Alternative Medicine
Ch 7: The Gushing Goddess of Knowledge
By canoncansodoff
Author Notes:
Disclaimer: Not my characters, no money being made, etc., etc.
That afternoon's application of healing salve sent Harry Potter straight to sleep, as his energy levels were already partially depleted by sun and lust. He woke up several hours later within a room that was bathed in the warm colors of the setting sun. The orange and reddish hues splashed against the white walls were of secondary interest to Harry, however...or more accurately, of "quaternary interest," for his primary focus was on his three nursemaids as they brought the evening meal.
Padma led the way with the food tray in hand, which allowed Parvati and Hermione to unfasten buttons just as soon as they were inside the room.
"Okay, so I'm either awake, or my dreams have looped back to the beginning," he announced with a grin.
"Why is that, Harry?" Padma asked, as she set the tray in front of him.
Harry tipped his head to the other two witches, who were helping each other free their breasts from their cholis.
"Impatient, aren't they?" she said with a smile. "And I'm left with no one to help with my buttons...woe is me!"
"I could always bite them off for you," Harry offered.
"Was that in your dream as well?" Hermione snarked, as she walked up behind Padma and slipped her hands inside the Ravenclaw's shawl.
"No, but what you're doing now was," Harry quipped, as Hermione's hands strayed from Padma's buttons.
"I'd ask how your wet dreams ended, but it looks like they didn't get a chance to," Parvati giggled, as she nodded towards his crotch.
"Harry's loss is our gain of a table decoration," Hermione smiled, as she pulled Padma's cropped undershirt away from her body.
The black-haired witch turned her head and kissed Hermione's cheek in response.
"Thank you, sweet Saraswati."
"Hush, you!" Hermione admonished.
"Sara-wa-who?" asked Harry.
"Saraswati, the most brilliant goddess in her generation," Parvati quipped, as she sat next to Harry's side. "Uncle perfectly renamed our Hermione."
"Stop it, Parvati," Hermione hissed.
"Yes, Goddess."
"Oh...you...!"
"Have to admit that it fits you, love," Padma noted, as she popped a bit of curry into Harry's mouth.
"Only because you were both named after goddesses," Hermione shot back.
"Not totally," Parvati claimed. "Padma's only indirectly named for a goddess."
"I am not."
"Are too."
"Am not."
"Hold on, hold on," Harry explained. "Can somebody explain all this to me?"
"Sure, Harry," Hermione replied. "While you rested, I spent some time in the Patil's study with the book that Auntie lent me. Her husband came upon me, claimed that I was no less of a goddess than his nieces, and called me Saraswati incarnate."
"Though to be fair, he was focused on her belly-button rather than the book," Parvati added.
"Anyway..." continued Padma. "The three main Hindu deities are Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer. Each of these male gods has a corresponding wife or consort. Parvati is the wife of Shiva, and Padma can be another name for Lakshmi, who is the consort of Vishnu. Saraswati is the wife of Brahma, so Uncle obviously saw the potential for symmetry."
Harry snorted. "Well I think of you three as my goddesses, so I can't fault your uncle for his logic." He paused, and then asked, "So is there a Harry-wati? Or am I destined to be renamed as well?"
"Oh, we've got lots of nicknames for you, mister," Parvati said with a smile.
"Be honest, Sister," cautioned Padma. "Most of those endearments refer to his wand, and not the entire package."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Actually, Harry, these two have been arguing over whether you are more like Padma's consort or Parvati's husband."
"Really?"
"You're obviously more like Vishnu, Harry," Padma asserted. "He sits on top of a snake and hates people with big egos. When good and evil get out of balance on Earth, and evil demons get the upper hand, the gods ask Vishnu to take human form and smack down the demons. And Lakshmi, his consort, rides around at night on an owl, and is the handmaiden of those with owls as familiars. So tell me...who has a closer relationship with their owl than you do with Hedwig?"
Parvati rolled her eyes. "Well, fair enough, but you'd have to be blind not to see Shiva's representation within Harry, and not just because he only wears a loincloth and can talk with snakes."
"I look like this Shiva?" Harry asked skeptically.
"Well, part of you, at least," Padma admitted coyly.
"A very big part," Parvati quipped.
"How is that?"
"The ligham of Shiva is a cylindrical stone phallus that is revered by his followers," Padma explained. "Ligham actually means 'mark' in Sanskrit, but the mark of Shiva is so ubiquitous that 'ligham' has become a synonym for the word 'penis'."
