Homebound
June 18th 1998
London, England
12 Grimmauld Place
Harry noticed the effects of the ritual almost immediatly.
Before the ritual, Harry could use wandless magic as a blunt instrument, but needed his wand for any sort of fine control, and even then the effects had been... varied.
Now, the energy flowed through him with ease, using it was easy as breathing, and the first time Harry had tried to use his wand since the ritual had been rather... explosive.
He had too much magic for the foci to channel effectively, and trying was like pushing his magic through a firehose, leaving the effects messy and hard to control.
It took some careful practice in the Black Dueling Chamber, but Harry quickly found that spells that he had struggled with previous flowed through him, his magic sometimes achieving the result before he could even finish saying the spell.
This called for experimentation, and it took 3 days before he was confident that his magic had settled enough that he could go through with the dimensional travel ritual without splattering the four of them across the multiverse.
Within a further 2 days, they were ready.
The first day after his seclusion, Harry left the house for the first time since his unfortunate visit to the Ministry of Magic to meet with Rose, the real estate agent he'd hired, and Marcus, the Black solicitor who would be handling Harry's living trust.
"Your certain about this?" Marcus' black eyes were flat and emotionless as Harry sat across from his desk, Rose shifting uncomfortably beside him as she clutched her files.
"Yes." Harry said shortly, and Marcus flipped his own folder opened, and turned the document to face Harry.
In clear terms, it stated what Harry was leaving and to whom, and the payout awaiting Marcus at the end, enforceable by a magical contract.
Potter Cottage and Potter Manor to Bill and Fleur, as well as a handful of jewels left to any future daughters, though Harry left the distribution of the jewelry to their discretion.
Gryphon Point and Seadragon Bay to Charlie. Grimmauld and Black Manor, as well as most of the Black heirlooms, to Narcissa and Draco Malfoy.
Several artifacts were donated to Hogwarts, as well as a hefty amount of gold to go towards a trust for the integration of Muggle Raised students, named the Lily Evans Legacy Foundation, and into the hands of Minerva.
Harry also left a trust to St. Mungos for treatment of war victims, as well as the construction of a Full Moon Ward, which would provide a safe place for werewolves, where they could take wolfsbane and wait out the full moon. Harry left the control of the trust to Bill and Fleur.
All of the leftover properties had been sold, the money donated to a trust towards helping war victims find their feet.
A letter to Kingsley, full of vitriol and rage, but containing Harry's official relinquishing of his claim to Magical Britain.
Now all that was left was a signature.
Harry accepted the vile black blood quill, and scrawled his name along the bottom, Rose and Marcus signing as witnesses, and then it was settled.
A weight lifted off Harry's shoulders, and for a moment he felt invincible.
"Well, it was a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Potter" Marcus stood, holding out his hand, and Harry shook it, feeling unburdened for the first time since he was 11.
"Thank you for your help" Harry told both of them, then slipped through the wards, the magic barely even rippling as Harry disapperated without the usual bang.
Harry blinked and found himself in the living room of Grimmauld Place, Neville and Luna waited there with Teddy gurgling happily while he batted at the conjured lights, one second a cheerful sun, then a howling wolf, then a dolphin swimming around his hands.
A smile spread across Harry's lips as he watched his godson excitedly pass his little hands through the lights, at least until he spotted Harry and lost all interest in the lights. Teddy beamed, letting out a baby screech of happiness and reached for Harry.
Harry was powerless to resist and swooped in, scooping him into his arms, letting Teddy's little hands map Harry's face, and Harry folded himself into the armchair beside Luna.
"That's the cutest thing I've ever seen" Neville smiled at him as he and Luna leaned against each other, Luna watched them, a look of peace and contentment on her face, her smaller hand enveloped in Neville's larger one. The two of them had been orbiting around each other since the Final Battle, and Harry was glad to see them settling into each other.
"I can't take the credit" Harry smiled, and Luna's eyes sparkled with mischief and cunning.
"We should probably decide what our story will be in our new world" Luna said, and Harry playfully munched on Teddy's fingers when they came close to his mouth.
Teddy shrieked and giggled, pulling his hand back, and Harry kissed the side of his face.
"What story?" Harry asked, and Luna gestured around them.
"Well, we all decided that the world we go to needs to be accepting of magic, or at least something similar. But the government is going to have questions, and something tells me that dimensional hopping wizards and a witch won't go down well, no matter how accepting the world" Luna said, and Harry thought about it.
"We might be the only people with magic like ours, it would be easier to say we're related" Harry said, and Luna nodded in agreement.
"The only problem is that one little DNA test will show we aren't- well, you and Neville are something like fourth or fifth cousins," Luna looked from Neville, to Teddy, and finally to Harry "which is why I think you should blood adopt me and Teddy" Luna said hesitantly, and Harry froze.
"I... I can't take Remus's place, Luna" Harry whispered, and Luna smiled sadly, placing a hand on Harry's leg.
"Harry, I think you and I both know what Remus would say to that" Luna said gently, and Harry closed his eyes, his breath shuttering in his chest as grief gripped him.
