The Lion Cub (HP SI)

by Dragonspectre

Summary:

Harry Potter stumbled through his life because others laid out a carefully planned path and treated Harry as a pawn since he was born. What happens when there is a Harry that refuses to accept fate? What happens when all those carefully laid plans of his enemies and allies alike go up in smoke?

Chapter 1: Prologue

Harry Walker rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and sat up in his bed. He felt the bed empty beside himself which was weird. Then he heard sounds from the bathroom and he relaxed.

 

"When did you wake up?" he called out even as he pulled on his pants and shirt.

 

"Half an hour or so. I didn't want to disturb you and I had this assignment to finish." said his girlfriend from the shower.

 

"When did you start doing assignments?"

 

"Since today. I made you coffee. It's on the table."

 

"Thanks."

 

He crawled over to the table beside their bed and sure enough, there was a cup of coffee. An instant coffee by the bedside means his girlfriend was in a generous mood. No need to plummet that with any complaints of a lack of sugar, he thought as he drank greedily from the cup.

 

It was then that a purple envelop caught his eye. He picked it up and curiously enough it had his name on it. He didn't remember getting any mail last day or even in the week. Nonetheless, he opened the envelope and a fancy silvery card fell out of it.

 

On one side, there was a smiling face of a black bat. He flipped the card over and to his surprise, it was a short sentence.

 

Congratulations! You have been selected for the glorious purpose of entertaining me.

 

-Your friendly neighbourhood ROB.

 

"Which sick fuck thought this would be a good joke?"

 

Harry suddenly had to shield his eyes as the card flared up in a silver light and then he knew no more.

 

When he regained his vision he was in an unfamiliar bed in a room with an unfamiliar ceiling. Everything was red and gold. The bright colours continued to be distracting from some of the alien feelings he was getting but not for long. He felt different and he realized that he was feeling extremely weak.

 

He felt his body with his palms and realized with growing horror that he was touching something unfamiliar. He looked at his body with an open mouth. He was tiny and frail. It looked like the body of a skinny teen. He has always been a little bit stocky and his body did have some muscle mass.

 

But none of that could be seen in his new body, right now. It looked like the body of an underfed teenage kid. Then out of nowhere, he felt a pain in his head. It felt as if he was hit by a baseball bat. A rush of memories and emotions was shooting through his head. He bit into the pillow to stop himself from screaming. A minute later the pain in his head subsided and he just lay back in his bed with a stunning revelation.

 

Somehow by some cosmic fluke, his memories or soul was transported into the Harry Potter Universe. He was not exactly sure about the mechanics of how that happened or why. But, what he knew was that he was now occupying the body of Harry Potter, the protagonist of the story written by J K Rowling.

 

He knew just how absurd that sounds but this was happening. As if this was not enough he could also recall some weird memories of another fellow in his head. With growing horror, he realized this was Voldemort's memories but thankfully it was bits and pieces.

 

It was some of the violent events he was witnessing within his own head. This whole mess was troubling and he just couldn't sit still with his head filled with alien memories. He just felt so lost and scared and he was on the verge of a mental breakdown. Thankfully, it was a Sunday and hence there were no classes. He threw some clothes on and at the last moment pocketed his wand on the way out.

 

His dorm mates were fast asleep and he was careful not to wake them up. When he stepped into the common room it was deserted and he thanked his lucky stars they were. He stepped out of the Gryffindor tower altogether and just roamed the castle. He took in the different sights of Hogwarts. The moving portraits and stairs were enforcing the present scenario he found himself in which was both soothing and troubling.

 

As he continuously saw the many stairs and hallways it became increasingly normal for him to accept his predicament. The memories of Harry Potter where syncing into his consciousness and he was finding it increasingly hard to think that this was all a dream.

 

As he was about to turn a corner he heard footsteps approaching from the other end. For a moment, he panicked as his mind supplied that he was out of bounds. He was not supposed to wander the hallways this early.

 

The sun was barely up and there were some few hours to sunrise. His heart thundered in his chest and his hand moved as if in a trance. The next thing he knows he was waving the Holly wand around himself in a wide circle. He felt a slight tingle on his skin and he stayed perfectly still. He was even holding his breath and the footsteps came closer and closer. He had the urge to close his eyes but by sheer will, he stamped down that urge. The figure turned the corner and he saw that it was Professor Sprout. The Head of Hufflepuff House paid him no mind and moved along as if he was not there.

 

He blinked in surprise at this apparent luck. It was then that he noticed that his body was invisible. He found himself flick his wand and the invisibility collapsed. Somehow he had turned himself invisible without involving his consciousness.

 

"I need help. I need serious help." He whispered in fear.

 

******

 

He didn't know how long he wandered the grounds of Hogwarts. It must have been an hour since he escaped the castle and came into the grounds. He was now walking by the Black Lake aimlessly and he found that therapeutic. The cold damp air was uncomfortable but he found it helped in calming his raging thoughts.

 

In his hour of self-reflection, he had found some peace of mind. He accepted that he was either in a grand delusion or he was exactly where he thinks he was right now. While logic dictates that he was making this all up he decided that it was better to act under the assumption that this was all real.

 

Frankly, he found he has no other choice. He couldn't just stay somewhere and hope this whole thing would go away. Whatever this was it was happening around him. At the very least, he knew he bled red when he poked his arm with a piece of stick. That experiment let him confirm that he could get hurt. Now, his priority was to not get hurt mentally or physically which was a good first goal in his opinion.

 

The second goal was to never reveal what he was going through with anyone else. He doubted anyone would believe him anyway. Even if by some unseen stroke of luck someone did they could hardly do anything. He was not going to depend on some stranger for help when there was a serious chance that he could be put in a mental asylum. In the worst-case scenario, he may just get memory wiped which would be a major blow to his identity. His identity revolved around his memories and he was not going to sacrifice that in a fit of stupidity.

 

The third goal was to survive at any cost. He didn't want to die and he certainly thought of killing himself a few minutes back but he didn't have the strength to off himself. While he didn't have the strength to finish his own life he was certainly not going to let someone else take him down.

 

The fourth goal was to somehow get back to his own world. At the moment that was an impossible goal. He knew that but this was something that he would refuse to abandon. At least, that's what he told himself. The pain in his heart at the cruel separation from his family, friends, girlfriend and all his buddies was real. He doubted that it would go away and he doesn't intend to give up on them. He would seek his old life and then there was the final goal.

 

The final goal was to find the son of bitch that dared to send him into this spiralling madness and kill him/her in the most horrible way that mankind had ever envisioned. He would kill this ROB or whatever shmuck that was behind this bullshit.

 

A flash of fire up above his head made him rear back. A piece of paper fell out of the fire and he caught it with a frown. There was a neat writing on the paper that made his rage set off.

 

For future reference call me Nobu. Now have a good day Mr Potter and enjoy the little something I put in your head.

 

"Oh, you sick bastard. I swear I will kill you. You hear me you filthy cosmic trash. I will kill you." Harry screamed into the open sky.

 

It took Harry quite a while to find his mental balance but he was more than fired up to kill the guy right then and there. The anger and rage that was coursing through his veins proved to be of use. It allowed his mind to sharpen his intellect and he sought out the best place in that situation.

 

Harry found himself on the seventh floor of the castle. He walked through the left corridor and finally found himself before a brick wall. He walked back and forth concentrating his mind on what he needed. A door materialised on his third pass and he walked in slowly. The door disappeared behind him and he found himself in a room with a wide swimming pool. Swimming was his way to relax and that has not changed because of his body switch. Shedding his clothes he jumped in and let the cool water of the pool relax him.

 

As he took laps across the pool he thought of his present predicament. He was now in his fourth academic year at Hogwarts. A week ago the Champions for the Tri-Wizard tournament was selected. He was bound by his magic to compete and while he had his doubts about that he was not particularly interested in trying his luck by not participating. The best way to move forward was to compete. Let his enemies think they have their trap set and he could gain a whole year to plan his own counter.

 

But that was some months away. The present goal was to somehow survive an encounter with a dragon if the timeline remains stable. The memories in his head aligned with what he knew from the books so that was a relief. Although, he was not keen on planning everything out based on his knowledge of the books. He would have to keep his eye on what was happening around him for any changes in the timeline.

 

Either way, he had to survive the first task. Whether it remained a dragon or some other creature he had to face remained to be seen. What he knew for sure was that he needs the training to survive all the tasks. He couldn't just depend on his instincts to get lucky. He would have to train himself in using magic and this was a better place than any for his training. Everything that he would need could be provided by the room.

 

With that settled the only remaining problem was his friends. At the moment, he knew the relationship between his friends remained frosty. It was a good thing in his opinion as he prefers some time to ease in into the social order of Hogwarts. It was bound to be problematic but there was nothing he could do to help that. His body might be of Harry Potter but his identity was of Harry Walker and there was no compromise on that front.

 

AN:

For artworks, Discord channel: https://discord.com/invite/XKnmQxeGSu

Chapter 2: Ch2: Quest for knowledge

Magic was a source of energy that allowed one to manipulate the forces of nature or exert one's will upon the world. It allowed one to shape the physical and metaphysical plane according to the whims and fancies of the wielder. The requirement to accomplish these feats was to have the ability and mental fortitude to manipulate magical energy within one's body.

 

The ability to maintain a disciplined mind played a significant part in constructing spells. The verbal commands in Latin were only a method of developing that concentration. A wizard's true skill was constructing spells with sheer will, imagination and concentration. Magical power was a factor, but power would grow in time.

 

Harry was not at that place where he could just wave his wand and let the magic unfold. At least he was not able to do so consciously. The fluke with the disillusion charm was not something that he could depend on going forward.

 

With this in mind, he began learning spells that solely focused on defence and offence. He constructed a list of spells in his memory from the Harry Potter books that were offensive in nature. The Unforgivable Curses was a no-go as it would land him in prison even if he used it on a magical creature. The next lethal spell he knew was the Sectumsempra curse, which he did not know how to perform. The spell remained a mystery in the old Potion book of Severus Snape. He was going to search for the book, but for the time being, it was inaccessible. The next few curses were easily accessible. There was the blasting curse, the disarming charm, the shield charm and many other spells that could be accessed in the Hogwarts library.

 

To that end, he searched all those books that offered such spells from the Library. While there was a three-book per person limit in the library, he took the most useful books that offered a wide variety of charms and curses. There was 'A Hundred Charms to Bind' by Gerald Horne. Then there was 'Spells for hunting creatures' by Aron Goldstein. Last but not least, 'Shielding and Deflection' by Madam Paula Everheart.

 

These were the books he would use to learn a variety of spells and their effects. While Library hours were useful in researching new spells, he used the daily useless History of Magic and Divination classes to read up the material and make notes. While these spells were useless in dealing with dragons, they were nonetheless useful.

 

His actual research, however, was conducted in parts in the library and the Room of Requirements. From his research on Dragons, he learned that they had powerful magic resistant skin. A direct magical assault on a Dragon would hardly let him complete the First Task. The thought of using a broom was ludicrous as he didn't know whether he remained a flying prodigy. In any case, flying was not an option as he would not depend on muscle memories.

 

'Or, I should try riding the Firebolt. At least it could be a Plan B.' he thought.

 

Nodding to himself, he made a note of that idea on a small letter pad that he carried with him to the library.

 

"What are you doing?"

 

Harry found the owner of that voice to be Hermione Granger. He had been avoiding this particular person since the last day, but it couldn't be helped.

 

"I thought it obvious. I am reading a book."

 

"That's more than obvious, Harry. I meant, what are you reading?" she asked in a whisper and took a seat across from him at the table.

 

Harry glanced at the resident librarian Madam Pince who was keeping an unhealthy amount of attention on him for some reason. Thankfully, the woman was looking the other way for the time being.

 

"I am researching some magical creatures and devising ways to counter them." He answered, keeping his voice down.

 

"Harry, that's a good idea."

 

"I know."

 

He hoped the conversation would end there and concentrated on the books that were laid out before him.

 

"So, which magical creature are you looking into?" asked Hermione, not just content to leave the conversation dry.

 

"At the moment, Dragons." He said and blinked in confusion as she took some books from the stacks he had gathered.

 

"In that case, let me help."

 

Hermione began to read a book on the Chinese Fireball.

 

Harry was aware of the occasional glances Hermione was taking at him, making him nervous. He was sailing through uncharted territory here and didn't know how to properly deal with his 'friends'. The last day was easy enough as it was a Sunday, and he had locked himself in the ROR familiarising his magic. But now that classes were open, he was once again saddled with the difficult task of dealing with his 'social' life.

 

"Ok. Enough of this. Why are you avoiding me?" asked Hermione all of a sudden.

 

"What? Rubbish." He tried to wave her concerns away while his mind spun to find a proper way to deal with what was going on.

 

"Don't think I didn't notice that you have been avoiding everyone the last day. Just because Ron is being stupid doesn't mean you have to shut out all your friends." said Hermione.

 

"I am not shutting you out, Hermione. I just think that I should use the time I have productively to master as much magic as I can. Whoever put my name in it wants me dead or maimed. I have decided that I will not give them that satisfaction."

 

"Then let me help you, Harry." Hermione pleaded.

 

"You are helping me right now." Harry pointed out.

 

"You didn't even speak a word to me yesterday." Hermione accused.

 

"I was dealing with some personal issues." Harry tried to shrug it off, but Hermione was not willing to let him off the hook that easily.

 

"What personal issues?" she asked dubiously with a frown.

 

"If you haven't noticed, I am garnering a lot of hate from the student population. And as usual, the Hogwarts staff remain exceedingly ignorant or outright apathetic."

 

"Harry, they are just being stupid."

 

"Well, we seem to be surrounded by a lot of stupid people. This reminds me of the Second Year." Harry muttered darkly.

 

"Oh, Harry. I am sure Professor Dumbledore will find out who put your name into the Goblet."

 

"I am not so sure he will make that effort. His recent inaction and his unwillingness to explain what has happened in regard to me have only brought disfavour on me. Not to mention year after year, I am constantly thrown into danger in this school. I am starting to think that he is part of the problem as well." said Harry.

 

"Harry!" Hermione gasped. "Surely you don't mean that. Professor Dumbledore is the greatest wizard of our time."

 

"So?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

"He obviously knows what he is doing," she said with a look that brokered no argument.

 

This was what he feared, and his fears were being realized. It turned out that his 'friend' was quite under the thumb of Albus Dumbledore, a man that he had declared as his enemy on principle. The Headmaster may have been a personal hero for the previous Harry Potter, but not for this new Harry Potter.

 

No, he saw Dumbledore as his natural enemy. How could the Headmaster ever not become his enemy? His plans required breaking out of the confinement that Dumbledore had built around him in an effort to create a martyr for the upcoming war. But he had no intention of dancing to the tune of some old coot, whatever his endgame may be.

 

Harry would break out from Dumbledore's thumb. It was only a matter of when, not how. He already had some plans in his mind to that effect. But he now knew that Hermione would be an unreliable variable in his plans. He just knew that people with blind faiths are not good company. At the same time, he didn't want to alienate Hermione Granger for that reason alone. No matter what she was just a teenage girl with faults and merits of her own.

 

So he just nodded silently to her argument and ended that conversation. Hermione took that as his agreement and returned to reading the book.

 

Time passed, and they discussed their findings of Dragons on their way to Transfiguration class.

 

"It is mentioned that Dragons have highly magic-resistant skin. The Chinese Fireball also has a potent fire that has extreme magical properties." said Hermione excitedly.

 

Harry thought she was enjoying this discussion far too much. It was understandable, considering she lacked any friends that were passionate about discussing academics.

 

"Yes, and it is a common trait I have seen with other Dragons. I read about the Hungarian Horntail. It is supposed to be the most aggressive creature of its kind. They seek out danger, and the book mentions that they are cannibalistic in nature."

 

"Truly! I didn't know that." Hermione said, her eyes gleaming with some unknown emotion. "But I have read that several Dragon Reserves are across the wizarding world. Surely there is some type of magic that can subdue the dragons. Otherwise, how did Dragon blood and other body parts were harvested?"

 

"It takes multiple wizards to put a dragon to sleep, Hermione. Hagrid said that in our first year, remember." he reminded her.

 

"Well, we agree that dragons are dangerous and powerful. How can one wizard defeat them if they are used on the tasks?" Hermione wondered.

 

"Our regular spells won't have the desired effect. I believe that the answer lies in the basic elements."

 

"The basic elements? Like water?" she asked curiously.

 

"Well, dragons are creatures of fire. Should it not stand to reason that they would be uncomfortable or weaker in a considerably cold climate?" Harry reasoned.

 

"But Harry. Elemental magic is a very advanced piece of magic."

 

"I did learn about the Aguamenti charm from the Standard Book of Spells." Harry mused aloud.

 

"I have read about that spell as well, but it only conjures water in a small amount." She pointed out.

 

"Indeed, but it is a start. I will be looking into more elemental spells this evening. Want to join me?" Harry asked, offering another get together slash research session.

 

"Sure I would, Harry." Hermione beamed,  and by that time, they reached their class.

 

They were just in time for the class, and Harry could see Ron tagging along with Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas. He paid no mind to his former friend and went into the class. Hermione took a seat next to Lavander while he decided to take his seat next to Neville.

 

With the present cold relationship between Harry and Ron, Neville was his go-to guy for partnership.

 

"Hi, Harry." The pudgy boy greeted him as he moved over to give Harry space on the bench.

 

"Hi, Neville. Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

 

"Oh. What's it about?" asked Neville nervously.

 

"I was just curious to know whether you know about many water creatures? Do you?" Harry asked

 

"Oh." Neville suddenly relaxed. "I know some of them, Harry. Why do you ask?"

 

"I am creating a list of dangerous magical creatures that may get involved in the tasks. If it is not much of a bother can you write down the names of all the water creatures you know about?"

 

"I can do that Harry."

 

"Thanks, Neville."

 

Just then, Professor McGonagall swept into the class.

 

"I gather you have all reviewed your last lesson. Now, let's continue with the stone-to-wood transformation…"

 

*******

 

Harry walked through the hallways of the castle, trying to ignore the hostile looks being shot at him by a pair of Hufflepuff girls. He cursed the ridiculous House system of this school for all these heightened emotions. If the school could just do away with the House system, he could foresee half the problems bothering the student population would go away.

 

But he doesn't foresee that happening anytime soon. There was always this needless baggage being carried around by every civilization that goes by the name of tradition. Traditions are hard to dislodge when they are ingrained into the marrow of culture.

 

There was no point in thinking about what could be when it would obviously not change the present scenario. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and climbed the stairs to the Seventh floor. He had given the slip to his friends and had managed to sneak out of the Gryffindor common room. He would have to get back to the Common room within an hour, but that one hour was precious as far as he was concerned.

 

After making sure that he was alone using the Marauders Map, he paced back and forth three times before the wall. A door materialized, and he let himself in, and the room born out of his thoughts greeted his eyes.

 

To his left, there was a table and a swivelling chair. On the table lay a few books, and he took one of the books. The cover read; Magicks Most Extreme by Phineas Black.

 

The name took him by surprise. He had heard of that name before. If his memory served him right, there was a guy with that name as a previous Headmaster of Hogwarts. It was entirely possible that this author could be a different person altogether. The identity of the author mattered less to Harry at this point. The contents, however, were of great interest to him.

 

As he leafed through the book, a smile slowly blossomed on his face. It looks like he finally found what he was looking for. Now comes the hard part – learning.

Chapter 3: Making new friends

Harry palmed his wand tightly in his right hand and breathed out slowly. He focused on the effect that he wanted and unleashed his imagination. He knew what effect he wanted, and he wanted it to happen in the physical world. He wanted the magic inside his body to conjure what he imagined to become a reality.

 

Fixing his mind on what he wanted, he raised his wand. The Holly wand was held loosely with his thumb and forefinger. The handle rested on the inside of his palm, and he gave his wand a counterclockwise twirl.

 

Suffusio, he yelled, jabbing his wand at the last moment.

 

The tip of his wand lit up with a blue aura, and a torrent of swirling mass of water formed. He smiled at the success, and as the water began to expand out of his wand, it splashed into the ground, losing cohesion.

 

"Darn, it! I lost focus again." Harry muttered heatedly and slapped his cheeks to admonish himself.

 

"Now, let's try this one more time." He muttered as he raised his wand again and performed a counter-clockwise twirl. He jabbed his wand forward and cast the spell once more. This time he focused his mind and refused to be distracted by his initial success.

 

A swirling vortex of water shot out of the tip of his wand and went straight for a dummy at the end of the room. The force of the water jet smacked away the dummy in question. When he cancelled the spell, the dummy was smashed into bits and pieces of wood.

 

"A useful spell, but I think it is not going to be of much use against a dragon. Still, it should come in handy someday." He said to himself.

 

Harry went back to reading the book written by Phineas Black. It had a treasure trove of spells, and the best thing was that most of the spells required little to no wand-waving patterns.

 

He had found it early on his quest to learn spells that he lacked a certain fortitude in performing complicated wand waving. He found it easy to make mistakes most of the time when he performed certain spells.

 

For example, he found Transfiguring stone to wood to be a complicated process. There was a half counter-clockwise spin and a whole circular spin of the wand to perform that specific spell. Whenever he performed that spell, he would botch up the spin, and as a result, the stone would only be partially transfigured.

 

He had noticed that most of the wand-waving patterns are common for Transfiguration spells. Charms tend to be the same but not to the level of Transfiguration. Nonetheless, Transfiguration was a vital field of study in Magic, and he would try harder to master it.

 

For the time being, he decided it would be better to focus on certain spells. To that effect, he handpicked certain spells from the book, two from each element, to be exact.

 

The first element he chose to learn was water owing to its safety compared to the other elements. It turned out to be a good choice as he had managed to perform the spell in one day. He was far from mastering it, and he felt that he could tweak the spell somewhat if he practised it repeatedly. To his pleasant surprise, the spell didn't take too much magical energy to manifest. This was owed to the fact that the spell was designed to pull water from the air. The drawback was that the spell would be weaker in dry air.

 

Now that a sufficiently powerful water spell was in his arsenal, he searched for a spell that could create ice. His vigorous search came to an end when he found the perfect spell. Conscious of the time running out, he began to write down the details of the spell on a piece of parchment.

 

Harry let out a frustrated growl as the bloody ink began to spread all over the parchment courtesy of the bloody quill. He decided he was going to find a pen or pencil as soon as possible and ditch the ever-useless quill outside of class work. The only hurdle in procuring said item would be his inability to access the Muggle world.

 

Now that he thought about it, he was in need of a serious wardrobe change. The rags and hand-me-downs he got from the Dursleys needed to be disposed of. 

 

Suddenly, an idea sprung to his mind. 

 

Harry promptly collected all his notes and secured them in his backpack. Pulling over the Invisibility Cloak over his body, he let the Marauders Map guide him straight to the kitchen.

 

He was quick to move silently under the cover of the Cloak to the Entrance Hall. From there, he moved down a set of stairs to a brightly lit corridor. It was the corridor that led to the Hufflepuff dorms. Moving slowly through the corridor, he found the painting with a bowl of fruits. He tickled the pear, and it let out a giggle before turning into a door handle. He pulled the handle revealing the entrance to the Hogwarts Kitchen.

 

He was met with a group of House Elves looking at the entrance confusedly. He pulled off the cloak and revealed himself to the little creatures that fed the entire student body of the castle.

 

"Hi." He greeted them awkwardly with a small wave of his hand.

 

"Harry Potter Sir has come to the kitchens. Dobby is very happy." said Dobby as a familiar-looking elf dressed in a bowl hat and some khaki trousers barreled forward.

 

"Hello, Dobby. I see you have taken employment at Hogwarts." He knelt down to be on Dobby's level and gave the little elf a small hug.

 

Dobby looked like he was going to swoon. Thankfully he didn't and just hopped on from one leg to another with obvious excitement.

 

"Oh, Dobby is most happy Harry Potter, sir. Dobby gets paid by Professor Dumbledore, sir."

 

"Good for you, Dobby. I am happy for you."

 

"Dobby is being a bad elf. No good elf should get paid." A squeaky voice complained with a few hics in between.

 

Harry found the owner of that voice to be a female elf, one that was familiar as the elf was a recent acquaintance.

 

"Dobby is a good elf. A free elf!" Dobby declared defiantly.

 

"A free elf is no good elf." argued Winky and then proceeded to bawl her eyes out. "Winky brought shame to Mr Crouch. Winky be a bad elf. Bad Winky. Bad Winky…."

 

The elf continued to mutter and began to berate herself. Harry took in the sorry state of the female House Elf. Winky was drunk and was looking like the world had just ended, and she believed she was the reason for that happening. It was a sad state, especially when the large tennis ball eyes were scrunched up with tears running down her cheeks.

 

"Winky is a good elf." Dobby tried to reassure his elfish friend.

 

"Winky is given clothes by Mr Crouch. No family would take in Winky now. Winky be a bad elf. A very bad elf like Dobby." The elf continued to cry.

 

"Sorry, Harry Potter, Sir. Winky is being sad. What can Dobby do for Harry Potter, Sir?"

 

"Me's being Pitts, sir. Have some biscuits." Another elf appeared by his side with a tray of biscuits.

 

"Me's be Krafty, sir. How about some warm milk, sir?"

 

A glass of milk joined the biscuits. Not to be outdone, the other elves began to surround him with offers of different food and drinks. It took him some minutes to calm the little buggers down. In the end, he had to agree to take some biscuits and a glass of milk.

 

"Hey, Winky, how do you feel about working for me? I'm in need of a little bit of help. You can continue to help in the kitchens here, and you'd only have to run a few errands for me." Harry offered, which made the drunk elf perk up.

 

"Harry Potter, sir wants Winky to work for him? Wink's being a bad elf, sir."

 

"I am sure Winky is a good elf. So how about that Winky? You want to work for me?" he asked, and Dobby looked a little downtrodden now.

 

"If Harry Potter sir is sure, then Winky would be happy to work for Harry Potter sir." Winky nodded, and Harry had to bite back a squeal at the way Winky nodded. It was certainly cute to see those large green tennis ball eyes and flapping ears when the elf bobbed her head.

 

"So how about that, Dobby? I do have some serious work coming up, and I would be lucky to have your help as well. I will, of course, pay you what you want, and you may remain free."

 

"Oh no, sir. Dobby is happy to work for Harry Potter, sir." said Dobby excitedly.

 

"In that case, let's seal the deal with a firm handshake." He took the smaller hands of the two elves and shook them. Winky looked scandalised at the gesture while Dobby was grinning like a madman, or is it a madelf?

 

Lately, Harry was becoming increasingly attuned to his magic because of repeated usage. It was only because of this he felt a small tug in his energy when he sealed the pact with Dobby and Winky. He was curious to know more about the elf-wizard bond, but for the time being, he let that go as he had better things to worry about.

 

"What should Dobby do, Harry Potter sir?" asked the elf, excited to do some work.

 

Unfortunately for Dobby, Harry didn't exactly have some great work to be done right away. He had some general plans, but at the moment, most of them remained just that – plans.

 

"I will need to get some clothes from Muggle London tomorrow evening. I will give you my Gringotts key tonight. Can you go to the bank and get some Gold and Muggle money?"

 

"Dobby can do that, Harry Potter sir."

 

"Good. As for you, Winky, stop drinking. Tomorrow, I believe I will have some work for you."

 

"Oh, thank you, Harry Potter sir. Thank you." Winky squeaked out amidst a watery laugh.

 

"Just bear in mind, you two. At the moment, no one should know that the two of you are working for me. So only appear before me when there is no one around. If you have anything truly important, just remain hidden from other eyes if you approach me."

 

With that part of his plan a resounding success, Harry made his way to the Gryffindor Tower. The curfew was in effect, and he had to dodge several patrolling prefects to make it safely back to the tower.

 

Before reaching the portrait of the Fat Lady, he pocketed the cloak and the map in his backpack.

 

"Courage." he said to the Fat Lady.

 

"You do have that, my dear." said the Fat Lady before swinging open, and Harry climbed into the Common Room that was fairly packed.

 

In the House of Lions, being out of bounds was not a terrible crime, nor was it frowned upon. Hardly anyone would care what someone was doing out of the tower when the curfew was established. So long as no one lost points, it was an acceptable adventure. This was one of the reasons why the Weasley twins were held in high regard. Everyone knew those two hardly cared for any rules, and they regularly broke them. But to capture them in the act was no easy task. Without capturing them, they would get scot-free and would hardly lose any points.

 

Walking further into the Common room, Harry noticed Angelina and Alicia talking animatedly near the fireplace. Katie Bell was not far behind the two chasers. He was about to join them and engage in some small talk, but Neville barged into his line of vision.

 

"Hi, Harry. I did what you asked." said Neville as he handed him a parchment. "The list of magical creatures in water that I know of."

 

He had nearly forgotten about this little detail. "Thank you, Neville." He patted his otherwise silent friend.

 

"You're welcome, Harry." Neville smiled. "Do you reckon the first task could be in the Black Lake?"

 

"Oh, I don't know Neville. I searched for the previous Tournaments, and it is a regular theme for the Champions to face a magical creature. With the Black Lake this close to Hogwarts, I thought some water creature might be what I would have to face in the tasks."

 

"That makes sense. But there are a lot of other creatures, Harry."

 

"I know." he admitted as he took a seat on a couch, and Neville sat beside him. "There are a lot of land creatures, and I have ruled out some of them. Here I have got a list of those…" he searched his backpack until finally he took the piece of paper and handed it over to Neville.

 

Neville began to scroll through the names on his list.

 

"I doubt they would be using a Basilisk as it can kill with its gaze alone. And Dementors are not exactly best suited for entertaining a crowd, but I have a spell to deal with them. Those are the only two I have eliminated so far." Harry explained.

 

"You have a way to deal with Dementors? So the rumours are true, then? You chased off a swarm of Dementors last year!" Neville was now looking at him as if seeing Merlin in the flesh.

 

"Well, I have a spell that could take on the Dementors." Harry admitted, but then he hesitated as he overcame with doubt. "I hope it works as usual. I haven't tried that spell again for a long time." He trailed off in thought as he realised that the Patronus Charm might not be as reliable as he had thought.

 

"Hmm…" Neville frowned all of a sudden, looking at the parchment. "What about the Manticore Harry?"

 

"That thing exists?" he asked in surprise, keeping aside his doubts regarding the Patronus.

 

"Oh, yes. It is common in Western Greece and Egypt." said Neville

 

"I didn't know that."

 

"I don't know how you handle being a Champion, Harry. I would have died of fear alone."

 

"You know I didn't enter myself into this blasted tournament, right?"

 

"I believe you, Harry. I saw you when your name was called by Professor Dumbledore. All the other Champions were happy except you. You alone were scared." said Neville.

 

Harry took a good look at Neville. He had to admit that Neville was one observant kid. He just wondered why the previous Harry never bothered to deepen the friendship between himself and Neville. Perhaps Harry Potter was just so grateful to have a friend in Ron Weasley. He could hardly fault the previous Harry for that, as Ron was Harry's first friend.

 

All the faults of the previous Harry Potter could be traced back to the Dursleys and hence to Albus Dumbledore. Harry was going to break out of Dumbledore's influence one way or another, and this year offered many avenues to that effect. Neville was a treasure trove of knowledge regarding the Wizarding world, and in a few years, he knew that Neville would become a strong wizard.

 

Why not expedite that right now, he thought as gears in his head turned.

 

"Neville, would you be willing to help me out with the tasks?" Harry asked as the beginnings of a plan began to form in his head. He knew that it was not polite to form friendships for the sake of influence and power, but he had no choice. Powerful enemies surrounded him, and he needed powerful friends or pieces on the board, so to speak, to take out the major players.

 

"You want my help?" Neville squeaked out, and the chubby cheeks of Neville reddened, perhaps in embarrassment or fear.

 

"Out of all my friends, you and Hermione are the only ones that truly believe me. All others think that I cheated. If I was not in Gryffindor, I am sure I would be hated by the Gryffindors as well. So yes, I would like your help if you want to."

 

"Harry, I don't think I would be of much help. I am… I am pretty much useless. I would only hold you back." Neville admitted with his head bowed low.

 

"Then we will grow stronger together." said Harry as he squeezed the shoulder of Neville. "Your mother was my godmother. Our parents would have wanted us to help each other."

 

If nothing else, the last statement persuaded Neville, and Harry saw a little bit of courage return to Neville.

 

"I will help you, Harry," said Neville making Harry smile at the conviction behind that statement.

 

"In that case, how about we start doing the Herbology and Transfiguration assignment? After that, we can discuss some possible plans on how to deal with certain magical creatures." Harry offered.

 

"Sure, Harry."

 

Harry nodded and stood up from the couch but paused as Neville took hold of his arm. He looked at Neville with a raised eyebrow.

 

"Thank you for including me, Harry."

 

Harry smiled and clapped the boy on his shoulders. "I should be the one thanking you, Neville. Now, help me with that Herbology assignment."

 

The two of them were later joined by Hermione, who was excited to have another member in their advanced research group. Later after they were finished with the assignments, they went back to the topic of Tasks. Harry knew that Neville was very knowledgeable about obscure magical plants and trees. So when he felt that Hermione was firing off her exceedingly well-furnished memory, he subtly directed the conversation. He pitched in and suggested that there was a chance for the tasks to involve plants like the Devil's Snare.

 

This was the opening he created for Neville. He sat back and watched as Neville listed off some of the most dangerous hostile plant life known to wizardkind. It was an eye-opening conversation, and that night, he felt as if a new trio was being formed. It was just a start, but Rome was not built in a day. He had time and patience as his allies. This was the advantage he had over his enemies and combined that with his future knowledge, he had a shot at overturning the board. The board would eventually reset, but the chaos that he would create in the flip was going to be his opportunity.

Chapter 4: Indomitus

"The Summoning Charm is a simple spell but something that has quite a versatile use in our day-to-day lives and duels. Very commonly used for finding objects and is preferred for the sake of convenience. There is no complicated wand waving for this spell. The only criterion for mastering this spell is concentration. Observe."

 

Flitwick pointed, held his wand upright and said, "Accio book."

 

A book flew right off the shelf at the corner of the classroom into Flitwick's waiting hand.

 

"Now that you have observed the spell, are there any questions?" asked Flitwick

 

Harry raised his hand as he was curious about the mechanics of this specific spell.

 

"Yes, Mr Potter." Flitwick squeaked excitedly.

 

"Sir, how did the spell differentiate the book that was summoned from any other book in this room?"

 

"Visualisation, Mr Potter. I knew which book I wanted, and the magic responded accordingly."

 

"I understood that part, sir. But my question is focused on whether the spell depends on the visualisation and familiarity of the object by the caster. For example, say that there is a red diamond in this room that I want. I only know the existence of this diamond from a friend. I have never seen it, nor have I ever known about it. This room is filled with other red diamonds as well. But I want the specific diamond that my friend mentioned. Keeping all this in mind, if I use the Summoning Charm, would the diamond that my friend mentioned would be summoned by the spell?"

 

"An excellent question Mr Potter." Flitwick nodded with a smile. "In this scenario that you constructed, the Summoning Charm would work, but it will summon every red diamond in the room. Why? Simply because your information about the red diamond that you want is sorely lacking. When I summoned this book, I knew which book I wanted. I didn't have to specify its name or any other attributes because I knew the book I wanted. Hence magic works its wonder. Remember, children. Your knowledge, concentration and imagination are the limits of your magic, nothing else."

 

At that moment, the time for the class came to an end.

 

"Remember to read the chapter about the Summoning Charm. Tomorrow will be a practical class." said Flitwick before dismissing the class.

 

Harry packed his bag and joined Neville on the way out of the class. He could see Hermione speaking with Ron, so he shifted his plans a bit. The next hour was free for them, and he intended to get some reading done.

 

"Hey, Neville. I am going to the library. Want to join me?"

 

"Sure, Harry."

 

As the two of them were about to take a flight of steps, Draco Malfoy and his cohorts blocked their path.

 

"Oh look, the champion is here." said Draco followed by some snide laughs from his Slytherin buddies.

 

"And the resident inbred morons are here. What is new?"

 

"What?" Draco hissed

 

"Oh, look. The inbreeding has taken poor Malfoy's hearing as well. Perhaps you need to see Madam Pomfrey Malfoy."

 

"How dare you insult me, you filthy half-breed?" Draco snarled and pulled out his wand in a threatening manner.

 

"I dare because I dare filthy trash-blood. If you are intent on insulting me, get ready to be returned that favour, else get lost, Malfoy." said Harry as he pointed his own wand at Malfoy.

 

"What is going on here?" Flitwick asked as the little professor managed to barge in.

 

"Oh, nothing, professor. Malfoy here is under the delusion that his self-proclaimed 'pure' blood is superior. I am waiting to see whether his claims hold any truth. I have to say the last three years have so far been a string of disappointments. I fear that is all we can expect from Malfoy." Harry smoothly interjected before Malfoy or his gang could say a word.

 

"I will not have any of you using spells in the corridor." said Flitwick with an uncharacteristic stern look from the usually bubbly persona the professor projected.

 

"Gladly, professor. Just ask Malfoy and his gang to remove themselves from my path." said Harry. 

 

"Mr Malfoy, Miss Parkinson, Mr Goyle and Mr Crabbe, please remove yourselves."

 

"Thank you, professor. Have a good day." said Harry. After giving a brief nod of respect, he moved forward with Neville right behind him.

 

"I don't think Malfoy would forget that. Calling him and his friends trash-blood!" said Neville, and Harry couldn't precisely pinpoint whether his new friend was afraid or ecstatic.

 

"It is better that he does not forget. He doesn't have a monopoly on insults. So long as he confines himself to insults, then that is fine with me." said Harry, climbing down a set of stairs with Neville. 

 

"You know it won't end there, Harry."

 

"I am counting on it."

 

"Shouldn't we avoid fighting?" Neville asked

 

"There is no use in running when we are chased by idiots that refuse to learn. There comes a time when we either make a stand else we will be running to the ends of the world our whole life." said Harry, only to receive a confused stare from Neville.

 

Harry berated himself for speaking as if he was a wise old guy. He had to remember that he was dealing with a bunch of teenagers, and he himself was one. It was getting harder to pretend to be a teenager. Not to mention the sheer unfamiliarity that he was feeling even with the memories of Harry Potter.

 

"Last time Malfoy tried to be a pain in the ass, Hermione punched him on the nose. The rest of the year, the fool was bearable. I think it is time he gets another bloody nose." Harry explained, and Neville nodded in understanding.

 

"So, what are we searching for in the Library?" asked Neville changing the topic to which Harry was thankful.

 

"How about you look for any information on Grindylows while I search for spells that allow one to breathe in water." Harry suggested.

 

"Sure, Harry." Neville said happily. 

 

*******

 

"I never thought there were so many shield spells." said Harry as he leafed through the book he borrowed from the library.

 

"Are there that many?" asked Hermione, leaning forward on the table with interest. 

 

"Oh, yes. There is the commonly used Protego charm that lets you defend against most spells. But the charm can be brought down by some shield breaker spells."

 

"I read about that spell in the fifth-year spell book." said Hermione

 

"It is the common shield charm preferred by many wizards as it is simple to learn and cast. There are other shield charms, however, and I think I found something that would be useful." said Harry with a nod towards Hermione.

 

"Oh. Let me see." said Hermione excitedly as she took the book he was reading and began to search for the spell.

 

"The Indomitus charm is a shielding spell developed by Eugene Rosier in 1607. The charm, when cast, creates a bubble of magical shield around the castor. Goblins regularly threatened his hometown, and he thought to create a shield that would help him protect his home from physical harm. The Goblins used metal hammers and boulders to smash homes and castles. Eugene Rosier wanted to cover his home with a shield that would physically separate his house from the rest of the town. While the spell didn't have the intended effect of protecting his home, it could protect the castor and those who are immediately close to the castor. In 1651 this spell was further modified to create a ward that had the effects Eugene Rosier desired." read Hermione, but Harry could see that his friend was not that much impressed.

 

"What?" Harry asked, looking at the bushy-haired girl. 

 

"Well, it is not so different from Protego."

 

"Turn the page Hermione." said Harry

 

On the other side of the page, the historical uses of the spell were listed.

 

"Indomitus was used by Gabriel De Cruz against the Hydra of Thessaly in 1707. The spell proved to shield Gabriel De Cruz from fire spat out by the Hydra. In his book 'The Dance with the Hydra' Gabriel De Cruz claims that the seven heads of the Hydra he faced couldn't break the Indomitus." read Hermione

 

"So the spell can block anything physical or even fire. Can it block spells as well?" asked Neville, who was silent throughout the conversation.

 

"The book doesn't say. But Harry, this is a powerful spell." said Hermione

 

"I know. I am just keeping my options open. Besides, I do have a few weeks before the first task. I could learn the spell in that time frame."

 

"Hmm… There are also a few variants of the spell listed here, Harry. Are you sure you want to learn this spell? The Protego charm could be simpler." said Hermione, turning a few pages of the book. 

 

"It wouldn't hurt to try." said Harry with a shrug before accepting the book back from Hermione.

 

"If you are sure." Hermione said before turning her sights on Neville, who was reading up on the Summoning Charm. "Did you find any water creatures from the library, Neville?"

 

"Huh...Oh, yes, Hermione. We read about Grindylows and some Sea Dragons. Harry even found a spell that allows you to breathe underwater." said Neville

 

"Really! What is the spell?" she asked excitedly.

 

"It's the Bubble-head charm. I took some notes. Want to see it?"

 

At Hermione's enthusiastic nod, Harry handed over the notes he prepared to her. As Hermione concentrated on the notes he prepared, his eyes caught Ron giving him a stink eye from across the Common Room. Harry raised an eyebrow challengingly, and Ron turned away with a huff.

 

Harry shook his head at the attitude of his former friend and decided that it was time to get some good training done. Besides, he had to make contact with Dobby and Winky. Saying a hasty goodbye to Hermione and Neville, he went out of the Gryffindor Tower. Outside the tower, he promptly used the disillusion charm rather than the cloak. Somehow the charm had become familiar to him all of a sudden, and he felt more comfortable without a cloak draped over his head when he was moving inside the castle with moving staircases and whatnot. 

 

He had at first thought the memories of Voldemort would become an issue, but now he could barely remember them. He would get a strong sense of deja vu whenever he read a certain text or performed a spell. He found it easy to master certain spells occasionally. It was sort of like muscle memory at this point. In his case, he would say that it was a magical imprint or impression.

 

Perhaps this was what Nobu was talking about in that message, Harry thought.

 

On the one hand, he was thankful Nobu had given him some aid, however small that may be, but he was not going to forgive that guy for taking his free will. He had yet to reconcile with the reality switch fully, and it was doubtful that he would ever be able to forget his old life. Having said that, he had to look forward rather than fantasise about what could have been.

 

Anyway, the impact of Voldemort's memories had so far been isolated to spells. He had not gotten some information dump whenever he thought about Horcruxes or even the Death Eater posing as Mad-eye Moody. He was thankful for that as he was sure he wouldn't be enjoying a whole stack of Voldemort's memories when most of them were filled with torture, murder and several violent acts.

 

He carefully traversed through the castle, dodging several patroling prefects. Finally, he managed to arrive at the seventh-floor corridor. He cast a wide area silencing charm just to be sure and then began pacing before the wall. As a door materialised before him, he called out to Dobby and Winky.

 

"Master Potter called for Dobby/Winky."

 

The two elves were excitedly bouncing on their toes. He was frankly baffled at the House Elf mentality. Every time he thought about them, it just didn't make much sense. He was beginning to believe that the Wizarding World thrived on not making much sense. An entire race of work-obsessed slave labourers was certainly a curious thing, but he was not going to complain. But he reminded himself that he ought to be extra nice to these useful beings. It helped that the two elves before him were easily likeable and friendly.

 

"Dobby, good to see you." Harry patted Dobby on the head before turning his eyes on Winky. "Winky, are you sober now?"

 

Dobby gave him a big smile at the show of affection, while Winky was shy, and if he looked carefully enough, he spotted fear in her eyes.

 

"Winky is a good elf now, master." The female elf said with her hands wrenching in anxiety or fear or both.

 

"Good. Follow me."

 

Harry walked into the room that the ROR helpfully provided. As the three of them walked into the room, the door vanished, only to be replaced by a plain wall. He sat on a cushion near the fireplace that was providing him with much-needed warmth.

 

"So did you manage to accomplish everything I ordered last night, Dobby?" he asked

 

"Oh yes, Harry Potter, sir. Dobby did, sir." The elf excitable said and snapped his fingers.

 

Five sets of notepads and a bunch of muggle pens appeared in a flash before his eyes. Between the notepads, his eyes found the wand holster.

 

"Good work Dobby." He complimented as he took the wand holster and strapped it on his left arm.

 

"Thank you, Harry Potter Sir." Dobby said happily.

 

"Now, tell me, are the two of you familiar with harvesting parts from magical creatures?" Harry asked

 

"Dobby/Winky can do, Sir."

 

"Good. In that case, I have a magical creature that I want you two to harvest. The creature is dead, but it is very poisonous. So I want you both to be very careful."

 

"Dobby/Winky will be cautious, sir."

 

The two elves were staring each other down. Harry had the feeling the two were developing a rivalry of sorts. So long as it remained friendly, he was not going to intervene.

 

"What creature is it, Harry Potter, sir?" asked Dobby, breaking away from the staring contest with Winky.

 

"A Basilisk."

 

The two elves were now staring open-mouthed at him. He could understand Winky's surprise, but he wondered why Dobby was so surprised. Dobby should have known about the Basilisk unless, of course, he didn't. Perhaps Dobby merely thought the Diary was just responsible for all the attacks.

 

"The Great Harry Potter sir slew big snakey! Dobby should have known how great you are, sir. Forgive Dobby for ever doubting you." The elf was now bowing low.

 

"Uhh… Dobby, don't do that. You don't have to call me great or anything, and you certainly don't have to bow to me. I would appreciate it if the three of us worked as friends." said Harry as he awkwardly patted Dobby and Winky on their heads.

 

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to do as the two elves promptly wept and hugged his legs while repeatedly thanking him.

 

It took him a few minutes to calm the two excitable elves down and direct their attention to the matter at hand.

 

"So, can you two render the Basilisk and harvest ingredients from its body? I believe I will be having some uses for the venom and its teeth soon."

 

"Winky knows how to skin big snakey sir, but Winky would need Goblin Steel." said Winky taking Harry by surprise.

 

"Why is that? Dragons have magic-resistant hide, and yet they have been extracted for ingredients."

 

"But Basilisks are born out of Dark Magic Harry Potter, Sir. Even in death, the tainted magic won't leave the big snake." said Winky.

 

Harry looked at the elves weirdly, wondering how they knew about the Basilisk and its birth. But he didn't explore that thought. 

 

"Then I am afraid harvesting the Basilisk will have to be postponed until I somehow find Goblin Steel." said Harry, as the only price of Goblin Steel he knew was locked away in Dumbledore's office. 

 

"But you have Goblin Steel in your vaults, sir." claimed Dobby.

 

Harry blinked in surprise because that was news to him.

 

"Huh..say that again."

 

"You have Goblin Steel in your vaults, Harry Potter, sir." repeated Dobby.

 

"I don't think so, Dobby. The last time I visited my vault, it was only Galleons, Sickles and Knuts in my vault Dobby."

 

"Oh no, sir. That was just your trust vault. There is a family vault of Potters, and Dobby has seen many Goblin Steel blades in the vault."

 

"Wait a minute! There is another vault that I didn't know about, and yet you managed to see inside the vault on just a single visit. How?"

 

"Dobby asked the mean Goblin to show him all the vaults of the Potters, sir. Dobby wanted to arrange the vaults just as he did for bad-Malfoys." said Dobby as a way of explanation, but Harry was only half paying attention. His mind was on the spin as he thought about the new possibilities offered before him.

 

Harry was now on the floor with his eyes level with Dobby. He put his hand on Dobby's shoulder and pulled the elf closer.

 

"The Goblins just let you in on the family vault of Potters with no questions asked?" he asked incredulously.

 

"The mean Goblins took Dobby's magic. Dobby thinks the Goblins were searching for the bond."

 

"But I am underage."

 

"Dobby doesn't know Harry Potter Sir. The Goblins are strange and think differently from wizards."

 

Against that explanation, Harry could hardly make an argument. He just sat there staring like an idiot. He knew the Potters were an old Pureblood family. They were bound to have immense wealth considering the family tree could be traced back to the 12th century. He needed to know more of the Potter history and several intricacies behind his noble lineage. He had yet to broach this subject with Neville, but Neville could hardly know about the history of Potters.

 

Albus Dumbledore must have known about the Potters well, owing to his long life and his fascination with the Deathly Hallows. But Harry was hardly going to trust a word from the man manipulating Harry Potter all his life.

 

While he had no concrete evidence, the utter apathy that Dumbledore showed to Harry Potter, knowing that a bunch of lowlifes was abusing the kid, didn't sit well with him. That was not the only reason for his mistrust, but he hardly needed anything else. No, he would never trust the Headmaster with even a paperclip if he could help it.

 

That left only one other person he could turn to for help. And that person was a wanted fugitive in the eyes of the law. Fortunately, he knew a meeting was coming up soon enough. He would just have to wait for Sirius to contact him. Till then, he would wait and work on other avenues.

Chapter 5: The weighing of the wands

It was early morning, and hardly any sunlight could be seen in the sky. A blanket of darkness concealed Harry's movements from any prying eyes. The disillusion charm also helped in that aspect. As usual, the castle was sleeping owing to the early hour. After a few more minutes of walking, he finally arrived at his destination.

 

He took down the disillusion charm and took in the girls' lavatory on the second floor. There was hardly any difference to the structure he could see under the light from the tip of his wand. Nonetheless, he cancelled the Lumos spell and began casting some basic detection charms. He could detect no wards or proximity alarms around the place, which was odd as he expected Dumbledore or any of the Hogwarts faculty to keep an eye on the Chamber.

 

Perhaps they didn't see any need for warding the entrance seeing as the Basilisk was dead and Harry was the only one capable of accessing the Chamber. He certainly had no complaints, and by a stroke of luck, Moaning Myrtle was absent from her usual spot. As he entered the lavatory, he summoned both Dobby and Winky. Both of them arrived with a customary popping sound.

 

"You two ready? We are going to enter the fabled Chamber of Secrets."

 

"Dobby is ready, Harry Potter, sir."

 

"So is Winky, master."

 

Nodding to his two elvish friends, he raised his wand, silently lighting the tip once again with Lumos. His eyes traced the snake effigies carved on the taps and pipes of the sink.

 

"Open."

 

Harry hardly felt he was hissing. To him, it felt like he was speaking as usual in English, but the sink folding on itself let him know that he was speaking Parseltongue.

 

As the sink moved aside, he saw the large hole in the floor. He didn't fancy jumping inside an enormous pipe, even if it was safe.

 

"Stairs."

 

To his relief, a spiralling set of stairs formed, replacing the long bottomless pipe.

 

"Follow me."

 

Harry climbed in first, followed by Dobby and Winky. He was careful to close the sink before continuing his journey further into the Chamber.

 

Despite the stairs forming on his verbal command, the slime and filth were present on the way down, just as he remembered. But he had the presence of mind to use a few cleansing charms to remove the filth. Winky also chipped in with a snap of her fingers, and the smell vanished.

 

"Thanks, Winky."

 

"Master is too kind." said Winky,  a happy smile on her face at the compliment.

 

Frankly, he was baffled why any wizard would want to abuse House Elves. They were like dogs with superpowers and highly user-friendly. He just shook his head at the stupidity of Wizards and moved on.

 

After a few minutes of walking through a bunch of steps, he stepped onto a plain floor. The floor was riddled with remains of the Basilisk's meals. Just as he remembered, there were some remains of the cave-in, but the two elves quickly took care of that and cleared the path. The shed skin of the Basilisk was also there, hardly touched by time.

 

Harry didn't waste any time admiring as he continued the journey. Soon they were before a large metallic door with snake effigies.

 

"Open."

 

The snakes on the metallic door slithered in random directions before the door swung open. The true Chamber of Secrets lay open before them. Rows of huge snake effigies stood proudly inside the chamber on both sides of a wide hallway. At the end of the hallway stood the giant statue of Salazar Slytherin. On the hard floor lay the remains of the dead Basilisk, and sure enough, it remained untouched by time.

 

"Well, there it is! I welcome you both to the Chamber of Secrets." said Harry, noting that both Winky and Dobby were thoroughly amazed.

 

"This is a giant snakey, Harry Potter sir. How ever did you kill it, sir?" asked Dobby

 

"By stabbing a Goblin Steel sword through its mouth."

 

His answer only garnered two pair of wide-eyed incredulous stares.

 

"I know it was a stupid move and a dangerous one, but that's what happened." said Harry and shook himself out of some very unpleasant memories. Reading about that stuff was one thing, but having memories of that day from the perspective of Harry Potter was another thing.

 

"Now, how long will it take for you to harvest this creature?"

 

"It should be done within a week, master." said Winky, with Dobby nodding along.

 

"This place also needs some serious patching up, and I certainly am not a fan of the snake theme prevalent here. Now, can you two access the Chamber without my aid?"

 

"Dobby and Winky can pop in without your help Harry Potter sir." said Dobby, and that piqued Harry's interest.

 

"Truly! Aren't the wards going to stop you from teleporting in Dobby?" he asked curiously.

 

"Oh no, Harry Potter sir. House Elves can go anywhere so long as we have seen the place, even if there are wards."

 

Now wasn't that convenient, he thought with some relief.

 

Yet he could see the danger and potential in having beings that could just do as they please. If someone wanted to kill him, all they would have to do was to order a House Elf to do the job.

 

Perhaps some wards can block House Elve's unique mode of travel. Most likely, such wards may not have been developed during Salazar Slytherin's time.

 

Harry took out his pocket diary and made a reminder to search for wards that could block House Elves. Pocketing the diary, he continued his inspection of the Chamber, all the while, his two Elvish companions were poking and prodding the dead Basilisk. Strangely he felt no fear upon seeing that giant snake. There was hardly any need to fear as the bloody snake had been dead for almost two years.

 

Perhaps Harry felt no fear because his mind was occupied with other thoughts. He wondered about the many gigantic pipes that spanned across the Chamber and where all of them led to. Since the Marauders Map does not show the Chamber, he would have to find out manually.

 

But that was a task he was not going to tackle anytime soon as he could seldom waste time. Perhaps he could trace those pipes after the First Task was concluded. Still, there was something else that was bugging him. If Salazar Slytherin created a secret Chamber that can only be accessed by those who have the gift of speaking Parseltongue, then there was bound to be more than just some giant snake with a death stare. Certainly, there should be some personal artefacts, relics, weapons or even some books in the Chamber.

 

There was a chance one of these many entrances could lead to a secret room, but his eyes traced the giant head of Slytherin.

 

"Speak to me Slytherin, greatest of Hogwarts four."

 

The mouth of the giant statue opened all the way down till the chin rested on the floor.

 

Using his wand lit up by the white light of Lumos spell, he carefully climbed into the mouth of the statue. The inside of the statue was filled with slime and filth, which he vanished with a quick cleansing spell. He also decided to conjure some Bluebell flames to light up the part as the Lumos spell was hardly getting him the desired visibility.

 

Blue light from the Bluebell flames banished darkness, and his eyes found a trap door on the floor. His first instinct was to open it with his hand, but he was not suicidal. The trap door had been guarded by a giant Basilisk for centuries, so some healthy caution was necessary.

 

Harry took a step back and hissed, "Open.".

 

Nothing happened, so he pointed his wand at the trap door.

 

"Alahamora."

 

The trap door clicked open, and a light began to flicker into existence from the trap door. Harry cautiously moved forward and sent forth a few Bluebell flames through the trapdoor. Seeing no traps or anything threatening, he climbed in and found himself inside a large study. He conjured more Bluebell flames to get a better view of the study.

 

There were shelves upon shelves filled with books and scrolls, all in pristine condition. At the far end of the room, there was a large ornate table with lots of open scrolls and books. He took a look at the scrolls, and it was filled with Latin. Some were written in the Runic language. He even found a few books written in Old English and Welsh.

 

But among those dead languages, he found several parchments written in modern English. There was a good chance that these were notes prepared by Tom Riddle or some other descendants of Slytherin.

 

To that end, he began searching the study for any books, scrolls or parchments written in modern English. He found a few in his short search and began collecting them into a stack. He thought of taking these books with him but thought better of it at the last moment. He could access the room whenever he pleased, so it was safe for the books to remain here.

 

He searched the room for a few more minutes, and when he found nothing else, he just decided to call it a day and return to the Gryffindor tower. Overall, it was a productive morning, and his quest for acquiring magical knowledge has approached another milestone.

 

******

 

Harry gladly Frank a warm glass of milk at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. Already, he had taken in two boiled eggs and a plate of pork chops. To overcome the frailty of his body, he fixed a diet.

 

Breakfast would involve meat, eggs and a glass of milk. Chicken and pork were most commonly served in the morning, but he had ensured Dobby or Winky would serve him some Lamb or beef from time to time. Lunch would be filled with veggies, and he decided he would not consume an iota of animal fat at that time. There were lots of fruit salads that were available at the table. There was even a Qulfi served at lunch and dinner, which he appreciated immensely. The dinner menu was much more simpler as he concentrated on a few fruits like apples, oranges, grapes or even a few slices of pineapple.

 

He designed the diet in a way that allowed easier digestion in his body by taking in as many nutrients as possible. He had even taken up the habit of drinking a blend of lemon and amla juice before going to bed as it helped burn fat in the body. It was well known that heavier food should be consumed in the early morning and light food in the evening. He was following that same principle.

 

So far, there were no marked changes to his body, and it was highly unlikely that he would see any changes soon. Perhaps he would gain some height by the end of the year. Seeking out some expert opinion from Madam Pomfrey might not be a bad idea as well, he thought.

 

"You are spacing out, Harry." said Neville with a small nudge.

 

"Ah, I was just thinking about my height or the lack of growth, to be more accurate. I am the shortest boy in our year."

 

"I am sure you will catch up with everyone Harry." said Neville

 

"I hope so, else I would become the boy-who-shrunk!"

 

Neville coughed out a laugh at that.

 

"I hope our star seeker grows up a bit. Can't have our Harrikins become a dwarf." said George Weasely.

 

"Right, you are George." Fred pitched in eagerly with a solemn nod.

 

"Our poor Champion looks like he is half dead already." said George

 

"Oh, cut it out, you two. Instead of picking up on me, how about you pranksters help me out a little bit." said Harry

 

"Look at this, George. Harrikins wants my help."

 

"I think he wanted my help, Fred."

 

"You can both help, and it is right up your alley." said Harry hoping to put a stop to the Twins going off on a tangent.

 

"Well, when you put it like that…" George trailed off.

 

"….we ought to be more considerate." finished Fred, and the two looked at him curiously.

 

Harry leaned forward conspiratorially and began to whisper into their ears.

 

*******

 

"Do I want to know what you are planning with the Twins, Harry?" asked Neville as they were on the way to the Charms class.

 

"A little precaution." said Harry, but Neville just gave an unconvinced stare.

 

"Oh, I just asked them to prepare a retaliatory prank against Malfoy and his goons." He explained.

 

"Why?"

 

"I get the feeling that Malfoy is going to come up with something that is going to annoy me. I am just preparing in advance to return the favour."

 

They were the first to reach the Charms classroom as others were still back in the Great Hall. The two of them took their seats on the front row.

 

"Neville, what do you know about the Wizengamot?" asked Harry as the two of them began to take out their books and quill from their bags.

 

"Well, my Grandmother's on it." said Neville.

 

"I see. What does the Wizengamot do?"

 

"They create laws for Wizards and Witches. They even conduct hearings although that is rare."

 

"Truly! Then how are the members selected?"

 

"Well, there are some thirty permanent seats reserved for noble houses of Magical Britain. Then there are the select few ministry officials. I don't know the exact number, but I think it is seven or eight. Then there are the recipients of the Order of Merlin. Each person is afforded one vote."

 

"Hmm. Interesting."

 

Before Harry could ask more questions, students began to pool in. He watched Hermione and Ron walking, engaged in a heated argument amongst themselves. He paid it no mind and avoided looking in their direction.

 

He knew that Hermione must be in a tough spot with two of her best friends, not in speaking terms. Sadly that's how it is going to be, and he finds no reason to rekindle his friendship with Ron.

 

If he were just Harry Potter, that would have most likely happened, but he was not the old Harry Potter. He was so far away from the real Harry Potter character-wise. He preferred tackling life on his lonesome. While he certainly had friends and a girlfriend in his old life, he had kept them all at an arm's length. He had no interest in dragging himself into their problems and found peace in his solitude.

 

In his opinion, if someone can't stay at peace and comfortable by their lonesome, then they need to reevaluate their character. If someone can't be at peace within themselves, they would be a disaster to others. Besides, he prefers to keep attachments to a minimum. That was why he enjoyed as much travelling as he liked. After college, he found three jobs and all of them in three different cities.

 

In short, he was a nomad, but he understood why the original Harry would forgive Ron so easily. Ron was the original Harry's first friend.

 

Unfortunately, the original Harry was absent in this body. To the new Harry having Ron along in his plans for the future would be like tying an anchor around his neck.

 

Harry blinked and shook awake from his thoughts as Flitwick walked in, and the Ravenclaws filled in the leftover seats in the classroom. A small revision of the previous class and some questions later, they were onto the practical application of the Summoning Charm.

 

Having established a close bond to his magical energy performing the Summoning Charm was as easy as breathing for Harry. Flitwick was obviously happy that someone other than Hermione managed to master the spell in the class. But not everyone managed to breeze through the class effortlessly.

 

"I don't know what I am doing wrong. Perhaps I am a squib." whispered Neville in a broken voice, looking forlornly at the ball Neville was supposed to summon into his hands.

 

"Hey, don't be like that, Neville. Magic does not respond well when you lack confidence in yourself. Try one more time but this time, just imagine that you are holding the ball in your hand when you perform the spell." said Harry as he clapped on Neville's shoulders, showing his support.

 

On the next try, Neville didn't manage to summon the ball, but the ball did move towards Neville, wobbling all the way. While not a complete success, it was nonetheless a good start. With what he knew about Neville's wand problem, this was definitely a worthy achievement.

 

After Charms, it was Potions, and he didn't fancy sitting in a class with Severus Snape. From the memories he could access from this body, the guy should be locked up in prison for mentally harassing children. Not to mention the gall to place Slytherins and Gryffindors in the same room led by the most biased Hogwarts staff was bound to be a disaster. It was things like this that made him doubt Dumbledore's credibility as an educator or even a decent human being. It was as if the guy wanted to cause more problems between Slytherins and Gryffindors.

 

"Uh, Harry, are you sure you want to sit with me in Potions?" asked Neville as they stepped into the dungeons.

 

"I am sure, Neville. Just be a little bit more confident."

 

"I would like to, but…" Neville paused as Draco Malfoy and his courts blocked their path to the potions class.

 

All the Slytherins were wearing a badge which made him remember Hermione's SPEW badge. The badges showed a single message:

 

Support CEDRIC DIGGORY-

 

The REAL Hogwarts Champion!

 

"Like them Potter?" asked Malfoy loudly as Harry and Neville approached. "And this isn't the only thing it does – look!"

 

Draco pressed the badge with his hand, and the message vanished, only to be replaced by another one:

 

POTTER STINKS

 

The Slytherins howled with laughter. Each of them pressed their badges, too, until the message POTTER STINKS was shining brightly all around Harry, who just let out a sigh and rolled his eyes at the resident bully.

 

"I see. Very imaginative. While you are at it, why don't you just plaster one on your forehead? At least your head will have some use other than thinking up silly things and embarrassing yourself even more. Already you are a joke, and I wonder how low can you go. Each day you surprise me by dragging yourself further into the mud of stupidity. So congrats on scoring a new milestone."

 

Whatever reaction Malfoy was hoping to get from Harry that was not the one he was banking on. Harry watched dispassionately as the smug smile was wiped off from the face of the resident bully.

 

"Still, you have insulted the House of Potter. Rest assured, my retaliation will find each and every one of you at my leisure." Harry added, taking turns to stare down at each of the faces in the group. "I will exempt Crabbe and Goyle as I don't like to attack mentally challenged goons that barely have two brain cells between them."

 

"You can't just…" Draco began but was once again sharply cut off by Harry.

 

"I shall also exempt you, Greengrass. I doubt I should bother with someone who is living on borrowed time. What a curse must it be - isn't it Greengrass?"

 

The otherwise silent girl was now pale white, and her blue eyes were wide, staring at Harry in abject terror.

 

Seeing that the situation was spinning out of his grasp, Draco made a last-ditched effort and turned his attention on Hermione, who was standing beside Harry shocked, just like everyone else.

 

"Here, want one, Granger?" Draco offered a badge to Hermione. "But don't touch my hand, as I wouldn't be wanting to taint myself with a Mudblood."

 

"I will take it." Said Harry, and before Draco could blink, the badge was in Harry's hand. "I will keep this as a souvenir to remember just how much of an inbred Trashblood you are, Malfoy."

 

"How dare you?" Draco hissed and pulled out his wand, and screamed out a spell.

 

Harry's eyes traced every inch of movement of Draco's hand. He was close enough that he could probably snap the fool's wand in two with his left arm, but he dismissed that idea. His right hand, which held his own wand, made a flick, and a transparent shield sprung up with no incantation. The shield absorbed the spell with nary a flicker.

 

"I am surprised you have the spine to look me in the eye and cast a spell, Malfoy. In the first year, you ran with your tail between your legs when you challenged me to a duel. You didn't even have the decency to show up for the duel, which showed how much of a wuss you are. Then in the second year, you were soundly beaten up before the entirety of Hogwarts. In the third year, you acted like a hysterical princess and got punched by Hermione on the nose. And now we are in the Fourth year, and not a soul could forget you turning into a ferret." Harry shook his head in a disappointed manner, and he could hear roaring laughter from his back. In fact, he could see amusement in some of the Slytherins. "You have always thought of yourself as my rival. The truth is I consider you a bug that I sometimes swat away or, when I am in a generous mood, just avoid altogether. Consider my present mood as generous."

 

With that said Harry walked around the group of Slytherins into the potions class. Not surprisingly, he saw Severus Snape lurking, hoping to pitch in, but he gave no mind to the man and merely took a seat at the front desk. He avoided any eye contact and discretely pocketed the badge. He could imagine a good use for this little piece of magic.

 

It took a few minutes for the class to start, as his response to Malfoy seems to have struck everyone by surprise. He didn't give that a thought and merely focused on his potions book. He felt Neville take a seat beside him and just gave him a small smile. Neville returned the gesture with some hesitation.

 

As Snape began the class with his classic 'instructions are on the board' approach, he quietly read through the instructions. They were going to create an antidote for infections.

 

"I expect you all to carefully read the instructions and gather the essential ingredients. There will be no bickering, and when you prepare the antidote, we will need someone to test them on." said Snape, and the guy was now staring at Harry as if that was supposed to be intimidating. All he felt at that moment was that he was going to kick the son of the bitch in the balls if that happened.

 

Something must have shown on Harry's face because Snape was now doubling on his stare. Then a knock on the door broke Snape's focus. Snape waved his wand, and the door opened to show Colin Creevey.

 

The third-year Gryffindor edged into the room with zero fear when in the presence of Snape. The boy was beaming at Harry all the way and now stood before Snape.

 

"Yes?" said Snape curtly, and Harry could see the man was hardly satisfied by the lack of reaction from Colin.

 

"Please sir, I'm supposed to take Harry Potter upstairs."

 

"Potter has Potions class to complete." Snape stared down at Colin.

 

"Sir, Mr Bagman wants him." said Colin, now showing a little nervousness. "All the Champions have to go, I think they want to take photographs…"

 

"Very well, very well. Potter leave your things here, I want you back here later to test your antidote." Snape snapped

 

"Please, sir, he's got to take his things with him." Colin gulped as Snape rounded on the boy with his stare. "All the Champions are supposed to…"

 

"Very well. Potter, get out of my sight."

 

Harry didn't move right away. He took his time, and throughout all that time, he trained his eyes on Snape. One thing was certain in his mind at that moment. He was going to make sure that the resident bat was going to get kicked out of this school and if possible, in a nice cell in Azkaban if he could help it.

 

All of a sudden, he felt the feeling of a pinprick on his forehead, and the sensation disappeared when his mind instinctually blanked out. He frowned at the feeling, and yet when he searched for it, it remained elusive. He had an idea what happened, but he was not exactly a hundred percent sure. He paid no attention to anyone and left the dungeons with Colin Creevey in tow.

 

"It's amazing, isn't it, Harry?" said Colin

 

"What is?"

 

"You being Champion?"

 

"Hmm…I guess."

 

"I think you will win, Harry." said Colin excitedly.

 

"I appreciate your support, Colin."

 

They made some small talk on their walk until finally, they were before the right room.

 

"Good luck Harry." said Colin, and then the excitable third-year left.

 

He had prepared for this moment ever since he had come to this world. He knocked on the door and entered.

 

He was in a classroom, but all the desks were pushed to the side. He recognised Ludo Bagman, who was conversing with a lady whom he assumed was Rita Skeeter. Viktor Krum was hanging around a closed window, looking moodily at the whole classroom. Fleur and Cedric were conversing with each other in another corner. A paunchy man, holding a large black camera, one that would be common in the 60s, was staring at Fleur as though she was a goddess.

 

He noticed an almost glazed look on Cedric as well, and he realised Fleur was releasing her allure. It must have been in a controlled way seeing as Bagman and Krum remained unaffected.

 

"Harry! Here he is! Our youngest Champion. In you come, Harry…nothing to worry about, it's just the Wand Weighing ceremony. The rest of the judges will be here in a minute or so…"

 

"I see." Harry nodded at the man. He could at least rest assured the man was here to help, and an easy-going fun character hardly posed any threat to him.

 

"We have to check that all your wands are fully functional, you see. The expert's upstairs now with Dumbledore. And then there's going to be a wee little photoshoot. This is Rita Skeeter," said Bagman as the witch dressed in luminous green robes moved closer. "She's doing a small piece on the Tournament for the Daily Prophet..."

 

"Maybe not that small, Ludo." Said Rita Skeeter, her eyes brightly glimmering as she zeroed in on Harry. "I wonder if I can have a little word with Harry? The youngest Champion, you know…to add a bit of colour."

 

The woman's smile was now predatory.

 

"Sure. But I don't think we will get the privacy." Harry supplied with an innocent smile.

 

"Oh, don't you worry, Harry." Rita grabbed his arm in a vice-like grip and dragged him out of the room. They were in another room, and Rita closed the room behind her.

 

He took in the dusty buckets and brooms inside the room and realised it was a broom closet.

 

"Hardly a venue for conducting an interview, but if it's okay with you, why not." He said with a shrug and merely leaned on a nearby wall while Rita took a seat on a bucket and she closed the door, immersing them in darkness. A light began to shine as a candle was lit out of nowhere, and the candles floated in the air as Rita Skeeter started to to take out a notepad along with a quill.

 

"You won't mind if I use a Quick-Quotes Quill, do you, Harry?"

 

"If you want to sure, but I wouldn't advise it, Miss Beetle."

 

"What?" Rita Skeeter was now staring at him with an open mouth.

 

"I wonder why you hide your animagus form, Miss Skeeter. I suppose you would not be able to properly infiltrate and do your 'investigative journalism' properly. And the Ministry would most likely lock you up if they get wind of it, isn't that right? You have made too many enemies with that ability of yours, and the least you will get will be an Azkaban sentence."

 

Now that he knew that he had sufficiently shocked the woman to her core, he smiled and took the quill away from her hand.

 

"I think we are familiar enough, and you have certainly come to realise that you don't want to make an enemy out of me. If I know your deepest dark secret that you have not shared with anyone, then there is no reason for you to disbelieve when I say that I am a dangerous foe to my enemies but a good friend to my wellwishers." said Harry and placed his hand on her shoulder making Rita Skeeter shiver. "Now, I hope we can be friends, and I always help my friends."

 

"What do you want?" asked Rita, but his wand was now digging into her neck.

 

"Please leave the wand you were trying to pull out from your sleeve. A memory charm won't work on an accomplished Occlumense, and unfortunately for you, I am one. Now, be a good girl and leave that wand."

 

He removed the wand from Rita's neck and smiled nastily.

 

"I know you thrive on controversy, and I can deliver you many, Rita. So are you team Potter or are you going to be in my enemy camp, in which case I give you my best but don't come crying to me when the world that you built falls apart around you in the blink of an eye?"

 

The slow nod from Rita Skeeter put a smile on his face, and he began to converse with the woman. As promised, he fed her a controversy, one that suited his plans.

 

A while later, they were back in the room with the Champions, and the Wand Weighing ceremony commenced without a hitch. Dumbledore was shooting him curious looks throughout the ceremony, but he paid the old man no mind.

 

Ollivander went around and inspected each wand. He was obviously happy with Cedric's wand as it was one of his own. Krum's and Fleur's wand he was not so fond, but he declared them all in pristine condition. Then came Harry's turn.

 

"Ah, yes, Holly and Phoenix feather. How well I remember how well... Unusual combination and…" Ollivander pressed his ear into the wand. "Oh yes. The song is different. The dominion by the castor is complete. The Phoenix feather is singing to your will, Mr Potter. Exceptionally powerful in the right hand."

 

Ollivander waved the wand, and a jet of water shot out. He promptly declared the wand was in the best shape and handed it over to Harry. A few more photos were taken with the Champions together, and Fleur gave him a curious look. He merely raised an eyebrow in question, to which she turned her nose snobbishly. He just shrugged and went his own way when the circus was over.

 

Later that night, he was tired with all the training done in the evening. Exhausted and planning to grab a snack from the kitchen, he stumbled into his dorm to pick up his cloak. He was not so confident in his disillusion charm to hold up after the intensive training he went through.

 

"A letter arrived for you." said Ron from his bed.

 

Harry looked at the Hogwarts' owl patiently waiting on his bed. Sure enough, there was a letter in the owl's claw. He picked up the letter, and the owl went its own way. Ron said something snarky, but Harry paid him no mind. He left with the letter in hand after retrieving his cloak. The letter was from Sirius, and soon he was going to meet his godfather. This was something that he had been looking forward to, and he intended to make it a productive conversation.

Chapter 6: Harry's monologue

AN: Just a warning for all the readers. There is going to be some character bashing but know that it is just part of a plan by Harry. Some may agree with the bashing and others may not but do realize that this all just part of a plan and leave it at that.

The morning rays of sunlight ought to be peaceful and calming, Harry thought with some disappointment.

But to get the warm feeling of some sun on his skin he ought to finish the last lap of this troublesome exercise. Not that he was confident for some sunlight to shine down on him in this damp cloudy climate. Nonetheless, one could hold out hope for that miracle to happen.

He eyed the rows of monkey bars before him and squared himself for the last lap. His hands shook with strain as he grabbed each bar and began to move forward steadily. His determination to finish the lap spurred him on despite the pain he was feeling in his muscles. Sweat rolled off his body like a river but finally, he managed to finish the lap.

His feet hit the floor and the muscles on his arm relaxed considerably. He sat down on the floor and spread out his limbs to relax his strained muscles and joints.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Winky approach him with a tray in her hands.

"Thanks, Winky."

He took the towel from the tray she offered and began to clean himself.

"Winky wonders why master jump through the bars?"

He was happy that the elf was getting more comfortable with him. He preferred the two elves to regularly communicate with himself in this fashion if nothing else for his peace of mind. In some ways, the two elves were little more than slave labour at this point. He had tried to pay the two elves but they wouldn't accept a knut from him. The only other option was to gift them something and treat them as friends. In that aspect, Dobby was a little more progressive but he was steering Winky in that same direction.

"A healthy body facilitates a healthy mind and a healthy mind produces powerful magic." He answered with a smile before he jumped into the pool before him taking a few laps in the process. Truly, the Room of Requirement was the best piece of magic he had ever seen. He decided he was going to find a way to replicate this piece of magic but that was far in the future.

He closed his eyes and just floated in the pool enjoying the peace and quiet. Last day has been quite hectic and today he knew he was going to face the consequences of his actions. With the move he made with Rita Skeeter he knew he was exposing himself soon but he was curious to see how Dumbledore will react. Dumbledore's reaction, if any, would help him construct his future plans.

After getting freshened up he had Winky teleport him back to the Gryffindor tower directly. Magically and physically exhausted he was now ready to eat an elephant. He dressed up in the school robes and exited the dorms in a hurry with a starving stomach. On his way to the Common Room, he met with the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan.

"Hey, Harry. We have that little present ready for Malfoy." said George with mischief shining in his eyes.

"We are ready when you are. Our slimy friend is going to rue the day he decides to insult our Seeker." added Fred with the same amount of excitement shown by his twin.

"I don't know what you all are up to but I'm in for some payback against the Slytherins." said Lee Jordan all too eager to be a part of the next prank by the twins.

"Oh no, guys. Let's wait a few days before we spring this prank. I have something planned for this week."

"You do?" asked Fred with wide eyes.

"Oh yes. I believe it would be quite entertaining." said Harry with a grin.

"How could you Harry? You could have roped us in on the plan. We would have loved to humiliate some Slytherins." said George in a faux hurt voice.

"Don't worry. We will plan something fantastic that the school won't forget for a long time. Besides, my prank is not just against the Slytherins." said Harry only to receive confused stares. "Come, you will see."

And so they went to the Great Hall. The twins sat opposite Harry while Lee Jordan sat to his right. Others started to occupy the table and Neville took a seat to his left.

As everyone began to tuck into their food owls began to drop letters and other packages, among those, were the daily subscriptions of Daily Prophet. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a copy landing on Angelina's waiting hand.

George Weasley who was sitting right next to Angelina took a quick look at the wizarding Britain's favourite newspaper.

Harry noticed George's eyes widening and his eyebrows shooting all the way to the hairline. When George turned those wide eyes at Harry he merely winked and concentrated on the food on his plate. He could feel several eyes around the hall being trained on him. While he knew Rita Skeeter would do a stellar job he was curious about the content of the article itself. He was not worried about Rita taking some blind shots at him.

His power came from the perception of power. So long as Skeeter thinks that he can demolish her career she won't go after him. Besides he had plans to pull her into his orbit over the course of the year. There was no need to confine this new relationship to be based on blackmail. Too much force can only work for so long. He preferred minimal friction when dealing with someone else, especially when that person was useful for his cause. And make no mistake, Rita Skeeter is too useful and would prove to be a good distraction for his enemies.

He waited patiently as the Great Hall descended into heated discussions around him. His patience was finally rewarded when he finally managed to procure a copy for himself.

The Fourth Champion speaks out!

As my readers know Hogwarts hosts the Tri-wizard tournament, an extremely dangerous magical competition between the three premiere schools of Europe Hogwarts, Bauxbatons and Dumstrang. Each school is represented by a single student chosen by an ancient artefact known as the Goblet of Fire.

The wizards and witches of the British Wizarding world were eager to know who would be the Champion of Hogwarts. We were all solely surprised when Harry Potter the Boy-Who-Lived was chosen to be a Champion. It came as a surprise to us as the Tournament was supposed to be only for underage wizards and witches, in order to ensure no harm may come to the participants. I have come to know that this is a rule that has been championed by Headmaster Dumbledore which had surprised many.

As many of my wonderful readers would agree, we all wanted Harry Potter to represent our country and Hogwarts as it would ensure a sure victory. Who else could ensure that the Tri-wizard Cup would stay in magical Britain other than Harry James Potter who is famous throughout the magical world for surviving the Killing Curse and destroying one of the most powerful Dark Lord at a young age. A worthy champion for Hogwarts and I was surprised as many when Harry Potter's name came out of the Goblet of Fire a few weeks back.

There have been many speculations of how this came to be and the refusal of Ministry officials to comment on this matter has only increased the speculation. Even the Hogwarts staff has refused to comment on this matter. Fortunately, I had the unique privilege to get the facts from young Harry Potter himself whom I was grateful to interview just before the Wand Weighing Ceremony.

For those who are unaware, the Wand Weighing Ceremony is a tradition followed for hundreds of years from the very first Tournament. The Champions are required to produce their wand to an impartial judge who would inspect the wand for any faults. It was an honour to participate in this historic ceremony with esteemed personalities like Albus Dumbledore, Ludo Bagman, Garrick Ollivander and of course Harry Potter himself.

Hardly anyone has spoken to Harry Potter in all these years. All that we knew about him are speculations and rumours. The only piece of public exposure Harry Potter ever got was in his second year when Harry was on the front page of Daily Prophet with Mr Gilderoy Lockhart.

So when I was about to meet the iconic hero of Magical Britain I didn't know what I should expect. I concocted an image of a teenage boy, somewhat arrogant in his fame, who cared for no rules and propriety. It would have been normal as this is what could be expected from a young boy who grew up so famous before he could string words together in a proper sentence. With his unexpected entry into the Tournament, I expected Harry Potter to be something along these lines.

And then I saw him enter the room with the other champions. A small boy for his age but Harry was not lacking in strength. Every step he took was a measured one which reminded me of a lion which Harry was admittedly one seeing as he is in the house of the brave and courageous. Large round glasses was on Harry's nose but if observed keenly one could see the most beautiful green eyes they would ever see. And of course, on his forehead, hidden under dark locks of hair lay the scar in the shape of a lightning bolt. It was a reminder of a tragic past and a symbol of power that marked young Harry's and Magical Britain's victory over one of the worst Dark Lord's of this era.

A short conversation with young Harry shattered all my assumptions and misgivings about Magical Britain's iconic hero. From then on it led to one of the most open interviews I have ever conducted in my life.

Why did you decide to enter this Tournament Harry?

This is a question frequently asked by the student population of Hogwarts. I have an answer which I know to be true but will be hard to convince those who have already come to conclusions of their own.

I didn't enter my name knowingly into the Goblet of Fire. The only people who believe this to be true are Albus Dumbledore, Alastor Moody, Minerva McGonagall, Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger.

That is an unexpected answer, Harry. Why should anyone believe you? I myself am somewhat sceptical of your claim but I am sure our readers would love to hear your side of the story.

Thank you for giving me a chance to explain myself. Now, I freely admit that I would have liked to compete in the Tournament when I first heard about it in September. I am sure almost everyone thought about entering the Tournament even when Headmaster Dumbledore made the announcement on the first day.

Then Headmaster Dumbledore explained about the age limitation. Like all underage students, I was also disappointed. I was of the opinion the skill in magic ought to be the criteria for admission into the Tournament, not age. However, I reiterate and stand by my word that I didn't enter my name into the Goblet. There were many underage students that tried to overcome the wards put forth by Headmaster Dumbledore. All of them failed.

My name came out of the Goblet after Hogwarts already had a Champion. Our DADA professor Alastor Moody who is also a former Auror inspected the Goblet and said that the Goblet was subverted by a powerful Confundus Charm. In his opinion, only a powerful grown wizard could have the skill to perform such a charm and subvert the will of an ancient artefact like the Goblet of Fire.

Truly! Yet, not one of them spoken out in your favour Harry.

That may be because no one bothered to ask them relevant questions. Everyone has already assumed that I somehow managed to breach a ward created by the greatest wizard of our time and then somehow tricked an ancient magical artefact like the Goblet of Fire. I strongly suspect someone with a grudge against me or my family have managed to trick the Goblet. If I participate there is a strong chance I will die in one of the tasks or at the very least seriously injured. If I don't I will lose my magic as the Goblet enforces a binding magical contract.

A fair point Harry. But who would want to harm you?

I have strong suspicions about two people. One is Severus Snape, the Potions Professor of Hogwarts and the other is Igor Karkaroff. Both belonged to the terrorist organization known as the Death Eaters. To my understanding, Igor Karkaroff was let go by the British Ministry of Magic for providing information on other Death Eaters. Severus Snape is supposedly a spy for the Ministry in this group. Anyone that knows Mr Snape will doubt this claim as he hardly behaves like he opposes the ideals upheld by Death Eaters and is hard at work in undermining the resource pool of the Ministry of Magic.

Both of these people have ample reasons to hate me. Yet I have never met Igor Karkaroff before this Tournament and thus I hardly know his character. Therefore, I'm willing to give him the benefit of doubt as it is unclear whether he holds any animosity towards me.

What about Severus Snape, Harry? He is your Potions Professor and has easy access to the Goblet did he not?

Yes. Mr Snape teaches potions in Hogwarts. Ask any student outside of Slytherin House and you will know the true nature of Mr Snape. There is no single staff in Hogwarts that is so disliked by the student population. I would describe Mr Snape as an overgrown bully. The man has a personal vendetta against my father for some reason and takes pleasure in insulting me from the very first class.

There is one more reason that makes me suspicious of Mr Snape. The paper that came out of the Goblet of Fire had my name and I admit that it was my handwriting. But it read Harry Potter which I use for all my assignments. Otherwise, I use my full name in all my letters and any official documents. The piece of parchment that came out is the same that I use for writing assignments. Someone tore off my written name from one of my submitted assignments and put it in the Goblet. Mr Snape has access to my assignments and the Goblet hence I am suspicious of him.

But Harry, Severus Snape has helped in the last war.

Did he really? What critical information did he pass along to the DMLE that changed the tide of the war? If he did, how many innocent lives were saved by this hypothetical information? What advantage did he bring to the Ministry forces in the war? How many crimes did he commit as a spy? Did he commit murder, torture and then merely got off scot-free by claiming to be a spy? No one knows what he did for the ministry. Without knowing what he did or didn't do with clear impeccable evidence I doubt his claims that he was a spy.

Don't forget the recent Death Eater attack on the Quidditch World Cup. This is impeccable proof that there are Death Eaters hidden in our society who have evaded capture.

But Harry surely the attack on the night of the Quidditch World Cup was the work of Sirius Black?

Ah, yes. The new scapegoat to all the wrongs in our society. The one guy who has supposedly killed many muggles and is touted as the right-hand man of the Dark Lord. Yet I can find no records of a trial of conviction of Sirius Black. It is as if someone just rushed to imprison Sirius Black and tarnish the man's reputation as fast as possible.

Last year I personally met with Sirius Black on the grounds of Hogwarts with two other students and Remus Lupin as my witness. From the short conversation I had with the man, I stand convinced that he is innocent of all crimes he is accused of.

Harry that is a serious claim to make! Sirius Black is also responsible for betraying your parents and leading He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to your house on that tragic night.

I know. I am speaking of a man who everyone claims to have betrayed my parents without an ounce of evidence to back that up. I stand by my words when I say that I am convinced of Sirius Black's innocence. The man has spent twelve years in Azkaban and he escaped that prison to meet with me and profess his innocence. He could have harmed me or killed me at any moment and yet he did neither. He was wrongfully accused with no shred of evidence and illegally incarcerated. I believe this was done because of the political motivation of some vested interested parties and I know some of those interested persons who gain from Sirius's incarceration.

But why Harry? What makes you think Sirius Black, someone who is accused of being a mass murderer and one who lead your parents to their deaths, is innocent?

Because I and two of my friends along with the previous DADA professor Remus Lupin stood witness to the supposedly dead Peter Pettigrew alive and well except for a missing finger in his left hand, which he cleverly left behind on the crime scene to escape capture from the Aurors and to frame Sirius Black. Standing before me and the other three witnesses Peter Pettigrew confessed that he was a Death Eater and had betrayed my parents. I can provide the memory of this event if that is what requires to right a wrong committed against an innocent man unjustly suffered because of incompetence or political vengeance of some people with vested interests.

I had hoped to build a case in the Wizengamot to ensure to right the wrongs and justice to be served to those who have precipitated this inhumane treatment on an innocent man. With my present situation, I am forced to concentrate on surviving the Tournament. I don't know where Sirius Black is at the moment. I believe he is hunting for Peter Pettigrew who managed to escape as he is a rat animagus. After this Tournament reaches its conclusion I intend to focus all my resources and energy on ensuring an open trial is held before the Wizengamot one which has access to the public. I believe the use of Veritaserum should be more than enough to ensure that Sirus Black speaks the truth of the events that led to his unjust incarceration.

I hope you succeed in your goals Harry. Now, coming back to the Tournament. How do you see the tasks that are ahead of you? Do the tasks make you nervous? You are the youngest Champion and that means the others have an advantage over you. How do you see yourself facing the tasks?

I did not think that I would have to face the tasks nor did I prepare for them because I never thought I would get selected. After the selection, I have been preparing myself to face the tasks ahead of me. The other champions are more knowledgeable, experienced and better prepared than me. But I will not allow them to defeat me in this bout of magic. The first task is supposed to be a test of bravery and as the sigil of the golden lion etched on my uniform stands indicates I do not lack in bravery. I will struggle and I will work hard in the days to come to the best of my abilities to ensure the House of Brave will not be disappointed. I also take this moment to thank my two friends Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger for their aid in helping me prepare for the tasks ahead. And I also thank the House of Gryffindor and the Gryffindor Quidditch team for standing by my side and for their unfailing support.

By this point, the perception that I had in my mind about Magical Britain's iconic hero who delivered us from dark times was thoroughly revamped. In those startlingly bright green eyes, I could see determination and will shine. Despite being orphaned at a young age I could see that Harry Potter grew with a strong sense of right and wrong but most importantly a willingness to stand by his principles. How else could a child who lost his parents could even entertain a plea from the one that is accused of killing his parents? Only someone with a broad character and kind heart could have acted rationally in a situation where young Harry was forced to confront the alleged person who betrayed his parents. Taking that into account I decided to conclude this interview with one final question.

Do you have anything to say to the British Wizarding world and the magical world beyond the seas?

Something that I learned when I arrived at Hogwarts in my First Year is that there is a dangerously skewered perception about me among the magical folk. I understand this perception emerged because of these Harry Potter books for children available in the bookstores. So I would like to take this time to correct this false perception that people have of me.

I didn't grow up in a huge magical castle that is larger than Hogwarts. If anyone finds such a castle please inform me as I would like to pay a visit to something that would eclipse Hogwarts in grandiose. I grew up in a small muggle house in London with my mother's sister and her family.

I certainly did not go around battling Trolls, Giants, Dragons, Vampires and other magical creatures at any point in my life. I am not some magical powerhouse that somehow keeps two dragons as pets in my supposed castle. These are all false stories propagated by some people who wanted to make Galleons out of my name. As I am an orphan they thought this would be a good idea to make gold by spreading false tales in my name. By doing so they have lied to you and your children all these years. If people have constructed my character based on these books then they will be sorely disappointed when they would meet me in person.

So it is my solemn request that parents take great care in what their children learn from these books.

More on Harry potter's life in Hogwarts -Page2

The mystery behind the Tri-wizard Tournament -Page 3

The mysterious disappearance of Bertha Jorkins and her connection to the Tri-wizard Tournament -Page 3

No trial for Sirus Black! -Page 5

Where is Peter Pettigrew? -Page 6

Grave injustice and gross incompetence from the Ministry or is it something sinister? -Page 8

On and on it went and Harry couldn't be more pleased. This was a work of art and Skeeter had delivered more than he hoped. The woman had for once in her life used her considerable talents for something good. He was careful to hide how pleased he was and carefully projected a serene expression as he continued to read.

Fame had its disadvantages but it also had its uses. The fault of the original Harry Potter was that he was obsessed with becoming 'normal' which was a ridiculous concept. What was normal about a boy who could change reality with a simple wave of a piece of wood? Most probably this thought raised from the culmination of abuses Harry Potter suffered at the hands of his relatives. Combined this with the general apathy that he was offered by people like Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall who took decisions on his behalf and yet had not shown the decency to check on him or even help him navigate the wizarding world.

This was why he trusted not a single staff in Hogwarts and he would see them all as his enemies. Every action he would take is to strike at two factions that are hostile to him in one form or the other.

This doesn't mean he would go out of his way to harm them. But he could care less if his enemies destroyed themselves. He won't sit back and take the bullshit from filth like Dursleys, Snape and Dumbledore.

His accusations against Snape and Karkaroff were carefully planned. The people, whether magical or muggle, were sheep. They need someone plausible that would look guilty and the controversy would surround these individuals even when facts stated otherwise. Otherwise, people would dismiss his accusations as the ravings of a child lashing out at the world. He was confident that won't be the case here.

The fact that both Karkaroff and Snape were shady characters would lead credence to his accusations. Truth has no bearing in such conditions. In the absence of clear cut evidence, the only thing that mattered is whether the accused look guilty enough. Besides he was confident Snape and Karkaroff have many enemies just waiting to pounce. This is why the people of Magical Britain are convinced Sirius Black is a mass-murdering Death Eater and the right-hand man of Voldemort.

After finishing his breakfast he joined Neville and was on his way to Herbology class. There was a marked improvement in how Pomona Sprout was treating him and he could feel it in the class. Herbology class was shared with Hufflepuffs but he couldn't yet divine how they were taking it. He was not going to physically find out their mood either. He understood where they were coming from to some extent so he would give them some leeway.

The morning classes went without any incident. He knew that was not going to last and his instincts were proven right. At noon after lunch, he was stopped by Professor McGonagall.

"Mr Potter, the Headmaster would like to see you." she said sternly.

"Of course he does." Harry muttered under his breath. Saying a hasty goodbye to Neville and Hermione he went with McGonagall. The entire journey he remained silent and thankfully McGonagall also kept her mum. Soon they found themselves before the giant gargoyle that guarded the stairs to the Headmaster's office.

"Ice Pops."

The Gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster's office stood aside and they climbed the stairs. As they neared the door of the office it swung open.

"Come in."

Harry headed the voice of Dumbledore from inside the office. At one time that voice filled him with awe and respect but those feelings never came to him at the moment. He stepped into the room knowing that he was entering enemy territory. This was a man that was intending to sacrifice a child for the 'greater good' of the wizarding world. He couldn't care less what the man's reasons are. The only thing that mattered was that he was not going to be pushed around by an old man with a funny hat. Off to the side, he noticed a fuming Severus Snape sporting his death glare. He genuinely wondered how much of this was an act by Snape or was the guy just a double agent who was looking out for his own interest?

"I want Potter expelled for this." Snape demanded with his nostrils flaring in anger.

"Please do. That way I can dedicate much of my time and resources to demolish you, Snape."

His quick rebuttal plunged the room into silence for a time. It felt as if the reality shifted for a short period of time and then the world just righted itself in the form of McGonagall.

"Mr Potter! You will address Professor Snape with respect." demanded McGonagall.

"Respect is not freely given because of someone's position in society. Respect is earned. This overgrown man-child has verbally abused me and my family from the very first class I attended in my First Year. Just yesterday this man has assaulted my mind just as I was asked to appear for the Wand Weighing Ceremony." He focused his glare on McGonagall who had gone pale white at his accusation. "So you will forgive me when I say I find it highly unlikely that I will respect this man least of all on your recommendation."

"You will be spending your entire year in detention for insulting me, Potter." Snape snarled.

"In your dreams Snape." Harry hissed back. "You can assign as much detention as you want but you won't find me anywhere near your vicinity. I refuse to take any detention or punishment from this bully. If anyone has a problem with that you may expel me. I will find other schools that are surely better than this one in the European continent."

"Everyone calm down." Dumbledore intervened firmly. His usual twinkle in his eyes was gone. "No one will be expelled and no one will be issuing any punishments until the matter at hand is dealt with."

The room now descended into silence and seeing that Dumbledore had established his control he continued. "Now, I called Harry here to discuss his conversation with Rita Skeeter."

"Albus you know that woman is known to exaggerate everything and anything to create controversies." said McGonagall for once coming quickly to Harry's defence and then turned on Snape with a furious look. "I am more concerned about Mr Potter's accusation against you Professor Snape. How dare you use Leglimency on a minor!"

"Minerva, we will come to that matter shortly. I would like to hear Harry's response as this is why he was called into my office." said Dumbledore and nodded happily when McGonagall deflated and looked at Harry.

"Rita Skeeter printed the article word for word from my recent conversation with her. The article is not in any way fabricated nor is it a lie." said Harry staring confidently into Dumbledore's eyes.

"See...! He admits!" Snape shouted gleefully.

"Severus…please."

Those two words from Dumbledore shut up Snape effectively. Dumbledore then focused his attention on Harry who found the exchange very amusing.

"Harry why did you accuse Prof Snape and Headmaster Karkaroff?" asked Dumbledore in a way that conveyed his deep disappointment.

"Have you read the article word by word?" Harry asked instead of answering.

"Yes, I have Harry." Dumbledore said patiently.

"Then I need not explain myself any further. My reasons are soundly explained in the interview and before you go to berate me, Headmaster, need I remind you that Snape tried to have my Godfather killed last year. Need I remind you that you stood silent as an innocent man has suffered one of the worst punishment concocted in human history. Need I remind you that you have not lifted a finger to help that innocent man and you are now sitting here on your seat defending someone like Snape. You are in no position to lecture me on what's right and wrong Headmaster and I implore you to instead use your resources on something more productive as I have lost all faith in you and the faculty of Hogwarts." Harry declared only to be once again greeted with silence. It was the second time that he made the people in the room speechless so he knew he was doing great in derailing this conversation which was the whole point.

"Harry, you obviously have many reservations about my actions and I admit that I may seem like am doing nothing. You are a child and you don't understand the intricacies of our world. But don't you think you are being harsh on Professor Snape? You have unleashed what I suspect a wave of hatred against Professor Snape all on your word."

"I like how you are dancing around the issues I just raised and pushing a certain agenda. I should have realised that I am speaking with a politician rather than the Headmaster of Hogwarts. But I am neither so I will address your concerns sir." saying that Harry pulled out the SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY badge he nicked from Malfoy and showed it to the other three occupants of the room. He pressed the badge with his finger and the message changed into POTTER STINKS.

"If you are all apathetic towards the hostility that I face from this school then I don't care about the hostility Snape is going to face. Each of you knew the difficulties I am facing in this school and you have kept your silence till now. If I had my parents then this moron…" he pointed at Snape. "…and his bigoted inbred mini-death eaters wouldn't dare to pull stunts like these. Not without consequences at the very least."

Taking a deep breath Harry calmed down and reeled in his emotions. "I won't suffer double standards anymore. I will not just stay silent and allow bigots like Malfoy and his buddies along with the morons that unfortunately live close to me in this school dictate my life. If they are going to make my life difficult I will retaliate with every shred of hostility I received. I think that evens out perfectly. If you have a problem with that you are free to take any action against me but I will decide whether it is something that I should accept or not."

"Harry you are being childish." said Dumbledore.

"No headmaster. You are being childish by ignoring truth and reality by living in a utopia you have constructed around yourself. I have made my accusations crystal clear. I have made them against a former Death Eater who escaped due justice by claiming he is a spy for the Ministry in the war. Yet he supports and shelter pureblood bigots like Malfoy, Nott, Parkinson and other children of Death Eaters. Snape is the source of a lot of rampant bigotry and double standards in this school. He plays a vital role in inflaming Slytherin-Gryffindor hatred. This is a man who has consistently insulted me, my family, my friends, my name and anything that is associated with me. Hell, Snape took points from me for walking loudly in the corridor or breathing loudly. I find this man as someone hostile to my well being and he has demonstrated this repeatedly on several occasions. The last straw was when he tried to have Sirius Kissed by a Dementor." He paused knowing that he was firing off too much and he had achieved what he wanted to achieve. So he decided to cut this conversation short. "I don't know why you defend this man to the extent you do and I frankly couldn't care less what your opinions are anymore. I am seeing a pattern with you sir and I believe that many things that happened in my life from my birth are a carefully orchestrated play by a conniving man hiding behind a façade with sinister intentions. If that is the case and I think that is the truth then I wish you all the luck because you will need it as I don't intend to be a pawn for any faction led by two powerful Dark Lords."

Delivering that long boring monologue that he had carefully prepared he moved swiftly out of the room and showed himself out. As the door to the Headmaster's office closed with a bang behind his back he could hear the shouting from inside the office and he smiled when he realised that it was from McGonagall. Now, all he had to do was wait for the reaction and then he would know how to move forward.

Chapter 7: Some unexpected developments

Two days passed since Harry had his explosive meeting with Dumbledore. Not much happened in these two days except for Rita Skeeter's scathing attacks on Severus Snape and Igor Karkaroff. He had to admit that the woman was a persistent career wrecker who was hell-bent on destroying her target. Against someone like Snape who had garnered so many enemies from his attitude alone, Skeeter's job became all the easier.

Each day Skeeter would bring up testimonies from previous Hogwarts students that were all too eager on repaying the resident bat of the dungeons for all the troubles he caused them. Harry didn't know how, but Rita Skeeter was becoming his favourite person in this world. Perhaps he was in sheer awe of the woman's abilities. He did always found women attractive if they had strong personalities. Talent was what he preferred in women and Rita Skeeter had proven herself extremely talented.

He took another peek at the latest edition of Daily Prophet.

'Severus Snape is not just a professional bully but a gifted destroyer of dreams of aspiring wizards and witches." says Charlotte McGrath, an employee of the Gringotts bank and a former student of Hogwarts. 'The man is a bully. He would find faults where there are none and find pleasure in punishing non-Slytherin students. Many times we complained about Professor Snape but the Hogwarts Staff refused to take any action. The man can hardly be called an educator. He is the worst teacher I ever had in my life. I have a daughter that is growing up and I have decided she would be going to Bauxbatons if that man remains the Potions Master of Hogwarts.'

Arnold Pierce who works at the Foreign Relations Department of the Ministry had this to say. 'I had dreamed of becoming an Auror. I scored an O for my Potions OWLs exam. But because of Snape, I decided to not take Potions for the NEWTs as I couldn't stand being bullied by the man. Without Potions NEWT I couldn't become an Auror. Many of my friends had the same experience.'

On and on the accounts of previous students poured in. It was as if a dam was broken and the breach no matter how small refused to be sealed away. Even Igor Karkaroff didn't receive this much bad press. Sure Karkaroff's entire life and his list of crimes got dragged into the public eye once again by Skeeter but Snape was surely under a storm of hatred. This just highlighted how much of a douchebag Snape was to everyone.

The intended effect Harry expected did come to pass. With two new possible villains on the scene, the hostility that he received from the students was now directed at Snape and Karkaroff. This didn't mean the Hufflepuffs became friendly with him overnight. They still threw dirty looks at him from time to time but the rate had gone down considerably. The effect from all of this was not going to last, this he knew.

Sooner or later Skeeter was going to run out of stories to publish against Snape and Karkaroff. It also has to be taken into account that Snape has powerful backers in the form of Dumbledore and Malfoy.

From what he has seen so far Dumbledore has remained unbothered with the whole fiasco. The old man refused to make a move which he had hoped not to be the case. A reaction of any kind would have actually helped him assess Dumbledore but no such luck so far.

He sighed disappointedly and concentrated on the new Transfiguration book he took from the library. He had a free hour and after that, it was double Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid.

In part, he was reading the Transfiguration book to distract himself from thinking about Hagrid's Blast-ended Skewrts. At this point, he was expecting Hagrid to crossbreed dragons and Acromantula. Giant flying spiders that can breathe fire was a nightmarish creature. He let out an involuntary shiver at the strange thought and concentrated on the book.

Transfiguration, he found was an epitome of imagination, will and magic. The most essential component being the will. Most animate to inanimate Transfiguration required imagination alone. But for inanimate to animate and animate to animate transfiguration required enormous will.

To make a rock into a flying bird truly required tremendous will as the piece of magic was dealing with creating life even if it was temporary. While exerting will seems to be easy on paper it was another matter when faced with application. Transfiguration requires changing the natural order on the most basic level and that requires a certain finesse and discipline. A smudge of hesitation or doubt would make the spell fail and it would have dangerous results especially when used on another living being.

The spell used by Barty Crouch Junior on Malfoy which changed him into a ferret comes to mind. That sort of transfiguration spell required aptitude that allowed one to exert his/her will upon another sentient being.

Harry was not even reading on human transfiguration. His focus was on inanimate to animate transfiguration spells. In his quest for learning elemental spells, he came to realise that there was a point where a lot of spells sort of exhibited the properties of different disciplines of magic.

Most of the water spells were modified to perform a higher function and those spells had elements of transfiguration. One particular spell that he had found from the ROR library was extremely useful. Unfortunately, that spell in its base form was not so useful. But a variant of that same spell was certainly powerful enough to be a distraction for the dragon. The spell was mighty difficult to perform as it required a certain finesse in Transfiguration. With Transfiguration being his weakest for some reason he had to prop himself up in the subject. He could see some improvements in classroom practice but the development remained slow.

The one good thing that came out of his research for elemental spells is that he fixed air and water as his go-to element. Both air and water were extremely useful in dealing with a dragon and they were easy enough to learn.

Fire is dangerous to use and most fire spells are hard to control. Besides, the only fire spell that he was confident to be harmful to a dragon is the Fiendfyre curse. The spell is deemed to be dark magic and the use of it by anyone under any circumstances is punishable by a hefty fine and a year-long stay in Azkaban. Seeing as he had no interest in saying hello to Dementors anytime soon he crossed that spell off his list.

Lightning was another element that is a sure bet against dragons or any other magical creatures except the Thunderbird. The problem however is the inherent danger to the castor of Lightning spells. In his brief search so far he found only two lightning-based spells out of which only one had the necessary power to knock out a dragon. The problem is that the spell has the tendency to destroy the wand or even rebound on the castor. On reading further about the spell he learned Occlumency is a prerequisite for performing the spell safely. This prompted him to avoid the spell altogether for the time being.

His recent deflection of Snape's mental probe notwithstanding he knew very little about Occlumency. He was going to read up on the subject soon as possible as he had no intention to depend on the instinctual Occlumency he was gifted from the ROB. There was no telling whether it would work all the time. Having said that he would only dig deep into Occlumency after the First Task.

Shaking away the distracting thoughts he focused on the book in his hands. He was so engrossed in the book he didn't even notice Hermione sitting opposite to him at some point. However, he looked up from his book when Hermione cleared her throat. She was looking at him with a disapproving scowl on her face.

Hermione has been cross with him following his explosive interview with Rita Skeeter. Surprisingly, she had no problems with the contents of the article as a whole. She did however had some strong opinions about him coming clean about Sirius. She believed that it would bring a lot of scrutiny on Hogwarts and Sirius could be in danger especially with the date of Sirius's floo call approaching fast. He was not so worried as he had a plan to circumvent any Ministry oversight but he was not going to share that with Hermione.

However, the main reason that Hermione was cross with him stems from the fact that he did not share his plan which was somewhat silly in his opinion.

"Are you still cross with me because of that article in the Prophet?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No." Hermione huffed which let him know that she was indeed cross with him. It was kind of cute in a childish way.

In the last few days that he came to know Hermione, he found her to be a bit obsessed with certain aspects of her life. She hardly liked surprises and preferred to live in a bubble where everything is predictable. Not to mention she also has a strong sense of right and wrong and is willing to act on it even if those actions infringe on the personal liberties of others. All in all, she is a socially awkward girl trying to make the world sensible to her by controlling aspects of it that affected her.

"It is not as if I planned to meet Rita Skeeter Hermione. She was just there and I thought truth would work better than made up falsehoods." said Harry with a shrug. He was finding it increasingly easy to lie and manipulate others but perhaps that was because he was surrounded by children.

"Truth?"

"Truth as I know it." He amended before shaking his head. "Look. Let's just put this behind us yeah? Obviously, you disapprove of some parts of that article and so do I. Let's just focus on the present and the future rather than something in the past."

"Alright." Hermione sighed before her eyes traced Ron who was playing Gobstones with Dean Thomas in the Common Room. Harry noticed where she was looking and he became curious.

"Did Ron tell you something?" he asked

He saw the hesitation in Hermione and that let him know the conversation must have been hard for her. He did sympathise with Hermione's plight but there was nothing he could do for her. "That bad huh?"

"Ron is just being a prat. The article in the Prophet did not help either." Hermione shook her head in exasperation.

"Well, you know what they say. There is no medicine for jealousy." He shrugged and went back to reading the book.

"The both of you are being stupid. All the two of you have to do is to speak openly and everything will go back to normal." said Hermione with a huff.

"Don't expect me to go begging for Ron's forgiveness. I didn't start this fight and I certainly didn't do anything to make him call me a liar. If he wants to talk to me he knows exactly where I am."

Saying that he went back to reading only to be interrupted by Hermione's nagging once again.

"Harry you are being stupid. There is no reason for you to hold a grudge with Ron over this. You know how stifled he feels with his brothers' shadow loving over him."

"I understand it well Hermione. But that is not the issue here now, is it? He thinks that I lied to him when I say that I didn't enter my name into the Goblet of Fire. He is jealous and I understand why he is so. That doesn't mean I will take it easy when he calls me a liar." He argued fiercely.

"Harry! If the two of you just lock heads and be stubborn how will anything be resolved? I know you are hurting with Ron's absence and so is he. The two of you are just too prideful to make amends." Hermione accused and at the same time, she indicates with her hands to keep their volume low. Harry noticed that others in the room were looking curiously in their direction so he lowered his voice.

"I have lived eleven years without a single friend. I can live the rest of my life with one less friend especially one that calls me a liar because he feels inadequate compared to his brothers." said Harry and he raised his palm forestalling Hermione from making any comments as he was by no means finished making his point.

"You may call it pride or whatever as the cause for my reluctance to seek out Ron. I call it a healthy dose of vigilance on my part. Last year's events taught me even lifelong friends can betray one another. My parents made the mistake of trusting the wrong person. I won't make that same mistake."

Hermione kept her silence when faced with that argument. Before either of them could say anything else they were interrupted by Neville.

"Uh, Harry?"

"Yes, Neville."

"Professor McGonagall asked for you in her office."

Harry raised an eyebrow at that and frowned in thought. 'Now what would be the sidekick of Dumbledore want with me?'

"Did she say why?" he asked curiously to which Neville shook his head no.

He looked at the time and noticed that the break was a few minutes away from coming to a close. "Tell Hagrid I am with Professor McGonagall will you?"

A few minutes later he was standing outside McGonagall's office. The fact that McGonagall was asking for him after two days of inaction was not lost on him. This just confirmed a few things for him.

One, Dumbledore is a brilliant son of a bitch. Two, Dumbledore didn't plan on confronting him directly and is using his pawns. Three, McGonagall is a pawn. Four, from now on he was sure Dumbledore will be watching his every move in Hogwarts.

He collected himself and knocked on the door twice and waited patiently.

"Come in."

Harry opened the door and held back his instinct to flinch at the red and gold colour scheme of the room. It was bad enough that he lived in a tower with that same colour scheme but this room triumphed even the Gryffindor tower.

"Please take a seat, Mr Potter." McGonagall indicated to a chair without taking her eyes from a piece of parchment she was reading.

"Thank you, professor."

Harry took the seat and waited patiently seeing the power play for what it is. If he was a regular teenager there was a 50/50 chance that he would have been intimidated. Instead, he found this meeting to be a waste of his valuable time. While that is what he thought he had the sense not to spill that thought into the open. So he waited silently and the only sound in the office was the sound of a quill running on the parchment.

A few minutes into his stay McGonagall looked up from her parchment. She took a deep breath, set aside her quill and leaned back in her chair.

"Mr Potter, you have raised several issues pertaining to yourself when we met last time in the Headmaster's office. In light of recent events I have decided to involve myself in certain matters." McGonagall paused and Harry remained as impassive as he could but he was nonetheless surprised.

"But before I begin I would like to hear your thoughts. I understand you have several grievances against the staff and I would prefer if you were honest with me over the course of this meeting."

Harry was pleasantly surprised by this turn of events for a moment. He took some time to curse all those fanfiction stories depicting McGonagall as a blind lackey of Dumbledore. He took a moment to carefully construct his thoughts before responding.

He had not thought that McGonagall would seek him out like this. At best he had hoped McGonagall would have taken some actions to shore up discipline among students but never this.

"I want a public declaration from the staff of Hogwarts that I did not enter my name into the Goblet of Fire."

"To be fair we have not established that fact." said McGonagall neutrally and Harry felt a smudge of ire rising in his mind but he dismissed it.

"Is that so? Then please provide evidence that would indicate my guilt." He looked expectantly at his head of house who remained tight-lipped. "Innocent until proven guilty. Considering that you refused to support me when the whole Heir of Slytherin fiasco was going on in the second year I would appreciate a leap of faith from your side professor."

"I will consider it and you have my word that this matter will be resolved before the First Task." McGonagall promised to which Harry nodded appreciatively. "Anything else?"

"I request that you take action against the students that are wearing the badges that slanders my name and that of my family. If Hogwarts staff do not take action then you leave me no choice to retaliate to protect the honour of my family."

"You will not do anything of that sort Mr Potter. Those who are wearing these badges and the one who created them will get the punishment they deserve today itself." said McGonagall sternly directing a heated glare at him.

"If you take action against these students and ensure nothing of this sort will not happen again then I will conduct myself with discipline and restraint professor." He promised but that was not going to happen. It is in his nature to be vindictive to those who wronged him and a reality-switch was not going to change that aspect of his character.

"Is that all Mr Potter?" asked McGonagall with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, there is Professor Snape's conduct and as you know I am not the only one who is raising the issue." He pointed out.

"I am not blind Mr Potter. Professor Snape will be facing a disciplinary hearing from the Hogwarts Board of Governors. Setting that aside Professor Dumbledore is planning to call a meeting regarding Professor Snape's behaviour towards you. The matter of his leglimency use will be addressed in this meeting." said McGonagall and Harry felt that this was done on her insistence.

"Now, is there anything else?" asked McGonagall

"Nothing that I could think of Professor." He admitted

"Good. Now, keep in mind, Mr Potter. I would very much prefer to punish you for the language that you used in the Headmaster's office and your behaviour. But considering the fact that emotions were running high, I am turning a blind eye to that event for the time being. Make no mistake if I find you disrespecting the headmaster or any of the staff I will take action against you."

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. Now, Professor Dumbledore would like to meet you preferably after the First Task is complete. I am told it is regarding a personal matter."

"I have no objections so long as you are present in this meeting." He said to which McGonagall merely nodded. He was glad that was the case as he didn't fancy spilling all the reasons for asking her presence. He had no intention to be exposed to that man who is grooming him to be a lamb for slaughter.

Just then a knock on the door attracted their attention.

"Come in." McGonagall called

The door opened and Harry was surprised to see that it was Filius Flitwick followed by a group of students. Seeing as the green and silver uniform being the most common uniform among the group he had an inkling where this was going. Although, he noticed a few Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws among the group.

"I believe Professor Flitwick already explained why all of you are in my office." McGonagall said as she stood up from her seat glaring at every student in the group. At that moment Harry thought McGonagall should have had an animagus form of a Lioness instead of a cat.

"Each of you has been found guilty and caught red-handed in the process of slandering a fellow student. Hogwarts does not allow any forms of political campaign and what you have done through the distribution of this badge comes under this category." said McGonagall as she plucked out a badge from a Slytherin student's cloak. "This is a place for learning not a space for settling your personal vendetta. As such each of you will lose fifty points for your respective houses."

McGonagall's declaration was met with a string of protests, especially from the Slytherin students. From a quick glance, Harry counted more than ten Slytherins in the group. Which means a 500+ point reduction for House Slytherin in one day. While he could care less about some stupid contest for a House Cup the Slytherins certainly cared. Not to mention these students will be forced to explain to the rest of their house why they are now in the negative just a few months into the academic year.

"The most shocking development is that even the prefects are involved in this scandalous behaviour." said Flitwick in a serious voice.

This was the second time that Harry seeing the Head of Ravenclaw House abandoning his usual jovial tone.

"Prefects, remove your badges at once. I believe Hogwarts will no longer be in need of your services." said McGonagall sternly.

There was another round of protests but McGonagall and Flitwick were not budging on the issue. Harry counted four perfect badges on McGonagall's desk along with the other badges she confiscated from the students. Three Slytherins and one Hufflepuff lost their positions which was epic in his opinion.

"I am aware that Mr Malfoy distributed the badges. I would like to know who created them?" asked McGonagall looking at the students like an angry lioness looking for her prey. As a spectator, Harry was thoroughly enjoying all the drama.

"If you are not forthcoming each of you will be serving detention for the rest of this year and all of you will have your Hogsmeade pass revoked for the rest of your Hogwarts academic years." said Flitwick which broke the dam so to speak. A majority of students including the Slytherins were now pointing at a Seventh Year Slytherin.

"Is this true Mr Hendricks?" asked McGonagall turning on the greater of the badges.

"Malfoy paid me 100 galleons to make the badges professor." Hendricks confessed to Harry's amusement. He didn't know what Hendricks hoped to achieve with coming clean like that. McGonagall was not going to reduce the punishment either way from what he can see. But this was giving him valuable insight into Slytherin House.

Obviously, Malfoy did not own the Slytherin House in its entirety. If that is the case, then he could think of a few ways to dismantle Malfoy's standing as payback.

"In that case, both Mr Malfoy and yourself will be in detention for this entire year."

He had to say McGonagall is now in competition with Skeeter on his list of favourites. Skeeter was at the very top but he felt McGonagall was now a close second.

After the eventful meeting in McGonagall's office came to an end Harry was on his way to Hagrid's class. As the Care of Magical Creatures classes is held near Hagrid's hut there was quite a walk from the castle. Halfway to his destination, he heard his name being called from his back. He identified the person as Malfoy from the sound itself. Nonetheless, he paused and turned around facing the whole fourth year Slytherins approaching him.

Draco Malfoy was at the helm of the group and Harry tied his hands behind his back while discretely pulling his wand out of the holster. He palmed the wand but held back on showing it to the group approaching him.

"Potter! You will pay for this." Malfoy snarled.

"Pay for what? Your stupidity?" Harry asked with obvious amusement. He did notice however that a group of four split away from Malfoy and his cohorts. A quick glance told him that this group included Blaise Zabini, Tracey Davis, Daphne Greengrass and Lilian Moon. He found it interesting that Slytherin house was already fracturing.

