Loki: Loki can communicate both silently in italic with Harry when the situation calls for it or he can talk normally.
Hogwarts Population: I always thought that the Hogwarts population was low. I won't bore the reader with numbers but in my AU every house has an average of twenty five students. The reader may do the math. Add to the fact there was a huge baby boom after Voldemort's destruction and that there could be families returning after having fled England to escape the war. That is my excuse to have larger numbers in Hogwarts during the story although it's more a background fact than it will have an effect on the story.
Harry Potter Starhunter
Note: Harry will remain within the wizarding world for a short time. I won't waste too much time there. I want too move on to kick some Goa'uld ass. I don't like Dumbledore. The fact that he left Harry behind at the Dursleys without making sure they are decent people is enough for me to classify him as a bastard. The punishment he'll get is enough I think. There will not be too much bashing. Harry will get a slight harem. Nothing too much though. This chapters explains his rise to power. His own will be his base of power.
"I wish I had a friend." Harry Potter thought to himself. Today had once again reminded him of the fact that he couldn't have any friends, courtesy of one Dudley Dursley. There was this new boy that had just moved here. Not knowing that talking with Harry was taboo among the school childeren Harry had hoped that he may have a friend now. But by the time the day was over, the boy had been scared by Dudley and his gang. Harry didn't understand why he wasn't allowed to have friends. Was it that much for him to have a single friend? To have someone that would help him no matter what? To have someone to play with?
The more Harry was thinking about it the more upset he got. The small boy was unaware that through his silent ranting he was beginning to glow slightly. Thankfully he was alone in the park so nobody was there to see it happening.
To use magic you had to have the intent to have it happen and the willpower to make it happen. Currently Harry had plenty of that. Harry's magic sensed what his host desired so it tried its best to comply with that desire. It stretched its senses wider and wider, using the power of the wards and magic that was natural to the area to boost it. It didn't take long before Harry's magic had stretched beyond the local cities and into Scotland. Harry's magic found exactly what it was looking for. A young magical female Golden Eagle. Harry's magic connected with the young bird to see if it wanted to be the familiar of a young wizard.
The bird sensed the call of magic and responded to it immediately. Since the majestic bird could hunt rabbits and even birds there was no risk for it to fall without food. Now that it had found a suitable familiar, Harry's magic had accomplished its host's desire.
Harry's magic which was more self aware than usual concluded that a bird alone wouldn't be enough. If it's host was active in the magical community it wouldn't be that bad, but since his host was living in a non magical community the bird could cause quit a bit of mayhem. Especially if they discovered its magical properties. Harry's magic analyzed the situation and concluded that its host needed a force multiplier of some kind. Something to protect himself with and to protect his new friend.
But the call of the bird had drained a fair amount of magic out of the magic that Harry had naturally available. It calculated how much it would need and concluded that it would need about a third of the magic that still resided within Harry's body. To make sure that nothing would go wrong, Harry's magic tried to increase the regeneration of Harry's magic. In other words, Harry's natural reserves would refill more quickly than before.
Harry's magic set to work to accomplish both goals. It would still have enough magic available to accomplish both goals. Harry's internal magic flared and attacked the 'faulty' genes within his body. Harry had long since fallen asleep so he didn't notice that he was changing and maturing in appearance. Harry's magic removed all taint that came from living at the Dursleys. All traces of malnourishment were removed as the magic provided what his body needed.
The healthier a body is the more quickly the magic regenerates. So the first objective was well on its way to be accomplished. The magic was already spend to complete the procedure so now it had more than enough time to start on its last objective. But first it had to figure out what it needed and what it would do to accomplish this.
Harry's already had concluded that it needed a force multiplier of some sort. And it had already calculated that it would need about a third of Harry's natural reserves. The question was actually: 'What would this force multiplier be?'
Harry's magic repeated its earlier act and extended it senses, using the natural magic and the natural veins of magic that resided within the Earth. Using the raw magic that was within these veins Harry's magic was growing to swallow the entire world. All of the data that it sensed was being saved and put on the side. No human could survive this much raw data. It needed a way to save all of the raw data that it had gathered already. So it needed to be a mechanical creature of some kind. Maybe a hybrid between technology and magic?
A moment later Harry's magic had found its answer. It retracted its magic from around the world and gathered it to create a creature that would serve as the force multiplier it had needed. This creature would be able to shift into any form as long as it could absorb enough raw mass and magic to do so.
