Mist of Shadows
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Major Arcana
🕑 Added 2023-06-03 05:05:26 +0000 UTCZip winced when her grandfather walked into the kitchen looking like he was ready to set something or someone on fire. "Bad?"
"Bad man said he was going to beat the magic out of Master Harry," Slappy complained as he stalked over to the cabinet under the sink where their old master kept the firewhiskey.
"Is he dead?" Zip asked, causing the other house elf to stare at her in shock.
Slappy scowled as he opened the cabinet and pulled the bottle out. "Bad man is protected by wards."
"Slappy shouldn't steal master's stuff," Cup complained.
Slappy looked at the elf that his old master had rescued that was a bit too prim and proper, mostly because of the idiots she'd grown up with that didn't understand house elves. "Master Fleamont wouldn't care and there is no point in wasting it."
"You is planning on getting drunk," Cup accused.
"Merely tipsy," Slappy replied as he popped the cork on the bottle.
"From firewhiskey?" Cup asked in disbelief, knowing butterbeer was enough to get them tipsy.
"Slappy has practice," Slappy replied, smiling as he thought about the years that he'd spent with his old master, including the numerous times they'd sneak a drink to celebrate the family's success. 'I'll see you soon Fleamont,' he thought as he took a swig of the firewhiskey, enjoying the familiar burn as it slid down his throat. He put the cork back in the bottle then set the bottle back in the cabinet.
"Where are you going?" Zip asked as her grandfather walked out of the kitchen.
"Slappy has orders to stay safe, Slappy means to misbehave," Slappy replied as he walked over to the fireplace and looked at the portrait of Henry Potter that was hanging over the fireplace.
"Slappy can't break orders," Cup argued as she followed the old elf.
"Slappy has a duty to the family that is more important than orders," Slappy explained as he summoned his courage for what came next. "I'm going to need clothes."
Cup stared at Slappy in horror. "Slappy has lost his mind."
"Are you sure?" the portrait asked.
"Someone has to rescue Master Harry and Slappy is old," Slappy stated.
"You said the wards would kill you," Zip complained.
"Yes," Slappy admitted. "Slappy is sorry."
"Don't do this grandpa, you have plenty of years left," Zip argued, knowing it wasn't going to help.
"My knees disagree with you," Slappy replied with a sad smile, knowing that he wasn't going to get to see his granddaughter grow up but knowing that he couldn't leave Master Harry with the monsters. "Everyone dies eventually, if you're lucky you can choose how you're going to leave the world and Slappy wants to die a big damn hero."
Zip jumped over and hugged her grandfather wishing she could stop him from going but knowing she couldn't. "You better save Master."
"I'll do my best," Slappy assured her and then looked at the portrait. "I need clothes."
"So be it," the portrait of Henry Potter said as he pushed his swan cloak out of the portrait, causing it to fall to the ground and land on Slappy.
Slappy winced when he felt the connection to his family break, reminding him just how old he actually was now that he didn't have the family magic to call on to or to keep the depression from losing Fleamont and James at bay. "Master has given me clothes, Slappy is free," he admitted. "I'm sorry."
"Make it count," Zip replied, trying not to cry since she knew her grandfather wouldn't make it back.
"I will," Slappy replied then looked up at the portrait. "It was an honor Henry."
"Always," the portrait trailed off as the house elf and his cloak vanished. "I'm going to miss that bastard."
"Slappy is crazy," Cup muttered, not understanding why he'd chosen to break his bond.
Zip smiled sadly as she headed to the kitchen to grab the firewhiskey, figuring the fumes would get her nice and tipsy for a bit so she couldn't save her grandfather, mostly because some things were more important.
Slappy scowled as he looked at the ward against house elves that was tied to the sickly looking red wards that were growing over the property. 'This won't last a month but I'm not leaving Master Harry with the monsters for a month.' He put the swan cloak on and activated the magic, changing from his normal old and knobby appearance to a beautiful white swan. 'Old age and treachery,' he thought with amusement as he darted through one on the gaping holes in the wards and ran up the sidewalk to the front door.
