Sif glowered, ever since the ball, she had had to have Frigga apply a wind charm to her room due to a mysterious odor, and no matter where she looked, she could not find the source, but, she was sure that Loki and Freya were behind it, possibly Harry too.
~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~
~And now~
Sif was still mad about her room; she had turned it upside down, and had yet to find the source of the mysterious offending odor in her room.
Several times, she had called in the maids and cleaning staff of the palace, and none had been able to find the source. Little did Sif know that the staff had been paid by Freya to ignore the bed itself. Needless to say, while there was, indeed, an odor, coming from Sif's room, no one could find the source, needless to say, many outside the palace heard about the shit smelling room of the palace, and some were questioning if Sif wasn't just looking for an excuse to blame Freya and Harry for the cause.
The palace guards were keeping a close eye on Sif, under orders by both the Allfather, and the queen, to make sure Sif couldn't get close to Harry again anytime soon. A fact that didn't slip Sif's notice, as the guards made no secret that they were watching her. Add to that, the number of people who were giving their support to Harry, Loki and Freya, caused Sif to be beyond enraged. Though the truly worst part of all of this, was that Thor was refusing to speak to her and seemed to be closer to Harry than ever before. He was accepting that mixed breed with open arms! Someone who should, by all rights, be an enemy of Asgard. It just wasn't right, but she would find a way to put things right one day. She also hated that every time she so much as LOOKED at Harry while Freya was around, Freya would utter some Midgardian term that sounded weird, the term she used went 'persona non grata', or something. Sif knew it was from an ancient Midgard language, but, she had always thought that realms cultures to be...barbarism at its finest, so she didn't pay any attention to its languages, seeing them as not worthy of being learnt.
~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~
Regardless of Sif's attempts to keep an eye on Harry, life more or less settled down for said boy and his friends. It was even decided that, in secret, Harry and his friends would be schooled in the ways of the court as well as be given combat training. Harry however, was also being given private lessons on princely duties and etiquette, things he would need to know when he was eventually revealed as a prince of Asgard, rather than just some noble's child. Loki had even taught Harry how to hide his Jotunn side. Though it was part of who Harry is both Loki and Harry knew that there would be those who would not react well to the sight of pale blue skin in Asgard. So whenever Harry went out to places where he would be seen by those that are not of Asgard, and harbor deep hatred of Jotunns, Harry would use his magic to hide that side of him. But as soon as he returned home he would cast off the illusion.
~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~
"Do I need to learn how to fight?" Harry asked as he looked at Loki, unsure if he heard his grandfather right.
Loki looked around one of his chambers and collected his thoughts for a moment before giving an answer.
"Yes, it is one of those things that everybody here knows to some extent, and as my grandson, and a Prince, even if not announced, you need to learn it," he said slowly, "But I can assure you that it won't be as disastrous as it was with Sif, as I know a certain person that will be a much better teacher for you than she could ever be."
"Who?" Harry asked, his voice laced with curiosity and some reluctant excitement. But Loki wasn't really surprised as he knew that Harry saw what Jarl was capable of, and kids wanted to be like someone that impressed them.
"Volstagg, he is one of Thor's friends and knows how to keep his mouth shut as well as having some children of his own," Loki said and paused for a moment, "Also he knows how to teach, so he should be able to explain things to you more easily than I ever could when it comes to martial arts. Magic is the thing I use first, not physical force. While I know how to use it, he knows how to explain it, and those are two completely different things, also he suggested that I introduce you and your friends to his children."
Harry's eyes gleamed with excitement as he looked at his grandfather. "Seriously?" he asked after a moment used by his mind to understand what his grandfather was saying.
"Yes, I'm not joking Little Prince," Loki said and stood up, "Find your friends and you can meet Volstagg and his small group of children."
He saw Harry almost run out of his chambers in excitement and some sort of joy. Loki heard footsteps and when he looked in their direction he saw Freya walking up to him.
"Do you think that Volstagg will keep his word and will keep his mouth shut?" she asked, her eyes following Harry, "As you were willing to say the same thing about Sif not so long ago."
"Can you not mention her name?" he growled and followed her gaze. "Volstagg is many things, but he knows how to keep secrets and he is a father, while Sif, I wonder if she is a virgin as she seems to lack any understanding or love for anything other than warfare," he sighed and shook his head. "But she is a lesser problem as she is 'neutered' and we both know that she isn't a stupid one."
"She isn't stupid," Freya nodded, "And you are right about her, she is turning into an old banshee, at least mentally, and she doesn't do much else other than warfare."
"Or plotting," Loki said and Freya scoffed at that.
"She is worse than some children when they want their parents or older siblings distracted and away from the cookie jar."
He rolled his eyes and nodded in agreement. "I wouldn't use that comparison, but it works I guess."
~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~
Harry was almost jumping as he followed his grandfather through the streets around the palace, the city around was different. Most of the buildings weren't tall; instead from what he could see they were spread over a large area and in front of them was a thick hedge growing tall. The Hedge was a border between the property and the road.
"Here we are," Loki said as he touched a gate set in one of those hedges, "The home of Volstagg," he explained looking at Harry and his friends, "Behave, as the first impression is the most important, especially for you."
"Grandfather," Harry said with a pout, "You are repeating it over and over again and it's getting boring!"
"But it is true," Loki said as the gate opened in front of them.
They walked through the gate and Harry could see how big the house was, it was large and spread out over a substantial area, it was built out of stone and wood that seemed ancient. He looked at his grandfather who only indicated the building in front of them. When they got closer to it Harry could see a large man walking towards them, he had curly fiery red hair.
"Your Highness," the man said when he stopped in front of Loki, "I have never thought that you would have accepted my invitation."
"It's not like I had a big choice," Loki said with a smile. "And we both know that you, Volstagg, are better suited than 'her' when it comes to training," Loki finished flatly.
"Thank you, Your Highness, so any wishes about the things they should learn?"
"Choose what they should learn," Loki said and Harry could feel the gaze of his grandfather focus on him, "I think that you would know better than I what they should know and learn," he finished.
"Well, if that's the case," Volstagg said and Harry could tell that the older Asgardian was looking at him. "So if you could follow me I will take you to the armory and then we can start."
Harry glanced at Loki, and after getting an encouraging nod from him, followed Volstagg into his house, they entered the house, passed through an inner courtyard and entered into a room on the other side of it.
As Harry's gaze ran around the room, he had trouble believing the things around him were real; there were hundreds of weapons, shields and pieces of armor hanging from the walls, placed on shelves or racks. Most of them were shining from gold and precious materials he was unable to name.
Volstagg stopped in front of one of many shelves and turned to look at Harry and his friends. "These things around me are weapons we all learn how to use, and I'm almost sure that you will find something that will fit you."
"What if nothing fits us?" Harry asked making Volstagg laugh.
"It's impossible, as everyone can find a weapon that they will like, or feel good with," Volstagg said and they nodded. "Anyways, look around the room and the various things stored here; I think that I can trust you enough not to injure yourselves with them."
Harry looked around and walked to the opposite wall, he felt drawn by something towards it. When he got closer he was able to see things covering it, there were hundreds of swords of various shapes and sizes. He almost immediately ignored the more massive and peculiar things and looked towards more nimble and graceful blades. His hand reached out and he grasped the hilt of a sword that got his attention.
It was a bit of an unusual sword with a thin wicked blade and looked lighter, as well as much more graceful, than the other weapons lying around. Its hilt was covered in soft leather and finished with an eagle head pommel. As he held it, he felt the hilt lay comfortably in his hand. Volstagg approached him and looked at the weapon and later at him. "It seems that you found a thing that will work for you. Now let's see what those friends of yours found and we might start some light training."
