Chapter 24

After the four new Hogwarts students got their wands, they left the shop in silence. It was a grim sort, where the adults seemed lost in thought. The children didn't know what caused it but they knew it was something serious.

"Don't think too much of his words Harry." Lily suddenly broke the silence. "You don't owe this world anything. You too, Rose."

Harry glanced at the woman, taking in her fretful expression. She was hiding something. Both of his parents were. But it definitely wasn't malicious. Atleast towards Harry. So he didn't care.

"Sure." He answered with a shrug.

"What did he mean mom?" His midget sister wasn't content to let go. "The creepy guy in that shop. Why is Harry's wand special?"

"It's nothing, Rose." James answered. "The poor man's going senile with age. How about this? After getting your uniforms we'll go buy you your choice of pets, alright? And then, in the evening, a full quidditch match! With our new Nimbus! Who's excited for that?"

A cheer went up from the kids, already forgetting about the earlier incident.

Harry didn't join them, ignoring the lot in favour of observing his wand.

Holly wand

Wood: Holly

Core: Phoenix feather

Compatibility: 97%

Loyalty: 9

Versatility: 8

Power: 8

It fit almost perfectly. While it may not be as powerful as that elder–phoenix wand in its peak, Harry still preferred this one. He felt an.…unusually intimate connection to this wand and he wasn't going to give it up for anything. Its loyalty stat spoke for itself.

There were very few things Harry trusted in his life, but one thing he genuinely put his faith in with his whole being, was his gamer system. And if the system itself said that his wand was loyal? Then he believed it completely.

He'd rather have a trustworthy wand than a powerful one. Power he can get, loyalty he cannot.

"Don't think too much about it, Honey." Lily softly stated, having dropped behind to walk with him.

He realized he'd been staring at his wand for too long and shook his head. "I'm simply glad to receive this wand. My previous one had been less suitable."

"Very well." She smiled down at him, a hand coming to wrap around his shoulder slowly and cautiously.

He nodded, stopping the tension in his body from building.

He was getting quite good at this physical stuff. As long as they weren't sudden. With 0 accidental murder so far, his tally was looking splendid.

Though a share of credit went of his mother as well, who'd realized he did not appreciate over clinginess and was making considerable efforts in being...normal.

Lily's shoulders sagged, looking relieved at his acceptance. "Have you decided what pet you would like? Maybe an owl?"

He frowned, remembering the memories of squeezing the life out of his poor puppy. "I don't have a good experience with pets."

"Is it the dog you mentioned?" She asked carefully.

He hadn't been very open with the information he shared about himself, giving just wide strokes and a shallow summary.

"Yeah." He admitted. "His name was Larry."

"What happened?" She asked, holding her breath.

He turned to stare up at the woman, looking at her expression closely. "I killed him."

To her credit, she didn't flinch. She seemed to almost expect that answer and just smiled sadly at him.

"I'm sorry for you loss." She said, squeezing his shoulder in comfort.

He gave an absent nod, his mind shifting back to the day ahead.

"Come on." Lily guided him. "Just a couple more things then we'll be back home. You're excited for quidditch aren't you?"

He stared at the sky, cool and clear, looking perfect for soaring free.

"Yes." He replied with a smile. "Yes, I am indeed."

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The rest of their trip passed without any other surprise...until they reached the pet store. While everyone was busy selecting their pets, Harry found himself wandering towards the deeper section of the store, where a hissing conversation seemed to be taking place.

Curious, he'd wandered towards the area, only to find cages full of snakes hissing at each other. The unusual part? He could understand them perfectly.

He blamed magic for it.

He'd tried speaking to them experimentally, and lo and behold, created his second language skill.

[Skill Created: Parseltongue] Lvl 1

Talking to snakes...who would've thought that wizards were capable of this. Though it was confusing that he'd never heard his teacher speaking with a snake. Then again, Hydra wouldn't allow some random reptile to stay in their facility, or maybe the skill was a secret and shouldn't be disclosed to others.

Who knows? Harry couldn't care less. All that mattered was that he had a potentially useful skill that might enable him to gain information around an area. Though he would first have to research this skill to see if there were any side effects or other utilities for it.

But as cool as talking to snakes sounded, he was more looking forward to using his brand new wand and broom for the first time.

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12 August, 2007,

Quidditch Pitch, Potter Residence

Quidditch had the potential to be his favorite sport, Harry decided, catching the Quaffle with a single hand.

