Chapter 6
John Tippins had just sat down to eat dinner with his family after a long day at work when he heard what sounded like an explosion coming from the front entrance of their house. Tippins, an electrical engineer by profession, felt something was terribly wrong.
"Quiet, out the back," John urged his wife and two children quickly.
Unfortunately the family had only made it to the nearby back door before a tall figure in a mask and robes burst through the dining room door brandishing a stick. This figure practically gave off vibes of maliciousness and evil. John prepared to defend his family but suddenly they found themselves duplicated. The evil figure focused his attention on the duplicates, apparently not even noticing John and his family. A stream of red energy shot forth from the intruder's stick after a muttered word John couldn't quite catch and the duplicates dropped to the ground screaming in agony. John and his family suddenly rose into the air but their cries of fright never sounded aloud. It was as if a barrier preventing sound surrounded the family. The family flew towards the ceiling but before they hit they suddenly found themselves in a sunny clearing in what looked like a pristine forest.
"Do not be alarmed," a man was calling as more families appeared in a similar fashion.
"I am Dan Granger and this is my wife Emma," the man announced while indicating an attractive woman. "If you will move away from the portals my wife will explain what is going on."
John led his family towards Emma Granger and saw that many other families were doing the same. Emma had a kind face and a professional demeanor about her. She seemed used to dealing with the public.
"Hello, I'm sure most of you just had your homes invaded and saw people with wands. Yes those were wands. The important facts here are that magic is real and evil wizards and witches just tried to kill you. You have been rescued by good witches and wizards and brought here so that you were not killed," Emma announced.
As if to prove her point, Dobby popped into existence next to Emma. The little elf looked nervously at the mass of people staring at him in shock before beckoning to Emma. Mrs. Granger crouched down and allowed the nervous house elf to whisper into her ear. Emma smiled at the information Dobby passed on.
"I have been informed that a hall for us to sit in has been prepared. Follow me," Emma instructed before leading the group along a path in the forest.
After Emma and the others had left several fairies began controlling an illusion copy of Emma speaking the exact same message to guide the next group to the hall. Many more groups would arrive in a similar fashion before the night was over.
The next day was a Hogsmeade day. Harry and his ladies visited the town for appearances sake even if their hearts were not in it. The evil they had witnessed and foiled the previous evening definitely put a damper on their desire to spend the day having fun in the wizarding village.
"They should all just be grateful they didn't experience any of the negative effects the riders of Pern felt jumping Between times," Saphira observed from her perch on one of the nearby buildings.
Like her ancestors the dragon could control her weight at will so didn't have the problem of crushing the buildings beneath her despite what her size would suggest. The Dragonriders of Pern had experienced severe sickness and fatigue when they jumped Between times to where past versions of themselves existed. Dragons had never experienced this sickness. Harry tentatively theorized the lack of sickness was either due to the fact that Saphira was a different breed of dragon than those on Pern or because the time traveling humanoids were magical. Dan and Emma had not experienced any sickness but with them being inside of the trunk's pocket dimension it wasn't exactly the best indicator. That was an entirely different region of space.
"Our refugees seem to be settling in well," Hermione suggested when she and her friends were seated at a private heavily security charmed table at the back of the Three Broomsticks.
"As well as can be expected for people whose homes have been destroyed and who can never return to their old lives," Nym agreed.
"I don't know that I would say never," Harry suggested. "But they definitely cannot return anytime soon."
"Despite your efforts Santa Claus," Hannah began suggestively while looking mildly reproving at the celebrity. "I'm not sure all the non-magicals will welcome our kind like Hermione's parents have."
"How well these people adjust should be a good indicator of what is to come," Cho pointed out. "A population of several thousand should give a good indication."
"So Harry," Hermione began with her most curious look on her features. "Where have you been thinking of relocating our refugee village to? I know you. I'm sure it will be someplace spectacular. Atlantis perhaps," the beauty teased.
The others were curious as well.
"Mars," Harry replied.
Silence reigned for several long moments.
Ginny responded, "We need more than that Harry."
"You all know about Saphira," Harry began, earning nods from the group. "What a lot of you don't know is that her sire was a non-magical dragon from an alien world called Pern located in an alternate universe where the timeline was hundreds if not thousands of years later than our current time stream."
"Bloody hell," Luna declared.
