Amongst the Hunted Moons

Notes:

Ladies and gentlemen, well back to the (technically) final chapter of A Midsummer Hunt, in which we get our bitter-sweet goodbyes to a family just found, a fond hello to old friends, a glimpse of what's to come, and a Demigod fighting wizards.

I'm glad you all liked Cernunnos, even if he is a bit of a dick, but do remember he is from a much more savage time. I'm surprised that more of you didn't comment on the fact that Scáthach showed up at the end to help Harry out.

To the one guy who's here for Fate/Type-Moon stuff, I respect that but those aren't the main focus of this story.

On with the show!

Harry Potter

Harry Potter woke up with his body throbbing in pain, from his big toe to his hair, everything felt like one big swollen bruise, he was exhausted to the extreme and had to fight to open his eyes. He groans as he tries to move but is unable to find the strength to do so, but he was laying on something soft with his head laying against something firm and soft. He tries once again to open his eyes but it's a struggle to do so, after a few more moments his eyes finally open and he sees the ceiling of Artemis' tent, he tries to turn his head or speak but he could do neither so he just groans loudly until a familiar weight settles on his chest as Hedwig lands on his with a flutter and hoots softly to him, Harry just groans back in Response before she barks loudly and someone says his name.

"Harry?" Artemis says, "How are you feeling?" She says softly and Harry just groans, "Yes, I expected that," She says with a sigh before Harry feels her put a canteen to his lips, "Drink Harry, it's Nectar, it should bring back some of your energy," Artemis says softly as Harry begins to slowly sip the divine drink and feels a little strength return to his body, after a minute or so, the canteen is pulled from his lips, "No more Harry, you'll burn up," Artemis says, and Harry, finally able to, nods.

"Wha-what happened to the horned guy?" Harry asks, his voice hoarse, as Artemis slips on his glasses.

"The horned guy is in the tent, Boyo," says the familiar voice of the freed God, and Harry looks over to the voice and sees the massive form of Cernunnos sitting in the tent by the entrance. Harry was honestly surprised that his massive frame could fit in the tent. Cernunnos was sitting cross-legged with his head almost scraping the ceiling, his arms were crossed over his massive chest, and his spear was nowhere to be seen, but the stag mask was sitting at his side allowing Harry to see the God's face for once. He had a round face with a squished nose, his hair was as black as Harry's but short and curly, cut close to his scalp, and he had a thick but short beard that hid his chin and green war paint in swirls that reminded Harry of tree roots on his face, but his eyes were the same as Artemis', burning amber and all.

Harry tries to sit up, but is gently pushed back by Artemis, "That's enough Harry, you are in no shape to pick another fight, besides Lord Cernunnos is no threat," Artemis tells him before Cernunnos speaks up.

"Yet," the hulking God says with a smirk as Artemis snaps her head to him.

"Silence, you said you would obey my rules while in my encampment, and I expect you to abide by that oath," Artemis snaps at him and Cernunnos chuckles.

"I said I would think about it, still turning over in my head, Sister," the God of the Hunt says with a grin.

"Do not call me that, I already have one annoying brother I do not need you thinking you are another," Artemis growls out to Cernunnos, but the God just laughs at her.

"Calm yourself, Lady Artemis, I only meant we are brother and sister in the Hunt," Cernunnos says, "We share the same domain after all, besides it is one of the only reasons that I have stayed my hand from removing you and your Hunters from my islands by force," he tells Artemis who grinds her teeth and surprisingly, says nothing back just sits down next to Harry, and Cernunnos turns to Harry.

"This must be a tad confusing for you, boyo, the politics and policies of the gods," Cernunnos says, and Harry weakly nods, "Then allow me to explain a bit, long ago a set of gods came to the islands to conquer it, we, the children of Danann, fought against them on all fronts, but they were far more organized and worked well together unlike me and my siblings, and using their children and magics of their own, they defeated and sealed us inside our domains of power," Cernunnos explains to Harry, his eyes never leaving the Harry's own, "They won the islands by right of conquest and settled here year's later, but abandoned them to move on, leaving the islands a godless land with no divine law, but when my hunt, trapped in the cursed form of flesh, freed me using your blood, the divine right to rule was granted to the only original god of the islands that walked it, Me," Cernunnos tells Harry with a grin, "Being the King of a Divine Pantheon comes with a few perks, one being so long as another god enters my domain for anything other than a challenge to me, they are powerless to do anything to stop me, such is the right of the King, but I can grant guest rights to a visiting god, like your mother here," he says gesturing to Artemis.

"And so long as I am bound by the Guest's Rights, I am to do everything in my power to shelter, protect, and help my guests, but my guests are also bound by the same rights, your mother is to help me with any request I may have so long as they do not harm her, I also have the right to call upon her to help defend the islands," the horned god says, "As of right now, she is a guest and sister in the Hunt, which, out of respect for that, and the courage that you and the other hunter showed in battle, along with an old agreement, I stay my hand as the current King of the islands, and come to parley with her," Cernunnos says, drawing his explanation to a close.

Harry weakly swallows, and nods, understanding at least half of that, "How did my blood free you?" Harry asks, curious about it.

"You have the blood of the old conquerors in your veins, Boyo, for only the conquerors can free their prisoners," Cernunnos tells him, which confuses him even more.

"But, Artemis is a Greek God, not a Roman one," Harry says, and as Cernunnos opens his mouth to speak, he is cut off by Artemis.

"Enough," she says before Cernunnos can speak, "There are some things the boy is forbidden to know, decreed by my own King and father, he is not a part of my hunt so he does not have that gray area to defend him, I'd rather not give Zeus any more reason to kill Harry if I can help it," Artemis says as Harry feels more confused and Cernunnos scratches his chin with his clawed hand.

"Zeus, …" The Horned God says, trailing off as his eyes have a faraway look in them, "Hmmm, never met the God before, but from what the Storms knows, he sounds like a cunt," Cernunnos says, and both Artemis and Harry snort in amusement.

"I wouldn't-" Artemis begins to say, but is cut off by Harry.