Harry's magic fed the creature about a third of Harry's magic which was enough to have it shift into a small snake. The snake would use the magic it had available to make itself unnoticeable. Nobody would be able to see the snake that its human did not like. And it had plenty of magic to shift into a larger snake capable of swallowing a human with ease. Or even a human snake hybrid if it came down to it.
Harry's magic checked on how far the healing was going and if it had been able to nod in satisfaction it would have done so. What had been a small boy only an hour earlier was now what Harry had been supposed to be. Harry still looked like the pre-teen of nine years old that he was, but at the same time you could say that he was well on his way in becoming a teenager. When Harry's magic had swallowed the whole world for a few moments, it had gathered gigantic amounts of data. Among that data were hundreds of different martial arts styles. And self defense was something its host could use right about now.
Harry woke when something was poking him in the side. He glanced at the sky and stood quickly when he realized he had been sleeping for several hours. That was when he noticed the changed.
"What the heck?" Harry looked down and began panicking. "What happened to me? Why did I change like this? This isn't normal is it?"
Harry took several deep breaths to calm himself down. Knowledge that he did not have before came to the front of his mind. "I don't know how I know all this stuff but I suppose that if I do some of those martial arts moves I might calm down a bit?"
Even though the information was imprinted on him, it did not mean that Harry was a full martial artists. He knew several tactics by instincts, and he still looked graceful, but to any martial artist he would be raping the whole style. When Harry had calmed down enough to remember the poking from earlier, he opened his eyes to look for it.
He opened his eyes to look at what had tugged at his pants when he noticed the creature sitting at his feet. Harry didn't know HOW he knew it, but something told him that this creature would never hurt him. The creature moved around to eat the grass which caused it to grow in mass. Harry was too surprised to do anything but watch. After several long moments it stopped eating and shifted into something else. The creature shifted into several forms until it finally settled on a young kitten.
"Only you will be able to see me."
Harry did not consider that it wasn't exactly normal for any animal to be unnoticeable. Nor did it occur to him that most animals didn't speak either. Harry simply did not care. Harry was way too happy that he now apparently had a friend. And he still hadn't met the bird that his magic had summoned to be his magical and public familiar.
"What else can you do?" Harry whispered to his new friend.
"I can make more of myself if I'm able to increase my mass or if you feed your magic into me. My magical reserves are currently at one hundred percent. On top of that I have an emergency reserve of twenty percent of my maximum power."
"Magic?" Harry blinked several times. "Did I understand what it said right? Did it say magic? And what did it mean that I can feed it my magic? Hell how do I even HAVE magic in the first place?"
Harry was shaken from his thoughts when the cat said something to him.
"You have still a great amount of magic available my Creator. Did you not know that you had it?"
Harry shook his head. He felt like he was about to pass out from shock. Since he had asked himself how he was supposed to feed the new cat magic, information came to the front again. This time it was not martial arts but theory's about internal magic and how to manipulate it. These books were from the middle east and were not easy to find, but Harry didn't know that. His magic had all books available that were currently written. Hell it had any and all written forms available. Journals, notes and anything else. Harry didn't know this, and his magic wanted its host to learn by himself and not from existing idea's.
When more dangerous topics were needed it would provide some information to make sure that magic's host wouldn't hurt himself. The information he now knew were facts that appeared like he had just remembered them. Like a childhood memory that pops up when you are talking about things. The knowledge he had 'remembered' were from several books that theorized the use of internal magic. The books discussed the possibilities to heal, enhance your natural strength, speed and hand eye coordination. These specific books came from all over the world. Books that were rare because they were either too old to be sold or simply weren't sold enough. Harry did remember the 'whole' books but didn't remember them in context. That meant that when he had a theory he would 'remember' facts and theories that applied to whatever it was that he was thinking.
Harry pushed it to the back of his mind for the moment. He wanted to keep his attention to this conversation for the moment. The rest could wait.
"what about the mass thingy you were talking about?" Harry asked finally.
"I am an exception to what I'm going to explain to you Master. I can 'grow' naturally as a normal cat would age so will I but only in appearance. I cannot be destroyed or killed unless you choose too destroy me. If I need to grow bigger, or larger in mass then I need to 'absorb' or eat things. I can eat anything I wish. High quality stone for example will be more efficient than loose sand. The result will be the same except that I will need to 'eat' more of the sand than the high quality stone."
