Mist of Shadows
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Harry Potter and the Magical Girls part 2
🕑 Added 2021-02-02 08:17:22 +0000 UTCHarry wasn't sure how to feel about the fact that a dismembered corpse was easier to vanish than a fully intact dead body but it made sense that it was easier to visualize the body parts vanishing. 'It's probably just as well Death Eaters aren't people.' He pointed his wand at the man's severed head and focused on it vanishing. "Evanesco."
"Scourgify," he whispered as he waved his wand at the last of the blood splattered on the floor and pushed with his magic, causing the blood, dust and dirt to vanish in a large swath. "Nothing like 'necessity' to learn a spell," he muttered, thinking about the dementors and the patronus charm that he'd learned back in third year. He let his wand vanish then walked over to the bed and sat down, feeling a bit drained from the intense focus.
'How the hell are the Death Eaters still alive?' Harry asked himself as he looked in the mirror at the red haired beauty staring back at him. 'Morals and ethics? Knowing someone would come after you? Forensics spells?' He sighed as he realized he was going to have to ask Sirius a bunch of questions about being an auror because even after four years at Hogwarts, he still didn't understand the Wizarding World.
He got to his feet and walked over to his trunk and looked through his collection of muggle clothes, smiling slightly when he found a shirt that should fit well enough. He pulled the shirt on and looked at the mirror. "Could be worse."
"Could be a lot better love," the mirror offered.
"I'm not exactly spoiled for choice," Harry muttered as he grabbed a pair of underwear and cut down sweats and pulled them on. 'Good enough.' He grabbed a pair of socks and pulled them on then packed all of his supplies in his trunk and left the room, dragging his trunk behind him.
He almost missed Sirius when he scanned the common room, until he noticed the girl that could be his current form's older sister sitting at a table drinking a milkshake, looking perfectly normal in a kilt and muggle dress shirt. 'How often did you mess around with polyjuice in school or on assignment?' he mused, fairly sure he must have had a decent amount of practice to make it look effortless. He walked over. "Been waiting long?" he asked after checking to make sure the 'girl' was wearing a ring.
Sirius glanced between the girl that looked like she could have been his current form's younger sister and her vaguely familiar trunk then glanced at 'her' hand, noticing the ring with celtic knotwork that matched his own. "Just a bit, did you forget your stuffed animal?"
"No, I already packed Snuffles," he assured the person he was reasonably sure was Sirius.
"Moony will be happy to hear it," Sirius said then worked on finishing his milkshake, not seeing a reason to let it go to waste as he'd already ordered it.
"How are we getting home?" Harry asked quietly as he sat down, figuring that would be less suspicious than standing there and glaring at his 'sister'.
"Side along," Sirius replied after finishing his milkshake.
Harry set the room key by the glass. "In that case, let's go before I run into any more trouble."
"Yeah, I'm going to give Mum a piece of my mind for having to play taxi," Sirius said as he held out his hand. "You know the drill."
Harry grabbed the girl's hand, hoping he wasn't making a mistake. He blinked as they went from a moderately lit room to an empty alley. "Where are we?"
"Half a block from my mother's old house." Sirius changed back to his normal appearance and pulled the strip of paper out of his pocket that he'd gotten from Remus. "Can you prove that you're actually Harry?"
"Sure," Harry replied and changed back to his normal form.
"I've got so many questions but we'll start with an easy one, when was the first time you met me?" Sirius asked, fairly sure it was Harry but wanting to make sure.
"If you don't count when I was a baby, in the park, right after I'd inflated my aunt," Harry offered.
"How did you save me…" Sirius trailed off as he realized Harry's scar was gone. "What happened to your scar?"
"It exploded and I healed it," Harry explained.
Sirius winced. "You shouldn't use healing spells on yourself without a lot of practice, it's dangerous."
"It was that or pass out from blood loss," Harry argued as he glanced around the empty alley, wanting to make sure no one was around.
"Never mind, we can worry about that once we get inside." Sirius handed Harry the piece of paper. "Don't read it out loud, just memorize it and think about it."
Harry looked at the words and the address. "Order of the Phoenix?"
"Sort of a social club for opposing Voldemort, either way, just follow my lead." Sirius changed to his animagus form and started walking.
