章 554: A Not so Happy Christmas

"And THIS is Apocrypha." Alex said to Riveria as he brought her into the realm of knowledge.

"Amazing..." The elven Princess uttered as she beheld the realm devoted entirely to the acquisition, preservation, and distribution of knowledge.

There was a sinister feel to the air that was only strengthened by the endless sea of roiling greenish ink, the twisting towers of stacked books, and the tentacles that extended down from the vortexes within the green clouded skies.

"!!!"

She was suddenly on the alert though, as a disgusting monster with a face full of tentacles, and a sideways mouth filled with razor sharp teeth on its abdomen appeared.

"Easy." Alex said while sticking a hand out to pacify her.

"They're called Seekers, Daedra that serve the master of this realm. They are the ones who actually go forth into the world to collect knowledge, though people never notice them due to their ability to hide themselves. They will also guard the knowledge in Apocrypha, dealing with anyone who attempts to steal or destroy any of it with extreme prejudice."

As Alex spoke, the Seekers bowed their heads to him respectfully before carrying on with their duties. They may obey Saya as the Warden of Apocrypha, but Alex was still their true master.

"I see..." Riveria said as she watched the Seekers depart. "But if that is all, can you kindly remove your hand?"

It was only then that Alex looked back to see that, when he'd stuck his hand out, he had accidentally ended up groping her breast. Even then, Alex's hand instinctively squeezed a couple times, before obeying his command to release her bosom.

"Thank you." Riveria said in a tense voice. Though Alex noticed her ears were fairly red from the contact. It was understandable though, since as far as he was aware elves hated to touched by others.

"Anyways!" Alex said suddenly to change the topic. "This is the starting point of one of the numerous trials within Apocrypha. To pass it you'll have to overcome numerous dangerous foes, traps, and challenging puzzles. Make it through all that though, and you'll obtain permanent access to the Institute as Saya likes to call it."

"The Institute?" Riveria parroted.

"Yes. It's a large castle in the center of Apocrypha that acts as the true storage for all of the knowledge kept here. You'll be able to find some snippets through your trials, but for true access to everything we have you'll have to pass them."

As he explained that, Alex conjured a projection of the castle that dominated the center of Apocrypha, which seemed a lot more inviting than the small island in the sea of ink they were on now.

"This seems like a lot of effort to go through." She commented.

"Perhaps. But we're also talking about unfettered access to any form of knowledge across several realms. I don't know how the magic system in your world works specifically, but you'll be able to learn about any form of magic across numerous universes just from completing a few trials.

"Not to mention that we don't only horde knowledge related to magic. How would you like to learn the weakness of every single monster recorded within the Dungeon? Peek at every single sketch regarding the layout of its explored floors? Or perhaps you'd like to get physical? We also have hundreds of texts regarding hand-to-hand combat for staves like your own. With our records constantly expanding, the amount of knowledge you could learn is literally endless."

As he spoke Alex pressed one of his fingers against Riveria's forehead, startling her from the sudden contact, before a wealth of knowledge flowed into her mind. Everything he had mentioned and more flowed into her mind right then, making her awestruck as she tried to analyze it, before Alex retracted his finger.

In an instant the flow of knowledge vanished, and Riveria could feel every little bit of it trickling from her mind despite how hard she tried to cling to it. But it was as futile as trying to keep water from slipping between one's fingers.

"Think it's worth it now?" Alex asked her. To which Riveria jerked her head once in a nod, before she set out to challenge her own trial.

Alex watched her for a moment before vanishing from his place, reappearing within the Institute where hundreds of people were wandering about in their search of knowledge.

As he had told Riveria, the topics of knowledge they had within Apocrypha was quite literally endless, and was sought after by all.

There was knowledge about thousands of different martial styles, which was sought after by many a great warrior. Alex even spied several Saiyans that were studying such styles, some barehanded, most armed with all manner of weapons. There were even combat arts involving combat with firearms.

There was knowledge about every single kind of craft known to mortal and divine kind, from knitting, sewing, pottery, smithing, woodworking, and many more. There was even hordes of knowledge for 'mundane' things like cleaning and cooking, as well as an entire section dedicated to arts of a more seductive or perverse nature.