Harry blinked. He looked at the ground in the park. It's grass hadn't been cut for what seemed to be months. "So if you eat the grass here you'll increase in mass as well?"
"Yes." It agreed solemnly. "I mentioned earlier that I am an exception to the rule of my kind. I can create more of myself, but unless I want them to be like me, they can only grow in size if they absorb mass."
"And what are you exactly?" Harry asked the cat. "Note to self: I need to find a name for... him or her."
"I don't really have a name to be honest." It admitted. "You can give my kind a name since you brought me into existence. You are the only one that can command us unless you assign a commander, and even then it will be very limited."
"So only you will be aware then?" Harry asked the cat again. "Unless you tell me to create a new one than yes." It agreed.
"What If I ask you to create new 'aware' ones that have specific knowledge but are still under you? Like a..." Harry couldn't put a name on it because he wasn't sure if there was a word for it in the first place. Thankfully, the cat knew what Harry was thinking so it supplied the word that Harry was looking for. "Did you mean hierarchy?"
"I eh think so. Does it have to do with ranks?"
"Yes it does." The unnamed cat agreed.
Huffing, Harry decided to repeat what he was saying. "What if I wanted you to create new underlings that had a specialty in various things? They could each have their own people so that only reliable information is shared with me."
The unnamed cat nodded slowly. "I suppose that's a good idea. Although for now those aren't needed."
Harry nodded as well. "I know, but its something to consider." he told her. "Talking about considering, we need a name for you." Harry decided.
"Do you have a name?" he asked the cat. "I do not have a name yet Creator. I don't have a personal name nor do I have a name to identify my race with."
"The name of your race shall be called Replicators. And those stupid replicators that are not aware will be called 'drones' because that's what they are, aren't they?" Harry half asked half stated.
And after a moment of thought he had decided on the name for the cat itself.
"Your name shall be Loki. Because you are much more than meets the eye. And I read about Loki in one of the schoolbooks. Not wasting any time, Harry asked several other questions.
"Can you still shift into other forms? Say forms that are a lot bigger than you currently are?"
"I can currently shift into any form that is smaller than I'm currently without needing more mass. If I want to shift into large animal like a giraffe for example I would need to absorb a lot of mass before I can do it. I do not have any limitations in the forms I choose. There is one slight limit though. If the animal has a certain poison I have to 'absorb' it first before I have the poison myself."
Harry blinked. "Does that mean you can absorb living creatures as well?" Harry demanded. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.
"Yes Master. And as a bonus, anything that the absorbed creatures knew will be transferred to the replicator that absorbed it. And those memories, skills and other things will be be known to you. While you will be unable to mimic these things yourself, you will know what your replicators will be able to do. Until you can learn how to absorb creatures yourself that will have to do. And because you are our creator, it is very possible that you may be able to shift into different forms. Although I am unable to stick a number to it."
"If a drone replicator would absorb a crow, than it would only be able to shift into a crow. A drone can only shift into one animal. If it absorbs a new animal than it will loose its other form. Unless you upgrade the drone to a higher form that is able to shift into more than one form." Loki explained.
"The crow-drone-replicator will be able to change its appearance, sharpen its claws and beak, fly faster, higher, enhance its eyes so that it'll see more and finally: it will be able to share anything it hears or see's with me. And since I know anything you know... I will inform you immediately if there is a piece of information that you need." Loki finished.
"I myself am able to shift into any form that is smaller than my current or my future adult form. If I need to shift into form that is bigger than my adult form I can use my magical reserves to grow to that size although that is for an emergency alone. Doing this will require high amounts of magic and will most likely drain my magical reserves to dangerously low levels Master." Loki warned.
"Why do you call me Master?" Harry asked. Not sure if he liked it or not.
"Because that is what you are. You are not an enemy and you aren't an ally either. You are my Creator and thus you are my Master." Loki told Harry seriously.
"So I'm not your friend?" Harry asked. Tears begun to appear in the corners of his eyes but he blinked them away angrily.
Loki was speechless. He had been created solely for the point in accompanying the creator. That meant that the Creator was his Master. A friend implied that Loki himself had a say in the matter as well. And that was not allowed. So if Loki could make his master feel better by substituting master with friend. Harry would still be his master.
"I AM your friend Master. I will be whatever you wish me to be, but you created me therefore you are Master. You created me to be your friend. And I shall be your friend for as long as you'll have me. But you are STILL Master. Anything you tell me to do will happen if it is within my power to do so."
