The Protagonist System

Harriet Potter was shocked to learn that Sirius Black was a free man. Peter Pettigrew had turned himself in and confessed everything and even provided documented evidence of everything and who knew what and when. This ended up with Albus Dumbledore and Barty Crouch Sr. being sent to Azkaban prison for false testimony and imprisoning the head of a rich family without a trial.

Not surprisingly, both men did not last long after their closed session trials, since their magic was already mostly gone and they had no defense to the Dementor-filled atmosphere. They had quietly passed and only a few people knew about it.

This made Harriet extremely happy, because she had her only remaining family back and had somewhere to live. When Sirius told her the run-down and infested house had been fully renovated to modern conveniences, Harriet squealed with delight and hugged him.

When the other two champions returned to the small dock with their hostages, the second task finally ended and the scores were given. Harriet received 8s and 9s for her ingenuity and in particularly for her transfiguration skill in making the string of pearls, which was corroborated by Fleur Delacour and Victor Krum.

They received a mix of 7s and 8s for their own performance, which the audience saw on huge floating mirrors. Harriet was stunned when she turned around and looked at them, her eyes finding the most relevant one. The middle mirror showed the square of the merpeople's village, so her entire performance had been easily seen.

The champion rankings were announced and Harriet was way out in front on points alone. Her performances were also much better than the other champions, so nearly everyone's attitude towards her had changed to a favorable one. Why? Because she was doing everything without a wand.

“I'm so proud of you.” Sirius said and led her back towards the castle. “I've been given rooms in the teacher's quarters, so I'll be sleeping not that far from you until the tournament is over.”

“Why weren't you given the rooms near mine?” Harriet asked, confused.

Sirius looked a little embarrassed. “That's because you're looking at the new Divination teacher.”

Harriet's mouth dropped open and Sirius laughed.

“I knew you'd react like that.” Sirius said as they entered the castle and went up to her room.

“What in the world do you know about that stuff?” Harriet asked, surprised.

“I passed my NEWT with an outstanding, thank you very much.” Sirius said, smugly.

“HOW!?!” Harriet yelled and Sirius laughed.

“I made a prediction that came true before the exam was over. Since I hadn't moved from the spot after taking the practical exam, they had to accept that I had nothing to do with it.” Sirius explained.

Harriet caught on immediately. “You had the rat listen in and then he ran to tell dad and Professor Lupin!”

Sirius grinned at her and nodded. Harriet opened the door for him and they entered her set of rooms. They sat down and started talking about pretty much everything, since they hadn't spoken in person since he had escaped just before the summer break the previous year.

Dobby delivered lunch to them and Harriet had completely forgotten about strangling him for the illegal potion use. She was too happy about having Sirius there, to bother with little things like that.

When Harriet expressed some sorrow about not being able to attend Divination, since she wasn't a student at Hogwarts anymore, Sirius reminded her that she was a champion and was allowed to do whatever she wanted to train for the tasks, which included attending classes in the hosting school.

Harriet squealed happily again and promised she would be there for every class he gave, even the younger years. Sirius laughed and told her she didn't have to torture herself that much and could attend class with her old yearmates. She agreed and they kept talking until suppertime about his adventures travelling in the tropics and how different wizarding culture was down there.

The next day, she attended breakfast with her friends and told them the great news about going to class with them again, which made them happy for her. They would be able to spend more time with her and were happy as well. When it was time for class, she went to the classroom Harry had arranged for them and almost gushed as she told him about Sirius becoming a Hogwarts teacher and what her new schedule was going to be like.

When she rushed off to meet up with Tracey Davis to head off towards the castle tower where Divination was being held, she didn't notice Harry's sad and resigned face. He had known things would change after the second task and Sirius being revealed, he just hadn't planned on her forgetting about him and leaving him behind.

Harry glanced around the classroom and let out a sigh, then he left and closed the door. He didn't bother locking it, since there was no point. No one would be going inside it for a while, assuming Harriet eventually remembered their accelerated training curriculum.

He went back to his room and sat down to read a book, only he didn't feel like it was a good time for reading. He stood up and looked around his room and realized how empty it was. He had decided a while ago to do some things for himself and all he did was add the ceiling mirror and changed the bed.

After a moment's thought, Harry checked with his clairvoyance power and saw Greg and Luna starting their own lessons. He didn't want to interrupt them, so he let the power drop. Now he didn't really know what to do with himself.

Divination was going to last for a double class this morning and there was an off class before lunch, so Harry wasn't going to be needed until this afternoon, assuming Harriet didn't continue going to class with Daphne and Tracey. Then again, she might decide to take them down into the chamber to show off.

