Maybe its Fated
The moment Viper managed to transport back into their hideout they collapsed on their knees and tried to pull out their medicine pack from their mist flame sub-dimension.
With bleary eyes they scrambled for the tablet they were trying to find and when they found the small orange pill they immediately swallowed it.
Viper sat on the ground and waited for the medicine to kick in. The tablet was developed for flame users who were flame drunk. It was something that would allow them to burn out the sky flames in their system and return them to normal without having to exhaust their own flames to do it.
Viper never did consume this medicine before because they generally avoided skies and when they did meet some, none of their flames were strong enough to entice them, much less make them flame drunk.
But by the time that Viper met that sky, they immediately felt off-kilter, and by the time one hour passed with their presence and flame enveloping the whole cafe, the mist was certainly drunk.
It was only through sheer will and abilities that they didn't end up making a fool of themselves like those two weaklings at the end of the cafe.
Viper didn't know what to make of the new sky which caused them a great headache as well as fortune.
It was a month ago that the news of a powerful sky appearing in a rural town of Florence shook the Underworld. A sky powerful enough to fill the streets of that town in roaring warm orange flames. And its presence was powerful enough to cloak Florence itself.
The flame users residing or passing that town all ended up in the hospitals after collapsing from the sheer force of the sky attraction. All of them Flame Drunk out of their minds.
Viper was skeptical at first, because in no way can a sky be that powerful. And even if they did exist then how come they only appeared now? Every famiglia loves to show off their skies. Someone as powerful as that should have been presented already. But now Viper knows why.
They let out a burst of incredulous and mocking laughter as they tried to stand up again to at least seat themselves in a chair.
Of course, nobody knew about that powerful sky. It was because he was a fucking civilian. A Civilian. What a joke.
Everyone can activate their flames in the right circumstances of death and danger. All elements except a sky.
Because skies are passed down through blood.
So unless a sky out there had a bastard that they didn't know about, a sky cannot be a civilian.
This was one of the reasons that sky bloodlines are carefully watched over. So that no bastards are born and their blood wouldn't spread outside of their famiglia.
"Well someone slipt up", they cackled as they pulled out their phone and took a look at the photo they had secretly taken of the sky.
Messy raven hair and pale skin with distinct soft noble features and high cheekbones. Bright mesmerizing emerald eyes as well as a bright smile.
This. This was the sky that everyone in the underworld was losing their mind over. Viper snickered again before tilting their head to the side and looking up at the ceiling.
Ahhh this is going to gain them so much money. More famiglias desperate in gaining this sky.
But. Viper wasn't just someone who wanted money. They also know how to invest.
Rather than paying for it to be done with, investments are more likely to bring them money.
Investment. On that oblivious sky with a mysterious past.
Not finding anything about Harry Potter aside from his active movements from the last two years nearly drove them mad.
No birth certificate, no family, no identity up until last year, no presence. A ghost. The thing that Viper hated as much as losing money was not knowing anything.
And they didn't know anything about Harry Potter. The sky with pure powerful flames that can light up the whole of Florence. Flames that whispered homehomesafecomewarmhome.
Viper's nails had pierced through their palm from their fierce control not to let their flames mingle and reach out to those warm flames that spoke promises of home, harmony, and love.
"Mou, I should have a reward for this", they grumbled as they managed their accounts so that the money from the two burner accounts were transferred to their own and then wiped off.
Viper let out a happy hum as they saw their savings gain another digit. Felix wasn't kidding when they said that Signor Potter was a well-paying man.
He didn't even try to haggle like most of their customers. Makes one wonder where they get all that money from. Well as long as that money ended up in Viper's account then they have no problem.
They were the world's best information broker. No one could provide services better than them. No one will provide better for that sky.
That was why they left their contact number to Signor Potter. If they had any questions then they would answer and he would pay. Aside from Potter himself, there was no other information they could not get their hands on.
They had invested too much for this sky. It was only fair that Viper gets their payment.
Many would contact them for Harry's information. And they would answer five things based on the amount of money they give.
Male. Lives in Florence. Foreigner. Civilian. And has no other guardian except a mist.
The first two were already known to some but the last three were certainly not.
