Mist of Shadows
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Demons and Botched Rituals part 15
🕑 Added 2020-06-27 19:58:07 +0000 UTC"Moment of truth," Harry said as he set the enchant for the crystal ball to scry for females then tapped the Enchant button and started pouring magic into the softball sized crystal ball he'd picked up at the arcane supply store, an amusing cross between an apothecary and an equipment store for magic users that he was probably going to be visiting a lot once he got his enchanting up to speed.
Franklin couldn't help but feel a touch of envy as he watched the torrent of magic flow into the crystal ball that Harry was holding, mostly because there was no way that he could hope to do the same, he was going to need a lot of magical crystal or at least monster leather so he could afford the mana cost as opposed to Harry who could simply drown the item in raw power.
Jessica giggled as Harry stopped pouring magic into the crystal ball and relaxed. "Is it done?"
"It should be," Harry replied as he gazed into the crystal ball and focused on Hermione, not really expecting the crystal ball to show him anything, mostly because the ball could only scry on naked or at least half naked people, but a shot in the dark was better than nothing. He nearly dropped the crystal when an image of a naked purple skinned Hermione with blue hair, straddling a girl with red hair that definitely wasn't Ginny, on an unfamiliar bed appeared inside the crystal ball.
Jessica smiled as she studied the girl that could have been her sister, if she had one and dyed her purple. "I'm going to want a copy of that crystal ball."
"Definitely," Bethany agreed as she watched the demon give the naked red haired girl a massage.
"Hermione," Harry blurted as his brain rebooted enough to realize that Hermione was just giving the other girl a massage and wasn't actually doing anything naughty, if you ignored their lack of clothes. He knew he should look away or stop scrying, but he couldn't help it, she was alive... and she was absolutely gorgeous!
"Any idea where they are?" Jessica asked as she watched the show.
"It looks like a bedroom," Franklin said, not recognizing the demon or the girl with red hair, mostly because the red haired girl's face was buried in her pillow.
"She'd hex me if she found out I was scrying her in the buff," Harry muttered as he stared at the image of his naked friend, relieved that she was alive but feeling guilty that she'd gotten turned into a demon helping him and that he was spying on her in private.
"Totally worth it," Bethany teased as she watched the way Hermione's breasts swayed as she worked on the redhead's shoulders. "Any idea where we can find them?"
"The guild should have a record," Franklin said, feeling slightly guilty about spying on a girl he didn’t know. "We should probably stop watching, there's a line between confirming your friend is alive and being rude."
"Especially since she might curse us?" Harry asked as he focused on Ginny, not really expecting it to work but figuring there was no harm in trying.
"Pretty much..." Franklin trailed off as the image in the crystal ball shifted to show a different red haired girl standing in a bathtub with a cascade of water hitting her while she moved her middle finger of her right hand in and out of her pussy. "Another friend?"
"My friend's little sister," Harry said, eyes glued to the scene as he watched her masturbate in the shower. "I'm fairly sure he'd kill me if he found out I was spying on her."
"And yet, you don't seem worried about it," Bethany teased as she watched Harry's friend playing with herself.
"I'm not planning on telling him and Ginny wouldn't kill me for it," Harry said, fairly sure she'd stop at cursing him on principle before moving on to getting even. "She's much more likely to knock me out, strip me and tie me to a bed so she could have her wicked way with me or leave me in a forest naked."
Jessica laughed. "She sounds a bit crazy."
"Maybe a little," Harry admitted as he watched her play with her breasts with her other hand for a couple of seconds before she brought her arm up and covered her mouth to muffle her moans. "On the upside, her brother isn't here."
"I feel like I should be complaining on moral grounds," Franklin muttered as he watched her shudder, knowing he shouldn't be watching but on the other hand, he'd probably never meet her, which meant she'd never know and she was attractive.
"Does anyone else want to finish their shopping so we can find a bed and fuck like rabbits?" Bethany asked hopefully.
"Yes," Jessica agreed quickly, looking forward to getting fucked by Harry.
"Sounds good," Franklin quickly agreed as he started walking, figuring the sooner they finished, the sooner he'd get to have sex with Bethany.
Harry watched as Ginny reached down and turned the water off before reluctantly dropped the crystal ball in his inventory, trying to tell himself he was just glad to be able to see his friends again and hearing his conscience snicker at him. "Right, shopping," he said firmly as he followed Franklin towards the Second Chalice shop.
