Loki managed to sleep another three hours before he was informed that Harry was up for the day. He would be tired, but not so much that he couldn't manage. He made it down to the kitchen to find Harry sitting at the table already just as a plate and glass of juice appeared in front of him. He ruffled Harry's hair and said a chipper, "Good morning."
"Morning Dad," Harry said with a bright smile, loving getting to say that. He was a little embarrassed about his breakdown last night, but he was still in a great mood. He picked up the potion next to his plate and inspected the seal before turning to his juice. "What kind of juice is this?" he asked curiously.
"Pumpkin. It's the juice of choice for the wizarding world," Loki told him. "Why don't you try a bit of it before you put the potion in, just so you know how it's supposed to taste first." Maybe he was being paranoid, but with the fame that was being thrust on his son, he wouldn't put it past someone to try and potion him in the future.
"Mmm. This is really good," Harry said in surprise.
"Your mum used to say it was like pumpkin pie in a glass. And she loved pumpkin pie."
"I've never had pumpkin pie. Or any kind of pie," Harry said sadly.
"Bipsy," Loki called. When the elf arrived, he told her. "Would you make a pumpkin pie for dessert after dinner tonight?" The elf happily agreed and popped back away and Loki got a beaming smile from his son.
Harry tipped the potion into the juice and stirred it up before trying it again. "It's not quite as good, but it's still pretty good even with the potion."
"Most parents mix their kids' potions in pumpkin juice. It's strong enough to cover up the worst of the taste," Loki explained. After breakfast, Loki told him, "So I believe I promised you explanations today. Would you like to go relax in the gardens and get some fresh air while we talk?"
"Yes, please," Harry nodded, glad that he was going to get explanations finally.
Once they were settled in a nice spot in the gardens sitting on the ground, Loki turned to face his son. "Okay, so the first thing you need to know, is that I'm not actually human. I can use wizard magic, but I'm not really a wizard."
"What are you?" Harry asked curiously.
"I'm a god. My original name is Loki. The Norse god of chaos and mischief. Also known as the trickster god," he explained. "There are thousands of gods like me, and most of us are born as mortals every now and then to change things up a bit and see how the mortal world is faring. The normal way to do it though means giving up our memories and our powers for the duration of our mortal life and only taking them back when that life ends. I don't much like doing that, so I do it a different way."
"How?"
"I'm also a shapeshifter. That's one of my powers. So I found an old couple who had been trying for decades to have a baby with no luck. They were almost too old to have any hope left, so I though I could help us both. I modified their memories to include a pregnancy and birth and shapeshifted myself into a baby. They named me James Potter."
"Wouldn't people have known that they weren't pregnant though?" Harry asked confused.
"They claimed that they hid it...not hard to do with magic. They said that they didn't want to jinx anything until I was born healthy because they'd lost so many babies already before they were born," Loki told him.
"So they're not really my grandparents then?" Harry asked sadly.
"Of course they are. They raised me and loved me. They were there when you were born and loved you too. That's what makes a family."