With a sigh at being a bit too successful at his cleverness, Harry stepped away from there and appeared in New York on top of the Statue of Liberty. It was in a sad state, so he cast a slight muggle-repelling spell on it and waited. Ten minutes later, it was completely empty and no one was looking at it, so he stepped to under the water in the bay and summoned all the metal scrap.

Once he had a large enough ball of the stuff, he stepped to inside the statue and spread it all over the inside of it and then touched the statue's metal wall as he used Overhaul's power on it, just like he had back in Worm. He reinforced it and made sure it was going to last for another few centuries, then dispelled the repelling charm.

Of course, doing that made Harry remember a few other world icons that could use a touch up and some reinforcement, so he went to each of them, like the Eiffel Tower, and did the same thing. He couldn't fix Stonehenge completely, since it's dilapidated state was iconic as it was, so he repaired what he could and it wouldn't degrade anymore.

The Sphinx in Egypt was in a sad state, so he had to do a bit more magic and some telepathy to make the locals think a restoration project had been happening for the last few months. Once he had done that, he did his best to restore it to a state that it would remain in for another few thousand years.

The Pyramids were in a similar state; but, they were not as important visually as the Sphinx was, since they were only stacks of stone and not in any particular shape besides that. Fixing it and making it look more presentable and less dangerous for people, was as easy as a touch of Overhaul's power and using the surrounding sand to give it a face-lift and reconstitute them to what they looked like a few centuries ago.

Similar monuments were handled in the same way, then more were found in other countries. Greece, Italy, Mexico, South America, and eventually the United States. The Washington Monument and Mount Rushmore had never looked better.

When he was done, Harry stood on top of the Hollywood sign in California and realized he had only been busy for a few hours. It was a bit of a shock, since that should have kept him busy for weeks. At least. Unfortunately, it hadn't and he sighed and stepped back to Hogwarts.

It was lunchtime and he used a touch of clairvoyance power to see Harriet having a great time with her friends in the Great Hall. As soon as she said she was looking forward to seeing what Professor Moody was going to teach them this afternoon, Harry knew then that he had outsmarted himself.

Instead of proving to Harriet that he was an essential part of her life, he had inadvertently arranged to be replaced and put himself out of a job. He was sure she would realize it at some point, when the newness of Sirius being around constantly started to fade. However, he didn't want to wait around for that.

Oh, he would still keep his promise to be there for her if she needed him; but, he wasn't going to sit around there for months as he waited for her to figure that out. He sent a note to Griselda to say he was retiring from tutoring and then wrote a note to Sirius with fake plans of travelling and that he would be back when he was needed to judge the third task, which Harriet was more than ready for already.

Harry also gave him the OWL schedule for the end of June, which was before the third task in July. If Harriet missed them, or chose to not take them, that was on her. With that sent off to Sirius, Harry closed his eyes and let his current self unform and rejoined Greg to become an entire being once more.

As Greg, he laughed when Luna poked him in the armpit for dozing off in class and wiggled her finger to tickle him. He wasn't going to stand for that, so he jumped on her and tickled her sides. Luna laughed and laughed and he couldn't help but laugh, too.

After a few minutes of carrying on, the two of them went back to their lessons, chuckling the whole time. Dropping all that responsibility and being a kid for a while, was exactly what he needed.

*

Harriet didn't really notice Harry had disappeared until a week later. She and her friends had entered the history classroom with everyone else and saw that it was Professor Binns and not the man that had made them all like History. Almost as one, the entire class turned right around and left again. After having proper history lessons for the last two months, they did not want to go back to how Binns taught things.

It didn't take Harriet and her friends long to reach the Divination classroom and she knocked. The door opened and Sirius gave them surprised looks, then he remembered the note he had found in his room and waved them inside. He sat them down and explained what had happened and then showed them the note, which made Harriet feel embarrassed.

She hadn't realized getting Sirius back in her life as a father figure and a teacher, and then changing her class schedule to spend more time with her friends, had pretty much shoved Harry right out of her life and he had nothing left to do.

“He said he would still be here for you when you needed him, just like he promised.” Sirius reminded her.

Harriet nodded and lowered her head as Daphne patted her back. That was why she felt embarrassed, actually. She felt like she didn't need him, now that her life was back on track. Her spellwork was only getting better as she cast spells, she was learning a lot about her father and her mother and what they were like in school, and she had an actual home to return to and a father figure that loved her.