"What's Hermione like?" Jessica asked, curious about Harry's friend who looked so much like her and wondering what else they had in common.
"She can be a bit bossy at times about studying and school work but she means well," Harry explained as they walked down the street, heading towards the Second Chalice shop, “and she loves being right, which is good because she often is. Let me tell you about the time…”
0o0o0
"Lower?" Selena asked hopefully as Hermione's hands stopped just above her butt.
"Is that an order or a request?" Hermione asked, feeling her cheeks burn as she thought about running her fingers over Selena's plush posterior. 'I really need a book on demons and warlocks, this can't be normal and I’m sure I would have noticed an attraction to redheads erm I mean, girls, before now.'
"Request," Selena said firmly. "I'm not going to order you to do anything you don't want to do or won't enjoy."
"In that case, I need to know you a bit better. Saving each other's lives is a good start, but I need to know what you’re like when things aren’t exploding, also you need to buy me dinner first," Hermione said as she swung her leg over Selena and headed over to the table so she could read her enchanting book, not sure how to deal with the fact that she found her summoner attractive… and possibly Ginny as well.
"I can do that," Selena said as she turned to look at Hermione, enjoying the view. "You could always let me return the favor and give you a massage while you're reading."
"Now you're just trying to distract me." Hermione shook her head, trying to ignore the mental image of Harry watching Selena fondle her that had just popped into her head.
"Is it working?" Selena asked as she rolled over onto her back and smiled at Hermione.
"No," Hermione lied, blushing as she sat down on the wooden chair and stared at the complicated charts in the book, wishing she knew where Harry was so she could relax and not worry about him or feel guilty for enjoying herself when he could be, and almost certainly was, in trouble somewhere without her.
Selena smiled as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, thinking about her plans for the future and a dinner date or two.
0o0o0
Harry walked through the door of the Second Chance shop and glanced around at the hundreds of trinkets and other odds and ends sitting on shelves behind glass. 'It's like someone took a high end jewelry shop and converted it into a junk shop.' He glanced at the white haired man behind the counter then glanced up at the sign on the back wall, 'Owner Reserves the Right to Reduce Thieves to Ash.'
The white haired man behind the counter smiled at Harry's group. "Welcome to the Second Chalice, is there something I can help you with?"
Franklin nodded. "I was wondering how much you'd pay for a filthy loincloth that cuts the damage of any melee attack in half and gives your legs an exceptional amount of armor?"
"In half?" the old man asked thoughtfully. "To be honest, I don't have that much gold on hand. I mostly deal with low end magical items, but I could certainly make you a decent offer and give you the gold tomorrow. Is there a reason you're not planning on using it after paying a magic user to clean it?"
"It has the filthy quality and I don't want my family jewels rotting off," Franklin admitted.
"That would be bad," Bethany grumbled as she read the tag on a small horse figurine, not sure what she'd do with something that summoned an ill tempered donkey, other than hand it to Harry so he could make something more interesting.
"Is this where you tell us it's worthless?" Jessica asked as she studied the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper shook his head. "Hardly, even ignoring the armor quality, the damage reduction enchant is valuable enough that having it decursed is still worth it. If you really need the coin in a hurry, I can probably make you a halfway decent offer, but I have to be honest, you'd probably make five times as much gold if you took it to Grimsong and paid the Guild to take it down to the altar to decurse then auctioned it off."
"If that's the case, why tell us?" Harry asked.
"Because I'm honest," the shopkeeper replied with a smile. "Mostly, it's a risk. I've seen items sell for thousands when they should have sold for hundreds or hundreds when they should have sold for thousands. Not to mention I'd have to hire a team of adventurers to transport the loincloth to Grimsong and I’d have to deal with one of the auction houses which aren’t always as honest as I am."
"In other words, you might lose gold," Harry mused.
"Basically," the shopkeeper admitted.
"In that case, do you have any reasonably priced flying carpets?" Harry asked, wishing he had his Firebolt with him.
"Flying carpets, yes of course. Reasonably priced?" The shopkeeper gestured toward the fourth aisle. "That depends on your price range and how fast you need it to fly. Take a look, if anything looks interesting, holler."
"Thanks," Harry replied as he headed to take a look.
"What do you have for defensive gear?" Jessica asked, hoping she could talk Harry into buying her something useful.
"The usual low end adventuring gear," the shopkeeper replied as he pointed to one of the aisles. "Rings of protection, armored clothing, amulets that harden your skin and wards that mitigate certain types of elemental damage."
