Previous chapter: There was a short recap at the end of the chapter what happened. So read that part if you want to be reminded.
Harry James Potter
Main character. Harry is going to try to get the world under one banner: his.
Loki
When Harry was younger he wanted a friend. Magic provided that friend and created an intelligent creature out of magic. Loki shifted into a cat shortly afterwards. Loki can STILL shift into whatever shape HE or SHE wishes. Loki can be both genders and Harry refers to him or her as his or her voice changes.
Normally I'll refer to Loki as a GIRL. But if I make a mistake I have at least an excuse... Héhéhé
The unnamed Bird
I mentioned a bird in the beginning of the story and haven't mentioned him/her since. It isn't Hedwig because I think she deserves a separate character. What happened to him or her is a surprise. I simply didn't have a reason to mention him or her yet.
/Start Chapter\
It didn't take long for Harry to locate an empty compartment. It also didn't take long for him to install himself with a good book he had bought. Terry Goodkind was a decent author and the first few chapters had definitely caught his attention. Harry was still trying to figure out which house suited him best. Before Harry could come to an answer he was distracted from his thoughts by a firm yet polite knock on the door.
"At least some of these kids have some manners." Harry thought to himself. Just after the train had left someone had tried to enter compartment. When the door refused to open the rude kid had been tugging and even hitting the door in frustration. Whoever it was had given up after a while.
'Come in' He called shortly.
The door opened to reveal a boy his own age accompanied by two bodyguards. The first boy had blonde hair that was obviously something the boy was proud off. It was well taken care off. The other two kids that were escorting him looked like nothing but big muscle. Big muscle and little brain.
"Looks can be deceiving young master." Loki reminded him gently but firmly. "Don't let yourself get arrogant now." The cat warned with with a mischievous smile.
Harry shook himself from his thoughts when the boy asked him something. "Sorry, but what did you say? I was a bit distracted." Harry apologized.
"Can we come in?" The blonde repeated. The question was asked with more than a hint of annoyance in it. The question was still asked politely so Harry didn't mind much. Besides, he should have paid more attention. Still... Perhaps the non caring attitude would do for now?
Harry shrugged. "Sure. Whatever." He muttered. While it was said in a tone of non interest, Harry allowed a touch of amusement in his body language. It was obvious that this kid was raised with a lot of good teachers. So Harry was quit curious how well he could read body language. Although seeing this blonde did remind him that all the 'infected' childeren were completely unaware of the hunters in their bloodstream.
"Maybe I can mess with his head a little?" Harry thought to himself. "Loki, is it possible to send my thoughts to this kid and receive his thoughts in return?"
There was a short silence. Loki was obviously trying to figure it out.
'Yes.' Loki agreed.
'On both accounts.' She added.
"How do I do this? Harry asked the cat.
'Focus on your target and think silently. I'll do the rest.' Loki explained shortly.
"Perfect." Harry thought to himself.
It had only been a few seconds on the outside.
"I'm Draco Malfoy." Blondie introduced himself. "These two are Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. They and their families have been firm allies of our family for generations." The blonde explained. "Don't let their appearance fool you though." He added with a smirk.
Harry observed the boy coolly. "Let's see how much I can mess with this kid." he thought to himself.
"You don't happen to know the uneducated toad that was ramming and kicking like an uneducated barbarian at my door do you?"
Blondie seemed to find his insults quit funny. "I don't even have to think to know who you are talking about." Blondie -Draco- responded. "Did you happen to see the colour of the hair of this... Uneducated barbarian?"
'Red.' Harry supplied immediately.
"HA!" Blondie cried. "I knew it!"
"It was most likely a Weasley. A pure blooded family that's been breeding like rabbits the last few generations. They barely have few knuts to scrub together and they have a family the seize of..." Blondie visibly restrained him and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry but Weasleys and Malfoy's haven't liked each other since we started the feud two hundred years ago."
"What was the feud about?" Harry asked with interest. Blondie seemed to think about it. "note to self: don't call him blondie, call him Draco!"
"It was something of a contract. I'm not sure what it was about. But we cursed them to prevent if from happening. It might be because of a per-arranged contract I think. But there hasn't been a girl Weasley for decades." The boy said seriously.
Harry looked at him. "I think your curse has either run its course or has been weakened enough that it stopped working. I'm positive I saw a red haired girl with that troop of red heads when I was boarding the train. But since this contracted was signed centuries ago it doesn't work anymore right? It would be very silly if it was." Harry responded wisely.
