Professor Potter Ch. 17 (Harry Potter) (Patreon)

A/N: We meet this universe's Zatanna and find out what she seems to want~

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“Professor Potter.”

“Professor Zatara, thank you for accepting my invitation.”

“But of course, I would have been a fool not to.”

As they sit across his desk from one another in Harry’s office, he can’t help but assess the American Witch sat across from him. Zatanna Zatara, straight from the States. Or rather, the magical side of the States. The Magical Congress of the United States of America, otherwise known as MACUSA. A bit of a mouthful, but then, over here in Britain, they called their governing body the ‘Wizengamot’ of all things, so Harry wasn’t sure he had any room to remark.

Zatanna, of course, was a fully trained American Witch, straight from the Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry located on Mount Greylock in Massachusetts. More importantly, however, she and her other American colleagues were members of the Salem Witches’ Institute. A mixture of a higher place of learning for adult witches, and an organization that championed witches’ rights, it had been around since the time of the Salem Witch Trials… in fact, it had been created specifically as a counterbalance to that most heinous state of affairs.

Zatanna herself was beautiful, of course… one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen if Harry was being honest. Whether it was through beauty charms or a natural sort of beauty, he couldn’t say, but from her flowing black locks to her pretty eyes and her high cheekbones and full lips, Zatanna Zatara certainly had that look about her.

Of course, she also didn’t look entirely comfortable in her current wizarding robes. He wasn’t sure how they did it over in America, but it was obvious, at least to Harry’s eyes, that the Arithmancy Professor was trying to do her best to fit in… and not enjoying it one bit. Cocking his head to the side, he gestures to her magnanimously.

“There are no students around, Professor. If you wanted to get more comfortable, I would not mind.”

And then, to prove his point, Harry stands up and turns his wand on himself, vanishing the robes of his station and leaving just his shirt and a pair of comfortable jeans on underneath. Zatanna startles at the sudden dressing down, but then smiles warmly as she rises and takes out her own wand to do the same. Interestingly enough, her wand is like nothing he’s ever seen before. Long and glistening black, with a white tip to it. Did American Wizards and Witches have different wandmaking techniques? Or was it a personal style choice on Zatanna’s part?

As she moves her wand over herself, transfiguring her Professor’s Robes into something more her speed, Harry kills time by tapping his wand on the desk in front of him, sending a flash of intent over to the Hogwarts Kitchens. In an instant, a House Elf pops up at the side of the table, a steeping tea kettle in their hands as they set it down. Another House Elf appears as well, putting two teacups on either side of the kettle, directly in front of Harry and Zatanna. Both then bow to him in particular, before disappearing again.

When Harry looks over to Zatanna, its to find that she’s frozen for a second at the sight of the elves. Her mild surprise is appreciated because it gives him a chance to cover up his own shock at what she’s now wearing. The tuxedo jacket and white blouse are distinctly mannish in appearance… and yet, completely offset by the low-cut black leotard, fishnet stockings, and thigh high boots that encompass her lower half.

Even if Harry manages to recover from his surprise at around the same time that Zatanna is recovering from hers, it would be disingenuous… noticeably so, to not actually say anything. And so, when they next make eye contact, Harry raises an eyebrow and gestures to her entire ensemble as they both retake their seats.

“That is… certainly the get-up, Professor.”

Smiling a carefree smile, Zatanna sits down, and crosses one fishnet covered leg over the other, flicking her hair back over her shoulder. For a moment, she almost seems incomplete, and Harry feels like he can just imagine the top hat that should be perched atop her head to finish the ensemble. But no, she’s got nothing in the way of headwear as she lets out a breathy little chuckle.

“Expectations being what they are in a place with as much history as Hogwarts, I truly haven’t been able to let my hair down since arriving, Professor Potter. You have my thanks.”

Seeing an opportunity, Harry inclines his head while also leaning forward to serve her tea.

“Of course. And please, call me Harry. How do you prefer your tea?”

“Honey, please. And only if you call me Zatanna.”

As he adds the honey to Zatanna’s freshly poured teacup, before pouring his own tea, Harry chuckles. Leaning back in his chair, teacup and saucer in hands, he takes a sip before giving the gorgeous American woman a broad smile.

“But of course, Zatanna. Honestly, I don’t know why we didn’t do this earlier.”