It took a few moments for everyone to choose a weapon that they liked or found was interesting, Jarl settled for a set of gauntlets that had some big, edged, knuckles, he already had ideas for making these more deadly, and it would fit his style, maybe he would talk with Ari about making up some more devious things for them. Godiva chose a massive hammer, at least massive for someone their age and made Volstagg laugh when he saw her try to move it with some grace. It was a huge chunk of metal which could be more of a danger to her than to one that made her angry, though she had plans for a new design for one of her own making, this would be a good starter. Ari settled for a short sword that was more of a long knife, finally Runa chose a bow, and a quiver of arrows, and she would be good with the bow and arrow when she had to use a weapon, but runes were going to be her main weapon of choice with their versatility, and she would be able to edge runes onto the arrow heads to give her another fearsome weapon in her arsenal she was planning on making, mostly of runes.
Volstagg looked at them, and once everybody had something they liked, he led them to a small training ground behind the house. The next few minutes were one of the most boring moments in Harry's life on Asgard as Volstagg told them about 'safety and maintenance' of a weapon, but mostly safety and Harry felt as if he wanted to fall asleep till it was over.
The moment they nodded that they understood the meaning of each word he said, he told them to leave the weapons to the side, and go through some physical exercises, because they needed to develop muscles and get fit, so that they could freely and without too much of a strain, use their weapons of choice. Harry had a feeling it was a jab mostly towards Godiva and her choice of a massive hammer. At the end of the day all of them returned to the palace sweaty, exhausted beyond belief and mostly dreaming about an opportunity to get into some water and let all of their sore muscles relax.
~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~
While Loki did fear that one day people would turn on Harry for having Jotunn blood, Loki couldn't deny that this was a good excuse to try to learn more about Jotunn through Harry. Like for starters, Loki learned that the burning cold touch of a Jotunn was purely defensive, or at least that's how it seemed for Harry. So long as the person touching Harry wasn't seen as a threat, and he didn't feel truly threatened, the pale blue patches on his body were merely cool to the touch, almost like icy water. Godiva had even pressed her forehead against Harry's back one hot afternoon during training, taking advantage of the large patch of pale blue there to cool her forehead down. While Harry didn't mind helping his friends stay cool, even using some ice magic he found himself very good at, he had been very surprised by her action, even embarrassed, his reasons for being embarrassed being Volstagg had called them cute, along with Harry being shirtless at the time, hadn't helped. Nor had the giggling of Volstagg's two daughters and the laughter of his one son who'd shown up to help with their training.
It had been Volstagg's idea to introduce Harry and his friends to a few of his children. Give them a few noble children to help them learn how to act amongst nobles, as well as to help with training them, give them someone more of their strength to practice with. Thor had agreed with the idea, while Loki, still annoyed that Thor hadn't told him he was telling Volstagg and Hogun the truth about Harry, had begrudgingly agreed to it. He could see how it would benefit Harry to be around Volstagg's children during lessons and training. It would even help get those still against Harry, to warm up to him better by having him be seen with the children of a noble family like Volstagg's brood.
The first child Volstagg had brought for Harry and his friends to meet was his son, Gunnar. Gunnar was, to put it bluntly, fat, though that would be doing him a disservice, to be more accurate, he was a hulking, strong person, though it was hard to tell which he had more of, muscle, fat, or both in equal measure. His hair was dark red and quite straight, unlike his father's whose hair was quite curly. His eyes were a deep brown, almost black.
His physique and size made him favor heavier weapons that required immense amounts of strength to lift and freely use - great swords or Dane axes, however when properly used they caused immense amount of damage, and usually one strike was more than enough to end the fight. And some of the wiser ones surrendered before the fight even started.
~Author's Note: Picture Fishlegs from HTTYD but with red hair!~
Next up was Gudrun, she had green eyes and long dark red hair that framed her face with her bangs parted on the right side, and a braid placed over her left shoulder. She also seemed to wear some form of eye liner around her eyes, bringing out a kind of hypnotic look that she was clearly practicing for later in life. And even now she made heads turn in her direction when she walked down the street.
~AN: Picture Heather from Riders of Berk when she first appeared as a kid~
And finally there was Gunnhild, she was petite for an Asgardian, however thanks to this she was far more agile and graceful than normal Asgardians. She had long, dark red hair wrapped in a braid down her back, bangs that covered the left side of her face, and a leather band across her forehead keeping her hair out off the right side of her face, with her piercing shade of blue eyes giving her a penetrating beauty.
~AN: Picture Astrid from HTTYD but with red hair~
Harry did like Volstagg's children. Gunnar proved to be a good sparring partner for Harry, Jarl, and Ari, giving them a person that was a challenge for them, yet wouldn't push them too hard. Gudrun and Gunhild were good for Godiva and Runa, though the guys and girls did swap between each other just to shake things up from time to time. Harry and Gunhild even got along very well Gunhild would even comment from time to time how cute she found Harry to be. Volstagg teased Loki about how maybe one day their families would be joined, Loki had shaken his head, trying not to think about the horror of having to call Volstagg family. Loki couldn't even imagine having all of Volstagg's children around at any time, having them being part of his family would most likely lead to Loki locking himself up in his room and refusing to leave it for months at a time. However, if Harry came to love Gunhild, Loki would not stand in his way. After all, Loki himself had lost many of his lovers, most of them taken from him by his father; he would not do that to Harry.
Between studying martial arts, learning magic, and how to behave like a noble, Harry was busy, the same with his friends. Freya didn't like how it kept them from performing pranks, but at least they were getting a lot of training in magic done, meaning that when they finished with the majority of the training, Harry and his friends would be more than ready for more advanced pranks. THAT, was something Freya could get behind easily, as it meant more fun and mayhem, two things she enjoyed a lot, especially if their target was certain Goddess of War.
However, something that Harry wasn't sure if he was excited for or not, was when Loki told him that he was going to send Harry to the same school his parents went to on Midgard. The school sounded good, and he did want to learn more about his parents. However he wasn't sure if he wanted to be away from his family and friends. So, he begged both Loki, and Odin, to let his friends come with them, using the power of his puppy eyes to get them to agree to it. However Frigga made the children promise that they would complete a certain amount of their training before the day Harry's schooling on Midgard starts.
Odin hadn't expected Harry and his friends to actually surpass the minimal requirement for Harry's friends to be able to go to the school on Midgard. Frigga however, had laughed at him and told him to have more faith in children who want something.
~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~
~Six Years Later~
Loki had insisted that Harry and his friends ride the train that would take them to school, however Harry wanted to at least talk to Darcy and let her know that he would be writing to her from time to time. So after telling her that he would be going to a 'boarding school', as she had called it, they were off to the train station, where they were amongst the first to reach the platform.
The only other people on the platform besides them was a family of three. Loki noticed that the adults of this family were looking about, seemingly unsure of things, making him wonder if they might be muggles, their child however looked like she was bursting with energy and excitement. She had the bushiest brown hair that Loki had ever seen and a look in her eyes that suggested that she was passionate about learning. Something he approved of, however the question was if she knew how to use the things she had learned as it was a completely different thing. Knowing a lot meant nothing if you lacked a way to utilize your knowledge in a meaningful manner, a manner that would help you achieve your goals and do it as efficiently as possible.
Harry's friends were amazed by some of the things that they were seeing on Midgard, never having seen such things before on Asgard. Having lived on the streets of Asgard they'd only had the basic knowledge of anything to do with Midgard, also their knowledge was a bit outdated and came from the times of the last war, over ten centuries ago.