Draco paled. A lot. "A-are you kidding me? You are sure it was a red head? N-no no. That can't be. Maybe they adopted a girl or something but..." now the boy seemed to be muttering. To who he was saying it wasn't really clear.
"What Potter said is logical. The curse hasn't been reinforced since grandfather became the lord of our family. And it was supposed to be reinforced every second generation. But why then haven't they done it..." Harry was bored enough to listen to Draco's thoughts as well.
"That's because father never was interested enough in our family history. He was more occupied in making us rich. Or at least wealthier than we already are. And mother did tell me that grandfather was a bit mad by the end of his life... That means that whatever he was trying to tell father -if he was trying to tell him in the first place- would have been dismissed as the rambling of an old fool"
Harry had to admit that Draco's thoughts were fairly accurate.
"But perhaps it is a good thing that this happened. Our family hasn't had several childeren in a long time as well. Perhaps a bit of Weasley blood would be good... Not as my heir of course, but a bastard or two. If the main branch is killed..."
Harry frowned at that. Those thoughts seemed awfully mature for an eleven year old. Becoming bored of listening in to the boy's private thoughts Harry jolted the boy out of his thoughts.
"Where are my manners? You introduced yourself but I forgot to tell you who I am." Harry began seriously.
"My name is Harry James Potter, heir of the ancient and noble house of Potter. I am the guardian of the house of Snakes, watcher of the skies full of Ravens, protector of the playful and innocent Badgers and hunters of the pride of Lions." Harry declared. "Wait, where the hell did that last bit come from?" He thought to himself.
Harry had intended to say something in that variation to try and break the tension but it had come out a lot different than he had in mind. "What the hell is going on?" He asked himself.
Draco's eyes widened comically. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. He's taking this formal immediately. Daddy never mentioned that it could happen immediately. Okay dragon,be cool, be strong like a dragon. SAY something you idiot he's staring at you!"
Harry barely managed to keep his face straight at the girlish dialogue that were the private thoughts of Draco Malfoy.
"If only he said that out loud." Harry snicked to himself.
After several moments Draco finally managed to say something. 'Hi.' He said simply.
Harry stared at him and shrugged. 'Hi' Harry greeted back. And shot the other boy a charming smile in return. If only to mess with his head. Again.
Draco on the other hand was nearing a panic attack. He had been ordered by his father to talk to the Boy Who Lived and try to make friends. The house of Malfoy had suffered in the last war and being allied with him could bring their old respect and glory back up again.
Harry of course wasn't listening at that particular dialogue because he already had trouble keeping himself from laughing.
Deciding to 'up' the ante so to speak Harry continued with a touch of formality. Just to throw the guy off.
"And what is it that the heir of the house of Malfoy wishes of the lord of the house of Potter? And avatar of Hogwarts" Harry questioned formally. Harry allowed a slight frown on his face. "Loki, where the hell did that last bit come from?" He demanded. And too underline it he shot a glare at the cat 'sleeping' next to him.
"I do not know Master. The magic of Hogwarts is very old. It might be messing with you to amuse itself. Or to cause some havoc. I could imagine that Hogwarts might be very bored sometimes."
Harry nearly fell out of his seat. "How the hell can a building be amused, bored or anything else for that matter?" Harry demanded indignantly.
Harry felt Loki giving him a mental shove. Not a gentle mental shove but a hard one.
"Have you gotten so arrogant, or so forgetful you have forgotten how I came to be? If I didn't know you so well Harry James Potter I would be truly angry with you." The cat declared with a hiss.
The relation between the two of them was quit odd at times. Harry was the master most of the time, and Loki would follow his commands. But if there was ANYONE that was 'equal' to him it would be Loki as well. Loki was a part of Harry so he couldn't punish Loki either.
Harry shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Where the heck did that all come from? I feel like I'm just waking up just now. Loki what the bloody HELL is going on here?"
Loki realized that something was amiss. Harry had been acting out of character quit a bit. Unfortunately there wasn't much he could do at the moment.
"Focus on the here and now Master. I'll be extra vigilant for now." The cat said eventually.
Harry gave himself a shaky nod. "Fine. But I don't want this to happen again. I feel like I was a passenger or something!"
Loki's eyes snapped open. He got a hunch what had happened but didn't know what to do about it.
Harry concentrated back on Draco. The boy had apparently regained control of his facial features.
"So what is it that you wish?" Harry questioned again. Loki had been monitoring carefully now and his fears were confirmed. But there wasn't anything he could do. Not now. He had to take care of it later.
"I wish for us to have a loose alliance. Just the basic stuff." Draco responded. Equally as formal.