"Yeah, he's a right cunt," Harry says and both of the gods look at him, one with a mock glare and one with amusement.

"We digress, me and your mother's parley is all but over, Boyo, but I have a few questions of my own for you as part of the agreement," the Horned God tells Harry, who looks over at Artemis, who nods at Harry, before he turned back to Cernunnos.

"My first question, you are Draoi, a Wizard as well as a Demigod, yes?" The towering god asks, and Harry nods.

"Y-yeah, a friend said I'm what's called a Magician, someone born with both a magical and divine core," Harry says as he watches the Horned God nod.

"If I knew that, I would have approached the hunt with far more caution, especially if I know you could-" Cernunnos begins to say, but is stopped once again by Artemis, who hisses at him, gaining his attention and they seemed to have a conversation with their eyes before he speaks again, "It does not matter, my next question, you are a student of Scáthach, yes?" He says quickly moving on.

"N-no, I mean, I've met her, fought her, and then she threw me off a cliff in the Land of Shadows," Harry says as Cernunnos grins a bit.

"Oh, that just means she likes you, boyo," Cernunnos says, "but it also means you are her student, she wouldn't have shown you how to fight like her if you weren't," he grunts out, his grin shifting into a frown.

"My last question, boyo, before I leave you to rest, the Draoi, the Wixen kind of the isles, do they still remember us? Do they still remember the Tuatha dé Danann?" The Horned God asks.

"N-no, they worship some figures called Mother Magic and the Witch-Father," Harry tells Cernunnos, and the Horned God of the Hunt smiled a bloodthirsty grin.

"While I can think of two of my siblings that could fit those titles, I will enjoy reminding the Wixen why they once feared the Summer Storms at night," Cernunnos says with a laugh, making Harry swallow in fear before the Horned God stands, bending slightly to not uproot the tent, "Listen and Listen well, Son of the Hunt, what has started this night can not be stopped, I am but the first domino that has fallen, and soon the Children of Danann will walk the Islands once more, and we will remind the mortals who we are," Cernunnos tells Harry before turning to Artemis, "Come Lady Artemis, be a good host and see me off," the Horned God says as he turns and squeezes his massive frame through the tent flap and outside to the storm beyond.

Artemis turns to Harry, "Rest, Harry, the danger has passed, I will return with Atalanta soon," she tells him and Harry nods thankfully and shuts his eyes with a sigh as he feels cold hands run through his hair and lulls him to sleep.

Artemis

The Lady of the Hunt exits her tent into the storm that raged around her encampment thanks to the presence of the master of it, but neither the rain nor the wind bothered her much as she walked towards the massive hunter, standing in the middle of her gathered hunt with seventy-nine arrows all aimed at him, but Cernunnos shows no fear as his head was turned skyward to his own hunt of ghostly rides that circled with the storm above.

"Is that how he did it?" Artemis asks, "My lieutenant had told me of Harry's final attack on you, his spear throw, was it what I think it was?" She asks, walking up to the Horned God, who nods.

"Yes," Cernunnos says, "As I said, if I knew the boy was a Magician and my release would have cracked the door to Scáthach's own domain, I would have parlayed sooner," he says with a chuckle.

"Do you fear her that much?" Artemis asks, and Cernunnos shakes his head.

"You do not understand, Lady Artemis, all the Danann both fear and respect the Witch-Queen of the Land of Shadows," the Horned God says as he looks at her with matching eyes, "She did not become a God because she was born one, nor did we ascend her, She is a God because of the right of conquest, her title of God-Slayer is not just for show," Cernunnos says, and Artemis' eyes widen a bit.

"She killed the last and greatest of the Fomorians, but she was born a Magician, just like the boy, and with her skill and power alone she was able to call upon something greater than both of us before used the corpse of Rí na dealg to create her domain," Cernunnos tells the surprised Goddess, "If it wasn't for the fact that she had more interest in teaching our children and keeping her castle in order, I have no doubt she could become Queen of the Danann by force alone, besides we see attacking a student over their teacher a cowardly and dishonorable act," he tells Artemis who nods, and the Horned God looks back to the sky.

Cernunnos sighs before speaking again, "I have much to learn of this new era, but it is good to finally be free of that prison," he turns back to Artemis, "Three days, per our agreement, Sister in the Hunt, you and your hunters have three days to leave the isles before I force you to leave, and if it comes to that, I will not leave a single hunter left alive or a virgin," the Horned God says with a chuckle.

"I'd Geld you before you could try," Artemis says, glaring at the Horned God who throws his head back with a laugh as loud as thunder.

"Always did like them feisty," Cernunnos says as he puts his mask and crown back on and summoning his spear, "If you wish to visit the boy again, Sister, do ask first before showing up, perhaps we can arrange a hunt together, there has to be a beast worthy enough for us to ride down together, but until then, Lady Artemis, I bid you a good hunt," Cernunnos says before thrusting his spear into the air, and lightning falls on him and carries him skyward as the King of the Wild Hunt takes to the skies once more with his hunt, heading east to the seas and the lands beyond.

Artemis sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, Harry really did have the worst luck of any mortal she had ever met.

Harry Potter

Harry had slept throughout the next day, only waking up a few times for a few sips of water before falling back asleep; he had woken up around noon two days after Cernunnos was freed, his body still stiff and sore from his ordeal. What that ordeal was, Harry couldn't remember, he was sure Artemis knew something about it but whenever Harry would bring it up after he awakened, she would skillfully change the subject to avoid the question, even Zoë seemed confused by it, not that she said anything about it. So, Harry had let it drop, Artemis could be as stubborn as he was when she didn't want to talk about something.

Probably where he got it from, honestly.

Throughout the whole time he was asleep he was never moved from Artemis' tent, and neither did Atalanta leave his side unless it was to take a bath, Harry was pretty sure a few of the hunters had come to check on him as well. Daphnis and Cecilia came, he remembered hearing them, he was pretty sure Sophie and Brittany popped in once or twice, he was told Strider and Ciri came to check on him, and Phoebe was in the tent every six hours or so to check up on him.

