When Harry got to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, he was surprise to see that Professor Eaglestone and her guest were already there. They had all left the Great Hall at the same time and had come straight to the classroom. And yet, the two witches had gotten there before him, even with the various shortcuts and secret passageways that he knew. He wondered if the rumors that the Hogwarts Professors, in order to deal with all the students and their schedules, were using Time Turners, apparition within Hogwarts, or some combination of the two.
Not only had the two witches beat him to the classroom, but Professor Eaglestone's guest had changed her outfit. In the Great Hall she had worn the standard witch's robes that all the female staff members wore.
Now, she was wearing a form-fitting body stocking that covered her from neck to toes and wrists. The body stocking was black or a very dark color so that it would not matter what color it might actually be. On her shins and forearms were grey bracers and around her waist was a grey utility belt with some material draping down it, giving the impression of a small mini-skirt. On her back, was a large wooden shield that was about a meter wide, covering her back and a bit more. He thought he could see writing on the wooden shield that he felt he understand but could not quite back out.
Curious, Harry called out, "Professor Eaglestone, who your guest?"
With a smile, Professor Eaglestone replied back, "Mister Potter, just the wizard we were waiting on. Harry, is it okay if I can you that?"
Harry nodded in response and had a smile on his face. In the short time that he had Professor Eaglestone, he had come to like her. She seemed to have a good sense of humor and more knowledgeable teacher of the Defense class than even Professor Lupin was.
Professor Eaglestone continued with a smile, "Great. You can call me 'Beth.' This is my Coven-Sister, Erika Ewer."
With her name was mentioned, Erika gave a shallow bow in acknowledgement of him. During which she never took her eyes off of him. He felt like she was sizing him up much as how Ron would size up the various desserts.
He blushed slightly. Which he tried to minimize through meditation as not to embarrass him too much, but was not sure how successful he was. Erika Ewer was a very athletic woman, in her early twenties, and her outfit seemed to emphasis her womanly figure that could easily make her a super-model within the Fashion World.
"Merry met, milord," Erika greeted. There was a smile upon her face as she spoke to him, much like Ron's smile upon the first appearance of the desserts at the Welcoming Feast.
He was a bit puzzled by her greeting, but figured it would be only be polite to reply in kind, so he said, "And merry met to you." He had meant to finish with "milady," figuring that it would be the equivalent of "milord", but instead, he found himself finishing with, "Hit-Witch Ewer."
The two witches smiled towards him, and he blushed a bit again.
Professor Eaglestone said, "Harry, I've been enjoying our sparring matches and helping you with your course-work, a lot more than I thought I would. So much so that I haven't noticed how much more time I've been spending with you than with the rest of the class. That, and there isn't much more I can teach you.
"So, I've asked my sister here to come help me out. There are several things Erika knows that I don't, as well as, this will give me a chance to observe your sparring session objectively from the side-lines. So for this class and probably the future, I would like for you and Erika to go off to side a bit and go over what you've learned."
Harry felt bad that he had taken so much of Professor Eaglestone's time, especially as she could have been helping his fellow classmate with their Defense work, which could very well save their lives. He was happy that she had sought help and brought someone else in to help. He did wonder why the other Professors didn't have assistants, thus allowing them to such an opportunity.
Harry nodded his head and said, "Thank you, Professor Eaglestone."
"Beth," Professor Eaglestone corrected him.
To be cute, he replied with a cheeky smile, "Yes, Professor."
He and Erika moved over to the side of the classroom. Once there, Erika asked him, "Do you know the Expansion Charm?"
To which, he nodded his head. He took his wand out to cast the spell, but Erika's hand stopped him. "Not so fast, Mister Potter," she replied. She hesitated for a second, she casted several privacy charms, a few he was not familiar with, and then inquired, "Do you know how to combine your magic with another? That is, to make a circle?"
He looked at Erika with a bit surprise, from both his summer research and Family Magics; he knew that, in magic especially, there was strength in numbers, both figuratively and literally. It was the reason that covens existed in the first place. By coming together with a common goal, the center, the coven could do more than any of the individual members could on their own, even doing the same thing at the same time separately. The whole was greater than any of its parts. And yet, the entire Hogwarts curriculum seemed to ignore anything circle-related, which included most major and long-term magics.
Harry answered carefully, "Hit-Witch Ewer, I haven't found anything about circles and more importantly, how one creates a circle in any of the Hogwarts curriculum textbooks or in their reference material. What little I found, did not tell me much of anything save that each coven had their own ways of creating a circle and such knowledge was restricted to coven-members only."
