look up at Kate and Morgana in surprise, and Morgana can only shrug as two hippies with long blond hair, obviously a father and daughter, come around a tree. The man is holding a pendulum that is starting to swing in a circle, though pointed more towards the group. Golden sparkles spitting off it occasionally.


The girl stops for a moment, before walking towards the group cautiously, "Hello, I'm Luna."


Harry smiles, "Hello, I'm known as Harry."


Luna claps her hands, "Oh goodie, you speak English. Did you know you have a lightning bolt shaped scar on your forehead? Oh, of course you do, silly me, it's your forehead after all. Though, I thought that only Harry Potter had a scar like that."


Vör shrugs, "I thought it was a rune when I saw it."


Harry blinks as Luna tilts her head to one side, "I see. It could be. Though whether it's a sōwlō or a backwards jēra I'm not sure."


"It would be sōwlō, as there's no thickening in the middle where the gap would have been if it was jēra. My name is Vör."


The man looks up sharply from where he's been circling the group with his pendulum, "Oh, how fascinating. I'm Xenophilius Lovegood, but call me Xeno, everyone that isn't Greek does. Are you named after the mythological Norse Goddess?"


Vör makes a face, "I am not, I am an Æsir not a goddess."


Kate stands on her tiptoes to whisper in Vör's ear, "Goddess is the English term for a female deity regardless of faction."


Xeno looks excited, "Oh, how fascinating, I'm the owner and editor of the Quibbler, we're currently looking for crumple-horned snorkacks, but when we've finished would you be willing to give an interview?" As he bounces up and down, Kate shrinks back behind Morgana.


Vör looks pointedly down below Xeno's waistband, "And do you let Luna find it?"


Xeno colours, coughs, and says, "Luna, would you take the other children and go play so that we can have an adult conversation?"


Luna smiles brightly before taking Harry and Marianne's hands, and skipping off out of the wood.


Once they're out of sight, Xeno looks at the two angry women, "That's what my wife used to call me when we went camping. After she died a couple of years ago, Luna… Luna asked me what a crumple-horned snorkack is, so I showed her a picture of a hare with horns and the wings and tail of a grouse. She's my precious daughter, and I would never do what you were thinking of to her. Since then, we have hunted crumple-horned snorkack whenever I have time. Though I suppose, with my little moon going to school this year, it will need to be restricted to the summer holidays in future."

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

As they reach an open field on the island, Luna touches Harry before saying, "Your it!" and running off. After 20 minutes of running around, Luna collapses on the floor, exhausted and Harry and Marianne play for a couple more minutes before they notice, and come over to sit down with her.


Lying back, Luna looks up at the clouds before saying, "Did you know your cloak keeps trying to hide?"


Marianne startles, "You can see it?"


Luna laughs, "Not at the moment, I'm looking at the clouds. That one looks like a bunny. Do either of you know how to play find the snitch?"


Harry looks confused as he says, "No?"


"Oh, that's a shame, Mum and Dad used to play it and it sounded like fun. But they'd never let me join in."


"It's probably an adults only game then. A bit like some of the books my mum buys."


Luna frowns, "There's adults only books?"


Marianne shudders remembering the couple of times she's walked in on Morgana's reading time, "Oh, yes, there are adult only books. Mum2 just isn't very good at caring about it."


Harry nods vehemently.


Luna smiles, "I see. So do you two go to Hogwarts?"


Marianne nods, "We do, though I don't do any wanded subjects as I can't use a wand yet. Oh, I'm known as Mari."


"Pleased to meet you Mari."

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General Walters stops the tape and turns back to the room, "Well gentlemen, what do you think?"


One of the analysists sitting around the table shakes his head, "That is terrifying. What about the soldier that prayed for her to arrive?"


The general looks over to one side, "Colonel?"


"The UN has recalled Lieutenant Lacobescu to Geneva for her promotion and an award for bravery. At the same time she will be debriefed by NATO members with 20,000 feet clearence."


"Thank you." He turns back to the room, "Any other questions?"


Another analyst scribbles something before speaking up, "Do we know why she's not using the same prayer format as the people in The Sanctuary?"


"No, but we will ask her during the debrief. Anyone else have any questions, remembering that we are not at 20,000 feet."


When no answers are forthcoming, the General sighs, "Very well. Have we found out anything about these people?"


An analyst opens his folder, "We know that the first one sighted was called The Morrigan, and had contact with then Private Lacobescu, as well as Private Thomson, deceased."


"Cause of death?"


"Gunfire in east Bosnia, he was in the act of praying when he was killed. His unit retrieved his holy symbol and have been passing it around to try to find someone who can use it. The second god to appear was Airmed, who was later filmed healing the leg of a girl with her daughter watching. Another daughter has appeared since then, who seems to be more focused on clearing rubble and construction. We are unsure if she is a god in her own right, as she has yet to answer any prayers, however we are not ruling it out. From recordings, it appears like these gods have civilian lives, as the woman in the video is reported to have said that The Morrigan is on holiday. Based on the fact that he has markings on his hands, we believe that this man works for Airmed in the same way the other woman works for The Morrigan."


"Thank you, do we have any leads on who these people are?"


The 4th​ analyst nods, "The British have confirmed their identities, and are ready to approach them if there are any problems. They have also identified a professor who may have accidentally discovered a way to track them when their active. Finally, they have reported that there may be a 3rd​ god from the same pantheon. They have refused to divulge the details of who they are, citing not wanting to trigger the 20,000 feet clause, or cause them to become upset with their government."


Walters nods, "Understandable, we would do the same if they were American. Still, try to find out so that we can do something about it if they go rogue. I've heard whispers from India, is there anything to that?"


The third analyst nods, "Yes sir, it appears that the goddess Kali has taken a child to train."


"Very well, get people digging up the myths and legends surrounding her pantheon, how are we doing with digging up information about the other European myths?"


The first analyst sighs, "We are running into difficulties caused by the church changing the stories so long ago. Combined with the rise of neo-paganism and it is hard to tell what is what outside the Celtic Pantheon. Permission to speak freely."


"Go ahead."


"This is bullshit sir, when did we start needing to worry about myths and legends just appearing out of nowhere?"


"Are you an atheist?"


"No sir, Christian, though I'm starting to reconsider that sir."


"This has always been a concern for those with 20,000 feet clearance. Thank you for coming to the emergency briefing, we will be holding a full 20,000 feet briefing on the way to Geneva tomorrow. Dismissed."

---

Spoiler: Dragon

 

[Wentley]

For a sec, I thought she was going to go for Godzilla.

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

For a sec, I thought she was going to go for Godzilla.

Click to shrink...

Man in a rubber suit, or Japanese comics at that time.

 

[requiemforasalad]

Man in a rubber suit, or Japanese comics at that time.

Click to shrink...

Stage 2 Shin Godzilla

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

Stage 2 Shin Godzilla

Click to shrink...

From the 2016 film, rather than 1992