Harry kept his questions to himself as he followed Sirius to an older looking brownstone that sort of appeared out of thin air once they got close enough. 'That's one way to hide things.' He followed Sirius up the steps and frowned when he noticed the door didn't have a handle.
Sirius used a bit of wandless magic to open the door then darted inside and changed back to normal. "Try to be quiet, my mother's painting likes screaming about mudbloods," he said quietly.
"No worries," Harry whispered as he looked around. "So, you used to live here?"
"Until I was sixteen," Sirius replied as he headed for the study. "If anyone asks, blame Remus."
Harry grinned as he followed Sirius. "Can you explain why no one has been sharing any news?"
"Albus said he didn't want to bother you with details and Fudge's slander, I think he just didn't want you leaving to kick the shite out of him," Sirius replied absently as he opened the door to the study. "Mission successful."
Remus sighed in relief when he looked up and spotted Harry. "What happened?"
"Remus did it," Harry replied as he stepped into the study.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Funny."
"Let me guess, you told him to blame me for finding you?" Remus asked, giving Sirius a dirty look.
"It seemed a good idea at the time," Sirius replied with amusement as he walked into the study.
Remus turned to look at Harry. "What happened?"
"I don't know what happened, I was late getting back to the Dursleys and the police were already there, I'd heard Vernon and Dudley had fits and that they were in comas," Harry offered.
"Dementors," Sirius grumbled.
"Albus is at the ministry raising hell about how the dementors got off the island and found your aunt's house," Remus explained.
"Does that mean they're dead?" Harry asked, not sure how to feel about his cousin's death, sure he was an ass but he was still blood. He was less conflicted about Vernon's death, mostly because one less abusive asshole was a good start as far as he was concerned.
Remus nodded. "Unfortunately."
"Death Eaters?" Harry asked, fairly sure the dementors wouldn't travel hundreds of miles inland just to kill him or his family without outside pressure.
"Or the ministry," Sirius grumbled.
"You don't know that," Remus argued, not wanting Harry to jump to conclusions.
"You're right, I don't but it wouldn't be the first time someone in the Ministry decided to go rogue," Sirius said, thinking about the bastard that had stuck him in prison without a trial.
"Did you find that book on transfiguring…" Hermione trailed off as she walked into the study and saw Harry. "Harry!" she squealed as she dashed forward and pulled him into a hug. "You're okay!"
"Miss me?" Harry asked, grinning with amusement when Hermione let go of him and took a step back.
"I was worried," Hermione admitted. "When did you get here?"
"Just now, blame Remus," Harry suggested with a grin.
Hermione glanced at Remus then focused on Sirius. "What did Sirius do?"
"Hey, what makes you think I did anything?" Sirius asked, trying and failing to look innocent.
"Experience and the fact that she was just here five minutes ago asking about a book," Remus suggested, trying not to laugh.
"Plenty of time to apparate to the Leaky Cauldron and grab Harry," Sirius pointed out, trying not to laugh.
"When did you get here?" Harry asked, saving Sirius from having to admit anything.
"Half an hour, Professor Dumbledore was worried about an attack," Hermione admitted, letting Harry change the topic.
"What about your parents?" Harry asked, hoping they'd be safe.
"They were already scheduled to take a cruise, this just means they'll spend a couple more days with my grandparents before they leave and that one of my cousins gets my ticket. Everyone wins, I get to spend time with friends and she gets to relax on a boat and see a bunch of tourist traps," Hermione explained, happy that she got to spend the rest of her summer reading rather than being stuck on a boat worried about Harry. "So, what happened?"
"By the time I got back from wandering around town, there were police cars at the house. I didn't want to get close in case someone was waiting for me but I didn't want to let the police find my trunk either so I talked to one of my neighbors that doesn't think I'm a criminal. She said the Dursleys had collapsed and that the police were checking for gas leaks. The police were happy enough to let me grab my trunk and I took a train to King's Cross."
"You're lucky you weren't spotted," Remus pointed out.
"I'm aware," Harry muttered, thinking about the dead Death Eaters. "Officially, I headed to the Leaky Cauldron, got a room then sent Sirius a letter when Hedwig found me at which point I was rescued and here I am."
"Officially?" Hermione asked with raised eyebrows.
"Yep," Harry agreed, enjoying winding her up a bit more than he should thanks to the fact that she hadn't given him enough details in her letters.