The blonde Ravenclaw even with all her Seer abilities hadn't discerned that origin. Several members of the group gaped at Luna, so out of character was her outburst.
"Tell us more please," Neville requested.
Harry began to tell his friends about Mnementh and Pern. It took quite some time but the powerful telepath was able to prove his tale with mental images projected to his friends.
"So Saphira can jump to other worlds," Nym concluded when her mate had finished his story.
"Provided I have good jump imagery most definitely," the dragon broke into the thoughts of all present from her spot on the roof of the pub.
"Which the non-magical space program from the Yanks has provided," Harry added. "I have already been looking into their space program extensively. I've copied the memories of several different types of NASA engineers and physicists. I've been crafting modules enhanced with our arcane arts which can begin seeding a colony on Mars."
An excited Hermione requested, "Please tell us more love."
Harry and Saphira appeared from Between and immediately extended their many senses both physical and arcane to determine the nature of their environment. Rider and dragon were standing on the surface of Mars. Small billows of red dust swirled in the skies around them. Already the pair could sense the difference in the gravity of Mars with only 11% the mass of Earth. The red planet was quite cold with temperatures ranging between somewhere around 161°F and 1°F from what little data was known about the planet from NASA's archives. Massive mountains loomed in the differences. The place near the equator where the duo had chosen to arrive was relatively flat and one of the warmer areas at -7°F.
"I'm raising the base now," Harry informed his dragon as he focused his telekinesis and caused a massive portion of the sandy and dusty ground to rise in the air in the shape of a rectangle measuring four feet deep.
"Here goes nothing," Saphira projected while performing the feat of magic she had previously carried out several times in her first incarnation and had more recently practiced many times.
The section of Martian surface her Rider was levitating began to glow where Saphira's snout touched it and the optical effect spread. When the glow faded Harry held in his telekinetic grasp a flawless and quite large rectangular diamond.
"A beautiful transfiguration," Harry praised his dragon while setting the diamond back down to serve as a foundation.
Arcane runes shaped into the bottom surface of the diamond using telekinesis glowed with power anchoring the stone in space so that it wouldn't shift. The warlock then raised his hand and summoned a small cube from within his trunk forest. At the sorcerer's arcane command the cube grew and expanded until it dwarfed the duo and many houses back on Earth. With a billow of dust Harry and Saphira vanished to reappear inside of the module.
A portal ring stood against the back wall. Harry caused the ring to activate and moments later his mates and friends began coming through.
"We're on Mars!" Hermione gushed excitedly while running over to the nearest window.
Much of the structure was composed of diamond hard windows which looked out over the Martian landscape.
"It is pretty wicked," Nym agreed as she stood beside her mate.
"Any trouble Harry?" Neville asked while he led his girlfriend over to a window and gazed out upon the alien landscape.
"No…the temperature and atmosphere regulating fields worked perfectly. I was nice and comfortable with clean air in my little atmosphere. The gravity in here is Earth norm," Harry answered while he brought up a small watch sized device on his wrist which was a project the group of friends had worked on for runes and Arithmancy.
The wrist device measured the strength of gravity, the atmospheric pressure, atmospheric temperature, radiation level, and a host of other environmental variables. The EMD or Environmental Measuring Device could either project its readings in a hologram or on its small screen depending on the wearer's desire. The EMD also acted as a locating beacon similar to the non-magical GPS system but would only transmit the location of someone if the wearer had the other person's EMD keyed in for access.
"I knew they would," Hermione said knowingly.
"Only because you sent a probe with an EMD built in and runes with the projection fields projected around the probe," Nym pointed out.
Hermione grinned unrepentantly.
"If Harry wants to take risks and not test our creations first that is his prerogative. That doesn't mean Saphira won't help me reduce the risks," Hermione replied.
"Traitor," Harry said teasingly to his dragon.
"You aren't as tough as me. I can survive in vacuum for over a half hour," the dragon pointed out.
"I probably can too," Harry suggested.
"Hell no," Nym broke in.
"We aren't putting that to the test," Susan concurred.
"At least not intentionally," Luna added while exchanging a knowing look with her boyfriend.
Harry thought he might just have occasion to test that theory in the future.
"Let's proceed with the testing we actually have planned," Cho suggested.
"An excellent idea," Dianna agreed.
