She gripped her head and fought through the thoughts of a thousand witches and wizards going through puberty. Finding her own train of thought in a castle felt almost impossible; sometimes, Rose could only struggle against the noise. Potions added a new layer of pain; half the room walked on eggshells while the other half anticipated their embarrassment. Then in came the only mind shielded enough to leave her bloody well enough alone, except it peaked open like a sewer lid.

 

“Enough chatter, and put your wands down there will be no silly wand waving in this class,” Professor Snape said, and she tried to zone out and focus inward on herself. At least she wouldn’t have to listen to everyone mispronouncing words and see their clumsy mental images. The class focused and around her the noise lessened. She took a few deep calming breathes as the professor continued with his introduction lecture.

 

Rose calmed down and felt at the locket under her shirt, the only one with her brother’s photo. It was one of the few concessions she could get out of Dumbledore.

 

“Potter, what would I get if I added powdered dill with juiced green carnations.” Professor Snape said, and she wanted to vomit. She shielded her locket to give Harry some protection from the deviant. What was the headmaster thinking putting this broken thing in a school full of children? These weren’t just her thoughts McGonagall, Sprout, and Flitwick thought the same. Apparently, they were some of the few sane people left in the wizarding world.

 

Hermione raised her hand, eyes glazed over like they had been since the headmaster injected her with German nanites.

 

“You don’t know well perhaps being famous isn’t everything. Do you know Mr. Malfoy?”

 

“It’s part of a powerful love potion, sir, with specialized targets. My father said the potions were often congealed into tablets. They're known as Dionysus’ gift.” Malfoy said.  

 

“He would know all about them as a man of culture.” Professor Snape said.

 

Malfoy preened at what he perceived as praise for his father. Rose knew the truth, as she saw flashes of both men’s activities.

 

She looked to Ron who stared with purely black eyes while countless voices screamed in his head. “On the last day, a man will rise equal to death and battle with monkey gods for the fate of 12 universes. Beware the entertainment of Zeno.” Ron said, and she was sure it was another prophecy that wouldn’t come true for years. That’s all he did: speak of prophecy, go to class, set stuff on fire, and watch people. Her lovable goofball of a friend had been erased, and she was alone again.

 

“That’s fifteen points from Gryffindor for talking out of turn.” Professor Snape said.

 

Ron turned his gaze to the professor, and a dangerous glint appeared in the redhead’s abyssal eyes. “He will return,” Ron said. And Rose felt her rage spike as she read the professor’s thoughts. They spilled out like a dam, each more horrible than the last in ways that made her stomach flip. All of them involved Harry and her while the professor watched. She wanted to show the man pain.

 

Pressure built up around her eyes as the room shook. Her magic levels increased out of her control as her hate for the man couldn’t be ignored. She lost her brother, her friends, and her innocence. Rose had nothing else so, she decided to make everyone pay.  

 

A crack tore through the room as Rose raged out of control and she slashed her wand. She could feel her magic generate a barrier around her as Professor Snape coolly dodged a cutting curse aimed at his face. The blackboard behind him exploded as her cutting curses tore through it and two walls two walls of the castle before the wards stopped it. Fear finally froze the thoughts around her and let her have a few blessed seconds to regain some self-control. If she killed anyone or if she stepped out of line, Harry would suffer for it.

 

Suddenly Professor Snape’s mind snapped shut as Headmaster Dumbledore tore into the room. Ron turned to her and smiled for the first time since he read the black scroll. “When he returns,” Dumbledore flashed his wand, and Ron’s words came out silent.

 

“Enough, Mr. Weasley Prophecies only have as much power as we give them,” Dumbledore said.

 

Rose glared at the old man. He was an utter hypocrite, and they both knew it. What was all the death and manipulation for if not for the prophecy? Why bother if it was all lies and Voldemort was a gullible idiot who believed a drunk and a degenerate?

 

So, she latched on to Ron’s half-spoken prophecy that, in context, meant her brother, even if he could mean 3.5 billion people. And the return was even more ambiguous and knowing Ron, he wouldn’t give a repeat performance. Every prophecy he gave was a one-time thing. Dumbledore looked her in the eye, and she felt him attempt to push through her latest barrier. She cleared her mind instantly and focused on keeping him out.

 

He pressed into her like a drill grinding through stone. Rose felt her eyes heat up as she prepared to escalate the confrontation. If he wanted to play this game, then she would play to win. Magic gathered from Rose’s eyes turned into roaring flames before blasting forth, targeting the headmaster. Pain blasted through her spine, and her eyes lost power, but it was too late. The power was already unleashed and Dumbledore hadn’t bothered to flick his wand to erect a shield.  Only the bloody phoenix flamed in the path of her eye beams at the last minute. Rose cursed her Potter luck as the mental probe shattered her shields and she blacked out.