Erika Ewer was a bit surprised at Harry's answer. It showed on her face, as she replied, "Only greater circles are restricted to coven-members only, Mister Potter. And that's mostly because the greater circles are more coven-specific in nature, than any true need for secrecy. But the lesser circles, especially though for four or under are usually widely known. No matter. This is how you can create a circle."
She then proceeded to show how wizards and witches could combine their magics to work as a single unit, instead of working as individuals within a group.
Together, Erika and Harry formed a circle of two and casted the Expansion Charm over the corner of the D.A.D.A. classroom, which enlarged it to three times the size of the rest of the classroom. Before breaking the circle, Erika also had them cast various protection and safety wards needed for a dueling area.
After that, Erika took ten steps away from Harry's side, grabbed her wooden shield from off her back, and took up a defensive stance, with the wooden shield protecting her middle, held by her left arm.
Harry noticed that there was some kind of crystal at the center of the wooden shield, which seemed to be the eye of the painted bird of prey that was painted upon her wooden shield. The painted bird looked as if it was alive and would leap out at him.
He knew that the wooden shield could not have been something simple, but when the duel began, he started off with a powerful Reducto and Incendio curses.
Both which had no visible affect upon the wooden shield, even if they should have reduced it to splinters or set it on fire.
Erika was slowly gaining ground on him, despite all the curses and charms he tried against her wooden shield. There were several unblockable spells besides the three Unforgivables, although they were all weak. Still, the wooden shield absorbed them too. He had to retreat several times as Erika got too close. He would have to ask Erika about her wooden shield some time after class, especially if they could stop the three Unforgivables, as he seemed to think they could.
On the next time, Erika got too close to him, he summoned Godric Gryffindor's sword and tried to use it against her. Again, the wooden shield worked against a physical attack as it had against his magical attacks. He was able to force her back using physical force from his sword. He also noticed that despite the force he had placed into several of his slashes against the wooden shield, several which drove Erika back, there were no marks upon the wooden shield.
Seeing that any direct attack against Erika was not working, he shifted in using indirect attacks, such as icing over the floor, hoping to trip Erika up. To which, she replied, "About time, Mister Potter. Use that brain of yours. You won't win against me with just power."
So, they spent the rest of the class trying various indirect attacks he could against her, which Erika easily avoided or countered.
When Professor Eaglestone announced that class was over, Harry was exhausted. Erika placed her wooden shield back upon her back and handed him a restoration-potion from her utility belt. He noticed that it had a pleasant peppermint aftertaste. His summer research included quick ways to identify potions, whether they were brewed correctly, and that there were several ways to make them more palatable, something that Snape seemed to go out of his way to avoid.
When he recovered, Erika quietly remarked, "Harry, if you need some help with your course-work, or anything else, I'll be around to help, as well as my Coven-Sister. Our door is always open to you, Lord Potter."
He knew there was much more going on than an Assistant Professor offering her assistance, although what exactly that would be will be revealed in time. He nodded, smiled in appreciation of her offer and headed to the Great Hall for lunch. Even with the potion, which allowed him to walk normally, he knew he needed some food in him. He had spent a lot of magic in his sparring match with Hit-Witch Ewer.
As was becoming the norm, he sat at his place at the head of the Gryffindor table, with Luna, Neville and Ron around him. They were discussing the various sparring matches with Luna, with several comments from Neville and Ron about Harry's spar with the new Assistant Professor.
The conversation was relaxed and Luna seemed to be looking forward to when she and the other Fifth-Years were to have their Defense class. Things seems to be going normal until the entrance doors burst open and several people marched into the Great Hall.
Harry signed and thought, /Whenever my life gets normal, something seems to always happen./ He turned around in his seat a bit and saw what was going on. He quickly got out of his chair, with his wand at ready and a frown upon his face.
Leading the party was Dolores Umbridge, with several Ministry Aurors accompanying her. She stomped towards him, yelling at him, "You've done it now, boy! Disrupting the very nature of things! Corrupting magic itself! We won't have it!"
Harry just looked at the Senior Undersecretary of the Minister with contempt upon his face and calmly asked her, "Now, what insanity are you muttering about now?" He had purposely omitted any honorific or personalized address in his statement to her. It was a clear insult and statement on his part.
Several of the Traditionalist students gasped in surprise and three of the four Aurors drew their wands. The three Aurors with their wands drew looked nervous, and alternating between looking at Lord Potter and Senior Undersecretary Umbridge. The fourth had a smirk on her face and unlike her fellow Aurors, her hands were empty. She slowly went to her partners and whispered into their ears. After which, each Auror lowered their wand and relaxed. They also took several steps away from Umbridge, showing they did not support her.