The group was going to split into smaller groups. Hermione and Luna would be staying in the portal module to collect and organize the data which the four survey teams would be transmitting back to them. Ginny and Cho would comprise one team. Susan and Dianna would make up a second team. Neville and Hannah would make up the third team. Harry and Nym would make up the last team. The portal module contained a powerful computer system designed and built by Harry. The sorcerer who had built his own computers at a young age had discovered ways to shield non-magical technology from the harmful effects of strong arcane energy fields. In fact the mage had discovered some spells to enhance computing power and storage capacity a hundred fold.
"Your sensor packages and transducers are functioning as they were designed," Hermione informed the group. "Have fun."
"We already know Harry's package is functioning normally Hermione," Nym said teasingly at the young witch with a smirk before hopping on Saphira's back and winking out of the module.
Harry teleported after his dragon and mate and reappeared next to the dragon at the base of a particular mountain.
"This is bigger than all of the Beors stacked on top of each other," Saphira suggested as she gazed up at the mountain known on Earth as Olympus Mons which translated into Latin meant Mount Olympus.
"The peak is over fourteen miles high," Harry announced.
"I say we get sensor readings all the way to the top," Nym suggested.
The sensor packages the survey teams were equipped with were built into their clothes and took many of the readings mundane technology could take and many that the non-magicals couldn't. Many spectrums and dimensions that arcane senses alone could access were probed by the sensor suits and the signals were sent back to the portal module where special transducers converted the readings to something the enhanced computer systems could interpret and store.
"I'll get there first," Harry challenged with a playful tone to his voice and a gleam in his eye.
"Are you going to let him best you Saphira?" Nym prompted the dragon.
"Not likely," Saphira rebutted.
The dragon lifted into the air, not even bothering to move her wings. Using wings wouldn't have done any good in such a sparse atmosphere. Saphira had no trouble lifting herself on pure magic given the reduced gravity of the red planet. Likewise Harry shot into the air.
Nym grinned as the dragon she was riding flew higher and higher along the massively wide base of the mountain. Her boyfriend spiraled around his draconic bond mate with a thrilled smile on his lips. As if sensing her attention on his mouth the mage flipped upside down and flew perpendicular to Saphira's back for several moments, pressing his mouth against Nym's in a teasing kiss.
"Tease," Nym sent to her lover as he pulled back before she could really get into the kiss.
"Just returning the favor," Harry pointed out, referring to the many times his ladies enjoyed teasing him.
"Touché," the seventh year replied.
It was quite a fun trip to the top of the tallest peak in the solar system. When the trio finally did attain the elevation they strove for they were able to survey the Martian landscape from an amazing vantage point, one the dragon and Rider would be able to jump Between to anytime they chose. Nym used her lips to show her man just how much she appreciated how much he enriched her life and injected adventure into her existence.
The next day was a Saturday and happened to be the match which would determine the Quidditch house cup. It was Gryffindor versus Slytherin. The day was bright and sunny.
"And here are the Gryffindors," Lee Jordan announced as the team took the field. "Potter, Bell, Johnson, Spinnet, Weasley, Weasley, and Wood are widely acknowledged as the best team Hogwarts has seen in a good few years," Lee continued to booing from the Slytherins.
Harry tuned out the commentary as the Slytherin team came onto the pitch. The Rider noticed his girlfriends watching him from the Gryffindor stands. Even Dianna was present although her wings were not showing and her usual glow was toned down so as not to give her true nature away. Beside the witches sat a cheering Sirius and Remus. Their presence caused Harry to grin even wider. Melody was on Sirius' arm.
"Remus needs a girlfriend," Harry sent to Saphira.
"The wolf already has someone in mind," the dragon replied. "I can smell his desire from here," Saphira added as she flew over the stands.
"Oh really…I wonder who it is," Harry mused before adding his mates to the mental conversation while taking to the air at the start of the match. "Ladies, Saphira tells me Remus has a love interest or maybe just a lust interest. I would appreciate it if you could possibly find out who it is."
"We can do that," Dianna agreed.
Harry spotted his lovers beginning to engage Remus, Sirius, and Melody in conversation. Meanwhile Angelina had scored the first goal. As she was pumping her arm into the air in victory Marcus Flint's form slammed into her.
"Sorry, didn't see her," Flint said with a nasty sneer.
