Master of Death

A Wizard and Four Hobbits walk into a bar

~ *~* ~ *~* ~ *~* ~ *~* ~ *~* Chapter I *~* ~ *~* ~ *~* ~ *~* ~ *~* ~

~Time Skip, 17 years~

The sun was bright and warm today, the breeze was cool and came every few minutes. He was hard at work, erecting a ward around the Town of Bree, his Papa Mors was off doing what he did when he allowed him to be on his own for a few hours or even a few days. He loved his Papa Mors, the man was very kind and loving, even if he did not outwardly show it. As far as anyone knew, Mors was a Widower and had found an abandoned baby in the wild, took him in and raised him as his own. The man traveled a lot, somehow being an effective parent while almost always on the go. They did not linger in a place for more than a year or two, his Papa Mors complained that his wanderlust would not let him settle down for too long a time.

He learned a lot while traveling too. Like how his parents did not abandon him, but rather died trying to protect him. He had a Godfather who was arrested for a crime he did not commit and had been freed about the time he turned 6 years old, he had another Godfather who was a Potions Master and a very severe man, but could be warm and cuddly if one earned that privilege to see it. He had people who worked for him, kept his finances secure and money coming to him, who wrote him letters discussing important topics and laws, helping him pick which ones he wanted to support which ones he did not want to bother with. He got most of his educations with these people through his letters and any study materials they sent him (his godparents writing more often to see how he was doing and telling him news of the world he knows nothing of).

Papa Mors had left him on his own many a time, usually when they were staying semi permanently in a town or city, to go see these people in person and when he came back he had a number of gifts for him. One such was a Snowy Owl, she was a lovely empress with a graceful nature that only rivaled her nurturing one. She was always grooming his hair, nipping at him affectionately and was known to steal bits of food for him when she thought he was hungry. Though whenever sausages or bacon went missing, it was not for him that she stole them for (he was monitoring her weight, it would not do to have her get fat or possibly have a heart attack).

His Papa Mors had taught him everything he knew, taught him how to cook and sew, garden and weave, to fight with or without a weapon (the man preferred a staff or scythe while Harry learned he was adept with long daggers and knives, though he could wield a sword fairly well) and most importantly, he taught him Magic! Magic was a wonderful thing, but unlike others who relied solely on it, he preferred doing things the Muggle way (one his teachers sent him Muggle Studies material and explained a lot of the terminology used). Then when he reached adolescence, he got The Talk, which wasn't as traumatizing as he had often been told it was for those his age (then again, Papa Mors was not a sexual being and explained it clinically, so that was a bonus). And he learned about secondary Genders, something quite common back in his home world, but was a rarity or an irregularity in other worlds (here in Arda, it was one of those rare anomalies and usually it was an Alpha or an Omega being born from the None Human races).

He came out of his thoughts as he finished the last of the rune work and smiled as he felt the natural magic of the earth feed the wards as they built up and secured themselves almost seamlessly at the top. They had been living in Bree for the last 5 years, the longest they stayed anywhere, but his Papa Mors sensed that soon he would be put through a test by Fate, one before he had to face his real destiny. His Papa Mors also told him about his 'original' Fate. The had taken him away before he could be found by someone else and taken to his only living relative's home where he would have grown up abused and miserable. The strange man had even should him what it would have been like and he did not like a moment of it, though he was a bit sad he would not meet or make the friends he had.

Though Mors assured him that he would meet them again, this time he would be much more careful about his friends since some of the 'Friends' he would have made were only in it for money and fame. They made a living by offering potions, salves and even runes carved into the home, a piece of jewelry or a stone to the people for a few copper pieces, which was very cheap. The mayor of the town had asked them to lay down a ward to alert the town, if not protect it from dangerous creatures like Orcs and Goblins; not the friendly ones that helped his Papa Mors. His Papa agreed, but informed the mayor that not all dark and dangerous creatures will be kept out, though the runes they would lay down will deter them from harming the town folk, travels were not so privy to that protection.