Harry smiled as he watched the girl and her parents, it was obvious by the large trunk they had with them that they were looking for the platform entrance. Harry, remembering what it was like to be lost, truly lost, decided to help her out, just as his friends had helped him when he had been lost. So, walking up to the girl, he asked, "Looking for the platform?" he asked. Harry knew where the entrance was thanks to a meeting with McGonagall months earlier.
~Flashback to two months earlier at Darcy's place in Mexico~
Harry was currently visiting Darcy at her place in Mexico, she had graduated Uni, and had then gone to join someone named Jane Foster, helping her with what Darcy called 'Fancy Star Gazing'. Jane was currently out at the moment, as a result, Harry was helping Darcy pull an elaborate prank on Jane by visiting Darcy every so often when Jane was out. Darcy was trying to see how long it would take before Jane figured out that someone was visiting Darcy when Jane was out.
"So she still hasn't noticed?" Harry questioned after listening to Darcy explain that the messing of Jane's desk the other day had still not gotten any notice from their target.
"I swear, she's so far in the stars that she wouldn't notice if the building around us fell down around her!" Darcy sighed with a smile and a shake of her head.
Just as they were about to talk about some of the latest games and movies that came out recently, there was a loud banging on the door. Both of them looked at one another before looking to the door. Then Darcy looked at Harry, "You answer it Harry," she said smirking. "No, you get it Aunty Darth!" Harry joked back, smirking as he saw her pout before she smirked, "No, you get it you little Ewok!" Harry glared at her, and finally sighed, "Fine! But you know I am going to get you back for calling me that again!" he said as he got up. "You can try munchkin, but, we both know you're too soft on your aunty!" she countered with a smirk.
Harry jumped off the table he'd been sitting on and headed for the door, opening it up and almost getting knocked over as someone handed him a bunch of bags as they entered.
"I cannot believe how packed it was in there!" Jane sighed as she entered, her arms weighted down with the bags she hadn't passed off to Harry while thinking he was Darcy. "I was lucky to get anything today. And there wasn't even a sale going on!" Jane headed for the kitchen to put away the food stuff she'd gotten.
Harry looked to Darcy, who just shrugged at him before he followed Jane into the kitchen with Darcy joining them.
"That bad huh?" Darcy asked, wanting to see if Jane would notice Harry was standing in the kitchen with the two of them.
"Yeah, just no reason for it, and yet it was packed in there. And not just in the electronics store either!" Jane answered while digging around in some of the bags. "I couldn't find the chips you wanted, so I just got you some party mix instead."
Darcy sighed, she'd really wanted some salt and vinegar today, "Fine," she replied with another sigh.
"Where's the bag with the hard drives?" Jane asked in frustration.
Harry, who'd been taking out food from the bags closest to him to help, found the bag she was looking for, "Here you go," Harry told her nonchalantly while passing the bag to her.
"Oh thank you," Jane said as she took the bag, "Took me hours to get the right ones, I swear that guy didn't know a thing about computers!" Jane told Darcy with annoyance in her voice, still not noticing Harry, "What is a guy like that doing working in the computer section when they know nothing about what they are selling?" Jane asked, more to herself then to Darcy.
Darcy and Harry were trying very hard not to laugh; this was too funny to them and just proved how blind Jane could truly be sometimes.
"Anyway I got everything else on the list," Jane smiled, proud that she'd managed despite how busy the stores had been, "Any calls or messages?" Jane asked as she finally turned to Darcy.
"Yeah, an alien came by to hang out with me!" Darcy wasn't really lying technically. After all both Harry and she were only part human cause of Loki.
Jane rolled her eyes. "If you are going to make stuff up please make it more interesting than that!" she said in an exhausted tone.
Darcy snorted a laugh at that, "So, you still don't notice anything out of the ordinary here?" While the joke of Jane being blind and obvious was funny, Darcy wanted to move this along already.
Jane frowned at her, "What?" She then took a look around, really looked, "No, no I don't see anythi-," Her eyes then fell on Harry, "Oh god!" She jumped, "Who are you?" she demanded as she brandished a ladle she had grabbed off the counter.
Darcy laughed at Jane for that, trust her not to notice him until he was pointed out to her. "You only just noticed him?" She asked, laughing her head off while Harry chuckled.
"Smart one, ain't she Darth L?" Harry said, smirking at Darcy, and then pointed at Jane, "Maybe she needs some party time, eh Darcy?" he asked.
Darcy smirked, "That she does, Little Ewok, that she does!" she countered.
"Darcy! Who is he, and what are you two talking about?" Jane asked her in utter confusion. She'd never seen this guy with Darcy before today and the fact that he was so close to Darcy worried her. After all, this guy couldn't be more than 10 or 11 years old, far too young to be a boyfriend or fling of Darcy's, and yet they appeared to be close. What's more, Jane realized belatedly with horror, this kid acted a lot like Darcy. "Oh no, there's two Darcys now!" Jane groaned. She would admit, though, that he looked like someone Darcy would take in as a 'project' though, something Darcy occasionally did with her few friends she had.
"What's wrong with two of me?" Darcy asked with a brow raised in confusion.
Harry shrugged, "I don't know, I think you're awesome."
"Darcy who is this kid?!" Jane demanded, she couldn't handle the thought of having a kid around who is just like Darcy, the original one was bad enough as it is.
"Take a chill pill Jane before you hurt yourself," Darcy smiled, "This little dude is my nephew, Harry."
Jane's eyes slowly widened at that before she looked at the boy, Harry. "Nephew? You're her nephew?" At Harry's nod, Jane's worry shot through the roof. Worrying about what Darcy had already done with Harry, how she'd corrupted him already, and if he could still be saved. "Oh god no," Jane had to sit down as she palmed her face.
"Now what's wrong?" Darcy asked, looking between Harry and Jane, trying to work out just what Jane was on about now.
"There's two of you now. What did I do to deserve this?" Jane groaned into her hands.
At that moment, there was a loud booming knock at the door, it was so loud it was almost like a muffled canon blast, but it was CLEARLY a knock, just really loud. Darcy looked at the other two and asked, "Did someone order a canon?"
Harry looked to the door when the knock sounded. "Should I get that?" Harry asked the two women.
Jane stood and rounded the island they were gathered around, "I'll get it," she said.
Darcy walked over to her bag and grabbed her Taser, Mr Sparkler, just in case, before rejoining Harry at the island, "I've got you covered," she whispered.
Jane jumped as another booming knock came, but steadied herself and opened the door. At first, she thought she was looking at a wall of fur and cloth. Then she realized that it was a VERY big person standing in the doorway. "Um, hello?" Jane said, not sure what the hell to think, say, or do. After all, there's this very big person covered in fur and cloth, standing outside, in the sun, in the middle of Puente Antiguo, New Mexico. Who the hell dresses like that in New Mexico?
"Afternoon Ms.," The big person, a male from his voice greeted, "Might I come in?" he asked.
Jane wasn't sure if the guy could even fit, let alone get through, the door. "Sure?" She backed away, wanting to give him plenty of room to get in.
The tall man, to Jane, Harry, and Darcy's amazement, managed to squeeze through the door. The man gave a nod to Jane before looking about, his eyes falling on Harry, a large smile breaking out on his face. "There ya are Harry! After all that chaos with Dumbledore's trial I was afraid I wouldn't get to see ya again. Not that I would blame Prince Loki if he had decided not to let ya anywhere near this world." The man said as he walked over to Harry.