"You will not be insulting me anymore Potter." Malfoy snarled as he pulled out his wand threateningly to which Harry laughed openly at his supposed rival.

"I have always found your games amusing Malfoy. I have even entertained a few just to get a measure of you." Harry shook his head in exasperation. While he kept up his act he was preparing himself for what was obviously coming. "A son of a branded slave who thinks he is my rival my equal even! You have always put yourself on a higher pedestal never realising that a worm can never be king of the forest. That title always remains with a lion."

He was purposely goading Malfoy to react. This was the same tactic that Malfoy consistently used on the real Harry and then Snape would swoop in for the one-sided punishment. But Snape was not here and Harry was more than happy when Draco reacted just as planned.

"Densaugeo!"

Harry didn't pull out his wand forward as there was hardly any need. A shield materialised around him with nary a gesture. Malfoy's spell rebounded with record speed and struck him squarely on his face.

Malfoy fell down with a groan cupping his face. The other Slytherins like Nott, Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle and Bulstrode raised their wands but Harry merely brought his wand to his left arm and gave it a flick. The shield around him let out a pulse that knocked away the Slytherins off their feet.

A quick summoning charm saw that the wands of all downed Slytherins neatly arranged itself in his free palm.

"I know you are all a little bit embarrassed and in pain but listen to me for a moment. In the ancient myths of Rome, there was a God named Janus, the God of crossroads. You see the god is depicted as having two faces. One face would tell you the truth while the other tells you lies. Similarly, you have only seen one face of Harry Potter till now. Just look around you Malfoy. I merely flexed my limbs and you are on the ground groaning in pain, your precious bitchy Snape is in hot water and your house is in tatters. From now on stand against me at your own peril."

With that said he turned his back but not before giving a warning glare to the other four standing Slytherins. A small grin was now on his face as he continued his trek to Hagrid's class. The fun was just going to start.

Chapter 8: Dragons

A blast of red hot flames came his way but Harry remained steady and raised his wand. A bubble of energy shield converged around him protectively and the flames went around the bubble. When the outpouring of flames stopped his clothes were a bit ruffled but otherwise untouched. He quickly dismissed his shield in favour of rolling out of the way as a gigantic tail smashed into the floor where he was standing a second ago.

Harry conjured up slabs of granite in front of him and dug a sizeable cavity in the ground with an excavation spell. He jumped into the trench he hastily created and put up another shield around his body. The stone tail smashed through all the impediments he created and the resulting debris fried up, impinging against his shield.

'Looks like the shield is working as I hoped.'

With that happy thought, he gave his command to the room and the room shifted.

He was lying on the floor but no longer was he threatened by a stone golem. The Room of Requirement shifted as he commanded and not three feet away from him was the pool he requested.

After slipping out of his sweat filled clothes, he jumped into the pool to take a swim. After a few laps, he was freshened up and ready to seek out Hermione. He had, after all, promised to be with her during their Hogsmeade visit. He stuffed his training clothes into a bag while he dressed in a new set of clothes Dobby bought him from Muggle London.

After taking a routine look on the Marauders Map he made his way down from the seventh floor. He found Hermione by the side of a fountain dressed in thick black jeans and a blue jacket over a yellow jumper. Unsurprisingly she was scribbling down on a small pocket diary.

Harry carefully went around her back and looked over her shoulder.

"Hey."

"Harry!"

Hermione let out a startled cry and punched him on his shoulder as she tucked away her little diary.

"Keeping time, are we? And was that a schedule for SPEW, I just saw?" he asked as they walked towards the small line that formed up at the gates where Filch was looking over the pass of each student.

"Are you interested in helping me out with SPEW?" she asked as she showed her pass to Filch who looked it over many times.

"I don't think I have the time. Even this little visit is on your insistence. This is valuable time that I get to train, remember." he grumbled before he too showed his pass. Filch took his sweet time to look it over before Harry was allowed to go.

"You have been doing a lot of training and studying for this Harry. Trust me you'll need some breath of fresh air."

"I'm genuinely starting to think you are someone impersonating Hermione using Polyjuice. The Hermione I know won't ever utter such blasphemy."

"Shut up." Hermione hissed with her cheeks red as she elbowed him on his side.

They both wandered around Hogsmeade for a while. Harry was more than quite taken with all the medieval themes running around with the village. Obviously, he was not much of a fan of the cold and general dampness of the place and a quick warming charm saw to ward off any unpleasantness.

The rest of their trek went without much fuss. Somehow they wandered into Honeydukes. Harry was burning sugar a lot these days going through a strict training regimen. Replenishing his chocolate stocks sounded like a good idea at the time.

Hermione was not much of a fan of chocolates as she was the daughter of two dentists. He had no such concern. Why would he? The chocolate in the Wizarding world was far more healthy than in the Muggle world. Not that the difference in quality was a criterion in the first place.

Honeydukes offered a wide variety of chocolates. There were shelves upon shelves of honey-coloured toffee, coconut ice flavour that would make one's mouth water and so on. He took care to stay away from Every Flavour Beans as he found no reason to consume ear wax or other nonsensical flavours. Although, he did purchase a few Pepper Imps as who hadn't fantasised about breathing out fire through their mouths.

After refilling his stock and securing all the chocolates in a bottomless-pouch, they were back on the move.

The few memories that Harry held of Hogsmeade was marred by the faulty revelation of Sirius Balck and all that drama of Third Year. So, this time, he decided to take a good look at what Hogsmeade has to offer. Those memories were sketchy, to begin with.

To this end, his next destination was Dervish and Banges where magical items could be repaired. The owner, Mr Fabian Hornet, was very enthusiastic to have Harry in the shop. A good thing about avoiding Rita Skeeter's bad press was that he could stick his head out in the open and not get too much distress.

The shop was filled with interesting trinkets. There was a whole section of invisibility cloaks, self-knitting needles and some other interesting gadgets. But what he found interesting was the section that hosted glasses at the deep end of the shop. He picked up a pair of glasses with runic inscriptions on its frame. There were only a few of the like in his peripheral vision.

"What does this do?" he asked curiously to Mr Hornet who was explaining the functioning of a sensory bowtie that was supposed to heighten the senses of a Kneazle to Hermione.

"That, Mr Potter, is what I call the glasses of Horus. Wear it in the darkest night and you will see the world as clear as day."

Mr Hornet's explanation took him back and he looked at the glasses in a new light. A pair of glasses that can see in the darkness was damn useful especially when the Second Task is supposed to be in the Black Lake.

"I have impediments in my eyesight. So, will it work for me?"

"Not a problem at all Mr Potter. The runes are keyed in to adjust to the eyesight of the wearer."

"That's handy. It will work in daylight as well right?"

"Of course. Please try it on."

On Mr Hornet's urging, Harry removed his glasses and put on the Horus glasses. He watched in wonder as he noticed a ripple pass through the glasses. His whole world lit up and it was as if he was now realizing the world looked so well-defined and colourful. Harry even tried it out in the darkness as Mr Hornet was gracious enough to set up a room of darkness in his shop.

Confirming the validity of the Horus glasses he wondered why no one else thought of buying these glasses.

"How much does it cost?" he asked after setting down the glasses on the shelf.

"400 Galleons. And it won't work for anyone else as it can be keyed to your magical signature." explained Mr Hornet with a pleasant smile.

'Now I know why these are not popular.' he thought before eyeing the glasses. It was expensive as hell but this thing was going to be damn useful in the Tournament as well as the coming years.

"Do these come out with rectangular glass frames?"

The smile that spread over Mr Hornet's face was his answer.

Five minutes later, he walked out of Dervish and Banges with a brand new pair of glasses adorning his face. It also has to be noted that he was 400 Galleons short which was a considerable dent but he considered this a good spending. The best part is that the charms and the magic cast on the glasses won't disappear so long as the runes are properly furnished and charged occasionally.

"I don't think that was a good idea, Harry. You just spent 400 Galleons on a pair of glasses." commented Hermione as they looked through different sets of quills, parchments and ink bottles in Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop.

"Maybe it'd come useful in the Tasks. You suggested the tasks may involve dark caves."

"Labyrinth. I said Labyrinth, not dark caves." Hermione was quick to correct.

"I don't think it makes much difference Hermione."

"It does for me." said his bushy-haired friend.

Harry was about to pick up an eagle feather quill when he bumped into Tracy Davis.

"Potter" Davis growled and he noticed the icy glare her friend Greengrass was throwing in his way.

"Why the hostility? We are all friends here." he said amusedly

"Friends! You…you...humiliated us!" Greengrass accused as Davis held her friend back while tugging at her arm.

"It's not my fault if Slytherins manage to slip on the floor and spill pumpkin juice all over themselves. It's also not my fault if you misplace your wands or textbooks in random places in the castle. It's also not my fault when you accidentally break your wands." he listed off the latest 'misfortunes' that struck Slytherin House as a whole after which he adopted an exaggerated thinking pose. "Perhaps your dungeons have been cursed by the ghost of Salazar himself. The man had standards in what he expected from Slytherins. Draco Malfoy and his oafish lackeys are not exactly beacons of cunning and ambition."

"You are playing with fire, Potter." warned Greengrass

"Only because I know how to wield water." he quipped

"Can I have that quill please?" asked Tracy Davis incensed with the conversation.

"Who am I to stand in the way of a noble Lady?" he gave a shallow bow before he let go of the quill. "Please do convey my condolence to Draco for his destroyed wand. I hope the floors are not too slippery for him in the days to come."

He grinned as the two Slytherins ran out of the shop after paying for their purchases as if their life depended on it. When he turned back his attention he was greeted by Hermione's knowing look.

"You enjoy tormenting them don't you?"

"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies." he jested as they went back to their shopping.

For a few more minutes, they wandered around different shops before finally going to the Three Broomsticks. It was the favourite local pub of Hogwarts students and much of the Wizarding world in parts because of the lovely Madam Rosmerta who ran the pub. It was smoky and a bit crowded but the pub had that mystical air to it that attracted wizards/witches anyway.

Harry's eyes immediately zeroed in on a small closed cabin with a yellow coat hanging by its side. He shelved that detail to a corner of his mind before making his way towards the Weasely twins and the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"Harrykins…"

"…we've been waiting for you."

"Cut that out you two." Angelina Johnson admonished the Weasley twins.

"Yes ma'am." the twins chorused together.

"Look, all of you have been immensely helpful since my name came out of that Goblet of Doom." started Harry only to be interrupted by the Wesley twins.

"Nice one there Harry." said George

"Right so brother of mine. It is one old miserable goblet." said Fred clapping his twin's shoulder

"Shut up you two. That Goblet sure has a sense of humour in dealing with you two hooligans." said Alicia Spinnet making the Twins pout while Katie descends into laughter probably at the reminder of old bearded Wesley twins.

"I don't think that was the Goblet but Dumbledore's ward. Anyway, the point I was making is that you guys have been a great help. Alicia and Angelina helped me with a lot of transfiguration and Katie helped me with the charms. The twins helped me with dealing with those Slytherins." said Harry after which he addressed the three others who were not part of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. "Hermione and Neville helped me in researching all the spells and magical creatures. Lee Jordan here has been my moral support not to mention instrumental in alibies. So, thank you all for helping me."

"Let me say it has been my pleasure in delivering righteous retribution on those Slytherins, Harry." said Lee Jordan sharing a wicked grin with the Weasely Twins.

"As a thank you, Butterbeer's on me." said Harry which was enough to get bottles popping in numbers.

After spending a bit of quality time with the group Harry carefully sneaked out to the cabin with the yellow coat hanging outside. He slipped in and inside the cabin was Rita Skeeter.

"Harry. How've you been?" the excitable and friendly tone of the sharp-tongued Skeeter didn't fool him the least bit.

"I've been fine. Read those articles of yours and I have to say I'm impressed." he said as he took a seat opposite to the career-wrecking writer of the Daily Prophet.

"I won't be able to maintain writing about Black's innocence anymore. My editor has been getting quite some trouble from the Ministry." said Rita before she blanched as Harry directed a cold glare at her face.

"You will continue to write because you just found new evidence." said Harry as he took out a vial from his jacket pocket.

"I did?" asked Rita confusedly even as she took the vial from Harry. "What's this?"

"That's the memory and definite proof of Peter Pettigrew's continued existence. You can publish the memory in your paper and trust me it's going to shut up the Ministry once and for all."

"Harry dear, I don't think memories can be published…" Rita trailed off as she saw Harry pushing a piece of parchment towards her. "What's that?"

"Sominum Chartum. It's a spell designed to transfer memories into portraits. There is a slight modification to the spell and it can be used to transfer the memory into your paper."

"You came prepared." said Rita as she took the parchment and the vial of memory. She especially loved the pouch of Galleons as well. She hadn't dared to ask payment lest Potter decided to out her as an animagus but the boy was no freeloader. She has been paid for every bit of article that slandered Snape and the Ministry. In so far, she got nothing to complain about from her new employer except for the invisible sword hanging over her neck.

"I'm fighting a war with an enemy hiding in the darkness. Do you know how the enemy shrouded in darkness is won over?"

"How?"

"By shining a bit of light."

---

Harry made his way through the outskirts of the castle grounds towards Hagrid's hut. The friendly half-giant had asked his presence near midnight at the hut. He knew 'Moody' had a part to play in this little scheme and Harry was more than willing to play the puppet for the time being.

Under the safety of the Invisibility Cloak, he made his way towards Hagrid's hut and knocked on the door twice. The grounds were slumbering under the veil of the night but Harry could see all as clear as day thanks to the Horus glasses. Cost him a lot of gold to buy the glasses but it sure is damn useful.

"You there Harry?" whispered Hagrid, opening the door and looking around with a lantern.

"Hey, Hagrid." said Harry, slipping out of the Invisibility Cloak and carefully stepped into the hut at Hagrid's insistence. "So, why am I here?"

"Got sommat ter show ya." said Hagrid

Harry could see Hagrid was overflowing with excitement. He watched as Hagrid went around in the hut smoothing out his hair and coat as if preparing for a guest.

"Hagrid are you going out on a date?" he asked

"Wha? Yes..No…no… who told ya such things, Harry?" Hagrid shaking his head rapidly but the half-giant couldn't hide his rosy cheeks from Harry's eyes.

"Just guessing." he said with a shrug

"Nothin like that Harry. Come with me, keep quiet and keep yourself covered with that Cloak." said Hagrid

Harry followed behind Hagrid towards the Beauxbatons carriage while keeping an eye on his watch. He had a meeting with Sirius coming up and he can't be late for that.

Soon they reached the Beauxbatons carriage and Hagrid knocked on the carriage door three times.

Madame Maxime opened the door. She was wearing a blue simmering dress with a long white shawl wrapped around her massive shoulders.

"Ah, 'Agrid….it is time?"

Harry watched the two greet cordially and move away from the carriage's perimeter. Soon, it became difficult for Harry to keep up the long strides of the two half-giants as they walked farther and farther away from the carriage and even the Black Lake.

As they walked deeper and deeper into the forest Harry could hear the shouting of men and then…then came a defeating roar…the roar of a dragon.

He carefully stepped around a patch of grass and a column of trees to get a better view. In the distance, he could see four full-grown, enormous, vicious-looking dragons. They were sealed off inside a fence separated by charmed metallic bars. The dragons had to be at least fifty feet tall and seem to enjoy breathing fire all around them. Wizards and witches were running around the four creatures trying to handle creatures of destruction incarnate.

Hagrid and Madame Maxime went further in but Harry stayed back. He took a deep breath and looked at each dragon and smiled. He was prepared to take on these beasts. If anything, he only felt relief that he has been preparing to face the true enemy.

'The terrifying roar, vicious-looking scales, red hot flames and incredible physical powers of the dragons pale in comparison to the magic I wield at my fingertips.'

Dragons come in varieties. There is the Hungarian Horntail, the most dangerous of dragons among its kind with jet black scales and spikey tail, standing at 50 feet. Then the Common Welsh Green standing 20 feet, the more docile of dragons. Then there is the Swedish short-snout with its blue scales, a dragon famed for its hellish fire standing at 22 feet. The fourth dragon he saw was the Chinese Fireball known for its cunning and agility, standing at 25 feet.

All these dragons were dangerous but he will triumph over them all. He didn't remain a second more in the forest and walked back to the castle. On the way, he watched Karkaroff walking towards the holding grounds for dragons. Harry paused and stoop behind a tree as Karkaroff marched past him without sparing a glance. He aimed his wand from underneath the cloak and sent out a silent stunner.

The Headmaster of Durmstrang fell over with a thud stunned.

'Well, that was easy.' he thought amusedly before walking closer to the downed former Death Eater.

"Always hated the Nazis but never got to kick them on their balls. I will settle for the Wizarding version of those fascist peacocks." Harry murmured before giving a clear cut foot straight to the balls of Karkaroff. He made sure to put the guy under two more stunners before creating some stag footsteps on the ground. He doubted Karkaroff will rattle off that he was assaulted in the woods but to be on the safe side he made it look like there were hoof marks. If someone bothered to look they would conclude it was a stag or a centaur.

After that, he rushed all the way towards Gryffindor tower dodging night patrols, portraits and ghosts.

"Balderdash!" he coughed out towards the Fat Lady, who was snoozing in her frame.

"If you say so." The Fat Lady mumbled sleepily before swinging open allowing him entry into the Tower.

The Common Room remained empty and thankfully he didn't need to set up Notice-me-Not wards near the fireplace. He immediately went near the sole light source in the Common Room and shed off his Invisibility Cloak.

There in the flames sat Sirius' head. The image was so comical and at the same time alien. Never in his life would he have imagined this was possible. To be fair, his very existence was an impossibility so there is that.

"Padfoot, how're you doing?"

This was a man who had spent twelve years in hell wallowing in misery, guilt and self-loathing for a crime he never committed. Even if Harry had little emotional attachment to the man he held a lot of respect and pity. The sheer will to continue living even as a hunted man was to be appreciated. This was why he will see Sirius walk a free man and live a long life. That will be his one good deed before he turns the Wizarding World on its head and rebuilds it from scratch to fit his needs.

But those plans were far in the future conditional on his survival and the destruction of Voldemort and Dumbledore.

"Never mind that, how are you?" asked Sirius, his flaming head arched forward with flaming eyebrows scrunched up in concern.

"Just wait a minute Padfoot."

Harry stood back and called for Dobby.

His elvish friend teleported in with a customary pop.

"Master Harry called for Dobby."

"Yes. Dobby, trace the floo and do as we planned earlier."

Dobby's green eyes zeroed in on the fireplace before popping away.

Harry looked into the flames and Sirius was nowhere to be found in the flames. A pop signalled Dobby's return.

"Did you do it Dobby?"

"Of course Master Harry Potter Sir. Dobby did as planned." said the excitable House Elf as he offered his hand to Harry.

Without hesitation, he took Dobby's hand and he felt a pull on his gut. A minute later he was standing inside the refurbished Chamber of Secrets. Salazar Slytherin's gigantic face was moved away in favour of a large lion head as he preferred. The snake statues were all gone as they were modified to lion statues. All the slime and grime on the floor were washed away. The floors gleamed in the candlelight of the chandeliers that he had Winky install in the former bleak chamber. Looking around at the splendour and colour, it seems to have worked splendidly.

But this was all secondary as he looked at the skeletal man looking around the chamber in awe. The red and gold banners of House Gryffindor seems to have taken Sirius by surprise and the giant lion statues seem to have brought the man to tears.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts, Sirius."

"How did you…?" Sirius trailed off, looking at himself and the surroundings incomprehensibly.

"All my plan to get you a stable shelter and safe space. So how about dinner or would you prefer to take a nap?"

Harry watched as the realization dawned on Sirius who's eyes watered all of a sudden.

Harry let out an 'oof' as Sirius plunged himself into a hug. Harry hesitantly hugged his godfather back and clapped the man on his back soothingly.

"You have run enough Sirius. Now, we stand and fight till we win your freedom at any cost." Harry's eyes darkened as he heard Sirius let out a sob. "At any cost."

Chapter 9: Two outlaws

Harry watched in mounting fascination as Sirius Black somehow managed to consume two chicken legs at the same time. It only took him a blink of an eye and he was left staring at the bones of the chicken.

 

“You had enough gold to buy me a Firebolt but not enough to buy yourself some decent food?” Harry asked incredulously as he watched Sirius gorge himself up with food on the table.

 

“The Goblins helped me out with that, for a fee, of course. I can’t exactly show my head in the Wizarding world or the Muggle world for that matter. I'm a mass-murdering maniac, remember.” said Sirius before stuffing his mouth with slices of fried pork.

 

“You could have just used a glamour charm.”

 

Harry’s suggestion was met with a raised eyebrow from Sirius. “How am I supposed to do that without a wand?”

 

“You don’t have a wand?” Harry asked blinking in surprise.

 

“Of course not. I was a prisoner remember.”

 

“The Goblins can’t procure you a wand?”

 

“The Ministry prohibits any other creature from possessing a wand, especially the Goblins. They won’t even go for buying through a proxy as the Ministry keeps track of every wand that is sold.”

 

“Surely there are wandmakers that sell wands in the black market.” said Harry as he thought of the shady parts of Knockturn Alley.

 

“Sure, but none that would sell to a Goblin. Even if I go myself I'll be most likely handed over to the Ministry. My head is worth a hefty sum of Galleons, I'm told.”

 

“In that case, we might just have to find an old wand for the time being.” Harry mused out loud.

 

“Exactly how're you going to do that?” asked Sirius pausing his impetus in draining the food on the table.

 

“I have my ways.” Harry answered, thinking of the Room of Requirement and the many things that the students and the faculty had hidden away in that room.

 

Sirius looked at him curiously before shrugging.

 

“You have changed." Sirius observed, and looked around the Chamber appreciatively. "If you could arrange all this…. Anyway, tell me about the Tournament.”

 

“I have to face dragons in the First Task.”

Sirius spit out the pumpkin juice he was drinking hearing about the adversary Harry was about to face in the First Task.

 

“What? Are they mad?” Sirius asked incredulously with his eyes the size of saucers.

 

“They locked you up in a hellish place without a trial all these years. You tell me.”

 

Sirius blinked twice before nodding.

 

“Point taken. How’re you holding up?” Sirius asked in concern.

 

“I have a plan but it is risky. Any advice on the subject is appreciated.”

 

Harry leaned back and took a sip from a warm cup of tea. He could see the wheels behind Sirius's eyes turn.

 

“Well, a direct attack on a dragon is fruitless. It has a thick hide that can resist most magical spells. It'd take multiple wizards to even have a nominal effect on a dragon. But, there are simple spells that can trick a dragon.”

 

“Trick a dragon?” Harry asked in interest.

 

“Yes. A dragon's greatest weakness is its eyes. There is the Conjunctivitis curse that can temporarily blind a dragon or there are several illusionary charms that could work. I suppose it depends on what you have to do.” explained Sirius as he took in another plate of mutton to his needy stomach.

 

Harry was quite surprised.

 

“I searched Hogwarts library for any spells that could handle a dragon and I found very little except for the Conjunctivitis curse.”

 

Sirius shook his head as he drained the mutton down with a glass of water.

 

“I'm not surprised. Most of the spells that I know to be of any use against a dragon is from the Black library.”

 

“From your family's library?”

 

“Yes. The Blacks were famous hunters of magical creatures among other things…” Sirius muttered darkly before focusing on his plate full of mutton.

 

“I have two more days till the First Task. Think you can teach me some of these spells?” asked Harry

 

“Sure. There are a few easy ones. Just what was your plan in dealing with the dragons anyway?”

 

“Well, I don’t have to ‘deal' with dragons. I just have to get past them and retrieve an item I guess. I planned to use transfiguration and elemental spells to distract the dragon.”

 

“Elemental spells are quite hard to master Harry. Not to mention they are quite dangerous.” Sirius warned

 

“I know. Which is why I stuck to water and air.”

 

“Even those elements can be dangerous. The drain on magic is too deep sometimes. People have died trying to use these spells.”

 

“I’ve encountered few problems so far.” said Harry, with a shrug of his shoulders.

 

“Thank Merlin that’s the case.” said Sirius

Before anything else could be said Winky appeared with a pop.

 

“Master Harry's Bucky friend is safe in the Forbidden Forest.”

 

Harry stared blankly at Winky for a minute before he connected the dots.

 

“Oh, you mean Buckbeak.” said Harry, piecing together the garbled House Elf speaking style.

 

The enthusiastic repetitive nod he received from Winky was proof enough. He had asked Dobby to pick up Buckbeak on Sirius's request, last night. By the absence of Dobby, he just knew his elvish friend had quite a hard time bringing Buckbeak to the Forbidden Forest.

 

“Hmm… take me there.”

 

Harry managed to stay on his feet as he came out of the unique teleportation used by Winky. House Elves were damn good companions to have. The sheer magical might these beings wield is phenomenal. Very few wards could hold back a House Elf as evidenced by Winky's ability to teleport in and out of the Chamber of Secrets. Even Salazar Slytherin's wards failed to hold back Winky and Dobby from teleporting in and out of the Chamber.

 

Even with such extraordinary gifts, House Elves remained in servitude to Wizards and Witches. He wondered how that came about.

 

“Master Harry Potter sir!” called out Dobby excitedly breaking him out of his musings.

 

His elvish friend was running around Buckbeak trying and failing in containing the erratic Hippogriff.

 

“Dobby, leave him be.”

 

Dobby immediately teleported by his side muttering about ‘mean Bucky'.

 

Harry on the other hand had his eyes trained on the half-horse half-eagle before him. Buckbeak, Hagrid had named the creature, and Harry felt it was aptly named. Its beak shined under the morning light and he held no notions of testing the sharpness of the beak or the razor-sharp talons.

 

So, he went for a deep bow keeping his eyes to the ground. A few seconds later he hesitantly looked up and was relieved to see Buckbeak also greeting him with a bow. He slowly reached out his hand once he straightened up and thankfully Buckbeak didn’t bite it off. Instead, Buckbeak slowly nuzzled its head on his palm.

 

Harry ran his hands through the stormy grey feathers of Buckbeak. He was surprised when Buckbeak sort of placed the underside of its sharp beak on his shoulder as if giving a hug.

 

“I suppose you missed me.” said Harry, but Buckbeak shook its head away from him.

 

“Oh, you missed this place huh. Makes sense I suppose.” Harry nodded to himself as he looked around the dark misty forest. He then stared at his avian friend. “You sure you’ll be alright?”

 

A squawk was the answer he got which was neither here nor there. In the end, he decided to just bring Buckbeak into the Chamber. On one hand, Buckbeak could keep Sirius company and he didn’t really felt the Forbidden Forest was the safest place for Buckbeak. Hagrid had passingly mentioned how Aragog and his kind were spooked with the arrival of dragons.

 

Knowing this, he felt it safe to have Buckbeak inside the Chamber. It was a real struggle to get Buckbeak inside the Chamber, though. Thankfully, a lot of fried meat and fish saw Buckbeak's reluctant entrance to the Chamber. Sirius's presence also helped, as Buckbeak turned out to have become fond of his fellow criminal on the run.

 

When all was said and done, he was late for breakfast. The Great Hall was tightly filled with students on all four tables. Thanks to some harsh efforts from Professor McGonagall the dirty looks directed at him from Hufflepuff were considerably low. Sure, there were a few hostile looks but he could care less what some moron thought about stealing the thunder from pretty-boy Cedric Diggory.

 

He eyed the Hogwarts Champion discreetly as he made his way towards his spot. Hufflepuff's star seeker and all-around wonder boy was laughing and joking with his friends over the table of Badgers.

 

‘Good for him. Let him laugh all the way to the First Task.’ he thought before sitting down between Neville and Katie Bell.

 

“Hey, Harry.” Katie and Neville greeted him as he sat down and helped himself with some food from the table.

 

“Hey, Neville. Hey, Katie.” he greeted back politely.

 

“Slept in late, huh?” asked Katie

 

There was a scoff from Ron. Harry guessed Ron had some opinions to share but he didn’t even glance at the youngest male Weasely.

 

“Not exactly. Just had to take care of something.” he said with a smile at Katie before digging in into his breakfast.

 

Harry could hear another snort from Ron but he was adept at ignoring other people especially those who are hostile to him. And there is no doubt about Ron Weasely's hostility. The stare that Ron was directing at him could be seen from his peripheral vision. That’s why he remained aloof and totally unbothered.

 

He had dealt with the likes of Ron Weasely before. The boy was a narcissistic attention-seeker and nothing else. The best way to deal with those types is to ignore their existence to their face while keeping an eye on them from afar. This method had worked in the past and he was sure it was going to work here as well.

 

He made smalltalk with Neville who was excited for managing to procure a pot of Fluxweed from Dogweed and Deathcap, a Herbology shop in Hogsmeade. Apparently, the plant was difficult to grow and Neville had tried many times to grow the plant unsuccessfully in his garden. Salves from the plant could apparently mend broken bones and skin. Harry also distinctly remembered the magical plant was an essential ingredient in Polyjuice Potion.

 

As Neville regaled the struggles he went through to grow the plant, Harry discreetly searched the Prophet for any interesting news. Other than a continuation of bashing Snape and reported sightings of Sirius Black in Romania of all places, there was nothing else of note. The front page was all about the speculation of the Tri-wizard Tournament and its First Task.

 

He assumed Skeeter was just waiting for the inevitable wave of interest in the First Task to settle down before breaking the news. It was a clever ploy and one that would only help him much more if he outperforms every other Champion. Not to mention, Bartemius Crouch was going to be the star of the day when the memory was going to get published. After all, the man was the Head of DMLE when Sirius was thrown into Azkaban without a trial. Harry held no doubt that Fudge will spin the whole situation to put the blame on Crouch.

 

Speaking of Sirius, he thought of his Godfather's offer to help. While he more than appreciated any help Sirius could bring to the table he was already prepared to manage a dragon. There were two plans in his hand. Plan A called for a ‘show' in which he uses his performance to dazzle the crowd and take the egg. Plan B calls for a straight-out attack that neutralizes the threat posed by the dragon and quickly taking the egg without much hype.

 

Putting thoughts of plans out of his mind he searched for the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons Champions. Both of them were sporting less approachable looks on their faces. In Krum's case, the brooding frown was always a permanent state so no surprises there. Fleur, on the other hand, was easily disturbed and it showed on her face.

 

Knowing that they were going up against a dragon in two days would do that to anyone, he reckoned.

 

Even now, he felt goosebumps whenever he thought of the gigantic fire-breathing creatures. If he was feeling like that, despite knowing in advance and preparing all this time, he could sympathize with the others.

 

It was going to be one hell of an evening on the coming Tuesday. Quickly finishing his breakfast and having half a glass of pumpkin juice he was out of the Great Hall. He mouthed a hasty goodbye to Hermione and whispered ‘later’ to his friend knowing that she was curious to know about what happened with Sirius last night. He just thought more training was to be the priority before anything else.

 

Besides, he could fill her in towards the afternoon or the evening when he was going to take a break. Till then, he was busy and he has an appointment with Madam Pomfrey. After all, it'd be remiss of him to expect Sirius would recover his health all on his own.

 

Some enquiries into health-restoring potions would be useful for Sirius and perhaps himself, he thought, as he looked down on his short and skinny body. The daily exercise and his increased food consumption have done wonders to his physique but he was still in possession of a malnutritioned body. 

 

The First Task was not going to be that much physically taxing but the second one was obviously going to be. While he was confident his current regimen was doing some wonders to his body it was not a bad idea to get a magical boost.

Chapter 10: The First Task P1

Harry kept reading the short notes he took in the last Transfiguration class. Fuéritis Metallica was the spell he was looking into. Turning a stone into a wooden teacup was the first spell he learned this year. From there on, he learned a progression of variant spells that performed along the same lines.

There was one that turned a wooden cup into a stone cup. Another spell turned the stone cup into a clay cup. Another variant spell helped in turning a stone into a ceramic cup and finally, there was Fuéritis Metallica and its variants. This spell focused on turning an object into metal. The spell was an extension of a select family of spells that would come useful in the First Task.

"I hope each of you has read about the spell." said McGonagall as she looked over her glasses at the class.

There were murmurs of assent as Harry's classmates shuffled around their textbooks and parchments.

"Very well then. Textbooks away and wands upfront."

Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs rushed to obey as Professor McGonagall moved into the middle of the class keeping an eye on the activity of students.

"Now, you know the spell you are about to use."

"Yes ma'am." the class chorused.

"Good." McGonagall nodded as she walked towards her table and faced the class taking out her own wand. "A counter-clockwise spin and a quarter clockwise spin followed by a tap on the stone before your table will do. Follow my wand movements."

Harry followed McGonagall's example and made the necessary wand movements.

"Good." said McGonagall. "Now, look closely."

McGonagall moved behind her desk and performed the spell on a small stone sitting on her table.

"Fuéritis Metallica"

The stone on Professor McGonagall's table let out a small shiver before it turned into a steel teacup.

"Remember students. Uttering the spell and wand movements alone will not do the trick. Imagine yourself with a teacup." said McGonagall as she picked up her cup and showed it to everybody. "Picture this cup in your mind when you perform the spell. Keep the image steady and then go through the wand movements."

With that said, Professor McGonagall went around the class observing students and helping when necessary.

Harry went through the wand movements and used the spell. Voila! The stone turned onto a metallic teacup.

He was not the only one succeeding in the spell. He could see Hermione successfully transfigured her stone into a teacup. He was certainly not the only one who noticed Hermione's success as well.

"Good work Miss Granger. 10 points for Gryffindor." said McGonagall with a brief nod after which the Head of House Gryffindor turned her attention on Harry.

Neville who was sitting beside Harry gulped at the scrutiny in McGonagall's eyes.

Harry noticed Neville had partially succeeded in transferring the stone. It looked like a mix of stone and metal to his eyes.

"Take 10 points for Gryffindor Mr Potter." said McGonagall before eyeing Neville's work. "A good first attempt Mr Longbottom. Try again."

And on the Professor went and Harry could hear an audible sigh of relief from his friend.

"Try once again Neville. This time just think about the cup in more detail. Like how large the cup is or the colour or the shape of the handle. Giving it a good detail in the mind helps in concentrating the effects of the spell." Harry whispered

With his small word of advice and some encouragement, Neville managed to complete the transfiguration almost perfectly. The handle of the cup remained a mix between wood and metal, nonetheless, it was progress.

By the time Neville accomplished the task the class was over. It was the last hour of class they had Monday evening and Harry had a prior commitment coming up.

So, he parted ways from Neville and instead of going to the Gryffindor dorms, he went straight for the Owlery. The Owlery was in the West Tower of Hogwarts Castle. Climbing up the stairs to the tower he had to apply air freshening charms and cleaning spells to ward off the smell and the owl droppings. The bones of mice and voles increased as he gained height to the upper echelons of the tower.

The Tower was bereft of glasses or windows for that matter. This helped in Owls coming and going as they pleased. A snowy white owl caught his eyes sitting on the top perch.

"Hedwig." Harry called, and immediately the snowy owl swooped in and pressed her talons in his shoulder.

"Ouch." he winced as the talons sort of dig in on his skin a bit. Despite that, he nudged Hedwig softly and petted her.

"I brought you treats." said Harry as he fished out a handful of treats from the box in his hand. He had a few new sets bought in his latest Hogsmeade visit.

After feeding Hedwig he gave her two letters. One was an inquiry for some select Potions from J. Pippin's Potion shop of Hogsmeade while the other was for Gilbert, Poole and Tonks, a licensed law firm with appearances in ICW Court as well as in the court of British Ministry. If Sirius was to walk a free man he couldn't depend on the Daily Prophet alone.

"Go girl."

Harry watched on as Hedwig took to the sky with the two letters. Distracted by the gliding snowy owl he nearly missed another occupant in the Tower.

"Hey, Harry."

The timid voice from his back startled him making him whirl around in surprise. It was none other than Susan Bones.

"Hi, Susan." he greeted awkwardly with a nod.

Susan Bones was someone that just left him in blanks. To be fair, that's how he felt when he was faced with most of the student population of Hogwarts. The original Harry was not exactly a social creature. Outside of the Quidditch Team and a small number of students, the original Harry interacted very little. This little fact had made it awkward for him to rekindle with the rest of his peers.

Thankfully, he was not the only one who was feeling awkward.

"Uh…were you sending a letter?" asked Susan tucking her red hair behind her ear in a jittery fashion.

"Yes. No doubt you have a letter to send yourself." said Harry, nodding towards the letter held in Susan's left hand. "I'll leave you to it then."

Harry walked around Susan and was about to descend down the stairs but was stopped by Susan's next words.

"Good luck."

Harry looked at the red-headed Hufflepuff with a raised eyebrow.

"For tomorrow…" Susan added unsurely

"Not rooting for Cedric Diggory?" he asked amusedly.

"Of course, but that doesn't mean I can't wish you luck." said Susan with a self-assured grin.

"That's big of you and thank you." he nodded and was about to leave when Susan once more gave him cause for pause.

"I believe you."

"What?" Harry asked

Susan blushed as her cheeks flushed with red.

"I believe you when you said you didn't enter the Tournament willingly." Susan explained

"A sentiment not shared by your friends but I appreciate your faith in my word. It's been good talking to you, Susan."

Harry left the Owlery with mild amusement gracing his mind. That was the longest conversation he ever had with someone outside Gryffindor House in his memory except for Draco Malfoy. Truly, the original Harry Potter was leading a sad life and he felt for the kid.

He put those thoughts to the back of his mind as he made his way towards the library. This day was going to be his resting day so there was no training. This means he has more than enough free time to spend with Hermione who has been hounding him about more details about Sirius. In so far, he has kept the fact that Sirius was safely tucked away inside the Chamber.

Not that he has any distrust of Hermione. With the way, he has exposed several truths in the Prophet he didn't want any scrutiny to fall on Hermione in a racist society like wizarding-Britain. If it was known that a Muggleborn witch was somehow involved with a 'mass-murdering criminal' like Sirius Black he feared what would happen to her. Anything could happen with a government where blood-purists and full-blown terrorists and psychos are in power. Not to mention the presence of pacifist incompetent morons like Dumbledore is supposed to represent the 'liberal' side.

So, being on the side of healthy caution was the way to move forward.

'Keeping Sirius's present state of affairs to myself is the right thing to do.' Harry thought

It was then that he remembered that he forgot to look for old wands in the Room of Requirement. So, he made to seek out the Seventh Floor to collect the wands.

"Potter!"

The name resounded through the hallway like a crack of thunder. Harry turned around and saw Moody standing by the hall. He could have sworn there was nobody in the hallway a moment ago.

His confusion must have shown on his face.

"Disillusion Charm. A neat little charm to know Potter." said Moody as his magical eye swivelled around in the eye socket before the man gruffly added, "Come with me."

While Harry knew another racist moron was impersonating Moody he went with the man into an abandoned classroom.

"Sit down." said Moody, and Harry obeyed, remaining silent but ever vigilant of each move the man made within his vicinity.

"You have a good friend in Hagrid. So…found out about the dragons, have you?"

"I stumbled upon the dragons in passing yes." Harry carefully framed the answer watching Moody warily.

"A regular visitor of the Forbidden Forest, are you?" asked Moody with an amused smirk.

Harry remained silent and let Moody direct the flow of conversation.

"It's alright." said Moody, sitting down on a bench. "You wouldn't be the first nor the last to cheat in the Tri-wizard Tournament. It's a tradition and it will continue to be so, far in the future."

"I didn't cheat. There is nothing in the rules of the Tournament that stipulated I shall not find out about the task beforehand."

Moody grinned and it was a terrible visage to look at. "I wasn't accusing you, laddie. I've been telling Dumbledore from the start, the other two Headmasters won't be as honourable as he is. They want to beat Hogwarts and thereby beat Dumbledore at any cost."

Moody laughed harshly which made Harry a little queasy. Harry could feel a sort of psychotic pleasure in the man's laugh. Perhaps, Crouch Jr was enjoying the fact that he was hiding right under Dumbledore's nose.

"So… got any ideas how you're going to get past that dragon tomorrow?" asked Moody

"Umm…" Harry intentionally dragged out his response and then just shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, I'm not going to tell you." said Moody gruffly

'Of course, you are you piece of inbred racist.' Harry thought scornfully.

"But I'll give you this advice. Play to your strength." said Moody

"My strength? Like Defense Against the Dark Arts and flying?" Harry asked with his eyes blinking confusedly. He hoped he conveyed that emotion properly.

"Yes. Play to your strengths." Moody said with a satisfied grin.

'Don't you worry, you prick. I'll be doing exactly that.'

 

---

 

The next morning in the school was one of great tension and excitement. Classes were to stop at midday, giving all the students time to get down to the dragon's enclosure. Though, no one knew just what awaited them in the area.

His fellow Gryffindors were whispering wishes of good luck and some like Colin Creevey were so confident in his absolute victory. It was kind of creepy but at the same time a confidence booster. While many of the student population has sort of come to terms with the consistent presence of the 'Boy Who Lived' there were a few that held Harry to a higher standard.

Harry was not just a regular wizard. He was the one that survived the unblockable Killing Curse. He was the one who vanquished Britain's most dangerous Dark Lord something that even Dumbledore was unable to do. Then there are the generations of witches and wizards growing up hearing ridiculous stories made up about Harry. So, expectations were running high.

Then there is the other side of the spectrum. There are those who would love to see him fail, humiliated or at worse dead.

"Hope you get crushed out there Potter." a random Slytherin Seventh year had commented in the hallways. Only to stumble head over heels into the floor.

"It seems you better worry about your crushed nose." Harry gave a parting shot before he continued towards his History of Magic class. He silently mouthed a thank you to Dobby who was of course responsible for that takedown.

"Avoid them, Harry." Hermione said as they made their way to the last class of the day.

"I'm trying."

The History of Magic class was as usual boring. He couldn't focus on the class and neither could he focus on anything for that matter. In the end, he began to draw pictures of Professor Binns to pass time.

Later in the Great Hall, he was pretending to have his lunch when Professor McGonagall approached him.

"It's time, Mr Potter. The Champions have to come down into the grounds now. You have to get ready for your Task."

"Oh, okay." said Harry as he stood up. Before he decided to go he drained a glass of pumpkin juice.

"Good luck, Harry. You'll be fine." Hermione whispered.

Harry nodded to his friend and appreciated Neville smile of support. Although, he could trace more tension on Neville's face than his own. Taking a swift look at the faces of his housemates he gave a nod silently thanking them for standing by him.

"Don't worry. I'll square it with Diggory for that game."

He was rewarded with a slew of slogans of support.

"You show 'em, Potter."

"Good luck, Harry."

He left behind all of his housemates and walked beside Professor McGonagall. As they crossed into the open grounds Harry felt the November chill set in. He waved his wand around himself and put a warming charm warding away the cold.

"Are you alright Potter?" McGonagall inquired softly.

Harry looked at his Head of House to see genuine concern and a tidbit of fear shining in her eyes.

"Don't worry Professor. I'm well prepared." said Harry, with a reassuring grin.

"Good…That's good." said McGonagall as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Just keep a cool head. We've got professional handlers to control the situation if it gets out of hand. Just do your best, and nobody will think any worse of you. You have nothing to prove to these people."

"On the contrary Professor. I've some things to prove to others and myself." said Harry as he thought of all the abuse, insults and snide remarks the original Harry faced before he came along and took over the show. "Thank you for your concern on my behalf. You are the best teacher I've had in Hogwarts."

McGonagall straightened up at what Harry said and squeezed his shoulder in a gesture of support.

They walked in silence as thick dark trees passed by until they finally reached the edge of the forest. Harry couldn't see the enclosure but only a large tent could be visible. He assumed the rest were under powerful wards as he could not even hear a sound from the area.

"You're to go inside the tent with the other champions. Mr Bagman is in there… he'll be telling you about the… procedure. Good luck."

Harry took a deep breath before he entered the tent. The first person he saw was Fleur Delecour standing opposite the entrance looking rather pale, far paler than yesterday. Viktor Krum was at the left of Harry and the Bulgarian Seeker was frowning quite heavily into the distance uncertainly. Cedric was pacing to his right and awarded him a nod of greeting which Harry returned.

Seeing Cedric had once again reared up his internal battle in the last few days. The struggle was about whether he should've told Cedric about the Dragons. Ultimately, he decided against that course of action. Knowing this whole Tournament was a sham and any advantage he gives Cedric will only put the Hufflepuff Seeker on the path of Voldemort, Harry decided it was better this way.

The dragon handlers can step in if Cedric or any of the Champions are in danger. That won't be the case if Cedric or the other two Champions end up taking the Tri-wizard Cup. The solution in this situation is very simple. Beat the three Champions in the first two Tasks by a considerable margin and Harry could increase the probability of easily taking the Cup in the Third Task.

"Harry! Jolly-oh!" said Bagman happily, looking around at him as the man barged into the tent from the other end. "Well, it looks like all four Champions have assembled and I'm sure you're eager for your Tasks."

Batman rubbed his hands in excitement and Harry noticed the man's legs had a spring in each step.

"Now, it's time to fill you in on some details!" said Bagman excitedly. "When the audience has assembled, I'm going to be offering each of you this bag."

Bagman held up a small sack of black silk and shook it close to Fleur's face who reeled back, startled. Despite the reaction Bagman garnered from the French Champion, Bagman continued in his jovial tone.

"In this bag, there are four models of the 'thing' you are about to face in the Task before you. They are unique and different so you will be selecting them at random. Keep everything fair and square, aye? Your task however is to collect the Golden egg."

Harry nodded at Bagman to show that he understood and then the waiting began. He sat cross-legged on the floor and closed his eyes keeping his eyes blank. Growing up he had a bit of a problem with his attention span. A lot of medication and tricks were used to 'cure' this shortcoming until finally meditation sort of clicked. Half an hour meditation each day was a norm and there was a considerable improvement in his attention span in one and a half months.

Keeping his mind blank he concentrated solely on exhaling and inhaling. He stayed that way until Bagman shook him awake. Apparently, the time was up!

"Ladies first." said Bagman, offering the silk bag to Fleur.

Fleur put her hand into the bag pulled out a scaled model of Welsh Dragon with a tag that said 'two' tied around its neck. Fleur gulped as she stared at the snarling visage of the small dragon before it dissolved into sparks of light.

Harry watched Cedric become pale white reminiscent of a ghost. He was curious whether the Hogwarts Champion had it in him to win the Task without being forewarned.

Harry pulled his attention back to Bagman who offered the bag next to Krum who pulled out the Chinese Fireball. It had the number 'three' tied around its neck. Krum just looked down morosely and stepped back. Batman approached Cedric who gulped in fear and put his hand into the bag. Cedric came out with the Sweedish Short-Snout having the number of 'one' on its neck.

This left Harry at number four and in his hand sat the jet-black Hungarian Horntail. The model dissolved away into sparks of light while he listened to Bagman speak.

"Each of you will face the dragon you picked from the bag in the numerical order as seen on the tags. Now, I'm going to have to leave you in a moment as I'm commentating for the Task. Mr Diggory, you're first. Just go out into the enclosure when you hear a whistle, all right? Now, Harry…could I have a quick word, outside?"

"Of course, Mr Bagman." said Harry, and followed the excitable man who walked him out of the tent near a tree outside, and then turned on him with concern shining in his eyes.

"Feeling alright, Harry? Anything I can do to help?"

"No, thank you." said Harry

"Got a plan?" asked Bagman, and then lowered his voice and leaned forward conspiratorially. "I don't mind helping you a bit. You are the underdog here. Anything I can do to help?"

"I've got this under control Mr Bagman and thank you for your concern."

"Oh, no need to thank me, Harry. Only happy to help." smiled Bagman. "You sure you are okay? Nobody would know."

"No, thank you. I've got a plan."

"Good. Good, Harry…."

Then the whistle blew.

"Oh, look at that. I've got to run. Good luck, Harry."

Bagman went on his way and Harry returned to the tent. He watched Cedric preparing to go into the enclosure.

"Good luck." he whispered and patted the Hogwarts Champion on the back which seems to have restored a bit of life to Cedric's face.

Harry sat cross-legged on the floor as Cedric made his way into the enclosure. Seconds later he could make out the roar of the crowd and the Task began in earnest. Now, the long wait began.

Chapter 11: The First Task P2

The crowd screamed…yelled and made all possible hellish sounds possible. In between, Harry could make out some broken commentary from Ludo Bagman. The words like daring and wicked were thrown around from time to time. Harry couldn't gauge what exactly was going on other than the fact that the crowd was suitably entertained.

Then the crowd fell silent and for a time there was very little sound other than a few garbled commentaries. Then the whistle struck again and it was Fleur's turn.

Harry watched as the French Champion stepped up to her Task. Then the waiting began. Same as before the crowd went ballistic at Fleur's entrance and from there it went on.

Harry sat straight and fished out his wand from his wand-holder. Just to be on the safe side he began applying flame repelling charms on his body as well as his clothes. He also decided to do away with the cloak. While he didn't expect to move around a lot he wasn't leaving anything to luck. The cloak could prove detrimental when the Task commenced.

With that in mind, he applied a shrinking charm on the cloak and placed it safely in his pocket. With the cloak gone he was dressed in his pants and shirt with a sweater on top.

Soon Fleur's Task came to a speedy conclusion. Then it was Krum's turn. Harry didn't have to wait too long before he heard the thundering applause and then a relative silence. He waited for his turn patiently while his mind went through the spells he was going to use.

The whistle came, signalling for his entry.

"Finally!" he muttered before he walked forward.

The moment he stepped away from the tent he noticed the fences and trees that surrounded him. The great enclosure was filled with people he barely recognised. There were too many to focus on and he dared not focus on people when the yellow eyes of an apex predator was watching his every move.

The distance between Harry and the dragon was not that much great but it was workable. The sheer size of the dragon gave him a pause though. No amount of practice sessions with stone golems in the ROR did any justice to the true Hungarian Horntail he was facing.

This was indeed the most powerful and dangerous dragon in the world.

Despite the instinct of fear drilled into his being, he walked forward. He took clear measured steps and wanted to see what would provoke the dragon.

The moment he approached a certain distance the dragon let out a soul-chilling roar and he could even make out a few cries of despair from the audience.

The dragon all of a sudden reared itself and launched a torrent of fire straight in his direction.

Harry's movement was swift. With the Holly wand in his palm pointed downwards he made a small spin with his magic thrumming through his veins. The pure rush of magic was incredible especially when he watched as the flames of the dragon drowned his shield.

"Indomitus."

The shield spell was so difficult to perform but so useful as well. He could feel the sheer magical energy it took to construct the shield but he has been practising this spell for a while now. The Patronus Charm felt more difficult than this one.

'Now, it's time to show this dragon who's running the show.' he thought, flickering his wand at the energy barrier protecting him.

The kinetic force behind the jet of flames was turned outwards in a single concentrated blast and the flames were smashed away if only for a while. But that was the opportunity he was looking for.

"Eventerum Ventus."

The next spell was an air elemental spell that pulled a mini-cyclone out of the tip of his wand. The hot air and the remaining fire from the Horntail were blown right back towards the dragon under a powerful pressurised wind. The dragon reeled back but he doubted the dragon was hurt in any sense.

But, the dragon's focus was shifted and that was his window of opportunity. He could hear the roar of approval from the crowd and Ludo Bagman was excitably shouting from wherever the man was commentating.

Harry raised his wand towards the sky and pictured the spell in his mind.

"Tridenti Fons"

The tip of his wand glowed with a blue aura and a blue trident fired off into the sky. The trident followed a parabolic path and its three prongs separated mid-air striking before the dragon in the ground.

"What was that spell? Our young champion seems to have overcome the flames of the dragon and is now attempting another spell." Bagman excitedly chatted away.

"Oh, look. There is something happening on the ground." Bagman excitedly added.

Trident Fons, a spell used very commonly in deserts by ancient wizards and witches to conjure springs of water. It is said, the spell originated from ancient Greece when a wizard and witch competed to be the patron of a city.

To be precise, the spell has connections to the myth behind Poseidon and Athena's struggle to become the Patron of Athens. Poseidon is said to have gifted Athenians a salt-spring while Athena supposedly gave them an Olive tree.

'Without fire, there is no smoke.' Harry thought, as the ground before his eyes rumbled, and water began to sprout out in abundance. Every myth has a pinch of truth buried deep inside.

But, myth and truth held no sway in the present situation. Only magic matters.

Magic is might, Harry discerned, as water began to flood the enclosure. Flooding the enclosure was not his plan. Why would he drown himself? The water was only the first part, now comes the hard part.

Harry raised his wand and add a full clockwise spin.

"Suqffusio."

It was the first water spell he practised when he decided elemental magic was the way forward to combat a dragon. He had repeatedly tried to make the spell more efficient but he was not at a level where he could pull water out in an explosive torrent from the tip of his wand. That left him with a sole option. Use two spells!

One was for pulling water in large quantities while the other manipulates said water as a weapon.

The tip of his Holly wand shined silver-blue and the water before him converged into a storm of swirling mass. A sharp jab with his wand saw to it the water surged forward and struck the horntail head-on.

The Hungarian Horntail let out a bellow of anger as it took on an element of nature. But, Harry was nowhere near finished. He focused the spell so that much of the water was dragged out into the open upon the dragon before he let the spell fail.

Now, water alone was only going to annoy the dragon. He could already see the Horntail was largely unbothered except for the fact that it was using its tail and wings to shield itself from the onslaught of his spell. To truly make an impact on the dragon a mere water spell was not enough. It required one more spell.

"Pruine Ventus."

Frosty gales of wind blasted out of the tip of his wand. It helped the climate was damp and cold as his spell was positively reinforced by nature itself.

The dragon was now feeling the effects of his spell. Along its thick scales, frost began to form up as the water solidified in an instant. Sure, the dragon was not going to shiver to death or anything but Harry could already see the dragon was reeling under this swift turn of temperature.

Harry could hear Bagman enthusiastically describing the spells and their effects to the crowd. Frankly, the man had his work cut out for him as the crowd was screaming so loud he could feel pain in his ears.

Keeping that aside, this was his perfect chance as the Horntail was sufficiently distracted and weakened.

Transfiguration was not his strong suit but there are ways around Transfiguration and still use its effects to his advantage. He dipped his mind into his inventory of spells and pulled out a Charm that was suitable for the situation.

"Avis."

A flock of golden coloured birds appeared out of the tip of his wand circling his head.

"Oh, look…look, folks! Mr Potter has used the Bird-conjuring charm. What is he planning?"

Harry heard a snippet of the enthusiastic commentary of Bagman.

Indeed, many would wonder why he was conjuring small birds but they can grow, right?

"Engorgio Maxima."

He felt a considerable drain on his magic but he paid it no mind. This Task was nearing its end.

The small birds grew to the size of horses. There were seven giant birds circling above him and the Horntail clearly felt threatened by them.

'Finally, Mr Horntail. Our encounter is coming to an end and you can go bother someone else.' Harry thought as he held both his hands up gripping the handle of his wand and jabbed in the direction of the dragon uttering another spell.

"Oppugno."

The effect of the spell was instantaneous!

The giant golden birds shot through the air like bullets and began to hound the dragon, and that was Harry's chance.

"Accio Golden egg!"

Unfortunately, the egg didn't make a move.

He could hear Bagman saying the Egg was covered with anti-summoning charms. The only reason he didn't begin with the Accio spell the moment he entered the enclosure was that he feared the dragon would snap at the Egg and somehow damage it. If the Egg is damaged he may lose points.

Even if Accio didn't work, he held another spell at hand. This time he was dipping into Transfiguration.

He channelled his magic into his wand and began spinning his wand high in the air above his head. Sparks began to come out of his wand but he continued feeding the spell more magic before jabbing straight at the Egg.

"Riata Laqueum."

A long lasso sprung from the tip of his wand and he expended his magic, directing the lasso all the way towards the Golden Egg where it quickly proceeded to curl around the Egg. When he was sure he had the Egg secured he made a sharp pull with his wand and the Egg sprung out of the dragon's nest. He quickly dismissed the lasso and used the Levitation Charm to slowly guide the Egg into his grasp.

"Look at that!" Bagman was yelling. "Will you look at that! Our youngest Champion is the quickest to get his Egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Mr Potter!"

Harry could hear the whole enclosure shaking with applause and he hastily stepped back with the Golden Egg in hand, his Task completed. He promptly dismissed the conjuration of birds attacking the dragon as well. The last he saw before he stepped back into the tent, the dragon handlers were surrounding the Horntail.

Harry blinked twice as he looked at the Golden Egg in his hand.

"I've done it!" Harry absently whispered as a smile bloomed across his face. This was proof of his resilience, and above that, his ability to triumph greater odds.

The tent's flaps were ruffled as Professor McGonagall, Hagrid and Moody rushed in.

"That was excellent, Potter." cried McGonagall. "Such brilliant piece of magic and an excellent use of Transfiguration."

"Yeh did it, Harry!" said Hagrid with watery eyes. "Yeh did it! Against a Horntail of all dragons!"

"Thanks, Hagrid." said Harry

Moody looked visibly pleased but otherwise remained silent.

"You'll need to see Madam Pomfrey before the judges give out your score." said McGonagall as she led him out of the enclosure towards another tent.

Inside the tent, Madam Pomfrey was rushing about looking over the other Champions. She looked up when they entered the tent.

"Dragons!"

Harry heard her hiss out the word in disgust. Before he could say anything he was pulled into a cubicle and the Hogwarts healer began waving her wand over his body.

"I wasn't injured."

But, Madam Pomfrey ignored him completely.

"Last year it was Dementors and mass-murderers. This year it was dragons. What are they going to bring into this school next? A Nundu? It seems you are lucky to have escaped any injury although you could use some replenishment. Your magic has drained considerably."

Madam Pomfrey rushed out of the cubicle and returned with a potion. "Drink." she ordered.

He didn't complain and drained the potion in one go. Immediately he could feel a rush of energy filling him up.

"Now, just sit there quietly and let the potion run its course. Afterwards, you can go get your score." said Pomfrey before rushing out of his cubicle to Cedric's.

Harry sat in that cubicle looking at the Golden Egg sitting innocently by his bedside.

He waited patiently for a few minutes before Professor McGonagall came to fetch him. It was time for his score to be declared.

When Harry stepped out of the tent he saw Hermione and Ron standing outside.

"Harry you were brilliant." cried Hermione as she higher him. "It was amazing. The most brilliant magic I have ever seen."

"Thanks, Hermione. Thank you for helping me all this time. Couldn't have done it without you." said Harry, hugging her back.

"Harry." called Ron looking pale. "I reckon someone is looking to do you in."

"The understatement of this century. I don't have time for this right now." Harry muttered hoarsely overcome with adrenaline at his victory.

"Harry…!"

He ignored Hermione's cry in favour of McGonagall waving him forward towards the enclosure where the judges were waiting for him.

When he stepped into the enclosure he was greeted with thunderous applause from the crowd. He gave a brief bow in appreciation and straightened up to face the judges.

Madame Maxime raised her wand in the air. A long purple ribbon shot out of her wand and twisted itself into the number ten. The crowd applauded her decision. Then came Mr Crouch who also gave a ten which was followed by Dumbledore and Ludo Bagman. The crowd got more and more wilder in their celebration, especially from the Hogwarts side. It'd seem his performance had managed to rouse his peers and forget House boundaries.

Finally, it was Karkaroff's turn and the prick awarded him four points. The crowd immediately booed and began shouting obscenities at Karkaroff.

Even if Karkaroff decided to be a sore loser, Harry was happy. He had taken revenge in advance against Karkaroff in the Forbidden Forest. The man had walked funny when he saw him the next day and that was enough for him.

"With 44 points you are leading the Tournament Harry. You won!" said Neville who had come down to congratulate him along with the Quidditch team and a better part of Hogwarts.

"Yeah. If it wasn't for you Hogwarts would have been left in the dust." said Katie Bell

Now, that confused him.

"Yeah. Diggory lost the whole thing. He didn't manage to take the Egg. If it wasn't for you…" said Terry Boot of Ravenclaw.

"Cedric lost?" Harry asked in surprise. He had thought the Hogwarts Champion had a 60% chance of completing the First Task. Anyway, it didn't bother him much. This whole Tournament was just a prelude to the Second War. A total sham orchestrated by Voldemort and his pet Death Eater.

"Yeah. We would have been humiliated before those dark wizards of Durmstrang if it wasn't for you Harry.." said Justin Finch-Fletchely.

Justin was one of the few Hufflepuffs who had interacted with him cordially this year even after his name came out of the Goblet. The blond-haired boy had wrongly accused him in the Second Year, as the Heir of Slytherin, and when it was proven to be untrue, Justin had apologized to him. Since then, they had a good camaraderie of sorts only to be shaken again this year.

"Yeah. Look at their Death Eater Headmaster. He should be in Azkaban, not leading a Wizarding school. I suppose, with Durmstrang's reputation he is a good fit for those sorry lot." growled Ernie MacMillan.

Ernie was a somewhat reserved boy from Hufflepuff. Harry hardly knew the boy except for the fact that Ernie is a dab hand at Charms. Harry didn't know much about Ernie and so far had little interaction with the boy.

Congratulations poured in from other houses. He even shook hands with a few sixth-year and first-year Slytherins. It'd seem House boundaries were indeed breaking down a bit which was a good thing. He was sure, however, that this won't last beyond this year. Next year, everybody will be back to 'normal' or as normal as it could get in the Wizarding world.

Surrounded by well-wishers and praises he didn't fail to notice the presence of Rita Skeeter and her cameraman. He nodded at the witch and in time managed to extract himself from the crowd. It was time to capitalize on the tide that was going to crust just as he planned.

Chapter 12: Plans in making

When Harry stepped into the Chamber he had to immediately duck his head as pieces of glass and metal flew around the Chamber. He immediately surrounded himself with a shield as he saw a piece of furniture flying towards him. The wooden furniture lay broken on the floor courtesy of his shield.

"Sorry!" cried Sirius, whom Harry noted to be jumping around the Chamber trying to avoid the airborne utilities in the former lair of the Basilisk.

"What is going on?" Harry shouted over the chaos. He flinched when a piece of glass fried up against his shield.

"I tried to rearrange the room with this bloody wand and this is the result." Sirius complained ducking down as splintered wood tried to smack his head.

Knowing what he had to do Harry dismissed the shield and swished his wand in a full circle above his head.

"Finite!"

The air rippled with magic and the chaos inside the Chamber came to a stop. The items began to return to their previous place and he supplemented the spell with the Reparo charm. In a few seconds, the Chamber and its contents were restored back to their normal state.

"That wand is not working well for you, huh?" " asked Harry

"It's a fine wand for sophisticated spells. However, wide area spells are not its forte." said Sirius with a shrug.

Harry was pulled into a hug. Initially surprised he was quick to recover and patted Sirius on the back.

"Saw how you dealt with the Hungarian Horntail. You did great, Harry. James and Lily would be proud." Sirius murmured

"Wait!" Harry pulled back from the hug to look accusingly at Sirius. "What do you mean by that? Don't tell me you showed up in your animagus form at the enclosure!"

"I didn't. You were adamant that I don't come along so I did this…" said Sirius, fishing out two identical mirrors. "Using these and with some creative help of Winky, I was able to see everything."

"What is this?" asked Harry, taking one of the mirrors into his hand. The mirror felt warm to his touch.

"This is what I call a two-way mirror. I'm still working on some spells to improve it but look…" said Sirius, while tapping both mirrors with the tip of his wand.

The mirror in Harry's hand let out vibration and his face was replaced to show Sirius' who was looking into the other mirror.

"You had Winky bring the mirror to the enclosure and watched everything from here?" Harry asked

"Yes. A neat trick, isn't it?" asked Sirius with a satisfied smile.

"Brilliant! You came up with this in one day?" asked Harry, more than impressed by the idea and the work done by Sirius.

"Your mother and I were working on this project to keep in contact, you know. Your mother was a brilliant witch Harry. She designed half the spells I used on the mirrors. We never figured out how to work the mirrors around the protection of Fidelius Charm. If only I had figured that out, I could've…" Sirius trailed off, misty-eyed and his tone sombre.

"Both of us won't be able to change the past, no matter how much we wish it so. The only thing we can do and should do is to focus on the present and plan for the future." said Harry trying to console Sirius who he was sure suffering from survivor's guilt.

"You have changed." Sirius observed

When Harry raised his eyebrow questioningly Sirius merely laughed it off.

"You are more mature than I was or James for that matter, at your age. The only things on our minds were the plans for our next prank. Well, James was always obsessed with your mother more than anything else. Those were the days…" Sirius trailed off with a far-away look on his face.

"You should really take a shave. You look the part of an escaped convict." said Harry trying to change the subject.

"I'm an escaped convict." Sirius reminded him.

"Not exactly. You were never convicted."

"Semantics, Harry. For the world at large I'm guilty." said Sirius

"Perceptions can change." said Harry before taking out an envelope from his pocket and offered it to Sirius.

"What's this?" asked Sirius accepting the envelope which he noted to have a broken seal.

"A writ petition to quash any and all legal proceeding against you on the basis of your unique circumstances." said Harry

Sirius looked struck for a moment and looked at Harry as if seeing him for the first time.

"Harry, how did you…?"

"Forget about anything else. Just read the papers and sign them. There are two petitions inside. One for the British DMLE, contesting the Ministry's claim you are a criminal or a convict based on the fact that you remain in remand custody pending trial for more than twelve years. The other is for the ICW court, to quash the entire case on the basis of your lack of trial and your extended stay on that barbaric place the British Ministry call a prison." said Harry

Sirius once again opened his mouth to say something but then thought better off it. Instead, Sirius began to read the two parchments he drew from the envelope.

"I contacted Gilbert, Poole and Tonks in regards to your case. Your cousin Andromeda Tonks contacted me this morning but I put it off in favour of the First Task. She says she won't be able to reverse the ministry's charges against you permanently. But, she can suspend them temporarily in favour of demanding a trial. You will have to appear before a full Wizengamot."

"Is that even possible?" asked Sirius in surprise.

"You are the last living Black. You are Lord Black and you have been kept in Azkaban without a trial for twelve years. Your ascension to the head of House Black is more than enough to strong-arm the Ministry to give you a full-court hearing. The other Lords of Wizengamot won't deny the trial as it represents a dangerous precedent if you are denied a fair trial. Malfoy and his cronies will be snubbed no matter how much they try to overturn the trial."

"I genuinely can't believe this is happening. How did you do all this Harry?" asked Sirius with wide eyes.

"Nothing has happened yet. But, I will see you walk free at any cost." said Harry.

"Harry, you don't know the Ministry as well as I do. They won't reverse their decisions that easily. If we had that filthy rat…" Sirius trailed off.

"Don't worry about any of that. The Ministry will give you a trial. If they won't, I have a plan for that scenario as well." Harry promised

Harry walked out of the Chamber with Sirius's signature. Having Sirius declared a free man was his priority and he was adamant for that to happen before the fourth year ends. While he certainly doesn't expect Dumbledore to be all-knowing, the mere fact that Sirius alone was denied a trial was spooky. At least, that's what Andromeda Tonks had written to him in her letter.

If Andromeda is right, and he has no reason to disbelieve her, then either Dumbledore was plain ignorant or the old man just turned a blind eye as Sirius was a wild element on the board. With Sirius thrown in prison, Dumbledore had a free hand in throwing Harry to the tender mercies of the Dursleys.

Speaking of the Dursleys, he made a mental note to give them a warm present for abusing a helpless child. There are vivid memories of what the original Harry went through at the back of his mind. All the physical abuse and mental torture have to be repaid in kind. Justice demanded that he do so. At the same time, he didn't want to hurt Dudley Dursley. The kid's only crime was being born to Petunia and Vernon Dursley.

'I'll have to think of something for the Dursleys. At the same time, it should not be too harsh to affect Dudley. Or maybe, Dudely could use some trouble in his life to set him straight.'

---

The Gryffindor common room was packed with students. Harry could barely take two steps before he was surrounded by well-wishers, handshakes and whatnot. Professor McGonagall has apparently turned a blind eye to the celebration that was going on. The prefects who were supposed to keep everything in order were enjoying the party as well.

He saw all sorts of activities going on and he was forced to participate in or witness each one of them. There was the poetic retelling of how the other Champions fared against their dragons. Lee Jordan was the orator and Harry was suitably impressed by Lee's imaginative and oftentimes funny retelling.

Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas worked themselves up to portray Cedric Diggory and his transfigured rooster. Apparently, Cedric had transfigured several stones to roosters to distract the dragon. It didn't work too well for the Hufflepuff Seeker. The dragon was more than capable of assessing the threat posed by a rooster to be non-existent and focused on Cedric instead.

The Weasley twins on the other hand were up to their usual antics. Those two stormed the common room with a collection of prank items. There were these berries that let someone breathe fire out of their nostrils. Canary creams that turn anyone into a giant canary upon eating them. The Weasley twins were ingenious and unpredictable with their inventions.

Harry found Neville who was sporting a mini-elephant trunk on his somewhat chubby face.

"You okay Neville?" asked Harry

"I'm fine Harry. I think it's funny." said Neville

"It's funny. Too bad you don't have the tusks. That would have been cool." said Parvati Patil, laughing with Lavander Brown.

"That's a good idea Parvati." said George

"Yeah, we will add that in the future." said Fred

"Hey, Harry." Hermione also joined them with Ron who was lagging behind Hermione awkwardly.

"Hey, Hermione." he greeted back.

"So, I can't help but notice there are too much food and drinks. Where did all this come from?" asked Hermione

"Where does all the food and drinks in Hogwarts come from?" said George rhetorically.

"The House Elves!" answered Fred with a bright smile.

Then Fred widened his eyes and began exaggeratedly shaking his head. "What else, good mister Weasley sirs...? Love those creatures. They are the best minions one could ask for. Right George?"

"Right you are Fred." said George

"Say, you wouldn't know where the kitchen is would you?" asked Hermione innocently.

"Yeah sure. A concealed door behind the painting of a bowl of fruit on the first floor…" Fred stopped and looked suspicious at Hermione. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious." said Hermione, a tad too quickly.

"Going to incite rebellion among them are you? You going to use those leaflets of yours are you?" asked George

"Good luck trying to do that. They love doing chores. The more work a House Elf have the merrier they become." said Fred

Hermione just pursed her lips. One could see she was drawing up plans behind her eyes.

Truth be told, Harry was not exactly opposed to Hermione's general idea to have a welfare system for the House Elves. Those creatures were dead useful not to mention the best loyal companion one could get. The House Elves ought to be treated with dignity and they ought to be compensated in some form for their work. But, that doesn't mean he was entirely comfortable with Hermione's idea of 'liberating' House Elves.

If such a powerful race of creatures prefer serving wizards and witches there must be something going on in the background. He was sure there was some piece of the puzzle he was missing. Why else would House Elves only serve wizards and witches? Why don't they just serve other magical races like Goblins, Vampires, Centaurs… etc? What is so unique about wizards and witches that the House Elves find appealing enough to bound themselves in servitude?

"Uhh… Harry?" Ron meekly called.

Harry's first instinct was to ignore the annoying red-head but then thought better off it. If he continued to ignore Ron, the attempts to rekindle their broken friendship will only persist in the coming days.

For the sake of avoiding any future drama and recognizing that he was dealing with a fourteen-year-old kid, Harry decided to wrap the issue then and there.

"What's up Ron?"

"Harry…I'm sorry." said Ron with his ears turning beet red.

"Okay." Harry nodded

"So… uh…. We are fine...? I mean…uh… you aren't mad?" stuttered Ron

"If my memory serves me right, you were the one who went mad and threw a temper tantrum. You accused me of lying and cheating, remember?"

"I…uh…I'm sorry Harry. I don't know what else to say." said Ron

"I don't want you to say anything. Just remember that each of us has our own problems and I hardly got to choose the problems that I'm getting saddled with."

"I'm so sorry, Harry. I was just angry and frustrated. Forgive me, Harry."

Harry let out a sigh and shook hands with Ron. The boy was just too young for him to do anything else. In time, Ron could overcome his faults on his own.

'I may forgive but I won't forget. I can't afford to when I'm facing enemies from all sides.' Harry thought even as he joined the party in earnest.

 

Chapter 13: The Skrewts

"When were you going to tell me you were going to do this?" asked Hermione in a cross manner while sticking the front page of the Daily Prophet into his face.

On the front page, there was the clear recording of Harry's encounter with Pettigrew plastered under a sizeable headline that read;

PETER PETTIGREW IS ALIVE! THE TRUE RIGHT-HAND MAN OF YOU-KNOW-WHO?

It was one fascinating article Skeeter has put forth. Harry would say it was one of her best works reading the article taking his time to sometimes read some of the paragraphs two times.

Oh yes! Skeeter kept her word. She seems to have come lashing out at the Ministry and all but blaming them for incarcerating an innocent man in Azkaban for twelve years.

If the heir of a prestigious noble house like House Black can be chucked into Azkaban without a trial what else is the Ministry hiding! How many people have the Ministry simply imprisoned inside Azkaban without a trial?

Was Sirius Black incarcerated because of Mr Bartemius Crouch's incompetence or was there something sinister at play? It is no secret Mr Crouch's son is a convicted Death Eater. Could Mr Crouch also be one and took revenge on behalf of You-Know-Who on the godfather of Harry Potter the Boy-Who-Lived?

He was having a healthy amount of respect for Rita Skeeter and her cut-throat words. So long as those words were being directed at his enemies he'd have no problem. The article doesn't end there…

It is also possible that Mr Lucius Malfoy may have played a part in the illegal incarceration of Sirius Black. After all, it is to Mr Malfoy's advantage the Black family goes extinct without a male heir as his son will be the next in line to the Black fortune. Sirius Black was also a decorated Auror who fought against You-Know-Who for the Ministry!

Could it be that Mr Malfoy thought he could use the Balck fortune to do his former master's work? While Mr Malfoy claimed to be under the Imperius Curse his admission before the Wizengamote was never under the influence of Veritaserum or a magically binding oath.

This brings us, the average wizards and witches, to question the legitimacy of these sham trials conducted for the former 'self-proclaimed Imperuised' Death Eaters. If the Ministry is responsible for a grave injustice like imprisoning an innocent man in Azkaban what else have they done? What other dark secrets are the Ministry keeping hidden from the eyes of the average wizards and witches?

While Harry was impressed with Rita Skeeter's persistent attacks against the Ministry and Lucius Malfoy another major article on the third page exceeded his expectations.

Malfoy-Snape-Crouch! The axis of Evil?

The conspiracy to assassinate the Boy-Who-Lived via the Tri-Wizard Tournament!

The attack at the World Cup. Is the Ministry involved in the coverup?

The greatest coverup of this century! Death Eaters walking scot-free while heroes languish in prisons!

These were the headlines of other articles regarding his performance and selection in the Tournament and Skeeter make several leaps and conjectures. Basically, she blames Harry's entry into the Tournament on Malfoy, Crouch and Snape. The ministry is involved in a big conspiracy and good-working wizards and witches could all be thrown into prison by the evil ministry. This was the general tone of her columns.

Harry was quite surprised at Skeeter's blatant attack on Malfoy of all people. The last time he spoke she was afraid of Malfoy's influence on the Prophet. But now all of a sudden she was attacking Malfoy head-on.

What changed?

'It can't be solely based on the blackmail material I have over Skeeter.' Harry thought with a frown as he read the article greedily.

Someone else must have a stake in bringing Malfoy down.

But who?

Sure, Malfoy must have made enemies throughout the years and riding on the present controversy was surely an advantage for any would-be enemy of Malfoy. It was something worth looking into in his opinion.

But, that could wait as he had an annoyed bushy-haired friend who was frowning quite heavily expecting a response.

"As soon as the article was published I suppose." he answered honestly which made Hermione stutter who was no doubt gearing up to face a denial.

"You kept this from me. Me! Why?" Hermione asked and Harry could see she was hurt that he'd keep secrets from her.

"Hermione you are a muggleborn and this world is filled with racist bigots who hate your existence. If they think you have sensitive information regarding an accused criminal can you even imagine what they'd do to you?" Harry asked

His question drained Hermione's ire in an instant.

"Professor Dumbledore will…"

"…do nothing just as he has done nothing in the First Year, Second Year, Third Year and this year." Harry finished for her looking at her challengingly to see whether she would argue.

"You've got to admit Hermione. Dumbledore's been awfully quiet after Harry's name came out of the Goblet." supplied Ron, who for once was speaking sense after a long while.

"But Harry! This is Dumbledore we are talking about." said Hermione, looking imploringly at both Harry and Ron in disbelief.

"You've got to admit Dumbledore's been fat lot of good in clearing Sirius's name even with his position in the Wizengamot." said Ron

"Exactly!" Harry agreed, finding himself pleasantly surprised by Ron who was rather insightful in the matter. The kid was not hopeless it'd seem. "Dumbledore is the head of Wizengamot and he also wields enormous influence. You'd think someone like that who is supposed to be a virtuous man would stand up for what's right rather than what's easy."

"If Harry can manage to do all this with talking to a single reporter then imagine what Dumbledore could do. I wonder what he's planning. Maybe he is barmy!" said Ron despite Hermione's scandalized outcry 'Ron!'.

"Is the Prophet true Harry?" asked Neville who was so far been quiet and silently observing the conversation.

"Yes, Neville. There is quite a good story behind the whole fiasco of last year. I'll fill you in on the History class." said Harry

"Harry! You can't make plans like that for a class." said Hermione, disapproval written all across her face.

"Oh come on Hermione. Binns is crazy!" Ron cried.

The two began arguing in earnest while Harry and Neville watched on amusedly from the sidelines.

A bit of time passed and Harry was sitting in the Divination class bored out of his mind. He genuinely wondered why the fuck would any sane person intentionally struggle through this useless piece of subject. He had of course given a written request to McGonagall to have his Divination classes cancelled in favour of something more useful like Arithmancy.

Of course, the Deputy Headmistress has been less than impressed by the request and merely gave him a crisp 'I'll think about it.' before shooing him away. This was before the First Task. Since then, he has been buttering her up slowly here and there to escape this hell created by the most lunatic person in Hogwarts and that was saying something.

Harry could not stand to breathe the same air as Professor Trelawney. The woman was batshit crazy and focused on teaching a branch of magic that was useless.

"Hey, Harry. How did you die this time?" asked Seamus Finnegan who was sitting directly behind his seat.

"A lightning bolt hit me when I was flying on a broom." Harry answered blandly.

"Trelawney will like it. Say, any clue about that Egg of yours?" asked Dean Thomas

"You want another screeching banshee on your hands?" he asked, quirking his eyebrow.

"Nope! I'm good." said Dean, blanching at the thought of gracing the sweet music that came out the last time the Egg was opened in the common room.

"What could that mean though?" asked Neville who was sitting beside Harry.

"Maybe Harry has to brew the Mandrake potion" Ron suggested

"I don't think that's the one Ron. They brought dragons for the First Task! Surely, they are going to bring some magical creature that has a shrill screaming voice." Seamus reasoned.

"What is that dears?" asked Professor Trelawney approaching their general direction.

"Uhh…I was asking Ron whether Pluto is kind on me, professor." said Seamus barely holding back a snicker.

"Well, death is circling you, Mr Finnegan. But not so much as our dear Mr Potter." said Trelawney letting out a dramatic shudder for the effect.

It'd have been fun if it wasn't for the fact that Harry hasn't been seeing this stunt for quite a while now.

"Why the delay then? Wouldn't he get tired of circling around and getting cross-eyed by all the circling he has been doing for a long time?" Harry snapped out before he could control himself.

Trelawney discarded his snarky tone in favour of dramatically throwing her head back and shaking her head side to side like a mad horse.

"Oh, but dear. Death is a patient entity. It strikes in the most unexpected of times."

Harry scowled while swallowing the urge to snap back at this loon. Instead, he went back to thinking of other more important matters. Like, how to clear Sirius's name or where to go from the present state of his plans. He was waiting for Andromeda Tonks and her progress in the courts before taking a hands-on approach in the matter. There was yet a card to play but he'd rather not play that card until there was another tangible way of getting Sirius a free man.

If Divination was bad the Care of Magical Creatures class left him stumped. On one hand, Hagrid was a friend and a gentle soul….most of the time. Hagrid's gentle nature took a backseat when it comes to dangerous creatures.

From Harry's observation, Hagrid thought of dangerous magical creatures as misunderstood puppies. It'd have been not much of an issue if Hagrid kept that fascination to himself. Sadly, Hagrid was adamant everyone else learns to befriend and handle dangerous creatures.

For example, the horses of the Beauxbatons' carriage were of a different breed than normal horses. They were breathing out fire from the corner of their mouth the last he saw them and the class was supposed to feed them firewhisky. Apparently, the French horses love whisky and Hagrid took that as an opportunity to teach them how that's done.

It didn't help the Care of Magical Creatures class was shared by Gryffindors and Slytherins. Tension was thick between the two houses especially with everything that was happening. According to Dobby, who had made his personal job to watch Malfoy and the mini Death Eater squad, was having some troubles in the House. Some of the older students in the House of Slytherin became tired of Malfoy's appalling ability to embarrass the whole house at every turn. Their little group has been shunned for the time being and asked to stay the hell away from trouble.

Harry didn't know how long that'd last. Malfoy's usual rhetoric was never about his personal power. It was all about his father's influence. Well, Malfoy had learned his lesson and never tried to pick a fight with him after the First Task.

So, Harry was comfortable with leaving Malfoy out of his mind so long as the blonde never steps into his path ever again. It also helped Snape was under probation as he was undergoing a disciplinary hearing from the Hogwarts Board of Directors. He learned that bit of detail from Neville who's grandmother was now a member of the Board.

With Snape on probation, the man also lost his power to award or subtract points from students. Same with detention and this made Hogwarts a better place as the greasy bat of the dungeons focused on teaching for once instead of being a douchebag.

Harry flinched as the Skrewt he was handling turned its scaly body into a bludgeoning weapon and smashed on his knees. It was by luck he had the presence of mind to cast a hasty protego else he would've had a broken leg.

"Easy does it Harry. Jus' 'andle them with a gentle touch." cried Hagrid

Harry stared incredulously at Neville who shook his head in disbelief while looking at the Skrewts with unabashed fear. Hagrid on the other hand continued on with his explanation to the class.

"I'm not sure whether they hibernate or not…" Hagrid told the students who were desperately trying to wrestle the Skrewts into their paddocks. "We'll just feed them and keep 'em in these boxes."

There were five more Skrewts left to be locked in their paddocks and they were causing mayhem all around. They were fighting the students every step of the way while they were also fighting amongst themselves.

In Harry's opinion, the Skrewts should be allowed to fight amongst themselves. That way, they could all sit back and watch while they tire themselves out.

"We'll just get 'em in the boxes nice and easy. We let them sleep for a bit an' they will be back to normal." said Hagrid

"Define normal." Harry muttered as he finally managed to wrestle a Skrewt into a box lined with cushy pillows.

But the Skrewts, it transpired, did not sleep nor did they appreciate being surrounded by a closed container that inhibited their free movement. Soon the blasted creatures were focusing their energy on smashing the boxes to make their escape.

Hagrid tried to keep the situation under control but once again everything dissolved into chaos. The Skrewts broke through and began a whole new rampage.

Harry could see Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle making a run for Hagrid's cabin.

Shaking his head Harry began to fire away Stunning spells that managed to put the creatures down. It took him three or four spells to put down one Skrewt to sleep.

Hagrid was not so happy with his method of putting down the Skrewts but there was simply no other way. Somehow, they managed to put the last Skrewt into sleep and bound all of them in ropes.

When all was said and done, Harry sported several cuts all around his left leg and arms. Others were not fairing any better.

"Well, we managed to keep the Skrewts safe." said Hagrid with a giant smile.

"He's gone bonkers." Ron whispered.

"I think this is a pre-existing condition, Ron." Harry whispered back.

"You are right. Merlin save us." Ron whispered hoarsely.

"Merlin might be too afraid to step into these grounds."

Before Harry could take his leave to the castle Hagrid held him back before giving him a note.

"It's from Professor Dumbledore." Harris explained when Harry looked at him questioningly.

Opening the parchment he read the note. It was an invitation to meet with Professor Dumbledore in his office.

'Looks like the jig is up.'

 

Chapter 14: House Elf Liberation Front

"What do you think Dumbledore's going to say?"

Harry frowned at Ron discreetly. The redhead was being annoying and frankly getting on his nerves. What, with all the chess challenges and inane games from the redhead Weasley he was frankly getting a headache.

He wondered whether he was this annoying in his younger days.

'Not bloody likely. Besides, who plays chess of all things to pass time? It's an old man's game.' Harry thought with a neatly concealed scoff.

He was more of a football and volleyball fan. He liked games that demand effort from the body rather than just the mind. Chess was a game for lazy people in his opinion. While a good outlet for the mind it didn't contribute anything to the benefit of the body.

"I don't know Ron. I will know when I actually meet Dumbledore." Harry said patiently for the umpteenth time.

"Maybe he is going to offer his help with Sirius' situation."

Harry ignored that comment in favour of concentrating on the parchment in his hand. Not just any parchment but a parchment that held written notes made by Voldemort himself. He nicked those notes from the Chamber and he had to say some of the books and notes in the Chamber were interesting, to say the least.

The parchment in his hand carried several good pointers on Occlumency. The mind arts was something Voldemort was more than proficient in even as a Hogwarts student. That was a moot point as Tom Riddle was someone who made a Horcrux in his Hogwarts years.

Occlumency would be something Voldemort learned the first chance he got and it'd seem the Dark Lord took lessons in the Chamber. This was extremely fortunate for Harry who had limited access to books on the matter. Getting access to the Restricted Section would be too public as he did not want Dumbledore to get wind of any of his activities. The only other venue to pursue Occlumency was in the Room of Requirement.

Unfortunately, Harry could not take out the books from the Room. This left him to take notes in the Room and then take them out into his room to study at his leisure. The notes from Voldemort on the other hand was far more useful and they held many helpful tips.

He had no idea that a perfect Occlumence required mastery of their magical aura. Fluctuating magic will always disrupt the construction of Occlumency shields to protect the mind from cognitive attacks. That was the good news.

The bad news is, magical aura for a young wizard or a witch settles down only on their sixteenth birthday.

Harry could not afford to wait that long for constructing strong barriers around his mind. As it happens, Tom Riddle also came to this same epiphany long ago. The Dark Lord could not let someone else access the secrets in his dark mind. To that effect, Tom Riddle researched a ritual from Slytherin's repository of books in the Chamber.

It was a simple enough ritual for those who are well versed in runes. Harry would have to learn the art of drawing runes and most importantly he would have to collect some special ingredients. The listed ingredients were grounded unicorn horn, the essence of moonshine and hair from a Sphinx. While ingredients could be bought somehow the issue of drawing the ritual circle remained. It was for this reason he was studying Ancient Runes.

After learning to draw the ritual cycle he would have to calculate the planetary arrangements. The ritual can't be done on a whim. The position of Sun, Moon and Jupiter has to be aligned in a certain way to enhance the ritual's effectiveness. And there are only so many days in a year that the arrangement suited for the ritual would appear.

"Maybe Dumbledore wants to congratulate you. You fancy a round of chess?" asked Ron

And that was Harry's limits of patience. He packed all the parchments and books into his bag before taking his leave from the Common Room. On his way out of the Gryffindor tower, he encountered Hermione at the entrance.

"Harry!" Hermione screeched excitedly as she came across him at the entrance as the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open. "The most amazing thing has happened. You've got to see this – please."

Before he knew what was happening he found himself dragged away from the tower all the way to the Entrance Hall. Reaching the bottom of the stairs she took a left and Harry realized where she was taking him.

"Oh hang on…don't tell me you are dragging me off to see the House Elves?" Harry groaned as he rubbed his face tiredly. This was the last thing he wanted to happen this day.

"Of course, I am. Don't you want to see the House Elves?" asked Hermione with excitement shining in her eyes.

"Sure but what is your plan once you see the House Elves? What are you going to say to them?"

"I'll talk to them and inform them how their life could be better if they are free. They must have rights and must be properly paid for their labour." said Hermione.

"Have you ever thought why they bound themselves in servitude to wizards and witches?"

"Of course they didn't. Wizards must have taken them as slaves." said Hermione

"Just because that's how slavery happened in the muggle world doesn't mean that's how it happened in the wizarding world."

"Why not? How else could the House Elves be turned into slaves?"

"Hermione you know as well as I do wizards and witches of the past were not that magically strong. Even with the discovery of wandmaking helping wizards to channel their magic better they were decentralized for a long time." Harry said with a sigh.

"What's that got to do with liberating House Elves?" asked Hermione

"Do you really think wizards of the past were strong enough to enslave an entire race of magical beings that could wield magic with far more potency? House Elves can teleport through wards, they can perform magic that outperforms a wizard and they don't even use a wand. They never get tired of using magic and all my research points out that House Elves do not face magical depletion."

"But…but…that's not relevant!" said Hermione with a frown. "I want to free them."

"It is relevant. We must know why they are serving wizards and witches. Why have they not bound themselves to Goblins? Surely, the Goblins have a lot of work in their mines and House Elves are cheap labour. Plus, you already know Goblins have a sort of caste system inside them. They literally keep a portion of their kind as slaves. So, why have they not used House Elves?"

"Maybe, the House Elves didn't want to serve the Goblins or maybe wizards forbid House Elves from serving the Goblins." reasoned Hermione, suddenly intensifying her glare to McGonagall levels.

Harry knew that look. It was the look his bushy-haired friend would get when she decided to staunchly defend something.

'Opinionated teenage girls are the worst!' Harry thought in the confines of his mind.

"Wizards do no such thing. Well, at least that's what I found out in my brief searches of some history books."

"Wait! You looked into history books?" asked Hermione in surprise.

"You don't have to be that much surprised. I am interested in seeing House Elves getting fair treatment, a good wage for their hard work and dignity. So, of course, I looked into their history as much as I can in a short time."

"That's good Harry. But, Don't you think you are reading into this all wrong? Dobby is a free elf and nothing has happened to him." Hermione pointed out.

"Well, Dobby is not free per se." he said somewhat lamely.

"What?" Hermione blinked in surprise.

"Dobby bound himself to me."

Hermione looked horror struck as if he slapped her.

"Harry – you! How could you?" Hermione screamed.

"Oh, don't throw out your morals at me. I pay him for his work." said Harry, which somewhat settled Hermione's concerns.

"How much do you pay him?" asked Hermione, now somewhat calm but still looking at his suspiciously.

"Ask him yourself. Dobby!"

With a pop Dobby teleported in between Hermione and Harry.

"Harry Potter sir called Dobby?"

"Yes, Dobby. You remember Hermione, don't you?" Harry knelt beside Dobby and pointed at his bushy-haired friend.

"Dobby knows Harry Potter's friend."

Hermione perked up and smiled at Dobby.

"It's good to meet you Dobby. I heard you are working for Harry."

"Dobby loves working for Harry Potter sir. Harry Potter sir pays Dobby. Dobby gets a Galleon a week and one day off a month!" Dobby squeaked or happily.

"That's not very much!" Hermione shouted indignantly while glaring at Harry who rolled his eyes.

"Do you know how much trouble I went through to even force Dobby to take one Galleon a week and a day off on a month? My first offer was ten Galleons a week and a day off each week. But he wouldn't take the offer. That's another headache for you Hermione if you are serious about liberating House Elves. You've got to teach them how to negotiate an employment contract." said Harry

"Dobby has too much gold miss with nothing to spend on. Harry Potter sir gave Dobby too much gold to buy hats and clothes for Dobby. Dobby knows not what he will spend his wages on?" said Dobby

Harry looked at Hermione pointedly. "You see. And Dobby is one of the most reasonable elves. Wait till you deal with the rest of them. They won't even hear you out."

"That's cause they don't know any better. With Dobby's help I can help other House Elves to demand payment for their work." said Hermione

"Well, good luck on that! I still think we should study more about the House Elves before jumping to conclusions. Take Dobby for instance. He still can't speak badly of the Malfoys without punishing himself." said Harry, shrugging helplessly. "There is magic involved in their enslavement. And wherever magic is involved logic has little hold on the situation."

---

"Cockroach cluster."

The Gargoyle that stood guard over the Headmaster's office moved aside to show the stairs to Dumbledore's office. Harry climbed the stairs and as usual, the door swung open before he had a chance to knock.

"Hello, Harry." said Dumbledore who was sitting behind his desk petting Fawkes. "Come in, please."

Harry walked inside and was glad to note Professor McGonagall was also present just as she promised. The room was filled with portraits of old Headmasters of Hogwarts and many of them were not welcoming going by their expressions. It was understandable as last time he may have come across as quite unhinged.

Professor McGonagall was standing near the Headmaster's desk, wearing a purple cloak and a large black pointy hat. He could not fathom how people can just walk around with the ridiculous hat all the time.

He found the pointy hats funny and liked wearing them now and then but certainly not all the time.

"We were just discussing some of the arrangements for the coming Christmas week and of course your unique situations also came up. Now, please take a seat, Harry. You too Minerva." said Dumbledore before rummaging around the desk.

As Harry took a seat adjacent to Professor McGonagall with a muttered 'Thank you'. Dumbledore held out a glass bowl full of colourful candy towards them.

"Lemon drops?"

"No, thanks."

Professor McGonagall politely declined which Harry copied readily when he was offered the same by Dumbledore.

"Coming to the matter at hand. The last time we spoke you aired many grievances. I believe you are now satisfied some of them have been dealt with." said Dumbledore

"Some, not all." Harry emphasised.

"I didn't declare your innocence in the matter of your selection in the Great Hall but all other houses have been suitably informed by their head of House in the confines of their Common Rooms." said Professor McGonagall.

"Thank you, Professor." Harry said, nodding thankfully to the Deputy Headmistress before turning his attention to Dumbledore. He had his reservations on that move but he required McGonagall's cooperation. It was not a good strategy to make enemies across the spectrum.

It was now time to change the gear so to speak.

"I would also like to apologize to the two of you Professors for my earlier outburst."

Fuck no he wasn't apologizing for that! But, Dumbledore was a dangerous enemy to have. It was better to play ball for the time being and take what concession he can without sacrificing too much in this game of wits.

"That's good to hear Harry although you raised some valid concerns. If you'd have been patient I'd have told you I was already working several members of the Wizengamot to get Sirius a trial." said Dumbledore.

A blatant lie, Harry thought but he just nodded.

"Now, what you have done with Rita Skeeter is extraordinary. It has pushed on my own efforts in the Wizengamot and Sirius will most likely get a trial next month at the earliest."

"Truly, Albus?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"Yes, Minerva. It seems young Harry's efforts seem to have swayed many opinions in the Wizengamot." said Dumbledore with his eyes twinkling away.

"I wonder why Skeeter of all people is taking up this story. It is not her style to do so." said Professor McGonagall looking quite surprised.

"I think there are quite a few people who'd love to see Lucius never touch the Black fortune." said Dumbledore before eyeing Harry who maintained a poker face lest the man finds out his working relationship with Skeeter.

"Now, there are some issues regarding Professor Snape. You accused professor Snape of using Leglimency." said Dumbledore, and he framed the question in a way that came off as accusing Harry of some wrongdoing.

"I have and I stand by my accusations." said Harry firmly.

"I'd ask where you came by this branch of magic?"

"And I'd ask what relevance does that have in this matter. I felt a clear mental intrusion from Professor Snape and I can swear on my magic or you can use Veritaserum to see whether I'm speaking the truth."

"There is no need for such measures Harry. We believe you and Professor Snape has been reprimanded for his behaviour. I personally give you my word he won't conduct himself poorly." said Dumbledore.

Harry could now glean a bit of Dumbledore's character. The man was what he'd like to call a 'negotiator'. He used that term to pick out people who negotiated instead of having a normal conversation. Mostly this style of conversation was used by those with political and business acumen.

"While you are at it I'd also appreciate Professor Snape no longer bullies me in the classroom. If he reverts back to his old ways, I'll be forced to find ways to oust that man from this school or any school for that matter. I won't tolerate that man if he continues to derogate me and my father's name. If he had problems with my father he should have resolved that with my father when he was alive. I suggest Professor Snape not take his issues against a fourteen-year-old especially when I'm paying him to educate me."

While Harry was open to working with Dumbledore for the time being he was not going to bend over backwards for the old coot or his Death Eater dog.

"As I said, Professor Snape is well aware of what he did wrong and he will behave professionally." assured Dumbledore.

"Thank you, sir."

"Good. Now, there is another matter I wish to discuss with you, Harry. Amelia Bones, the Head of DMLE would like to have a word with you and collect information regarding the events that transpired last year. Would it be okay if I arrange a meeting the day before the Yule Ball?" asked Dumbledore making Harry blink owlishly.

'Oh, fuck! I've got to dance don't I?' Harry thought even as he nodded dumbly.

 

Chapter 15: A date

He had nearly forgotten about the Yule Ball and now he was faced with the greatest challenges of all. He needed to find a date for the Yule Ball plus there was the interrogation by Madam Bones to look forward to before the whole thing.

 

Harry was not doubtful of his ability to pick up women but that's part of the problem. He dated women, not teenage girls. While there was not a great age gap it still felt odd for someone who was a twenty-five year old to date a fourteen-year-old girl. Thinking about it made him realize there was indeed a great age gap.

 

He knew the Ball was not required to have a permanent date but he felt a mental disconnect with the prospect of what was expected of him. He could go for older girls but the chances of embarrassing himself were also quite high. After all, older girls would feel embarrassed to go with a young boy and unfortunately for him biologically he is a young boy. There was nothing he could do to change that unless he could perform some mass hypnosis. This left him to find one of the most mature girls in his year and that's how he found himself in the library.

 

Hermione is the most mature girl he met in his year. Comparatively, she is far more mature than many of the older girls as well. Not to mention, he could freely admit to her that he was asking her out as a friend. The other girls, he feared, would either be distraught or totally ignore his heartfelt plea.

 

The last thing he wanted on his plate was an emotionally volatile teenage girl whose feelings he hurt unwittingly.

 

Harry looked around the many tables in the library until finally, he found Hermione at a corner with a slew of books.

 

"Hey, Hermione."

 

Harry greeted as he plopped on the seat opposite Hermione.

 

"Hey, Harry. I looked for you in the Common Room but you were not there."

 

"Ah! I got a note from Professor Vector asking for me."

 

"What for?"

 

"I told you about my plan to switch to Arithmancy from Divination. Professor Vector has agreed to have me over provided I pass a test she'd hold for me after ten days of special classes." said Harry.

 

"You should have abandoned Divination in the Third Year." said Hermione letting out a sniff.

 

"Life is full of bad choices Hermione. Besides, I listened to Ron instead of thinking what's good for me." Harry shrugged helplessly.

 

"I have some notes if you want to familiarize yourself with the subject." Hermione offered.

 

"But, isn't that third year material? How come you have it now…. Never mind. I should have expected that from you, Hermione." said Harry with a shake of his head. "But, yes. It will be immensely helpful if you share your notes."

 

"I'll give them tonight then." said Hermione before she began scribbling down on her book.

 

Harry was about to ask her out to the Ball when he noticed a gaggle of girls gathering at a nearby bookshelf. They were whispering and giggling making Harry frown. Madam Pince looked none too pleased with the girls.

 

Harry followed the line of sight of the girls and found Krum not too far away. In fact, Krum was looking his way or more exactly in Hermione's way.

 

'Uh oh.'

 

Krum had a thing for Hermione and Harry became hesitant to go through with his decision to ask Hermione out. Krum certainly liked Hermione by the looks he was throwing Hermione's way and he doubted Hermione was that ignorant as she played it out.

 

If the one thing he learned about women all these years was that they never missed the details. They have a keen sense of taking in all the details some of which men stupendously ignores. So, he was not so sure whether Hermione was blind to Krum's intentions and he suspected she chose a wait and see approach.

 

Harry once again looked at Krum who was hanging behind the bookshelf silently staring at Hermione now and then. He then looked at the gathering fangirls of Krum and took pity on the guy. He could understand Krum in a sense. The guy wanted some peace and quiet which Hermione seems to give him and that made him all the more attracted to her. It didn't help the Ball was announced publicly yesterday and Krum's fans were lining up to ask the guy out.

 

"I'll be back in a moment." said Harry as he stood up and approached Krum.

 

Seeing Harry approaching, Krum quickly went back to the pretend-reading the guy was engaging.

 

"You don't have to pretend to read to stare longingly at Hermione. You can just ask her out you know." Harry said in a whisper as he slid in opposite Krum.

 

Krum looked at Harry with wide eyes and immediately went into denial which was a classic reaction one could expect.

 

"I don't know wot you are talking 'bout." said Victor avoiding Harry's eyes.

 

Harry let out an amused snort.

 

"Your red cheeks say otherwise. Oh, look your ears are also turning red. You should ask her out instead of stalking her all day."

 

"I don't…stalk." said Krum, his whole face now turning red while struggling with his heavily accented English.

 

"You don't say…" Harry eyed Krum with an amused smirk. "You want me to introduce you to Hermione?"

 

He could see Krum's eyes widen in surprise. Krum looked undecided for a moment as he looked at Harry curiously and then at Hermione before finally succumbing.

 

"I'd appreciate 'eet."

 

Harry smiled before getting up from the seat asking Krum to follow. He walked towards Hermione's table with Krum closely following him.

 

"Hermione."

 

Harry had his suspicions confirmed when Hermione looked up at the two of them with uncharacteristic shyness.

 

"This is Victor Krum and he'd like to discuss an important matter with you. You don't mind do you?" Harry asked and before Hermione could respond he pushed Krum into the seat opposite Hermione. "Glad to know you are okay. Have a good time both of you."

 

With that, Harry made his exit from the library. Once outside, he smiled at his awesome matchmaking powers.

 

Not so amazing when Krum was already interested in Hermione but he'd certainly expedited the process.

 

It was better this way.

 

Hermione would certainly have a better time with Krum than if she went with him. Besides, things could get awkward in the Gryffindor common room if he was going out with Hermione.

 

'It was better if he found someone outside the Gryffindor House.' Harry thought as he walked outside the Castle towards the Black Lake.

 

He waved his wand around covering his body with warming charms. The sleet and winds of December were far too intense to take on without the comfort of warming charms.

 

Sitting down on a small slab of stone he relaxed a bit. Even the Common Room of Gryffindor tower was now a hostile environment. Not a conversation would go by without discussing who asked who out, who turned down dates, the most embarrassing moments in asking out a girl to the Ball and so on.

 

It felt like he was living in a soap opera skit where all the characters are discussing the most inane things they could think of for the sake of drama.

 

"Bloody immature teenagers!" he uttered before a flutter of wings caught his attention.

 

Hedwig swooped in with a letter clutched in her talons. The letter fell into his lap while Hedwig perched herself on his shoulder.

 

"Good girl, Hedwig." Harry said, petting his trusted owl.

 

Hedwig let out a soft hoot and nipped at his fingers before taking flight to the sky. Most probably she was going back to the owlery and pick fights with other owls.

 

Harry shook his head before concentrating on the letter at hand. It was from Andromeda Tonks.

 

Dear Mr Potter,

 

I am happy to say our writ petition in the ICW court has been taken into due consideration and the court has asked for an explanation from the British Ministry before December 16. While this is a standard procedure the political pressure the ICW court will undoubtedly exercise on the British Ministry is to our advantage.

 

To that effect, I am glad to inform you that the British Ministry has agreed to suspend the Dementor Kiss on sight order against Sirius Black till he is judged under the oversight of a Wizengamot trial. The trial date has not been clarified but I'm told the session will be held at the earliest of January. Once the date is fixed I shall inform you at the earliest time possible.

 

However, do keep in mind that Mr Black remains a wanted person by the British Ministry. If he is caught by the Aurors he will be moved to Azkaban. I strongly advise he remain in hiding wherever he is hiding until the trial date. I'm in the process of moving the DMLE to halt all criminal proceedings against Mr Black but the Ministry has been dragging the proceedings. I fear they are trying to stonewall the progress of the case and hoping to capture Mr Black before the trial date.

 

On another unrelated note, your suspicions regarding a benefactor behind the Daily Prophet article is true. There is an internal battle waging inside the Prophet between two shareholders...

 

On reading further Harry found out the name of the individual who was indirectly helping him. A total unknown in some sense but there was a path he could make contact with the individual right here in Hogwarts.

 

Harry sat there thinking for a moment before he came to a decision. He burned the letter and cast the Point-Me spell. The wand spun around in his hand before pointing in a direction.

 

XXXXXXXX

 

She stared confusedly at the large doors of an abandoned classroom. She was just about to return the Charms textbook she had borrowed from the library. Just as she climbed the stairs from the dungeons to the first floor she had an epiphany to open the doors to this classroom.

 

She wondered why she needed to open the door?

 

"Hello, Daphne."

 

She nearly screamed but her wand was out and whirled around to face whoever it was only to falter at the visage of the resident Golden Boy of Gryffindor.

 

"You? Why are you here?" she asked keeping her voice steady and her face icy neutral.

 

She employed the teaching of her father and began suppressing emotions. Harry Potter was dangerous far too dangerous than she had ever thought.

 

As someone who grew up hearing the story of Potter's miraculous survival of the Killing Curse and the apparent destruction of the Dark Lord, Daphne was curious about Harry Potter. But, all that curiosity came crashing down in the First Year when she saw an immature and weak boy joining the House of Gryffindor. When the boy befriended a lazy slob like Ronald Weasley her opinion of the supposed saviour of the wizarding world came further down.

 

In the Second Year, Potter surprised her with his ability to speak the noble tongue of serpents. While the ignorant fools of the wizarding world would deride the serpent tongue as dark magic she knew better. Parseltongue was the epitome of healing magic, something that her family has been interested in for some time.

 

The revelation that Potter could speak the serpent tongue was a gut punch to her father who has been looking for a sane speaker in the world. The one that everyone knew was an insane wizard bent on world domination. The other speakers have isolated themselves in the remotest islands near the Indian Subcontinent doing Merlin knows what.

 

Despite, Potter's apparent ability to use Parseltongue she observed how much of an ignorant buffoon the boy was. Not to mention, Dumbledore and all the self-proclaimed 'light' wizards held a monopoly on Potter.

 

At least, that's what she thought and never has she been so mortified and embarrassed to have judged someone wrong.

 

"Cognitiva aequilibrium, the first sign of a budding Occlumence. Impressive." Potter said with an impressed look.

 

Daphne blanched in fear as she struggled to keep her mind blank.

 

Could Potter read her mind?

 

"No, I can't." Potter said making her eyes widen.

 

"Wha..? What do you want?" she stuttered out. Potter is a Leglimence?

 

"A few minutes of your time for a one on one chat. You are not afraid are you?"

 

"No, I'm not afraid. What do you want to talk about?" she asked, regaining her composure as she readily took hold of her mind.

 

"Please open the door and let's talk."

 

Daphne eyed the door behind her and then looked at Potter who stood idle. She could have decided to not entertain Potter's request but she was curious.

 

She pushed the door open and entered followed by Potter who walked around her and sat on a desk. Daphne meanwhile stayed by the door lest this was a trap of some kind.

 

"I'm told from a reliable source that your father has been trying his hardest to oust a branded slave from the Prophet." said Potter

 

Daphne frowned at that and was quite surprised that Potter knew what was going on inside the Daily Prophet. While her father certainly didn't share much details the fact that the Prophet suddenly turned on Mr Malfoy can only mean her father was involved. It was not a great leap for her to conclude this was the case.

 

Although, she wondered whether Potter was speaking of Lucius Malfoy.

 

"I don't know what you are talking about." said Daphne.

 

"A lie." Potter observed much to her chagrin. "You should work on your Occlumency a bit more. Either way, just be a dear and pass on my heartfelt thanks to your father. An enemy of my enemy is my friend. Should he desire some small aid in his endeavour to oust the ferret's father feel free to contact me."

 

Daphne watched with a frown as Potter decided to walk out of the classroom. This was what Potter had to say? She had expected some trouble when Harry Potter of all people asked to have a word with her in an abandoned classroom of all places

 

"Wait! You want me to pass along a message of thanks and an offer of aid to my father?" asked Daphne, while her mind came up with an idea to use the situation.

 

"Yes."

 

"I shall do this for you but what will you give me in return?" Daphne asked and she was pleasantly surprised Potter was not gaping like an idiot.

 

Instead, Potter was frowning and looking at her far too closely for her liking.

 

"You want something for passing on a message to your father."

 

"Yes. If you haven't took notice I'm my own person and not your personal owl." Daphne snarked.

 

"I did notice that. You look nothing like Hedwig. So, what do you want?" asked Potter, with his arms folded over his chest.

 

She hadn't thought Potter would agree to her demand but now that he agreed she was a bit stumped on what she should ask. She hadn't exactly planned for any of this to happen but she certainly would like to know more about the enigma that was turning out to be Harry Potter.

 

"I require a date to the Yule Ball and you are going to take me."

 

Daphne was satisfied with the shocked and confused look gracing Potter's face.

 

"You do realize what you are asking right?"

 

"What? Afraid of the reaction you'd garner from your house?" she asked with a smirk.

 

"I could care less what anyone thinks of who I'm taking to the Ball. Are you sure you can take the backlash from your house?"

 

"You don't know anything about me Potter nor do you know everything about Slytherin House. I can handle myself. The only question is, will you be my date to the Yule Ball?" Daphne asked with her hands on her hips.

 

Daphne felt the green eyes of Potter looking at her searching for a moment before he agreed to her surprise.

 

She watched as Potter walk away from the classroom and once she was sure the Gryffindor seeker was far away she smiled. If Potter hadn't cornered her today she wouldn't have bothered to ask him out for the Ball. She would've waited and watched Potter's progress and made contact with him at the end of the year.

 

The fact that he knew of the Curse afflicting her family was troubling. Her grandfather had studied extensively about the Greengrass Curse and according to him, Parseltongue was the last hope for their family. There was another way to escape the Curse but her father considered that an impossible task.

 

Although, she wondered how Potter could have known of the Greengrass Curse. It was not something that was widely known. It was one more reason for her to be curious about Harry Potter.

 

XXXXXX

 

"Mate you won't believe the Hogwarts rumour mill is saying about you. Can't believe some of the lies they cook up." said Ron as the redhead plopped himself beside Harry who was reading his Transfiguration book.

 

"Um-hm." Harry grunted but otherwise remained silent.

 

"What kind of rumours?" asked Hermione.

 

"Of all the things they could have come up with..." Ron trailed off with a snicker. "Apparently, Harry is taking Greengrass to the Yule Ball."

 

Ron proceeded to laugh like a hyena in the common room garnering glares from many other inhabitants. As usual, Ron remained ignorant of the reactions he was gathering with his raucous personality.

 

"What's wrong with Harry taking Greengrass to the Ball? She is in my Runes class and we get along well." said Hermione.

 

Ron sputtered and looked at Hermione as if she grew a second head.

 

"Greengrass is a slimy Slytherin. Get along well she says... There are no good Slytherins, Hermione. Everyone knows that." said Ron.

 

"Oh, don't be daft Ron. Look at Pettigrew. He was a Gryffindor and he became a Death Eater. If a Gryffindor can become a Death Eater then a Slytherin can become a respectable human being." said Hermione with a scowl of disapproval directed at Ron.

 

"I can't believe you are saying this. Harry, she's gone bonkers." said Ron.

 

"It's true." said Harry as he turned a page of his book without looking up.

 

"What? Harry...!" Hermione exclaimed, looking indignantly at Harry for taking Ron's side.

 

"See... Even Harry agrees. Slytherins are..."

 

"I'm taking Daphne Greengrass to the Yule Ball." Harry talked over Ron's gloating.

 

Ron paused and looked at Harry with his jaws wide open in shock. "What! How?" he shrieked.

 

The common room by this point had gone deathly silent.

 

"Greengrass asked me out today. She was the first one who asked and I had no reason to say no. So, I said yes and we will be going to the Yule Ball together." said Harry, standing up from his seat before collecting his books and parchments. "I'm turning in for the night. Goodnight Hermione. Goodnight Ron."

 

The entire common room watched silently as Harry made his way into the dorms.

 

"He was joking, right? Right!?" asked Ron.

 

Unfortunately, no one had an answer.

 

Hermione let out a scoff before she too retreated to her dorm leaving a heavily confused Ron in the common room.

Chapter 16: House Elf Liberatin Front-2

"Daphne."

 

A familiar voice made her look up from her Runes textbook.

 

She cocked an eyebrow inquiringly at her friend Tracey Davis. Saying Tracey was just a friend would be a disservice. They were more than just friends. They were best of friends, sisters even, she'd say.

 

They were born to their respective mothers on the same day and Tracey has Greengrass blood from her father's side. They shared a common birthday and pretty much shared everything from their childhood.

 

"Is the rumour true?" asked Tracey with wide eyes.

 

"What rumour?"

 

"The one that claims you are going out with Harry Potter to the Yule Ball!"

 

"Oh that… That's true." Daphne said waving away as if that was a silly matter.

 

"It's true! How did you do it?" asked Tracey excitedly.

 

If there is one thing Daphne could say about her friend is that Tracey acted like an excitable little fairy most of the time. It was a stark contrast to how Daphne would express herself.

 

"I negotiated."

 

That brought Tracey from her heightened state of excitement.

 

"You did what?" Tracey asked her aghast.

 

"What did you expect? That my heart would flutter because Potter flashed his green eyes at me."

 

"Well…I hoped something like that to happen. You were obsessed with Potter after all." Tracey pointed out with her smile returning in full force.

 

"Then you don't know me as well as you might think." said Daphne, slipping into her bed drawing the curtains around her bed in the process.

 

"Now, that's rude. Give me more details." Tracey hounded her as she rudely slipped into her bed.

 

"There are no details. I asked him to accompany me for the Ball and he agreed." said Daphne struggling off Tracey's attempts to draw her in into an embarrassing conversation.

 

Unfortunately, that didn't seem possible. Rather than being discouraged Tracey let out an excited squeal and proceeded to tackle the Runes book out of her hands.

 

"You asked Harry Potter out! You asked!" Tracey became far more incorrigible and began grappling with Daphne in her excitement. "I knew you were a hopeless romantic in your heart Daphne. It's no wonder you love those muggle novels."

 

"Shut up!" Daphne snarled as she pushed Tracey away before grabbing her pillow hiding her head underneath.

 

"Ha! Don't bother with that Daphne. I can see your cheeks are as red as a tomato."

 

"Go away. Go bother Zabini." Daphne mumbled.

 

"Blaise is no fun. He is too stoic sometimes." said Tracey as she pulled back her limbs from Daphne. A frown settled on her face. "In all seriousness though. Malfoy is going to be unbearable."

 

"Since when have we ever feared what that peacock would do?" asked Daphne as she moved the pillow down to quirk her eyebrow at Tracey.

 

"Only a fool would fear Malfoy but he can be a nuisance. When he was focused on Potter we had less of a headache from that moron." Tracey pouted, thinking of the constant moaning and bitching Malfoy performed in the Slytherin common room as of late.

 

"I like the way Potter dealt with him and Snape. It was…." Daphne searched for the right word.

 

"Marvellous?" Tracey supplied.

 

"No. It was precise. Potter went straight for the jugular. He knew there was no point in complaining endlessly with McGonagall or Dumbledore. He used his fame as a weapon and struck all his enemies down in a single strike. It was art." Daphne said, reminiscing the days after Potter retaliated.

 

It was indeed an art. An art of wielding power and channelling it with precision. She knew hardly anyone in Hogwarts that think and act like Potter. Potter had constructed an entire persona and tricked the whole Hogwarts populace to think he was an easily riled Gryffindor. When in truth, Potter was a dangerous and vindictive person.

 

Potter had outmanoeuvred and uprooted the entire Slytherin House on a whim. When Potter was done with his handiwork, only one seventh year prefect remained standing who had the sense to not wear the 'Potter Stinks' badges. Even Daphne had donned the badge to get Malfoy out of her hair. And for that reason she got all her quills painted pink on a morning. She didn't know how Potter did that but she was sure it was a retaliation from Potter.

 

Likewise, many of the Slytherins encountered some form of retaliation. Those that reported these attacks to Snape never got around to prove that it was Potter. Potter's hands were clean and somehow the Weasley twins were also not involved. She shuddered to think how Potter had reached into her dorms to do as he wished.

 

She realized Potter was far more dangerous than he looked at that moment.

 

For Merlin's sake, Malfoy broke his wand twice this year!

 

Seriously, who breaks their wands?

 

That's unheard of which brings up the fact that Potter is a highly vindictive person who held himself back all these years for some reason. She wondered why he played the scared anti-social weakling persona for three years. It was one of the mysteries surrounding Potter. With Potter's knowledge of mind arts, it should not be a surprise that he pulled off such a trick. But, she didn't know Potter was proficient in Mind Arts. Now that she thought of it, Potter must have used the Confundus Charm to corner her near the abandoned classroom.

 

"So, now comes the most important discussion regarding the Yule Ball." said Tracey who was once again thrumming with excitement.

 

Daphne merely quirked an eyebrow at her friend.

 

"Dresses!" Tracey squealed and then began to air off suggestion after suggestion making Daphne sigh and go under the pillowcase to hide from her eccentric friend.

 

XXXXX

 

"Haha hahaha…hahaha…Oh Harry you are truly making me proud. Taking a Greengrass to the Yule Ball!"

 

Harry shook his head as Sirius began to laugh again like a hyena.

 

"Why is taking a Greengrass to the Ball that much of an issue? I get that she is in Slytherin but I know a couple of Gryffindors with Slytherin partners as a date."

 

Sirius managed to stop his laughter. "Harry, the Greengrass family are the purists of purists. They won't involve themselves with Half-bloods or anyone they consider to be impure. While they have never fallen so low as to join the Death Eaters they are blood purists."