And Saya had personally designed hundreds of different trials for every single one of them, no matter their profession or background. From the most accomplished royal or knight, to the lowest of serfs and beggars. All who desired knowledge were welcome here if they could pass the trials she set before them.

"Dragon Emperor." One Saiyan said to Alex respectfully, his arms full of the copied scrolls Alex made of the Fist of Flowing Water Crushing Rock style he'd received as a reward previously.

The same thing happened repeatedly as Alex wandered through the Institute, and he returned every greeting he got as he made his way to Saya's quarters. Before he even got there Alex could sense several people inside conversing, until Saya said as he got to the door, "Alex is here."

The door then opened on its own to reveal Saya, Rei and Saeko all gathered together.

"Hello ladies~! Not bad mouthing me, are we?" He asked playfully.

"Only how I wasn't invited to your little orgy." Saya replied with a wronged tone.

"You could've shown up at any time." Alex pointed out.

"Maybe... But then we wouldn't get our own little orgy to ourselves~." Saya purred as she waved her hand, and her clothes disappeared along with both Rei and Saeko's.

"Oh dear~!" Alex said with mock surprise, before a chair appeared behind him as Saya waved her hand yet again.

He then sat down as all three girls approached him with desire in their eyes, and their breasts swaying hypnotically. Both Rei and Saya approached Alex from the front, their hands going to the waistband of his shorts before they proceeded to pull them down to reveal his hardening dick.

Saeko on the other hand went around behind Alex to start massaging him like Freya had been earlier, smooshing her breasts against his shoulder as she did so.

"By the way~" She purred into his ear while her hands trailed down his chest.

"Before you go later~" Rei continued as she knelt down between his legs.

"We each want one of those dicks you were passing around earlier~." Saya finished as she crawled into Alex's lap, before sliding herself down the entire length of his dick.

"Is that so?" Alex asked with a cocked brow and a smirk.

Every one of the dicks he'd created earlier had all disappeared with the girls after their orgy was finished, but even now Alex could feel the sensations every single one was being subjected to.

Some were being used to practice blowjobs, others were put somewhere safe for later 'use'. But there were also a few that several of Alex's wives had inserted into themselves and were walking around as if there was nothing unusual. Tio in particular had inserted one in both her ass and pussy in place of her usual toys.

But even with all of that, Alex put his focus on the sensations he was feeling now, as Saya moved up and down his dick, Rei suckled on his balls, and Saeko gave his body a sensual rub down.

"I suppose I can part with a few more." He said with feigned reluctance.

All of a sudden the chair Alex was sitting in reclined backwards, allowing him to lean back and relax as all three of the beautiful women serviced him.

***

Meanwhile, in Alexandria outside of the space-time orb...

"Step right up!"

"You don't want to miss this!"

"It's the chance of a lifetime!"

Suzu, Risa and Kiryuu all declared one after another to the growing crowd of women.

They were all their regular customers that bought merchandise from the Dragon Dick Dildo collection, and they had all gathered in the dead of night after receiving an urgent message from the perverted trio.

"What is it?" Asked one woman, who was actually one of the Angels of Heaven that lived in Asora.

"Whatever it is, it must be really good to call us out at this time!" Said another woman, one of the Yuuki-Onna from Yukiguni.

The entire group of women were from nearly every single race throughout Asora, and had a collection of backgrounds as housewives, nobility, priestesses, and even older students from the Academy.

"You have no idea!" Risa declared to the Yuuki-Onna woman, before she, Suzu and Kiryuu all removed the cloth covering their new products for everyone to see.

And what they all saw there was a row of dicks that sat upright on a bunch of stools, all incredibly life-like in their appearance, but appearing all floppy and flaccid.

"Introducing the newest product of the Dragon Dick Dildo collection!"

"The most life-like dildo ever created!"

"It's so realistic, you'd think you were using an actual penis!"

"""The Master Dick!"""

The crowd of women all gazed at the row of penises curiously as the perverted trio posed dramatically.