That was everything she had ever wanted in her life as she grew up with the Dursleys. There really wasn't anything else, except for that one thing that Harry had denied her and caused their breakup.

“There's going to be a lot of unhappy students when they hear that he quit.” Astoria said. “Or angry. I'm settling on angry.”

“Why? You didn't have him for History.” Tracey responded. “He only taught Harriet's class.”

Astoria gave her a deadpan look. “Are you daft? He was hired as the History professor and he's been teaching the whole school since New Year's.”

“How did he do that?” Harriet, Daphne, and Tracy asked at the same time.

Astoria couldn't help teasing them with that perfect setup. “With magic, of course!”

Sirius laughed as the girls groaned. “I don't know how he did it, either. I thought he only taught one class, too.”

“He did only teach one class. History.” Astoria said and shook her head. “He abandoned us as soon as Harriet didn't need him anymore.”

Harriet thought about the other two times she had accused Harry of wrongdoing and he corrected her both times. “No, it's my fault. I decided my life had to change after I rescued Sirius and I abandoned Harry first. Just like you said, once he thought I didn't need him, he left.”

“And I told you I had a good reason to not like him as a person.” Astoria countered and felt satisfaction at the resigned looks on Daphne's and Tracey's faces. “He only cared about you and hung the rest of us out to dry.”

Harriet sighed and looked at Sirius. “What should I do about this?”

Sirius shrugged. “I don't think there's anything you can do, not until you actually need him.”

Harriet glanced at her friends and back to Sirius. “I honestly didn't notice he was gone and it's been almost a week since the last time I've seen him.”

“Where have you been doing your practical lessons?” Sirius asked.

“Down in the chamber. Harry transfigured the slide into stairs months ago.” Harriet answered.

“That place is fun and scary.” Astoria said and shivered.

“Says the girl that climbed all over the basilisk skeleton and pretended to ride it.” Tracey said and rolled her eyes at the younger girl being overly dramatic.

“He left the skeleton down there?” Sirius asked, surprised.

“The goblins didn't want to buy it with the meat. They said it was extra weight they refused to pay for.” Harriet responded.

Sirius stood. “Why don't you show it to me? I'd like to see it.”

“Sure.” Harriet said and looked at her friends. “Are you coming along?”

“I can't. I have to go to Divination class.” Astoria said, quite pointedly.

“Ah, dammit!” Sirius said and checked the clock on the wall of his room. He ran over to his desk and grabbed the next lesson plan and picked it up. “Rain check, Harry!”

“What's that mean?” Tracey asked as Sirius grabbed Astoria's hand and ran out of his suite.

“The next time he's not busy, we can go.” Harriet said and stood up. “What class do we have now?”

“We're off until lunch.” Daphne said and she and Tracey stood as well. “We do have that assignment for McGonagall to do, too.”

“Library?” Tracey asked and the other two nodded.

They left the suite as well and went to the Hogwarts Library, with Harriet wondering the whole time where Harry was and what he was doing, if he wasn't there helping her.

*

Four months passed and Harriet showed up at the Ministry of magic in the Department of Magical Education to take her OWLs. She was surprised to see both Luna and Greg Lovegood there in the waiting room.

“What are you two doing here?” Harriet asked as Sirius made sure Harriet was registered.

“Taking the homeschool OWLs the same as you. Duh.” Greg said and Luna giggled.

Harriet took a breath and let it out. She should have been used to someone being snarky after spending so much time with Astoria, except it bothered her every time. “How can you do that? You were supposed to join my tutoring lessons after the second task...”

“You just answered your own question.” Greg interrupted her. “You cancelled those and Harry left. Luckily, he had already given us the proper study guides and other fun things to study, so we wouldn't fall behind.”

Harriet felt guilty about that and sighed. “I'm sorry, I didn't realize...”

“You never do.” Luna interrupted and Harriet was surprised her apology was cut off. “Three times you've wronged Harry and three times it was his fault. It's okay though. He's been in a much better place since you threw him away.”

“I didn't throw him away!” Harriet gasped.

“What's that old saying, you don't know what you've got until it's gone?” Greg asked and Luna nodded. “You haven't reached that part yet, so apologizing now doesn't mean anything. It's just empty words that will only make you feel better and won't fix anything.”

“The Transfiguration exam is starting in ten minutes.” Sirius said as he walked over to them. “Harriet, you're sitting at the front of the room, Desk 1A.”

Greg and Luna exchanged amused looks as Harriet groaned at being singled out.

“Where are you two sitting?” Sirius asked.