 

"Hmm… I think you might be looking this the wrong way. Daphne is just a fourteen-year-old girl. Surely, you don't think she is a bigot just because she is born into the Greengrass family?"

 

"Obviously, she is not one seeing as she asked you out. I just can't reconcile with the fact that Damien Greengrass' daughter has asked James' son for a date." said Sirius, before proceeding to crack up once again.

 

"Why? Did you know the guy?" Harry asked with a frown.

 

"Know him?" Sirius asked incredulously before letting out a huff. "He was one right prick to us. He was a year above us and when he became a prefect the guy had it for us."

 

"Let me guess. You pranked him and embarrassed him which made an enemy out of him." Harry asked blandly.

 

"Well….that's about right." Sirius admitted lamely. "But, the guy never let that pass. We weren't even pranking the fellow. He just fell into the trap Prongs set up for Snivellus."

 

"I see." Harry shook his head and wondered how many potential enemies he would have just because he was related to the infamous Marauders.

 

"Now, enough about that. I want to know something else about the Potters." said Harry making Sirius raise an eyebrow.

 

"What do you want to know?" Sirius asked sitting u in interest.

 

"I want to know everything that you know. Like what happened to my grandparents, are there any Potters left, do I have any relatives in the wizarding world and most importantly where is my house?"

 

Sirius took taken back before letting out a sigh.

 

"You really don't know anything about your family?"

 

"Duh. Dumbledore made sure he has an ignorant pawn for his games. Well, I don't intend to be his pawn any longer. I mean, he had you locked up in Azkaban to have control over me."

 

Harry took the lack of reaction from Sirius as a credit to his efforts to erode Sirius' remaining loyalty towards the old coot. It was no difficult task either as all he had to do was reinforce the notion that Dumbledore could have easily given him a trial at any point in time if he really wanted to.

 

He shook those thoughts away and listened keenly as Sirius explained the history of Potters and all the details that he'd need for the time being.

 

When Harry came out of the Chamber he was a bit disappointed with what he found out. Although, he should have expected as much, as Sirius was not exactly the type of person interested in his own history much less the history of Potters.

 

Sirius only knew of the recent generation of Potters. He knew Harry's grandparents and his parents. Outside that, he knew scarcely little about the Potters. At least, Sirius knew far more than he did and what little Sirius knew was somewhat useful.

 

He hoped that there was a family manor or something that'd be of aid to him. Unfortunately, Voldemort had seen to the destruction of Potter's family home in the last war. This means there are no portraits of old Potters to give him any sort of guidance nor was there any home he could move into this coming summer. It also means he could say goodbye to some obscure piece of magic that'd help him in dealing with Voldemort.

 

Harry had already checked the Family vault of Potters with Dobby's aid for any secret magical knowledge. Outside of gold, silver, jewellery and some furniture, there was nothing in the Gringott's vault. Then again, it has to be kept in mind that wizards are fiercely protective of their style of magic and they refuse to share that with the Goblins. So, the last place a self-respecting wizard would store their hard-earned knowledge of magic will be in Gringotts.

 

In the end, he was left with Hogwarts library and Slytherin's book collection to combat Voldemort. In a sense, he was not in a better position but he doubted the Potters held any secret weapon that he could use against Voldemort. He had so far not found an ounce of information about Horcruxes in Hogwarts. Even the Room of Requirement didn't provide him much except for a vague explanation of what they are.

 

What Harry wanted to know was a sure way to kill Voldemort. The present state of Voldemort presented him with a perfect opportunity to kill the guy once and for all. Hunting down the Horcruxes before the Third task would be impossible. So, a sure way of killing Voldemort or even binding the maniac's spirit would have been an ideal solution.

 

His only hope now remained in Slytherin's collection of books and scrolls. That's why he decided to let Sirius in on the secret library of Slytherin and charged him with translating the whole thing. A job, Sirius was more than glad to take up as Sirius was getting bored out of his mind by doing nothing inside the Chamber.

 

Sirius had his concerns regarding the shady magic Slytherin's library held though. Harry had to convince his godfather that Slytherin's library could be the key to unlock secrets surrounding Voldemort's apparent immortality. It took quite a bit of arguing to convince Sirius that this was the only way to kill Voldemort for good instead of waiting indefinitely for a miracle to happen.

 

He had some plans for swimming in the Room of Requirement and check the Egg whether it held the same clue that he was familiar with from the books. But, he decided to postpone the issue altogether and went straight for Gryffindor common room.

 

"Fairy wings." he said to the Fat Lady – the password to enter the common room.

 

"Yes, indeed, dear!" the Fat Lady smiled, straightening herself as she swung open to admit him.

 

Entering the Common Room he saw Ron and Hermione in the middle of a fierce argument.

 

"What's up with them?" Harry asked Neville who was a bystander to the crazed argument that was going on.

 

Instead of Neville, it was Ginny who answered his query.

 

"Oh, it was initially about those flyers Hermione was distributing to everyone. Now, it's anything and everything." said Ginny.

 

It looked like she was about to say something but then decided to just give him a leaflet. Looking curiously at the leaflet Harry hummed as he read through the lines. Its heading itself gave him all the information he needed to know anyway.

 

HOUSE ELF LIBERATION FRONT

 

Slavery is morally wrong and reprehensible. To subject another sentient being to work for your benefit without compensating the being whether it be a wizard, witch, muggle or a sentient magical creature is equal to using the Imperius curse. The House Elves cook our food, clean our dishes and wash our clothes in Hogwarts. I believe these poor creatures must be given pay for the volume of work they do and must be treated with dignity. Some of these creatures are treated quite horribly by their 'masters'.

 

If you think as I do then join the House Elf Liberation Front, a group of like-minded individuals that work to ensure fair treatment and wages for House Elves.

 

"All things considered this is not a bad idea. Her first idea was to force the House Elves to free themselves." said Harry as he reread the leaflet. "What's Ron's problem?"

 

"Don't know. Harry do you have time for helping me with the Summoning Charm?" asked Neville.

 

"Sure. Let's find a peaceful corner." said Harry looking at Ron and Hermione who were arguing away. "I don't think even Merlin can perform magic with those two around."

 

Chapter 17: The Egg P1

"Genus Mutatio."

Harry tapped his wand on the guinea-fowl before him after giving a sharp quarter-clockwise spin. The fowl let out a shiver before changing into a guinea pig right before his eyes. The pig looked at him and let out a cute oink.

He patted the pig on its head. "Don't worry. You will be back to your original body in a jiffy."

"Potter stop petting the pig and bring it here if you want your work graded." McGonagall said sharply from behind her desk.

There was a smarter of chuckles in the classroom but Harry paid it no mind. In his defence, the pig he transfigured was too cute.

Casting the levitation charm he moved the pig towards Professor McGonagall's table. The Transfiguration professor took a good look at the pig and scribbled a grade onto her notepad.

"Off you go, Potter. Do remember to copy down the homework question from the board." said McGonagall before chucking the pig into a gilded cage after shrinking it in size.

Returning to his place at the front row he took out a small book from his backpack before scribbling down the homework question on the blackboard. The advantage of sitting on the front row was that he was far away from Ron Weasley who never knew when to shut his big mouth. Even now he could hear Ron murmuring about possible Yule Ball dates with Neville at the back seat.

"Mr Weasley!"

Professor McGonagall thundered and she began berating Ron for his consistent ability to disturb her class. As McGonagall was laying into Ron with everything she had, Harry eyed his partner. He eyed Hermione who was halfway through the homework question in the class itself. She was not the only one as he could see several Ravenclaws like Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein doing the same.

Harry shrugged as he decided to do some advanced reading of Transfiguration text with fifteen minutes on the clock. Pleasing McGonagall had its perks as he found out with being allowed to drop Divination in favour of taking on Arithmancy. Now, he aimed to drop Muggle Studies in favour of Ancient Runes.

McGonagall had nearly chewed him out on asking that as she had already helped him drop Divination. In his defence, he learned of the ritual to stabilize his magical aura far later else he would have asked for Muggle Studies to be dropped as well. Despite her ire, McGonagall did speak with Professor Babbling and managed to arrange a meeting on his behalf. It fell to Harry to convince Professor Babbling that he can cover a whole one and a half years worth of material in a short amount of time to be of any good when the OWL's came along next year.

Harry's stomach growled signalling he was dying to have some food to sate his needy stomach. He was burning through calories by keeping his exercise regimen. Now that he had recovered somewhat from years of malnutrition thanks to Madam Pomfrey's advice he was back to train his body to an acceptable standard. To that end, he has been increasing his physical training. Now that his body could take some strain he was slowly transitioning into some weight training. Nothing major as he was still growing but mostly giving some training to his legs for quick movement.

A few more minutes later the bell rang and he was out of the class like a speeding bullet. He speed-walked all the way to the Great Hall to have his lunch way before anyone else. At least, he thought he was going to be the first one in, only to come face to face with a half-filled Great Hall. On the Gryffindor table alone there was the fifth year and seventh year students. The only other table that was packed with students was the Hufflepuff table.

Seeing the steamy spread on the table he skipped over to the Gryffindor table and began to fill up his plate earnestly. He picked up two slices of bacon, a cup of beef, a chicken leg, some bread and some tomato sauce. When the first slice of bacon slipped into his mouth he hummed appreciatively at the spices before watering it down with a bit of water. Maybe it was because he was hungry as hell, the food tasted heavenly which was already pretty much divine to start with as Hogwarts food was the best.

"Where are the others?" asked Katie Bell whom he had not at all noticed in his rush to stuff food into his needy stomach.

Swallowing down another piece of bacon he turned to Katie. "I was starving and I made a run for it. They must be catching up sometime soon."

"Are you sure our brother didn't infect you with anything Harry?" asked George wriggling his eyebrows.

"Yeah. Only our dear little Ronnikins would make a run for food." supplied Fred with a grin.

"I'm a growing boy. I need my food to stay healthy and strong."

"Oh yeah. That you do oh great champion of champions." George performed a fake bow.

"Oh, shut up. I've had Transfiguration all morning and McGonagall didn't let us so much as twitch in her class. I'm hungry enough I might just swallow an elephant whole." said Harry before diving into his food giving no heed to the smatter of chuckles the twins and Katie let out.

Ever so slowly, the hall began to fill in and he was joined by Hermione along with his other yearmates.

"Why did you run away?" asked Hermione, once she sat down next to Harry.

"I was starving."

"Some of us do have an appetite for food rather than studying Hermione." said Ron as he too plopped down opposite Hermione and began piling his plate with food from the table.

"I know. But, I also know some who have an appetite for just food alone." Hermione fired back as she cut carefully into the bacon on her plate.

Fred and George laughed while Ron turned beet red. As usual, this was more than enough to spark a shouting match between Hermione and Ron.

Harry focused on his lunch and quickly finished it before he carefully stepped out of the Gryffindor table. The meeting with Professor Babbling was arranged just after the lunch break and he didn't want to appear tardy to the professor. But, just before he could extract himself he came face to face with a fifth-year Hufflepuff girl.

"Hi, Harry."

The girl whom Harry struggled to put a name to the face smiled shyly and fluttered her eyes at him.

"Hello." he greeted back struggling to find the name.

"Umm…I came to ask whether you'd like to go to the ball with me Harry?" the girl asked as she tucked her curly brown hair behind her left ear.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I'm already going with someone else."

"Oh, umm…okay then. Are you sure?"

"I am sure."

"Have a good day, Harry."

"Have a good day yourself."

After the Hufflepuff girl left he shouldered his backpack only to be stopped by Ron's comment.

"You said no to a Hufflepuff in favour of going with a Slytherin!"

"Yes. And the next time you think you have a say in my personal affairs think again before opening that idiotic mouth of yours. Who I go with or not go with to the Ball is my business. Keep your nose out of it if you know what's good for you." Harry said sharply.

After giving the red-head nuisance a glare he was out of the Hall with hasty long strides.

It was only a few days back he was thinking Ron might not be much of a moron. Harry was already regretting making that assumption.

XXXXXX

Standing before the oak doors to Professor Babbling's quarters he knocked twice and waited patiently. Before today, Harry had no contact with the illustrious professor of Ancient Runes. The same could be said of Septima Vector who for all intents and purposes looked like a model more so than a professor.

McGonagall looked like a professor, not Septima Vector.

The Arithmancy professor was far younger than any of Hogwarts professors he had ever encountered. From his minor enquiries, he learned Professor Vector was two years senior of Bill Weasley which put her in the age bracket of 20-25. He also had it on good authority that Professor Vector was a Gryffindor. While the Professor has a reputation for being overly strict he did not find that to be true in his admittedly few interactions. She also happened to be a half-blood.

Bathsheda Babbling, on the other hand, was a complete mystery. The only things he knew about her are she is a Pureblood and she teaches Ancient Runes. Other than that Professor Babbling remained a mystery which sort of surprised him. Either she has the most unimpressive personality or she has somehow mastered anonymity.

"Come in."

A soft voice carried over to his ears from the room.

Harry pushed open the door and he stepped in only to feel a slight shock pass through his body.

"That's interesting." observed Professor Babbling who was sitting behind her desk peering at him from behind her thick googles. She was wearing a black sleeveless jacket over a green sweater. Her blonde hair was neatly pulled back and a green hat on her head.

"Pardon?" he shook away the feeling and looked curiously at the Professor.

"You stepped over a mild detection ward and your reaction intrigues me. Not many have the affinity to sense subtle magic weaved around using runes. It is a rare talent."

"Oh." Harry looked at the door where he could make out a few runic scripts. "If you say so, Professor."

"Take a seat, Mr Potter. I suppose you want to get a straight answer whether or not you will be allowed to take my classes instead of Muggle Studies."

"That would be appreciated, Professor." Harry said, taking the offered seat with a nod of appreciation.

"In that case, I don't think it is functional to have a student join my classes after an entire year has passed. Runes are complex as they are an entirely different language. You need to learn the basics to even hope to comprehend what I am teaching this year. The OWLs will be phenomenally harder." said Professor Babbling.

"But…" he was interrupted by a raised hand from the Professor.

"That doesn't mean it is impossible for you to catch up. Nothing is impossible Mr Potter so long as we give our best effort. Now, I don't know much about your character to judge whether you can pursue my subject with utter dedication and hard work. So, I'll assign you a tutor who'll aid you in studying the subject at his/her leisure. If you impress your tutor enough with your work I'll give you a separate test this year that'll enable you to sit for the OWLs. Is this acceptable?"

Harry took a minute to go over the offer.

"I agree Professor. In the meantime, am I allowed to attend your classes in the following days?"

"Of course. Now, keep in mind you won't be exempted from the end of the year's exam if you agree. Obviously, you won't be taking the same test but you will have to attend one which I will conduct. I will give you the curriculum that you will need to follow and I will give you all the material you need but you will have to perform well if you hope to sit in my OWLs class. Is this clear?"

"Of course Professor. Hermione Granger already agreed to help me if you agreed. So…"

"That won't do." said Professor Babbling, shaking her head. "I understand Miss Granger is a close friend of yours. Her smarts aside, I don't think she will objectively judge your efforts, Mr Potter. I will select a student and you will get informed who that is Mr Potter."

He could hardly refuse the Professor so he just nodded in agreement. Cutting the conversation short he exchanged a few more words with the Professor before he was on his way to the Arithmancy class of the day. As far as strictness goes, Septima Vector looked far more agreeable than Bathsheda Babbling.

He was very fortunate to have picked Arithmancy as the subject was far easier to follow and study than Divination by his standards. All that had to be truly remembered were just some key properties of numbers and the letter that is assigned to each number. Now the only caveat was that the letters used were Latin script and sometimes even runic symbols. A Latin dictionary would do the trick and Latin was not that different from English truth be told. The few letters that the language can't cover were covered by some basic runes.

All in all, a wonderful subject to learn instead of slowly killing his brain cells in Divination class. The class was not even covering some advanced stuff like spell creation. The subject only dealt with the numbers behind the creation of some famous spells. Maybe spell creation will come up next year or at NEWTs level.

And as luck would have it he only had one hour of class that afternoon. Which left him free to deal with some personal matters. Saying a hasty goodbye to Hermione who was intent on going to the library he went in the direction of Moody's class. By a stroke of luck, the second years also had only one hour of Moody's class.

So, when he knocked on Moody's door he was immediately welcomed in.

"Sit down Potter. Now, what do you want?"

Harry was got a bit distracted by the spinning fake eye on Moody's face but he ploughed on.

"Sir, I was just wondering is there a spell that can translate sound to legitimate understandable words?"

Moody smirked. "Why ask me, laddie? It looks like you are looking for a translation charm and last I checked Professor Flitwick is far more experienced than me in Charms."

Here Harry hoped his acting skills were good enough to cover proper embarrassment.

"But, Professor Flitwick can't help me if it is related to the Tournament. And last time you did offer me advice…" Harry trailed off hoping he looked authentic before the fraud.

"Ha! While you have the brains to look for a translation charm I suggest you take a dip in water Mr Potter. What the air can't discern might unveil to you in a different medium." suggested Moody.

Harry stared dumbly at Moody for a few seconds before he acted as if a veil was parting before his eyes. "Of course! That makes so much sense professor. Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet laddie." growled Moody, as he quickly began to scribble down something on a piece of parchment before handing it over to Harry. "You showed an impressive piece of magic in the First Task. But, the other Champions will now take you seriously. I suggest you look up these books in the Restricted Section. I will write you a permission slip for Madam Pince."

Now, that was a pleasant surprise. Harry read the parchment. Moody had written him a list of books. Some of them were books on creatures, some advanced charms and curses. There was one Herbology book as well with a page number and everything. Clearly, Moody's desperation for setting up the final stage for Voldemort's resurrection was showing through.

Shaking those thoughts away he now had the perfect reason to use the Egg under a water body. This would ease Moody's focus on him, at the same time, it'd seem like Moody has him fooled. That's the way he preferred and Moody would remain his favourite DADA Professor whom he looked up to until the completion of the Final Task. That's the image Harry will project and that's what Barty Crouch Jr will find if he is looking.

 

Chapter 18: The Egg P2

The golden egg in Harry's hand gleamed under the open sky. The whole area around the Black Lake was filled with sleet and he held no notion the water was warm for jumping in. It was downright suicidal to jump into any body of water at this time.

But, the advantage of having control over magic is that no more such silly troubles. An average wizard with a minimum repertoire of spells is near god-like to muggles. A few variants of warming charms and repelling charms ensured his body remains warm under the cold depths of the Black Lake.

He unzipped his jacket and wiggled out of it. He also took away his grey sweater as well.

"Uhh… Harry, is this a good idea?" Neville asked awkwardly looking at the large lake sprawled out before them with a hint of fear.

"The message in the Egg cannot be discerned when exposed to air. It needs water as a medium." he explained, stepping out of the pair of Nikes.

"I understand." Neville nodded before eyeing the lake anxiously rubbing his hands. "Don't you think you could have done that in the castle?"

'That'd have been preferable instead I have to do this to ensure a Death Eater prick remains assured of his false victory.' thought Harry. He was sure Moody was watching him from somewhere right now.

"I think the Black Lake is the location for the Second Task." Harry said instead of the truth.

Neville blinked in surprise and stared at the lake with apprehension.

"They'd do that! There is the s..s…squid." Neville stuttered fearfully.

"Oh, come on Neville. The Giant Squid has always been friendly with Hogwarts students." Harry patted Neville on the shoulder as he dived into the lake with the golden egg under his arm.

Harry's head floated out of the lake smiling at Neville. "See. I'm perfectly fine. How about I take a swim to the other end?"

"Can you please don't do that Harry? If something happens to you I won't be able to do anything." Neville stuttered out in fear as he worriedly looked around the lake as if the Squid was about to attack.

"You are in luck then. Nothing is going to happen to me." said Harry, winking at a distraught Neville.

Harry drew a full circle around his head with his wand.

"Bullitus Operculum."

A full air bubble covered his head at which point he submerged underneath the water. The Black Lake as the name suggested looked dark and foggy when he looked outside the cover of his glasses. Looking through the Horus glasses he could see far and deep except for the portions of the lake that were covered with dense seaweed.

Securing his wand on the holster he pried open the egg with his free hand. He beat his legs a bit to keep himself submerged under the water. The melodic voice of the mermen filled his ears.

"Come seek us where our voices sound,

We cannot sing above the ground,

And while you're searching, ponder this:

We've taken what you'll sorely miss,

An hour long you'll have to look,

And to recover what we took,

But past an hour – the prospect's black

Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."

Letting out a sigh of relief that the message remained the same, Harry closed the egg when it started to repeat the song once more. He swam back towards the edge of the lake and handed over the egg to a visibly relieved Neville.

Harry climbed over the edge and began applying drying charms all over his body.

"Thank Merlin you're back Harry. For a moment, I thought you drowned."

"You've to learn to fear less Neville. If you fear every time, how will you enjoy the finer aspects of life?"

"I don't know Harry. Swimming in the Black Lake seems pretty fearful to me." said Neville.

Harry shook his head before slipping into his clothes. He cast the thinking charm on the egg before pocketing it.

"One of these days I'll break you out of your needless fears." said Harry, to which Neville merely shrugged helplessly.

On their way back to the castle, Harry saw a few Muggleborns playing football in a corner.

"Hey, Harry, Neville. You two want to play?" Dean Thomas shouted out.

Harry was a bit surprised by the offer. Of course, the memories he had told him that the original Harry had refused the offer when Dean Thomas had first pitched the idea.

"Sure!" he shouted back thinking this was probably one of the best days.

He was kind of a football fan and he was actually itching to play a game. Plus, it was a fun way to exercise and stay in shape.

"Want to join Neville? Trust me, this is the first step to purge fear out of your body and mind." said Harry turning to his chubby friend.

"Mmm…I'm not so sure. Maybe, I'll just go…"

Neville never got to finish that thought as Harry just dragged Neville over to the game.

"We are playing." shouted Harry as he dragged Neville over to the makeshift football field the boys had constructed.

A few minutes into the game, he was glad to say he was having quite a bit of fun while Neville looked like he was about to drop dead any minute. The field was filled with muggleborns and a few half-bloods from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. It was another venue for socializing. All in all, a productive day.

Harry and Dean had to almost carry Neville back to the Gryffindor Tower.

"Oh, come now Neville. Don't tell me you didn't enjoy that game." said Dean shaking a very tired Neville as they stepped into the common room with the Fat Lady's portrait closing behind their backs.

"I haven't run this much in my entire life." Neville gasped out.

"Don't be a baby." Harry admonished as he helped Neville into a nearby couch.

"What happened to Neville?" asked Hermione barging in with a worried look on her face.

"We just played a bit of football Hermione. Neville's just tired that's all." said Dean.

"He'll be back on his feet in a jiffy." said Harry patting Neville on his shoulder.

After taking a shower he joined the others in the Great Hall for dinner. After that, he was back to the dorms where he spent most of the night reading the notes left by Tom Riddle in the Chamber. There were quite a few interesting curses and wards the budding dark lord was researching. Even so, the rituals interested him far more.

Harry had only scratched the surface and even then, he could see why Voldemort was so powerful the first time around. To enhance wandless magic Tom Riddle had constructed a ritual using the Basilisk scales the Serpent King had shed in the Chamber. There were even some dark rituals that enhanced the bodily prowess of Voldemort using the Basilisk poison and Unicorn blood.

While those were quite interesting there was another ritual that caught his eyes. A ritual that granted unsustained flight for a wizard.

'Now, that's one badass ability to possess.' He thought.

His attention jumped from the notes to Ron who noisily marched into the dorm.

When Ron took note of his presence he just let out a huff and jumped into the bed keeping his face away from Harry.

Harry shrugged and went back to reading. Ever since he made it clear that he was dropping Muggle Studies and Divination Ron had been rather cross with him. The date with Daphne also might be rubbing the red-head the wrong way.

Frankly speaking, he cared not for Ron's opinions. If anything, he preferred where they stood at the present. He often felt like he had a jealous girlfriend with Ron hanging around.

Other boys started to stream in after whatever they were doing in the Common Room.

"You okay Neville?"

"I'm fine Harry. Although, I think I might sleep through the next day." said Neville tiredly, plopping into the bed with a thud.

"Don't worry mate. We'll make sure you get up tomorrow." said Dean

Harry eyed the muggleborn boy curiously. "Hey, Dean. Exactly which days you're playing the game?"

"Planning to join us from now on eh?" Dean asked with his eyes shining with excitement.

"Yeah sure. I was thinking it might be a good idea. I could use some practice. Used to play at my old school but nowadays I'm out of practice."

"Hey, you weren't that bad. We play every Saturday and Sunday from three in the evening." said Dean.

"Huh! Sign me up from now on."

"Sure, Harry." said Dean

Harry nodded and secured the notes back in his trunk which he magically locked and warded. With Voldemort's handwritten notes on dark rituals and some other shady magic in his possession, he didn't feel it safe to let his trunk remain unguarded. So the first thing he did was to learn a suitable ward that could provide a modicum of protection from Sirius.

Ensuring everything was in order, he turned himself in for the night. Closing his eyes he toiled to keep out all his thoughts and emotions as required by a budding Occlumence. Keeping his mind a blank slate he slowly slipped into the state of deep sleep.

XXXXXXX

"Stella Munitione."

Harry looked over to the blackboard where a complicated Anglo-Saxon runic script was drawn in a star formation. A portion of the board suddenly become clear to his eyes and it was filled with explanations for each rune being used.

Runes tend to take a different meaning from time to time. Sometimes a rune can mean nothing and is merely used for numerical significance. Sometimes a rune could be used to heighten a certain position which could be synonymous with the position of a planet or the sun.

"The Sun rune, as you can see, is positioned at the very centre of the star. The six tips on the other hand has runes signifying six planets of our system. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Neptune." said Professor Babbling as she pointed out the specific runes representing these planets.

Interestingly enough, the planets are always represented by Egyptian Hieroglyphs. Harry theorized the runic scripts for planets in other languages are far longer. The Egyptian Hieroglyphs have one specific symbol for each planet.

The goal of a wizard who uses runes is always to shorten the script as much as possible. As the volume of the script increases the margin of error also increases. Egyptian Hieroglyphs are the key to shorten any runic scripts and that brings chances of any errors down as well.

"The Stella Munitione is a runic ward used commonly to strengthen buildings from outside attacks. Not just building, they can be used to protect any physical object provided they are placed on the earth."

Hermione had her hand raised the moment Professor Babbling paused her lecture.

"Yes, Miss Granger."

"Why is it that this specific set of runes does not work in the absence of earth professor?" asked Hermione

"Because of the significance of the six planets. The rune draws its power from the earth through the Earth rune. Anything not grounded in Earth is under the jurisdiction of either Jupiter or Neptune. Say that you want an object to be guarded but the object is above a body of water. The ship of Durmstrang school, for example, needs the Neptune rune in place of Earth."

Harry remained a passive participant as he had a long way to go in learning all the runes and understand their uses. He even needed to learn to draw many of them but for the most part, he found the class very interesting. Professor Babbling continued the lecture by describing the different effects when certain portions of the script were to be swapped.

When the bell rang towards the end of the class Harry had not even felt the time pass.

"Mr Potter." Professor Babbling called out to him before he took his leave.

"Professor?"

Professor Babbling handed him a stack of parchment. "These are all the notes that you will find useful."

"Thank you, Professor." Harry accepted the stack of parchment with a nod.

"Right. And as for your tutor meet Miss Davis." Professor Babbling pointed at the thin Slytherin who flashed him a grin from his back.

Harry had some choice words in his mind for choosing a Slytherin. He didn't believe Professor Babbling was blind to the drama going on in Hogwarts but he kept his mouth shut and nodded along.

"I see. I'll be on my way then."

"Off you go, Potter."

Harry turned away from the Ancient Runes Professor and marched out of the classroom.

Outside the classroom Tracey Davis was waiting for him and so was Hermione and Daphne.

"I suppose you are my tutor." said Harry frowning at a beaming Tracey.

"It's funny, isn't it? Who'd have thought Professor Babbling has a sense of humour? Appointing a Slytherin to teach a Gryffindor!" Tracey said, chuckling.

"Very amusing. So, when can we start tutor Davis?" Harry asked.

"Tutor Davis? Just call me Tracey."

"Then you may call me Harry."

Tracey gave him a quick grin before turning to Daphne. " There see…He's not bad."

Now, that won't do. He can't allow the two to think they could be so easily dismissive of him.

"Oh, don't be so sure. I can be very bad when I want to be."

Harry was sure the two Slytherins were reminded of his swift harmless retribution for wearing those silly badges. It was also a subtle message to not screw up his chances to study Ancient Runes.

"Message received." said Tracey, rolling her eyes. "Now, before we can talk about the schedule there is something Daphne has to discuss with you…privately."

The last part was said with Tracey staring pointedly at Hermione.

And that's how Harry found himself in the Astronomy Tower with Daphne Greengrass.

"Alright. Now that we are alone, go ahead."

Harry looked on intently as Daphne fished out an envelope from a pouch under the cover of her cloak.

"A message from my father." said Daphne, handing over the envelope.

After scanning the envelope with a few detection charms he secured it inside his backpack.

"You are paranoid." noted Daphne.

"I prefer the word cautious." said Harry.

He could see Daphne's blue eyes flash with an unknown emotion. It passed away in a blink and she was back to her usual self.

"There is one more issue." said Daphne and this time he picked up the rosy tint on her cheeks. "We need to discuss the colour of our dress robes."

For Harry, this was a major let down and he stared incredulously at Daphne for a moment. It was then he remembered he was dealing with a fourteen-year-old girl. Sometimes, he'd often forget he was surrounded by a bunch of teenagers. Of course, Daphne was going to be interested in dresses rather than some grand secret scheme.

As he feared, a better part of his free time was spent listening to colour schemes suggested by Daphne whole he found has a fetish for all things blue. It was an interesting observation he made seeing as the rest of the talk went over his head.

Chapter 19: The Yule Ball P1

Red hot flames nearly managed to swallow him whole but Harry put up a hasty protego that shielded him from getting burning to a crisp. Rather than staying idle, he felt the need to move and he was proven right when his shield broke with the sound of shattering glass. He tried to put some distance but he was immediately forced to use a blasting curse on a transfigured bird that tried to peck him on his head.

The very next moment he felt his wand jump out of his hands courtesy of the disarming spell.

"Ha! You lost again." said Sirius holding Harry at wand point.

"You seem like you won a duelling championship while all you did was beat a fourteen-year-old wizard in a duel." Harry said blandly while taking his wand back from Sirius.

"No. I won against the Hogwarts Champion who single-handedly wiped the floor with a dragon. Not to mention this fourteen-year-old wizard beat Voldemort when he was a baby." said Sirius, oozing mischief in his words.

"Fair point. Someday I'm going to wipe the floor with you."

"I'm eagerly waiting for that day Prongslet."

"Prongslet?" Harry asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"You know…since you are the son of Prongs." said Sirius.

"Huh. I guess that makes sense." Harry shrugged, not minding the nickname. "So, what did I do wrong in the duel?"

Sirius sat down followed by Harry on one of the couches as Winky popped in with two glasses of orange juice. Thanking Winky, he took a few gulps of the juice from his glass.

"In a magical duel, flame charms are the most useless piece of magic except if the spell is darker in nature. The reason being, flame repelling charms can allow a wizard to withstand normal magical fires. So usually, flames are used as a distraction in duels." explained Sirius.

"Well, I certainly didn't use flame repelling charms on myself." Harry muttered.

"Ensure that you do so before engaging another wizard in a duel. Although, more experienced wizards have another way of dealing with fire."

"How?" Harry asked, leaning forward curiously.

"You could either dispel the flames or you could turn the flames on the castor which is far more complex." said Sirius, who drained his glass of the orange juice which once again filled up courtesy of Winky.

"How does that happen?"

"There are simple spells for dispelling flames. As for taking control of the flames, you must learn to exert your will on the element."

"Exert my will? What do you mean?" asked Harry, interested by the prospect.

"Elemental spells are all about magical power and will. The one who can exert more will through their magical power will win the battle of elements."

Harry looked thoughtful at Sirius' explanation. In a strange way, it sort of made sense.

"Are you saying that if someone throws a bolt of lightning at me I can just overpower the will of the castor?" Harry asked frowning at Sirius.

"Trust me, Harry. You won't don't want to be at the receiving end of a wizard's wand who can spout lightning bolts. Of all the elements, lightning remains the most difficult element to properly defend from simply because they pack too much power and they are very quick."

Harry mulled that over in his head a little bit. He could see why Sirius thought lightning was the most difficult spell to counter. From his admittedly small research, lightning spells were most difficult to master. But, he didn't think lightning spells were powerful enough to be undefendable like the Unforgivable curses.

"What about using a shield based on a vacuum?" asked Harry.

"Huh! What do you mean?" Sirius blinked in confusion.

"Lightning can only pass if there is a medium to form a potential difference. In vacuum there is no potential difference so there won't be a flow of electrons which means no lightning." said Harry.

"Right… I haven't got the foggiest clue what you just said. But, you sound like your mother."

Harry sighed. This was a waste of time anyway. There was no point in actually concentrating on duelling and fancy spells when all he had to look forward to in a few weeks was to rescue someone from the bottom of the Black Lake.

"Setting that aside, I received a letter from Damien Greengrass." said Harry.

"You did?" Sirius looked up in surprise, still drinking from the juice glass. "What did he say?"

"He wants to meet preferably on the next Hogsmeade weekend." said Harry, leaning back into the couch.

"Hmm… I know almost nothing of what Damien was up to in the last war. The man had most likely slipped out of the country." Sirius let out a bark of laughter before a pint of remorse entering Sirius' eyes. "He probably saved his family by doing that. James and Lily should have done the same."

"They fought for what they believed in Sirius." said Harry softly, understanding Sirius' position.

"No cause is worth the price James and Lily paid Harry. Looking back, I should have pressured them to leave the country once we knew your mother was pregnant. No doubt, it was one of my greatest failures. Some friend I am." muttered Sirius darkly.

Harry got the urge to defend that the cause of bringing down a bunch of fascists and terrorists was worth the price but thought better off it. It'd be foolish of him to be inconsiderate of Sirius' pain. Sitting before him was someone who abandoned his family to join the other side of the war knowing he was bound to fight his family. That sort of decision took guts and he was not going to demean the guy in his weakest moment.

Besides, who was he to reserve judgment on the worthiness of the cause when the cause never panned out in the first place. All that blood spilt, only for the Ministry and the supposed 'Light side' to welcome in cold-blooded murderers and rapists with open arms. The only losers in the war were those who lost their loved ones and their way of life. In that context, he agreed with Sirius. No cause was worth that amount of blood spilt when the cause they were fighting for was an illusion, to begin with.

It was almost fourteen years since the war came to a conclusion and what results did the Ministry had to show for it? To someone like Sirius who had spent more than a decade in Azkaban the whole validity of the 'cause' might not mean anything. It was then Harry found some renewed respect for Sirius who still bothered to continue with his life.

If it was him, he'd have most likely escaped the country and never looked back. The fact that Sirius even bothered to stick around made Sirius a better man.

"You know what? There was no Dark or Light side in the last war. There was the side led by terrorists and there was the side led by apathetic hypocrites." said Harry, resolve filling his eyes. "This time, we will crush them both and burn out the forest for new growth."

"Harry, I'd rather you don't involve yourself with all this."

"That's where you are wrong, Sirius. I can't run from it. One side will seek my death while the other will try to use me as a pawn. The only option is to destroy them both and that's what I'm going to do."

XXXXXXXXXX

The excitement of the Yule Ball could be seen among the student populace depending on where you looked. The Third years, Second years and First years were probably devastated that they wouldn't get to participate in the Yule Ball. Although, Harry was sure quite a few were happy they would be home instead of asking a girl to the Ball.

There was a lot of teen angst going around in Hogwarts. If this Ball was some regular event like a Prom or something Harry reckoned there might not have been this much anxiety. Instead, everyone was hyper anxious about their dates, clothes, dance steps and whatnot. The Gryffindor Common Room sort of became a platform for gossips which was not saying much but Harry reckoned it was worse than ever. Everyone was interested in who turned down who, who's going with whom, how did someone handle a rejection etc.

In fact, even the teaching staff sort of gave up attempting to teach anything new. What with, everyone discussing the music band Weird Sisters and which music they were going to play. Or the ridiculous rumours like a 700 ft tall cheesecake that Dumbledore apparently ordered. Or the thousand barrels of mulled mead that was supposedly going to be served.

Harry even heard a rumour that claimed the dragons used in the tasks were rendered for their flesh and fried dragon hearts were to be served for the Champions. There were even rumours that Hagrid's Blast Ended Skrewts were on the menu. Hagrid was not particularly delighted by that piece of news but he had seen many hopeful and even eager looks amongst many students when that bit of rumour took traction.

The good part about teachers not being strict with their portions, Harry had less homework to worry about. This meant he could use his time to cover portions of Arithmancy and Ancient Runes.

Of course, credit had to be given to Tracey who so far had shown up almost consistently to tutor him. Sometimes, even Daphne also joined in their study session. Hermione, it'd seem, was the one who was most excited about the study group. She seems intent to make friends with Daphne and Tracey. In so far, Hermione was slowly succeeding.

In a way, Harry could understand why Hermione was very eager to make friends with the two Slytherins. There were very few in Hogwarts among the female spectrum that Hermione liked. She tolerated Parvati and Lavender cause they were her roommates. The Ravenclaws were more her speed but for some reason, she didn't get along that well with the 'claws.

So, finding two Slytherin girls who are academically inclined as she is must be a ray of hope for Hermione. Not to mention, both Tracey and Daphne seemed hardly bothered by Hermione's ability to go on a tangent when it comes to random bits and pieces she read in some book.

"Alright. Enough about Anglo-Saxon runes. I think I'm going to be bored to tears if we continue anymore." said Tracey, closing her Ancient Runes textbook with a snap.

"I suppose." Harry shrugged, closing his books and packing all the parchment into his bag.

"I forgot to ask. Who are you going with to the Ball?" asked Harry curiously.

"Michael Corner." answered Tracey, who proceeded to slap her forehead. "I almost forgot. I was supposed to meet him near the Great Hall."

Tracey picked up her pace with Harry lagging behind his Slytherin friend. On his back, Hermione and Daphne were quietly whispering. He tried to pick up on their conversation but it was sort of difficult as the two were very secretive in their exchange.

When they finally reached the Great Hall's entrance there was a small crowd gathered. The entrance was packed with boys from Durmstrang and Hogwarts. Harry took note that many of them were pushing and pulling amongst themselves. Apparently, there was something very interesting going on here at the entrance to the Great Hall.

Tracey managed to shove away the boys and Harry helped her as she was in a rush. It was only when the two of them managed to wade through the crowd did they find the cause of this rush.

Harry was greeted by the sight of a swooning Ron who was on his knees before Fleur Delecour. Harry gaped at the ridiculous pose Ron was making with his left hand on his heart and the right hand extended towards Fleur as if asking for her hand.

"Will you please go to the Ball with me?"

There was nothing wrong with the question itself except for the fact that Ron was sporting a stupid smile on his face as if he was on Ecstasy.

There was pin-drop silence as everyone looked from Ron to the French Champion who looked like she was just asked to the Ball by a slug.

In the end, Fleur didn't have to respond as Ron suddenly came to his senses. For a moment, the red-head Weasley looked around at the gathered crowd. Harry could see the growing horror on Ron's face. Ron turned tail and ran with gales of laughter following after him.

"Well, that was entertaining." said Tracey, with suppressed laughter.

"That was horrible. She used her charm." said Hermione, with disapproval rolling off her in waves.

"I don't think it was intentional." said Daphne, nodding at Cedric Diggory who now chose to part ways from the French Champion.

After that fiasco, Harry and Hermione separated ways from the two Slytherins.

The two of them found Ron in the Gryffindor common room looking completely flustered.

"Harry, don't tease him." warned Hermione.

"Hey, why'd you think I am about to do that?" asked Harry, offended.

"Because Ron has not been kind to you but I don't want you to stoop to his level."

Harry raised his hand disarmingly. "Alright. I will be silent as a grave."

Somehow, Ron took that moment to look in their direction and that made Ron rush towards them.

"Hermione," said Ron as he rushed up to Hermione, looking rather mortified.

"Ron, are you okay?" asked Hermione, after giving Harry a silent stare.

"I asked Fleur Delacour to the ball," said Ron as his eyes widened, looking like a fish out of water. "What was I thinking?"

Harry had the urge to say 'Really? You can think?'.

But, as promised he kept his mouth firmly shut and slowly moved himself to a corner where the twins were marketing their fake wands to a firstie.

"Hey, Harry. Want to buy one of our fake wands?" asked George.

"No. But, I heard you guys made Flaming Fart candies. You have those for sale?" asked Harry.

"Ha! Now we are talkin' Harry." said Fred, who smiled gleefully. "Looks like someone just pissed you off. Is it Ronnikins?"

"Not Ron, although that's tempting. But no. I was rather thinking I should send a Christmas present to my relatives."

"Oooh!" Fred and George giggled with a matching wicked grin.

"Tell you what Harry. I think I like that idea. So, how many do you want?" asked George.

"I know you guys are serious about that joke shop of yours. I'll pay you double for all the Flaming Fart candies you have."

"You don't have to do that." Fred protested.

Before they could do anything else Ron and Hermione's arguing cut across their conversation.

"You know Hermione, you are a girl."

"Really, what gave you that clue?" asked Hermione, in a sour voice, as she looked at Ron with her arms crossed.

"Well, I do still need a date for the Yule Ball and I was wondering if you want to come with me," said Ron slowly. "It's not like you have a date…"

"For your information, Ronald, I do in fact have a date," hissed Hermione, looking a bit angry now.

"Oh, come on Hermione. You don't have to lie. Do you want to go to the Ball with me?" asked Ron.

"Don't take this the wrong way but I can't believe he is your brother and he just said that to Hermione's face." Harry whispered to the Twins.

"Oh, he is our brother Harry." said Fred.

"Maybe mum's hand slipped when Ronnikins was a baby but he's our brother." supplied George.

Hermione, it'd seem, finally reached her limit in patience and promptly punched Ron in his face.

"Owww!" Ron yelped stumbling back. "You…you do have a date!"

"Yes, Ron. Just because it has taken you three years to notice that I am in fact a girl does not mean that everyone else is blind." said Hermione, before adding under breath. "Or stupid for that matter."

Hermione walked off, leaving Ron standing in the middle of the common room looking like an idiot.

Harry shrugged before turning to the twins. "So, what about those Flame Farting candies we were talking about?"

XXXXXXXX

The next morning Harry didn't go for his usual routine of training. He was instead present in the common room sitting down on a chair nearby the fireplace. Not that he was looking to get warm as a simple warming charm would do the trick.

No. Rather, he was just thinking of the meeting that was scheduled today. There were many thoughts flying through his mind. The conversation with Sirius also stayed with him and whenever he closed his eyes he could only see Sirius' half-dead grey eyes.

The fact that the head of DMLE was directly intervening and was about to interrogate him despite all tangible evidence pointed to the fact that Sirius was never given a trial didn't sit well with him. What bothered him most was that Madam Bones had her brother and sister in law murdered by Death Eaters and yet she is content to turn a blind eye to these Death Eaters running free.

Harry could understand the woman has her hands tied when she inherited the position as by then many Death Eaters were cleared of all charges by the Ministry. Yet, he could not fathom why Amelia Bones has not pushed to investigate the attack on the Quidditch World Cup.

He remained silent and disenchanted with the rest of the conversation as he was mulling over these thoughts about Sirius, the First Wizarding War and the Ministry. Ron had once again started bitching and moaning but thankfully the red-head nuisance was bothering Hermione. Apparently, Ron was now obsessed with finding who was Hermione going out with and Hermione seems to contend to keep Ron in the dark.

The day continued despite Ron's innumerable failed attempts in diving the identity of Hermione's date. It was in the last minutes of the first hour of his History class Dumbledore called for his presence.

"Cockroach cluster."

The gargoyle stepped aside permitting Harry to climb the spiralling stairs towards Dumbledore's office. The doors of the office remained open. Inside, he could see a tall black-haired witch wearing silky black robes sitting opposite Dumbledore.

"Ah, Harry. Please do come in."

"Mr Potter. We meet at last, face to face. I'm Andromeda Tonks."

Harry shook the witch's hands. "Glad to meet you, Mrs Tonks."

"Now, Harry. We don't have much time but I hope you remember my advice. I strongly recommend you stay silent in this conversation. Let me answer Madam Bones. She won't be able to force you to answer as you are an underage wizard."

Harry merely nodded, showing that he understood.

"Harry, it is imperative that you keep your silence. As I'm standing in as your guardian in the absence of your family I shall discourage Madam Bones from taking too many liberties." said Dumbledore.

Both Dumbledore and Mrs Tonks continued to give him counsel stressing the need for him to shut up until finally, the floo flared up with green flames. And from those flames, a stern-looking witch stepped out followed by two others.

"Dumbledore, Mrs Tonks." The redhead woman greeted sharply before her sharp eyes traced his face before resting on his scar.

"Mr Potter." The witch nodded sharply before turning her attention to Dumbledore and Andromeda Tonks.

Harry took the time to take a look at the two companions of Amelia Bones. Clearly, they were Aurors. From the adult's conversation, he put the names on each of their faces. The Auror wearing a blue cloche hat was Kingsley Shacklebolt. Shacklebolt looked more like an Auror as the guy was always on the lookout. The other Auror who sported blond hair and frankly looked like a ponce was John Dawlish.

Once the introductions were over Harry was sitting opposite to Amelia Bones who scrutinized him with her sharp brown eyes. Harry, meanwhile, employed all that he learned in his Occlumency studies to remain as a brick wall in the emotional spectrum.

"Mr Potter, let's begin. We have reason to believe you are harbouring or perhaps unwittingly aiding a dangerous fugitive."

The opening itself made Harry predisposed to dislike Amelia Bones. But, he didn't so much as twitch. He stayed silent and let his attorney handle the law enforcement officers.

"Madam Bones, please specify your questioning. Who is this dangerous fugitive?"

"I'm of course talking about Sirius Black." said Madam Bones.

"By what definition are you claiming Sirius Black is a fugitive?"

"By the definition the Ministry of Magic has given Mr Black. Me Black is on the run from the law so he remains a fugitive." replied Madam Bones.

"I'm afraid your question is not legally sound Madam Bones. What crime has Mr Black committed?"

"His crime is breaking into Hogwarts illegally. I believe he tried to enter Gryffindor common room. If you are going to deny that please remember I do have my niece in Mr Potter's year."

Harry glanced at both Dumbledore and Andromeda Tonks as they were a bit flat-footed with the way the interrogation had gone. Indeed, Harry could see the angle by which Madam Bones was playing. She was not looking for Sirius for a crime that he was wrongfully accused of but rather for a crime, he did commit.

Those carefully constructed Occlumency shields in his mind were not enough to contain the sheer outrage he was feeling at the moment. Just how low can these politicians go for a momentary gain. Their callousness and arrogance to disregard what Sirius had suffered all to get an upper hand in the political arena.

Harry then realized Madam Bones while pressured to be present today by the Ministry has her own agenda. He suspected she hopes to score some political scoop by capturing Sirius Black well ahead of the scheduled trial. If such a thing happened he suspected Madam Bones would get a boost in popularity. Or maybe, the Ministry would look good by doing so. Or it could be that the DMLE hoped to strike a deal with Sirius and force him to not pursue legal action against the DMLE for his unjust imprisonment.

"Is that right Madam Bones? I suppose, your niece is willing to verify the validity of your accusation against Sirius Black." Andromeda Tonks prodded.

"She doesn't have to as Hogwarts staff's actions on that night is cause enough."

"I'm afraid Amelia you are terribly wrong. I assumed Sirius Black was responsible that day as I was also under the misconception of Sirius' past. Obviously, I was wrong. Most likely it was Peter Pettigrew who tried to make a forced entry into the Gryffindor tower." said Dumbledore, looking over his half-moon spectacles at Madam Bones.

"Truly Dumbledore… you expect me to believe…."

Harry got tired of this pathetic show put forth by Amelia Bones. He should not have been that much surprised. Those in power will always try to cover their asses. Sirius' case was only going blow open a hole in the Ministry and he had no doubt the DMLE was going to take the lion's share of the blame.

"Madam Bones, what is it that you hope to achieve today? You seem intent to pin blame on Sirius Black for everything that happened under the sun?" Harry asked, breaking his silence.

"Mr Potter! Mind your words."

"No. I don't think I will. If you are here to make a case to have Sirius come to a deal so that the gross incompetence of the DMLE will not blowback against you, then you have wasted a handful of floo powder." said Harry, standing up from his seat. "I will see to it that the DMLE will pay reparations even if it bankrupt's the entire ministry of magic. Before today, I'd have been amendable to a backroom deal but this conversation has shown just why murderers like Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Avery and Nott are walking free while my Godfather languished in Azkaban for thirteen years without a trial. "

"I wish you all the best in the days to come Amelia Bones. You will need it."

With that last parting shot Harry made his way outside of the office.

"Mr Potter, I'm not done with my questions."

"Then ask away. My attorney will answer all your queries. I've better things to do with my valuable time rather than spending it on a useless politician."

After saying that, Harry closed the door behind him and took off to his History class. On the way, he found a broom closet which he immediately took refuge in. Once he was sure he was all alone he let go of the Occlumency shields which crumbled under the wave of anger he had struggled to hold back. The entire broom closet rumbled and was promptly blown back from his violent magical energy surge.

Taking several deep breaths Harry tried to calm down. Once he was sure he purged the surging anger in his system he stepped out of the ruined broom closet. Giving one last look to the sorry shape of the broom closet he took his leave. He was confident Andromeda Tonks can deal with Madam Bones on her own.

AN:

.

 

Chapter 20: The Yule Ball P2

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

---

The perks of being a minor are that there are very few laws that affect him directly. The most consequential law for a minor in the Wizarding world is the Misuse of Magic and that only affected the Muggleborns in most cases or other half-bloods who live in the muggle world like Harry.

Owing to this simple fact that most other laws can only apply to a minor in the most extreme of cases and are usually derived from the Misuse of Magic, Harry would remain scot-free. The simple fact of the matter is, he was a minor which means he remained under the protective custody of an adult. In Harry's case, it was Petunia Dursley.

Which means legally he remained under the protection of a muggle. So, the natural question would be how come a minor can give protection to Sirius Black, the notorious mass-murderer the Ministry has trotted up as the right-hand man of the Dark Lord?

It was this defence Andromeda Tonks used to slap away the DMLE.

It turns out that his abrupt exit from the meeting turned out to be a blessing than a curse. Andromeda Tonks framed his abrupt exit on Amelia Bones and her baseless accusations against his innocent godfather. After all, Harry remained an orphan and it was quite natural for a fourteen-year-old to behave as he did in Dumbledore's office. So, what happened was that Andromeda Tonks threatened to file a case against the DMLE for flinging baseless accusations against a minor and causing emotional trauma.

Of course, such a case may not stand in the court of law but it would certainly play a part in the court of public opinion. According to Mrs Tonks, it was one more stick to be used against the Ministry to speed up the trial date.

Of course, all of that meant he was seriously evaluating his stupid idea to get emancipated. He had not actually shared that idea with anyone so far. The idea has been floating around in his head but seeing that the laws are heavily rigged in favour of a minor he was seriously thinking of abandoning the emancipation idea. Besides, based on his understanding so far there was hardly much of a cause for him to get emancipated in the first place.

Harry could probably build a strong case against Petunia and Vernon but what would be the point. He could punish those two on his own and the Ministry may decide to transfer his guardianship to another wizarding family, which was not at all good. The only other legal avenue that was before him was the Tri-wizard tournament itself but that turned out to be a dead-end on his considerable research.

Turns out, there is no legally binding written contract involved in the Tri-wizard Tournament. The magical binding that forces the selected contestants to participate in the tournament is held by the Goblet of Fire. This binding cannot be taken as legal merit to advocate emancipation as the contract is not at all based on the perceived majority attained by the Champions. The only basic requirement to be selected by the Goblet of Fire is magic, not age.

The Ministry wouldn't recognize his participation in the tournament as grounds for emancipation as the Tournament or the Ministry never championed only wizards or witches of majority can participate. That little bit of additional condition came from Dumbledore rather than the ministry which was aimed at decreasing the chances of any fatal injuries among the Champions. So legally speaking, there was no standing document that would validate Harry's route to emancipation.

Besides, what was the point of getting emancipated anyway?

It is not as if Dumbledore or anyone else can force something upon him without his consent. Petunia could have done something like that but she does not have a shred of magic. Anything she does is invalid in the magical world. This means he was quasi-emancipated and he didn't see any reason to change that status.

With that bit of drama dealt with Harry could now relax a bit for the time being. This was the last day of class and sadly the day ended with double potions. Snape has been far mellowed out but the greasy bat would shoot him glares throughout the class. So long as the man stayed far away from his mind Harry was happy to avoid the guy. It is not as if he was actively seeking out a confrontation with Snape.

Either way, with the meeting happening ahead of the Yule Ball and the holidays he got some tension free days ahead. There was the backbreaking homework to look forward to and some special classes in Arithmancy. And he was sure Snape was only going to contribute to that workload today.

After three hours of breathing in potion fumes inside the dungeons, Harry left the lair of the greasy git with loads of homework. It was as if Snape was intent on squeezing out as much misery into their life to even out the excitement involved in the Yule Ball.

"That greasy git! He is purposefully burying us with homework." Ron cursed the moment they came out of the Potions class.

"Maybe, you can enjoy the holidays if you finish all the homework early." Hermione suggested noncommittally.

"You are mental." claimed Ron.

"Really Weasley?" said Malfoy, sauntering out from behind them. "You are calling that Mudblood mental when you are the worst mental case Hogwarts has ever seen. Who else but you could think you can ask out the French Champion?"

Malfoy and much of the Slytherins behind him proceeded to laugh away as Ron's ears turned red at the reminder.

Harry thought of intervening but then decided to continue his trek back to the common room. He'd be wasting valuable time by exchanging insults with Malfoy for little to no gain. So, he didn't wait for Ron's response and he was not alone as Neville quickly caught up to him.

"So did you ask Ginny?" he asked Neville.

"Uhh…Oh, yes. I did ask her after the lunch break and she said yes." said Neville.

"That's good." Harry patted Neville on the back, happy for his friend to have secured a date.

Neville had at first asked Hermione but since she was going with Krum she said no. Since then, Harry had prodded Neville to ask Lavender or Parvati but Neville was too shy and afraid of rejection. Finally, Neville seems to have found some courage to ask Ginny and that was only after Harry had dragged his friend to seek permission from the twins.

XXXXXXXX

Harry didn't get the feeling that he was necessarily in a holiday week so to speak. If anything, Professor Vector had taken a renewed vigour to cram as much information regarding Arithmancy down his throat. It was a good thing that he was ultimately giddy to learn all that his professor had to offer him if only so that he could make flashy spells in the future.

Other than his regular extra classes with Professor Vector, he was pretty much a free bird. With Dean and many other Muggleborns opting to stay behind they held regular football games throughout the week. Heavy snowing and bone-chilling cold could hardly keep them away from enjoying a good game of football. Besides, some of the seventh years had put up repelling wards that kept out the sleet from messing with their playing field.

Fred and George came through with their promise of delivering him a whole box of Flaming-Fart candies. For good measure, they even threw in a few Pig-Squeal Toffees, a new product courtesy of the wicked mind of the twins. He had Dobby plant the candies around the Dursley household which should be more than enough trouble for the Dursleys. He was sure Dudley would easily fall to the prank. But, he was not done yet. He had asked Dobby to sneak in the candies into their food as well to make sure all three would experience the worst Christmas they ever had.

And he was just getting started on punishing the Dursleys.

Harry sat near a window with quite a view of the castle grounds. There was nothing much to look at as everything was covered in snow. Even so, it was a wonderful view. As far as his eyes could see everything looked painted in white.

"Harry, it's time for dinner." Neville called out to him breaking him from his thoughts.

The whole castle had gone over a bit of interior remodelling to reflect the Christmas atmosphere. Well, more like the celebration should have been pagan in nature as Daphne had often told him whenever he met up with his date from time to time. She was more passionate about such things and he kind of get where she was coming from. Christmas had almost nothing to do with the Wizarding world as wizards celebrate Winter Solstice or Natalis Solis Invicti, the celebration of the unconquered sun.

From what Daphne had told him, the celebration is supposed to symbolise the surge of Light magic in the world or at least the western part of the world. The sun would begin to gain more influence in the west during this period and all healing magic would gain strength during this period. It is also the time for cleansing rituals to take place as the emergence of the sun is seen to strengthen the potency of rituals.

Instead, Hogwarts celebrated the Winter Solstice as Christmas. Almost everyone else he knew cared not for the old traditions. And thus, Hogwarts sported the usual Christmas trees with some fabulous charmwork done as always by Professor Flitwick to lighting up the tress. Many colourful lambs lit the hallways of the castle bathing the hallways in warm colourful lights. The house-elves in the kitchen outdone themselves by serving savoury puddings and deliciously spicy meats that flared the taste buds of anyone.

Frankly speaking, Dumbledore seems to have taken it upon himself to treat their guests with lavish feasts and colourful lights. Only the French Champion seemed to find faults as the rest were either staying silent or they were pretty much satisfied. The Durmstrang lot seem quite content so to speak. Although, it could be never ascertained what they were thinking as they always seem so serious most of the time.

On Christmas morning Harry woke up to see Dobby tip-toeing his way towards the pile of presents near his bed.

"Dobby. What're you doing?" Harry asked rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he slowly sat up in his four-poster bed.

"Dobby is sorry sir!" squeaked Dobby, his ears flopping downwards sadly. "Dobby never meant to wake you up sir! Dobby just wanted to give Harry Potter sir his present."

"Wait! You brought me a present?" he asked flummoxed.

"Of course, sir! Can Dobby give Harry Potter sir his present?"

"Of course you can." said Harry.

Dobby immediately handed him a small package wrapped in a green cover. Harry unwrapped his present and a pair of socks. The left one was red while the right remained green.

"Thanks, Dobby." Harry smiled at his elfish friend before he remembered he had to give a gift in return. "I have something for you as well and Winky. Winky."

With a customary pop, Winky teleported into the room. "Master Harry called?"

"Oh, yes. I have gifts for you both." said Harry as he opened his trunk fishing out two boxes of chocolate cashew nuts as well as two pairs of socks he had owl ordered from Hogsmeade. Originally they were supposed to be his but he could always order a new pair.

"Dobby loves socks and chocolate Harry Potter sir. Dobby is very thankful sir…very thankful indeed!"

"Master is too kind to Winky. And Winky never brought Master any presents. Bad Winky!"

The rest of his morning was spent consoling Winky who was distraught she never brought him a present. How could she when she refused to take wages from him? He literally had to force Winky to buy certain things for herself with the wages he assigned for her.

Harry spent the rest of the day in the tower rather than outside as he took the day off from any outside activity. It's just that with everyone being very excited he found some solace in staying in the castle. When the evening finally approached he saw Hermione return to the tower early and so did the rest of the girls. Only the boys stayed out far longer.

At seven o'clock, Harry was ready in his attire for the Ball. He chose the standard prom attire which was always functional in any formal setting. He had to sneak away from the castle to London for getting the whole set ready but with two House Elves in his employ anything was possible. Harry was dressed in trousers, a white shirt, a black bowtie, a black jacket, black tuxedo with some cufflinks and studs. Not to mention the brand new shiny pair of leather black shoes. He also took great care to resolve the mess that was his hair with a handful of hair gel.

"Harry…a bit of help here please." said Dean who was struggling with his bow tie.

Being a good Samaritan Harry took up the moment to aid his friend.

"Huh…you look good Harry. I thought you might go for dress robes." said Dean.

"I find the robes in the magical world far more flamboyant. This is more comfortable." said Harry, while folding the bow tie carefully to make the butterfly knot.

After finishing with Dean's bowtie Harry took his leave to the Great Hall. The large oak doors remained closed with many students waiting patiently outside. Harry managed to sneak through the crowd looking for Daphne. After wading through the crowd for some time he found her on a corner surrounded by a number of her Slytherin peers. There were even a few upperclassmen involved. From his point of view, it looked like there was a problem. So, he took precautions before he stepped into the lair of snakes.

XXXXXXXXX

"Greengrass, I hope you understand what you are doing. You will be attracting quite a lot of enemies by pulling this stunt."

Daphne fought the urge to roll her eyes. Truly, what was Montague going to do? Go cry to his mother she was going with Potter to the Yule Ball?

She lamented the falling standards of her house. Half of House Slytherin were filled with lackwits and bullies without a bone of cunning or ambition in them.

Well, there was ambition in some form, Daphne amended her thoughts.

It's just that the ambition many of her housemates harboured is to become an exact replica of their parents. And Montague was not the worst of the lot. No, the absolute worse was Malfoy who seems to have forgotten his humiliating defeat at the hands of Potter.

"I can't believe a Greengrass would even think of touching that Half-blood mongrel. I will be having words with my father about the failing standards of House Greengrass." Malfoy pompously said with a sneer.

"You do think very highly of yourself Draco. That's a dangerous path to tread, isn't it?" a silky voice smoothly intervened.

Daphne looked up to see the newcomer who turned out to be none other than Potter.

"Potter!?" Malfoy blanched, which was an interesting reaction in Daphne's opinion.

She could see a momentarily flash of fear, in Malfoy's eyes.

"Well…well…well… This is not fair, is it? Half the Slytherin Quidditch team rounding up on my date like this. Rather unsporting, isn't it?" said Harry, with a tilted head while keeping his hands in his pockets looking harmless. But, Daphne knew Potter was anything but harmless.

"Potter! Don't think you can intimidate me like the rest of these…" Montague never got to finish whatever he was going to say as a snake latched itself around the Slytherin Chaser's neck and began hissing threateningly.

Montague let out a shrill scream attracting the attention of a section of students who were Slytherins.

Daphne noticed only those among the Slytherin house and Durmstrang students were paying any attention to the ruckus caused by Montague. Most of her housemates had chosen to stay near the stairs to the dungeons. But, Montague's screams should have echoed through the hallway and yet a portion of the inhabitants of the Entrance Hall was clearly disengaged from what was happening.

" Squeeze his throat. $$"

Daphne heard hissing come out of Harry's mouth that made her blood chill. She was not the only one who gasped and watched helplessly as Montague struggled to breathe as the yellow scaled serpent tightened its grip around his neck.

"Potter!" Warrington snarled raising his wand only to fall to his knees beside Montague with a snake squeezing down his neck.

" Don't kill. "

Daphne looked wide-eyed at the scene before her. She could feel the ripples of magic against her skin and her hand twitched to get a grip on her wand. It was only because of her disciplined mind she fought that urge. Instead, she looked at Harry Potter who stood surrounded by Slytherins on all sides, with a sharp smile on his face.

With Harry's hair swept back properly, Daphne could see the red lightning bolt scar on his forehead. It was a stark reminder to everyone, including herself, that Harry Potter was no ordinary wizard. Before Daphne stood one of the most intriguing, influential and perhaps powerful wizard in her generation. Some would say Potter is the most powerful wizard Britain has ever seen. After all, how else could a wizard survive the Killing Curse?

"It seems to me dear Draco here has a problem with me. Tell me, is it because of my mother. Half-blood you called me was it, Draco?" Harry walked around Malfoy like a predator looking at its prey.

"I…I…my father will…"

She could hear Malfoy stutter which nearly made her giggle but Tracey beat her to it. Her friend began openly laughing which made Harry sporting an amused smile.

"Look at that Draco. Your usual lines have become a laughable joke among your Housemates. Why are you so obsessed with my ancestry? By calling me Half-blood do you seek to elevate yourself little Malfoy? Hmm?" Harry nudged Draco but the blonde remained petrified for some reason.

Daphne looked confusedly as Draco began shaking in fear. Her eyes widened as three black serpents slowly poked their heads out of Draco's fine robes. The serpents began hissing and looked poised to strike at Draco but she heard Harry hiss once more. The serpents seem to settle and merely observe Draco who had closed his eyes in fear and began sweating profusely.

"For your information Draco, my father comes from a prestigious bloodline. He can claim descendance from one of the twenty-three families that defended the magical community from falling prey to foreign invaders. I believe my ancestors played a part in the formation of the Ministry of Magic. As for my mother, let's keep her ancestry a secret." said Harry, grabbing hold of Malfoy's blond hair and with a tug, Harry was now looking into a pair of terrified grey eyes. "Or maybe you want to learn more about my mother Malfoy? Please speak up, Malfoy. If you want to learn more I can educate you about the intricacies of my blood."

"I…I'm sorry."

Daphne could hear Draco whisper fearfully.

"I couldn't hear that." said Harry, letting Draco free from his grip.

"I'm sorry!" Draco cried louder.

"But, Draco. You are apologizing to me. Why would you apologize to me Draco? You should be apologizing to my date." said Harry, who proceeded to move to Daphne's side.

"I'm sorry Greengrass." said Draco, still keeping his eyes firmly shut because of the serpents.

"That's good. What about you two, Warrington, Montague?"

"I'm sorry."

The two upperclassmen Slytherins apologized to her. Daphne eyed Harry who broke out into a smile and began hissing again.

"Take your leave noble serpents."

Daphne along with every Slytherin on this side of the Entrance Hall watched the serpents scamper away leaving the three boys to breathe normally.

"Well, I suggest you mind your own business rather than play these games with me. Consider that a bit of friendly advice for your continued long life and health. Trust me, you can't afford an enemy like me." said Harry, giving the assemble Slytherin House a sharp smile before turning towards Daphne holding out his arm. "Shall we?"

Daphne for a moment stood there staring mesmerized into the bright green orbs of Harry. She could feel a subtle vibrancy of magic as she looped her arm with Harry's. From a young age, she has been taught to feel magic as it was one of the affinities she inherited from her mother's family. She was more than sure she was feeling the ripples of magical surge because of the Parseltongue.

Father was right. Parseltongue is indeed the song of nature, Daphne thought.

"Shall we, Daphne?" asked Harry.

Straightening out her blue line-boat-neck dress Daphne stared unflinchingly into Harry's eyes.

"Lead the way, Harry."

Together they moved forward and her housemates parted away to give them space.

Suddenly Harry paused causing her to look questioningly at her date.

"Oh, please do take care to keep this event amongst ourselves. I trust Slytherin House has students with the sense to know that if this event gets into the rumour mill or the Hogwarts staff the whole house will get my retaliation. Do remember you are living in the dungeons with hundreds of snake sculptures. You don't want to know which of those snakes takes command from a speaker of the noble tongue of serpents."

"Harry!" Daphne hissed.

Harry had the sense to look abashed. "Of course you won't be harmed Daphne and you too Tracey."

"Thanks. That surely lets me sleep soundly at night from now on Potter." Tracey's snarky remark came just as quick as possible.

Daphne shook her head and dragged Harry away before he made another scene with her housemates.

Chapter 21: The Yule Ball P3

"You look gorgeous."

 

Daphne tried to hold in the blush that crept up on her cheeks but it was a vain effort. She had told Tracey she cared not whether Potter was impressed by her looks. Yet, she had spent hours preparing herself, far longer than Tracey did at the very least. It felt good to know that her long hours of preparation were not wasted.

 

Despite the outward aloofness she was projecting she remained a bit flustered as she struggled for a proper response.

 

"Thanks. You are not bad on the eyes either." Daphne managed to say without humiliating herself mid-sentence.

 

"Not bad on the eyes! You look very handsome Harry." Tracey intervened smoothly sliding next to her which made Daphne startle. "She was spending hours without break to prepare herself for the Ball. So, don't get swayed by her aloofness. It's all an illusion."

 

"Tracey!" Daphne hissed.

 

"What!? It's so true you were very much excited to go with Harry." Tracey, sporting her usual playful smile.

 

Daphne could feel mortification surging in her mind at how Tracey was exposing her to Potter. She had played her part as the perfect Pureblood heiress aloof to anything that happened around her with ease. She had presented the date as a business transaction before Potter. The last thing she needed was for Potter to realize that she was interested in him far more than she portrayed.

 

"I see. Interesting."

 

Daphne heard Potter hum from beside her.

 

"Tracey."

 

"Yes, Daphne."

 

"Shut up!" Daphne hissed. For emphasis, she pinched her childhood friend on her arm for good effect.

 

"Ow!" Tracey cried.

 

Daphne could feel Harry shake with laughter beside her. She wished something would happen that could turn the focus away from her present predicament. And that distraction came in the form of Michael Corner.

 

"Tracey. You look beautiful."

 

Daphne thanked her lucky stars for the Ravenclaw boy's arrival. But, her plan to tease Tracey melted away when Harry positioned himself facing her with a bright blue rose in his hand.

 

"May I?" Harry's asked.

 

Daphne was quite not sure what she did at the moment as her heartbeat soared and her mind froze. Whatever she did must have been positive as she felt Harry press the blue rose against her dress just above her heart. When Harry took out his wand she regained her bearings but it turned out he was just using a sticking charm on the flower.

 

Looking down Daphne looked at the blue rose stitched to her dress with a sense of awe and embarrassment. That was really a romantic moment and she could literally feel her magic sing in joy. The thrum of her magic, which she had so carefully refined to stay serene over the years, was now dancing all across her skin. It was surreal what the green-eyed boy was doing to her.

 

"Wow! That's romantic." commented Tracey, taking a good look at Harry's gift before rounding on her date. "Let's see. What about you?"

 

"Wha…? What do you mean?" Michael asked, taken back by Tracey putting him on spot.

 

"C'mon Michael. What have you brought for me? Harry brought Daphne a flower so what about you?"

 

Michael Corner looked stupefied by the turn of events before settling in to look helplessly around for some kind of escape.

 

"But…but…I gave you a present today morning."

 

"A box of Honeydukes chocolates." Tracey deadpanned.

 

Daphne barely suppressed a giggle at the flustered face Corner was making before the Ravenclaw settled for staring accusingly at Harry for his woes.

 

"Maybe Michael intends to surprise you after the dance with a gift." Harry sportingly suggested, no doubt to save Michael Corner from the hot water he jumped into unwittingly.

 

"Is that true?" Tracey asked rounding on Michael who could only nod in agreement.

 

"Well…"

 

Corner was saved by the front doors opening with a high pitched groan.

 

The Durmstrang students were the first to enter led by Headmaster Karkaroff. Then the Beauxbatons students followed in an orderly manner. Only then were the Hogwarts students allowed entry.

 

Daphne stepped into the Great Hall with Harry in her hand. Tracey and Michael Corner were just behind them. Inside the Great Hall, everything was bathed in a hundred different glittering lights. Little fairies carried small globes of colourful lights everywhere fluttering their rainbow-coloured wings. The Hall was decorated with flowers and statues. When her eyes fell on the statues her wondrous mood shifted to one of pure disinterest and bitterness.

 

"What happened?" asked Harry, keying into the fact that she needs to school her features if Harry could read her mood with ease.

 

"Nothing."

 

"No. There is something."

 

Daphne pursed her lips eyeing Harry. "The statues…they offend me." she whispered.

 

Harry frowned at her before looking at the statues himself. "The Christmas Father…Oh! I see."

 

Daphne took it as a good sign that Harry remained unbothered by her dislike of Muggle religious icons. She had noted that bit about Harry lately. He seemed wholly unbothered by her dislike of muggle religions or their icons. She had thought Harry would classify her as a bigot but he seems more receptive and perhaps even understanding her dislike to some extend.

 

"Champions over here, please!" Professor McGonagall called them over.

 

"I guess that's our cue. Please enjoy the Ball Michael, Tracey." said Harry, while Daphne squeezed her friend on her shoulder before walking towards Professor McGonagall.

 

Professor McGonagall was wearing a blinding red dress robe reminiscent of Gryffindor house colours. She told them to wait near the side of the doors while everyone else went inside. Apparently, it was a tradition that the Champions enter in a procession only after the students of the three schools have sat down.

 

Daphne and Harry were the first to reach the doorside. A few moments later they were joined by Fleur Delecour and Roger Davies. She could see the vacant expression on Davies' face. It looked almost like Davies was in disbelief over the fact that he was the date for the French Champion, judging by the worshipping eyes Davies was making at his date.

 

Daphne would have thought Delacour had dosed Davies with a love potion if it wasn't for knowing the French Champion's Veela heritage. She could even feel the magic rolling off Delacour's body in waves. She looked around noticing how other students were not immune to Delacour's charms.

 

Well… not all of them, she thought eyeing Harry who remained unbothered.

 

"Delacour is looking our way." Daphne whispered to Harry.

 

She saw Harry eyeing the French Champion with a raised eyebrow. Delacour just continued to stare which turned into a frown and Daphne suddenly felt a shift in the magical output.

 

"That's an impressive piece of magic." Harry commented, before shifting his focus away from the French Champion.

 

Daphne was not the only one who was surprised by Harry's immunity as she could see Delacour also took notice.

 

"You can resist her charm?" Daphne asked, impressed.

 

"I'm special like that."

 

Daphne shook her head at his claim. "How long have you been practising Occlumency?"

 

"Long enough to recognize foreign magic trying to penetrate my mind." answered Harry, with a wink.

 

Before anything else could be said Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang joined them.

 

"Hi, Harry." said Cho. "Hi, Daphne."

 

Daphne returned the greeting and so did Harry but then there was an awkward moment between Cedric and Harry.

 

"You look good." Cedric said holding out his arm for a handshake.

 

"You don't have to worry. You still remain the pretty boy of Hogwarts." Harry countered shaking Cedric's hand making them crack up a bit.

 

Just like that the tension between them was lifted.

 

"Looks like there are three Seekers here." Daphne commented to lighten the mood.

 

"Huh! You are right. Four if you count Krum." said Cho.

 

"Speaking of which where is Kru…whoa!"

 

Daphne looked at what made Diggory reel back in surprise. Her eyes widened as she took in the person beside Viktor Krum. She managed to school her face back to neutral but she eyed Hermione Granger with disbelief. The entire fan club of Krum was looking at Hermione with the deepest loathing they could muster as they entered the Great Hall.

 

Once everyone in the Hall settled down Professor McGonagall told them to get in line in pairs and follow her into the Hall. Daphne stood beside Harry at the very front. Of the four pairs, they were the smallest so she felt it was good that they led the procession. As they stepped into the Hall everyone in the hall applauded.

 

The house tables have all vanished and instead the Great Hall was filled with round tables with candle lights. The walls were covered in crystalline frost with a blueish tint. Large chandeliers hung from the ceiling creating a stark contrast to the cloudy starless skies displayed by the enchanted ceiling.

 

Dumbledore smiled happily as the Champions approached the top table. Daphne took great care to never meet Dumbledore's eyes just as her mother warned her. She was nowhere near competent to withstand an assault from Dumbledore against her budding Occlumency shields. Instead, she kept her focus on the other two heads of the schools. Karkaroff looked like he was ready for murder owing to the fact that Krum took a Muggleborn as his date.

 

Madame Maxime looked rather happy and Daphne thought she was the only one among the lot whom she considered to be a non-threat. Ludo Bagman looked like a clown and he dressed that part as well with his robes displaying bright yellow stars. Mr Crouch on the other hand was absent which she found odd but not so surprising. She was frankly surprised the Ministry had yet to sack the man especially after all the scandals that came to light in the Prophet.

 

Instead of Crouch, it was Percy Weasley who stood in place for the absentee judge of the Tri-wizard Tournament.

 

When they reached the table, Percy Weasley drew out the empty chair beside him, staring pointedly at Harry. Harry in turn eyed her in askance and she just shrugged. She cared not where they sat and Percy was a former Gryffindor so Harry might be on good terms with him.

 

"I've been promoted."

 

That was the first thing that came out of Percy Weasley's mouth which made her roll her eyes.

 

"I'm now Mr Crouch's personal assistant and I'm here representing him." said Percy, in a smug tone.

 

Daphne hid the grin she was sporting with her hand but she was not sure whether she succeeded as she could see Percy Weasley frown at her.

 

"Congratulations. If you play your cards right you may even get his current position." said Harry.

 

"What! What are you talking about?" Percy asked.

 

"What do you think is going to happen after Sirius gets his trial? I won't let that man live the rest of his life in some warm retirement home. I'll see to it that he gets the same cell Sirius was locked in and that's the least of his problems. If I can I'll make sure he gets the Kiss."

 

That cleanly shut up Percy who for the rest of the evening stayed silent as a grave towards Harry.

 

Daphne didn't mind one bit. Turns out the most interesting conversation topics of Percy Weasley were Cauldron bottom thickness and flying carpets, which he tried to impose on a very disinterested Ludo Bagman.

 

Dumbledore took everyone's attention by clapping his hand and saying, "Pork chops."

 

The golden plates that remained vacant on their table were suddenly filled with food. Soon, others followed to place their orders.

 

"Broccoli Chicken." said Harry, and his plate was suddenly filled with his preferred food. "House Elves! You got to love 'em."

 

Daphne nodded at Harry's comment before she followed suit with Broccoli Chicken as well.

 

"Huh. One would think you are copying me." said Harry.

 

"I just have the good sense not to consume heavy food this evening. We've got to dance remember. Speaking of which I hope you know how to dance?"

 

"Oh, I'm no expert but I assure you, you will have your feet intact."

 

"I better or I'll make sure you won't walk as you do Harry." she replied sweetly.

 

Harry merely grinned and nodded. "I was meaning to ask. Did you like my gift?"

 

Daphne's whole demeanour changed in an instant. She leaned in closer towards Harry with her eyes gaining an unnatural sharpness. "Where did you get that book?"

 

"So, you liked it huh?" Harry asked, without divulging anything while taking a taste of his food.

 

"Liked it? Harry that was a very rare book. How did you get hold of such a book?" she asked in a hushed whisper.

 

"Rare book? I would categorize the book as rarest of the rare seeing as no one possesses a written book by Salazar Slytherin especially about healing magic."

 

"Shhhhh!" Daphne hissed, afraid someone might hear their conversation. "Where did you get it?"

 

"Only those with Slytherin's gifts may find his knowledge as well. Consider the gift an apology for mentioning the Curse openly. Although, I doubt many of your Slytherin peers truly grasped the meaning."

 

Daphne stared long and hard at Harry trying to find some sort of clue but to no success. The book she received from Harry was indeed a copy of the original written work of Salazar Slytherin. She found it authentic because of the many advanced healing rituals and magic mentioned in the books emphasizing the use of Parseltongue to enhance its effects. She would still have to show it to her father to see whether the book was an authentic copy but seeing as it was Harry Potter who gifted her the book she was sure of its authenticity.

 

Her family had over the generations searched for Salazar Slytherin's works. While the fools of the British wizarding world would hail Slytherin as some evil wizard her family knew the truth. Out of all the founders, no one has contributed as much as Slytherin in the arts of healing. Even the famed Helga Hufflepuff paled in comparison to Slytherin's knowledge and skill in healing magic. His Parseltongue was a unique gift that set him apart from all other Founders.

 

When Slytherin split from the Founders he took all his knowledge and research away with him. Only bits and pieces of his knowledge that he shared with his favoured students survived the light of those days. Even those few bits that survived were jealously guarded by Slytherin's disciples.

 

Ever since the Blood Curse took hold in House Greengrass, her ancestors have searched for every piece of Slytherin's knowledge. But, anything that they could cobble together constituted a minuscule amount compared to Harry's gift. Daphne had seen her family's collection. There were only a few parchments of Slytherin's handwritten pieces in their library. The fact that Harry Potter of all people held an entire book written by Slytherin shook her. She had the urge to send the book straight to her father to see whether it was indeed a true version and not a fake. It was clearly a translated copy of the original work but there are ways to confirm the book's validity.

 

The only reason that she did not send it straight to her father was that she feared the book may get misplaced somehow. The book was too valuable to just send it away with an owl. She'd rather hand the book over to her father personally.

 

"You should tone down your cold stare. People will think you are about to attack me." Harry whispered into her ear.

 

Daphne was so far gone in her thoughts she had missed Harry moving close to her and whispering into her ear. She could feel his hot breath on her ear and once again she could feel her cheeks get warmed up.

 

"We need to talk…later." she whispered back after she took a moment to compose herself.

 

"Are you asking for another date Daphne?" asked Harry.

 

"What if I am?" she queried boldly, staring into those mesmerizing green eyes. If she looked carefully enough, she could read the undercurrents of magic thrumming inside Harry's eyes and that she found fascinating.

 

Harry gave her a lopsided grin and an accepting nod.

 

Daphne went back to enjoying her food while making small talk with Harry. They removed all serious issues from their chat and instead focused on poking fun at Fleur's snotty attitude towards Hogwarts. They were not the only ones to take notice as even the usually silent Krum was a little irked by Fleur's obtuse complaints. Soon all the food on their plates were consumed.

 

At that moment, Dumbledore stood up while tapping his wand on his glass. The clink could be heard across the Hall attracting the attention of all the attendees.

 

"I believe it's time for the dance to commence." said Dumbledore, his enhanced voice travelling to every corner of the Great Hall. Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling away as the Champions rose to their feet.

 

Daphne took Harry's offered hand taking to her feet.

 

Dumbledore vanished all the tables with a swift wave of his wand.

 

Daphne let out a shiver as the Headmaster's magic swept through the room. She could feel Dumbledore's magic which was refined but she could feel the potency of the magic. It was just as her mother said. There are some wizards who are gifted with a magical aura that makes you feel like you are nothing. Her mother had said she only felt that with one wizard. Although, her mother never divulged the identity of that wizard she was sure it was Dumbledore. She'd have also suspected the Dark Lord but her mother had some less than savoury opinions regarding Britain's Dark Lord.

 

She'd put Harry in the same category. If Dumbledore was refined Harry's aura almost felt primal. It felt like his aura was just waiting to burst out with a primal roar. That's why it was difficult for her to employ Occlumency when she was near Harry. Her senses always remained out of sync with her mind which affected her ability to construct barriers. It was almost fascinating and scary at the same time.

 

"What are you thinking?" Harry whispered.

 

Daphne nearly squealed when she felt an arm on her waist dragging her forward. Her right hand clasped with Harry's left hand and they slowly made steps on the floor with the Weird Sisters humming a slow mournful tune in the background.

 

She took notice that Harry seemed very careful in his steps almost as if he was concentrating on not stepping on her foot.

 

"Don't worry too much and relax. You look like you are trying to avoid committing murder." commented Daphne, in parts to switch the conversation away from her lapse of mind.

 

"Nice deflection. But, I'm all the more curious what's on your mind." said Harry, as he gripped her close to him which made her press into his body more.

 

This time she was ready for the onslaught of magical aura that was trying to creep into her. While Harry's magic remained very distracting she had her barriers ready to keep them out from interfering.

 

"You don't know Leglimency do you?" she asked, not minding the closeness as she twirled around with Harry on the dance floor. She hardly paid any attention to anything else as her sole focus was on her steps and her dance partner.

 

"You can relax. I'm not going to surf through your mind." said Harry, letting out a laugh.

 

"It's no laughing matter. And it's good to know you can't do that." Daphne said, with a huff.

 

"Yet." Harry was quick to remind her. "I can't do it for now. That doesn't mean it'd be the case forever."

 

"I can't keep you out for now. That doesn't mean it'd be the case in the future." she countered.

 

Harry grinned. "Competitive. I like that."

 

"Nice socks, Potter." Moody growled as he passed by, with a very uncomfortable Professor Sinistra on Moddy's hands.

 

"Thanks, Professor." said Harry. "You look good, Professors."

 

"That man is creepy. He should not be allowed that eye in Hogwarts." Daphne growled.

 

"I don't think anyone has a chance of convincing him to let go of that eye Daphne." said Harry, shrugging.

 

With a final quavering note, the Weird Sisters concluded their first song, applause filling the Great Hall once more.

 

"Well…that was fun." said Daphne, looking around in surprise as the song came to an end. She didn't even feel much time had passed at all.

 

The Weird Sisters started playing another tune, this one a bit more upbeat than the last one.

 

"Want to give it a try?" Harry offered.

 

Daphne could hardly suppress the grin gracing her lips.

 

And so they danced once again to a fast-paced song. When that ended they danced to the next one as well. It was a fun night until finally, Daphne had to call it quits as her feet were hurting her.

 

They invariably found themselves stumbling into Krum.

 

"Hi, 'arry. 'ave you seen Herm-own-ninny?" asked Krum.

 

"Oh no Viktor. We were just dancing you see." replied Harry.

 

"Vell, if you see her, tell 'er I 'ave drinks." Said Vi

 

"Hey, look! There she is." Daphne pointed to Hermione who was making her way towards them.

 

"She doesn't look happy." Harry muttered.

 

"Vat 'appened?" asked Viktor, concern oozing off from the Durmstrang Champion.

 

"Just an idiot trying to mess up my day." Hermione angrily growled.

 

"Does this idiot have red hair?" Harry asked sarcastically.

 

"Don't… let's just forget about that." said Hermione, before eyeing Daphne's tight grip on Harry's hand with a smile.

 

"I see you have Harry in your clutch. Just keep him that way throughout the evening, will you? Else he might be tempted to step into his 'saving people mode'."

 

"What?" Daphne asked curiously.

 

"I don't have a saving people mode." Harry proclaimed.

 

"Of course, you do. You were thinking about doing something to Ron. I suggest you forget him and enjoy this evening." said Hermione.

 

"For the record, there was no one to save, only a jealous red-head moron to be taught a lesson in manners."

 

They spent a better part of the night with Hermione and Viktor Krum at a table with some drinks. Even Cedric and Cho later joined them on the table before they once again took to the dance floor.

 

As the party started winding down Harry escorted Daphne out of the Hall into the open lawn outside. It was snowing but Harry flicked his wand, a ward quickly sprung up and the snow stopped bothering them. She took a good look at the night sky and took a deep breath of fresh air. It was one of the most memorable nights, perhaps the best night she had ever experienced.

 

"Harry."

 

"Hmm."

 

"Thanks for tonight." she said before pressing a chaste kiss on his cheek. Thankfully, Harry was not too tall for her.

 

Daphne would have been embarrassed but she crowed with delight in her mind as she could see the surprise and embarrassment on Harry's face as well. Taking the momentum offered to her she decided to push her luck.

 

"There is a small ritual ceremony I am taking part in with some others. It's part of our Yule celebrations. Do you want to join me?"

 

Daphne could tell that her offer took Harry by surprise. But, even she did not foresee how quickly Harry would agree. This night was turning out to be a night full of surprises. It'd seem there was still hope for Harry to turn out alright instead of being another blind Dumbledore stooge.

 

XXXXXXXX

 

It was early morning and when the first rays of sunlight began to brighten the castle a select few people gathered around a runic circle in the Astronomy Tower. Several intricate patterns of runic circles spanned the floor of the tower. Even the ceiling of the tower was decorated in carefully drawn intricate runes.

 

As the sunlight rained on the tower the runes began to take a golden hue. Harry looked on in surprise as everyone began kneeling with their wand tips touching the runic circle.

 

He knelt beside Daphne and copied her position.

 

Opposite to him was Professor Babbling who was hosting the ritual. It came as a surprise to Harry that a Hogwarts Professor was leading this ritual. He had thought this was some secret gathering by a group of students.

 

'Surge, Domine, totius vitae!

 

Exsurge, Domine, vigoris!

 

Benedic animabus nostris et corpore o pater aequissime.

 

Munda nos a tenebris, et lux renascatur!'

 

Professor Babbling chanted in Latin and her wand lit up with magic. A surge of golden rays consumed Professor Babbling before travelling to everyone connected to the runic circle. Harry could feel the warmth surging into his body that immediately made him feel safe and relaxed.

 

One by one everyone else began to follow her example.

 

"Harry, please use Parseltongue." Daphne whispered to him after she finished the Latin chanting.

 

Harry looked curiously at Professor Babbling who nodded at him, giving her assent.

 

Picturing a snake in his mind he began to chant in the tongue of serpents.

 

" Rise, Lord of all life!

 

Rise, Lord of vitality!

 

Bless our souls and body oh impartial father.

 

Cleanse us of the Dark and let the Light be reborn! "

 

This time the magical surge was more discernible. The smell of ozone and earth filled the tower. Harry could even feel his magic surge with a bright green aura. He could feel his limbs become far stronger and his body far lighter. He felt as if he had the energy to run a marathon without breaking a sweat.

 

"I've never felt power like this before." Harry muttered in wonder as magic surged within him.

 

"The tongue of serpents is the language of life itself. It is one of the oldest languages our world has ever known. When uttered it connects with Old Magic. You have a wonderful gift, Mr Potter. Use it well." said Professor Babbling.

 

Harry merely nodded as he was still drunk on the magic that was coursing through his veins. Others were not faring any better either.

 

"For the next six days, we will perform the ritual in other locations. I will contact each of you with the time and place. If you miss one session then you won't be allowed to attend the rest. Am I understood?"

 

"Yes Professor." they all chorused.

 

"Good. Now, take your leave."

 

Harry exited the Astronomy Tower with Daphne, Tracey and strangely Theodore Nott who had so far kept a healthy distance from him.

 

"So, what do you think Harry?" asked Tracey.

 

"I think I'm going to show up on all six days." he said, looking back into the tower where Professor Babbling remained.

 

If he had looked carefully enough he could have seen he was being watched by the dark onyx eyes of his Ancient Runes Professor.

 

XXXXXXX

 

Once everyone left Bathsheda alone she flicked her wand closing down the Astronomy tower. The runes on the floor began to change shape and formed into a seven-pointed star shape with complex runes running around the outer contours of the star. The inside of the tower was suddenly bathed in a golden barrier.

 

Taking a deep breath she cleared her mind and began reinforcing her Occlumency barriers. Once she accomplished that task she removed the glove from her left hand. Plae skin greeted her eyes but only she knew there was more to her left palm.

 

Channelling magic to the tip of her wand she drew a perfect triangle on the centre of her palm. The triangle began to light up in a golden hue and the rest of her left arm began lighting up with intricate runes. From her fingers five golden lines connected to the three sides of the triangle.

 

"Evelyn Regensburg." she whispered.

 

The triangle in her hand began to blink slowly for some five minutes before it took a blue hue. A white bright light suddenly escaped the triangle showing a palm-sized projected figure of Evelyn Regensburg.

 

"Lady Greengrass, my greetings."

 

"Bathsheda, why have you contacted me?"

 

There was not even a hint of a German accent in her patron's voice. Then again, Evelyn had divested her German roots to fit in easily with the British aristocracy ever since she became the wife of Lord Greengrass. It was no surprise as most people often tend to forget the foreign roots of Lady Greengrass as she acts like a British witch.

 

"There has been a positive development in regards to Mr Potter."

 

Bathsheda could make out the sharpness in her patron's eyes at her report. While Potter remained an interesting person the last few years have shown there was nothing to be seen in the Potter boy. But, this year, things have changed. Ever since Potter's name came out of the Goblet of Fire Potter has been changing and Bathsheada had watched that change unfold from the safety of her position among the Hogwarts staff.

 

While she did not know all the details, she knew Lady Greengrass and a certain common acquaintance of theirs was interested in Potter.

 

"This is good news. Tell me more."

 

And so Bathsheda began her detailed report regarding Potter and Dumbledore.

Chapter 22: A not so happy Christmas

Harry had read somewhere that rituals are addictive and hence dark in nature. In so far, he could confirm the first part but not the latter. Oh, he was surely becoming addicted to the surge of Old Magic surging through his veins whenever he performed the ritual of Red Dawn.

In his opinion, it'd be a disservice to call himself an addict when there were better examples. One of the best examples would be Barbara Collins, a sixth year Slytherin who had chosen to strike up a friendship of sorts after his first day of engaging in the ritual. While he was not prejudiced against the entire Slytherin House he had a healthy sense of paranoia when someone starts to show a sudden urge to befriend him from the snake pit.

Tracey and Daphne, he could understand somewhat. Daphne had some ulterior motives and he was not blind to the girl's attempts at trying to befriend him. Tracey on the other hand he could trust far more easily as she held no visible ulterior motives. With Tracey being a Halfblood and all there was hardly going to be any specific points she need to score with the Pureblood fanatics in her House by befriending him.

However, Barbara Collins set him on edge especially when the witch was breathing down his neck whenever he performed the ritual. Sadly she was not the only one. She was the worst case of Old Magic addict but there were others like Emily Frost from Seventh Year Ravenclaw, Adam Winters from Sixth Year Ravenclaw and Hasan Ali from Seventh Year Slytherin.

It was the third time he was engaged in the ritual of Red Dawn. Ever since the first day, he was asked to perform at the last slot and he could see the urgency in the eyes of the four addicts waiting impatiently for his turn.

"Collins looks like she is about to jump you, Harry." Tracey muttered playfully from his side.

"Am I the only one who is weirded out by those four?" he asked, keeping an eye on the almost eager gazes the four addicts were throwing in his direction.

"I have never heard this ritual could become addictive in any way. Only rituals involving blood sacrifice are deemed Dark by the Ministry."

He heard Daphne comment from Tracey's side. A comment that he didn't necessarily agree with as the Ministry does prohibit other rituals that do not involve blood sacrifice. He has been reading upon Ministry regulations on the area ever since he began planning the aura stabilizing ritual in order to advance his Occlumency skills. It was in the Ministry's interest to keep wizards and witches less powerful.

Harry could understand the reasoning behind the Ministry's actions. Wizards like Dumbledore and Voldemort have the power to make the Ministry irrelevant. For a bureaucratic organization like the Ministry of Magic, a powerful wizard or a witch is an existential threat. After all, why should any wizard or witch bow to weaker members of their kind? This was why the Ministry always tried to keep the number of powerful wizards to very few. They classified certain disciplines of Magic to be Dark in nature and illegal to weed out those who aimed to increase their magical power.

And somewhere along the way, someone will inevitably slip their grasp. If they do, they will be cajoled to join the Ministry. The perfect example of this case would be Dumbledore. Those who do not want to join the Ministry and conform to the rules and regulations end up opposing the Ministry. These witches and wizards get the label of Dark Wizards or Dark Witches. And the most exceptionally powerful among them end up being called the Dark Lord. Some are assigned this label while some adopt it. Voldemort fell into the latter category as he chose to adopt the title of Dark Lord.

So the Ministry's definition of Dark and Light magic always had a political agenda. The true defining line, in Harry's eyes, lay in intent more than anything else. Sometimes, even intent tends not to be enough in judging the nature of Magic.

"Everyone, time's up. Touch your wands to the runic circle." said Professor Babbling.

The Ancient Runes professor had chosen their ritual venue in the Greenhouse for some odd reason. Harry was not exactly sure why this particular venue but he was all for it. The previous one was near the Black Lake and that was not fun at all. The constant piling up of sleet and howling winds were quite a distraction. Even now, snow was piling up outside the glass panes of the Greenhouse.

The ritual started in earnest as the first light of the rising sun began to usher in warmth consequently lighting up the runes scribed on the floor. Professor Babbling was the first to start the ritual followed by other students until finally, it was Harry's turn.

" Rise, Lord of all life!

Rise, Lord of vitality!

Bless our souls and body oh impartial father.

Cleanse us of the Dark and let the Light be reborn! "

Just like the last two times, the magical energy surge was phenomenal. This time rather than enjoying the surging power within his body he was rather keeping an eye on the eager looks from Barbara Collins.

"Mr Potter stay behind. All others, leave." ordered Professor Babbling.

Harry could hear the disappointing groans from the four addicts. As the rest of the students took their leave it was just him and Professor Babbling inside the Greenhouse.

"How are your studies going? Is Miss Davis being helpful?" asked Professor Babbling, as she began flicking her wand here and there dismissing runes with a flick of her wrist.

"Oh, Tracey has been very accommodating Professor."

"You are satisfied with Miss Davis as your tutor?"

"Yes Professor." Harry admitted.

He would have opted to change to Hermione but Tracey was quite fun to be around ad she did sort of go out of her way to help him. It'd be rude to disparage Tracey's honest efforts in the last few weeks.

"That's good to hear." Professor Babbling mumbled.

Harry eyed his Ancient Runes Professor and her casual way of dismissing runes from the floor. That was an interesting skill but he thought to ask about that another time.

"Professor, do you mind if I ask something related to the ritual?" he inquired.

"The library holds many books about the Ritual of Red Dawn nonetheless ask away Mr Potter." said Professor Babbling, pausing her work to give him her attention.

"Why is it Barbara Collins and the other three are addicted to my magic?"

"They are not." Professor Babbling answered him crisply.

"What?" he was a bit taken back by Professor Babbling's answer. "But, they were showing signs of addiction…"

"No, they weren't Potter. At least, they weren't showing addiction to your magic. They are addicted to the cleansing nature of the ritual. Your gift of Parseltongue just happens to pull Old Magic into the ritual in great quantities. Even if you were to stop using the Parseltongue those four would have shown addiction."

"But why?" he was flummoxed by the explanation. "Is this ritual Dark in nature?"

"Not at all. The ritual we perform invokes the resurgence of Light within our body. Those who carry the stain of Dark Magic however will experience addictive symptoms. The Dark devours the Light as it is in its nature to do so."

Harry remained confused by this strange explanation. How could the Dark devour the Light? The whole purpose of the ritual is to cleanse the Dark, was it not?

"Yes, the ritual is meant to cleanse the Dark Mr Potter. But understand the very nature of Dark Magic. It seeks to subvert anything and everything. Even the Light is no exemption to the predilections of the Dark. That is why the cleansing ritual lasts for seven days. If it was so simple one single ritual would have sufficed." said Professor Babbling.

"Oh! That makes sense I suppose." He mumbled before looking at the Professor curiously. "Professor, if you know they have used the Dark Magic shouldn't they be warned…or done something?"

"What they do in the confines of the privacy of their homes is not mine or anyone's business. They do have the freedom to perform any type of magic behind closed doors of privacy. So long as they are not performing them in public nor are they using it to harm others or themselves then I don't see any problem."

Perhaps his disagreement with her opinion must have shown on his face cause Professor Babbling decided to elaborate.

"An educator's job is to give as many tools and options to a student. If I decide to fix a set of values as ideal and pour it down the throat of my students, that's not education. As students, you must have the freedom to choose your own paths. Else rather than being educated you'd be indoctrinated."

In a strange sort of way, it made some sense. Anyhow, he'd be keeping an eye on those four. But he won't be spreading any rumours about those four in Hogwarts. It'd be rather hypocritical of him to do so when he was already researching dark rituals and spells in his free time.

XXXXXXX

Harry returned to the Gryffindor tower after his scheduled class with Professor Vector. As the Yule holidays were yet to conclude he was still getting special classes from Professor Vector and by the end of the week he was going to face a test in Arithmancy. This test would determine his continued presence in Arithmancy class. As such, he has been terribly busy preparing for the exam leaving him almost no time for other activities.

This is why he had not even deigned to pay a visit to Hagrid who had unwittingly become the subject of Rita Skeeter's scathing articles. Somehow Skeeter managed to get ahold of Hagrid's life history and she outed him as a half-giant. She went into great detail describing Hagrid's obsession with dangerous magical animals and even the circumstances behind his expulsion. Of course, all of this was highlighted to take several potshots at Dumbledore himself questioning his judgment.

Objectively speaking, Skeeter does have a point in questioning Dumbledore's decision to hire Hagrid as a Professor of Hogwarts. While Hagrid was indeed an exemplary handler when it comes to magical creatures that do not mean he is a Professor material. Hagrid's idea of teaching is to throw every interesting dangerous creature known to wizardkind at the students hoping everyone would like them. This was not exactly a method of teaching and Hagrid was nowhere near enough trained or qualified to hold the post of a Professor in any school.

So, even though he was empathetic to Hagrid's current predicament he thought Skeeter was not in the wrong to paint a bleak picture of Dumbledore's hiring process. There was a long line of incompetent or outright hostile buffoons occupying and had occupied teaching positions in Hogwarts because of Dumbledore. The names like Binns, Snape, Lockhart and Quirrell came to mind.

Even so, he planned to find some time late in the evening and have an in-person talk with Hagrid. Hagrid's shoddy teaching skills notwithstanding the man was easily likeable and sort of deserved some leeway. After all, Hagrid was one of the earliest victims of Voldemort's rise to power. Plus the man was orphaned from a young age. If Headmaster Armando Dippet had investigated the death of Myrtle much more keenly Hagrid would not have had to become the Gamekeeper of Hogwarts and live on Dumbledore's charity.

To that end, he decided to enlist Hermione's aid.

He found Hermione in the company of Neville. She was helping their chubby friend with the Charms homework. Setting his backpack nearby on the couch he dropped down into the cushy comfort of the couch in the common room.

Hermione and Neville acknowledged him with a nod before quickly returning to their activity. Harry eyed his two friends thinking of the latest quarrel that seem to have emerged. As usual, the culprit was Ron Weasley.

Apparently, Ron had blown off a gasket when Hermione showed up with Krum as his date. It didn't help Ron was unable to find a date willing to go with him. In the end, the annoying red-head had even tried to pressure Ginny to go with him which she flatly refused. This had led to a quarrel breaking out between Ron and Neville as Neville had asked Ginny out to the Ball.

One thing led to another and Ron got schooled by the Twins with a choice number of prank spells on Ginny's request. With all that happened and being humiliated beyond the norm, Ron took all of his frustrations out on Hermione accusing her of unwittingly working for the 'enemy'.

According to Ron Weasley's new findings, Krum was only interested in Hermione so that he could spy on Harry's preparation for the Second Task. Obviously, this accusation didn't sit well with Hermione who had a big fight with Ron right in the middle of the common room. The end result was, Hermione cut off all forms of communication with Ron. She was of the opinion that Ron would've to apologize first before rekindling their friendship.

By the simple virtue of attending special classes with Professor Vector, Harry ended up being insulated from all the drama transpiring between his friends. In a way, Professor Vector saved him from some needless teenage angst and drama.

"Hey, Harry. How was the class today?" asked Hermione, just finishing the Charms homework.

"Exhausting. She had me doing Venetian transposition equations all day long. My head is spinning with all those equations and conditional alpha derivatives." said Harry rubbing his forehead.

"Ha! I remember those. There is this bit of trick to remember the transposition equations, Harry." Hermione began excitedly reciting an assortment of acronyms she used for remembering certain equations.

Though initially surprised at Hermione's exemplary memory he was quick to take notes. Two more days and he would be having a test and he doesn't intend to fail that by any means.

XXXXXXXXX

Petunia didn't know whether to cry or use the opportunity to curse her ever so perfect sister. Everything that went wrong in her life could be laid at the feet of her sister. Lily was always the beautiful one and had the smarts as well. Her parents had doted on Lily far more than her and she knew her parents were quite proud of her freaky little sister.

Yet, for all she could find faults in her parents she blamed the freaks and their magic for ruining her perfect family. If Lily hadn't shown signs of magic then Petunia was sure she would have gotten along well with her younger sister. Magic was the accursed thing that tore her family apart. It took her sweet sister away and made her into a freak. It had even bamboozled her normal Godfearing parents!

She had hated anything to do with magic ever since Lily went to that freakish school. To this day, that hatred had never simmered down. If anything she only felt more hatred seeing as she got saddled with her freakish sister's freakish son. She knew the boy had magic when those good for nothing freaks left the boy outside her doorstep. But, it was her hope that the boy would not be a freak like her sister. Alas, that was not to be!

Unlike her parents, she was prepared to raise her son alongside a freak like her nephew. This was the reason why she ushered her little Dudders with unconditional love. Cause she feared her Dudders might end up like her feeling less adequate because of lack of magic. So, when her freakish nephew got the Hogwarts letter her Dudders was not left feeling inadequate. She had done what her parents had refused to do for her.

But now, looking at the angry red boils all over her son's face she couldn't help but curse her sister and her freakish nephew. She knew this was somehow the freak's fault. Her precious Dudders had fallen ill after eating a bar of chocolate on Christmas morning. At first, there was nothing wrong with her son but after eating a few chocolates her son's face began to turn into a giant inflated balloon. Then he began coughing up salt water all over the floor.

Till Christmas noon her son continued to be sick. Then all of a sudden everything stopped before her son's face began to get covered with angry red boils. She had cried and complained at the suffering of her poor Dudders which had made Vernon rampage all over the house claiming to bash the freak's head when he returned from that blasted school full of freaks.

Casting one last tearful look at her sleeping Dudders she carefully extracted herself from the room. Closing the door behind her she traced her steps to the dinner table where Vernon was sitting with a sizeable cake on his plate.

"Is he asleep?" asked Vernon, once she sat on a chair.

"For now. My poor Dudders! He was crying all day long." Petunia choked back a sob that threatened to escape her throat.

"Those sleeping pills worked then. That's good." said Vernon, sighing in relief.

"We couldn't even bring him to a doctor. Oh, how much pain my poor Dudders must have felt." cried Petunia, rubbing away the wetness from her eyes.

"We couldn't have brought him to a doctor, Pet." said Vernon, taking her hand in his. "How would we explain his sickness? We can't say he ate a candy made in the freak's world. We would be laughed out of the hospital."

"It's all that freak's fault. I'm sure those red-head freaks are behind this. They want to ruin our normal Christmas." said Petunia.

"That ungrateful freak will rue the day he was born after I'm done with him this summer." Vernon growled, before jabbing his spoon into the cake and scooping out a significant slice before stuffing it into his mouth.

"It's a lovely cake Pet. Shame Dudley didn't get to taste this one. Although, you should not have put strawberry in the cake." said Vernon, gorging himself more of the cake.

"Strawberry? I didn't put any strawberry on the cake." said Petunia frowning.

All of a sudden Vernon paused. Petunia didn't miss the way her husband's whole demeanour changed. One moment Vernon was enjoying the cake and the next he was stiff as a board.

"Vernon? What's happened? Vernon!" she shook her husband but her husband refused to answer.

Vernon's eyes darted all around in panic. He suddenly jumped out of his chair. The unintended consequence being he flipped the dining table because of his stomach's wide girth. Vernon began convulsing while Petunia fretted around in the dining room in panic.

Vernon continued to convulse unimpeded. As seconds ticked by his convulsing got worse. His limbs were all over the place and he began spinning with his whale-like girth. His meaty paw even smacked Petunia right across her cheek making her see stars.

Then all of a sudden Vernon stopped thrashing around.

Petunia looked at her husband as she picked herself up from the floor. A thin trail of blood dripped down from the corner of her mouth.

"Vernon! What are you doing?" she cried out but her husband remained comically silent.

Vernon remained standing in a strange pose. He had his legs apart wide imitating a sitting posture while standing on his legs. His eyes were crossed over.

Petunia slowly made herself move towards her husband afraid he would hit her again.

All of a sudden Vernon opened his mouth as if to scream but no sound came.

"Vernon?" she hesitantly called.

Vernon let out a grunt and then he screamed. "Aaaaaaaarghhhhh!"

But, the screaming was accompanied by a thin trail of flames from his backdoor. Seeing this Petunia screamed and she rushed into the kitchen to collect water to douse the flame.

She threw a bucket full of water on Vernon's fiery ass. Thankfully, the flames stopped pouring out and she could see smoke rising out of Vernon's pants. With a loud thud, her husband fell over on the floor.

For a moment, Petunia stood there holding the bucket while staring gobsmacked at the angry red asscheeks of her husband. She felt her limbs go numb and the bucket fell from her arms. The clatter made by the bucket echoed around the house almost unnaturally. She collapsed on her knees letting out a soft wail of despair.

A tap on her shoulder made Petunia freeze. She fearfully turned around only to see a hideous freaky creature that had large green tennis ball eyes standing behind her.

"Master Harry says Happy Christmas." said the creature in a squeaky voice before snapping its fingers.

It was then Petunia saw the frying pan floating in the air. She barely got the time to blink as the frying pan registered in her mind before pain flared on her head. It was a brief flare of pain before she descended into Morpheus' realm.

AN:

Discord: discord. gg/QRTnmx8dW4

Chapter 23: A new professor

Harry was laughing uproaringly and so was Sirius. They were sitting back comfortably on a plush cushion watching the entertaining events unfolding in the Dursley household in an enlarged mirror.

When he had pitched the idea of turning the Dursley's Christmas holidays into hell, Sirius was the one to suggest the use of a modified two-way mirror to bear witness to the events unfolding. Sirius somehow tampered with the enchantments to allow the mirror to store everything that was happening in the Dursleys. And now they were watching the debacle unfold.

"I've got to admit, this is a wonderful piece of magic Sirius." Harry said admiring the piece of magic that allowed a magical TV of sorts to exist.

"It's nothing big. I just tweaked the charms commonly used in magic mirrors." said Sirius, shrugging as if it was no big deal. "Besides, It was fun to do something interesting for once. I think I'm going to go mad by translating all those dusty old books and scrolls."

"You won't have to worry about that. Your trial date has been declared. You would have to present yourself before the Wizengamote on January 25."

"Oh, they declared it?" Sirius asked looking doubtful.

"Not yet. But Andromeda wrote to me the trial date is set for January 25. The Ministry will announce it tomorrow."

"Huh!"

Harry frowned as he watched Sirius looking unseemly into the distance. He gathered Sirius was reliving darker memories from his Azkaban ordeal or perhaps Sirius was surprised by the fact that the trial was even going to happen. So, Harry reached out and touched Sirius's shoulder startling his godfather.

"You are going to get your day in court and you are going to walk out of the Ministry a free man."

"I hope so Harry. I hope so, cause I can't go back to that hellhole." said Sirius, shivering at the very thought of being in close proximity of Dementors.

"You won't." Harry promised.

"Well, I hope so." Sirius shook his head. "Anyway, I've got to admit those Weasley twins are one hell of pranksters. They've got a wicked sense of humour."

"They'd appreciate that coming from a Marauder and all. They are your greatest of fans. In fact, they recovered the Map from Filch. They even managed to work out the password as well."

"They did? How'd it end up in your hands then?" asked Sirius.

"They gave it to me to sneak into Hogsmeade."

"Ha! That's a better use for the map as any I suppose." said Sirius, laughing like a hyena.

"Enough dallying. Let's continue practising deflecting spells." said Harry, standing up on his feet.

Instead of focusing on spells, Harry has been focusing on honing up his defences. He didn't make this decision on a whim. He had duelled with Sirius for days and found his defence lacking. With the Second Task set to happen in the Black Lake, he was already set for all the necessary spells that could aid him underwater. So, his focus had shifted to training for the Third Task and of course to face Pettigrew and Voldemort at the very end.

Spells could only go so far when he was shoddy at defending himself from a wizard's attack. While Voldemort remained weak and he held the advantage, it'd be the height of arrogance to think less of Voldemort and Pettigrew.

Pettigrew was no slouch, he cautioned himself.

The man had become an animagus before graduating Hogwarts. That was no easy feat. He would not underestimate that snivelling rat.

Harry shook those thoughts away as Sirius stepped into teaching mode.

“Okay Harry. Here is the deal about deflecting spells. There is no specific incantation to this piece of magic. This is simply a handy trick with your wand and magic. Channel magic to your wand and let it form a cocoon.” Sirius explained.

Harry tried to do what was asked of him but the only way to know whether he could perform was through practice. To that effect, Sirius suggested they start with simple spells. They started with the most basic of spells like tickling charm. Harry git hit eight times before he managed to deflect the spell partially. It was only a partial success because he could not deflect the spell straight back to Sirius. The spell went wayward and hit Winky who proceeded to giggle to her mortification.

Just simply deflecting the spell is not good enough. The deflected spell have to follow a prescribed path else there was no point in deflecting spells. Half the struggle was catching the spell with the tip of his wand. Since spells are usually just a small ball of light it took a skill of its own to catch the spell with the tip of a wand. But, it was no impossible task. As they say, practice makes everything perfect.

Sirius was a good teacher as well. So, by the time they wrapped up the session Harry was able to catch a spell three times with the tip of his wand. Out of which he managed to reflect one back straight towards Sirius.

Harry considered that progress.

“You know, I'm a bit worried about the tournament.” said Sirius, after they concluded the practice session.

“Don't you worry Padfoot. I've got a grip on what to do in the Second Task.” said Harry.

"I'm not talking about the Second Task Harry. I'm just troubled by Dumbledore's and Moody's incapability to catch the one who put your name in the Goblet." said Sirius, twirling the old wand in his hand with a frown on his face.

"If they had found something they have so far not shared anything with me. The Ministry has also deigned to keep everything under the rug." said Harry, shrugging his shoulders.

"Hogwarts is crawling with Death Eaters. Karkaroff, Snape and I'm sure dear old Lucius is crawling around somewhere in the background like the slippery snake he is." Sirius muttered darkly.

Sirius shook his head and took a deep breath. "You know what you are doing in the Second Task?"

Harry waved away Sirius' concern. "I've got it handled. I learned the Bubble-head charm to breathe underwater. All that is left is to perfect a transfiguration spell that can change my shoes to a pair of flippers."

"Well, if you've got the task handled then there is only one important matter that I need to discuss with you." said Sirius, turning uncharacteristically serious on a dime.

"What's that?" Harry asked somewhat warily.

"You are a growing boy and Lily would have wanted me to have this conversation a bit early. But I suppose there is no good time as any."

Harry stared confusedly at Sirius with a raised eyebrow.

Sirius leaned forward and placed his hands on Harry's shoulders. "I'm of course talking about Birds and Bees now that you have a girlfriend."

Sirius smirked while Harry's eyes widened at where this conversation was going.

"Oh, come on!"

XXXXXXXXX

"I'm fascinated by how those Heliosophene matrices work. Whoever managed to invent that math is a genius." said Hermione, excitedly chatting away with Tracey, who he'd got to admit was a nerd when it comes to Arithmancy and Ancient Runes.

"Almost all Arthmancy was invented by Egyptians to enhance Runic Magics in the time of Pharaohs. Most likely it's origins came from Herpo." said Tracey, just as enthusiastic as Hermione in discussing this topic.

"You mean Herpo the Foul?" asked Hermione with a barely audible whisper.

"Someone took a stroll through the Forbidden Section of the library." Tracey teased, making Hermione blush.

"She's not as innocent as she looks, Tracey. I learned that first hand when we had a conversation about blood rituals." Daphne chipped in making Hermione groan in protest.

"I was just curious why the Ministry outlawed it and yet according to Professor Binns the Goblins still practice this branch of magic." Hermione defended herself eyeing Harry warily as if he was going to label her a Dark Witch.

"The only thing I find offensive is that you managed to listen while Binns was delivering his droll lecture." said Harry, noting Hermione looked a bit relieved that he was not judging her harshly.

"Professor Binns has an unusual style of teaching but he is very knowledgeable." defended Hermione.

"Only you Hermione." Harry shook his head.

They were on the way to Care of Magical Creatures class after their Arithmancy class. Harry had sat the special exam Professor Vector had held for him and to his luck, he managed to pass the exam. This earned him the right to sit in the Arithmancy class permanently. Of course, no one was more excited than Hermione who had been the lone Gryffindor in Professor Vector's class till now.

"You reckon Hagrid's alright?" Hermione whispered as they split away from Tracey and Daphne on their way to Care of Magical Creatures.

"I don't know. He was nowhere to be seen in the castle. I think he spent all the holidays in his cabin." said Harry, feeling some sympathy for the friendly giant.

"I hope Hagrid's okay. It's just wrong what people are saying about him." Hermione said hotly.

While December had long gone and the term had started once more there was no lack of snow around Hogwarts. The air remained frigid and sleet covered the grounds of Hogwarts. Hardly anyone was looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures or Astronomy classes these days. But, the good thing about magic is that elements tend to become not much of a problem if one has a good handle on magic. Some careful application of warming charms and repelling charms tend to deal with the sleet problem.

When they neared Hagrid's cabin most of the Gryffindors were already assembled near the paddock where the Skrewts were kept. Tracey and Daphne joined the rest of Slytherins, most of whom, greeted the two with displeased looks on their faces. Even if Harry had threatened Malfoy and his cronies the fourth year Slytherins were not afraid to show their displeasure at the new order of things.

Daphne had hinted a subtle shift from within Slytherin House. Before the Yule Ball incident, Harry was regarded with some caution among Slytherin upperclassmen. His stunt with pranking the living daylights out of all those badge bearers had made him a notorious figure. Now, with his threatening of Malfoy in the open and that too with Parseltongue had made many senior Slytherins grudgingly respect him.

Of course, all of this was possible because the resident bat of dungeons was on probation. If Snape had a modicum of freedom in flexing his authority Harry would have been in a lot of trouble. As it stands, Snape was forced to remain in his best behaviour to guard his post in Hogwarts. Dumbledore's influence among the board members is the only thing that has stayed Snape's dismissal from Hogwarts.

"Hagrid's not here Harry. You reckon something happened to him?" asked Hermione worriedly.

"Hey, Neville. Have you seen Hagrid?" Harry asked, once they joined their Gryffindor peers. He could see Ron taking sneak peeks at Hermione but his bushy-haired friend was either ignorant or outright avoiding the red-head.

"No, Harry. We've been waiting for him." said Neville.

Just then Hagrid's cabin door swung open garnering all of their attention. It was not Hagrid who stepped out of the front door but a tall grey-haired witch wearing pale yellow robes.

"Who's that?" Ron asked.

No one answered the red-head as no one knew the answer to that query.

"I'm Professor Grubbly Plank. I'll be your temporary Care of Magical Creatures teacher." she said briskly, struggling through the knee-deep snow gathering around the grounds.

"Where's Hagrid?" Hermione asked.

"He's currently indisposed." said Professor Grubbly Plank shortly, looking to end the line of conversation.

"But, what's wrong with Hagrid?"

If Professor Plank heard Ron's indignant query she paid it no mind. Instead, the Professor led all of them past the paddock towards the edge of the forest where a large Unicorn was tethered.

Many of the girls in the class squealed promptly.