Fred Weasley tossed his beater's bat into the back of Flint's head, knocking the bastard's nose into the handle of his broom and causing the appendage to bleed profusely. Hooch awarded a penalty shot to each team. Angelina made the shot and Flint didn't. A minute later Montague, a Slytherin Chaser, had grabbed Katie's head instead of the Quaffle. Katie made another goal on penalty.
"Fucking bastard," Harry swore to Saphira before delivering a telekinetic blow to Montague's bits that saw the dirty chaser projectile vomiting.
The snitch was near the Gryffindor goal so Harry went the opposite way and shot towards the Slytherin goal. Malfoy followed and the Rider nimbly dodged two bludgers sent by the Slytherin beaters. Harry felt Saphira's mental growl as she spotted the same beaters raise their bats while zooming towards her Rider. The dragon used her telekinesis to speed both Seekers up. Instead of hitting Harry like they had intended the two beaters clubbed their own Seeker. Malfoy went plummeting off his broom and hit the ground with obvious injury. A halt was called to the game as Madam Pomfrey assessed the damage to Draco. Several broken bones assured Draco wouldn't be playing anymore that game. The seeker Draco had displaced through his father's bribes was called in from the reserve spot to play.
Bole, one of the Slytherin beaters, tried to smack Alicia in the head with his beater bat. Harry swooped down at the last second and caught the bat just before it would have impacted the chaser's head. The Rider happened to knee Bole in the face in the process, knocking out a few teeth. The Gryffindor's cheered at this action. Madam Hooch didn't even try to call a penalty. Bole had gotten what he deserved. Realizing that the Slytherins were just going to get dirtier and dirtier the harder his team played Harry shot straight towards the snitch after stopping Angelina from getting clobbered. Within moments the snitch had been caught and Gryffindor won the cup.
Harry's team zoomed towards him with expressions of glee on their features. Wood actually had tears of joy in his eyes. The team came together in a massive hug. Then Gryffindor house was upon them, hoisting the team onto shoulders. Harry felt many a witch cop a feel but he didn't mind.
The weather in Scotland grew cloudless and sultry as June approached. Most of the students wanted to be out on the grounds relaxing but it wasn't meant to be. Exams were rapidly approaching and most of the students were busy studying. Even the Weasley twins were studying for their OWLs. The exception was the majority of Harry's group of friends. They had all been practicing hard in various mental arts which had the benefit of organizing their minds. Knowledge was easier to recall when desired and their thoughts were simply more efficient. Less energy was wasted in recall and therefore mental processing was sped up. The only studying being done was by Nym and Harry was assisting her in that endeavor. Nym would soon be taking her NEWTs.
"This is hopeless…I'm going to fail," Nym said in frustration from where she sat on the edge of Harry's bed in his trunk forest.
The bed was out of sync with the other beds since it wasn't night time.
"You are not going to fail, love," Harry assured. "You are one of the most brilliant people I know. And that is saying a lot given just who I know."
Nym granted her boyfriend a half smile for his efforts to cheer her up.
"Shhh," Nym said conspiratorially. "I have to tell myself I'm going to fail and do horrible or I really will do bad. If I'm confident then my scores will be lower. If I tell myself I'm going to do bad my scores always end up pleasantly surprising me."
Harry was silent for several seconds before declaring, "You're a bit mental. But I still love you anyway." Nym laughed before leaning over and kissing her mate heatedly. The witch had an itch she wanted scratching. The Rider could smell his girlfriend's arousal but decided he wanted to do a bit more for her before he satisfied that particular urge. "You've studied enough. Lay on your stomach and I'll give you a massage," Harry suggested while teleporting her study materials onto his desk.
While doing as suggested Nym declared, "You just want to play with my bum."
"Who wouldn't? It's such a great bum," Harry purred while teleporting the witch's clothes off and beginning to slide his hands over her smooth skin.
"Oh Harry," Nym moaned approvingly a few moments later as the Rider's powerful hands worked the kinks out of the witch's muscles. "You are too good to me."
"I disagree…I thank the creator every day I get to spend with you and my other mates. Each of you is unique and beautiful inside and out. Trust me…I'm thoroughly familiar with a few key areas of your insides," Harry said huskily.