"And unofficially?" Hermione asked, studying her friend's face.
"Unofficially, I might have left some details out." Harry mentally activated his ring and smiled at Hermione as purple mist flowed over his body, changing him into his female form.
"Just a few," Sirius said sarcastically, making a mental note to talk Hermione into taking Harry clothes shopping.
'How the hell?' Hermione stared at the girl that had replaced Harry. "Wandless transfiguration?"
"Nope, try again," Harry replied with amusement as he leaned against the desk.
"You didn't drink anything and your clothes changed which rules out polyjuice." Hermione glanced between Sirius and Remus. "Is there a human form of animagus?"
Remus shook his head. "Not as such. Metamorphmagi can change their appearance but that's an ability people are born with."
"Do you give up?" Harry teased.
"Fine, I give up," Hermione admitted, not sure how he'd changed himself without a wand. "How did you do it?"
"Officially? I bought a ring in a pawn shop," Harry offered.
"Unofficially?" Hermione asked warily.
"That depends, are you going to run to a professor and spill secrets?" Harry asked, letting some of his frustration show through about the lack of letters.
Hermione glanced at Remus. "Not if Professor Lupin agrees that it's safe."
Remus shook his head. "I'm not a professor anymore, if I were, I'd probably have to report this."
"You could probably teach if you wore a transformation ring," Sirius pointed out, trying not to laugh at the idea of Remus teaching as a girl.
"Funny," Remus replied dryly. "As far as I know the rings are safe, I've run a few tests and I'm planning on asking Bill for a second opinion once I get a chance."
Hermione turned to look at Harry. "In that case, the less people that know you can change your appearance the better."
Harry smiled at Hermione. "I can live with that. I bought the ring in a mundane pawn shop then walked into the Leaky Cauldron and got a room. I needed supplies so I went into Diagon Alley and bought them at the potions supply shop then I went back to my room and enchanted the ring."
"Enchanted?" Hermione asked in disbelief. "How? You're not supposed to use magic outside of school."
Remus coughed. "Technically speaking, the trace is basically useless in magical locations because it detects magic use, not the child using magic."
Hermione stared at Remus. "If that's true, why don't more purebloods practice magic over the summer?"
"You mean Ron?" Sirius asked with amusement. "He's a bit of a slacker and Molly would have his hide, rules and all. I spent most of my summer vacations when I was in school in my room practicing magic when I wasn't wandering around the alley or visiting friends."
"Same?" Hermione asked, noticing Remus' slight grin.
"I spent a fair bit of time reading and practicing," Remus admitted. "I was quite convinced that the Ministry was going to find out that I was a werewolf and expel me, so I was trying to make the most of it."
"That still seems unfair," Hermione complained, knowing she'd make a lot more progress if she could practice over the summer.
"Welcome to the wizarding world," Harry said sarcastically.
"Fine, where did you learn how to enchant things?" Hermione asked, looking at Harry.
"From a book," Harry replied, grinning when Hermione gave him a dirty look for being difficult. "I was doing a bit of window shopping in a second hand shop and I found a magical book. Long story short, it taught me a lot about making magical girl devices."
"Like the ring you gave Sirius?" Remus asked.
"Exactly, they're not just transformation items, they also allow you to use magic in different ways," Harry said as he reached down and lifted up the old wooden desk with one hand.
"How strong are you?" Hermione asked, trying to mentally calculate the desk's weight.
"I haven't tested it but it's not heavy," Harry admitted as he set the table down.
"Can you fly?" Hermione asked, thinking about some of the old magic girl comics she'd seen in the used bookstore near her house.
"Not yet but I might have a couple of ideas," Harry said as he activated his ring and changed back to normal.
"Where's the book?" Hermione asked, hoping he'd bought it or walked off with it because she really wanted to study it.
"It sort of turned to ash when it burned the information on creating the transformation talismans into my memories," Harry admitted, knowing that wouldn't go over well but figured Sirius and Remus might have some ideas how to make sure his brain didn't start leaking out of his head or anything.
"What!" Hermione snapped.
"I didn't do anything," Harry protested. "I just opened the cover and the next thing I know, I'm in a lot of pain, I've got concepts and diagrams floating around my head and it's night."