While the last one might not be completely true. Viper has to admit to themselves that no mist will be flaring their flames to try to harmonize with that emerald-eyed sky without them sending the other to the nearest mental hospital.
So they can count Harry Potter already having a mist guardian.
Viper would lead those rich famiglia by their nose while robbing them blind. Saying nothing but truth yet not everything. Just bits to entice them and think they even had the chance of getting their hands on the sky.
Viper has no information about the security of the sky. And that was the proof of him having the best security.
If the best information broker and mist in the world could not find you, then no one can.
But they question their sky's identity as a civilian. Yes, they do not know about flames. But those eyes and movements were definitely not.
Those were the eyes of a soldier, of a survivor. Someone who has seen the best and the worst that the world can offer. Their movement and ticks portrayed a paranoid soldier. There was a saying about that. A soldier can leave the battlefield, but the battlefield never leaves a soldier.
So unlike most skies which were coddled by their famiglia. There were two ways for a sky to grow. First was to grow pampered by their famiglia that they turn into useless lumps. Second was to grow fanatical towards their families that they cannot function outside of their famiglia. Decent skies were hard to come by. Not to mention that most of them tend to try to flare and force their flames on powerful elements in hopes of getting lucky. It disgusted Viper.
Viper wants nothing to do with any famiglia and be free to do their business and earn money. So having a sky was not on their bucket list.
But it can't stop the radical urge of their soul for Harmonization. To find a home and a safe place where they will be accepted and loved. Their very being screaming and reaching for a sky.
It was an urge shared by all elements. Viper hated it.
Yet when they remember those green eyes and warm amber flames.
Maybe—they can find their sky.
They were broken out of their reverie when the phone rang. Viper would forever deny that their heart skipped a beat at the thought of talking to Harry again.
They were disappointed for a second when it was instead an unknown number. But money is money and there is never enough of it.
"Mou, time is money. Talk"
It was time to rob some idiot of their money again.
Harry thinks he needs a pet.
Something soothing and caring and will take away all his stress. He once heard Hermione call them something. An emotional support animal? Sounds about right.
Not dogs, those bring out too many memories. Not a bird either, no one will ever replace Hedwig.
Anything remotely rodent-like would more likely end up being stabbed by him. Not fishes either, you can't coddle those.
Maybe a cat, a cat would be nice. They were also pretty self-sufficient as shown by Crookshanks. But maybe that was because he was half-kneazle?
Anyway, Harry needs a pet. Not only to calm him but because the house was getting suffocating.
He loves his house, his cottage by the river. But it was always so quiet.
Harry doesn't want to admit it but he was lonely. That information about bonds and Harmonization doesn't help either. Now he had an unsettling feeling of being lonely and cold. He swears all this is purely psychological. But he can still feel it.
So instead of those highly dangerous bonds, Harry was going to get a nice and safe pet. Someone to cuddle with at night and spoil with treats. A furry buddy that will live with him and be his family.
But before that, he needed to find a way to contain and hide the presence of his flames and that Merlin damned Sky attraction.
Runes were Hecate's gift to wixens. Harry regrets that he didn't take it as a course back in Hogwarts. But it wasn't like Hogwarts gave any good lessons on it either. With so many branches of magic banned in Britain, it was a miracle that anybody learned anything useful. More than half of magic itself was banned.
Magic was much more bigger and diverse than Hogwarts shows it to be. And being a curse breaker traveling the world allowed Harry to discover them.
Harry has tinkered with magic using his impossibly large magic reserves and abilities. Everyone in their squad has something they specialized in. Bill worked best with deciphering curses while another partner of theirs trained in countering them. Harry's own previous partner had a bloodline magic that allows him to 'contain' certain magics which is why he even joined curse-breaking according to them.
As for Harry, well, his teammates labeled his specialty in spell creation and runic magic.
He was the one that found the 'cure' so to speak. This was because Harry's magic was rarely logical, unlike others. What he wants, he does. So with the right amount of knowledge of runes and spell crafting, Harry was turned into an all-purpose fix-it-all that can pull spells out of thin air that solves their problems.
That was why they called Harry their squad's own brand of Deus Ex Machina.