“Because your Headmistress wanted us Americans as a stopgap measure but wasn’t willing to let us actually get close to you.”

Zatanna Zatara’s matter-of-fact admission comes completely out of left field, even as it’s delivered in that same cheery, altogether friendly voice that she’s used so far. Harry avoids spraying his tea everywhere, but it’s a nearer thing then he would prefer, even as he leans back in his chair even further and gives the Arithmancy Professor a long, measured look. Zatanna’s eyes twinkle as she gazes right back at him, the older (but not too much older) witch smirking slightly.

“Ah, sorry, did I say the quiet part out loud? I’ve been told I have a bad habit of doing so. Speaking my mind and what not. It’s an American thing.”

Leaning forward and placing her cup of tea and saucer back down on the table, Zatanna looks Harry dead in the eye.

“I do have to wonder what’s changed though. I’m well aware that the Headmistress has been struggling to maintain the barrier between you and the rest of the faculty in the manner she wanted… what she was attempting was never going to last forever, and not even in the long term. But I will say, I was a little surprised when I received your invitation, Harry.”

Considering for a moment how to respond, Harry finally just shrugs.

“As soon as I was aware of the yoke upon me, I shrugged it off. That is not to say I bear Andromeda any ill will, just to be clear. The grandmother of my godson was just doing what she thought was best for me. But… we’ve reached an understanding. I’ve had enough of both Headmasters and Headmistresses trying to direct and control me to last me a lifetime.”

Zatanna listens carefully to what he’s saying, nodding thoughtfully as he explains. When he’s done, she smiles brightly at him, eyes filled with excitement.

“So then, you’re taking matters into your own hands now? Not going to let the Headmistress coddle you anymore, but also not going to just let the Lodge have its way with you either?”

He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised that Zatanna knew all about the Lodge of Sorceresses. Sure, she was American, and they were European, but just because the MACUSA was younger than the European Wizarding World by several centuries did not mean they were children. Indeed, Zatanna was quick as a whip from what he’d seen so far, and very fast on the uptake. Nodding, Harry sighs.

“That’s right. Which is why I asked to meet with you, Zatanna. I hoped to find out exactly what it is the American Contingent at Hogwarts is hoping for from all of this. I know why Andromeda called upon you to take up your positions here in the castle… but I don’t know what you all want from those positions. If its within my power to help you, then I would be interested in a mutually beneficial arrangement of some sort.”

When he’d chosen to start with the Americans, and thus reach out to the Arithmancy Professor that now sat across from him, Harry HAD in fact considered taking his plans to their extremes. That is, if he was going to start from the bottom, then really, he should have approached Zatanna’s assistant Raven first, and tried to suborn her.

But, while he KNEW that the Lodge was out to get him, to control him, to take away his agency, he had no clue what the Americans wanted. Approaching Raven when he was a Professor, and she was just an Assistant Professor had smacked of an inequal power dynamic. He didn’t want to create enemies where they didn’t already exist.

And so here he was, having always intended to have a frank, upfront conversation with Zatanna Zatara. Still, the Arithmancy Professor had surprised him when she’d been the one to confront him instead of the other way around. She definitely didn’t beat around the bush, and he quite liked that about her. He hoped they could get along… in the end, it all came down to what her and the others wanted.

“Well, your first mistake is treating us as a monolith, Harry. As I’m sure you already know, not even the Lodge is entirely united in their desires, plans, and goals. Well, neither are we. Mine and Raven’s reasons for being here at Hogwarts are not the same as Pamela and Harleen. Those two… in spite of our shared connection via the Salem Witches’ Institute, we aren’t what I would call friends. Their ultimate goals are not something I can speak to with any true level of expertise, if I’m being honest.”

Harry can only concede the point, dipping his head in appreciation of Zatanna’s matter-of-fact tone. It was a sign of how far he still had to go that she had to spell it out for him like that. Of course, the American Contingent wouldn’t be a monolith. He’d been foolish to assume they would be. Still, from the sound of things…

“But you and your assistant Raven… you want the same things, is that it?”

Zatanna’s answering smile is somewhat coy.

“Well done, Harry. Yes, Raven and I are at Hogwarts for the same reasons. Specifically, we’re here for her. Tell me, what do you know about my assistant?”

Harry hums at that. He hadn’t gone into this completely blind… but at the same time, there wasn’t as much information as he would have liked. In the end, he decided to be honest.

