Chapter 20 (TROHP)

**Review Responses:**

**death444:** I'm glad you love it.

**keyblademeister88:** He won House Nott and four other minor, unnamed titles. Killed several DE's there. Keep in mind that he isn't a Nott and isn't closely related to them, so it's a blank ring that can merged into another or given to a minor family, which would elevate them to Most Ancient and Noble status.

**Kego66:** Thanks!

**Starecrepily:** I'm glad you like the story, but I have no immediate plans to de-power Harry. I will say that he will need his power for the final battle with a Dark Lord more powerful and skilled than Voldemort and Grindelwald combined and need it for the next phase of the story. His magic regenerates over the course of 24 hours, and unless he permanently sacrificed some of it, which he would never do, what you're suggesting wouldn't work. Harry could do all of that, but it wouldn't permanently weaken him, his powers would recover. A Kneazel and Doxy would explode if they had even half-a-percent of Harry's immense power. I am considering A basilisk as a second familiar, or a hybrid between it and a Sea Serpent; that could handle his power.

## August 31st, 1994.

I was finally back at Durmstrang, and continuing my dominion over my classes, and my hard work. I had been improving the wards on Abegg Castle to my liking, it was the most secure option for my German base, and it was looking like I would need to follow through on some plans to get allies, and would need secure locations to meet them. Dumbledore had already tried recruiting my family into servitude to him and his cult; citing the Dark Mark on Snape's arm growing darker. They refused to get involved, and even stated that they no longer believed in his 'leadership'. The old man looked so sad that I had to fight the urge to laugh at him. It was his fault they lost their faith in him!

If Voldemort was going to be returning soon, then I would need allies for myself and my family. Dumbledore didn't deserve our support and couldn't be trusted anymore, so I had to find my own allies or minions. I had already contacted the Flamels and had asked them if they were interested in a fighting a British Dark Lord who's insane, has daddy issues, and delusions of grandeur and adequacy. I went on to explain that I found Dumbles and his cult untrustworthy, I knew they didn't really trust him, so they would understand, and had given the old man a fake stone in the first place...

*Flashback*

Hogwarts, June 7th, 1992.

I had been waiting, and essentially stalking for hours; though I would never admit to stalking anyone, until, finally, the Flamels entered Hogwarts', Entrance Hall. At least, I hoped they were the Flamels, they were both much more powerful than Dumbledore, with slightly glowing eyes.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. and Mrs. Flamel?" I asked politely, though, I felt an odd sensation run through my mind.

"Yes, we are. And who might you be, young man?" Nicolas asked, with a kindly smile.

"Harry Potter, sir, my brother protected your stone that Dumbledore used as bait, after he placed protections that were beaten by three first years of unexceptional ability." I said, they looked displeased, though not by me. "The reason I approached you was because I have information detailing the casting of the Fidelius Charm, as well as wards against phoenixes and house-elves, and would like to offer you this information with no strings attached, so that you can better protect your property in the future. I only hope you would consider an alliance against this Dark Lord in the future, but would understand if you refused to get involved, and would bear you no ill will if you did."

"We accept, Harry," Perenelle said, with a kind smile. "Have you considered studying Alchemy?"

That was an odd, and sudden subject change.

"Of course, the possibility of creating medicines and cures for nearly any illness, immortality, transmutation of base metals into gold, are all of great interest to me; especially the prospect of curing Lycanthropy. I'm planning to choose Alchemy as an elective at Durmstrang for my third year."

"Well, when you graduate, why don't you write us a letter and I'll take you as an apprentice. I'll even waive the traditional clause of owning your work." Nicolas offered, with a smile. I wondered why they were being so polite to me. I couldn't have made that good of an impression.

"I'll try to, sir." I said, but was hoping I could. There are just many unknown factors that could prevent me from doing so.

"Good, and by the way, we gave Dumbledore a fake Stone." Nicolas said, with a sad smile. I thought he had just trusted Dumbledore for some reason, and that trust had blinded him. Oh well, at least, I wasn't alone in my distrust of him.

"That actually makes a lot of sense, considering how inept he is as a Headmaster." I said, causing them to fight smirks.

"Yes, he was always reactive and we knew better than to trust him with the real Stone. I suppose we should go reclaim the fake and return home, but, thank you, again, Harry." Perenelle said.

"Yes, thank you, Harry. I look forward to seeing great things from you." Nicolas said, with a smile.

They both walked away, and I was glad that I hadn't accused them of using Dark Magic, involving human sacrifice. Lord Arcturus Black had information on almost everyone who mattered. One of the ingredients of the Philosophers Stone was human souls, one abundant source of prima materia; at least according to his information, and I doubt they would abduct muggles for fun; especially considering how beautiful Perenelle Flamel is, and objectively Nicolas Flamel is attractive too.