"I'm glad you are," Nym agreed. The gorgeous young woman laid there on her stomach for several minutes and just let her boyfriend massage her form to his hearts delight. He even applied a technique he called aura massaging. Harry would probe out with his magical power and knead any "kinks" he found in his subject's aura. "Alright…that's enough of that…now I want you inside of me," Nym asserted.
"My pleasure," Harry agreed before he made his clothes scarce as well.
Nym rolled on her back and drew her man down for a kiss, feeling confident that despite what she needed to tell herself her testing would be alright.
"I've figured it out," Harry declared in triumph as he sailed down to the clearing next to where his group of friends was swimming in a natural pond with clear waters.
The Rider had reshaped his forest trunk from what he remembered of Ellesmera since he had first obtained the trunk. The forests surrounding the elven capitol were still the same but the city itself had been downsized. Surrounding the city were wide grassy clearings interspersed with natural ponds like the one being used to swim in.
"You've figured out what pup?" Sirius queried.
"The origin of lycanthropy and how to cure it," Harry declared, causing Remus who had been sitting in the shallows of the pond to stand up in excitement.
"Now you've got to explain that," Hermione pointed out.
"There used to be these creatures called werecats. They could shift at will between the form of a cat and small people. They were very mysterious creatures," Harry explained.
Saphira continued with, "From what we have been able to tell through various methods of scrying into the past and our studies of Remus' nature, Lycanthropy is the result of a curse instigated by one or more werecats upon human thieves that stole some of their young while the parents were out hunting. They cursed the thief or thieves to transform into a wolf like creature on the full moon thinking the fact that through the punishment that the thieves would kill all they held dear was justice. Werecats were not to be trifled with."
"And that helped you find a cure?" Remus asked hopefully as he stepped out of the water and approached Harry from around the edge of the pond.
"Yes…once we understood the nature of the magic used for the curse. Saphira can modify it with her draconian magic," Harry replied.
"Dragon magic is more powerful than any mere werecat's power," Saphira declared haughtily.
"Modify the curse how?" Sirius asked as he came to stand next to his best friend.
Neville, Hannah, Melody, and Harry's other girlfriends all listened intently to the conversation from their various spots at the edge of the pond. Luna was sitting on top of her favorite snorkack.
"Together Saphira and I can alter the curse so that you will keep your mind during your mandatory monthly change but you will also be able to transform at will during other times of the month. Each time you change you will keep your mind and have control over the beast within," Harry explained.
"How soon can you do it?" Remus asked hopefully.
Harry smiled and replied, "Remus you know me well enough by now to know the answer to that."
Remus nodded wryly and said, "You wouldn't have told us until you were ready to perform the ritual. Then let's do it please."
"Sit there," Harry directed as he drew the Elder wand and floated into the air a dozen meters. "Just let me get the appropriate setup ready."
Harry began remotely teleporting in large ritual rings made of jade, platinum, and cherry wood. It had taken the sorcerer a long time to permanently conjure that much flawless jade and platinum. Or rather it had taken his conjuration skills a long time to develop that far while drawing energy from the higher dimensions wizards utilized for power. Runes were carved into the circles. Remus completely disrobed, knowing enough about ritual magic to know clothes could hinder the spells involved.
"We are ready," Saphira announced.
"I'm not going to lie Remus…this is going to bloody hurt like hell," the Rider warned.
"Do it," Remus replied, having suffered pain all of his life during transformations.
Harry nodded in agreement before directing the Elder wand towards Remus and his other hand towards the sky. The sky in the trunk dimension darkened and bolts of brilliant energy shot out of the swirling clouds. But these bolts were not traditional lightning but pure magic drawn from the trunk's anchors in the higher dimensions. That pure magic lashed into Harry's hand and traveled through his magical core to be bent by his will. Glowing runes sped out of the Elder wand as Harry moved them. He started chanting in the Ancient language of Alagaesia, the language which had restricted all creatures of Alagaesia for millennia. The magicals present observing the ritual could all sense the power of the words and one word in particular. The true name of that Ancient language flew off the Rider's tongue. His form shifted to its natural state. The elf-like Rider's skin began to glisten with sweat and glowed with power. His mates had never desired him more as they watched on enraptured.