Harry Potter began to smile widely. His tears long gone. He was too happy to care about some stupid details. He had a friend! He. Had. A. Friend! He, Harry Potter the black sheep and unwanted child had a friend! But then he remembered his relatives and their attitude to him. His new memories confirmed that their attitude wasn't normal but he wasn't sure how to deal with it.
Looking at his new friend he decided to see if he maybe knew an answer. "I suppose there isn't a way to make my relatives be nice to me?"
His companion seemed to be thinking about it. "I can do that I suppose. I would need a lot more mass first though." Loki admitted. "That, and I wish to merge with you so that I have better access to your magical reserves."
"Merge with me? What's that mean?" Harry asked. "I am a creation of magic Master. More to the point: I am a creation of YOUR magic. The magic that you control is not self aware, I on the other hand am self aware. If I am allowed to merge with you I will leave a part of me behind and that will help you direct your magic. I will help you direct your magic until you can do so on your own. When that happens your magic will respond to your desires and your intent."
Harry was silent. He needed time to absorb it and realize just what Loki was telling him.
"Think of that small part of me as that symbiont from the comic spiderman." Loki offered helpfully.
"I will be able to mimic some of that. I will be able to create your magic and create weapons that will self destruct after a set time."
Harry's eyes widened when he finally realized what it would allow him to do. "WICKED!" He cried. "Alright! Do it. Do it. DO IT!" He demanded suddenly.
If a cat were able to shrug it would've done so. The cat came a bit closer and touched a part of his skin. Loki seemed to become a liquid of some kind and allowed himself to be absorb completely within his Master.
Once he was absorbed he allowed himself to be spread throughout the whole body before leaving again.
"It is done." Loki declared when he had shifted back into his cat form.
"Really? I don't feel any different." Harry protested. "You wouldn't feel any different. Your magic reserves are getting low, but once you took a nap or rested some you will feel the difference. Trust me."
"I trust you." Harry said quickly.
"Now... For some decent clothes.." Loki muttered. Harry felt something beneath his skin but the feeling vanished quickly. For a moment all of his clothing was destroyed so that he was left in his birthday suit. New clothes appeared in their place. Harry now wore a short that fit him, decent socks that fit nicely over his feet and shoe's that looked like they could handle a thousand miles and then some.
Harry wore a simple t-shirt with the symbol of spiderman on it. The clothes were directed by Harry's wants although he didn't know that was the case.
Now that Loki had enough magic available, with enough to spare so it could regenerate he created twelve drones.
"What are they?" Harry whispered.
"These are the 'stupid' replicators that you called drones." Loki explained.
The twelve drones began their assigned duties: replicating as quickly as possible. The high grass was cut down very quickly. It was only due to Harry's magic that nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be happening.
"What are they doing?" He asked with fascination.
"They are replicating." Loki explained. "Normally they are a lot smaller, but this way they can use their mass to replicate even faster. Once they have gathered enough mass they should shift into a special squad of twelve I just came up with. I call them 'hunters."
The drone replicators increased in number so quickly that nearly the entire field was already empty of grass. It was cut down as short as a freshly cut field. The others moved to the other vegetation that should've been removed months ago.
"What do you wish the idle ones to do?" Loki asked Harry.
"They need mass so they can multiply right?" Harry remembered the fact from earlier.
"Yes." Loki agreed. "Just like they can shift into biological creatures once they've absorbed one they can also turn into technology using the same concept. Although there is no shift limit because any technology that is absorbed is shared with the rest of the drones. Even better is that if they absorb multiple copies of a device they can improve it as well. From say a cheap and an expensive watch. If they absorb a copy of each, they will be able to improve the cheap watch." Loki explained again. The same goes for magical devices. Once absorbed they can replicate it and if they absorb several versions of the device they can attempt too improve it.
"Then I want more drones available first." Harry decided firmly. Immediately the hundred idle copies burrowed into the ground to gathered the best resources they could sense. And that was beneath the ground.
"Maybe they can make a secret hideout as well that only I could access?" Harry half asked as an afterthought.
"They will replicate first until they have sufficient number to begin the construction of your hideout Master." Loki reported.
"You called me Master again!" Harry accused.
"I... am sorry but it's my nature to call you that. I can't help it."
When Loki noticed the look of his human he sighed. "How about a compromise then? When you give orders I will call you Master but when we are communicating I will do my very best to call you Harry. How does that sound?"
Harry's bright smile was more than answer enough.