“Luna's at 7C and I'm 13F.” Greg answered. “They ensure people that know each other are separated, even if the exams are technically supposed to be anonymous.”

“It stops family members from cheating, since they usually take them at the same time.” Luna offered and took Greg's hand. “We'd never cheat, since we don't have to.”

“We really know our stuff!” Greg said, happily.

“Let's test that.” An old woman's voice said and everyone in the waiting room turned to look at her. “My name is Griselda Marchbanks and I'll be overseeing your Transfiguration exam. Please enter the exam room and sit in your assigned seats. There will be no talking as soon as the door closes.”

“What about bathroom breaks and spare parchments?” Greg asked as he walked by her, still holding Luna's hand.

“Everything will be provided as needed, the quills have anti-cheating and anti-copying spells, and there's a spelled silent bathroom at the side of the room.” Griselda answered, since she was going to have to tell everyone about it anyway. Hurry, now. My old bones need me to sit down soon.”

Greg sat Luna in her seat and kissed her cheek, making her giggle and blush, and he went to his seat at the far corner of the room, the exact opposite of Harriet's seat at the far front corner.

Sirius stayed outside and didn't ask to help monitor the students, even if he was a professor. The written exam seemed to pass by as slow as molasses for him and quick as a flash for the students taking it. They came out when lunch was called and the practical exam would happen afterwards.

“That was both fun and exhausting!” Greg exclaimed as soon as he stepped out through the door holding Luna's hand.

“My brain feels like it was poked many times by a gibbering humdinger looking for a flobberworm.” Luna complained.

Greg laughed and gave her a hug. “You're not the only one.”

Sirius looked around at the mass of students leaving the room and they all looked wrung out. “Was it that bad?”

“No, just involved to an unnatural degree.” Harriet said. She was the last to leave and looked just as exhausted as the others. “It had questions for everything and a lot of them were essay answers.”

“We test much harder for homeschool students, since they did not benefit from a structured environment.” Griselda said and came out of the room with a wrapped bundle of parchments. “Be back here promptly at 1 for the practical exam.”

Everyone watched her leave and then sighed with relief when she disappeared through the office door.

Sirius couldn't help but laugh at that. “Come on, I'll treat you to the Ministry's cafeteria.”

“No, thank you.” Luna said. “Father should be arriving with prepared meals right now.”

The door to the education department opened and Xeno Lovegood entered carrying a large box. He walked over to them and set it down, then tapped it with his wand. It transfigured into a nice dining table that seated six and he pulled out six shrunken chairs from his pockets. Another tap of his wand and they were full size and he set them against the table and then clapped.

Six steaming meals popped up on the table and nearly everyone in the room drooled at the delicious smells it produced.

“Please, sit.” Xeno said and sat himself.

“Great, I'm starving!” Greg said and sat Luna first, making her smile, and he sat beside her.

Sirius and Harriet exchanged looks, then sat as well.

“Who's the sixth seat for?” Harriet couldn't stop herself from asking.

“Oh, that's just in case someone else was needed to be here.” Xeno said and started eating.

Harriet blushed at the reminder that she hadn't needed Harry for the last few months and she ate the delicious food that could have been from a 5 star restaurant. It was kind of quiet during the meal and neither Sirius nor Harriet felt like breaking it. The food quickly disappeared and Xeno pulled out a bottle from his pocket and poured out large amounts of red liquid into their glasses.

“Before you complain, it's fruit punch.” Greg said and sipped his. “Ah, you went with Hawaiian. Good choice, dad.”

Xeno saluted him with his glass and sipped it as well. “Now, tell me about how well you did.”

That started a nice conversation and a lot of recalled questions that made Xeno proud they had successfully answered. Harriet and Sirius couldn't help but be drawn into it and the rest of the lunch break passed before they knew it.

The table and chairs were easily packed up when the students were being called for the practical exam and Xeno bid them a good afternoon and left, with a promise to return when the testing was over.

Harriet was called in first and it was Griselda herself that walked her through everything with an expectant look on her face. She wasn't sure what the old woman wanted from her, only that she was sure that she didn't get it by the time the practicals were over.

“Before you go, what has Mister Peverell been teaching you since he retired from teaching History?” Griselda asked.

Again, Harriet felt embarrassed, because he hadn't taught her anything. “He stopped being my tutor after the second task.”

The old woman looked surprised, then she sighed. “That explains so much. Please send in the student that sat at Desk 1B.”