"Oh, look Lav. She is so cute!" squealed Parvati.

Compared to the Unicorn the snow looked grey. The Unicorn was of bright white colour and its movements were so graceful. It had golden hooves and a golden horn protruding from its temple.

"Girls upfront and boys stand back. They prefer a woman's touch. Now, approach slowly."

Harry stayed back with other boys among his year and watched from the sidelines as Professor Plank introduced the girls to the shy Unicorn. Harry's eyes strayed towards Hagrid's cabin. It'd seem Hagrid was going through a rough time.

Hagrid was making this all not too easy for him as well. He could only offer his support if Hagrid deigned to show himself in the open. Whatever the case, Harry couldn't get distracted with Hagrid. There was a Hogsmeade weakened coming up and he has a meeting scheduled with Damien Greengrass. Considering the meeting would entail cooperation for their mutual benefit he was hoping to enlist the man to ensure Sirius would get his freedom. After all, if facts alone were important for the Ministry Sirius would never have suffered imprisonment in Azkaban in the first place. He was also sure Lucius Malfoy would try his best to convict Sirius and he could not allow Sirius' freedom to depend on the integrity of the Wizengamot.

It was time he stepped into wizarding politics.

AN:

Discord: discord. gg/QRTnmx8dW4

 

Chapter 24: No rest for the wicked

Neville never thought he'd be in a precarious position like this when he agreed to go with Harry no questions asked. He never even had any worry as Harry only said he was going to help him with his troubles with magic. He has been having trouble fully mastering the Summoning charm for quite a while now. So, he thought Harry was going to help him with the Summoning charm when he agreed to take a walk with Harry. Never at any moment did he think he'd be put in this position.

He gripped the armchair for his dear life facing the scrutiny of Professor McGonagall. His Head of House was intimidating but he liked her far more than Snape any time of the day.

"So Mr Potter, Mr Longbottom. What was this urgent matter that you need to discuss?" asked Professor McGonagall, eying them over her glasses.

"It pertains to Neville's difficulty in performing spells professor. I believe I've found the reason behind Neville's struggle with spells." said Harry.

Of all the things Neville expected this was not the matter he was expecting to be the topic of discussion. He had only thought Harry wanted him as an escort to meet Professor McGonagall when in truth he was the topic of discussion. The previous anxiety that he felt in the presence of his head of house doubled down on his mind which made him sweat despite the damp weather.

"You want to discuss Mr Longbottom's performance in classes?" asked McGonagall incredulously while eyeing Neville who shrank back into his seat at the attention.

"It's not that Neville is underperforming because he has less magic as he believes. It's just that he has been using a faulty tool since he arrived at Hogwarts." Harry claimed, making not just McGonagall blink in surprise but Neville as well.

Over the years Neville was subjected to ridicule within his family because he never showed any early signs of magic. Everyone thought he'd be a squib and no one was more ashamed than his grandmother who often lamented that he never lived up to his parents name or the family's honour. It was only when his great-uncle Algie was holding him out of a window by his feet did he show a sign of magic. His great-uncle let him go and he'd have crashed head-first on the ground but he bounced away as if by magic. There were many other instances his family tried to 'build' magic inside him according to his grandmother.

And now, here was Harry claiming to know why he couldn't perform magic as good as others.

He knew the reason. It was cause he is nearly a squib as his great-aunt Marietta often called him.

"Neville does not have a wand that has given its allegiance. He is using a legacy wand that remains resistive to his magic." said Harry, once again surprising Neville.

Out of all the reasons his family had come up with in the last fourteen years for his lack of magic Harry's findings was the strangest of all. What does it matter if his wand was an inherited one rather than a newly purchased one? The wand had worked well for his father who was an Auror. He was more than convinced it was his lack of magic at fault rather than his wand.

"Is this true Mr Longbottom? Are you using a legacy wand?" asked Professor McGonagall.

Under her stern gaze, he could not lie. Professor McGonagall reminded him of his grandmother.

"Yes, professor. I'm using my father's wand. But my father's wand works well Professor."

"It may have worked well for your father Mr Longbottom. You have to win a legacy wand's allegiance to use it without any resistance. Even full-grown wizards would struggle with a non-aligned wand." said McGonagall.

He didn't know what to think. On one hand, his father's wand was important to him. It was a piece of his father's legacy and to hear someone say that he was not good enough for his father's wand was a blow to his already fragile self-confidence.

"Professor McGonagall is right Neville. When I bought my wand Mr Ollivander told me that wands choose the wizard." said Harry, a tad softly.

Perhaps Harry understood he was not taking the news well.

"Mr Potter is right Mr Longbottom. Legacy wands are usually used for sentimental purposes not for practical use of magic. You may continue to use your father's wand, Mr Longbottom. But, I suggest you purchase a wand of your own."

"That's why we are here Professor. I was hoping you'd allow Neville to visit Diagon Alley and purchase a new wand." said Harry.

Neville was startled to note McGonagall was even considering Harry's request. This made him think.

'Could it be true that I can perform magic better if I have a new wand?'

If even Professor McGonagall was agreeing with Harry perhaps it was true. Neville felt his father's wand safely tucked away in his pocket.

"Hmm… I believe something can be arranged once I'm sure Ollivander is available for a quick visit." McGonagall pursed her lips and nodded to herself. "I shall contact you Mr Longbottom with a suitable date."

"Thank you, Professor." said Harry, standing on his feet.

Neville also made to stand seeing that the meeting was coming to an end. He also copied Harry in thanking his head of house before approaching the door.

"Mr Potter, if you don't mind stay back for a moment."

McGonagall's voice stopped them from vacating the office. Neville nodded at Harry before he stepped out of the office. He wondered what McGonagall would want to discuss with Harry. He hoped Harry was not in any trouble.

XXXXXX

"It was a good thing you did Mr Potter." said McGonagall, peering over her square spectacles with a delicate grin.

Harry nodded in appreciation. It's quite rare to get a compliment from Professor McGonagall so he'd take it when it is given with a smile.

"You see how smoothly everything could go if you come to me instead of jumping into trouble without any second thought."

And there goes the smile right off his face mostly cause his mind pushed a memory from the deep recess of his mind to the forefront.

"I did come to you in my first year warning about the Sorcerer's Stone." Harry supplied tacitly.

Professor McGonagall only looked at him sternly unfazed by his rebuttal.

"Mr Potter, you came to me claiming that someone was trying to steal the Stone. I'm sorry to say I think it was obvious 'someone' would be trying to steal the Sorcerer's Stone. The whole point of setting up a series of traps was to capture the thief. Instead what happens, you and your friends strut into danger knowing well that you had no hope of standing a chance against a full-grown wizard."

"But…" Harry tried to butt in but McGonagall talked over him as she was on a row.

"Do you know how many students wandered into the forbidden floor specifically to find out what was being kept there? More than half the students of this school tried to access the forbidden floor but all of them stopped once they saw the Cerebus guarding the trap door. Only you, Miss Granger and Mr Weasley persistently prodded the defences set by the faculty. While I wholly disagree with Professor Dumbledore's decision to place the stone in a school full of children I suppose we never expected three suicidal children to take an excursion in the middle of the night into the traps we set up all on their own."

Harry swallowed his tongue and merely stared unhappily at his head of house.

"Oh, while we are at it let's not forget your Second and Third Year. What made you think that it was a good idea to wade into the Chamber of Secrets knowing that there was a Basilisk lurking in there? On that note why oh why did you take that charlatan with you?"

"Well, I…"

Once again he was cut off abruptly.

"And your Third Year. Whose bright idea was that to seek out Sirius Black all on your own without any help from a grown-wizard near midnight? Thank Merlin Sirius was not the traitor. If Pettigrew had wanted to he could've easily killed you that night. Or maybe the Dementors would have done the work for him and Voldemort."

Harry opened his mouth to argue but he shut his mouth with an audible snap. He was not happy at all. Far from it actually. He could argue that it was Dumbledore who brought the Stone to a place of learning and goaded a Dark Lord who had failed to kill Harry when he was a baby. He also vividly remembered the dangerous detention in the Forbidden Forest by McGonagall knowing full well dangerous creatures were lurking in the dark forest.

It was also Hogwarts faculty's fault for not finding out the Chamber and for hiring a fraud as a teacher. What did the high and mighty wizened professors of Hogwarts think about twelve-year-olds? That they are somehow the bastions of rational thought 24/7? Of course, children were not going to make informed and rational choices when faced with situations beyond the normal scope.

And don't get him started on the whole Sirius issue. Pettigrew was living right under the nose of Dumbledore in the Gryffindor Tower for nearly three years. The famed supposedly all-powerful protections of Hogwarts not only failed to detect Pettigrew it also posed no problem for Sirius to waltz into the castle whenever he pleased. The same goes for Voldemort's diary which was one of the darkest pieces of magic and yet Hogwarts' famed wards never detected the Horcrux.

There were other dozen or so points he could argue but he swallowed them all and nodded like a chastised child caught stealing a cookie from the cookie jar. He did so because this was not a hill worth dying for and for little gain. He was convinced whatever he was going to say would not be acceptable for McGonagall. She was too emotionally invested in Hogwarts to see the place was no longer just an educational institution but a testing bed for Dumbledore's ridiculous utopia project by giving second, third and a number of other chances to terrorists, murderers and rapists.

There was no point in trying to convince ideologues of their folly. They are too busy cooking up a reality that does not exist. It was no wonder Voldemort was able to run circles around these people. Turning the other cheek works only when the aggressor has some form of morality left.

Anyhow, it was not his place to conduct a lecture on politics and just general common sense for these people. For now, he is working under the principle of enemy of my enemy is my friend. What these people do with their life was not his problem and he was not going to make enemies needlessly.

"I shall endeavour to not jump headfirst into trouble anymore professor and you will be the first person I'd come to if something goes wrong."

It was a bitter pill to swallow but he put aside his pride and spoke those words all the same with a proper chastised expression on his face.

"Good." McGonagall nodded satisfied with his response. "How are your preparations coming for your Second Task?"

"I've deciphered the Egg and I'm prepared for the Task ahead Professor." said Harry, though initially surprised by the inquiry.

"Good." McGonagall nodded. "You may take your leave, Mr Potter."

He didn't waste a moment and scooted away from the office. There was a Quidditch practice session that Angelina was organizing and looking at the watch he was already five minutes behind.

XXXXXXXX

"So, what do you think Albus?" McGonagall asked to her empty room.

She watched from her seat as Dumbledore came out of the disillusion charm. As usual, there was the ever-present twinkle in the headmaster's eyes.

"I think this year's events have drastically changed dear Harry. He seems more…"

"Confident?" she supplied.

"Yes. He is more sure of himself, more deliberative, cunning, resourceful and a whole other plethora of traits that we'd use to describe an ideal Slytherin." Dumbledore made his observation adjusting his long beard while taking his seat across from McGonagall.

"The poor boy. He has been forced to grow up too fast."

"I know Minerva." said Dumbledore letting out a tired sigh. "Each year I hope Harry would enjoy his time at Hogwarts like any other normal teenager and yet the opposite happens. No doubt, it is one of my many failings."

He played a major role in disrupting Harry's first year at Hogwarts. If he had any other option he'd have avoided taunting Voldemort with the allure of the Sorcerer's Stone. Yet, it was necessary to take the chance knowing he'd be endangering Harry's life by placing the Stone at Hogwarts. He had to confirm Voldemort's survival and as he suspected it was too great an allure for Voldemort to not show up in Hogwarts. And just as he planned Harry confronted Voldemort and even managed to chase the Dark Lord away from Hogwarts.

Not only did this confirm the validity of the blood wards he painstakingly constructed to protect Harry, but the incident also ensured Harry was exposed to Voldemort in a somewhat safe environment. He alone knew Harry was destined to confront Voldemort at some point. So, better it be for Harry to realize what he was up against a bit early albeit in a controlled environment. But he had no part in the happenings of the second, third or this year.

Despite all the horrors that befell the poor boy Dumbledore was somewhat happy to note Harry was turning around for the better. He noticed Harry's drive to learn more complex magic has taken up significant traction this year.

'Perhaps, the tournament did end up being useful for something.' he thought.

He did not doubt that Voldemort was going to rise at some point and Harry would need all his faculties primed to face the challenging days ahead. If Harry showed promise and continue to show a commitment to expand upon his magical knowledge perhaps he might even decide to take a more active role with Harry than he previously thought.

According to Severus, the Dark Mark was getting stronger each day. It is a sign of Voldemort regaining some of his lost power. It won't be long before Voldemort find some way to shed his incorporeal form and regain a body. The only question that remained is, how strong the new body will be? It was no easy task to construct a new body that could channel the full magical might of someone like Voldemort. Only one living person in the world possessed the blood to restore Voldemort to his height of power. This was why he tasked Alastor to keep a close eye on Harry.

As a descendant of Ignotus Peverell, Harry's blood will be potent enough to revive Voldemort who is a descendant of Cadmus Peverell. It also did not help that Harry has somehow awakened the trait of Parseltongue. He was not sure how Harry was able to even use Parseltongue. The soul shard living inside Harry was carefully isolated by the blood wards he extracted out of Lily's sacrifice. So, either the Potters were descended from Slytherin or the Peverell blood inside Harry extracted the trait from the soul shard of Voldemort.

Nobody knew just how volatile Harry's blood is; like he does. From the moment of Harry's birth, he had noticed Harry possessed an almost unnatural magical saturation unseen in any other newborn. Then Voldemort unwittingly made Harry a Horcrux making Harry nigh indestructible, at least magically. This was why he had chosen to place blocks on Harry's magic to let the poor boy slowly gain control over his magic. In Harry's second year, he rightly feared Harry's demise because of the Basilisk venom only to be saved by Fawkes. The combination of the deadliest venom and the most powerful of medicines (Phoenix tears) has only increased the magic saturation in Harry's blood.

He really ought to thank Professor Babbling for unwittingly erasing the blocks he placed without any adverse effects when she allowed Harry to perform the ritual of Red Dawn. Not only did the ritual manage to take those blocks safely away it also seems to have settled Harry's erratic magic. So far, the ritual seems to have settled Harry's magic as far as he could sense. It was not a solution he had thought previously and once again the course of time proved to him that sometimes he tends to dismiss simple solutions to complicated problems.

Dumbledore was brought out of his musings when McGonagall went on to complain about Hagrid and how the poor fellow has barricaded himself inside his modest hut. As usual, when one problem is solved another rears its head. He also remembered that he has a meeting scheduled with Alastor to discuss the investigation into Harry's selection by the Goblet of Fire. Alastor was sure Severus or Lucius was somehow involved. Only he knew Severus would never do such a thing but he could not rule out Lucius Malfoy.

It looks like he would be having a busy day ahead of him and somehow he'd also have to find some time to talk with Hagrid. As the muggle saying goes, there is no rest for the wicked.

AN: 

Discord: discord. gg/QRTnmx8dW4

Chapter 25: A meeting

"This is getting ridiculous." Hermione huffed out.

Harry wholeheartedly agreed. Hagrid was being ridiculous by locking himself inside his hut for days without end. The friendly half-giant was absent from all the classes which were now under Professor Grubbly-Plank's care, not to mention his consistent absence during the meal-times.

"Why's he avoiding us?" asked Hermione, while they were walking through the corridors. They were in no hurry so they were just walking at a slow pace.

"Maybe he fears we would no longer be friends with him."

"That's preposterous. Why would he think that?' Hermione asked exasperated.

"He has lived all his life in the Wizarding world where all magical creatures are discriminated. Look at what happened to Professor Lupin in our third year." Harry pointed out.

"But, we would be the last people in the world to discriminate against him. He should know that."

Harry restrained the urge to roll his eyes at Hermione's naivety. It's not like people were super-rational all the time. Sometimes, heightened emotions make people do stupid and unreasonable things. However, in Hagrid's case, Harry could understand the man's pain. Hagrid, despite his funny exterior, is a tragic character in all sense. In the grand tale of the British wizarding world, Hagrid is one of the unique people who happen to be inherently hated more so than the muggleborns, half-bloods or even other creatures.

Hagrid remained the living embodiment of everything the pureblood supremacists could not tolerate. Harry held no doubts the purebloods of Hagrid's time certainly considered Hagrid's father a traitor and may have tried their best to demonize him for his life choices. Truth be told, Harry didn't even want to think what was going on in Hagrid's father's mind when he decided to take a Giantess for lover. But, that point was moot seeing as Hagrid got to face the music despite having no control over the circumstances of his birth.

Despite Hagrid's personal troubles, the fact remained that Hagrid's absence in the Care of Magical Creatures class is polarizing the student population. Professor Grubbly Planks was fast becoming favourites among the female half of Hogwarts and quickly spreading to the male half as well. Students preferred Plank's lesson plans instead of Hagrid's admittedly dangerous way of exposing his class to dangerous breeds of creatures. It also doesn't help Hagrid considered the most dangerous creatures on the planet harmless and misunderstood.

Even Hermione, for all her huffing and puffing at Hagrid's circumstances, likes Grubby Plank's classes. This was the same for Harry as well. He learned quite a lot from Grubbly Plank's classes in a week than he'd learn in months. Sure, Hagrid has a unique gift in connecting with magical creatures. But, Hagrid's gift was not exactly transferable and a lot of what Hagrid can teach is useless from an examination point of view.

"Who knows, maybe we will come across Hagrid in Hogsmeade. He can't be spending all his time in his hut. He has to come out eventually." Harry suggested.

On their way towards the castle grounds, Harry and Hermione came across Parvati and a Beauxbatons student emerging from a broom closet. Parvati froze upon seeing two of her housemates. The same could be said of Harry and Hermione who never expected something of the like. Parvati was sporting dishevelled hair and her uniform in quite a bit of disarray. The shifty look in her eyes and her inability to hold Harry's or Hermione's gaze acutely emphasized Parvati's present state of affairs.

Seeing as Hermione remained paralyzed Harry decided to ease the tangible tension.

"Oh, hey Parvati. Going to Hogsmeade?" he asked, hoping his classmate would take the out he offered from her present predicament.

"Ahh… yes…yes! We were just about to. Oh, Harry, Hermione meet Louis Monet. Louis meet Harry Potter and Hermione Granger." said Parvati, quickly introducing them to her brown-haired 'friend' who was not at all fazed.

"Bonjour." Loui greeted shaking Harry's hand. "You performed ze First Task veery vell."

"Thank you. Enjoy the evening Parvati, Louis." Harry said before giving a final nod to Louis. "Enchanté."

With that, he was out of the place dragging a shell shocked Hermione out of the corridor with him.

"Are we not going to discuss what we saw just now?" Hermione asked after a few moments passed.

"Do you want to?" Harry inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Nope."

"That's good." Harry nodded.

"Although, I hope nothing improper happened." said Hermione, all of a sudden her cheeks flushed red.

Harry thought of teasing his friend but let go of the matter.

"Do you know what's up with Neville? He's been acting weird…" said Hermione, then hastily corrected herself. "…well, weirder than usual."

Harry just shrugged not saying anything. Neville asked him to remain mum about the wand and he'd honour that simple request made by his friend. He already breached a line on the sand by interfering with Neville's magic problems even if it was in Neville's best interest. Perhaps, Neville may share what's happened voluntarily with Hermione, given time.

Harry hoped Neville would be having a good time with purchasing a new wand. Perhaps the feel of his surging magic might key into Neville's innate proclivity to magic and thereby boost the self-confidence of his friend.

XXXXXXX

Birds chirped and flew rounds and rounds without fail, happy that the snows were receding paving the way for Spring.

Daphne was observing a pair of birds that were chirping away happily nearby a fountain. The fountain was frozen a few days back but now the water was flowing unimpeded. Even so, she nestled into her cloak all the same as a chilly wind blew through the area.

She eyed Argus Filch who was scanning the permission slips of Hogwarts students as if it contained some great life secret. She wondered for a moment why Dumbledore was even hiring a squib for Hogwarts caretaker job. It didn't make any sense to have a squib in a castle full of wizards and witches.

"Getting impatient, are we? If you glare any harder Filch might just spontaneously catch fire." said Tracey, with suppressed laughter.

"Tracey, I want you to do something for me." said Daphne seriously as she trained her eyes on the castle's doorway.

"Sure. What do you need?"

"I want you to keep Granger busy. I don't want her or you anywhere near Harry this day." said Daphne.

"Now, that's rather forthcoming of you." said Tracey frowning at her childhood friend. "There is something else going on, isn't it?

"I'll tell you later. Handle Granger." Daphne whispered before putting on a simple smile to greet the two Gryffindors. "Hey, Harry, Hermione."

After exchanging a few pleasantries they were on their way to Hogsmeade after enduring the customary scrutiny of Filch. They had to take careful steps as the ground was drenched to the brim filled with mud and slime. Despite wearing dragonhide boots she was adamant not to step into filth on her way to see her father with Harry alongside her.

"So Hermione, I can't help but notice Krum is not here with you. What's up with that? Didn't he ask you or isn't he aware of Hogsmeade weekends?" asked Tracey.

Daphne wondered where her friend was going with this. She wanted Granger out of the way, not cling on to Harry all day feeling insecure.

"He wanted to but his Headmaster took him somewhere off for training." said Hermione.

"Oh, so that's what Krum is doing there." Tracey said, pointing innocently at the Black Lake.

It was only then Daphne noticed the Durmstrang champion near the moored ship housing all the Durmstrang students. It would seem the stocky look the Durmstrang champion sported was owed to his bulky coat. Without that Krum looked skinny especially in those yellow swimming trunks.

"What's he doing?"

Hermione's absent question was answered by Krum himself. The four of them watched Krum climb onto the ship's deck and jump right back into the cold waters of the Black Lake.

"Perhaps Krum is not aware of the Giant Squid. How about we give him the warning Hermione?" Tracey asked while subtly nudging the bushy-haired Gryffindor towards the Durmstrang champion.

"Oh, yes. Let's do that." Hermione stuttered out while Tracey dragged away Hermione leaving Daphne alone with Harry.

"Nicely done." Harry commented casting an amused stare at her.

"Come. I shall lead you to my father." said Daphne, refusing to acknowledge that she had something to do with Tracey's actions.

"I'll be happy to meet him but first I need to buy a few custom made quills."

"Why?" Daphne would deny herself over and over in the future that she did not whine at this moment. But, the twinkle in Harry's eyes told a different story.

"It's important to have them. Shall we?" said Harry, holding out his hand.

She had no other choice but to take Harry's hand. At least, that's what she told herself. In truth, she quite liked the general stroll through the village with Britain's most famous celebrity in her hand.

XXXXXXX

"Huh! I am not disappointed. It's a shack…just as I imagined." Harry muttered looking at the rundown cabin that looked like it was going to fall apart without a moment's notice.

He wondered why wizardkind was obsessed with keeping the outward appearance of their constructs as shoddy as it can be.

Daphne looked in askance at him but Harry just shrugged it off. Together the two of them climbed the steps. He struggled to keep the cloak from getting in the way of his footsteps lest he embarrasses himself by falling down. He'd have used any of his muggle clothes but Damien Greengrass is a pureblood. Seeing as the objective was to kick Lucius Malfoy out of power and in the long run possibly build a new coalition he had to look the part. The last thing he wanted was for Mr Greengrass to be a thorn on his side, especially with Sirius' trial coming up in a few weeks.

The reason that he was going out of his way to build an alliance with Greengrass was in part because of Sirius' trial. His recent encounter with Amelia Bones was a wake-up call of sorts. If Amelia Bones, the sole person JKR portrayed as a decent witch working in the Ministry is just another typical politician, then he knew he could not walk into the Wizengamot half-assed. There was nothing compelling the Wizengamot members to vote justly in spite of the evidence he could amass to exonerate Sirius.

Clearly, some would vote giving due consideration to facts presented in the courtroom. But, the majority of the Wizengamot seats were hereditary or gifted to some wizards and witches as favours. Knowing that truth has minimal value, he has been writing personal letters to Wizengamot members whom Andromeda Tonks thinks she can sway. He'd write personal letters addressing those members while Andromeda would meet with them in person to convey their side of the story on behalf of Sirius.

Harry was not sure whether this plan would work as there were too many unknown variables. That's why this meeting was important in some sense.

Letting out a breath he kept his back straight before pushing open the door to the shack. Warm air greeted him and the interior was finely furnished in stark contrast to the exterior. Harry could make out the impressive work of spatial charms that allowed a large hallway to exist inside the shack. Letting out an appreciative hum he stepped into the large hall made of polished wooden floorboards. Looking around he came across a table at the far left corner of the hall where a black-haired man was sitting observing him silently.

"Is that him?" he asked Daphne in a whisper.

"Yes." she whispered back before taking the lead to greet her father.

Harry let the father and daughter have a moment of their own. But soon, he was sitting across from Damien Greengrass with Daphne sitting between them to his right side.

"Mr Potter, we meet at last." greeted Mr Greengrass shaking Harry's hand.

"Pleasure to meet you as well, Mr Greengrass." said Harry, taking back his arm.

Harry could feel a pinprick like feeling in his head but he couldn't identify it easily. That let him know the man sitting across from him was using leglimency.

"You need not bother Mr Greengrass. My mental defences are formidable." he said, eyeing the man blandly.

Rather than making Mr Greengrass flustered for being caught, the man visibly relaxed. "That's good. There are some powerful people that'd prefer we do not interact. It's imperative the particulars behind our meeting remain between the three of us."

"You needn't worry Mr Greengrass. This meeting never took place."

"Very good. When we arranged for this meeting I was not expecting certain matters to progress far and that too aligning well in our mutual interests." said Mr Greengrass leaning back in his seat all too comfortable.

"Of course." Harry nodded. "You want Lucius Malfoy gone from the Daily Prophet."

"Among other things." Mr Greengrass acknowledged with a shrug. "You want Sirius Black exonerated and I want Lucius to back off from his current path. I think we can get what we both want quite easily Mr Potter."

"So, you want my help in removing Malfoy from the Daily Prophet. Why should I help you?" Harry asked.

"Remove Lucius from the Daily Prophet? Mr Potter, you are terribly misinformed of the intricacies of British wizarding politics. I don't blame that as you are just a boy new to our ways." said Mr Greengrass, then all of a sudden he leaned forward.

"However, I find you quite fascinating Mr Potter especially the little gift you have given my daughter." Mr Greengrass eyed the book appreciatively. The book was the first thing Daphne discussed with her father since entering the shack.

"So, as a gesture of goodwill let me give you a piece of advice. Stop wasting time by sending letters to Wizengamote members and instead attack Lucius Malfoy's source of wealth."

Harry frowned at the Greengrass patriarch. "I don't follow."

Damien let out a sigh. "Where do you think Lucius Malfoy gets the gold he throws around to bribe the Ministry officials? The Black vaults are indirectly under Lucius' control. If you have access to Sirius Black then I suggest you use the man to deal a heavy blow to Lucius. Make it public and you will see the Ministry and all his purchased friends leave him in droves. It will of course also put a stop to Lucius' campaign against Mr Black."

"But Sirius is a fugitive. He can't be seen in public." Harry pointed out.

"Mr Black is a fugitive to the Ministry not to the Goblin Nation. Here is what I'd do in your position…."

As Damien Greengrass explained the plan Harry revisited his opinion on wizards and their lack of logic. It'd seem there are those who have fearsome intelligence in their heads and underestimating wizards was a terrible misjudgment on his part. A mistake that he'd try not to repeat again. The positively evil glint shining in Damien Greengrass' onyx eyes gave him creeps. He couldn't help but like the man. It'd seem he found a vindictive asshole just like himself in Daphne's father.

Anyhow, as Damien continued to explain all the finer points of the plan Harry couldn't help but grin wickedly. Oh, what he would give to see the look on Lucius Malfoy's face when the news breaks out. But first, he has to safely transport Sirius to Gringotts and bring him back with no one the wiser.

XXXXXXX

With a customary pop, Damien arrived at his home. The moment he came out of the apparation he could feel the wards pulse around his home.

'Hmm. It seems there is a guest. Now, who might that be?' he thought as he moved towards his home through his wife's garden.

The garden was his wife's handiwork and her signature was all over the place. The garden looked like it is painted in yellow owing to the sea of Lapsus Helianthus present in the garden. The yellow flowered plant followed his movement collectively looking for any sign of aggression. Those with ill intent would get a dose of the poisoned dart from the plant. A single dart could put an average wizard down for almost two hours.

Closing the entrance door behind him he stepped out of his coat. With a pop, his house-elf appeared to take the coat away from his hand.

"Who's the guest Snipsy?"

The house-elf looked afraid all of a sudden. He could see the elf's fear in its large brown eyes.

"It's the flaming lady master." Snipsy squeaked out in a barely audible whisper before abruptly disappearing with a pop.

Damien became alert and carefully stepped into the reading room where he could hear the crackle of a fire in the hearth. Stepping into the room he met his wife's blue eyes. Evelyn sat on a chair with her hands folded neatly on her lap. She subtly pointed at the other chair with her eyes that was turned towards the fire and hence away from his line of sight.

Even so, he could make out the blood-red hair of the chair's occupant.

"How was your meeting with young Harry?" the feminine tone of his guest's voice may put people in a false sense of security. He knew better than most and so does his wife.

"It went well, my lady." He answered mustering as much respect as he can into his words.

Frankly, he has no idea why the Potter boy was important to his guest. He was not going to ask either. Perhaps, Potter has a role to play in the Millennium Conjunction.

"Good. What is your assessment of Harry James Potter? Is he a pawn of Dumbledore like his parents?"

"I don't believe so. He is rebelling against Dumbledore's hold. I think he is working to free Black to escape Dumbledore's grip."

"Is that so. In that case…" their guest took to her feet before turning to face Damien. He was faced with the scrutiny of bright green eyes pulsing with ancient magic. "…help young Harry. He may yet prove useful to my plans."

"As you command, my Lady." he said, bowing low.

It'd seem Potter is not going to be just an ally of convenience but a possible recruit. How interesting and dangerous. After all, Dumbledore is no easy enemy to tackle.

AN:

 

Discord: discord. gg/QRTnmx8dW4

Chapter 26: Downfall of House Malfoy P1

Snapclaw faced the two shifty looking wizards grinning wickedly. If these two thought they could walk in undetected into Gringotts they were in for a rude awakening. He could smell the illusionary magic woven around the two wizards. Wizards always hold a high opinion of themselves. Just because they can use magic using wands they think they are the gift of nature. They strut around as if they own the whole world.

In truth, wizarding magic had nothing on Goblins. All the senses of his people were heightened to detect magic in its most basic form. Very few magic could escape the senses of a Goblin warrior and he is a proud Goblin warrior bred to be the very best.

Oh, he hoped these two were thieves. His axe has not seen the blood of a wizard for a long time. It's been a while since he properly unwinded himself and he was itching to crush the skulls of these two wizards.

"You two requested a closed-door meeting wizards. Know that you are charged a standard fee of five gallons per half an hour. Now, what do you want?" Snapclaw sneered, secretly taking his battle-axe from underneath the table.

He imagined having the skulls of these two fools mounted on the wall of his office. The prestige alone incurred to him and his family would be quite useful in the long run. Perhaps Master Riptooth would assign him more accounts under his supervision.

All of his daydreams however crashed and burned when the two wizards of their own volition dismissed the illusion magic. This left him in disappointment thinking of opportunities lost and glories taken away all because these wizards behaved properly. Gritting his teeth he took in the true appearance of the two wizards and his annoyance was brought down a notch when he identified the two.

"Mr Black, Mr Potter. What do you two want?" he snapped, masking his interest with disinterest and annoyance.

After all, it's not every day he gets a visit from Britain's most wanted criminal and teen celebrity. Not to mention these two were valuable customers of Gringotts.

"Master Snapclaw, we have a unique proposition in regards to the Black vaults and the siphoning of the funds by Lucius Malfoy." said Potter.

Snapclaw could practically taste the ill intent hanging in the air. He could also see that in Harry Potter's eyes. He chanced a look at Sirius Black and he could see the same wicked look on Black's face.

"I see. Let's hear it then." He said, showing lukewarm interest on the outside, while on the inside curious what these two were up to.

"We understand that Mr Malfoy took loans out of the Black vaults in significant amount of Galleons posing as the guardian of the heir of House Black."

"He was the guardian. In the absence of all suitable male Blacks the lordship and thus the ownership would have transferred to Draco Malfoy who's the son of Narcissa Black." he said, frowning at both Potter and Black.

"True. But, Sirius is no longer in Azkaban. He is not excluded from the inheritance like Andromeda Tonks. Hence, it is my understanding that Lord Black can redefine the terms of his vaults. It is his prerogative, yes?" asked young Mr Potter.

Snapclaw thought it over in his mind and slowly nodded.

"If he wants to do so, it's his property by right."

"Good." Harry Potter smiled and that smile put Snapclaw on edge as it was filled with malice. "Since, Sirius was not present when the loans were taken he intends to chart out the terms regarding the funds Lucius Malfoy took from the Black Vaults."

Now, Snapclaw was getting a vague idea of what these two wizards were up to.

"These are the updated terms of the contract by which Mr Lucius Malfoy must abide by, effective immediately." said Harry Potter, presenting Snapclaw with a stack of parchments.

Snapclaw went through the updated terms of the contract drawn by a prestigious legal firm among the wizardkind. He brushed his magic against the seal of the barrister, one Ted Tonks, and the result came authentic.

Then he went through the finer points of the document. It was quite cutthroat and he grinned at the terms outlined.

The total amount taken from the Black accounts will be considered as a single withdrawal and the interest rate has been fixed to the percentage amounting to 1000. It is also outlined that the interest will be calculated from the day of first withdrawal and Snapclaw was quite curious when it began. Then there is the time limit of one week given for Mr Malfoy to pay up the accumulated interest. There was also the penalty of an additional 100 percent of the loaned amount if the total interest is not paid within one week. Then there is also the Principal amount that ought to be paid within two weeks once the document comes into effect.

Getting curious about how this document will kick into effect on Lucius Malfoy's holdings he asked for his assistant Sniptooth to procure the transactions of Black family vaults. While Mr Potter and Mr Black waited he went through the current position of the Black Vaults. After a detailed study, he looked at the two wizards and grinned.

"Would you like to know how much Lucius Malfoy owes you Mr Black?" he asked, feeling giddy all of a sudden.

"We are eager to know Master Snapclaw." said Sirius Black, grinning from ear to ear.

"Mr Malfoy took a total of 50,00,000 Galleons. That means you are owed 64,50,00,000 Galleons in interest for the past thirteen years when this document is applied. Combining the Principal amount, you are owed 65,00,00,000 Galleons. Of course, Gringotts will be owed a substantial fee for a transaction like this." Snapclaw said, his mouth watering at the prospect of handling a lucrative transaction like this one.

"How much does Gringotts charge?" asked Harry Potter.

"Nothing much. We only charge 3% of interests gained in the recovery of private loans plus a 5% service charge." said Snapclaw.

"What if I told you we are willing to give Gringotts 10% in exchange for joining me on an exclusive in the Daily Prophet?" asked Harry Potter.

"I'd say we have a deal Mr Potter." said Snapclaw, his grin widening bordering on taking the feral quality.

It turns out, these two wizards just made his day. He was still disappointed he didn't have a skull but it was quite possible Mr Malfoy's head might just decorate his wall in the future. The Daily Prophet meeting was also to the bank's advantage. The foolish wizards paid the bank an extra 5% when he'd have done the press meet for free. After the break-in three years back, Gringotts' security was under question. This was an opportunity to regain some confidence from their overseas investors.

XXXXXXXXX

"Lumos."

White bright light rushed into Harry's eyes making him shield his eyes and turn away.

"Ow. That's too much magic for a simple light spell Neville." said Harry, keeping his eyes shielded.

"Sorry. I'm just a bit excited, that's all." said Neville, jumping from one foot to another giddy that his new wand was letting Neville explore his magic to its fullest.

"Hey, try the summoning charm. You had trouble with the charm but with a new wand, you never know." Harry suggested.

Neville nodded and raised his wand with a frown on his face.

Harry observed his friend who was struggling with confidence all along. With a brand new wand from Mr Ollivander Neville seems to be regaining his confidence step by step. He was happy that Neville was slowly coming out of his shell.

"Accio." Neville jabbed his wand towards the ground.

To Harry's and Neville's surprise, a swarm of pebbles, sand and even the football, Will Turner, a fifth-year Hufflepuff student was about to kick into the goal post rushed towards Neville. Harry had the presence of mind to hastily put up the shield charm which made all the rushing objects bounce off harmlessly against the magical shield.

"Whoa!" Neville squeaked and dropped his wand.

"Oi! What're you two playing at?" Turner shouted at them, incensed to see his chance to score the goal being cruelly ripped away.

"Sorry, Turner. Just a spell that went out of hand." Harry explained dismissing the protego charm.

The pebbles all turned to dust while the football remained intact. Harry wondered why the shield didn't try to turn the football into dust. Either way, he was thankful the ball remained intact lest he incurs wrath from the players nearby. After kicking the football towards the players in the distance Harry turned his attention to Neville who picked up his wand and was looking at the piece of wood in wonder. The wand was seven inches long made of dark red Cheery wood and the core was Unicorn hair.

"Did you see that?" Neville asked breathlessly.

"Oh, yes." said Harry, cautiously moving towards Neville who looked a bit flustered. "I think you need to calm down a bit and channel less magic into the wand while casting spells."

"Yes, that's right. I need less magic." Neville said almost absentmindedly.

Harry could actually see the wonder sparkling in Neville's eyes at the very notion. It was quite understandable really. A day ago, Neville was struggling to squeeze out an iota of magic but now he's been told to use less magic. Quite the U-turn if he ever saw one.

"Oye, Potter. Switch for me will you?" said Justin, stepping out of the court giving Harry a chance in the attacking midfielder position.

"A moment mate." he called back before turning to face Neville. "You alright Neville?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Harry. More than fine. And thank you for...you know...everything."

Seeing Neville struggling to formulate his emotions Harry patted him on the shoulder.

"Tell you what I'll help you out with the magic stuff tonight. We can go over some basic spells and work our way up. How does that sound?" Harry pitched the idea, not just for helping Neville but also for improving himself. He often found that teaching someone helps in acquiring a deeper understanding of the subject. It was true for his physics major so it should be also true for magic.

"I'd like that. Thanks, Harry." Neville smiled brightly.

Harry enjoyed an evening with good old football with some of the resident Muggleborns and Half-bloods. The game was not just a hobby for him now but an essential part of his physical recovery. Madam Pomfrey did give him quite a lot of potions for his physical development. As per her advice, since he last checked up with her, she noted his body was fast replenishing nutrition and gaining more bone density as well as muscle mass. According to Madam Pomfrey, his body was burning through all the additional medication she was providing at an accelerating pace. Harry attributed this to his regular swimming, body training and weekend football games.

When night came to the Gryffindor tower Harry lay awake in his bed tired after an enthusiastic session of magic exploration. He spent the better part of the evening and night helping Neville try out first-year spells. They concentrated on charms like tickling charm, colour changing charm, tempus charm and other basic tier spells. Neville's enthusiasm to use his magic seems to have imbued Neville with some much-needed confidence.

Harry was seriously considering including Neville in his training sessions. With Sirius's trial just a week away he was going to lose Sirius as a training partner. The outcome of the trial would hopefully be in Sirius's favour. His latest stint with the Daily Prophet should put a speedy end to Lucius Malfoy's financial holdings. He was promised the full story will be printed on Monday morning. Malfoy will be forced to borrow or even outright sell his valuables to pay back, if he ever can, the total amount owed to House Black.

Anyway, the plan outlined by Damien Greengrass was positively smashing. It was going to kick into Malfoy's financial dealings from multiple angles. Now that he has done his part it was now Mr Greengrass' time to play his part. The man should be having some hasty meetings with the investors of Daily Prophet and other businesses to ensure Malfoy's fall would be a long way down, straight to hell. Not only did Harry remove a threat to Sirius' trial, but he'd also be dealing a blow to Voldemort's second rise. Malfoy would have become the financial backer of Voldemort but now, Malfoy would be lucky if he has a Knut to his name after everything that's about to happen.

The next day Harry was the first to wake up and as per his routine, he practised for the second task in the Room of Requirement. Then he went for a run inside the room and finished his morning with a brief swim. Finishing the daily routine he sneaked back into the Gryffindor Tower to prepare for the day.

After dressing in his robes Harry waited with his backpack near the entrance hall waiting for Hermione.

"Hey, Harry."

"Seamus." he acknowledged the Irish boy who was a dab hand at blowing things up.

"Ye reckon what's wrong with Neville? He's been acting...odd."

"Odd? Odd how?" Harry asked.

"He seems sprier this morning. Did something happen?" Seamus asked, making sure no one overheard their conversation.

"He's been getting good with magic lately. Maybe, that's why." Harry answered, opting not to disclose the truth without Neville's permission.

"Harry, Seamus. What are we waiting for? Professor Flitwick must be waiting for us in the Charms class." Neville said, excitement shining in his eyes while patting both Harry and Seamus on the back before proceeding to rush out of the entrance.

"Neville. We have breakfast in the Great Hall." Harry called after Neville but the entrance door holding the Fat Lady's portrait closed before his words would have any effect.

"See... He's behaving oddly." Seamus said, amusedly looking at the closed entrance door.

"Reckon we should go after him?" asked Harry.

"Yeah let's do that. Unless Neville's got his Remembrall with him?" Seamus said with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't think so. He forgot to bring the Remembrall this year." said Harry, opening the entrance door.

"Ha! Hahaha..." Seamus' laughter echoed through the castle as they rushed after Neville.

It took them quite some time but finally, Harry and Seamus managed to track down Neville and bring the guy to the Great Hall. As usual, the Great Hall was abuzz with chatter. Harry could hear the Weasley twins explaining their new prank based on a modified catnip that could change Mrs Norris' colour to Lee Jordan. Angelina was discussing some Quidditch tactics for Chasers with Alicia and Katie.

Harry was reminded of the fact that he was asked to participate in some training sessions with the Gryffindor Quidditch team after the Second Task is completed. Somehow, Angelina managed to take permission from McGonagall. He got the exemption till now since he was preparing for the Tournament. But, he was required to attend at least two or three practice sessions before the Task is completed in February.

Owls began swooping in delivering the mail in the usual fashion. Harry looked for Hedwig while chewing on a piece of bread dipped in tomato sauce. His trusted snowy owl dived down and delivered him a copy of the Prophet. Seeing as he was about to be a proud owner of some ten percent shares in the paper within a few days he thought a daily subscription should be considered.

Harry switched his attention from the food on the table to the Prophet that was conveniently dropped into his waiting arms by Hedwig. Hedwig settled near his right arm and looked at the bacon on his plate.

"Have at it girl."

Hedwig let out a hoot before gorging herself on a slice of bacon remaining on his plate. With that out of the way, he peered at the front page of the Prophet. Rita Skeeter didn't disappoint as the headlines themselves put a smile on his face.

"The Downfall of House Malfoy."

"House Black strikes back!"

"The thievery of Lucius Malfoy comes to light!"

"Lucius Malfoy, a Pauper!"

The incessant scream from the Slytherin table was something that he expected. He was not surprised the shrill scream came from none other than Draco Malfoy. What's interesting was Parkinson also joined in on the fun by openly crying sharing the burden of the news with Draco. Harry's eyes met the blue eyes belonging to Daphne. She subtly raised her glass in his direction before going back to concentrate on the food on her plate.

"What's with Malfoy?" Neville asked frowning at all the ruckus.

Harry offered his copy of the Prophet.

The word began spreading in Hogwarts like wildfire and Harry was confident the same was happening in the British wizarding world.

It was going to be an interesting week for a Malfoy. That much he was absolutely sure.

AN:

 

Discord: discord. gg/QRTnmx8dW4

Chapter 27: The downfall of House Malfoy P2

Serena Palmer loved her life. There was nothing to not love about her life. She remained free and ran a business of her own which allowed her to live in relative luxury. A decade ago this was not her situation. She was married off to a lackwit purely based on the purity of his blood. She had begged her father not to do so but to her father, her marriage was just a business transaction.

It was a transaction that nearly wiped out her family.

Her father in his infinite wisdom thought to join the Dark Lord to purge the Muggles and Muggleborns from the world.

A ludicrous idea, in her opinion.

Wizardkind was already a shrinking population and these morons wanted to kill more people and then what? They all die out in a century or so without new blood to strengthen their bloodlines. The old Pureblood families were already waning because of their insistence on marrying between cousins.

Her fears and opinions were as usual disregarded and she was traded like cattle by her insufferable father. She cursed the existence of her father each day but soon everything changed. The Dark Lord in his infinite wisdom not only attacked the Muggleborn families but also Pureblood families that took no part in the madness. Her father never took into account that some families had the guts to fight back.

Her father and a better part of her cousins fought Frank Longbottom while raiding a muggle village in Scotland. It was a raid that decimated the males of her family save for her younger brother. It was not long before her brother was also sent to Azkaban to join his peers Thankfully, her husband and his bigoted family also got their just desserts by getting captured by the Aurors. The best part of this was that her husband died while remaining a captive in Azkaban. It freed her from the bonds of marriage and since then she has been free to chart her own destiny.

Of course, Serena's mother couldn't leave her to live in peace. Her mother's stupidity and insistence led her to be indebted to a slimy snake like Lucius Malfoy. With the wealth she inherited from her husband and her own meagre earnings she started an Acromantula silk farm. A farm that was so difficult to maintain owing to the need for skilled wizards and witches to maintain the Acromantula population. Extraction of Acromantula silk is no easy task after all. A single misstep could cause a wizard his life.

Word had reached her that Malfoy was collecting all his debts laying off his stocks and other valuables to pay off the huge debt the blonde ponce unwittingly jumped into. She knew this is a unique opportunity and she was looking forward to a visit by Malfoy.

Serena walked around the Acromantula shelter where the creatures were kept safe. From the outside, it looked like a wooden shed but on the inside, it was anything but. Wood is not exactly a barrier that posed any problem to creatures like Acromantula, even spelled wood. So, the inside of the shed has to be reinforced with spelled steel to keep the creatures imprisoned. Those spells have to be reinforced every morning and this was costly.

The Acromantula inside their rooms has to be subjugated and put under sleep before the whole room can be reinforced. Serena had tried runic works but Acromantulas are fiercely intelligent. They specifically target certain runes and chip away slowly until the whole runic structure collapse. So, she was forced to rely on spelling the inside structure every day and that required skilled wizards. She was quite fortunate to have a group of wizards and witches working for her with the necessary skills. Nowadays, it was hard to find skilled wizards and her new recruits were mostly from France. With everything that's been said about Hogwarts in the Prophet, she was not that surprised.

Her workers were hard at work within the farmhouse keeping the Acromantula comfortable in their isolated rooms. Cubicles made of spelled steel held the giant spiders back. They extracted the silk by using the steel walls as an absorbent. The spells used to accomplish this were very complex and far over her head. As a Hogwarts student, Charms remained her weakest subject but thanks to her inherited wealth she could run this business by hiring gifted Charms masters.

And what a business it is!

Acromantula silk has always been in high demand and the demand has not changed for a long time. She gathered that the demand would stay strong in the future as well. Acrmantulas are very hard to come by. They are only found in the British isles and Madagascar. So, most of her earnings came from exports which afforded her some valuable connections as well.

A sudden popping sound reached her ear. To her relief, it was Poppy, her personal House Elf.

House-elves were damn useful creatures that'd do almost anything to get some form of work. Although, these little blighters could hold a grudge far better than any wizard. Poppy was the elf of her mother and the little creature disapproved of some of her choice words to describe her old bat of a mother. In retaliation, Poppy would pop near her to startle her from time to time.

"Poppy, what's the matter?"

"Mr Malfoy seeks entry through the floo Mistress." said Poppy.

'So, you have finally come Malfoy.' she thought, a small grin adorning her face.

A few minutes later Serena sat on her favourite chair sipping tea while observing her troubled unwanted guest. Oh, she could see how troubled Malfoy was by simply looking at him. Then again it doesn't take a genius to see Malfoy is affected by the recent events.

"I'm quite surprised by your visit Lucius. It is not often that I get a visit from the head of House Malfoy." she said, keeping her eye out at Malfoy over her cup of tea.

"I'm here to collect the gold you owe me, Serena."

"Are you really?" Serena feigned ignorance. "I have always paid what is owed to you as per our agreements in monthly instalments."

She hated paying thousands of Galleons to this peacock but it was a debt she inherited from her mother. The contract was ironclad and she had little choice but to pay what was owed in the absence of any other siblings. If her brother had survived after he was released from Azkaban then the debt would've been his to bear but fate cheated her in the form of her brother's death. Her idiot brother got into a duel with some Japanese vampire in Tokyo which resulted in his head being removed. Last she heard, her brother's skull is sitting comfortably on the wall of the vampire's mansion in Tokyo. If her brother's death hadn't put her in debt she'd have sent her compliments to this vampire.

"I'm afraid I have need of all my gold back within two days." said Lucius.

Serena chuckled which turned into a peal of full-blown laughter.

"What makes you think I'll pay you a single Knut outside the instalments as per the contract? Remember, you negotiated the contract with my mother. I'm afraid I'll be paying you the amount as stipulated by the contract, nothing more."

Saying this she sat back flicking her black hair to the side observing the plethora of emotions running behind Malfoy's eyes. She was quite aware Lucius was desperate and it was this desperation that presented an opportunity.

"It is in your interest to forget the contract for the moment. I propose we create a new contract. You shall settle the debt in full and let's be honest here. It is in your interest to pay in full as I'm sure you don't want any unfortunate events to befall your business."

Serena was amused by the veiled threat from Lucius. If it was any other time she'd have been quite intimidated but not now and probably not ever.

"I don't think you understand something Malfoy. Without your gold to protect you your power is considerably diminished." said Serena, leaning back resting her cheek on her folded knuckles. "Did you think I wouldn't notice your failed attempts to reverse the debts through your contacts in the Ministry? Last I heard, your 'friends' ran from you as if you had the Dragon Pox."

"You ungrateful bitch..." Lucius snarled and he was on his feet with wand in hand.

"Poppy!"

BANG!

Serena looked on dispassionately as Lucius was blown out of his feet smashing into a table. The furniture broke down into pieces with splinters flying in all directions.

"No one threatens Mistress. Poppy won't allow it, sir! No, she will not!"

There were times Serena would think her house-elf is a bit off her rocker but she was nonetheless thankful for Poppy's presence here. The elf might worship her mother but she sure does have a mean streak when it comes to dealing with her enemies.

"Well, would you look at that." Serena took to her feet with an amused tilt to her lips. "The great all-powerful Lucius Malfoy is not so powerful after all. You might've felt all too powerful while you went around wearing a mask and slaughtered defenceless muggles, Lucius. But, those days are over."

A careful application of the disarming charm saw to it she relieved Lucius of his wand.

"I didn't like the offer you made. Now, I've got an offer of my own..." Serena smirked, pressing the tip of her wand into Lucius' neck.

A few moments later she watched Lucius take his leave through the floo with his head bowed in defeat. In the end, her little plan worked and she was finally free of any debt all thanks to a close friend whom she admired so dearly. A new contract was signed while invalidating the previous one and she settled the debt she inherited from her mother with a hefty discount.

Taking a fistful of floo powder she threw it into the fireplace. Green flames jumped out of the hearth signalling the connection to the floo network being established.

"Tonks Residence."

The flames turned bright green before simmering out into the normal orange colour.

"Andromeda, it was just like you said. The plan worked. I've managed to make Malfoy sign the contract."

"Good. Leave the rest to me." came the response from her friend.

Serena sat back and let out a relieved sigh. She sat there all alone in the large mansion reminiscing about the past. She thought of the child she lost, a punishment from the earth mother herself for daring to use the gift she bestowed upon wizardkind for rampant murder and genocide. Unlike Grindelwald, the Death Eaters were not looking to secure the future of their world. They were only serving the ego of a raving lunatic who entertained delusions of imposing his will upon the whole world.

She'd have left her brother to die in Azkaban for what he did. Yet, her mother had taken a loan to buy her brother's freedom. A loan that was now finally taken to its final resolution.

'Perhaps now, I can start a family of my own without feeling the stain of blood on my hands.' Serena thought, delighted by the feeling of freedom and peace settling in out of nowhere.

XXXXXXX

Harry ran his eyes over the latest letter from Andromeda Tonks. It'd seem their plan to wind up Malfoy was working like a charm. Andromeda has been reaching out to people who owe Malfoy any sum of money and making Malfoy bleed money all the way. It helped that Malfoy's contacts in the Ministry bailed on the guy as soon as the article in the Prophet came to light. Of course, Damien Greengrass and many other unlikely allies helped by stonewalling Malfoy's attempts to liquidate his shares in a short time.

All these events have finally pushed Malfoy to resort to selling his assets which is what they have been aiming at. Now that they have finally managed to push Malfoy to the height of desperation the former Death Eater has decided to sell off his ancestral manor as well as his businesses and land holdings to raise enough capital to pay back his debt.

When Damien Greengrass pitched this plan Harry thought long and hard to make some small tweaks here and there. Harry was not merely satisfied with trapping Malfoy in debt. He wanted the business empire as well as the connections Malfoy built over the years to his beck and call. The situation right now was truly the right time to reap everything Malfoy built. Wealth and political influence is something that'd come in handy, not only to deal with Voldemort but also to pursue his life in this world.

Living in this world for the last few months has made him realize something. He was almost 95 percent sure he was not going back to his old life and quite frankly he no longer desired to return to his old home. This world of magic offered enormous opportunities that were not available in his old world. Returning to that normal life worrying about paying rent, securing a steady paying job and whatnot was no longer that appealing. Sure, he missed his family but he could learn to live without his family. In fact, he could start a new one here and most of all he was quite addicted to the power running through his veins.

Harry took the Holly wand into his hand and he could feel the low thrum the wand was letting out.

'The ability to reshape reality to my whim. Now, who wouldn't want that?'

Harry shook his head and cast a simple spell that shot a tongue of flame out of the tip of his wand. The letter in his hand turned to ash in seconds and a simple vanishing charm swept away the remains. Leaning back against the pillowcase he proceeded to read the ritual book in his bed.

The ritual of Aura Fermitudo granted a wizard the shortcut to master the Mind Arts. Not only did it aid in the Mind Arts it also helps in the process of Animagus training. According to the surviving scrolls in Slytherin's Chamber, the ritual is Nordic in origin. Ancient Vikings used the ritual to prepare their children early for combat training against the Dementors. Harry was quite fascinated to learn that the Dementors were native to Norway. He was quite interested in how they travelled across the seas to end up in the British Isles. Most probably a wizard was involved but who'd be mad enough to bring a bunch of Dementors?

"Harry Potter sir."

Harry was a bit startled but he welcomed the appearance of Dobby with relief. He was getting a bit worried whether Dobby would fail in his task.

"Dobby has found it, sir." Dobby said excitedly, raising the pearl white horn to Harry's eye level.

"You did it Dobby. Very well done." Harry clapped Dobby on his shoulder making the house-elf puff up in pride.

The horn in Dobby's hand was a Unicorn horn. The ritual required a Unicorn horn taken from a dead Unicorn that died on a full moon. This was the sole missing piece of the ritual he had planned. And now, the final piece has fallen right into his hand thanks to Dobby. Since, tonight was a full moon this was the perfect time to conduct the ritual.

Dismissing Dobby he waited in bed for his dorm mates to fall asleep before making his move. With the aid of Dobby Harry sneaked out of the castle with all the ingredients he collected. The lake in the Forbidden Forest was the best avenue for the ritual. The ritual only becomes effective if it was conducted under the moonlight. The scrolls talked of the brightest moonlight so he gathered a full moon will do.

People always assumed the hardest part of a ritual was the runic circle. But, this was wrong.

The hardest part was finding the right ingredients. He couldn't exactly buy specific ingredients for the ritual. There were flowers that bloomed on the seventh day of the month involved in the ritual. How could he ensure that the flowers available in the open market were bloomed on the seventh day of the month? Similarly, the roots of a pine tree that turned sixteen years of age were also needed. This again required the aid of Dobby.

Setting all the ingredients aside Harry began drawing the runic circle on the floor. Since he was a novice he checked the runic circle ten times before commencing the ritual. As moonlight shined on the runic circle he called forth the Old Magic sleeping within the Ley lines of the planet to empower and bless the ritual. As the Serpent tongue called forth the ancient magic Harry closed his eyes and bathed in the silver light.

AN:

 

Discord: discord. gg/QRTnmx8dW4

Chapter 28: The Trial P1

'Breathe in…. Breath out…'

'Breathe in... Breathe out...'

This is not exactly the difficult part of Occlumency training. This was just the exercise for throwing distractive thoughts out of the head.

Occlumency at its basic form is essentially a way to create a thin space between memory and mind. Essentially, Occlumency's goal is to release the mind from the clutches of memory. A mind that's not entangled with the memory of the brain or instincts attains a certain finesse in intelligence. The mind, in such a stage, transcends the intellect and becomes something more. An intelligence that is untarnished by the baggage of memory and impressions gathered by the mind based on that memory.

Such intelligence or the untainted portion of the mind is difficult to cultivate. Mostly because of the enormous influence memory holds over the mind. Harry would have continued to believe Occlumency was just the art of clearing the mind of emotions and thoughts.

But no. It is so much more.

To truly understand how Occlumency works one must have a rudimentary understanding of Leglimency.

Leglimency is the art of invading a mind. But, just simply using Leglimency is not possible. A wizard has to seek something while using Leglimency. This means, at the tip of the Leglimency probe there is an intent that's dipped in memory.

For example, if Harry wanted to know what Neville had for breakfast on January 2 then he has to be specific about the date, the term breakfast and a general time range of the event. Without these thoughts pushing into the probe, the Leglimency attack simply falters and would find some random memory that's floating in Neville's mind. Or, it's also possible that Harry may not even stumble upon an original memory at all. The mind is immensely complex. It could be entirely possible that Neville's mind shows him the ideal breakfast according to Neville. It'd be a false memory but that's how the mind works. It's incredibly complex and versatile.

According to Slytherin's works on the mind arts, this dynamic and evolving art originated in the land of Nagas. Harry was not exactly certain which place Slytherin was talking about in his books but Slytherin seems to have learned a rudimentary form of Occlumency from these Nagas. The Nagas might be some magical tribe because Slytherin describes them as enlightened wizards. Harry got no idea what Slytherin meant but the Hogwarts founder based his knowledge of the Mind Arts on the knowledge he gleaned from the Nagas.

After fifteen minutes of meditation, Harry opened his eyes and readily jumped into the pool provided by the Room of Requirement.

Clearing the mind of all emotions seems to be a lot of work. It sounds easy in theory but it's a tough task to accomplish. Harry had thought the aura stabilization ritual would make it easier to learn Occlumency.

But, no such luck.

The ritual worked strictly as it was described in Slytherin's book. It sharpened Harry's magic to the point it cost him less magic to cast a spell. His magic no longer behaved like a turbulent river but a placid stream. A useful trick, no doubt, but Harry remained frustrated because of any lack of progress in clearing his mind.

Casting the bubblehead charm on himself, Harry plunged into the depths of the pool.

'Maybe, I need a training partner.' Harry mused.

When that realization set in Harry took his leave.

It was fairly an uneventful day except for the fact that tomorrow the Wizengamot will be in full session for Sirius' trial. A trial that has garnered wild attention even from beyond the borders of the British Isles. It has become a national embarrassment of sorts and the Ministry was being pressured by the ICW as well. The revelation that a Pureblood wizard, especially the heir of a prominent family like the Blacks, was denied a trial sort of dented the Ministry's image abroad. The Ministry has been weathering the whole event by insisting Sirius has always been a follower of the Dark Lord. Of course, Malfoy had a part in that narrative.

However, the situation has changed radically in the span of two weeks.

Malfoy was now penniless because of Harry's plan. The head of House Malfoy defaulted on the full payment as per the contract. The resulting breach of the contract has let the fines kick in and Malfoy was now in a bottomless hole of debt. Once the Ministry realised Malfoy has no chance of crawling out of the debt they dumped him. The resulting reaction from the Ministry saw Lucius being dumped in a holding cell of the DMLE on charges of threatening Ministry officials and attempted bribery. Those charges were not exactly going to hold Lucius indefinitely nor was he going to spend months in Azkaban.

However, Harry could see a scenario where he could use this to his advantage. If he could push his luck with Amelia Bones he could neutralize a lot of Death Eaters before they join Voldemort. Then again, putting them all in Azkaban is not exactly a solution.

'Hmm... This is far more complicated than I thought.' Harry mused.

"Potter! Don't just stare vacantly in the middle of practice. Keep your head in the game." Angelina shouted at Harry as she flew past him on her broom.

Harry suddenly had an epiphany and ducked just in time for the Quaffle to zoom past over his head into the waiting hands of Katie Bell. From Katie, the Quaffle once again changed hands to Alicia who was pursued by a Bludger courtesy of Fred.

Taking his eyes away from the Chasers he looked for the Snitch that was hiding somewhere around the pitch. He scanned his surrounding for any golden glint but no such luck. Harry suddenly picked up on the buzzing sound of the Snitch from behind which made him turn the Firebolt around. A glint of gold caught his eye and he gave chase.

When the practice was finally over Harry was ready to fall into a bed and take a nap. But, he was immediately swept away by the guiding hands of Hermione.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked tiredly, struggling to keep up with Hermione's pace.

"I heard Hagrid was present for the sixth years class today." said Hermione.

"He did? Then why was he avoiding us for weeks?"

"I don't know. That's what I intend to find out."

Hermione ran fast covering ground at a pace that baffled Harry and made him winded by the time they finally reached Hagrid's cabin. Unlike the last few weeks, Hagrid's cabin was open with Fang sitting near the entrance.

"Hagrid. Are you there?" Hermione called out while Harry entertained an enthusiastic Fang who welcomed them with a few hearty barks.

"I missed you too Fang." Harry rubbed the head of the enthusiastic trusted companion of Hagrid.

Hagrid appeared by the door, each step shaking the wooden floor.

"Hermione, Harry! C'mon in." said Hagrid, his cheeks taking a rosy tint.

"Where have you been? Why did you lock yourself up in your cabin just because that woman wrote something about you?" asked Hermione, staring up at Hagrid with concern shining through her eyes.

"Nobody wants me 'ere. I know how people look at me and speak about me. Being a half-giant and all..." Hagrid said, letting out a shuddering breath that sounded like a chocked cry to Harry.

"Who told you that? Just because that stupid woman wrote something on that rag of a paper doesn't make you any less Hagrid." said Hermione.

"Besides, who cares what anyone else thinks? We care about you Hagrid and we for one would like our friend back in Hogwarts. Without you Hagrid Hogwarts is not complete." said Harry, patting Hagrid on his elbow.

"It's not that easy Harry. Yeh're not a half-giant."

"True. But, I'm a Half-blood and Hermione is a Muggleborn. We are both looked down on by Pureblood bigots all the time. Does that mean we should pack our stuff and leave Hogwarts? Forget us. Look at Professor Flitwick. He's a half-goblin. You don't see him hiding away because of that do you?"

Hagrid remained unresponsive except for eyes glistering with unshed tears.

"Harry's right. You can't expect everyone to be a bigot Hagrid. There are quite a lot of people I'm sure who treasure you as we do. Surely, you know that Hagrid." said Hermione.

Hagrid, who by then was openly crying wrapped both Hermione and Harry into a hug.

"Dumbledore told me the same yesterday ya know. Great man Dumbledore. Gives people second chances and all. He gave me the Gamekeeper job after I was expelled." said Hagrid, rubbing away his tears.

Hagrid let them go from the hug which was quite a welcome gesture. Harry was nearly choking in Hagrid's binding grip. Hermione was not faring any better. But, Hagrid remained unaware of this little fact and continued on talking.

"My ol' dad used to say 'Do not be ashamed of yourself'. He'd be disappointed if he saw me now. Told me not ter bother those who do not accept me as I am ya know. He was right, my ol' dad. Wise man like Dumbledore." said Hagrid, shaking his large head and taking a seat on a nearby stool.

Hagrid suddenly looked at Harry as if seeing Harry for the first time.

"Ya know Harry. When I first met you, reminded me then and there of little ol' me. Of course, I was not scrawny like you Harry. Was right as tall as my ol' dad. But, my ol' man died when I started Hogwarts. I was an orphan like you Harry. It's been tough, living without my ol' dad." Hagrid reminisced, a faraway look in his eyes.

"Anyway, look at you now. A Champion and all. Tell me, Harry? You'll win this Harry. I know you will. It'd show 'em all... yeh don' ave ter be a pureblood to win. How yeh doing with that egg Harry?"

"I solved it. I'll win the Second Task."

"Good. Yeh show 'em, Harry." Hagrid's joy was quite palpable.

Happy with the confidence Harry was exuding Hagrid happily offered tea which Harry and Hermione readily accepted. Then their conversation shifted to the more interesting topic of Sirius' trial. It was a hot topic of discussion in many magical households. The nature of Sirius' continued evasion from capture and the nature in which he was denied trial coming to light has put a lot of attention on the event. It also helped that Harry was publicly involved in the matter so a whole lot of interest was there to the trial's outcome.

XXXXXXX

When the morning sun took to the sky Harry was ready. He was granted permission by Dumbledore to attend Sirius' trial. Seeing as he was on the witness list for seeing Peter Pettigrew in the flesh Dumbledore could not forbid him from attending the trial.

So, early morning Harry came prim and proper with a decent attire for the event. He wore classic black pants with black boots. A white shirt and a navy blue sleeves jacket over the shirt. To look the part of a wizard he had to drape a cloak over his shoulder which was of a dark green shade. All in all, he looked like he was going to a Halloween party.

At sharp nine, he was present before the gargoyle that led to Dumbledore's office.

"Toffee beans."

The gargoyle slid away to show him the stairs. Harry climbed the stairs to the office and just before he could knock on the door it swung open.

"Come in Harry."

Dumbledore sat behind his ornate desk with Fawkes observing everything silently from his perch.

"Good morning Headmaster Dumbledore." Harry greeted, carefully shifting his eyes from time to time. Just because the trial was happening doesn't mean he was willing to let his guard down around Dumbledore.

"Good morning to you as well Harry. So, how will our plans be today morning? Do we need to collect Sirius before we arrive at the Ministry?"

"Arrangements have been made for Sirius' arrival. First, I need to confirm the trial will happen at the given time before Sirius can be produced at the Ministry." said Harry.

"A prudent measure. Then I suppose you are in favour of not delaying our departure to the Ministry? Mrs Tonks should be waiting for our arrival."

Harry just nodded showing his approval.

"I assume you are familiar with the floo?"

Harry nodded and Dumbledore was the first to leave in a shower of green flames through the floo. Harry followed suit and he stepped into the Ministry atrium. Harry immediately took note of the statues of the famed Fountain of Magical Brethren. Hermione was talking about the Fountain the whole night reading about it in some book or other. The Ministry atrium was quite packed with people and their arrival did not go unnoticed. Whispers and curious eyes followed their movements every step of the way.

Harry wondered how they are going to find Andromeda Tonks in this right mess especially when Dumbledore was being greeted by every wizard and witch in the Ministry. Even Harry was not spared the attention as he was also forced to exchange some hasty greetings with people he has never met.

Somehow they managed to traverse through the crowd and locate Andromeda Tonks. Sirius' attorney was not quite alone as Harry assumed. Accompanying Andromeda Tonks was the most beautiful woman Harry ever laid eyes on. He especially liked the pink strands of hair flowing out of the woman's head. They looked like long stripes made of Sakura petals.

"So, you are the one who's driving my boss up the wall with all the trouble you made with Malfoy and Sirius." said the pink-haired woman.

"Nymphadora!" Andromeda warned with a glare.

"Hey, I had to put up extra hours because boss-lady had us working round the clock. All because the chaos unleashed by this guy had us Aurors scrambling in all directions." said Nymphadora Tonks pointing at Harry.

Harry didn't pay that any mind as he was in a world of his own mostly impaired of speech by the sheer beauty and the bubbly aura of Nymphadora Tonks.

Suddenly, Harry was thrust back into reality when Nymphadora held out her hand with a smile on her face.

"Wotcher Harry. You can call me Tonks. Just Tonks."

Struck by the convergence of everything that was happening around him Harry blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"You are so beautiful."

The second those words were out of his mouth he was mortified. Now, he understood how Ron felt that day when the red-head asked out Fleur Delecour.

AN:

 

Discord: discord. gg/QRTnmx8dW4

Chapter 29: The Trial P2

Ever since he woke up in this world and took upon the responsibility of being Harry Potter, his sole focus was on improving his magic, acquiring more power, enhancing his skills, winning the Tasks and most of all, staying alive at all costs. Every action that he took, every plans he made and every thought he had was extrapolated from his need to survive. It was not by choice but out of necessity that he built new friendships and connections.

If he truly had any choice in the matter he'd have left Hogwarts the first time he woke up and holed himself in some distant land. The Triwizard Tournament ensured his stay in Hogwarts and from there he was forced to accept the role of Harry Potter. He couldn't exactly run away with his magic bound by the Goblet of Fire. Though he loathed becoming a pawn in this farce, it was better to suck it up and live rather than die again.

To this effect, Harry had to create reasons of his own to push forward in this new life. So, the first thing he did was to consider this new life not as a curse but as a second chance. Then he began making bonds with the people around him like Hermione, Neville, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnegan, the whole Gryffindor Quidditch team, Daphne, Tracey, Sirius, Andromeda Tonks and many others.

Harry considered them all acquaintances and friends even. And amongst them all, he never felt what he was feeling right now looking at Nymphadora Tonks. He could hear his heart pumping out at an accelerated pace. Everything became crystal clear and Harry found his focus zeroing in on Nymphadora Tonks and no one else.

Suddenly, a startling realisation set in.

'I have a crush on Nymphadora Tonks.'

However, his blunt admission seems to have disarmed Tonks.

"Nice to meet you Nymphadora." Harry quickly greeted offering his hand to the young Auror.

Tonks snapped out of her frozen look to shake Harry's hand.

"Don't call me Nymphadora. Just call me Tonks."

"Okay. Tonks, it is."

Tonks retracted her hand while a coy smile graced her lips.

"So, you think I'm beautiful, huh?" asked Tonks, her hair suddenly became bright pink and her nose suddenly looked like a pig's nose.

"That's so cool." Harry crowed, his eyes lit with wonder at the magic.

For someone who grew up only seeing this on a square screen of tv, it was indeed cool. But, for Andromeda Tonks, it was another case entirely. Andromeda smacked her daughter on the head.

"Stop fooling around Nymphadora. You are an Auror on duty, not a child. Act like one." Andromeda chastised.

"Stop calling me that." Tonks growled.

As the mother and daughter fought in the middle of the Atrium Harry and Dumbledore were left in the background as observers. Harry took the time to focus on Tonks who went through a series of changes in her hair colour depending on her mood.

"Fascinating piece of magic, isn't it? Miss Tonks is a Metamorphagus. A trait that's commonly seen among the members of House Black. It is the ability to change the body to what one desires." Dumbledore explained.

"So, it's like spell-less transfiguration. Can she change into an animal then?" Harry asked.

"Imagination is the limit for a wizard or a witch."

Harry was not so keen on believing Dumbledore's idealistic view of magic. There were quite a lot of other variables involved in magic. Magical power is the first and the most important factor for a wizard or a witch. If there is no power to fuel the spells all the idealistic nonsense Dumbledore holds onto would be irrelevant. People listen and follow Dumbledore because the man is powerful, not because he is the paragon of virtue or a gentle educator. This is the same for magical spells. If there is no power involved no amount of imagination will fire up the spells. Without power, a wizard or a witch would be even less than a Muggle especially since most of wizardkind has no other skill save for their magic.

"If imagination was the only criteria then so many wizards and witches would have been great."

"What makes you think some are great while others are not?" asked Dumbledore, looking at Harry through his small spectacles with a frown.

"I know the names of Merlin, Salazar Slytherin, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw. I know these names because they accomplished something great in their time. I have no doubt that your name will also be remembered fondly for hundreds of years for defeating the Dark Lord Grindelwald." said Harry.

Dumbledore let out a long-suffering sigh as if Harry's opinions were childish and inconsequential.

"Harry, greatness is not everything in life."

"Maybe. But, it is something that everyone strives for. We are social creatures are we not? We cannot live without recognition and appreciation. It validates our existence."

"In that case, you must be satisfied. After all, no one can claim they survived the Killing curse from Voldemort." said Dumbledore.

"You and I both know I had nothing to do with the events of that night. I was a toddler barely able to crawl. It's only cause the pureblood bigots and their inflated ego that I'm being saddled with the credit for taking down Voldemort instead of my parents." said Harry, not liking the way corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitch with a satisfied smile.

"Then you understand Harry love is far more essential and powerful than any force in the world. A mother's love has the power to even hold back death." said Dumbeldore, looking far too accomplished as if the old man scored a victory of some sort.

Harry became acutely aware that Dumbledore was in his own echo chamber. The man was delusional holding onto idealistic notions blown way out of proportion. Sure, love is a powerful motivator in life and spells. But, that doesn't mean it has the power to ward off death as Dumbledore claim. It'd be more likely that James and Lily Potter managed to use some kind of protective magic triggered by their willing sacrifice.

A life for a life. An equivalent exchange of sorts. The more Harry thought about it the more he was sure there was an obscure Alchemical ritual involved during the events of that October night.

Before Harry could respond to Dumbledore's dumb-ass outlook on the events surrounding the night of Voldemort's attack, they were interrupted by the arrival of Ted Tonks.

"Mr Potter, Professor Dumbledore. The Wizengamot is ready."

Harry was a bit suspicious because Dumbledore remained by his side instead of taking his seat as the Chief Warlock.

"Shouldn't you be chairing the Wizengamot, Professor?" Harry asked.

"Ah, Harry. This is a trial which means it's under the oversight of the DMLE. My duty as Chief Warlock solely lies with the legislative format of the Wizengamot. In trials, I'm often a spectator with the possible exception of a vote afforded to my position." Dumbledore explained, his eyes twinkling merrily away as if those restrictions were the greatest thing that happened to the man.

Harry nodded in understanding while in the deep recess of his mind he couldn't help but be exasperated with the old man. Here was a man who resented and feared power and yet ended up in a position to wield enormous power. Instead of using this enormous power to cut away the rot, Dumbledore uses it to weaken the wizarding world as a whole. The sad thing was, the man was most likely not even aware he is weakening the British wizarding world.

"Mr Potter. Now would be the time for Sirius to face the Wizengamot." Ted Tonks reminded him.

Harry nodded sheepishly for losing himself in his thoughts.

"Dobby!"

With a sharp pop Dobby, his trusted House Elf teleported into the Atrium with Sirius in tow. With Sirius' arrival, the attention they were getting suddenly became threefold.

"Well, that's a lot of people." Sirius commented, looking a tad uncomfortable at the crowd. A lot of that crowd were quite scared to be near Sirius while some were openly fascinated.

"An ingenious idea Harry. Using a house-elf to transport Sirius safely into the ministry." Dumbledore commented as they made their way towards the Wizengamot chambers.

"I thought, if Dobby can sneak into Hogwarts then he can get Sirius into the Ministry quite easily."

Somehow they managed to slip into one of the lifts despite the crowd and those annoying flashlights of cameras. The Aurors posted for the protection detail of the Ministry had their hands full with controlling the crowd. Despite that, the blue cloaked Aurors made sure to check everyone using a brass scale that Harry reckoned was some kind of instrument to gauge the particulars of a wizard's wand. After carefully wading through some security measures they finally reached their destination.

Dumbledore took his seat among his peers of the Wizengamot while Harry remained by Sirius' side. The courtroom was quite large, oval in shape with all the Wizengamot members sitting on high benches.

"Mr Potter, come with me before the seats in the Gallery are filled." said Ted Tonks.

As Harry and Mr Tonks took their seats in the Gallery Sirius was led to the chair at the centre of the courtroom. Once Sirius took his seat the chains tied to the chair jumped up and locked Sirius' arms up. Harry could see the runes carved into the chains glow for a moment before dimming down.

"Magic suppression runes. The chains will ensure Sirius' magic will be suppressed throughout the trial. This way, it will be clear that the Veritaserum is effective." Ted Tonks explained, seeing Harry's furious look.

Harry calmed down a bit but he was not so sure whether to trust the Ministry. It was still possible for the Wizengamot to vote against Sirius even if the testimony is under the Truth Serum. After all, this governing body has only one interest.

Self-interest! Nothing more.

There was no obligation for the Wizengamot members to be impartial and just in their rulings. Nor was there any levers of power that holds the Wizengamot accountable for their decisions.

The Wizengamot, Harry learned, was just a sham organization that holds enormous power over the British wizarding world. Twenty-three seats in the Wizengamot chamber are reserved for the founding families of the Ministry. Out of those twenty-three families, many had gone extinct over the years. However, the number of seats in the Wizengamot never shrank. In the absence of a founding member, the seat was given to another House with suitable wealth, legacy and accomplished members. Moreover, these Houses later took on the title of Noble Houses or sometimes known as the Most Ancient and Noble Houses of the British wizarding world.

Currently, there are twenty-six hereditary seats in the Wizengamot out of a total of fifty. The rest of the seats amounting to twenty-four is held by specific department heads of the Ministry of Magic, the executive staff of the Ministry and those chosen by the Minister of Magic. The sad thing was, the Minister could pick any person for a seat in the Wizengamot and they could keep it for the rest of their life.

Since, wizards and witches mostly have a long life many of the seats in the Wizengamot were filled by the Bagnold Ministry or even the administration before Minister Bagnold. This left the Wizengamot in the hands of the Noble Houses of the Wizengamot since most of them usually vote as a block. This left people like Lucius Malfoy to exploit the system and gain too much influence with the Minister.

With Lucius Malfoy out of the picture, Harry wondered how the Noble Houses were going to vote. Sure, he did his part but he could not guarantee the Noble Houses would vote in Sirius' favour. Since this is a criminal proceeding under the direct oversight of the Wizengamot a clear majority of votes not less than twenty-six is needed to exonerate Sirius from all the charges. Harry eyed Damien Greengrass among the Wizengamot members.

Undoubtedly, the man had his reasons to help Harry. The man had surely gained something from Malfoy's fall. He just hoped the man would remember his aid and do what was necessary for Sirius.

On the off chance, this trial turned out to be a sham... Well, drastic measures have to be taken, Harry thought as he made sure that his wand remained secure in the holster.

"Order! Order! I, Cornelius Oswald Fudge hereby call this court to order. This is an emergency session of the Wizengamot acting under Article 2 of our constitution. This court will be acting as the chief judicial body of the British wizarding world for the proceedings of this day. The office of the Minister for Magic shall be operating as the chief interrogator for the duration of this trial. The proceedings of this court shall of course be under the lawful oversight of the DMLE as specified under Article 5 of our constitution. For this reason, Madame Amelia Bones, the director of the DMLE shall be operating as the co-interrogator for the duration of this trial." Fudge announced, his voice loud and clear amplified by magic.

"Let the time and date be noted. The trial of Sirius Orion Black has begun. Mrs Tonks, you have the floor for the opening statement. Please bear in mind to keep your statement concise." said Madame Bones from her seat beside Minster Fudge.

All eyes were now turned on Andromeda Tonks. Harry let out a breath he was holding and leaned forward in his seat.

Now, it begins.

XXXXXXX

Andromeda threw a brief look at her cousin. She had so many things she wanted to say and ask her cousin but she had kept all of that within. In a way, she considered Sirius more than just her cousin. Sirius was more like a brother to her. It was not just because Sirius was the only member of her arranged family she kept in contact with.

No.

She liked Sirius because he was so brave from the beginning to have veered off from the rest of her dysfunctional family. It was not easy for Sirius to live under the same roof as the rest of the Blacks. At least, she could pretend and play the perfect daughter. Sirius had the courage she could not muster even from a young age. It was for this reason she had fiercely believed Sirius was not guilty of the charges he has been accused of. The fact that slimy good for nothing Malfoy was keeping Sirius from getting a trial made her all the more certain of her cousin's innocence.

There was evidence that could set Sirius free. There were credible witnesses and there was the benefit of the doubt as well in Sirius' favour considering the portfolio of witnesses that she could pull at a single call.

But, this was not a trial conducted inside the closed courtrooms of the DMLE. There, she could argue facts and present her evidence to get a clear cut verdict. The Wizengamot however operated on another dimension.

Here, inside the Wizengamot chambers only politics matter. If she is to have her cousin set free then she has to play to the fear of the members. What better emotion is there for a politician to take you seriously? The fear of losing their power and privilege is what Andromeda intends to strike at. And strike she shall.

"Esteemed members of the Wizengamot and my magical brethren. I'm not here to convince anyone of the innocence of Sirius Black. I believe all of us can reserve our judgment after we hear the testimony from Mr Black himself under the Veritaserum." Andromeda paused to let that detail sink in. She strode to the far left side of the courtroom where the non-permanent members of the Wizengamot sat.

"Rather than defend my client's innocence I'm interested in drawing your attention to the terrible miscarriage of justice that took place in November 1981. Sirius Black was found under odd circumstances, however, that doesn't mean he does not deserve a trial. Mr Black was not just an average citizen of our world. He was an accomplished Auror who contributed quite heavily in combating the terrorist organisation known as the Death Eaters as I'm sure many among this esteemed chamber already knows."

After making sure she had the attention and some nods of acknowledgement from the left side she switched her focus to the right side where the Noble Houses took space.

"The very least he was owed was to present his side of the story, especially considering my client was the heir of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. Instead, Mr Black was thrown into Azkaban under the care of Dementors straight away without a trial. I'd like to ask, who among the esteemed gentlemen and ladies of this court has the power to condemn a wizard of my client's stature without a trial? Who among the Wizengamot has made this happen that an heir of one of the founding members of this Ministry was denied due process? This incident has set a dangerous precedent that will pierce the veil of protection afforded to average wizards and witches of our society. This incident challenges the laws that govern us and the bonds that hold our society together. So, I ask this chamber to give this trial the due diligence it deserves as it threatens the sanctity of our laws, power and above all the commitment of this body to justice and truth. Thank you."

Andromeda could see her words were having the intended effect. Some of the Wizengamot members were spooked as she was poking a hole at their privilege and power. If one of their own was not afforded basic rights then it'd present an opportunity for those who seek reforms in the Wizengamot. The Nobles could never afford to lose their power. Their power comes from the perception of their power by their allies and enemies alike. A challenge against one Noble House can become a challenge against the whole lot. They could not allow for something like that to stand. Especially, since the whole matter now got dragged into public discourse increasing the scrutiny.

She counted ten tense faces among the Nobles. The rest were either not bothered by her offhanded remarks or they were good at keeping their thoughts to themselves. Either way, her role in this matter was now nearly over.

Now, the real fun begins.

AN:

 

Discord:  discord. gg/Nw2JH25fJf

Chapter 30: The Trial P3

"Sirius Orion Black. You are accused of murdering eleven muggles in cold blood and injuring many more on the evening of November 1 of 1981. You are also accused of murdering Peter Pettigrew on the same day near Henley Street, London. How do you plead against these charges?" Fudge thundered from his elevated seat.

"Not guilty." Sirius said, staring unflinchingly at the Wizengamot members looking down at him.

"Very well then. Your attorney has filed a request for the trial to be conducted using Veritaserum. Do you object to an interrogation using the Truth Serum?"

"I'm willing to be questioned under Veritaserum." said Sirius.

"So long as the questions pertain to the crimes that are allegedly committed by my client then he will answer to the Wizengamot's satisfaction." Andromeda carefully pushed in making it clear that questions should remain strictly pertaining to the crimes.

After all, the last thing she wanted was for Sirius to get convicted of something illegal that has nothing to do with the charges levelled against her cousin.

"Noted Mrs Tonks. Administer the Veritaserum on the accused." Fudge ordered gesturing with his hand to Auror Dawlish.

Dawlish took a small glass container and poured three drops of Veritaserum down Sirius' throat. After making sure the Truth Serum was properly administered Dawlish returned to his post while the Wizengamot waited for the potion to take effect.

A minute passed before Minster Fudge began the interrogation.

"Reveal your true identity to the court."

"Sirius Orion Black, son of Orion and Walburga Black."

"What is your date of birth?"

"January 27, 1959."

"The name of your brother?"

"Regulus Orion Black."

Sirius was in a haze but he could still see Fudge and Bones exchanging a look. This was just the standard procedure for Veritaserum trials to ensure the accused was no imposter. As a hit-wizard who served in the Auror force, he was familiar with DMLE procedures for a trial.

"Were you at any point in your life a willing spy of the He-who-must-not-be-named?" asked Madam Bones.

"No."

Sirius could hear gasps from the gallery.

"Are you a member of the group called Death Eaters?"

"No."

"To your knowledge have you passed any information to a Death Eater under duress?" asked Minister Fudge who now looked a bit pale.

"No."

"Did you pass on the location of Potters to anyone without their express approval?"

"No."

"Did you know the hiding place of the Potters when they were under the Fidelius charm?"

"No."

"Who cast the Fidelius charm to hide away the Potter family?"

"Lily Potter."

"Did James and Lily Potter ask you to be their secret keeper?"

"Yes."

"Did they make you their secret keeper?"

"No."

"Who was the secret keeper of the Potters?"

"Peter Pettigrew."

This time there was a considerably more percussive reaction from not just the gallery but the Wizengamot members as well. It took some time for the Minister to take back control to proceed with the trial.

"Did you chase after Peter Pettigrew with the intent to kill?"

Now, this was a trick question. Did he think he was going to kill the rat at the time?

Certainly, yes!

Would he have gone through with his thoughts once he had Peter under his grasp?

Probably, no!

At least, not at that time. He'd kill that accursed rat without a hint of hesitation if he could have the chance right now.

Because of the truth serum, Sirius could not omit the truth despite it not being the whole truth. So, his answer came out unaltered.

"Yes."

"Did you kill Peter Pettigrew?"

"No."

"Where did you confront Peter Pettigrew?"

"London, Henley Street."

"Did you cast any spells to attack Peter Pettigrew once you confronted him on the street?"

"No."

"Who cast the spell that caused the destruction of Henley Street?"

"Peter Pettigrew."

Sirius could see Minister Fudge looking totally worn out and pale as he exchanged a look with Madam Bones. The Minister slowly leaned back in his seat and looked like someone killed his pet cat.

So, it came as no surprise to him that the next question came from Madam Bones.

"Mr Black, explain the events that transpired on Henley street of London city when you confronted Peter Pettigrew."

Finally, he got his chance to say his side. Sirius took a deep breath and explained his side of the story. He started the tale by how he tracked Peter's magical signature left in his hiding spot. He explained the spell he used to track Peter down and how he tracked Peter all the way to Henley Street. Then he explained the events that transpired between them. It was quite a story actually.

By the time he explained how Peter escaped into the sewers after leaving a finger to fake his death, Sirius felt his throat had dried up. Thankfully, he was not the only one who had enough with the court proceedings.

"I think we have all heard from Mr Black and I say with certainty that's hopefully shared by many here that this man was unjustly imprisoned and a grave injustice was done. Before I call on a vote I'd like to inform the members of the Wizengamot that there will be a special committee formed to inquire whether Bartimus Crouch misused his position as the head of the DMLE against the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black."

"Nice of Minister Fudge to carefully place all the blame on Crouch." Andromeda muttered to Sirius.

Sirius was no longer interested in any of that. He could care less about what would happen to Crouch if the petty politics Fudge was undoubtedly going to play in the wake of his trial. After years of imprisonment and the subsequent struggle his godson went through for this trial, Sirius was perhaps reevaluating his priorities. With all that's happening with the Tournament, Sirius was more worried about Harry and the enemies his godson was facing or will be facing in the near future. He was not there to support Harry all these years as James and Lily wanted him to.

But, he could support Harry now. Perhaps, in more ways than he would have been capable of when Harry was just a baby.

"I believe everyone is satisfied with the questioning. Auror Dawlish, you may administer the antidote."

On Fudge's order, Dawlish administered the antidote. It only took a few seconds for the antidote to take effect. Sirius felt as if a fog was lifted from his eyes.

"If the Wizengamot has no further questions then I suppose it is time to cast our votes. For those who find the accused guilty?"

No one raised lit wands which means the Wizengamot didn't find Sirius guilty of the crimes he was accused of.

"For those who find the accused innocent?"

Sirius counted some forty-four wands raised in the air with their tips glowing white.

"The Wizengamot has spoken. This court finds Sirius Black not guilty of any crimes he has been accused of. This court will gather three months from now to deliberate on the findings of the special committee led by Madam Umbridge regarding the misuse of DMLE and its emergency powers by its former head, Bartimus Crouch."

It was as if a great weight was lifted from his shoulder as Sirius watched the Wizengamot adjourn.

'I'm free. I'm finally free!' Sirius thought, overcome with joy.

Sirius was led towards the exit of the Wizengamot chambers by Andromeda as the crowd grew thick. Still, Sirius paid it no mind as he was focused on Harry who was greeting and shaking hands with a number of Wizengamot members.

"What's Harry doing? Why isn't he coming out with us?"

"He will join us eventually. The kid has been writing to all the Wizengamot members to vote in your favour for the last two weeks. And let me tell you, you don't want to get on the bad side of Harry Potter. Truly, the things he planned with Malfoy gives me nightmares. He is the most ruthless and brilliant fourteen-year-old I have ever known. Our grandfather would have loved him." said Andromeda, as they struggled to get out of the lens cover of the reporters not to mention the crowd of curious wizards and witches.

By the grace of Merlin, they somehow left the reporters and other curious parties behind. Sirius now sat snuggly between his godson and Andromeda in Madam Bones' office. While the trial set him free there were some other procedures left.

Sirius watched as Madam Bones handed over a small black pouch to him.

"It must contain all your belongings. If something is missing please file a complaint. The DMLE shall endeavour to find the item in question."

Sirius made a cursory look into the pouch. There was his trusted wand and everything else was inconsequential to him. Taking the Elm wand into his hand after fourteen years was like getting his wand from Ollivander all over again. Sparks sputtered out from the tip of his wand. He was truly happy now. He got his life back and he could spend the rest of his life helping Harry as James and Lily would have wanted. He was no longer a burden for his godson or any of his friends.

"Madam Bones, what will happen to Lucius Malfoy?" asked Harry all of a sudden startling not just Sirius but Andromeda as well.

"Why? Do you plan on having Mr Malfoy released from prison?" Madam Bones asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"No. Not after all the struggle I went through to destroy the man. I'm curious whether you'd use this opportunity to use Malfoy to drag all the rest of 'Imperuised' Death Eaters to where they belong."

Sirius didn't like the way Madam Bones was eyeing Harry. He knew how dangerous Bones could be as he had worked under the woman during his time in the Auror corps.

"I'm afraid not. Lucius Malfoy may have to pay a hefty fine or even spend a few months in Azkaban for the crimes he is currently accused of. Other than that, I don't plan to dig deep into Mr Malfoy's past actions." said Madam Bones, leaning back into her chair and staring unflinchingly at Harry.

"How can you.."

Sirius immediately grabbed Harry's hand and shook his head. But, Harry merely pushed him away and faced Amelia Bones head-on.

"I fail to understand you Madam Bones. You have lost a brother and sister-in-law to the Death Eaters. You have lost your parents and even most of your family died at Voldemort's hands. Why, after everything that has happened, do you not act?"

"Act against whom Mr Potter? The same men who unleashed a bloodbath and now are declared upstanding members by the Wizengamot. For whom should I act? I'm sure my brother and his wife would rather have me take care of their orphaned daughter rather than chase justice blindly. Even if I did as you ask who'll take care of my niece should something happen to me?"

Sirius stayed silent just like Harry and Andromeda. He could understand Amelia better than anyone. In a sense, Sirius supposed Amelia Bones was someone he aspired to be. He had chosen the path of vengeance after James and Lily were murdered instead of taking care of Harry. Amelia made the choice of setting aside the pursuit of vengeance for her niece, something Sirius wish he had done with Harry.

"This silence speaks enough. You are a child Mr Potter. You assume my lack of retaliation against the murderers of my family as a weakness on my part. Rather, it takes enormous restraint on my part to not retaliate in a manner that jeopardizes the future of my niece." said Amelia Bones before turning her sharp brown eyes on Sirius.

"Now, if you have confirmed all your valuables you may take your leave, Mr Black."

XXXXXXXX

Lucius sat in the cold dark cell deep underneath the Wizengamot chambers. He was intimately familiar with these cells as he had visited many of his compatriots here before arranging for their release in exchange for political favours and influence of some sort. He had even stood on the other side of the cell and boasted to his enemies of his prowess and influence within the Ministry.

The instrument of his political salvation has now become the stage for his damnation.

Lucius never thought he'd be in this position. He had carefully manoeuvred all these years into a position of strength. It had taken him years to properly set the stage for the rise of House Malfoy. The desolate and broken status of his wife's family had suited him just fine and fueled his rise in the Ministry. There was a time when he had even proudly thought that he stand on even grounds with Dumbledore.

And look at him now! Brought down to the lowest of the low by a teenager.

It was a sad day indeed.

He knows what comes next. Lucius was not ignorant of the fact that in his desperation he probably must have made many people worried. There are valuable secrets in his mind and it has the power to crush some very powerful people who are enjoying prestigious positions in their society. They could not afford to see their positions and stature disappear overnight.

So, he was now a threat to the elite group he once belonged to.

Even his wife and child will be in danger. Narcissa at least has some value as she is a beautiful pureblood witch from the House of Black. He was sure suitors would be lining up if she becomes a widow today. His son on the other hand would take the brunt of the fallout. The Malfoy name has its value because of the Wizengamot seat and their long history of pureblood heritage. Without his protection, Draco would be easily led around by powerful men who covet the power of House Malfoy.

The only option before him was to somehow escape and find the Dark Lord. There was no one else he could turn to for help. If he could aid the Dark Lord to rise then he could reclaim most of what was lost.

Lucius suddenly looked up when the bars of his prison parted away. A wizard stepped into his cell who was concerning his face under a hood. The wizard flicked his wand and a piece of rope came out of thin air and wrapped itself around Lucius' throat.

"No, please." Lucius gasped as the rope tightened around his throat.

Lucius thrashed around as he struggled to breathe. He tried to pry the rope away but the room was starting to spin in front of his eyes. With great terror, Lucius realized he was about to die.

Then, out of nowhere a bolt of red light flashed in the cell. The assassin fell down on the floor unconscious and Lucius found himself able to breathe once more. He took long deep breathes with tears running down his cheeks. After coming to his senses he looked around the cell but there was no one sans the assassin.

Suddenly, the air near the prison bars shimmered and a man stepped out of the invisibility charm. A man he was quite familiar with.

"Damien Greengrass!" he gasped.

"Surprised Lucius. You must be wondering why I'd help you. We both know we have been moving in the shadows building up our respective powers to dominate the other. It'd seem time has allowed me to win over you Lucius." said Damien Greengrass, stepping into the cell casting a dismissive look at the assassin lying on the floor.

"Have you come to gloat Greengrass?" Lucius asked, gasping for air.

"On the contrary, I've come with an offer. I offer you the chance to save your family from the hungry sharks that circle them looking to take a hefty bite." said Damien moving to a side as another figure materialized itself at the cell's entrance.

"An Unbreakable vow shall suffice to ensure your loyal servitude. In return, you get to keep your life and your family." said the witch.

It was a witch, there was no doubt in Lucius' mind. But, he wondered who it'd be for Greengrass to be in leagues with.

"Who are you?" Lucius asked as he tried to get a good look at the face.

"A dog does not need to learn the name of its master to serve. However, should you require a name you may call me Lilith."

AN:

 

https://discord.gg/QRTnmx8dW4

Chapter 31: An immortal witch

Lucius traced his fingers over the wrist of his wand arm. The lines left by the Unbreakable vow stood pronounced over his pale skin. With this mark, he realized he carried a mark on each of his arms.

At least, he took the Dark Mark willingly.

Perhaps he was ignorant of what he was stepping into at the time but he had taken the Dark Lord's mark proudly. At the time, he thought the Dark Mark was a symbol of power. It took him years to realize it was only a mark of ownership. The Dark Lord marked his followers because the Dark Lord saw his followers as his property. The Dark Lord owned the life and fate of his Death Eaters.

To a larger extent, the Dark Lord owned his followers and their families.

He had witnessed the Dark Lord easily wipe out the families of those who displeased the man despite years of leal service. The Dark Lord only cared about power and obsessed over servitude too much. This was not what Lucius thought the Death Eaters were supposed to be. He thought he was fighting to reclaim his world from the pervasion of muggle culture and radical ideas. He thought he was going to fight the muggles and their muggleborn offsprings who dared to steal the sacred magic from the world.

'How naive I was to think such nonsense.' Lucius lamented as he pulled the sleeve of his left hand to see the strengthening Dark Mark.

Lucius looked at the Dark Mark and then at the mark left by the Unbreakable vow. Out of the two marks, he certainly feared the recent mark left by the vow. The Dark Mark has yet to be the death of him but he feared rightly for his life as he took a dangerous vow.

He had joined the Dark Lord out of loyalty but also because of his father, Abraxas Malfoy. His father was a powerful leader who had worked wonders from inside the Ministry. The Dark Lord even held Abraxas Malfoy in great regard for unseating Nobby Leach, the first muggleborn Minister of Magic.

At that time, it was a huge blow to the Pureblood cause for a muggleborn to have taken the highest office in the Ministry of Magic. Leach was also a threat to the Dark Lord who had planned to unleash his campaign to take over the ministry.

'Who'd have thought this incident would draw the ire of another group whose goals are yet to be made clear.' Lucius thought.

"Why the long face Lucius? Shouldn't you be happy that your family is no longer under the threat of living in the streets?"

Lucius glared at Damien Greengrass who sported a smug grin on his face.

"You've made a slave out of me with the vow. Should I be grateful for that Greengrass?" Lucius snarled.

"You should. If Potter had his way you and your family will be left penniless and you'd be forced to serve a life sentence in Azkaban or worse the Dementor's Kiss. The boy has a vindictive streak which was a surprise to me. Nonetheless, he has been a very useful tool to bring you down." Greengrass boasted which made Lucius all the more incensed.

He could not accept the fact that he was brought low by a snot-nosed brat who was supposed to be Dumbledore's infallible stooge.

"Mr Potter certainly has surprised all of us. But, we are not here to talk about Potter. It is you Lucius, the man of the hour, who has taken my interest."

A sickly sweet voice cooed which made Lucius flinch. He could feel the witch's presence behind. It was as if he was in the presence of the Dark Lord but much more worse. He could feel the oppressive magic tightly coiled under the witch's control bearing down upon him. With the Dark Lord, the magic was always chaotic and looking to crush him underneath its weight.

However, Lilith's magic had a suffocating effect but it also looked to peel off his skin and get inside him rather than crush him with its power. If he felt small in the presence of the Dark Lord, now he felt like there was no purpose to his existence.

The worst thing was that he has no idea just who this witch is. Not for a moment did he think Lilith was the true name of the witch. While he may not have extensive contacts in other European communities he certainly had enough pull to know of any emerging dark wizards, especially one with this much wealth.

"You have been a terrible guest Lucius. After all, where is the appreciation for saving you from a disastrous debt?"

Lucius kept his head down afraid to attract the ire of the witch.

"I thank you, my lady." Lucius mumbled out his 'thanks'.

Truly, what else was he supposed to do other than swallow his pride and be a good servant for Lilith. The woman was dangerous, far more dangerous than the Dark Lord. At least, the Dark Lord was an unhinged rageaholic maniac. He could see what could trigger the Dark Lord's rage and act accordingly. But, Lilith has now forced his obedience through the Unbreakable vow. There was no room for ambiguity when it comes to dealing with Lilith.

"You know, I've imagined this moment for a long time. Your grandfather dealt my plans a heavy blow when he conspired and brought down Mr Leach from his post. Did he tell you how he accomplished that slave?"

Lucius gritted his teeth at the degrading way Lilith was addressing him but there was nothing he could do. For all intents and purposes, he became a slave the moment he swore himself to Damien Greengrass.

"He did not, my lady." said Lucius, swallowing his pride for the sake of his continued existence.

"Well, I shall tell you. Your father with the help of Lestranges and Blacks spread lies that Minister Leach was a spy for muggles. Of course, some foolish allegation alone was not going to unseat the new Minister. Your father and his Death Eater friends assassinated Leach's family and allies. It was the prelude to Voldemort's rise." said Lilith, circling Lucius with a cruel glint entering her eyes.

"Uncle Benedict also lost his life because of the Dark Lord." Damien supplied his two cents.

"Ah, yes. Benedict was one of my favourite students. And I avenged him by wiping out the Malfoy blood from the rest of Europe." Lilith smirked coldly.

Lucius' eyes widened in horror at the witch's claim. Also, how could Benedict Greengrass become the student of Lilith? The witch might be a madwoman but she looked like she was in her early thirties.

"Why are you surprised, Lucius? You know of no witch who is a famous immortal?" Lilith asked amusedly.

His eyes widened in realization.

"You! You're..."

Suddenly Lucius felt his throat contract and pain started flaring up in his heart.

'The Vow.' he hastily remembered as pain flared up all over his body. He felt as if he was being torn apart all over. He was just about to keel over dead when suddenly the pain vanished and it was as if everything was just a figment of his imagination.

"Aww. Did you forget about the vow Lucius? You are not allowed to mention me in any form or manner. You should keep that in mind always if you value your life." said Lilith, rolling her eyes uncaringly.

Lucius was now truly scared. He was in the presence of one of the most powerful witches of all time. A witch that has immense wealth on her beck and call and also a confirmed immortal. The Flamels were dangerous, very dangerous in fact that most of the wizarding world rightly feared them and went out of their way to not antagonize the couple.

Many dark wizards and Dark Lords have tried their hand at killing off the Flamels for their wealth, knowledge and influence. Yet, all have failed and fallen before the immortal couple.

The most dangerous aspect of the Flamels is that no one clearly knows when the couple achieved immortality. The common belief is that they are nearly 700 years old but this could not be verified as there is almost no hard evidence to support this information. Information provided by chocolate cards was not exactly a reliable source of information.

All everyone agreed upon was that the Flamels are rich, immortal and powerful sorcerers. Even the Dark Lord at his height of power never went after the Flamels. At least, he was not aware of any such attempts. The Dark Lord is known to be secretive on such matters.

Keeping all this in mind, Lucius became keenly aware he was in trouble here.

"I beg you. Leave my family out of this. Whatever grudge you hold against my father my wife and son had nothing to do with it. Even I don't know much about my father's doings." Lucius begged on his knees.

He looked to Damien Greengrass for some form of sympathy and support which never came.

Lucius was suddenly lifted off the ground by an unseen force and was pressed against the wall. His limbs flailed around helplessly but he stopped as Lilith came closer to his vicinity. He gulped at the fiery glint of magical power in her green eyes.

"You cannot shirk the responsibilities especially when you are the beneficiary of your father's actions. Because of you and a bunch of other idiots, my plans suffered a serious setback. You are going to fix it if you prefer to see your family alive and well."

Lucius could do nothing else but nod desperately hoping against hope to garner some goodwill for his family's sake.

"I'll do whatever you want my lady. Whatever you want!" he cried out in desperation as he felt the foreign magic coiling over the surface of his skin, for what, he did not know and he was not looking forward to finding out.

Thankfully, Lilith withdrew her magic allowing Lucius room for breath.

"Good. I want you to be a fly on the wall Lucius. When Voldemort rises, I shall help you to be of use to the Dark Lord. If you are a good boy and follow my instructions without fail, you and your family can lead a peaceful life."

Lucius could hardly refuse an order and it was an order. He either obeyed or he and his family die. So, he readily agreed and received his first set of instructions.

Life as a slave started for Lucius from that moment.

XXXXXXXX

"It won't be long before Potter and Tonks realise Malfoy escaped their trap. They will investigate how Lucius slipped away." Damien commented, knowing well not to push his boundaries with Perenelle Flamel.

"Why Damien? Are you afraid of Potter?" asked Perenelle, an amused tilt to her lips as she looked at her ally.

"You wanted the boy on your side, my lady. I'm afraid this won't give Potter a good first impression." said Damien.

"I doubt Mr Potter will be too much bothered. If he is, then he has yet to rise to my expectations. This is no time to worry about teenage boys Damien."

"I understand my lady. It's just that..." Damien trailed off.

"Ahh." Perenelle nodded in understanding. "You have finally found your Parselmouth to lift the curse."

Damien nodded.

"The only sane one as you know my lady. There have been many Parseltongues over the years but none sane or powerful enough to lift the blood curse."

"And are you sure?" asked Perenelle turning away from Damien with a peculiar look gracing her face.

"My lady?" Damien frowned.

"Are you sure Potter is the one? There have been many other Parselmouths. All of them were unstable or useless." Perenelle commented, her eyes trained on the fireplace where it continued to ebb away the wood.

"Potter is strong for his age. There is a certain finesse in his magic. Bathsheda was quite thorough in her observations about the boy."

"Hmm. I see." she absently said while she stared into the fire lost in thought.

"My lady, is something wrong? Are you perhaps not in favour of involving Mr Potter any further?" asked Damien, troubled by the long silence of his patron.

"Nothing of that sort Damien. I was just lost in thought." said Perenelle, shaking herself out of the stupor. "Do as you like with Potter."

She went back to staring at the fire. She wondered why she was suddenly overcome with a sense of concern. Perhaps she was losing her touch. She hadn't cared for her daughter so why should she care for her grandson.

After all, one who's born in fire will not wane under the sun's heat.

If she is to acknowledge her grandson then he'll have to prove his worth to her.

'Show me you can stand on your own with your shoulders back. Show me you have the power to bear the weight of this world and show me the might of your magic. Show me that you are exceptional. Stand before me and face me as an equal on the strength you built. Then and only then shall I acknowledge you as my blood Harry James Potter.'

AN:

 

https://discord.gg/QRTnmx8dW4

Chapter 32: The Second Task P1

Harry carefully aligned the broom so that he was right underneath Fred just as the bludger came into the redhead's possession. As Fred was about to smash the bludger, Harry pulled the broom straight up.

The Firebolt's advantage compared to the Nimbus models is that it has better acceleration in the first thirty seconds. There was no lurch on his body when he went for an abrupt fly-by. The Firebolt carried him through and distracted Fred from concentrating on the bludger in favour of veering away.

Instead of strictly playing the role of a Seeker Harry was asked to play interference all throughout the practice session. This was not something he was expected to do in the last three years owing to his small body frame. But now, Angelina was of the opinion that he was ready to play more aggressively next year as he was putting on some muscle and height.

Harry was quite happy with the recent role. It means there is some noticeable improvement in his growth and physique. Madam Pomfrey was also satisfied with his development. Her potions did better than expected and she credited that to his physical activity. The faster the potion-induced nutrients burn out the better it is for the body. This is the only piece of good news this week so he was going to hold onto it for the time being.

The bad news in contrast was overwhelming.

In the wake of Sirius' trial, the Ministry had launched an inquiry into Bartimus Crouch only to find the man was nowhere to be found. Once Harry learned that from Andromeda he immediately used the Marauder's Map and Crouch Senior was stuffed inside fake Moody's trunk along with the real Moody. At least, he assumed this was the case as he inferred this from the Marauder's map which showed Crouch Senior and real Moody at the corner of fake Moody's quarters.

Crouch Jr must have feared his secret getting out if his father was caught by the ministry. Hence, the death eater must have thought it is better to imprison his father for the time being.

Since Harry was not about to jeopardise Voldemort's plan, he was also not willing to act against Crouch. For the time being, Crouch will have to be allowed to play Moody's role.

The next bit of bad news was the most unacceptable one.

After all the trouble he went through, Lucius Malfoy somehow managed to survive the day. The only consolation was that the man had to sell out everything. The Daily Prophet reports that Malfoy lost all his fortune, his lands, investments, the family manor and even the last bottle of firewhisky. The Goblins also confirmed the story. All the funds as per the contract were paid in full supposedly from a German account. And no matter how much he pressured, the Goblins were not willing to divulge more on the matter.

To make matters worse, Malfoy was also free of any prison time. Harry suspected bribes were in play but he couldn't think of anyone that could bail out Malfoy with significant Death Eater leaning from Germany. Nonetheless, he was determined to find the source of Malfoy's support. As such, he requested Andromeda Tonks yesterday to keep her ears open for any bit of information. It was unlikely for the Goblins to divulge anything but you never know.

"Good game Harry. A few more practice sessions and you'll be surprising the chasers and beaters next year." said Angelina as they grounded their brooms.

"Thanks. It's a shame we didn't have Quidditch matches this year. With Oliver gone we really needed to hold try-outs for a new keeper." said Harry as he stepped out of the Quidditch gear.

"There is still time. We will find someone next year."

After saying his goodbye, Harry was rushing toward Professor Babbling's quarters. On his way, he noticed Cedric Diggory snooping around the Black Lake.

Harry was not so surprised by this turn of events.

He was wondering when Cedric would figure it out with Krum spending most of his time swimming in the Black Lake. Even Fleur Delecour had tried her hand but her 'fans' made her think otherwise. The French Champion was barely able to get some privacy. It turns out she has more obsessive fans than even Krum. And the most obsessive one so far was Roger Davies. The seventh-year Ravenclaw has been pining after the French Champion after the Yule Ball like a lost puppy.

Harry was sure there must be an interesting reason behind that but he neither had the time nor the patience to dip into the Hogwarts rumour mill.

The Second Task was only a few days away and he supposed this time it was going to be an even field. Cedric must have picked up on the Second Task by observing Krum who was a regular visitor to the lake. It was not shocking for Harry this happened. He had guessed something like this would happen. It just means he'd have to finish the Task faster than Cedric and keep the Hogwarts Champion at a disadvantage in the Third Task. That should keep Cedric from any danger.

Harry had only explored the Black Lake twice. Once he located the Merpeople village he stopped further exploration and focused on the spells essential to complete the Second Task.

Even this meeting with Professor Babbling was related to the Second Task. Of course, Hogwarts Professors were not allowed to help out with the Tasks but there are loopholes that Harry was determined to exploit.

Facing the large oak doors to Professor Babbling's quarters, he knocked twice and waited. The doors swung open and this time when he stepped in, Harry sensed the detection runes around the entrance door but he paid it no heed. With his magical aura stabilized by the ritual, Harry got a sense of foreign magic. In a castle full of versatile magic like Hogwarts, it was a bit difficult to walk a few meters without his senses getting triggered. The Occlumency training was a big help in keeping his cool but it was difficult to control some of his involuntary reactions.

"Mr Potter. Come, take a seat." Professor Babbling welcomed him jovially pointing to his usual seat.

Ever since Harry had proved he was no slacker in class and was quite interested in more practical aspects of the runes, he was welcomed far more cordially by the Ancient Runes professor. While he was a beginner in Ancient Runes, all things considered, there was that unnatural intuition that makes Harry pick up on magic working in the background. Whatever the ASB did on his mind, it seems to have been filtering Voldemort's soul shard and injecting its knowledge or at least impressions of magical knowledge into his mind.

'There is no other sensible explanation. After all, how else could I've managed to come this far in Ancient Runes in such a short time.' Harry thought, eyeing a set of parchments deriving a specific runic script improving upon the Impervious charm. 'Or maybe, I'm a super genius or something when it comes to the practical use of magic.'

"I've tweaked a small part of the block scripts for better results but overall your work was phenomenal Mr Potter." Professor Babbling complimented him.

"Thank you, Professor." said Harry, as he reviewed the changes Professor Babbling made to his runic work over several days.

"I tweaked the runes to hold out the effect for more than twenty minutes. It could be developed further in the future if you put your mind to it. Now, are you ready for the forging process?"

Harry nodded.

The forging process was something well beyond his capabilities. Simply because it was a recent development in this particular field of study. Only licenced Runic Scripters are legally allowed to do the forging. So, Harry observed the process keenly as Professor Babbling showed him her craft. It was a process that combined extensive employment of Charms and Transfiguration. The runes would be ingrained into the final product after the forging process was completed. This was far different from the usual runestone making process.

Besides, runestones were the oldest form of runic magic. They were still employed but any runescripter worth their salt has advanced away from runestone making.

It took almost an hour for Professor Babbling to complete the forging process. When it was done Harry took in the beauty of the final product. It was elegant and it was certainly powerful. He could feel the magic rolling over its surface. The bracelet shined with golden runes on its surface thrumming with magical power.

"Well...there it is!" Professor Babbling rubbed her hands in excitement with passion shining in her eyes. "Of course, it'll need to be tested."

"I can do that Professor." said Harry, taking the small bracelet from Professor Babbling's hands.

"Don't think I don't know where you are going to use it, Mr Potter. Just remember that I helped you on the premise that this is for your project next year. I expect to see you submit an improved version of the present runic cluster before your OWL exams."

"Of course, Professor."

XXXXXXX

Harry turned another page of the Transfiguration book he borrowed from the Library. This one was a recommendation from Hermione who thought advanced Transfiguration would be of some help to him in the Tasks.

She was not wrong but Transfiguration was not exactly an easy discipline of magic that can be perfected overnight. It took months of dedicated work for transfiguration spells to work as intended especially if it is human transfiguration. If it is known that he attempted human transfiguration he might just get a year's worth of detention from McGonagall. Nonetheless, there are transfiguration spells that could be used as a backup if his Plan A suffered any setbacks.

And the good news is there was no human transfiguration involved. Despite the intuitive support from Voldemort's soul shard or whatever the ASB did with his mind, he was not willing to take risks that could hamper him when there were easy alternatives.

Turning another page of the book, Harry was about to resume reading when a cushion hit him straight on his cheek breaking his concentration.

"Sorry Harry." Neville apologised before summoning the cushion back using the Summoning charm.

"Intent, Neville. You have to focus on where you want the pillow to land. If you can't see the destination in your mind the Banishing charm won't work as you intend." said Hermione.

His two friends have been going at the Banishing and Summoning charm for a while now. With Neville being an enthusiastic student eager to test his fledging magic and Hermione eager to teach someone in her own unique way, the two were having the time of their life. Professor Flitwick had rolled out this whole thing about mastering the Summoning charm and Banishing charm using a cushion. The Professor turned it into a competition of sorts and he offered a book on charms from his personal collection for the pair to maintain the spell combo for the longest without fail. Hermione and Neville were practising to stake their claim on the book.

"I don't know why you are interested in this book Hermione. You could just find out the name of the book and order one from Flourish and Blotts." Harry suggested as Hermione and Neville continued their practice.

"What if Professor Flitwick is offering a book that's rare and can't be found in Flourish and Blotts?" Hermione asked.

"Then I'm sure Hogwarts library would have it." Harry reasoned.

"In the Restricted Section." Hermione deadpanned.

"Which can be accessed by a permission slip from any of the professors. Besides, do you really think Flitwick is going to hand out the copy of a book in the Restricted section to a fourth-year?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow giving Hermione pause.

Neville chose that moment to banish the cushion into Hermione's face causing Hermione to lose focus and drop her wand.

"Well...that does it." Hermione huffed and vanished the cushion with a flick of her wand. "Have you looked over the spell I found?"

"I did. Did you know that transfigured flowers don't have the same smell as the original ones? I wonder why that's the case?" Harry mused out loud.

Hermione suddenly pulled the transfiguration book from Harry and looked it over.

"This is not the page that I marked for you to read." Hermione stared daggers at him.

A leaf fell into Harry's lap at that moment from the tree beneath which they were sitting. Harry pulled out his wand and used the transfiguration spell Hermione marked out for him. The leaf twisted into an odd shape before changing into a flipper.

"There you see. I learned your spell. All I have to do is turn my shoes into flippers during the Task." said Harry.

With a flick of his wand, he turned the flipper back to the leaf.

"That's impressive. So, you are swimming to the bottom of the lake and reclaiming something valuable to you. Is that it?" asked Neville, a little bit put off by Hermione stopping the practice session.

"Swimming to the bottom of the lake is my plan B."

"So, what's plan A?" asked Neville.

"You'll find out soon." winked Harry, before going through a small list of spells that could be useful underwater.

 

AN:

 

https://discord.gg/QRTnmx8dW4

Chapter 33: The Second Task P2

"Well, Hagrid seems to be doing okay." Harry commented from the side as he watched Hagrid introduce two Unicorn foals to the class.

Just as Professor Grubbly-Plank had managed to capture the interest of the class, Hagrid also attracted excited chitters from his Care of Magical Creatures class.

"Good thing those infernal Skrewts are nowhere to be seen. Maybe they got taken away or something." said Neville, a hopeful look on his face.

"Knowing Hagrid I highly doubt that. But, he seems to be doing okay. I wonder who planned out this lesson plan?" Harry wondered out loud but looked meaningfully at Hermione.

"Stop looking at me like that." Hermione said before hitting him on his arm.

"Like what?" Harry asked rubbing his arm.

"Like I'm the mastermind of some terrible plot or something. I just gave Hagrid some fine pointers to keep his class interesting and safe." Hermione explained.

"Well, it seems to be working so far. Look, even Parkinson has a smile on her face. That ought to tell you your plan is working like a charm Hermione." said Neville, pointing at a giggling Pansy Parkinson feeding one of the foals with a bundle of grass.

Hagrid, despite his obsession with huge monstrous magical creatures that any sensible wizard would run from, decided it was better to stick with Professor Grubbly Plank's course. So, using his innate connection with the magical creatures of the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid managed to bring two baby Unicorns to his class. It was hard enough to bring full-grown Unicorns as they are incredibly shy of exposing themselves to wizards. The fact that Hagrid somehow managed to bring two golden-skinned Unicorn foals totally blew everyone's mind. Mostly cause most wizards never manage to see a Unicorn foal in their lifetime. They are closely guarded by the adult Unicorns.