“… Not much, I’ll admit. She’s closer to my age, yes?”

“Indeed. As for her tale… it’s a tragic one. Raven is a product of illegal magical experimentation. Her mother, one of the most brilliant witches of her time, made several mistakes in her early adult life. One of these mistakes was to fall in love with a wizard who had already allowed himself to become steeped in the Dark Arts.”

The mention of the very thing Harry was teaching defense against causes him to stiffen, even as Zatanna nods with a sad smile.

“Raven, through no fault of her own, has long struggled with her magic and her mind. There have been people calling for her death, or if not that, her imprisonment, or if not that, her neutralization, all her life. They want her dead, or they want her locked up, or they want her magic to be stripped away from her, regardless of what that would likely do to her soul and mind.”

Zatanna is getting worked up as she goes on, until she forcibly calms herself down, taking a deep breath before continuing.

“… Luckily, cooler heads have prevailed. My father, the Headmaster of Ilvermorny for a time, and an influential figure in the MACUSA, was good friends with Raven’s mother. After everything that happened, he practically raised Raven as his own, and to me, she is my little sister regardless of our blood relation.”

When Zatanna pauses again, this time she looks like she’s starting to get worked up again, a grimace stretching across her features as her lips purse together.

“Unfortunately, my father is no longer around to hold the dogs back. And my own influence is not nearly enough to keep his opponents and Raven’s greatest detractors from baying for her blood. What she needs… what we need, is a cure. A cure that we hoped to find here, in Britain. If not in the Hogwarts Library, than in a Family Library. One such as yours, for instance. Which, with the joining of House Potter and House Black under your name, might just be the greatest library in all of Great Britain, and even the known world.”

Oh. Well, when she put it like that… Harry takes a long moment to process everything Zatanna has told him. Pamela Isley and Harleen Quinzel might still be utter unknowns, but he now knows exactly why Zatanna and Raven are here at Hogwarts. Even better, he has the ability to help them, doesn’t he?

The only thing is… would giving them access to the Black and Potter Family Libraries really be the smartest thing to do?

“I imagine your Headmistress has, in part, been stymying us from petitioning you directly for access to your knowledge because she fears we will find what we need and go home. If it helps, that is neither Raven nor I’s desire at this point in time. America… America will always be my home, but I no longer long to return to it. Raven is all I have left, and I am all she has left as well. Even if we do manage to cure her, going back to America will no doubt bring my father’s enemies down upon our heads regardless.”

Leaning forward, Zatanna licks her ruby red lips and gives Harry a determined look.

“You are looking for allies. Help us, and we will be those allies. Raven will follow my lead… whatever you require of us, we will do it if you can help me cure her.”

Staring across the desk at the American Witch, Harry doesn’t for one second doubt Zatanna Zatara’s earnestness. She means every word of it. She’ll do anything, to help her adopted sister. And Harry was… well, he was the gatekeeper currently standing in the way of the most likely chance for that help to materialize. He couldn’t have asked for a better situation to find himself in. Zatanna and Raven needed him as much, if not more than he needed them.

It was also a bit of a wake up call. The combined libraries of House Potter and House Black… hm, just how many of the women in the castle right now were looking for access to the same exact thing? How many in the Lodge wanted access to the knowledge that Harry held the key to? What exactly were they willing to do to him… or even for him, to get it?

In Zatanna’s case, Harry didn’t doubt that she was a good woman in a bad situation who cared deeply for her sister. The only question left to ask himself was… how was he going to go about this?

He could go for the soft sell, and just accept Zatanna’s offer for an alliance in exchange for access to the combined library of magical knowledge he was now sitting on. But that wouldn’t exactly build the relationship he was hoping to build.

He could go for the hard sell, and push for Zatanna to PROVE her loyalty to him. Just based on how relaxed in dress she was willing to get with him, he somehow didn’t think she would mind it too much. He was not a selfish lover by any means.

But then, regardless of the soft or hard sell, there was also a question of what degree of help he should give them. Was just access enough? Or should he concentrate his somewhat meager amount of free time on helping them find the cure among the gathered knowledge of his and his godfather’s families?

Either way, this was it. No more handholding, no more coddling, no Andromeda to act as a buffer for him anymore. From now on, his decisions were ALL his own, and he was in control of what happened next…