Harry had not known true fury since the war. Not the kind that shook the marrow, that clawed in his chest with talons of fear and love tangled together. But when Artemis delivered Andromeda and Teddy home after the hydra attack, when Harry saw the scorch on Andromeda's sleeve and the tremor Teddy tried so hard to hide, it rose in him like a storm.
That night, after making sure Teddy was asleep with the phoenix chick nestled against his cheek, Harry stood long in the doorway, watching. They went after him, he thought, jaw tight. They didn't care that he isn't a demigod. They didn't care that Andi can't even see them clearly. They would have taken him.
He swore then that it would never happen again.
The next morning, Harry retreated to the workshop buried in the eastern wing of the Black Mansion. Few entered it — not even Kreacher — for this was Harry's sanctum. Tables stretched beneath shelves of rare metals and crystalline vials, runic tomes stacked like bricks. Charcoal sketches of sigils covered parchment pinned to the walls. A soft hum filled the room, the lingering resonance of wards Harry had anchored into every stone.
He lit no lamps; instead, a globe of light floated over his shoulder, following him as he paced. His wand hovered between his fingers, but his hands worked with mundane tools: pliers, files, chisels etched with faint runes.
"Notice-me-not is child's play," he muttered, flipping open a grimoire with his elbow. "But this isn't about Muggles. This is about monsters."
He remembered how the hydra had targeted Andromeda despite the Mist. How Teddy had nearly been struck. He thought of Sally, of Percy, of the Grangers who had uprooted their lives to follow Hermione and Rose. Ordinary lives would not save them. Ordinary wards would not protect them.
"This must be different," he whispered. "Something they can't sense. Not a ward around a house, not a glamour. A veil."
For three days, he barely emerged. Kreacher left food outside the door, muttering about mad Masters and burned fingers. Teddy knocked once, softly, and Harry pressed a pendant, half-shaped, into his hand with a smile. "It's not ready yet, Teddy-bear. But it will be."
On the fourth dawn, his hands blistered and his eyes burning, Harry set the last rune into silver. Sparks hissed, then cooled. He held up a chain, simple to mortal eyes, but thrumming with hidden power. Inside it was a spell of absence: a weaving of runes that bent not sight but attention, that told the world, you do not need to see this one.
By nightfall, he had twelve.
In the grand hall, the family gathered. Hermione sat with Rose nestled at her breast, Emma at her side. Dan stood stiff, uncertain but resolute. Andromeda crossed her arms, hiding the ache in her shoulder. Teddy bounced on the settee, eager-eyed. Sally leaned on Percy's chair, pride and fatigue in her face.
Harry laid the pendants out on the table, each one gleaming faintly. "These are for all of you. Teddy, Andromeda, Sally, Percy, Hermione, Rose, Dan, Emma… every one of us who could be targeted. They'll make monsters pass you by as if you were air. They won't smell you. They won't see you. You'll be shadows."
Hermione frowned slightly. "Harry… does it really work?"
"That's what we'll find out," he replied evenly.
The bell at the door rang, and Thalia strode in, her silver circlet catching the light. She carried herself like a soldier, but when she saw Teddy she ruffled his hair with a grin. "Heard you had a run-in. You're tougher than you look, kid."
Teddy beamed. "I stayed!"
Thalia raised her brows at Harry. "And I heard you're making something new."
Harry held one pendant out to her. "Test it."
She weighed it in her hand, the silver chain glinting across her palm. "What does it do?"
"Wards monsters off," Harry explained. "Not like a fight. Like you were never there in the first place."
Thalia's grin sharpened. "I like that. Sounds like cheating." She looped it around her neck.
They chose the ruins at the edge of the city, a place Thalia knew swarmed with creatures. From the roof of the Black Mansion, Harry opened an Iris message, projecting the scene in a shimmer so everyone could watch.
Thalia crouched on a cracked overpass, wolves prowling below — not ordinary wolves, but hellhounds with eyes like coals. Farther off, a cyclops lumbered, sniffing the air. A pair of empousai clung to the shadows, waiting to pounce.
Harry's hand gripped the edge of the table. "Stay calm…"
Thalia walked straight into the midst of them.
The hellhounds didn't flinch. One even padded past her, sniffing the ground where she stood, then loped away as if she were wind. The cyclops squinted, frowned, then sat down heavily, confused. The empousai glanced right through her, their hungry smiles faltering as if they'd lost the scent.
Back at the Mansion, the room fell into stunned silence.
Thalia tilted her head, smirked into the Iris mist, and gave a lazy salute. "Not even a twitch. Harry, you've outdone yourself."
Teddy whooped, jumping up and down. "It works! It really works!"
Andromeda exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she'd held. Sally covered her mouth, tears springing to her eyes. Hermione leaned forward, whispering, "Oh, Harry…"
Harry's jaw unclenched slowly. Relief seeped into him like water into dry soil. For the first time since the hydra, he let himself breathe.
When Thalia returned, she clasped Harry's shoulder. "Keep making these. You've just given mortals a chance in a war they can't even see."
Harry only nodded, though pride and weariness warred in his eyes.
Sally hugged Percy tightly. "I'm glad you had that necklace before. But this—" She looked at Harry, smiling through tears. "This is more than protection. This is peace of mind."
Percy held the pendant Harry had given him long ago, then slipped the new one over his neck. "Guess I'm double invisible now." He grinned at Teddy. "Race you to see who monsters ignore first."
Everyone laughed, the tension breaking at last.