"I wonder how Hagrid managed to bring the two foals." Harry muttered as he too joined the crowd gathering around the foals.

"Gather 'round now. Just keep yer hands ter 'yerself. These foals won't run 'way from boys but they sure'd like to run 'way if they sense trouble." Hagrid said to the whole class.

Hagrid moved to the side so that the students could get more room to see the foals.

"These foals are just one year old. They grow horns when they're four, and they turn silver when they're aroun' two. They're babies so they're bit more trustin' than a full-grown Unicorns."

Harry absently paid some attention to Hagrid's explanations while looking at the two baby unicorns. They were pure gold in colour and under the sunlight, the foals looked like they were shining with a golden aura. Harry got only one word to describe the foals.

"Ethereal!"

Hagrid was suddenly on his side and quietly led him to a corner away from the crowd.

"Yeh doin' ok Harry? If you want I can let yeh go from my class. Yeh can go prepare for the Task and all." Hagrid offered.

"Don't worry Hagrid. If I can survive a full-grown dragon I have nothing to worry about in the Second Task." said Harry, patting Hagrid on his arm to reassure the friendly half-giant that he was gonna win.

"That's the spirit, Harry. You show 'em good tomorrow." Hagrid patted him on the shoulder happy to see Harry was confident about the Task.

Satisfied by the answer, Hagrid moved away from Harry to focus on the foals.

He was alone only for a moment as he was later joined by Daphne who tapped on his shoulder to gain his attention.

"Hey, Daphne. Curious to find you here after days of silence."

"Sorry. With everything that has been going on after Black's trial, my housemates were on edge. Tracey thought it'd be a good idea to keep our distance until things cooled down." said Daphne.

"And, have they? Cooled down, I mean?" Harry asked raising his eyebrow.

"For the time being." she said cautiously, not giving away anything.

"Is Draco up to no good again?" Harry asked.

"No." Daphne shook her head. "Not Draco. Let me worry about that. How's Mr Black doing?"

"He's fine. The last I heard he is in a strict potion regimen under St Mungo's healers."

"Oh. In that case, tell him I wish him a speedy recovery."

Harry nodded but he noticed Daphne was sticking around not quite sure how to proceed further.

"Is there something else Daphne?" he asked, taking pity on the girl.

Oh, how the tables have turned.

Harry distinctly remembered his time in school. Girls loved to string along boys and let them stew in the oven. The fairer sex seems to derive a sick pleasure in watching boys struggle to articulate their thoughts in the open.

So, Harry being calm and aloof was a change of position he was coming to appreciate. And just like those behavioural studies revealed, women are largely attracted to the most disagreeable male nearby. Considering the other circumstances that make him the best bad-boy available, he could see why Daphne has this crush on him.

It felt like the ball was in his court. He was in total control of this relationship. He could totally change the trajectory whenever he pleased. At least, he hoped that was the case. It could be possible he was reading too much into the situation. It has happened before and he wouldn't be surprised if it was happening right now.

'No wonder why most girls were so confident back in school. Or maybe they were pretending. Who knows what's going on inside their heads?'

"Oh. I was just wondering if you were doing okay with the Second Task and all." said Daphne, looking awkwardly around.

Harry merely smiled confidently and said, "I'll win tomorrow."

Daphne was a bit stunned by the confidence shown by Harry but she grinned and appreciated his resolve with a nod.

"Oh! Good luck then."

She was about to return to Tracey's side when Harry randomly threw a strange question at her. He couldn't help himself but throw in a subtle clue for Daphne. He was sure it'd be a surprise for her if his assumptions regarding his 'hostage' panned out.

"Have you ever seen the bottom of the Black Lake?"

Daphne frowned as she could not discern anything from Harry's eyes.

Nonetheless, she answered truthfully. "No."

"Would you like to?" Harry offered, a playful grin on his face.

XXXXXXXXXX

Harry looked out of the window enjoying the evening sun on his face. It was warm and he let out a sigh enjoying the fuzzy feeling he was getting. Taking a sip from the hot chocolate in his cup, Harry relaxed into the chair and stretched out his legs.

It was a nice day.

"Meow."

Even Crookshanks agreed with him. Perhaps, Crookshanks was appreciating Harry's generous gesture of securing the half-kneazle a bowl of fried beef for evening snacks. Reaching out with his hand, Harry scratched Crookshanks behind the ear earning an appreciative purr from the feline.

"Crookshanks is here. Where is Hermione?"

Harry turned around to face Ron who stood awkwardly by the bedside.

"I don't know." Harry shrugged and returned to gazing out of the window.

"She must be with Krum then huh?" Ron asked.

Harry let out a noncommittal hum but otherwise didn't bother to respond. Instead, he continued petting Crookshanks.

"How's Sirius doing?"

"He's alright."

Ron seems to be struggling to pick up a conversation here but Harry was not interested in entertaining one especially when he was about to face the Second Task in half an hour.

"Harry, haven't we been friends for years? Should we fight like this because of a girl?"

Harry was struck speechless for a moment by how Ron worded the whole thing. If this was the redhead's attempt to rekindle then Ron has definitely gone bonkers.

"Great question. I think it'd do some good if you ask that while looking at a mirror." Harry replied, a mocking tilt in his voice.

"Come on Harry. I'm here to make amends. I'll even tolerate Greengrass." said Ron.

Harry sat there on his chair stunned for a moment, wondering to himself whether there is any other human in the world as thick-headed as Ron Weasley. Recovering from the tangent his mind took, Harry slowly got up from the chair and faced Ron.

"You'll 'tolerate' Greengrass? Oh, how generous of you." Harry mocked.

"Harry, I'm serious. Even if she is a slimy Slytherin I can find ways to tolerate her." Ron said earnestly.

Harry stared at Ron in wonder at the sheer stupidity coming out of Ron's mouth. He wondered how anyone could become friends with Ron Weasley. It took every iota of self-restraint within him for Harry to not punch some sense into the thick skull of Ron. At least, he wanted to really give a piece of his mind but Harry imposed discipline on his mind and used Occlumency to clear out emotions encroaching into his intellect. He was just about to participate in the Task and the last thing he wanted was a distracted mind.

"I can't ask you to make such a huge sacrifice Ron. You should stay true to your hatred of all 'slimy slytherins' to the best of your ability." said Harry, before quickly taking his leave from the dorm leaving a confused Ron all alone.

Looking at his watch there was still some time left before the Task commenced. Harry preferred to be alone so he found the perfect way. Casting the disillusion charm on his body he made his way to the kitchen. A warm cup of tea and some biscuits should do the trick of freshening up his mind after the encounter with Ron.

XXXXXXXXX

Harry was dressed only in a pair of swim trunks. He had forgone the rest of his clothes as it'd only hold him back under the lake.

"You okay there Harry? If you need anything, let me know." said Neville.

"Well, I'd have preferred the sun to stay longer but those freaky clouds are in the way." Harry aroused, already feeling the chill in the air.

"Why don't you just use warming charms?" asked Neville.

"Want to conserve my magic as much as possible." Harry answered.

Then Harry felt a wand tap on his head and the feeling of warmth spread across his body.

"Here you go. All settled." said Tracey, pocketing her wand.

"Thanks." Harry nodded in appreciation.

Tracey eyed him from head to toe and let out an appreciative whistle.

"You look like one of those sculptured statues in Rome. You are catching a lot of attention from girls Harry." Tracey leaned in and whispered. "Look. Even the French Champion is eyeing you appreciatively."

Tracey was right. Fleur Delecour was indeed looking at him. The funny thing was almost the entirety of the males present were looking at Fleur with glassy eyes. She was showing more skin than she usually did due to the nature of the Task. The awkwardness of that could be seen on the French Champion's face. She was certainly not enjoying all that attention.

"Oh, I wish Daphne was here. Speaking of which..." Tracey said, before becoming serious all of a sudden. "Where is Daphne? I haven't seen her since morning."

"Well, I have an idea where she might be at the moment." said Harry eyeing the Black Lake out of the corner of his eyes.

Before he could expand on that further, Bagman loudly cleared his throat with the aid of magic magnifying his voice so that he could attract everyone's attention.

Harry joined the other three champions and faced the judges sitting behind a table. A long golden coloured cloth covered the table and there were some marked changes among the judging panel. There was no Crouch Sr. Representing the Ministry. The man was supposedly on the run, after all.

Instead, it was the Minister of Magic himself representing the British Ministry of Magic with Percy Weasley tittering around the Minister like an obedient but excited butterfly. The rest of the judges, Madame Maxime, Dumbledore, Karkaroff, and Ludo Bagman remained the same.

Bagman was on his feet, looking very pleased with himself sitting between Karkaroff and Fudge.

"Now, please ladies and gentlemen. Settle down. Before the Task commences I have an announcement to make. Due to some unforeseen events entirely out of our control, Mr Crouch is unable to stand as a judge. But, fear not for we have the Minister of Magic himself judging our brave champions in this Task. So, we heartily welcome Minister Fudge as he will also be a judge for the Third Task. Thank you Minister for allocating your valuable time for this event."

Fudge took to his feet and waved at everyone before sitting down.

"Now, with that over, we can go to the Champions. There are four champions and each of you has to recover what you lost. You have exactly one hour to retrieve this item. If you have worked out your clue you'll know what it is that you must retrieve. So, without further adieu let the seeking begin. On the count of three then. One, two, three!"

There was a loud whistle as Bagman finished the countdown and the champions all jumped into the lake except for Harry. Krum used a partial transfiguration to grow gills and become a half-shark. Fleur and Cedric used the Bubble-head charm to breathe underwater. Harry on the other hand merely raised his wand high into the air.

"Accio Firebolt!"

Fleur, Cedric and Krum were nowhere to be found as they had begun the task. Harry on the other hand was standing by the lakeside as the stands along the lake erupted in cheers supporting their favoured champions.

"What's up, Potter? You waiting for your dead parents?"

Harry could easily identify the culprit who threw that heckle. The voice was annoyingly familiar and Harry sort of expected something like this from the mini-Death Eater in training.

It was Draco Malfoy!

No shocker there as far as he was concerned. Interestingly enough, the Slytherin students sitting close to Malfoy suddenly went silent instead of their usual mocking laughter. It worked to Harry's advantage in this case as he was already prepared for a rebuttal.

"I'm waiting for your father to die Malfoy to pay a visit to your racist mother. After that good for nothing Death Eater father of yours die she needs to take care of you. With your family broke as it is she needs all the customers she can find." Harry quipped.

He couldn't see the reaction to his response as his broom chose that moment to zoom in from the sky.

Catching the Firebolt in his hand Harry tapped his wand over the small steel bracelet at the tail end of the broom. The bracelet absorbed the sliver of magic he poured into making it visibly shine with runes of power forged into its outer surface.

Harry took a look at the clock. It was nearly five minutes on the clock. Without wasting any more time Hary climbed on the Firebolt and took to the skies. Bagman, as usual, was excitingly shouting away.

"Our youngest champion has taken to the skies on his broom. What is Harry Potter planning? If the First Task was any indication people, never underestimate Harry Potter when it comes to magic."

'Nice of you to do that Bagman. That's a confidence booster.' Harry muttered.

Taking a deep breath Harry took a moment to appreciate the wind blowing on his skin. Dipping the bow of his broom Harry went straight down in a free fall assisted by the Firebolt's speed towards the general location of the Merpeople's village. The bracelet he painstakingly researched and forged with the help of Professor Babbling was designed with only one thing in mind. Its sole job is to repel water from the broom and the rider. It created a tightly knit space that repels all foreign physical elements.

In this case, the runes created a shield that has the power to repel water. Strictly speaking, he could have achieved the same with a spell instead of using runes. However, the Firebolt is a professional broom that has several top-notch safety features. It has innate magic peeled into the wood to resist any and all foreign magic. So, using runic bracelets is the only way as this was one of the Firebolt's features to be customized to the rider's preference. The tail end of the Firebolt is left with several grooves for using these spell forged bracelets. In the Americas, these bracelets are used to increase speeds for their broom racing tournaments.

'Perhaps, one day I should take a look at those tournaments. It should be fun.' Harry thought as he prepared for the next step in his plan.

Harry tapped the Holly wand against his head silently casting the Bubble-head charm. Just before his broom handle touched the lake surface Harry pointed his wand ahead.

"Protego."

A shimmering blue energy shield flickered into existence between his broom and the lake. With that Harry plunged into the dark waters of the lake. There was a booming sound as he crashed into the lake but true to the Firebolt's superiority and the protection of the runes a lot with the shield charm, Harry was completely safe.

The Bubble-head charm worked as advertised. Harry could breathe as normal as possible with the air bubble covering his head. He could feel the Firebolt humming beneath him waiting to properly accelerate in a direction.

With a flick of his wand, Harry cancelled the shield charm as there was no point in pumping magic into the spell. He only wanted the shield to cushion the impact. Water was all around him now but the runes kept them at bay. Twenty-five minutes is the best time the runes could give as attested by rigorous testing he conducted in the Room of Requirement. So he made his way into the lake.

The water should have been dark to normal eyes. Not to Harry!

Thanks to the Horus glasses he was wearing, the lake was as clear as the outside world. It barely took him 30 seconds to find the village. There was overgrown weed and other plant life abundant in the lake but that didn't bother him all that much. He manoeuvred the Firebolt expertly around all those barriers to push into the village. However, he noticed a pack of Grindylows, horned and baring their pointy teeth, surge towards him.

Clearly, they held hostile intentions.

"Expulso."

A bright pink blip of light surged outward from the tip of his wand and struck the Grindylows. They were blown away but so was Harry.

"Oh, fuck." Harry cursed as he struggled to control the Firebolt.

With some effort, Harry managed to regain control. Thankfully, the pack of Grindylows thought discretion is the better part of the valour.

With the Grindylows leaving him alone, Harry was free to enter the Merpeople's village unopposed. And that's what he did. He guided the Firebolt to the depths of the lake.

The further he went down more and more stone structures were revealed hidden beneath long grass and weed. And then, he found the hostages.

All four hostages were tied with a rope around a mermen stone statue wielding a giant trident. The Merpeople were gathered outside their stone dwellings silently watching. They had greyish skin and hair akin to the weeds floating around in the lake, long and green. Instead of legs, they had the tail end of a shark. A group of mermen were floating around the hostages with what appeared to be bronze tridents. Their bright yellow eyes followed his movement and Harry was also keeping his eyes peeled for any hostile movement from these fascinating water creatures.

Placing his hand against his heart Harry dipped his head lightly. It was a form of greeting among the Merpeople. A little something that he gleaned from Hagrid yesterday evening. Harry thought it wouldn't hurt to be a bit courteous. After all, he was participating in the freak show of a tournament at their home.

To Harry's delight, he was given a similar greeting from the Merpeople.

Harry floated towards the hostages and pointed his wand at the ropes holding Daphne.

"Relashio."

The ropes tying Daphne to the statue were swiftly removed and he pulled her into the broom. Tapping his wand against her forehead, he cast the Bubble-head charm before renervating Daphne from suspended sleep.

With a gasp, Daphne opened her eyes. Panicking, she tried to move but the water surrounding them made her movements sluggish. It took her a moment to realize where she was and what happened.

"This is the bottom of the Balck Lake. Take a good look around. We'll have to leave soon." said Harry.

Daphne looked around taking in the stone structures and Merpeople staring at them with open interest.

"Wait! You knew I was going to be put beneath the lake and never said a word!" Daphne raged against him and began hitting him on his chest as the realization began to sink in.

Harry laughed and instead of putting a stop to Daphne he pulled her close and urged the Firebolt straight up. Daphne was forced to latch on to his body as the force of the water and their movement left her with no other choice.

Together they broke out of the surface of the Black Lake and soared high into the air on the Firebolt. Thunderous applause greeted Harry's ears as he cancelled the Bubble-head charm and landed near the stands on his broom. Daphne was the first to get off the broom totally red-faced and shivering with cold. Madam Pomfrey was there to receive her and Daphne was forced to take a vial of Pepper-up potion before she was smothered under a blanket.

"Very well done Harry. You are the first to arrive and within twenty minutes no less. Absolutely marvellous!" said Bagman, squeezing Harry on his shoulder.

Bagman was back on with his voice amplified by the Sonorus charm revving up Harry's timely finish of the task. Even Fudge gave him an enthusiastic shake hand posing for a photo with the Daily Prophet photographer clicking away. Thankfully, he was dragged away from Minister Fudge and his slew of well-wishers by Madam Pomfrey.

He was promptly offered a vial of Pepper-up potion as well as blankets from the resident healer of Hogwarts. Harry didn't bother refusing any of it because of the stare that spoke volumes of Madam Pomfrey's intentions if he resisted in any way. Drowning the potion, Harry felt like he could run a marathon and barely shed a drop of sweat. His body was regularly trained by swimming for months. As such, he barely felt any effort in completing the task as all the heavy lifting was done by the Firebolt.

"You did it, Harry. You crushed everyone else. You completed the task within twenty minutes." Neville happily crowed, hugging Harry out of nowhere.

"Right you are Neville. Pair that with the parting shot Harry gave to Malfoy, it was genius." said Fred, grinning like a loon.

"Right you are twin of mine. We loved it. Malfoy was left speechless and even the Dumstrang students laughed at the ferret's expense. It was glorious!" George exclaimed, with a smile stretching ear to ear on his face.

"Shush! George, did you forget we have a snake near us?" Fred asked in a faux whisper.

Then dramatically, the Wesley twins turned around to stare at Daphne. Their act would have been better if Daphne was not shivering up a storm under the blanket.

"She looks more like a cat under the rain rather than a snake." Harry joked, earning a few chuckles and an intense stare from the Slytherin.

"Oh, look. The snakes are multiplying." said George, suddenly pointing to the crowd.

Tracey came over to Daphne's side and began helping to keep her friend warm.

"You okay?" Harry asked, taking pity on the shivering mess that was Daphne.

"I'm not talking to you." Daphne turned up her nose and liked away from him.

"Girls." Harry shrugged.

When the clock struck thirty minutes Fleur surfaced. The only problem was she was carried by the Merpeople and she failed to rescue her hostage. When Fleur regained her awareness and realized her little sister was left at the bottom of the lake she became hysterical. Of course, she tried to make another go at the task but Grindylows were all around the lake waiting for Fleur.

"She's not going to be allowed into the lake. The Grindylows have a long bloody history with Veela. They must have realised Delecour has Veela blood." said Neville.

Now, Harry could have turned a blind eye and not act at this moment. He already won and he was sure he pretty much owned this task. When the Third Task would start he'd definitely have an advantage as his points would let his early entry into the maze.

However, Harry was also aware that this was an opportunity. Dumbledore was right on one thing. This Tournament was indeed a chance to build better relationships with other people outside Britain. And Fleur Delecour was indeed a price worthy of certain risk. So, despite knowing that Fleur's sister would remain unharmed Harry mounted his Firebolt after charging the runes once more to the gasps of many.

And he was right back at the bottom of the Black Lake.

The Merpeople were not so welcoming of Harry when they realized he was there for Fleur's hostage. Harry had to use a wide area banisher to dissuade them from interfering. He was back with Gabrielle in his arms before either Krum or Cedric returned with their hostage. That fact alone earned him more cheers from the crowd.

"You zaved errr. Zaank you. Zaank you." Fleur was quite expressive showing her thanks by raining kisses down on his cheek.

Feeling a bit cheeky and frankly because he found Fleur quite attractive, Harry used the opportunity to align himself in a way that Fleur ended up kissing him on his lips. He truly did not mean anything with that action. He was just hoping to put the French Champion on the spot and have a laugh at her expense.

However, what he didn't expect was for Fleur to quickly overcome any supposed awkwardness and actually engage him in a full-on French kiss right before the whole school.

When they broke off for air Harry knew one thing. There was not a hint of awkwardness in Fleur's eyes. In fact, he saw the look on Fleur's face and he knew that he has been made.

She gave him a cheeky smile and a peck on his lips before running back to her sister.

'I'm such a moron. She knew what I was doing and she turned the table on me on spot. Now, I'm the idiot staring vacantly after her.' Harry thought.

Shaking his head he tried to clear his mind. Tried being the keyword here. Fleur's allure was lingering in the air like a finely aged wine. Its aroma unlike other times was far stronger than Harry could handle, especially in this vulnerable moment. Hence, his Occlumency was virtually non-existent. He came to the realisation that he was totally disarmed and he was struggling to decide on what to do next. It took every drop of courage left in him to not turn on his heels and run to avoid all the eyes on him especially the lens of the Daily Prophet photographer.

By the time the other champions made it to the stands with their hostages secured, Harry had the presence of mind to get properly dressed. He was still smarting from the whole debacle with Fleur but he tried to put that behind despite Fred, George and even Angelina teasing him without respite.

When the points were declared Harry did come up on top as he planned. With 49 points he was the top scorer of the day. Karkaroff had tried to decrease his points but Minister Fudge had a quiet word with the man. The one sole point he lost was because of Karkaroff.

But, that didn't bother him one bit.

All that mattered was that he got the head start he deserved in the Third Task. He was certainly not looking forward to the bomb Fleur left him in the form of the kiss. Rumours are going to fly around and he was certainly going to be at the centre of everything once again. At least, he will not be painted as the villain here.

He hoped that was the case.

AN:

 

https://discord.gg/QRTnmx8dW4

Chapter 34: The French connection

It was as he feared.

Harry might have an understanding with Rita Skeeter but that doesn't mean she was not free to smear others. Looking at the front page of the special edition of the Daily Prophet, Harry involuntarily let out a groan. No wonder why the entire occupants of the Great Hall were looking at him with pity while throwing glares of dagger at the French Champion.

Save Harry Potter from the vile clutches of the French Veela!

If the heading looked bad then the detailed article was straight out poison. If this article was written in the muggle world, there was a high probability that the Prophet would have gotten sued to kingdom come. Unfortunately, there are no laws that could be used against the Prophet in the British Isles especially considering Fleur's sub-human status. Even if Fleur identifies herself as a quarter-Veela the British Ministry of Magic would refuse to acknowledge her as such. She would still belong to the Veela species. This has been the case for Werewolves so Harry didn't think it'd be any different for Veela.

Fleur could approach the ICW but they tend to overlook incidents like this so long as there is no physical harm involved. Not to mention, the ICW can't exactly lean on an issue that has almost no legal leg to stand on. The ICW can't create laws and impose them on a member nation. Maybe, if the Daily Prophet has distribution in a nation where there are defamation laws things might be a bit different.

This shoddy state of affairs left someone like Fleur at the mercy of public smearing from dirty rags like the Daily Prophet. Maybe the Witches Weekly should hopefully put up a good piece on Fleur not that it bothered Harry much. Neither did he think it mattered much to Fleur either. She is a French witch. He'd be surprised if Fleur was an avid reader of British print media.

Not that it mattered. If Fleur was not familiar with the British print media she was going to be. As Harry learned this academic year, you can ignore the morons but the morons certainly won't ignore you.

"The ministry should look into this Harry. That Veela tart forced you to complete her Task with her Veela powers. Who knows what else she can do with her dark magic?"

Harry pinched the area between his eyes as the walking talking nuisance that was Ron Weasley began airing off his unwanted opinions at the Gryffindor table.

"Don't be an idiot Ron. Veela can't force other people to obey their commands." Hermione argued.

"How do you know huh? I bet Krum and Delecour are in on this dark magic plot against Harry." said Ron.

Harry found resistance was futile so he rolled his eyes and looked to the heavens. The enchanted ceiling of Hogwarts greeted his eyes with bright twinkling stars.

"No help is coming from there." said Katie, who was sitting next to him. "Here, have some chicken."

"Thanks." Harry said, taking the offered dish and scooping a few small pieces into his plate.

"You need anything else Harry?" asked Katie.

"Some peace of mind." Harry gestured covertly at the red-headed demon sitting beside him noisily chewing away like a caveman.

"All out of stock Harry." said Katie, a laugh escaping her lips.

"A club would do." said Harry, hitting the end of his spoon on his thumb demonstrating his intentions clear.

"A silencing charm should do the trick, Harry."

"Oh, yeah!" said Harry, covertly taking his wand into his hand.

'Langlock.'

The sheer will and intent behind the spell made it possible that there was no need for his wand to be pointed at Ron. The spell worked like a charm and Ron's tongue got stuck to the roof of his mouth providing much-needed peace to the table.

"That's a neat trick." Katie hummed in appreciation while Ron choked and heaved holding his throat.

Suddenly a commotion broke out at the Ravenclaw table. The ravens were screaming and trying to hide under their table as the fire began spreading everywhere. Interestingly enough, the table never caught fire. Only the local daily rag was becoming ashes from the orange coloured flames. In the middle of this spreading for stood Fleur Delecour with her palms surging with a raging fire that was progressively turning red.

"Mademoiselle Delecour!"

There was raw power and magic behind the Beauxbaton's Headmistress' words. The chandeliers hanging from the ceiling of the Great Hall swayed and the lights on it flickered by the magical outburst. There was a brief lull inside the Great Hall as Madame Maxime exerted her magical power over the hall.

Even Harry, who prided himself as a sensor of all things magic, was flummoxed how the French Headmistress escaped his radar. The waves of magical energy tickling his senses were enormous and its effect was fortunately strong enough to snuff out the fires.

Harry, like almost everyone else, looked between the French Champion and her Headmistress. It looked like the two were about to go at each other's throats. But, the intense staredown was broken by Fleur who proceeded to walk out of the Great Hall.

"Well, that was interesting." said Katie, after the Great Hall settled down from the drama.

"Yeah, interesting." Harry said, absently looking at the hall's entrance through which Fleur disappeared into.

The next day, the atmosphere in the castle was less hectic but Harry was still hounded by his peers about the events happening under the lake. Since the audience only got to look at the tranquil surface of the Black Lake, every bit of detail that he could divulge was gold for his audience.

Not that he was an enthusiast of sharing the story of what happened under the lake. But, getting the story out would certainly unload all the hounding, especially considering this was a Sunday. There were no classes so Harry found it hard-pressed to evade the questions. So, he found himself in the Gryffindor common room regaling the events under the lake from his point of view.

"...then I was set upon by Merpeople brandishing their tridents and all. I had to use the blasting curse to sweep them aside and rescue Gabrielle Delecour."

Finally, he was finished with the telltale session.

"How did you manage to use your broom in the lake Harry? I was under the impression brooms don't work under water bodies." asked Hermione, who was for once happy to be left alone because of her status as 'something Krum would sorely miss'.

"Oh, that...That's thanks to this beauty." said Harry, fishing out the spellforged runic bracelets used on his broom.

"Oooh!" the twins immediately zeroed in on the bracelet but Hermione was quick with her hands.

She took the bracelet into her hands and started excitedly chattering away throwing out details of runes she could find on the bracelet. While this was happening the story was slowly being spread around with some tweaks here and there. While this was happening, Harry carefully slipped out of the Gryffindor tower. Just as he reached the entrance it swung open with McGonagall on the other side.

"Ah, Mr Potter. Just the person I was looking for. You need to come with me." McGonagall said briskly.

"Am I in some sort of trouble Professor?"

"That depends... Did you do something that might land you in trouble?" McGonagall asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Not that I know of, Professor."

"Then come along. We have a long walk towards the Headmaster's office." said McGonagall before leading the way.

Shrugging his shoulders, Harry followed his Head of House.

When they finally reached the Headmaster's office it was packed with quite a lot of people.

"Harry!"

He was immediately swept into a hug by none other than Sirius.

"Sirius. I thought you were asked to rest your body?"

"I was but when has that stopped me. Besides, I have been out of prison for more than a year now. I have had enough time to rest thanks to you." said Sirius, releasing Harry from the hug, a smile stretching from ear to ear.

"Well, congratulations are in order. I hear you achieved a sweeping victory at the Second Task."

"Something along those lines. You are looking good." said Harry, once taking a close look at Sirius from head to toe. "You have filled out more. The potions seem to be working well."

"You don't know the half of it. This body is running on potions alone. My mother had this house-elf called Kreacher. The little blighter has gone bonkers living alone with my mother. Anything he cooks might be poison for all I know as he hates my guts. So, good food is getting scarce."

"Ahem!" Dumbledore cleared his throat attacking their attention.

"While I'm sure you two would like to catch up, I'm afraid we have pressing matters to attend to." said Dumbledore.

It was then Harry noticed the other group of people inside the Headmaster's office. A family of silver-blondes and blue eyes was standing conspicuously at the corner with Madame Maxime and Fleur. He easily identified the younger sister of Fleur, Gabrielle who was looking at him with a large smile. Then there was a tall man wearing shiny blue robes and an equally royal blue sugarloaf hat with a white feather on top.

Harry would have mocked the whole 18th-century dress code but there was no point compared to the flashy monstrosity covering up Dumbledore, anything was better.

"We have not met Monsieur Potter. I am Jean-Pierre Delecour. Fleur is my daughter." the man introduced himself while offering his hand.

"Glad to meet you Monsieur Delecour. You have a wonderful family." said Harry, shaking hands with Mr Delecour.

"This is my wife Apolline." Mr Delecour introduced him to what Harry would describe as the most beautiful woman in the world. However, he was expecting the natural beauty of a Veela to be a distraction so he had fortified his mind while exchanging greetings with Mr Delecour.

"Glad to meet you Madame Delecour."

"A pleasure, Monsieur Potter."

Harry nodded before turning to face Dumbledore who has yet to move from his seat behind the desk.

"So, am I to assume this has something to do with the Second Task?" Harry asked, looking at the grave faces everyone was making.

"Not exactly about the Second Task per se, Harry. But, your actions in the Second Task and the Daily Prophet article have certainly prompted this meeting." said Dumbledore.

"Mr Potter, after the article about Fleur came up in the Daily Prophet she has received several letters from the British public." Mr Delecour explained.

"Thoze were not letters Monsieur Potter. Zey were Howlerz! Some of zem 'ad poizzon and 'orribble curzzes!" Mrs Delecour claimed, looking ready to burn the miscreants if she could get her hands on them.

"I had nothing to do with any of that." said Harry, looking between the two headmasters and Fleur's family.

"Of that, we have no doubt, Harry. But, that's not why we asked you here." said Dumbledore, looking serene behind his half-moon spectacles.

"They want you to put out a statement in the Prophet refuting the claims of Skeeter. Your words should bring some much-needed respite to Miss Delecour and her family." said Sirius, then suddenly he showed hesitation before adding, "That is, of course, if the claims of the article are false. You don't have to feel pressured to do anything Harry."

"Mr Black!" McGonagall snapped.

"What?" Sirius challenged. "I was not there when this whole thing happened. If Harry was compelled to act as the Prophet seems to suggest then what would you have my godson do? Tell a lie in front of the whole world?"

Harry noticed Dumbledore, Madame Maxime and virtually everyone was going to object to Sirius. He didn't want this problem to create any more fuss. So, he decided to intervene.

"Fleur didn't use her allure. I went into the lake on my own. She had nothing to do with it." said Harry.

"Are you sure?" Sirius asked, concern shining in his eyes.

"Veela allure cannot act like the Imperius Curse, Sirius. It certainly can't make me do something that I really don't want to. Besides, even if Fleur used her allure as the Prophet suggests, I wouldn't become a drooling lovesick fool. I am a..." Harry trailed off as he didn't want the information of his Occlumency training to be out but at the same time he didn't want Fleur to feel any guilt because of her legacy.

Even if he remained sympathetic to Fleur's plight he was not willing to disclose his secrets in front of Dumbledore. The man already has enough information in his hand. Far too much, in his opinion. So, he switched gears in an instant.

"I can speak Parseltongue. I know how people can be prejudicial and idiotic morons. I had no control over the way I am born but I'm proud of everything that I was and am since my birth. And I don't want anyone else to be discriminated against because of the way they are born. One of my best friends is a half-giant and I'd trust him with my life despite what society would have me believe."

"So, what I'm saying is I'll be happy to do anything to ensure Fleur and, of course, her family is left alone."

"Wonderfully put Harry. It is our differences that make the world a brighter place. Oftentimes, we tend to forget this simple truth." said Dumbledore.

For once, Harry didn't disagree with Dumbledore.

When the meeting in Dumbledore's office concluded, Harry was frankly bored out of his mind. He lost almost an hour constructing the words he was going to use in his response to the Daily Prophet article. He could have used that time to read a book or even just play a game. Then there was the possibility of getting photo shoots and whatnot in the evening. There goes another few minutes of his valuable time.

However, he didn't want to be a jerk and leave without saying anything to Fleur. The French witch may have been dismissive of him from the start but that doesn't mean she deserved the type of insults and attacks by racist morons in the wizarding world.

"Hey, Fleur. Would it be alright if I can talk to you privately?" Harry asked and he immediately got a positive response from the French Champion.

That's how they found themselves near the Greenhouse. Thankfully, there was no one around but Harry still put up a ward to ensure nothing was overheard or they were even seen together.

"I am truly sorry that you had to go through all that. The British wizarding community is too much influenced by Pureblood supremacy. And you need not worry about your allure. It is a part of you just as Parseltongue is a part of me. Do not resent your heritage because of people who refuse to be open-minded." said Harry.

"I zank you 'arry. But, you would not have fallen for my allure, no?" Fleur asked, her eyes held a certain conviction that she knew this for a fact.

Harry then remembered Fleur had once tried to put him under the spell possibly to humiliate him at the Yule Ball.

"Ah, no. I'm a student of the Mind Arts. While I won't claim mastery over Occlumency, I have enough knowledge to withstand a foreign assault on my mind."

"Truly!" Fleur seems taken aback by his response which made Harry a bit confused.

"Yes, truly. How do you think I resisted your allure?" asked Harry curiously.

Fleur didn't answer but instead leaned forward and kissed him full on his lips. Harry, though initially surprised, did indeed actively participate in the kiss. His mind had gone blank and the exploding sensation on his lips and tongue was the only thing that remained. There was also that burning feeling in his heart that pushed and goaded him for more. His self-restraint nearly snapped when Fleur deepened the kiss as her fingers slinked into his hair holding him steady.

In the end, his hands were on Fleur's hips. It was as if a dam was broken inside his mind. A wave of emotions washed over him and every fibre of his being was overlooked with passion.

The need for air forced Fleur and Harry apart.

"Do you zink I need my allure to attract you 'arry?" Fleur asked coyly.

Harry stared into the mesmerizing pair of blue gems that were Fleur's eyes.

"No, you don't."

And they were kissing again with reckless abandon.

AN:

 

https://discord.gg/QRTnmx8dW4

Chapter 35: A forbidden love?

"So, you just let her kiss you?" asked Sirius, looking incredulously at Harry from the two-way mirror.

 

Harry had hoped sharing what happened between him and Fleur with someone would aid him in properly processing what happened. He thought being truthful about what happened and unearthing his feelings might help him in some way. Instead, all he was getting, for the time being, was an immense sense of achievement! But, Sirius' initial reaction was not approval.

 

"Harry, you dog! Way to go pup. My godson French kissing a veela! You've made your godfather proud." Sirius crowed with delight.

 

'And there it is. I stand corrected.' Harry thought as he watched Sirius begin hopping around the Black Manor laughing like a hyena.

 

"So, you don't find it weird for me to…uhh…you know…" Harry stuttered searching for words.

 

"For you to score with a veela." Sirius finished for him before breaking out into laughter. "Oh, Harry. It's not a crime for a growing boy to get interested in a girl. Especially when that girl has the hots for you for saving her sister."

 

"Uh-huh." Harry mumbled distractedly.

 

Truth be told, he was not even sure why he was even feeling like he had done some mistake. It is not as if he was committing a crime or something. As a matter of fact, it was Fleur who took up the initiative in this relationship.

 

'Is this a relationship?' Harry asked himself.

 

"Don't be so dramatic Harry. You kissed a girl. Why are you acting like the world is about to end?" asked Sirius.

 

"Tell you the truth, I don't have a clue. It's probably some stupid teenage hormones." Harry groused, rubbing his face tiredly.

 

"Listen to me, Harry." Sirius' features suddenly became sharp in the mirror. "The age that you are in and the time you spend in Hogwarts are not going to remain in your life. This is the time for you to be carefree and act like a kid. You have too much on your shoulders. So, my advice is for you to go and enjoy the little things in your life. Play pranks, make some trouble, make friends, eat sweets, play Quidditch, date girls….just enjoy! Stop worrying so much."

 

"That's a piece of nice advice, Sirius. But, there is more at stake here than you know." said Harry.

 

"The Tournament? You have done exceptionally well so far. Even if we don't know who put your name the presence of Dumbledore and Moody should keep them away from acting directly."

 

Harry kept his silence at Sirius' reasoning. Looking at Sirius' concerned face Harry was tempted to share everything he knew of what the future held. He wanted to share the knowledge in his head but one thing held him back.

 

Fear!

 

Harry feared the unintended consequences his knowledge of the events to transpire would unleash. Moreover, how would he explain the source of his knowledge? It is not as if he can just share with anyone his true origins. Most people would accuse him of madness and on the off chance they believe him, he might end up under the care of Unspeakables or worse.

 

So, his mind was split into two and both sides were warring with each other because of the coming Third Task. The general plan he had in the making was the reason behind his skittishness. After all, he was up against the most psychotic Dark Lord Britain has ever faced and certain details of his plan were surely going to piss off Voldemort. Then there was the element of risk involved as he'd be knowingly walking into a minefield. Combined that with the latest emotional entanglements were turning out to be a headache for him.

 

Seeing no other option, Harry changed the subject as he was not ready to discuss the matter.

 

"Leaving that aside. How's Winky doing?" asked Harry.

 

"Oh, yes. Thanks for sending Winky by the way. She has been a lot of help. The little old blighter is not at all happy with Winky and that alone just makes my day." said Sirius.

 

"Sirius, don't underestimate house-elves. They have powerful magic at their disposal. Making an enemy out of them is not a good idea." Harry warned.

 

"Can't help it if the resident elf hates my guts because of my loony mother. It's not like I can somehow make Kreacher like me when his resolve to hate me overrides any effort I make. Anyway, having Winky here reminds me…"

 

Sirius was suddenly gone from the mirror for a moment. Harry could hear some snippets of conversation from the other side about Sirius having what he assumed was a shouting match with Kreacher. There were some strong words being thrown around along with a shrill scream from a woman. A minute later Sirius appeared in the mirror holding a stack of books.

 

"I had to fight tooth and nail to get these beauties out of the library." said Sirius.

 

"What are those?" asked Harry, his interest piquing at the dusty old tomes in Sirius' hands.

 

"You have improved in spell casting fast and you seem to have an uncanny skill with silent magic. These books should increase your repository of spells and help you develop spell-chains." said Sirius, raising an eyebrow. "You remember those, right?"

 

"Yeah, I remember. Spell-chains are used to keep your adversary in defence and possibly to break shields."

 

"Well, there is more to them than that. Study these books. I'll have Winky set them up in the Chamber." said Sirius.

 

"Thank you, Sirius."

 

"A word of caution Harry. There are some nasty spells in the books. Borderline dark magic. I won't ask you to ignore them but be cautious. Do not overuse them and be very careful if you practice them." warned Sirius.

 

"I promise to be vigilant Sirius." Harry promised.

 

"Good. Keep up your training Harry and don't worry about what others might think of you. Enjoy your time in Hogwarts. That's what James and Lily would have wanted." said Sirius before saying goodbye and the mirror went blank.

 

There was a sudden pop. It was Winky with a stack of books in her hand.

 

"Mister Black wanted Winky to give you these books, Master Harry."

 

"Thank you, Winky. Please keep an eye on Kreacher and ask Sirius to update the wards around Black Manor."

 

"Winky will do that master." the house-elf happily nodded flapping her long ears before disappearing with the customary pop.

 

Harry leaned back in his chair and looked at the books he received from Sirius. He made a cursory look at the book covers which made him notice that most books were written by Blacks.

 

'No wonder Kreacher made a fuss. These books are heirlooms of House Black.' Harry thought.

 

Standing up from his chair Harry paced back and forth as his mind churned with indecision. The Third Task was set to take place on June twenty-fourth. There were more than three months in between for him to make a decision.

 

Two choices lay before Harry. He stopped pacing and took two papers from his table and pinned them to a board. On one paper, there was a descriptive plan which started off with an anonymous tip to the Auror office. On the other, he'd take the risk and let Voldemort's plan to kidnap him to the graveyard succeed.

 

Of course, these two plans were just being considered and Harry was yet to fill in the details.

 

'Should I extend a modicum of trust to the DMLE or should I take the risk and handle this on my own? Decisions…decisions.' Harry mused, while staring at the two pieces of paper that'd determine the way forward.

 

Noticing the time Harry made sure to smooth out any wrinkles on his robe and adjusted the grip of his tie. There was an interview to be made and he was expected to be at the Headmaster's office. Giving one last look to his lair, Harry summoned Dobby and teleported away from the Chamber.

 

XXXXXXX

 

The Great Hall was abuzz as the Daily Prophet sported Harry's statement on the front page. Although, that was a small detail compared to the juicy piece Rita Skeeter wrote about Hermione and Krum.

 

FORBIDDEN LOVE OF VICTOR KRUM!

 

Harry sneaked a peek at the couple who was supposedly having 'forbidden love' according to Skeeter. Krum was practically fuming as some of his friends from Durmstrang were whispering into his ears. Hermione on the other hand was red as a tomato looking like her head might explode with all the blood rushing to her cheeks.

 

He went back to the article at hand.

 

'The youngest Seeker in the history of professional Quidditch leads a life of great wealth, fame and comfort. Or so we assumed!

 

It is only recently, that we at the Prophet, learned about the heartache and churning state of mind of Viktor Krum who is also the Champion of Durmstrang Institute for Magical Learning. For quite a while now, young Mr Krum has been the centre of attention after his spectacular performance in the Quidditch World Cup. As a young Quidditch star, he has been most assuredly the recipient of a lot of love from his fans and admirers. Yet, the roguish Bulgarian has never shown an interest in witches. This had kept his many fans and admirers of the fairer sex hopeful for the chance to become Mr Krum's lover.

 

Unfortunately, such hopefuls may find themselves in utter disappointment. Mr Krum has finally found love at Hogwarts!

 

Hermione Granger, a bright young Muggleborn witch who also happens to be best friends with Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. It is said that the first sparks of love between the unlikely couple bloomed inside the Hogwarts library. Miss Granger being the top student of her year is an avid visitor of the Hogwarts library. If rumours are to be believed Miss Granger is also the secret behind her boyfriend's better performance even though falling behind Harry Potter in points.

 

However, their young love is being threatened by the former Death Eater and the current Headmaster of Durmstrang, Igor Karkaroff. It'd seem, though exonerated by the Wizengamot, Igor Karkaroff still holds faith in his former life choices. Apparently, the Headmaster of Durmstrang is of the view that a Muggleborn dating his student is unacceptable. Perhaps, the animosity of the Durmstrang Headmaster is because of Miss Granger's close friendship with the Boy-Who-Lived.

 

When asked about Mr Potter's friendship with Miss Granger in a recent interview with the Daily Prophet correspondent, the hero of Wizarding Britain had this to say.

 

"Hermione is my best friend. She is fiercely intelligent and competitive. She has always supported me and helped me face the Tasks head-on along with Neville Longbottom and many other Gryffindors. In the house of Gryffindor, I have a second family. I'd say she is like a sister to me."

 

It is the hope of the well-wishers of the couple that Albus Dumbledore keeps an eye on the Headmaster of Durmstrang. It is surely not a coincidence that Igor Karkaroff refuses to give points to Harry Potter despite his stellar performance in the Tasks and now his apparent disapproval of Mr Krum's relationship. The recent events have shown us that many Death Eaters have slipped through the cracks of our justice system.

 

Is Igor Karkaroff one of them? We at the Prophet hope otherwise but recent events paint a bleak picture.'

 

Harry set the Prophet down with half relief and the other half concerned. He was relieved to note the possibility of attention splitting from Fleur. At the same time, he was concerned about undue attention being heaped on Hermione. Her status as a Muggleborn could be a cause for getting negative attention from a section of the wizarding society.

 

"That….shrew of a woman. Can't she write anything except hearsay?" asked Hermione, looking astonished at the article on the front page of the Prophet.

 

"It's not just in the Prophet. There is another one in the Witch Weekly." said Katie Bell, pushing the magazine towards Hermione's side.

 

"Oh, no." Hermione let out a groan as she hid her face in her hands.

 

The only other person who found it more offensive than Hermione was Ron. The red-head was glaring daggers at the Prophet as if it contained some blasphemy. Thankfully, Harry was sitting between Katie and Angelina this time around.

 

'I need to find a suitable gift for Katie.' Harry decided, as he was enjoying the relative peace and quiet he was enjoying between the two chasers.

 

Harry quickly finished breakfast before he made a hasty retreat to the Owlery.

 

"Hedwig!" he called out and his trusted snowy owl swooped down from the group of owls perching high in the tower.

 

He tied the letter he had in his hand to one of the legs of Hedwig.

 

"Give it to Andromeda."

 

Hedwig let out a hoot before taking to the skies. It was a letter asking Andromeda to ensure strong wards around the Black Manor. With her extensive contacts, she should be able to suggest some good professionals in the field. Better safe than sorry with Malfoy most likely looking to score a hit.

 

As he was about to leave the owlery he was stopped by the arrival of Fleur. The coy smile on her lips keyed him into the reason she was present here. It was certainly not for sending an owl.

 

"Bonjour, 'Arry."

 

"I've got Potions coming up in a few minutes." Harry said, but it came out weak to his own ears.

 

"That 'eez more than 'eenough." said Fleur as she wrapped her hands around his neck.

 

"I've to 'zank you properly 'Arry." Fleur breathed into his ear.

 

'Oh, boy. Why is the French accent so hot?' Harry thought, just before his lips were engaged in a tango with Fleur.

 

It took Harry quite a bit of effort to untangle himself from Fleur. Could anybody blame him? He was a hormonal teenager with a hot girl seeking out snogging sessions in the cosiest situations and places.

 

Harry ran as fast as his legs could carry while thoughts of Fleur dominated his mind. How could they not? He was feeling the searing kisses Fleur had showered all along his neck. He could still feel her hot breath on his ears. Even his Occlumency techniques were useless in clearing these thoughts from his mind.

 

Running a flight of steps down into the dungeons Harry finally reached his destination. Unfortunately, Snape was already in the class with all the students taking their seats.

 

"Ah, of course. I was wondering where you had gone off to Potter. Perhaps, there was an interview you needed to attend." Snape silkily prodded making the Slytherins let out a small laugh.

 

Harry kept his cool refusing to take the bait.

 

"I apologise for my tardiness Professor." said Harry.

 

"I'm sure Potter. I'll be reporting you to Professor McGonagall. Now, stop wasting my time and get inside the class." Snape snapped, a satisfied smile on his face while resuming the class.

 

Harry sat next to Neville who looked like a melting ice cream.

 

"I was afraid of sitting all alone here. Where were you?"

 

Harry was reminded of Fleur's long fingers gliding through his hair making him shiver at the pleasure of the mere memory.

 

"I had a letter to send." Harry muttered as he tried to concentrate on the instructions on the board.

 

It was easier said than done. His arms went through the motions, but his mind was on Fleur and her pouty lips.

 

'I need to have a word with Fleur. There must be some boundaries.' Harry resolved.

AN:

 

https://discord.gg/QRTnmx8dW4

Chapter 36: The Half-blood Prince

“So, is there any reason why you are not going to help me with runes anymore?” asked Harry, poking Tracey with the feathery end of his quill.

 

 

“You are already better than most in our class. You don’t need my help anymore. But, the main reason is because of what you did to Daphne.” said Tracey.

 

 

Harry was taken back.

 

 

“What I did to Daphne?” Harry asked incredulously.

 

 

Tracey muttered something along the lines of ‘thick-headed boys'.

 

 

“Because of you, she got kidnapped for that stupid task..”

 

 

“I had nothing to do with that.”

 

 

It was true in a sense. He was not 100 percent sure about Daphne being his hostage. But of course, his protest fell on deaf ears.

 

 

“You rescued her and then snogged that Veela harlot in front of her and the school.”

 

 

“That was an accident.” Harry cut in and he was not happy with Tracey calling Fleur names.

 

 

“Then you ignored her for the next few days.”

 

 

“Hey!” Harry protested. “Daphne was the one who said she is not interested in talking to me. Besides, why is she bothered when Fleur kissed me?”

 

 

“Because she likes you potato head.” Tracey hissed.

 

 

“Really! She never said a word about anything like that.” said Harry, folding his hands across his chest.

 

 

A small lie. He could deduce Daphne harboured a crush but that was not relevant here.

 

 

“Then what were you doing cosying up to her at the Yule Ball? Were you just using her to get what you wanted?” asked Tracey, her voice eerily similar to the hissing of an angry snake.

 

 

“And can you say Daphne was not using me to get what she wanted?” Harry snapped back.

 

 

For once, Tracey suddenly looked hesitant and that was the wriggle room he needed.

 

 

“What did your friend tell you about our supposed date in Hogsmeade?” Harry asked, but silence was the answer. “I thought so. So, don’t come preaching to me Tracey on who is using whom.”

 

 

The silence between them stretched on while they worked on their rune work.

 

 

“Okay. Alright. I'll have Daphne speak to you and you two talk it out today evening.” Tracey finally suggested, breaking the silence.

 

 

Now, Harry was in a real bind. He was hoping Tracey would drop the topic at least for today. It'd have certainly given him some breathing room to get his emotions in order regarding Fleur. He was also not looking forward to a serious conversation with Daphne. If what Tracey said is true and Daphne genuinely liked him beyond any political necessities then it'd be foolish of him to shoot her down. He could come out clean and be truthful about his current trysts with Fleur but common sense pulled him back from making such a blunder.

 

 

Daphne is the heiress of House Greengrass and like it or not she will be inheriting a substantial fortune in the future. Her father is already a powerful man and Harry had personally witnessed how wily the man can be. With the second wizarding war looming on the horizon, Harry realized he should be looking to score allies or at worst keep as many powerful purebloods neutral. It'd be to his advantage to have the Greengrasses in his corner instead of working against him.

 

 

He was not going to give them a reason to turn against him especially when he was in the dark when it comes to the motivations behind Damien Greengrass. He did not for a moment believe the man only helped because of a wish to see Malfoy being taken down a peg or to secure obscure tomes. His mind urged him there was something at play here considering Malfoy's smooth escape from prison despite the man's financial woes.

 

 

Not just that. In the books, Astoria Greengrass ends up marrying Draco Malfoy after the war. So, he was very sceptical of Damien Greengrass' aid. The only reason he had gone out of his way to please the man was to ensure Sirius' freedom. With Sirius free, Harry was one step closer to breaking Dumbledore's hold on his life.

 

 

Keeping all this in mind Harry searched for a way to push a meeting with Daphne away till he got a grip on the issue at hand. What he needed was time to come up with a plan. The simpler way would have been to push Fleur away but that was not happening.

 

 

Not on his watch.

 

 

It was the unspoken code of his love life to not leave a beautiful woman disappointed especially when it is the woman who's approaching him. In this case, it was Fleur who approached him and initiated the relationship. He'd be an idiot to not reciprocate.

 

 

‘So, how can I escape out of this trap?’ Harry pondered.

 

 

Suddenly, his eyes widened with realization.

 

 

‘Oh, Snape. You wonderful bastard. You just saved me.’ Harry thought giddily before putting on an appropriate amount of regret on his face as he addressed Tracey.

 

 

“Sorry, Tracey. I've got detention with Snape for the whole week.” said Harry.

 

 

“But, isn’t Professor Snape supposed to be on probation? How can he assign you detention?” Tracey asked sceptically.

 

 

“He didn’t. The prick ratted me out to McGonagall for being late to Potions. She complimented me for my win on the Second Task and promptly slapped me with a week's detention with the resident bat of the dungeons.”

 

 

For a moment Tracey didn’t say anything before letting out, “Huh!”

 

 

‘What does that mean?’ Harry wondered.

 

 

He was careful not to air his thoughts out.

 

 

“Can I believe the two of you have finished your discussion, Miss Davis, Mr Potter?” asked Professor Babbling, a sharp look on her face.

 

 

Harry muttered out a hasty apology as did Tracey but it never saved them from getting detention with the Ancient Runes professor.

 

 

'Man, I really miss the point system. Without the House Cup in play, detentions were the go-to disciplinary action from the professors.'

 

 

XXXXXXXX

 

 

The dark oak doors of the dungeon stared back at him ominously. Harry could smell the residue of potion fumes lingering in the air.

 

 

He sniffed the air.

 

 

‘Hmm. Smells like ginger.’ Harry thought as he rubbed his nose.

 

 

Without further adieu, Harry knocked on the door twice and waited. The door swung open with Snape on the other side in his usual greasy self.

 

 

“Potter. I see. It'd seem even celebrities have to attend detentions.” Snape said, his classic sneer taking life on his crooked face.

 

 

“It'd seem you have to walk three flights of stairs and three long corridors to get a detention for little old me.” Harry snapped back just as fiercely.

 

 

“Mind your tongue Potter.”

 

 

“You first Snape. Your misconception is that you won some kind of victory here. The only thing you won Snape is my company. I came here out of respect for Professor McGonagall. If you are planning to present your sunny personality any longer I'll be on my way back. So, you choose.” Harry asserted, staring resolutely into the onyx-coloured eyes of Snape.

 

 

Just because he agreed to serve detention under Snape doesn’t mean he was going to tolerate Snape's unique personality. It was a battle of wills, one Harry was confident he'd win. Snape could either admit him inside or just stare at him with his exalted greasy self that'd amount to a sum total of nothing.

 

 

Of course, Snape could go to McGonagall and increase his detentions.

 

 

“Get inside and begin scrubbing the bottom of cauldrons. I want those cleaned before you clean the glass vials in the cabinet.” Snape snapped before turning away and walking into the potions class with his robes billowing behind his back.

 

 

Harry smirked at Snape's retreating form. The man would huff and puff but if Harry stands his ground Snape would fold like a lawn chair. Because they both know Snape is on thin ice. Dumbledore could only protect the Potion Master so many times.

 

 

As Harry began his work Snape became his usual douche self within a few minutes.

 

 

“Tell me, Potter. What sordid scheme are you planning with Granger this time?”

 

 

Harry looked at the Potions Master out of the corner of his eye but otherwise remained silent.

 

 

“You might be a pint-sized celebrity who can do no wrong in many eyes. I'm not one of them Potter. If I find out that you are the one who is stealing Boomslang skin from my private stores, you'll be lucky enough to get an expelling letter from Hogwarts.” Snape hissed, eyes squint and his greasy hair looking like a veil of darkness flaring in the light.

 

 

Harry said nothing and wondered how someone like Snape was being fooled by Barty Crouch Jr. Surely, if Snape's private store was being raided by Moody repeatedly then someone like Snape would have found ways to track the thief. It made him wonder whether Snape was aware of the fake-Moody prowling the halls of Hogwarts. He wouldn’t put it past both Dumbledore and Snape to play ignorant of the fake Moody.

 

 

“Do you know what is the punishment for stealing Potter?” asked Snape.

 

 

“I know it is certainly not as severe as making unsubstantiated accusations against a minor who is also the head of a founding Noble House and also has the backing of one of the richest Noble House. So, choose your next words very carefully because I can see a cold dark cell with those soul suckers for company in your near future.” Harry snapped back having enough of the bullshit from the greasy git.

 

 

“Why you arrogant little…” Snape trailed off as there was a knock on the door.

 

 

As Snape retreated to address the door Harry continued to scrub the bottoms of the cauldrons. It was then Harry noticed an open cupboard on the far end with some books on the top shelf.

 

 

It immediately struck him.

 

 

‘I'm in the potions classroom for sixth and seventh years.’ Harry thought.

 

 

He looked towards the door and it was Karkaroff on the other side looking rather pale and out of breath.

 

 

“We need to talk Severus. This is important. I won’t allow you to slither away this time.” Karkaroff said, a hint of desperation in his voice coming through.

 

 

“What do you want Karkaroff? I am rather busy.” Snape growled, looking ready to pack Karkaroff in a matchbox.

 

 

“We need to talk about this…” said Karkaroff, who proceeded to fold his left sleeve up and show it to Snape.

 

 

Harry assumed it was the Dark Mark because Snape was suddenly very reluctant to continue the conversation.

 

 

Harry paid that no mind. It was not exactly news to him that Voldemort was regaining his powers as days go by. Instead, he used the opportunity to nick something useful from the classroom. Looking forward to seeing whether his hunch was right, Harry silently uttered the Summoning charm while discreetly aiming his wand at the cupboard.

 

 

‘Accio Half-blood Prince's potion book.’

 

 

To his delight, a book flew across the classroom from the cupboard and settled in his hand. A cursory look at the book revealed it was the sixth-year potions book of the Half-blood Prince. Quickly before Snape could notice, Harry pocketed the book inside his cloak securing it with a sticking charm for good measure.

 

 

Harry took a look at the Death Eater duo. Fortunately, they were rather engrossed in their conversation to notice anything amiss in the classroom. With his part done, Harry kept his ear out for the conversation between Karkaroff and Snape.

 

 

“You know what this means Severus. He is coming back. What are we going to do?” Karkaroff sounded desperate as if his days were numbered.

 

 

“There is no ‘we’ here Karkaroff. I've made arrangements for myself.” Sample said, his dry tone capable of taking the last drop of water from a dry desert.

 

 

“Don’t you fear Him?” Karkaroff asked incredulously.

 

 

“I….” Snape suddenly stopped and turned around sharply with a thunderous expression.

 

 

“Potter! Get out.” Snape snapped.

 

 

Harry didn’t raise any protest and made his way out of the classroom. He was quite happy to be away from the Death Eater duo. Whatever they were about to discuss didn’t bother him. After all, he knew more than what they knew by this point.

 

 

Last but not least, he got what he wanted from the detention.

 

 

Harry palmed the Sixth year potions book safely tucked inside his cloak and smirked as he made his way through the halls of Hogwarts. There was more work to be done and plans to be made. It was now time to step up his training.

AN:

 

https://discord.gg/QRTnmx8dW4

Chapter 37: Down the rabbit hole

Harry ducked under the hail of Disarming charms and fired off a blast of fire using the Incendio spell. His fire was parted in the middle by a counter spell and it split away from his target. The fire twisted and turned before coalescing behind his target's back.

 

 

“Uh oh!” Harry muttered as the fire twisted into a huge ball and rushed straight for him. 

 

 

“Okay. Here goes nothing.” He muttered and began concentrating on the new spell he picked up from one of Slytherin's books.

 

 

 

Placing his wand diagonally against his palm he envisioned the rapid twisting of air.

 

 

 

“Expugno.”

 

 

A miniature twister formed over his left palm and began picking up speed. Pumping more juice into the spell, Harry pushed his palm outward. The miniature twister suddenly grew into a giant lance of storm that rushed out of his open palm. It batted away the fire and struck the hastily put-up shield of his target.

 

 

 

The lance of wind speared into the shield and began grinding against its surface. It only took five seconds before the shield shattered like glass and his spell found its mark.

 

 

The target was thrown off violently to the other end of the duelling hall. There was a loud crash and wood splintered in every direction.

 

 

“Phew! I finally got you, you stupid piece of wood.” Harry crowed as he celebrated his ‘victory’ over the duelling dummy provided by the Room of Requirement.

 

 

Of course, the dummy quickly reformed and sat quietly in the corner. But, Harry was not ready for another magical bout. He has been going at it for half an hour straight. He needed some relaxing time.

 

 

With that in mind, Harry pushed open a door and entered the room with the pool in it. Suddenly, a plate hovered near his eye level with a glass of orange juice and a packet of cigarettes.

 

 

“Thanks, Dobby. You even managed to get my favourite pack as well. Nice.” said Harry, before he drained the juice.

 

 

After that, Harry put a cigarette in his mouth. It lit up with a snap of Dobby's finger.

 

 

“Thanks, Dobby.” he said, after taking a drag of the smoke.

 

 

“Master Harry Potter sir should not use smokey. It be bad for you sir.” said Dobby in his usual squeaky voice.

 

 

Harry smiled and patted Dobby's head affectionately.

 

 

“You are a good friend Dobby. But, I'll be fine. There are cleansing rituals that should wipe out any carbon residue from my lungs.” said Harry.

 

 

He took a few more drags before vanishing the cigarette and jumping into the pool. As Harry began backpedalling he looked at Dobby who looked like he wanted to say something.

 

 

“Do you want to say something Dobby?” asked Harry.

 

 

“Oh yes, sir. Dobby found what master Harry Potter sir has been looking for.”

 

 

Now that made Harry curious.

 

 

“What do you mean Dobby?” he asked, stopping his swimming.

 

 

“Well, sir. Dobby couldn’t help but notice Harry Potter sir's plan in the nasty snakey's home sir.” said Dobby while snapping his fingers.

 

 

The sound of the snap echoed in the room and four huge metal crates fell beside Dobby with a loud thud. Just a look at the crates keyed in on what Dobby was talking about.

 

 

“Oh, Dobby. What have you done?”

 

 

Harry rubbed his face as he looked inside the crate. As he feared, Dobby went ahead and stole the essential equipment he needed for executing one of the plans for the Third Task.

 

 

“Is Harry Potter sir not happy with Dobby sir?” asked Dobby, his large green tennis ball eyes staring at Harry.

 

 

“No Dobby. But, in the future always ask me before acting on my plans alright.”

 

 

“Dobby will do that sir.” said Dobby, flattening his ears sadly.

 

 

“Tell me Dobby. Did you manage to evade the security?” Harry asked fearing the need for some cleanup. He hadn’t gone ahead with this plan because he need to master the memory charm in case of any risky elements in the mission.

 

 

“Dobby did sir. Dobby sneaked in and made everyone sleep, sir. He also took care of those pesky camies sir.” said Dobby, excitedly hopping from one leg to the other.

 

 

“Camies? Oh, you mean cameras.”

 

 

“Yes, those sir. Dobby made them go poof.”

 

 

Dobby's colourful vocabulary aside this was no laughing matter.

 

 

“Exactly how did you do that?” he asked curiously.

 

 

 

“Dobby just vanished them for a time, sir. After Dobby took what Harry Potter sir wanted he restored the camies.”

 

 

“Are you sure no one saw you Dobby?

 

 

 

“Oh yes, sir. Dobby was invisible sir.”

 

 

Harry let out a sigh of relief. He took a look at the contents of the crate once more before closing it down. He was sure the warehouse manager was going to be in a heap of trouble when they find these crates missing. There was nothing he could do about it. One man's victory is another man's defeat. It is a cosmic law. One has to die for another to flourish.

 

 

Similarly, the old system and its enablers have to die for the young to flourish.

 

 

“It seems Plan B is the way to go.” Harry muttered, as he closed the crates.

 

 

“Dobby, take these crates to the Chamber.” Harry ordered.

 

 

As Dobby disappeared with the crates Harry let out a sigh. The path forward was now clear. There was going to be a lot of work but Harry believed he could pull this off.

 

 

‘It'd have been easy if there was a way to trap Voldemort's spirit.’ Harry thought as he jumped back into the pool.

 

 

He was still reading up on the topic of Horcruxes. If there is a way to trap a split soul he'd use it on a dime. Until then, he'd be working under the assumption that Voldemort is impossible to kill or imprison.

 

 

‘Well, not exactly impossible to kill.’ Harry thought.

 

 

It was then Harry had an epiphany.

 

 

‘Ravenclaw's diadem.’

 

 

A moment later Harry stood outside the Room of Requirement pacing back and forth with one thought in his mind.

 

 

‘I need the Room of Hidden things.’

 

 

Harry repeated over and over in his mind until a door materialized on his third pass.

 

 

Stepping into the room Harry was greeted by towering walls of objects left by previous students.

 

 

“Accio Ravenclaw's diadem.”

 

 

 

Harry waited a moment but nothing happened.

 

 

“Anti-summoning jinx. That dark bastard has to make this more complicated.” Harry muttered as he began searching for the tiara of Rowena Ravenclaw the old-fashioned way.

 

 

It was near a statue of some sort. This he knew. The vanishing cabinet was also supposed to be nearby so he searched for the cabinet first. It took him nearly half an hour to wade through all the junk. He passed by old books, broken chairs, some leaking quills, and even a few axes and polearms.

 

 

“Aha!” Harry cried as he found the Vanishing cabinet.

 

 

It was covered with cobwebs and it looked like it was almost ready to fall apart.

 

 

“You are somewhere around here aren’t you?” Harry muttered as he looked around for a statue of some sort.

 

 

No such luck. So, he resumed his search but it yielded no results.

 

 

Time was slipping by and he was getting frustrated. He nearly abandoned the attempt but then Harry thought of a risky idea. Standing still and closing his eyes, Harry concentrated his magic outward so that his senses could reach out beyond the limits of his body. All his senses shut down except for the sense his magic provided him. With his magic as the metaphysical extended hand, he reached out to the surroundings. For nearly five minutes, he continued the process until finally, he felt the presence of a malevolent power within his sensory turf.

 

 

Opening his eyes, Harry rushed towards the source of malevolence. And there it was, the old tiara. Sitting innocently on a wooden box near a stone sculpture of a wizard. The blue gem on the tiara gleamed in the darkness. The closer Harry got to the tiara the urge to place it on his head surged.

 

 

‘I could become super smart. I could destroy Voldemort easily with a little more wisdom. I could learn everything about magic and become the most powerful sorcerer in the world.’

 

 

The temptation was strong.

 

 

Who wouldn’t want to become the most powerful being in the world? More power means more freedom. More freedom means more comfort. Greater the comfort greater the pleasure.

 

 

Pleasure was the ultimate pursuit of all. Without pleasure, there was no point in life. One might as well be dead without some kind of pleasure in life.

 

 

“What a price!” Harry whispered looking at the tiara.

 

 

The more he spent time looking at the tiara the more beautiful and powerful it felt. But in the end, he pocketed the tiara in a bottomless Mokeskin pouch.

 

 

“I’ll extract pleasure out of this world on my terms. I don’t need a tiara with one-sixth of a soul as a crutch.” Harry declared before he made himself scarce. 

 

 

Harry had the diadem secured in a bottomless mokeskin pouch and locked it away in a cupboard inside the Chamber. Slytherin’s Chamber would hold the diadem till he was prepared to safely dispatch the Horcrux. Besides, there was one more Horcrux within his reach. Slytherin's locket should be safely tucked away in Grimmauld place. Having the locket in his hand should be a priority, especially considering the risks involved in the Third Task.

 

 

After securing the diadem Harry decided it was time to pay a visit to the library. He had some books to return. However, Harry froze when he stepped outside the Chamber's entrance as he came face to face with the Ravenclaw tower's ghost.

 

 

She looked like she was about to say something but then paused. The ghost of Helena Ravenclaw turned away from him and floated away without saying a word.

 

 

Regaining his bearings Harry ran after the ghost.

 

 

“Wait!”

 

 

He picked up speed but he was nowhere near fast enough to catch a ghost. He turned a corner and the ghost of Helena Ravenclaw was nowhere to be seen.

 

 

“Great.” Harry muttered dejectedly as he missed the chance to explain himself to the daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw.

 

 

He felt a bit sorry for her. Even if centuries have passed the diadem is still the heirloom of one of the greatest witches born in this world. It must have been painful for Helena Ravenclaw to watch helplessly as the diadem was desecrated with Voldemort's vile magic.

 

 

“You seem upset Harry Potter. Maybe you should take care of those Nargles circling your head.” said a melodic voice from his back.

 

 

Quickly turning around Harry was greeted by a dirty-blonde-haired girl with large purple glasses blinking away with odd lights. With one look at her, Harry immediately recognized who it was.

 

 

“Hi. I'm Harry Potter.” He introduced himself offering his hand.

 

 

“Nice to meet you, Harry Potter. I'm Luna Lovegood.” said Luna, a vacant smile on her face while shaking his hand.

 

 

“Can I ask you a question, Harry?”

 

 

“Sure.”

 

 

“Did you happen to see my wand by chance?” asked Luna.

 

 

“Oh. Umm... You have your wand on your hair.” said Harry, pointing at the piece of wood sticking out of the blonde bun of her hair.

 

 

“Oh. Silly me.” Luna tittered as she took the wand from her hair letting her hair pool over her shoulders.

 

 

Luna suddenly pointed her wand at his face and made a small clockwise spin. There was a silver light that made Harry close his eyes.

 

 

“There! The Nargles won’t bother you anymore.” Luna said happily.

 

 

“Thanks, I guess. Are you going to the library?”

 

 

“I was not but I can accompany you if you fear the Nargles are going to attack you again.” Luna offered.

 

 

Harry looked at the strange girl and smiled.

 

 

“I’d appreciate that.” said Harry as he walked beside Luna and together they made their way towards the library.

 

 

XXXXXX

 

 

It was evening and Harry finally finished the last day of detention with Snape. The greasy git looked unhappy that the detention was over. Over the week, Snape has been looking for any excuse to get an extension for the detentions. Harry was careful not to fall into the trap. There was a Hogsmeade weekend coming and Harry didn’t want to miss it because Mr Personality cannot let go of a grudge against a dead man.

 

 

He was just about to take the stairs leading out of the dungeons when he came across both Tracey and Daphne.

 

 

“Hi, Harry. Finished with Snape?” asked Tracey.

 

 

 

“Yep.”

 

 

There was an awkward silence between them as Tracey silently urged someone to speak. Harry was not taking the bait here. He was quite familiar with this kind of situation. If he opened his mouth now he'd be the one to and up saying an apology even though he did no wrong.

 

 

“Well, Daphne has something to say.” said Tracey, before she pushed Daphne towards Harry.

 

 

“I didn’t like it when you kissed Delecour.”

 

 

“Correction.” Harry raised a finger in protest. “She kissed me.”

 

 

“Well, I didn’t see you complaining.” Daphne snapped back.

 

 

“That’s because my mouth was otherwise engaged.” He deadpanned.

 

 

Daphne looked like she was about to spew out hellfire. Thankfully, Tracey chose to intervene.

 

 

“Can you both just set aside your attitudes for a moment?” Tracey snapped before rounding on her friend.

 

 

Harry remained a silent spectator as the two Slytherins conversed under their breaths for a moment before facing him once more.

 

 

“I’d like it if you accompany me to Hogsmeade tomorrow. No politics, no deals and no meetings. Just you and me.” Daphne offered, her cheeks burning red as she gazed at Harry for an answer.

 

 

Harry remained silent for a moment before nodding in agreement.

 

 

“I’d like that.” said Harry.

 

 

Harry left the two Slytherins in the dungeons. Daphne was understandably thrilled. He could read that in her eyes but Harry was anything but thrilled. By choosing to go ahead with this date he knew he was cheating on some level.

 

 

‘Or I could come clean with Fleur.’ He thought as he made his way to the Gryffindor tower.

 

 

The internal struggle that he was going through made him blind to his surroundings. So, when he was pulled into a broom closet he was surprised. Moreover, he was paralysed enough to not react in any way.

 

 

Fortunately, it was not someone hostile.

 

 

“Fleur!”

 

 

He barely uttered her name before a pair of warm lips engulfed his own in a sensual tango. Hostile His bind went blank except for the pleasure of Fleur's body pressing against him in the confined space. It became incredibly hot and he was slowly succumbing to the allure of Fleur.

 

 

‘No! Snap out of it!’

 

 

Harry slowly regained a hold on his emotions and with great reluctance, he pulled back from Fleur's pouty lips. 

 

 

“Arry?” Fleur inquired, her melodic voice caressing his ears.

 

 

 

“I have to tell you something.”

 

 

Harry began narrating the events involving Daphne and Tracey. When he was finished he waited for the inevitable end of his budding relationship with Fleur. In the end, he was unwilling to lie to Fleur. For some reason, it didn’t sit well with him to cheat on Fleur not to mention she'd have eventually found out about his date with Daphne. Nothing can hardly remain a secret at Hogwarts especially when he was about to go out with Daphne to Hogsmeade.

 

 

But all of that came crashing down when Fleur gave him an unexpected reply.

 

 

“I don’t mind.”

 

 

“What?” Harry reared back in surprise.

 

 

“More kissing and less talking ‘arry.” said Fleur, sneaking her fingers underneath his shirt scratching at his abs while kissing him.

 

 

‘This is an interesting development.’ thought Harry, engaging in a heated make-out session with Fleur.

 

 

All worries fled his mind as Fleur deepened the kiss by drawing him in. Under such a situation he could only do one thing. His left arm snaked around Fleur's waist batting away her cloak while his right hand settled on the back of her neck taking her silky hair between his fingers.

 

 

Gasping for breath they separated.

 

 

Harry could see the lust shining in Fleur's sapphire eyes. He assumed she could see the same in his eyes.

 

 

“Arry.” Fleur moaned, as she took his head into her hands and kissed him deeply.

 

 

One of her legs climbed up and Harry on instinct took her up by her ass.

 

 

When they broke up for air once both of them were left panting for air.

 

 

 

“This is not safe.” Harry mumbled half-heartedly.

 

 

“I agree.” said Fleur. “We need anozzer place.”

 

 

‘But that's not what I meant.’ Harry silently said in his mind but he dared not air that thought out.

 

 

“I know a place.” said Harry.

 

 

The moment he said that he knew there was no turning back now. The sunny smile gracing Fleur's face made him forget all his inhibitions and he was rewarded with another soul-searing kiss for his efforts.

AN:

 

https://discord.gg/QRTnmx8dW4

 

 

Chapter 38: A better date

The Daily Prophet was sporting a lovely picture of Dolores Umbridge on the front page. The woman was seen posing for the camera outside Barty Crouch's home with her wand raised in some sort of supposed raid. Of course, she found nothing on the premises except some parchments and dust. Percy Weasley could also be seen standing beside the woman looking lost and perhaps a tad bit let down by all the negative press his ‘boss' was getting. Cambridge being the leading chair in the committee assigned to oversee the investigation into Crouch for his misuse of power seems to be quite happy.

 

 

Harry supposed the woman enjoyed wrecking other people's lives. It'd explain the bubbly person she was putting forward while making a show of ‘investigating’ Crouch. After Al, if the woman really wanted to be efficient she could have just assigned a few Aurors on the job. Instead, the pink demon was doing photo-ops to stroke her vanity and ego.

 

 

“What a bunch of useless cretins.” Harry muttered as he folded the Daily Prophet and handed it over to Katie Bell.

 

 

“Disappointed to learn there is no sign of Crouch anywhere?” asked Katie, taking this copy of the Prophet happily and going straight for the sports page.

 

 

“I was expecting to be disappointed. So, no surprises there. I just don’t like to see that overgrown pink toad first thing in the morning.” said Harry, scooping a spoonful of jelly into his mouth.

 

 

“Look at you being all grumpy. You didn’t sleep well last night?” asked Katie.

 

 

 

“Uh...I manage.” Harry said shrugging his shoulders.

 

 

 

As a matter of fact, he was indeed engaged in other activities. Just learning spells from a book doesn’t make you an expert in them. The key to becoming a powerful wizard lies in practice. Spells are a combination of imagination, will and magical power. These three constraints have to along perfectly to produce the desired result from a spell. The only way to get said perfect result is through practice. Through regular practice, the mind and the body get more familiar with the spell and it gets easier to cast as time pass by.

 

 

Of course, Occlumency helped because a disciplined mind helps in empowering a spell. But lately, his Occlumency has been suffering some setbacks and it was all thanks to Fleur. Usually, he had practised the mind arts during bedtime just before sleep but nowadays his mind was distracted by provocative imageries.

 

 

Harry blamed the hormones and it certainly doesn’t help Fleur tend to jump on him in the hallways. Pulling him into heated make-out sessions in the many broom closets of Hogwarts was becoming a hobby of the French witch. Having someone as hot as Fleur in a closed confined space with their bodies rubbing against each other has sort of made him incapable of sleep. A better part of his bedtime was now spent on fantasising about Fleur which naturally made his Occlumency training non-existent.

 

 

With his mind and body succumbing to lust he was left with only two options. One was to depend on his hand to do the ‘job' and the other was to abandon sleep altogether by training himself to exhaustion. In the end, Harry took turns on both options to pull him through the nights. This left him grumpy and exhausted in the mornings.

 

 

To make matters worse, he was no longer under the potion regimen of Madam Pomfrey. The resident nurse was quite satisfied with his growth spurt this year and subsequently cut him off from further supplementary medication saying that he was on the right track of growth. His body has to cope with the loss of extra energy provided by the potions which turned out to be a blow in the current situation.

 

 

So, all in all, he was quite grumpy in the mornings.

 

 

“Hey, cheer up Harry. After all, there will be no classes today and if the grapevine is true you have a date with Greengrass.” said Katie, patting him on the shoulder trying to cheer him up.

 

 

Being reminded of the date only made him groan and put his head on the table. With all that was happening with Fleur, the constant magical training and his own pet projects with regard to the Third Task he was not exactly in the mood for a date with Daphne. But, he couldn’t afford to let go of a potential ally in this game of snakes and ladders. He rolled the dice and he was offered the chance to climb his way into Damien Greengrass' confidence. Daphne, he realized, was a valuable ladder for his ascension into the higher echelons of the Pureblood society. Keeping her friendly for now remained a priority until he could build a power base using his resources.

 

 

This is why he was quite surprised by Fleur's indifference to his ‘date' with Daphne. He could not fathom why Fleur would shrug away the whole matter if he was interested in him? He was quite sure he read the signals right with regards to Fleur. She was most assuredly interested in him as he was interested in her.

 

 

 

So, why? The answer eluded him.

 

 

“Why the long face? Having trouble with handling a snake?” asked Katie, her eyes crinkling with amusement.

 

 

“Something like that.” Harry mumbled distractedly, as he tried to catch a glimpse of Fleur at the Ravenclaw table to no effect.

 

 

 

“This coming from a snake charmer. Oh, the irony.” Katie laughed at his expense.

 

 

“Hey, Katie. Can I ask you something?”

 

 

“Shoot.”

 

 

 “Hypothetically, consider a girl asks a guy to date another girl while they are in a relationship. What does that say about the girl?”

 

 

“Hypothetically?” Katie asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

 

“Yes.” Harry nodded.

 

 

“I’d say your hypothetical girl isn’t interested in pursuing a relationship or she is so confident that the other girl can’t hold a candle compared to her.” said Katie.

 

 

“Huh! That makes a lot of sense.” Harry mumbled.

 

 

“Don't tell me Greengrass asked you to date another girl.”

 

 

“What? No! Daphne never said anything like that.”

 

 

It took Harry quite a lot of effort to shimmy out of the hole he dug himself. The only silver line was that Katie agreed to not bring up the matter again. The last thing he wanted was for the Hogwarts rumour mill to get wind of this which would put him under greater scrutiny. Krum and Hermione's ‘tragic’ love story has been the hot topic in Hogwarts for the last few days. He was keen to keep it that way as the duo kept the attention off his back.

 

 

XXXXXXX

 

 

It became quite clear summer was fast approaching. The air was far warmer than the last time Harry visited Hogsmeade. He was sitting on a bench near the fountain waiting for Daphne. This time he decided to go full muggle by foregoing the cloak. He was in a pair of simple black jeans, a blue t-shirt and a black jacket. A strong gust of wind wrecked any sort of success he had in taming his unruly hair. He waited patiently as some Slytherin seniors began coming out of Hogwarts with Filch scanning everyone hawkishly.

 

 

Funnily enough, he got some friendly greetings from some Slytherins. Most of them were from his ritual partners. He had so far kept them at an arm's length after he found out about their cause of addiction. But, no that they have returned to normal he thought to reconsider his earlier approach. Having more contacts in the Slytherin house ought to be advantageous. Depending solely on Daphne and Tracey would only be detrimental to his plans in the long run.

 

 

 

‘Perhaps, I should start with Barbara Collins.’ Harry thought.

 

 

The sixth-year Slytherin witch was friendly during the ritual days. She was also rumoured to be a runes prodigy. Perhaps, he could let Collins in on his latest project. While Barbara Collins is certainly not part of any great Pureblood families of Britain, she was still a Pureblood and having a friend in her should help him enter other Pureblood social circles.

 

 

Suddenly a pair of bright brown eyes were before him making Harry reel back.

 

 

“What are you thinking up in that little head of your Harry?” asked Tracey, withdrawing from Harry's personal space.

 

 

“Just some stuff.” Harry answered lamely as he climbed to his feet.

 

 

“Whatever it is I suggest you put it out of your mind.” Tracey said, before she pushed Daphne forward until her friend was level with Harry.

 

 

“Stop it.” Daphne hissed but it didn’t dissuade Tracey one bit.

 

 

“My work here is done and you two do whatever it is you want to do. I have some new quills look for.” 

 

 

With that parting shot, Tracey skipped away leaving Daphne in his company.

 

 

“So, what do you want to do first?” Harry asked, offering his arm which Daphne took after a bit of hesitance.

 

 

“Honeydukes.” came the swift reply from Daphne making Harry stare curiously at her.

 

 

“What? I'm low on my chocolate stash.” Daphne said, defensively.

 

 

“I’m not judging. I'm just surprised you have a sweet tooth, that's all.”

 

 

A few minutes later, he was sitting in Honeydukes with several sickle lighter in his pockets. Somehow, he ended up buying Daphne's stash of sweets as an apology. Exactly how she talked him into it is still a mystery especially when he was insisting the whole time he did no wrong. This is why girls are scary. They have the uncanny ability to pin blame on their male counterparts. It was certainly a scary ability and an enviable one as well.

 

 

“iI never asked. How's Sirius doing now that he is free?” Daphne asked curiously.

 

 

“He’s doing fine except for some complaints about his mother's portrait being a headache.” said Harry, taking occasional sips from the cup of hot chocolate in his hand.

 

 

“It must have been hard for him to return back home with almost everyone in the Black family being dead and all.” said Daphne.

 

 

He never gave that little detail much thought. But, now that Daphne brought it up Harry thought about Sirius' future. With everything the man went through for more than a decade, surely Sirius deserved some happiness and stability in his life. Sirius lost everyone except Andromeda from his family's side leaving him alone as the last Black.

 

 

‘Perhaps, I should push Sirius to have a family of his own.’ Harry thought.

 

 

But, that thought quickly made him freeze and put more scrutiny on Daphne. Harry suspected an ulterior motive behind this line of conversation. It was no secret that Sirius was now probably one of the richest wizards in Britain. It'd be quite natural for people to get interested in ‘bagging’ Sirius.

 

 

Even though the conversation from then on never strayed to Sirius and instead branched off to the ongoing hunt for Crouch, Harry remained on edge from then on. So, it was to his relief when Tracey joined them when they exited Honeydukes. The rest of the time was spent wandering around the village purchasing parchments and whatnot. An hour later, Harry even managed to cajole Neville into the group. Sadly, Hermione was nowhere to be found as she was supposedly on a self-imposed exile from the village owing to her recent bout of ‘popularity’.

 

 

“It’s sad Hermione chose not to visit Hogsmeade.” said Tracey as they neared the entrance hall.

 

 

“Skeeter painting her out as the modern-day Juliet and Krum as Romeo did not sit well with her. Wherever she goes, she either gets pitying looks or the usual insults from blood-purists.” Harry said, climbing the stairs to the entrance.

 

 

“Juliet and Romeo?” Daphne asked confused.

 

 

“Muggle fictional characters. They had a tragic love story.” Harry explained.

 

 

“I don’t think Hermione would appreciate that comparison.” Neville said.

 

 

“Probably not.” Harry agreed with a shrug. “But, that's how Skeeter is portraying her. It's sort of funny.”

 

 

Out of nowhere an owl swooped in and landed on Harry's shoulder. It took all his willpower not to scream in fright. Having a predator of the night sitting a few inches from his eyes was not a welcoming experience. Thankfully, the owl only extended its leg offering a letter clutched between its claws. The moment Harry took the letter the owl took to the sky with several strong flaps of its wings. There was no address outside the cover so he was in no Irish to open the letter. 

 

 

After saying his goodbyes to everyone, he went straight to the Room of Requirement. On the way, Harry broke the cover of the letter after a plethora of detection charms revealed no malicious magic. The letter inside was written in French but it changed into English after a second. The letter only contained one sentence.

 

 

‘Do you want a real date?’

 

 

The parchment flashed theatrically before disappearing into bright blue vapour.

 

 

“That’s some nice piece of charmwork.” Harry commented aloud.

 

 

 

There was tinkling laughter in the corridor from his back. Harry turned around to see Fleur coming out of a disillusion charm.

 

 

“You didn’t anzzer, ‘arry.” Fleur asked, a coy smile on her lips.

 

 

Harry strode forward and pulled Fleur into his arms before their lips engaged in a tango. Breaking away Harry smiled as he looked into her clear sapphire eyes.

 

 

“What have you planned?”

 

 

 

A few minutes later Harry was overlooking the green hills surrounding Hogwarts from the Wooden bridge. The constant gales of wind rustled his hair as he stood there on the Wooden bridge with Fleur nuzzling his neck.

 

 

“This is a better date.” Harry admitted.

 

 

“Of course eet eez.” said Fleur, slapping him painfully on the shoulder as if anything else could have happened.

 

 

Harry looked around and appreciated the spatial-magic Fleur had performed keeping them away from any prying eyes. Not that there were any on the bridge. Most Hogwarts students tend to avoid the bridge for some reason. Still, Fleur used the charm to ward them off from any prying eyes by creating a private bubble of space.

 

 

“This is an impressive piece of magic.” Harry admitted.

 

 

“Finally admitting Beauxbatons ‘eez better ‘zzan ‘ogwarts?” Fleur asked playfully.

 

 

Harry laughed at her pride directed at her school.

 

 

“Maybe you have better magical education at your school but this castle can surprise you.” said Harry.

 

 

 

“Zzen surprise me ‘arry.” Fleur whispered into his ear sending shivers down his spine.

 

 

“It’s a bet then. Winner gets whatever they wish.” he suggested.

 

 

Fleur showed her agreement by pulling Harry into another snogging session which he was quite happy to comply. His mind went completely blank as Fleur began kissing him deeply and this time her tongue prodded against his lips. He welcomed her tongue in and they made out forgetting everything else at the moment.

 

 

Suddenly, Fleur broke off the kiss letting out a moan. Harry was faced with a pair of accusing eyes and that's when he realized his right hand was now on her buttocks.

 

 

“Sorry.” Harry muttered, hastily pulling his hands back only to be stopped by Fleur.

 

 

Fleur placed his hand back where it was a moment ago before she kissed him again. Harry was never the merrier.

AN:

 

https://discord.gg/QRTnmx8dW4

Chapter 39: A ghostly advice

Harry observed his Ancient Runes professor closely. He had presented a summary of his second project for Professor Babbling's approval. But, instead of being mightily impressed and immediately approving the project, Professor Babbling looked rather disinterested in his project idea.

"Mr Potter. Your idea for this project is rejected. I suggest that you focus on improving your first project." Professor Babbling said, pushing the parchment in his direction making Harry frown.

"But, why? My idea is feasible and…"

Harry started but was swiftly cut off by Professor Babbling.

"It is a brilliant idea Potter." Professor Babbling admitted making Harry blink owlishly.

"But, then why?" he asked.

"Because the idea you have presented before me is too dangerous to experiment on and I'll tell you why. You want to use runes to mimic the effects of Polyjuice Potion. Exactly how are you going to apply the runes? Are you thinking of carving the runes on flesh? Because, that is human transmutation and it will land you in Azkaban, Mr Potter."

"No. No, you've misinterpreted the project, Professor. I don't want to carve runes into the flesh. Rather, I want the runes carved on a necklace and the necklace can make a physical change when a hair or a drop of blood is inducted." Harry explained, but it didn't seem to impress the Professor at all.

"You will not use runes to change the flesh Potter. That is against the law and it is quite dangerous to do so. What have I taught you from day one? Ancient runes is a mix of languages that absorb raw magic to impose a wizard's will upon the world. You absolutely will not and should not use runes to make changes to a living body. It is illegal and most importantly it might end up corrupting your magic."

"Corrupting my magic. How is that possible?" Harry asked, finding this bit of detail interesting.

"Tell me something, Mr Potter. Where do you think magic comes from?"

Harry was a bit taken aback by the question.

"The soul?" Harry answered tentatively.

"If that was the case then Muggles would have also been able to cast magic." Professor Babbling deadpanned, looking at him as if he was a slow chimp. "Let me enlighten you, Mr Potter. Magic comes from three sources for a wizard. There is Old Magic, the magic that is extracted from nature. Wizards used to power their spells using Old Magic with the help of a Staff. Second, as you said, there is the magic of the soul. The third and most importantly there is the magic that we are born with. It is inside our body. Do you know where?"

Harry shook his head 'no'.

Professor Babbling stood up from her seat and walked around her table. She came to a stop behind him and poked his spine with the tip of her wand. There was a sudden jolt travelling from the base of his spine all the way to his head.

"This is where our magic comes from Mr Potter. The eastern wizards call it 'coiled divine power'. Your magical power that has been inherited from your family is right there. This is the part of your body that determines your power and your destiny in magic."

Having said that, Professor Babbling turned Harry around so that he was looking into her onyx eyes.

"Now tell me, Potter. Is it a good idea to use experimental runes that can absorb large amounts of natural magic to change your physical body?"

Harry hesitated but muttered a half-hearted 'No' under the glaring eyes of his Ancient Runes Professor.

"After you have graduated from Hogwarts and studied various disciplines of magic for long years, then if you are interested in pursuing this project, you can go ahead. So long as you are studying at Hogwarts and I'm your runes professor you won't even think of doing something like this again. Am I understood?"

"Yes." Harry muttered dejectedly.

But, he was not going to give up so easily.

"I have another idea Professor."

The door of Professor Babbling's office closed on his face with a bang.

"She could have been a bit nicer." Harry muttered before taking his leave from Professor Babbling's office.

Even if his first project idea didn't pan out so well the second one was sort of accepted. His second idea was to formulate a runic cluster capable of converting magical energy into electrical energy and thereby make it possible for muggle electronics to function. However, he was surprised to learn from Professor Babbling that such a runic cluster already exists.

In hindsight, Harry realized he should have made proper inquiries before approaching Professor Babbling with the idea. The answer was right in front of him all the time. The wizarding wireless network worked using the runic cluster he was trying to reinvent. The only muggle technology that got fried in the presence of magic was those with chips and circuit boards. It was there he needed to work on, not on converting magical energy into electrical energy.

But, in the context of his Third Task Harry only needed the latter runic cluster for his plan to work seamlessly. The slip of paper in his hand contained the permission slip from Professor Babbling to take out a book from the Restricted Section. That book should give him the proper tool to plan out some finer aspects concerning the Third Task.

'Library, here I come.'

XXXXXXXX

Classes in March passed away at a brisk pace. Maybe that was his personal experience because he didn't have to worry about the end-of-the-year exams. Being a Triwizard Champion sort of insulated him from this yearly event. Nonetheless, there was no shortage of assignments. In fact, Snape has been particularly enthusiastic in assigning extra assignments for Harry in the form of long essays supposedly to 'keep something useful in his brain'.

Snape's heartfelt attempts at dumping misery on his head aside, Harry was having a productive month so far. Thanks to Professor Babbling, Harry had to revise his plan for the Third Task. Taking the Cup was the easy part. The most dangerous part lies in what comes after.

There was no way that he could allow Voldemort access to his blood. Of course, there was a slim chance that he could potentially screw up the ritual by giving his blood willingly. However, the issue was he had no idea whether that'd necessarily have any adverse effect on Voldemort. It's also possible that he might also become a willing participant in a faulty dark ritual. The consequences of such a situation could be unfathomable. Everything becomes unpredictable when dark magic is involved.

What he really needs was an expert in the field of dark magic and rituals. There were quite a few experts in Hogwarts but he could not afford to ask for their opinion. All of them were aligned with Dumbledore in some way. The last thing he wanted was for Dumbledore to get wind of any of his plans.

This left him in a bind.

At least, Professor Babbling did end up directing him to solve one portion of his plan. There was of course more work to be done but he was confident he could achieve his target. The runic physical transformation was something he was banking on and now that he know it was not a viable plan, to begin with, he was in need of another method to secure his blood.

In so far, the answer to this dilemma eluded him.

"You look like you are trying to set the pot on fire with your eyes." Neville commented.

Harry glanced at his partner in Herbology class. Neville was not exactly his partner but rather he had teamed up with Neville to pour loads of dragon dung for preparing the pots.

"Just thinking about something." Harry murmured, getting back to the task at hand.

Fastening his dragonhide gloves, Harry gathered dragon dung in his hands before pouring it into the pot. After dusting off any remains into the pot he went for a small vial of viscous green liquid. It was the growth potion that accelerated the growth of magical plants. Uncorking the vial, he poured the potion into the pot after which he covered the whole thing under a pile of soil.

"Here." Neville pushed a bowl of water in his direction with some floating seeds of Dittany in it.

Harry poured the water into the pot and the shrubs began to sprout out of the pot at a rapid pace.

"Very good Mr Potter, Mr Longbottom. Now, harvest the leaves and store them away in the cabinet." Professor Sprout said, as she was passing by.

He let out a sigh and began harvesting the leaves.

"You know Harry. There are dark circles under your eyes. You need to sleep more often instead of sneaking out of our dorm and doing whatever it is you are doing." said Neville.

Harry's eyes widened in surprise as he rounded on Neville.

"You know about that. How?"

"Harry your bed is just three feet away from me. Did you really think someone wouldn't notice your bed is empty someday?" Neville asked.

"Damn. I'm slipping up." Harry muttered.

"Are you sneaking out to train for the Third Task?"

Harry looked at Neville and just nodded.

"You need to cut back on your training time Harry. At this rate, you will be too exhausted to do anything when the time comes." said Neville.

"I appreciate the concern, Neville." Harry said, clapping Neville on his shoulder.

Of course, he never gave the advice any serious consideration. He was back to training when the night came knocking. While Neville may have good intentions he could not afford to let time slip by.

On the next day early morning, Harry was about to walk to the Great Hall when he noticed Hermione sitting in a corner of the common room with a bunch of letters on her lap. Hermione's frizzled hair and her untidy dress indicated that she has been here for a long time.

"That's an awful lot of letters." Harry tentatively commented as he sat beside her on the couch.

Seeing that Hermione was not responding he took a sneak peek at the letter in her hand.

'Don't fall for the false promises of the purebloods. They are poisonous snakes filled with hatred for our kind.'

"Wow. That's one way to give life-changing advice in a letter." Harry commented.

"Most of the letters I received were like that. Makes me wonder what sort of life Muggleborns have in the wizarding world." Hermione muttered, her eyes flashing darkly as she took another letter.

"Do you really want to read all those letters first thing in the morning? It's no wonder you've been a bit withdrawn for the last couple of days."

"Don't mind me, Harry. You go ahead." said Hermione before going back to reading her mail.

Harry looked at his watch and saw there was an hour before breakfast. Usually, his free time in the morning was spent in secrecy with Fleur but lately, she has been rather busy with her schoolwork. It was her last year of schooling and she was supposed to take the equivalent of NEWTS in France this summer. This left her otherwise engaged and that left Harry with nothing to do.

But, Harry was not willing to waste time by lazing around. So, he made his way straight to the Room of Requirement and began to practice some of the more shady spells he found from the books Sirius loaned. Since his magical training was rather focused on elemental magic, his repository of spells was rather limited. Sure, he got a good handle on some curses but the elements of water, air and fire were his go-to offensive spells.

But, that won't do in the coming years. Voldemort and his Death Eaters won't be using parlour tricks in their war. Dumbledore's idea of using love against Dark magic would only increase more graves in Britain. He had no intention to depend on sheer luck to survive the coming war. If a war was coming he'd rather face it with the best weapons in his arsenal.

Looking at the training dummy at the other end of the room, Harry gathered the necessary emotion behind the spell he was about to use.

'I need to cut off the head.' he repeated this thought like a mantra in his mind over and over until he could feel the killing intent building within him.

Harry slashed his wand sharply through the air looking at the dummy on the other side.

"Sectumsempra."

The severed head of the dummy fell on the floor with a thud. Not only did the dummy's head fall off clean he could also make out an outline of the cut on the wall behind the dummy.

"Nice. On the first try! Voldemort is going to be so sorry." said Harry, grinning wickedly at the thought of cutting up Voldemort's head.

"You tread on a dangerous path Harry Potter."

Harry turned around quickly in surprise with his wand raised to see the ghostly apparition of Helena Ravenclaw.

"Hi." he waved hesitantly.

"Do you know why dark magic is so addictive Harry Potter?" asked Helena, out of the blue.

Snapping out of the shock of seeing the ghost of Ravenclaw tower, Harry tentatively answered keeping in mind that he was treading on dangerous ground. He could not afford to offend Helena Ravenclaw. The chance of her tattling on him to a Hogwarts staff would have catastrophic effects.

"Because it is powerful."

"No, Harry Potter. It is because of the emotions used to fuel dark spells. Anger, hate, despair, anguish, pain, the intent to kill. They all come easy to a wizard because it is easy to hate someone. It is easy to wish pain upon someone. It is easy to wish death upon someone." said Helena, floating towards him staring perhaps a tad earnestly in his opinion.

He might have been mistaken because when he blinked Helena was staring coldly down at him.

"Nobody can win a war without spilling blood." Harry said, looking curiously to see any reaction from Helena but the daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw remained unmoved.

"Dark magic, if left unchecked, will infect you whole and leave you a hollow shell, Harry Potter. Do not think you are somehow exempt from the laws of magic. If you wish harm upon another creature then you have opened yourself to a world of harm to befell upon you. Those who raise the sword shall also die by the sword. Keep this in mind."

After saying her piece, Helena turned away from Harry as if to take her leave.

"Wait! Don't you want to ask me what I'm going to do with the Diadem?" Harry suddenly asked even though he found it odd for Helena Ravenclaw of all people to give him advice.

"What are you going to do with my mother's diadem?" Helena asked, without turning around.

"I'm going to destroy it."

"Good." Helena whispered as she disappeared through the walls of the Room of Requirement leaving Harry totally bewildered.

"That was strange." Harry muttered.

He stared at the wall through which Helena Ravenclaw disappeared for a minute before returning to the task at hand. However, he kept the warning Helena gave about dark magic in his mind. He could even see the inherent weakness in overusing negative emotions like anger and hate.

'Maybe what I need is to balance out the emotions. Some training with the Patronus charm should be enough.' Harry thought, before he went back to the training.

AN:

 

https://discord.gg/QRTnmx8dW4

Chapter 40: The maze

It was quite fascinating to watch the Nifflers Hagrid brought for the class digging through the soil. Even if these Nifflers were nearly the same size as a mouse they were certainly far more powerful thanks to their innate magic. They dug through the ground within seconds even though they have paws the size of a twig.

 

“Fascinating creatures, aren’t they?” said Hagrid, eyes alight with joy seeing the class was suitably enthralled by the latest creature after the Unicorns.

 

Harry could hear some girls complaining in the background about not having Unicorns for this class.

 

‘Girls!’ Harry thought, rolling his eyes.

 

“Cute ‘lil creatures, Nifflers. If ‘dey like yeh they'll follow ‘yeh around like good pets. But, they are natural hunters for anything shiny.” said Hagrid jovially.

 

Hagrid pointed at the Nifflers jumping from one student after the other nicking watches, hairpins, pouches of galleons and anything shiny that caught their fancy. Harry found a few were ready to jump onto the side where Gryffindor students were hanging around.

 

While it'd be fun to watch the Nifflers work their magic on all of them Harry was not willing to part with his stuff. So, he took out his wand and acted.

 

“Immobulus.”

 

The bunch of Nifflers going to jump to their new victims found themselves floating in the air as Harry's spell took effect. They were essentially bound by his spell to not make a move and his intent conveyed to act only against the Nifflers. After all, he didn’t want to accidentally immobilize the whole class.

 

“I should ‘ave warned ‘yeh. They‘re dab hands in finding treasures. Obsessed with ‘em, I'd say.” said Hagrid, as he collected the small beady-eyed creatures who were looking at Harry with watery eyes.

 

It looked as though they were tearing up for being denied the chance to rob everyone of their possessions. Hagrid was suddenly there plucking the Nifflers out of the animated suspension and began shaking them down out of the things the Nifflers took from everyone. Some of them tried to leap out of Hagrid's hand to retrieve their loot but to no avail.

 

“Well, they might be expert thieves but they are cute as a button.” said Seamus, a sentiment shared by Harry and many others.

 

“They're a bit excited that's all.” said Hagrid, collecting the wayward Nifflers.

 

Hagrid began listing off the pros and cons of having Nifflers around. Apparently, the cute little buggers have no sense of when to stop their thieving ways. Even if they are domesticated in a wizard's house they end up ransacking the house for anything valuable. This made them undesirable as a pet like an owl or a cat even though they are cuddly and cute.

 

“A dozen of these guys can have the Goblins run out of their business.” said Dean, laughing amusedly as the Nifflers looked forlornly at the treasure they stole being returned to their owners.

 

“Alright, everyone. Drop ‘yer Nifflers into the cage.” said Hagrid, going around each student and securing the Nifflers.

 

Most of them were reluctant to hand over the little creature even though they were expert thieves. Hagrid had to promise everyone that he'd keep the Nifflers in the next lesson as well.

 

“It seems Hagrid is doing quite alright. You did well in lesson planning. Maybe you can one day become a Professor at Hogwarts.” Harry said, complimenting Hermione who blushed at the praise.

 

“Oh, I don’t know. What about you Harry? What would you like to do after Hogwarts?” asked Hermione as they made their way towards the castle as Hagrid's class was over.

 

Harry eyed his friend with a knowing smile. Her attempts at shifting the focus on him did not go unnoticed.

 

“I suppose I'm a bit interested in starting a business of some sort.” Harry said.

 

“Business?” Hermione sounded surprised. “What sort of business?”

 

“Maybe a toy store or something. I'm not exactly sure. All I know is that I don’t want to work under someone. I'd rather be an entrepreneur who creates jobs.” said Harry, after some amount of thought.

 

“Huh. That's a mature way of thinking Harry. I never realized you were interested in starting a business of your own.” said Hermione.

 

“So, what is it that you hope to do after Hogwarts?” asked Harry, bringing the focus of the conversation back on Hermione.

 

“Maybe I should try my luck in politics.” Hermione muttered.

 

“Politics? Don’t tell me this is about those letters you've been receiving?” Harry asked.

 

“I never knew Muggleborns were facing so many problems in the wizarding world. Most of them never got any respectful jobs despite their good grades. The Muggleborns abroad have it far worse. You know Viktor says Durmstrang does not even admit any Muggleborns. I want to change all that and for that, Muggleborns need political representation.” Hermione said, her brown eyes shining with the same resolve Harry saw when she launched the House Elf movement.

 

Harry thought Hermione was being a bit naive and was viewing the world only from the angle of a victim forgetting one crucial point. Wizards and witches have always been the victim of muggle oppression. The Statute of Secrecy enforced by the Ministry may have its flaws and this may have given rise to the conservative political tilt in the wizarding world. However, there were legitimate concerns in play to be cautious of Muggleborns. The simple fact is that Muggleborns are just too great a security threat to be given a free pass into the higher echelons of wizarding society. Harry'd go a bit further and say Slytherin's ‘alleged’ concerns regarding Muggleborn students in Hogwarts were not exactly unwarranted.

 

As someone intimately familiar with the muggles, Harry was more than aware of the immense danger muggles posed to the wizarding world. That was probably why the political structure of the Ministry of Magic is designed to keep the Muggleborns out. For the sake of practical reasons, having a voice of Muggleborns in the Ministry would have been sensible but there was a danger if a war was to break out between muggles and wizards.

 

All Muggleborns may not necessarily hold attachment to their muggle roots but the possibility of such a scenario exists. The distrust wizards hold against muggles was validated by all the witch burnings and persecution that has been heaped on the wizarding population. That stigma can’t be eradicated so easily.

 

Hermione, as usual, did not see the other side of the coin. She only saw the perceived injustice against the muggleborns. That was why Harry resolved to keep a close eye on Hermione and her correspondence with the muggleborn diaspora. If she could create SPEW then she could end up creating a Muggleborn Liberation Front in the near future.

 

“At least, you can stop pursuing Rita Skeeter.” said Harry.

 

“Why?” Hermione asked, curiously.

 

“It’s thanks to Skeeter you got the letters. So, in some way, Skeeter became an instrument in directing you to a different path.” Harry pointed out.

 

“Huh!” Hermione looked shocked for a moment before shaking her head. “I don’t think I'll be leaving that woman alone. I'll get her back for all the trouble she caused me.”

 

XXXXXXXXX

 

It was a fine evening with comfortable warmth hanging loosely in the air. The last class of the day was unfortunately History of Magic by Professor Binns. For that reason alone, Harry was resting his head on his arm struggling to not nod off. It was an uphill battle to stay awake when Professor Binns was droning on about Goblin and Dwarven wars.

 

The only piece of interesting knowledge he garnered from Binns' lecture was that Dwarves were the archenemies of Goblins and they were concentrated along the Alps. In the old days, Goblins and Dwarves were in an epic battle spanning continents for supremacy. Both races had fought for supremacy with a long bloody history dating all the way back to the era of the Founders. Perhaps, the Goblin-Dwarven wars were even older than the Founders according to Professor Binns. Any historical data beyond the era of the Founders was rather lacking in detail and proof.

 

So, most of the wizarding historical content before the tenth century was rather composed from the perspective of other magical races like Goblins, Dwarves, Veela etc. It was quite strange for wizards not to have any historical references beyond the tenth century, especially considering muggle history is still preserved.

 

It could be possible some of that history was covered up due to political reasons. Muggle political entities during the Pagan era most likely had the open participation of wizards and witches. Almost all great civilizations of the world worshipped wizards and other magical creatures as gods and demons. The Ministry would have preferred to keep those details under wraps to not give wizards any ideas about world domination and godhood.

 

Harry snapped out of his musings when Professor Binns announced the class was over. He looked at his notepad to see only a rough sketch of a Niffler instead of any notes. It was a good thing Hermione regularly took notes and her notes were accessible to him. While he wouldn’t have to worry about the end-of-the-year exams, the current syllabus covered some portions of the OWL exam.

 

Packing his backpack speedily, Harry was out of the class hoping to get a change of clothes before joining a football game. After that, he needed to pay a visit to the Chamber. However, those plans were put on hold by Professor McGonagall who intercepted him on his way.

 

“You are being asked by Mr Bagman. He expects you to present yourself at the Quidditch pitch at six. He'll be explaining the Third Task to all the Champions.” McGonagall told him.

 

Forced to change his plans, Harry decided to forego the game and go straight for the Chamber. Inside Slytherin's lair, Harry's secret weapon was being prepared for the inevitable confrontation with Voldemort. He was still in the dark on how to allow Voldemort's resurrection to go through without using his blood or his active involvement. But, other parts of his plans were coming along smooth in parts thanks to his slight modification of the basic rune cluster suggested by Professor Babbling.

 

“Master Harry.” Dobby announced his arrival with the signature pop accompanying the teleportation.

 

“Dobby. Did you look for what I asked?”

 

“Dobby did sir. The locket is in the house sir under nasty Kreacher's watch.” said Dobby.

 

Harry was relieved to hear that. It was good to get confirmation of the Horcrux's location. Now, he just needed to convince Kreacher to hand over the locket. He had an idea or two to make that happen. But, that could wait.

 

“Good. What about the other thing I asked of you?”

 

“Dobby did it, sir. Harry Potter has nothing to worry about.” Dobby said, confidently.

 

“If everything is in order then you and Winky can start practising.” said Harry.

 

“Dobby does not understand sir.”

 

Harry patted the elf's head with a smile.

 

“Come, I'll explain. Let’s call Winky as well. She also has a part in this game.” said Harry, before calling out to the female elf in his employ. “Winky!”

 

Harry left a suitably disturbed Dobby in the Chamber struggling to come to terms with what he was required to do. Dobby was a bit queasy about playing his part in the plan but Winky was wholeheartedly on board when he explained his plan, especially the part where she has a chance to deal some damages to the Death Eaters. Harry had properly managed to guide Winky's negative emotions towards the Death Eaters and Voldemort for corrupting the House of Crouch. This conveniently absolved Winky's conscience and allowed her to forgive herself for any perceived failure she sees on her part.

 

“‘Arry!” Fleur called him once he exited the Entrance Hall.

 

“Hey.” Harry waved in greeting and moved closer to her.

 

However, he was mindful not to show any overt affection as they were out in the open.

 

“You promised me a date ‘arry. Did you forget?” Fleur asked, a playful smile on her lips.

 

“You have been busy.”

 

“Not anymore.” said Fleur, looking expectantly at him.

 

“Will you be free this Sunday?” Harry asked.

 

Fleur nodded making Harry's heart leap.

 

“I'll owl you the time and place.” Harry said, happy to see Fleur agreeing.

 

“Harry! Fleur!”

 

Both of them turned around to see Cedric approaching them from behind.

 

“Thought I was late for whatever it is Mr Bagman is cooking up. What do you reckon the Third Task is going to be?”

 

Harry shrugged preferring not to speculate especially when they were minutes away from finding out.

 

“A Treasure hunt!” Fleur suggested.

 

“I certainly hope the Task is something like that. I definitely don’t want to face a dragon again.” Cedric said while laughing.

 

When they finally reached the Quidditch pitch Cedric was left gaping like a fish.

 

“What’ve they done to the pitch?” Cedric cried indignantly, his eyes wide as saucers taking in the tall hedges that were grown high into the sky.

 

“That’s some ten feet high hedges by the looks of it.” Harry commented, observing the hedges sprawled out across the entirety of the Quidditch pitch twisting and crisscrossing in every direction.

 

“Right you are Harry.” Bagman said, approaching them with Krum who looked like he swallowed a lemon. “Took us some trouble but Professor Sprout is no novice when it comes to her craft. So, what'd you think?”

 

Seeing the look of indignation on Cedric's face Bagman laughed and patted Cedric's shoulder like they were old buddies.

 

“Don't you worry about your Quidditch pitch Mr Diggory. You'll have it back in pristine condition after the Task is complete.” Bagman promised. “Now, can any of you guess what this is?”

 

“A maze.” Fleur said.

 

“Excellent. You’re right Miss Delecour.” Bagman crowed jovially. “The Third Task is simple gentleman and lady. The Triwizard cup will be placed at the centre of the maze. The first champion to touch the cup wins the Tournament and all that entails.”

 

“We ‘seempli ‘ave to get through this maze?” asked Fleur.

 

“Well, there'll be obstacles.” Bagman said, excitedly bouncing on the balls of his feet clapping his hands together. “We’ll be growing the hedges 20 feet tall and Hagrid will be providing us with some creatures... then there'll be spells that have to be broken... and all sort of things, you know. It'll be quite exciting.”

 

“Oh, no. Not Hagrid.” Cedric whispered in horror.

 

Bagman didn’t give that any mind or maybe he chose to ignore Cedric's reaction and instead grinned like a child getting a bunch of candies.

 

“Champions who are leading in the points will get a head start on the race. Mr Potter will go first followed by Mr Krum, Miss Delecour and Mr Diggory.” said Bagman, looking at each of them with his eyes alight. “Don’t worry. You’ll all have a fair chance to take the Cup so long as you hold your wits. Should be fun, eh?”

 

‘Yeah right.’ Harry mentally scoffed.

 

Bagman then went ahead and gave them a cursory tour of the maze. It took them more than half an hour to traverse the maze and they didn’t even cover every pathway. It was quite a labyrinth Professor Sprout and Hagrid are cooking up.

 

“‘Arry, show me that Charms book you talked ‘abouut.” said Fleur, once the tour inside the maze came to an end.

 

“Oh, yeah. Come.” Harry said, quickly catching up on Fleur's intention.

 

Cedric and Viktor stayed behind to observe the maze while Harry led Fleur toward the castle. They ended up in a tangle of limbs in a nearby broom closet under several protective wards.

 

“I'm...mmm...looking forward...to this most ‘eempressive place you're taking ‘mee.” Fleur said in between their kissing.

 

“Trust me...mmm... You'll love it.”

 

XXXXXXX

 

“There ‘eez nothing ‘ere. This ‘eez just a wall.” Fleur deadpanned, looking at the dark-coloured wall staring back at her.

 

“Oh just you wait.” said Harry, who pressed a kiss on her cheek before pacing to and forth before the wall.

 

Fleur let out an audible gasp as an ornate doorway materialized on the wall after Harry stopped his pacing.

 

“What? ‘ow ‘eez this possible?” Fleur asked, staring at the room before her in surprise.

 

“Welcome to the Room of Requirement created by the world's most talented Charms Mistress Rowena Ravenclaw.” Harry said with a flourish.

 

The suitably gobsmacked expression on Fleur's face validated his success in impressing her.

 

Taking her hand, Harry led Fleur inside where half the room looked like it was made of white marble with ornate furniture decorating the room. The other half was a sprawling grassland with a small pond. There was even a clear blue sky and a clean pond in sharp contrast to the room. The doorway disappeared once they were inside which also caught Fleur's interest.

 

“‘ow ‘eez this possible?” Fleur asked, looking around the room in amazement.

 

“The room can change into anything we want. Imagination is the limit.”

 

“Merde!”

 

Harry laughed as Fleur began throwing detection charms around the room as a true Charms enthusiast should.

 

“It won’t work. Whatever Ravenclaw did to make this room is beyond the scope of simple detection charms.” said Harry, noticing Fleur was getting frustrated with repeated failure to discern the secrets behind the RoR.

 

“‘ow does ‘eet work? I want to know everything about ‘zee room.” Fleur asked.

 

“I could be persuaded to share those secrets but first there is something you ought to do first.” said Harry, pointing to the ceiling where a Mistletoe was growing right on top of their heads.

 

“Really ‘arry?” Fleur looked at him with some amusement.

 

“It’s part of the Celtic tradition.”

 

Fleur shook her head before pulling Harry into a kiss that lasted for minutes. When they broke apart both of them were out of breath.

 

“Now tell me ‘ow to use ‘zee Room. Tell me everything.”

 

“That’s a secret.” Harry playfully grinned.

 

“I can be persuasive.” said Fleur, her hands suddenly wandering across his body while her allure flared up.

 

While Fleur was working her magic, Harry's mind went on a tangent.

 

‘Persuade! Of course! The answer was right there all along.’ Harry thought as an idea that could allow him to protect his blood from being used by Voldemort took root in his mind.

AN:

 

https://discord.gg/QRTnmx8dW4

Chapter 41: A deal with the twins

The concentration required for the spell was quite troublesome. He didn’t want the spell to backfire and cause any damage to him. The last thing he wanted was for some stupid spell to knock him dead when he was going to all the trouble to escape death by Voldemort's hand.

 

“Harry stop overthinking and do the spell. All you have to do is focus your anger on the target and imagine the worst outcome. The rest will be done by the spell.” said Sirius, from the two-way mirror.

 

“Yeah, easy for you to say. I can’t exactly concentrate when I'm angry.” Harry complained, wiping away the sweat building up on his eyebrow.

 

“Well, that's the tricky part when it comes to going deep into Dark Magic. You have to cast magic on instinct without any care while filling your mind with anger or hate or just plain loathing. If you second-guess the spell won’t work.” said Sirius, who proceeded to stuff a handful of chips down his throat looking so relaxed in doing so.

 

Harry tried to concentrate but he pulled back from casting the spell. Rounding on the mirror Harry frowned, not at all amused.

 

“Can you please stop doing that? I'm working here.” Harry snapped.

 

“Hey, don’t be snippy with me pup. When you are in a battle your enemies won’t be lining up and standing perfectly still for you to pelt them with spells. They are going to be moving around and there will be many distractions. If anything, I'm not making enough distractions.” said Sirius.

 

‘Damn him for speaking sense.’ Harry thought as he once again aimed his wand at the target trying to let the spell loose.

 

But, after one look at the small pig looking so fearfully at him, Harry lost his conviction. Harry shook his head and fired off the spell to the nearby wall.

 

“Intabeviscus.”

 

The dark purple-coloured spell raced towards the wall behind the live pig. The wall became dented under the spell but other than that the spell was harmless.

 

“Harry if you want the Organ-Liquefying curse to work you need to use it on a live target.” Sirius said, letting out a sigh.

 

“I won’t harm the pig. It's just an innocent creature.” Harry muttered.

 

“This is why I told you, you are not ready to use dark magic.”

 

“Oh, don’t get me wrong. I'll be quite happy to use the spell on a Death Eater or Voldemort.” said Harry, dropping down into a nearby couch after securing his wand in the holster.

 

“Dark Magic is not something you can use in the heat of the moment without practice. If you can’t use it against an animal, trust me you won’t be using these spells against a Death Eater or even Voldemort.”

 

“Well, maybe what I need is other dark spells that are less…gruesome.” said Harry.

 

“That's what I told you in the first place.” Sirius deadpanned.

 

“Well, that's spilt milk under the bridge. Give me another spell and this time just avoid any spells that deliver gruesome deaths. Just give me spells that can put a Death Eater down hard enough that they can’t apparate away.” Harry suggested.

 

“There are quite a few…let me look.” said Sirius, flipping through the pages of a book.

 

“Aha! Found one. It's the lung collapsing spell. The incantation is Angustium. The spell forcibly shrinks the lungs making it near impossible to breathe.” Sirius suggested making Harry frown.

 

“That doesn’t sound like dark magic.” said Harry.

 

“If you hold the spell for more than two minutes then the victim's lungs will shrink so small leaving the victim to die gasping for air. There is no counter curse for the spell. So…dark enough?” Sirius asked blandly.

 

“So, it's like the Cruciatus curse without all the psychotic emotions fueling the spell.” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

“I suppose. Do you want to test it out?”

 

“Might as well give it a try.” Harry said, shrugging his shoulders.