Harriet's face was red when she left and told the next person to go in. Sirius saw this and took her aside to ask what happened, and she told him everything. He hugged her and reassured her that she was more than ready for all of the exams, Harry had said so, and she had nothing to worry about.

What Harriet hadn't said was she somehow knew she would have been outstanding if she had kept Harry as a tutor, which was exactly what Griselda had been looking for.

*

The third task was almost a breeze as Harriet entered the maze a good five minutes before the other two champions. She easily passed all the tricks and creatures between her and the middle of the maze, reached the Tri-Wizard Cup, and grabbed it.

The portkey deposited her back on the podium beside the ministry flunky announcer and the crowd cheered. The whole thing felt kind of empty to her, though. She was even more famous now, for being the very first champion to win at such a young age, and also for doing the entire tournament without a wand. Minister Bones even said so as the press recorded everything she said.

As soon as someone commented that she was becoming the next Albus Dumbledore, Harriet shouted at them to shut the hell up and that she NEVER wanted to become an old manipulator or wanted to ruin people's lives like he had ruined hers. That stopped all the cheering and everyone was giving her worried looks, even her friends.

“I never wanted to compete in this farce in the first place, remember?” Harriet asked them and lifted the cup over her head, dispelled the protective enchantments it had, then she threw it down and smashed it against the foot of the stone podium.

Everyone watched in shock as Harriet picked up the sack of a thousand galleons next and whipped it up over her head and around in a circle, throwing out all of that money across the crowd and the ground. She tossed the sack aside and looked at everyone's shocked faces.

“That's what I think of this whole bloody thing!” Harriet spat at them and walked off towards the castle.

Sirius followed her and didn't say anything and stayed quiet when they reached Harriet's suite and she started packing her things. Dobby popped in occasionally and helped as well, which Harriet thanked him for each time he folded something or repaired something she tossed into the expanded trunk without a care.

“I assume we're leaving?” Sirius asked as the last bobble was handed to Dobby and the house elf tucked it into the trunk and shut it.

“Yes, there's nothing left for me here.” Harriet said.

“What about your friends?” Sirius asked.

“I doubt they'll be allowed to traipse off across the world as we go on vacation.” Harriet said and picked up her cloak. She gave it a longing look and only slipped it over one of her shoulders. “I'm the only qualified witch among them and they won't be taking their OWLs until next year.”

Sirius sighed and sat down on the bed. “You regret everything that happened this year, don't you?”

“YES!” Harriet yelled and ranted for a good 15 minutes about everything, both the good and the bad. She eventually ran out of things to complain about and sighed as well and sat down next to Sirius.

“Then let's make this summer the best summer you've ever had.” Sirius said. “We can go anywhere you want and do whatever you want.”

“We can?” Harriet asked.

“We're rich, don't have any obligations, and there's no one here waiting for us to come back, since we're tje only family we have left.” Sirius said. “We don't have a care in the world, so let's not care about any of it.”

Harriet smiled at him. “All right, Siri. Let's go and not look back.”

Sirius smiled and they went to his room and packed up with Dobby's help, then the three of them left Hogwarts without anyone knowing they had or if they were ever coming back.

Harriet would end up losing her virginity during that summer to some random bloke in Australia. He was a surfer with blond hair and muscles, and she regretted it when it was over. He wasn't interested in any kind of relationship and she wasn't interested in another repeat of his lacking performance, so they parted ways and moved on.

It wouldn't be until years later that Harriet would remember the man that had helped her back in school and how he had refused to ruin her expectations, which she reluctantly admitted had been ruined. She only took a man to her bed to satisfy herself when it was necessary and she was not interested in marriage or having kids. That she had adopted Sirius Black's view of relationships never occurred to her.

It did make her wonder what had happened to Harry Peverell, though.

*

Luna was having the time of her life as she travelled with her husband across the Swiss Alps. They had found several tracks for the fabled Abominable Snowman and she was determined to find his cave and perhaps would bribe him with some fresh elk and ask him to tell her his life story.

Greg laughed when they saw a hairy goat stumble on the steep cliff they were climbing and it almost slipped and tumbled to its death. He cast sticking charms on its hooves and it bayed at him, as if in thanks, and trotted off.

“Do you ever miss her?” Luna asked, out of the blue. She knew he would know who she meant, though. He always did.

“Nope.” Greg said and climbed up beside her and gave her a tender kiss. “I found my true love right under my nose and I wasn't an idiot about it.”

Luna blushed at that. She really had the best time, ever since she met Greg. He never pushed and only encouraged, no matter what she did. He never made things easier, either. They always faced the challenges together and never once faltered or balked at them. He had been her best friend, then her best boyfriend, then the best husband she could have ever asked for.