"Thanks, I'll take a look." Jessica smiled as she headed over to look at clothing.
Franklin followed Jessica, figuring he might as well check the prices on clothing so he'd have a better idea what he could sell things for.
Harry stared at the price tag on the threadbare carpet. "Two hundred gold for an unstable carpet?"
"Basic flying carpets are normally over a 1,000 gold, so it's quite the deal, even if it occasionally wobbles while flying too fast."
"It says it starts wobbling at 27 miles an hour and can't go past 32," Harry grumbled, wishing he'd picked up a book on charming broomsticks or carpets while at Hogwarts or asked Sirius when he had a chance.
The shopkeeper shrugged. "Most modern carpets can't fly at 40 miles an hour, the ones that can are generally ancient relics, with a price tag to match."
"It's a decent deal," Franklin cut in before Harry pissed the shopkeeper off by trying to haggle.
"Do you have any flying brooms?" Harry asked, hoping they were faster.
"Flying brooms?" the shopkeep asked in confusion. “That sounds mighty uncomfortable, except for female flyers, especially at higher speeds when it begins to vibrate.”
"Never mind," Harry muttered. "I'll take the carpet."
"Of course," the shopkeeper replied as he walked over to open the case. "Is there anything else you need?"
"What do you have that boosts magic?" Harry asked.
"I sold my best crown earlier today but I have a crown that boosts magic by 5 at the cost of 10 endurance that I can part with for 50 gold," the shopkeeper offered as he unlocked the glass case by tapping it with his finger twice, removed the moth eaten green and white carpet and locked the case.
"Sure, why not," Harry agreed as he accepted the flying carpet that had certainly seen better days, figuring the pattern might be worth it if nothing else. 'I could see the Weasleys having something like this if they weren't illegal,' he thought before castigating himself for such an unkind thought.
"Don't spend everything," Jessica warned, "we still need to pick up some defensive gear."
"Don't worry, I can afford it," Harry assured her as he followed the shopkeeper over to a shelf without glass that held a number of silver and gold crowns. "Out of curiosity, how much would a crystal ball that scrys on naked men go for?"
"Less than one that scrys on naked women but decent enough depending on the amount of power the enchanter had. Why, are you selling one?" the shopkeeper asked as he walked over and picked up a dainty silver tiara.
Harry pulled the crystal ball from the dungeon out of his inventory and handed it to the shopkeeper. "Probably, take a look and tell me what you think it's worth."
The shopkeeper cast his identification spell on the crystal ball and stared at the popup window in disbelief for a couple of seconds, almost dropping the ball. "Let me guess, you found this in the warlock dungeon?"
"What makes you say that?" Franklin asked.
"Crystal Balls are generally blocked by even fairly weak wards, this one however would ignore anything short of the wards created by an archmage, dragon, or greater demon. How does 300 gold in store credit sound?"
"Like highway robbery," Harry replied with a grin. "But I'll admit you have a point about it being less useful due to the choice of targets."
Bethany glanced up from the Boots of Trackless Step she was studying. "Does that mean we can spend 50 gold for defensive items?"
"At least fifty," Harry replied as he headed over to check on Jessica and Franklin, “if we need more… well I have a crystal ball that will apparently go for quite a bit more.”
0o0o0
Buffy pulled her attention off Azure's rune covered blade and glanced between Giles and the blue skinned demon that was happily discussing details of the Norse pantheon that escaped her. "So, you were like a Slayer?" she asked before Giles could ask another question that would spawn yet another discussion about ancient gods she could only mostly follow.
Azure considered the question for a couple of seconds. "In some ways. I serve the gods and I defend my people from monsters, but I'm not alone and I most certainly have a choice about serving the gods."
"Lucky you," Buffy muttered. "How long have you been a demon?"
"Less than," Azure smiled as the stone arch lit up and a portal opened to a lava filled cave and she saw Harry standing there, "a day. Welcome home, Harry. Did you have fun?"
"Yeah…" Harry trailed off as he stepped into the room and glanced around his pocket dimension, surprised that there were four people he didn't recognize scattered around the room and a portal on the wall that looked like it led to a library of some sorts. He glanced at the dark haired teenager that Ruby was using as a chair then looked at the blushing redhead that was leaning against them while she braided Jade's hair. He glanced at the bag of fast food next to Fred, though he didn’t recognize the franchise, then looked at the blonde girl and dignified looking man in a suit that were standing with Azure near the fireplace. "That depends, do you consider exploring dangerous dungeons filled with death traps fun?"