Darcy raised her Taser, "That's close enough pal! Start explaining who you are and what you want?" she then paused, before adding, "And how you know the Ewok here!"
The man gave Darcy a surprised look before nodding even if he was confused by the term 'Ewok', "Ah yes, I should explain myself, shouldn't I?" He said before straightening himself up some, making himself look slightly more taller than he was before. "Name's Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of the keys and grounds of Hogwarts!" he stated proudly.
Harry recognized the name Hogwarts from when Loki told him about the school he'd be going to school at soon.
"What?" Jane asked, completely lost.
"How do you know Harry?" Darcy asked him again, not giving away that she too knew about Hogwarts, it wasn't the time to give that away yet.
"Knew his parents back when they were alive, and on the night they died I was the one to take him from the ruins of the home they'd been living in," Hagrid gave Harry an apologetic look. "Had I known what those muggles were goin' ta do ta ya I never would've left ya there. I was sickened when I learned what they did to ya. And to think Dumbledore knew what was happening! Unforgivable!"
Darcy glared at Hagrid, hating him for having been the one to leave Harry with those people but noting that unlike that Dumbledore guy, Hagrid did seem to regret being a part of it all.
Jane looked between Hagrid, Darcy, and Harry in pure confusion. Wondering just what she's missing and how this man was involved.
"What do you want?" Harry asked Hagrid, wanting to get off the subject of his past, and causing Hagrid to really look at Harry now. Harry was tall for his age, standing at a surprising 5 foot 2.5 inches tall, making him look more like a twelve to thirteen year old boy then an eleven year old child, then again, like his friends, they were all tall for their ages. In terms of physical appearance though, his hair was somewhat scraggy and unkempt with two small braids behind his right ear. He also had a long ponytail going down his back that Freya had done for him, and he had some dark rings of eye shadow around his eyes giving him a kind of Goth look that Darcy had helped him perfect to intimidate others. He was wearing a long trench coat coloured green that, thankfully, Freya had shrunk for him and then charmed to grow with him, under that he was wearing a fine dress shirt of a dark red colour, with green gloves that were fingerless at the end. As pants, he was wearing some baggy cargo pants that were a dark forest camo coloured, and dark green combat boots. Overall, Darcy had helped him perfect the look. Oh, and as a final touch, Darcy had dyed Harry's hair to look like acid fire by dying it with some green and white hair dyes.
"Ya've uh, changed...quite a lot..." Hagrid noted awkwardly, "But after everything I guess it's to be expected?" He nodded, though he sounded questioning, "I'm here to bring ya to McGonagall. She wants to explain some things before ya start your schooling!" he finished with a smile.
"Who's McGonagall?" Harry asked Hagrid cautiously.
"After what happened with Dumbledore, McGonagall took over as headmistress of Hogwarts. She sent me to see bout bringing ya to meet her so that she could explain things, like how to get the train to school, what ya need for school, that sort of stuff."
Darcy and Harry looked between each other, not sure what to say about this.
"What do you think Aunt Darcy?" Harry asked her.
Darcy frowned and lowered her Taser a little. "Best wait for dad," She whispered to Harry. "He should go with you to meet this chick if it has to do with that school."
Harry nodded his agreement to that, as Loki would be the best choice to have go with him and judge if this headmistress is trustworthy or not. Turning back to Hagrid Harry told him, "Can we wait for my grandfather? He shouldn't be too much longer."
Hagrid paused for a moment, a little overwhelmed at the chance to meet Prince Loki himself. "Oh yeah, we can wait for him." He nodded.
Meanwhile, through all of this, Jane was off to the side, her head and eyes playing table tennis between the two groups, Harry and Darcy on one side, and Hagrid on the other. Having enough of being the odd one out in this conversation, she shouted, "Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?!"
All eyes snapped to Jane, and Darcy sighed, "It's a family thing," she said, like it was the simplest thing in the world.
"What?" Jane responded intelligently in frustration.
Harry turned to Darcy, "I'll go see if grandpa's back yet," He then walked past Hagrid and out the door.
Hagrid meanwhile, was fussing a little over his appearance. He couldn't go about meeting someone like Prince Loki looking like a slob after all. So he ran his fingers through his hair a little as well as his beard, trying to get out anything that was caught in either of them.
"Darcy, I'm serious here, explain what's going on!" Jane demanded as she walked, almost stormed, over to her.
"Jane, this isn't the best thing to try to explain right now," Darcy waved off. She wanted to go with Harry and her father to meet this woman, but couldn't without letting her father know her secret.
Jane stared at Darcy, wanting to demand that Darcy tell her everything, however she realized that any more surprises/shocks right now, might put her in the hospital, or an asylum, so she let it go...for now.
Harry returned just then, "Grandpa's back," He then turned to Hagrid, "I told him about you and he's waiting for us now."
Hagrid felt unready for this meeting, "Ah, right. Best be going then..." He then turned and headed for the door.
Harry ran over and gave Darcy a hug, "I'll see you later Aunty D," he said.
"You bet you will Ewok. Now get out of here and see Gramps," Darcy smiled before giving him a push towards the door. Once Harry and Hagrid were gone, Darcy turned to the bags that still hadn't been put away. "Whelp, let's get to work on these!" she said, making a point of not looking at Jane who was giving Darcy her best stink eye and if this was anything to go by, she wasn't the most happy woman on the planet.
~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~
When the meeting had happened, it was, needless to say, more of a list of demands that Loki had for Minerva to allow, such as allowing Harry's friends to attend Hogwarts. Harry was given the detailed instructions on how to find the platform barrier, and what to expect on the way to Hogwarts. Minerva did, however, have to sadly inform Loki and Harry that Dumbledore had been rehired the previous year by the board of governors, much to Minerva's objection, and that Harry should be wary of the old fart, who was now teaching Transfiguration. Exact details of why the governors had rehired Dumbledore varied from governor to governor, but the vote had not been unanimous, instead, being a majority vote.
Loki would have Amelia look into those who voted for Dumbledore to be returned to Hogwarts. Clearly these people didn't understand the nature of his crimes, or even how he views people. However, Loki would not deny that there COULD be a SMALL chance that Dumbledore had changed for the better in Azkaban, but Loki was definitely not going to hold his breath on that. People of Dumbledore's age are hard to change. So, Loki would have Harry and his friends watch the old fool closely. After all, after what happened with Sif, Loki and Freya had been training them to spot manipulation and deceit in others. So while he could do nothing to Dumbledore, without causing Odin to come down on him, Harry and his friends could watch for the mistakes Dumbledore was bound to make, and once those mistakes were made, Loki would swoop down and see to it that Dumbledore pays once and for all, there would be no second chances for the fool should he make a mistake in whatever plans he had.
Harry had heard, mostly through Thor, as Loki and Frigga hasn't wanted to 'color' his view of someone he'd never met, just what Dumbledore had done and planned to do with Harry. Harry did hate the man for what he had planned. Who wouldn't hate a man who left them in a nightmare like hell for years just so they could use them as a pawn and then, on top of THAT, Dumbledore had planned to let Harry die, just so the cause Dumbledore claimed to be backing would come out on top?! Harry however did find a reason to smirk about things. He turned to Loki and said, "Just wait till he sees me now. Wonder how well I'll fit into his plans like this?" Harry had chuckled, brushing some of his hair out of his eyes.
