Population Boom, Hogwarts

Mist blinked a couple of times when he found himself floating in space or something that resembled space since he wasn't having trouble breathing and he wasn't freezing. He took a minute to gather his thoughts as he appreciated the view of the stars since it didn't seem like he was in any danger of immediately dying from lack of oxygen. 'One dead demon lord that liked pretending to be a dark god, one pissed off god and a warlock caught in the middle,' he mused, rather annoyed that he couldn't feel his magic so he couldn't cast his recall spell and jump back to his previous world but mostly just happy to be alive since his mad plan had mostly worked.

"Congratulations, you accomplished your mission before you got smited which means that I'm allowed to offer you a generous reincarnation package on a new world where you won't have to worry about petty gods or demon lords or getting pulled back to that world to suffer for the rest of eternity in a twisted reincarnation cycle," an ethereal voice stated, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere.

"What's the catch?" Mist asked, fairly sure he wasn't actually dead since he hadn't been anywhere near the blast radius and he felt solid enough.

"We need someone with flexible morals that has proven themselves willing to go the extra mile for bloody vengeance," the voice replied.

Mist raised his eyebrows. "Bloody vengeance?"

"An evil sorcerer has jumped into the body of Ronald Weasley, we'd like the asshole dealt with," the voice explained, sort of annoyed about the entire thing.

Mist raised his eyebrows. "I'm not seeing how that requires someone with particularly flexible morals."

"Dealing with the sorcerer is the easy part. Unfortunately, the bastard was working for us when he jumped into the world, which means we can only send one more agent into the world without giving the other side a free pass to wipe the world out of existence."

"Other side?" Mist asked, wondering what he'd gotten dropped into the middle of.

"Angels and not the fun kind," the voice complained.

"Demon or devil?" Mist asked, wondering if he actually honored contracts.

"I'm technically a contract devil but my department head focuses on the helpful and cheerful side of corruption, in other words we do a lot of work for various entertainment companies, turning worlds into places where you could film porn just by walking around the neighborhood with a video camera and a stack of twenties. For example, if a world is too straight laced, we send someone to fix it. It helps keep the cosmic balance or at least that's the party line, personally I think the boss is just a fan of porn."

"Better than I was expecting," Mist admitted, not seeing a problem with working for the voice as long as he wasn't expecting to mind control a bunch of people or do anything too questionable. 'Yeah, they probably need someone morally flexible for that type of work.'

"Technically, the heroes are supposed to win but Ron's death actually complicates things for us."

"Are you telling me that Ron actually did something useful?" Mist asked.

"What? No, but without Ron around to distract Harry he gets exceptionally violent and effective, causing the wizarding bloodlines to die out because there just aren't enough of them left. I mean, I can appreciate the sentiment, but you can't just slaughter your way through every problem."

"Pretty sure you can," Mist replied with a shrug. "So, what do you need from me?"

"I need you to make sure Harry Potter has children, preferably a lot of children with a lot of girls. Bonus points if you can get Neville to knock up at least two girls by the time he's done with Hogwarts," the voice offered.

"Are the points actually good for anything?" Mist asked, wondering what the catch was as the mission seemed a lot more reasonable than killing a dark god, which he'd already pulled off.

"You can exchange them for all sorts of things, pocket dimensions, structures, spells or even rare and powerful abilities or magical items if you get enough points," the voice explained.

"Do you have an issue with me slaughtering all of the Death Eaters?" Mist asked, wanting to make sure he wasn't going to screw himself over.

"I don't really care, we just need a positive balance of at least two hundred new magic users by the time that Harry graduates Hogwarts. Before you decide to cheat, they need to have viable bloodlines which means you can't just clone everyone to have it count," the voice warned him.

"That's annoying but fair," Mist admitted, already coming up with ways to 'fix' the wizarding world.

"Extra points if you can talk Draco Malfoy into joining a biker gang and doing some sort of redemption arc," the voice offered.

"Seriously?" Mist asked in surprise.

The voice sighed. "Fans are crazy and some of them have a lot of power and influence."

"No promises on that one but I'll see how it goes," Mist replied, not actually sure how he'd manage to talk Draco into joining a biker gang. "So, the basic job includes killing your ex-employee and getting another two hundred magic users by the end of Harry's seventh year in exchange for?"