“I love you so much.” Luna said and gave him a tender kiss right back.

“I love you, too.” Greg said and glanced upwards. “I have a feeling we're going to have an encounter soon.”

Luna looked up and was surprised to see a white shaggy face staring down at her from about a hundred feet further up the cliff face. “HI!” She shouted. “We brought ELK!”

Now it was the shaggy face's turn to look surprised, then there was a low rumbling down below.

“At least we're on the non-populated side of the mountain.” Greg said and Luna looked down to see an avalanche as it gained speed going down the mountain and tore up scores of trees.

“Oops.” Luna said with a red face.

Greg just laughed and motioned for her to keep climbing. “We'll fix it and put the trees back when we leave. It's only polite to fix his yard before we go.”

Luna beamed a smile at him for knowing exactly what to say and she climbed up to what she hoped was another ground-breaking world exclusive interview.

*

When Luna had a long and fruitful life of exclusive interviews, many children and grandchildren, had found many creatures, and had happily passed on with a smile on her face, it was time for me to leave.

Over the years, I kept checking in on Harriet and she never changed her ways or settled down to have kids. Surprisingly, neither had Dobby. He had stayed with her right up until the moment she passed away and he went with her.

It wasn't until I stepped away from that world that I remembered Druella Malfoy and her never being able to convince me to give her back the Malfoy fortune, then I had left to live my life solely with Luna. Oh, well. The goblins could keep it, since it was still sitting in the same vault all these years later.

I appeared in the right world, my original vacation world of Harry Potter, and appeared inside my old amusement park house. I used a touch of clairvoyance power and watched as my other self stepped through the Veil of Death in the Department of Mysteries and gave up the Deathly Hallows to buy his way off of the world.

I took out that very expensive purchase I had made in the gift shop, not that the original was gone, and I wrapped it in the same generic brown wrapping Albus had used in canon Harry Potter. I even wrote the same anonymous note about it and that I was returning it to its rightful owner.

Once I had it prepped, I used another touch of clairvoyance and stepped it to Harry Potter's youngest descendant and left it on their bed. I even keyed a notice-me-not charm to them, just so none of the other children found it first and claimed it from them. Tradition had to be kept, after all.

With that done, I felt it was time for me to go. I knew there were a few more things I could step back and handle, to make the outcomes be more favorable in the end... then I remembered one person in particular that I had missed and always regretted never finding them.

I stepped from that world into the grey space I had created between worlds and felt my reading buddy appear beside me. “Hi, I missed you, too.” I said and kissed her passionately. I felt her feelings of love and joy and knew that Amy didn't regret her decision. She would always be there for me, no matter what.

I chose the options I wanted from the system, picking one place in particular to appear, and smiled as I initiated the transfer.

*

I woke up as teenage version of Nicolas Edgar Nolan, better known as Nick Necro. Proficient knowledge of necromancy, demonology, and other occult practices and rituals, flowed into the back of my mind. They easily merged with what I already knew after years spent with Dr. Fate, Sorcerer Supreme.

I had chosen this particular moment, because a ritual had just gone terribly wrong and sucked out the soul of the young man as the cost for screwing up a bid for power. That was what happened when you gambled with a demon for your soul. No matter what happened, even if you win, you always lose in the end.

I vanished all of the evidence and used cleaning spells on myself and the room. A moment later, I used a cleansing ritual to remove all of the dark magic the room had built up over years of necromancy and deals with lesser demons. The place felt fresh and clean like a summer breeze and I sighed with relief.

I checked the time and it was the witching hour, surprise surprise. I equipped a nice outfit of t-shirt and jeans, with the t-shirt being the one that said I was terminated and had two bullet holes over the heart. I thought it was fitting, considering what had just happened.

I went upstairs from the basement and into the kitchen and felt the reflective wards around the ancient house. They were kind of impressive and I analyzed them and saw the tweaks they needed to be as perfect and all encompassing as the ones I had made back in the DC-Marvel crossworld I had been in. I didn't fix them, though.

I started making tea and disabled everything but the basic protections as I waited. It didn't take long, just about the time the tea was ready, for a distinctive portal to open and Rose Psychic stepped out of it.

“Congratulations, Nick. You've gained my attention.” Rose said.

“Thank you.” I responded and sat down at the table to sip my tea and munched on a delicious cookie. I hadn't enjoyed something like this since I was in Game of Thrones and I hadn't realized how much I missed those quiet times sharing them with Lady Olenna Tyrell in Highgarden.