"Amazing catch Harry!" James cheered from the other side of the pitch, speeding through the air on his own broom.

Harry pushed down his Nimbus 2000, sliding under Dorea's hasty tackle before blasting through the air. His aim? The three hoofs guarded by a single goalkeeper; Sara Lupin.

It was a girls vs boys match; with James, Sirius, and Harry on one side. Dorea, Rosalia, Andrea, Susan, and Sara on the other.

And they were leading 90-60. Even being two players down. Why? Because Harry was an utter menace on broom. James and Sirius were already supposed to be the best riders in the whole pitch, and the main reason they were in same team was so they can carry Harry along, what with him being a new player.

But it didn't go as planned. It had only taken three matches for Harry to reach Level 30 in Broom Riding. Just three hours for 30 levels? This was, without a doubt, the fastest growing skill out of any that Harry currently possessed.

He was simply a natural in the air; even in the first match he'd quickly come to fly competently.

Two games later? He was dominating the sky.

He was fearless in the air, brave and reckless, and wasn't scared of making the sharpest of turns, trusting his Nimbus to keep up. No matter what position he played; he was simply a natural.

Chaser? He never missed a pass or shot, his marksmanship Level 73 giving him a ridiculous advantage. Seeker? The only game they'd played with a snitch ended in 5 minutes so it wasn't counted. Beater? He was thrice as strong as the strongest man on pitch. He was banned from ever touching a bat after he hit a Bludger so hard it twisted the entire middle hoof at straight 90s. The only reason Sara was alive was due to her own reaction speed. And the fact that he'd realized the consequences and purposely missed at the last second.

His natural talent, coupled with his superhuman physique and gamer's abilities, made harry a legit monster.

"Long pass Harry!" James called out as harry dodged away from Andrea's Bludger. He didn't think much, throwing the Quaffle overhead to chip over Rosalia and reach directly in James's awaiting hands. It was such a perfect throw that James didn't even have to deviate from his flight path to catch the Quaffle. And of course, James scored.

He always did. If Harry was a monster on broom, James was a god. An entire stage above Harry. Then again, considering how many offers he'd received to go professional, it wasn't that surprising.

But Harry was sure he will surpass him. One day.

"And that's hundred against sixty, another win for the boys!" Remus announced from the ground as rest of the family cheered.

Lily had a small red flag saying 'Go Harry Go!'.

He had to admit, it was very...cute.

Amelia had the two twin boys on her side, and cheered for any team that scored. Remus was commentating, which he wasn't very good, while also taking care of his three kids. All of whom were drooling on their seats; too young to stay awake for long.

"Alright, let's call it a day!" James waved everyone over. "Sun's almost set and I've got to prepare for tomorrow's Auror training program. So do you Sirius."

"Aww man."

They ended the game soon after that, flying down to the ground. The quidditch pitch was built just behind their manor, ranging around a hundred meters long and 30-40 meters wide. But according to James this was actually much smaller than the official pitch, which was quite surprising.

After the game, the families soon departed for their homes with a few hearty praises at him. And an awkwardly shy goodbye from Susan.

Though his eyes were on Rosalia, who looked uncharacteristically quite. Normally he would've counted it as a blessing, but she simply wasn't one to cry over a quidditch loss.

So when they finally climbed up the stairs, he came to walk beside her.

"Spill." He commanded. "What happened?"

She seemed startled at his presence, looking at him with wide eyes before shooting a nervous smile. "Nothing! How could anything happen to me?"

He could see the subtle shift in her expression, turning from almost mournful to comically panicked.

Still, he decided to play along.

"Why do you look like a lonely puppy then?" He asked, entering her room alongside her.

"Wha–!? I don't!" She vehemently denied. "I'm not a puppy!"

"A lonely puppy." He reiterated. "A lonely wet puppy who looks like she couldn't find shelter in rain."

She huffed, throwing herself on her bed.

He looked around the room curiously as he came to sit beside her. It was the first time he was visiting a fellow non-Adult's room, what with Hydra not having given him any missions to kill a sleeping child.

He wasn't impressed.

The room was as large as his, but with an almost disgusting level of colours. There were red and gold wallpapers, with an image of a man spinning his sword in the air comically. Another poster of a female quidditch player in dark green robes with a golden claw emblem hitting a Bludger with her club.