Umbridge did not notice the Aurors abandonment, as she continued to confront Harry. Her voice was that of an adult talking to a slow-witted child as she said, "Why taking part in a non Ministry-approved Heritage Ritual." She added, clearly not understanding such a concept, "With a useless Mud-blood of all things!"
Harry grinned at her and calmly quoted, "Ministry approved?"
Upon seeing Harry's grin, the four Aurors and the Hogwarts students moved further away to make to put some distance between them as well as using several of the House Tables as physical barriers between themselves and Umbridge.
Not understanding the situation she found herself in, Umbridge thinking she had finally gotten through to Potter stated, "Yes, everything deals with Magic has to be approved by the Ministry for Magic. It's what the Ministry is for! Non-Ministry civilians can't possibly understand..." She continued on explaining the glory of the Ministry for Magic.
In a ritual voice, Harry asked, "Dolores Umbridge, you are telling me that the Ministry has to approve Heritage Rituals and what the Houses can do?"
"Of course," Umbridge remarked as if it was obvious.
Harry shook his head as Umbridge not realizing what was about to befall her as she started to explain in a somewhat sane voice how important it was for the Ministry to control every facet of magic to ensure the purity of Magic and the glories of the Ministry.
Harry ritually intoned, "For daring to interfere in the matter of the Houses, I call Judgment upon you! If found guilt, may your name be erased from the Book of Witches!"
Upon Harry's pronouncement, several people screamed in fear. Others began to whisper asking what was going on, only to be silenced by the Traditionalists.
The entire Great Hall seemed to fill with a sense of powerful magic.
Several glowing Seals of Solomon appeared, one set above Harry and Umbridge's head and another seat appeared underneath their feet.
The Seal of Solomon was a circle, with an inscribed six-pointed star, comprised of two over-lapping triangles oriented in opposite directions. There were various runes inscribed around the triangles and the circle.
Everyone, including Harry, could only stare open-mouthed as the Seal above Dolores's head shattered as a large foot came crashing down upon Umbridge. The foot seems to swipe its sole against the floor and then return from whence it came. The Seal that was underneath Umbridge was clear shattered and Umbridge herself had fallen through to the Hell that the portal that the Seal had protected went to.
From the hole in the ground, voices of young children cried out for justice against the various heinous crimes that Umbridge had committed against them. Among the Hogwarts students, the scars left by the blood-quill used in their detentions with Umbridge started to glow. Each of the scars vanished into a puff of smoke. The smoke then followed down after Umbridge. A giant hand came out of the Seal above and replaced the bottom Seal. The giant hand then set a rolled-up parchment upon the ground before Harry. A Seal appeared in the hand as it retracted itself back through the portal it had come out of, thus, sealing up the portal. A second later, all four Seals of Solomon disappeared as if nothing had happened.
He picked up the scroll, knowing it would contain a list of all the crimes that Umbitch had committed and read it aloud, using the Voice of Potter. The disgust and contempt that such a vile, petty person had been allowed into such a high-office without any restrain or check was clearly heard. "For such high-treason against the innocent and Magic itself," Lord Potter declared formally. "She-Who-Shall-No-Longer-Be-Named shall be removed from the Book of Witches."
Upon completion of the reading of Judgment scroll, the scroll duplicated itself, and he handed the duplicate scroll to the female Auror and instructed the female Auror that never drew her wand, "I see you, Auror Whitney. I charge you with delivering this scroll to Auror Bones."
Several at the Hufflepuff students, minus Susan Bones, muttered a bit angrily about the apparent lack of proper address towards Madame Lady Amelia Bones, Hufflepuff House alumni, Head of House Bones, and Director of the Department for Magical Law Enforcement within the Ministry for Magic. They did not understand Harry how he was honoring the work she had done with her life as an Auror, whether in the field or behind a desk, as well as, they did not know how he had saved Amelia and Susan Bones during the summer from Riddle's attack.
He ignored it and continued with, "The two of you are to then witness its archiving, Auror Whitney."
"So be it, my Lord," Auror Whitney formally replied. There was a flash of magic, signifying the acceptance of the ritual instructions and an oath to fulfill them. With that, she and the other Auror left the Great Hall to return to the Ministry.
He looked around the Great Hall, noticing the looks of awe and fear directed towards him, so he went off to the kitchens to finish his lunch in peace. As he left, he made sure that his pace was measured and sure, to ensure that he hid the sadness and hurt within him.