"Perhaps a demonstration is needed." Risa coughed lightly, before she proceeded to walk up to the row of penises herself, stripping as she did so.

They had strict policies about those they sold their products to, so there was only women present while a combination of spells and artifacts kept any wandering eyes or men from seeing what they were doing.

So there was no hesitation in Risa as she exposed herself before the crowd of women before moving around to the backside of the row so they could see what she was doing. She then proceeded to open her mouth wide, and swallowed the entire flaccid dick whole while her chin rested against the balls.

As she did this she could feel it growing even larger from the stimulation, before she had no choice but to remove it from her mouth. And as she move her head back, more and more of the penis slid out from her lips, now slick with saliva and standing upright.

"As you can see, the Master Dick is unlike any other dildo in the world! It goes from flaccid to erect, emits heat, and even throbs like it has a pulse! If it weren't a dildo, you'd think it was a real penis!" Suzu continued energetically, and with each passing moment the surrounding women grew increasingly excited.

Risa then proceeded to give them a proper demonstration, as she mounted the penis before the entire crowd of women and rode it energetically. Kiryuu even helped as she grabbed another of the penises, and readied it with her own mouth before plunging it into Risa's ass.

The crowd of women watched with increasing interest as Risa rode the two dildos for all she was worth, her expression twisting into ecstasy that wasn't at all fake for their crowd. No, the only thing that would've made the current situation better for her was if it were Alex himself pounding her.

Risa continued riding the dicks in front of the crowd of women for several minutes, before reaching her release as they released as well inside her. For a moment afterwards she could only sit there, gasping for breath while her skin glistened in the moonlight.

When Risa did climb up off of the dicks, she proceeded to bend over and spread her ass for everyone to see as Suzu shined a light in the place that no light was supposed to shine. Doing so, she illuminated the white fluid leaking from both her pussy and butthole.

"And finally, the Master Dick also ejaculates, just like a real penis!" Kiryuu declared to their crowd, who now had stars in their eyes as they looked at the row of dicks.

"I'll take one!"

"I'll take TWO!"

"Don't forget about me!"

Soon the women were practically tripping over themselves to buy one first so they could race home with it, but Risa quickly intervened.

"Ah ah ah! Supplies are limited, and these five are the only ones we have available right now. However, for those of you who HAVE to have one, we will be auctioning off three of them tonight!"

A competitive light filled the eyes of the women as Suzu picked up a stool and brought it forward for everyone to see the item clearly, before Kiryuu declared, "now then, who wants to start the bidding?!"

***

"Hm?" Alex hummed lightly as he wandered the halls of the Institute, feeling an unusual sensation on his nether regions.

"I hope no one is doing anything they aren't supposed to be doing." He said out loud to no one in particular, as Alex could definitely see some of the girls 'experimenting' in some way.

Currently he was wandering the Institute after leaving a very satisfied Saya, Rei, and Saeko behind. And as he wandered, Alex would provide helpful hints, tips, and ideas to those who were using the Institute's facilities.

He had planned to stop in to see how Megumin was doing in her research, but apparently she was gone at the moment. A quick check showed him she was currently testing out some of the Explosion based magic and skills she had learned from their stores.

Apparently the main way she had to build up points in the Chatroom shop was to not only learn different methods of Explosion, but to also apply them in the field against monsters. And as a true disciple of Explosion, she was learning every single variation of the art she could, regardless of if she had the skills or reserves to use it.

Similarly, both Veronica and Serena were absent as well. Apparently they took their leave after posting the picture of the two of them to Chatroom of him, also to test out some new spells they had learned in the Institute.

That left one final option as far as the girls that usually spent most of their time here.

"Hello?" Alex called out as he entered one of the rooms specializing in elemental magic.

"Hm? Oh. It's you." Hermione said when she realized it was Alex that had arrived.

"Such a warm greeting." Alex said teasingly, which she then turned up her nose at. Apparently she was still pissed about the accidental blowjob she gave him from last time.

Hermione however just snorted at him as she buried her nose in her book. She only had a few pages of it left. She was also annoyed at Alex because of the earlier activity on the Chatroom.