He reached up and pushed the doorbell with his beak and waited. He waited until the door was opened by a fat man then lunged forward and hit the asshole in the testicles then darted inside the house, glad that the fat bastard wasn't related to Harry. He screamed at Petunia then darted over to where Master Harry was in a basket in the cupboard under the stairs. He wrapped his wings around Harry then tossed as much of his magic as he could into popping them both into the magically sealed basement of the cabin in Godric's Hollow, causing the blood wards to explode and everything to catch fire behind them.
Slappy ignored the pain as he floated the basket with Master Harry over to the glowing green portal that took up part of the wall, knowing he didn't have much time before his old body failed him. 'This would have been easier if Fleamont hadn't ordered me not to tell James about the portal until he was both older and more responsible.'
He floated Harry through the portal and then followed him through. He glanced around the small chamber that was illuminated by the portal and felt his heart skip a beat when he realized the tunnel that lead out had collapsed at some point over the last decade.
'Fuck!' he cursed, knowing that popping would probably finish him off before he could explain things. 'People plan and Fate laughs,' he thought as he wrapped his burned wings around his charge. “It was an honor,” he told his sleeping charge, then popped up to the front porch with Harry and his basket.
He had just enough time to hit the doorbell with his beak before everything faded to black.
0o0o0
"Five more minutes," Harry Potter replied sleepily as someone shook his shoulder.
"If you don't get up, I'll hex you," Rose warned her brother. The cheerful redhead was hovering just above the floor.
Harry opened one eye and stared into the almost sparkling green eyes of his sister then glanced at the clock on the nightstand. "Go back to sleep, it's barely six."
"I've been waiting for hours," Rose whined as she flew over to the curtains and pulled them open, letting sunlight stream into the room and all but moaning in the warmth.
"Not funny, it's too early to deal with neon pink outfits and sunlight," Harry complained as he covered his eyes with his arm.
"Blame Mum, she said we can't open presents until you're awake and dressed," Rose explained as she landed and walked over and flopped down on the bed, using her sibling as a teddy bear.
"That never helps, she just smiles," Harry complained, brushing her long red hair out of his face and wishing he hadn't stayed up late playing video games. "Have you managed to wake up Violet yet?" he asked, trying to distract his sister so he could get a couple more minutes of rest even though he knew it was pointless.
"Why do you think I'm wearing pink?" Rose asked as she stretched out on his bed, enjoying the feeling of the sunlight on her skin and shoving him out of his comfortable spot.
"Brain damage? Maybe a curse or a bad prank?" Harry suggested, reluctantly considering rising, though no force on Earth was going to make him shine at this hour!
"I don't think she was quite awake yet," Rose admitted.
"Sure, let's go with that," Harry said with a yawn. "Is Lilybug up?" he asked in a last ditch attempt to distract his sister and snag a couple more minutes of rest.
"Not yet," Rose admitted. "No point waking the vampire up until Violet finishes her shower."
Harry slipped out of the covers and headed for the bathroom, rather happy that he had his own and didn't have to share since the twins loved to take long showers. "Just because Lilybug doesn't like the sun as much as you doesn't make her a vampire," he called back through the open bathroom door.
"No, the fact that she has fangs makes her a vampire," Rose argued with a grin.
"She has a tail and horns, she takes after Mum," Harry replied as he flipped the fan on and walked over to the shower. He turned the shower on to let it warm up.
"She has a great evil laugh for a nine year old," Rose admitted, wondering if it came with the archetype or if their younger sister had just practiced more than they thought.
"She has a great evil laugh, period," he replied as he pulled his shirt off and dropped it in the hamper.
"Fair. At least we don't have any minions in the family," Rose said thoughtfully as she grabbed Harry's pillow and put it under her head, noting it smelled like him or rather the strawberry shampoo she made him use.
"Wouldn't be my first choice," Harry admitted as he pulled his underwear off and stepped into the shower.
"Don't worry, you have too much magic to be a minion, well maybe chief minion," Rose teased.
"Funny," Harry complained as he grabbed the soap and a washcloth.
Rose laughed. "You could always team up with Violet, you make a pretty decent magic boy."
"That's only because Violent has the ability to change people's outfits," Harry complained.
"Don't even start, you're not her mirror," Rose complained about her twin.
"Hopefully Mum got us cameras for our birthday," Harry teased.
