Welcome to the Show
Harry was reconsidering his life choices as he put on a soft cashmere jacket before going out to meet with Viper.
While it is extremely rare for it to snow in Florence, it can still get cold in November.
He missed his old jacket but he needed to let go of it unless he wanted that bloke who seems to have gotten some issues with his head to catch him. The Italian man was really handsome too, so what did he see in Harry's plain British features.
He just wishes that the man's reaction to him wasn't caused by this orange aura and flames. Or things were going to go south quickly when he goes out.
Harry already has been to Ponte Vecchio so he can just apparate there and search for the Olive Garden Cafe. He also brought out his card with enough euro to pay Viper. Harry already has an estimate of just how expensive this was going to be based on his past dealings with Information brokers.
He has the elder wand in his holster and his keys in his pocket. While Harry had become proficient in wandless magic during his 5 years working with Bill and the other curse breaker, he was able to cast high-level spells with more control and finesse with the elder wand.
The three deathly hallows have followed after him despite his actions during the war. He just woke up one day with the wand on his pillow, the ring on his finger, and his cloak beside him despite remembering putting it inside his trunk.
With a resigned expression on his face, he walked out the door like a kid going back to school after the summer.
Harry disillusioned himself when he arrived at Ponte Vecchio. He then scoured the streets to find the Cafe. It took him a while since the said shop was one of the more hidden cafes in the street that took a couple of turns to find.
The cafe was medium in size and was painted in soft tones of seafoam paired with white along with yellow decors that highlighted the store. The display showed a variety of different mouth watering sweets and Harry was tempted to buy himself one but he knew he needed to focus.
Aside from him, there were already three people seated in the cafe. A teenage girl on her phone with a half-eaten raspberry tart and a middle-aged man wearing a suit with a red dress shirt and chatting with him was a woman in a lovely green dress.
He flinched and almost left when he noticed the tame auras that surrounded the last two. The man has a red aura while the woman has a green. Just like their clothing. What the hell?
Harry didn't know how they would react to his own orange flames but he could not continue the Disillusionment Charm on him since Viper would not be able to find him either. He has no idea what Viper looks like and if was as good as he acted then he would already have made Felix spit out his appearance or even everything the man knew about him.
So he gritted his teeth and let the magic hiding him fall as he marched inside the shop.
The effect was instantaneous and both of them turned towards him too fast for a normal person, the man even almost fell off his seat.
A red flush showed on the woman's cheeks and a dazed look appeared on both of their faces as if drunk. A startled gasp came out from the green-clad woman as she stared at him with wide eyes full of wonder. The man was much more subtle but just as entranced.
Harry pretended not to see or feel the eyes burning a hole in him and took a seat at the single table on the corner of the cafe.
The pair then turns to each other and become feverishly discussing someone but it was clear to Harry that they both still kept an eye on him. He didn't try to listen to what they were talking about because he had a bad feeling he would end up regretting it. Then their talk took a more heated approach and they were now quarreling.
The teenager at the corner raised an eyebrow at them before taking out a headphone and placing it over her ears.
Well, his aura and flames seem to only affect others with the same ability as him it seems.
Harry took a look at his watch and sighed when he saw it was already five minutes past 9. He hoped that Viper would appear soon. He was getting more and more uncomfortable.
Doing his best to pretend that the two on the other side of the cafe didn't exist, he brought out his phone and waited for Viper to leave a message or something. Anything just to distract him.
Soon Harry felt a hidden presence enter the cafe. Anybody else might not have been able to sense it but he did. It was like a cloak of something was hiding the person, not unlike the Disillusionment Charm.
But that person's silent stealth was broken when they went inside and let out a strangled sound like a cat whose tail was stepped on.
The wizard looked up to see a person wearing a black cloak with white stripes on the hood that covered their eyes. They had purple hair and pale skin. That person also oddly has purple upside-down triangle markings on their cheeks.
'Oh, this must be Viper'
He waved the information broker over but it had the opposite effect as Viper took three steps back and stiffened. They acted like a cat who suddenly saw a friendly dog breach its territory.
A frown made its way to Harry's face and wondered just what made this arrogant person so afraid of him despite the two on the corner having a 180 reaction to theirs.
Harry's confusion and stress at his situation made his magic react a bit and the aura grew brighter for a bit. He heard a thud on the left side of the Cafe and saw that the man finally did fall over his chair much to the chagrin of the woman he was with.