Due to his injuries, Harry was left out of most of the work breaking down tents and packing things away, all he had to do was tap his wand against his own tent for it to break itself down so he could store it away in his pack, trunk, and all.

It wasn't a good feeling watching the hunt pack up to go, Harry wanted them to stay, to be around them more, but Artemis had told him that Cernunnos had given her three days to leave, which she would respect for nothing else than to be on good terms with him so she could return to the islands without challenging him. So, on the morning of the final day, Harry had gone with the hunt to Hogsmeade Station to see them off, Surprisingly, the Headmaster was also there to see the hunt off.

"Lady Artemis," Dumbledore greets the Goddess with a simple bow of the head, "I made sure that this time I would not be a rude host, and came to see you and your hunters off from Hogwarts," he says with a smile, "and to once again thank you for helping out with the infestation in the woods, as well as keeping me informed, shall we say?" He says with an odd look in his eye, half fascination half wariness.

Artemis nods at his words, "And I thank you for supplying my hunters with a good hunt Albus, and seeing to the other things we have discussed," the Goddess says, and Dumbledore nods once more as he smiles, before turning to Harry.

"Harry, my boy, did you find some use out of my gift?" Dumbledore asks him, to which Harry nods.

"Yes, sir, thank you for that, I still have one photo remaining," Harry tells him with a nod and an awkward smile, as the twinkle returns to Dumbledore's eyes and he smiles back.

"Then, perhaps, we put this last one to good use," the Headmaster says.

In the end, Harry got his group photo with everyone in the hunt on Hogsmeade station with the Headmaster taking the photo of them all, and directing everyone to best fit into it. Artemis was in the middle of them all, in her adult form, her handmaidens to her left with Daphnis in front with Cecilia, her hunters to the right of her with Zoë in front, she didn't even complain when Harry stood in between her and Artemis with Hedwig on his shoulder.

"A little more to the left miss," Dumbledore tells one of the hunters, who scoots over from where she was sitting, "Ah, perfect! Thank you miss, now everyone, on the count of three," the old Headmaster tells the collection of handmaidens and hunters.

"One," Dumbledore says

"I do hope you enjoy the hunt, Harry," Artemis says, "complications notwithstanding of course,"

"Two," the Headmaster says, aiming the camera just so, finger on the button.

Harry smiled, "I did, it was nice spending time with everyone and you, …mom," Harry says and Artemis' head snaps to him, eyes wide and mouth hanging open.

"Three!" Click

"So, I guess this is goodbye, huh?" Harry asks as Atalanta stands in front of the stairs that lead onto the train.

"For now at least," the Lioness says with a sad smile, "But as an annoying and surprisingly wise God once told me, goodbyes are always hard, but as bitter-sweet, as they tend to be, there is always hope for another hello in the future," Atalanta says with a smile, as she moves in for a hug, wrapping her arms around Harry as he hugs her back, "Tag, you're it, kiddo," she whispers to him and Harry smiles.

"Group hug!" Sophie yells before slamming into Harry's side, wrapping him in a hug as well, followed by Brittany, Cecilia, the handmaidens he had worked with, and the hunters he had fought with, and in the middle of this Harry feels tears fall down his cheeks, and for the first time his demons didn't tell him to stop for they were not tears of pain and sadness, but tears of joy, for he had finally found his family he had wanted for so long.

After the hug broke up, and tears from both Harry and the hunt were dried and the hunt loaded up on the train, he was stopped by Daphnis and Phoebe, the Commander of the Hunt shook his hand telling him he hopes to see him again one day, and Phoebe giving him what was left of the Nectar and Ambrosia, before telling him to be careful because she wasn't going to be around to patch him up if he runs off and does something stupid again, Harry had joked about that's why he had Madam Pomfrey around and they both shared a laugh. After they both had boarded the train, Harry turns around to go find Artemis, but stops as he finds Zoë looking at him.

"Do try not to bring any shame to Lady Artemis' name while we are gone by doing something foolish," the Lieutenant tells him, and Harry just smirks back at her.

"You mean I don't do that by just existing anymore?" Harry asks.

Zoë scoffs and rolls her eyes, "Brat," she calls him.

"Bitch," Harry shoots back, and they both smirk before Zoë steps around him and boards the train, stopping on the last step to turn back to him.

"Happy hunting, Harry," Zoë says.

"Happy hunting, Zoë," Harry says back as Zoë enters the train.

Harry watches as all the doors along the train close, as the train begins its journey back to London, the windows open up and Atalanta with Sophie and Brittany leans out the window waving good to him along with other members of the hunt doing the same all along the train, Harry smiles as he waves back to them all; knowing, that someday, he would see them all again. Harry turns around and walks back over to Artemis and the Headmaster who were having a quiet conversation about rug patterns of all things. They both look up as he approaches and smiles at him.

"Are you ready, Harry?" The Headmaster asks, and Harry nods.

"Y-yeah, it's just…," Harry says before sighing with a glum look on his face, "Do, ah, Do they know I'm coming?" Harry asks Dumbledore, and he nods.

"Yes, I had informed Molly yesterday that you would be showing up around noon today," the Headmaster says with a smile, "She is most excited to have you over for the rest of the summer, she is even planning a birthday party for you, if my invitation is correct," he tells Harry, and the boy in questions blinks, he had never had a birthday party so it was a weird thought that someone was planning on for him.

"Er, o-okay, I guess," Harry says scratching the back of his head and looking around, "So, ah, Floo I guess?" Harry asks looking back to the Headmaster, and as the older man was about to say something, Artemis cuts him off.

"If it's not too much of a problem with you Albus, I think I'll be taking Harry myself," the Goddess says, sounding like she didn't care if the Headmaster thought it was a problem or not, but other than looking a bit surprised, Dumbledore didn't look bothered by it at all.

"Of course not, Lady Artemis, I take it that you know where the Weasley clan lives then?" Dumbledore asks, to which Artemis just nods, "Well, if that is the case, then I will wish you both a safe trip, I, myself, have found a fascinating treatise on ancient Roman ritual magic in the stacks at Hogwarts that I wish to finish translating, perhaps with a nice cuppa, mint I think," and wish a swish of his robes, the Headmaster of Hogwarts turns on his heel and walks back to the castle he called him.

