Honestly he was sitting against the new wall feeling sorry for himself.
What else could he have done? Just killed Goran like the others? He looked so alone, he looked... it felt like he had seen himself, back under those stairs. Even though the boy didn't feel any anger at Harry's actions, he felt a certain amount of guilt.
He would do it again, if creatures or people threatened his friends... but the guilt still lived.
At some point he felt the ground shiver as Goran sat next to him. Harry gave a shaky grin up at the boy. "Never expected to be a dad at eleven. You ever imagine having a dad younger than ya?"
Huge shoulders shrugged. "Never thought before you helped me Da. We just... existed. Ate and squished and roamed." Dark brown eyes looked down at his green ones. "You didn't just give me a new language, or memories and stuff. You made me... more. I am not really a Troll anymore. Too smart by far."
Harry gave a sad nod. "Between you and me, I am not sure I am human anymore. Most of my body has been healed or replaced by magic at some point, if not all of it. I have to remember to age. I sometimes feel... scared about it."
There was a deep chuckle from his son. "Well, I think anyone wanting to argue with Da will have quite a time at it. Forcing you won't work well, I know that." He shivered. "Da, you... you were scary when you fought."
Harry nodded. "Fighting is a scary thing." He grinned. "However, your friend took my arm off! And that was WITH me strengthening my body! Trolls are bloody AMAZING!" Goran gave a strange grin. "And that is what we are like without training, without practice. Imagine if they could actually work in groups."
The two boys laughed. There was a bit of an edge to it, but it still helped them both find some sort of calm.
Harry stood, stretching his arms. "Well, enough rest for me. You've got a bed, table, some chairs, some shelves, one HEAVY stone door... can you handle it fine?"
Goran held up one of his massive hands. "I like something with a bit of heft to it."
"Fair enough. I owl ordered some raw materials from Nagnok, apparently my broom design did fairly well so far and he felt we could afford some extra materials thanks to the bonus. He also seems to find my new family humorous to some extent." Goran stood, following Harry upstairs. "So... what am I going to do?" The nervousness was clear.
Harry gave him a huge smile. "Well, I will be stopping by often with friends, of course. I will be setting up downstairs as a new Magical Research Project room, so... Merp 2 or something. As for work, I believe Hagrid would LOVE your assistance. He has to handle all kinds of creatures that find weaklings like me tasty."
Goran snorted. Weak. Sure. "Well, if your friends want to come by. I... well, Trolls are not normally friendly, as one would say."
Harry rolled his eyes. "They normally don't talk English either. I will bring some people by later, just take a good nap and I will see you after lunch. The food on that bottom shelf is all locked down in Stasis, and I tied it to the shelf, so moving it off that shelf should release the charm." He grinned. "I mostly stuck with LARGE food, easy to handle. There is a grilled whole pig, for example, and a bowl of pineapples, uncut. Don't forget veggies and such."
He paused as he was about to exit. "In fact, I will bring by a bunch of dishes later, and we can find out what you like to eat. I assume raw food isn't the best thing you will ever taste, especially after you try bacon."
Goran laid on his new mattress. The springs were HUGE inside, but it still felt more soft than any ground he had slept on in his life. "Good night, Da."
"Night son. If you need me, just call me in your mind. I will be right here."
Goran nodded, already falling asleep. It had been a bit of a struggle getting him to walk this far to begin with, apparently Trolls tended to wander pretty randomly for long periods of time normally. Harry waved a hand, opening the huge stone door so he could exit. Turning, he waved again to put a small label on the outside: 'Welcome to Goran Potter's Home'.
He smiled and headed back toward the castle. Harry knew this was odd... but when did Potter do normal?
There were a LOT of angry eyes when Harry entered the castle.
"Uh... Good morning everyone!"
"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" A Brown Haired Avenging Angel Strode up to him... and wrapped him in a tight hug. "Don't you EVER fight like that again. I had the WORST nightmare that you had been hurt!"
Harry coughed. "Uh... no, of course I wasn't."
Hermione froze, then began poking his left arm. "You... You were. And you are a bad lier." Her anger was starting to fight her natural urge to both hug him to death and pester him about how on earth he had reattached an ARM.
"Potter... are you feeling all right?" Daphne's hesitant question made him give a big smile, sharing it to the other girls and few guys who had been waiting in ambush.
Harry grinned, shifting Hermione to be beside him instead of in a choke hold. "Of course I feel fine. Last night there was a... a bit of a tussle."
Terry snorted. "Tussle? Five seconds after Daphne runs in, claiming some monsters entered the castle, Professor Quirrell barely stagers in and starts yelling about TROLLS. By the time we all got settled down there were Aurors everywhere and no one was allowed to know anything, we were stuck in that hall for hours. Not even the teachers got to go to bed."
Neville gave a hesitant nod. "I heard that there were Dragons, and the Troll was a cover up." Tracey threw a hand up, eager to join in on the rumor train. "I heard it was an army of inferni, zombie warriors."
Hannah stared at Tracey and took a slight step back. Turning to Harry, who seemed quite bemused by the rumors, she grinned. "So, where were you? I heard Madam Pomfrey was... annoyed that you had left early this morning."
His face paled. "Oh... I had never been in the Hospital Wing before, I didn't know we had to check out."
Padma stopped wringing her hands and jumped into the Hug Harry campaign (Currently ongoing, join today). "Harry, all they said was that you and Hermione were in the Hospital Wing, and we didn't know what was happening!"
Harry pretended to ignore the sniffling from Mione and Padma, giving them small squeezes. "Everything is fine, there was a small... scuffle at the front of the school. Daphne helped keep all the students safe, and Hermione got me backup to make sure they STAYED safe. And the rest of you also stayed safe, which is vital."
Hermione slapped his shoulder. "Harry, YOU need to stay safe too, you berk. We don't want you hurt."
Harry honestly felt... touched. It felt good, having someone... SEVERAL people, as he saw all the nods, want him to be protected too. He gave a grin. "WELL, enough mushy stuff. Anyone want to skip lunch and go on a picnic to visit my new son?"
Oh, these expressions were PRICELESS.
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