 

…

 

Harry had outdone himself with his first ever creation and most importantly was having fun. He wore an apron to protect his clothes, wrapped a handkerchief around his mouth, and wore a set of goggles. The long gloves he wore went up to his elbows for added protection. Even with his protection for most of his work he used telekinesis to touch the bones. Some of the bones hadn’t fit right, so he filed them down to make them fit. While his cutting wasn’t as accurate as his master’s, he could cut rapidly and average the lines in a very predictable way. Instead of an even fine cutting knife, Harry was a powersaw or, in the case with the bones, a power sander. So, with elk, moose, and monitor lizard bones, he had a lot of material to work with even after the bear scavenged most of the good parts.

 

After reviewing his notes, Harry had an idea about how to combine enchantments and scripts. He couldn’t have them directly work together, but he could have one take over an action when an effect activated. When a certain action an enchantment completed was finished, scripts built to recognize that change acted after the change and vice versa. It was crude and had numerous problems, but it was functional, and he could streamline it later. Soon he would have his own friend.  

 

Undead could be very intelligent and they were super durable. Harry had taken a few designs from some projects online and adjusted them to fit what he wanted.

 

The question had been what to build. Harry needed something that could take on a bear that weighed nearly 3tons. It could knock a bull moose’s head off with a paw swipe. The only thing it feared was master and a pack of winter wolves. So, what could take it on? A dragon came to mind, but that wasn’t the kind of thing he wanted to make with subpar materials. So, after thinking about it, he came up with something, he used to enjoy Greek myths until he was punished for reading them. One of his favorite monsters was the Nemean lion with its impenetrable pelt.

 

Harry took his time building his creature, fusing ribs of bones on the tip of a large moose’s rib cage. After he doubled up on the spine and added some bony frills for the main, Harry took some of the pelts he tried to cure and wrapped his creature in them. The tail was more lizard than lion, but that was ok; it still looked good wrapped in fur. Once he did enough to make his creation physically functional Harry looked at the clock and saw it was 3 in the morning.

 

Fortunately, the bear hadn’t crapped out the tracker, so Harry had time. He sewed the pelts on the monster with telekinesis and used dragon power to burn it on the bone. With that done, Harry drew runes of enchantment around the bones and wrote a script connecting the lion to the folder of scripts Harry kept labeled necromancy. The enchantments activated before the scripts took over when the enchantments altered the conglomeration of bones. Harry monitored the lion as the beginnings of Harry’s own necromancy skill took effect.

 

Harry felt his connection to the undead form and felt a slight boost in power. He felt almost giddy with the increase. Except something wasn’t right, he puzzled it out moments later. There was no night qi in Harry’s body to power the undead; it was running on pure wood qi, and half the scripts wouldn’t activate. If he didn’t find a way to get night qi, he would lose track of the bear and might never get his revenge.

 

“Impressive, you set this up quickly.” Harry looked up at his master, the shadow man who held a hand to his non existent chin. “You forgot to find a source of night qi, didn’t you.”

 

Harry looked away. “How do I contact a dark god?”

 

“Why would you want to do that?” Master asked.

 

“I can’t raise my creation without it.”

 

“Do you think you’re ready to receive more of my skills?” Master asked.

 

Harry flexed his fingers and felt his current strength. Every day he grew stronger; the power skills ensured that, but his goal wasn’t the power skills. They were nice, but Harry was sure he had found his niche. Making things and sculpting them out of bone recycling the old to make new things brought back memories to fixing Dudley’s toys and playing with them. Seeing his creation unable to move told him something about himself. He wouldn’t feel fulfilled unless he raised his creation it felt like he had made a mistake fixing something. Even if his master called it a hobby, Harry thought it could be his passion.

 

“If it will help me be a better necromancer, then I am,” Harry said.

 

New Skills

Nephilim Power: Beginner 0%

Qliphoth Power: Beginner 0%

Sephiroth Power: Beginner 0%

Necromancy: Beginner 6%

 

Harry felt his body change again with new powers added. But more importantly, he felt his new necromancy skill. No new knowledge filled Harry because it didn’t belong to his master. The hides wrapped around the Nemean Lion shifted and stretched around its skeletal body as Harry’s connection with it solidified. Harry could feel his new night qi leave his body and fill the undead. The undead stood up and shook itself, and Harry let out a breath when no pieces flew off.

 

“Well, we don’t have a devil breathing down our necks, so you didn’t break any copyright laws good job,” Master said, and Harry focused on his tracker.

 

Relief took a weight off his shoulders pulled icy dread from his heart. “I’m going hunting, master. Don’t wait up,” Harry said to his master’s smiling eyes.

 

Harry Potter

Apprenticeship Slots Free: 0

Apprentice To Zoran 1.5%

Skills

Dragon Power: Beginner 25%

Giant Power: Beginner 25%

Leviathan Power: Beginner 25%

Ent Power: Beginner 25%

Mecha Power: Beginner 25%

Nephilim Power: Beginner 0%

Qliphoth Power: Beginner 0%

Sephiroth Power: Beginner 0%

Telekinesis: Beginner 35%

Necromancy: Beginner 6%