Because of the encounter with Heracles, Harry was on edge for the rest of their stay in Thebes. Daphne was always on his arm whenever they went out.
Hades and Persephone saw them twice more during their stay, once were to act as their tour guides and the other visit was to take the family out for dinner.
Petunia declined the invitation, saying, "Someone has to stay here and feed Tussisss. Harry, you know he doesn't like being in public."
"Tusis?" Hades asked, not knowing who they were talking about.
Daphne corrected him, "Tussisss. He is Harry's Selma companion."
"Speaking of him," Harry chuckled before letting out a deep hiss, "Stop being rude and come say hello."
The heavy voice of the Selma responded from seemingly nowhere, "They are gods, Harry!"
"We are guests in their homeland and have graced us with their presence," Harry shot a narrow look towards his and Daphne's room.
Petunia's sharp parseltongue hissed, "Stop being petulant, you overgrown garden snake."
"Aunt Petunia," Harry gave her a look, "He has always been this way around others, but that is no reason to insult him.
Daphne let out a small laugh and leaned into Harry's side, "Tussisss, we're going out. You need to stop hiding or you won't get scratches until we come back." She called out to the Selma.
After a few long moments, the serpent could be heard coming quickly into the room until it was suddenly curled around Harry and Daphne, standing with his hand under her hand.
Daphne smiled and began to pet his scales. Harry shook his head, "Suck up."
"Like you have room to talk," Tussisss hissed back heavily, his voice drowsy from being pet.
"Children, the both of you." Petunia cut in sharply, receiving a side eye from her nephew and his companion.
Persephone let out a small laugh at the family interaction.
"You understand parseltongue, your Highness?" Anna asked her.
Persephone smiled, "Yes, I do. Most gods understand the all languages of our world. Few are able to speak in the specific tongue of magical languages."
"Well," Hades said, "My elder brother speaks Murmish and Hephaestus speaks the true tongue of Goblins."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked him.
"The Goblins originally worked in the many forges of my nephew before one day they were thrown out. Their many skills and talents were taken from them, leaving them his only a bastardization of their language and the minimum amount of skill to get by," Hades shrugged.
"They attempted to steal his craft as their own," his wife tutted.
"Huh," Astoria said. "Do you know what House Elves are then?"
Persephone smiled, "They are their line of the elven creatures. They were known as the 'Mortal Elves' because of their close relationship with humans. They have shorter life spans than High, Wood, and Dark Elves, but they have one of the strongest connections to Magic."
"The only Elven line with a better understanding of magic is the High Elves. Although, they were the first line of Elves birthed at the dawn of this world."
Hades cut in, "As were the Phoenix, Elder Dragon species, Crystalline Merfolk, and Wurms."
"Can we continue this discussion over dinner?" Harry asked as he was getting hungry.
Hades nodded with a smile and look at Harry, "Of course. I'm not one to deny a lion its meal."
Harry laughed dryly at the joke.
============================
The God and Goddess took them to a high-class restaurant that night.
Once they were sat and looking over the menus, they ordered drinks.
"So, you asked that we continued the discussion from earlier," Hades began as he looked at Harry. "May I ask why?"
Harry sipped his Elven wine, "Well, a few years ago, I was bitten by Salazar Slytherin's basilisk. He laid her to rest under Hogwarts Castle as a last resort defense in case the magical children within came under attack. Tom Riddle warped her mind and tricked her. He poisoned her mind with madness and she turned on the students who come from nonmagical backgrounds."
Harry rolled up his sleeve and showed his arm, the thick scars from the basilisk fang showing.
"I pulled the fang from my arm and used it to destroy a soul container belonging to Tom Riddle. A Phoenix cried into the wound, healing me."
"Basilisk venom is extremely fast acting. You should have died as soon as you were bitten," Persephone told him.
Harry only shrugged, "That wasn't the first time I should've died."
Hades lifted an eyebrow at him, "What do you mean?"
"Are you aware of our Killing Curse?" The God nodded. "Tom Riddle murdered my parents when I was a babe. My mother used a combination of Evanshade and Peverell magic to perform a ritual on me. My earliest memory is of her begging him to spare my life before I hear his laughter as he kills her. He aims his wand at me and there's a flash of green light before a tortured scream."
Cyrus choked on his drink. Anna and Astoria looked close to tears. Harry smiled at them before brushing his hair back, showing his famous scar.
"My scar is where the curse hit me. It's a rune drawn from my mother's blood that was burned into my skin from the power of the curse. The spell was captured by the magicks of the ritual and rebounded onto Tom Riddle. What wasn't supposed to happen, was his soul split, and a piece was placed in my scar."
"For the past fourteen years, the fragment of Tom Riddle's soul has been assimilating with Harry's. His magic deconstructed the fragment and took what was useful," Daphne picked up for him.
Hades hummed lightly before Harry drew his wand and showed the God. "The tears and venom still live in my blood. They make up part of my wand casing."
Hades took the wand and studied it. "Two of the cores were offered as gifts. The other is of a dragon that no longer walks this earth," He said thoughtfully.
"A female Thestral and male Griffon who share deep bonds with you. Their herds protect your home and family," He passed the wand back to Harry who shook his head lightly.