Loki had raised a brow at that but ended up laughing in the end, "I doubt he will find you a willing puppet he can use." Loki was looking forward to hearing of Dumbledore's failed attempts to get Harry to listen to him and 'play the puppet' for Dumbledore's so called 'Greater Good'. Hearing of those attempts, while serving as good evidence against Dumbledore for later, would also serve as a source of humor for Loki, and possibly Harry and his friends.
~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~~w~
~Present~
The bushy haired girl and her family jumped when Harry spoke to them before turning to him and his group.
Loki chuckled a little before giving the family a friendly smile. "You'll have to forgive my grandson. He noticed you appeared to be lost and thought to offer his aid." Loki then turned to the bushy haired girl, "From the looks of you and your bags, I would guess that you seek the train to Hogwarts."
The bushy haired girl nodded, "That's right sir. And from the looks of you, I'd say you know the way."
Loki smiled, "A bright young girl, you should do well at Hogwarts," He nodded, "If you follow us we will show you the way. It is easy enough to get to, however one would have to know about it before they can locate the entrance," Loki then waved the family to follow him as he headed for the wall between platforms 9 and 10. "As, strange as this may sound, this is the entrance. You merely have to walk through," he finished with a smile.
"But that's a wall?" The bushy haired girl's father pointed out.
Loki turned to Harry and his friends, "Why don't you go through first? It might be best if they see how it works first," He suggested.
"I'll go," Jarl offered, he wasn't sure what they would find on the other side, and as the biggest and most intimidating of the group, he would be best to take the lead and make any possible threats think twice.
"Very well then," Loki nodded.
"See you on the other side," Harry said.
Jarl gave them both a nod before pushing his cart through the barrier.
Loki smiled at the two muggles as they went wide eyed at Jarl passing through a seemingly solid brick wall like it was nothing. The girl however looked like she was overjoyed.
"That's brilliant!" The bushy haired girl exclaimed.
Loki shook his head, "That is nothing, as you will see far more impressive things at school I am sure. Now then, who's next?"
Godiva and Runa stepped forward, both going at the same time.
After the girls went the bushy haired girl all but begged her parents to let them go next, to which, after seeing three kids pass through, the parents decided that it was safe enough to do. And just like Jarl, Godiva, and Runa they passed through safely.
"Come along Harry, Ari." Loki said once the girl and her family were through.
Once through the barrier they met up with the rest of the group, who were amused by the two muggles and the bushy haired girl's reactions to the platform. When the girl noticed that Loki, Harry, and Ari had come through she ran up to them.
"Thank you for your help getting here, I'm Hermione Granger," She said with a large smile.
"Harry Potter, these are my friends Jarl, Runa, Ari, and Godiva, and this is my grandfather Loki," Harry introduced.
"You're Harry Potter?!" Hermione asked in surprised shock, "I've read all about you. About how you were wrongfully placed with your mother's adopted family, how you were mistreated, the crimes the Minister of Magical and Professor Dumbledore committed regarding you, how you're royalty," Hermione stopped and finally looked Harry over. Really taking in the way he was dressed, his dyed hair, and eye makeup. She looked like she didn't approve, "Though, you don't really look like a prince..." She then turned to Loki. "Is that kind of look allowed in Asgard?" she asked curiously.
Loki chuckled at the question, most would take offence to such a question; however he could tell she meant no harm by it. "There isn't really a law that states that Harry cannot look as he does now. And many have tried to voice complaints over the look since he perfected it. I however have no intention of restricting my grandchild's appearance. If this is how he wishes to look, then he may do so freely, I only care for his happiness and safety. As long as what he wants does not threaten those two things, he may do as he wishes."
Hermione's mother smiled at Loki, "Most parents would claim\ to think that, but do the opposite instead. It's good to see a family that actually does as they claim." Hermione's father nodded his agreement.
"We best get their bags and trunks on the train, before things get too crowded here for us to do so," Loki commented, trying not to blush at the praise he was getting, something he was, slowly, getting used to thanks to Harry.
Harry and his friends hid their smiles, knowing that Loki was still getting use to people thinking that he's a good role model, amongst other things.
With Loki leading the way the group reached the baggage car and unloaded their trunks and bags. After that Hermione wanted to check out the train, she even managed to drag her parents on board to look with her. Though Loki guessed they wanted to make sure that the train taking their daughter to school was safe.
Harry and his friends claimed the last car of the train as their own, and were very careful about who they allowed into it, turning away anyone who looked like they were looking for someone to use or those trying to find Harry Potter, clearly looking to get in good with him and/or his family. Jarl was a big help in keeping out those who they didn't want near them. Many took one look at Jarl, who was in his personal armor, who at this point in his life he could pass as a third or fourth year student rather than a first year one due to his height. Many who tried to get close to the group backed away when they saw Jarl, and those that did get close often backed down when Jarl would lowly growl, "Leave," to them.
Harry sighed to himself as the latest person who wanted to attempt to get close to him ran off.
"Don't worry about them Harry. We'll weed out the fakes," Runa told him.
"That's not what's bothering me Runa. This is the first time we'll be away from Asgard for months on end," Harry sighed sadly.
"You're kidding me! You're home sick already?" Ari couldn't believe that Harry would be home sick this early.
Godiva kicked Ari in the ankle for that before turning to Harry, "If we don't like it at Hogwarts we can always call for the Bifrost to take us home. Loki even told us we could do that before we came to Midgard!" she pointed out.
That was true Harry had to note, Loki had even made it clear to McGonagall that if Harry decided that he didn't want to stay at the school Harry, and his friends, would be allowed to leave at any time, and if he doesn't want to go back Harry would not have to. However this would be the first time that Harry would stay someplace that wasn't either Asgard or Darcy's place, but also he would be staying and sleeping in a place with a lot of strangers. The thought of being around so many children and adults that he doesn't know scared him a little. Add to that that at least one adult at this school wanted to use him for some 'Greater Good' and Harry was starting to wonder just why he'd agreed to go in the first place. Sure Loki had a hand in making the school, he had his friends with him, the guy that wants to use him has lost a lot of sway with the wizarding world, and yet Harry really couldn't think of why he wanted to go to Hogwarts.
"I wonder what sort of place Hogwarts will be," Jarl commented, breaking Harry out of his thoughts, "Should be interesting, seeing the place your parents met and studied at."
That was right! This school was a link to his parents. Some of the teachers, from what he'd heard, had even taught his mother and father. And the ghost there had to have known them as well. If there was ever a place where Harry could learn about his parents, Hogwarts was it. That was the main reason he'd wanted to go. Harry gave Jarl a small smile; he knew Jarl had only said that because he'd spotted the doubt and fear eating away at Harry. Jarl always seemed to know what to say or do or even where to go when one of the team was upset or scared. It really made Harry wonder just what it was about Jarl that gave him this gift.
"Has to be something special, after all prince Loki himself worked on the place," Ari shrugged.
"Just cause he worked on it doesn't mean anything! After all that was a long time ago, who knows what these 'witches and wizards' have done to the place since then!" Runa pointed out semi-angrily.
"Someone's coming," Godiva said, nodding to the shadow of someone heading to their compartment.
The door opened and a red headed 11 year old boy stuck his head in, "Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full!" He told them.
Harry and his friends looked at each other, knowing that this was utter bullshit. There was no way the train was THAT full. Then the guy opened his mouth again, his eyes on Harry.
"What's with your hair, and cloths, and what's that around your eyes? It looks stupid!" the redhead said intelligently.
"Not as stupid as you," Runa growled at him.
"Do you always insult the people you are trying to get to welcome you into their compartment?" Godiva questioned in annoyance, her arms crossed over her chest.