"You mean...there are...penis worshipers?"
"Oh, honestly, Harry," Hermione sighed. "Carvings of both male and female genitalia have be used in dozens of religions to represent the gods or goddesses of fertility."
"All Hail the Wondrous Ligham!" Parvati exclaimed, as she made bowing motions towards Harry's crotch. "And allow me to show my devotion!"
"I think it's your Auntie permission that you'll need before you can devote yourself to that," Hermione quipped.
Padma shook her head at her sister's antics, and noted, "But Shiva's throat is blue, Sister!"
"Blue?" asked Harry.
"Do blue balls count?" Hermione asked with a smirk.
"Harry has blue balls, Hermione?"
"Not if I can help it."
"Be that as it may," interrupted Padma, "There is a story that minor gods and demons once churned the oceans for a hundred years, using the king of the snakes as a spoon. In the middle of this stirring, the snake's one hundred heads all spit out venom that was poisonous enough to destroy the world. Shiva saved the Earth by swallowing this poison. It didn't kill him, but it did leave his throat blue."
Hermione let out a small gasp. "Harry!"
He imitated her reaction and replied, "Hermione!"
"Stop it," Hermione chided, as she swatted his arm. "You don't see the parallels?"
"Erm...not really...last time I checked my throat was the same color as the rest of me."
"But handling the king of the snakes...and taking in its poison?"
"Yes, and?"
Hermione shook her head, covered her mouth, and coughed up the word, "Basilisk!"
"Oh...right."
"What's that she's talking about, Harry?"
"Second Year," he replied. "But that story should come after First Year and the Philosopher's Stone."
"Philosopher's Stone?" Padma asked.
"I guess it's your turn to tell some stories, Shiva," Parvati suggested.
"Vishnu!" Padma hissed.
"You're forgetting about Padma's devotion to Shiva," Parvati noted.
"Yes, well...as much as I love Harry, don't expect me to be lopping off my bits for him."
"What?" Harry hissed.
Padma sighed. "When Lakshmi popped out of the oceans during the snake stirring, she was so incredibly beautiful that each of the three male deities desired her. But since Brahma and Shiva were already married, Vishnu got her by default. Lakshmi still fancied Shiva, though, and every day she ordered her handmaidens to collect a thousand lotus blossoms that she would then offer to an idol of Shiva in the evening."
"In other words, she worshiped a stone penis that she kept hidden in her bedroom," Parvati quipped.
"Just like you worship the charmed dildo that you keep hidden in your trunk, Sister?" Padma asked.
"Nah...I skip over the flower collecting part," Parvati said with a grin.
"Anyway...." Padma continued, "One night Lakshmi counted up the flowers and came up with only nine-hundred ninety-eight. It was too late to collect more, and she really thought it best to make offerings in round numbers, so she decided to cut off her breasts and use them to make up the difference."
"Ooof," Harry hissed. "We're back to those gruesome bedtime tales, aren't we?"
Padma shook her head. "No, it's actually rather romantic. When she cut off the first breast Shiva recognized her devotion to him, and came to her asking that she stop. He then took the cut breast, turned it into the bael fruit, and sent it to Earth with his blessings. And that is why bael trees are so common around temples that worship Shiva."
Harry snorted. "So there really is something called bael fruit?"
Padma nodded. "It's got a good many medicinal properties...its unripe flesh cures diarrhea, while its ripe fruit is a laxative."
"Yeah, that's really romantic, Padma."
"Hush!"
Harry frowned. "So did Padma ever get her breast back?"
Padma smiled. "Well...every statute or depiction I've seen of her shows four arms, four hands, and two breasts."
"Four hands, huh?" Harry asked. "That must come in handy when you've got more than one itch to scratch."
"Or more than one lover," added Parvati.
Harry smiled. "So that means that I can worship your divine fruits while Parvati is busy bowing down to Shiva?"
Hermione snorted. "Did you just give a nickname to your penis, Harry?"
Harry laughed. "Who, me? I was just paying attention to the dinner conversation."
Parvati snorted. "Well, if Harry is going to worship any pair of baps, it ought to be Hermione's."
Padma smiled. “She does have delicious breasts, doesn’t she?”
“Hush!” Hermione hissed.
“No argument here,” Parvati said with a grin. “Lost count of how many times my fingers drifted inside my knickers when she dropped her towel and changed into her nightclothes back in Gryffindor Tower!”