Upon arriving in the kitchen, all the House-Elves stopped what they were doing and asked him how they could serve him. It was typical House-Elf behavior, which he had just accepted as "that's how they are". He had come to understand House-Elves better after bonding with Dobby and Winky over the summer. The three had spent several hours discussing House-Elves, their society, and their magic.
He took the opportunity to engage the various House-Elves in conversation, asking for clarification of something that he had not had an opportunity to discussion with his Elves, as well as learning how the House-Elves lived and worked at Hogwarts.
It was an enlightening and alien conversation for him.
The looks continued during NEWTs Charm class, so he took his supper in the kitchen again. After dinner, he retired to the Room of Requirements to relax, away from everyone. He also gathered several items that he had stored there to move them to the Chamber of Secrets later.
He heard the door to the Room open and felt Neville enter. Since he knew Neville was there, he was not surprised when he heard Neville said, "I'd thought I'd find you here."
The Room was set similar to the Gryffindor Common Room, with but a few differences. Those were the lack of other Grffindors; the color theme was more subdue with calming with shades of blue and silver mixed with softer shades of red and color; and the room itself appeared to be smaller, yet spacious, giving the room a cozy feel to it. There were several cauldrons with potions in various stages in several of the Room's corners and text books open and floating around various locations.
He was not sure how to explain his various experiments and independent studies to Neville as he turned around to face him. But his mind can to a halt upon seeing Neville, or rather what he was wearing.
Neville Longbottom was wearing formal Family robes; which were made from expensive fabrics and charmed to fit the wearer properly, there were various patches upon the robes that meant something to the Longbottoms, but not much to him. In addition to wearing the formal robes, he was also kneeled on upon his knees with his head bowed in submission.
A sense of worry and confusion settled over Harry. Which grew as Neville formally said, "Lord Potter, all that I am is because of you." He paused for a moment and then continued, "Every Lord needs vassals... I..."
Harry did not like where this was heading and tried to counter with, "You did all the work. We all need help from time to time."
Neville was blushing but determined to continue. He then related a few tales of how back in their fifth year, couple of then Seventh Year witches had tried to bully the Longbottom Heir into opening them or tried to bind him outright to them as their boytoy. All were very close calls that only failed because of Harry's unknowingly interference. And that in the past couple of weeks, almost every witch in Seventh-Year have been hitting on him to get him to open them. Until his work with Harry with the D.A., most had assumed him to be a squib but from an influential House that could be easily manipulated, now that he stood with Harry that opinion had been radically changed after the Ministry Incident.
Harry did make a few connections. He realized that exactly was going on in those few of situations where he had inadvertently saved Neville from as well as why the several of the older Gryffindor witches had sent Neville disappointing looks from time to time. He had, back then, assumed it was just a case of schoolyard bullying as the old-Neville was an easy target. He had made it a point to confront those witches and for them to stop picking upon his friend, Neville.
But it was only now, as Neville pointed it out, recalling Hermione's warning and research, that he realized that he and those older witches were having two somewhat different conversations.
"You do realize what you're asking me," Harry had to ask, trying to express that he did not want this.
"Please, my L-... Harry," Neville responded. There was a bit of desperation in his voice.
"But, it's too much," Harry answered. "You're basically asking to become a slave... A vassal, which in this case is not much different.
"You'd be completely under my control, Neville. I would control all aspects of your life: whether you can perform magic or not, who'd you marry or not, whether you have children and how many, and even who'd you be aroused by."
"Whatever my Lord wishes, I will do," Neville formally stated.
"As you may or may not know, Neville," Harry continued, ignoring Neville's statement for now. "I am also the Head of House Black, or rather House Potter will be absorbing House Black. Anyway... both the Lestrange and Malfoy contracts are broken. If you're one of my vassals, Neville, there is a good chance that I might have to marry you off to Bellatrix." Harry looked pointedly at Neville, hoping he would come to his senses. Neville's proposition was a permanent solution to a short-term problem. Once sworn, forever sworn.
Neville swallowed nervously, but formally intoned, "Whatever my Lord requires, I will do."
Not wishing to back out of it, Neville believing this was his own chance began to recite the Oaths of a vassal to his Lord, which Magic compelled Harry to reply to, either in acceptance or rejection.
Harry knew that Neville would not survive his rejection, so he had no choice but to accept Neville's oath.
The ceremony ended with Harry tapping his wand against Neville's forehead, heart and groin. There was a flash of light that temporarily blinded him. When his vision cleared, Neville was standing upright with a smile upon his face. A weight seemed to have lifted from Neville's shoulders. Formally, he said, "Thank you, my Lord."
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