Part of the reason she was so irritated with Alex as a whole was because she felt as if he could do so much MORE if he could just pull his mind out of the gutter. Every time he indulged in shagging or erotic plays, there was someone else out there he could be helping. His Chatroom was the perfect example with how much it could change people's lives, yet he basically just used it for an exclusive porno expressway for him and his wives.

He was obnoxious when he could be kind!

He was infuriating when he could be understanding!

He was incredibly handsome, and good at snogging!

"!!!"

Hermione's entire face suddenly heated up so much, that someone could probably cook an egg on her skin at that moment as she recalled the earlier two incidents with Alex. When he'd snogged her in the bath, and the 'other' thing as well.

*BANG!*

An impact echoed throughout the room as she slammed her hands on the table before her, and turned away from Alex while grabbing several of the books she had been reading.

"I'm done with these!" She declared, keeping her back to him as she approached the rows of shelves to return the books to their place.

"I hadn't noticed." Alex said with a cocky smirk, one that made her heart flutter when she glanced at him briefly.

Damn it!

What was going on with her!?!

Harry was supposed to be the one for her! Everyone said they matched each other so well!

Yet here she was, her heart fluttering for some other man despite spending years in a relationship with him!

But, if Hermione thought about it, it had mostly been Harry's aunt pushing their relationship even years before their first kiss.

Rose Evans had been the one to drop little hints here and there, which were really obvious now that Hermione looked back at them. She'd been the one to encourage her and Harry to spend time with one another, even going as far as to arrange numerous visits over the summer break.

But why?

That question had been bugging Hermione ever since she realized that everything was not what it seemed in her and Harry's relationship.

The only answer she'd been able to arrive at, was that Rose wanted Hermione to act as camouflage for her and Harry's secret relationship. It was a realization that left her with more questions than answers though, since Rose had been trying to put the two of them together ever since their first year. When both Harry and Hermione had been only eleven!

Slowly, Hermione forgot about her earlier embarrassment and frustration as she forced her mind to think about other things, such as the motives behind Harry's aunt. And the entire time her body moved on its own as she mechanically put the books she'd been reading back in their place.

Alex watched in amazement as Hermione worked, surprised she'd been able to bury her obvious embarrassment from earlier so easily. He really wanted to know what she was thinking about to do so.

Hermione's mind was so occupied, that Alex realized she hadn't noticed just how unstable the ladder she was using at one point was, which he hurriedly stepped forward to stabilize.

"Be careful Hermione." He said up to her, which she either ignored as well, or really didn't hear him with how occupied her mind was.

As he glanced up at her though, Alex half surprised(mostly unsurprised) to see that he was able to look up her robes. And while normally it would be too dark for anyone to see anything, with how thick and long the robes were, Alex's eyes could clearly make out the cute cotton panties that covered Hermione's pubic mound and rump.

"Hey Hermione." Alex called up to her again, only to receive no answer.

'Ok then, don't say I didn't try to warn you.' Alex thought to himself, as he decided to shamelessly admire the view the young witch was unintentionally providing him with.

But then, right as Hermione started to climb down...

*RIIIIIIIP!*

All of her clothes were suddenly shredded.

Scratch that, NEARLY all of her clothes. Her robes, panties, and the matching bra were all definitely gone, but her shoes and white stockings were still there.

Alex barely had enough to recall what Hestia had told him earlier, about how the penalty for not sending a picture on the Chatroom, or one that wasn't provocative enough, was to be randomly subjected to Dress Break. But, even as his mind realized what had happened....

"KYAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

Hermione screamed as a result of her sudden nakedness.

Without realizing it, she let go of the ladder to cover herself instinctively, only to fall backwards.

"I've got you." Alex said as he raised his arms to catch her in a princess carry.

"NOOO!" Hermione shrieked as waved her wand frantically while falling.

Random bolts of magic went flying, knocking over bookshelves and rebounding around the room randomly. The next thing Alex knew, he'd lost feeling in most of his body as several of the spells hit him, though they hadn't worked before.

While he lost control and feeling in most of his body, Alex could still move from his neck up. Which he used to look up just in time to see Hermione's ass come down on his face.