Remus began to float in the air horizontal to the ground, his limbs splayed out as his mouth opened in a scream that was drowned out by the volume of the chant and the energy discharges against Harry's hand. Saphira rose up on her haunches and gathered her magic. The dragon let out a massive wave of blinding white light from her maw which enveloped Remus and caused the mortals to look away. When the light cleared eighteen seconds later Remus was on the ground.
As Harry touched down Sirius rushed over to his best friend.
"Moony are you alright?" A worried Sirius asked.
Remus' eyes fluttered open and a grin slowly formed on his lips.
"I've never felt better," Remus declared as Sirius helped him sit up. "I can already feel the difference."
"You'll learn to control the change with time," Harry assured as Remus got to his feet.
"Thank you Harry," Remus said as he rushed forward and hugged Harry, picking the Rider up and squeezing him with joy.
"Remus…I think your human form strength might have been increased too," Harry suggested. Remus quickly set his friend down and apologized. Waving him off the Rider assured, "I'm fine. I'm no ordinary human myself but if I had been it would be a different story. I'll have to help you learn to control your strength. But you know what this means don't you?" Harry asked with a growing grin.
"What?" Remus questioned.
"You should be able to last longer in our duels," Harry declared with a positively feral grin.
The group laughed as Remus groaned.
"Oh Harry dear," Cho said after the laughter died down.
"Yes love?" Harry prompted.
"You're forgetting something," Ginny put forth.
"You're in your natural form," Luna pointed out.
"And you're starkers," Nym added.
"Your clothes burned off in the ritual under the power you channeled," Susan explained.
"Drat," Harry muttered without any real vehemence.
"Let's go inside shall we," Hermione suggested while taking one hand while Dianna took the other.
"Lucky bastard," Sirius muttered.
"You know Sirius…I can arrange something similar with the girls back at the shop," Melody suggested referring to the brothel she and Sirius managed.
Sirius' eyes glazed over while Hannah told her boyfriend, "Don't even think about me sharing you. You're all mine."
"I wouldn't have it any other way, love," Neville assured while wrapping one arm around his girlfriend.
"Now come on," Hannah growled while dragging her unresisting boyfriend towards the tree house Harry had set aside for their use.
Seeing the Rider in his natural form got all females hot and bothered. That didn't even take into account the effects of seeing the immortal warrior starkers and putting off such power as he had just then.
"That was highly amusing," Dianna declared as she strode out of a theater in Greater Whinging hand in hand with her boyfriend.
"But highly intriguing," Harry countered with a small grin.
The couple had just finished watching the newly released film Jurassic Park.
"Maybe," Dianna admitted while laying her head on her lover's shoulder as he led her towards a nearby park. "I find it a little hard to believe that the non-magicals could bring back the dinosaurs."
"Give them a few decades and they might surprise you. What would you do if you were faced with one of those Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaurs?" Harry queried curiously.
The Fairy Queen thought about that question for several moments.
"I would either shrink the beast then keep it as a pet…or I would ask you nicely to transport your pet Basilisk in front of me and see who wins," Dianna explained.
"Squamis would beat those clumsy dinosaurs with a doubt. Even without the killing stare a basilisk possesses there are still those fangs to consider. One bite and the T-Rex would be dead within minutes," Harry pointed out. "We could have used Squamis back in the old days in some of the wars I remember fighting in Alagaesia."
"Perhaps you are right," Dianna agreed. "Speaking of that…how are your returning memories coming along?"
Harry was silent for several moments as he conjured a picnic blanket and summoned the basket from the spot Dobby had placed it in the Rider's tree house home.
"They seem to be coming faster and faster. It's strange…I can remember all of my youth as Eragon up to and including Saphira's hatching in my first life with crystal clarity. But after that things get murky. I remember bits here and there; battles within a war, some of the terrible creatures and enemies I faced, and some of the wonders of magic I saw. The most frustrating part is I can't remember many of those closest to me except with hazy images of their features," Harry explained as the couple began to eat.
The Rider recalled the vision of the beautiful elf when he had first had Saphira hatch for him in his second life. Dianna was silent for several moments as she contemplated her lover's distressing recollections.
After swallowing the bite of her sandwich she had been chewing the fairy suggested, "I suspect the missing pieces will begin to fill themselves in soon."
"Are you just trying to comfort me or is that a premonition of the future?" Harry questioned.
Among Dianna's people there were a lot more of what the mortals referred to as Seers or close enough to it, more than with any other race.