"Your scar…" Hermione trailed off as she finally glanced at where Harry's scar should be and realized it was gone. "What happened to your scar?"
"Whatever the book did caused my scar to explode, I can't say I'll miss it considering the general stupidity of the wizarding world," Harry explained.
"Explode?" Hermione asked, glad that she could see he was safe and sound.
"More or less, it looked like someone ripped it open with a can opener," Harry admitted, trying not to think about the blood and black goo he'd scrubbed out of the wound. "For the record, rubbing alcohol stings. I'm still not sure why healing my scar didn't cause the ministry to send me a letter but I was in a bit too much pain at the time to care."
"It might have looked like accidental magic or maybe the shop was warded against it or something broke the trace," Remus suggested.
"That would be useful," Harry mused.
"What do they do exactly?" Hermione asked, wondering how much he actually knew about the rings and the underlying theory.
"It depends on the ring, mine helps with defensive shields, healing, melee combat and summoning," Harry explained, not seeing a reason to point out the fact that it should help with offensive magic as he didn't want to give anyone a reason to confiscate it. "Sirius' ring helps with defense and offensive magic, I was in a bit of a hurry."
"What else can you make?" Hermione asked, curious what else he'd picked up from the book.
"Elemental manipulation, ward breaking and crowd control spring to mind," Harry replied after a couple of seconds of thought. "I might be able to adapt a levitation charm to let a person hover but I'd have to run some tests."
"How much of the book do you think you could recreate if I gave you paper?" Hermione asked excitedly.
"How many of the spells you've learned can you recall offhand…" he trailed off as he remembered who he was talking to. "Never mind, stupid question. Considering how dangerous some of the magic is, I'd rather not spread the information around."
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.
"Let me show you," Harry replied as he focused and transformed then summoned his wand.
Sirius coughed. "As much as I dislike the house, please don't destroy it while we're in it."
"No destroying the library," Hermione added absently, trying to figure out how he'd summoned his wand.
"Don't worry, I'm not planning anything destructive." Harry focused on the bits and pieces of summoning magic he remembered and waved his wand, conjuring a busty pink haired teenage girl with a naughty maid outfit and a feather duster.
'That's handy, certainly easier on the eyes than Kreacher,' Sirius mused as he studied the girl Harry had summoned.
"How?" Hermione sputtered, staring at the unfamiliar girl with pigtails wearing a sheer maid outfit that only covered her front half.
"Hello! What do you need cleaned master?" the girl asked Harry cheerfully.
"Start with the ceiling," Harry suggested.
"Okay!" the girl said as she jumped up on the desk and started dusting the vaulted ceiling.
"What will she remember?" Remus asked, wondering how the hell Harry had summoned someone.
"Nothing, she's a temporary construct, basically just spellwork. I could have summoned someone but I'd have to draw a runic circle and design my summon from the ground up. I'd rather take my time since their personalities are persistent if you summon them rather than conjure someone or something," Harry explained.
Hermione pulled her attention off the girl's behind and looked at Harry. "And the reason she's wearing that particular maid outfit?"
"I didn't say I was an expert, this is the first time I've ever summoned anyone," Harry said, trying to imply that he hadn't been thinking about some of Dudley's more questionable magazines.
Sirius waved a hand at the door and locked it, seeing no point in tempting fate and letting someone walk in on them, namely Molly. "I don't think I've ever heard of a spell for conjuring people."
"What else does the ring do and would it work for anyone that put it on?" Remus asked, trying to get more information.
"It basically lets you access a different type of magic, just because you have magic doesn't mean you know how to use it. In other words, I'd have to try to teach people the basics before they'd get more than the basic physical package," Harry explained.
"In other words, don't lose them," Remus ordered.
"Would they work for muggles?" Hermione asked, thinking about her parents.
Harry grinned when he realized they should. "They should, technically speaking I can probably make some rings that would give muggles wizarding magic but that would probably take some research."
Sirius stared at Harry then shook his head. "Don't joke about that, ever."
"I'm not joking," Harry replied.
Remus pulled his attention away from the maid that was still happily cleaning and looked at Harry. "Which makes it worse. You should avoid even implying that you're able to let muggles use magic, certain factions in the Ministry and the greater community would burn countries to the ground to get that ability."
"Oh," Harry muttered. "In other words, don't admit to shit and let people think I know someone that can make stuff?"