And in the corner, Kreacher polished one of the pendants with reverence. "The Black Lord protects his house," he muttered proudly. "No beasts will touch them. No sewer will dare."
Harry looked around the table: Andromeda steady, Sally glowing with resolve, Percy smirking, Hermione watching Rose, Dan and Emma leaning close to each other, Teddy still bouncing with joy.
The storm in his chest eased. He had made something stronger than wards and spells. He had given them safety.
And in that moment, Harry swore he would never stop.
The long oak dining table in the Black Mansion stretched nearly end to end in the hall, and tonight it was alive with warmth. Platters of roast chicken, bowls of buttery potatoes, loaves of Andromeda's bread fresh from the café, and steaming vegetables filled every inch. Kreacher, though grumbling about "wasteful humans," had polished every fork and goblet to mirror shine.
The family gathered: Sally and Percy at one end, Hermione with Rose in her arms, the Grangers beside her, Andromeda presiding with an air of quiet satisfaction. Harry sat at the head, Teddy bouncing at his right, eyes darting to every dish as though wondering how much he could sneak before bedtime.
The chatter filled the room — Sally telling Andromeda about a new recipe she wanted to try at the café, Emma laughing at Teddy's latest "hero stories," Percy describing his new school with a shrug and half-smile. It was warm, ordinary, almost too ordinary for a house that daily saw gods at its threshold.
Until Percy picked up a plate.
Not just any plate — the largest he could find. He began spooning small portions of everything onto it. Roast chicken. Mashed potatoes. Bread. A slice of beef. Vegetables he normally pushed to the edge of his dish. Even fish — and Teddy frowned immediately, whispering to Harry.
"Daddy, Percy doesn't like fish. He hates fish. Why's he taking it?"
Harry frowned too, watching. Percy's face was calm, determined. When he had gathered enough, he stood, holding it carefully, and walked straight to the fireplace.
The conversation quieted. Chairs scraped faintly as everyone turned to watch. Percy knelt before the flames. Without a word, he tipped the plate into the fire. Meat and bread and fish slid into the blaze. Instead of crackling, the fire glowed brighter, its orange turning to a strange golden hue. A faint scent — salt, seaweed, brine — rippled through the hall.
Percy closed his eyes and whispered words too soft to hear. For a heartbeat, silence fell across the table, broken only by the steady hiss of the fire. And then, the food was gone. Not burned, not charred — gone, as though it had slipped beneath the waves.
Percy rose and brushed his hands, then turned back to the table.
Harry spoke first, his voice calm but edged with curiosity. "Percy… what was that?"
The boy blinked at him, surprised the others didn't understand. "I was making an offering. For my father."
The words rang like a stone dropped in still water. Harry's fork froze halfway to his mouth. He looked at Sally, whose eyes were steady, though her fingers curled nervously around her glass.
"You told him," Harry said quietly.
Sally nodded. "He deserved to know."
Percy slid back into his chair, his face calm but his eyes bright with a strange pride. "Mom told me who my dad is. Poseidon. Lord of the Seas." His voice trembled on the last words, half awe, half defiance, as if daring anyone to tell him it was wrong.
Teddy gaped, his spoon clattering against his plate. "You mean your dad is a god? A real god? Like my Aunties?!"
Percy grinned, a little sheepish but also glowing. "Yeah. That's why I can breathe underwater and why I'm good with the pool. Makes sense, right?"
Hermione bit her lip, holding Rose closer. Emma and Dan exchanged a glance, both of them pale, as if they feared what that name meant.
Harry leaned back, exhaling slowly. He had known this day would come. He had hoped it would be later. "Percy…" His voice softened. "Do you understand what this means? Monsters will come after you now. They'll know who you are."
"I know," Percy said simply. "But I'm not scared."
Harry looked at Sally again, but she met his eyes without flinching. "I told him the truth because I couldn't keep it from him forever. And I wanted him to understand his father before he hated him for being absent."
Harry pressed his lips together. His anger wasn't at Sally, not truly. It was fear, knotted deep. He thought of the hydra. Of Teddy's terrified eyes. Of how Percy had lived a mortal's life until now.
But then his hand brushed against the chain under his collar, where one of his pendants lay. He remembered the test with Thalia, how she had walked through monsters unseen.
Percy's pendant would hide him. It would keep him safe.
Harry's voice steadied. "You're right, Sally. He deserves to know. And he deserves to live without fear."
Percy tilted his head, curious. "You mean the pendant, don't you?"
Harry nodded. "With it, the monsters won't even see you. You'll be safe. Safer than most demigods ever dream of being."
Percy fingered the silver chain around his neck, the pendant gleaming faintly in the firelight. His eyes softened. "Then maybe I can still be normal, even if I'm not."
Harry reached across the table, resting a hand on his shoulder. "You're never going to be normal, Percy. But you can be safe. And you'll never face it alone."
The room settled again, the tension ebbing. Teddy leaned forward, whispering to Percy with wide eyes. "Does this mean… you're like a prince of the sea?"
Percy laughed. "I guess you could say that."
"Cool!" Teddy said, practically bouncing. "Then I'm your knight, okay? I'll fight monsters with you!"
Harry smiled faintly, though his eyes darkened with thought. He would never let Teddy fight monsters. But the promise between the boys — between cousins, almost brothers — was something he would not break.
And as the fire dimmed back to ordinary orange, Harry knew the world had shifted again. Percy had made his first offering, acknowledged his lineage. The sea god had felt it, surely.
The game had changed.
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