"This is it." Loki thought to herself. "How he responds now will confirm or deny my suspicions." Loki thought to herself.
Harry snorted to himself. "An alliance implied equality." The boy said to himself. "If there is one thing I'm sure of than it is that this... Boy is NOT my equal. If nothing else he's a servant. Wether he knows it or not." Harry thought to himself. "The nanites that resided within Draco's body guaranteed this." The boy continued.
"But I suppose I could humor him."
"Speak your terms." he declared dramatically.
"For our years at Hogwarts and beyond I want a mutual agreement to watch the others back." Draco offered.
"The basic I'll do you and you do me huh?" Harry summarized.
'Yes.' Draco agreed.
"Anything else? Harry pressed.
Draco took a deep breath. His mind already racing with how to put this properly. Unfortunately the hunters in his blood made it come out slightly different than he had intended. Bad for him -sort off- and good for Harry.
"I wish for you to back me up when I need it or when I'm in trouble. In return I'll do the same for you as long as we know each other." Draco said seriously. "As long as you wish it." Draco added. Almost unwillingly.
"You have said your terms now I'll declare mine." Harry declared. "I ask that you keep my secrets unless I give you permission and that you do not betray me in any way shape or form for as long as we know each other. As a last addition I ask that you are polite to anyone I may make alliances or friends with." Harry finished. "Is this agreement acceptable?"
Draco considered that for several moments. "He agreed to watch my back during our years at Hogwarts and maybe even beyond that. That will jump start my political carrier nicely. If I agree to this, he'll back me up even if we are in different houses. He also agreed to back me up when I'm I trouble or when I need it. Of course I did offer the same thing. And the words have been said in a way that words can be added but not removed too." Draco thought to himself.
"The only thing he wants from me is keeping his secrets. Which I would have done to a point. What's the point in blackmail if you can't use it? But that's okay. Being a friend to Harry is more important. He asked that I don't betray him in any way, shape or form. That simply backs up the demand to keep his secrets. I can agree with that. Vincent and Gregory will agree automatically because their families have been vassals of our family for generations. So we'll keep his secrets and be polite to whatever allies he'll make. I can see myself, Greg and Vince being the enforcers of him. Harry being the boy who lived deserves a few people at his beck and call after all. I can do that I think. It'll be good practice for my political carrier. A minister can't show it if he doesn't like a rival politician. A bunch of sharks they are. But it's a fun job nevertheless."
After this long string of thoughts Draco gave himself a nod of encouragement.
'I accept.' Draco said simply. As soon as Draco uttered those two words magic reacted to confirm the bond between the two loosely houses. Normally two heirs couldn't make real pacts. But this wasn't an pact between two heirs but between a lord and an heir. It didn't matter that Harry wasn't considered an adult by the ministry. His magic did consider him an adult. Therefore any pacts he made would be official. Magic would make it so. One way or another.
In effect it was an agreement between and heir and a lord.
Harry smiled at the blonde. "That's fine. Draco Malfoy Heir of the Malfoy family."
To finish the pact, both wizards had to cross their wands into an X to complete the pact. Both boys moved in synchronization. Summoning their wands into their hands and stretching out their arms. Pointing their wands into the other direction so an X could be formed.
As soon as the wand touched their pact was completed. Until they finished their years at Hogwarts both would be compelled to obey the rules of the pact that they had just made.
Neither of the two boys were aware of the camera that was positioned in the corner of their compartment. And neither knew that their pact was made official not only because the chief warlock / headmaster and too many positions to name had witnessed it. It was also made official because the pact was now officially registered at the ministry of magic.
XXXXX POINT OF VIEW SWITCH XXXXX
Dumbledore for his part was fairly worried. The pact simply guaranteed that Harry would have several friends. No, what worried him was that the pact had worked. Harry wasn't of age, so he shouldn't be able to make a pact. An agreement maybe, but in a 'normal' agreement there was no compelling magic involved. In a pact however the magic would compel both parties to obey the rules of what they had agreed upon.
In his years as a headmaster, Dumbledore had gained the name to know exactly what was happening in his castle. That was because of a nifty invention of his. He had placed hundreds of camera's all around the castle to monitor the students. Whatever they taped was saved on memory crystals to watch when he wanted to. The crystals were than copied to a main magical computer. The hundreds of camera's only activated when they detected movements. It didn't matter if you were invisible or difficult to spot, they could detect the vibration of the air and would activate when it was needed.