"It's more of a gut feeling," Dianna answered.
"Does your gut feel this?" Harry asked in a suddenly playful voice.
Before Dianna could dodge Harry had surged forward and had begun to tickle her belly. The blonde broke out into giggles that were positively musical and uplifting.
"Stop it Harry," Dianna protested, trying to fend her lover off weakly.
"Not until I get a kiss," Harry replied.
Dianna pulled her mate down into a lip embrace that had the mage ceasing his actions immediately.
"You didn't have to attack me to get a kiss," Dianna pointed out when the two parted.
"But it's so much fun," Harry pointed out.
Dianna replied by sticking her tongue out and eating some more food.
"Where should we go for our next date?" The Queen queried.
"Already planning our next date? We haven't even finished this one yet. Finish up your food and I'll take you to see some real dinosaurs," Harry suggested.
"And just how do you plan to do that Mr. Potter?" Dianna probed.
"By jumping Between times of course," Harry answered. "Saphira and I have been practicing and we think we have figured out how to tweak our jumps enough so that the past we end up in is slightly parallel to our original past if we want to. That way we won't risk changing the future." Dianna began eating faster which caused her mate to laugh. "There's no need to rush. We have all the time in the universe my love," the Rider assured and went on eating at his regular pace.
Harry, Saphira, and Dianna materialized high above the outskirts of a town called Little Hangleton. After much research of Riddle's past the area had turned up as a location of interest. Riddle's maternal and paternal grandparents had lived on the outskirts of the town.
"Your compass is working," Dianna informed her boyfriend several moments after the jump Between.
The "compass" the fairy queen referred to was a construct the size of a non-magical yo-yo toy. The device which Dianna held would point towards fragments of Tom Riddle's soul when nearby and provided the fragment wasn't inside of heavy warding. A small arrow spun inside of the top cover of the compass much like a magnetic instrument of the same name. This enchanted soul tracker utilized the fragment of Riddle's soul harvested from his journal. If the soul fragment was heavily warded then the ability of the compass to track fragments and penetrate through wards was directly proportional to the magical strength of the wielder of the compass. Not many mortals were as strong as the Queen of the Fairies when it came to magic. Dianna's immortality was another reason she was tagging along on this mission. Much magic that would harm mortals would not have the same effect on Dianna.
"Good, which way?" Harry questioned.
Dianna projected a direction to dragon and Rider and the flying giant angled towards a copse of trees on the edge of the nearby forest.
"There are wards concealing the property but I can see through them," Saphira informed her Rider and his mate.
The two immortals soon saw what Saphira was talking about after she touched down and folded her wings in front of a dilapidated structure that had definitely experienced better days. The couple floated off Saphira's back but did not touch the ground. Instead the pair glided several inches above the surface. Many wards relied on intruders needing to walk on the ground.
"Well that's pleasant," Dianna suggested sarcastically as she eyed a snake carcass nailed to the front door of the former Gaunt home.
"The papers did say Riddle's uncle was a bit unhinged," Harry pointed out.
The sorcerer summoned his staff-sword in stave form and used it to push open the door. An application of his great strength saw the door give way without using active magic. The duo floated into the gloomy structure, their senses both mundane and extra-dimensional alert for the slightest indication of danger. Dianna's form glowed and provided plenty of light as did the tip of Harry's stave. The mage sensed the attack moments before the discharge of energy occurred. Red lightning smashed its way from the ceiling into the glowing shield Harry had summoned to block it. A jet of purple flame also shot up from a dragon figurine on the mantle and struck the shield. The warlock's strength did not waiver even in the face of such a brutal onslaught.
"Over there," Dianna directed after examining the compass at the end of the onslaught.
As she directed her mate both immortals sensed another surge of magic and witnessed another figurine on the mantle become active. This figurine was a snake which began to grow and grow and continued to grow until it was the size of a small basilisk.
"Enough of this shit…this place is a death trap," Harry said with the mental equivalent of a growl.
Harry wrapped his arm around Dianna's waist as the snake lunged and made them intangible. The miniature basilisk hissed in impotent rage and continued to strike as the couple flew over to a spot in the floor. The tip of Harry's stave smashed into a section of flooring and shattered the covering of the hidden compartment. A streak of black colored magic rebounded on the stave and Harry felt the energy attempting to overwhelm the enchantments on his weapon. The sorcerer channeled his power into his useful implement and overpowered the curse which he recognized as a withering curse. A flash of black energy swept out from the stave and dissipated. A ring with a black stone set upon a velvet cushion was in the hidden compartment.