Viper again let out a shocked, strangled sound of disbelief before taking a deep breath and approaching Harry. They then dragged a seat from one of the other tables and placed it beside his table and sat on it.
"Mou, YOU are a menace. Try to keep your flames in unless you want the whole Ponte Vecchio to barge in here"
They grumbled while pointing an accusatory finger at him. Seeing his offended and confused expression, they sneered and brought out a large stack of paper seemingly out of the air and slammed it into the table.
"Hurry and read this. If you want to ask any question then you need to pay a separate fee for each question"
With that, Viper turned towards the entrance of the shop and used whatever magic this world has to create an Indigo haze around the shop. The shopkeeper and the other three customers seem to be caught in an illusion. It was like a mixture of the Confundus Charm and the hazy side effect of being in an imperio. The curse breaker also got a distinct feeling that Viper was trying to hide his aura from the outside.
CONSTANT VIGILANCE was at play here. Viper would have made a good Auror. But considering their actual job and possible criminal activities, maybe it's not best to call them a good law enforcer.
Harry then heard them curse under their breath about stupid skies and shitty sky attraction. He turned his head to the window beside him and saw that the weather was perfectly fine.
Viper then whimpered as if seeing him looking out the window caused them actual pain.
"Just read the papers!"
Harry rolled his eyes at their overdramatic reactions before reading the stack of paper and hopefully finally being able to have an inkling about his situation.
Two hours later and Harry couldn't help gaping. Merlin's sagging balls, why does it always have to be him.
This world seems to have another secret society that is entirely run in the Underground by the mafias. With Italy being the main location.
Harry was feeling like a muggleborn that was newly introduced to magic. And it wasn't nearly as pleasant or magical as it was when he was a kid.
Right now Harry just felt resigned and annoyed. Because he was a sky. Of course, Harry Potter just had to be a sky.
The rarest and most sought-after element, the one that will never be left alone. At least now he knows why those flame active, or maybe even flame latent people acted like infatuated drunk teenagers around him. They were drunk. Flame Drunk.
The moment Harry read about Flame Attraction he almost ripped the paper apart. Because what the hell. This was the embodiment of what Harry would prefer not to be placed even 30 feet near him.
If Harry hated the attention given to him as a kid then adult Harry absolutely despised it.
He avoided unnecessary attention from people, especially from strangers. And the mafia was full of dangerous strangers.
He only managed to have a good conversation partner in the form of the shop owners on the street where he buys his groceries because they were the first people that help Harry adjust in Florence. Plus they were harmless and kind muggles.
This. This was something else.
Why was he even a sky? If the elements also have personality traits attached to them then he should have been a cloud.
Clouds might be the second rarest but people tend to stay away from clouds. And clouds prefer that, Harry prefers that.
But nooo, Harry Potter just had to be a sky.
All this mess and he hadn't even brought up the mafia and famiglias. As someone who had fought in the war, Harry already has a grey view of life. For once Voldemort was actually right, there is no good and evil, there is only power and those too weak to seek it.
So he didn't have much problem with the type of work and lifestyle led by the mafias. But what irked him was that he would be brought into this mess. He was fine watching from the sidelines, he had enough of being a Frontline soldier thank you very much.
Also for a fact that to the mafia he was considered a 'civilian'. Someone who was not born into the mafia world or entered it willingly.
A civilian sky. What a joke.
A Mafioso would say that you'd have a better chance of finding a royalty in the slums than that happening.
And if Potter Luck managed to make him fight a thousand-year-old snake that can kill with a look through a passageway only he can open in an old abandoned girl's bathroom, what else is impossible?
"Ah, Viper—"
"It's gonna cost you to ask Signor Potter"
Viper cut him off before he could ask while caressing the bank card that holds a burner account that contains his payment for this information. The moment that Harry took the papers, they immediately asked for the card and happily swiped it from Harry's hand.
After confirming the money in the account using an app on their phone, Viper more or less calmed down. But they were still clearly alert. The information broker kept a clear 3 meters distance from him and except the moment that they swiped the card from his hand, they had continued to avoid even going near him.
Harry would have been offended if he didn't now know the reasons why.
Sky attraction. Bonds. Harmony. Guardians.
If he was in Viper's shoes he also wouldn't even consider being 3 meters near him.
Harry doesn't understand why elements want to have a Harmonization. Why would they want to bond with someone who would have their lives in the palm of their hand. It was ridiculous to have that amount of fate over a person when they lived in a society as dangerous as this.
