Harry Potter and the Manipulator of Destiny (Completed)

Chapter 25: Harry

Godric Gryffindor was not a man who didn't think before acting. He was not a man of misplaced passions. But that's not to say he didn't jump into something with both feet and say afterwards 'boy that was fun' while everyone else was weakly shaking their heads and downing healing potions.

He had waiting too long to get his hands on Harry. This was going to be a blast. He all but dragged him to his classroom and practically threw him a long sword. "Time to train, lad!" he quipped and threw himself at him with abandon.

Harry finished the week barely able to walk or lift his arms. He hurt. But boy; was he learning to duel. Magical dueling, swords, soundless, wandless, two wands – Harry was growing very dangerous and proficient in it all. Godric was like a child in Honeydukes when Harry showed him his dueling/second wand. They quickly learned the best ways to utilize it, and had many fun group sessions with them.

The Chosen One was already as comfortable with wandless magic as he was 'with-wand', thanks to the Goblin training, but Goblins did not use magic in fighting as much as weaponry – it was a matter of personal pride for them. Godric was able to now hone his ability and teach Harry to cast curses and hexes without the use of his wands. Harry still felt that his custom wand 'packed more punch', but if he found himself wandless, he was still a force to be reckoned with.

Harry was destined to be a warrior – forged by time herself to be the weapon to take down the perversion that was Tom Riddle. And Harry wasn't going to let time down. He was strong with a wiry strength – Neville was the muscle and Harry was the tendons. He was graceful as a dancer, cunning as a fox, and he was quickly becoming mortally dangerous to the dark.

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Harry was sitting in the great hall with his friends. They were all sharpening their swords, Neville's companion gnome giving them helpful advice. Gnomes had an affinity with metals and stone as well as plants. A house-elf came up with a tray of hot mead for the young adults to enjoy. He thanked the elf as he took his tankard, looking the creature over. The house-elves were different then present day. It drove Harry to distraction at times to have to 'own' Dobby, Winky, and the rest – it grated on his sense of justice, and he absolutely hated the way the wizarding world looked down on the house-elf.

Harry called the elf back to him. "Andy?" The elf looked up and came over. "Why are you so different from the elves of my time?"

Andy smiled but wasn't much help. "I'm sorry; sir, but I've never met the elves of your time."

Rowena looked at the exchange sadly. "I can answer that for him, Harry. Your house elves are tragically the product of countless generations of inbreeding forced on them by possessive wizards. As with any living being, inbreeding will reinforce both the good and bad genetics of that being. House-elves from your time are stronger in magic and loyalty, but on the down side, they are not as intelligent or independent. Wizards over the centuries have convinced themselves that house-elves have always been thus, and taken advantage of it."

Harry felt himself choked up. Poor Dobby and Winky was a product of wizard's selfish needs. Perhaps laws could be passed to allow for more independence for the house-elves. With a larger gene pool, perhaps the house-elves could regain their dignity given time.

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Harry dutifully followed Godric into the Forbidden Forest. He felt the reassuring thump of his sword in its scabbard bumping his leg rhythmically as he walked, and knew he had two wands instantly accessible if necessary. Since his teacher didn't look concerned, he wouldn't be either.