A few days later in the moonlight painted the forest in silver. Auron's breath came in steady rhythm as he moved through the glade, every strike and parry tracing arcs of pale fire in the air.
The Hunt watched in silence.
He spun, staff sweeping through the darkness, each motion so precise that even Zoë Nightshade lieutenant of Artemis herself raised an approving brow.
"Your form has improved," she said as he halted, breathing evenly. "But you still move as though you fight a shadow only you can see."
Auron wiped his forearm across his brow, smiling faintly. "Perhaps I do."
Phoebe snorted. "Cryptic as ever. Is that an inherited trait from your mother or the mortal half of your brain?"
Auron chuckled. "Neither. It's called instinct."
He didn't explain further not that they would understand. What he called instinct was something older, deeper, a rhythm of existence that flowed through everything. He could feel it in the pulse of the wind, the tremor of life beneath the soil, the whisper of the stars themselves.
To Artemis's Hunt, it was merely one of his many divine gifts an unnatural sensitivity. But Auron knew it was something else entirely. Something from another life, another universe.
Later that night, under the cold gaze of the moon, Artemis herself joined them. Her silver eyes held both pride and caution as she watched her son sparring with Zoë.
"You've surpassed even my expectations," the goddess said softly when they finished. "Few could hold their own against Zoë for so long."
Zoë bowed her head slightly. "He learns quickly, my Lady. Too quickly, perhaps."
Auron arched a brow. "Is that a complaint?"
"A warning," Zoë replied. "Pride has undone many before you."
Artemis's lips curved faintly. "Spoken like one who has seen much."
Zoë inclined her head, but there was affection in her gaze. Despite her teasing, the Hunt treated Auron as one of their own a younger brother among immortal sisters. He had earned that place through sweat, respect, and shared blood under moonlight.
Phoebe tossed him a waterskin. "Drink, little godling. You've earned it."
Auron caught it with a grin. "Little? You forget, I'm taller than you now."
Phoebe scowled. "Enjoy it while it lasts. Immortality makes patience easy vengeance easier."
Laughter rippled through the Hunt. It was rare, but it made the forest feel alive.
For a while, Auron felt at peace.
That peace shattered with a tremor he couldn't explain.
It was subtle at first a flutter at the edge of awareness, like a heartbeat out of rhythm. Then it struck harder, a pulse of wrongness that made the air itself quiver.
Auron's eyes snapped open.
Zoë noticed instantly. "What is it?"
"Something broke," he said quietly. "Far to the west. A soul screamed."
Phoebe frowned. "A mortal?"
He shook his head. "No. Something... stranger."
Artemis appeared beside them, her bow materializing in a shimmer of light. "Show me."
Auron closed his eyes and extended his awareness not consciously invoking anything, just feeling. And there it was: a ripple of green light, sorrow, and death. The echo of a mother's love defying darkness.
He gasped and staggered back.
"What did you see?" Artemis asked sharply.
"A death. A curse. And a child who lived."
Zoë's expression hardened. "Where?"
"Britain," he whispered. "A mortal land drenched in strange magic."
Artemis hesitated, then nodded. "We go. Hunt, prepare yourselves."
Godric's Hollow, England , October 31st, 1981The night was shattered glass and ash.
Auron landed silently before a ruined cottage, the smell of smoke thick in the air. Zoë and Phoebe followed, cloaked in shadows.
Inside, the world had stopped breathing. The walls glowed faintly green, dust swirling through moonlight streaming from the broken ceiling.
Auron stepped forward. The woman lay still red hair bright even in death. Beside her, a man sprawled across the floor, wand fallen from his lifeless hand.
And the child… still alive.
Auron knelt, gathering the boy gently. "You shouldn't be here," he murmured. "And yet you are."
Behind him, Zoë whispered, "Mortals did this?"
"No," Auron said softly. "Something half-human, half-void. A creature that sought immortality and lost everything instead."
The remnants of that cursed soul still clung to the air, invisible to all but him. He could feel it hateful, broken.
Without a word, he extended his hand.
The very air hummed in response, the current of existence obeying his silent will. The shade screamed once, unheard, before unraveling into nothing.
When silence returned, Phoebe asked cautiously, "What now?"
Auron looked at the two bodies. His chest ached. "Now we honor them."
Back at the Hunt gathered beneath an ancient oak outside the mortal village. Artemis herself stood over the fallen couple, her expression unreadable.
"They died defending their child," Auron said quietly. "A courage even gods should respect."
He drew two golden drachmae from his pouch offerings forged in Olympus's forges, meant for heroes.
Kneeling beside the Potters, he placed one coin over each of their eyes. "So they may find peace in the Underworld and cross the river safely."
Artemis inclined her head in approval. "A noble gesture. The ferryman will honor them."
The Hunt sang softly a hymn old as moonlight, a song to guide the dead. Their voices carried across the night like wind over water.
When the flames of their pyre finally died, only embers and silver ash remained.
Auron turned, the small child asleep in his arms. "He has no one now," he said. "I won't leave him here."
Zoë frowned. "He is mortal, Auron."
"He's more than that. Fate clings to him like a storm that hasn't broken yet."
Phoebe sighed. "You'll bring trouble to the Hunt."
"Then I'll carry it myself."
Artemis studied her son for a long time. The moon's light reflected in her eyes not cold, but ancient. "You know the rules. Yet I will not forbid you."
Auron blinked in surprise.
Her voice softened. "The child lives because love refused to yield. That alone earns my respect. But know this his presence will change you, my son. Perhaps more than you expect."
Auron nodded solemnly. "Then let him change me."
Later, when the Hunt traveled back through the forest, the baby stirred and reached for the silver glow above him Artemis's light through the trees.
Phoebe smiled faintly. "He's not afraid."
"Of course not," Zoë murmured. "He's in the company of wolves and moonlight."
Auron looked down at the boy, heart heavy and full all at once. "You'll never be alone again, Harry Potter."
And far beyond the stars, ROB lounged in his cosmic chair, watching the scene play out through a goblet of starlight.
"Oh, you sentimental fool," he said with a grin. "You've just rewritten destiny itself. Let's see what the Fates do about this."
He snapped his fingers. The constellations rearranged themselves ever so slightly just enough to make the Moirai squint in confusion.
"Oh, this is going to be so much fun."