The guy looked around at each of them, noticing their clothes, or rather armor in the case of four of them, as well. "Why are you all dressed so strangely? Are you muggles?" the boy stated intelligently.
"We're Asgardians," Ari told him flatly with a look of boredom.
The guy frowned, his face scrunching up in obvious hard thought, before something seemed to 'click' in his head. "So then one of you must be Harry Potter!" His eyes flickered about between the three males of the group, clearly looking for the 'famous scar' that they had heard people would recognize Harry by.
"That's Prince Harry Potter to you," Ari growled, he was already so done with this red haired, freckle faced freak.
"So, which one of you is him?" The guy asked rudely, clearly ignoring Ari.
Harry decided enough was enough, though he would have a little fun with this kid before they kicked the idiot's ass out. "I am, who are you?" Harry gave him his best fake smile.
"Ron Weasley," The boy smiled, clearly thinking he was going to be accepted by Harry now.
"Ron huh? Good to know," Harry nodded sagely.
"Huh?" Ron asked intelligently. "Why's that good to know?'
Harry smiled at him, this time it was real. "Because now I know who to avoid in the future!" he said finishing with an angry tone and a scowl.
Ron didn't seem to get it for a moment, but when he did, he clearly didn't like what he'd heard. "Avoid? What'd I do to earn being avoided?!" He demanded rudely.
"You came in here and lied to us for starters, as if anyone would believe this train was so full that one person, who clearly got on back at the station, couldn't find a seat, the train has been moving for quite some time after all. And if you couldn't get a seat back at the start, then there is no chance your bags or even your trunk managed to get on either," Harry began, "Then there's the fact that you insulted each of us because you do not like how we look," Harry continued, "However the real thing that helped in deciding to avoid you, is that when you heard we are from Asgard your focus went solely to finding me. That says that you wish to use me for one reason or another, and that's something I have no interest in." Harry was glaring at Ron as he got closer to the end of his little explanation/rant as to why Ron would not be joining them. "I have no interest in people who use others, even less so for those who mock others, even though we mock those who deserve it. That is why, Ron Weasley, you will never be part of this group nor welcomed amongst us. Now, kindly remove yourself from our compartment," Harry waved his hand, as if shooing a really annoying mosquito.
Ron went to take a step forward, clearly planning to give Harry a piece of his mind, but soon the entire door frame of the compartment was filled with Jarl, angrily glaring down at him and hand placed on a handle of a knife telling him in a not very subtle manner what could happen if the warning was ignored.
"You were told to leave," Jarl said warningly. Though Jarl knew he couldn't hurt Ron, there were no rules about using an Asgardian curse to make life VERY difficult for Ron. Or Jarl could simply take Ron's clothes and force Ron to have to walk through the train in his underwear until Ron reached his bags and trunk. Jarl couldn't decide which would be better.
Ron gulped, proving to Jarl and everyone in the compartment that he's a coward in that one move before he turned and left with his tail between his legs.
"Well done Harry, I'm sure Prince Loki would be very proud of what you did there." Runa laughed. "The look on his face when he thought you were going to welcome him only for him to realize he was not welcomed here, aaw, priceless!"
"He's no better than that brat we were forced to entertain back in Asgard. You know which one I'm talking about, that girl," Harry shivered in disgust at the memory.
"That pig of a noble man's daughter, she was all over you last year. It was painful to watch," Jarl sighed.
"I heard her father tried to get Prince Loki to agree to an arranged marriage between you and her," Ari told Harry.
"EW! Harry and HER? Who in their right mind would want that THING as their wife?" Runa asked in disgust.
"I'd rather marry Sif," The thought of that noble girl being his wife made him sick to his stomach, "Not that Sif's any better of course."
"Let's not talk about this now," Runa sighed, "There's been enough to annoy me in the last little while." Runa then turned to Godiva, "Where did you get that toad?"
"I found him under my seat," Godiva answered as she ran her finger along the toads back.
The door to their compartment opened and, once Jarl moved they spotted Hermione standing there.
"Oh, hello again," She greeted with a smile, before seeing the toad Godiva was holding. "You found him!" She then turned and called down the hall, "Neville in here!"
It was a moment later that a young boy poked his head into the compartment. He was a little chubby, but not overly so, he also appeared as if he was trying to make himself as small as possible. However once his eyes locked onto the toad he stopped trying to curl in on himself. "Trevor!" he exclaimed happily.
Godiva smiled and held the toad out to him, "Here you go. I found him under my seat."
"Th-thank you." The boy, Neville, Hermione had called him, stuttered as he took Trevor from her.
"We've been looking for Trevor for hours, thank you so much for finding him and keeping him from running off again," Hermione told Godiva.
"Maybe you should put a charm on him to make him easier to track?" Godiva suggested.
"I would, but, I don't know how..." Neville mumbled to himself in a sad tone.
"I could do it for ya," Ari offered with a smirk.
"No, you cannot do magic outside of the school. Otherwise you'll be expelled! Which is the worst thing that can happen to you," Hermione told him pointedly.
"Maybe if the charm was Midgardian magic," Ari said as he rolled his eyes, "But your people don't track and watch for Asgardian magic, which is a completely different thing."
Hermione's eyes widened at that, at the thought of seeing real Asgardian magic in person. "You're sure you won't get in trouble by using it outside of school?" she asked fearfully.
"We were playing a game with a ball before we had to get to the station," Harry started, "We used Asgardian magic to keep it in the air. If doing that for hours doesn't get us expelled, then I think we're safe and nothing will happen to us."
"Alright then, let's see!" Hermione was doing her best to hide her joy at seeing magic not of her world.
Ari stood and walked over to Neville and Trevor, "It's a simple tracking spell. It will make an arrow appear on your hand whenever you go looking for your toad, the arrow will always point to where Trevor is," Ari explained before placing his left hand over Neville's right and his right hand on Trevor.
Neville noticed a slight warmth that spread through his hand before Ari pulled his hands away.
"There you go, now whenever you want to find Trevor, just focus on him and look at your hand. The arrow will appear and lead you right to him."
Neville looked down at his hand and tried it, the arrow appearing just as Ari had said and it pointed right to Trevor in his other hand. "Thank you..." Neville whispered in astonishment, he was too amazed by what Ari had done to stutter or be shy.
"Is all Asgardian magic that simple?" Hermione asked as she looked at the arrow on Neville's hand.
"Not all of it," Harry answered, "That was just one of the simpler ones. Like with all magic, there are the simple ones and then there are ones that are very complicated. There's even a few that take at least a year to do. It all depends on the spell, how experienced the user is, and if he or she has help."
Hermione nodded in understanding, after all she'd spent every day since the shopping trip to get her school things reading every one of her school books, as well as the books she'd talked her parents into letting her get, on top of her school things. She wondered if she'd be able to get her hands on any Asgardian spell books one day. Maybe if things go well between Asgard and the Wizarding world, Asgard might share some of its advanced magical knowledge. Though, that all depends on things beyond her. "I've heard that Asgard is ages beyond anything that we're going to learn," She said, before a thought struck her. "Why are you five going to Hogwarts then? I would think Asgard would be a better place to learn magic!" she pointed out.
"While that is true, there are other reasons that going to this school is a good idea," Runa told her cryptically. "For starters, it will allow Harry to make allies here on Midgard, connections that could serve as future allies for when he takes his place properly in the court of Asgard."
"There is also the fact that Harry will one day have to spend some time in other realms for whatever political reasons at the time, sometimes with prince Loki, and sometimes on his own. This will help to ready him since Midgard is different from Asgard," Ari added.