"I swear, he is amongst the oddest mortals I've ever met," Artemis says as she watches the Headmaster walk away.

"Yeah, he's completely barmy, wicked smart, but of his rocker," Harry says with a fond shake of his head as Artemis chuckles next to him.

"Come, Harry, time grows short," Artemis tells him and he nods following her back into the woods. They walk for a long time neither speaking, just enjoying the quiet company as they both enjoy the woods without fear of giant spiders or Centaurs harassing them. Soon the wildlife would return in full, and the woods would return to their natural cycle of life and death, the hunter and the hunted, and that brings a smile to both their faces, but as the forest trees begin to get smaller and opening up from thick woods to scattered trees Artemis speaks.

"I've enjoyed having you with the hunt, Harry," she says, keeping her amber eyes forward.

"It was a rocky start, but…I enjoyed it too, could do with more hunting and less fighting sealed Gods and overpowered lieutenants, however," Harry says with a smirk and a chuckle as Artemis shakes her head.

"Then, perhaps, only if you wanted to, of course, you would come on another hunt with me, us, the hunt I mean," Artemis says, stumbling through her offer, not really knowing how to put it into words, Harry opens his mouth to answer but is cut off by Artemis as she quickly adds, "It would be next summer of course, and I would understand if you wished to spend time with your Godfather that first summer, but it would only be a week, two at the most, I promise," she says and Harry starts to chuckle again at Artemis, she was acting like a nervous school girl and it was honestly quite funny.

"Yeah," Harry says, "Yeah, I think I'd like that," he tells Artemis who looks over to him with a smile, the first one he had seen on her face that didn't come after her teasing, but an honest smile. They had finally left the small forest outside of the Burrow, the towering building standing tall and proud on the hill that the Weasleys called home, Harry smiles when he sees it, and turns to Artemis. "Well, this is it," he says, and Artemis nods.

"Indeed," Artemis says, turning to face Harry, both feel awkward, neither knowing what to do, so Artemis decides on an awkward shoulder pat, "Happy Hunting, Harry," she tells him, looking him in the eyes and smiling once more.

Harry shuffles a bit in place, but nods and says, "Happy Hunting, Artemis," and with that, the two part ways, one turning back to the woods and heading back to her Hunt, she would show back up on the ship they had arrived in with her hunters already packed and ready to leave with a cowboy hat on that would cause one of her hunters to fall to her knees in a fit of laughter.

He would walk up the hill, greeted by the screams of the red-headed maiden he had saved from a dark fate, "Mom! Harry's here!" Followed by the warm hugs of the matron of the family and a greeting from one of his best friends, whose day he immediately ruined by telling him of the existence of the Unktomi and laughing at the look on his face, but made his night by telling him the spiders were all gone from the forest by their school and the stories of his hunt.

Neither had noticed the three crows that followed the boy up the hill.

Over a month later, the day before his birthday he was greeted by his other best friend, Hermione had hugged him tightly and talked a mile a minute about her summer before asking how he was, and while Harry, Ron, and Hermione stayed up till midnight like Harry did every birthday he had told her of his summer and she went white as he told her of his hunt, about his fight with the Scorpio, his fight with the Lieutenant of the hunt. By then, with the help of Ms. Weasley, he had developed the photos he had taken with the hunt and added them to his photo album that Hagrid had gotten him during his first year full of pictures of his mother and father, now had pictures of the hunt with them, he had written the word Family over the front of it. So he had shown Hermione and Ron them as he told them of his exploits with the hunt, pointing out the picture of him, Atalanta, and Sophie with his spoils(he had sacrificed them to Artemis, because where in the hell was he going to keep it?) Hermione had concern and worry in her eyes when he had shared that story. But it was soon replaced with shock and awe as he told them both about the now-freed Horned God, Cernunnos. Hermione had almost worked herself up into a tizzy about researching the Danann, but both Ron and he had talked her out of it until they were at least back at school.

Harry also got his first letter from Sirius at that time, apologizing for not writing sooner, apparently, the rehab was pretty intense and strict so as not to trigger any PTSD attacks. But had told him if he keeps up with the program he would be out of there by mid-October to come to see him at Hogwarts with Remus(Who was staying nearby to help when needed,) the letter made Harry smile, and his Jacket feels a little lighter than it once had.

On the day of Harry's birthday, He and Hermione got to meet the last two of the Weasley kids they haven't met yet, Bill and Charlie, though it was Harry's second time meeting Charlie. They had all gathered around for birthday cake and ice cream after dinner before moving on to presents, Hermione had gotten him a book on Defensive shield magic(in ancient Greek), Ron got him a new wizard chess set that was modeled off the Greek Heroes, with one of the knights supposed to be Atalanta but looked nothing like her, the twins had passed him a box of dung bombs under the table with a wink, Ginny had gotten him wand polish. It was odd to Harry, he never had a party like this, Ms. Weasley didn't even let him help with the chores around the house, telling him it was his day off. All Harry did was sit around and play chess with Ron or go for a walk through the woods with Hermione until it was time for the party.

It was when everyone one was helping clean up after dinner and cake did Harry get his last present, with the sound of a cash register that made everyone jump, and causing Harry, Ron, Hermione, Bill, and Charlie's wand to snap into hand and point at where the sound had come from, was a simple white box with a silver bow wrapped around it addressed to him. After Ms. Weasley and Bill had cast every type of detection magic they knew and everything came back clean only then Did they let Harry open it, the first thing Harry found in the box was an invoice.

[Hermes Express Delivery Co.]