“You…hush yourself too!” Hermione chided.
Harry shook his head and laughed. “That makes me insanely jealous, you know…I’ve only just seen Hermione’s bare baps today, and my fingers couldn’t go anywhere to find relief.”
Hermione snorted. “Oh, you…guess we’ll just have to work on that, then?”
“Work on what, Hermione?” Parvati snarked. “Flashing him your baps, or providing him relief?”
Hermione smiled at Harry and leaned in to plant a quick peck on his lips.
“Yes.”
“Sounds like a winning response to me!” Harry exclaimed.
“But is that his only response?” Parvati asked.
Parvati grinned. “Definitely not,” she declared, gesturing towards Harry's crotch. She then turned to Hermione and asked, “And do you really expect me to believe that you’ve never gotten off while you watched me get dressed?”
Padma giggled. “Well it sure looked that way to me this morning!”
“Oh really?” Harry asked with a grin. “That sounds like something I’d like to hear more about!”
“Maybe later,” Hermione said sheepishly.
“Oh, come now,” Harry replied. “You’ve already said that you’ve told them about what we did this morning…fair is fair, right?”
“I suppose,” Hermione replied, glancing at the twins. “But it would still be best left for later.”
“Why is that?” Harry asked.
Hermione snorted, and leaned forward into a hug that placed her lips to his ears.
“Because we’re certainly within Auntie's earshot, Harry,” she explained. “And I’m afraid that your balls might turn blue again if I start to describe how Padma hugged my naked body from behind and played with my nipples, or how Parvati’s fingers dragged through my pubes when she helped dress me this morning.”
Harry moaned, which only encouraged Hermione to go farther.
“And to think what would happen if I were to describe how we watched each other play with ourselves last night in our bedroom, or who screamed the loudest when they buried their fingers up themselves and came…”
Harry broke out into a sweat, and mumbled something about evil witches that deserved tongue lashings.
Hermione snorted, kissed his cheek, and replied, “Promises, Promises!”
Her boyfriend decided that it would be good to change the topic, and asked what she had learned from her afternoon reading.
"Oh, all sorts of interesting things," Hermione declared.
"Well did any of those things give you any clues as to why the Maharajah would want to visit with me?" he asked.
Hermione nodded. "Background information...sure. But it should be these two that tell about the history of magic in India, not me."
When Harry indicated that he was interested in the topic, Padma took the lead.
“The two most important events with respect to the magical governance of the Indian subcontinent were the conversion of Ashoka the Great to Buddhism in 263 B.C. and the adoption of the Secrecy Statutes in 1692,” she began.
“Ashoka the Great was India’s greatest, and most powerful ruler,” Parvati noted. “His Maruyan Empire stretched over the entire subcontinent.”
“Except for our little bit down here,” Padma added.
Her sister rolled her eyes. “Details, details…the important thing to know is that Ashoka converted to Buddhism in 232 B.C., on the day after his last and bloodiest conquest, and then used the power of his throne to spread his new found religion across the subcontinent.”
“But isn’t Buddhism a Muggle religion?” Harry asked.
Padma shrugged. “They say that Siddhartha was a wizard, although there isn’t proof of that fact. That said, Buddhism has always been a far more compatible belief system with magic then the other great religions.”
Harry frowned. “So was this Ashoka a wizard?”
Padma shook her head. “No, but many of the monks that he supported financially were, and they established several monasteries that were devoted to the study of a shamanistic style of magic that was particularly compatible with their faith.”
"They were called viharas," Hermione noted. "They carved caves into rock faces, and excavated multi-storied structures that were huge...a few as big as Hogwarts!"
“And this is the same type of magic that is taught here today?” Hermione asked.
“Yes,” Padma replied. “It’s actually very similar to what happened in Europe about the same time…many witches and wizards within the boundaries of the Roman Empire learned a common style of magic that utilized Latin-based incantations, even if Latin wasn’t their native language.”
“And even though he didn’t directly control the Southern-most tip of India, Ashoka sent missionaries here and beyond,” said Parvati.
“So how does this relate to wizarding governments?” Harry asked.
“It was a unifier, Harry,” Padma replied. “It didn’t matter if you spoke Malayalam here on the coastline of the Arabian Sea, or Kannada in Mysore, or even Nepali up in Nepal …they all learned the same type of magic that used Sanskrit incantations and were taught in the Sanskrit language. That made it easier for those within the wizarding world to find commonality with others across the subcontinent.”