"I'd just avoid telling anyone anything they don't need to know and be careful who you give the rings to," Sirius suggested.
"How much can you tone them down?" Hermione asked thoughtfully.
"You mean like not including any of the interesting magic abilities and leaving just the physical boosts and the ability to summon your wand?" Harry asked, fairly sure he could make a stripped down ring with just physical boosts.
"Exactly," Hermione agreed.
Harry shrugged. "I'd need to play with the runic script a bit and make sure it's stable but once I have a working script it shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes per ring, assuming I have enough energy to empower them in a row."
"In either case, we should probably let people know that we've found you so they can stop worrying," Remus pointed out.
"Can I get a full ring?" Hermione asked hopefully, looking forward to learning 'forgotten' magical secrets that none of the purebloods knew.
Harry glanced at Sirius. "Do you have any rings that aren't cursed?"
"If not, we can always buy something," Sirius replied, not opposed to heading to London to do some shopping now that he could walk around without worrying about someone reporting him as a dangerous criminal.
"Can you dismiss your summon?" Remus asked, gesturing at the maid that was happily dusting the ceiling.
"Sure," Harry replied as he focused and dismissed his conjured minion.
"Is happy to have served," the maid replied before she faded away.
'We're going to have to run a bunch of tests,' Hermione mused, not sure where to start.
"Shall we face the music?" Harry asked as he gestured towards the door.
"Might as well," Remus said as he stood up and walked over to the door.
Sirius unlocked the door with a wave of his hand. "I'll go see if I can find any rings that aren't cursed."
"Sounds good," Harry said as he followed Remus out, hoping people didn't overreact about his missing scar.
0o0o0
"Ah, it seems our local celebrity has finally graced us with his presence," Severus said dryly as he walked into the kitchen where Harry was being fussed over by Molly. 'At least he's alive, no thanks to the Ministry.'
Harry turned to look at Snape. "Catching a muggle train takes longer than using the floo or even flying on a broom. Now if you'll excuse me, I haven't had dinner and I need to read my Potions homework, my professor is rather strict when it comes to homework," he said as he 'slipped' past Ron and left the room, leaving Ron and Mrs. Weasley staring at him.
'That was almost worthy of a Slytherin,' Severus thought, keeping his amusement off his face as Miss Granger followed him. 'How did you avoid the recruits Voldemort sent to kill you? Were they just incompetent or did someone find them first?'
"He's just lucky he wasn't attacked on the way to the Leaky Cauldron," Mrs. Weasley complained.
"Harry's good at escaping trouble," Ron said, thinking about their adventures over the last couple of years.
"Eventually his luck will run out," Severus pouted out, wishing Albus had actually given Harry a way to get in touch that didn't require sending an owl.
"You'd like that wouldn't you?" Ron complained.
Severus looked down his nose at Ron. "I'd like Mr. Potter to actually use his head. He should have taken the train to some random neighborhood and sent his owl from there, not walked into the Leaky Cauldron and requested a room like a Gryffindor."
"Considering the situation, he did the best he could," Remus cut in before things devolved into an argument or screaming match. "He managed to extract his magical supplies from his Aunt's house before the muggle police found them and he managed to avoid having the police treat him as a missing child or a person of interest."
"Which would be more impressive if he hadn't walked into Diagon Alley like an idiot afterwards," Severus sneered, annoyed at the entire situation.
"Said like a snake," Ron muttered under his breath.
"I don't know what he was thinking," Molly complained.
'I can't really say he made the wrong choice, considering his ring, it just looks like it.' Remus glanced between Molly and Severus. "Enough, given the fact that no one told Harry much of anything about the recent trouble with the Ministry, I can't blame him for assuming the alley was at least reasonably safe. Either way, leave him to his studies, if you want to help, I don't think he's actually had anything to eat since breakfast and you organized the supplies."
Ron turned and left, figuring he'd leave before his mother remembered to give him more work.
"Fine," Mrs. Weasley grumbled as she stalked over to the ice box to start making sandwiches.
'At least Vernon is dead,' Severus thought as he turned and headed towards the floo. "I have potions to tend to, let me know when Albus gets back."
"I'll tell him you stopped by," Remus assured Severus, knowing he had to make the rounds and touch base with his contacts.