"Yes," Azure said cheerfully.
"That depends, do they have loot?" Buffy asked as she studied Harry's less than impressive shorts and shirt. 'He'd almost pass as human if he had better clothes. I wonder why a demon has a Giles-ish accent.'
"I made some friends, found a decent amount of gold and magical items, and I picked up a couple new classes, so, yeah, I'd consider it worth it." Harry turned to look at the rest of the group. "I also picked up some supplies from town so we should have plenty of supplies to start crafting gear."
"Lucky," Buffy muttered, wishing the council actually paid her for killing vampires.
"Do we have extra?" Azure asked as she gestured towards Buffy. "Buffy is basically a holy warrior and she has to deal with a lot of dangerous demons, she could use better gear."
"Holy warrior?" Harry asked as he studied the blonde that looked to have more in common with Lavender than any warrior he could think of. "It might take a couple of days but sure, we'll be making a lot of gear before we can get the quality up to an acceptable level so an extra set won’t be a bother. Can I get some names for the rest of the strangers?" he asked as he glanced between the rest of the strangers.
Ruby snickered. "My cute red haired friend is Willow and Xander is the one who has graciously agreed to donate his lap."
"Rupert Giles is a scholar," Azure offered, gesturing to the older man respectfully.
Buffy shrugged. "I'm Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I got drafted to fight vampires, I also slay problematic demons that are trying to destroy the world or kill innocents."
Harry frowned as he thought about what he'd read about vampires. "Weird, I would have thought the Ministry of Magic would take care of any vampiric criminals."
"Ministry of Magic? I’m not sure what you are referring to and Vampires are basically reanimated corpses, they're controlled by a blood demon and thus hostile to humanity, killing quite indiscriminately," Giles explained before Buffy could say something offensive.
"You're sure?" Harry asked. “In school they had a vampire come in so we would be familiar with them and he wasn't demonic in the least, animated by a combination of blood magic and necromancy.”
"Quite sure, the Watcher's Council has been fighting them for thousands of years," Giles explained, surprised the demon didn't know.
"So much for the easy way home," Harry said with a sigh, sort of happy that he'd have more time before he had to deal with the wizarding world and Voldemort again. He felt a twinge of guilt for the thought, but he had to admit he was enjoying himself more as a daemon than he had as a wizard.
"What do you mean?" Willow asked.
Harry shrugged. "My world's vampires aren't demons, and they're more or less the same as they were in life, which means I'm going to have to find a different way home."
"You're sure?" Buffy asked.
"Fairly sure, one of my professors covered the subject in depth, which means we're not from the same dimension," Harry explained.
"Vampires are publicly known about where you come from?" Buffy asked in surprise.
"They're considered myths by most people, but I went to a school for magic users," Harry explained as he walked over and sat down on the bed next to Jade. "That reminds me, I should probably summon Jessica so we don't have to explain things twice."
"You're summoning another demon?" Buffy asked cautiously, sure they were in his home, but all the summonings she’d run across definitely fell into the bad category.
Harry gestured and summoned Jessica. "No, Jessica is a rabbit."
Xander stared at the half naked rabbit girl that appeared out of thin air next to the bed. "Are you related to Roger Rabbit?" he asked, thinking she looked exactly how he expected a daughter of Roger and Jessica to look.
"You know my parents?" Jessica asked as she glanced around the room, taking in all the new people.
Xander shook his head. "No, they're from a movie where I’m from."
"Ah, right, they've been in a few," Jessica replied with a shrug before her nose twitched as she caught a familiar smell. "Oh hey, tacos! Can I have one?"
"Sure," Fred offered, knowing they wouldn't last forever and that she could probably talk Xander into getting more.
"Thanks," Jessica said as she jumped onto the bed and sat down as Fred tossed her a taco.
Willow's blush got worse as she pulled her gaze off Jessica's crotch and tried to focus on her face, fairly sure her face should be lighting up the room.
"So, now that we've covered the basics, did you lose your summoner?" Jade asked.
Harry shook his head. "What makes you think I lost another summoner?"
"You're back and you lost your first two," Azure pointed out.
"My first two were bloody idiots, that got themselves killed because of traps and the fact that they wouldn't listen," Harry complained. "My latest summoner was much more intelligent and actually listened when I spoke. He just wanted a stab at the dungeon and would rather have a female demon as a permanent summons, we parted on good terms and I gave him Sin's contact information. I'll check in on him once I have a permanent summoner and he’s set up his tower."