End Flashback.

The ceremony to award me all three classes of the Order of Merlin was scheduled for November 5th, and I was notified that I would also be presented with the International Wizarding Order of Merit on the same day by an ICW representative. I was tempted to refuse it, but that would have drawn even more attention to me.

I was waiting in a private meeting room, Karkaroff had summoned myself, and one other to this room: Nysa White, the only daughter of Professor White. We had both been waiting ten minutes. I had been discreetly admiring her incredible beauty... She had her fathers blonde hair and blue eyes, and she somehow made Durmstrang robes look sexy. I could tell she was powerful; when I wasn't admiring her surprisingly well-developed bust anyway.

"Okay. I can't sit in silence any longer. You are going to have a conversation with me, and at least pretend to enjoy it." Nysa finally said.

"Sorry, I just normally avoid people. They usually try using me or prove untrustworthy." I replied, in amusement. "What did you want to talk about?"

"How did you progress so fast?" Nysa asked, causing me to raise an eyebrow. "I've only just completed my Dark Arts Mastery and Potions Mastery, and it took me three very difficult years with no free time, but you collected masteries like they were child's play."

"Panmnesia, greater than Eidetic memory and a genuine magical ability. I learned quicker, and remembered everything." I replied, enjoying the look on her face. I thought I saw her hair color briefly change, but wasn't sure. "Even then, I mostly focused on one or two subjects at a time."

"That's incredible! I had thought the talents reputation was exaggerated."

"It might be, but it doesn't grant me the magical power to keep up with my progress." I said, actually enjoying our talk by now.

"Is that why there are rumours of you doing Sex Magic rituals going around?" Nysa asked, with a slight blush.

"Yes," I replied, not caring enough to deny it anymore.

She looked surprised by my honesty.

Further discussion was prevented by Highmaster Karkaroff and Professor White entering the room. Professor White didn't look all that happy to be here.

"Good, you're both here," Karkaroff began. "A recent change in the duelling tournament taking place during the Triwizard Tournament was made, requiring mandatory seconds. This was made as a concession to Hogwarts due to their lack of emphasis on Martial Magic. You were both chosen. Nysa, you are the U17 Dueling Champion for Europe at age fourteen. Harry, you are a master in actual magical combat, having recently killed Death Eaters and you have routinely defeated former members of Grindelwalds Inner Circle. Among them: Zeus Megalos, and Adalbert and Bathilda Abegg." He said, omitting their real identities for Nysa's sake.

"You are both the best Durmstrang has to offer in Martial Magic, and are expected to win this tournament for your school. You are both taking only two classes, and will train together in your spare time." I noticed that Professor White wasn't pleased by this, and Nysa didn't exactly look thrilled.

"Highmaster, Nysa is pursuing a currently Transfiguration mastery, and that takes up all of her time." Professor White said, nervously. Karkaroff quickly put him in his place with a harsh glare. I began draining the knowledge from Karkaroffs mind about his reasons... Oh! That was interesting! So much potential for blackmail or leverage, but I wouldn't. He hadn't acted against me, and was being blackmailed for actually doing something good. He had actually been quite nice to me.

"We will be leaving October 28th and arriving at Hogwarts on October 30th. That is all," Karkaroff said, before exiting.

"I'll help her with Transfiguration, if that's your concern. I don't think she should have to jeopardize her plans for anothers gain." Nysa looked pleased, but Professor White looked suspicious.

"And where will this tutoring take place?"

"I don't know, where ever is convenient for us both." I said, already suspecting the reason for his suspicion and concern.

"Very well... If you deflower my daughter, I'll castrate you and force-feed your own genitalia to you." Professor White threatened.

"Kinky, but I have no plans to deflower your daughter, and if I did, you would be defeated before you could follow through on your promise." I said, not at all phased by his threat. "Anyway, when is a good time to train or tutor you?" I asked Nysa.

"Tomorrow, after twelve." She replied with a blush, which was understandable, considering what was recently mentioned.

"Good, my classes are earlier than that, so I can help you then." Nysa nodded, and her father quickly lead her out of the room.

## **The next day...**

Nysa had just left from her tutoring lesson, though she didn't really need it. She was already undertaking the third-year Transfiguration spell list and half-way through. I suppose, I had just assumed that she did need my help. We both agreed to have a few duels per week, using spells appropriate for the tournament. This morning I had scheduled my test to move into third year of my Alchemy and Ancient Studies mastery course. It was set for October the 15th, and I had absolute confidence that I could pass the test with distinction.

There was an owl pecking at my window, so I quickly opened it and it flew in. I closed the window, and relieved it of its burden. I was glad it had already found the owl treats and water that I had under stasis, that allowed me to get right to my letter.