 

An hour later, Harry was lounging on his chair in the Chamber nursing a glass of orange juice courtesy of Dobby. He was magically and emotionally drained for the day. Fishing out a pair of ice cubes Harry pressed them against his head.

 

“Oh, my head.” he groaned as the cold seeped into his head.

 

There was a distinct pop of teleportation. Harry opened one lone eye to see it was Winky dropping off Sirius in the Chamber.

 

“I warned you this was a bad idea.” said Sirius, taking the ice cubes away and began waving his wand around casting charms on Harry's head.

 

Whatever spell Sirius used had the intended effect. Harry could feel his head becoming lighter and the constant throbbing near his ears settled down.

 

“If you knew for sure why did you agree to train me?” asked Harry, as his godfather helped him lie down on the couch.

 

“Some lessons cannot be taught. I thought it was better for you to learn from experience. If I had forced you to stop experimenting with Dark Magic you would have practised in secret without my supervision.” said Sirius.

 

“I think I'm not suited for Dark Magic.” Harry groaned, rubbing his ailing forehead.

 

“That’s good. I'd have been concerned if you liked those spells. The darker spells fueled by hate and anger are for lunatics like my cousin Bella. Only someone who enjoys torture and murder uses the darker spells.”

 

“You don’t say. I thought I could do it you know. I convinced myself I just have to imagine the internal organs turning into goo or ribs rupturing and piercing into the lungs or something. Turns out these are not so easy scenarios to imagine or wish it happen on a pig.” said Harry.

 

The two of them descended into a comfortable silence as Sirius finished up his work. Harry felt some comfort after whatever Sirius was doing to help him.

 

“I’ll be taking away those books containing Dark Arts. It'll be better if you treat them as just reading material instead as a source of usable spells.”

 

“But, I need some mean spells that can hurt Voldemort and his Death Eaters.” Harry protested.

 

“Don’t you worry about that. I'll only take away the books containing dangerous magic. There are still some Dark Arts books that are reasonably acceptable.”

 

Harry reluctantly nodded as it was a reasonable restriction.

 

“I'll have Winky send a balm for the headache. Use it before going to sleep tonight.”

 

“Alright.” Harry agreed.

 

“I’ll take my leave then.”

 

“Wait!” Harry called out as he remembered something important. “I need you to send Kreacher here to meet me.”

 

“For what?” Sirius asked, his eyebrows disappearing into the hairline.

 

“I have something to discuss with him.” Harry said, evasively.

 

“What do you want to do with Kreacher? Don’t tell me this is about that SPEW Hermione started.”

 

Harry chuckled and shook his head which made his head hurt.

 

“No. Just send Kreacher but not today. I'm too tired today. I'll explain everything later.”

 

Sirius agreed albeit reluctantly.

 

Harry watched Sirius leave the Chamber with Winky. Letting out a sigh, he leaned back and nuzzled into the couch.

 

‘Perhaps a bit of light sleep should chase away the headache.’ He thought, closing his eyes and drifting off to a peaceful slumber.

 

XXXXXXX

 

The library remained pleasantly vacant leaving Harry with a certain amount of privacy. It was a good thing as the Gryffindor common room was overcrowded these days. The approaching end of the year exams has taken up the focus of Hogwarts students. This left Harry with more free time in his hands comparatively.

 

Not that he was relaxing in the library. Since most of his free time was taken up by practising for the Third Task it cut to his assignment time. So much so that he was forced to allocate a portion of his research time in the library to focus on completing the assignments. Last week, it was just Snape who was demanding essay after essay in ridiculous lengths as assignments. Now, Professors Sprout, Vector and Babbling were taking the lead.

 

Out of the three Professor Babbling was the most troublesome one. At times Harry felt like the Ancient Runes professor was sort of punishing him and at the same time rewarding him. The runes professor had called him into her office and assigned him a boatload of assignments in the form of essays and some faulty rune clusters that he had to compile and weed out the errors. This was quite a lot of workload but Professor Babbling insisted that he complete the work as he had skipped an entire year by landing in her class in his fourth year.

 

On the other hand, Professor Babbling also gave him an interesting project. While initially, Professor Babbling insisted to focus on improving the shield-ring the runes professor greenlit his other project with some modifications. Instead of finding a way to shield muggle technology he was asked to work on a runes project that allowed the muggle technology subservient to magic. The professor wanted a rune cluster that can take control of muggle technology without destroying the circuitry.

 

It was certainly going to be an ambitious project to be sure but if it succeeds he was not ignorant of the implications. If he could develop a runic cluster that can control muggle technology then the potential use of such knowledge was dangerous and exceptionally valuable. While this was the case, Harry was not so naïve to think that this was not attempted before. Surely, scores of wizards and witches must have attempted something similar in the past.

 

Of course, Professor Babbling was no simpleton. She most likely assigned him this project to keep him occupied and not bother her. Or she wanted to see some progress because she wanted to see a tangible project plan he can show after the summer holidays. He was even allowed to formulate a project team. If he could impress the professor with the plan and the project group members when the next academic year starts, he was promised more help and perhaps even a grant for all the expenses incurred.

 

But, the work was still on the back burner for now. There were other important events to keep an eye on with the Third Task coming up. This is why he was waiting for two people to show up for a secret meeting in the library.

 

As he finished another page of the Herbology assignment he was joined by two more people at the table.

 

“Welcome you two. I was thinking you guys forgot our meeting.” said Harry, looking into the identical faces of the Weasley twins.

 

“Why are we here Harrikins?”

 

“Did Hermione put you up to this?”

 

“If she did…”

 

“…we totally had nothing to do with those….

 

“…drawings of Krum chasing after her as a paper plane.”

 

Harry looked from George to Fred each time they were switching their speech and it was hurting his head.

 

“Well, that's quite the story but I didn’t ask you two troublemakers here for any of that. I've come to learn that you two have been duped by Bagman with a bet, right?”

 

Suddenly, the easy-going look of the twins shifted to serious.

 

“How do you know that?” asked Fred, frowning just like his twin.

 

“Doesn't matter. I also know you two have been working towards making that joke shop idea of yours a reality. I'm here before you two with an offer that you cannot refuse.”

 

The twins looked confusedly at each other before blinking owlishly at Harry.

 

Harry meanwhile noticed that Madam Pince could check up on them if there was too much sound. So, he immediately put up a silencing ward around the table.

 

“Harry, exactly what….

 

“...are you offering?”

 

“I am offering you full funding for your joke shop. Whatever amount of galleons you need I can raise that amount to make your joke shop a reality.” said Harry.

 

“No Harry. We can’t do that.”

 

“Yeah. You should not waste your galleons on us.”

 

“Who said I'm doing this for free? You two are going to build me something. The details are in this parchment.” said Harry, as he pushed the parchment towards the Weasley twins.

 

“What is this?” asked Fred, taking the parchment and exchanging a hesitant look with his brother.

 

“This is a test. You’ll get all the resources you two need free of cost for completing this project. If you complete this project within two weeks you'll not just have secured the funds for your joke shop but I'll even introduce you two to two Marauders.”

 

“Wait! What did you just say?” asked Fred, eyes wide as saucers.

 

“Did you just say we can meet with two Marauders?” asked George.

 

“Yes.” Harry said, laughing at the face the Weasley twins were making. “Don't forget you'll also get the necessary funds for your joke shop as well. Not to mention I might be able to persuade the Marauders to chip in and help you guys with the joke shop.”

 

Fred and George suddenly reached across that table and took each of Harry's hands into theirs. Tears of joy were running from their eyes.

 

“Where do we sign?” the twins asked in unison.

 

Harry smiled at the two while rejoicing at a job well done. Enlisting the help of the twins should take some load off of his shoulders. He could now allocate more time to training for the conflict ahead instead of getting bogged down by schoolwork. Helping the twins to fulfil their dream was just an added bonus. He was also sure Sirius would actually enjoy working with the Weasley twins. He was hoping he could rope in Remus Lupin as well given enough time.

 

‘It's time I dismantle Dumbledore's faction and create my own. The war is about to begin.’

Chapter 42: Slytherin's locket

The silence in the Chamber was deafening. To ensure nothing goes amiss, Harry had even relocated Buckbeak. Sirius was only too happy to host Buckbeak in Grimmauld Place. In fact, Buckbeak was offered permanent resident status in the Black Manor thanks to being instrumental in Sirius' escape from Hogwarts.

 

 

For the last two weeks, Harry has been preparing the Chamber for what he considered a bold move against Voldemort. He had gone over and over in his mind the pros and cons of this preemptive strike. The cons would lead to quite disastrous results. If Voldemort can sense the destruction of one of his Horcruxes then the consequences would be unpredictable. The Dark Lord could seek out the remaining Horcruxes and hide them somewhere else under powerful wards. Such a situation would prove to be detrimental to the eventual destruction of Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

 

 

Keeping this in mind, Harry with the help of Sirius erected powerful barriers and wards inside the Chamber. There were no known wards in the Black library capable of containing Horcruxes. He already checked after Sirius agreed to loan some of the books regarding the subject. If there were any he has yet to find one. Slytherin's library was also in the same boat. Some of the books in Slytherin's library could not be translated using quick-translating quills. For some reason, some of the books and scrolls of Celtic and Egyptian origin were warded against foreign magic. The real kicker was those wards were still in effect even after a thousand years. Exactly how Slytherin managed that, he had no idea.

 

 

The only relevant writings accessible in the Chamber regarding Horcruxes were some notes from Tom Riddle. Those notes while informative about the thinking process of Riddle were in no way any help when it comes to creating wards against Horcruxes. However, Harry could not afford to admit defeat and proceed without taking any precautions. Or he could abandon the whole idea and wait patiently to gather all Horcruxes and destroy them together.

 

 

The only problem was that the longer he waited Voldemort would gather more power to his side. Besides, the one thing he managed to glean from pouring over several books about Horcruxes is that Voldemort could become weak if more Horcruxes are destroyed. Herpo the Foul was the first to create a Horcrux. If some of the books are to be believed, Herpo placed his soul inside a coin which he placed amongst his vast treasure hoarded over nine centuries of life. The stories would have you believe Herpo's pet Basilisk destroyed his soul shard accidentally as it was the guardian of the dark wizard's treasure.

 

 

Unintentional or not, after the soul shard of Herpo was destroyed his nine-century-long dominance came to an abrupt halt. The dark wizard didn’t die immediately but his magical power was greatly diminished from then on. His iron grip over Eastern Europe eroded and he disappeared altogether from the world's notice. While Herpo was not confirmed dead it was a fact that his power greatly diminished. The simple fact that the guy tried to make some good PR stunts like publicly making apologies and overt shows of remorse for his past actions was well recorded in the annals of wizarding history. It was an attempt by Herpo to consolidate his power in the wizarding world through soft power. How long that attempt worked was up for debate but it certainly didn’t work in the long term.

 

 

So, from a strategic point of view, this was the perfect time to magically cripple Voldemort. The more Harry studied Horcruxes he learned one thing. Voldemort’s power was his ability to freely use Dark Magic like breathing. Unlike popular theory, multiple Horcruxes didn’t make Voldemort weaker in any sense. If anything, the Horcruxes made Voldemort more dangerous. An average wizard would struggle to cast most Dark spells simply because the mentality needed for the spells to bind was difficult to maintain for long periods. Constantly using anger, hatred, the intent to kill and so on was no sustainable way to live a life. By creating multiple Horcruxes Voldemort has circumvented this natural impediment. Essentially, Harry would say that Voldemort was no longer human in any sense.

 

 

Harry flicked his wand charging the runes he painstakingly carved on the floor to come to life. Since there were no known wards that could contain a Horcrux he used wards that could trap some of the darkest creatures known to wizards like Dementors. He didn’t stop there. Wards for trapping cursed objects, wards against ill-intent and even a series of shield charms were also used to construct a dome of pure energy against the Horcrux.

 

 

Harry looked at Ravenclaw's Diadem lying on the ground surrounded by the protective wards. He considered the wards a success as he could not feel any ill intent or whispers from the Horcrux once they were powered up. It took quite a lot of difficulty to make everything work especially with keeping Sirius out of the loop. Or maybe, Sirius must have guessed what was happening from all the strange questions he had asked and the Dark Arts books he borrowed from the Black Library. Of course, he had to promise Sirius that he'd come clean before the Third Task which was now only a week away.

 

 

“So, Kreacher. Are you ready to see this?” Harry asked, looking at the shabby-looking Black elf.

 

 

Kreacher looked pained to be present here. The poor elf was forcing himself to be present in the Chamber because Sirius ordered so. It was a cruel thing to do to force Kreacher to stay against his will. But, this had to be done. Harry wanted Slytherin's locket destroyed but he wanted Kreacher's cooperation as well. He wanted Kreacher not to work against him or Sirius in the future. This little event was a start to solidify Kreacher in his camp so to speak. Everybody in the Wizarding world underestimates house elves. Harry was not prepared to fall into the 'everybody' category.

 

 

“Kreacher wonders what the half-blood wants him to see. Bloodtraitor master forces Kreacher to obey. What would Mistress think of Kreacher?” the old elf croaked, his baggy eyes trained on Harry accusingly.

 

 

Harry got on his knee so that he could have better eye contact with Kreacher.

 

 

“More than a decade ago Regulus Black took you to a cave and tasked you with the destruction of a locket. The magic in that locket is the vilest form of magic that keeps the Dark Lord immortal. Do you still have that locket?”

 

 

He could see the question rattled Kreacher to the core. This secret was only privy to Kreacher and Regulus. No one in the world knew how or why Regulus died. Not even his family.

 

 

“How? How does the half-blood know of Master Regulus?” asked Kreacher, giving Harry a look that was equal parts loathing and pained.

 

 

“That doesn’t matter. What matters is that the tiara sitting there has the same magic that the locket holds. Tell me Kreacher, do you know how to destroy the tiara or the locket?”

 

 

Kreacher said nothing but his eyes suddenly teared up with unshed tears. The old elf let out a shiver before promptly bursting into tears.

 

 

“Kreacher tried many times. But, Kreacher failed to fulfil Master Regulus' orders.” Kreacher wailed, blowing his nose against the grey rag that the old elf was wearing.

 

 

“Well, you can fulfil Regulus' last wish if you can bring the locket here.” said Harry, pointing his wand at a small glass vial containing a viscous fluid.

 

 

Using the levitation charm, he made the vial gently float towards the tiara on the ground. Infusing his will into the spell Harry managed to tilt the vial on its side spilling the contents of the vial on the tiara. Rowena Ravenclaw was undoubtedly a magnificent witch for her time and her spells were even still considered the epitome of sorcery. However, her tiara which was imbued with her powerful magic was no match for the corrosive power of a thousand-year-old Basilisk's venom. The tiara hissed and boiled as it took the full brunt of the Basilisk venom.

 

 

With a shrill scream black smoke began to pour out of Ravenclaw's Diadem. Harry was ready with enforcing his Occlumency barriers to the best of his abilities. He expected some reaction from the soul shard in his scar but nothing happened. He was not bombarded with sudden headaches or visions of Voldemort which was quite welcoming. Either the wards worked far better than he intended or the soul shard was somehow neutralized by his mental barriers. Whatever the reason, the soul shard's inertness worked to his advantage. While Harry remained perfectly disconnected from the Horcrux the soul shard inside the barrier was another case. A pair of red eyes emerged from the dark aura all the while shrieking in despair and pain. The dark aura of the Horcrux lashed out against the barriers as a last show of defiance before getting snuffed out.

 

 

As the Chamber returned to normalcy Harry brought down the barrier. The area around Ravenclaw's diadem was charred and in the place of the tiara, there was now a black tar-like substance.

 

 

“Kreacher wonders how nasty half-blood knows to destroy the Dark Lord's magic. Is this how nasty half-blood stopped the Dark Lord?” Kreacher muttered, looking curiously at the smouldering remains of the Diadem.

 

 

“The Dark Lord made many such cursed objects. Destroying these objects helps in destroying the Dark Lord. Isn’t that what Regulus wanted Kreacher?”

 

 

“How does nasty half-blood know of Master Regulus?” asked Kreacher.

 

 

“I know him because he was trying to do the same thing I'm trying to do. Regulus was a hero as he fought against the Dark Lord. Let's make sure his sacrifice was not in vain.”

 

 

Kreacher rubbed tears from the corner of his eyes. Blinking his large tennis ball eyes, Kreacher looked earnestly at Harry.

 

 

“What does young master want from Kreacher?”

 

 

Harry smiled and asked for Slytherin's locket from Kreacher.

 

 

A few minutes later, Harry watched the locket endure the same treatment he dished out on the Diadem. The soul shard inside the locket made quite a ruckus till its miserable end. Harry's ears were ringing from all the screaming by the Horcrux. All the screaming and dark magic aside the two Horcruxes were destroyed for good.

 

 

“Thank you, Kreacher. You just helped me strike a blow at the Dark Lord. I appreciate your help.” said Harry, reaching out his hand towards the Black family elf to shake.

 

 

Kreacher frowned at Harry's hand.

 

 

“Young master is not so bad for a nasty half-blood. Kreacher wonders why the young master likes Kreacher's master. Nothing but disappointment for the Mistress.” Kreacher muttered absently while giving a bow to Harry.

 

 

With a distinctive popping sound, Kreacher disappeared from the Chamber.

 

 

“Kreacher be a bad elf master. Shall Winky make Kreacher apologize?” asked Winky, making herself visible. She was dressed in a flowery summer dress and a pink hat.

 

 

“No need Winky. Kreacher is old and he has been lonely for many years. Be kind to him.”

 

 

“Master is kind.” Winky bowed low before teleporting away.

 

 

Harry spent some time in the Chamber vanishing the remains of the two Horcruxes. He also used a minor cleansing ritual that ancient Celtic wizards used to ward off lingering dark magic or evil spirits. He wanted to make sure there was nothing untoward left in the Chamber clinging to the natural magic of the place and feeding off it. He was not leaving anything to chance with the Chamber, especially with the lingering magic of a dead Basilisk.

 

 

Giving one last look at the Chamber, Harry called for Dobby and took his leave.

 

 

XXXXXXX

 

 

“I'm so jealous of you now.”

 

 

Harry looked up from the book in his hand.

 

 

“What'd you mean?” he raised an eyebrow at Daphne who was sitting opposite him near the Black Lake.

 

 

“You don’t have to worry about any exams. Instead of preparing for tests, you are reading a muggle storybook.” Daphne complained, kicking him slightly with her legs.

 

 

“I’ll have you know this is no mere storybook.” Harry said indignantly, proudly flashing the cover of the first book in the Lord of the Rings series.

 

 

“The Hobbit? Is that supposed to mean something?” asked Daphne, a look of tentative interest blooming on her face.

 

 

“Mean something? I assure you that you'll find a whole different meaning for everything after you read this book. Tell you what, I'll lend you the book for this summer.” Harry offered, knowing Daphne was quite an avid reader of story books. Stories had often become one of the major talking points in their many dates.

 

 

“I’ll give it a try even if I don’t expect much from a muggle book.” Daphne snottily replied making Harry crack up internally.

 

 

He may have known Daphne for six months or so but he knew a façade when he sees one. The look on her face spoke volumes of her interest even though her words say otherwise.

 

 

“Perhaps you could bring the book to my home over the summer if you want.” Daphne shyly added abruptly.

 

 

“Is that an invitation to your home?” Harry quirked an eyebrow curiously. “I didn’t think you to be so forward Miss Greengrass.”

 

 

The way her cheeks flushed red was quite cute.

 

 

“Well, I don’t think inviting the winner of the Tri-wizard Tournament would be inappropriate.” said Daphne, smoothing out her skirt and taking to her feet.

 

 

Harry looked into her blue eyes amusedly.

 

 

“I'm heartened by your faith in my skills to declare me the victor even before the Third Task.” Harry snickered at the way Daphne's cheeks got further heated up.

 

 

“It’s a foregone conclusion now. Everyone who bothers to look closely can see your victory. Diggory is no match for your power, Delacour is not even here as she is in France to attend their NEWT exams and Krum is too slow on the uptake unless he is on a broom. You'll win the Third Task for sure.” said Daphne.

 

 

Harry smiled. He reached out and took her hand in his before pulling her into his lap. For a moment, he forgot himself and proceeded to engage Daphne's lips in a sensual tango. After a minute, they broke away from the kiss to look each other in the eyes.

 

 

“Was that too forward?” he asked.

 

 

“No, it was not. You seem too happy today.” said Daphne, her blue eyes trained into his unblinking and alight with an emotion he couldn’t quite place.

 

 

“I suppose I'm happy today.” whispered Harry, reaching out his right hand and taking a lock of Daphne's blonde hair around his finger.

 

 

“Uhmmm.”

 

 

Someone cleared their throat making Harry and Daphne part away from each other as they were reaching out to kiss again. They both looked at the intruder who happened to be Hermione who looked a bit flustered and apologetic.

 

 

“I’m sorry Harry, Daphne. Professor McGonagall asked me to find you, Harry. Professor Dumbledore is asking for you in his office.” said Hermione.

 

 

‘What does the old man want now? Did he by chance sense the Horcruxes somehow?’ Harry wondered.

 

 

Either way, this was quite bad timing. Then again, Dumbledore can surely wait a few more minutes. With that happy thought, he winked at Hermione before he went for another kiss with Daphne. He got the feeling Daphne approved as she placed her hands on his shoulders but did not push him away. It was not surprising. After all, he was quite a good kisser.

 

AN:

 

https://discord.gg/QRTnmx8dW4

Chapter 43: The Third Task P1

Harry's footsteps echoed throughout the vacant corridors of Hogwarts as he made his way towards Dumbledore's office. Most of the hallways should have been bustling with students but they remained vacant. The upperclassmen were busy with their NEWTs and OWLs while the rest were tackling the end-of-the-year exams. While the exams gave him more time for training there was a disadvantage. His free movement inside Hogwarts was affected because of the lack of students. Earlier with a lot of students mingling around, he could evade the curious eyes of the portraits. He could turn a corner and use the Disillusion charm or even a Notice-me-not charm to evade any spies. These precautions were a necessity when he was spending most of his training in the Room of Requirement.

 

But now, the situation has changed. If he wanted to go somewhere without being followed he needed Dobby's help.

 

Even though the current situation was not to his liking he walked with a spring in his steps. The reason was quite simple. Before the war has even begun he had felt two major blows to Voldemort. That could become three if the Diary is also taken into account. Because of his preemptive strike, there were only four Horcruxes left. Out of the four, he was constructing a plan for Nagini as well. He was not entirely sure whether that will pan out as he hoped but Nagini was personally an important target.

 

‘Like me, the snake is also a Horcrux.’ Harry thought.

 

Nagini is the only other living Horcrux that he knew. Not even the many reading materials he went through so far a bit Horcruxes holds any mention of a living being turned into a Horcrux. So, if he was to safely get rid of the soul shard latching onto his body he need a guinea pig. Nagini fitted the bill perfectly. He could experiment on her leading to hopefully developing a spell capable of removing a Horcrux without destroying the host.

 

It was a tall task but he was very hopeful. Unfortunately, getting his hands on Nagini itself was going to be a tough task. He knew Voldemort would be in his most vulnerable state in the graveyard. But, the Dark Lord was a crafty fellow. Not to mention, the possible repercussions Nagini's absence would unleash.

 

It's not as if Voldemort would not bat an eye over Nagini's absence. The potential consequence of Nagini's disappearance would possibly force Voldemort to check in on his other Horcruxes. So, there were some serious risks involved.

 

All of those thoughts left his mind when he finally reached the Gargoyle that guarded the stairs to Dumbledore's office.

 

“Cockroach cluster.”

 

The Gargoyle moved aside allowing Harry entry to the stairs. Climbing the fought of stairs he arrived at Dumbledore's office which was vacant with the doors wide open.

 

“Professor Dumbledore?” Harry called, but no one answered. Even the portraits in the office were strangely vacant.

 

“Well, don’t just stand there. Come on in.”

 

Harry blinked a few times and looked around but he could not see anyone nearby.

 

“I'm up here on the shelf.”

 

Harry finally found the culprit. It was none other than the Sorting Hat.

 

“Hi. How're you doing?” Harry asked, carefully looking around the room and finding no one else, not even Fawkes.

 

“I'll survive. What about you Mr Potter? How have you been?” asked the Sorting Hat.

 

“I’m still among the living. So, that has to count for something given the circumstances.” said Harry, wandering around the office.

 

“I see. Headmaster Dumbledore will be here momentarily. You are welcome to take your seat.”

 

Harry hummed noncommittally but otherwise remained standing. He went straight for the open shelf holding a collection of books in the corner of the office. It was a concise collection of books but most of the books were the rarest of the rare. A whole section of books was dedicated to Alchemy alone.

 

As he traced every nook and corner of the office he came across a glass cabinet covered with a cotton cloth.

 

‘That’s new.’ Harry thought, moving closer to the glass cabinet.

 

Once he removed the cotton covering the glass cabinet, silver light flooded the room. A shallow stone basin was inside the cabinet littered with overlapping and intertwining runes. Some of the runes were so small he was sure only a magnifying glass could properly identify them. However, the silver light came from the contents inside the stone basin. It was silver water flattering away as if it came down from the crucible of the stars. There was also a cloud of white vapour swirling around inside the silver liquid.

 

‘A memory.’ Harry realized.

 

There was no doubt. The stone basin was undoubtedly a Pensive. The urge to see the memory inside the pensive was there in his mind but he suppressed that urge. He'd not play into Dumbledore's hands. The man was obviously monitoring the office somehow and he was sure the Headmaster didn’t leave the pensive here by happenstance.

 

‘Nothing happens in Hogwarts by coincidence. There's always a plan afoot.’ Harry thought.

 

He covered the glass cabinet with the cotton sheet and took a seat facing the Headmaster's office desk. On the desk, the Sword of Gryffindor lay proudly showing off its indestructible silver blade made of Goblin forging techniques. Its blade was not just indestructible but also poisonous enough to kill a dragon.

 

‘Quite deadly just as it was in Gryffindor's hands.’ Harry thought, disregarding the modern interpretation of wizarding history which paints Godric Gryffindor as some saintly figure.

 

“Ah, Harry. Forgive my tardiness. I was otherwise engaged with my guests.” said Dumbledore, entering the office making Harry turn around in his seat.

 

Dumbeldore was not alone. There was a group of three following the Headmaster. Harry immediately recognized the witch dressed in pink robes. It was none other than Dolores Umbridge. He gathered the other two were Aurors.

 

“Mr Potter. We meet at last. I'm Delores Umbridge. It was my wish that you be present here despite Headmaster Dumbledore’s wishes.” said Umbridge, a simpering smile on her face.

 

“Charmed to meet you, ma’am. If you don’t mind me asking, why am I here?” asked Harry, looking curiously at the woman.

 

“Well, you see Mr Potter. I've been charged by the Minister to oversee the investigation into Bartemius Crouch's disappearance and his further illegal acts. The trial of Mr Black exposed Crouch's illegal activities. I suspect he was not just involved in the wrongful incarceration of Mr Black but also responsible for your entry into the Tri-wizard tournament.”

 

Harry blinked a few times looking uncomprehendingly at the woman who smiled indulgently at him. It took him a moment to realize the Ministry was dumping all the blame on Crouch's head and washing their hands off the issue. Crouch was the perfect scapegoat. The man was unamusing and strict. He has no friends in the Ministry and most importantly the guy was part of the old regime. Blaming everything on Crouch would absolve the present regime politically. At least, that's how they'd present the plot to the people.

 

All things considered, it was a smart move. Harry was not going to challenge the findings of Umbridge. Mostly because there was no point. If the official Ministry version puts the blame on Barry Crouch Sr for Harry's entry into the Tournament he was quite happy. Barry Crouch Jr's exposure would only strengthen the Ministry version forcing them to stick to their current story in the future. That should neatly avoid any allegations sticking to his name in the future.

 

So, Harry stood up with a warm and welcoming smile on his face.

 

“I appreciate your candour, ma’am. Now that you have identified the culprit I hope the Ministry will promptly capture Mr Crouch and bring him to justice.” said Harry, showing his appreciation by dipping his head respectfully.

 

“Of course. The Ministry will promptly bring Mr Crouch to justice. We do not tolerate such unscrupulous characters in the Ministry.” Umbridge replied cheerfully with an air of importance around herself as if she was personally about to capture Crouch. “However, there is one thing. I have some questions for you. It will be helpful to my investigation.”

 

“Of course. Please ask away.” said Harry, waving his hand in a welcoming gesture.

 

“Thank you, Mr Potter. When was the first time you met Mr Crouch?” Umbridge asked while an Auror quickly took out a quill and began scribbling down on a notepad.

 

“I met Mr Crouch at the Quidditch stadium where Ireland was playing against the Bulgarians.”

 

“Have you ever conversed with Mr Crouch?”

 

“I have not ma’am. I was however present when Mr Crouch explained the rules of the Tournament after my name came out of the Goblet of Fire.” Harry answered while Umbridge nodded before skipping to her next query.

 

“It is the Ministry's opinion and mine as well that Mr Crouch intended to endanger you by illegally entering you into this tournament. While some do not share this opinion...” Umbridge eyed Dumbledore who was calmly sitting at his seat behind the table. “...we at the Ministry strongly believe so.”

 

Clearing her throat Umbridge turned her back on Dumbledore and her beady eyes bored into Harry's green eyes.

 

“You've been extremely cooperative and helpful so far Mr Potter. Now, I ask you, is there anything else you want to tell me? Anything at all?” Umbridge asked earnestly putting on an act of a concerned aunt.

 

‘She’s good when she's not a psychotic child abuser.’ Harry thought.

 

Truth be told he had quite a lot of stuff he needed to say to Umbridge. Not that he mistook her act as a genuine desire to help out a teenage kid caught up in a situation well out of his control or anything.

 

No. Instead, he saw her for what she truly was. A cutthroat politician looking to undermine her ‘enemy’ in some way. She was fishing for something to use against Dumbledore. Unfortunately, Harry was not in a position to divulge anything significant that could harm Dumbledore especially when the man was sitting three feet from him. Though, Harry was incapable of throwing a bone at the woman he could still reassure her of her faith that her ‘enemy' was none other than Dumbledore.

 

So, Harry carefully strayed his eyes from Umbridge to look at Dumbledore. He hoped he put the right amount of questioning look on his face before he abruptly jerked his eyes back to Umbridge. He could see a flash of understanding being lit in Umbridge's eyes. If he was correct, Umbridge would assume he was fearful of Dumbledore and the Headmaster has something to hide. Umbridge was certainly not coming to this realization at that moment. She was already suspicious and holds some unsavoury views about Dumbledore. Harry was merely reinforcing her beliefs and pointing her against Dumbledore.

 

“I think that's about it, Mr Potter. I thank you for your cooperation.” said Umbridge, a satisfied smile adorning her face.

 

“Glad to be of assistance, ma’am.” Harry, tacitly replied.

 

Harry observed as a silent spectator as Umbridge exchanged some meaningless pleasantries with Dumbledore before taking her leave along with the two Aurors using the floo. Now, it was just Harry and Dumbledore in the office.

 

“Tell me, Harry. Has anything happened that should be brought to my attention?” Dumbledore asked all of a sudden.

 

“Well, I can’t think of anything out of the ordinary.” Harry answered keeping a straight face.

 

He got the feeling Dumbledore was fishing for something. Exactly what, he had no idea.

 

“I see. If there is nothing else then I won’t keep you away from your preparations for the Third Task.” said Dumbledore, a clear dismissal if nothing else.

 

Harry didn’t dally around. He took the offered chance and bolted out of the office. But, instead of continuing the training, he went straight for the kitchens. Training could come later. He was quite famished. The elves might be open to offering him some biscuits and tea if he asked nicely. Besides, as far as training was concerned he only needed to practice some of the jinxes Hermione picked out for him from the library. The rest of the plan was coming along smoothly. He was ready to take on the Third Task and Voldemort. Time would tell whether his preparation was enough.

AN:

 

https://discord.gg/QRTnmx8dW4

Chapter 44: The Third Task P2

Harry looked at the series of thick hedges before him provided by the Room of Requirement. Unlike the hedges grown on the Quidditch pitch, these hedges merely functioned as hurdles. Taking a deep breath, Harry surged forward into a sprint. He began jumping over the hedges and sometimes he took sharp turns along the way by running around the obstacles. The ground was also not favourable to his practice run. It was muddy but the friction charms he used on the shoes were working perfectly. So far, he felt he was having a good grip on the ground. All of a sudden, water balloons shot out of the hedges.

 

Harry hastily put up a shield making the water balloons splash harmlessly against the shield. He was feeling a little bit of strain as he was fast getting out of breath. The pelting of water balloons stopped all of a sudden giving way to average-sized stone golems to rush out of the hedges randomly. They were small nearly the size of Goblins.

 

The reason for this exercise…reaction.

 

Learning a hundred spells would be useless if he didn’t have the perfect reaction time or accuracy. So, this particular exercise was what he came up with to keep himself in shape but also to bind spells on the fly accurately. By the time Harry finished the full track provided by the Room of Requirement, he was out of breath and totally spent for anything else.

 

So, Harry fell into a plush chair accepting a glass of orange juice that conveniently floated to his side. The room rearranged itself by dismissing the hedges and the muddy terrain while Harry dried himself using a towel.

 

“How was that Dobby?” he asked, turning to Dobby who was holding a mechanical stopwatch in his hand.

 

“You were three seconds faster than yesterday sir.” said Dobby, his large ears flipping up energetically.

 

“Not bad. What about you and Winky? Are you both ready for tomorrow?”

 

“Dobby is ready sir. But Dobby worries for Winky sir. Winky be a good elf sir but she has not done anything like this.” said Dobby, his green tennis ball eyes shining with concern.

 

Harry held back a laugh at Dobby's ‘concern’ for Winky. It was as if Dobby had the experience of any kind in what they were about to do at the graveyard. If everything goes smoothly his plan would be the largest blow Voldemort and his Death Eaters would have ever suffered in a single day. Not to mention, the elaborate cover-up he planned to keep the Ministry running in circles. Despite that, he was not ignorant of Winky's and Dobby's pre-jitters as the plan was set to unfold tomorrow evening.

 

“Tell you what Dobby. Let's ask for Kreacher's help as well.” Harry suggested.

 

That's how Harry found himself in the Chamber with Dobby. Fishing out the two-way mirror from his Mokeskin pouch Harry called for Sirius. Thankfully, Sirius was quick to answer.

 

“Hey, Harry. You need something?”

 

“Did you get the potion and the charmed glass case?” asked Harry.

 

“Got it with me. Are you going to explain what this is all about because it was not easy to get the potion prepared on such short notice?” Sirius complained.

 

Harry took a moment to think it over before he made up his mind to keep Sirius in the loop.

 

“You should come over. Bring Winky and Kreacher. It's time to fill you in on the details.” Harry finally said.

 

A few minutes later, Harry was observing Sirius who got a small glimpse of his plans.

 

“So, let me get this straight. Mad-eye Moody is an imposter and he is none other than Barty Crouch Jr.?” Sirius asked incredulously.

 

“Yes.” Harry nodded.

 

“I've known Moody for a while and his reputation would suggest what you say is impossible. Also, Barty Crouch Jr. died in Azkaban. Exactly how do you know this?” Sirius asked, a bit sceptical of Harry's claims.

 

Harry was prepared for this line of questioning. It was not like he can explain the whole soul transmigration with a straight face and get away with it. Not to mention he didn’t want to say the real Harry is gone to Sirius because some random omnipotent being wanted to have some fun. Instead, he led with a convenient lie.

 

“I found out by using this.” said Harry, brandishing the Marauder’s map.

 

Thankfully, the fake Moody was pacing inside Moody's office. The map showed the name Barty Crouch moving back and forth inside the room while another Barty Crouch tag was seen unmoving along with Alastor Moody.

 

“The real Moody and Barty Crouch Sr. are imprisoned inside the office while Barty Crouch Jr is impersonating Moody using the Polyjuice potion. If you want further proof, you only need to ask Winky. She was Crouch's elf before she was dismissed from service.” said Harry, looking at Winky who looked like she was ready to burst into tears.   

 

“Dobby thinks Winky should not cry. Winky be no longer a Crouch elf. She be a Potter elf.”

 

Dobby's unexpected support seems to do the trick helping Winky to look more resilient. Winky wiped away her tears and seem to get ahold of herself.

 

“Master Harry is right. Master Crouch saved his son from Azkaban. But, Winky didn’t know the young master was in Hogwarts.” said Winky, peering at the Marauder’s map with a forlorn look. 

 

“That son of a wanker.” Sirius muttered darkly, looking ready to blow a gasket.

 

“Sirius, I told you about this because you deserved to know. But, there will be no rash decisions this time. We will stick to the plan to the end.” Harry warned, looking intently into Sirius' grey eyes.

 

He watched Sirius pace for a while muttering curses and obscenities at the two Crouches before he finally relented.

 

“Fine. We'll follow your plan. I hope your plan lands them both in Azkaban.”  

 

“Better. They'll both get the Dementor's kiss.” Harry smirked at his godfather who returned the gesture.

 

“Alright. Now, why do you need an indestructible glass case and the Draught of living death?” asked Sirius, jabbing his thumb at the giant glass case filled with one of the most dangerous potions known to wizardkind.

 

“I’m glad you asked." Harry said, rubbing his hands together in excitement. "I believe Kreacher can help me here and he might find it particularly rewarding.”

 

 

XXXXXXX

 

 

 

It was the day of the Third Task. Harry was well-rested thanks to the good amount of sleep he got last night. He was about to orchestrate one of the biggest 'pranks' on Voldemort and the Ministry. A well-rested mind was the need of the hour for pulling something off that scale right under everyone's nose. If he was having some jitters about the task ahead Hermione was having something worse.

 

“I don’t think I did a good reading on the Goblin rebellion of 1732. I think I may have forgotten all about it!” Hermione gasped out making Harry look up from his plate full of bacon and fried eggs.

 

“Pfft! As if!” Ron snorted dismissively.

 

“Nobody’s talking to you, Ron. Mind your own business.” Hermione snapped.

 

“She’s got that look she had before she punched Malfoy last year.” Harry covertly muttered to Neville who was thankfully insulating him from Ron.

 

“You reckon she's gonna punch him?” asked Neville.

 

“Nah. There are too many eyes on her. If only this was in the Common room…”

 

“Shame. I would have loved to see that.” said Ginny, surprising both Harry and Neville to know that their conversation was not exactly very secretive.

 

“Ron's your brother you know.” Harry reminded the youngest Weasley.

 

“Thank you for reminding me of that unfortunate fact Harry.” said Ginny.

 

“You’re welcome.” Harry winked, causing Ginny to turn away with rosy cheeks.

 

“Hey, Harry.”

 

“Feeling alright there buddy.”

 

Fred and George slipped next to Harry patting him on the shoulder.

 

“Just a bit hungry.” said Harry, wincing as the argument between Ron and Hermione was gaining more pitch.

 

“You know George. Maybe we should find something that makes our dear Ronnikins shut up or make him smart.”

 

“Oh, can you please make him shut up? He's embarrassing me in front of everyone.” Ginny jumped in pleading with her brothers.

 

“Your efforts are wasted. How can Ron shut his mouth when there is food on his plate?” Harry asked amusedly. “Do you really want a Ron on empty stomach?”

 

Fred and George made a show of shivering at the very thought of dealing with a hungry Ron.

 

“Definitely not a good prospect to think about.” Fred admitted.

 

“Leaving the disturbing thought of a starving Ron, how're you holding up? Feeling ready to win that shiny cup?” asked George.

 

“It'll be sweet sweet revenge against…”

 

“…pretty boy Diggory for that Quidditch match last year.”

 

Amused by the infamous ‘twin-talk', Harry chuckled.

 

Just then Angelina and Alicia joined them at the table.

 

“I certainly hope you put your name on that cup Harry. You've done so well so far. If Diggory or someone else wins, we won’t be hearing the end of it.” Angelina butted in, attracting the attention of many at the Gryffindor table who echoed her opinion.

 

“I'll win that cup for Gryffindor. After all, who can stand against us lions.” Harry boasted in a faux manner making most Gryffindors chuckle.

 

“It's good to see you are confident Potter.”

 

Harry nearly jumped out of his seat as he heard Professor McGonagall speak from his back. He immediately swivelled around and sure enough, the Transfiguration Professor was right behind him.

 

“Professor! I didn’t see you.” Harry stuttered.

 

“Unfortunately, most don’t. Anyway, I just came down here to tell you that the Champions will be gathering at the Chamber of the Hall after breakfast.” Professor McGonagall said.

 

“Oh, I'll be there.”

 

“Good. And Potter, good luck.”

 

With her piece said the Professor moved away leaving everyone to stare after her.

 

“Did anyone see her behind me?” Harry asked, turning to Ginny and Katie who were sitting opposite him.

 

“No. She was just suddenly there. It was as if she apparated into the spot.” said Ginny, who was still gaping after Professor McGonagall.

 

“Oh, don’t be silly Ginny. You can’t apparate inside Hogwarts. Everyone knows that." said Hermione, forgetting her verbal bout with Ron for the moment.

 

“But, no one saw her coming did they? How did she sneak in without any of us noticing?” asked Neville.

 

“Oh!” Hermione gasped, looking as though she stumbled onto some great discovery. “I think I understand now. Skeeter will rue the day she was born.”

 

With that said, Hermione snatched her bag and sprinted away from the Great Hall.

 

“What’s up with her?” Ron asked flabbergasted with a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

 

No one spoke after that for a time.

 

“Well, at least we know who put Harry's name in the Goblet.” said Neville, trying to break the ice so to speak.

 

“I wonder why Crouch would put your name in the Goblet Harry.” said George, munching on a loaf of bread.

 

“Yeah. Dad always talked highly of him. Crouch was supposedly very tough on Death Eaters and all when he was the head of DMLE.” said Fred.

 

“Maybe Crouch wanted the Triwizard cup so badly and he didn’t want to leave it for chance.” said Ginny, making everyone look at her forcing the younger redhead to sink down in her seat.

 

“I mean, he was not wrong to think that. Look how much of a disaster Diggory turned out to be. If Harry was not in the Tournament, Hogwarts would have been at rock bottom in points.” Ginny explained.

 

Everyone agreed with that assessment.

 

Harry didn’t say anything. Instead, he stared at the front page of the Daily Prophet folded not far away from his plate. He could still see the grinning face of Umbridge on display. The Ministry has made it public that Crouch was responsible for putting Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire. It was a load of bull but it fits the narrative Harry was aiming at.

 

Harry was slow to finish breakfast. Mostly because he was in no hurry and was expecting someone to join him at the table. As the Great Hall was being emptied out, Harry was approached by Daphne and Tracey. Both of them wished him luck before moving on to take their exams.

 

A few minutes passed, and the one he has been waiting for joined him across the table.

 

“'Arry.”

 

Harry smiled as Fleur sat across from him with a plate of scrambled eggs.

 

“Glad to have you back. How were your exams?”

 

“This ‘eez what you ask after all this time.” Fleur playfully asked, a cute pout on her ruby lips.

 

“That’s all I can ask because Cedric is coming our way.” he warned.

 

Not a moment later Cedric joined them at the Gryffindor table.

 

“Aren't you guys coming?” asked Cedric.

 

Harry exchanged a look with Fleur before standing up. Their conversation could wait. Krum was already inside the Chamber when the three of them entered. The Durmstrang Champion was quietly conversing with his dark-haired parents on the corner. Harry got the feeling Krum's parents were not at all happy or maybe he was just getting that impression because of the rapid-fire conversation in Bulgarian. It sounded like the trio was discussing the best ways to crush everyone's bones and make a run for it. He was sure that was not the case because they were huge and bulky.

 

'Bulgarians.' he thought, shaking his head.

 

Cedric went straight for his father and mother. One thing was for certain. Cedric didn’t get his good looks from his father. Then there was Fleur's family. He was already familiar with her father and mother thanks to Rita Skeeter's slandering article in the Prophet. So, he was not overly surprised to see Sirius quietly conversing with Fleur's father. Fleur squeezed his hand before she skipped towards her mother. Fleur's little sister Gabrielle waved at him with a thousand-watt smile. He waved back, happy to see the girl was alright and not some withdrawn mess after going through the ordeal in the Black Lake.

 

What surprised him however was the presence of Andromeda, Nymphadora and Ted Tonks.

 

“Before you ask, Sirius asked mom if she wanted to tag along. She forced dad to go along with her. And I was like, I too want to see Hogwarts. So, here we are.” Tonks said cheerfully.

 

Harry let out a chuckle at Tonks' funny way of explaining their presence in Hogwarts.

 

“Thank you for coming. It's an incredibly nice gesture.” Harry said, shaking hands with Ted and Andromeda.

 

“We Blacks have to stick together, especially during these troubled times.” said Andromeda.

 

Harry didn’t get the full meaning until Sirius returned to their side.

 

“I forgot to tell you, Harry. I revoked Andromeda's banishment from the House of Black. She and little Nym here are back on the family tree.” said Sirius.

 

“This is wonderful news. It seems congratulations are in order. I'm asking this out of pure curiosity. Did something change after you two were acknowledged?” he asked curiously.

 

“Aunt Walburga had a fit. Other than that, nothing happened.” Andromeda snorted.

 

“If my mother could die again she would have after she heard the news. I had to ward off an entire portion of the house to silence her incessant screaming.” Sirius complained.

 

Harry suddenly felt a tug on his hand. Turning around he was met with the smiling face of Gabrielle Delacour. She gave him a small box covered with a gift wrap.

 

“’eet ‘eez a gift for saving ‘er from the lake. Please accept it, Monsieur Potter.” Apolline Delacour said.

 

“Merci.” said Harry, accepting the gift from Fleur’s sister with a smile.

 

Sirius began introducing the Tonks family to the Delacours. It didn’t take long for everyone to split into groups and wander around the castle. Sirius slipped out with Ted Tonks and Mr Delacour while Andromeda went away with Mrs Delacour and Fleur's sister. This left Harry with Fleur and Nymphadora. Unsurprisingly, Nymphadora thought it was a good idea to check up on Hogwarts. So, she dragged both Harry and Fleur along for the ride talking her way through the many portraits that filled the hallowed halls of Hogwarts.

 

It was a long journey with Nymphadora leading the trip. Harry even pitched in and showed them some of the secret entrances to the school for Nymphadora's benefit who was totally regretting being ignorant of those passages in her time as a student. Fleur, who usually found most British witches and wizards unbearable, seems to have taken a liking to Tonks mostly because of her choice of profession. Fleur seemed very impressed with Tonks for becoming an Auror, a dangerous profession even in France.

 

As the two witches conversed along the vacant hallways of Hogwarts, Harry noticed one thing. That little crush he was feeling for Nymphadora was completely absent now. He had his eyes trained on Fleur all the time. The way her lips moved, the way her hair flew in the wind, the way her hips danced as she moved, the way her voice clicked the right chords. He noticed all of that and nothing else. It was then that he knew for sure that he cared about Fleur more than any girl.

 

Was it love? He didn’t know. But, it was certainly something close enough. This more than anything else made him determined to reach the Triwizard Cup as fast as possible. The longer it took he'd be endangering everyone including Fleur. Fortunately, he was prepared to finish the task faster. He just hoped everything would work as planned.

 

For a better part of the morning, they wandered around the castle before winding up at the Great Hall just in time for lunch. They took up the Gryffindor table for having lunch. It was also interesting for the students to see all these new faces in the Great Hall. Some of the students were very interested in catching a glimpse of Sirius. His notorious reputation before the trial still loosely hung around him. But, Sirius didn’t seem all that bothered by the attention. The family of the Champions were not the sole new faces in the Great Hall. There was the Minister of Magic sitting beside Dumbledore and some Ministry employees including Ludo Bagman.

 

“Fudge looks happy enough. His approval ratings may have improved with that stunt Umbridge pulled.” Sirius whispered to him.

 

“He is a bumbling politician. Just stroke his ego and make sure he feels you are on his side. Also, remember Moody has that magical eye. So, keep your eyes away from the guy until I return. You know what to do next.” Harry whispered.

 

“I know. Are you sure you want to do this? We can still expose Crouch and his master's plan. We can catch the rat and his master red-handed.”

 

Harry looked at Sirius and sighed. “Catching them won’t stop them. We have to destroy them root and stem. For that, we need to demolish their base of power. That's what Dumbledore failed to do. So, no. We’ll go forward with the plan.” said Harry.

 

“What are you two whispering about? Making plans for the Task, are we?” asked Tonks.

 

“’Arry can make all ‘eez plans but I'll be taking ‘zzat trophy to France.” said Fleur, followed by laughter eerily similar to tingling bells.

 

“I’ve got no issue with the Triwizard cup going to France. But, the cup will have my name on it.” said Harry, his eyes shining with mirth while looking at a pouting Fleur.

 

“Look at you two. I can’t wait for the Task to begin.” Tonks said, gleefully rubbing her hands.

 

 

XXXXXXX

 

 

 

The Task was about to commence and Harry was dressing up to tackle the maze and everything that will come after. He hoped the Twins would keep their mouths shut. In his plan, the only vulnerable element was their involvement. He had bought them off offering them their dream shop for their services. So, he hoped their silence about their involvement in his plan remained a secret that they will take to their grave. Of course, he never spilt every nuance of his plan to the Weasley twins but they certainly have a piece of information that could be revealing the plot to someone like Dumbledore.

 

“Kreacher wonders where young master found this armour.” Kreacher muttered as Harry slipped into the Basilisk scale mesh armour Winky prepared for him.

 

“I killed the Basilisk living in this Chamber and Winky was kind enough to make an armour out of the scales.” said Harry, earning a curious look from Kreacher.

 

“Kreacher wonders why the young master would lie. Does the young master think he is not fit for the House of Black? What does Kreacher know of half-bloods and their thinking?”

 

Harry could hear Kreacher muttering in the background. It was as if Kreacher was ignorant of the fact that his comments would be heard by other people. Maybe, it was a side effect of living lonely for years in the Black Manor.

 

“Kreacher.” Harry called the old elf's attention to him.

 

Harry raised his wand and dismissed the notice-me-not charm on the ceiling of the Chamber. As the secrecy ward broke away the skeleton of Slytherin's Basilisk could be seen hanging from the ceiling. Harry enjoyed watching Kreacher's bulging eyes as the old elf took in the monstrous form of a thousand-year-old Basilisk.

 

“It's Slytherin's Basilisk. I didn’t like his attitude so I killed him and made him a decorating piece. Do you like it Kreacher?” Harry said in a lacklustre manner as if killing a Basilisk was something he usually did on a normal afternoon.

 

Kreacher was still gaping at the colossal skeleton of the Basilisk staring down from the ceiling. Harry grinned at that before focusing on the thin material the Twins made for him. Harry fished out two packs of blood Dobby procured from a Muggle hospital. The blood packs were under preservation charms to keep them fresh and usable. Using a thin drip tube he transferred the blood into the foldable membrane. When it was full of blood he wrapped the two membranes the Weasley twins made for him around his forearms. The membrane was almost the same colour as his skin so it'd survive a bit of scrutiny. Even if it didn’t, he was prepared for that event as well.

 

Harry placed two strong Confundus charms on both of his forearms. One was for making sure Pettigrew use his knife to take the blood from the membrane as if it was from his skin. The other was to make Pettigrew believe there was nothing amiss with his forearms. He also made sure to use a sticking charm on both membranes for safety. With that done, he slipped on two gloves made of Basilisk scales. The straps of the gloves should hide the thin line that separates the membrane from his wrists. The Confundus charm should ensure that was overlooked but he was not leaving anything to chance. He also put on a pair of dragonhide boots as well.

 

Now that he was properly covered in protective gear he pulled on a white shirt over the mesh armour and a leather jacket. That should keep the scales of the armour hidden from any curious eyes. Picking up his wand he pocketed it in his pants.

 

‘I’m now ready.’ Harry thought, looking into the mirror before taking his leave.

 

When he reached the Great Hall it was filled with students for the evening feast. Harry sparingly touched his plate. He focused on fluids more than any solid food. There were also far more Ministry dignitaries present than in the afternoon.

 

“Hello everyone. If I could have your attention please.” Ludo Bagman rose to his feet at the staff table addressing the Great Hall. “In five minutes time, the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament will commence. I request everyone to make their way to the Quidditch pitch. Champions, will you please follow me.”

 

“Well, that's me. Got to go guys.” Harry waved his goodbye to the Gryffindor table.

 

He got a slew of good wishes from his housemates. The Ravenclaws were also very supportive. Strangely enough, most of House Slytherin also extended support. They have been very quiet ever since he threatened them with snakes at the Yule Ball. Maybe his overtures through the ritual group were seeing some positive effect in the House of Snakes. Tracey and Hermione hugged him while Daphne gave him a good luck kiss on his cheek earning a few whistles from his housemates. Apparently dating a 'snake' from the Slytherin House earned him a reputation for being a bad boy which was seen as cool and hip.

 

Within five minutes time, Harry made himself available at the Quidditch pitch. Cedric, Viktor and Fleur were all there with him as they stood before the maze. The twenty-foot-high hedge ran all the way around the edges of the pitch. It looked as if it was the abode of nocturnal creatures. There were four passages for each of the Champions and all four of them looked dark and creepy.

 

From the maze, Moody emerged dragging his wooden leg across the pitch. Harry was thankful he had the presence of mind to ask Sirius to enchant his jacket for this specific occasion. He didn’t know who Sirius found but he hoped the enchantments to evade Moody's invasive eye were working. After all, he didn’t want Moody to notice his forearms this early in the game.

 

Harry noticed the stands were getting filled. The clouds in the night sky were parting giving way to the stars. It was as if the stars so far away were also looking closely at the Task that was about to begin. He knew quite a lot of the audience was attracted to shows of magical power. That's how he turned all the negative publicity against him to his side during the First Task. So, Harry was not going to disappoint his ‘fans’. According to Tracey, the Harry Potter fans club was getting far more members this year thanks to his colourful performance in the First Task and his ‘selfless’ heroic action in the Second Task.

 

“Potter.”

 

Harry turned around at his name being called to see Professor Bathsheda Babbling, his Ancient Runes professor.

 

“Good luck with the Task, Mr Potter. Do try to return in one piece because you have a Runes test waiting for you.”

 

“I wouldn’t miss it, Professor.” Harry smiled as he watched the woman nod and take her seat in the stands beside Professor Vector.

 

Ludo Bagman returned with Professor McGonagall, Flitwick, Hagrid and Moody.

 

“Now gather around Champions.” Bagman called for their attention. “The Professors will be patrolling the edges of the pitch. If you feel any difficulty…anything at all you must fire red sparks into the sky. One of the Professors will come to your rescue. Now, are there any doubts?”

 

All the four Champions shook their heads.

 

“Excellent.” Bagman said brightly, a beaming smile on his boyish face. “Now, for the audience.”

 

“Sonorus.” Bagman used the magnifying voice charm to be heard by everyone.

 

“Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen. Please settle down. The Third Task is about to start. Thank you.” Bagman bowed as the stands erupted into cheers.

 

“Now, the task before our brilliant Champions is simple. The Champions will take to the maze in the order of their points scored in the last two tasks. It means Mr Potter will go first followed by Mr Krum, Miss Delacour and Mr Diggory. They have to traverse the maze and find the Triwizard cup. Their path toward the cup will be filled with obstacles. The one to first touch the cup becomes the Triwizard Champion."

 

Harry could hear the applause from the stands as the names of the Champions were being called. He chanced a look in the direction of Sirius. His godfather was on his feet whistling enthusiastically. The same could be said for Nymphadora. Ted and Andromeda were cheering for him in their seats. Neville gave him a thumbs-up and the twins were dancing on the stands dressed up as lions. How they managed to get that outfit he never knew. But, given what he was about to do, their costumes were quite meaningful for the occasion.

 

“So, on my whistle, Harry!” said Bagman.

 

“Ready, one…two…three!” Bagman blew a sharp blast using his whistle and Harry picked one of the pathways.

 

However, he wasn’t running for the small path between the hedges. Instead, he paused just at the entrance of the maze and fished out his wand. Taking a deep breath, Harry pulled a happy memory to the surface of his mind. The memory was the one with Fleur in the broom closet kissing and exploring each of their bodies under the warmth provided by the castle walls. He let the feeling of passion and happiness fill his mind as he launched the spell.

 

“Expecto Patronum.”

 

There was a bright flash of silver light that chased away the darkness of the night. Bright silvery mists of the spell coalesced into a solid form right above the hedges. He was sure Hermione, Ron and Dumbledore would be mystified to see his Patronus now. It was no longer a proud galloping stag. Instead, it was a fearsome large lion made of silvery vapour. This spell was the epitome of what most wizards would consider Light Magic. But, this spell has many other uses. A Patroni spirit is not just useful for chasing down Dementors. They can be carriers for messages and most importantly they can be used to track down something or someone.

 

Now, a little bit of tweak to the spell was needed for Harry's intentions. He tapped the tip of his wand against the Patroni spirit's head and then his own. Silver wisps of energy entered his eyes connecting the Patroni spirit with his vision.

 

“Go find the Triwizard cup.” he ordered.

 

The Patroni spirit didn’t waste any time before galloping north over the hedges. For Harry, he could see a long line of thread connecting the Patroni spirit with his line of vision. It's for this reason this particular supplementary charm was called the Ariadne charm named after the Greek legend of Ariadne and her threads that helped Theseus traverse the labyrinth.

 

He could hear Bagman whistling three more times allowing the other Champions entry into the maze. But, his eyes were focused on the thread as it expanded across the maze guided by the Patroni spirit. The Horus glasses were a godsend for this particular situation. Anything his eyes could perceive the glasses magnified it and gave him a clear-cut picture. So, his vision was actually about to follow the thread all the way to his Patroni spirit.

 

Finally, his Patroni stopped, and he knew for sure the Triwizard cup was found. The thread extending out of his wand's tip straightened as he adjusted his position making the thread lose the inclined angel it was making with the wand. The thread traced a straight line towards the Triwizard cup giving him a straight path.

 

Harry smiled and cancelled the Patronus charm. He could make out Bagman giving a detailed commentary on the background about what he was doing. He assumed Dumbledore was explaining to Bagman for the benefit of the crowd. Or maybe, Bagman was a knowledgeable chap in obscure spells.

 

Anyway, Harry focused on the task at hand. He was far from done. Now that he knows the straight path ahead it was time to make another spell suitable for his needs.

 

Harry drew the rune for power on the air with his wand and jabbed straight at the hedges blocking his way.

 

“Battuo inflammata.”

 

As the spell's name itself would suggest, it functioned as a battering ram with one little add-on. A wide arc of fire surrounded the spells and rammed through the hedges as if they were made of paper. The Horus glasses helped him get a clear-cut vision. So, when the spell smashed through the last hedge he knew then and there to cancel the spell.

 

There was a suitably large hole punching through the hedges and in the distance, he could see the Triwizard cup. So, the next spell escaped his wand.

 

“Torrens incendio.”

 

A sea of fire spread through the cavity he created through the hedges. Flourishing his wand he controlled the fire so that it cleansed the path with fire after which it withdrew to the sides. In the end, there was a clear path before him with the charred ground as the runway. Harry wasted no time in covering his head in Bubble-head charm and applying himself a strong fire-repellent charm for good measure before running straight for the cup. The fire on the two sides of the pathway he created was still under his control. So, he maintained the fire to not act out against him as he ran straight for the cup.

 

It took him a maximum of seven minutes to reach the cup running at full speed. Only some charred sticks and stones proved to be a hindrance here and there, but he was careful along the way.

 

There before his eyes, the Triwizard cup gleamed. Its finely crafted silver handle gleamed in the night beckoning him to take it.

 

“Finally!” Harry reached out and grasped the handle of the cup.  

 

There was a familiar tug on his abdomen and he was sucked into a vortex of swirling winds howling in his ears. Bright colours exploded before his eyes and he disappeared into the folds of space and time leaving the spot empty except for the cackling fire that was burning away the hedges.

AN:

 

https://discord.gg/GsKJMuHubc

Chapter 45: The graveyard goes kaboom! P1

Harry slammed into the ground forcing him to roll on his back to arrest the momentum. His head spun for a moment but he had the presence of mind to stick to the plan. He immediately dropped his Holly wand beside his leg on the soft grass before covertly taking out the second-hand wand he nicked from the Room of Requirement. It was a shoddy wand with a brown surface completely alien to his magical senses. He doubted he could produce even sparks using this piece of wood.

 

The immediate surroundings around Harry were covered under a blanket of darkness. He adjusted the Horus glasses and his vision shifted to one akin to daylight. He was kneeling on a hilly grassland. A few paces from his position he could see a graveyard with a run-down church nearby. There was a large hill up ahead with an old manor made of stone and mortar. The night sky was blank like a blackboard. There was neither the moon nor the stars present in the night sky. It was as if the celestial bodies were hiding away.

 

A movement caught his attention in the graveyard. Squinting his eyes he found Peter Pettigrew making his way toward Harry's position. Wormtail was doing a poor attempt of covering his face with a cloak's hood drawn over his head. More importantly, Harry's eyes trained on the homunculus being carried in Wormtail's arms.

 

‘Did Voldemort possess a baby or is that body a magical construct?’ Harry wondered.

 

The only way to get to the truth of the matter was to ask Voldemort or get inside the Dark Lord's head.

 

“Yeah, not happening.” Harry muttered.

 

Harry threw one last look at the Tri-wizard cup and then at the place he dropped his wand. The cup was nearby but his wand had disappeared into thin air.

 

‘Good.’ Harry smiled, turning away from the cup and choosing to wander about aimlessly like a confused teenager.

 

It didn’t take long for Wormtail to catch up.

 

“You!” Harry acted surprised and allowed Wormtail to disarm him.

 

That useless stick in his hand flew into Wormtail's hands and Harry found himself bound by ropes.

 

“Harry Potter. We meet again.” Voldemort rasped from beneath the bundle of robes in Wormtail's arm.

 

Harry could feel pinpricks on his scar. He also felt what appears to be an attempt to shoot pain into his mind. But, his defenses held firm. For some reason, Voldemort was not forcing his attack. Either the Dark Lord was too weak to perform a strong psionic attack or the guy was not attacking his mindscape intentionally. It could be a reaction from the Horcrux in his head.

 

Dismissing those thoughts from his mind Harry focused on the disgusting physical form of Voldemort. The body of the Dark Lord looked like it was deteriorating. His nose twitched at the foul smell emanating from the homunculus. While the atrocious odor assaulted his senses Harry nearly missed the fact that his feet were rising from the ground. He realized with a start he was floating thanks to Wormtail.

 

Harry felt himself move floating in the air beside Wormtail and Voldemort. They passed many graves along the way until finally, Harry felt himself stop. There, before his eyes, lay a white tombstone with a familiar name.

 

TOM RIDDLE

 

Wormtail jerked his wand arm and Harry was slammed against the headstone on his back. He hissed as pain shot through his back.

 

'You are so going to regret doing that you filthy rat.' Harry thought with gritted teeth.

 

The ropes binding him grew and began to tie themselves around the headstone. Harry grunted as he was wound up tightly against the piece of marble. His wrists were tied together on his back and the ropes were quite painful as they locked his limbs together rather hard.

 

“I always knew you were a disgusting slob Riddle. It's good to see it with my own eyes.” Harry quipped, mocking the Dark Lord's current appearance.

 

“Brave even in the face of death. Your parents were just like you. Where are they now?” Voldemort mocked.

 

“Dead...just like you will be one day.” Harry retorted.

 

“Me...? Ha! I'm beyond death, boy. Even now, reduced to this pitiful state, death holds no dominion over me. You may have won the Triwizard tournament but you hold no candle to the greatest wizard of all time. In a few moments, you'll stand witness to my rise and I shall show you the true depth of my power. Wormtail!”

 

“My master.” Pettigrew whimpered.

 

“Begin the ritual. I'm eager to teach Potter and his filthy muggle-loving idol Dumbledore the true extent of my power.”

 

“As... as you will, master.” Pettigrew said simpering, setting the homunculus form of Voldemort on a nearby tomb before leaving presumably to make preparations for the ritual.

 

“Tell me something Voldemort. Why declare yourself a Dark Lord? You have obviously subverted many Pureblood families to your cause even knowing your muggle lineage. So, why do you try to take over Britain by force when you could have controlled everything from the shadows?”

 

“Because I have nothing to hide Harry. Why should I, Lord Voldemort, pretend to be something else? I'm not a weakling to bend my knees to the Ministry or its authority. My magical power gives me the right to rule over the whole of Britain. And in time, the whole world.”

 

Harry looked at the Dark Lord with some amusement in his mind. The sheer ego this ‘thing’ displayed was quite unprecedented.

 

“Do you really believe that you'll be able to take over Britain?” Harry asked, keeping Voldemort engaged while his plan was slowly unfolding.

 

“Yes. For those with real power, anything is possible. Why Harry? Are you reconsidering my offer to join me?” Voldemort laughed creepily.

 

“No. I'm good. I just want to make sure you know what you are doing. That's all.”

 

“You seem unbothered despite your current situation Harry. Why is that?” Voldemort asked, his red eyes gleaming inside the bundle of robes.

 

“I suppose I'm not worried ‘cause you're not the only wizard with great power.” Harry drawled, his eyes jumping away from Voldemort to the massive snake that was now slithering towards the tomb Harry was tied to.

 

“Your hopes are wasted, Harry Potter. Dumbledore will not be coming to your rescue. I've seen to that.” said Voldemort.

 

It took some courage for Harry to not stare at the massive snake and shift his attention back to the Dark Lord.

 

“Don't tell me the Boy-who-lived is scared of a snake?” Voldemort mocked, letting out a chortle at his reaction to Nagini.

 

“Fear can be useful.” Harry shrugged, or at least attempted to shrug given the constraints his body was put under.

 

“Pah! An excuse for the weak. Someone like me does not need to fear anything..” Voldemort snorted.

 

“That explains so much.” Harry muttered.

 

“What was that?” Voldemort hissed.

 

“Nothing. Just wondering why you have such an incompetent underling like Wormtail working for you.”

 

“For once I agree with you, Harry. Wormtail! You witless worm.”

 

“My lord. I apologize. Everything is ready.” Wormtail pleaded, managing to fetch a gigantic cauldron filled with a viscous potion near the grave.

 

“Don’t make me reconsider feeding you to Nagini. Now, prepare for the ritual if you value your life.”

 

“Yes, master.” Wormtail bowed low, before lighting the bottom of the cauldron on fire.

 

Harry remained silent and chose to watch as Voldemort stirred restlessly inside the bundle of robes.

 

“You see Harry. Wormtail may be incompetent but he is useful. You, on the other hand, were foolish to spare him last year. Your morality made you weak and allowed the traitor who betrayed your parents to escape. Your weakness has become your undoing. If it wasn’t for Wormtail, Bertha Jerkins would not have fallen into my grasp. Through her, I was able to find my most loyal servant who now serves me at Hogwarts.” Voldemort let out a dark chuckle. “Yes, Harry. It was I, Lord Voldemort, who made sure you'd compete in the Triwizard tournament right under Dumbledore's nose. You see, even in this reduced state, my power extends to even Dumbledore's castle.”

 

Harry felt like he was in some kind of anime where the villain just drones on and on about how evil he was and his evil-genius master plan to rule the world. Also, Voldemort has so far spoken as if he was a lunatic disengaged from reality weighed down by an Everest of ego.

 

“Faster you simpering fool!” Voldemort growled impatiently.

 

“It is ready master.” Wormtail whimpered, stuttering in fear as Nagini hissed threateningly before slithering away into the grass disappearing from Harry's view.

 

“Good. You survive yet again Wormtail. Now, watch my rise, Harry.” Voldemort said coldly.

 

Harry saw the viscous liquid in the cauldron turn into a dark oily goo-like substance. The liquid began to bubble and dark fumes began to escape the cauldron. Wormtail stepped away from the cauldron and parted the robes covering Voldemort. The smell became unbearable for Harry and the sight of Voldemort's body was not something he'd wish his worst enemies could see. The flesh of Voldemort's current body was decomposing and the skin was almost completely peeled off.

 

‘At this rate, I'll die because of this horrible smell.’ Harry thought, wishing his hands were free so that he could use a bubble-head charm on his head.

 

Wormtail carefully picked up Voldemort and dropped the Dark Lord into the bubbling liquid inside the cauldron. Wormtail's hood slipped down and Harry could see the revulsion shown on the traitor's face. But, Harry took his eyes away from Pettigrew and looked around.

 

“Now is the time Dobby.” He whispered.

 

Suddenly, he felt the ropes around his wrists vanish and felt a familiar presence in his palm. He could feel his magic thrum in joy being reunited with his Holly wand. He quickly willed the ropes to stick to his body so as to keep up appearances of his bound state.

 

“Thank you, Dobby.” Harry whispered, the wind carrying his words away into the cold night.

 

Wormtail, on the other hand, was totally ignorant of Harry's escape from the ropes. The potion began to hiss and boil over. Harry could feel a distinct tint of magic surging around him giving him a sense of impending doom.

 

Wormtail visibly took a deep breath before raising his wand. His voice shook and the traitor was sweating bullets. Looking into the cauldron, Pettigrew chanted.

 

“Bone of the father, unknowingly given. You will revive your son!”

 

Harry moved his foot as the tomb on which he stood cracked open. The smooth stone parted ever so lightly and a human bone floated out of the grave. The parted stone came back together and sealed shut. The bone floated away and dropped itself into the cauldron. The dark potion sizzled as the bone fell into it. Blue sparks shot out of the potion and the dark cloud of the potion gave way to a dark blue colour.

 

Wormtail now fished out a dagger that gleamed under the light of the fire burning beneath the cauldron. Placing his wand in his pocket Wormtail extended his right arm over the cauldron letting out pitiful whimpers.

 

“Flesh of the servant, willingly given.” Wormtail sobbed. “You’ll revive your master!”

 

The dagger in Wormtail's left hand came down severing his palm. The right palm of Wormtail with a whole of four fingers fell into the cauldron. The screams the traitor let out were quite heart-wrenching to Harry's ears. Harry would have pitied the man if it wasn’t for the present circumstances and knowing what was about to follow. The potion inside the cauldron turned blood red.

 

As Wormtail struggled to control his sobs and painful whimpers, Harry was shoring up his Occlumency barriers for what was about to follow. His limited reading on the nature of most rituals keyed him to a simple fact. Magical rituals require emotional involvement of some kind to be a participant. Some rituals are fuelled by fear while some are fuelled by love. Almost all emotions played some part in the completion of a ritual. Similarly, the current ritual that was being performed in the graveyard required the unwilling cooperation of a dead father, the willing sacrifice of a servant, and the fearful but also unwilling presence of an arch-nemesis. One of the easiest ways for Harry to screw over the ritual and remove himself from the equation was to keep his mind totally disengaged from what was happening.

 

So, when Wormtail finally managed to get a hold of his pain and move towards Harry with the intent to take his blood, Harry occluded his mind. Keeping his mind sharp, he pictured a long tongue of flame burning at the tip of a candle in his mind. As his mindscape facilitated the construct he opened his eyes but his focus was on keeping the flame steady in his mind. So, he stood atop the grave of Tom Riddle unmoving and totally unbothered by the dagger closing in.

 

Wormtail pulled Harry's sleeve back with his remaining good hand. Harry kept his focus on the image of the flame as the Confundus charm took its effect on Wormtail. Pettigrew hardly noticed anything amiss as he pushed the tip of the dagger against what he assumed was Harry's skin on his right arm. Fresh blood dribbled down from the pierced skin which Wormtail collected in a glass vial.

 

Harry remained totally impassive at what happened but Pettigrew was either too engaged with his pain to notice or he was completely bamboozled by the Confundus charm. Either way, Harry maintained his discipline by focusing his mind elsewhere.

 

Wormtail wobbled his way to the cauldron and poured down the blood into the potion. The blood-red liquid turned pearly white the instant the blood mixed with the potion.

 

"Blood of the enemy unwillingly taken. You'll revive your foe."

 

Harry watched dispassionately as Wormtail let out a choked sob and dropped to his knees, proceeding to drag himself back against a nearby grave.

 

White sparks shot out of the cauldron for a time before they turned poisonous yellow. Some of the liquid in the cauldron began to boil over and the ground scorched as the liquid touched down. A thick yellow cloud of smoke escaped the cauldron followed by a painful shout. From within the cloud of yellow vapor, an outline of a man emerged. Long bony hands with pale skin could be seen outside the cauldron.

 

Harry watched the Dark Lord Voldemort rise out of the cauldron looking no worse for wear.

 

“Robe me.” said Voldemort, his voice cold and smooth.

 

Wormtail painfully climbed to his feet and procured a black robe for his master.

 

Voldemort stepped out of the yellow vapor dressed in a flowing dark robe, his eyes shining like twin red stars. There was no hair left on Voldemort's head with his face taking many serpentine qualities. Harry stared back at his nemesis, who was now finally in a physical form with a flat nose, blood-red eyes, and thin lips.

 

“We meet properly at last after fourteen years, Harry Potter. I, Lord Voldemort, have risen.”

 

Harry barely restrained the urge to roll his eyes. He was a bit surprised to see Voldemort standing straight without any visible effects of taking in the blood he provided. After all, he had Dobby procure blood from a muggle HIV patient. That same blood was now running in Voldemort's veins. Either way, sooner or later he hoped Voldemort would be feeling the true consequences of this ritual.

 

However, Harry's plan didn’t depend on the blood somehow weakening Voldemort. Oh, no. The plan was just about to start.

 

Harry tilted his head and addressed Voldemort.

 

“Are you sure the ritual worked? Maybe you should take a look in the mirror. You look hideously inhuman.”

AN:

 

https://discord.gg/GsKJMuHubc

Chapter 46: The graveyard goes kaboom! P2

Voldemort breathed in the fresh air enjoying the cool air circulating through his nose to his lines. He did so in a manner without sacrificing his equanimity. It wouldn’t do if he behaved like some muggle barbarian. He was Lord Voldemort, the greatest sorcerer the world has ever seen. He was the one who defeated death itself and now he was back to reclaim his position in the world.

 

Reaching out with his chalk-white hands, he touched his head. There was not a strand of hair standing on his head. His skin felt like a hardened stone while his muscles felt like they were carved onto his body. He held up his hands and made a fist feeling the blood and strength coursing through his arm. It had been fourteen years since he felt this strong. He had almost forgotten what it felt like to have his own body, to feel the blood pumping through his veins.

 

It was surreal, almost inexplicable he'd say. Factoring in the ritual that he used he was not surprised he was feeling far better compared to his previous physical form.

 

‘I’m reborn like a phoenix rising from the ashes.’ Voldemort thought, pausing a moment to admire magic and its might.

 

Voldemort trained his blazing ruby eyes on his mortal enemy. He smirked as he took in the boy tied to the headstone of his filthy father's grave.

 

“Do I truly look inhuman Harry?” he asked curiously.

 

“You don’t have a nose and your eyes look like that of a cat with slit pupils. You look barely human.” said Harry.

 

Voldemort laughed in joy. To hear his most hated enemy confirm that he has evolved out of his human boundaries was a rare form of validation of his hallowed existence. He found himself liking Harry Potter for a brief moment. The boy at least had the courtesy to acknowledge him, unlike Dumbledore who always insisted on reminding him of his filthy muggle name. Too bad the boy was destined to die by his hand. If the prophecy was not between them he'd have seriously considered letting the boy live.

 

“I always thought my father was a useless piece of muggle filth. But, he turned out to be very useful. His bones have given me new life and his grave holds you my prisoner Harry.” said Voldemort, followed by a cold mirthless laughter.

 

A pathetic series of sniffles interrupted Voldemort who took his eyes away from his prophesized foe. Instead, his red eyes found the scrawny mewling mess that was Peter Pettigrew.

 

“Master...please...”

 

Voldemort sneered at the weakness displayed before him. For a moment, he contemplated the merits of using the killing curse on the rat thereby doing away with the hassle of tolerating his wimpy servant. Having a snivelling weak worm like Pettigrew was really not to his taste. However, Pettigrew was at least useful in his resurrection.

 

“My lord... my arm... you promised... please.”

 

Dismissing the urge to end the misery of the rat with a simple spell, he held out his hand.

 

“Give me your arm.”

 

“Oh, master... you are merciful master.” Wormtail whimpered with watery eyes.

 

“Your other arm Wormtail.” Voldemort smiled coldly seeing the relief get wiped away from Pettigrew's face.

 

“Master?” Wormtail pitifully whimpered.

 

“Your arm.” Voldemort's eyes blazed making Wormtail obey promptly.

 

Voldemort smirked as he saw the faint outline of his mark once he pushed back the sleeve above the elbow. Reaching out with his hand he pressed one of his pale fingers against the Dark Mark. Closing his eyes he felt his magic seep into the mark and thereby connect with his marked followers. He could feel his magic reach out across the land heedless of the geographical or magical constraints announcing his return to full power.

 

Letting out a cold laugh Voldemort took to his feet.

 

“Now, we'll see. Who among my Death Eaters remains loyal to me?” he whispered, looking around at the graveyard slumbering under the cold night. “And how many shall turn away from their master?”

 

The graveyard remained silent save for the cry of crickets.

 

Voldemort turned his attention back on his prophesied enemy.

 

“You see Harry. Time has been your enemy and my ally. You have triumphed over me twice but look at you now. Alone and away from your precious Dumbledore. If you had but only died you'd need not have suffered so all these years. It'd have been painless.”

 

Voldemort laughed cruelly before turning sharply towards Wormtail.

 

“My wand Wormtail.”

 

Pettigrew shivered as he fished out his master's wand from his robes before promptly placing the piece of wood in his master's palm.

 

“Come now my Death Eaters. Come and join your master on this glorious night.” Voldemort said with a flourish which was followed by a series of popping sounds as several wizards in masks apparated into the graveyard.

 

Voldemort's red eyes blazed in the darkness as dark figures teleported into the graveyard, their cloaks swishing in the air and their masks gleaming under the moonlight. These dark figures were quick to fall to their knees before they moved forward cautiously.

 

“Master... how... master...”

 

One of the Death Eaters murmured in disbelief before crawling forward and kissing the hem of Voldemort's robes.

 

Voldemort remained unmoving with a cold smile on his lips as his Death Eaters kissed his robes one after the other. His red eyes blazed as he counted the numbers but otherwise didn’t make his thoughts known. He waited until the last Death Eater kissed his robes and took their place in a ring around him.

 

“Remove your masks and hoods.” He commanded.

 

His order was followed promptly and his red eyes took in the faces of his servants.

 

“Welcome, Death Eaters.” Voldemort said quietly. “Thirteen long years... after thirteen long years we stand united under the Dark Mark. Or do we?”

 

With his flattened nostrils, he made a show of taking several sniffs.

 

“What is this that I smell? Is it guilt?”

 

A shiver passed through the Death Eaters at the trajectory he was taking.

 

“You have gathered here all healthy, with your powers intact. With such promptness no less! So, I ask myself... why did they not come to aid their Lord to whom they've sworn eternal loyalty?”

 

No one spoke. Except for Wormtail who was weeping on the ground cradling his bleeding arm.

 

“And I answer myself...” Voldemort frostily said, “they must have thought me dead. They believed their master had been laid low by a mere baby.”

 

Several of his Death Eaters shook their heads. But, he prowled on heedless of their reactions.

 

“My Death Eaters whom I had prided myself to be the worthiest in our world slinked back behind the enemy like dogs with their tail tucked away in shame. They, who knew the steps I took to triumph over death, doubted the immensity of my power. I find myself disappointed.”

 

Voldemort's eyes picked up movement from among his Death Eaters. Avery prostrated himself before him shaking from head to toe while kissing the hem of his robes.

 

“Master!” Avery cried. “Master forgive me. Forgive us all!”

 

A sadistic grin settled on Voldemort's face.

 

“Crucio.”

 

Avery screamed and proceeded to twitch and thrash around on the ground. He rescinded the spell leaving Avery to helplessly spasm as his nerves locked him up because of the overload of the pain he endured.

 

“You ask for forgiveness after all these years of shirking your duty and your vows to me. Lord Voldemort does not easily forget nor does he forgive. I want thirteen years of loyal service before you get my forgiveness.” said Voldemort.

 

“Master, I came. I served you.” Wormtail sobbed.

 

“Not because of loyalty but out of fear of your old friends. But, you know that now do you not? You'll not make the same mistake again, will you?”

 

“Master... my lord... Please forgive me... Please...” Wormtail begged, folding up in a fetal position crying profusely.

 

“Yet, you did serve me. You did help me return to my body.” said Voldemort, reaching out with his feet poking Wormtail who jolted upright. “Weak and traitorous as you are... you rendered me a service. Lord Voldemort does not forget his helpers...”

 

With a flick of his wand, he conjured a fluid silver metal which proceeded to wrap itself around Wormtail's injured hand. The metal solidified into a gleaming silver hand and seamlessly fit itself into Wormtail's bleeding hand.

 

Wormtail's whimpers stopped abruptly. The traitorous rat raised a new shining metal arm for all to see shining as if it was made of starlight.

 

“Oh, my lord. My master. Thank you... thank you.” Wormtail sobbed, bending down and kissing the hem of Voldemort's robes.

 

“Consider this a reminder. May your loyalty never waver again, Wormtail.” said Voldemort.

 

“No my lord... never again my master.” Wormtail whimpered, climbing to his feet keeping his head bowed low and moving three paces backwards.

 

Voldemort then eyed his other prominent Death Eaters.

 

“Lucius, my slippery friend.” Voldemort moved towards the blonde-haired head of the House of Malfoy. “I’m told that you have come upon a recent slew of unfortunate incidents. Some had predicted your end and yet, here you are.”

 

“There were some unfortunate incidents but as my lord knows the House of Malfoy is not so easily fallen. We have followed the path of the great Salazar for centuries. Enemies may have the luxury of winning battles but we Malfoys have always focused on winning the war.” said Lucius.

 

“Hmm. Strong words Lucius. But, if it was winning the war you were so concerned for, why did you not seek me out? Or perhaps, you thought yourself infallible in my absence and sought to supplant me?”

 

“My lord!” Lucius fell to his knees. “You vanished without a trace. Your mark waned and though repeated efforts were made I could not contact you or find you. If only there was a whisper of your whereabouts... if only I had known of your location I'd have sought you out despite the odds.”

 

“And yet, you ran away when my faithful servant cast my mark at the Quidditch world cup.” Voldemort remarked, draining all colour from Lucius's face. “Yes. I know about that. Nothing goes unnoticed from my eyes Lucius. You should do well to remember that.”

 

“I beg your forgiveness, my lord.” Lucius bowed his head.

 

“I expect more loyal service in the future from you Lucius.”

 

“Of course, my lord. You are merciful...”

 

Voldemort moved on to his other Death Eaters essentially turning his back on his enemy.

 

XXXXXX

 

Harry keenly observed the dynamic going on between the Death Eaters and Voldemort. It was not surprising why the sane Death Eaters never sought out Voldemort after his fall. Though Voldemort was indeed a powerful wizard, he was still a wizard of muggle origin. There was no doubt that the present Death Eaters were the top brass of the organization. These wizards were also from prominent pureblood families. Watching them prostrate themselves before someone like Voldemort despite his many gifts was quite amusing for Harry to watch.

 

Most Death Eaters followed Voldemort out of fear and for self-serving purposes. So, if he was to deal any significant blow to Voldemort it was to the narrative, the story of terror and fear personified behind the name Voldemort. And these Death Eaters were the bridge Voldemort would use to establish himself again in the wizarding world.

 

‘Too bad I'll be breaking that bridge today.’ Harry thought, observing Voldemort's megalomania from a front-row seat.

 

“The Lestranges shall be amongst us as soon as possible.” Voldemort proclaimed silkily. “The Ministry thinks they'll waste away in Azkaban forever. They went to Azkaban rather than renounce me... For that, they'll be rewarded. The Dementors have always been my allies. Arrangements shall be made to reach out to them as well as the giants... and all the other creatures that swore their allegiance to me. I shall make this land tremble in fear as I rebuild my armies.”

 

Harry took note of those Death Eaters with whom Voldemort took care to converse as he aired his deranged plans. Crabbe, Goyle, Macnair, Malfoy and Nott among others were given the ‘honour’ of being addressed by Voldemort.

 

While Harry was content to assess and take note of the faces of the assembled Death Eaters, Voldemort was all too happy to drone on and on. Harry suspected the Dark Lord loved to give out monologues and he was making up for missing out for the last thirteen years or so.

 

“Here we have six missing Death Eaters..”

 

Harry was amused to note that Voldemort was speaking to thin air.

 

‘The guy has truly lost his marbles or he loves his voice too much.’ he thought in amusement.

 

“...three dead in my service. One too cowardly to return... he'll pay for the defiance. One, who I believe has abandoned me and the cause... he'll be meeting his death sooner rather than later. Then, at last, my faithful servant at Hogwarts who has been instrumental in my rise to power. He shall of course be rewarded for his loyalty and services rendered.”

 

A murmur passed among the gathered Death Eaters.

 

“Yes. It was my faithful servant at Hogwarts who has brought our main guest of the evening. Harry Potter, the hero of the wizarding world, has joined in this wonderful event to stand witness to my rise.” Voldemort let out a burst of mocking laughter.

 

Lucius Malfoy stepped forward.

 

“My lord... we beg of you. How did you return to us?”

 

Harry looked at Malfoy with a raised eyebrow impressed by the man's acting.

 

‘It'd seem Lucius understands Voldemort always liked the occasional stroke to his ego.’ Harry thought.

 

He wondered whether Voldemort understands that his followers were merely paying lip service. Most probably, Voldemort understands and does not care.

 

“Ah, what a story it is Lucius.” Voldemort said. “It begins and ends with our younger guest, Harry Potter.”

 

Voldemort sauntered over to the headstone Harry was tied to.

 

“The boy-who-lived, they call young Harry. I confess myself. The killing curse I used that night rebounded and struck me down. Though, I have safeguards against any mortal death, I didn’t account for the old magic the boy's mother would invoke. Though a mudblood by birth, she was an exceptionally gifted witch. A life for a life. I erred that night and for my negligence, my own curse turned against me.”

 

Harry was really getting tired of Voldemort droning on. So, he palmed his wand gathering the magic he needed for the spell he has in mind.

 

“But through her sacrifice, Lily Potter cast a powerful protective barrier for her son that has to this day kept him safe. It was old magic... a life for a life. That night, Lily Potter unwittingly gave her son protection. I could not touch him.” Voldemort spoke softly, stepping on the grave and reaching out with his pale hand. “But no longer shall Lord Voldemort be denied!”

 

This was the moment Harry was waiting for. Voldemort was now completely immersed himself in his monologue and his show of superiority before his followers. This left the Dark Lord wide open.

 

The moment Voldemort was just an inch away from touching his skin Harry grinned coldly looking into the red eyes of the Dark Lord. The ropes around him vanished and the tip of his Holly wand was now at point-blank range against Voldemort's heart.

 

“Here is my welcoming gift. Battio Inflammata.”

 

The spell blasted Voldemort away, a fiery battering ram pushing against Voldemort with full brunt force. The Dark Lord was blown off his feet as his skin burned away and his bones got crushed under the assault.

 

But, Harry was not done. He fired a consecutive spell straight into the abdomen of Voldemort.

 

“Bombarda Maxima”

 

There was a huge blast of force expelled by the spell as it binded against Voldemort's pale skin. There was a painful shriek from the Dark Lord followed by blood and gore splashing the dark robes of the Death Eaters.

 

Capitalising on the shock of the Death Eaters, Harry quickly surrounded himself under the protective layer of a shield spell.

 

“Indomitus.”

 

Harry dragged his wand around him creating a bubble of magical shield.

 

“Dobby, Winky. Now!” he screamed under the protection of his shield charm.

 

The ground around him erupted and the headstones in the graveyard were blown away. Harry smirked as he saw the M61 Dobby had so cleverly nicked from a muggle military base open fire on the unsuspecting Death Eaters. Harry saw three of the Death Eaters get mowed down within seconds while the others knew something was up. Some Death Eaters who had the presence of mind put up a shield facing the direction of the gunfire.

 

‘That’s not going to be of any use.’ Harry thought.

 

The next moment, another M61 took the Death Eaters from their backs courtesy of Winky. The gun was a rotary cannon with 20 mm rounds at a rate of 6000 rounds per minute. Harry saw Crabbe and Goyle's heads literally explode like balloons full of meat as Winky unleashed the gun on the Death Eaters. Nott and Avery tried to put up a shield but their thought process was not as fast as the rate of fire of M61. Their limbs were blown apart in a blink of an eye. They fell in a shower of blood with their bodies littered with bullet holes.

 

Blood was everywhere and the screams of the Death Eaters were quite disturbing for Harry to endure. He had the urge to close his eyes and charm his ears with silencing charms but he resisted the urge. He had made this plan knowing the results. If he was to pull back and disengage at this time, he'd be betraying himself. So, Harry forced himself to keep his eyes and ears open.

 

It took Harry a moment to understand that he was holding his breath all this time. Letting go he took a deep breath and he wished he didn’t not a moment later. The smell was horrendous. The smell of blood and guts spilt on the ground invaded his nostrils making Harry nearly lose his concentration. Thankfully, he managed to place a bubble-head charm that insulated him from the smell saving him from retching.

 

The two cannons spit out a few more rounds worth of bullets before falling silent. Harry had made some magical adjustments to the guns which allowed them to magically refill the bullets. So, both Donny and Winky must have thought there were no longer any enemies left alive. Sure enough, when Harry gave a cursory look around the graveyard he couldn’t find anyone standing.

 

Even though the guns fell silent his ears were ringing. The bloodied mess around him was quite a gory sight. There were severed limbs and spilt guts everywhere he looked. The urge to retch came again but somehow he kept it down.

 

Harry's arms were shaking and he somehow managed to fish out a cigarette out of his pocket. Lighting the tip of the cigarette he took a deep draw. The smoke warmed his insides and he felt a modicum of comfort as smoke escaped through his nostrils. He took a few more puffs and Harry felt some normalcy was restored to his body. At least, he stopped shaking.

 

The bubble-head charm around his head somehow filtered away the smoke leaving him breathable air. Still, he felt skittish to look at the gory remains of his enemies.

 

‘They deserved it. They deserved it.’ Harry whispered this over and over like a mantra in his mind.

 

Taking a few more draws from his smoke, he vanished the cigarette. Reaching into his robes Harry fished out his shrunken Firebolt. Restoring the Firebolt to its proper dimensions, Harry mounted his broom and floated over the graveyard.

 

“Lumos.”

 

The tip of his wand lit up with light and Harry looked around. Most of the dead bodies were barely recognizable. Nonetheless, Harry searched the carnage. He found Wormtail or what he assumed was Wormtail seeing as he could see the gleaming piece of metal arm lying intact near a body. He managed to identify some Death Eaters but many were face down. He could use his magic to ascertain their identities but using his magic excessively was not part of the plan. Especially, considering the follow-up plan that has yet to commence. He'd rather not have questionable spells performed with his wand. After all, he had a sob story to perform back in Hogwarts.

 

He zoomed around the graveyard on his Firebolt but he could not find Voldemort anywhere.

 

‘Bugger. That snake escaped.’

 

He'd have really preferred to take Voldemort prisoner. The Draught of living death would have rendered the Dark Lord powerless and Harry could have tracked down the Horcruxes at his leisure. Though disappointed he was not surprised. He gathered Voldemort would cut his losses and flee somehow. Still, he had hoped...

 

“No matter. I'll get him in time. The war has only just begun.” Harry muttered.

 

After letting out a sharp whistle, Harry flew back to the spot where the Triwizard cup was lying innocently on the ground. The whistle was the signal for both Dobby and Winky to clean up and make their escape. After all, their teleportation would certainly leave residual magic. But the Aurors would be totally helpless as both Dobby and Winky would be going to the Chamber deep underneath Hogwarts under the protection of ancient protective wards cast by Salazar Slytherin himself.

 

Harry shrunk the Firebolt and secured it inside his robes. He also took out the fake skin he was wearing around his forearms and tucked them safely in his robes. Checking everything was in place and once again going through the plan, Harry reached out with his hand and took hold of the Triwizard cup's handle. He felt a pull on his gut and Harry felt himself get sucked into a vortex leaving the graveyard of Little Hangleton behind.

AN:

 

https://discord.gg/GsKJMuHubc

Chapter 47: The aftermath P1

A plethora of colours invaded his eyes bending and twisting in odd angles. He felt himself getting squeezed through a thin tube for a moment before the ‘tube' began to gradually expand. Harry felt there was some room for him to breathe and gradually some motor functions returned to his body. His feet suddenly touched solid ground and the portal that brought him back to Hogwarts grounds collapsed in on itself in a swish behind him. He stumbled forward a few feet but managed to hold onto the cup and stay on his legs.

 

“Harry!”

 

He distantly heard someone call him but he paid it no mind. He coughed a few times to get some air into his lungs.

 

“Harry. Are you alright?”

 

His vision was a bit blurry but it settled after a few seconds. Immediately, he began to regulate his breathing and clamped down his mind behind Occlumency barriers.

 

“Yeah. I'm fine. Just a bit disoriented.” said Harry, feeling his legs were a bit wobbly.

 

Harry didn’t necessarily get a chance to rest as he was immediately accosted by a crowd. His senses have somehow gone haywire probably because of the Triwizard cup. It could be that the Cup was not supposed to be accommodating on its return journey. Most likely Crouch was expecting Harry to come back as a dead body. Either way, it was one more reason to put Crouch down for good.

 

Harry shook his head as he was helped to a hastily conjured chair.

 

“Potter, what happened out there?”

 

Harry could hear Moody's gruff voice in the background.

 

The proximity of Moody's voice jolted him awake and his senses settled down. When the fog in his vision cleared Dumbledore was the first person he saw.

 

“Harry. Can you hear me?” Dumbledore asked in concern.

 

“The boy is tired Dumbledore. Take him to the hospital wing.” said Fudge, but the Minister of Magical Britain was not in his line of sight.

 

But, Dumbledore paid Fudge'a advice no heed.

 

“What happened Harry? Where did the Cup take you?” Dumbledore asked earnestly.

 

“Dumbledore, the boy is clearly in shock. Take him to the hospital wing.” Fudge again interjected.

 

Harry could also see Sirius, Andromeda and many Aurors in the mix. He felt like this was the perfect time to start the second phase of the plan rolling. He could now see Fudge and other people crowding around him, mostly the aurors guarding the Minsiter and some professors of Hogwarts.

 

“It was a graveyard in Little Hangleton. There was a guy named Tom Riddle discussing a rebellion against the wizarding world. He said, he was going to spread fear and fight the system. He also had muggle weapons and destroyed the graveyard like a madman.” said Harry, his Occlumency proving to be a godsend in keeping a straight face.

 

Fudge was gaping like a fish while Dumbledore was looking at Harry as if he had grown another head.

 

“Wait… what? What do you mean?” Fudge asked, looking a bit flustered.

 

“This Tom guy claimed he was friends with Crouch and they were going to bring down the Ministry.” Harry said innocently.

 

“Crouch…?” Fudge gasped. “Of course! The man has never liked me. He was always jealous of me.”

 

“I heard people screaming as the guns were fired. I don’t know how but I somehow managed to take the Triwizard cup which brought me back here from the graveyard.”

 

Harry sneaked a look at Sirius who subtly nodded.

 

Sirius covertly aimed his wand at Moody who was totally stunned by the whole incident unravelling. Moody who was totally focused on Harry didn’t even see the spell coming. But, Moody understood something was wrong when his body jerked upright followed by forcibly shrinking down in size.

 

“No!” Moody whispered in horror as he felt the Polyjuice potion lose its effects.

 

“What’s happening to Professor Moody?” Harry asked innocently, faking a gasp of surprise for good effect pointing at the twitching DADA professor.

 

Everyone turned to look at the resident DADA professor who let out a painful scream as his skin bubbled and his bones shrunk down. Everyone quieted down as Moody struggled to move under the body-bind curse to make a run for it. But, the spell held true long enough for the transformation to be visible before hundreds of witnesses.

 

The Aurors were now pushing the people away and surrounding Moody. Sirius chose that moment to release Moody from the body-bind curse and let his spell to cancel the effects of Polyjuice take full effect.

 

Regaining some of his mobility Moody began to tear out his fake leg and artificial eye as his body lost all semblance of physical characteristics unique to the real Moody. Before the eyes of hundreds of witches and wizards, Mad-eye Moody became Barty Crouch Jr.

 

“Barty Crouch Jr!” Fudge gasped in horror. “What? How…? What is going on here Dumbledore?”

 

“I am afraid I am at a loss as you are Cornelius.” Dumbledore said quietly, eying the newly revealed Death Eater intently as if trying hard to make sense of a puzzle.

 

“You scum!” Sirius snarled, surging forward and delivering a punch straight to Crouch's nose.

 

The Death Eater fell flat on his back screaming in pain with a shower of blood erupting from his nose. The Aurors took this moment to disarm and bind Crouch Jr.

 

“You cannot bind me. Nothing can bind me for long because he will come for me. The Dark Lord has risen!” Crouch Jr shouted gleefully to all those who were gathered to witness the Third Task.

 

“Dear Merlin! The man has gone mad!” Fudge declared, sweating bullets as the situation was going out of control.

 

The students and guests gathered at the Quidditch ground chattered away about the drama unfolding before their eyes. They couldn’t make heads or heels about what was going on. Rumours began to spread with some flavour as everyone twisted and reshaped certain events to their liking.

 

Harry paid it no mind as his part was finished in the plan. The rest, he left in the safe hands of Sirius. So, he made himself comfortable keeping his eye on Dumbledore who was now caught between a rock and a hard place.

 

“Come now, Potter. I suppose I should be thankful I had the presence of mind to reserve a bed in the hospital wing just for you.” said Madam Pomfrey steering him out of the Quidditch pitch.

 

As he was led out of the Quidditch grounds, he was greeted with a slew of congratulations. But, Madam Pomfrey as well as Professor McGonagall didn’t allow anyone to come near him citing his need for rest. When they finally reached the hospital wing the infirmary was not empty as he suspected. The other three Champions were also present in their respective beds.

 

“Arry! You won!” Fleur said, smiling at him from her bed.

 

“I did. Are you alright?” he asked, looking for any injuries but Fleur looked perfectly alright.

 

“I’m fine ‘Arry.”

 

“You are most certainly not fine young lady. You'll lie back in your bed and let the healing salve run its course.” Madam Pomfrey said sharply making Fleur pause but she sat up in her bed.

 

“Are they alright?” Harry asked, looking at the strangely silent Cedric and Viktor.

 

“They are perfectly alright Mr Potter. They are under the effects of a sleeping potion. I highly recommend that you follow suit.” said Madam Pomfrey.

 

Harry wanted nothing but to sleep. He could trust Dobby, Winky and Sirius to handle the rest. A good night's sleep would be just the best thing for him given the circumstances. However, the company of Fleur was not something that he was easily willing to give up.

 

“I'm fine. I can sleep on my own. I do not need the potion.” said Harry.

 

Madam Pomfrey didn’t press the issue but she did a thorough check-up on him. She found nothing amiss with him but she suggested that he take an early nap before taking her leave.

 

“What happened to you and why are these two in potion-induced sleep?” Harry asked, once he knew for certain Madam Pomfrey was not nearby.

 

As Fleur narrated her side of the story Harry lay there on the bed listening to her melodic voice. He didn’t know when but he fell asleep relieved to know that Fleur didn’t suffer any serious injuries. She merely got roughed up by some Blast-ended Skrewts. Cedric and Krum however were in some trouble. Krum was accused of using the Cruciatus curse on Cedric. Exactly how that'd get resolved remains to be seen but Harry was not going to focus on that issue. He had enough on his plate to worry about.

 

So, when sleep came knocking he didn’t resist the call. Closing his eyes, he fell asleep in the hospital wing.

 

XXXXXXX

 

Damien winced as another series of screams ripped through his home. Shaking his head he poured the last drops of wine into his glass.

 

“Snipsy.”

 

With a customary pop, his house-elf appeared beside him.

 

“Master called Snipsy.”

 

“Fetch me another bottle. This one is empty.” said Damien, handing the empty bottle to his trusted servant.

 

The elf disappeared with the empty bottle and teleported in with a new one.

 

“Thank you Snipsy. Tell my wife to use silencing wards or even a pain-numbing potion on our guest.” he ordered.

 

“As master wishes.”

 

Just as Snipsy teleported away the fireplace in the room lit up. Damien was immediately on his feet as Lady Flamel stepped out of the floo network.

 

“My lady! Welcome to Greengrass manor. We weren’t expecting you till tomorrow.”

 

“I’ve had word from Hogwarts. Something unexpected has happened and I'd like to get to the bottom of it before the night is out.” said Pernelle. “Where is Malfoy?”

 

“This way please my lady.”

 

Damien led Lady Flamel to the room where his wife was working on Lucius Malfoy. As the door opened, the scent of blood crept into his nostrils making him twitch. If the smell was bad what greeted his eyes was far worse. Lucius Malfoy lay atop a table with his body covered with bullet holes. The man's left hand was severed at the elbow. Both hands were missing some fingers and most importantly Lucius was barely conscious.

 

“Explain to me what you two know.” Pernelle ordered, taking some small steps towards the unconscious Malfoy.

 

“Lucius reached out to me tonight saying that the Dark Mark suddenly became stronger. Immediately after that, he was called by the Dark Lord. As I understand it, Lucius didn’t waste a second and went to meet the Dark Lord. Barely half an hour passed before Lucius fell into the edges of our wards. If my house-elf hadn’t been near the area we would have remained ignorant of the man.” said Damien.

 

Now, wasn’t that a rude awakening? He and his dear wife were sitting up all night discussing the possible ramifications of an early rise of the Dark Lord. But, Lucius came back barely clinging to his life riddled with bullet holes of all things. It took his wife the better part of her potion stock to keep Lucius alive.

 

“Bullets?” Pernelle frowned at the bloody bullets collected in a tray. “Muggles attacked him?”

 

“It'd appear so, my lady. Although, how muggles managed to attack Lucius while meeting the Dark Lord eludes me.” said Evelyn Greengrass, wiping her brows with the back of her hand.

 

“It's not just Lucius. Quite a lot of Death Eaters died according to my spies in the Ministry. The Aurors are still taking stock of what transpired tonight at the location.” said Pernelle, circling Lucius. “I suppose we will only get a clear picture from Lucius.”

 

Damien and Evelyn watched as Lady Flamel fished out a vial of silver-coloured potion. They watched silently as the ancient witch poured the contents of the vial into Lucius' mouth. As the potion trickled down Lucius's throat the man woke up with a gasp. Some colour returned to Lucius' face and they even noticed the wounds were slowly stitching up.

 

“Look at me, Lucius.” Pernelle ordered.

 

Just when Lucius's eyes connected with her eyes she pointed her wand at the downed wizard.

 

“Legilimens.”

 

A few seconds later, Pernelle dismissed the charm and promptly laughed.

 

“My lady?” Evelyn asked tentatively.

 

“It was my grandson. He anticipated Voldemort's moves and laid a trap for the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters.” said Pernelle, still laughing at the destruction and death her grandson brought upon the Death Eaters.

 

“By using muggle weapons?” Evelyn scrunched up her nose.

 

Damien looked at his wife silently imploring caution. His lady wife may enjoy a closer relationship with Lady Flamel than most but it’d only take a moment for Lady Flamel to become Lilith. And he was in no rush to face Lady Lilith, the Dark Witch who holds Eastern Europe in the palm of her hands, in his humble home no less.

 

“His methods are indeed detestable and not becoming of a wizard who has my blood. However, given the circumstances, it was a brilliant strategy. Voldemort and his Death Eaters are unfamiliar with the ways of engaging modern muggle weaponry. He exploited their weakness.” said Pernelle.

 

“It doesn’t matter what means Mr Potter used. He single-handedly dealt a blow to the Dark Lord that he could not recover so easily. It’ll take years for the Dark Lord to build his army without his core supporters.” Damien pointed out earning an approving nod from Lady Flamel. “Considering the age of Mr Potter I think he performed well beyond any expectations. At least, we can be quite sure that Mr Potter and Dumbledore will be at odds once the Headmaster finds out.”

 

“I smell an opportunity here.” said Pernelle, her eyes alight with excitement. “I think it's time for a family reunion.”

 

XXXXXXXX

 

Harry stood comfortably beside Sirius' side as the ceremony was in full swing. Rita Skeeter and her photographer were prowling inside the Great Hall covering the final ceremony that'd spell the end of the Triwizard tournament. The ceremony was supposed to happen with the there Headmasters together. Unfortunately, they were short of one. Karkaroff fled Hogwarts once it was clear the Dark Lord had returned.

 

So, that left only two Headmasters to conduct the ceremony. Madam Maxime and Minister Fudge jointly handed over the Triwizard cup to Dumbledore to the applause of many. The nameplate on the Triwizard cup shimmered before the Hogwarts crest became visible signalling the school's victory in the tournament. Right below the crest, his name appeared in gold lettering.

 

“Come now, Harry. Take the cup. And don’t you worry. The Aurors did a thorough check on the cup. It's quite safe.” said Fudge, jovially bringing the cup into Harry's hands.

 

“Thank you for the consideration Minister. I appreciate your efforts, sir.” Harry said, taking the cup into his hands and posing with the Minister for the photos. There were a few French and strangely enough Norwegian tabloids present in the Hall.

 

“Oh, that's not all Harry.” Fudge said happily, taking a bag full of Galleons from one of the Aurors.

 

Harry let go of the cup as Professor McGonagall took it out of his hands.

 

“Here you go. Your winnings from the Tournament. A thousand Galleons!”

 

As Fudge handed over his winnings, the Great Hall broke out into applause. Harry took the bag of Galleons and shook hands with the Minister. Once again he had to endure another round of photo ops. Harry happily obliged with Fudge's publicity stunts as Sirius had quite successfully wooed the Minister of Magic to his way of thinking.

 

The Ministry believed that Barty Crouch and his son were part of an elaborate scheme to overthrow the Ministry. Their third partner in crime was Tom Riddle, who executed the master plan, by assassinating some of the ‘upstanding' citizens of magical Britain with the aid of a radical muggle group. According to Sirius, the Ministry was most likely to release more details about the matter in the coming days. The best thing however was Sirius managed to convince Fudge that it'd be a setback for the Ministry if Harry's kidnapping was known to the wider public.

 

In exchange for Harry's tactic silence on the matter, he'd be consequently excluded from the scope of the investigation. As far as the official records of the Ministry were concerned, the Triwizard cup malfunctioned which led to the ‘delay’ in Harry's reappearance. This essentially granted him immunity. Even if by some miracle an inquiry was launched regarding his involvement there would be little to no evidence linking him to the murder of those Death Eaters. Without connecting his wand or Dobby and Winky to those murders the Ministry could not hold him. Besides, there is that nifty little legislation that allows a minor immunity from prosecution unless without hard evidence to back it up.

 

So, yeah. He was essentially given a clean chit by Cornelius Fudge.

 

The only thorn in his side was Dumbledore. The sole disadvantage of his plan was Dumbledore would get alerted to the rapid shift that has been undertaken in Harry. No doubt, Dumbledore was now engaged in a countermeasure of some sort. The old man was as wily as they come and he suspected the Headmaster has more than enough tricks up his sleeve. That was why Harry suspected he'd have the unpleasant job of distracting Dumbledore by using Fudge.

 

‘Dumbledore cannot be allowed to focus on what I'm doing or what I've done.’ Harry thought.

 

At the moment, all of those plans took a backseat in his mind as he was cajoled by the Weasley twins towards the Gryffindor table for a proper celebration. It was safe to say, quite a loud and chaotic celebration was the general norm of House Gryffindor. The lack of Quidditch had sapped all the festive spirit from the Gryffindor House and this victory was the replacement for a proper party of lions.

 

While the celebrations were in full swing Harry was at one point cornered by Daphne and Tracey. While Tracey distracted the Wesley twins Daphne whisked him away from the crowd. Harry allowed himself to be dragged out of the celebrations inside the Great Hall mostly to escape falling into the clutches of Dumbledore. He got the feeling the Headmaster was planning to corner him and get him to cough up exactly what happened in the graveyard. So, Daphne dragging him out was a good excuse to push that conversation to some other time.

 

Once they were in a private space Daphne pulled him into a hug which was a surprising act from the prim and proper heiress of House Greengrass.

 

“I was worried about you after you disappeared from the maze. It was however a splendid show of magic by the way. You impressed a lot of people in the stands.” said Daphne, her voice proving to be warm vibrations against his heart as her mouth was pressed against his heart.

 

“It seems I managed to impress not just the wizards and witches in the stands.” Harry murmured against Daphne's ear making her blush.

 

“I admit I've had my reservations about you, Harry. But, these past few months have made me like you.” said Daphne, pressing her warm lips against his neck making him shiver.

 

Harry immediately felt a twinge of guilt as he was essentially cheating on Daphne and at the same time, he was incredibly touched by her concern. Unlike previous times, he felt she was far more genuine with her emotions at the moment. Perhaps, he was even seeing the real Daphne who has come out of her shell right now. The urge to come clean about his relationship with Fleur grew in his mind. He felt that he'd only bring pain to Daphne in the future if he continued this duplicity.

 

“I've never felt like this with anyone else Harry and I know you might not necessarily feel the same way I feel. And that's alright.” said Daphne, looking into his eyes. “But, can you make one promise to me?”

 

Harry was a bit stunned so he found himself looking curiously at Daphne who held out her palm asking for a promise.

 

“Will you promise me that you'll genuinely attempt to make our relationship work? Because all of a sudden everywhere I look, I see you.”

 

Daphne stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss on his lips. She must have poured her heart into it because every other thought fled Harry's mind. There was a funny feeling in his gut and he knew for sure something had fundamentally changed. Daphne was no longer just a means to an end.

 

‘I'm in serious trouble.’ Harry thought, even as he took her hand in his sealing the vow knowing full well that it was a vow he'd most likely fail to keep.

AN:

 

https://discord.gg/GsKJMuHubc

Chapter 48: The aftermath P2

Dumbledore was troubled. The events of last night weighed heavily on his mind. Not to mention the information he extracted from Barty Crouch Jr did not sit well with him at all.

 

Now, wasn’t that a blow to his ego, finding a long-thought-dead death eater impersonating his old friend Alastor right under his nose? This incident was proof that he was slipping up in his old age. Oh, he had no notion that he was an infallible wizard despite his immediate friends thinking as such. Though exceptional in magical power and skill, he remains a flawed man like anyone else. When Harry's name came out of the Goblet, he suspected Voldemort’s involvement. When reading Bertha Jerkins' disappearance into the event, it was too much of a coincidence for anything else. He had suspected the Dark Lord was using the Tournament as a distraction to harm Harry. That's why he had Alastor and some covert Order members watch Harry whenever he was out of the castle. Never did he think Voldemort would have planned to take Harry toward the end of the third task.

 

Of course, Barty Crouch's disappearance and the results of Sirius' trial made him focus more on finding old Barty. He suspected the former head of the DMLE was somehow involved and thus he had sent Remus Lupin and Kingsley Shacklebolt to find the absconding Barty Crouch. When in truth, Crouch Sr was languishing inside a trunk here in Hogwarts along with Moody.

 

He sat up straight behind his desk as the wards alerted him about the gargoyle standing guard to his office move. He was not surprised to see Minerva walk in closely followed by Severus.

 

“Thank you for coming on such short notice. Please take a seat.” he offered.

 

“Albus, what are we to do with the Crouches?” McGonagall asked.

 

“Their fate is out of my hands. My sources in the ministry inform me the Aurors will be shifting them to a ministry holding cell.” said Dumbledore.

 

“A holding cell?” Snape raised a curious eyebrow. “I’d have thought they were about to enjoy the hospitality of Azkaban.”

 

“That’s because I suspect something much worse awaits both Crouches.” said Dumbledore, looking far too tired rather than his usual cheery self.

 

Minerva and Severus eyed each other uneasily with the same thought running through their minds.

 

‘What could be worse than Azkaban?’

 

“What does Fudge make of everything that has happened? Did he believe you?” McGonagall asked.

 

Dumbledore shook his head.

 

“Cornelius is unwilling to listen to anything I say that might convince him of Voldemort’s resurrection. The man is stubborn and insists that I’m trying to spread unnecessary panic.”

 

“So, he won’t even consider the information we gathered from Crouch Jr.?” Snape asked incredulously.

 

“I’m afraid so, Severus. Cornelius is rather cross with me for interrogating the prisoners of Ministry without his permission.”

 

“Hmm… Let me guess. Fudge thinks Crouch and his son planned it all out and made arrangements for assassinating certain ‘upstanding’ members of our society?” McGonagall asked sardonically.

 

“I’m afraid that’s the official version of events the Ministry prefer under the circumstances.” said Dumbledore patiently. “Besides, Cornelius and other like-minded Ministry officials believe Crouch Jr. has gone mad after years of Dementor exposure and living under the Imperius curse.”

 

“Then what about Potter? Our resident hero was in the thick of it was he not? Questioning him should reveal exactly what happened at the graveyard.” Snape suggested.

 

Dumbledore looked at the potion master silently warning him not to cross the limits.

 

“I had tried to explain the Tom Riddle Harry talked about was the real name of Lord Voldemort. But Cornelius would not listen to me. The Minister believes that this Tom Riddle is some Muggle in cahoots with Crouch Sr. who helped assassinate several of our wizards to sow discord in the wizarding world.” Dumbledore said, dropping his shoulders disappointedly.

 

“I find it odd that the Dark Lord would use muggle weapons to kill his Death Eaters. It doesn’t make any sense.” McGonagall said, looking thoroughly flummoxed.

 

“I share Professor McGonagall’s concern. That’s why I suggest we find out what happened at the graveyard from Potter. The boy knows more than he led us to believe. I say a few drops of veritaserum should wring the truth from the boy.” Snape suggested, earning protests from McGonagall.

 

Dumbledore merely sighed and leaned back in his seat as his two foremost trusted friends bickered amongst themselves. Truth be told, he was also having a feeling Harry was hiding something. If Crouch Jr. was right then Voldemort’s plan required Harry’s blood for the ritual to complete.

 

Yet, Harry never mentioned any ritual that took place in the graveyard. From Kingsley, he learned there were traces of dense dark magic residue that was beyond the scope of simple spells. There were definitely traces of heavy dark magic, remains of a sickly-smelling unidentified potion and even shredded pieces of a cauldron. All pieces of evidence point to a dark ritual or at least the setup for one. Only Harry could shed more light on the exact details and he was determined to get to the bottom of the events that transpired in the graveyard.

 

But there was one other issue bothering him. The Dark Mark was now clearly visible on Severus’ forearm. So, there was no doubt in his mind that the dark lord has attained a physical body. So, the question remained at large.

 

‘Where is Lord Voldemort?’

 

XXXXXXX

 

“What happened out there?” Neville asked quietly, sitting beside Harry in the common room staring into the smouldering fireplace with a peculiar expression on his face.

 

“Why do you ask? The Prophet pretty much has everything covered.” said Harry, throwing a piece of paper that was sent by Fleur this afternoon.

 

“People might believe that but I don’t.” said Neville.

 

“Why not?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

Neville looked at Harry searchingly before going back to stare at the smouldering fire.

 

“I just have a feeling.” said Neville.

 

Harry finally managed to identify the emotional turmoil that was gripping his friend.

 

“You are sad!” Harry whispered with wide eyes. “Why would you be sad?”

 

Neville hesitated and seem a bit fearful of opening up. Harry thought Neville was going to shift the topic but to his surprise, his friend did no such thing.

 

“Do you know what happened to my parents?” Neville asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

 

“I know.” Harry nodded.

 

“Seeing all those death eaters who died out there… I just can’t help but wish the Lestranges were also dead and Crouch… seeing him alive to know that he was impersonating Moody. He was so close, at an arm’s length.” Neville said, the flame in the fireplace wobbled before glowing brighter.

 

“Neville, settle down.” Harry cautioned, rubbing his friend on the shoulder.

 

“Sorry. I think I’ll just go pack my stuff.”

 

Harry watched Neville take his leave into their dorms.

 

‘Sorry, Neville. I don’t think you are ready for the truth just yet.’ Harry thought.

 

For now, Harry only trusted three people with the truth of what transpired in the graveyard. And all those three people were involved in the murder of many death eaters in some form.

 

Speaking of truth, he was in a dilemma of sorts. Harry looked into the fireplace where Fleur’s letter asking for a meeting after the Leaving feast was burning into ashes. He didn’t know what he should do. Rubbing his face, Harry stood up and decided to pay a visit to the Chamber. It was long overdue, especially considering the ‘prisoner’ he took from the graveyard.

 

Harry teleported into the Chamber with Dobby with the signature popping sound. The skeleton of the Basilisk remained hung on the roof, remaining as intimidating as ever. But Harry’s attention quickly went towards the large unbreakable glass prison where a gigantic python was sleeping soundly with Kreacher standing guard.

 

“Kreacher, is the snake under the Draught of Living Death?” he asked, looking at Nagini for any sort of movement.

 

“Yes, master. Kreacher thinks the half-blood master would have been a strong Black if he had been born in the House of Black.” said Kreacher.

 

“Kreacher should apologize to Harry Potter. He is a great wizard even without Black blood.” said Dobby, looking folding his hands and looking challengingly at Kreacher.

 

“Well, I do have some Black blood. So, there is no need for conflict between you two.” Harry intervened before the two elves could devolve into one of their infamous fights.