“Have I interrupted you?” Rose asked with a smile on her face.

“Please, have a seat.” I offered and poured her a cup. “You have to try this blend.”

Rose gave me a skeptical look, then she shrugged and sat down and accepted the cup. Like me, she hadn't added any milk or sugar and sipped it, only to gasp at the taste.

“Now dip the cookie in and taste it.” I said and showed her what to do, then I sighed happily and sat back and relaxed. I definitely needed to do this more often.

Rose copied me and reacted the same way, she relaxed and almost slouched in her chair. The two of us stayed there for nearly ten minutes as we quietly sipped tea and munched on delicious cookies.

When the last one was gone and the tea pot was nearly empty, Rose let out a contented sound and stood. “Are you ready now?”

I nodded and walked over to the counter where I had left the tea mix and the fake box of cookies, since I had used my infinite one to fill it. I walked back over to her and handed both things to her.

Rose looked surprised, then she hugged them to her chest. “Thank you.”

“After you.” I said and motioned to the air beside her, which made her chuckle.

Rose opened a portal and we stepped through it, arriving in the quad of the university just as Pia Morales checked over the group of bee girls that were unconscious on the ground after Clark had killed their queen and left them disfigured.

How was that for timing? I asked myself mentally, happy that it had worked out this time.

None of the girls there even looked over at me as we walked back over to them.

“I've brought a new student.” Rose said and none of them reacted.

“We need to move the girls to the hospital wing to let them recover.” Pia said. “I don't know what kind of mental state they'll be in when they wake up, so it's best to get them out of the public eye and somewhere safer.”

“I'll help.” I said and cast a mobilicorpus charm on one of them.

The blanket covering her nakedness slipped off as she rose into the air and Pia gasped. She glared at me and grabbed it, then wrapped the girl in the blanket.

“R-right, sorry. Sticking charms first.” I said and did that, then cast the spell six more times and hooked them into a chain to follow Pia. She lost the glare and nodded, then walked off with the other around her and the victims.

“That could have gone better.” Rose said.

“It could have only been worse if they knew I could cast necromancy spells.” I said with a sigh.

Gasps came from around us and I turned to see several people give me shocked looks.

“Dammit.” I whispered and felt Rose put a hand on my shoulder and gave me an understanding look.

“Come on, I'll show you your dorm room.” Rose said and led me across the quad and into the building and right up into the same room she had tried to give to Clark. She paused outside of it briefly to resurrect the evil sorcerer and opened the door. “Sebastian Faust, meet you new roommate, Nick Necro.”

“Finally, someone with class.” Sebastian said and stopped floating.

Both he and the book gave me the same danger vibes; but, there was nothing I could do about it. I knew Clark was going to take care of him and his father later, I just wasn't sure how long it would be. I didn't know the time differential that Rose used for the university and I didn't dare try to use any time manipulation powers while inside of it. She would discover me immediately if I did.

“It's nice to meet you.” I said and shook his hand. “What level of demon servants have you summoned? I've only managed a dozen imps and a couple low level grunts so far.”

Sebastian's face almost lit up at meeting a fellow practitioner. “I've reached a soldier class only last week.”

I widened my eyes. “No way! How did you survive the negotiation process with your skin intact?”

“Luckily, I had some pure gold as an offering and he only demanded the skin on my forearm as payment.” Faust answered, happily. “A quick healing spell grew it back after he left.”

Rose left us with a smile on her face and her thoughts let me know that she had made the right choice to put me here. She was also sure she could save the both of us from turning dark and sacrificing many lives in our quests for power.

Moron. I thought and kept my opinions to myself as I sat down with Sebastian and talked shop. If I didn't already know the guy in front of me was pure evil, I would have thought he was a really nice guy. I was also glad he was going to be disposed of long before any of his grand plans came to fruition.

*

Some classes were really interesting and others were a bit boring during the next six months. Dr. Frankenstein's Monster was a genius and not a dumb brute like the story claimed, though. My work with him while perfecting his maker's techniques and procedures, let us save a lot of lives and we revolutionized a lot of the work the hospital did.

I may have also cheated a bit by including some of the Borg research Chappel and Beverly had done, too. It helped heal a lot of people, especially the ones that lost unrecoverable limbs after an accident, so it was a good trade. The man adored me for both my views and my work ethic, too.

Frankenstein told me that if his wife hadn't been incapable of giving birth, he would have been proud to have his daughter date me. No, he wasn't going to build one for me, either. He was far beyond that aspect of his life now.