"What about these then?" Harry pointed to the twelve different looking bug looking replicators.
"These are the 'hunter' class replicators I mentioned earlier." Loki explained. "You wanted your aunt and uncle to be nice to you right? These hunters are designed to 'merge' with their targets and manipulate them in ways of your choosing. It can be from simple jobs as being polite to you, or in more extreme cases -in which case more hunters are needed- you can order them to do anything you want and they'll do it. The latter will be expensive though. A single drone is worth nearly a hundred drones."
Harry blinked. "But if they can replicate so quickly why would I mind the cost?"
Loki sighed. "Because resources will not be available forever. For now I doubt it will make any difference but in the long run..."
"These twelve will split into three groups of four. They will 'sting' their targets and vanish into their systems. Four are enough to make the host ignore, or do some minor things. They can be made to forget about things too. You can give them orders, or make suggestions and they'll think that it was their own idea in the first place." Loki explained to Harry.
"The more hunters they have within their systems, the less likely they will be able to resist. Or if you want to create a high class hunter this can be done in one sting as well."
"And if I use more hunters, but want the same effect as very few hunters? Until I need more control?" Harry suggested.
Loki shrugged. "If that is what you wish than that is what will happen."
"Four hunters for non magical people will be more than enough. In this case they will be able to dominate your so called 'family'."
Harry nodded slowly. "Alright, but for now I only want them to be decent with me. But if they happen to embarrass themselves every now and then and are fully aware that it was a real accident then so much the better." He added as an afterthought.
The hunters hadn't moved since they were talking so Harry pointed that out.
"What are they waiting for?" Harry asked his friend when the bugs didn't move.
"We are waiting for our orders Master." The idle bugs answered together.
"Find my aunt, uncle and cousin and merge with them!" Harry ordered them.
The bugs changed in size and gained wings and then they shot away. Their size was deceiving as they could use their magic reserves to increase their size. Once they entered the bodies of their targets, their victims would be helpless to resist.
A part of Harry protested at what the bugs would do. But that part was unheard. Harry's desire to have his family be nice to him was unwilling to compromise.
The insects made their way to their masters house and found their targets. They split in three different groups and 'stung' their targets immediately being absorbed in their bloodstream. Dudley was with several friends so the last bug send a report for more so they could be infected as well. The former tormentors of their Master deserved no less.
"Master, do you wish me to take control of the hunters or do you want to decide who is infected or not?"
Harry shrugged. "You decide." he told Loki. "Only ask me if they are people I know."
"I wish to infect Dudley's minions." Harry snorted in amusement. "Dudley's minions eh? That sounds about right. They are certainly as dumb as the average minion in general." Harry thought to himself.
"Go ahead." Harry agreed. "Come to think of it, don't infect anyone unless you are sure it will benefit me. And only infect those that were unfair to me. Anyone else I want to be informed of if I meet them." Harry added as an afterthought again.
Loki nodded and gave the necessary orders. A moment later two dozen hunters emerged from the ground and shot to towards their targets.
"I want you to take a hundred drones or so and take control of small animals and birds in the area. This way I know what's going on." Harry told Loki.
Again, a hundred drones appeared out of the ground, shifted into bugs as well and flew into every direction in search for birds, rabbits and even dogs and cats.
"I want another special type." Harry decided. "These will be called spies and they will be purely meant to take control of animals to be my ears and eyes in the area. Technically they are the same as drones with the exception that they will remain in their shifted form to send me what they hear and see." Harry told Loki.
"It is done already." Loki informed him. "Your aunt, uncle and cousin each have four hunters merged with their systems. Dudley's former gang does as well. They will leave you alone or you could order them to terrorize other kids to take revenge on them abandoning you like that."
Harry smiled. "That's okay. I'm more than happy if they leave me alone so I can enjoy myself."
As more time went by, Harry learned to make full use of his new minions. Harry wanted to be friends with them first, but it was difficult being a friend to a drone that was as smart as a bug with the exception that it obeyed his commands. By the time six months had passed, Harry had hundreds if not thousands of replicators under his commands. By then he knew a lot of what was going on in England.
The replicators remained out of sight as they kept building his underground hideout. As Harry learned more about the world, he grew to care less and less. There was so much horror and suffering in the world, and those that had money to spare simply ignored it. As he grew older it started to bother him more and more until he decided he would be like Robin Hood. He would steal from the rich and give to the poor. That meant he needed a hideout as well as allies besides the replicators.