Thankfully Hermione wasn't a giant, so Alex didn't end up with his whole body inside yet ANOTHER woman. But his face was buried between her asscheeks as she knocked them both to the ground.

As the two of them crumpled in a heap on the floor, so too did hundreds of books along with the entire bookshelf.

"Protego!" Hermione cried to keep them from falling on top of them, producing a circular sphere of bluish magic around them.

The books came raining down onto the shield, and it held against the impact and the their weight. But when the bookcase itself came down on top, the shield shattered so that Alex and Hermione were buried under them all.

"Damn!" She swore, though she was uninjured thanks to her shield taking all the hard hits.

"Damn..." Alex said, as if in agreement. But his eyes were focused entirely on the sight before him.

Even buried under all the books, he had a perfect view of the smooth and pristine slit running between Hermione's legs, topped by a tiny wrinkled crown.

"W-what are you looking at!?!" Hermione demanded when she felt something tickle her down 'there'.

"Something beautiful." Alex answered, his breath tickling her some more.

"!!!"

"Don't look!" She shrieked.

"Impossible! I can't move thanks to your spells, so I'll look as much as I want!" Alex declared, dumbfounding Hermione at his shamelessness. Not that it was anything new.

So, instead of relying on Alex to get the two of them out, she decided to do it herself.

"..."

Hermione strained to lift herself up through the books, but with the weight of the bookcase also bearing down onto them, it was impossible. Harry was the jock of the two, she was just a bookworm.

Instead, Hermione apparently shifted the books just enough that they forced her down even more. Now, instead of just being able to see her precious place, it was instead being pressed directly into Alex's face.

"!!!"

Hermione's entire body jerked when she felt that, before she heard Alex say something. Except it was muffled due to where his mouth currently was.

Before she could decipher what it was he said though.

"!!!"

Hermione felt something wet and warm push INTO her, making her entire body shudder involuntarily.

"Don't-!" She half screamed, but Alex didn't stop. And with a growing sense of urgency, Hermione began trying to locate where her wand had fallen to in this chaos.

Alex meanwhile was making the most of the current situation.

As far as he was concerned this was all Hermione's fault. The books and shelves collapsing onto them, his not being able to move. Even her nakedness since she had been unable to send even a single picture to avoid it.

So, even if it was at her expense, he decided to enjoy himself while waiting for either her to get them out of there, or for the feeling to return to his body.

Sure, he could've quickly fixed everything with magic or telekinesis, but where was the lesson in that? Plus, it was a lot less fun.

Instead, Alex busied himself burying his tongue further and further into her virgin slit, sending waves of pleasure that were completely foreign to Hermione through her body. From what he could tell through his powers, she'd never even masturbated before either.

Her body was as pure as pure could be.

So as the minutes passed, and Hermione shrieked all sorts of obscenities at him that never would've escaped her mouth otherwise, Alex continued to explore her folds with his tongue.

He traced her labia, circled her clit as it slowly exposed itself, and delved into her depths. All while filling his mouth with her taste, and lapping up all the juices she had begun to leak.

Even as he explored her folds and brought her to unknown heights of pleasure, Alex made sure to never let Hermione climax.

It wouldn't be fair to her if her first time cumming was while they were both trapped by a mountain of books and a bookshelf. So Alex continued to play with her while taking brief breaks when she was about to go over the edge.

The longer Alex played with her, the more sensitive Hermione started to become though. It soon even got to the point that one targeted lick was enough to bring her to the edge.

By this point Alex had regained some feeling in his fingers, but not enough to do more than twitch them a little bit. But with how sensitive Hermione's pussy had become, it was harder for him to tease her without her cumming almost instantly. So Alex decided to switch gears as she stretched his neck a little bit.

Hermione meanwhile was absolutely livid!

Never before had she ever been so ashamed, humiliated, furious, and completely turned on!

Though she had never even wanked before, Hermione knew what was happening to her as Alex used his tongue to tease and play with her muff. And even worse, she could feel the rising pressure within her body as Alex would bring her to the point of climaxing, only to leave her hanging before resuming his assault.

If not for her pride, Hermione would've just screamed at Alex to let her cum already to end this torment. But what he did next was infinitely worse.