He knew.
Harry was going to be Teddy's parent, regardless of blood, he intended to raise Teddy as his own, but they had no idea what they were walking into.
If a blood connection could protect Teddy, Remus would want Harry to do absolutely everything he could to give Teddy the life neither of them had.
"Okay" Harry exhaled, and Luna smiled at him.
"I'm quite fond of my hair, I hope I can avoid the Potter hair" Luna said, and Harry blinked at her in confusion, then replayed the conversation a bit.
"You... want me to blood adopt you too?" Harry asked and Luna laughed, and shook her head.
"Parent-child adoptions are the most common, but I was think half-siblings" Luna explained, and Harry's eyes lit up, and looked from Luna to Neville.
"What about you guys?" Harry asked, and Neville shook his head.
"We're close enough in relation that hopefully no one will question it" Neville said, and Harry nodded in understanding.
"Okay, so what do we do about papers?" Harry asked, and Luna shrugged.
"We won't know until we get there. Do we want to keep our ages?" Luna asked, and Neville and Harry both nodded.
"We turn 18 in a few weeks anyway" Harry said.
It had been just over 6 weeks since the Battle, another 6 weeks and both Harry and Neville would be 18 anyway. Worst comes to worst, they'll lay low until they 'age out', that's assuming 18 is even the age of majority in the world they're going to.
"What happened to our parents?" Luna asked Harry, and Harry grimaced.
"We'll keep it as close to the truth as possible. We'll say a car accident killed my parents when I was 1 1/2, I was raised by relatives, and met you guys in school" Harry said, and Luna pursed her lips thoughtfully.
"School records might be hard to fake, we should say we were homeschool" Luna suggested, and Harry sighed.
"And how do we explain that your only a year younger than me?" Harry frowned, and Luna gave a sympathetic wince.
"Our parents were all childhood friends, all three of our moms were friends, which is true. We'll have to say they had an affair, or maybe a threesome?" Luna suggested, and Harry grimaced.
"Gross!" Harry complained, and Luna laughed.
"Please, I know Sirius told you worse" Luna rolled her eyes, and Harry tasted bile on the back of his tongue.
"Too much," Harry grimaced, "he gave me the wizard sex talk during the whole Triwizard Tournament chaos. He said that I was mooning over Cedric and didn't want me to-" Harry's face burned red hot, and both of them laughed at him.
Traitors.
June 20th 1998
London, England
12 Grimmauld Place
The actual blood adoption ritual was extremely quick, and by nightfall it was done.
The changes in Teddy was nearly negligible since he'd already tended to mimic Harry's dark hair and green eyes.
Luna's changes were more obvious, but still remained subtle. Unless Harry was looking for it, he might not have even noticed. Her golden blonde waves had gained a hint of the wild Potter curls, though not nearly as unmanageable as Harry's, her cheekbones a little sharper, and her lips a little fuller. Her skin darkened to a light honey, still a couple shades lighter than Harry's own, and her body lost some of the willowy lines, her figure filled in a little, and she shrunk about an inch.
Luna took in the changes with grace, and declared she liked it.
The next day, the last preparations were made.
The trunks were locked up tight, everything that they would be taking secured inside with magic, everything they wouldn't had been either sold or bequeathed to their new owners, they'd prepared their false backstories as much as they could, signed what felt like a thousand forms, and said their goodbyes to everyone that mattered.
The last night in this reality, Luna disappeared into the Black Ritual Room to set up the ritual, and returned as Harry was setting dinner on the table.
"We have a present for you" Luna said, a hint of nerves in her voice, and Harry looked at the two of them suspiciously, and they looked back at him innocently.
"Okay" Harry said warily, and accepted the canvas wrapped package from Neville.
It felt like a garment of some kind, the size said it was probably a cloak, but the weight said it was made of something more durable than simple wool or cotton. It felt both flexible and oddly stiff in his hands, almost like dragonhide, but more flexible than the durable hide.
Peeling back the wrapping revealed dark green scales, the scales were smaller than that of dragonhide, but was definitely no mundane leather, or any magical beast that Harry could remember off the top of his head.
Or maybe because the last time he'd seen scales like this, he'd been busy running for his life, Harry realized as he unfolded the garment to reveal a body suit of some kind, and the way the light bounced off the scales brought back vague memories of running through murky ankle deep water, the sword of Gryffindor gripped in his hand.
"How... I saw the basilisk corpse, there's no way the hide was salvageable" Harry whispered, and Luna smiled mischievously.
"Not just the hide," Luna nodded in the direction of the stairs leading to the Black Ritual Room, "I used a time reversal ritual to restore it to the moment after death. Normally, this would diminish the magic, but the corpse belonged to you due to Right of Conquest, so it was returned to the moment you conquered it" Luna explained, and Harry was speechless as he looked at what he'd now realized was a modified battle robes.
"We knew that you'd never been a fan of the traditional battle robes, and this style is popular in the States, so I called in a favor with a family friend and had several sets made. There's still plenty of hide left if you want to make more, I know the theory and I know Luna has several books on the topic in the Library" Neville explained, and Harry shot them a thankful smile.