*Dear Hadrian,*

I hope this letter finds you well, Perenelle and I are both fine, and thank you for asking. In light of the information you provided in regards to the Dark Mark, we agree with Dumbledore, but will not work with him. You, however, are a different matter. We won't wait around, on call, so too speak, but if you gave us an hours warning or more then we should be able to help you. While we are pleased with your current recruitment effort; three Sorcerers, a mid-level Mage; now three since Perenelle and I joined you, and a few average witches and wizards; we do advise you to recruit others to your cause.

There are several magical war lords trying to continue Grindelwalds work by creating independent ministries, expanding or reclaiming territory, or the outright subjugating of non-magical kind; they would make for potential allies, though you would have to trade favors and possibly kill others. If what I know of your extra-curricular activities is any indication, you aren't a stranger to killing and are in fact quite skilled at it, as are Perenelle and I, as you no doubt suspected, either when we first met, or as you became more knowledgeable of magic.

That last line made me pause, that was a not so subtle admission. I had been suspecting that he knew my suspicions after the meeting, and I now believed that he somehow drained the knowledge from my mind. It wasn't subtle what he did, but was somewhat impressive.

I especially suggest you consider looking in the direction of Israel, Spain, Ukraine, and the Americas.

There is a group of powerful people trying to not only reclaim the territory of Israel had at its peak, and under one ministry, but also to create independent ministries there.

While non-magical Spain and Morocco have some recent territorial disputes, the situation is more intense on the magical side, and is greatly escalated. The ones in power are in favor of simply building an empire to conquer with, but are discouraged by the ICW War Mages.

Non-magical Russia and Ukraine have a long list of issues, but the magical side is more militant. The Russian Ministry continually tries to bully the Ukrainian Ministry into compliance, and at this point they are essentially policed by them, and this has given rise to large-scale organized rebellions. The Russian Ministry still has as almost as much control and territory as the muggle Soviet Union; though most former Soviet countries are fighting against them and their rule.

South America is a highly volatile place, at least on the magical side of things. There is powerful Mayan and Incan battle-magic, and several other unique forms of magic, and if I listed them all this letter would be intolerably lengthy. The point is, that, coupled with the political issues of competing Ministries trying to expand their hegemony further; without resorting to a war that might expose us all to non-magical kind, and our lengthy life-spans: you essentially have warring empires vying for control of South America. I hope this gives you a sufficient explanation of the background events.

On the magical side of things there is no Ministry of Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, or French Guiana. Magical Mexico favors puppet ministries. Magical Cuba keeps trying to assert itself, but keeps getting put in its place. I suggest you ally with Brazil and Argentina against Colombia, and everything above them in South America. That gives you more than a few places to conquer as favors, and Perenelle and I will, of course, help.

Well, Perenelle is calling me for dinner, goodbye, and good luck Hadrian. I have inclosed a list of these potential recruits for you to consider, I believe you have met two of them.

Wishing you well,

Nicolas Flamel

I closed the letter and put it in a secure location, and began writing the first of many letters, I had a lot of people to recruit.

## October 15th, 1994.

I had just left my test, which I passed with flying colors and once again impressed my teachers. I had finally made some decent progress on my studies of reality manipulation, and my power finally grew enough to actually be note worthy; thirty percent growth since my recent elevation to second tier Mage status. I burned through a lot of power while studying the highest and truest form of magic, largely due to inexperience and waste of power, but I had picked up on that and corrected it. The ancient and forbidden art of reality manipulation afforded a lot of useful capabilities, even dozens of immensely powerful enhancements to myself. I just couldn't perform the most powerful of them yet, but had made great progress so far, and I had only ascended to Peak-Human level. Fortunately, my healthy life-style that I had kept for years helped me greatly. My intellect was already immense, and my strength was already considerable. It only drained thirty-percent of my power to alter reality and enhance myself permanently, which was surprising.

My training to remove waste in my magic usage freed up more power to continue powering up the wards of Abegg Castle. I was almost completely done with that project, and when I was, I could power up the wards of other properties.

I had continued meeting with Nysa and was even becoming fond of her. We could actually have an intelligent conversation with each other, and I had missed that during my self-imposed isolation. I was enjoying our time together and had even considered flirting with her or asking her on a date, but hadn't. I didn't, because I didn't want to cause difficulties that might interfere with our tournament performance, and didn't want to risk the budding friendship. I had so few, if any, true friendships, and truly enjoyed having someone with common interests.

Nysa was almost as power hungry as I was, but, like me, cared about family just as much. She disdained the usage of rituals to gain power, but didn't want as much of it as I did. I wanted power surpassing that Merlin and Morgana, and she just wanted to have enough to defeat potential threats. I did check her power though and she was a mid-level Sorceress. I was greatly impressed and even told her that, and that caused her to blush and avoid eye contact for a brief time. I began to suspect she fancied me because of it, and that was when I considered asking her out. I was still tempted, but restrained myself.