"That's definitely a Horcrux," Dianna mused. "And something more," the fairy added as she picked up the power emanating from the stone portion of the ring.
The power was more than any mortal's soul fragment would give off. There was ancient magic in that stone.
"Let's get the hell out of here and worry about this thing later," Harry suggested while teleporting the ring into the same type of runic container he had used to contain the diary.
The couple then teleported back outside onto Saphira's back. The basilisk lunged out the front door and the dragon's right front paw descended on its head, crushing the serpent. There was an explosion of sickly green magic and the snake's carcass dissipated. Dianna cast a fairy enchantment to alert her and her mate if anyone breached the concealing wards on the property. Saphira sprang aloft and went Between.
"I never thought I would return here," Sirius declared as he and his godson materialized from Between on a particular street on the outskirts of London.
Saphira circled high above with Dianna and Nym on her back. The two beauties were back-up although they would probably not be needed.
"Given what you have told me about this place I am not surprised," Harry answered.
Number Twelve Grimmauld Place stood out as a black mar on Sirius' past. Although it had been the place where he had grown up it had not been a happy place. Sirius laid a hand on his godson's shoulder as the pair walked towards the dark structure that the non-magicals who lived around seemed to ignore. The hand on his shoulder would allow Harry to navigate through the wards without any of the nastier side effects the Blacks had planned for intruders. On their hunt for Horcruxes, Dianna and Harry had tracked one of the soul fragments to the structure in front of them. Deciding to air on the side of caution the pair had then decided to ask Sirius if he knew who the home belonged to since it was clearly magical and ancient. Sirius had claimed the house as now belonging to him and insisted on coming along.
Dressed in a long dragon hide black duster and much recovered from his time in Azkaban thanks to the love of Melody and the potions brewed by his prodigal godson Sirius Black now struck an imposing figure. When he reached the front door Sirius grasped the ornate door knob and felt it take a small measure of his blood. Immediately Sirius felt the wards of the property shift to him. Sirius pushed the door open and stepped inside. Ready for anything Harry reacted immediately when something materialized in front of him with a loud pop. The ancient house elf was eviscerated by a brilliant blue curse within a fraction of a second. The disturbance caused the curtains to fly open on a magical portrait on the first landing of the long staircase inside the magically expanded house. The portrait's occupant began screaming.
"WHO DARES DEFILE MY HOUSE?! BLOOD TRAITORS, OATH BREAKERS, MUDBLOODS," Walburga Black shouted from her portrait.
With a vindictive smirk and ignoring the remains of Kreacher the house elf which his godson had just killed Sirius strode up the stairs to the first landing and stopped to smirk at his mother.
"Hello mother," Sirius greeted joyfully.
"YOU! HOW DARE YOU ENTER HERE," Walburga shouted. Sirius drew his wand and cast a charm to vanish the painting. Nothing happened. Sirius tried a bevy of other magics with similar lack of results. Now it was time for the painting to smirk. "That won't work," the witch assured at less than the full volume she had proven capable of.
Harry strode up the steps and joined his godfather. The Rider reached out with his hands and began feeling the charms preserving the painting in place.
"Do you have something, pup?" Sirius asked as Walburga looked confused.
"Oh yeah," Harry confirmed after finding the places where the enchantments secured the painting to the wall and made the portrait nigh invulnerable.
The sorcerer channeled his power through his Gedwey Ignasia and twisted it to his will. The anchors holding the painting in place unraveled.
"IT'S NOT POSSIBLE!" Walburga screamed as her portrait came free from the wall.
Now that the charms protecting it were unraveled the portrait was easily silenced and shrunken. Harry handed the painting to his godfather now the size of a postage stamp.
"Do with it what you will," Harry suggested.
"Sometimes it's really great having you as a godson," Sirius declared with a grin while pocketing the painting. "Almost all of the time in fact," the animagus added.
"I introduced you to your girlfriend and a brothel full of attractive witches. It better be great," Harry pointed out. "Now let's get searching for that Horcrux. I think my compass isn't going to be of much help with all of the black magic this house has saturated within its walls."