Herakles Potter knew she was odd ("Freakish chit!"). It was the way she seemed to have been born already comprehending the world around her ("Stop looking at me with your damned demon eyes!), remembering things she should have been too young to remember ("Your useless parents died in a car-crash!" — "They were killed. Mum died in front of my crib."). It was the way her aunt and uncle looked at her suspiciously when unlucky things happened even though she had never been the naughty sort ("What do you have to say for yourself?!" — "Why would I even want to do that?"). It was the calm she felt in the face of things she saw other children crying about ("Excuse me, officer, I'm lost." — "When did you last see them?" — "About nine o' clock." — "That's six hours ago!"). It was the way her aunt and uncle refused to use her proper name at all — she hadn't known her name was actually Herakles and not Heri as she had always been called until she had seen Aunt Petunia write it down on her school application form.
"Why do you only ever call me Heri then?" Heri had asked then, violating the rule about not asking questions.
Aunt Petunia's usual sour expression when dealing with Heri became more pinched.
"It's a ridiculous name!" the blonde woman snapped. "What sort of decent person is named Herakles of all things? It belongs on a side-show fortune-teller! And haven't we told you that there will be no impertinence such as asking questions in this house?"
No asking questions: that was the mandate that Heri was to live by if she wanted to retain her ability to remain within the Dursley household. Not that she was really keen on sticking around, but there were little other options for a little girl outside of living on the streets until she was killed, or taking up with a paedophile. As Heri was not eager to die or be perved on, she did what she could to not get kicked out.
She couldn't help being odd though, it seemed to be some innate part of her. Even still, it was fine enough; with her oddity came a warmth that overcame her whenever she was down, a sense of otherness that made her feel as if she wasn't really alone in the world.
Discounting the mess with her parents' death, the first time something tried to kill her, Heri was four years old. Aunt Petunia had let her play in the garden that day, happy to have Heri out of the house while she watched childrens' shows with Dudley. Heri took advantage of the rare opportunity to play without Dudley fouling things up for her and poked about the backyard to her heart's content.
She was tending to the weeds around the poppies when she heard the rasping of something moving on the dirt. Soft hissing came from the direction of the mint.
§Sscent . . . plump flessshh . . . Ssssooo hungry . . .§
Heri scooted back from where she had knelt and scanned the plant-life warily. She had never heard such a voice before.
§Where, where? Musst bite . . . strike . . . kill . . .§
Heri was nothing if a child that knew danger when it was coming, working through the ebbs and flows of her aunt an uncle's tempers had taught her well. At the word 'bite' she had tensed, ready to bolt as whatever it was spoke of killing. Anyone else might had run off immediately but Heri knew that any sudden movement, forward or back, would provoke a violent response.
§There!§
Quicker than a blink, something shot out of the poppies, flinging itself at her face. Heri snatched the creature out of the air with a firm grip under its head, plucking another one up as it tried to catch her off guard. She clenched her fists tightly, giving a them a sharp shake at the things writhed in her grip.
In her hands were the oddest snakes. Heri was quite certain that her relatives would deny their existence if they had ever heard of them. They were the size of regular garden snakes but they were of a blue colour she had never seen on any kind of animal, and wings the size and coloration of a pigeon's grew out of their backs. They shimmied pointlessly against her grip, wings fluttering in protest. They hissed in displeasure, spitting out threats and insults.
§What sort of snake are you that has wings and can talk?§ asked Heri, peering at them curiously.
§Morsel speaks! Clever food . . .§
§Bite! Bite! Musst eat!§
Heri shuddered at the thought of being eaten. She shook the one that was squirming the most once again, dazing it. She lifted the one that called her clever closer.
§Of course I speak, I'm a person. It's you that's strange for talking.§
§Meaty mouthful . . . false words. This one . . . without speech of humans . . . the prey hisses . . . the way of serpents.§
Heri wasn't sure how to take such a claim.
§It doesn't matter either way,§ Heri decided. §I'm going to let you go and you two will leave.§
Snakes with wings were cool in theory, but they weren't much fun in reality.
She moved to put the dazed one back on the ground, but as soon as her grip loosened it thrashed violently, baring its fangs at her. Heri caught it by its tail instinctively and whipped its head into the ground. Her foot came up and stomped down on its body with a gruesome CRUNCH.
Where once was a winged snake there was now a flattened corpse. Blood leaked from its mouth and gooey entrails discharged out from where the pressure of her foot had ruptured it.
Heri took in the sight of the creature she had killed with detached interest. She had never killed anything before, not even the spiders in her cupboard. She turned back to the remaining snake now quivering in her fist. She tightened her grip again, almost choking the animal.
§Are you going to go without any trouble?§ She asked it.§Or am I going to have to take care of you too?§
The odd snake agreed to leave peacefully and never bother her again.
Heri decided she had enough of being outside for one day and returned to the house shortly after. She didn't notice the snake she had killed disintegrating into golden dust nor the eyes that had watched.
Plot:
Every Half-blood has one god parent, this we know. However, Harry is different because of one reason: through ways of the divine, he has more than one god for a parent/guardian.
Rules:
Light, Grey, or Dark Harry
Harry's first god parent MUST be one of the twelve while others can be any of the Greek/Roman Mythological forces: gods, deities, divines etc.
Harry and Percy MUST have different views of right and wrong.
Either Thalia, the Di Angelos, or Clarisse must be allied with Harry — any others are up to the writer.
Whoever is Harry's first god parent MUST break the law and talk/interact/meet with Harry — they do this because of Halloween and they don't want to lose him again.
If Harry is Dark, Luke MUST see Harry as the new leading force of the New Olympus and pledge to serve him instead of Kronos.
Any pairings are welcome
Tom and Dumbledore must both feel wary about Harry when he comes into his godlike powers.
The Horcrux is destroyed — unless Harry's other god parent uses it to determine him as theirs
Even though he leaves Hogwarts for CHB or his own dwellings, Harry must keep in touch with his friends.
At least one of Harry's friends — or a redeemed friend if you want to use someone like Draco or Severus — must be a demigod.
Sirius and Remus do not abandon him.
Guidelines:
Harry and Percy as enemies. Nope.
Immortal Harry. Maybe.
Master of Death Harry. Maybe.
The force that determines Harry is a primordial ex. Thanatos, Erebus, Nyx, Chaos, etc. Nope.
Harry saves Luke before Kronos gets to him. Accepted.
Harry's god parent — the main one — is one of the Big Three. Hmmmmm.
Lily/James were that particular god in human form. Nope.
Others of the HP universe are demigods. Accepted.
A prophecy made about Harry. What, other than the one about 'born as the seventh month dies'?
Slash. Nope, not my thing.
The PJ/HoO universe being diverted from canon due to Harry's involvement. DUH!
Kronos — somehow — is Harry's god parent, so a Titan!Harry could be allowed too. Nope.
Forbidden:
Harry remaining the naïve, malleable wizard/demigod people wish him to be
Harry's main god parent being anything other that Olympian/Roman
Dumbledore and Tom as allies of Harry
Sirius and Remus abandoning Harry