Charges:

Overseas delivery: 200/D

Cross divine territory delivery: 200/D

Overnight shipping: 100/D

Inherent danger surcharge(The Wild Hunt): 600/D

Total: 1105/D

Messages notes:

Wild Hunt or not, it's nice to deliver something for my little sister to someone she cares about, hope to meet you one day, and Happy Birthday, Nephew

-Uncle Hermes

Harry quickly stuffs the invoice into his pocket and looks at what else was in the box, inside were gifts from the hunt, the first was from Artemis, a quiver of thirty silver poison-tipped arrows from the Acromantula they had hunted with a note that told him in no uncertain terms to not hunt anything with the arrows that he had planned on eating. Atalanta had sent him a lion plush to remind him of her and to snuggle with, Brittany, Sophie, and Cecilia had all pitched in together to get a silver hunting knife forged by the Hephaestus forges, both sides were inscribed in ancient Greek, on one side, Only The hottest fires and on the other side, Forge the greatest swords and a leather holster that could fit behind his enchanted quiver. Daphnis had set a pair of dice carved from the carapace of the Scorpio with a note explaining how they would always land on seven and hinted that the rest of the carapace was being used to make Harry something else. Zoë had just sent a note that said the word "Brat" in a very fancy script, which got a snort out of Harry.

Ms. Weasley really didn't like someone sending Harry sharp and dangerous objects, thankfully Mr. Weasley was able to calm her down enough for Harry to explain about the hunt, using the cover story that Atalanta had told him almost a year ago, thankfully Ron, Hermione, and the twins had backed Harry up, Harry had promised to put them in his trunk and not touch them while he was at the Borrow, while he did put the hunting knife away, he loaded the arrows into the enchanted quiver that never left his person, but Ms. Weasley didn't need to know that.

It would be a few days later that they would depart from the Burrow to the Quidditch world cup, meeting Cedric and his dad on the way. It would be during the opening ceremonies that it had happened, after coming across the Malfoy family and enjoying the sight of Draco getting reprimanded by his mother for how he was acting and taking their seats.

Harry had just gotten done picking up a piece of gold from the leprechauns off the floor, he didn't need the gold, but he found it neat with its markings of stag horns on one side and a sword crossed with a spear on the other so he had decided to keep it. So he pocketed it, and looked up as Ludo Bagman begins to call out the next mascots for the Bulgarian team, the crowd seemed to go wild as a line of some of the most beautiful women Harry had ever seen came out of the field, waving and blowing kisses at the crowd, but Harry could see something off with them. Their movements were way too graceful, they even beat out the Nymphs in Artemis' hunt, but how they moved seemed alien to Harry, like they were pretending to move like things they had seen drawn in a book, as if their bodies would skip certain minor movements and be in another place altogether, they had smiles too wide for their face and eyes too big for their heads; Then, then they started to sing and dance.

As Ron, Draco, and the Twins tried to jump from their seats to jump the railing to go join the Women down below, but were held back by Ms. Malfoy, Bill, Charlie, and Mr. Weasley, Harry had a different reaction entirely, or rather the Hunt did. It started as soon as the first notes of the Veela's song enter his ear, he could feel it trying to charm him, to pull him in and enchant him, but the Hunt roared in his mind fighting its influence, pushing it away, before, without Harry doing anything to help and everything to stop it, the Hunt flooded his body. Savage anger, the need and undying want to hunt built up in him till it was a physical pain trying to fight it off, Harry bends over in his seat and his hands grip the armrests hard enough that he started to hear the wood crack, Harry quickly stands, fighting off the influence of the hunt as best he could as he tells Hermione he had to go before rushing from the box and down the flight of stairs where the roar of the crowd was louder than the singing.

Harry collapse on one of the platforms before the turn to the next set of stairs up, his breaths come out harsh and ragged as he squeezes his eyes shut trying to force his connection to the Hunt shut, but it was like holding back a mountain that decided to uproot itself and move. He could feel the Hunt's demanding wants and desires, it wanted Harry to go back, it wanted Harry to get down to the field and ram his spear through the Veela's hearts, they were the enemy, they were unnatural, twisted, vile things that needed to shown their place, the Hunt wanted him to show those things where they were on the pecking order, to pin them down and take them and-, No! Bad thought! No!

Harry knew what hormones are, and how they would affect the mind with new wants and desires, and as damaged as he was, Harry was still a teenage boy. He normally forced those random thoughts away, even if they hit him like a sledgehammer when one of his sisters in the hunt had bent over to pick something up, or when Daphnis would get a little too close when they talked, but they were never violent, they were never so full of anger, or so full of the want to control someone like that. These thoughts were, and as the Hunt ravaged his body for not hunting the Veela, Harry could feel the iron grate he had held onto twist and bend under his grip as he beat back the thoughts and wants with his own pure stubborn willpower alone. As Harry finally got a hold of the Hunt and slowly close the tap that was forced open from the other side, his vision swam and he could feel the sweat pouring down his forehead, he crawls over the railing and leans against the corner tilting his head back and watches the crow that was watching him.

That's how Hermione found him, exhausted from beating back the urges and wants of a divine domain, and his eyes ablaze with the hunt and taking deep breaths. She had helped him back to his feet asking what was wrong, what had happened to get him to act like that.

"Those, those Things," Harry said, "When they started to dance and sing the, the Hunt went out of control trying, trying to g-get me to do, things," Harry had said with distaste as he was helped up the stairs.

"It was trying to get you to Hunt them? And don't call them things, Harry, they're just like you and me, they are intelligent beings deserving of respect," Hermione lectures back at him.

"Hermione, whatever the fuck those things are, they are NOT like you or me or even Ron, I don't know what they are, but I need to stay far, far away from them," Harry says darkly.

By the time they got back to the booth, the Veela were gone from the field and the game was on, but Harry was too tired to pay attention to it all and just thanked Artemis that the game was over quickly, both Ron and Hermione had to help Harry back to the tent, without even eating Harry dragged his tired mind and body into his hammock and shut his eyes to rest, but even in his sleep, he would find no true rest.

Harry finds himself in a dark and lonely woods, lost from the path direct, In a winding cobble-covered path walking up a hill. The woods around him are filled with twisting mists and choking fog as the howls of beasts can be heard from deep within, the clouds above covering the full moon in all its glory.

"Harry, …"

He hears the shadows behind him call his name once more.