"But the reason I have for coming," Harry spoke up. "Is that my mother and father went to Hogwarts. I never knew them, however there are people and ghosts at the school who did know them. I plan to find out what they know about my parents. So while going to the school will benefit me in the long run, I am mostly only interested in learning about my parents."
"What about your friends?" Hermione asked, feeling that she should get them off the topic of Harry's parents.
"Someone has to watch Harry and keep him safe," Ari shrugged nonchalantly.
"So, you're his bodyguards?" Hermione asked questioningly, she wasn't sure how much protection Harry's friends could give him. The large one, Jarl, if she remembered from when Harry had introduced them to her, did look like he'd be able to protect Harry to a point and there was a dangerous aura to him, while the others however didn't look as capable as Jarl.
"In a sense," Runa shrugged.
"You have bodyguards?" Neville asked in amazement.
"They're more my friends, we can all fight, but for some reason my family back home felt that I needed more protection, as if Heimdall watching me was not enough," Harry shrugged. "So, since my friends wanted to come with me to Hogwarts, I was able to talk my family into letting them be my guards," Harry answered happily.
"So, they don't need to attend the school at all? They're just here to keep you out of trouble?" Hermione frowned when Harry and his friends laughed at her.
"Keep him out of trouble? Nah, we're here to keep him safe! Staying out of trouble is boring," Ari chuckled.
"What?" She asked glaring at them. "But the rules are important."
Harry smiled at Hermione, "We enjoy pulling pranks on people. Hard to stay out of trouble when pranks are your main source of fun," He explained, "But don't worry, our pranks are harmless and we tend to only target those who make us mad or bully people."
"Though from what we've gathered since the train started moving, we've found a lot of targets for our pranks. A lot of kids on the train, are those who think that they can use Harry to get ahead," Runa sighed, "Makes us sick to be honest," she finished.
"Hopefully they will stay away after all the time Jarl spent sending them away and Harry's told them to get lost," Ari commented as he took his seat.
"Not likely," Godiva sighed, her hand itching to grab a handle of her custom made hammer staff.
"We'll deal with things as they happen," Harry told them, "We'll figure out how things go and, if we stay at Hogwarts we will deal with whatever happens throughout the year, right?"
"Right," All four of his friends agreed.
It was at that moment that the food trolley came by and reminded them that Harry and his friends, along with Hermione and Neville, were actually quite hungry. Harry and his friends, along with Hermione were astonished by the selection of candy and snacks the trolley provided. There were things like Blood Pops, Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Liquorice Wands, Pumpkin Pasties, and Sugar Quills, and a few other items too. Harry, having grown a bit of an Asgardian appetite due to his continually awakening Asgardian blood and heritage, bought everything on the cart for him, his friends, and Hermione and Neville, the latter two of whom were overwhelmed at first until Runa informed them that Asgardians had to eat more than the average mortal due to denser bodies and higher metabolisms, not to mention how active Asgardians were. To say the trolley witch was surprized when Harry bought out her entire stock was an understatement. Once she had left, Ari laughed and said, "Did you see her face?" he then laughed again as he continued, "From the way she looked, you would think that she either hit the lottery, or that we were crazy!"
Jarl helped himself to a chocolate frog, easily grabbing it out of the air as it tried to jump to freedom, much to Neville's astonishment at Jarls quick reflexes. The chocolate was pleasant and rich, but not over powering, and the fact that the frogs acted like real frogs for a short while, made it a little fun for him. However when it came to the card that came with it, Jarl passed it to Neville without a care, who seemed happy cause the card appeared to be a rare one.
Runa nibbled on a sugar quill as she looked over the box of Every Flavoured Beans with interest. Noting the different flavors and thinking of how they could turn this into a game. Sure, there were a lot of flavours she knew would be horrible to get, but that was part of the fun.
Godiva tried a Pumpkin Pastie as she looked around at her friends, trying the different treats Harry had bought for them. The pastie was good; the filling had a wonderful taste to it, making her want more. She could see the gears turning in Runa's head as she looked over the bean box. She just hoped that it wouldn't be as bad as she feared it might turn out to be.
Ari was less eating the Liquorice Wand he'd picked from the pile, and was more using it to goof around with Harry, causing the two to have a mock sword fight with it, and every once in a while they would try to bite the other's Liquorice Wand just for a laugh.
Hermione rolled her eyes at the two boys as she pushed the Blood Pops away from her. She didn't know if they would actually taste like blood, and she certainly didn't want to find out.
Neville was still getting over the shock of how much Harry had bought from the cart, having never seen so much sweets being bought at one time. And then there was Jarl just handing over such a rare card like it was nothing. Neville really couldn't believe his luck on that one. Though he'd only just met Harry and his friends, Neville could tell they were nice people and he hoped that he might be able to call at least one of them a friend.
Harry was having a lot of fun with these treats. The mock sword fight with Ari was just for laughs, they threw out everything they learned about sword fighting in favor of just messing around. Harry had even hit Ari on the head a few times, to which Ari had tried to stick the Liquorice Wand in his ear in response.
"Alright boys! Enough of that, let's have some real fun!" Runa said as she shook the box of Every Flavor Beans.
"What'd you come up with?" Ari asked as he and Harry finished off their candy wands.
"We're going play a game in which we will all take turns eating a bean, however the bean will be determined by the last one to eat one. We'll assign numbers to the beans and the person whose turn it is will have to say the numbers given to each bean until the one who's picking the bean says stop. Whatever bean's number you last said is the one you eat," Runa said. "Now, since I came up with it, I'll be the one saying stop first and Harry will go first at eating!" Runa then listed what bean had what number.
"Alright then, sounds complicated but let's try it," Harry said before he began saying the numbers till Runa said 'stop'. Once he had his bean he popped it into him mouth and started chewing.
"Good? Bad?" Runa asked him.
Harry swallowed the bean and licked his lips, "Butterschotch mead, not bad," He said before turning to Godiva. "Your turn," He then ran through the numbers till she said stop.
Godiva spat out her bean the second she bit into it, "Puke," She explained, eating another Pumpkin Pastie to try to get rid of the bean taste. She turned to Jarl and said stop after he ran through the numbers.
Jarl forced himself to swallow the bean, a scowl on his face, "Mushrooms...Disgusting," He then turned to Runa and said stop shortly after she began going through the numbers.
"Earwax, lovely..." Runa sighed before spitting out her bean.
Then it was Ari's turn, he smiled when he realized what he'd gotten, "Mead!" He shouted as he threw his hands up into the air in victory, the others rolling their eyes at his over excitement. "Your turn!" Ari said as he pointed to Hermione.
Hermione's eyes widened in surprise, "Me? You want me to play?" she asked in surprize.
"Why not? You and Neville seem alright," Harry shrugged with a happy smile.
Hermione decided to go with it, and started saying the numbers until Ari said stop and gave her the bean. She chewed her bean for a bit before swallowing, "Grass, not what I thought it would taste like..." She said before turning to Neville, "Do you want to play?"
Neville looked like he was thinking of saying no, but ended up nodding in the end. He slowly went through the numbers till Hermione said stop. Neville seemed almost relieved when he tasted the bean, "Chocolate," he said with a relieved smile.
They continued on for a bit, with some of the highlights in terms of bean flavors being snot, dragon dung, chicken poop, buttered popcorn, and bitter lemon. That last one had been Hermione's, needless to say; she had made a sour face at it, though not as bad as Ari when he had gotten the dragon dung flavored one. As it got darker outside, Harry, and his male friends as well as Neville left the compartment as they let Hermione, Runa, and Godiva change, then the groups switched places so as to let Harry, Ari, Jarl, and Neville get changed into their robes for Hogwarts. Though Harry did put on his trench coat over his robe, something Hermione frowned at, but, decided not to pick on him for, after all, because of him, and his friends, she finally had friends who she could have fun with.