"The herd of Thestral has always been at Potter Manor. Drulia, she is the granddaughter of Druella, the Thestral who favored my grandmother," He smiled. "Jax is the son of the Griffon my grandfather saved from here and brought home. The herd was only made of seven back then, but they have grown. Jax's father, Jet, was only a few weeks old but bonded with my grandfather."
Daphne laughed lightly at something Harry shared with her, "I can't say I blame either herd for not liking James if he swapped their feed."
Persephone smiled, "Let's start with the Wurms. They were the first of the basilisk."
"A Wurm is the title of a basilisk over a thousand years old," Hades said. "Was that about the age of the one that bit you?"
Harry nodded something which made Hades sigh. "Their venom grows more potent with their age. You are truly lucky to be alive."
"Harry only spent three days in the hospital to recover from where his spine was cracked in four places. He had his leg nearly completely shattered, and a total of seven broken ribs," Daphne glared at him sharply. "His lung was cut open and three organs were ruptured."
"You can't be mad at me," Harry cut in. "We weren't together then."
Daphne put her cup down, "You will find that I can and will become upset about any situation which threatens or has threatened your life, Hadrian James."
"Yes, love," He shook his head.
"Do not start with me," She glared at him. "Third year was Dementors and jumping in front of a werewolf. Do not even get me started on the travesty of last year with the Tri-Wizard Tournament and the Death Eater."
"Your task was to get around the dragon. You're the only person I know who would pick up a blood broom and outfly a Horntail," She groused heavily at him.
Harry sighed, "Remus is my uncle and I wasn't going to let Hermione get hurt. I'm immune to lycanthropy, she is not. And you can't blame the Dementors on me."
Her reply was simply, "Expecto. Patronum."
"Admittedly not my proudest moment, but Dumbledore was a mind-manipulating git," He said as a hostess came by for food orders.
After pausing their conversation to give their orders, Hades and Persephone shared a significant look about the young couple. Cyrus stayed silent, having learned to keep his mouth closed on certain topics.
"I'm sorry, but what was that about out-flying a Hungarian Horntail?" Anna asked.
Daphne sipped her wine, "It was just that, Mother. My husband, for whatever reason, decided to not only practice defensive spells for the dragon but also to master the summoning charm. Instead of having one of his friends keep the broom on their person, he left it in his dorm."
She glared at him once again, "He then raced the damned thing all over the Castle grounds. He escaped being cooked and eaten but forgot to watch the tail."
Harry, wishing he was wearing his cloak, was hiding behind his drink.
"That's why you have the Ironbelly in your wand," Hades suddenly said. "They were always the ones to dominate their close cousins, the Horntails."
"It's spike chipped in my arm and Madam Pomfry had to fuse them with my skeletal system because she couldn't remove them." Harry shrugged, having no defense for the dragon.
"And the Black Lake?" His wife huffed at him.
Harry rolled his eyes, "I wasn't going to leave an eight-year-old at the bottom of a lake in the dead of winter, and that memory got me snogged so I will not defend myself."
"Freaks." Astoria shivered heavily.
"I'm sorry?" Persephone rose her eyebrow.
"They performed the Rites of Yule this past holiday, your Highness," Anna explained.
"Ah," Persephone and Hades said together.
Cyrus shook his head, "Rites that my wife needed to share more detail than I needed about concerning our daughter."
"Father, you didn't see what she looked like a few days later," Astoria glared at her sister and lion-in-law.
Anna sighed, "And you didn't see what they both looked like when they finally returned to the Manor. She would have been much worse had Harry not informed me of needing to tend to her."
"That's how I was healed," Daphne gave a thankful look to her mother and husband.
Harry nodded lightly, "I am horrid at healing magic and we were in rough shape."
"So you continue like rabbits?!" Astoria snapped accusingly at him.
"I'll make sure to turn the silencing wards in our bed chamber off next time you visit, dear sister," Daphne smiled.
Astoria shook her head quickly, "I'll throttle you if you do."
Harry laughed, "Then you better leave us alone about our love life."
"Well," Daphne said, giving Harry a saucy smirk. "We'll have a couple of weeks to make up for when we get back to the castle."
"We'll have to make sure the entire castle hears your beautiful voice," Harry growled lowly.
Anna seemed to shrink herself slightly as Cyrus cleared his throat, "Excuse me, her father is sitting right here."
This brought a round of laughter to the party.
"My endurance but your lungs," He said to his wife. Anna was swift to smack his arm.
Harry shook his head, "I'm sorry, you Highness, but we've deviated off topic."
"Yes," Hades nodded. "Although, pleasant conversation always flows easily."
"I shouldn't need to explain the Phoenix, but they are the representation of the life and rebirth of nature. Wurms were their opposites, the representative of death. The Elder Dragons each represented an element. Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Lightning, and Nature. Each consisted of either a male or female Dragon and Wyvern. From their unions do we have the dragon species known now."
"Lastly, we have the Crystalline Merfolk," Hades said with a sigh. "They were the last of the first creatures to end. They were once known for their city of Atlantis, but the city is no more. Over time they lost faith in Magic and suffered punishment for turning their backs on her, much like if a wizard refuses their magic."
"And the High Elves?" Harry asked in curiosity.
"Those uptight, pointy-eared, jackasses have been hiding within an underground forest in the east of Asia for the past millennium," He groused out.
Wait staff came by with their orders shortly after.