"Technically, you just have to contain him but feel free to kill him if you can," the voice replied cheerfully. "I'll give you a Mark 3 inventory and the ability to swap back and forth from your previous form."

"Mark 3?" Mist asked.

"The Mark 3 comes with twenty five inventory slots and an equipment page, so you can hot swap your stuff, it also supports sticking containers and bodies in the slots and has a mental interface," the voice offered cheerfully.

"Let me guess, inventory systems are rare and expensive?" Mist asked, fairly sure the devil was trying to cheat him.

"Not particularly, the asshole just stole some rather expensive abilities which means the budget is basically shot for what I can give you before you leave the world. If it makes you feel better, this world's version of Hermione Granger looks like a taller, bustier, green eyed Emma Watson."

"I'm sure we can work something out when I finish," Mist replied with a smile, deciding that the inventory system was enough payment, especially if it came with a chance to learn Harry Potter style magic. "Will I have any difficulty learning the local magic?"

"You shouldn't have any trouble with the spells, but you won't be able to apparate or make unbreakable vows as those are common magical abilities rather than spells and the locals probably won't be able to pull off some of your spells if it conflicts with their magical laws," the voice admitted.

"Not a problem, I can always use a gate," Mist replied, not particularly annoyed that he wouldn't be able to duplicate a potentially dangerous method of transportation.

"Excellent, we'll be dropping you into the world with a discount reality revision spell, that means that various people with mental protection won't remember your existence because you weren't actually there, it's much cheaper than trying to screw with time. Unfortunately, the asshole has exceptional mental shields so you're going to want to deal with him as soon as you can because he'll know that you shouldn't be there."

"Speaking of mental shields, does occlumency count?" Mist asked.

"Not particularly, but I wouldn't expect a master to have extensive memories of you as the spell follows the path of least resistance," the voice explained.

"When are you dropping me into the world?" Mist asked.

"At the World Cup, the ex-employee is a Quidditch fan and he wanted to bang Hermione thus why he jumped into that world's version of Ron. I think he was hoping that the boss wouldn't do exceptionally horrible things to him for stealing the powers as long as he completed the basic mission."

"He wasn't all that bright, was he?" Mist asked.

"Book smarts, a certain amount of charm and enough sociopathic tendencies that he doesn't really understand loyalty or attachment, which means he missed the fact that the boss's girlfriend is a version of Hermione Granger and that she wouldn't appreciate his plan to fuck her over in a bad way."

"As opposed to cheerfully and happily?" Mist asked, wanting to make sure he didn't get himself in trouble.

"And seven ways from Sunday or in the park. As long as you're not mind controlling her, you'll be fine," the voice assured him.

"That's good to know, is there anything else that I need to know?" Mist asked, figuring he might as well ask.

"I'll be dropping you into a fight just a couple of hours after he arrived, don't die and this is your best chance to kill the idiot before he has access to an alchemy lab, he's exceptionally good at mental manipulation potions," the voice warned him. "And I set you up with a new warlock patron because of jurisdiction issues."

"Got it," Mist replied as the stars vanished and he found himself in a dark forest with Hermione, Ginny and a redhead that was facing away from him.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you," Ron assured Hermione, sounding smarmy and very unlike Ron as a robed figure with a mask stepped out from behind a tree.

'Shit!' Mist thought as Ron was sent crashing into him by some type of curse that the death eater tossed at him, causing him to pick up Ron's pattern for cloning.

Harry started tossing disarming jinxes at the death eaters as more of them showed up.

"I am immortal, no man can be my equal!" Ron shouted as he dodged several curses while tossing a series of complicated spells at the group of death eaters, including what looked suspiciously like a fireball, something Ronald Weasley shouldn't have been able to do. The cherry on top was the possessive and extremely smug look he gave Hermione in the middle of the battle, as if he had nothing to worry about from the group of Death Eaters.

'Pretty sure the voice wasn't lying, there's no way that's Ron,' Mist thought as he used his telekinesis to shove Ron into the path of a blasting curse, making it look like he'd merely stumbled. "Ron!" he shouted as he started tossing eldritch blasts at the death eaters, quickly and messily finishing them off as they were a hell of a lot faster than the spells they were used to.