Harry mostly uses mediums and his crafts to channel magic though. This was because he is a Potter.
It was later in life that he found out that his surname can actually be taken literally. Peverell's magic lurks with necromancy and soul magic, Black's magic is with curses and hexes, while Potter's were actually on magical craft. Their ancestors were literally magical craftsmen and women who made important magical devices and artifacts.
That was why with the Potter family's grimoire, a couple of teenage wizards were able to make something as ingenious as the Marauder's map.
With three lordship rings on his fingers —which included the ring with the stone of resurrection which is the lordship ring of the Peverells— Harry was not going to make another ring.
So he decided on a necklace instead.
Now that Harry has figured out about the flames, it will be much easier for him to do something about it. They were soul flames. Soul magic.
He entered the pocket of space hidden on the Potter lordship ring to access his vault and took a wooden circular piece from some magical tree in the Amazon along with some small silver chains that were charmed to be indestructible through physical means.
Harry crafted a simple necklace and began to pump and carved his magic in the wood through runes.
The wizard knows that carving the symbol of the hallows brings wonders in using soul magic so that's the centerpiece of the necklace. Then he added runes meant to hide and cover.
Harry learned through his experiences that suppressing magic can go wrong in so many ways and in so little time. If you want to hide magic then hide it, do not suppress or seal any form of magic whatsoever. It has a great likelihood of exploding in your face.
It took Harry nearly a day to finish the necklace but in the end, it was worth it when he wore the necklace and the flame's aura disappeared or more specifically hidden its presence and camouflage.
Harry could cast a spell on himself to hide his flames but casting magic on soul-related things on the body tends to be risky and in need of careful spell casting, something Harry has no time for if he ends up being in trouble.
So the necklace was a much easier and safer choice.
With his flames hidden and the bright morning sun in the sky, Harry decided to go out again to find himself a pet.
Harry arrived in London and soon began to search for the nearest pet shop. While he could easily search for one in Florence, he had a feeling that it was better for him to avoid his town for a while.
Somewhere in Harry's little unnamed town, a man with a fedora and a gun in his pocket was busy searching the street and talking with the shop owners in search of the emerald-eyed sky.
Despite being different from his dimensions. London would still be a calming place for Harry and what better place to find a best friend in.
He took his time enjoying as the soft snow fell and drifted towards him.
It was already November and unlike Florence, it was snowing in London. The people around him all wore thick winter clothes with a warm scarf worn on their necks.
Harry himself wore the same clothes along with a bright red scarf.
His cheeks flush red from the cold and his breath turned into visible white mist under the freezing temperature.
It was a familiar feeling for someone who spent seven years in the cold Scotland weather at a castle in the middle of a lake.
Harry was thinking of what kind of cat he should get, definitely someone with fluffy fur. Should he get a kitten or an already adult cat?
What about supplies? A cat litter, cat food, toys, milk...
He passed through the mostly secluded streets due to the mostly heavy snow that only he was comfortable with due to the warming charm over his clothes. Then he suddenly heard the loud roar of a motorcycle engine and the sound of tires moving through cement and snow.
Harry looked behind him to see a person wearing all purple riding a motorcycle at an alarming speed over the cold street. He immediately moved away even before the motorcycle reached him and watched in horror as the cold weather affected the traction of the tires and made the motorcycle wobble before slipping on the ice.
The crash of the motorcycle sent the purple-clad person with an also overwhelming purple aura of a cloud into the air.
In a quick show of his talent with his wand, Harry immediately pulled out the elder wand and cast an Arresto Momentum on the cloud element, and rushed to catch them.
The man wore a full leather outfit and a large white motorcycle helmet. Lots of purples highlighted his clothing and he wore clothing befitting someone who does a lot of motorcycle stunts based on the protection that was attached to his clothing.
To prevent them from noticing too much, Harry allowed for the spell to end when he was in range and the man crashed into him. Harry cast a cushioning charm on himself to prevent a very painful encounter with the cold cement pavement.
So his fall was relatively painless but now he had a lapful of the leather-clad man sprawled above him.
This was not what Harry expected when he went out to find himself a pet cat.