"!!!"

"WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING!?!" She screamed when the slimy appendage that had previously been exploring her muff, moved across her back door.

The humiliation she'd felt before multiplied as Hermione felt Alex's tongue exploring every single wrinkle and crevice of her bum, gradually saturating it in his saliva. And even that was nothing compared to when she felt him press his tongue INTO her bumhole to explore her bowels.

And yet again she hurled an endless stream of insults and curses at him about how filthy and disgusting he was, all the while not knowing Alex already used magic to clean her back there earlier.

The minutes ticked by as Alex explored Hermione's ass, saturating it more and more as he worked. And even worse, as the minutes stretched on, Hermione began to feel the bud of pleasure forming as he continued.

She was so distracted by what Alex was doing to her bum, that Hermione hadn't even noticed that had regained enough movement in his arms that his fingers had begun to play with her muff as well.

Soon they were once again playing the game where Alex would build the pleasure up within her body, only to deny her release at the last possible second. And Hermione had also stopped hurling insults and curses at Alex, instead biting her lip for fear of some other sound escaping her mouth.

As he worked her lower body, Alex had steadily moved and regained use of his entire body until he could even wiggle his toes without effort.

Hermione however was too distracted by what Alex was doing to her muff and bum to notice though. Even when he started using Telekinesis to lift the books and bookshelf up off of them, Hermione only noticed when light from the room shined into her eyes yet again.

She watched as the room returned to its original state automatically, before she was suddenly moving.

The next thing Hermione knew, she was being pressed up against the now upright bookshelf, with Alex's hands on her ankles to lift into a pose where her legs were completely spread while her feet were up by her head.

Her chest heaved as she looked into Alex's eyes for the first time since he entered the room, her hands grabbing the shelf behind her for added support. Even when she felt something hot and hard pressing against her muff, she couldn't look away from Alex's eyes.

"Please..." She pleaded in a small voice, before Alex sealed her mouth with his own.

For a moment the two of them remained like that, Hermione unable to do anything while Alex assaulted her mouth with the tongue that had been inside her bum moments prior, and rubbed his length up and down her muff.

But then, he separated his mouth from hers and whispered, "don't worry. I'm not going to take your virginity today."

Relief flowed through Hermione that she wasn't about to be deflowered here and now, so much so that she hadn't realized Alex said 'today'.

"!!!"

Her relief was short-lived though, when Alex positioned the head of penis against her backdoor, both of which were nice and lubed by this point.

"Don't you daAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARE!" Hermione screamed mid sentence, as Alex thrusted his entire length inside her bum, and she experienced her first ever orgasm.

***

"""Happy Christmas!"""

Everyone around the table cheered as they toasted before their holiday meal, a fairly large group all based within the kitchen of Potter manor.

Attending were, of course, the Potters, Fleamont and Euphemia, the formerly 'notorious mass murderer', Sirius Black, a werewolf by the name of Remus Lupin, Harry James Potter, the Boy Who Lived, Rose Evans, the youngest headmistress in the entire history of Hogwarts, and then the Evans couple, her parents.

"So how was it Harry? A good Christmas?" Sirius asked his godson with a fatherly look.

"Of course. I don't know why, but I always enjoy it when everyone gets together like this." Harry said as he looked around at those gathered at the table, his grandparents on both his father and mother's sides, his godfather, and the close family friend, Remus.

Of course he was also especially glad for the company of his aunt, who he saw more as an older sister, Rose. Though, their relationship wasn't entirely familial. In fact, it was made even more taboo due to her looking exactly like his mother did with fiery red hair, and piercing green eyes.

Even now, Harry was looking forward to his second gift from Rose, which he'd get later that night after everyone went to bed.

The only downer though, was that Hermione wasn't present despite making plans to spend the holiday with them. Instead, they had found a letter stating that she had a family emergency, and neither Harry nor Rose had heard from her since.

*tap tap tap*

"Oh! I'll get it!" Rose stated as she rose from her seat to collect the message from the owl tapping at the window. As she walked out of the dining room though, Harry, Sirius and Remus all watched her rear closely as it swayed seductively.