"I hate you," Rose lied as she pulled up her shirt so that more sunlight was hitting her skin. She considered stripping, but her parents had gotten on her about being naked outside her room, despite her archetype requiring sunlight! They were being completely unfair she felt.
0o0o0
"Happy birthday," James offered as his son walked into the living room.
Their birthday was actually today, but the twins celebrated their birthday the day before and they celebrated Harry’s birthday today because they had organized a protest when they were seven to celebrate on different days. Their parents were pretty sure it was mostly to try and get three birthday parties rather than one, but had compromised anyway and allowed them to have two.
"Thanks," Harry replied as he glanced around the room, wondering if something was going to jump out at him.
James did his best to hide his smirk. "You seem a bit jumpy."
Harry studied his father's expression, not trusting it for a second. "That's because you enchanted a fake cake to explode last year and the year before that you gave me a box that conjured an army of spiders."
"Don't worry, I learned my lesson on that one," James complained, thinking about the small army of spiders that had followed Lilybug for the rest of the day.
"And the cake?" Harry asked as he used his enchanted sunglasses to scan the room for unfamiliar magic, something that wasn't particularly easy thanks to the fact that his parents both had magic archetypes.
"Lily refused to tell me what the cake was going to look like so I didn't have time to make a copy," James admitted, rather amused by Harry's paranoia, especially since he hadn't had the time to set anything up, having been up late dealing with a pair of new villains in London.
"That's because you wanted to make a severed head burst out of the middle of the cake," Lily complained as she walked out of the kitchen, wearing an apron that said, "Real Dark Lords Bake!" over her pants and pirate shirt.
"It's not like I was going to use a real head," James argued.
"This is why you're not a Dark Lord," Lily replied as she walked over and pulled Harry into a hug.
James laughed. "Just as well, I'd look horrible with horns."
"I'm not even sure you'd notice the horns with your hair," Lily replied as she playfully checked Harry's head for horns. "Nope, you're still good. Happy birthday."
"Funny," Harry replied with amusement as his youngest sister walked down the stairs, her wild crimson hair pulled up into pigtails that left her horns visible and her spaded tail sticking out of the bottom of her oversized black t-skirt. She looked absolutely adorable which was completely at odds with her obvious archetype of a Dark Lord like her mother.
"I thought so," Lily replied as she looked at her youngest. "Did you curse your sisters for waking you up?"
"Nope, they used a robot puppy to knock on the door until I woke up," Lilybug complained as she walked over and wrapped her arms around her older brother. "Happy birthday."
"Thanks," Harry replied as Violet and Rose floated down the stairs, wearing identical sparkly mini shorts and rainbow colored t-shirts. "I blame Dad for their sense of fashion."
"I blame your grandmother, I'm pretty sure she was color blind," James lied. "Happy birthday girls."
"Thanks," Violet and Rose replied at the same time.
Lily glanced at the modest collection of presents on the coffee table then focused on the girls. "Let's grab something to eat then we can open the presents."
"Cool," Violet said as she headed for the kitchen with a spring in her steps, looking forward to spending the day with her friends.
Harry glanced at Lilybug then headed for the kitchen, not quite awake enough to deal with the twins but too awake to go back to sleep.
0o0o0
Severus pulled his attention away from the disconcerting ritual that Albus was sitting up in front of one of the large stones, not particularly happy with Albus' current plan. "Are you sure this is wise?"
"Not in the slightest," Albus replied cheerfully as he finished setting up the ritual, "but there is a prophecy and he has a piece of the puzzle."
"I meant using one of Xenophilius's rituals," Severus complained, not happy to be reminded of his part in Lily's death. "His grip on reality is slipping."
"Don't worry, it's technically something Pandora found in her research," Albus replied absently as he double checked the ritual with his notes.
"That doesn't make it better," Severus complained, thinking about her death.
"I'm reasonably sure her notes were tampered with," Albus argued, not seeing a point in admitting that he'd already used the ritual to summon someone from another world a couple of years ago when he'd needed a Defense teacher and couldn't find someone willing to teach. Thankfully, the ritual was designed with several safeguards in place.
"Be that as it may, what if he's in a better place?" Severus asked, fairly sure they were making a mistake.