"Haaaaarry, …"

But every time he turns to see who calls to him, he sees no one, just the dark woods and twisting mists with a shadow inside of them, so he turns back and continues on his way, ignoring the great beast that hounds his every step.

"The time is almost here, Harry, it's so soon I can almost taste it, taste you, soon, My Harry," the shadows whisper from behind him and into his ear, but Harry ignores it, pulling his jacket closer around him to escape the bone-deep cold that the voice brings as he climbs the final steps to the top of the hill.

Harry finds a house at the top of the hill, well, it was more of a shack really, old and dilapidated with the roof caving in and a snake nailed to the front door that was barely hanging on with one hinge. There was a great cauldron sitting in front of the shack with a fire burning beneath it with three women standing around it adding ingredients to the boiling liquid, the one who stirred the cauldron was old, older than Dumbledore, her back was hunched her hands were like leather, frail and thin, wearing a red shawl. The one who was adding the ingredients was a younger woman, looking the same age as his mother, Lily, did, in the photos he had of her, she added the ingredients handed to her by the bowl full, she wore a red dress that went past her feet and floated above the ground. The last was a little girl, wearing a pure white dress and a red cloak that she had pulled over her head and drifted like smoke amongst the fire, she was picking out each ingredient and chopping them up before putting them in a bowl and handing them off to the red dress wearing woman.

The child and the young woman had black hair with feathers braided through them, while the older one had white hair and the same black feathers braided through her thin hair. But all had the same black eyes when they turned to Harry and began to chant.

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,

Witches' mummy, maw and gulf

Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark,

Root of hemlock digg'd i' the dark,

Liver of blaspheming Jew,

Gall of goat, and slips of yew

Silver'd in the moon's eclipse,

Nose of Turk and Tartar's lips,

Finger of birth-strangled babe

Ditch-deliver'd by a drab,

Make the gruel thick and slab:

Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,

For the ingredients of our cauldron.

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Around and around did the old lady stir the cauldron before speaking directly to Harry, "oh, child of the moon and keeper of shackled blood, with deaths dark shadow be haunting all ye steps, come closer to our brew and do peek into what's ta come," the crone speaks in a raspy rhyming tone.

The young woman tosses the last of her ingredients into the cauldron before speaking, "Then draw up a cup, and with deaths eyes, take a peek, and see what's at the end of the bottomless pit," she says in a low whisper like a lover in his ear or a mother with her newborn.

The little girl cleans her knife before speaking, "Then draw them up, lock and key, shatter the shackles that bind the unseen queen, and see and be brought low by her terrible beauty just beyond of her mourning veiled face!" She says trying to rhyme but failing to do so with the infectest eagerness of youth.

And so Harry approached the cauldron without fear and the old crone stepped aside to let him peek in, leaning over the edge of the cauldron with his hands on the cold lip of the edge, he sees nothing but endless black water boiling away, he leans closer, nose almost touching the ice cold boiling water. Arms as pale as a corpse burst from the water and latch onto his shoulders, Harry tries to pull back, but their grip is just too strong and watches with horror as the face of a screaming woman emerges from the depths of the black water, the concoction spilling from her mouth as she opens her eyes to revival them as just as bottomless and black as the cauldron's brew. The face smiles before dragging Harry into the depths of the cauldron with her.

And Harry falls,

And falls,

Falls deeper still,

"And why should I trust you?" Harry hisses at the old crone in the red shawl while Wormtail cowers off in the corner.

"And who be you having that ya can trust when stuck in such a form milord," rasps the crone, "the cowering rat that be having no spine to speak of?" She makes a gesture to Wormtail's sniveling form in the corner who flinches at it. Pathetic, Harry thinks to himself.

"And if I just took it from you?" Harry asks the crone.

"Ay, Ya could, but you've studied the higher mysteries and know accepting a gift given gives it more power than a gift taken milord," the crone says, wrapping her hands around her wooden staff.

"And why would you help me?" Harry asks, "with asking nothing in return for it," Harry was curious as to why the crone was helping at all, surely she knew of him.

"Because to be doing so wouldn't make it a gift, it would make it an exchange, and I fully expect to be back to claim it," the crone says as she drifts like smoke into the shadows of the wall of the manor, "besides, Fate favors Lord Voldemort this night," she says before her raspy chuckle echoes throughout the manor house as she vanishes. Harry feels cold fingers brush his chin turning him away from the mad cackling scene in front of the fireplace to see the black eyes that haunted and hunted him in the darkest pits of memories he forgets, and black-painted lips smile softly at him.

"It's time to wake up, My Harry, you need not be in the rush of terror for what comes next, for the moon is full and high, and the hunt is soon to start, our parting is but another dream you will not remember but time draws our hour ever closer," and they lean in and as Harry feels those cold lips barely touch his own…

He awakes with a gasp.

The burning campgrounds

"Up!" Says the panicked voice of Mr. Weasley, "Everyone, get up! Now!" He says as he shakes Ron awake, Harry has already hopped out of his hammock, and he can already hear the screaming coming from outside.

"What's going on?" Harry asks, slipping his glasses back on his face before checking for Serpent-Hunter and his wand, he feels better knowing he had both.

"No question, we need to move, now!" Mr. Weasley says in a firm voice that brokered no argument as everyone else gets up and starts to throw on their shoes and grab their wands. Harry moves towards the tent flap and tries to peek out but is stopped when Mr. Weasley grabs him and drags him away from it, Harry had to fight hard not to lash out at the kind man, "Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Harry, you need to run to the forest and get to the stadium, now!" He says and before anyone could argue he snaps at them, "No questions! We are being attacked and I will not lose a single one of you! Trees, stadium, go now! Bill, Charlie, feel up for a scrap?" Mr. Weasley asks his older boys who both grin like maniacs and nod before heading out.

Mr. Weasley turns to the rest of them, "Wands out, forest, stadium, wait for the Aurors, look out for one another, anything in a cloak and mask comes near you, curse it to pieces and run, now go!" He says with a face looking ready for a war and sends them out with the screaming fleeing crowd. Ron, Hermione, and Harry flee with the crowd, they had lost the Twins and Ginny as soon as they started to run, and they get to the edge of the woods before something stops him dead in his tracks, the scream of a child, one far too young to be in the middle of all this terror and carnage. Memories bubble up to the surface of Harry's mind, of his own childhood, growing up with fear and self-loathing running thick in his blood from the people who should have taken care of him but choose instead to bully and belittle him.