“So even as empires came and went, and borders changed this way and that over the next two thousand years, that common thread remained,” Parvati added.
Hermione nodded. “It was the same in Britain, Harry…remember that at the time of the Four Founders, there wasn’t a common language amongst the students. It was more like Durmstrang is now…students arrived at Hogwarts speaking not only Old English, but Middle Irish, Cornish, Welsh, and even Norse.”
“How do you know that, Hermione?” Parvati asked.
Harry chuckled, and did his best vocal imitation of his bushy-haired friend. “Well, Parvati, if you ever bothered to read…”
“Hush, you,” Hermione chided, punching Harry in the arm. Caught off guard by her actions, he yelped, and fell onto his side.
He would been more cross with Hermione if his head hadn’t landed in Padma’s lap.
Harry looked up into the Ravenclaw’s chocolate brown eyes and winked.
“Thanks for breaking my fall, Sweetheart,” he said.
Padma responded with a brilliant smile, and a hand that gently tussled his hair.
“Your head is welcomed onto my lap any time, Harry,” she replied brightly.
“Which one?” Parvati snarked.
“Either, of course,” Padma replied.
“And facing which direction, Dear Sister?”
Harry shook his head, and tried to thank Padma by leaning up to kiss her lips. But could only make it halfway, and Padma (whether intentionally or not), assumed that Harry’s lips were exactly where he had wanted them. And so she cupped the back of his head with her hand and leaned forward until her cloth-covered breast covered his mouth.
“Hey!” Parvati whined. “That’s not fair.”
“Yeah, Padma,” Hermione added. “I want my turn!”
The Ravenclaw grinned in response, and asked, “Your turn where, Hermione…in my position or Harry’s?” She then cupped the breast that wasn’t mashed into Harry’s face and added, “Because if it’s his, I do have a spare.”
“Such cheek!” Hermione said with faux protest, as she pressed her hand against one side of her face.
“More like such baps,” Parvati observed.
Harry didn’t know what he should do during this exchange. He didn’t want to be to forward, but Padma had practically pushed her breast into his mouth and held it there. Thinking that Gryffindors go forward, he opened his mouth and gently clasped her covered nipple with his teeth.
"Padma?" her Aunt called out.
“Yes, Auntie,” she called back, reluctantly propping Harry back up into a sitting position. She then added, “Sorry, Harry…she won’t let us play right now.”
“Does that mean maybe later?” Harry asked, with a tone of voice that matched the saucy grin on his face.
“Not as far as you know,” she replied with a wink.
Harry arched an eyebrow in response, but decided not to ask a follow-up question.
“Okay, my turn,” stated Parvati.
“To do what?”
“To break his fall the next time Hermione slugs him,” she replied. “Switch places.”
Padma snorted, and said, "Forget it."
Hermione rolled her eyes.
“So moving back on-topic…”
“I thought that playing with Harry was the main topic,” Parvati pouted.
Hermione sighed. “Back to politics, Parv…Harry really should be up to speed when he does visit the Maharajah.”
“You’re no fun, Hermione!”
“I bet Harry would argue that point,” Padma chimed in, as she idly dragged a finger up Hermione’s thigh.
“Jealous much, Sister?”
“Of course! Aren’t you?”
“Let’s deal with your sexual frustrations later, ladies,” said Hermione.
“Is that a promise?” Padma asked as she toyed with Hermione’s skirt hem. “Because I could really use one of your sponge baths right about now.”
“Padma….”
The reply to this lament took the form of a tongue sticking out Padma’s mouth.
“Don’t stick that out unless you’re willing to use it,” Hermione quipped.
“Who says that I’m not, love?”
“Promises, promises.”
“Yes, actually…they are,” Padma cooed, leaning over to peck Hermione on the lips.
Hermione blinked, then made a note to remember this conversation that night.
“So…the Secrecy Statutes?” she asked.
“Yes, well…where were we?” asked Padma
“I don’t know about the rest of you, but my mind was in the gutter,” Parvati stated.
“It had company there,” Padma admitted.
“Okay…right, erm…” Hermione stammered.
“The Shagging Statues, love?” Padma asked coyly.
“Right, the…erm, no…the Secrecy Statutes,” Hermione replied, trying to regain her composure.
“Oh… my bad,” said Padma.
“Had it right as far as I’m concerned,” Harry said with a wide smile.
“Well that’s pretty obvious,” said Parvati, as her eyes bore down on his twitching, sheet-covered bulge.