"Thank you, I was kicking myself when I found out how valuable basilisk hide armor is in 4th Year" Harry admitted.
Basilisk hide was the single best magical armor in the world, which was why there was still places in the world where people tried to bread the dangerous beasts.
Unlike dragonhide, basilisk hide retained most of it's magic after death, it was veritably more durable than dragonhide, but flexible. Almost nothing could damage the hide, even before it was layered in spells and enchantments. Once the base suit had been made, it resized itself to make a perfect fit, and changed according to a persons needs and preferences. It was capable of doing this several times before the magic began to fade. It was the only magical hide that healed itself after death, so even if something managed to damage it, it would repair itself.
Unfortunately, the venom that made basilisks so dangerous also acted as a natural cleaning crew. Within minutes of the beasts death, the venom sacks released into the flesh, and within an hour the entire hide was completely unsalvageable.
There were spells and rituals to halt or reverse the process, but using them weakened the natural magic, and turned a priceless family heirloom into an exotic curiosity, but no more magical than dragonhide. Still expensive, but not terribly so.
"I've never heard about that" Harry stated, and Neville gave him a dry look.
"That's because Conquering requires single combat, even using magic sometimes makes the effects iffy. Most people aren't willing to risk going up against a fully grown basilisk alone, let alone without magic" Neville said, and Harry's cheeks tinged pink as the amused and fond looks they both sent him.
"Fawkes helped" Harry muttered, and Luna rolled her eyes.
"You were twelve, Harry" Neville reminded him, and Harry rolled his eyes, but accepted the battle armor with a grateful smile.
"How many of these did you make?" Harry asked, looking at the armor closer.
Harry knew it would git like a glove and leave nothing to the imagination. It was a single piece of rippling dark green scales, would cover everything from toe to chin, it was currently absent of any designs, though Harry knew that would change as soon as he put it on. Everything from boots and gloves, to a cloak or hood, to straps of all kinds were possible. It would feed off his own magic, and it was entirely possible that this piece of armor would remain in his family for well over a thousand years.
"We made 7, but there's more hide in the trunks" Neville promised, and Harry looked at them seriously.
"You'll each take one and we'll wear them when we do this, there's no telling what we're walking into" Harry said, and both agreed easily. They'd probably expected Harry to insist on it, knowing how protective he'd always been, but especially since losing nearly everyone he loved.
"Well, are we ready?" Neville asked, and the tension among them rose steadily.
"I think so" Luna said quietly, her eyes taking on that hazy quality Harry realized he hadn't seen since the end of the war, and Harry realized she must be trying to See where they would end up.
"Master Harry is leaving now?" Kreature appeared, holding Teddy gently in his arms, and Harry swallowed thickly as he met those wide watery eyes.
"Are you sure you don't want to come?" Harry asked, for what felt like the last time, and Kreature gave a sad shake of his head.
"Where Master goes, Kreature cannot follow" Kreature said mournfully, and Harry passed a stirring Teddy to Luna, and knelt down to pull the old House Elf into his arms for a tight hug.
"Well then, my last order as your Master is for you to find a good family, people who will value you and treat you kindly, if not a member of their family. And, if they should ever mistreat you, authorize you to get away from them by whatever means you deem necessary" Harry said firmly, and the old elf's eyes watered as they looked at each other.
"Kreature promises" Kreature croaked, an old pain in his eyes as he made a promise to his Master, knowing he was about to loose them, but this time it wouldn't be an impossible mission to destroy an indestructible locket, chained inside a rotting house full of memories and broken dreams.
He would be okay, Harry knew, and with one last hug, the elf popped away, and Harry and Neville collected the trunks, and followed Luna, with Teddy, down the stairs into the Black Ritual Room for the last time.
The three of them changed into their new armor, the magic crackled against Harry's skin as the material shifted and twisted like a writhing snake before settling. A quick look revealed calf high boots, a chunky belt with various hooks and pouches, fingerless gloves with reinforced knuckles, a deep hood that was pushed back, a crisscross of straps across his chest, hips, and tops of his thighs, a scabbard for a sword poking out behind his left shoulder.
They tucked the shrunken trunks in their various pockets and pouches, and Luna slipped Teddy into the front of her suit, the baby nearly completely covered inside the pouch. Teddy began to whine, not liking the new confined space, and Luna looked at Harry.
"Lets go home" Luna said, and the three of them stepped inside the circle as one.
Harry inhaled sharply, felt for the well of magic inside him, and for the first time... he let go.
Lightning crackled, thunder boomed, phantom winds howled, there was a deep sucking vacuum inside him that took and took and took until finally the runes on the ground lit up with golden light. There was a loud boom, a flash of light, and then... the Black Ritual Room stood empty.
For a second, the room was deathly still, a weight hanging in the air, then a phantom wind blew through the ritual chamber, blowing away painted runes, obscuring their destination to keep anyone from following them.
And above ground, a house elf cried as his bond to his Master dissolved, just as the four wixen had been dissolved.