"Who's that?" He asked, pointing at the woman.

Rosalia sniffed, and he leaned down to see a trail of tears tracing a line along her cheeks.

"Now what happened?" He asked in exasperation.

Why did people's mood behave like a whiplash?

Though to be fair to her, Harry was having hard time deciding if they were genuine or not.

"They're wrong." She sobbed out.

"What?"

"A-about me being the g-girl who lived." She turned away, facing the wall while covering her face with a pillow. "I'm n-not good at...ANYTHING. But you are. You're strong a-and smart, Just like a hero should be. I thought...I thought maybe I'll fly around and f-fight you-know-who on my broom. But you'll also do that better than me. I'm j-just...I'm just...not needed."

Her words seemed to have kernels of honest dejection in them, mixed with her usual childish bullshit.

Harry scratched his head, totally out of his zone. He'd never been trained on how to comfort a crying sibling. So he just tried to make sense of her words.

"Well...if you're worried about being weak then why don't you try and become stronger?"

It seemed simple enough to him.

"We are going to a school of magic. Surely there are plenty of ways to grow more powerful."

He leaned over her, staring down at her hidden face from above. "And why would you ever care about being needed? Needed for what? To save a bunch of scared wizards?"

"That is... simply idiotic. I have no intentions to save anyone, and neither should you." He tried hiding his contempt for such notion but from the slight flinch on her face, he most likely failed.

Still, he completely intended to follow after his words. There was simply no way he would risk his life for someone else. Atleast, not for free.

"If you wish to become stronger then do it for yourself." Harry continued. "Did you not hear Lily? We owe this world nothing. If I ever fight this Voldemort it will be purely for my own enjoyment and progress."

He stared down at the silly girl still hiding beneath her arms, hoping his speech would push some common sense in her.

Usually, he would never choose to deliver such a long speech, valuing his time and peace too much for that.

But the girl reminded him of his cute puppy that he'd mourned so long ago, and he felt just the slightest of urges to guide her away from the self-destructive path that she was on currently.

"... mum...name.." Rosalia finally mumbled out softly.

"What?"

"You shouldn't call mum by name."

"...Did you hear a thing about what I just said?"

She nodded her head, let go of her pillow, turned around, and then threw herself at him.

"I shouldn't care about others." She mumbled into his chest, not sensing his arm that was an inch away from her throat. "I won't, I promise. I'm just happy you're here. Thanks."

Harry hesitantly let his arm move away from her throat, instead moving it to pat the girl's shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him.

Weirdly, he felt quite comfortable being in such close proximity to the girl. Even his instincts were silent when it came to her. She just wasn't threatening enough to get tense about.

It didn't help that the girl's affection now sat firmly in loved, above even James, almost closing in on Lily.

Harry didn't know when sleep caught up to him really, but the next thing he knew, he was opening his eyes as he lay beside his sister in a tangled mess, with the newly arisen sun glaring through her window.

It was, without a doubt, the most comfortable sleep he'd gotten in a long long while.

As the birds chirped up in the sky, and the comfortable heat of his twin lulled him in relaxed meditation, he realized he was truly looking forward to Hogwarts.

His path to greatness was about to start...and Harry intended to walk upon it steadily.

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AN: Phew, chap done.

So the shopping plot is now over, next is Harry's Hogwarts trip and then will be the true start of his adventure.

Now I've thought a lot if I should spoil the pairings or not...but considering how pissed off people would be if someone they don't like gets paired with Harry, I thought it better to just do it.

Those who don't want spoilers, pls leave now!

So the pairings are: Natasha, Fleur, Dorea...and some more to come (Undecided). Though Fleur and Dorea are the only ones from Hp side. I'd warned about incest for a long time now, so Dorea's inclusion shouldn't come as a shock.

Now with that said, I know some of you might be confused with Rose' growing relation with Harry, instead of Dorea, but trust me. I know what I'm doing. I don't want all of his relationships to be straight forward, slow built-up kind. It's just too normal and expected. I'll be taking a little risk with Dorea's plot, and I actually don't know if it'll be as well liked as it is in my mind. But hey, if I don't take risks I'll never grow as a writer.

Hopefully you guys will enjoy it.

Well, that's all for today. Thnx for reading and see ya in the next chap!

P.S: The next update is for Mortal God of Olympus on 21