As headmaster, Dumbledore had an entire tower for himself. It was one of the few pleasures of being the headmaster of a magical school. He had a dozen or so magical paintings of himself that would watch what the camera's showed constantly. Through voice commands they could rewind whatever footage they wanted. They didn't have the power to take or give points or anything, but they were connected with a book he carried with him all the time. Whenever a painting saw something he thought was worth points he would put that in the book. Then Dumbledore would review the footage and give or take points as it was needed. This same book also followed the points being taken and the reason they were being taken or given.
The truth was that Albus had not reviewed that part of his book for years. As a matter of fact he hadn't checked it once since he had become headmaster of the school. His teachers were adults weren't they? As such they should be mature enough not to favor their own house and any reports that said otherwise would either have to be lies or perhaps simple jealousy because the complainers house was loosing?
Poor Dumbledore. How could he expect that an immature man like Severus Snape could ever be fair to anyone but his own house? Especially when it came to the child of the man he hated more than even his former master. Although it would be close between the two of them. Severus Snape was a pathetic man. And the only way that he could take his revenge was to take it out on the spawn of James Potter. The fact that he was also the son of the woman he once loved didn't matter anymore.
But the headmaster knew that even after all his years of placing his camera's all around Hogwarts he still hadn't covered all of it. Hogwarts was perhaps ten times bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside.
XXXXX POINT OF VIEW SWITCH XXXXX
Meanwhile back at the Hogwarts express Harry and his new friends had started to get to know each other. Harry was explaining his experience he had so far and the fact that if the body was healthy, your magic would be easier to use, would last longer and would be more powerful. A healthy body could translate to a healthy mind. But not always.
Harry had noticed that his little scheme had worked. He had sold normal paper, pens, ink cartridges and other technological wonders to dozens if not hundreds of people. And he knew for a fact that there was not a rule against it. The current rule said that it didn't work at Hogwarts it said nothing that you couldn't bring it anyway.
That was one private victory for Harry at least. Nobody knew that he was the one that designed it. Technically speaking he did it through his minions. But they existed to help him so that didn't matter much.
The day passed quickly and many people attempted to open the door that Harry had sealed earlier. "Why is it that even seventh years can't open the door?" Draco asked.
"Because they can't KNOCK maybe?" He had yelled 'knock' quit loudly. "It's a modified ward that will only open if a certain condition is reached. In this case it is a knock. The ward can be overwhelmed of course. It isn't really all that powerful anyway.
As if to prove his point, there was a knock at the door. After a moment the door opened smoothly revealing a dozen or so senior students all gaping and staring at the fact that it had opened.
"See? I told you so that if you would've just knocked and asked politely, you wouldn't have had to expend so much effort to get the door to open."
"But it's impossible for such a charm to exist!" One of the seniors protested. "And even if it did exist it should be way WAY out reach of a pre-sorted student!"
"See, that is where you are wrong." Harry declared. "I have been taking magical lessons since I was old enough to talk several sentences. And I'll have you know that such a spell is unknown is because I designed it myself." Harry explained to the astonished students.
Sending an obvious look at the girl to come in he looked back at the seniors. "I think I'll change the code now because I won't be left alone if I don't. And with that he closed the door again and changed it to a knock and a polite request to allowed inside.
The girl had made herself comfortable and had waited until Harry was done. "My name is Luna Lovegood." she introduced herself. "I'm surprised that Mr Potter let you in cousin." She said to Draco.
"How were you allowed on the train? I thought that you would join us next year?" The boy demanded. Harry hadn't made friends with the girl yet. So he got away with being rude. Even though she was family.
The girl -Luna- snorted. "Actually I'm here because of a sort of misunderstanding. Harry's folk were close friends with my own. And because they had money troubles they agreed in giving them a small allowance until they got back on their feet. But than Harry destroyed the dark lord and the allowance was never canceled." The girl explained.
"When our newspaper got up and running we no longer needed the allowance but had no way in canceling it since the goblins were powerless to do anything about it. So we invested the money into our bank with the idea to give shares to Harry when we could come into contact with him..." Luna trailed of.
"But then things got out of hand. Harry discovered that other people were stealing from him and gave a general order. Goblins take orders quit literally... The end result is that Harry here is now the owner of our newspaper and that we are now vassals to his family. Point in fact I am his personal servant. I'm considered his property until he considers the insult of us stealing from him repaid. And then the complication comes in. Because of this misunderstanding, Harry cannot say that he considers it forgiven... He can only forgive the next generation of my family line. And I'm the only direct heir left since my family is the one that considers the witch the leader. And there is still more." Luna explained.