They all knew she was doing It on purpose to drive them up the wall, and it was working as all three men anticipated what was going to come at night.

The moment Rose left the dining room she stopped swaying her ass as she approached the window the Potters used for owl mail. It was usually left open, but currently it was night in the middle of winter. Obviously it was closed.

Standing on the perch outside of it though was a large male Snowy Owl, a letter tied to its leg.

Rose quickly opened the window and retrieved the letter, what she hoped was a response from Hermione regarding how her holiday, and family, were going.

"Thank you Blizzard." She said while petting his head affectionately, before tossing him one of the owl treats the Potters kept by the window.

Blizzard gave her a hoot of affirmation after he finished his treat, before turning and flying off to hunt. He had barely taken off though, when Rose had closed the window and opened the letter. Only, it didn't say anything that she'd remotely been expecting.

...

Headmistress Rose,

We are terribly sorry, but Hermione is not here at the moment, nor have we heard from her since shortly before the holiday break began. The last we heard she was spending the holiday with you and your family.

Our health is fine, thank you. But please confirm to us the wellbeing of our daughter so that it may remain so, lest we grow sick with worry if no one knows where she is.

Sincerely,

The Grangers

Ps. We also sent everyone lovely sugarless cakes and pastries for the holiday, but through the 'muggle' mail as Hermione calls it. Please let us know what you all think.

...

Both Rose's mind and heart raced as she read the letter.

Hermione was missing!?!

How could this have happened!?!

Rose's mind raced as she tried to think back to any possible signs that she might've missed, but none popped out at her.

She needed to investigate.

"I'm terribly sorry!" Rose exclaimed as she hurried back into the dining room.

"An issue has popped up that I must attend to, so I cannot stay for dinner." She told them all, resulting in numerous crestfallen faces.

"Are you sure dear?" Mrs. Evans asked worriedly.

"Sadly, yes. It's nothing too terrible, but I have to go now." Rose answered, not mentioning any details.

"Do you need help?" Remus asked, already standing to assist her if need be.

"No no, I can handle it." She assured him.

"I'll make sure to come back for leftovers, so save me some." She called back to them as she left the room again, before exiting the manor altogether.

Even as snowflakes fell around her, Rose hadn't faltered as she pulled her wand from her robes, and waved it to vanish them altogether to expose her naked body to the freezing winter air.

Also exposed was a series of Celtic tattoos that ran up her arm from the top of her right hand, to her bicep where they changed to show four different animals, before going up her shoulder and then down the right side of her body and leg. The line of tattoos only ended when they got to the bottom of her foot, completing her connection to the earth.

They were the result of her first 'cheat' when she had been reincarnated into this world, the power of a Druid from the Iron Druid Chronicles series.

Thanks to this 'cheat', Rose was able to draw near-limitless power from the earth itself, and take one for four different animal forms, a predator form, a hoofed form, an aquatic form, and a flying form. The main strength of this 'cheat' though, came in the power of Bindings and Unbinding.

Through her Druidic powers, Rose was capable of binding or Unbinding nearly any physical or magical construct in the world. It made her the most powerful curse breaker in the world, and allowed her to reduce Voldemort's Horcruxes into mere trinkets within seconds.

The downsides of this 'cheat' though was that she could only draw power from the earth when she had contact with it, meaning she was cut off when she was flying, or on artificial ground like pavement or stone. Her bindings as well were useless to fight directly against any living creature, as if she even attempted to create any bindings to inflict pain, or Unbinding a living being into their baser elements, she would be killed on the spot.

The pros from this power far outweighed the cons though, as it made Rose one of the strongest witches on the entire planet. Plus if she needed to hurt or kill someone, there was always her wand and the Unforgivables.

(A.N. Truth be told, I REALLY want to do a HP fanfic where the mc is a Druid from the Iron Druid Chronicles. But I don't have the time, especially since I'm already working on two novels)

Her other 'cheats' had been Death Attribute magic from the Death Mage series, which Rose had used to preserve the lives of the Potters and the Evans past their original expiration. It was the reason Harry was able to have a happy life this time, unlike in the actual series.