Only the hottest fires; forge the greatest blades,

The words of Cecilia come to his mind unbidden as he turns to face the sea of burning tents, and sees the floating bodies of the mundanes who did nothing wrong and he sees the limbs of the small girl twist in directions they were never met to go and he feels the smoldering anger that he always carries in himself ignite in an inferno of rage and does nothing to stop the Hunt from feeding on his emotions and filling him.

"Harry!?" Hermione calls to him, "Harry, what are you doing, we need to go, now!" She says and Harry turns to look at her, his eyes the yellow-gold of the Hunt, stopping her as her eyes flick to the floating Muggles, to the burning tents, to the masked men in dark cloaks, then, finally back to Harry.

"Harry, …" Hermione pleads softly, Harry could barely hear her over the screaming, "Harry, please, don't do this, this isn't a hunt, this isn't your fight, please," she begs, pleading with her friend not to do what she knows he's about to do, her face twisted in sadness and concern, "Please, Harry, leave it to the Aurors," she tries one last time before Harry speaks.

"Ron, take Hermione, find the others, and stay safe, they won't make it to the woods," Harry says calmly, turning his focus back to the burning campgrounds.

"You sure about this, mate?" Ron says, his voice slow and considering his friend's words as his eyes travel over the burning tents like it was a chessboard, Harry just nods once before running back into the campgrounds.

"Harry, no!" Hermione screams after him, trying to follow as Ron quickly wraps his arms around her waist, dragging her back to the woods, "Ronald! No, we have to stop him!" Hermione screams.

But Ron doesn't let go of her, "You know how he gets Mione, we can't stop him, I doubt anyone can when he gets like this, it's just another hunt to him," Ron spits out, anger in his eyes as he says the words, "Besides, reckon he'll be fine,"

"Those are Dark Wizards, Ron! They could kill him!" Hermione says as she struggles.

"Yeah, but it's a full moon tonight," Ron says with a sad smirk.

Lucius Malfoy, having a great time.

"Crucio!" Lucius yells, striking a fleeing blood traitor in the back and holding the curse for a few seconds, enjoying the pleasant hum of magic coursing up his arm and the screams of the man on the ground before breaking it off. He hears Macnair laugh as he twists the body of the Muggle filth this way and that with Rowle and Nott, Lucius stops to enjoy the scene in front of him, the burning tents, the screaming masses of Mudbloods and blood traitor filth, reminding him of the glory days of marching under his Lords banner to cleanse the world of this filth. His brothers-in-arms were fanned out, protecting their backs and leading the march across the campgrounds, with him directing it, truly a glorious night to remind the world that they were still here, to remind them of the pain and terror they sowed in the name of their Lord.

Lucius looks around and sees a mask missing from his regiment, "Michael, where the hell is Samuel?" Lucius yells at Macnair about Selwyn, using the old code names of angels from the pathetic Muggle faith.

"No idea, he probably chased some Mudblood chit into the tents like a fo-" but that was as far as Macnair got, for an Arrow of all fucking things, just bloomed out of his fucking eye socket. He was dead before he even hit the ground.

"What the bloody-" Lucius starts to say before a blur hits him, knocking him to the ground before catching the falling body of the Muggle child and disappearing into the smoke and tents, both Nott and Rowle stop to look around as Lucius picks himself off the ground.

"What in the Witch-Father just killed-" Rowle tries to say, but he too is cut short by an arrow piercing through the back of his skull, and just like that another of his men dead before the blur knocks Nott over, Catching the woman before disappearing back into the tents and fire.

Nott gets to his knees and looks at him but before he could even speak an arrow traveling at speeds it had no right to punches through his heart, Nott, still masked, looks down at it and weakly grabs at it, and before Nott could even die a dignified death, the blur uses him as a fucking springboard to catch the final filthy fucking Muggle and dash off.

Lucius looks around, before casting a sound charm to call back his men and circle up, a charm that only those with the Dark Mark should pick up to deliver his orders. But as he sees his comrades turn back to him, the arrows shots start in earnest, Lucius watches in horror as arrows come from smoke and fire, too fast to vanish, and too random to place, it was like a group of Muggle archers surround them and kept them from grouping up. Each arrow hit with unnerving accuracy for being fired so fast, shoulders, knees, wand arms, elbows, and feet were all treated like pin cushions. His brothers and sisters-in-arms begin to disparate one after another, fleeing the onslaught, Lucius spins around and starts to lash out.

"Coward!" He screams as he clears a row of tents with a blasting curse.

"Come out!" He yells, chaining exploding curses to destroy the nearest tents.

"Fight like a Wizard!" He demands as he swipes his wand, creating a wide-range slicing curse and cutting down tents, stones, and poles with the ease that dark emotions like anger and rage bring to magic.

"Coward!" Lucius screams, as he looks around at the destruction he had caused, looking for any movement to indicate he hit the fuck who had killed his men, but he sees nothing, but he does, however, hear something.

"You're the one wearing the mask and attacking people who can't defend themselves, and I'm the coward?" A voice says, a very irritatingly familiar voice, and Lucius spins around to find the man who had disturbed his March, well, the boy who had done it, "Potter!?" Lucius spits out in rage and confusion. Because it was indeed the Potter brat, standing behind him, black jacket and all, a silver bow in one hand and a silver arrow in the other. But something was wrong with the boy, unlike the grown wizards that had run in fear from them, the boy looked…bored, like he didn't just kill three men and used others as target practice, then there was the boy's eyes; they were softly glowing silver, like that of the full moon that hung overhead. The boy's eyes were slitted like a cat's, and below the boredom, the boy had on his face, he was looking at him like he was nothing more than prey, nothing more than an easy kill; Those eyes would hunt Lucius Malfoy to his dying day.