 

Harry stepped inside the rune-enforced ward perimeter and took a close look at the gigantic snake. With Nagini in his grasp, only two Horcruxes remained beyond his reach, Hufflepuff’s cup and the Gaunt ring. The runes and the wards would keep the snake bound even if the effects of the potion run out. The glass was also charmed to block the senses of the snake. Should Nagini awake from its slumber, it’d find only darkness and dead silence greet its senses. Those spells were a little hard to pull off but Sirius came through despite the difficulty and rushed timeline. When Voldemort realizes that his pet Horcrux is missing the Dark lord would undoubtedly reach out through the soul shard to find Nagini. The wards should keep the snake disoriented and incapable of engaging Voldemort. Even if Voldemort can somehow feel Nagini is alive, the wards would still keep the snake shielded leading Voldemort on a merry chase to find his pet or come to the conclusion that the Ministry has captured his pet. Either way, Harry was sure the disappearance of Nagini should keep the Dark Lord distracted while Harry was left with some breathing room to take his plans to the next level.

“Good work Kreacher. Check in on the snake daily and make sure it is bound.”

 

“As master orders.” Kreacher bowed low.

 

Trusting Kreacher and Dobby to hold the fort here, Harry took his leave from the Chamber. As Harry walked through the halls of Hogwarts he was approached by many fellow Hogwarts students congratulating him on the win. He was even quite popular among the Beauxbatons students. As Harry suspected, a flashy display of magic was more than enough to impress the teen audience from the three schools. It'd seem for the time being his star was ascendant.

 

Time would tell how long that would last. If everything goes according to plan, not too soon.

 

The plan he had cooked up painstakingly over many sleepless nights was not intended to physically injure Voldemort. The primary target has always been the Death Eaters. He believed that merely kicking down Voldemort was not going to accomplish anything. The huge age gap Voldemort already made the Dark Lord a dangerous opponent in a straight-out magical duel. So, Harry understood the only way he could truly strike deep into Voldemort's power base was to cripple his servants which in turn would cripple the Dark Lord.

 

Therefore, the Death Eaters were his target and it seems he struck true. The upper echelons of Voldemort's Death Eaters were decimated. Harry was still waiting for the official confirmation from the Prophet to come out so that the names of dead Death Eaters could be known. In the vacuum left by the absence of his most powerful supporters, Voldemort would not be able to shape the narrative and that's where Harry's next phase of the plan kicks in.

 

Harry waited in a secluded spot patiently looking at his watch. When the time was sharp noon, his ears picked up a low buzzing sound. He found a familiar beetle that transformed into Rita Skeeter.

 

“Hello there, Harry. Up for an interview? The readers would love to know the thoughts of the Boy-Who-Lived after such a splendid victory.” Rita Skeeter almost purred sweetly.

 

Harry could see the greed and excitement shining behind her eyes.

 

“Maybe some other time. For now, I want you to pursue this story.” said Harry, taking out a stack of parchments he had painstakingly formulated throughout this morning and offering it to Skeeter’s waiting hands.

 

“What is this?” asked Rita Skeeter, a frown adorning her pointy face.

 

“Everything that you need to start a feature about Tom Riddle. I want you to use the information that I gave you to write a full feature. You need to show me the completed version before publishing.” said Harry, leaving no room for argument.

 

“And you’ll be suitably compensated for your work,” he added, seeing Skeeter was about to protest. “As a bonus take this piece of advice. Avoid using your beetle form on Hermione Granger. She has her suspicions about you. If you use your animagus form again you might get caught and we both don’t want that, do we?”

 

XXXXXXX

 

Harry was resting his eyes when he was awakened by an owl carrying a small letter from Sirius. It asked him to come near the Astronomy tower. When he finally arrived at the place the scene he saw was that of the aurors taking out the soulless bodies of Crouch Sr. and Crouch Jr. while Professor McGonagall screamed shrilly at Fudge and the aurors in the background.

 

That’s how he ended up walking with Sirius and the Minister to the Headmaster’s office.

 

“Harry you’ll be happy to know that Barty Crouch Sr. and his lunatic son are no longer a threat.” Fudge explained with an air of satisfaction and a job-well-done attitude. “Both of those traitors have been administered the Dementor’s Kiss. There was a clamour for the two to be put in Azkaban but Sirius here made me think otherwise.”

 

Fudge held Sirius by the shoulder as if the two were the best of buddies since childhood.

 

Harry hid a smile as they made their way towards Dumbledore’s office seeing Sirius roll his eyes. But his godfather played his part well by reciprocating the gesture.

 

“You’d know what’s best for the safety of our community sir.” Harry subtly fueled Fudge’s ego.

 

“It had to be done, Minister. It is a terrible thing to do but those two have gone beyond all norms of a civilized society like ours and acted to destabilize the Ministry. Strong action from you serves the enemies of the Ministry a warning that you’ll not tolerate a civil war like the previous administration.” Sirius buttered up Fudge further.

 

Going by the preening Fudge was doing it seem to be working.

 

“In times like these, we need a strong leader and protector. Professor Dumbledore acted in that position in the last war. But he is now very tired, the poor man. He has often said his positions are taxing and he often loses his presence of mind because of his responsibilities. In times like these, someone like you in the Ministry is a blessing from Merlin.” Harry said, looking out of the corner of his eyes to see whether his words had the intended effect.

 

“Of course. Albus always seems so tired these days. I never thought he was under such stress. He has always been so helpful all these years. I never realized Albus was suffering under the pressure of his duties. Perhaps…” Fudge trailed off looking suddenly thoughtful.

 

Harry exchanged a look with Sirius. Things were so far going the way they wanted.

 

And now, they had conveniently managed to put the idea in Fudge’s mind that Dumbledore is slipping in his old age.

 

“We rarely see Headmaster Dumbledore these days. Most of his duties in the school are already shouldered by Professor McGonagall. Professor Dumbledore has already done so much for our world. He deserves some much-needed rest in these trying times. This is why most parents don’t even come forward to complain about the school’s flailing security standards. I mean, in my first year a Troll roamed free and terrorized the school. The strange disappearance of Professor Quirrell was also a notable security lapse.” Harry said, orchestrating a different version of events that happened in the past in a frame of his design to see whether Fudge would take the bite.

 

And he did not a moment later.

 

“Ah, yes. I’ve heard rumours about Quirrell. If I’m not mistaken Dumbledore told me the man had made a run for it because of a vampire.”

 

“Of course, Minister. There are many such rumours. After all, the poor man has been wearing garlic and a talisman to protect himself all year. Some say, the vampire finally caught up with the poor man and chased him out of Hogwarts despite the famed age-old wards of the castle.” said Harry.

 

“There was also the whole fiasco with the Chamber of Secrets. As far as I’m aware, that was another attempt by this Tom Riddle fellow by using a cursed book, was it not?” Sirius asked looking at Harry.

 

“Indeed. Of course, Professor Dumbledore or anyone for that matter could not have guessed this Tom Riddle guy was working close with Crouch to spread chaos. By luck, I happened to come across the cursed book and handed it over to the headmaster. That’s how I came across the Sword OF Gryffindor which helped in destroying the cursed book.”

 

“You have certainly had a few adventurous years in Hogwarts, Harry. Also, I happen to know Pettigrew was living right under Dumbledore’s nose.” Fudge muttered, shaking his head at the failing standards of security at Hogwarts. “It’d seem poor Albus has done a poor job with this place. No wonder why Crouch Jr. was able to impersonate Moody and act with impunity over the course of the Tournament.”

 

“Speaking of which Dumbledore won’t be happy to see you execute the traitors, Minister.” said Sirius.

 

“Surely, Dumbledore would understand. Those two madmen killed so many well-respected wizards in that graveyard. Then consorting themselves with this rogue muggleborn criminal called Tom Riddle! Disgraceful!” Fudge spluttered indignantly. “What else was I supposed to do? The families of the deceased are demanding justice and as Minister of Magic, it is my sworn duty to act in the interest of our society. Not to mention, those two were raving mad. Crouch Jr. was shouting madly about You-Know-Who coming back from the dead.”

 

“I know Minister. You did the right thing. But Professor Dumbledore is an old man worn out after seeing two wars. He is after all famous for giving second chances to former Death Eaters like Snape. His heart is in the right place as the man just wants peace which we all prefer.” Sirius smoothly said to Fudge who looked thoughtful.

 

“That makes sense. Albus has stood up to two Dark Lords in his lifetime.” said Fudge softly.

 

“And he has no family to speak of save for his brother who is not on good terms with the man. In his old age, he more than anyone else wishes for peaceful years ahead to quietly pass on with dignity. He is owed that much for his sacrifices.” said Sirius, to an increasingly convinced Fudge who now soundly believed Dumbledore was a poor old man prone to make mistakes who was on his last ropes.

 

By the time they finally reached Dumbledore’s office Fudge was quite mellowed out. If Fudge had any notions that Dumbledore was after his job, then those notions were certainly much diminished. Though Harry had his reasons not to trust Dumbledore he didn’t want Fudge to openly fight Dumbledore. It was better to use the resources of the Ministry on Voldemort rather than on Dumbledore. It was purely strategic reasons that influenced Harry to set the board in such a way that Fudge thinks Dumbledore was a tired old man with a bleeding heart rather than a political adversary.

 

When Harry followed Fudge and Sirius into the headmaster’s office, he saw the office held other guests. Professor McGonagall and Snape were present and both of them did not look very pleasant to see them at all. No doubt, Professor McGonagall had informed Dumbledore about what transpired in the Astronomy tower.

 

“Cornelius why? Why would you do such a thing to the Crouches?” Dumbledore asked.

 

“What else was there to do? Old Barty has gone off his rocker and planned to wage war against the Ministry. His son is a raving lunatic who thinks he is acting under the instructions of You-Know-Who! The two of them conspired with another criminal and killed so many good wizards.” said Fudge, firmly defending his actions.

 

Harry only kept half an ear to the conversation going on. His attention instead went to the portraits of the previous headmasters in the room. They were keenly listening in on the back-and-forth conversation between Dumbledore and Fudge. The same was true for Snape and McGonagall. The two professors were shooting death glares at Fudge. If looks could kill, Professor McGonagall’s stare was nearly approaching the levels of a Basilisk.

 

Harry was brought out of his musings when the argument between Dumbledore and Fudge reached a new pitch.

 

“You cannot seriously believe You-Know-Who is back Dumbledore. That’s simply preposterous. The man has been dead for nearly fourteen years.” Fudge shouted.

 

“Cornelius see reason. We must not allow what happened in the past to repeat itself. You know of the bloodshed that followed as Voldemort unleashed his war on us. Heed my warning before it’s too late.” said Dumbledore, imploring Fudge to see the truth.

 

Fudge shook his head and began muttering under his breath.

 

Further conversations came to a halt when Snape suddenly let out a hiss followed by holding his forearm as if in pain.

 

“Headmaster, the Dark Lord.” Snape said dramatically.

 

At least, that’s how Harry took it. He was hoping that’s how Fudge was taking it.

 

“Severus, if you’d please show us your arm.” Dumbledore ordered softly.

 

Snape pulled back his sleeve and showed everyone his forearm. On his pale skin, the Dark Mark of Voldemort could be seen as clear as day. The snake extending out of the human skull moved around as if it has a life of its own.

 

“Headmaster, it is as we feared. He has returned and he is calling me.” Snape said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I should answer the summons if I’m to retain my position.”

 

Dumbledore nodded in understanding.

 

“You may take your leave, Severus.” Dumbledore said, a hint of pity shining in his eyes.

 

After Snape left through the floo Dumbledore turned to Fudge looking far more serious.

 

“We must take necessary measures to counter the Dark Lord. We must reach out to the Giants, Werewolves and Vampires. We must send envoys to them and persuade them against joining the Dark Lord’s side. We must also isolate the Dementors as I believe they’ll once again shift their loyalties.” Dumbledore advised.

 

Fudge stepped back as if slapped.

 

“Dumbledore are you hearing yourself? Giants… Werewolves and Vampires! You can’t be serious.” Fudge said, moving further away from the headmaster and shaking his head.

 

“Cornelius, you saw the Dark Mark on Severus’s arm. Lord Voldemort is back whether we like it or not.” Said Dumbledore.

 

“A tattoo! That’s your proof! Insane… you’ve gone insane!” Fudge stuttered towards the end as Dumbledore’s magical power became all too palpable.

 

“You are blinded by your love and greed of the post you hold.” Dumbledore thundered. “Remove the veil that covers your eyes and see the storm that is about to wreak havoc upon our world. Time is of the essence and we must act now before it is too late. Act now as I have advised and your name will be revered by the future generations of wizards and witches. If you don’t act now, you’ll shame the office that you hold and forever carry the stain of the blood of innocents that’s about to be spilt.”

 

Fudge let out a frustrated grunt before angrily leaving his office shouting a few obscenities and threats on his way out.

 

“Well, that could have gone better.” Sirius said, breaking the uncomfortable silence that was left in the wake of the Minister’s abrupt departure.

 

While the adults continued with the discussion Harry made up an inane excuse and extracted himself from the situation altogether. Things could have gone better but he was satisfied with what happened. He might have to work on Fudge some more and on a different angle but he was sure Sirius could pull it off given time.

 

XXXXXX

 

Harry felt as if the Great Hall was rather packed than usual but that was just a feeling. It was a feast as usual but the mood in the hall was not all jovial. The Slytherin table was deathly silent with many empty spaces in their table. Turns out, there were quite a lot of immediate families of fallen Death Eaters in the house of Slytherin. Harry felt only a small twinge of guilt but it was fleeting like a gentle breeze.

 

‘They chose their end by answering Voldemort’s call and prostrating themselves at the feet of that lunatic.’ Harry justified in his mind.

 

As far as he was concerned, he just saved many innocent lives offing those Death Eaters. Maybe their deaths will discourage their families from engaging in the war that was about to come. Not all would think so but if even a few will Harry would consider that success.

 

The Gryffindor table on the other hand had ample reasons for being in a celebrative mode. One of their own has won the Triwizard championship and they have also won the House cup even when Quidditch was cancelled.

 

“That greasy git was not able to take our points as he wished this year. Slytherin is third in points. The ravens took the second spot by a substantial margin. And we have you to thank for that Harry and Rita Skeeter as well.” Katie said, quite happy with the Great Hall being decorated with Gryffindor banners.

 

Harry nodded along even though he had not even paid any attention to the inter-house championship. It was quite a surprise for Harry to see Gryffindor win the house cup and Katie was not the only one happy about the outcome. The twins were selling their wares at a heavily discounted price to anyone who took the deal. They could now afford it after all. He had already given them a small influx of funds to keep them afloat through the next year. Harry wanted the two to take the NEWTs although he doubted the twins were planning to stay that long. He was not going to advise them on continuing their education. They seem to know what they were doing and he promised them their deal will be finalized in the summer.

 

Dumbledore stood up at the staff table gaining his attention.

 

As Dumbledore went about delivering a speech Harry felt himself being watched. He looked at the Ravenclaw table where he saw Fleur eyeing him sultrily which made him a tad uncomfortable. He had yet to make up his mind about the situation he find himself in with Daphne and Fleur. Not to mention, he was supposed to meet Fleur at the Room of Requirement after the feast. Harry absently scooped a spoonful of dessert when suddenly the hall collectively gasped. Feeling a bit funny, he looked around and saw everyone was staring at him which made him confused.

 

“What’s up?” Harry asked curiously.

 

XXXXXXX

 

Harry felt like he wanted to wring Dumbledore’s neck and squeeze the life out of that old man.

 

‘Why the fuck would he drag my name into the foray and claim I saw Voldemort?’ he thought furiously.

 

“So, is it true?” Neville asked.

 

“We’ll talk later, Neville. Too many people can hear.” Harry said, keeping his temper in check. “Hermione can fill you in on the details. I have to go and speak with someone.”

 

Harry made his escape from the entrance of the hall after the feast by shrouding himself under a Notice-me-not charm and other spells that allowed him to slip away unnoticed.

 

He was furious with Dumbledore and himself. He should have expected Dumbledore to play this trick. He was hoping the headmaster would spare him from this situation. It was with a troubled mind he reached the seventh-floor corridor where to his surprise a door appeared seemingly out of thin air.

 

Harry looked around and reached out with his magic. He couldn’t sense anyone under an invisibility spell or cloak.

 

‘Fleur is already inside and must have set the room to act as per her designs.’ Harry thought.

 

He pushed the door open and found a corridor lit with glass candles leading to another door at the other end. Once Harry stepped into the corridor of the RoR, the door behind him vanished leaving a smooth brick wall in its place. Harry let out a sigh at the theatrics but he was impressed by Fleur’s deep understanding of how the RoR functioned.

 

‘She’s a prodigy in Charms. Of course, it was only a matter of time before she found the secrets of the room.’ Harry thought as he moved forward.

 

When he opened the door at the other end, he found himself in a large room filled with golden silky curtains and a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

 

“You are ‘ere early, ‘Arry.” Fleur’s smooth voice made him locate her.

 

Fleur stepped out from behind one of the curtains and his breath caught in his throat. She was dressed in a sheer long golden dress that left little to the imagination. He could see one of Fleur’s long legs that left him wanting more of her.

 

With a sway to her hips, Fleur moved towards him and Harry found it difficult to look her in the eyes.

 

Fleur reached out with one of her fingers and pulled his chin up so that his eyes came into contact with hers.

 

“Chapeau!” Fleur said, her blue eyes twinkling merrily. “You won ‘zee cup.”

 

Fleur pressed a kiss on his lips which broke the dam so to speak. He felt as if butterflies were in his gut as he took Fleur into his arms deepening the kiss. When they came apart, they were both left breathless which deeply confused Harry.

 

‘I kissed her only for a few seconds.’ he thought.

 

That thought fled his mind when Fleur leaned forward placing her soft lips against his earlobe making him tingle.

 

“Come ‘Arry. I ‘ave a present for you.” Fleur breathed into his ear before leading him further beyond the filtering curtains which looked more like golden smoke.

AN:

 

https://discord.gg/GsKJMuHubc

Chapter 49: Fleur-de-lis (warning: lemon content)

XXXXXX-Lemon starts-XXXXXX

 

His mind was blank save for the beauty of Fleur. It was as if he was living under a cave shrouded in darkness and was witnessing a full moon in the night sky for the first time. Everything else became irrelevant in front of the radiant moon.

 

Similarly, Harry found it hard to take his eyes off the radiant moon that was Fleur.

 

It was only when Fleur came to a stop that he snapped out of the daze to some extent. However, he barely had any time to properly form a coherent thought as he was immediately besieged by an overwhelming desire to make Fleur his. It was such a silly thought but he could not mull that over as his breath was taken away by Fleur taking the opportunity to kiss him.

 

Harry did not protest the action. Instead, he wrapped his hands around Fleur, caressing her curves along the way until one of his hands caught hold of her precious derriere while the other climbed north, settling on her neck. Squeezing his palm against her posterior elicited a squeak from the witch in his arms.

 

He broke away from the kiss and buried his face in her hair. Pressing a kiss against her neck, he took a deep breath, taking in her sweet scent.

 

Pulling back a pace, he stared into her mesmerising sapphire eyes.

 

“God, you’re so beautiful.” Harry murmured.

 

Leaning forward he captured her lips in another searing kiss one which Fleur was only too happy to reciprocate. Her long fingers weaved through his hair as she pulled him against her lips. He allowed her in when she prodded his lips with her tongue. Harry felt like he was floating like a cloud weightlessly. Harry felt her tongue seek his out, snogging what little sense he had left. It left Harry in a frenzy and in a need for more as he felt Fleur was quite intent on taking this to the next level.

 

He was not complaining.

 

Harry abruptly pulled back and watched Fleur needily trying to capture his lips again in a kiss. Instead, he aimed lower, nibbling and sucking along her jaw and neck. Fleur let out moans of pleasure that only encouraged him to continue on his current ministrations. All this time, they were moving backwards until Fleur suddenly stopped. She could move no further as Harry had her leaning back against the rail of a four-poster bed.

 

With one arm firmly on her sweet rump, Harry took his other arm from her lean neck and fumbled with the strap of her dress. His attempts to get Fleur out of her dress ended in abject failure which made him growl in frustration. His magic flared and rushed to exert his will, which managed to unhook the sole strap of Fleur’s golden dress. The minute the strap came undone, he left a trail of kisses along her neck all the way to her exposed shoulder.

 

He could see her hardened nipples poking through her dress.

 

Trailing his hand further south, he slowly dragged down her dress, exposing her perky breasts before his eyes.

 

“’Arry!” Fleur moaned as the fabric of her dress slid down her twin mounds, exposing them to the sultry passion hanging in the air.

 

“Mmm.” Harry moaned as Fleur tightened her grip on his hair while her other hand toiled to remove his cloak.

 

Guided by her hands, Harry’s head moved further south, leaving a trail of fiery kisses along the way. His hands caressed her curves while simultaneously dragging her dress down to her hips.

 

Drunk in lust, Harry reached out with his teeth and nipped at Fleur’s hardened nipples, taking turns between the two so that he did not favour one over the other. Judging by the sultry moans that escaped Fleur’s lips, she was enjoying his ministrations.

 

“Oh, ‘Arry!” Fleur moaned, enjoying the way Harry’s teeth were treating her teats.

 

Filled with unbridled pleasure, Fleur managed to unclasp Harry’s cloak, which pooled down behind his feet. With her long fingers, she took hold of Harry’s sweater and pulled it over his head in one go. She threw the offending material away from the bedside while Harry moved further south and pressed a chaste kiss on her belly button.

 

She felt like butterflies were flapping their wings in her belly. Fleur giggled as Harry’s fingers traced the contours of her hips while showering her belly with fiery kisses and sharp nips that took her to new heights of pleasure.

 

With one sharp tug, Harry disrobed Fleur, her silken dress pooling around her feet. Her cheeks flushed as she saw Harry trace his mesmerising green eyes along her body, memorising every nook and cranny into his memory.

 

Not to be outdone, Fleur’s hands immediately worked on his shirt. In her rush, she snapped off the shirt from the buttons holding the fabric together. Fleur pushed the white shirt back against his shoulders and forcibly removed the article of clothing, which stood as a barrier to Harry’s upper body.

 

“Merde!” Fleur gasped, her hands tracing the fine packs of muscles along his abs. “Tu es chaud.”

 

Harry was once again at her eye level, pressing steamy kisses on her chin, her neck and her shoulders.

 

Fleur’s eyes became half-lidded with pleasure. Her soft hands trailed towards his back, where she explored the finely carved muscles on his back. Her hands trailed down to his waist, caressing his hips. He enjoyed the way her sharp nails scratched through the rough edges of his abs until, finally, she took hold of the buckle of his belt. She pulled the buckle free, making it easy for her hands to hook her fingers on his boxers and pants, pushing them loose off his hips.

 

Harry shook himself out of his pants and boxers and pressed himself against Fleur who was equally bereft of any clothing. His hand trailed behind Fleur running along her smooth skin until finally grasping her shapely bottom. Fleur wrapped her hands around his neck as he lifted her by her round ass. She gave him a steamy tongue-filled kiss for his efforts that took his breath away.

 

Under normal conditions, his arms should have been under strain by taking the full weight of Fleur. But he hardly felt the strain. It was as if Fleur was as light as the finest silks of the east.

 

“ ‘Arry.” Fleur moaned after she came out of the kiss to breathe. She saw the wild look in Harry’s eyes and she was aware of the raging hardness that was pressing up against her womanhood.

 

“ ‘Arry, make love to me.” she leaned forward and whispered into his ear after taking a cheeky bite of his earlobe.

 

Going by the lustful growl Harry let out Fleur knew he loved it when she became playful. So, she licked the side of his ear slowly as she was carried into the bed. Harry growled under her ministrations while trying to lower her slowly into the bed but Fleur was not having it.

 

She pulled him along and they both fell into the bed in a tangle of limbs. She was more than ready and she got the feeling Harry was ready as well. Her left hand sneaked in between and took hold of Harry’s cock.

 

A long growl escaped from his throat as he felt Fleur’s fingers wrap around his manhood. He so wanted to ask whether she wanted to do this but such thoughts escaped him as she pulled him into a kiss with her free hand. Harry’s hands were not idle either. One of his hands settled on her hips while the other took hold of one of Fleur’s bountiful breasts.

 

Looking into the clear blue eyes of Fleur he slowly pushed in.

 

“More.” Fleur moaned, urging him forward.

 

Harry pressed a kiss to her neck as he sharply pushed in. The warmth that enveloped him was exquisite and he doubted anything else could garner such a feeling in this world. It took them both a minute to adjust but passion soon awakened within them both like a raging inferno.

 

Fleur gasped and moaned against his neck as she hid her face in the crook of his neck while Harry ploughed her insides.

 

Encouraged by the sounds Fleur was letting out Harry sharply picked up his rhythm.

 

"Merde!" Fleur screamed.

 

Harry hissed as Fleur dragged her fingernails along his back probably drawing blood. He grunted and groaned as the pleasure overwhelmed his senses.

 

Fleur locked her legs behind him and pulled him closer. The bed beneath them creaked as they embraced the frenzy that took over them both as nothing but lust remained in their minds, guiding their thoughts and actions.

 

"'Arder, 'Arry!" Fleur squealed.

 

Harry grinned down at Fleur noting that she was dissolving herself in the vigorous lovemaking they were engaged in. Her tits were dancing to the tune of their movement. He leaned down and took one of her nipples into his mouth without compromising the pace by which he was spearing into her. Fleur's fingers threaded through his hair and pressed his head against her breasts appreciating his work on her bosom.

 

"'Arry, I'm close." Fleur moaned.

 

Harry trailed a slew of kisses along her breasts towards her neck.

 

"Oh, 'Arry!" Fleur spasmed and squealed as she came all around his cock.

 

Her back arched upwards while pulling him in with her legs. Her nails dug into Harry's back as she sizzled in the bed under the effects of her orgasm.

 

"Oh, mon amour." Fleur breathed hotly against his ear.

 

Harry could no longer hold back as Fleur mewled and his skin. He pulled out at the last minute and sprayed the insides of Fleur's thighs with his seed. He groaned against her neck as he finally found release.

 

They both lay there panting, breathing hot air against their skins. Fleur's legs came loose, allowing Harry to slide in beside her in the bed. Fleur pulled the covers over their sweaty bodies.

 

Fleur reached out with her hand, tracing the fine lines of his cheekbones while staring into his green eyes.

 

"'Zat was..." Fleur trailed off, looking searchingly into his eyes.

 

"...magical?" Harry supplied with a goofy grin.

 

"Oui." Fleur giggled, pulling him forward and smashing her lips against his.

 

The air became saturated with Fleur's allure again but this time it was more sublime. It felt more like a soothing blanket of warm oil.

 

Harry snaked one of his arms around Fleur and pulled her against his chest. He could feel her breasts getting flushed against his chest as she draped one of her long legs over him. He breathed in her flowery scent from her silver-blonde hair as she nuzzled against him in the bed.

 

Fleur pressed a kiss on his chin before she closed her eyes, resting her silver mane against his chest. The lull of the night was such Harry found it difficult to deny sleep so he closed his eyes with Fleur closely wrapped around his body like a warm blanket.

 

XXXXXXXX-Lemon ends-XXXXXXX

 

Voldemort kept a strong grip over his right hand which was once again acting up with spontaneous tremors. At first, he had assumed it was the aftereffects of his resurgent magic and soul settling into his newly furnished body. But he no longer thought this to be the case.

 

‘Something must have gone wrong with the ritual. That blasted boy must have done something or that bumbling moron Wormtail must have botched it up.’ he thought.

 

If it was Potter, he’d enjoy torturing the boy to death the next time the boy faces him. If it was Wormtail…well…there was hardly anything he’d have to do to the coward.

 

“All of them are dead. Are you sure?” Voldemort asked imperiously sitting on a transfigured throne.

 

“I’m afraid so my lord. The remains of your servants shall be handed over to the close surviving relatives at the Ministry.” said Lucius, keeping his eyes firmly on the ground.

 

“Did the Ministry find who attacked my Death Eaters?” Voldemort asked, conveniently leaving himself out even though he too sustained some injuries. But he was not going to expose his weakness to Lucius.

 

“I’m afraid the Ministry is under the impression that the Crouches are behind the attack. Also…”

 

Voldemort perked up at the infliction in Lucius’s tone.

 

“Out with it, Lucius.” He snapped, not in the mood of entertaining the idiosyncrasies of his servant.

 

“My lord, the Potter boy claimed the Crouches were led by a third man who represents a fringe Muggle group.” said Lucius.

 

“What?” Voldemort asked incredulously wondering for a moment whether Potter has gone mad. “So, what you are saying is that Harry Potter has not at all mentioned my presence in the graveyard?”

 

“Not directly. He has not used my lord’s proper name but the other which Dumbledore alone uses.” Lucius reported, a healthy dose of fear shining in his grey eyes.

 

Voldemort felt his rage spike within him at the implications but he beat it down as he was not at liberty to use the Unforgivable curses on those who offend him. Conserving his power was now paramount and therefore he spared Lucius save for a glare which was enough to put the fear of death on the Malfoy family patriarch.

 

Dumbledore was now most likely aware of his return which was unfortunate. The Ministry it’d seem has jumped right in and had the Crouches face the Kiss of a Dementor. That should neatly tie up any loose ends. For some reason, the Potter boy was not keen on declaring his return to the public. He was not going to complain at the opportunity that his archnemesis has gifted him.

 

As for what happened in the graveyard was still not making any sense. Who could have possibly found him and attacked him on the spot? Only Crouch was outside his immediate observation but he doubted the man would betray him. For a moment, he entertained the thought of Potter setting up a trap but he discarded the thought. He was sure Potter could not have possibly planned it all out and somehow found out his plans.

 

No, this was the work of someone else. But no matter how much he thought he could not find a possible explanation for how this mysterious enemy found his hiding spot in the first place. Unfortunately, both Crouch Jr. and Pettigrew were dead leaving him with a huge mystery.

 

‘I need to revisit my memory and look for something I missed. There must be some clue that could prove useful.’ he thought.

 

Whoever this rogue enemy was, they were certainly dangerous and had dealt him a heavy blow by decimating most of his favoured Death Eaters. They have deprived him of precious resources and for that, they shall suffer a most painful end by his own hands.

 

“Lucius, tell no one of what transpired in the graveyard. For now, let the world believe the lies the Ministry has spun around the eve of my resurrection.” Voldemort ordered.

 

“As you will, my lord.” Lucius bowed low.

 

Voldemort eyed Lucius and for a moment he suspected the man but he dismissed such thoughts. Lucius was ignorant of his location and his moves. Besides, the man was hardly knowledgeable when it comes to muggle weaponry. Not to mention, Lucius was also injured during the attack and had sought him out after the wounds were partially healed.

 

‘Perhaps Potter had some helpers who managed to track the boy to the graveyard. Pettigrew had not exactly done a thorough check on the Potter boy.’

 

“Enter.” Voldemort said coldly, hearing a knock on the door of the hall halting his thoughts.

 

Voldemort’s red eyes narrowed as he watched Severus Snape walk inside and kneel beside Lucius.

 

“You have come at last Severus. I thought you had forsaken your master for that old fool.” he hissed at the potion master while carefully hiding a tremor that went through his arm.

 

“My lord, I’d have joined you when you called but I was among the Hogwarts staff with Dumbledore watching my every move.” Snape said, his head bowed in deference. “I have been ever loyal to you and our cause.”

 

“On your feet Severus. I’ll be the judge of that. Now, tell me what has Dumbledore planned?”

 

“Dumbledore is aware of your return and he is moving as we speak gathering the former Order members. He is also planning to reach out to the Giants and Werewolves to keep them neutral in the coming conflict. He plans to hold a meeting once the summer holidays commence. I shall be able to know who all are assigned with which tasks and what decisions are made.” Snape said swiftly keeping himself strictly on the matter at hand.

 

“Hmm… We'll see whether you are useful in the coming days Severus. For now, return to your post. I shall call on you soon.” said Voldemort, dismissing his sole spy amongst Dumbledore's rabble.

 

Voldemort watched Snape withdraw from the hall. At the moment, he did not trust the Potion master to make him even a Pepper-up potion much less find a solution to his weakened state.

 

First, he needed to get out of this muggle house and get access to a proper wizard's home. Then he needed access to some potion ingredients to stabilize his worsening condition. Everything else can be dealt with later.

 

XXXXXXXXX

 

Fleur barely held back a moan as she felt Harry leave a trail of kisses between her shoulder blades.

 

“So, ‘ze Dark Lord ‘eez back?” Fleur asked, her eyes half-closed enjoying the ministrations of her lover.

 

“Mm-hmm.” Harry groaned against her skin which made her shiver in pleasure.

 

They were just lazing in the bed reluctant to part just when they had shared the bed together. But there was no other choice before them but to go their separate ways. They were just extending the time they had until the inevitable.

 

“So, those Death Eaters…?”

 

“They fell into my trap. Someone needed to take them out at some point. Dumbledore and his goody two shoes gang are not going to do a thing. So, I acted.”

 

Fleur turned around and raised a curious eyebrow.

 

“Well… Dobby and Winky acted. I just provided them with the opportunity.” Harry amended.

 

Fleur let out a giggle before she pulled him into a kiss.

 

“I've to go. I'll ‘zee you again ‘Arry.” Fleur said, pressing up against him and giving him another kiss.

 

Harry lay there in bed as he watched Fleur get dressed in a hurry. He was a little let down to see her go but as Fleur said, this won't be the last time they'll be seeing each other. If everything went according to plan Fleur would be coming back to Britain after smoothing things out with her parents.

 

Letting out a sigh, he too decided to leave for the Gryffindor dorms.

 

When the sun was up Harry was dressed properly for the ride back from Hogwarts. His trunk was ready, Hedwig was ready and he was ready. Dobby had done exceedingly well in packing up everything promptly without anyone noticing. Dobby also had the presence of mind to put his dorm mates to sleep so Harry's disappearance would not be noticed.

 

‘I should give Dobby and Winky a suitable gift for the splendid work they have done so far.’ he thought as he tied his shoelaces.

 

“You are up early. When did you even return?” asked Ron, who had just woken up from his slumber.

 

“You were sleeping.” Harry grunted.

 

“You know, mum wrote to Dumbledore asking whether you could stay with us for the summer. He didn’t allow it. He said you need to go back to Privet Drive with everything that's going on.” said Ron.

 

Harry raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. He was not going to that place at all like a good little pawn.

 

‘If dumb-ass-door thinks I'll just slink back to that little madhouse like a good little pawn then the old man is as dumb as his name sounds.’ Harry thought.

 

Half an hour later Harry was at the Hogsmeade station with his trunk and Hedwig in her cage. He could see the disturbing visage of the Thestrals drawing the carriage. From time to time he looked at the creatures of death and they were eyeing him with a disturbing amount of interest. It took all his willpower not to get disturbed by their stare.

 

“You look troubled ‘Arry.”

 

A familiar voice greeted his ears. Fleur was hurrying up towards him with a small group of friends hanging back near the carriages.

 

“I couldn’t find you at ‘ze entrance ‘all. Sorry.” she said before hugging him.

 

“See you soon.” Fleur pressed a kiss on his cheek before she left to greet Cedric who was quite happily chatting away with Cho.

 

If there was one thing that made him relieved even though he murdered quite a few Death Eaters, it was the survival of Cedric Diggory.

 

‘I saved one budding wizard while stuffing out more than ten criminals.’

 

A fair exchange as far as Harry was concerned.

 

“What did she want?” asked Hermione, frowning at Fleur who was now hugging Cedric and Cho Chang.

 

“Just some pleasantries.” Harry shrugged, noting that Ginny was also standing nearby Hermione. “So, what about Krum? Any plans you two have for the summer?”

 

Hermione blushed and stuttered out a denial.

 

Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Daphne and Tracey boarding the train. He still had no clue what he should do when it comes to Daphne. For now, he put that out of his mind as he focused on getting his trunk and Hedwig inside the train.

 

XXXXXXX

 

The King’s Cross station was packed as usual. He easily found Sirius on the platform but his godfather was not alone. Curiously enough, Damien Greengrass was standing beside Sirius. Mr and Mrs Weasley were also present although they kept shooting Mr Greengrass with distrustful looks.

 

Having endured the endless questioning of Hermione throughout the train journey, he was quite eager to leave the place as fast as possible. So, the moment he collected his luggage he made his way quickly toward Sirius.

 

“Mr Potter.” Damien nodded, keeping their familiarity under wraps which Harry was thankful for.

 

“Mr Greengrass. Here to pick up Daphne?”

 

“And Astoria.” Damien answered.

 

“I don’t think he knows me, papa.”

 

A small thin blonde girl came out of nowhere and hugged Mr Greengrass.

 

Harry blinked in surprise. “Ah!”

 

“Really Harry. You did not know my sister? Then again, she is so small easily mistaken for a dwarf.” said Daphne, coming to stand by his side as she rolled a trolley along carrying her trunk.

 

“I admit I've not seen your sister around at Hogwarts. That doesn’t mean I'm ignorant of her existence.” Harry said, keeping the surprise off his face.

 

“Hmm…” Daphne eyed him doubtfully.

 

“Anyway, it is good that we met today Mr Potter.” said Damien Greengrass, offering him a neatly wrapped envelope. “You and Mr Black are cordially invited to a small party in the Greengrass Manor. You are allowed to bring a guest each if you so desire. The date and time are in the envelope.”

 

“Thank you, Mr Greengrass. We shall endeavour to make it in time.”

 

After Sirius and Damien engaged in a polite exchange of words the Greengrass family took their cue and left.

 

“Before we leave I have to act on a promise to these two pranksters.” Harry jabbed his thumb at the Wesley twins as they came nearby.

 

“Fred, George. Meet Sirius Black, my godfather. He also goes by the name of Padfoot. He is one of the members of the illustrious group known as the Marauders.”

 

Fred and George stared at Sirius and openly gaped.

 

“Really?” they chorused together.

 

“Well…guilty as charged. Harry's father was Prongs and you already know Moony. He was your Defense Professor, Remus Lupin.” Sirius said, making the twins give an overly exaggerated bow to Sirius.

 

“Take us as your students, great master of pranks and chaos.”

 

“Stop that you two.” Mrs Weasley snapped at the twins smacking them behind their heads.

 

“Well, then. Time to go Harry. Don’t expect a warm welcome in my house though. My mother's portrait is not so welcoming to visitors or anyone for that matter.” said Sirius, who shrunk down Harry's trunk for him while Harry took Hedwig's cage into his hands.

 

“Sirius, wait! Dumbledore said Harry needs to go with the Dursleys.” Mrs Weasley protested.

 

“Dumbledore is merely the headmaster of Hogwarts. He does not decide where I live nor does anyone else. Good day Mrs Weasley, Mr Weasley.” Harry nodded at them as Sirius whisked him away by apparition.

 

The last thing he saw was the shell-shocked faces of the Weasleys.

 

AN:

 

https://discord.gg/GsKJMuHubc

Chapter 50: Summer vacation P1

“Mistress is not going to like what half-blood master is doing.” Kreacher muttered.

 

“Stop calling him that you stupid wanker.” Sirius shouted while carrying a large portrait of one of his ancestors down the hall.

 

“I have a name you know. You can use my name.” Harry offered while helping arrange the portraits into one of the rooms in the basement beneath the Black manor.

 

“Kreacher would never move the portraits of the great Blacks from their proper place.” Kreacher muttered dejectedly. “Oh, how Kreacher wishes he could disobey the master, traitorous scum that he is. He brings nothing but shame upon the House of Black.”

 

“Why you little…” Sirius was ready to launch himself at Kreacher but Harry put a stop to that while they settled the portraits in the basement.

 

“Go. I’ll speak to him." Harry pushed Sirius out of the basement with some effort.

 

Turning to Kreacher who was muttering about blood traitors and whatnot Harry sighed.

 

“You have to understand Kreacher we are at war with a wily enemy. The Dark Lord is a clever man who is not above enlisting the aid of old pureblood families and use their portraits to spy on his enemies. Many of the portraits in this house have links to other portraits outside of this house.” said Harry, looking around he found the Portrait of Phineas Black which was frozen by a frame-freezing charm. “Look at that portrait. It’s the portrait of Phineas Black who was once the headmaster of Hogwarts. If Dumbledore so wishes he could use the portrait in the headmaster’s office and spy Black Manor with ease.”

 

A light of understanding passed through Kreacher’s eyes.

 

“Kreacher understands.” the elf bowed his head flattening his ears in shame.

 

“While you are at it can you nicely ask him to take down my mother's portrait?” Sirius whispered near Harry's shoulder.

 

“Why? I think your mother's portrait is quite useful Sirius. If Voldemort somehow tracks us down the portrait could either give him a heart attack or serve as a warning for us.”

 

Sirius suddenly became thoughtful.

 

“You know. I never thought of it like that. You might be onto something there Harry.” Sirius said.

 

“Of course, I’m onto something.” said harry, winking at Kreacher who looked relieved that Lady Black’s portrait was not going into a dark corner of the basement.

 

“Now, come with me. I’ll show you your room.” said Sirius, leading Harry away from the basement.

 

“Well, this is a bit too much.” Harry looked at the large expansive room with a king-sized bed and many ornate pieces of furniture that screamed pompousness. “A small bedroom with a small table on the corner would have been preferable.”

 

“Can’t have you living like that in my house Harry. You are a guest of the House of Black and my godson. Tradition dictates that you ought to be treated like the heir.” said Sirius.

 

“Since when did you become a man of tradition?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

“Since last night. So, how’s the room?”

 

Harry looked around at the blue-painted walls and the overall aesthetics of the room.

 

“I like it.” Harry said, nodding to himself satisfied with the room even though he thought it was a bit too much luxury. He liked to keep things simple but he could live here without a problem.

 

“I wanted to have your room painted red and gold. Well, I wanted the whole house painted red and gold but Kreacher would find some way to disrupt the work. In the end, I decided to go with blue and white.”

 

“That was probably good. I was getting tired of seeing all the red and gold in my dorms. This is a more soothing colour.” Harry hummed in appreciation.

 

“Young master has more sense than the blood traitor.” Kreacher muttered while pretending to sweep the floor nearby the stairs.

 

“See, even Kreacher agrees.” Harry laughed while Sirius muttered about not being Gryffindor enough.

 

Before anything else could be said the doorbell rang making Harry and Sirius frown. They looked at each other for a moment before taking their wands into their hands. It has been only ten minutes or so since they arrived so they had yet to put up the necessary wards to guard against any unsavoury visitors bar the one that hid them from muggle eyes.

 

They heard the door swinging open followed by a loud crashing sound.

 

“BLOOD TRAITORS AND MUGGLE LOVERS. THE LOWEST SCUM OF THIS WORLD DEFILING THE HOUSE OF MY ANCESTORS!”

 

“Well, you were right. Her portrait can be a good deterrent for friends and foes alike.” said Sirius.

 

Harry found Albus Dumbledore in his usual attire of star-spangled robes by the door with a large pointy hat in hand.

 

“Harry. I did not expect to see you here.” said Dumbledore, with the customary twinkle in his eyes.

 

“I doubt that.” Harry deadpanned, folding his hands but he kept his fingers wrapped around his wand.

 

“Harry, you must return to Private Drive for your safety.”

 

“I must?” Harry raised a delicate eyebrow challengingly stepping forward. “Tell me, who do you think you are Dumbledore?”

 

Dumbledore’s eyes widened as an oppressive force permeated the air trying to blanket him in its power. It was quite familiar as it was something he has also used in the past to scare away his opponents mostly in battle. Only a strong wizard can exert such pressure by using their magical power and he was surprised Harry was at a level to manifest a physical aura at this young age.

 

'It's remarkable!' Dumbledore thought.

 

“You are merely the headmaster of Hogwarts. Out here you have no authority or power to decide what I should or shouldn’t do. I’m not going to the home of those fools under any conditions. I’m staying here with Sirius.”

 

“Harry you must see reason. Lord Voldemort has risen…”

 

“I don’t care. As far as I’m concerned, the Dursleys are not my family and they’ll never be. Besides, I doubt they are in any position to host me.” Harry said, a wicked smirk on his face.

 

“What do you mean?” Dumbledore asked frowning.

 

“Oh! Don’t tell me your little spy didn’t report you about the unfortunate situation with the Dursleys?” Harry asked sardonically.

 

Dumbledore’s surprise was quite palpable and Harry quietly enjoyed the fact that he can give shocks to the old codger whom most in the wizarding world consider infallible.

 

“Why are you so surprised? You didn’t think that I’d fail to see your little spy Arabella Figg, did you?” Harry asked as a matter of factedly.

 

“The fact that you kept tabs on me and knew what I was going through in my childhood leads me to only one conclusion Dumbledore. You wanted a malleable pawn whom you can throw at Voldemort as bait and that’s exactly what you did in my first year. But you forgot to keep your pawn crossing over to the other side of the board. Once that happens the pawn can become any other piece except for the king.”

 

“But…”

 

“Dumbledore, you may get out. You are not welcome in my house.” Sirius snapped.

 

“Sirius, I…”

 

“Don’t make me use force, Albus.” Sirius raised his wand.

 

Harry watched Dumbledore looking thoroughly flummoxed. Thankfully, the old man regained his wits and chose to take his leave rather than impose upon them any further.

 

“Well, I must say good riddance to bad rubbish. This is the first time I saw my son take a stand like a true Black.” said Lady Black from her portrait.

 

“This day seems to be full of surprises. Dumbledore scurrying away with his tail between his legs and I heard a compliment from my dearly departed mother. This is quite a day.” Sirius declared.

 

“You are still a blood traitor, a shame on my house but at least you stood up to that muggle lover. I suppose that's your one good achievement.” Lady Black huffed before she turned her sights on Harry. “Now, who are you, boy?”

 

“You could have known him earlier if you had not screamed like a harpy.” Sirius growled.

 

“YOU! SHUT UP. YOU ARE THE SHAME OF MY FLESH.” Lady Black screeched wagging a finger at Sirius from her portrait before training her wild eyes on Harry. “You boy. Who're you?”

 

“I’m Harry Potter.”

 

“A HALF BLOOD FREAK IN MY HOUSE!” Lady Black screamed.

 

“Silencio.” Harry shot the silencing charm at the portrait cutting off the screaming voice.

 

“So, now that we have dealt with Dumbledore and my mother what's the plan?” Sirius asked, tearing his eyes away from the silently screaming visage of his mother's portrait after flipping her off which riled her up even more.

 

“Now, we ward this place so tight that Voldemort won’t think of looking for us. After that, we make plans for that trip to France I was talking about.”

 

“That seems like a good plan.” Sirius smiled, thinking of his chance to bag a veela just like his godson. “I hope Fleur has more relatives. With you as my wingman, this old dog might score once again.”

 

XXXXXXXX

 

Vernon Dursley nursed the cold beer in his hand looking forlornly into the dark screen of his tv. The tv screen remained blank just like his life which had taken a radical shift ever since that ill-fated Christmas night. So many freaky things happened that night which left him and his son in the hospital for many weeks with their behinds burned to a crisp. The doctors then reported the incident to the police and Vernon has since been in a prison. The police concluded that he was some sexual deviant who found his jolly in burning his and his son's ass.

 

He was humiliated in society and it took a lot of money, testimonies from his wife and Dudely and a blood-sucking lawyer to get him out of prison. And even that was temporary as the police had also found out about his wife's freakish nephew. The police had gone through their home in Surrey like a pack of elephants. They found traces of that freak's DNA inside the cupboard under the stairs. It also became clear to the investigating officers that the freak was not in some special school for delinquents as they had convinced their neighbours.

 

His poor wife had screamed and pleaded with those officers that the freak was a wizard. It was the last attempt to get their life back. But those fools chucked Petunia in a mental asylum once some god-awful activists and journalists got wind of their story. His poor Dudley was now in the hands of child services. He was not even allowed access to his son because he was a bad influence on a growing child. He wanted to rage and rave at the system that denies good folk like him and his wife the freedom to look after their Dudders.

 

“It’s all the freak's fault.” Vernon muttered, after taking another swig from the bottle and draining the last drops of beer while sitting in his small rented apartment with nothing much to do.

 

His old job at the construction company felt like a lifetime ago. He was now a glorified gardener who could barely afford rent or put some food on the table. All his other savings were spent trying to keep his ass out of jail and even with that he was barely successful. He was out on the street as a free man but only on bail with very stringent conditions. He was to be on his best behaviour and his bail could be rescinded if his wife's freakish nephew does not turn up this summer as he promised to the court.

 

He so wanted to switch on the tv and keep his eye on the news but the power to his apartment was cut because he could not pay the bills. He prayed the freak walk in on his old house and get caught red-handed. That was the only way to clear his name and get his family back on track.

 

The doorbell suddenly rang catching Vernon's attention.

 

“Who is it?” he gruffly asked but no response came from the other side except for the bell being rung once more.

 

Muttering about rude neighbours Vernon swung open his door only to see one of the freaks at his doorstep.

 

“YOU! YOUR KIND HAVE THE GALL TO COME BACK AFTER EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED. STEP OUT OF MY HOUSE YOU FREAK!” Vernon roared.

 

In his rage, he rushed at the freak with his fist raised but he suddenly froze in his steps.

 

“I shall get to the bottom of what has happened Mr Dursley. Perhaps, I might…” Dumbledore began but was immediately cut off.

 

“NO!” Vernon roared. “YOU’LL NOT RUIN MY BOTTOM AGAIN YOU FREAKS.”

 

Dumbledore stood there totally flummoxed at the tangent Vernon took misinterpreting his offer to help. The wild look in the man's eyes also did not sit well with the headmaster of Hogwarts.

 

“Oh, my. What has made you so deranged and mad, my boy?” he looked upon the muggle with pity. “I'm afraid I'll have to speed things along. I apologize in advance for any discomfort.”

 

Dumbledore pointed his wand at Vernon and easily slipped into his mind. The things that he found inside Vernon's mind were quite disconcerting. Once he came out with the overall scope of what transpired here he was left with another dilemma in hand.

 

‘What am I supposed to do? How do I make things right?’ Dumbledore wondered.

 

The answer remained elusive so he decided to pay a visit to Arbella Figg's home to get another perspective on the events that transpired.

 

AN:

 

https://discord.gg/GsKJMuHubc

Chapter 51: Summer vacation P2

“I've got to say that old coot is one darn persistent stick in the mud. He does not know the meaning of giving up.” said Harry, a glass of Firewhisky in his hand and a smoke in the other.

 

He took a small sip of the wizarding Britain's favourite beverage before taking a puff of smoke. The sun smothered them with warmth as Harry and Sirius relaxed on the long stretched-out sandy beaches of Cannes.

 

“That man does not also know the meaning of privacy.” Sirius muttered as he burnt the latest piece of letter from Dumbledore urging them to come back to Britain. “It is the fault of that stupid bird. Is there any ward that can ward off Phoenixes?”

 

“You are asking me?” Harry asked incredulously.

 

“Oh, right. Sometimes I forget you are a little kid.” said Sirius, snickering at the indignant face Harry made.

 

“Hey! I'm not a little kid.”

 

“Oh, yeah. Bagging one bird, and he thinks he is the man of the world.” Sirius scoffed, reaching out and messing his godson's hair, earning an indignant squawk of protest from the teen.

 

“Speaking of which, what's the deal with you, Fleur, and that Greengrass girl? You know you can’t lead them both along for a spin. Life doesn’t work that way.”

 

Harry raised a curious eyebrow, staring at his godfather.

 

“Speaking from experience?” Harry inquired.

 

“Speaking from a bad experience.” Sirius corrected, his eyes far away and shivering at the memory. “Now stop trying to shift the topic. So, Delecour or Greengrass. Pick one and drop the other gently. It'll save you and the girls a lot of headaches and heartache.”

 

“It’s not that simple.” Harry shook his head.

 

“Maybe not for you, but trust me, those girls will tear you a new one if you are planning to pull off this stunt. I hear Veelas have quite a temper, and they start scorching everything before them when they lose their grip on that temper.”

 

“Fleur won’t be annoyed. She already knows,” said Harry.

 

Sirius spat out the firewhisky he was drinking when he registered what his godson was saying.

 

“She knows about the Greengrass girl, and she’s okay with it?” Sirius asked incredulously.

 

“I wouldn’t say she’s okay with it, but she understands my position. I think she sort of sees this as a challenge. I suspect she thinks I’ll never choose any other girl over her.”

 

“Huh! Veela! I’ve got to find me one of those.” Sirius said dreamily.

 

Harry snickered, seeing the dreamy smile on Sirius’s face.

 

“Well, I think I should take a dip in the sea to cool off. You coming?” Sirius asked, his feet hitting the sands of the beach once more.

 

“No. Go and enjoy. I’ll just hang out here.” Harry said.

 

He watched from his reclining chair as Sirius ran for the sea and jumped in, all the while hollering like a loon along the way. Harry shook his head at the antics of Sirius but the man was right about one thing. Sooner or later, he’ll have to own up to the troubles that would undoubtedly accompany with regards to Fleur and Daphne.

 

‘I should not have asked Daphne out for the Yule Ball. Or maybe I should not have given her mixed signals at the Ball.’

 

As far as he could see, the Ball was the turning point when it came to his involvement with Daphne. Then again, he could have never predicted that he’d get in deep with Fleur after the second task. It was not as if he was planning every step. Some things just happen, and it is only in retrospection that you realise the mistakes that you made could have been easily avoidable.

 

There was no point in thinking about what could have been at the moment. He was essentially tied up with the situation he found himself in and the only silver lining so far had been Fleur keeping an extremely accommodating outlook. He was nonetheless worried about how long that would last. That was why he went through the trouble of sneaking into France using a freight train through the Channel tunnel. It was not the smoothest ride, but Sirius was quite the prodigy when it came to charms and transfiguration, which made the journey hassle-free. A few careful applications of Notice-me-not charms and apparitions later, they were safely inside French territory, away from some of those pesky butt buddies of Dumbledore. It was quite a smart plan, and Harry was quite happy that his idea to use the freight trains to transit through the English Channel worked like a charm.

 

The only hiccup in their plan was the blasted phoenix of Dumbledore. They didn’t consider the fact that phoenixes can travel great distances and Fawkes can somehow track Harry even across the international boundary. Thankfully, Fawkes had so far not attempted to kidnap him outright, and he doubted the phoenix could communicate his location to Dumbledore. He hoped that was not possible in both cases.

 

Harry closed his eyes and sank into his chair, basking in the sun. He certainly hoped Dumbledore and his stupid followers do not interrupt his vacation plans. The scent of the sea combined with the warm sun smothering him was enough to relax his muscles and make him temporarily forget his woes. He didn’t know how long he stayed that was but he was jolted awake when he felt there was a subtle shift in the wards. They were in a muggle area, and Sirius had put up some detection wards and muggle-repelling wards for some privacy and safety. Even if it was Sirius who put the wards in place, he could still feel the shift in the wards.

 

“’Arry!”

 

Harry looked up to see Fleur standing there, her silver-blonde hair dancing in the wind. The glare from the sun made her hair look like they were crafted in the crucibles of the stars.

 

‘It’s a dream.’ he thought.

 

Fleur shook her head, muttering about English wizards and their inability to take on a little sun. She walked around his chair and placed herself on his right side.

 

Harry blinked a few times as he adjusted to the sun and took in Fleur, dressed in a white flowery summer dress.

 

“Am I dreaming?” he whispered as he slowly sat up straight.

 

“You are not ‘Arry.” Fleur let out a tinkling laugh as she sat beside him while enveloping him in a hug.

 

Harry breathed in the scent of her hair, which sort of cleared up his head a little bit. Her smell had the effect of drinking tea as his mind got kick-started to work efficiently.

 

“You’re really here.” Harry whispered.

 

Fleur pulled back from the hug to smile at him in a way that made him grin like a loon.

 

“Of course, I am ‘Arry.”

 

“You look beautiful.” Harry breathed out the first thing that came to his mind.

 

He barely stifled a gasp as he felt Fleur’s soft hands pressing against his abdomen, her nails dragging over his skin making him relive the last time this sort of thing happened. He could feel her hands climb over his abs, and his chest until finally settle on the back of his neck. Soon he felt Fleur’s warm lips pressing against his own stealing away his breath away. His hands didn’t stay idle. He took hold of her hips, the white fabric of her dress being the only layer that shielded her skin from his touch.

 

The moment their lips parted for much-needed air Harry pulled Fleur into his lap while pressing a kiss against her neck. Harry flipped them over so that Fleur was lying on his beach chair on her back while slowly sliding over her. His hand which was on her hips slipped inside her skirt and steadily moved toward her inner thighs.

 

“This might sound weird coming from me but can you two behave until we have a roof over our heads?”

 

Harry stopped what he was doing and sat back as he looked at Sirius eying them with a smirk.

 

“You could not have just turned around and given us a few minutes now, could you?” Harry harrumphed.

 

“I don’t think you were going to be finished in a few minutes, Harry.” Sirius deadpanned.

 

“Mr Black.” Fleur adjusted her dress before hugging Sirius.

 

“You can call me Sirius.” he said while returning the hug.

 

“’zank you. You can call me Fleur. Come, my Papa and Maman are waiting for us.”

 

XXXXXXX

 

Voldemort was not having a good day, and the reasons were multifaceted. The reviving ritual was carefully designed not just to restore him to a physical form but also to achieve a physical form that allowed him to go beyond his original body. A wizard’s body has certain limits, and he had augmented his body by using a series of rituals, alchemy, and potions. However, there was an extent to which all those augments could take him.

 

The new body he had devised, taking the blood of his mortal enemy, the bones of his dead father and the flesh of his servant, should have been far more powerful. It should have allowed him to exert more of his dark magic and thereby grant him an overwhelming advantage over his chief adversary, Albus Dumbledore. But things were happening detrimental to his intent. He could feel the power he had so painstakingly amassed over the years diminishing day by day. Well, his magic was as strong as it possibly could, but his body, on the other hand, was getting weaker.

 

No matter how much he thought about it, he could not see where he had gone wrong with the ritual. Everything had gone smoothly as far as the potion that was prepared was concerned. The bones of his father and the blood of Potter were undoubtedly used without a doubt. He had revisited his memory, and he had clearly seen blood leaking from Potter’s hand. The only part that could have gone wrong was with Pettigrew.

 

‘Could that traitorous rat have botched up something?’

 

It was a question that’d remain unanswered as the fool had died in the graveyard. The Ministry had even released a formal list of all those who died at the graveyard, and he could no longer feel the traitorous rat through the Dark Mark.

 

There was, however, another possibility to consider. The mudblood mother of Harry Potter had given the boy protection using her death as a sacrifice. It was old magic binding through blood.

 

‘Did I underestimate the nature of protection? Could it be that the protective magic cast by Lily Potter is acting against the enemy of her son?’ Voldemort mused, eyeing his shaking hand speculatively.

 

If he looked carefully enough, he could see his veins starting to bulge in his hands, and they were slowly gaining a dark tint. Whatever magic that insufferable mudblood had gifted Harry Potter it was not circumvented as he had hoped. He did not even get a chance to test the protections in the graveyard because Potter had blasted him away before he could touch the boy.

 

‘Perhaps that was for the best.’ he thought grimly.

 

If he was right about Potter’s blood being the cause of his deterioration then touching the boy in the graveyard would have most likely ended up undoing him completely. It’d have been his shortest return to power, and he’d have been exactly where he was before Pettigrew found him, alone and as a powerless spirit.

 

'No matter how weak, I have a body of my own.' Voldemort thought.

 

He was in a bind, but Lord Voldemort was nothing but resourceful.

 

If one child’s blood was trying to bring him down, then he’d just have to counter that with the sacrifice of a thousand children and their blood.

 

“My lord.” Lucius walked forward and knelt before him.

 

“Lucius. Have you completed your task?” Voldemort asked silkily.

 

“My lord, I’ve tracked down Greyback as you ordered.”

 

“And?” he prodded, his grip on his yew wand tightened.

 

“I’ve relayed your orders, but…” Lucius trailed off, visibly gulping in fright.

 

“My patience wears thin, Lucius. Say what you have to say.” Voldemort ordered sharply, his magic rising to convey his displeasure.

 

“Forgive me, my lord. Greyback demands gold for his services. He says he’ll require gold to sway more of his kind for the work you have in mind.” Lucius hurriedly said, fearing the sting of the torture curse from his master.

 

“Hmm… I see.” Voldemort looked thoughtful for a moment before his red eyes bored into the kneeling figure of Lucius Malfoy.

 

“Those rabid creatures have no finesse. But I require finesse in this particular job. Arrange the gold Greyback requires Lucius.” Voldemort ordered. “Don’t forget to play your part, Lucius. I expect you’ll be instrumental in the Ministry.”

 

“As you will, my lord.”

 

A sinister smile blossomed on his lipless face as he imagined the chaos that’d be unleashed on the muggles and wizards alike. The werewolf packs shall make enough ruckus so that he can safely function in the shadows. It was time to seek out the Giants and the Dementors while also seeking out his precious Nagini. For some reason, she had eluded his attempts to track her. He assumed it had to do with the Aurors hanging around Little Hangleton.

 

‘Those fools won’t be hanging around that place for long.’ he thought amusedly.

 

XXXXXXXX

 

“Harry has changed so much this year in ways I never imagined.” said Dumbledore, looking sadly at his avian companion who refused to send another message from him beseeching Harry and Sirius to return from wherever they were staying.

 

He had tried bribing Fawkes with some of his favourite sweets but the phoenix won’t budge an inch. The sad fact was that he was nowhere near divining Harry’s location. He just knew Sirius and Harry were somewhere south, but that was an arbitrary position on a map.

 

“I told you the boy was getting insufferable and arrogant. You coddle him too much.” Snape said, a displeased frown marring his pale face. “No doubt it is the influence of that stupid mutt.”

 

“No. The fault lies with me. Sirius blames me for not trying to defend him while I’ve seemingly stood up for you after Voldemort’s fall. I think Harry is also of a similar opinion.”

 

Snape scoffed upon hearing that.

 

Dumbledore also shook his head at the fact that Sirius was behaving so short-sightedly at this juncture. Voldemort had risen from the dead, and instead of gathering together, his allies were busy nursing old grudges or behaving irresponsibly. He was more than aware Sirius had been the one playing Fudge like a fiddle for quite a while now. He just never imagined the last Black would use his influence in the Ministry against him for some petty revenge when the Dark Lord was on the loose. It made him worry how far Sirius would go to get revenge, especially when Harry’s safety was at stake. This recent stunt of Sirius spiriting away Harry from Kings Cross was another headache that will have serious consequences. The Dursleys were now in muggle custody, and he was hoping to discreetly get them out from muggle authorities with none the wiser.

 

However, all his attempts would be for nought if he can’t get Harry back to live with the Dursleys. The blood wards would come down if he was unable to get Harry in time.

 

He shook his head at what was at stake here.

 

“What can you tell me about Tom, Severus? Is he gathering his followers and allies?” Dumbledore asked, steepling his fingers and looking curiously at his sole spy among the Death eaters.

 

“He is very interested in having the werewolves joining his side at any cost. I know for a fact the Dark Lord barely blinked after Greyback asked for gold for his services. The Dark Lord I knew wouldn’t do that.” said Snape.

 

“You suspect something?” Dumbledore noted sharply.

 

“I suspect something went wrong with the Dark Lord’s resurrection,” Snape admitted, sitting up straight in his chair. “He has been experiencing spontaneous tremors in his limbs. The Dark Lord hides them well, but his line of questioning on some obscure potions and potion ingredients the other day made me take a closer look at some of my previous interactions with the man.”

 

“Hmm…that’s interesting. Could it be…?” he mused, thinking of the Diary that was destroyed in Harry’s second year at Hogwarts.

 

The loss of one Horcrux could have some adverse reactions on the main physical body. Although, that was pure speculation at this point. There had never been anyone in all of wizarding history who dared to create multiple Horcruxes. So, he was more than aware of the limits placed on any speculation when it came to Tom.

 

“Could it be what…?” Snape asked.

 

“Nothing. Just some speculation on my part. Have you managed to glean anything about how Tom assumed a physical form?” Dumbledore asked as that was something that truly bothered him.

 

“I’m afraid not, Albus. I’ve tried my best to appear as useful as I can to the Dark Lord but he is cautious. He is not willing to trust anyone at this point, especially if my suspicions about the Dark Lord’s condition are true. But I think I know who knows more on the subject of the Dark Lord’s resurrection.”

 

“You think Lucius knows?” Dumbledore asked, standing up from his seat and moving towards the cabinet that holds his pensive.

 

“Yes, but he is not the only one. I suspect Black and Potter know more than they pretend to.” said Snape, joining Dumbledore near the cabinet.

 

Dumbledore merely eyed the Potion master keenly before opening the cabinet. The silver light of the Pensive shined brightly before his eyes as he took out the pensive.

 

“Your memory, Severus. I’d like to see Lord Voldemort with my own eyes.”

 

“As you wish.” Snape shrugged, pulling the memory from his mind with the tip of his wand. “There is one other thing that I found curious. The Dark Lord’s familiar Nagini is nowhere to be found. It’s not much, but I thought you ought to know.”

 

“Interesting. Very interesting.” Dumbledore muttered before pouring the memory into the pensive and diving in.

 

XXXXXXXX

 

Harry drained the whole glass of wine in one go, earning a snicker from Fleur.

 

“I don’t think your father likes me, Fleur.” he whispered.

 

“I like you ‘Arry.”

 

A squeaky voice joined in, making him jump in his seat. His heart raced in fright but it turned out to be Fleur’s younger sister who was looking upon him with a star-struck look in her eyes.

 

“I appreciate that.” he said awkwardly, earning another snicker from Fleur, who was amused at his situation.

 

“You worry for nothing, ‘Arry. Papa thinks I ‘ave bewitched you with my charms.” said Fleur.

 

“Your English is getting better.” Harry noted.

 

“Mmm… I’ll be much better after this year.” she said happily.

 

Harry couldn’t also help but be happy. Fleur would be coming to London and working part-time at Gringotts and at the joke shop the Weasley twins were planning. He had floated the idea with Sirius, and he was quite happy to open the shop in partnership with the Weasley twins. Once they finish up here in France setting up the shop in Diagon Alley will be the first on the agenda. They’d have to finalise certain matters with the twins before that, but Sirius was more than happy to get involved hands-on with the joke shop. With the shop all but confirmed to go up once they lease the land and set up the shop along with filing some paperwork in the Ministry, he promised Fleur a job at this recent venture that should see her stay in London engaging.

 

“Although, I have to ask why you want to find a job in London when you have this…” Harry waved his arm at the large vineyard that stretched across for miles.

 

The Delacours were loaded with money, and he doubted they’d have to send out their eldest daughter to find a job when this big ass vineyard gave them quite a nice bit of profit. They were even supplying their less magical wine to muggle markets as well, which he assumed settled their accounts way above break-even point in a financial year.

 

“I’m not ready for ‘ze business. Papa and Maman look after ‘iit well. I need something more challenging.” said Fleur, draining the last drops of wine from her glass.

 

Harry shook his head at Fleur’s attitude.

 

“If I was in your place, I’d have taken the vineyard and settled here.”

 

“You are just saying ‘zat because of ‘ze sun.” Fleur laughed.

 

“Well, that also helps.” Harry nodded.

 

If he had a choice, he’d pick France over Britain any time of the day. He liked it here in France where the warm sunny beaches were aplenty and a wide variety of cuisine, as well as wine, can be found in abundance. It also helped that France does not have a genocidal maniac running around killing people who hate his guts. All in all, an ideal place to bunker down.

 

‘Even Sirius seems to be enjoying the place.’ he thought, eyeing the older man who was enthusiastically chatting away with one of Fleur’s distant cousins from her mother’s side.

 

“Say, Fleur, that all-translate charm you cast on Sirius, can it be used for reading and writing as well?” Harry asked, impressed by the ease by which Sirius was conversing so easily with Fleur’s folks.

 

“No. It’ll only help with reading and speaking so long as there are people nearby that know the language or even a source like a dictionary or even a book.”

 

“Oh.” He was still impressed by the spell nonetheless. “Can you teach me?”

 

Fleur smiled and pressed a kiss on his lips.

 

“I can teach you many things, mon amour.” Fleur whispered suggestively into his ear while playfully nibbling at his ear, stirring him.

 

Harry looked suggestively at her, and Fleur nodded before leading him away into her room while the small party in the Delacour manor went about without a hitch.

 

Chapter 52: Parties and werewolves P1

One thing Harry realized after spending so much time with Fleur was that the French witch had a habit of planning things out in advance. Harry liked to think he was also like that but Fleur took planning to a whole new level. That’s why he was not surprised by how prepared Fleur was to move to Britain for her new job. However, he was quite surprised to learn Fleur had been preparing for this shift for a long time. She had been preparing to move to Britain long before she even came to Hogwarts for the Triwizard tournament.

 

So, his assumption that Fleur moved to Britain for his sake was way off its mark.

 

Now, wasn't that a blow to his ego?

 

He glanced at Fleur’s bare back, partially covered by a white sheet up to her waist. He was in bed with Fleur in her apartment, in muggle London, no less. He had offered Fleur a room in Grimmauld Place but she had rejected him flat out without even giving it much thought. He knew she was fiery and free-spirited in bed but it was the first time he was seeing that behaviour manifesting outside the privacy of their bedroom activities.

 

Picking up his glasses from the bedside table, he looked at the time. It was 8:30 in the morning, and he was supposed to return to Grimmauld Place by 9:00. Letting out a sigh, he reached across the bed and pressed his lips against Fleur’s navel, earning a soft purr from the French witch. He smiled against her skin and trailed a flurry of kisses along her smooth skin up to her neck. He breathed in the rosy smell of her silver-blonde hair, which made him nuzzle against her all the more snuggly.

 

XXXXXX Lemon Start XXXXXXX

 

“Mmm… ‘Arry.” Fleur moaned as she woke up, thanks to his wandering hands lighting a fire on her skin wherever they went.

 

Fleur suddenly turned in his arms, looking up at him, her blue eyes wide open.

 

‘A pair of Sapphires.’ Harry thought, losing himself in her blue eyes.

 

They looked at each other for a moment before leaping at each other at the same time. Fleur’s soft, ruby lips crashed into his own in a wonderful chorus. He could feel a frenzy being built up inside him as Fleur’s long fingers combed through the back of his neck. After what felt like an eternity, they pulled apart, looking deep into each other’s eyes. Harry reached out once more and stole a peck on her lips, making Fleur laugh.

 

“I’ve to go.” Harry whispered after Fleur pecked him on his lips, her eyes alight with mischief and lust.

 

“Mmhmm.” Fleur moaned before rolling them over so that she was atop him.

 

The white sheet that was barely covering Fleur’s nubile body pooled around her thighs, leaving Harry to enjoy the vision of beauty sitting on him without any pesky impediments. His hands that were holding onto her thighs climbed up and cupped her pair of breasts in his hands. He knew how sensitive these pair of globes were, so he was not at all surprised when Fleur let out a long moan, arching her back.

 

What he didn’t expect, however, was for Fleur’s velvety snatch to engulf his cock in its warmth.

 

Harry hissed in pleasure as Fleur’s warm core surrounded his length all the way to the base. His hands squeezed her pair of globes roughly in response, earning a long, drawn-out moan from the French witch.

 

“Oh, ‘Arry!” Fleur purred as she rode him up and down on his cock at a rhythm she set for herself.

 

Harry was not willing to concede that easily, even though he laid back for a little bit and watched Fleur ride him.

 

“Merde!” Fleur screamed in pleasure as Harry decided to meet her thrust with his own.

 

His fingers took hold of Fleur’s pink nipples and proceeded to rub them together. Fleur squealed and mewled as Harry began thrusting into her wet snatch from below with much more vigour, hitting several spots that she didn’t even know were there inside her, waiting to be claimed and explored.

 

He growled seeing the wild look in Fleur’s eyes and her dishevelled hair that was pooling around her upper body. He picked up his pace, increasing the intensity of thrusts into her core,

 

Fleur was almost purring as pleasure overwhelmed almost all her senses. Throwing her head back, she began gyrating her hips, taking the full length of Harry’s cock for a wild ride.

 

“Oh, Fleur. I’m cumming!” Harry warned, but the warning didn’t move her.

 

Instead, Fleur pressed her palms against Harry’s chest, keeping him pinned down in the bed. She could feel she was sweating and was slowly getting out of breath, but she pushed on.

 

Harry groaned loudly as his hips rose in a final thrust driving his cock deep inside before climaxing inside her velvety snatch.

 

Fleur threw her head back as her own climax exploded around her, joining Harry only a few seconds later. Her walls clamped around Harry’s length, holding his length inside her as their bodies spasmed in the aftershocks of their respective orgasm. In the throes of her orgasm, the strength in her arms gave out, making her fall into Harry’s chest.

 

Harry quickly flipped them over so that he was on top this time. The moment Fleur’s head hit the pillow, she squealed as Harry took her left breast into his mouth. He took her nipple into his mouth, playing it between his teeth, making Fleur arch her back. She took hold of his neck with her right arm and pressed him tightly against her breasts.

 

After repeating the same ministrations on her right breast, Harry locked lips with Fleur, forcing her to swallow a moan of pleasure.

 

When they separated, they were both gasping for air and sweating profusely. For a moment, they remained in the bed, eyeing each other up.

 

“I shouldn’t have finished ins…”

 

“Don’t worry. It’s safe.” Fleur said, cutting off Harry.

 

“Oh, okay.” Harry mumbled, relieved that he was not going to endure more drama in his life if Fleur ended up being pregnant.

 

Fleur’s shoulders shook with laughter before she captured his lips in another searing kiss.

 

XXXXXXXX Lemon Ends XXXXXXXX

 

It was much later than they both preferred when they finally left the bedroom. Fleur rushed to get ready for her part-time job at Gringotts while Harry cleaned himself up to make his return to Grimmauld Place in time.

 

“‘Arry, make sure Brigitte returns to France.” Fleur called out to him from the shower.

 

Harry paused while tying up his shoelaces for a second before it clicked in his mind. Fleur’s cousin Brigette wound up travelling with them from France, all thanks to Sirius. Well, more like she travelled with Sirius and Harry as Fleur took a legal international portkey out of France. It was not like he could join Fleur as he was not legally inside the country. International portkeys tend to be monitored closely as magical nations are very keen on knowing who goes in and out of their borders.

 

That’s why Harry and Sirius took the freight train through the English Channel to cross into France. It was a smooth ride and less risky than taking a flight to France. There were no pesky security cameras, at least not to the extent of an international airport. The train ride to France was quite smooth, but the return journey was not so smooth for Harry. Mostly because Brigitte Leroy, Fleur’s excitable cousin who was a full-blooded Veela, took a shine to Sirius’s dark charms and decided to accompany them on their journey back to Britain. The mere fact that Sirius had him travel in a separate compartment keyed in Harry what those two were doing on their ride to Britain.

 

“I’ll try.” he yelled back before calling for Dobby and teleporting away from Fleur’s apartment.

 

Harry could feel the wards simmering as they accommodated his presence.

 

“Thanks, Dobby.”

 

“Dobby is happy to help Harry Potter sir.” Dobby happily crowed.

 

“Has there been any trouble with the snake in the Chamber?” Harry asked absently as he found the Black manor eerily silent.

 

“Oh no, sir. The bad snakey is sleeping away as Harry Potter sir ordered.”

 

Harry smiled amusedly at Dobby’s colourful language, but he appreciated the effort Dobby was putting into the matter.

 

“Tell me, Dobby. Are you confident that you can look after matters in the Chamber on your own? I mean, do you require Winky’s help in the Chamber? Because you see, I’ve another job coming up for Winky, and I wanted to check with you first.”

 

Dobby bounced on his heels for a moment before looking thoughtful.

 

“Dobby bes' a good elf Harry Potter sir. Dobby can look after sir’s mean snakey and the Chamber.” said Dobby.

 

“Okay, Dobby. I believe you.” Harry patted his elvish friend on the shoulder while thinking of sending Winky over to help with Fleur.

 

From Christmas Eve, Dobby and Winky were engaged in a job of sorts that was intended to destroy the Dursleys’ ‘perfect’ life. Dobby would mess with their food by adding substances that’d leave Vernon quite busy in the bathroom. Winky would mess with their car every day by making sure the vehicle did not move an inch from the garage. In a short period of time, Vernon lost his job and the Dursleys were without a stable income. Then he left an anonymous note on the nearby police station in the guise of a concerned neighbour about the ‘abusive and sexually deviant’ Vernon Dursley. He also implied that Vernon may have killed off his wife’s poor orphaned nephew. When the cops launched a small enquiry, they must have inevitably come across the recent hospital records and the ‘injuries’ the Dursleys suffered thanks to his prank.

 

The rest could not have happened any better as the forensic team the cops sent into the Dursley home recovered his DNA samples from the cupboard under the stairs. That was the nail in the coffin for Vernon and Petunia as they could not explain the signs of Harry’s extended stay in the cupboard nor could they exactly say where he was. Their usual story of Harry being sent to a school for special delinquents didn’t hold for long before the incisive interrogation from the cops. Before they could so much as squeak, the Dursleys were taken into custody and charged with several crimes that should keep them away for quite some time. Seeing as he was not going to return to Surrey anytime soon, he was sure more severe charges would be heaped on the Dursleys, and that’d be the end of the story. Even Dumbledore, with all his resourcefulness, would be hard-pressed to facilitate the release of Dursleys from the muggle authorities.

 

With the Dursleys out of the picture, Winky and Dobby have had less work and elves without work are more trouble than Harry imagined. The few days he stayed at Grimmauld Place were spent breaking fights that broke out between Winky, Dobby and Kreacher. Their competing nature to garner more praise for a job well done was a disaster waiting to happen. So, having Winky help out Fleur in her apartment was a temporary solution to the current ‘labour upsurge’.

 

There was another more permanent solution, but that required some work from his side, and he needed Sirius’ aid before opening that particular can of worms in the Ministry.

 

“Where is Sirius?” he asked, looking around the house but finding it deserted.

 

“The blood-traitor master is in his room with his guest.” said Kreacher, who was suddenly standing behind Harry looking at him with his old grey eyes.

 

Harry nearly jumped in surprise at Kreacher’s sudden appearance.

 

“You like sneaking upon people, don’t you, Kreacher?”

 

“Kreacher does not know what young master says.” Kreacher mumbled, moving towards the dining table, pretending to polish the silverware.

 

“Kreacher, be a bad elf, Harry Potter, sir. Dobby saw Kreacher take away master Black’s magic from the mean portrait.” Dobby ratted Kreacher out, pointing one long grey finger at the old elf accusingly.

 

Harry rolled his eyes as Kreacher began extolling the virtues of Lady Black, and Dobby began countering them, which led to a full-blown argument between the two.

 

‘I definitely need to find some heavy work for the elves, or I’ll go mad.’

 

XXXXXXXXX

 

Percy Weasley was quite a happy man. The last few months after Sirius Black’s trial were dark days for him. Mr Crouch was on the run, and the whole Department of International Magical Co-operation was under the shadow of its absconding head. The days that followed were quite difficult for him, and the Department as Minister Fudge had unleashed a full investigation into the workings of the Department. As the personal assistant of Mr Crouch, he suffered the most in the inquiry. But he cooperated to the fullest capacity, and he even managed to assist the Commission Minister Fudge in setting up the departmental inquiry.

 

He must have really impressed many people because not only was he kept in the Department, he was even given a raise and a promotion to boot, which landed him in the office of the Minister of Magic. A few days ago, he was worried about being fired from the Ministry, and now he was working directly for the Minister of Magic! It was surely an unprecedented jump as far as his career was concerned, and he was quite happy about it. That was why he was in the Burrow with his family, joining in for a family dinner. And it seems he was not the only one with some good news to share.

 

“Oh, it’s wonderful, Bill dear. You finally managed to get transferred to London.” Molly Weasley hugged Bill and pressed a kiss on his head. “Now, if only Charlie could find a job in Britain, I’ll happily praise Merlin all day.”

 

‘Yeah, that’s not happening.’ Percy thought as he exchanged a look with his older brother discreetly.

 

Charlie was the most free-spirited among the Weasleys. There was no way Charlie was going to come back when his older brother was having an enjoyable time abroad away from their overbearing mother.

 

“Congratulations Bill.” Percy nodded respectfully to his older brother. “I know how badly you wanted to return. I’m happy for you.”

 

“Thanks, Perce.” Bill smiled.

 

Out of all his siblings, Percy found Bill the most tolerable. Maybe it was because Bill was the most serious about his career and hard-working to the bone.

 

“I also have some good news to share.” he said excitedly, giddy that he was going to share this wonderful news with his family. He’d have preferred Charlie present when he breaks the news but a letter should suffice.

 

“Oh, no. Don’t tell me the Ministry finally decided to fix the cauldron bottom thickness to five inches.” George mocked.

 

Percy frowned at the twins as they snickered and behaved like the hooligans they were. It has always been this way and he doubted these two were ever going to stop behaving with some responsibility anytime soon. His eyes strayed to Ron, who was joining in on mocking him, which made him frown a little more intensely. At least, Ginny was behaving far more composed and she was the youngest!

 

“George!” Molly warned, quieting down the twins and Ron with a sharp look.

 

“Go on, Percy dear. Tell us the good news.” Molly smiled encouragingly at him.

 

“Well, you know things have not been better at the Ministry thanks to the whole business with Crouch and his son…” started Percy, his parents nodding in understanding. “The whole department was under inspection, and I thought I’d be… you know, let off for being too close to Mr Crouch. But I got a letter yesterday inviting me to the Minister’s office, and he personally handed me a promotion and a new job in his office!”

 

Percy could see the absolute befuddlement on the faces of his parents. He became all the more giddier at seeing that.

 

“You are looking at the new Junior Assistant of the Minister of Magic himself.” Percy said proudly, grinning from ear to ear.

 

“Percy, that’s wonderful. You did well.” Bill reached out and patted him on the back proudly, making Percy sit straight with his shoulders back, basking in the praise.

 

“Well done, Percy.” Ginny smiled at him.

 

The Twins gave him a thumbs up, and Ron just waved at him indifferently. But the reaction that he expected from his parents didn’t come. Instead, his parents were looking rather concerned.

 

“Father?” he asked, confused by their eerie silence and concerned looks.

 

“Percy, there have been certain developments concerning Headmaster Dumbledore and Minister Fudge. Dumbledore is convinced that You-Know-Who is back, and the Ministry is trying its best to cover it up.”

 

“Mother… What are you saying?” Percy frowned.

 

“I think what your mother is saying is that the Minister knows our family is close to Dumbledore and is perhaps planning to use you…”

 

“You think I’m a spy!” Percy thundered, standing up from the dinner table. “You think that’s why I got the job, not because I have the ability to do the job!”

 

“Percy dear, Arthur didn’t mean it like that.” Molly tried to placate him, but Percy shook her hands away.

 

“Then what exactly did he mean by that?” Percy screamed at his father with anger boiling in his mind.

 

“Percy, just think about it. The Ministry has been trying to isolate Dumbledore for spreading the word about You-Know-Who before it’s too late. Minister Fudge has been looking to discredit the Headmaster, and he might be seeing you as a means to that end.” said Arthur.

 

At that moment, Percy felt shame and anger. Shame because of how low expectations his father had for him. Anger because of seeing the blind piousness his parents were showing the Headmaster.

 

‘Does he think that I can’t get a job on my merits alone?’ Percy thought.

 

“You two fools are believing the lies that old man is spouting without caring what it is doing to the public? Have you all forgotten what happened two years back when Ginny was taken into the Chamber of Secrets? Where was your precious Headmaster then?”

 

“Percy, that’s enough.” Arthur butted in sharply, standing up from his seat.

 

“I don’t think so, father. That man was lying then, and it took only an untrained second year to save my sister from whatever was down there. And we were all supposed to pretend nothing ever happened because that’s what the Headmaster wanted. And you, father, bent over backwards for that twinkly-eyed bastard son of a…”

 

“Percy! Get out!” Arthur shouted, his face red with rage.

 

Percy reeled in his anger and looked coolly at his family one last time.

 

“Gladly.”

 

“No, wait Percy. Your father doesn’t mean that.” Molly pleaded, her eyes watering at the edges before turning on Arthur. “Tell him you do not mean that, Arthur.”

 

“Time will show that I’m right and prove that Albus Dumbledore is nothing but a disease to our society. Goodbye, mother. I wish you all the best of luck. You are all going to need it if you are following that delusional old man.” Percy spoke up before his father could make up some empty platitudes, thanks to his mother.

 

He turned on his heel and apparated on the spot. As the twisting motion set in, he could hear his mother’s pleading voice, but he didn’t care. All he wanted was some respect and for his family to acknowledge his abilities. If they were unwilling to see his worth, then he had a girl waiting in London who appreciated him.

 

‘I’m coming Penny.’ Percy thought as he apparated away from the Burrow.

 

XXXXXXXX

 

Damien stood by in silence as Lady Lilith patiently listened to the report Lucius was delivering. The Dark Lord was acting brazenly if the man was truly leading by using werewolves as his muscle. But it was so unlike the Dark Lord to behave this way. Even at the height of his power, the Dark Lord never unleashed his werewolf allies on the magical populace indiscriminately. There was always a purpose to the attack from the Dark Lord. This recent plan of unleashing a bunch of rabid werewolves on Godric’s Hollow during a full moon didn’t make much sense.

 

‘What am I missing here?’ he pondered in the safety of his mind.

 

Damien looked suspiciously at Lucius. For a moment, he suspected the man was lying but then he remembered the Unbreakable Vow and the oath the man took. Magic would strike down Lucius if the man was misleading Lilith.

 

“You may leave Lucius.” Lilith ordered.

 

Damien watched dispassionately as Lucius bowed low before taking his leave. The man was living on borrowed time. One small mistake and Lucius could die a painful death either at the hands of the Dark Lord or thanks to the penalty of breaking a vow on magic.

 

“What do you make of this, my dear?” Lilith asked, turning to his wife Evelyn, who was standing beside the armchair.

 

“A distraction?” Evelyn said, looking unsure of herself.

 

“What do you make of it, Damien?” Lilith asked, turning her green eyes on him and looking searchingly.

 

“I do not know. If it is a distraction then I don’t see why the Dark Lord would choose werewolves of all creatures. The Ministry seems hell-bent on denying Dumbledore’s warnings. Why would the Dark Lord stir up the pot with werewolves that’d only strengthen the veracity of Dumbledore’s warnings?” Damien mused aloud.

 

“Why indeed?” Lilith trailed off thoughtfully. “Make sure Harry Potter reaches your home without fail for the party.”

 

“Of course, my lady.”

 

Chapter 53: Werewolves and parties P2

Harry found it strange and perhaps a bit disrespectful to stand before the graves of Lily and James Potter. Here he was standing before the graves of two parents stealing their son’s body for whom they gave their lives to protect. But no amount of sacrifice and love protected their son from the harsh world that he was born into. He hoped the real Harry was somewhere safe, or maybe the kid was dead. He didn’t know, but he cared enough to ask for forgiveness from the kid’s parents even though he was not at fault.

 

“Though it’s not my fault, I apologise for what happened to your son. I pray that he is safe and in peace.” Harry whispered a prayer, closing his eyes while kneeling before the graves of the two Potters.

 

He was not exactly a religious person by any stretch, and he doubted the dead truly cared for what happens in the present. But he prayed for his peace of mind. When he opened his eyes, he felt some relief from the guilt churning in his mind.

 

“The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” Harry traced his eyes over the finely engraved script on the headstone.

 

The script could be seen even this late in the evening.

 

“Unfortunately, the game is rigged in favour of death, so we always lose.” Harry shook his head, climbing to his feet.

 

He laid a bouquet of fresh white lilies on the grave.

 

“Rest well.” Harry bowed his head as a show of respect to the brave couple who gave their lives to protect their son before taking his leave.

 

Harry walked out of the cemetery of Godric’s Hollow with a lighter heart. Truly, there was nothing he could do for the dead couple other than pray for their son and their souls. The only thing that could come close as a favour to the Potters was keeping their family name and legacy strong. He supposed keeping Sirius out of trouble might also be considered a favour to the Potters. He had been doing all that he possibly could to keep the Potter name in high esteem and nudging Sirius to a more stable life. Even this recent trip to France was a part of that agenda, and it seems to have worked wonders on the last Black.

 

Harry was quite relieved. Sirius seemed to love spending time with Brigitte. At first, he thought the two were just playing around and limiting their activities to just shagging. So, he was quite surprised when Brigitte returned to London the legal way using an international portkey from the French Ministry. Between the new joke shop and a full-time girlfriend, Sirius was a busy man these days, and most importantly, the guy was now more emotionally stable. Harry was confident that in a few more years, Sirius might just recover from the baggage he was suffering because of Azkaban.

 

Harry gave one last look at the cemetery where many Potters were laid to rest before moving along.

 

He moved towards the village square where the Memorial statue stands proudly. It was a statue depicting the Potter family. For a moment, he wondered why the memorial was out in the open where even a muggle could come across it. Not that he thought the memorial statue would somehow reveal the wizarding world, but you can never be cautious enough.

 

‘Maybe the muggles don’t think much of a statue in the square.’ he thought, keeping his monkey cap firmly on his head covering the scar.

 

Snuggling into his coat as a cold gale passed him by, Harry made his way toward the former home of the Potters. He passed by many small cottages where a lot of vegetation could be seen. He was not sure whether these families were magical or muggle, but most of the lot looked like small-scale farmers. He earned some curious stares as he walked the streets towards the place where Voldemort fell, and the story of the Boy Who Lived truly began. This time, he could feel a sliver of magic as he neared the former hiding place of Potters.

 

“Hmm… A muggle repelling ward.” Harry hummed as he divined the intention of the magic woven around the broken home.

 

The former home of the Potters was a mess. It was half burnt, with most of the windows remaining shattered. The front door was blown off its hinges, and the nearby walls were littered with holes. The gate was the only thing that looked relatively untouched by the tragedy that unfolded in this small cottage. He could even see most parts of the roof were also blown away, leaving the cottage open to the elements.

 

‘They have not even used magic to preserve the structure.’ He thought, noting the wooden parts of the small cottage were rotting away. He suspected the Ministry left it untouched since the night the Fidelius charm was broken. The hedges around the cottage had grown wild, and he could see some creepers taking refuge inside the cottage.

 

“This place is a total wreck.” Harry muttered, feeling a pinch of gripe seeing the sorry state of the former home of the Potters.

 

‘Just one more thing that can be laid at the feet of Dumbledore. The man could have at least had the decency of taking the original Harry to his parents’ grave before Hogwarts.’

 

Walking forward, he reached out and touched the gate to the cottage. A wooden board suddenly sprang up with bright golden letters written on it in an elegant script.

 

‘On the night of 31st October 1988, James and Lily Potter lost their lives. Their son, Harry Potter, remains the sole survivor of the tragedy that took place, miraculously surviving the Killing Curse. This house remains a monument to the Potters and a reminder of the violence that rendered their family asunder.’

 

More and more letters of well wishes and graffiti were left behind by many witches and wizards beneath the board. There were even quite a few short messages and poems wishing Harry well, and by the looks of it, many of them were pretty recent. For a moment, he was assaulted by the images of a burning house and the screams of a woman combined with cruel laughter. He was pulled back from that vision when someone came to a stop behind him.

 

“You came at last, eh.”

 

Harry frowned at the voice of an old woman greeting him. Palming his wand discreetly, he turned around to greet the woman. His assumption was not wrong as he took in the old wrinkly face and grey eyes of an old woman.

 

“I saw you at their graves. No one has visited them in all these years. So, when a young man just suddenly visits their resting place and leaves some lilies for them, I knew it must be you, Harry.” said the old woman, reaching out with her wrinkly palm and touching his cheek fondly.

 

“Who’re you?” Harry asked, taking the old woman’s hand gently in his.

 

“Me? My name is Bathilda. I suppose you may not remember, but you visited me with sweet Lily when you were a babe. How kind she was, your mother. Always cheered this old woman up, and she brought you along, which always lightened my heart. The poor dear.”

 

A stray tear fell from her grey eyes, which Bathilda wiped away with the back of her sleeve.

 

Harry’s eyes widened, and he gasped as he connected the dots. “You’re Bathilda Bagshot, the author of A History of Magic.”

 

“You look so much like your father, but I see you’ve inherited more of your mother. Yes, I’m that Bathilda Bagshot.” she nodded, a fond grin on her lips. “Come. Have a cup of tea with this old lady. I’d love to host Lily’s son in my home once more.”

 

Harry was not supposed to stay this late, but he accepted the invitation nonetheless. This was Bathilda Bagshot, for crying out loud. If there was someone who could bring down Dumbledore’s castle of cards, then it was this woman. He had all but forgotten about this treasure trove of scandal while planning out Dumbledore’s fall from grace. While he was not stupid enough to use this old woman’s knowledge about Dumbledore’s dark secrets at a time like this, he got the feeling that it’d come in handy in the distant future.

 

Bathilda’s home was a small little cottage just across the street from the old Potter’s home. That explains why the old woman was familiar with the Potters. Harry helped the old woman inside by holding out the door.

 

“Thank you, dear. Come, make yourself at home.” Bathilda invited him in.

 

Harry got a distinct impression that the old woman was all alone. The house was not as well kept as it should be. He could see many of the portraits, furniture, and collectables gathering dust inside the home. He followed the old woman to the kitchen and helped her set the kettle. He did so despite her protest.

 

“Sit down now.” Bathilda pushed him into a couch while she straightened her back against a cushy chair with a hot cup of tea in her hand.

 

Harry took a sip from his cup and felt the warm liquid flow down through his system. He hummed appreciatively as he could feel a surge of energy within him.

 

“These tea leaves are good, ma’am.” Harry raised his cup towards her.

 

“It is, isn’t it? It’s a special blend. I have the owl address somewhere around here if you like it so much. You can have them delivered once a week or a month.”

 

“Thanks. I’d appreciate that.” Harry nodded, taking another appreciative sip of the warm liquid. It was fairly good tea.

 

“Tell me, young man.” Bathilda scrunched her eyebrows together as a serious look overcame her placid features. “Why did it take so long for you to pay your respects to Lily and James?”

 

“I didn’t even know they were buried here. Dumbledore had me imprisoned at my aunt’s home. They are muggles that hate anything related to magic. I was only able to come here because Sirius is free from Azkaban, and I’ve so far avoided Dumbledore’s claws.”

 

“That vile cretin! Even now, he sows loss and despair wherever he goes. Do not trust Albus Dumbledore, no matter how dire the situation gets. My nephew made that mistake, and he suffered greatly, the poor boy.” said Bathilda, pointing one of her bony fingers at a small photo of a young wizard on her wall.

 

“Is he all right? Your nephew.” Harry latched on to the subject.

 

“Oh, poor Gellert was a good boy, but everyone hates him now. He was a gifted young wizard, you see. But he fell into the wrong crowd, and now he is in prison.” said Bathilda, looking up at the photo with a faraway look.

 

“Oh,” Harry said, tearing his eyes away from the young photo of Geller Grindelwald. “Is he in Azkaban?”

 

“Oh, good Merlin, no. If he was, this old bird could not have survived at the thought of the torture poor Gellert would have endured.” said Bathilda, holding her heart with a shivering hand. “Gellert is in Nurmengard.”

 

‘Yeah, definitely Gellert Grindelwald.’ Harry thought.

 

“Are you saying Albus Dumbledore is the reason your nephew is in prison, ma’am?”

 

“Yes! That vile boy and his delusions of grandeur twisted my sweet Gellert. Now Gellert wastes away in prison while that vile creature remains free. After everything I did for his family, this is how he repays me. Ungrateful hacks.” Bathild muttered under her breath.

 

“If you don’t mind, can you tell me more about Dumbledore and his crimes?” Harry asked tentatively.

 

“Ha! Where do I even begin…”

 

Harry listened pertinently as Bathilda Bagshot regaled him with tale after tale of Dumbledore’s exploits in his youth. There was a goldmine of information that had the potential to ruin Dumbledore’s reputation so long as the timing was perfect. All he had to do was stick Rita Skeeter on Bathilda Bagshot or he could just give Skeeter the memory. For now, he’d be holding on to this particular arrow in his quiver until the right moment to nail Dumbledore’s political influence on a cross.

 

Towards the end of Bathilda’s long tale about the Dumbledore family, he begins hearing screams of terror coming from outside the cottage.

 

“Is that normal?” Harry asked, jabbing his thumb toward the door.

 

He only got a confused look from Bathilda. “Do people often drunkenly scream and make a ruckus in the streets?”

 

“No. Why? Is someone screaming, my dear?” Bathilda asked, looking aghast.

 

Harry blinked a few times before realising Bathilda might not be having the same range of hearing he was enjoying.

 

“Wait here, ma’am.” Harry said, moving closer to the window, and he peeked outside.

 

It was quite dark outside, but he activated the Horus glasses, which gave him a near-perfect vision. He saw a man running down the street as if his life was on the line. Suddenly, a nearby tree shook, making Harry zero in on the movement. A horrendous creature jumped down from the tree, pinning the man down with its hind legs. As the claws of the creature dug into the flesh of the man, a painful scream tore through the night sky.

 

“Werewolves.” Harry realised.

 

More screams tore through the streets as he saw more werewolves joining in terrorising and mowing down people like wheat in a field.

 

“Ma’am, you should call the aurors.” Harry said, and not a moment later, he heard sounds coming from the roof.

 

His wand was already in his hand and stood at the ready at a moment’s notice. He thought about moving out of the cottage and helping the people on the street, but he dismissed that thought right away. There was a full moon in the sky. Even if he was extremely confident in his skills, he was not going to brazenly walk into the middle of a frenzied pack of werewolves without a plan and backup. So, he kept his wand at the ready and moved closer toward Bathilda as she ignited the fires in her fireplace and tried to connect with the Floo network.

 

“Something is blocking the Floo network.” Bathilda panicked, trying to connect to the Auror’s office or any other addresses.

 

“Wards.” Harry hissed.

 

At that moment, the roof of the cottage caved in, and a full-grown werewolf came crashing down. Harry reacted fast with a knockback jinx to create some room between them and the werewolf.

 

“Depulso.”

 

Thankfully, his aim was true, and the jinx properly bound against the brown skin of the creature, knocking it away. That seems to have enraged the creature as it let out a howl before breaking into a sprint toward Harry and Bathilda. Harry was a little surprised by the speed, and he was quite limited in reacting properly against the creature as he had Bathilda to protect as well.

 

“Indomitus.”

 

A sphere of magical energy surrounded him and Bathilda just as the werewolf jumped on them, only to get blown back by the shield.

 

“Aterro.”

 

A metal spike shot out of the tip of Harry’s wand, punching into what he hoped were the lungs of the Werewolf. The creature howled in pain as blood pooled on the floor. It began to heave and growl as it desperately tried to escape, but the creature was getting tired and weak. The stunning spell was just at the tip of his wand when he heard more cries of pain and desperate calls for help coming from the street.

 

‘Stunners are for peacetime.’ Harry thought, dismissing the stunning spell.

 

“Sectumsempra.”

 

He slashed his wand as if it was a sword. Fresh red blood spurted in gallons out of the deep gash that cut across the werewolf’s neck. The creature let out a howl of pain before falling silent as its head was barely hanging by a thread on its shoulders.

 

“Oh, my. Oh, Merlin.” Bathilda gasped, holding on to her heart.

 

Harry rushed to her side and helped her into a nearby couch.

 

“Lie down, ma’am. You are just a little bit shocked.”

 

“My head. It’s spinning.” She whimpered.

 

“It’s just blood pressure. Keep your back straight and close your eyes as you lie down. Everything will be all right.” Harry consoled her even as he could hear the desperate cries for help from the streets.

 

Looking out of the window, he could even see a house burning a few blocks away.

 

Harry shook his head and instead called for Dobby.

 

‘Public safety was the duty of Aurors. I’m only responsible for my safety.’

 

XXXXXXXX

 

“It seems congratulations are in order. I’m told from a very reliable source that you might just get an Order of Merlin first class.” said Damien, smiling toward Harry’s way, which he reciprocated.

 

“It’s well deserving. You kept your wits amidst the rampage of those filthy creatures and even managed to put down one of those rabid dogs. Most full-grown wizards could not make such a claim. You should be proud.” said Evelyn Greengrass, an impressed look on her face.

 

“I don’t think it is a good idea to inflate Harry’s ego anymore mother. He might just go back to behaving like an airheaded Gryffindor.” said Daphne.

 

“You won’t waste a moment to score a goal at Gryffindor’s expense, do you? How positively Slytherin of you.” Harry grouched.

 

“Thank you. I’ll take that as a compliment.” Daphne grinned.

 

“Well, a toast is in order. To Harry Potter, the youngest Triwizard Champion, slayer of Werewolves.” said Damien, raising his glass, which was reciprocated by the small number of gathered guests in the Greengrass manor.

 

Harry waved and smiled appreciatively. He was also careful to mingle with the guests on an individual basis. Many of the gathered guests were Wizengamot members and their votes were valuable in securing Sirius’ freedom. There was Bertie Higgs and his son Terence Higgs whom Harry was quite familiar. The Higgs were no noble house, but they might as well be considered one because they were filthy rich, and they even owned Puddlemere United. He was quite surprised to come across the former Seeker of the Slytherin house.

 

“I lament at the fact that Slytherin has lost out on quality players because of Malfoy. You were a tougher opponent, Terence, and you played the game fair and square.”

 

“Thanks.” Terence Higgs smiled at the praise. “I hear you are doing quite well as a Seeker. Any plans to go professional?”

 

Not that the guy needed one. Higgs was now a Seeker in the reserve squad of Puddlemere United. Harry gave it three to five years tops before Higgs got a spot in the playing squad of the club.

 

“Ah, no. I play fine at Hogwarts, but I don’t have the temperament for going professional.”

 

Harry spent some time with his old rival seeker and Bertie Higgs, who was a Quidditch enthusiast, before extracting himself. Next, he met with Tiberius McLaggen, who was a Wizengamot member and an influential one at that. The man had a gaggle of supporters inside the governing body of the ministry and in many departments if Damien Greengrass was to be believed. He saw out of the corner of his eyes that Sirius was in his element entertaining a group of ladies, even with Brigitte hanging loosely by his side.

 

After a round of engaging in small talk with the guests ranging from topics of the rising prices of quills to the need for more stringent legislation against the werewolf population in the country, Harry was mentally exhausted.

 

“You look like you are about to faint.” Daphne said, taking his arm in her own.

 

“It’s that obvious, huh?” Harry mumbled.

 

“No, not at all. You are doing a fine job at masking it, but I can see you are at the breaking point from your eyes.” said Daphne.

 

“Mm-hm. I’ll have to work on that, I suppose.” Harry said, smirking at Daphne, but they were interrupted by Damien.

 

“Harry, I’d like to introduce you to someone. She’s someone very influential, and she helped us a lot with Sirius.” Said Damien, leading away Harry from Daphne to one of the balconies.

 

He saw a woman with a flowing red mane standing alone on the balcony, showing him her back.

 

“Go, she’s waiting for you.” Damien whispered before pulling back.

 

“Come, Mr Potter. I’ve been waiting for this meeting since the day Lily told me of her pregnancy.” said the woman, her voice flowing like a gentle stream with almost a soothing effect.

 

But Harry was quick to sense an undercurrent of magic that was in the works.

 

‘Some kind of mind magic similar to the allure of a Veela.’ Harry thought in surprise, immediately reinforcing his Occlumency shields.

 

“Whomever you are you can stop doing that magic trick.”

 

“Hmm. So, you do have some mental fortitude. That’s very impressive for your age. But then again, you are your mother’s son.” The woman turned around, facing Harry with glowing green eyes that were very familiar. “Which makes me wonder why you used those muggle weapons on those useless inbred cretins.”

 

Harry was shocked at the implications.

 

“Oh, yes. I know what you did to those Death Eaters. A word of advice: always ensure you kill your enemy, and the next time, don’t depend on such crude weapons.”

 

“Who…who’re you?” Harry looked upon the woman warily.

 

“Me? I’m the reason you survived the killing curse. I’m the reason that you exist. My name is Perenelle Flamel. Some call me Lilith. But you, Harry, you can call me grandmother.”

 

Chapter 54: Bloodlines

Harry stared incredulously at the woman claiming to be his grandmother.

 

“You are my grandmother?” he asked slowly, his disbelief glaringly obvious on his face and tone.

 

“Yes. That’s what I said.” the red-haired woman looked at him with a quirk on her lips.

 

“Who’re you?”

 

The woman let out a snort as she flipped her red hair behind her shoulders snottily.

 

“Please don't behave like a mentally challenged idiot in my presence, Harry. It’s very difficult for me to see someone carrying my blood act like a buffoon.” the red-haired woman said, stepping closer to Harry. "As for who I am? I already told you. I’m Perenelle Flamel, your grandmother.”

 

“Perenelle Flamel is dead, and you are not related to me. My grandmother was...”

 

“I’m sure you have all kinds of notions that you and your mother are born from some unamusing muggles. But the truth is you carry my blood in your veins, Harry. The only way to prove my claim is through a blood test. So...”

 

Perenelle sliced open her palm and let a few drops of blood into a glass vial.

 

"Here. Take it.” she held out the vial.

 

Harry looked at the vial dubiously before taking the offered vial of blood into his custody.

 

"But... you can’t be my grandmother.” Harry insisted. "If you somehow were my grandmother, where were you all these years?”

 

“Oh, is that it? You’re going to play the lonely orphan card, aren't you? I thought you were better than this boy. Was I wrong?” Perenelle scoffed, looking disinterestedly at Harry. "If you should know, I offered your mother the means to save herself and her family. She rejected me, her own mother, out of some idealistic nonsense.”

 

Seeing the confused look on Harry’s face, Perenelle explained further.

 

“Your mother wanted to ‘take a stand’ rather than taking her rightful place by my side. She chose to trust in her friends and Dumbledore. You see, Harry, your mother was what most people would term as someone with a ‘good heart’. But here is the thing most people don’t tell you about these good-hearted people.” Perenelle leaned down, looking into Harry’s eyes while placing her hand on his shoulder. “Good-hearted people seldom live their lives to the fullest. Your mother chose the path of Dumbledore, and therefore, you were also put on the same path. When you decided to break away from that path, I helped you by pushing Damien and my allies to your side. So, a thank you would be nice.”

 

Harry stared at the woman, confusedly at the woman struggling to comprehend all that he heard and learned from this short conversation.

 

“But Dumbledore said the Flamels were dead.”

 

“Ah, yes." Perenelle scoffed sardonically. "Let me guess. That buffoon used that little incident with the stone as an excuse to extoll the virtues of smiling happily and embracing death.”

 

Harry nodded numbly.

 

“Ha! Why am I not surprised?" Perenelle cackled amusedly. "Ideologues are so dumb and easy to predict. Let me ask you something, Harry. Who do you think is more susceptible to being tricked? An old buffoon who cannot even properly finish a war despite his vast magical power or an immortal who has lived in this world for centuries triumphing over many dark lords, idiot wizards and greedy muggles.”

 

“You tricked Dumbledore.” Harry said, eyeing the woman warily.

 

“Guilty as charged.” Perenelle let out a laugh.

 

“But…but why? If you were my grandmother, why didn’t you raise my mother? Why did you abandon her with some muggles?” Harry asked.

 

“I didn’t abandon her with just some random muggle family. I left her with her father’s family.”

 

Harry was so confused right now.

 

“You left her with the family of Nicholas Flamel?” he asked confusedly.

 

“No, dummy. I left your mother in the custody of her father. Your grandfather Harry is Jonathan Evans, and he brought up your mother in the Evans household.”

 

“I’m so confused.” Harry muttered.

 

“One day, I’ll explain everything to you in detail when you've earned my trust. In the meantime, I extend to you the same offer that I offered your mother. Join me. Stand by my side, and I’ll lend you my power, knowledge and resources to destroy your enemies.”

 

Harry looked searchingly at Perenelle’s green eyes.

 

“You’ll help me deal with Voldemort and his Death Eaters?” he asked.

 

“Yes, and any other enemy that stands in your way.”

 

“What do you want in return?” Harry frowned.

 

“The same that I offer you, Harry. To stand by me when I need you. To use your power, knowledge and resources when I call on you.” Perenelle smiled, patting him on the shoulder before leading him away from the balcony and towards the ballroom. “But you don’t have to decide immediately. Think through my offer for however long you want. We’ll talk again soon. But till then, keep my identity to yourself. Now, go and enjoy the party. I’m sure young Daphne is most eager to get you back.”

 

Harry forced a smile as Daphne came towards him, looping her hands into his.

 

“Where did my father take you?”

 

“I was just talking to…” Harry trailed off as he couldn’t find Perenelle behind him or anywhere nearby, for that matter.

 

“What?” Daphne asked, her blue eyes boring into his own questioningly.

 

“Never mind. You up for a dance?” he quirked an eyebrow as a new song was being played by the band.

 

“Thought you’d never ask.” said Daphne, dragging him off to the dance floor.

 

XXXXXXXXX

 

“Did my mother speak anything about her parents with you Sirius?” Harry asked, poking his fork at the vegetable salad Kreacher prepared for them.

 

“Ah, I’m afraid not. The only time I saw Lily’s parents was during her wedding and your aunt’s wedding. All I know about them are their names, Jonathan and Emma Evans.” said Sirius, making a face as Kreacher dumped more veggies into his plate.

 

Harry rolled his eyes at Sirius’ compulsive need for meat. His godfather had been gobbling up beef and chicken like an addict, especially after the French cuisine at the Delacour manor doing a number on Sirius’ taste buds. Not that it seems to have dissuaded the guy from acting like a lovesick puppy around Brigitte.

 

“I’m sorry I can’t be of much help with Lily’s parents, Harry. You see, Lily always kept stuff like that away from the rest of us except for James. She couldn’t be blamed, though. There was a war going on, and the Death Eaters were targeting muggleborns and their families. I know Lily’s parents moved out of their home for a time at some point, but other than that, I know almost nothing. I was busy with Auror duty and the war. Lily and James later went into hiding after you were born, so…”

 

“I understand.” Harry nodded, a little disappointed at learning nothing useful.

 

“You know, your aunt knows more about them. Maybe she’ll speak up if we ask nicely enough.” Sirius suggested.

 

“Not bloody likely. She’ll likely try her best to murder me rather than share stories of the family if I show up before her.” Harry scoffed.

 

“What made you suddenly interested in Lily’s parents?”

 

“Nothing. I was just curious, that’s all.” Harry shrugged.

 

Harry looked thoughtfully into his plate contemplating the merits of sharing what happened at the Greengrass manor. But he held off the urge as he was stepping into unknown territory. The Flamels were a powerful couple, as evidenced by their more than seven-century-long survival in this world. He felt like he had to be extra cautious when it came to the Alchemist couple. He also found it interesting that Perenelle Flamel only claimed he was related to her but not to her husband. He had gone over the conversation again and again in his head last night and nowhere did she say he was the grandson of Nicholas Flamel. The fact that Perenelle Flamel also said she left Lily Evans in the care of her father which most assuredly meant the muggle father of Lily Evans rather than Nicholas Flamel.

 

So, a question emerged in his mind.

 

Why?

 

Why did Perenelle Flamel choose to have a child with a no-name muggle like Jonathan Evans? Was there a rift between the two immortal alchemists, or was there something more going on that he was missing?

 

‘I suppose I first have to see whether Perenelle Flamel was speaking the truth.’ Harry thought.

 

“Oh, I almost forgot. Remus is coming over to have a talk with us.” Sirius said out of the blue, making Harry blink a few times.

 

“On Dumbledore’s orders?” he raised an eyebrow.

 

“Possibly.” Sirius nodded.

 

“Hmm. Might be interesting to learn what he has to say.” Harry muttered before focusing on the food.

 

“So… you are okay with Remus coming over?” Sirius asked tentatively.

 

“Sure. So long as he minds his business and stays in his lane rather than suddenly finding an ounce of concern about how I choose to live my life after fourteen years of complete apathy. Then yeah. I’m okay with his visit.” said Harry, taking to his feet. “I’ll be going to Diagon Alley. I need to buy some stuff.”

 

“Wait, Harry. The werewolves just launched attacks all over the country. I don’t think it is a good idea for you to go out in the open. Send Dobby.”

 

Harry didn’t like that one bit.

 

“You can still go visit Fleur, but no public areas where you are exposed too much. That’s the only deal you are going to get kid.’ Sirius said, wagging his fork at Harry.

 

“Fine.” Harry sighed. “But you are going to start training me for Animagus transformation.”

 

“Okay, kid. If you think you can keep up with the training, then yeah. I’ll start it today.” said Sirius, only to explode on Kreacher, who chose that moment to dump more vegetable salad into Sirius’ plate sneakily.

 

XXXXXX

 

Harry looked at the innocent-looking sheet of parchment with a critical eye.

 

‘It does not look like much.’ he thought, prodding the parchment with the tip of his wand. There was a faint magical presence in the parchment, but other than that, he didn’t get much from the parchment.

 

“Thanks, Dobby. You did well.” Harry patted his elvish friend’s head, who grinned before popping away.

 

The Family Tree finder kit Dobby bought from Diagon Alley was not exactly a professional kit that can trace generations of family members. But for Harry’s use, it suited him just fine. The parchment could only trace his father’s side of the family, but since he has Perenelle’s blood, he was hoping the parchment could trace his mother’s side of the family as well.

 

“Okay. Here it goes.” Harry muttered.

 

He pricked his thumb and smeared the drop of blood on the top of the parchment. Then he picked up the glass vial containing Perenelle’s blood and poured it at the bottom of the parchment as suggested by the instructions in the kit. Black lines began to appear with his name at the top.

 

First, the names of his father and mother began to appear. There were no hidden surprises there as the names clearly mentioned his mother’s maiden name as Evans. Then the names of his grandparents on his father’s side began to appear. There were no nasty surprises there as well as the names of Fleamont, and Euphemia Potter was clearly written. However, he found it interesting to note that his grandmother’s maiden name was Rowle.

 

‘Rowle, huh? That’s interesting. I’ll have to ask Sirius about them.’ Harry thought.

 

For a minute, the parchment remained unresponsive, stopping at the name of his grandparents. Then, slowly, a black line began to trace out from the name of Lily Potter nee Evans. The first name that came out at the end of the line gave him a nasty shock. Instead of Jonathan Evans, the name that was written on the parchment was Jon Gaunt.

 

“Okay. Now that’s not going to be peachy.” he muttered, his eyes zeroing in on the name Gaunt.

 

The Gaunt family’s name finding itself in his bloodline was rather shocking. Oh, he was not surprised he was in some way related to the Gaunts, as old Pureblood families have intermarried for generations. So, he was totally expecting to be related to Voldemort in some form. But he never expected that particular blood relation to be so close to home.

 

Before getting transmigrated into the wizarding world, he was a fan of Harry Potter books. As a fan, he had certain theories of his own when it came to the popular characters and events in the Harry Potter lore. So, one of his leading theories about Harry’s ability to communicate with snakes was not just based on the Horcrux but rather because of the Slytherin blood in his veins. The reason he believed that theory was that the Horcrux never took over Harry despite being a baby. So, whatever protection Lily Potter’s sacrifice gave to Harry was powerful enough to ward off Voldemort’s soul from influencing or crushing Harry’s psyche. If the protection was strong enough to keep the soul shard at bay, then it should not have given Harry any powers that were not already accessible to Harry.

 

It was not a perfect theory, but he thought it was something that could not be easily written off, especially considering Harry was a descendant of Ignotus Peverell. There was no reason to write off that the descendants of Cadmus Peverell, which was the Gaunts, intermarried with their sister branch, namely the Potters, thereby giving Slytherin blood to the Potters. Or the ability of Parseltongue was kept a secret by the Potters not to get associated with dark magic and attract more attention when they were already keeping one of the famed artefacts of the Peverell brothers in their custody. His theory, however, only makes more sense when the reaction to the Sorting hat in Harry's first year is also taken into consideration.

 

Anyway, it seems he was nearly correct. Harry did get Slytherin blood, but not from the Potters but from his mother’s side.

 

Harry’s attention was brought back to the parchment as another name joined beneath his mother’s name.

 

Perenelle Cealliagh, the black ink formed itself near the name of his grandfather.

 

“Perenelle Cealliagh. So, that’s your true name.” Harry muttered, noticing the distinct Gaelic touch in the name.

 

Harry jerked his head as the glass vial containing Perenelle Flamel’s blood suddenly let out a hiss before breaking down into a pile of sand. The blood in the vial disappeared into thin air, leaving no trace. Even the blood on the parchment began to disappear as did the names that were displayed on the parchment.

 

“Okay. So, I’m an immortal alchemist’s grandson. How about that!”

 

XXXXXXX

 

Voldemort kept an ear out as Lucius narrated the recruitment drives and the effects of the werewolf raids that happened across the country. His eyes, however, trailed towards his budding new supporters from the pureblood families. There was Corban Yaxley’s son, Robert Yaxley, standing silently to the side of the room. The man was one of his less prominent Death Eaters, one of the unmarked ones he was forced to elevate thanks to the death of Corban Yaxley. The skills of the father never touched upon the son in this particular case. Corban Yaxley was an exceptional spy in the ministry and someone he was hoping to make good use of to sow chaos and disinformation after his restoration. Sadly, that plan went up in smoke, all thanks to Potter.

 

The other gaggle of Death Eaters that were gathered in the room were not worthy of much importance like Throffin Rowle, Martin Freidman and many others. Most of them were his unmarked followers, and the years after his fall had certainly not made these good-for-nothing wizards worthy of his mark. But in his present situation, he was forced to depend on these buffoons until he could break his elite troops from Azkaban prison. However, he was pleasantly surprised to learn that Evan Rosier was still alive and remained uncaptured.

 

‘That was to be expected though.’ Voldemort thought.