"What if he's in a worse place?" Albus asked as he waved his wand and started the ritual, causing magic to flow into the ancient ruin.
"Fine," Severus muttered as he took a step away from the ancient rocks, half expecting something to go categorically wrong with the 'ritual' because of the wear and tear Stonehenge had suffered over the years. He felt the hairs on his arm raise as all of the massive stones in the area started glowing with an eerie blue light and the scent of ozone hit his nose.
"I summon Harry James Potter, son of Lily and James Potter!" Albus chanted as arc's of green energy started dancing over the stones, causing a glowing portal to appear and a familiar looking dark haired child to tumble out of a black and purple portal that quickly closed.
"Fuck!" Harry cursed as he rolled to his feet, adrenaline pulling everything into focus as he conjured a glowing blue shield on his left arm. "Who the fuck…" he trailed off as recognized one of his mother's favorite authors. "Mr. Snape?"
Severus stared at the child that looked a fair bit like James had the first time he'd met him on the train. "You know who I am?" he asked, surprised because Albus had been sure Harry had been taken to a different world or realm for various reasons.
"You wrote several books on potions, I recognize you from the back cover," Harry replied as he glanced around at the ruins, wondering why they were near Stonehenge, keeping the two adults in sight in case he had to defend himself.
"Which books?" Snape asked.
"Counter Stirring and Alternate Preparation Methods, Unusual Uses for Wolfsbane and An Alchemist's Guide to Dealing With Idiots in the Lab," Harry replied without hesitation.
"Strange," Severus muttered, thinking about the scattered notes on his various tricks for making potions that he'd never quite turned into a book.
"That certainly sounds like something you'd write," Albus mused, relieved to see that Harry was healthy.
"Mum said the original title was An Alchemist's Guide to Dealing with Dunderheads, but the publisher wouldn't print it," Harry replied as he pulled his magic cellphone out of his pocket and selected his mother's number. "Any idea why we're in Stonehenge and why it's glowing?"
"You're in Stonehenge-" Albus stopped talking when Harry snapped, "Out of range, what?!"
Harry selected his sister's number and scowled when he got the same message. He selected the panic icon then shifted the phone to his other hand with his finger over the confirm button. "I don't know what is going on but I can't reach my mother or my sister which means you have twenty seconds to convince me that this isn't some twisted practical joke or a kidnapping attempt before I assume you need to die."
"I assure you this isn't a practical joke Harry…" Albus trailed off as Harry conjured a ball of black fire in his right hand. "I knew your parents, they wanted you to go to Hogwarts."
"What the hell is a Hogwarts?" Harry asked as he glanced between the strangers, ready to activate his phone's emergency recall feature if they proved to be an actual challenge. 'Stay calm, Mum is probably already scrying, just keep them talking.'
"You've never heard of Hogwarts?" Severus asked, a touch surprised given the information about the books he'd never written he’d assumed that he might have been summoned from a world almost exactly like their own.
"I wouldn't have asked if I knew," Harry complained.
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a place for young witches and wizards to learn magic," Albus explained.
"Okay, why are you trying to recruit people before they get their archetypes?" Harry asked, wondering if they realized how screwed they were when his mother found them.
"Archetypes?" Albus asked, not sure what he was talking to.
Harry stared at the old man for a couple of seconds then let the ball of blackfire vanish when he realized they didn't understand something that everyone should know. "You're not making sense. Start from the beginning, where did you get my name?"
"Your parents went to Hogwarts. A touch less than ten years ago, they died when a dark wizard rose to power and killed them, leaving you an orphan. You vanished from your Aunt and Uncle's house a bit less than ten years ago."
"Are you fucking insane?!" Harry demanded.
“I ask that every day,” Snape muttered to himself.
0o0o0
Comments
Dogbertcarroll
I snagged it from https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13593012/1/Archetypal
Mist of Shadows
You can blame Dogbertcarroll for the fic, mostly because when I was editing his fic, I came up with an amusing idea, then we tossed ideas back and forth, this was the result. So yeah, no CYOA.
Michael Strickland
This is the second fic that I've read with Archetypes, the first being by dogbertcarroll and which was recently updated. Is this something ya'll thought up or is it from a cartoon/anime/manga or CYOA?
MND
Okay, this is strange.