I was woken up when Sebastian screamed and was sucked through a portal. I didn't laugh or applaud, because I had gotten to know the young man well. He was evil, through and through. Oh, he had his good moments, as all people do. But, you dangled anything powerful in front of him that he couldn't have? Yeah, he was taking it from you, no matter what.

But, this also let me gauge the time difference. I had waited 30 seconds as Clark before killing him and I had been here for six months inside the dimension before it happened. Since the school was in session for four years, that meant only 4 minutes would pass in the world Clark was in. It was no wonder why I had missed anything the Enchantress could have done to contact me after Rose blocked Clark from detecting the dimension again.

Surprisingly, I was still ostracized after Sebastian's withdrawal from the school roster. My necromancy secret had been spread to everyone and my work with Frankenstein had only made people more tolerant of me and not accepting. It was a little lonely, even with Pia Morales as a sometimes friend as she understood where I was coming from.

I wasn't there for her, though. I checked in with Enchantress occasionally, or June Moone as she was called in her normal persona. The woman barely acknowledged me as a classmate, let alone as a fellow magic user. She was too enamoured with Clark Kent and his apparently yummy magic to consider anyone else to be a viable partner.

The funny part about that was I hadn't even tried to be charming or anything at the time. I was reacting to how the things were run at the school and I had dismissed their own reactions to me at the time. Now I was seeing things from the outside and I realized something important. I was kind of an asshole and the girls apparently adored it. Bad boy syndrome, anyone?

I pretended to reform and lose my evil ways as graduation approached. Enchantress and Zatanna had excelled at their studies and grew more powerful and experienced. They had appropriate mentors, as did I in Frankenstein, and we all gathered together for the final ceremony and we were presented our certificates.

June Moon looked crestfallen as she accepted her certification and walked back to her seat. I couldn't let that stand, so I walked over to her. She gave me a look of loathing before she schooled her face to not show anything.

“What do you want?” June asked me.

I knew I couldn't give her a long explanation about anything, so I told her one simple fact. “If Clark only waited until the end of his day to contact you, that's about one thousand, four hundred, and forty years that would have passed here in the other dimension. Good luck finding him after that.”

June gasped and stared at me, so I smiled and walked up onto the stage and accepted my certificate. She kept staring at me and I walked off the stage and over to Frankenstein and his wife. The both of them looked human, thanks to the work we had done over the years, and I thanked them for being there for me and for making my school years worth it.

I was hugged by both of them and Frank gave me a wide grin and patted his wife's stomach. I laughed at him taking the chance and checked her over with my powers. Their daughter was going to be perfectly fine. Magical, yes. Human, also yes. She was going to be strong and powerful like her father, too.

“Just don't name her after me, okay? Girls need girl names.” I joked and they both gasped and looked shocked. “Uh, surprise? I left the oven on, so I gotta go. Bye!” I said and stepped away from there before they could ask me how I knew.

When I appeared back in the house I woke up in, I didn't bother trying to go back to my life as Nick in the real world. I knew I hadn't made any kind of impact, since as Clark I hadn't even heard of Nick Necro. So, I closed up the place and stepped from there to the grey space between worlds. To my surprise, Fate's blue box appeared.

Now I can finally tell you that I did go searching after the comment you made. Unfortunately, it did take me that long to find him. To find you.

“Enchantress?” I asked, again surprised.

What there is of me after everything I went through, yes. Fate's box said.

“Hold on.” I said and realized something. “It was you that changed me into the perfect body at the start!”

Yes, it was. I knew what I liked and I knew what you would become. I just didn't realize how tortuous it was to force you to struggle and become that which I knew you would become.

“Then this was me setting you on the path to eventually go back to start the whole thing?” I asked.

We don't cross paths again for a very long time and it was you that told me you needed Fate in your life. Otherwise, you would have no reason to go forward to become what you needed to become. I agreed to push you as hard as I could, and here we are.

“Then who's in Frank's bride's belly?” I asked.

She becomes the original Frankie Stein. She changed her name to not be associated with the bad reputation of her father. There are many iterations of her across various timelines, with a few knockoffs becoming popular, with her creation history mirroring her father's. She even goes to Monster High and continues the charade.

“Oh. That's a little disappointing.” I said and floated there as my reading buddy cuddled into my side. “So, what do I do now?”

Like always, you can do anything you want. Fate's box showed. Anything.

I smiled a wide smile and couldn't help but imagine all of the possibilities ahead of me.

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