Harry pulled his attention away from his dead best friend and looked at his brother. "What the hell was that?!"

"Eldritch blast," Mist replied as he cautiously walked over and started looting the dead once it became apparent that no more Death Eaters were going to show up.

"Where did you learn that?!" Hermione demanded, trying to focus on something other than the fact that Ron was dead to keep from breaking down.

"From a girl in a pub," Mist replied as he collected the last of the death eaters' wands and coin purses. He picked up one of the skull masks that the death eaters had been wearing. 'Inventory?' he mused as he flipped the new mental switch that he could sort of 'feel' in the back of his mind. He quickly tossed the loot in his inventory when the group turned their attention back to Ron.

"We should probably get out of here, can you levitate him?" Ginny tearfully asked Hermione as Mist walked back over.

Hermione gestured at Ron and chanted, "Wingardium Leviosa," causing Ron to float off the ground a couple of feet noting the irony of using the spell on him with a trace of black humor.

Mist kept glancing at the woods as they made their way back, half expecting a Death Eater to jump out and start tossing curses at them.

"I'm going to murder them!" Ginny promised, furious that they'd killed her brother.

"Every last one," Mist agreed with the attractive redhead, wondering how he fit into the group as he didn't have any memories of this life if you ignored the collection of new spells floating around in his head that mostly fit the spells he remembered from the books.

"Mum is going to lose her shit," Ginny said softly, hoping her mother didn't go off the deep end and pull them out of school to ‘keep them safe’.

Mist jumped when Ron suddenly lurched and screamed as his regeneration kicked in enough that he woke up/came back from the dead. 'Fuck! So much for killing him the easy way.'

"What the hell?!" Harry blurted out, surprised that Ron was still alive.

"How the hell are you alive?!" Ginny demanded as she watched the flesh on Ron's head visibly regenerate before her eyes.

"Like I said, I have the blood of kings," Ron replied smugly, wincing at the pain he was feeling and wishing that the powers had included Painless.

"Bullshit," Ginny replied, having extensively studied the family tree to make sure that she was only distantly related to Harry.

"Fine, I'm a demonic sorcerer and I've stolen your brother's body so I can do great and terrible things to Hermione," Ron replied sarcastically. "Can you put me down?"

"Not funny," Hermione complained as she set Ron back on the ground, wondering what the hell was wrong with her friend as he'd been more than a bit off since the game started, but relieved he was alive regardless of the reason why.

Ron flipped to his feet in a move that Ron certainly couldn't have pulled off before, looking smug. His smirk slid off his face when he noticed Mist and Harry standing next to each other. "What the hell?!"

"Incoming!" Mist shouted as he used his telekinesis to shove Ron into the path of a glowing red spell that a Death Eater tossed at them from the woods, making it look like Ron had merely spun and jumped in front of the spell.

"Shite!" Hermione cursed when the spell destroyed half of Ron's head and quickly tossed up a shield, trying to cover the rest of the group.

Mist quickly shoved Ron's body into his inventory and made a naked clone of the current Ron with his cloning power when the group turned their attention on the death eater, taking advantage of the fact that Ron was currently dead or at least disabled since he could already see him starting to regenerate despite the fact that he was missing half of his head.

"Reducto!" Ginny screamed as she pointed her wand at a tree and unleashed a bolt of magic that slammed into the small tree the death eater was standing next to, causing it to explode and hit the man with shrapnel which his reflexively cast shield didn’t protect against.

Mist tossed an eldritch blast at the death eater while he was distracted, destroying his mask and dropping him. He tagged the man two more times to make sure he was dead.

"What the hell?!" Ron asked when he found himself naked in a forest. "Why am I naked?!" he demanded, his face quickly matching his hair.

"Didn't need to see that," Ginny muttered as she headed toward the death eater to loot them, having decided that Mist had the right idea and wishing that Harry or Mist had been the ones to end up naked rather than her brother.

"Blame the twins," Mist replied as he used his clothes conjuration spell to conjure a large white t-shirt that said, 'What Happens at Band Camp, Stays at Band Camp!' in blood red letters on the front. "Here."