But it had also allowed her to unlock powerful abilities, like destroying or consuming souls. A particularly useful ability when she dealt with the Horcruxes, which allowed her to consume Voldemort's soul fragments and gain his strength and powers.

Her third original 'cheat' had been from the same Death Mage series, which was the status system used in it. Through it, Rose had been able to take numerous different jobs that did more to help her become a powerful witch than any of her other 'cheats', along with the different skills she'd obtained regarding each branch of magic.

Rose's final 'cheat', which she'd obtained after killing numerous dark wizards and dangerous magical beasts, was to make her a Gatemother.

This 'cheat' allowed her to create a type of portal called 'Gates', which any person or thing could pass through. Though all Gate mages in the world that particular 'cheat' came from had a limited number of gates they could make, Rose, as the most powerful type of Gate Mage, could makes MILLIONS if she so wished.

The special thing about these gates though, was that they were strong enough to make the user be considered akin to a god in their original world, typically trickster gods like Loki though. She could not only use her gates to harass, kill or torture others as she pleased, but passing through a gate would automatically heal the traveler of any wound.

So long as Rose was not instantly killed by something like a sniper or the killing curse, then she could instantly heal herself from the brink of death like it was nothing.

Of all of these cheats though, none could immediately help her find Hermione.

Instead, Rose held her hand out as she set her wand down onto it.

"Hermione." She commanded with a tone of authority, to which her wand immediately began spinning.

This was a far more powerful version of the Four-Point spell, in which the users wand would become a compass and point north. Instead, by stating the name of whatever it was you were looking for, and picturing them clearly within your mind, the wand would point to them instead.

The spell was not infallible though, as it only showed the user the direction, not the actual location or even the distance. The target could be a hundred feet in the direction the wand was pointing to, or clear on the other side of the planet.

But Rose didn't have that problem here. That would've require the wand to STOP spinning to begin with.

Instead, it continued spinning, and spinning, and spinning.

Her worries growing with each passing second, Rose repeated the spell six more times, for a total of seven, only to have the same result. And what that meant was possibly the worst possible outcome.

Hermione wasn't anywhere in the world.

"Hermione's....corpse..." Rose commanded, reaching for straws now.

The only other options she could think of for why her spell hadn't worked was that either Hermione was dead, ergo not existing, or that something far more powerful was concealing her from her spell.

Again, she repeated the spell searching for Hermione's body a total of seven times, only for the same results as before. This eased some of the tension in Rose's body slightly, since it increased the possibility of Hermione not being dead.

But then where was she?

"Basssil." Rose commanded in a menacing sounding hiss, using the power of Parseltongue that she obtained from consuming Voldemort's soul fragments.

Rose only had to a wait a few minutes in the cold before a figure appeared on the horizon, one that was flying through the air in coiling serpentine patterns on the large feathery wings it possessed.

"Yesss missstressssss?" The creature hissed as it got close enough. This was another benefit of the power of the Druid, as Rose had been able to use it to create a mental connection to the winged serpent flying around her, Basil.

It was a descendant of the same magical beast once worshipped as a god by the Aztecs, Quetzalcoatl. Rose had found its egg years ago while exploring one of their recently discovered temples, and promptly hatched it before taming the beast.

"I have need of your sssensssesss." She hissed to it, before stating exactly what it was she wanted it to do.

Basil was to go to Hermione's dorm back at Hogwarts, and use its senses to try and pick up any trail that might've been left behind by her.

"Underssstood." Basil hissed, before promptly flying through the gate she created for it that would take it right to Hogwarts.

Rose meanwhile, well she hadn't gotten naked for nothing.

Her body rapidly began to change shape as feathers sprouted all over her body, and her arms turned to wings while her feet turned to talons.

When the change had finished, Rose had turned into a loggerhead shrike that promptly took flight with her wand clutched in her talons.

She would search as well. And while she could reach her destination faster with a gate, she preferred flying when she could since it helped to clear her mind, and gave her time to think.

Rose just hoped that, whatever it was that happened to Hermione, it wasn't because someone like her had become involved. Another reincarnator.