Lucius takes a step back at how the boy was looking at him as his rage begins to overtake his fear and he lashes out, sending a curse to cut the boy in two at him, but the boy just raises his arm in front of him and Lucius watches in horror as the spell shattered against the leather jacket. And before Lucius could even blink, the boy had loaded his bow with his Arrow and shot it right down his wand arm, starting at his wrist and traveling down his arm till the arm got wedged into his elbow, then the burning pain began to travel up his bicep.

"Same sticky end, boy!" Lucius yells at the boy, who pauses in drawing something from behind his back and curiously tilts his head.

"Mr. Malfoy?" The boy asks as a grin spreads across his face, giving Lucius the time he needs to switch his wand to his other hand before pointing it at the boy.

"Avada-ack," Lucius tries to cast the killing curse at the brat, but the boy had moved with such speed and swiftness he had disappeared from Lucius' eyes, and by the time he found him again, the boy's fist was digging into his ribs and, what felt like, breaking every single one on his left side, just before the boy spun in place and kicking him in the same side. Kicking him, the Lord of the noble house of Malfoy, a pure-blood far more worthy of magic than some blood traitor half-blood, away like some piece of rubbish. Lucius flies through the air before landing a ways away from the boy, air driven from his lungs and unable to refill them due to the bones piercing one, but at least he still had his wand.

Not that it would do much as the boy walks over to him and steps down on the wrist that held it, the boy looks down at him, tilting his head again, he looks at Lucius with the same bored, detached, disinterested look on his face that Lucius had seen his Lord look at someone with before striking them dead with cold precision, and in the silver eyes of the boy, he saw death, his death, the death of everything and the uncaring attitude for it all.

Like Lucius was just prey, and the boy was his Promised End.

And as the boy raises his foot to crush Lucius' head like it was nothing, the boy is blasted off of him from his blind spot, he watches the boy flies through the air before a red disarming charm hits him, ripping the bow he held from his hands. The boy twists through the air like a trained acrobat before landing some twenty feet away and sliding to a stop on all four before the boy looks up with bared teeth and a growl like an animal.

"My apologies Mister Potter, but as much as a fool the man is, I do, sadly, still need him," says a muffled and distorted voice as a robed and hooded figure walks up to the downed Lord Malfoy, and Lucius could honestly could not love his wife any more then he did at that moment.

For one heart-stopping second, the boy charges, but his wife, still ever quick with a wand, knocks the boy back from them at the very last second before bending over and grabbing him, and twisting away with a crack.

Harry Potter

In the burning and smoke-filled ruins of the campground, the caws of crows can be heard as Harry Potter walks over and picks up his bow, sighing to himself, pissed that he didn't get to feed that blond head ponced to the Hunt, fucker deserved it. Harry closes his eyes, cutting off the flow of power from his other mother's blessings just as the sound of fifteen cracks sounds around him. As fifteen men and women, all wearing red robes of the Aurors surround him with wands trained on him.

"Bit late to the party, aren't you?" Harry snarks at them, very far from a good mood or the feeling of relief one should feel when they see the red robes of the Aurors.

"Drop your weapon, now!" Orders a tall dark skinned Auror, wand not moving from Harry at all.

"Fuck," a shorter Auror with purple hair curses when she sees Harry, "Kingsley! That's Harry Potter!" She says as her wand dips away from Harry.

"Wand up Auror Tonks!" snaps a woman next to the tall dark-skinned man, "it doesn't matter who he is, orders are orders, he's at the scene, so we take him in," the woman says as her eyes flick to the three unmoving bodies on the ground, as Auror Tonks points her wand back at Harry, but the look on her face tells Harry how much she doesn't want to.

"Last warning Mister Potter, drop your weapon and wand on the ground, you are under arrest," Kingsley says as his eyes sweep over the bodies as well, "and by the looks of it, it will be for murder,"

Harry sighed before his bow fell to the ground, he really did have the worst luck.

Notes:

A Midsummer Hunt is over!

So, let me break my logic down for you all so you can understand my logic about all this.

In the fight above we saw Harry at max power, with all his blessings active, the Hunt, the Moon(at max power), and sudden and instant death, vs average witches and wizards, and Harry trashed them.

If you were to take an average wizard/witch and make them fight an average Demigod three times, the demigod would win two out of those three fights.

But if you were to take an exceptional Demigod(children of war gods like Athena or Ares' kids) and did the same thing against an average Wixen, then the demigod would win all 3 fights.

But if we take a Wixen who is exceptional and put them against the exceptional Demigod then it's a 50/50 on who would win.

But if you put an Auror in those fights, then they would win 3/3 fights because that's what they are trained to do, win.

But if you add in any child of the big three, then any of those kids would body almost any Auror.

But, in my personal opinion, there are nine wizards and witches that are beyond their peers to the point where they could fight a big three kid and win two of the fights, if not all 3, they are, in no particular order:

Lord Voldemort, Albus Dumbledore, Gellert Grindelwald, Severus Snape, Bellatrix Lestrange, Minerva McGonagall, Filius Flitwick, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Alastor Moody.

All of them are on the list for one reason or another, but those top 3, Elder Wand or no Elder Wand could body pretty much any Demigod.

Why is Harry so fucking dangerous then: Simple, most Demigods get a grab bag of random powers from their divine parent, and Artemis only really has a few that could be used in combat, but how I have interpreted them makes Harry extremely lethal. All his blessings together are for one thing and one thing only, Ending a Hunt as fast as possible, adding in his natural talent for offensive magic he becomes one of the scariest people in the world when it comes to killing. The older Harry y'all got a peek at is considered one of the most dangerous people on the planet not because of anything as nuanced as power or knowledge, but how lethal he is in a fight.

Could he ever beat Percy in his prime? No, Percy and Jason are considered the two most powerful Demigods in the world for a reason and I won't challenge that.

But a lot of stuff happened in this chapter, so if you want to know what happens to our best boi, tune in, turn up, and drop out for the next arc.

The Heir and the Champions.

Sorry for not updating be hectic the last few work have really caught up to me due to having several overtime in the Hotel i work in due to several large events.