"Thanks," Ron replied as he caught the shirt. "Why am I seeing double?" he asked as he quickly pulled the shirt on, glad that it was long enough to hide everything it needed to.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, trying to figure out how his brother had conjured a t-shirt without even using his wand.

"You've got a twin," Ron replied as he gestured toward the version of Harry that didn't have his scar.

"Last I checked," Harry replied, wondering if Ron was losing his marbles or if one of the spells that he'd gotten hit with had knocked something loose.

"He's always had a twin," Hermione offered absently as she studied Ron's shirt, wondering if the red puddle under the letters was supposed to be blood, implying bad things about band camp.

"What? Harry doesn't have a twin. Did the twins put you up to this?" Ron asked, trying to figure out if he'd pissed Hermione off enough lately that she'd help prank him when they were supposed to be watching the game. "Wait, why aren't we at the game?"

"It's over," Hermione told him as she studied her friend's face.

"What?!" Ron demanded.

"Krum caught the snitch, the Irish won, you were there," Hermione told him. "We should probably get your head checked, you took a couple of spells to the face."

"You're not just having me on are you?" Ron asked hopefully.

"Sorry," Hermione told him, not sure what to say.

"We should probably get out of here before more death eaters show up," Ginny suggested as she walked back over, having pocketed the Death Eater's coin purse and wand, along with some gold rings.

"Good idea, we can sort things out at the tent," Mist suggested.

"Works for me," Harry agreed as he continued walking toward the camp, hoping the aurors had gotten things under control and relieved that Ron wasn't dead even if he had some memory loss.

'With any luck I can use his memory loss to fill in some of the blanks,' Mist mused, glad that the teachers at Hogwarts weren't particularly observant.

The Next Day

Hermione pulled her attention off the boys that were flying around on broomsticks above the Weasley orchard. "So, how many spells did you pick up from this friend in the pub?"

"More than a couple, less than a bunch but it's mostly a set of magical gifts since they grow with use," Mist replied with a smile as thought about his new patreon and got a mental update of their rules. 'That explains why the mana cost was so high for giving people powers, I was skipping the rituals.'

"Gifts, did you make a deal?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"Deal? What type of deal are you talking about?" Ginny asked.

"The normal world has tales of demons and fey giving people magical gifts," Hermione explained.

"Ah, there's stories about ancient pacts and various deals since no one really knows where all of the bloodline abilities come from. The Weasley family has gifts related to farming and fertility," Ginny explained, not looking at Harry when she said the last part.

Mist shrugged. "Not exactly surprising considering the average number of children most of the wizarding world has."

"What did you give them?" Ginny asked.

"Nothing, I just agreed to follow a couple of rules that I was already going to abide by, no harming children and a promise to be kind to the people that deserve it, which generally means people that aren't horrible," Mist explained.

"That's it?" Hermione asked.

"Basically, there are suggestions for being a better person, singing and dancing and having a large family but those are merely suggestions not rules. The rest are basically common sense rules that we're already following. So if they're going to give me free power for what I'm going to do anyway, I'm going to take it."

"So, can we sign up?" Hermione asked.

"We'll have to wait until we're at Hogwarts, we need a heavily magical location," Mist explained.

"Sounds good," Ginny agreed. "What do you think happened to Ron's memory?"

"Half of his head was splattered on the ground, the fact that he only forgot me was a miracle," Mist replied, glad that there was a convenient excuse for his memory loss. "I'm more curious where he picked up regeneration."

"No clue," Ginny admitted. "I'm just glad that he's not dead and is back to normal, he was a bit weird during the game."

"He's a teenager, it's expected but yeah, he was a bit off," Hermione admitted.

 “Seamus is worse,” Harry offered as he flew down and hovered a couple of feet above the ground.

“Goes without saying,” Hermione said, “he’s Irish.”

“Really?” Ginny asked dryly.

“No, but he’s aggressively Irish, almost a walking stereotype,” Hermione explained. “He spends a lot of time trying to turn water into whiskey and hitting on everyone.”

“Don’t you mean all the girls?” Ginny asked.

“No, no she does not,” Harry said.

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