"I am unable to become his wife should we ever fall I love. The supposed insult prevents this. Any childeren I have will be Potters, fusing our heritage into the Potter family line. Than comes the complication of the true thieves."
Harry interrupted at this point. "I told the goblins to have the thieves sell anything they owned to get my money back. But then it occurred to me that owning their former property would be the bigger insult. Besides it would give me a place to live with enough servants to boot. That seemed a better punishment to me. That is why the newspaper isn't sold and I am now the owner of it."
Turning to the girl he said. "Contact your father and tell him that he can continue to run his paper however he wants. But if there are... Serious news articles to try and keep as close to the truth as he can."
"I know what kind of paper it is. And the more... outlandish articles can stay. I'm only saying that if he publishes any serious articles that I want him to try and stay as close to the truth as possible. That's fair right?"
Luna nodded reluctantly. "I suppose it is." She agreed. "Would it help that any 'serious' articles would come from me if I'm under attack by other media? Which for now is very unlikely? So that it won't happen that often?"
Luna brightened up immediately. "Yes." She agreed. "That would definitely help a lot. We worked quit hard to get everything we own now. And it's only because of circumstances that..." She waved to herself. "This happened."
Luna got serious. "You do know that I'm supposed to stay with you 24/7?" A blush crept on her face. You wash, I wash, you go to the bathroom I go to the bathroom, you eat I eat, you study I study..."
Harry caught the implications immediately. "Don't worry about it Luna." He said seriously. "We can work something out I'm sure."
"No, I don't think you understand." Luna disagreed. "I HAVE to do it. The magic will force me to do it like that. In fact, the magic will compel me to fix your erections as well." She declared seriously."
Harry blinked several times. "You've got to be kidding me. I'm not ready for having a girl seeming me naked!" He protested. "No offense."
Luna shrugged. "Maybe not now, but the magical will relax you and I'm sure that you won't complain when the situation is there."
Harry could see that the girl was very uncomfortable at the thought. His body did react accordingly though. He said that he wasn't comfortable with the thought of having a girl wank him. The fact was that he was eleven. And he didn't want to worry about girls just yet.
"Wait a minute, does that mean you have to sleep in my bed as well?" Harry squeaked in surprise.
"Yes." Luna agreed shortly. "You will be sorted first. I cannot be sorted. To be frank, I'll be your property. Although many wizards and witches won't know that." She told him.
Harry could feel a headache coming up. "Look, I can't say that the thought of a girl sleeping with me excites me because it does, but I don't think I'm comfortable with an outright slave."
Luna shrugged. "It doesn't matter much. I will change to suit your needs. I will know when you are excited, when you are hungry or when you need anything else."
That did it. She couldn't control herself any longer and burst out laughing. Harry stared at her in surprise.
Luna tried to say something but couldn't. Tears were running down her face in her mirth. Finally she controlled herself.
"You don't really think that human slaver is still allowed with us do ya? While you do owe our newspaper, and while I am supposed to help you for seven years don't you think for a second that I'll do anything more than that mister." She finished.
"I'll admit that you are cute in a way but I don't like you that way. I barely know you at all." With that statement she opened the door and left. Leaving two completely stunned boys.
At the back of his mind, Harry could hear Loki roaring in laughter. The mischievous cat had known all along it was a joke. She had wanted to see what Harry would say or do. She was quit pleased at his reaction. His hormones didn't control his every reaction just yet. Loki was sure that in a year or two, Harry would make full use of his... Servant so to speak. Which straight boy wouldn't?
XXXXX POINT OF VIEW SWITCH XXXXX
Albus head was as read as a tomato. He considered to pass a law to get the boy something like that. The boy couldn't be a virgin when he would destroy Voldemort after all. That would be ridiculous. Any attempts of the hunters to get control of the man were unsuccessful. The man was either too powerful or too stubborn for the hunters to complete their mission. The remaining hunters decided to track down the other teachers. It would be quit the advantage if they -and by they they meant Harry- it would be quit the advantage if they controlled the adults.
/Chapter end\
Hope you enjoyed the story. I know that nothing much happened. I discussed it with a friend where Harry would be sorted. That will happen for sure in the next chapter. I guarantee it. Like always, without the notes this chapter still had five thousand words.
I'm sure that you readers thought I would make Luna a sex slave eh? I'm sure that none of you considered it to be a joke. I can see Luna do it though. Well if she were older, eleven year old Luna is difficult to write because she isn't mentioned until the fourth book I think. Or she isn't mentioned in character a lot at least.
Any spelling grammar or other mistakes I made are welcome to be pointed out. There are a few instances that might be wrong.
Cheers!