Dying will flames were soul magic in his understanding. Why would they willingly have a soul bond?
Harry who had been traumatized by anything that mixed the word soul and bonds was incredulous.
But Harry was not judgmental because almost his whole life people judge him based on what they wanted to think and he suffered because of them.
So he will accept that he simply cannot comprehend them and would simply learn how to understand them. Especially since this was his world now.
As for his conversion of his galleons from his vault to actual money, Harry was glad that things worked differently than it did in Magical Britain. It was when he finally managed to be free and actually managed his vault that he found out just how unfair the conversion of galleons to muggle dollars was. A pure gold coin was actually worth 7 dollars? If he had tried to sell a single galleon to a muggle bank then he would have at least gotten a thousand dollars.
The conversion rate was ridiculous but it was thankfully all made to cater to the muggle-borns needs. Because Merlin knows the amount of Muggleborns would drop to zero faster than he can say Quidditch if the conversion was changed to actual muggle standards.
While it was illegal back in his old world to convert galleons to muggle money in banks aside from Gringotts, it wasn't like there was a Gringotts here. So he was able to milk his inheritance with all he got.
So within his pockets were numerous burner account cards with enough euro to even make this miser mist babble. Oh thank you Potter, Black, and Peverell inheritance.
So from his pocket, he took out another card and handed it over to Viper.
The information broker that he now knows is a mist, looked at the card as if not comprehending what it was.
They looked up to his deadpan expressionless face who slowly blinked at them then back at the card. They inched closer like a hesitant cat and immediately swiped the card before reeling back 3 meters away from him again.
Harry sighed and decided to look out the window and watch as the crowd passed by while Viper checked the burner account's balance.
Harry knows that the price for Viper's information is very expensive. It's actually triple what he pays Felix. But if you want the best then you gotta pay the best.
Viper was without a doubt the best in their job if Felix is to be believed, especially now that Harry knows about the existence of the flames and mafia.
But really, the omerta and the Vindice were a stuff for nightmares.
It made the Statue of Secrecy look mild. Although nothing is topping Azkaban for Harry, especially with the dementors roaming the halls of the prison.
"I just want to ask some specifics about my current position. The paper already explained about flames, elements, Harmonization, the mafia, families, and the omerta with the vendice. I wanna know just how being a Sky will affect me. Do I really need to join a famiglia? Can I remain unbonded or does not having guardians affect my flames? Also, I really need to know how to reel in my Sky attraction. I don't want any attention as it is''
Harry patiently explained to Viper his questions each while mentally tallying each question. While Harry wasn't shy with spending money but he wasn't lavish and would only spend when necessary. He wasn't gonna give out any more money than that today.
"Mou, you're taking this more calmly than I thought you would"
Viper tilted their head curiously and if Harry would see their eyes then he knew that they would be silently observing him. The information broker that they were, probably tried to find his history before actually meeting him. Then they would have experienced the terrible surprise of finding nothing about him. As if he was a ghost that just popped up two years ago that decided to have a world tour and find a series of mysteries using information brokers and actually being able to pay.
It must have driven them nuts to find nothing on him.
"Well it isn't like things are going to magically go back to normal if I panic and mourned about the normalcy of my life"
'As If my life was ever normal', Harry snickered darkly at the back of his mind.
Viper just nodded in response before making themselves comfortable in their chair.
"First things, you are not going to be able to escape from being associated with the mafia. It's already nearly impossible if you're a flame active element. But as a flame active sky? They'd chase you to the end of the earth. You are going to need to have a backing if you want to survive. Families will either take you in to make themselves stronger or will try to kill you to prevent you from being accepted by other families if you turn them down. Either way a sky will need guardians to protect themselves. It's unheard of for Skies willingly not having any guardians for the rest of their lives. As for training your sky attraction, well I can't really tell because I'm a mist. The ways for training a sky is hidden within families and they are really tight lipped about it. So if a civilian sky want to learn to control their flames and sky attraction then they need to join a family in the end"
Harry placed his hand over his face before groaning in misery. Harry knew that he would be able to hide from the mafias because of his magic. But he does not want to live a life of always hiding. He was tired of it. But he also does not want to turn into a puppet or pawn but families and taken advantage of for his status as a sky.
He was free now, and nothing was going to chain him down again. The Dursleys, Dumbledore, Voldemort, and the Ministry couldn't permanently chain him down. Then he was not going to let some mafia families think they could. He was Harry bloody Potter and nothing they could do would make him obey if he didn't want to.