We both had similar views on the ICW, politics, and power. I even considered inviting her to my little group. She was certainly powerful enough and very skilled, but I wanted to get to know her better. I was already attracted to her, but I wanted to be extra cautious, and wasn't willing to take another chance and get betrayed. The events from my first year at Hogwarts had made me paranoid, and all my other experiences have slowly made it worse. I was just glad that I wasn't as bad as Moody.

Speak of the gorgeous romantic interest...

I saw her waiting outside my room.

"Hello, Nysa," I said, with a pleased smile.

"Hey, Harry," She began. "I was wondering if we could start spending more time together until October the 28th?" Nysa asked, nervously.

"Of course! I was thinking something similar, but didn't want to cause you extra hardship." I replied. I was secretly very glad that I had an excuse to spend more time with her.

"Great! Do you have time now?" Nysa asked.

"Sure," I said, before quickly opening my door and motioning her in. She entered without hesitation. I followed her in and closed the door behind us. "Did you want to duel some more? Because we've pretty much done all we can with the rules we're burdened by."

"I said: I wanted to spend more time together. I didn't say that I wanted tutoring or to duel." Nysa said, causing me too raise an eyebrow in curiosity. "You obviously weren't going to ask me out; even if we do both like each other, so I had to take the initiative and ask you out. So... what do you want to do?"

"I was going to ask you out after the tournament." I said, somewhat defensively, causing her to smirk.

"Not soon enough, Romeo. And who said I'd still want you then?" She taunted.

"You'd still want me," I said dismissively, causing her to snort derisively, though, I knew she was still playing around. I smirked, and stalked over to where she was sitting on my bed, while using a Sex Magic spell to cause arousal in women. "One of the perks of studying Sex Magic? Sensing arousal." I said, truthfully, while omitting the fact that I caused it. "We both know it's unlikely that we would find someone who's a more perfect match for us, and I already know how to please women, so you wouldn't have to dread your wedding night or whenever you gave yourself to me." Nysa was blushing badly by this time, so I backed off.

"Although... you would probably refuse to continue dating me. I'm the Heir Apparent of two Most Ancient and Noble Houses, and would require a wife for each title I have..." I said, testing her. I had quite a few Lordships after all, and was set to inherit two or three. Although, the Peverell Lordship was merit based and had to be earned to be re-activated, but I could do it.

"I'm not the jealous type, Harry. I knew you would have at least one other wife by looking at the rings on your fingers, and I know that you enjoy sex rituals to bolster your power to reach your goal." I raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I'm okay with you deflowering virgins for power. And no, I never foresaw myself saying that to my prospective boyfriend or husband." Nysa added, causing me to laugh a little. "If our relationship progressed to that point, I would prefer to be your Lady Black, by the way. If that happens, no matter who you shag or marry, you will still be mine, and mine alone" Nysa said, getting an amused smile from me.

"Already planning to marry me?" I asked teasingly.

"No," She said, with a prominent blush. "I'm just saying my preference, and not opposed to the idea; I know it's unlikely that I'll find someone who is a more perfect match for me." Nysa admitted, somewhat grudgingly.

"See? Was it so hard to admit that I was right?" I asked, with a teasing smile.

"Yes, it was." Nysa deadpanned, with an annoyed glare directed at me.

I was looking forward to dating her, or at least what passed for dating at Durmstrang.

## October 28th, 1994.

It was finally time to return to Hogwarts, and humiliate its students. I would have to force the weak and inane masses to recognize their failings and better themselves. Even if I did have to humiliate them and force them to get stronger to hide their own weakness from others. I am who they should emulate! They must rise above mediocrity and force Hogwarts to do the same! If need be, I would take control of Hogwarts and make it a school that's worth actually attending. I entered my room on Durmstrang's ship, my things with me. I had also smuggled almost all of Grindelwalds loot from his former treasure room in magically expanded trunks that I shrunk, and concealed on my person with the Fidelius. One more trip, and I would have it emptied and then I could finally remove the Fidelius Charm. I planned to celebrate my leaving of Durmstrang by removing Grindelwalds mark on his former room, my current room.

We would be arriving at Hogwarts in two days, and I could show the sheep just how far I had come. I could humiliate Hogwarts, the Ministry, Dumbledore and the teachers. I just hoped that they could recognize their failings and improve, though I doubted that they could, and had plans for that event.

I felt the ship submerge and begin our short trip.

## Authors Note:

The reality altering magic was inspired by; The Wizarding Chronicles: Return of the True Descendant, written by Arcturus Peverell, and also inspired by several other comic book characters. All of Arcturus Peverell's work is great, and I strongly advise you to read his work. You should find some of his stories in my favorites on my profile.