Hermione followed Parvati’s gaze. “Oh my,” she said slyly. “Looks like he’ll need another bath.”
“Sponge bath or tongue bath?” asked Parvati.
“Yes.”
Harry snorted. “Do I have any say in the matter, girls?”
The three witches looked at each other, then shared a smile.
“No.”
Harry paused and processed this unison response.
“Okay, just checking,” he finally said with a grin.
oo00OO00oo
The conversation continued on for another thirty minutes, as Harry eventually learned how the Secrecy Statutes were enforced within India.
Since the time of Ashoka’s reign in the Third Century B.C., Magical India had been governed by a loose collective of regional districts, each centered around one of Ashoka’s thirty-seven magical monasteries…not that different from having the Headmaster of Hogwarts also be head of the Wizengamot in Britain. They pretty much ignored the comings and goings of Muggle kingdoms, and stuck to themselves. So when it came time to enforce the Secrecy Statutes, not many Indian witches or wizards were interested in creating a Ministry of United Magical India. At the same time they didn’t want to create thirty-seven different ministries to enforce the Statutes, so they took a middle path, and formed eight regional ministries whose boundaries were roughly based on the 300 mile practical limit for travel by apparition.
The Ministry of Magical South India had jurisdiction from its southern tip 300 miles north, and combined the areas of influence for the magical monasteries that Ashoka had built in the cities of Mysore, Madurai, Hyderabad, and Thiruvananthapuram. Each of these four cities were the cultural centers for the four regional languages spoken in South India...Malayam on the Western Coast, Tamil to the east, Telugu in the northeast and Kannada in the northwest.
When Harry asked if this would have been the equivalent of smaller versions of Hogwarts located in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Dublin, Padma agreed, noting that there was nothing small about these institutions of magical learning. Hermione then reminded Harry that South India was more than twice the size geographically as the British Isles, and had a population that was five times larger.
The district within Magical South India where Malayalam was the primary language covered lands ruled by the Muggle kingdoms of Travancore and Cochin (roughly correlative to where the modern muggle province of Kerala stands). The royal families in both of these princely states included a fair number of witches and wizards, and while the Muggle kingdoms remained separate, the combined magical district was ruled by whomever was the oldest magical member of either royal family. This arrangement had lasted for more than four hundred years, and survived both British colonial rule (in which the Muggle maharajahs were in nominal control of their kingdoms), and the creation of the modern state of Muggle India (in which they were not). The current ruler of the "Malayalam District" was the younger brother of the last Muggle maharajah of Travancore State. Young, of course, was a relative term...the ruler who had asked Harry and the girls to join him for tea was a sprightly eighty-two old.
oo00OO00oo
Harry considered the history lesson to be far more captivating than any to have been delivered by Professor Binns, although, to be fair, the ghost had never delivered his lectures while partially exposing his bits to the class. But it wasn't just Harry who was getting a little squirmy by the end...each of the four were wondering what might happen at night's end, when Hermione, Padma and Parvati would retire to their upstairs bedroom to engage in activities much less closely monitored by their Auntie than what transpired at ground level.
Healer Patil set the stage when she came into Harry's room and shooed her nieces off to bed, as she had the night previous. There was no talk of a second sponge bath, but merely the recognition that Harry and Hermione deserved a few minutes of "alone time." And that it was only to be a few minutes time was something Healer Patil emphasized, insisting that Harry needed a full night's rest.
Hermione expressed her disappointment that she couldn't spend the night (in between snogs), but Harry would have none of it, noting that he wouldn't think it fair to demand all of her time when there were two others to consider. This didn't keep him from expressing his envy, of course, and a desire to view a pensieved memory or three sometime down the road.
Harry's willingness to share didn't ease any of Hermione's nerves as she departed after one final snog 'n grope for the night. As she climbed the steps to the shared quarters, she replayed what had transpired over the day....with Harry...with the twins...and with the twins in front of Harry. She certainly was ready to push forward on both the physical and emotional sides of all three relationships, but didn't know what the twins thought, or had planned. It was therefore with a mixture of curiosity and trepidation that she opened the door to her bedroom.
What was waiting there for her replaced the curiosity with lust, and the trepidation with exhilaration.
And then…..Padma and Parvati learned that there was another reason why Hermione's divine nickname was so appropriate.
Sarawati, the goddess of knowledge, is also the goddess of springs and rivers, and her name literally means “the one who gushes.”