Once everyone settled back into the compartment, Godiva suddenly turned to Harry, as she clearly had just thought of something seemingly important. "Harry," she asked seriously, "You didn't pack IT with your stuff at all...did you?" she asked.
Harry looked at Godiva with a seemingly blank expression, "You would have to be...specific...Godiva, it's hard for me to interpret what you mean by 'IT'," he said innocently, though his tone of voice held a mischievous quality to it. This caused the group of four Asgardians to have differing reactions.
Godiva sighed, wishing she had just burnt IT in secret before Harry could pack it.
Runa glared at Harry, "Why?" She demanded.
Ari tried not to laugh, knowing how much the girls hated IT.
Jarl said nothing, but in his mind he questioned just how Harry had managed to hide it in his trunk without any of them noticing, what with them sharing a room at the palace and all. Let alone how Loki didn't spot it and stop him.
"IT?" Hermione questioned, a little worried as to what 'IT' was as the reactions of Runa and Godiva clearly didn't approve of it, whatever 'IT' was.
Harry grinned, and said, "Why WOULDN'T I pack my accordion?" he asked, "I have to stay in practice while away from the palace, right?" he asked his friends cheekily.
"I swear I will kill Lady Freya for ever introducing you to that horrid thing!" Runa growled in annoyance.
Godiva sighed but said nothing. While she did like it to a point, she did find it annoying from time to time.
Ari groaned and prayed that Harry didn't practice in their room like he used to. "First note I hear in our room, I am taking a knife to it," he said pointedly.
Jarl, again said nothing, but wondered now if he'd packed his ear plugs.
Hermione was relieved that it wasn't something bad that they had been talking about. She also found the fact that Harry had an accordion and was practicing it amazing.
Neville had no idea just what an accordion is, however his curiosity was peaked.
Harry smiled, his accordion had been a gift from Freya, hers was much older. According to Freya, hers was a Vorontsov circa about the 1820's. Harry's was a Pigini circa 1950s, Freya had had it amongst her things when she returned to Asgard. While Freya's accordion was older, and infinitely more valuable, she didn't play it, for her, it was just another trophy of her travels, and another memory of her time spent on Midgard. She had learned the basics of course, of which she had in turn taught to Harry, and Harry had learned from there. Turning to the other two in the compartment, Harry asked, "Want to hear me play?" he asked Hermione and Neville cheekily, smirking at Runa and Ari out of the corner of his eye.
"NO!" Both Runa and Godiva shouted desperately.
Ari was dying of laughter in his seat, while Jarl gave Harry a look at that clearly said he didn't want to hear it.
When Ari got himself under control, he shrugged, "Why not?" When Runa and Godiva glared at him he shrugged again, "If it doesn't happen now, you know he'll want to do it later," he reasoned.
"Hate you and your reasoning," Runa growled angrily.
Harry smiled, "I was only joking girls," he said cutely, "After all, there is no way in Hel that I am taking it out here on the train, not with all the digging I would have to do for it," he finished with a sigh.
Both Runa and Godiva sighed in relief at that.
Suddenly the train lurched as it slowed down to a stop at the station in Hogsmeade. It took twenty minutes, but eventually Harry and his friends, along with Hermione and Neville finally got off the train only to be met by Hagrid with a lantern. Hagrid was calling for all first years to follow him. With a glance around at the Hogsmeade station their group approached Hagrid.
"Hello Harry," Hagrid greeted Harry.
Harry gave Hagrid a nod before he and his friends, as well as Neville and Hermione fell in step behind him, the latter of two of which were surprised that Harry knew such a giant of a man.
Ari nudged Jarl and pointed out that Ron Weasley was trying to move closer to them.
Jarl quickly put himself in Ron's path and gave a small smile down at Ron as the idiot backed off.
"What was that about?" Hermione asked Runa, nodding to Ron's retreating form.
"He came to our compartment claiming there were no other seats. Then he insulted how we dress and look, and when he learned we're Asgardian, he started looking for Harry, He clearly had thought to get into Harry's good graces to use him, which we have no care for. It seems he doesn't understand that we have no interest in being anything to him," Runa explained, "Not like you and Neville."
"He better learn soon, otherwise we might have to give him a hands on lesson..." Ari ground out.
"Just don't do anything too big, I would rather avoid having to explain to my grandfather that we got kicked out of school just because some red head with a thick skull refused to take a hint," Harry told his friends dryly.
"Who says we would get caught?" Runa asked with a mischievous smirk.
Hermione wondered if Harry's friends would really hurt Ron if he didn't leave them alone. She felt she should tell a teacher, however, Harry asking his friends not to do something that would get them expelled was what made her decide to not say anything.
After following Hagrid along the platform of the Hogsmeade station, the first years were lead down to some small wooden boats where they were told to pair up in groups of four and for each group to get into one of them. Harry got into a boat with Hermione, Neville, and Runa, while Godiva, Jarl, and Ari got into another boat with a girl named Susan Bones. The boats carried them across the lake in two columns behind Hagrid's boat, giving them their first look at the school.
It was a massive castle perched on top of a rock that seemed to grow from out of the lake, as they looked at it that they could see more than a dozen towers, uncountable rooms, and loads of passages connecting them. Some of those buildings seemed to defy the laws of physics and were either too graceful, or the supports were too far apart. Warm, golden light was pouring out of the windows placed in them that made a sense of warmth and peace spread through their bodies.
"Not as impressive as the palace back in Asgard," Ari commented loudly, getting an elbow jab from Godiva as a result, as the boat he, Jarl, Susan and Godiva were in moved across the lake next to the one with Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Runa.
"I doubt any building could be as impressive as home," Harry pointed out, "Also the palace is supposed to impress guests of my great-grandfather, so nothing will be better than it," he said in reply to Ari's comment.
When the boats docked on the other side of the lake, all of the first years, including Harry's little group, followed Hagrid up the many steps and into the castle proper until they reached a man Hagrid called Professor Flitwick. That was when they were passed off to him and he led them to the doors of the great hall, all the while explaining how things are with the houses and which house was which, he also explained, briefly, that two of the houses did not get along, though that things had improved in recent years, sadly, he did not state which two houses they were. Once at the doors however, Flitwick told them to wait where they stood while he went inside to make sure everything was ready for them.
"You don't think we'll end up in separate houses, do you?" Runa questioned Harry.
"Not sure, I was told a hat sorts us, but that's about all I know," Harry wasn't worried about getting split up from his friends, he was sure they would be together in whatever house they ended up in.
"If they do try to split us up, we'll just tell them we share a house, or we leave the school, simple as that," Ari shrugged simplistically.
"Not sure if we should go that far just yet, but we could always ask them to put us together. After all we are your guards," Godiva pointed out.
A few of the students around them gave them odd looks, having overheard what Godiva had said, but they said nothing, mostly due to them catching Jarl glaring at them.
Harry, feeling eyes on him, looked around and found a boy about his age with almost bone blond hair that was slicked back looking at him. The boy looked away when his eyes met Harry's own, but the boy had clearly been watching Harry for a few minutes before being caught. Harry had no idea just who the boy was, and he couldn't get a good read on just what sort of person he was.
"Everything alright Harry?" Jarl asked Harry, noticing he was distracted.
"Yeah, someone was just staring at me." Harry brushed off.
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