"Sin?" Buffy asked.
"She's an apprentice blacksmith, but it’s another world we get summoned to so I doubt you’ll meet her," Harry explained.
"Where did you go to school?" Willow asked.
"Hogwarts," Harry replied, not seeing a reason to keep it secret as even if they weren’t wizards and witches, they also weren't from his world.
"As in Harry Potter?!" Willow blurted out.
Harry shrugged. "Welcome to my pocket dimension, I'm Harry Potter but I'm guessing one of the girls already mentioned that..." he trailed off as he realized the humans were all staring at him.
Xander glanced at Harry's forehead, not surprised that he didn't see a scar. "If you're going to pick a fake name, you should probably avoid using a character out of a popular series."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked as he turned to look at Xander. "My name really is Harry Potter, I wasn't always a daemon. I grew up in Surrey, England or at least a version of it."
"Number 4 Privet drive?" Willow asked.
Harry stared at Willow in shock. "I thought we were from different dimensions. How did you know where I grew up?" he asked, fairly sure he hadn't mentioned the address to any of the girls.
"Because all of the books talked about your messed up childhood with your horrible Aunt and Uncle," Willow replied.
"If you're really Harry Potter, where are Ron and Hermione?" Xander asked, wondering if ‘the world as myth’ was actually true.
“Ron wasn’t with us when me and Hermione did the ritual that changed us and none of the books about me should have anything about my relatives or classmates, they are all a bunch of children’s stories about how wonderful my childhood was and how I’m the next Merlin or some rot,” Harry said confused.
“The books the wizards wrote about you,” Willow realized.
“Yeah, but not the books we read, which are probably a more accurate telling of your life… maybe,” Xander said thoughtfully. “Imagine someone in another world dreamt up a series of books based on your life and you just wandered into some of the readers… that’s kinda the situation here. Luckily, it was mostly written for young adults so they kept it PG-13 except for the violence.”
"How much do you know about my sixth year?" Harry asked warily, not sure what was going on or how much they knew. ‘Maybe a seer from another world used their gifts to make money rather than ruin lives,’ he thought to himself.
"Nothing," Willow admitted. "The fifth book is supposed to come out in a couple of months, which means we don't know anything past fourth year. That's assuming the books are accurate, which I kinda doubt. I mean, some of the things that happened require all the adults in your life to be oblivious morons."
"In other words, one book a year?" Harry asked, deciding not to say anything about his own opinion about the supposed ‘adults’ he had dealt with.
"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chamber of Secrets where you had to save Ginny, Prisoner of Azkaban where you rescued Sirius Black by using Hermione's time turner and the Goblet of Fire, where a disguised Death Eater entered your name in the tournament and Ron turned into a jealous asshole," Willow rattled off quickly.
"That's disturbingly accurate," Harry grumbled, not sure if he should be happy or annoyed that an entire world knew what he had gone through. "Ron should be back at... a place I can’t name and Hermione is a summons for someone I haven’t run into yet. I'm not sure how to get back home, but I should be able to find Hermione once I get a permanent summoner and between the two of us and our new skills I’m sure we’ll find a way."
"How did you get turned into a demon, if you don’t mind me asking?" Giles asked.
"If you know of my life, then you know what I’m facing. Hermione came up with a ritual that was supposed to help us deal with all of it, and somehow that ended up with the two of us banished to a minor hell dimension and changed into what you see now,” he replied, seeing no problem in sharing. “I picked up my three friends, who are also former humans turned demon, there before discovering this place. I don’t suppose you have a copy of the books on me with you?" Harry asked, wanting more details.
"Not with me, but I can give you a decent summary," Willow offered, curious how well the books lined up with his life.
Harry smiled at Willow. "That would be great."
“Or we could just borrow some copies from the library,” Xander pointed out, gesturing towards the portal.
“Or that,” Willow agreed, deciding she could quiz Harry after he had read them. She had a number of questions that she desperately needed answers to so she could complete her shipping chart!
Comments
Mist of Shadows
I'll probably get back to this when I have ideas.
Michael Strickland
Just finished rereading this and realized something. Is this set in the same world as "Dungeon Designs and House Keeping"? Also, any plans/muse for a few more chapters?
Mist of Shadows
They fit in odd places... :)
Josh flanders
Interested in seeing how the sunnyhell group fits in the story or if they are just passing through.