 

He had managed to fake Evan’s death to send his trusted Death Eater abroad to recruit and spread the word about his good deeds. That was just one of the missions Evan Rosier was sent off. The main mission, however, remained between the two of them. Looking back, he found that particular mission to be useless and a waste of time. That was why he had called upon Evan once again. Evan had delivered many of his useful recruits, including Barty Crouch Jr. Having the man by his side would undoubtedly bolster his troops.

 

His attention went back to Lucius’ report as the man finally came around to the Ministry.

 

“The attacks by the werewolves have emboldened the factions in Wizengamot to push for more stringent actions against the werewolf population. The DMLE has taken the brunt of the blame for not keeping the werewolf population under surveillance. For now, the Ministry is not associating the werewolf attacks with our Lord’s rise, but Dumbledore’s supporters are trying their best to frame the attacks that way.”

 

“Are they successful, Lucius?” Voldemort silkily asked.

 

"My...my lord?” Lucius stuttered.

 

“Are Dumbledore’s supporters managing to convince the Wizengamot to connect the attack with my rise?” Voldemort asked, his red eyes burning into Lucius’ own great eyes.

 

“Of course not, my lord. The Undersecretary of Fudge is a woman passionate about eradicating werewolves and other creatures from our society. She has been instrumental in shifting the narrative to favour our side. The Ministry firmly believes the werewolves are acting of their own accord.” Lucius reported, a trickle of sweat snaking down from his brow as he faced the intense scrutiny of the Dark Lord.

 

“Good work, Lucius. I expect the narrative continues to remain favourable to our cause.”

 

“Yes, my lord.” Lucius nodded.

 

“Good. Now, tell me more about what our auror friends in the DMLE are up to with the investigation of the graveyard.” Voldemort asked.

 

“My contacts in the DMLE suggest they are dropping the whole investigation for the time being. They collected several pieces of evidence and secured them in the department. But other than that, the investigation does not seem to make any gains. Fudge is also content to let things be by blaming it all on Crouch and Pettigrew.”

 

“I see.” Voldemort looked coldly at Lucius, making the elder Malfoy gulp.

 

“You are dismissed, Lucius.” Voldemort coldly said before retiring to his personal chambers in the dungeons.

 

He strode confidently into the prison, his black robes billowing behind him. His red eyes fell on the innumerable children he had spirited away from several muggle orphanages across the countryside while the aurors were too busy dealing with a werewolf outbreak. The children inside the prison flinched as they saw him and backed away from the iron bars in fright.

 

‘Like a pack of rabbits seeing a wolf.’ he thought amusedly.

 

With a flick of his wand, the iron bars came loose, and he magically pulled a screaming child into his hand. A quick stunner made the child fall silent. Waving his wand, the iron bars came crashing down, making the remaining children in the prison cry for help in fright.

 

‘A sacrifice in blood and soul.’ he thought, eyeing the unconscious child floating before him.

 

“Soon, I’ll get rid of Lily Potter’s corrosive magic with the sacrifice of a hundred souls and their lifeblood. Even protections of old magic will not hold power over the dark magic that I'll unleash.” Voldemort muttered, laughing coldly.

 

His laughter echoed through the dungeon as he made his way towards the ritual chamber.

Chapter 55: Regrets and a badge (Warning: Lemon scene)

Harry kept an eye out on the closed door where Remus and Sirius were discussing what Remus claimed was ‘too dangerous for young ears’ as if that meant something to him. He was more than aware that Remus was here at Dumbledore’s bidding. At least he could understand why Remus Lupin blindly followed Dumbledore more than other grown adults of the fabled Order of Phoenix. The werewolf population of the wizarding world had always faced far greater discrimination than even muggleborns. He could guess the kind of discrimination Remus must have endured in early childhood. At that time, Dumbledore must have come across as a saviour, like a speck of light in the dark world for a young boy.

 

Harry would even go far as to say Dumbledore most likely was genuine in his intentions when he allowed Remus to study at Hogwarts. He’d give that to the old man. However, that doesn’t mean Dumbledore wasn’t above cashing in on his good deeds of the past in the present.

 

On the other hand, he thought he was a hypocrite for judging Dumbledore. He was also using several people to meet his needs. Not to the same level as Dumbledore, but given more time, he’d catch up.

 

Harry shook his head and went back to reading the book on becoming an animagi. Sirius kept his word by giving him the relevant study materials for his animagus training. The Black family library was a gold mine when it came to magical knowledge. The library remains a repository of arcane magical knowledge and he had been abusing the hell out of it. The ancient scrolls and makeshift books in Slytherin’s chamber were also pure gold, but most of the stuff in there was either too complicated or written in a long-dead language. Not to mention, most of those spells were outdated and, therefore, too complex. The Founders’ era was so long back that magic was not as developed as the present day. Most wizards and witches back then struggled even to control the elements, and wands were not as common at that time. Therefore, a whole lot of spells were designed for a staff user. So far, Harry had kept his focus on the material left by Tom Riddle, which was not much.

 

Anyway, he doubted the Chamber of Secrets holds anything on animagus transformations. According to the books and scrolls Sirius gave him, the origin of animagus was far away from the European continent. There were two recognised sources of animagi magic. One was from Africa, and the other from South America, modern-day Uganda and Brazil, to be exact. The books spoke of an ancient tribe called Vanar in Africa, where their wizards and witches, from a young age, learned to transform into beasts and function as the protectors of their tribe. Sadly, the information on the South American origin was not mentioned in detail. There were some wild conjectures, but other than that, there was not much information.

 

Exactly how the magic of the Vanar tribe became popular in Europe was not mentioned in the book, but it became clear to Harry that wizards across the world practised the image techniques developed by the African tribe. Even now, Africa holds the largest number of animagi in the world. Sirius claimed children start their journey to become animagus as early as they start their formal magical education in Africa.

 

‘Perhaps, the South American method is far more difficult and went out of practice.’ Harry theorised.

 

Not that Harry had any notion that becoming an animagus was an easy process. Sticking a mandrake leaf in the mouth was only just one part of a long process. The ingredients required to make the potion were frankly way out of his league. There were just so many hurdles involved to perfect the potion but he was determined to see it through. One thing was for sure. His Hogwarts days were going to be rather difficult because of the perilous journey that was before him to become an animagus by the end of the year.

 

“Are they planning on coming out anytime soon?” Brigitte asked, plopping down on a plush chair wearing a yellow floral summer dress.

 

If it wasn’t for the warming charms that were ubiquitous in Grimmauld place, Brigitte would have most likely been shivering like a leaf. The weather had been on a rollercoaster ride with long hours of rain and cloudy skies. It was a wonder how someone like Brigitte could spend her time here when she could be enjoying the warm sun of France.

 

He’d have chosen France in a heartbeat.

 

“They are old friends. I suppose they’ve got a bromance going on the sidelines.” Harry said, marvelling at the fact that the all-translate charm Fleur taught him was one extremely useful spell.

 

He was having a full conversation with Brigitte without any linguistic impediments whatsoever. She’d hear everything he said in French, while he’d hear everything she said in English. Whoever constructed this spell should be given an Order of Merlin.

 

“Bromance?” Brigitte looked at him and then at the closed door with a look of trepidation.

 

It was then Harry realised that Brigitte might not be familiar with that particular term. It was the 1990s, and he doubted anyone was going around mentioning the word in the open. Not to mention, the word must have had another meaning in French, and that was when he realised a flaw in the all-speak spell.

 

‘I certainly didn’t know the tone or the vocabulary used when the language gets translated.’

 

Shaking that particular thought away, he consoled Brigitte and assured her nothing was going on between Sirius and Remus other than brotherly love.

 

Thankfully, that seemed to calm her down and soon after, Remus and Sirius emerged from their secret meeting. The pained look on Remus’ face spoke volumes about how their talk went through. Harry felt a bit sorry for Remus.

 

“That’s a familiar book.” Remus said tiredly, falling onto a couch facing Harry.

 

“Hmm… You remember it then Moony.” Sirius smirked.

 

“How could I forget?” Remus looked at the book in nostalgia.

 

A silent look passed between Sirius and Remus before Sirius let out a sigh.

 

“Brigitte, let’s go look for that straw hat you said you liked in Diagon Alley.” said Sirius.

 

“In this weather?” Brigitte asked incredulously, looking at Sirius as if he had gone mad.

 

“Oh, come on. It’ll be fun.” Sirius insisted.

 

“All right. While we are on the way, I’d like to know more about this ‘bromance’ you are having.” said Brigitte, once she was nearly out of the door thanks to Sirius dragging her outside.

 

Harry snickered as he heard the indignant growl from Sirius and the threats his godfather issued.

 

“Do I need to know what that’s about?” Remus asked bemused.

 

“Just a little bit of fun.” Harry shrugged.

 

“How’re you, Harry?”

 

He could see the struggle Remus was in and took pity on the man.

 

“I’m quite fine.” Harry answered, shaking his head. Closing his book, he gave Remus his undivided attention. “You don’t need to beat around the bush. You can speak candidly. You’re here with Dumbledore’s bidding.”

 

“Harry, you’re mistaken about Dumbledore. He does not intend anything bad to happen to you or Sirius.”

 

“I don’t blame you for believing that with all your heart. I won’t even disparage the trust you have in the Headmaster. But keep in mind, Remus, the trust and gratitude that you feel towards Dumbledore is born out of your personal experience. In that same vein, what I feel regarding Dumbledore is born out of my experience.”

 

“Harry, Dumbledore is a good man. He…”

 

“Has he confined you to a home filled with abusive muggles since you were one year old? Did he look on with complete apathy as you were treated like a slave without even knowing your name for well over five years? Did he confine you to a home where you are starved out most of your days while forced to cook meals, clean the gardens, wipe the floors, and wash clothes while getting beaten up for so much as looking in the wrong direction? Did he leave you at a house where its inhabitants call you freak?” Harry asked, his face a mask of cold indifference as the memories of those events resurfaced.

 

The memories that lay asleep within the bell bottom of his mind were suddenly resurfacing. He had pushed all of that down for a simple reason. He didn’t want to murder Petunia and Vernon Dursley not out of any familial love but fearing the attention their deaths would bring upon his head. Else he’d have quite easily killed those two wastes of space a long time ago. It was his charity that the Dursleys were breathing and he hoped never to see those two ever again for their sakes.

 

“Harry… I… What?” Remus sputtered.

 

“Let me tell you something, Remus. Between Voldemort and Dumbledore, I consider Dumbledore my most hated enemy. It’s because I know I’d have suffered a painless death at Voldemort's hand when I was a baby. But Dumbledore had me tortured by those monsters for thirteen years. I’d have rather died than suffer the Dursleys.” said Harry, taking to his feet and staring down at a shocked Remus.

 

“You’re wasting time if you are working as an emissary of that old coot. And Remus, the Dumbledore you know, is not the Dumbledore I know. Lines will be drawn in this war, and make no mistake, Remus, there is a line between me and all my enemies. When the war begins, I hope you have the presence of mind to stay on the right side of the line. Because I’ll show no mercy to those who stand on the other side of the line, whomever they are or whatever reason they have.”

 

XXXXXXX

 

Dumbledore stared unseeingly into the night sky that was reflected on the ceiling of the Great Hall. Sometimes, he wondered whether it was a curse to have been born with magical power as he was. It had only brought him grief and tragedy throughout life.

 

‘No.’ he admonished himself. ‘Thinking that way leads to nowhere.’

 

He had to believe all the grief, loss, and pain he had suffered was for something. That there was a purpose to all that was his life. That his father was put in Azkaban and the death of Arianne was a lesson for him from fate or destiny that the great power that was bestowed on him has a purpose for the greater good. His power was not for his betterment or his family’s or even just for the wizarding world. He was blessed with this great power for the benefit of the whole world, both muggle and magical. But he had once again naively assumed he was destined to unite their two worlds, and that’s where he failed with Tom Riddle.

 

He could see it clearly now. Tom, a descendant of Salazar Slytherin and of muggle descent, was meant to unite them all. Young Tom was blessed with great power and charisma. Destiny had led him right to Tom’s doorstep, and he showed the boy only suspicion and disrespect. If he had taken it upon himself to guide young Tom and took the boy under his tutelage the world that was would’ve been different.

 

He could only regret his actions and curse his hubris.

 

‘Hubris. My fatal flaw.’ Dumbledore thought painfully.

 

When his father died in Azkaban, he went out into the world to redeem the family name and honour. He thought that was his destiny, seeing as he was blessed with great magic. For a time, he thought his father went to Azkaban because the man was not strong enough to stand against the might of his fellow wizards. Since then, he had toiled with his magic, learning everything like a hungry beast with no limits or concerns. For the sake of power and power alone, he learned, never realising the true gift of magical education was not power but rather grace. He thought falsely that might make him right. It took him the loss of Arianne to see what he had done to those whom he loved. He saw the pain he so callously inflicted on those he thought he was protecting with his great power.

 

To this day, not a night goes by when he does not see the eyes of his dearly departed sister. Her cold, lifeless eyes always looked at him every night, bereft of love and life, all because he was such a fool. His sweet Arianne, whom he so loved and hoped to cure what she had lost to those who abused her, died because of him. Even today, after all these years, he never revisited that memory to see whether it was by his hand she departed from this world. His vision turned foggy all of a sudden. With a start, he realised tears were flowing from his eyes.

 

‘No river of tears will bring her back or absolve me of my sin.’ Dumbledore thought with heart-wrenching pain while the image of his long-lost sibling vividly emerged in his mind.

 

All the sacrifices and pain had to have been for something. He had led Tom astray, and now he feared that he was leading Harry astray. If even Remus had spurred him after talking with Harry, then he knew he needed to do some serious introspection.

 

‘Have I gone blind once more? Have I made the same mistakes I made with Tom?’ Dumbledore thought worriedly.

 

Looking back at his actions he was reconsidering the merits of leaving Harry with his muggle relatives. He had put the safety offered by the blood wards he erected over the concerns raised by Minerva and Arabella Figg. He knew Harry was treated as an unwanted child in the Dursley household. Arabella had told him as much but he had always assumed Petunia would see Harry as one of her own eventually. After all, he had also been led astray, forgetting his family in his quest for power, but later realised the error of his ways. He had wanted the same chance for Petunia to see her sister’s son as her own and treat Harry better in their home.

 

‘But now I see how foolish I was to think so.’

 

Dumbledore wiped away his tears and took a deep breath. There was no point in wallowing in the mistakes of the past. No amount of regret on his side could restore Harry’s happiness. As powerful as he was, he could not turn back time and change the past. However, he took a vow that he’d be better when it came to Harry. He’d apologise and prove he could be dependable in front of Harry.

 

‘This academic year I’ll make things right.’ Dumbledore thought, feeling a sliver of warmth and confidence return to his heart. ‘I promise you, James and Lily. I’ll not let your sacrifice be in vain. I’ll not let your son fall into the dark like Tom.’

 

XXXXXXXX

 

“You know you’ve been staring at that thing for too long, don’t you, Harry?” Fleur purred into his ears, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

 

“Yeah, I know.” he muttered, looking at the silver badge sitting on the bedside that arrived with his Hogwarts letter informing him of the books and other utensils required for his fifth year.

 

He was quite surprised that he was chosen as a fifth-year prefect. That was so out of character for Dumbledore to give him any sense of power or control over his life both outside and inside Hogwarts.

 

‘Something has changed.’ Harry frowned. ‘Is this some kind of test from the old man?’

 

He couldn’t help but wonder what sort of Ponzi scheme Dumbledore was planning right now. By the looks of it, the Ministry officials have been running around like headless chickens after the werewolf attacks across many parts of the wizarding world and muggle world. From what he has gathered so far from Sirius, who later filled him in on everything Remus said, the Ministry was covering up the true extent of the attacks from the werewolves. This has done a lot of harm to Fudge rather than keeping his ministry afloat. His own hardcore supporters were fracturing and demanding a far harsher werewolf legislation bill passed in the Wizengamot.

 

Whatever Voldemort thought he was achieving with these senseless attacks, it seems to have taken the heat off of Dumbledore. According to Remus, more and more people were trusting Dumbledore as they saw and felt there was something seriously amiss. Even at the height of Voldemort’s power, Greyback has not dealt the kind of damage he has left on the wizarding world. So, people are convinced either the Ministry was doing a poor job, or Dumbledore was not as crazy as the Ministry was trying to paint.

 

“If you are going to stare vacantly, then I’m going.” Fleur huffed, trying to slip out of his bed.

 

Harry caught her by her waist and pulled her into the bed with him, making her squeal. The silky sheet that was covering her nude body slipped, and he immediately pressed himself against her, capturing her ruby lips in a searing kiss. Their tongues battled in a frenzy, and Fleur was not willing to concede the bout. He broke it off and took some much-needed air, conceding the battle.

 

Fleur looked at him with a foxy grin, knowing that she won that round.

 

XXXX Warning: A small Lemon scene XXXX

 

Harry smirked and dived straight for her breasts, taking her nipple into his mouth and making her let out a long moan. Harry loved hearing the sounds she made when he paid proper attention to her breasts. He knew it turned her wild whenever he went for her breasts. He could feel her toes curling on the bed as he lapped up at her breasts, sucking and biting around her areola. He could feel Fleur shiver in delight whenever he switched one breast to another and whenever he took more liberties with certain nips at the edges of her teats.

 

Not wanting to come off as a one-trick pony, he moved up, kissing and licking his way over her cleavage into her neck. When he kissed her pulse point, Fleur let out a laugh that made him smirk against her skin. He couldn’t wait anymore, so he pulled her up with him and made her sit on his lap with her legs wrapped around him and her arms wrapped around his shoulder.

 

“Do it, HARRY!” Fleur ended up screaming his name as he plunged inside her warm core.

 

He was shivering in excitement as Fleur began to set her own pace as she rode him without any prompting. He grabbed her ass cheeks for further leverage as she speared herself on his length.

 

“Oh, Harry!” Fleur moaned, her silver hair turning wild as it danced enticingly behind her with each thrust she made.

 

She dragged him down with her into the bed, and Harry allowed her. They made sweet love for the rest of the night, wasting not a moment knowing that his time with her was running short.

 

 

Chapter 56: Blood of House Peverell

“Don’t you have anything else to do other than play bodyguard with me?” Harry asked tiredly feeling the shadow of a familiar woman falling on him once again.

 

“What? You don’t like me hanging around you anymore?” Nymphadora, or Nym as he calls her for his own safety, asked him while he was combing through the shelves of Flourish and Blotts for some interesting books on Charms.

 

“Oh, I do. You’re quite the fun character to be around, Nym. But you seem to have no idea about something called personal space.”

 

“Whatever do you mean, Harry?” Nym asked, batting her eyelashes innocently at him while looping her arm into his.

 

“Exactly.” Harry grumbled as she made sure he could not slip away from her again.

 

“Sorry, Harry. This is not the time for the rebellious teenager in you to emerge. You know how precarious the situation is. So, don’t act like a baby.” said Nym flicking his nose.

 

“Ow! Stop abusing me Nym.”

 

“Then behave you, little troublemaker. You gave me the slip in the robe store.”

 

“That’s not my fault. You were taking ages in there fussing over robes and jackets.” Harry complained, only to get flicked on the nose again.

 

“Ow!”

 

Harry blinked owlishly while rubbing his sore nose as he came face to face with a book with a peculiar title that read Charms: The Quizzer to Test Yourself.

 

“Huh. Interesting.” Harry muttered, looking at the description of the book written inside. The book was interactive, offering several quiz sessions along with a wide repository of spells in the Charms frontier. “Yep, I’ll take that.”

 

He took the book into a collecting basket along with all the interesting books he found along with fifth-year prescribed books.

 

“Runes, Arithmancy and Charms. I thought you’d be hunting for books on curses and hexes. Just one look at the collected books in that basket paints you as a nerd.” Nym commented from nearby, looking into his basket while leaning against a shelf.

 

“I’ve got more than enough books on DADA. Besides, you never know when runes and wards can come in handy.” Harry said, moving to the counter with all the books he had collected.

 

“Yep. Definitely a nerd. How in the name of Merlin did you end up in Gryffindor?” Nym asked incredulously.

 

“I’m brave and heroic. What more do you need to become a cub in the House of Lions?” Harry joked.

 

As they were exiting the book store, Harry found himself facing Hermione, who was with her parents.

 

“Harry!” Hermione came running towards him, enveloping him in a hug.

 

“Oh, hey there, Hermione. I didn’t expect to find you here today.” Harry said, patting her on the back.

 

“You would’ve if you had written to me.” Said Hermione, pulling him aside from the earshot of her parents after he greeted them properly.

 

“As I explained in my last letter, the new wards don’t allow outside communications of any sort, and Hedwig was strictly told just to deliver your birthday present and return.” said Harry, keeping Nym and Hermione’s parents in his line of sight.

 

“I’m thankful, though. You finally escaped those awful people.” Hermione sounded genuinely happy for him.

 

“Oh, yeah. I didn’t get to say a proper goodbye to the Dursleys, but that’s probably for the better.”

 

His expression must have shown something Hermione was uncomfortable with because she quickly changed the subject.

 

“So, living with Sirius. How was that?” Hermione asked.

 

“Can’t complain. It’s been a rollercoaster ride for sure.” said Harry, thinking about his many trysts with Fleur under Sirius’ roof. “We even managed to go on a Holyhead Harpies game a few days back, which was fun.”

 

“So, you like it then?” Hermione asked, her brown eyes lighting up when he nodded affirmatively.

 

“Umm… Harry. Why is she with you?” Hermione pointed at Nym.

 

“Oh, she’s on Order business.”

 

“I don’t quite follow.” Hermione said, looking curiously at Nym, who was chatting away with her parents.

 

“The Order of the Phoenix. It’s a group of wizards and witches led by Dumbledore in the last wizarding war who fought against Death eaters. My parents were also part of that group.” Harry explained.

 

“Oh, I see. So, Tonks is your bodyguard?” she asked.

 

“More like an unwanted bodyguard. The only reason I allowed her to tag along is that she’s family and annoying as hell if you cross her. The other characters of the Order of Fried Chicken are a bunch of pacifists or useless bums. At least, Nym is an Auror.”

 

“Order of Fried Chicken?” Hermione guffawed.

 

“Oh, yes. Want to hear the name I came up for our mighty headmaster? Dumb-ass-door, that’s what Sirius and I call him.”

 

“Harry!” Hermione hit him with a small velvet bag in her hand.

 

“What? That man made my life a hell of a lot more difficult with the stunt he pulled at the feast. As if anyone was going to believe Voldemort was resurrected after all these years.”

 

“About that. You owe me an explanation.” Hermione huffed, looking irritated at not knowing what really happened at the end of the Third Task or why Harry was keeping everything close to his chest.

 

“I’ll tell you soon, but not here.” said Harry, looking around at the busy street of Diagon Alley.

 

“All right. Mrs Weasley invited me to stay over at the Burrows, but I thought it’d be better to decline. So, we’ll meet on the train, I suppose.”

 

“At the train then.”

 

They parted ways, and Harry was quite relieved that he had the presence of mind to send a letter explaining his situation along with Hermione’s birthday present during the holidays. Otherwise, it’d have been one awkward conversation that was waiting for him today. It was only after he finally returned to Grimmauld Place and was arranging the books he had brought that he finally remembered that he forgot to tell Hermione about the prefect badge.

 

‘Oh, well. It’ll be a nice surprise for her on the train.’ Harry thought, resuming his chores.

 

XXXXXXXX

 

Harry had no shame in admitting that he found Quidditch wholly not interesting as a sport. For entertainment value, yes, Quidditch was one exhilarating sport to watch so long as the players were skilled with a broom. But the scoring system just did not make much sense. He thought that the sport would’ve been better off without that snitch messing up the game. It was ridiculous and stupid to assign the snitch so many points. Whoever created this game needed to be introduced to Carrom. Though it is a board game, the Queen (red disk) only holds five points, the highest among the carom men of either colour. By keeping the point difference between the carrom men relatively low, the players have a fair shot at engaging the game with a battle of skill rather than luck.

 

And that was the failing point of Quidditch. It was a battle of luck rather than skill most of the time. If the Seeker gets lucky and catches the snitch early on the game ends abruptly. The reverse was also true, as the game could go on indefinitely if both seekers failed to capture the snitch. Winning or losing, in the end, gets decided by the snitch making the chasers and their hard work almost irrelevant in most games. In conclusion, the snitch was the funkiller of the game.

 

Unfortunately, he was required to play the position of seeker when he returned to Hogwarts, which was something he was not looking forward to, given some of the issues he was required to face this year. Not that he was gunk at flying or anything. All things considered, he was quite good at flying, but the job of a seeker looks to be a boring one compared to a seeker. He found that out through experiencing the position of a chaser.

 

Harry banked his broom to take a hard right, angling it in such a way that his left side was open to making a move. He punched the quaffle with all his might and managed to put it straight through one of the rings despite Sirius’ best efforts to prevent otherwise.

 

“Woohoo!” Nym celebrated, pumping her fists in the air as she soared toward his side. “Nice one there, Harry.”

 

“Oh, yes. This is definitely more fun than chasing after the snitch.” Harry laughed, feeling the thrill of the game.

 

“Well, you certainly inherited James’ skill with a quaffle.” said Sirius, coming down from guarding the rings on his broom.

 

“Wait. I thought he was a seeker?” Harry asked, confused.

 

“He was both. You see, Harry, your father played both positions. He played seeker till his fifth year and later switched to the position of a chaser when he became Gryffindor’s captain.”

 

“No one found fault in that?” Harry asked incredulously.

 

“Umm, why would anyone find fault in that? Mind you, James was dab hands at catching the snitch, but he emerged at the top in Chaser tryouts. Besides, your dad was convinced Edgar Stone was going to be a better seeker, which he was, by the way. We won the Cup in the Sixth year. It was one wild night of celebration.” Sirius said wistfully reminiscing of the good old days.

 

“Enough playing around, you three. It’s nearly sunset. Go clean yourself up. Dinner is almost ready.” Andromeda shouted from the kitchen, making Nym groan.

 

“She always finds some way to ruin my fun.” Nym complained.

 

“Grow up, kid. You are an Auror and a grown woman. Do you really want to spend your time playing quidditch of all things?” said Sirius while securing the brooms and the quaffle in a cabin.

 

“Look who’s talking.” Nym growled.

 

“Hey! I’m free to play quidditch and do all kinds of stuff. I was locked up in that hellhole for thirteen years. I’ve got to make up for my lost time with all kinds of fun, but you’re not like me or Harry. It’s high time you get serious in your career and settle down with a family of your own.” said Sirius, walking past Nym and Harry.

 

“He’s pulling my leg, right?” Nym asked in a near whisper to Harry.

 

“He has to be. He’s acting all responsible and mature…oh!” A light of understanding passed through Harry’s eyes, and he discreetly pointed at Brigitte, who appeared out of nowhere, greeting Sirius with a kiss.

 

“He’s acting like that for her?” Nym asked amusedly.

 

“Oh yes. He’s whipped.”

 

Harry and Nym shared a snicker at Sirius’ expense.

 

“I heard that, Harry.” Sirius called back.

 

“Damn his dog ears.” Harry muttered, which made Nym laugh hard, and began teasing Sirius earnestly throughout dinner.

 

The dinner in the Tonks’ household was a fairly decorous affair. The family dinner was largely for the benefit of Sirius as the old dog decided to take things more seriously with Brigitte. Sirius was not the one to ask for the ‘vetting’ of Brigitte as Harry had first thought, but it was an initiative taken by Andromeda. Harry, Nym and Ted Tonks kept themselves out of Andromeda’s way as she poked and prodded at Brigitte and Sirius throughout the dinner.

 

“She’s like a mother hen fussing over the chicks.” Nym murmured against the napkin so that only Harry could hear.

 

“Watch and learn, dear cousin. It won’t be long before you sit in Sirius’s place.” Harry muttered back.

 

His quip earned a squeak of laughter from Ted Tonks, keying into the fact that their conversation was not as secretive as they had hoped.

 

Harry, Sirius and Brigitte returned to Grimmauld place with their bellies full and just about ready to retire to bed. While Sirius and Brigitte turned in for the night, Harry was up and about in his room with the information Andromeda discreetly handed him over before leaving their home. It had taken her a lot of time and resources, but she did manage to unearth some information from the Goblins about the mysterious benefactor of Lucius Malfoy. There was not much to go by as Andromeda’s source in Gringotts refused to hand over any names. Only the names of the many Dwarven banks involved in the transaction across the world were mentioned in the parchment. While the information was wholly useless in identifying the source, it gave him a bleak picture. The names of the banks also gave him the names of the magical nations where the banks were located.

 

A total of sixteen transactions were made to Lucius’ Gringotts vault. Most of the transactions came from the Kingdom of Thailand, the Chola kingdom of southern India, the Principality of Oman and several scattered African nations like Mayotte, Madagascar and Mozambique. There was even a bank of Alaskan origin. Harry was quite surprised to see these locations on the parchment.

 

“I didn’t even know there were magical nations like these.” Harry muttered, shaking his head at how small-minded he was.

 

‘Of course, there is a diverse group of magical nations scattered around the globe.’

 

He frowned, however, at the select nations that housed these banks from where Malfoy got his gold to escape the debt trap. It looked as if someone went the extra mile to keep out banks of European origin from taking part in this plot. He just smelled something fishy going on. If anything, he’d have expected Malfoy to get aid from his extended relatives in Italy or France.

 

‘Malfoy is not so thoroughly connected, is he?’ Harry thought, once again looking at the obscure magical nations, and most of them were even ruled by royal families judging by the names.

 

Then something clicked in his mind. The well-connected network of financial aid and Lucius’ miraculous survival from the graveyard never made sense. He was sure he saw Malfoy go down with several bullet wounds that night.

 

‘An unlimited supply of gold and magical knowledge to heal someone from critical wounds.’

 

That line of thought led him straight to his newly revealed grandmother who also happened to know what exactly transpired in the graveyard.

 

“Lucius Malfoy is her creature?” Harry muttered disconcertedly.

 

It was a wild conjecture on his part, but Harry was sure he was onto something. Otherwise, he’d have to assume that Lucius Malfoy has powerful friends with very deep pockets and powerful healers at the man’s beck and call.

 

‘No, Perenelle Flamel is involved somehow. One way or another, I’ll have answers.’ he vowed.

 

Harry knew just how he was going to get those answers.

 

XXXXXXX

 

Harry marched down to the edge of the wards that surrounded the Greengrass manor. He was about to tap the ward with his magic, announcing his presence, but before he could do that, the wards parted, making him blink in surprise. He only paused briefly before he strode in purposefully through the garden of the Greengrass family.

 

He found Damien and Lady Evelyn in the garden, drinking tea.

 

“Harry, welcome. This is quite the unexpected surprise.” Damien greeted him with a pleasant smile.

 

“Enough with your games, Greengrass. I know how Malfoy magicked the gold he needed in such a short time and how he remains as healthy as a horse despite other circumstances.”

 

“I don’t quite follow, Harry.” said Damien, his face a mask of complete innocence.

 

“I know.” Harry emphasized. “You made those transactions too squeaky clean. You and Perenelle Flamel are all involved in this. Deny all you want, but I know. You used me for your gain, and somehow Malfoy is now working for you.”

 

“You make it sound like you didn’t benefit from our partnership.” said Damien, rolling his eyes not even bothering to hold the charade any longer. “Sirius came out a free man, and he was suitably compensated with millions of Galleons, making him the richest man in Britain. And you have a place to stay and the protection of House Black instead of wallowing in misery with your muggle relatives.”

 

It took Harry a considerable amount of effort not to blow a gasket. He forced down the impulse to just rage at the man and instead burned away the emotions tugging at his mind that was bombarding him with irrational thoughts. When he began to think clearly, he realized he was wasting time with the Greengrass family. These people were pawns on the board. In a game of chess, the most powerful pieces are cast inside, waiting for the opportune moment to deal maximum damage to the enemy.

 

‘I’m wasting time by focusing too much on the pawns.’ he thought.

 

“I want to talk with Perenelle.” Harry said.

 

He saw Damien Greengrass eye his wife, and at that moment, he realised he had assumed wrong. It was not Damien who was pulling the strings here. It was the man’s wife. He saw Lady Greengrass ever so minutely nod at her husband.

 

“That can be arranged. In the meantime, how about you enjoy some tea.” said Damien, a chair suddenly appearing in the garden courtesy of a house elf. “I’m sure Daphne and Astoria will also enjoy your company.”

 

XXXXXXX

 

“I apologise, my lady. Mr Potter was very insistent that he needed to meet you.” Evelyn Greengrass said, shooting an apologetic look at her mentor.

 

“You know Evelyn, if I’m required to handle even the littlest of things, I’m failing to see what use I have for you.” said Perenelle.

 

“My lady, I thought it prudent for you to speak first so that we may not lose Mr Potter like we lost Miss Evans.”

 

Evelyn, however, wilted under her mentor’s stare.

 

“If you can’t even handle a teenager, then I’m afraid I’ve vastly underestimated your abilities, my dear.” Perenelle shook her head, walking away.

 

She finally found her grandson in the company of Damien Greengrass by the fireplace.

 

“Leave us, Damien.” she said, entering the room.

 

“My lady.” Greengrass bowed his head before walking away.

 

Perenelle flicked her palm, forcing the door to close shut behind her.

 

“Now then, dear grandson. I assume you’ve taken a peek at my blood and saw for yourself that you are my blood.”

 

“Yes. But you should know blood matters very little in the world.” said Harry, his green eyes darkening, making Perenelle smirk.

 

“Oh, don’t be so quick to judge. You who have been gifted with the tongue of serpents should know that blood is not without its uses.” said Perenelle, taking her seat in a chair. “But we are not here to argue about blood. Take a seat and ask away, Harry. I’ll see whether I can answer your queries.”

 

“You used me to trap Malfoy into a debt trap only to sweep in and rescue the man at his lowest moment. You turned him to your side, possibly using a magical contract or a vow. If I’m to guess, you now have a mole in the Dark Lord’s camp, one that is high enough in the pecking order.”

 

“All thanks to you. It was a welcome surprise that you decimated the upper echelons of the Death Eaters. Good work, by the way.” Perenelle interrupted.

 

Going by the look on her grandson’s face, she knew that annoyed him.

 

“Thanks.” Harry gritted out. “So, tell me? What are you playing at? What is your interest in Voldemort?”

 

“In Voldemort?” Perenelle scoffed. “Nothing. My interest has always been in you, Harry.”

 

“In me?”

 

“Of course. Tell me, Harry? What do you know of the Peverell brothers?” Perenelle asked.

 

The way all colour drained from her grandson’s face and the light of understanding frankly surprised her. Nonetheless, it made her all the more certain that it was time to gift the boy a small peek into what his destiny holds. Not all of it, but she could leave enough breadcrumbs for the boy to get interested in following her.

 

‘In time, perhaps, he’ll understand the true calling of the blood coursing through his veins.’

 

 

Chapter 57: Fifth year begins

 

AN: Book 2 of The Lion Cub story begins today. Harry Potter now faces a resurgent Dark Lord, a scheming Dumbledore, and the shady reach of his grandmother. All the while he'll have to face the perks of being a hormonal teen, play Quidditch, make more friends, become an animagus, and somehow travel a narrow path between life and death. Last but not least, OWL exams await at the end of Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts.

 

‘The remains of Potter manor.’ Harry mused, taking in the sight of burnt and decaying wood and a mostly grown mini forest atop the destroyed remains of the manor.

 

“There was nothing we could do at the time to restore it. Voldemort and his death eaters were hunting for your parents across the country. I suppose they looked here first, and when they didn’t find what they wanted, they burned it down.” said Sirius, genuinely sad to see his old home getting destroyed.

 

“You lived here, huh?” Harry asked.

 

“Oh, yes. The best years of my life. Your grandparents were good people, Harry. They took me in and treated me like their own son. I lived with your dad until I joined the Aurors and moved out.” said Sirius, a reminiscent look on his face.

 

“I’ll have the manor restored before the winter holidays.”

 

“Why? For what? You are living with me.” Sirius protested.

 

“I know. But I don’t want to leave this place in this condition. It’s time for the home of Potters to rise again.” said Harry, frowning at the sorry state of the manor.

 

“Then I’ll have it restored. I owe it to James and your grandparents.” said Sirius. “And I’ll not take no for an answer.” he quickly added seeing Harry was about to protest.

 

“All right.” Harry eventually nodded, seeing the conviction in Sirius’ eyes.

 

He was not comfortable using Sirius’ wealth to restore the Potter manor. But he was not going to argue it out with Sirius now of all times. There was a time and place for that sort of thing.

 

“You know anyone in the business of building manors?” Harry asked instead.

 

“I don’t, but Andromeda might. I’ll keep you informed.” said Sirius.

 

“Thanks. So, shall we go then?” Harry asked.

 

“It’s nearly time, huh?” Sirius muttered, looking at his pocket watch. “All right then, kid. You hold on tight.”

 

Harry took the offered hand of Sirius and gripped it firmly. The sensation of squeezing through a tube assaulted him for a minute and then his feet hit solid ground. Harry let go of his breath as the scenery around him changed. He was now inside the secret platform of the Kings Cross station with a bustling crowd around him. The Hogwarts Express was right on time and was waiting on the platform as Hogwarts students steadily began to fill up the compartments.

 

“Seeing this big old lump of metal sure brings back memories.” Sirius let out a sigh, smiling at the Hogwarts Express, which chose that moment to blare out its horn.

 

“Don’t get too carried away with those memories, old man.”

 

“Hey! I’m not old.” Sirius shouted indignantly.

 

Harry snickered and said his goodbyes before boarding the train. The one good thing he did before leaving Grimmauld Place was shrinking his trunk to the size of a matchbox that conveniently fit in his pocket. Hedwig was allowed to fly her way to Hogwarts, which left him with fewer things to worry about while boarding the train. He didn’t know why most wizards and witches don’t do the same. It was not as if the shrinking and unshrinking spells were difficult to perform.

 

Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to waste thinking about the habits of wizards and witches when he was required to report early at the Prefect’s cabin.

 

“So, the first compartment.” Harry muttered, looking straight ahead.

 

There was a lot of room to cover but he was early to arrive on the train.

 

‘Maybe I should’ve just walked straight to the first compartment from the platform.’ he thought as he slowly made it to the front, traversing through a sea of students all looking for their friends or good seats on the train.

 

It took him several minutes, but he finally managed to reach the first compartment. Just as he gathered, he was not the first to arrive, reality smacked him down from his high horse.

 

“Hey, Harry.” Hermione waved at him.

 

“Hey, Hermione. Hello there, Crookshanks.” he reached out with his hand and scratched the feline behind its ears, earning an approving purr.

 

Harry looked around the compartment and found nothing special in it except it was more open with fewer seats. The only thing that stood apart was the storage facility for their trunks with their names on the personal cabins.

 

“Yeah. It’s not much. I had the same look as you when I became a prefect.” said Cedric Diggory.

 

Harry smiled as he took in the new Head Prefect of Hogwarts.

 

“It seems congratulations are in order, Cedric.”

 

“Oh, this? I think Professor Dumbledore didn’t want the hassle of going through the seventh years and just dumped the position on me.” Cedric said humbly.

 

“Don’t be like that, Cedric. You deserve the position.” said Hermione.

 

“Thanks, Hermione.” Cedric smiled in appreciation. “Keep in mind that just because I happened to become the Head Boy, there won’t be any leniency in the Quidditch pitch.”

 

“Oh, yes. So long as no Dementors choose to visit the pitch I promise we’ll have a good game.” said Harry.

 

“You are never going to let that go, are you?” Cedric shook his head.

 

Harry moved back with Hermione as Cedric went about welcoming other prefects.

 

“Oh, look. Malfoy and Parkinson made prefect.” Hermione whispered to him.

 

“No surprises there. Snape will lose sleep if his bootlicker is not made prefect.”

 

“Harry!” Hermione hit him on the arm.

 

“Well, if it isn’t Potter and his mud…”

 

Harry swatted his hand as if he was batting away a fly, and Draco’s was swept off his feet, leaving the wannabe bully flat on his ass. The whole compartment looked at Malfoy for a moment and dissolved into laughter.

 

“I’m sure we all wish Malfoy learn some basic skills like walking and generally being a good wizard but I believe our new Head Boy was about to explain our duties.” Harry said blandly giving a dismissive snort at the reddening face of Draco Malfoy.

 

“Yes, thank you, Harry. Now, the duties of the prefects are quite simple on the train. Your patrol duties are as follows…”

 

Cedric began listing out compartments and assigning a pair of prefects to those compartments. Harry was a bit surprised to know that each compartment gets a pair of prefects. Percy Weasley was the only prefect he had seen patrolling on the Hogwarts train. He, along with Hermione, was assigned to watch over compartment five.

 

“Also, one more thing. Fifth-year prefects are supposed to escort first-year students to their dorms. So, you are excused from any patrol duty tonight. You’ll have to report to your respective Head of House after the sorting ceremony. The rest of you lot will meet me outside the Great Hall to discuss patrol duties…”

 

The compartment door suddenly was forced open attracting the attention of everyone. Harry raised an eyebrow when he met the brown eyes of one Barbara Collins. If he was surprised by the Head Girl badge pinned on the seventh-year Slytherin’s robes he didn’t show it.

 

“Oh, hey, everyone. I got delayed by the crowd.” Barbara gave them an innocent smile. “So, what did I miss?”

 

Harry and Hermione exited the prefects’ compartment just as the Hogwarts Express lurched from the platform. While Hermione was gushing about the fact that they get to escort a bunch of firsties as if that was some great honour, he was thinking more about the fact that the Head Girl was his ritual colleague from last year. Oh, he knew Collins was well-connected in Hogwarts, but he never thought she’d be considered Head Girl material.

 

“Harry! Are you listening?” Hermione jabbed his side.

 

“Sure, I am,” Harry replied, rubbing his side. “Let’s not waste more time and do our patrols. I think I’m famished.”

 

The drawback of working with Hermione was that she was not satisfied with simply doing the job. As an avid perfectionist, she goes well beyond the range of what is asked or expected of her. So, by the time Harry was 'allowed’ to take some rest by the she-demon that was Hermione, he was just about ready to sleep his way through the rest of the train ride.

 

“You alright there Harry?” asked Neville, offering him a chocolate frog his friend saved.

 

“I love you, Neville.” Harry teared up and gave the Longbottom heir a manly hug before gorging on the chocolate frog like a caveman.

 

“What did you do to him?” Neville asked, looking at Hermione, who turned her nose up.

 

“Nothing. He is just being overly dramatic.”

 

“My legs are killing me, all thanks to you and your insistence on patrolling the compartment and making sure to visit all cabins.”

 

"Neville. Who’s that?” Hermione asked, trying her best to sound inconspicuous but failing pathetically.

 

"Hey, Luna. You don't mind if I sleep for the rest of the ride, right?” Harry asked.

 

“Not at all, Harry. I can see those Nargles are being a bother. A good sleep should keep them away.” Luna said airily, peeking at him from the top of a magazine in her hand.

 

“You know who that is?” Hermione asked in a whisper, looking between him and Luna.

 

“Of course. You should introduce yourself. Luna is a fun person to talk to.” Harry said before making himself comfortable on his seat and slipping into a peaceful slumber.

 

When he woke up, it was to see Ron shouting something by their cabin door and going away in a fit of anger, muttering something unintelligent under his breath.

 

“What did I miss?” Harry cranked his neck, coming out of some much-needed sleep.

 

“Nothing much. Ron made some stupid comments, and Hermione became annoyed, ending in a fight. The usual.” said Ginny, who was now sitting opposite him near Luna.

 

“Hi, Harry. Did the Nargles disturb you in your sleep?” Luna asked brightly, her eyes now covered by strange-looking spectacles.

 

“No. Thankfully, I had a peaceful sleep.” Harry said happily.

 

“Good. Then let’s go. We need to do one last patrol to make sure everything is fine. We are nearly at the Hogsmeade station.” said Hermione, standing up from her seat and looking expectantly at him.

 

“Oh, come on.” Harry groaned.

 

XXXXXXXXX

 

Several hours later Harry was cursing himself for thinking gaining the position of a prefect was somehow a good thing. It might have been a good thing as he could see his fellow fifth-year prefects in Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff rather happily conversing with their friends as opposed to Harry, who was just about ready to eat an elephant and call it a night.

 

“I hate you.” Harry whimpered, glaring at Hermione.

 

“What happened to you?” Katie asked, looking between Harry and Hermione.

 

“Don’t mind him. He is just being dramatic.” Hermione said, waving her hand dismissively.

 

“I think I’ve got a right to be as dramatic as possible, considering you had me patrol our assigned compartment more than eight times and then patrol other compartments just for fun.” Harry complained, rubbing his forehead, which was beginning to throb with a headache.

 

“The other prefects were not doing their job…”

 

“Because they were smart.” Harry interrupted, but Hermione acted as if she never heard him.

 

“…and it is our duty as prefects to keep watch over the students, especially the young ones. I’m sure you remember how thankful a couple of first-year students were when we helped them find the washroom or helped them find their friends.” said Hermione.

 

Harry really wanted to argue against that, but his throbbing head and the sudden toning down of the buzzing in the feast hall made Harry sit up alert. Not a moment later, the doors to the hall opened as Professor McGonagall walked in, followed by several first-year students for the sorting ceremony. His stomach let out a growl of protest making Harry redden while Katie and Ginny snickered at his expense.

 

“Here, Harry.” Neville offered him another chocolate frog.

 

“How will I ever repay you?” Harry asked, taking the offered chocolate with a grateful look.

 

In the background, he could hear McGonagall calling out the names of the first-year students as the sorting ceremony commenced in earnest after a long song by the sorting hat emphasising the need to stand united in darker times. He was not particularly interested in the new students or the unusual song delivered by the sorting hat, but he was interested in the teaching faculty of Hogwarts. Professors Babbling and Vector were as usual sitting side by side near Professor Flitwick. On the other hand, Snape was his usual greasy self, looking down from the high table with a look of thinly veiled contempt and the beginnings of a sneer on his pale face. Beside Snape, there was the horrid woman he was looking for, Dolores Umbridge. The fact that Fudge went with her spoke volumes of the man’s ire at Dumbledore. While his sources in the Ministry had claimed there was some respite in the clash between Fudge and Dumbledore, it was certainly not enough to keep the Minister not to send his Undersecretary to undermine Dumbledore.

 

He had hoped the pink monster wouldn’t be saddled on Hogwarts students this year, but he gathered it was too nice an opportunity for the Ministry not to interfere, especially if Dumbledore was unable to find a suitable replacement for Mad-eye Moody.

 

‘By the looks of it, Dumbledore failed.’ Harry thought, shaking his head disappointedly as it was most likely going to be an unpleasant academic year with the pink monster hovering around Hogwarts.

 

The hall descended into thunderous applause as the last first-year student was sorted into Hufflepuff, bringing the sorting ceremony to a speedy end. As Dumbledore officially declared the sorting ceremony’s end, the plates began to get filled with delicious food. Harry enthusiastically cut into his food, taking great care to fill up his demanding stomach. When an hour passed, Harry was quite ready to find a good bed and forget this day ever even happened.

 

“Now that we are all well fed and watered, I’d like to make a few announcements.” Dumbledore said, once again on his feet, looking at the hall through his half-crescent glasses. “The Forbidden Forest remains forbidden for students as always.”

 

“Mr. Filch has also asked me to remind you all that magic is not permitted in the corridors between daily classes. There is also a list of banned items that can be found pinned on Mr. Filch’s office door. Also, we have two changes in staffing this year. Many of you might be already familiar with Professor Grubbly-Plank. She’ll be taking over the Care of Magical Creatures, and there is Professor Dolores Umbridge, who’ll be your Defence against the Dark Arts teacher.”

 

There was a round of polite applause after the announcement.

 

“What happened to Hagrid?” Hermione asked, her eyes alight with panic.

 

“We’ll know soon enough.” Harry said, keeping his ear out for Dumbledore's words.

 

Heedless of the scattered buzzing conversations going around, Dumbledore continued. “Tryouts for the respective Quidditch teams of the four houses will take place on the second week…”

 

“Hem, hem,” Umbridge cleared her throat, loudly interrupting Dumbledore.

 

‘And here it comes.’ Harry internally groaned, watching Dumbledore yield the platform to Umbridge, who was sporting a sickeningly sweet smile that screamed creepiness of the highest degree.

 

“Thank you, Headmaster Dumbledore, for those kind words of welcome.” Umbridge gave the headmaster her branded smile making the man take his seat gracefully.

 

The new DADA professor was dressed in an unholy pink garb that was frankly exacerbating his headache. It forced him to look elsewhere. His eyes inevitably went to the Ravenclaw table only to remember that Fleur was not present among the house of ravens. His mood took another dive on that realisation, and the squeaky, high-pitched voice of the pink devil did not help one bit.

 

Feeling eyes on him, he looked around until his eyes connected with a familiar shade of blue. Daphne raised a delicate eyebrow upon their eyes connecting but Harry didn’t respond in any way. He was suddenly reminded of the conversation that he had with Perenelle Flamel about the Hallows. Some of the things the woman said about the Peverell brothers and the Hallows didn’t make much sense with what he knew so far, which was admittedly not much. According to his immortal grandmother, the Peverell brothers predated the Founders of Hogwarts by several centuries, which didn’t make much sense because he had seen the headstone of Ignotus Peverell at Godric’s Hollow. The illustrious ancestor of House Potter was born after the time of Hogwarts, according to the date carved on the headstone.

 

Not that he trusted the version of the story illustrated in Beedle the Bard’s book about the Deathly Hallows. He already knew that the story of Cadmus Peverell was gunk, seeing as the second brother didn’t die childless. The Gaunts were the descendants of Cadmus Peverell, just as the Potters were the descendants of Ignotus Peverell. If his grandmother was to be trusted, then she was a descendant of Antioch Peverell and thus the root of her interest in him. His blood was the meeting point of three exceptional wizards long lost in history whose tales remain a fairytale. And for some reason, his grandmother was interested in him for this simple fact. Most curiously, she was dismissive of the entire plot about being the Master of Death, as illustrated by Beedle the Bard.

 

‘It’s all a bunch of made-up nonsense by an airheaded cochon.’ Harry remembered his grandmother’s response.

 

If one aspect of the story was wrong, then it was not a leap of logic to assume the rest of the tale was also similarly wrong.

 

The question was, did Beedle use a familiar tale and give his own twist to spice things up, or was there an agenda behind the whole tale? If his grandmother was right and the Peverell brothers predated Hogwarts and its founders then he suspected the Chamber holds more secrets than he previously believed. If Cadmus’ bloodline merged with Slytherin’s, then it was a reasonable assumption that Salazar Slytherin was a descendant of the illustrious second brother. It could be even possible that Cadmus faked his death and allowed his descendants to go into obscurity by killing the trail of the Resurrection stone with his alleged suicide.

 

Frankly, he didn’t know what to believe.

 

‘I suppose I’ll soon find out, provided Cadmus’ bloodline merged into Slytherin’s before Salazar’s time.’ he thought.

 

If that was the case, and he hoped that it’d be, then he’d have the advantage against his immortal grandmother and whatever scheme she was cooking. If he could find and learn the necessary information about the Hallows and the Peverells from Slytherin’s dusty old scrolls and books, then he’d be one step closer to knowing what his grandmother and her shady followers are after.

 

‘It was a very bad idea to give those books to Daphne and her family.’ Harry thought, cursing his past self for being an idiot.

 

He had all but announced to his grandmother and the Greengrass family that he had access to Slytherin’s Chamber. It was now going to bite him in the ass because Perenelle wants access to the Chamber in return for her help in eradicating Voldemort. It was a good deal as far as he was concerned because having a dead Dark Lord was in his interest for continual survival. The sword that hangs over his neck would be gone, but he was equally cautious of aiding an even bigger monster.

 

‘I need to know more about the Peverells and more about the Flamels.’ Harry thought resolutely.

 

He was broken out of his musings by the lone clapping coming from Dumbledore.

 

Harry frowned at the headmaster wondering whether the man finally lost his marbles. He was heartened to note that was the prevailing look among most students or they were confused as hell by the long arduous speech delivered by Umbridge.

 

“What the hell…”

 

“…was that?”

 

The twins were looking at the new DADA professor as if she just spoke Gobbledegook.

 

“That, Messrs George and Fred, is Umbridge saying she’s going to be one giant itch on our backs for this whole year.” said Harry.

 

“Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge. That was most illuminating,” said Dumbledore, once again taking centre stage while Umbridge slinked back to her seat. “Now, as I was saying…oh dear me, where was I? Ah, yes! The Quidditch tryouts shall be…”

 

Harry shook his head and turned his attention away from the high table. He was wondering whether Dumbledore purposefully left the DADA position unfilled as bait for Fudge. It was not the first time Dumbledore used Hogwarts as bait. This one seems far more benign compared to what was in store in the first year.

 

When the time finally came for the students to retire to their beds, he was left with the unpleasant task of escorting first-year Gryffindor boys to their dorms. It didn’t help that all of them were sporting stars in their eyes and a million inane questions along the way. He just gritted his teeth and faced the firsties with a smile on his face. The faster he was done here, the faster he could sleep in his bed.

 

Chapter 58: Umbridge

Harry quickly tied up the laces of his shoes as breakfast was about to begin, and he needed to fuel up for the first day of class. First in the morning was Snape, and that was an arrow to the heart. He was about to suffer for two whole hours before skipping his way to the circus that was DADA with Umbridge. His morning schedule was packed to the brim, but thankfully he got two free hours in the afternoon, followed by an hour of Charms to end the day.

 

“You seem to be in a hurry.” Ron said, walking into their dorm after getting freshened up.

 

The gingerhead had been somewhat reserved compared to last year, and Harry was happy about it. So long as Ron was not looking to restore their ‘friendship’ to what was before the Tournament, he was pretty pleased.

 

“I’m famished. I could eat a Nundu and have room for more in my stomach.” said Harry, quickly finishing up his laces. “See you in the Great Hall.”

 

Harry ran out of the shared dorm only to halt upon seeing a dangerous sight in the Common room. Hermione was there with all the firsties assembled in neat lines, all prim and proper.

 

“Oh, good. You are finally here, Harry. We can escort the first-year students to the Great Hall for their breakfast.” said Hermione excitedly, as if that ought to make him happy.

 

It didn’t help all those curious little eyes were being trained on him, and he felt like he was swimming in an ocean surrounded by hungry sharks.

 

“Hey, Hermione. A minute if you will.” Harry pulled his bushy-haired friend out of earshot of the firsties before turning on Hermione, frowning in displeasure.

 

“What the hell are you doing? There was nothing about escorting the firsties to the Great Hall in the job description. I don’t remember any prefects doing that for us in our first year. We found out the layout of Hogwarts on our own or by asking around.” Harry whispered angrily.

 

“Exactly! We didn’t get any help, so we should set a good example by being helpful to the first-year students.” Hermione whispered back.

 

“If we were to hold hands for the first-year students in everything, how would they learn on their own? Hermione, learning about Hogwarts is not some subject you can cram into their heads like some words in a textbook. It helps them socialise better to find some things on their own.”

 

“You are just saying that because you are lazy.” Hermione accused, to which he shamelessly grinned.

 

“I can be lazy and speak sense at the same time.”

 

Harry suddenly felt a poke on his arm. Turning around, he found a small brown-haired boy looking at him curiously.

 

“Can you show us the scar?” the boy squeaked out.

 

Harry turned away from the boy and looked at Hermione accusingly.

 

“You deal with this mess. I’ve got better things to do than entertain a bunch of curious firsties.” said Harry before quickly making his escape from the Gryffindor tower.

 

He could hear Hermione admonishing the kid about being polite to others and, in the same vein, asking Harry to act more responsibly. But he paid it no mind as he suspected Hermione would soon get bogged down by taking too much responsibility. Harry happily skipped over to the Great Hall, firing off a bunch of greetings to some familiar faces along the way. But his plan to make a beeline for the Gryffindor table was put on hold when Barbara Collins stopped him with a parchment leaf in her hand.

 

“Oi, Potter. Here is your patrol schedule.”

 

The Head girl handed him a parchment with details of patrolling times and areas under his name.

 

“Oh, nice. What is this? A complimentary side dish for breakfast?” Harry joked.

 

“Very funny.” Barbara deadpanned. “I’m also supposed to tell you that you are limited to reducing a maximum of fifty points per month from other houses. Cedric and I will scrutinise anything more. If we find you have misused your position, we’ll report you to Professor McGonagall, which may lead to revoking your prefect badge. Any questions?”

 

“Yeah, one. If I see a prefect abusing their position, can I dock points?” Harry asked.

 

“Prefects are part of the student body. Their behaviour reflects on the house they represent in the school. You are allowed to judge them.”

 

Harry nodded, thinking to himself that it’d come in handy soon enough with Malfoy and Parkinson as Slytherin prefects.

 

“However, prefects are allowed to protest and make their case before the Head Boy and Head Girl. We’ll discuss the issue and may restore the points at our discretion.” Barbara continued seamlessly.

 

“You know what. I think it’d have been convenient if all the dos and don’ts were listed in a rule book.” Harry said, accepting the parchment and sadly looking over the schedule he was bound to follow during the patrols.

 

“Oh, that reminds me.” Barbara suddenly reached into her backpack and pulled out a small handbook. “There you go. Your rulebook. Read it properly before enforcing your prefect privileges.”

 

Harry accepted the rulebook with a smudge of surprise written on his face. “Okay. I did not see that coming.”

 

“Oh, I almost forgot. There’ll be a meeting of prefects at four in the evening. Be on time outside the Prefects bathroom. We’ll be discussing the usage of the bathroom and quarters as well as any issues that might come up.” Barbara said matter-of-factly before skipping away to the Slytherin table in a jiffy.

 

‘Just fantastic. More meetings. I’m hating this already.’ Harry thought morosely, making his way to the Gryffindor table for breakfast.

 

“You are here early.” said Angelina as he passed by the Quidditch captain of Gryffindor.

 

“Oh hey, Angelina. I didn’t see you there.” Harry blinked owlishly.

 

“No one does.” she let out an exaggerated sigh while peeking at him over the Prophet with her dark eyes.

 

‘Maybe you ought to keep the Prophet folded instead of making a tent out of it.’ Harry thought, but he didn’t dare air those thoughts.

 

Harry sat across from Angelina with his back to the Hufflepuff table.

 

“Just out of curiosity, was Dumbledore true? Is You-Know-who back from the dead?” Angelina asked out of the blue in a whisper.

 

Harry froze and looked around to see whether anyone was listening in on their conversation. Thankfully, they were well removed from most of the students.

 

“What brought this on?” he asked, hoping to get some breathing space.

 

“Just curious. The Prophet is trying very hard to paint the Headmaster as some sort of senile old man. I mean… we all know Dumbledore is eccentric, but he is not that senile as the Prophet makes him out, is he?” Angelina pondered, her eyes zeroing in on the high table where the headmaster’s seat remained vacant.

 

She quickly turned back to eye Harry and set aside the Prophet. “So, tell me. Was the Headmaster speaking the truth?”

 

Harry gave it a brief thought. He was just about ready to give a noncommittal answer, but this was Angelina. He could play aloof with many people in Hogwarts but not with his Quidditch captain, who was also a close friend. Besides, Voldemort was not going to hide for long.

 

“Yes, Dumbledore is right. The Dark Lord is alive.” Harry confirmed, making Angelina openly gape at him.

 

“Wha?! You… you’re not messing around, right?”

 

“No. He is back.”

 

“Bu… but! Why didn’t you say anything?” Angelina gasped.

 

“Say what?” Harry asked, letting out a scoff. “Hey, everyone. You know that dead Dark Lord, you are so afraid to say even his name. Yeah, he’s alive. Enjoy the holidays with your family.”

 

“Like that’ll go over smooth with these bunch of wusses.” Harry shook his head, loading his plate with some bread and bacon.

 

“Beg your pardon?” Angelina looked at him with wide eyes.

 

Harry sighed, seeing the fear and alarm written all over Angelina’s face.

 

“You’ve to understand not all people know me as you do. They might find it hard to believe if I just come out and say the Dark Lord is alive and going to launch another war after a year or so. Look at what happened to Dumbledore. His credibility is being attacked, and I was not willing to put myself on the line so that some bunch of snot-nosed cowards who can’t even say the name Voldemort get the better of me.” Harry sighed, noting that he seemed to be sighing a lot these days. “I just don’t have the interest in having a repeat of last year again.”

 

Angelina was silent and just stared at him with her mouth agape for a full two minutes.

 

“I think I understand. But Harry… you’re giving yourself little credit. A whole lot of people would’ve believed you.” said Angelina.

 

“I gave a whole lot of clues to the Ministry. I gave the real name of Voldemort, and the Ministry is blaming everything on the Crouches and Tom Riddle even though they have no idea who Tom Riddle really is.”

 

“Are you saying the real name of You-Know-Who is Tom Riddle?” Angelina asked incredulously in a whisper as the Great Hall was getting filled.

 

“Yep. So, those familiar with the Dark Lord will warn their friends and family. Besides, Dumbledore is talking about the guy to anyone who’d listen. For now, that’s enough.”

 

“Huh! You lead an interesting life, Harry.” Angelina settled on saying after a moment of silence.

 

“Let’s talk about something else. Tell me about the Quidditch tryouts.” Harry nicely changed the subject, and Angelina, bless her soul, complied.

 

“Well, we have our reserve team all set up thanks to some mock games last year. All we have to do is look for a good keeper to replace Oliver.”

 

“There is McLaggen. He performed well in the mock games last year.” said Harry, taking a bite of his bread.

 

“Yes, he did.” Angelina nodded slowly. “That doesn’t mean someone better might not turn up this year.”

 

“Uh-huh.” Harry eyed her suspiciously.

 

“Oh, fine. I don’t like that ponce and would rather play without a keeper if that guy came on top in the tryouts. McLaggen has the skill, but he has a big mouth.”

 

“I hear you, Captain. So, a new keeper, huh? Well, let’s hope we get a suitable replacement in the tryouts.” said Harry before focusing on clearing out his plate.

 

XXXXXXX

 

‘You can expect a lot of things to change, but never the greasy bat of the Hogwarts dungeons.’ Harry thought as Snape barged into the Potions classroom with his usual theatrics.

 

The door closed with a bang, startling many in the classroom while Snape swept into the centre of the class with his black robes billowing behind him.

 

‘It definitely has to be a spell.’ Harry mused, eyeing Snape’s robes, thinking about their unnatural tendencies showcased whenever the Potion master moved.

 

Harry, as usual, was with Neville, who looked a bit intimidated as Snape’s coal eyes passed over them. Harry raised an eyebrow when Snape’s eyes lingered on him more.

 

“Settle down.” Snape said, his lips curling with the beginning of a sneer. “Come June, you’ll be taking your OWLs exams. I don’t have to tell you the importance of the OWLs. You’ll have to prove how much you dunderheads have learned since you first stepped into these hallowed halls. While I consider most of you moronic… I expect you dunderheads to at least scrape together an Acceptable in Potions. Otherwise, you shall suffer my… displeasure.”

 

Snape came to gaze at Harry and Neville. Harry could feel his friend shrink into his seat under the cold gaze of Snape.

 

“On a more positive note, I suspect many of you will not be having Potions class after this year. I only accept those who have scored an Outstanding in my subject into the NEWTs class of Potions.” Snape was now sporting a full-blown sneer on his ugly mug.

 

Harry couldn’t wait to have this dude thrown in Azkaban. Truly, Snape deserved to be put in that place. He suspected the dementors would be happy to have one more of its kind in their group. The man had an uncanny ability to suck out even a sliver of joy and hope from anyone’s life. The grave and fearful faces he saw on his classmates were a testament to this fact.

 

“Unfortunately, we have several months ahead of us until you dunderheads are removed from this class. Therefore, I advise you to concentrate on your studies and classes to get the grade necessary for NEWT level potions class.” Snape said silkily, “Now, today, we’ll be brewing a potion called the Draught of Peace. It is often a common potion asked to brew in the OWL practical exam. As its name suggests, it is a potion to calm anxiety.”

 

“The list of ingredients…” Snape waved his wand “…and the instructions to prepare them are on the board. You’ll find everything you need in the cupboard.”

 

“Now, what are you dunderheads waiting for!” Snape snapped coldly. “Prepare the potion.”

 

Harry sprang into action by writing down the list of things he needed from the board on a small piece of paper before rummaging through the cupboard for supplies. It took him nearly half an hour to prepare the ingredients as instructed. A lot of grinding, crushing, and cutting involved in the potion-making process tested Harry’s patience. Then came the difficult task of following the instructions in brewing. Once the cauldron was heated, the herculean task of giving a proper number of stirs after each ingredient was added came into play. It was the first day of the new academic year, and Snape chose one of the most challenging potions to brew.

 

‘Yep. Snape will fit in with the Dementors of Azkaban.’ Harry thought, wiping away the sweat that was forming on his brow.

 

After who knows how long, he added the last series of counterclockwise stirs that spelt the end of the preparation process. A pale white vapour could be seen rising from his potion as he took the cauldron from the fire, allowing it to cool off.

 

“Phew.” Harry let out a relieved sigh, seeing that his efforts were not in vain. “It at least looks like a potion of some sort.”

 

Harry looked at the potion in Neville’s cauldron and saw it was pale yellow, while Ron’s was greenish. Hermione's potion looked milky white, which he supposed was the correct look for the potion.

 

Snape routinely inspected the cauldrons, and the potion master passed by his potion without any comment. Harry took that as a job well done.

 

“Those of you who have completed the potion can take a sample of your potion in a vial and label it. Have it brought to my desk for testing.” Snape ordered.

 

Harry quickly scooped a portion of his potion into a vial and submitted the vial after sticking a label with his name. Snape didn’t even bat his eye, and Harry quite happily skipped back to his seat. It made his day when Goyle screamed as his potion spilt outside the glass vial and the boy’s robes caught fire. He didn’t know how the Draught of Peace could end up working as an accelerant, but it was a pretty funny sight to see.

 

So, it was with high spirits that he came to Umbridge’s class with his fellow fifth-year Gryffindors despite getting a boatload of assignments from Snape. A class with Snape that didn’t end in a shouting match or some sort of drama was a good time spent in his book as far as Potion classes go. The DADA classroom didn’t disappoint him in the slightest. An annoying scent was in the air as he walked into the room. The pink demon sent by the Ministry was already seated behind her desk with a sickeningly sweet smile on her toadyish face. She was dressed in an awful pink cardigan and a pink bow on top of her head. There was even a pair of pink earrings on her ears.

 

Harry could feel the eyes of the Ministry stooge following him as he took his seat. He set his backpack down and made himself comfortable, all the while doing his best to avoid Umbridge. He didn’t have to wait long as all the seats filled, and the class remained quiet, waiting for Umbridge.

 

“Well, good afternoon.” she said, taking to her feet after everyone settled down.

 

Some half-hearted mumbled ‘good afternoons’ came in reply from the students, but that didn’t satisfy Umbridge.

 

“Tut tut. That won’t do.” Umbridge said, a pout on her thin lips. “That’s not how you greet your professor. Now repeat after me, Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.”

 

“Well, come on. Say it, children.” Umbridge urged sweetly.

 

“Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.” they chorused after a brief moment of hesitation.

 

“Now, that wasn’t so difficult, was it? You won’t need wands for your lesson. Take out your quills. We’ll begin from the basics.”

 

A lot of edgy looks were passed around at that strange mix of instruction and declaration. The basics of DADA without wands would not be a fun lesson.

 

A few minutes later, Harry was peacefully adrift in a wet dream of him and Fleur in bed while pretending there was some hidden well of knowledge in the frankly ludicrous book Umbridge had them read in the class. Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard was a book that Harry thought deserved an award of some sort for the dumbest book ever written by a wizard. He was frankly wondering if this Slinkhard fellow must have been a blessed soul by the God of Idiots to have written this book. At some point, Harry was even seriously considering the author must be a magic-hating squib who wanted the wizards and witches to do as much magic as this guy could muster. No other explanation made sense to Harry.

 

A cursory look at the book's first chapter revealed to Harry a general gist of the author's aim. According to the author, the best thing a wizard could do when confronted with a dangerous situation is to run away and let experienced people handle the situation, namely the Ministry. It was also the author’s sincere wish that ordinary witches and wizards do their best never to come in contact with dangerous creatures for their safety. Seeing as he got the general gist, Harry was quite happy to daydream about Fleur and spend the time productively. He didn’t even bat an eye when Hermione and others began questioning Umbridge about the integrity or even practical use of the book.

 

Harry, however, had to bite his cheek when he heard Hermione ask about using defensive spells. The answer Umbridge gave was truly epic.

 

“Defensive spells?” Umbridge asked in faux horror. “My dear, whatever do you need to use that for?”

 

Here was a witch boldly claiming with a straight face that there was no need for young wizards and witches to learn defensive spells in a school that was supposed to teach them magic. It was with some effort that he managed to bottle in his laughter. Not only did he manage it, but he also maintained his focus on the book.

 

‘I suppose I could convert DADA classes into Occlumency practice sessions or something.’ Harry mused.

 

Chapter 59: The all-translate charm

Fleur sighed as she saw out of the corner of her eyes the looks William Weasley was shooting her. Her part-time job in Diagon Alley had made her frequently run into the redhead wizard who was a Gringotts curse breaker. They had quickly struck up a conversation in one of their random meetings on the street, and ever since then, she had noticed William springing up near her frequently. Oh, she knew why the redhead was following her around, but it was frankly becoming a little too bothersome. She was waiting for the wizard to gather the courage to ask her out, and then she could let him down gently.

 

It wasn’t as if she was starving for a relationship right now. Her arrangement with Harry was quite satisfactory even though she didn’t like Harry holding on to the Greengrass girl. To be honest, she had her doubts in mind that Harry holds some feelings for Daphne Greengrass. Exactly the extent of those feelings, she didn’t know, but it was there, and it was starting to bother her a little. A few days ago, she wouldn’t have probably felt this way because Harry always went out of his way to spend time with her during his summer vacation. But now, Harry was in Hogwarts, and she was busy with her own job in Diagon Alley. It didn’t help she had to hear all the lewd details of her cousin’s relationship with Sirius while she was constantly reminded of how lonely she was in bed.

 

Fleur took another sip of her tea to calm her nerves, feeling the eyes of Weasley trained on her person. Oh, how she wished she had Harry or someone like Brigitte with her in the tea shop.

 

“Hey, Fleur. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

 

Fleur’s eyes widened, and relief flooded her as she saw Nymphadora Tonks waving at her enthusiastically. She could not believe her luck, but she pounced on it like a cat about to get the canary.

 

“Come, Tonks. Sit with me. Tell me, how’re you doing?” Fleur pulled the older witch to her table.

 

Her relief and excitement must have been easily readable because Tonks immediately looked around the tea shop.

 

“Who’re you avoiding?” Tonks asked curiously.

 

“How’d you know?” Fleur frowned.

 

“Oh, please. I know that look on the face. I’m very familiar with the situation you’re going through.” Tonks waved dismissively before leaning forward, her eyes darting around discreetly. “So, who’s the stalker?”

 

Fleur looked at Tonks searchingly before deciding to answer.

 

“Outside the window to your right. The redhead pretending to read a leaflet.” Fleur said embarrassedly.

 

“Isn’t that William?” Tonks immediately recognised the familiar red hair and face.

 

“Yes. You know him?” Fleur blinked in surprise.

 

“Yes. William was my senior at Hogwarts. His younger brother Charlie was in my year, though.” said Tonks.

 

Fleur felt really stupid. Of course, Tonks would know the redhead wizard because of Hogwarts.

 

“Is he bothering you? I mean, the guy is not a troublemaker as far as I know.”

 

“No… no. William never misbehaved or anything. I think he is just trying to muster up the courage to ask me out.”

 

“And? You’re okay with it?” Tonks raised an eyebrow.

 

“No. I mean, I’d prefer if he left me alone.” said Fleur.

 

“Are you sure?” Tonks asked sceptically.

 

“Yes, I’m sure.”

 

Tonks eyed her closely before suddenly going straight for the window on a dime before Fleur could protest.

 

Fleur didn’t know what was said between Tonks and William Weasley, but when Tonks returned, the redhead wizard was gone from the window side. She suddenly felt a wave of affection for the older witch whom she admired for her bold, carefree attitude.

 

“Thank you.” Fleur chirped brightly. “You saved me from an awkward conversation.”

 

“Uh-huh. Bill won’t be bothering you anymore.” Tonks waved away her gratitude before directing a coy smile at Fleur. “I just said you’re already seeing someone. There is someone, right? Cause Bill is a nice guy, if only a tad shy.”

 

Fleur was immediately on guard with that line of conversation. She had given Harry her word that their relationship would remain under wraps. She found it enjoyable initially, as the thrill of secrecy in Hogwarts always riled her up. But now that she was not allowed in Hogwarts, she saw the secrecy as unattractive. Her extended silence, however, didn’t go unnoticed by Tonks.

 

“Hey, you don’t have to tell me if you’re uncomfortable. We’ve only known each other very recently.” Tonks offered her a graceful way out, but that made it worse.

 

“No, Tonks. I just…” she hesitated a little bit. “It’s just complicated.” Fleur eventually settled on rubbing her forehead with the back of her hand.

 

“It’s okay. You don’t have to feel pressured into saying anything.” said Tonks, her hair taking a yellow streak taking Fleur’s attention briefly.

 

She shook her head.

 

“I’ll need something other than tea to discuss my love life.” Fleur ended up saying.

 

“Booze? Oh, I’ve got that covered. Let’s go.” Tonks was quickly on her feet, teeming with excitement, while Fleur slowly realised she had fallen into a trap.

 

But she could not rethink her decision as Tonks happily pulled along Fleur, and she was not immune to the charms of the resident Metamorphmagus.

 

‘At least I got a friend out of it. I think.’ Fleur thought as she left the café together with Tonks.

 

XXXXXXX

 

Harry angled himself forward on the broom before he went for the dive. The air that rushed past him pumped up his blood. It was way better than the feeling of riding a bike. He missed that thrum of the engine as the piston got smacked down after each stroke. The soothing vibration and weight of the bike beneath him were something he dearly missed, but he’d happily trade it over for the magical broom because he was flying. Bikes sadly could not fly, at least, normal bikes could not. He was hoping Sirius would restore his bike before the Yule holidays.

 

Harry suddenly had to veer off to the left, arresting the dive he was attempting. The air seemed to have pressed down on his sides heavily, but the adrenaline pumping within allowed him to ignore such minor inconveniences.

 

‘Oh no, you won’t, you stupid piece of metal.’ Harry thought resolutely as he chased after the snitch, accelerating fast enough to be a blur to most observers.

 

The snitch rose slightly in its linear path, and Harry deduced it was once again preparing to dive as he was closing in on the troublesome metal. Harry made a snap decision to go into an early dive at full speed, and his arm reached out like a coiled snake. He could feel the weight of the snitch comfortably resting in his palm.

 

“Ha! Gotcha!” Harry smiled, watching the snitch helplessly beat its wings in his palm before slowly giving up and admitting defeat.

 

“Good one there, Harry.” Ginny said, zooming past him on her broom.

 

“No surprises there, Harry. Our pal,” said George.

 

“Our friend.” Fred also joined in.

 

“Our benefactor.” the Twins chorused together.

 

“Okay, guys. Remember our deal. No publicity for now. I don’t want your mom to send me howlers,” said Harry.

 

“Oh, Harry. You don’t have to worry.” said George, putting his arm around his shoulder.

 

“Yeah. Our dear mum reserves the howlers for Ron or us. No one else will ever get that honour.” said Fred.

 

“Good work there, Harry. Any advice for our reserve seeker?” Angelina asked once she neared him on her broom.

 

“Ginny is fast and has good reflexes. She needs a faster broom. I think I’ll just let her practice on the Firebolt. If you wish, you can let her have a go at one of the matches.” Harry suggested.

 

“Why? Are you planning on skipping a match?” Angelina asked with a dangerous undertone.

 

“Whaa? No! I think it’d be better if our reserve seeker gets some experience.” said Harry, suggested tentatively as he slowly realised he might’ve overstepped here. Angelina was the captain, and he sort of put her on the spot by springing up this suggestion with Fred and George watching.

 

“You’d be comfortable with Ginny playing a game?” Angelina asked, a thoughtful frown on her face.

 

“She has the talent required for the position. Anyway, it was just a suggestion. I think Ginny is good on the broom, that’s all. She handles herself well in the air.” said Harry.

 

“I know. I’ve been hoping to use her as a reserve Chaser you know. I don’t know what you Weasleys are fed, but y’all are turning into a bunch of Quidditch geniuses.”

 

“Not perfect Percy.” Fred reminded.

 

“Brought shame to our family, he did.” George agreed with a serious look that frankly looked comical coming from the chaotic Weasley twins.

 

“Well, I hope your brother Ron inherited enough Quidditch skills somehow because this tryout is all about finding a good keeper.” said Angelina before she took her to leave by rocketing away on her broom to the ground.

 

“Well, I hope Ron does his best. He has been practising a lot at the Burrow.” George said, eyeing Ron, who looked red as a tomato with several keeper hopefuls near the hoops waiting for Angelina.

 

“He’ll get the spot. All he should do is maintain his confidence in the pitch,” said Harry. “I think.” he whispered the last part.

 

After a long practice session in the quidditch pitch, which Angelina insisted was keeper tryouts to the rest of the team, Harry hit straight for the shower. The moment he was out of the shower, he was immediately accosted by Hermione and Neville, who were waiting for him outside the locker room.

 

“You owe us an explanation.” Hermione looked imploringly at him, initially confusing Harry, but then it clicked in his mind.

 

“Oh!” Harry looked between the two before sighing. “All right, what do you two want to know?”

 

“Everything that happened in the Third Task.” said Neville.

 

‘Yeah, right. No way I’m going to incriminate myself to a bunch of teenagers.’ Harry thought.

 

“There is nothing much to tell. The Triwizard Cup was a portkey. It transported me to a graveyard. There was Peter Pettigrew and Voldemort. Voldemort used a ritual to restore himself to a physical body, and we duelled while his death eaters watched. I managed to get out of the graveyard by finding my way to the Triwizard Cup and returned to Hogwarts while the Death eaters got mowed down in the graveyard by some gunner.” Harry summed up the story so fast Hermione and Neville were left gaping at him. “So, that’s it. Now, let’s go.”

 

“Now…just you wait. We need more details.” Hermione ran after him breaking out of her stupor, closely followed by Neville.

 

“Okay. I’m amicable to continue this talk in the kitchen.”

 

“The kitchen?” Neville asked confusedly.

 

“Oh, yes. The house elves are such loyal creatures, you see, and I bought them some gifts for being very kind to me last year.” said Harry.

 

A few minutes later, Harry, Hermione and Neville sat in the Hogwarts kitchen. Harry was nursing a cup of hot chocolate, happily taking a few sips rather greedily. The gifts he had brought the house elves of Hogwarts were a bunch of cookbooks, boxes of chocolates, some magical sanitisers, which Dobby said most house elves loved and finally, painting kits. He never thought the house elves were such enthusiasts when it came to paintings, but he should have seen it coming a mile away. House elves paint most of the magical portraits in the wizarding world. The elves have an innate ability to adequately capture the character of the family members they serve in a wizard’s house, and they can pour out this slice of magic into a portrait to give it life and character. He learned that little tidbit of detail from Kreacher, who was obsessed with keeping the portraits in Grimmauld Place safe and sound. Some wizards also have replicated the process, but they need to be commissioned early, and the process remains to this day challenging and time-consuming.

 

Since the house elves are essentially a bank of secrets when it comes to their serving family, they know everything about their masters better than they know themselves. The task of transferring a wizard’s memory into a portrait was a difficult piece of magic to pull off, but not for a house elf. If Harry were to guess, he suspected the magical portraits in Hogwarts were painted and maintained by the house elves of Hogwarts.

 

So, it was safe to say that the house elves were close to tears when he pulled out the gifts and handed them to the excitable little creatures. He was careful to leave out any clothes lest he accidentally set the elves ‘free’.

 

“It was a nice thing you did, Harry.” said Hermione before muttering to herself about how she didn’t think about doing something nice for the elves.

 

Harry was happy Hermione had yet to take extreme measures like forcibly setting the house elves of Hogwarts free. He like his kitchen privileges too much to let something like that happen, especially when the house elves have a comfortable life in the castle. As far as he knew, no one was here to boss them around in Hogwarts. There was no doubt in his mind the elves were far better off in Hogwarts rather than binding themselves in servitude to wizarding families like the Malfoys.

 

“So… You-Know-Who is back for real?” Neville muttered, bringing down the merry mood in the kitchen.

 

Even the otherwise happy house elves were suddenly silent and gloomy.

 

“Yes.” Harry confirmed.

 

“But why didn’t you say anything, Harry?” Hermione asked tentatively.

 

“Why should I? Dumbledore knew Voldemort had never died a decade back, and he didn’t say anything. He knew when Voldemort tried to steal the Sorcerer’s Stone in our first year. Dumbledore knew all this time, but he was content to keep the public ignorant of the danger. He never did anything to find and destroy Voldemort all these years. He was happily playing his role here at Hogwarts. So why should I be the one to come out and say Voldemort is alive to all of Britain? They’ll declare me mad the next day just like they’re doing to Dumbledore.”

 

“That’s true. The Ministry would’ve made your life difficult, Harry.” Neville said after a moment of silence. “I think you did the right thing. But I don’t think You-Know-Who’ll leave you alone, Harry.”

 

“I know. What’d you think I’m going to do from now on? I’ll be training in all the magical disciplines known to wizardkind and kill that son of a bitch down for good.” said Harry.

 

“Harry! Language.” Hermione jabbed him.

 

“Ow!” Harry directed an angry stare at Hermione, but she ignored it.

 

“I like the sound of that. I’ll help you in any way I can.” Neville said, his brown eyes filled with steely resolve.

 

“Revenge won’t change anything that happened to your families,” Hermione said softly, looking concerned and sympathetic at the same time.

 

“No, it won’t,” Neville whispered. “But we can ensure it won’t happen to more families.”

 

“Well said. The werewolf attack in Godric’s Hollow was a precursor to what is to follow. Voldemort is gathering his old allies, and soon he’ll try his luck in breaking out his most loyal followers from Azkaban.” said Harry, noting out of the corner of his eye the way Neville froze up.

 

“I’m sure Azkaban won’t be easily breached. There are the Dementors and the aurors.” Hermione tried to reassure Neville.

 

“No. Harry’s right. If You-Know…” Neville took a deep breath to gather himself. “If Voldemort wants to break out his loyal Death Eaters, then Azkaban won’t stand a chance. What’re you planning to do, Harry?”

 

“Me? Nothing. At least, not yet. I can only train myself to surpass Voldemort and his cronies. Realistically, that’s what any of us can do right now.” Harry shrugged.

 

“Then that’s what we’ll do.” Neville nodded, as did Hermione.

 

XXXXXX

 

Harry’s footsteps echoed throughout Slytherin’s Chamber. He had often wondered why Salazar Slytherin would leave a Basilisk in his secret chamber. Some of the legends claim Salazar’s monster was supposed to eradicate those he considered impure from Hogwarts. In a sense, the Basilisk tried to do just that at the bidding of Voldemort. But Harry doubted this particular tale. The Basilisk won’t be differentiating those with pureblood from other ‘impure’ students of Hogwarts. Its gaze was a death sentence for purebloods, half-bloods and muggleborns. There were more subtler ways of making sure purebloods alone were allowed to attend the school if that was indeed Slytherin’s intention. For one, Slytherin could have stolen Ravenclaw’s magic quill and registry that finds all magical children born in Britain. It’d have considerably cut down the intake of muggleborns into Hogwarts.

 

To Harry’s mind, his idea would’ve worked far better than the Basilisk, which only ever worked in Tom Riddle’s time, and it only managed to kill one muggleborn. Not what someone would call a stellar record for the supposed secret weapon of Salazar Slytherin.

 

There was another argument that Salazar Slytherin quarrelled with the Founders over the issue of muggleborns. But he left the school after leaving a guardian in his secret Chamber so that whenever the school was in danger, his heir could awaken the beast and defend the school. Now, this version was much more believable as there was sound logic in the thinking. However, Harry didn’t think this tale was also accurate. Most of the battles that happened outside the Hogwarts walls were recorded in great detail as Hogwarts had always triumphed.

 

While Hogwarts had functioned as an educational institution, it had also functioned as a fortress against hostile forces that had cropped up in the wizarding world intent on subjugating the British Isles. In all those recorded battles, not once has the infamous beast of Slytherin, which was supposedly guarding Hogwarts, made its presence known.

 

So, Harry theorised there were only two conclusions he could arrive at after learning all this. Either Slytherin’s descendants never found the Chamber or the Chamber of Salazar Slytherin and the Basilisk in it had another purpose.

 

Two things could be true at the same time. It could be said that Slytherin’s heirs never found the Chamber, and at the same time, Salazar could have created the Chamber and left the Basilisk as the guardian to safeguard the secrets contained in the Chamber.

 

If Slytherin had indeed intended to use the Chamber as a place to protect his secrets, then Harry regretted having the effigy of Slytherin modified. There was nothing he could do now other than restore the original face of Slytherin. But first, he was eager to know what other secrets the Chamber was hiding. So, he made a beeline for the books written in a combination of ancient Celtic languages like Welsh, Branx, Gaelige and Breton. He had only identified these languages with some help from some of the obscure books of the Hogwarts library. There were many other languages that he could not identify, and he doubted he could translate any of them without devoting at least decades of his life. He didn’t have that kind of time to waste, but thankfully fate intervened in the form of Fleur.

 

The all-translate charm Fleur taught him in France was a trump card. The charm could help him read and speak foreign languages so long as there was a source of the language nearby when the charm was cast. Taking a deep breath, Harry envisioned the charm in his mind before tapping the tip of his wand against one of the books in Slytherin’s collection. The tip of his wand glowed white before it changed into pale blue. As he dragged his wand back, he could feel something in the space change. The spell pulled some magic from the book, confirming his theory of the spell’s working. He suspected the spell was pulling the magical residue or memory from the writer's intent imprint in this book.

 

‘I’ve got to learn exactly how something like that is incorporated into a spell. Perhaps a talk with Professor Flitwick and Professor Vector is necessary.’ Harry mused.

 

Harry smiled and pressed his wand against his temple. He closed his eyes as the charm washed over him like a blanket made of silk. When the sensation passed, he opened his eyes and the strange squiggles and symbols in the book were making sense to him. He took the book to his study and began taking notes on his notepad.

 

For once, he was ahead of his immortal grandmother.

 

‘When I find what you want, Perenelle Flamel, I’ll be the one with the upper hand.’ he thought, going back to the task at hand.

 

After all, he didn’t have an iota of time to waste. There was a total of three books and some twenty or so scrolls for Harry to read up and find any clues about the Hallows and their connection to Salazar Slytherin.

 

 

Chapter 60: A wasted Mandrake leaf

“You've gone bonkers if you believe Dumbledore. Nobody sane would trust Dumbledore over the Ministry of Magic. Everyone knows Dumbledore has gone senile.” Seamus argued at the top of his lungs.

“Oh yeah, right. Dumbledore is senile for telling the truth about You-Know-Who while you believe the words of the Ministry that still can’t find the Death Eaters who attacked the Quidditch World Cup final. Sometimes I wonder what’s in your head, Seamus.” Ron snarked.

The two Gryffindors were arguing back and forth at the top of their lungs, and this was the scene Harry walked into.

“Nope. Not getting involved in the lover’s quarrel.” Harry said before turning on his feet and making his escape from the dorm.

A loud guffaw followed his exit from Dean Thomas, who fell on the floor from his bed, laughing his heart out. Harry merely shook his head and summoned his Transfiguration book along with some parchment and quill before he shut the door behind him.

“Hey, Harry. Are you not going to sleep?” Neville asked upon coming across Harry, who was exiting their shared dorm.

“There is a shouting match going on between Ron and Seamus. I thought I’d finish the Transfiguration essay on vanishing spells in the common room before calling it a night.” said Harry.

“That bad, huh?” Neville frowned at the closed door.

“That bad.” Harry nodded.

“Just save a seat for me. I’ll be right back.” said Neville before climbing into the dorm.

Harry fell into an armchair in the common room and sighed in relief. He could feel the tension built up on his back dissipate as the cushioning effect of the magic on the furniture worked its magic on his spine and the muscles nearby.

“Oh, yes. I definitely need more relaxing time.” Harry muttered before opening his Transfiguration text, searching for the chapter on vanishing spells.

Neville shortly joined him, dropping into an adjacent chair carrying a few books and parchment.

“They still going at it?” Harry asked.

“With renewed vigour.” Neville said, both of them sharing a grin.

“So, vanishing spells are of two types…”

Harry and Neville spent the rest of the night concentrating on tackling the essay in the dimensions required by Professor McGonagall. Vanishing spells were not exactly rocket science, but as always, wizards like to overcomplicate simple things. There were two spells that came under the umbrella of vanishing spells. There was one for vanishing small objects like a rock or a pin. Then there was the other spell used for vanishing objects larger in size and mass. The wand movements and incantations were polar opposites making it rather complicated. Considering the whole thing was a giant waste of time when it required no unique wand movements or incantations if you master silent casting, Harry considered the energy and time spent learning the two vanishing spells a giant waste of his time.

Unfortunately, the OWLs test requires all these silly wand-waving stuff and incantations. At least, the practical exams of Charms, DADA, and Transfiguration were supposed to be a little more liberal as the only requirement was the smooth performance of the spells. Harry hoped it was the case because learning all this inane stuff for the written exams was one thing, but if he had to perform this circus in the practicals…

‘I hope that’s not the case.’ he thought.

It’ll be like asking a pilot to fly a plane using the theory of bicycling. In the end, both are modes of transportation, but the scope between the two was not the same.

“Harry!”

“Oh, no. The boss lady is back.” Harry muttered, making Neville shake with laughter.

Putting on a pleasant face, he faced Hermione, hoping to use the excuse that he was working on the Transfiguration essay instead of patrolling the third floor as he was supposed to.

“Did you see this?” Hermione slammed what appeared to be a flyer of some sort on the table they were working on.

Harry exchanged a look with Neville when he saw the familiar-looking flyer that the Weasley twins distributed in the Gryffindor tower. The flyer asked students to take up a part-time job as their guinea pig in return for gold.

“Well…” Harry coughed into his hand, trying to gather himself under Hermione’s scrutiny. “This seems to be one of the Weasley twins’ special brand of pranks.”

“You don’t know anything else about this?” Hermione asked suspiciously, looking between Harry and Neville.

“Why would I?” Harry shrugged innocently. “What would I know about what the twins are up to? They’re not called the chaos twins of Hogwarts for nothing, Hermione.”

Hermione scrutinized him a little more before turning her sights on Neville.

“Well, do you have anything to say, Neville?”

“Me? Nothing. I know nothing.” Neville stuttered out, sweating bullets.

“Hmmph!” Hermione let out a huff before she power-walked her way into the girls’ dorms.

“Now’s the time, Neville. She’ll wring the truth from Parvathi or Lavender. We need to make our escape before she returns.” said Harry, hurriedly packing the books and parchments.

“But Seamus and Ron…” Neville reminded Harry.

“I’ll take them over, Hermione, any time of the day.”

The following day Harry felt like his head was just about ready to explode after the dressing down he received from Hermione. She had rightly found out that he was involved in keeping the side business of the twins away from her hawkish eyes. He had even patted himself on the back by keeping the flyers a secret for a whole week. It was, after all, for a good cause. But all was for nought as Hermione discovered the ploy over the span of a single night.

“You all right there, Harry?” Angelina asked from down the Gryffindor table, looking concerned at his half-dead state at breakfast.

“I think so. My head is killing me, though.” Harry grouched.

“Is that so? Maybe you volunteered to be experimented on by the twins.” Hermione snarked.

“Oh, please drop it, Hermione. How many times do I have to apologize?”

“Not nearly enough, Harry. Who knows what could happen if those two are allowed to test their… merchandise on unsuspecting students.” Hermione fiercely argued.

“But they are not unsuspecting students. The twins made clear the risks involved in helping them out refining their prank items. Not to mention these prospective volunteers are promised suitable compensation for their time.” Harry defended the twins for the umpteenth time, as any good investor should, considering the situation.

He could not afford to have Hermione spill the beans, so to speak, to someone like McGonagall. He certainly didn’t want the news to spill into Umbridge’s ears. While the resident Ministry stooge has so far given him a wide berth, Harry didn’t want to provide the woman with any reasons to go after him. He was thrilled with Umbridge ignoring him and going about her business in Hogwarts. After all, he was pretty busy with a lot of other things that demanded more of his time, like becoming an animagus, for instance.

“It is wrong. The only reason I’m not going to McGonagall with this is that you assured me the twins wouldn’t go through with this stupid plan. And don’t you think I didn’t notice you skipping your patrol duty last night.”

“Oh, come on, Hermione. All the other prefects do this. How else do you think we can find time to finish our assignments, keep up our studies and attend classes every morning?” Harry asked.

“I’ll make a schedule that will not interfere with your prefect duties.” Hermione offered, making Harry groan at the very thought.

Harry was starting to think Dumbledore didn’t assign him the position of prefect to wield some form of power in the school or even as a reaching out to mend broken bridges. He suspected the headmaster wanted him mentally and physically exhausted.

‘I’m turning into a whiny little bitch who always blamed Dumbledore. That is not healthy.’ Harry thought.

XXXXXX

Professor Binns was once again going through his usual lecture, droning on about some Goblin war. It was interesting at first, with some references to battles that were fought between the goblins and wizards. But that interest quickly dissolved when the ghostly professor began droning on about the personal lives of some of the main characters involved. Harry quietly switched his history textbook for the notes he had prepared for his animagus transformation.

The long, arduous process of becoming an animagus would hopefully end today. Tonight was a full moon night, and he hoped to have the mandrake leaf removed that had been sticking to the roof of his mouth for this entire month. If tonight was cloudless, he could remove the mandrake leaf from his mouth and treat it with a nice dose of moonlight. The rest of the ingredients for the animagus potion, like the dew untouched by sunlight and chrysalis of a Death’s-head Hawk Moth, were ready on short notice, safely stored under Sirius’ custody in Grimmauld Place. It would be one exciting night if everything went according to plan.

After History of Magic, Harry, and Hermione were left with two free hours while the rest of his Gryffindor peers suffered their first lesson from Trelawney.

“Good luck Neville. I hope Trelawney’s inner eye is not focused on you this year.” Harry said, as Neville split from their group.

“I don’t know Harry. Maybe she’ll take pity on me and leave me alone since I didn’t become dragon food as she predicted last year.” Neville said his goodbye before hastily following Seamus, Dean, and Ron.

“So, what are we doing?” he asked Hermione since they were free till lunch.

“Well, I have the Transfiguration essay to complete. I guess I’ll be going to the library.” Hermione said, smoothing her skirt and hauling her backpack over her shoulder. “What about you?”

“I’ll join you shortly in the library. You go ahead.” said Harry.

“Where are you going?” she asked curiously.

“Well, I was hoping to have a word with Fred and George if they have a free hour or…” Harry searched for an excuse as Hermione looked on expectantly. Suddenly an idea clicked in his mind.

“…or I was hoping to run into Daphne.” Harry was relieved to see Hermione take his excuse at face value.

“All right. I guess I’ll see you in the library.” Hermione said before taking her leave.

‘All right, Potter. You earned yourself some time. Let’s use it for the cause.’ he muttered before calling on Dobby and teleporting himself into the Chamber with his elfish friend’s aid.

The ‘cause’ as it turns out, was not that intent on making it easy for him.

Harry looked at the immobile snake in the glass prison in suspended animation.

“Did it give any trouble, Dobby?” he asked, walking around the glass prison of Voldemort’s familiar.

“The mean snakey has always been asleep, Harry Potter sir.” Dobby said happily.

That was a relief for Harry. So far, Nagini looked utterly out cold, leaving it open for experimentation. The only trouble he found was the time of feeding the snake. That was when the glass prison was most vulnerable. Nagini was fed using essential nutrients in fluid form, just enough to sustain the snake’s life.

“All right then. Time to get to work.” Harry rubbed his hands together excitedly. “Dobby, open the glass.”

With a snap of Dobby’s finger, the glass prison opened. Harry levitated the snake out of the glass prison and strapped Nagini to a table using a series of charmed metal clamps. The sheer size of the snake made him a little queasy, and the fact that he was dealing with one of the darkest pieces of magic known to wizardkind made him walk around the snake on eggshells. After all, Voldemort intentionally made Nagini a Horcrux. There was no telling what sort of abilities Nagini had besides higher intelligence. The data he collected and his experiences with the Horcruxes suggest that the host containers facilitate some kind of perk for the soul shard, which acts as a defence mechanism. For the diary, it was the ability to absorb magic and life force. Slytherin’s locket tries to prey on fear, while Ravenclaw’s diadem offers wisdom and knowledge to lead the host into a trap of some sort.

Anyhow, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Therefore, Harry used some sensory deprivation charms on the snake to ensure the Horcrux could not act out against him with full force. After confirming the snake was covered with all the security charms in his repository, Harry went forward with the spell that facilitates the splitting of the soul in the Horcrux ritual. From the notes he unearthed in the Chamber and the books he took from the Black Library, the Horcrux process was not so cut and dry as killing someone and then splitting the soul. There was a ritual involved that opened the soul for tearing away a soul fragment before the murder was committed. Another interesting fact was that the Killing curse had to be used for the murder. It was the only way to create a fissure in the soul. He wondered why another spell, like a powerful cutting curse, would not work as a substitute for the Killing curse.

“Anima rescindo.”

Harry drew a small circle with his wand on the snake’s skin in the anti-clockwise direction and pulled. He could feel his magic latching onto something initially, but whatever it was didn’t seem to like what he was doing. The magic in his spell was abruptly cut off as if there was nothing to be plucked using the spell.

“Hmm.”

Harry took his notepad and wrote down what he felt on his first attempt at the spell and the intent he used behind the spell. It was his logbook for this experiment, and he wanted all details recorded for future reference. Setting the logbook down, Harry looked at the massive form of the sleeping snake.

‘That’s the first attempt. Here goes the second.’ he thought, using the spell repeatedly with little result.

In the end, he had to call it off after successive failures, and he was cutting it close to the lunch break.

The failure was not surprising. After all, Harry was expecting something along the lines when he decided to go through with the attempt. It was not as if he was expecting success on the first try. The chances of failure were glaring, considering there was no recorded event of anyone attempting to remove a Horcrux from a sentient being in the long history of wizardkind. That thought brought him to a halt as Harry realized one crucial element he was missing while using the spell. He realized that the soul-splitting spell was not actually designed to pull out a soul shard after making a Horcrux. As intent, wording, and wand action does matter, there was a considerable chance that the sentience of magic recognizes the spell as something to be used on Horcrux creation, not for pulling a soul out of a Horcrux.

‘I need to deconstruct the spell to its basic form and reconstruct a new spell to work specifically for removing a soul shard from its container.’ he thought.

In hindsight, he should’ve seen this coming, especially after he found out the reason why most cultures insisted on using Latin words and silly gestures with wands. The magical energy prevalent in the world was sentient to a certain extent. This sentience implies that magic has some form of arbitrary memory it draws on to engage with the broader world.

In simple terms, magic held a long memory, and every spell was remembered by magic for producing certain results. The ICW, in a bid to organize the magic of the world into one conscious entity, suggested the use of one language above all for constructing spells so that they could judge their legality cross-culturally. He was not exactly sure about the ICW’s involvement because it could be said that magic pushed wizardkind into one umbrella so that magic as an entity would not be constrained by language barriers. After all, words take on different meanings in different languages. Having one single language for spells universally used for spell crafting made it easy to use cross-culturally and streamline it for the magic to encapsulate the intent behind the spell. This was also one of the reasons that wizarding schools across the globe focused on verbal spells from an early age, as it helped to streamline the intent and imagination behind the spell.

Otherwise, magic would happen in a wild and crude manner, much like accidental magic.

“Looks like one more additional project just fell into my lap. I need to create a spell to pull out the soul shard from a Horcrux. Yay! Lucky me.” Harry muttered, rubbing his eyes tiredly before taking his leave from the Chamber.

The rest of the day was thankfully not a drag as his morning turned out to be. The afternoon classes were thankfully Arithmancy which was turning out to be his favourite class thanks to Professor Vector’s engaging way of teaching by giving the class small assignments. There were no page-long essays in Arithmancy, only small arithmetic codes and keys used in designing spells and wards. The OWL year curriculum of Arithmancy focused heavily on combination keys used in some of the most popular charms, like the summoning charm. The most challenging portion of the OWLs exam, according to Professor Vector, was the Arithmetic framework commonly used for wards.

Anyway, he was just happy to end the day without any assignments that would consume too much of his time during the night. After an hour of Quidditch practice, where once again Angelina was drilling them nonstop to find a worthy keeper for the team, Harry was back in Hogwarts with more patrol duties. Of course, he once again escaped the patrol duty halfway in preparation for the first significant step in brewing the animagus potion. Everything was prepared beforehand, and he was quite giddy at the prospect of starting his journey to becoming an animagus.

So, when the time came as the night settled in, all of Harry’s hopes lay crushed into fine dust. Out of nowhere, the night sky was covered in rain clouds, and he could not see an ounce of moonlight on what was supposed to be a full moon night. He waited as long as he could, but the moon remained elusive throughout the night. When Harry finally turned in for the night, he was not carrying the Mandrake leaf in his mouth, nor was he pleased about the prospect of once again starting over with the Mandrake leaf from the next day till the next full moon.

‘Now, I understand why Sirius said the need for a lot of patience for this to work.’ he thought morosely as he lay in bed with his eyes trained on the night sky.

On a more positive note, he did have another ritual he could try out, thanks to Riddle’s notes in the Chamber. He had secured all the ingredients needed beforehand during the summer vacations, but one more crucial ingredient was needed. Fortunately, Hogwarts was rampant with that particular ingredient, but it would not be easy to acquire.

‘I’ll worry about that tomorrow.’ Harry thought before closing his eyes and slipping into sleep.

 

Chapter 61: Love or power?

Fleur tried to suppress her giggle as she saw William Weasley standing alone in a muggle cemetery even after the sky had turned dark. She shook her head and leaned back against the wall by the window side of a bell tower.

“He is quite persistent, isn’t he?” Tonks chuckled, eyeing the elder Weasley brother from a good vantage point.

“You were the one who told me he’d leave me alone.” said Fleur.

“My mistake. I think this will settle things for William. After tonight, I doubt William will bother you again with job offers in Gringotts or inviting you to dinner.” Tonks said confidently.

Fleur hoped this was the case. While she was flattered by the lengths to which William Weasley was trying to get a date, she found it creepy, especially after she repeatedly turned down the redhead wizard.

“Oh, look. It is starting.” Tonks excitedly said, immediately using a pair of Omnioculars to track better what was going on down in the cemetery.

Fleur did the same as she brandished her own pair of Omnioculars she received from Harry when they went on a date during the summer to watch a Quidditch game. She looked through the Omnioculars and nearly dissolved into a fit of giggles. She had to clamp down hard on the urge as she watched Winky, dressed in a tiny pink flowery summer dress and a pink straw hat, carry a square cardboard box wrapped in bright pink paper towards William Weasley. When Weasley took the box, Winky quietly escaped, leaving William looking around the cemetery like a scared child.

Fleur exchanged a smile with Tonks before going back to watching what was coming next. Just as William Weasley opened the box, a red-gloved hand delivered a swift full punch straight on the nose, which took the redhead wizard off his feet. Fleur and Tonks broke into peals of laughter as William Weasley landed on his back, groaning in pain, holding his bright red nose.

But it was not over.

The red-gloved hand turned into a flock of birds and began attacking the downed Weasley. The redhead wizard screamed like a little girl seeing a ghost and tried to take out his wand, but one of the birds captured the wand in its talons and flew away.

“No!” William screamed, somehow managing to climb to his feet, holding his bleeding nose and chasing after the bird, only to stumble on a grave and fall face-first into the ground with the birds once again surrounding the wizard and making quick work of him.

Fleur was holding her stomach as she laughed heartily at the scene down below. This was far more fun than she imagined when Tonks first floated the plan after she complained William was once again bothering her.

“Thank you, Nym. The drinks are on me.” said Fleur, hugging her best friend in Britain.

“Yay!” Tonks let out a whoop of joy before they apparated away from the muggle cemetery.

An hour later, Fleur stumbled into her apartment with Tonks, who was giggling spontaneously while wobbling on her feet.

“Ow!” Tonks cried as her head struck the door as Fleur tried to close it behind her.

“Oops! Sorry.” Fleur winced, seeing a small red cut on Tonks’s forehead. “Let me take care of that.”

Fleur immediately helped her friend to a couch and pressed the tip of her wand against the Metamorphmagus’ head using a simple healing charm. The skin knitted itself back together hastily, leaving no sign of the wound.

“There. As good as new.” said Fleur, patting Tonks on her head.

She giggled when Tonks’ hair turned neon pink with a few yellow streaks. She had to admit she was a little jealous of Tonks’ shape-shifting ability. It’d have been quite comfortable if she could change the colour of her hair whenever she wished. She could adjust her height or even her nails if she so desired. Maybe longer eyelashes could’ve also been an option for her if she was gifted like Tonks.

Her musings were cut short when she felt the long smooth fingers of Tonks trace a fine line over her right cheek.

“You know… you are so beautiful. It’s like seeing a fairy.” Tonks said, her words slurred a bit towards the end thanks to the amount of whisky the older witch consumed that night. “Are you a fairy?”

“Umm… no, I’m not a fairy. I’m Fleur.” she said, rolling her eyes at the attitude of Tonks.

It was so British of the older witch to drink well beyond her limits and simply incapable of holding herself together. She had to pull Tonks out of the muggle bar they hit off right after the prank because Tonks was losing her control over her shape-shifting ability.

“Come on. Let’s get you into bed.” Fleur stood up and tried to pull Tonks to her feet.

But the older witch had other plans.

Fleur was pulled onto the couch right over Tonks, who smashed her lips against hers in quick order to give her a wet sloppy kiss. For a moment, Fleur was so shocked she just sat there like a petrified Unicorn. When she finally came out of the shock, Tonks gasped and pulled back, looking mortified.

“I… umm… It was…” Tonks searched for words, her eyes darting around the room, too embarrassed to look at Fleur.

“Well, I suppose I can cross that off my bucket list.” Fleur shrugged.

“You… you’re okay with it. You’re not mad?” Tonks asked, looking thoroughly surprised and with a hint of relief on her face.

“I admit I was a little taken back at first, but…” Fleur shrugged, “It was enjoyable.”

“Oh!” Tonks looked thoughtful for a moment before pulling Fleur down with her onto the couch, once again smashing her lips against hers.

This time it was not just their lips that were engaged but their limbs as well. They fell on the floor in a tangle of limbs, tearing away each other’s clothes while their lips were engaged in a heated battle. Fleur could feel her grip on the allure slacken just as she could see Nym’s hair cycle through colours at a fast pace.

“Mhmm.” Fleur groaned as Tonks pulled back slightly and began leaving a trail of kisses from her lips to her neck.

She belatedly realised this night she wouldn’t be alone in her bed.

The following day, Fleur slowly blinked awake. She was surprisingly in her bed underneath a warm sheet. She tried to stretch herself in the bed, and that was when she noticed an unfamiliar weight that was on her body. She slowly parted the bedcover to see a Nym sleeping soundly, using her upper body as a pillow.

“Oh! That happened.” Fleur muttered, noting that they were stark naked under the cover.

The memories of last night came back, even if most of her memories were hazy and lacking much detail.

“Nym. You need to wake up.” Fleur shook Tonks, trying to wake her.

“Just a little more.” Tonks groaned and snuggled herself closer to Fleur, which garnered certain interesting reactions from her body.

“Tonks!” Fleur yelled a little more forcefully while shaking her again.

Tonks was wide awake now and looked around in panic. When Tonks’ onyx eyes settled on her, she could see the light of realisation enter Tonks’ eyes.

“So… that happened, huh.” Tonks said awkwardly, trying in vain to cover her body with the edge of the bedcover.

Fleur slowly sat up, not at all minding the way the covers slipped down her body, giving an eyeful to Tonks. Going by the appreciative eyes that were raking over her body, she was sure Tonks appreciated the gesture.

“Yes. That happened.” Fleur giggled.

“So… what will we do now?” Tonks asked, shamelessly eyeing Fleur’s nubile body.

Fleur thought for a bit before reaching forward and pulling the sheet that was covering Tonks’ body, making the older witch let out an embarrassed squeak.

“Now, we continue where we left off last night.” said Fleur before jumping on Tonks and kissing her soundly on the lips.

They didn’t leave the bed for quite a while, and when they did, they continued to enjoy each other in the shower as well before they went their separate ways. What they didn’t realise, however, was there was another pair of eyes watching all that happened in Fleur’s apartment.

XXXXXXX

“Thank you for informing me, Winky.” Harry patted the little elf appreciatively on the shoulder.

“Should Winky have the bad auror chased away from Mistress Fleur’s home, Master Harry?” Winky asked, her big green eyes holding an edge in them that was lacking when she first came into his service.

It was to be expected, of course. Winky had mowed down a handful of Death Eaters like wheat in the field just two months back. That experience would not get wiped away so soon, especially since they pulled off that stunt with none the wiser.

“No. Nothing of that sort is needed, Winky. Fleur is…” Harry pursed his lips for a moment before sighing, “Fleur is entitled to live her life as she sees fit.”

“If there is nothing else, you may leave.”

He went back to going over the scroll he was reading while Winky teleported away with the customary popping sound. Letting out a sigh, he took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He found himself a bit confused at the moment. He was sort of expecting Fleur would get tired of their arrangement at some point, but he didn’t expect it to happen so soon and with Tonks of all people. Taking a deep breath, he forcibly expunged all emotions from his mind slowly and carefully. He regulated his breathing for nearly half an hour and just submerged in occluding his mind from everything around him.

When he finally came out of the exercise, he was much calmer and collected, enabling him to approach the recent development with a fresh perspective. He thought from Fleur’s perspective and saw the damage he could inflict on her should she continue their current arrangement. He realised that his selfishness would only hurt her sooner or later.

However, there was one more option.

He could let go of his ambitions of accumulating vast political power in the short term and focus on living a comparatively mundane life. He could focus on starting a business and not bother with politics too much, which would free him up to focus on his relationship with Fleur. He was confident he could restore the relationship with Fleur even now. He’d have to publicly declare their relationship, and he could apologise to Fleur for the position he put her, no matter her initial blessings.

So, two options stood before him.

Love or Power. Fleur or Daphne. An unimpressive life of obscurity or the cutthroat dance of politics that’d pit him against an endless wave of enemies.

If he was to choose love, then he knew where he’d end up in a few years. He’d start a business of his own, invest in a few businesses along the way, marry and then have children. He’d only have to worry about the usual family drama that plagues most people, provided he survives Voldemort and his pack of sycophants. But if he were to pursue power…

Harry found the scope of that future with endless possibilities. He could fail spectacularly, but if he were to scale the mountain and reach the peak of political power in Britain alone, the possibilities were immense. He could rise to great heights, far greater than any wizard had dared to tread. But such ambition always comes at a price. The 'price' in this particular context was the sacrifice of any notion of normalcy or even an illusion of normal life in his future.

His eyes strayed to the scroll on his table, and his mind went to the secrets of Salazar Slytherin. He had only scratched the surface, but what he unearthed so far in this Chamber was more than his petty life or even the entire wizarding Britain could ever amount to.

“Power it is, then. Love is for children.” Harry muttered, going back to reading the scroll and putting other issues out of his mind.

XXXXXXX

“Sorry for not visiting you sooner, Hedwig.” Harry muttered, stroking Hedwig’s feathers as she picked on the treats he brought for her.

The owl gave him a searching look before turning up its beak in a snotty manner and focusing on the treats.

“What is this? The silent treatment? You could come to the Great Hall and say hello instead of hanging around here with your…” Harry looked around the tower and sighed. “…owlish friends. Even as I speak, I realise how lame I’m sounding, so I’ll just shut up.”

“Yeah, you do that, Harry.”

A new voice chirped, making him nearly jump. When he turned around with wand in hand, he was faced with the unimpressed stare of one Astoria Greengrass.

“Oh, it's you.” Harry sighed in relief.

“What does that mean?” Astoria scrunched up her nose, and her eyes narrowed at him.

“I mean… um…”

A sharp kick on his shin made him scream and hold his leg in pain.

“What the fuck was that for?” he cried, holding his leg as pain flared up right below the knee of his right leg.

When he saw Astoria was about to execute another deathly kick on his one good leg, he put up an honest-to-good shield, silently making the young Slytherin witch halt.

“Oh! A shield charm this fast and silently too.” Astoria looked impressed.

Then she looked at him amusedly. “Don’t you know magic should not be used outside the classroom, Harry? A prefect ought to know better.”

“Would you prefer that I defend myself by punching you unconscious? Just give the word. I’ll gladly knock you out.” Harry sniped, rubbing his poor leg that had got pulverised by what appeared to be a dragonhide boot.

“You won’t. Your reputation as a good white knight will get tarnished if word spreads that you beat up a girl.” Astoria smirked at him, her blue eyes alight with victory.

“Hmm. I respectfully disagree. Who’d believe the story concocted by a budding evil Slytherin like you?” Harry smugly pointed out, snuffing out the smile from Astoria’s face.

“Drat.” Astoria muttered.

He smiled indulgently. ‘Harry -1, Astoria -0’

“So, what brings you here?”

“What else?” she looked at him as if he was mentally challenged to ask such a silly question. “I’m here for my owl.”

Harry got the urge to pinch the girl on her ear for the sass, but he reined in that urge. Daphne had often told him Astoria tends to be an annoying firecracker that refuses to settle down once she gets in a mood.

“All right. I’ll just leave you to it.” Harry said, cancelling the shield charm and continued petting Hedwig, who looked strangely satisfied for some reason.

“Osiris. Come down here. I’ve got a letter for you.” Astoria yelled.

“You named your owl Osiris?” Harry asked amusedly.

“Yeah. What’s your owl’s name?” Astoria challenged, making him shut up immediately.

‘Harry -1, Astoria -1’ he thought morosely.

“So, Harry. Who’s going to be Gryffindor’s keeper?” Astoria suddenly asked out of the blue.

Harry looked at the younger Greengrass curiously. “What is it to you?”

“Just curious. It’s well-known Gryffindor is searching for a keeper. So, who is it?”

“I don’t discuss the strategies of the Gryffindor quidditch team with outsiders.” said Harry.

Astoria looked at him funnily before saying, “You have no clue, huh.”

Harry didn’t respond to that statement, although Astoria was spot on. He had no idea who Angelina would go for at this point. All their quidditch practice sessions as of late had been ‘keeper trials’ as she called it.

“You know, I hope you guys find that keeper real fast. I’d hate it if Slytherin ends up winning the Quidditch cup.” said Astoria.

“Why wouldn’t you want your House to win the cup?” Harry asked suspiciously.

“Ever since Malfoy got into the team, he decides everything, no matter who ends up being the captain. I had hoped to get into the team, but Malfoy didn’t even allow me into the tryouts, thanks to you.”

“Me?” Harry asked with raised eyebrows.

“You are courting my sister, are you not?” she asked as a matter of factly.

“I see.” he muttered, eyeing the girl.

“Don’t pity me, Harry,” Astoria said.

“I’m not. I’m just wondering why you’d lie. Cause I happen to know you dislike Quidditch.”

He saw the way Astoria froze, confirming the young witch was just pulling his leg.

“Darn.”

He heard her mutter under her breath.

“I suppose you’ve some grudge against Malfoy, and you want me to beat him up, right?”

“Well…” Astoria shrugged her shoulders. “It’d have been nice if you did that for me.”

“Tell that to your sister or learn a few good jinxes if you are itching to see Malfoy suffer.” Harry suggested.

“Will you teach me then? I’ll be a good and dutiful student.” Astoria said, looking at him with wide doe eyes.

“Yeah, right.” Harry scoffed, walking away from the tower.

“Wait! I’ll be a good student. I promise.” Astoria followed him out of the owlery.

“Uh-huh.”

“Oh, come on, Harry. What can go wrong? Besides, that horrible woman cannot teach us even a colour-changing charm if she tried.”

“Find someone else to play your games, little Greengrass.” Harry shot back as he made his escape.

Somehow, he managed to evade the Slytherin witch only to run headfirst into Daphne as he rushed to tune into a corridor

“Ow!” Daphne cried, holding her forehead.

She nearly fell, but he caught her arm and pulled her against him, catching her by her waist.

“Phew. You nearly fell.” Harry said, helping Daphne steady herself.

“Nearly fell? You nearly killed me.” Daphne frowned, “Why were you running like that? Filch, or is it Peeves?”

“Oh, no. This is much worse. Your sister.”

“That’s not good.” Daphne mumbled, looking over his shoulder. “Where is the little devil?”

“On her way.” Harry mumbled as he could hear footsteps closing in on their position.

Harry quickly pulled himself and Daphne against the opposite wall and covered themselves under his invisibility cloak.

“What are you…?” Daphne began to ask, but he covered her mouth with his hand cutting her off.

He adjusted the cloak a little bit so that their feet were not left open to be seen. They stayed inside the cloak, looking into each other’s eyes, clamping down on even their breathing. Just a moment later, Astoria came running into the corridor.

“Drat.” Astoria pouted, seeing an empty corridor.

Thankfully, she didn’t wait for long and ran away, possibly chasing after Harry.

“Well, that was a close… mphh.” Harry was cut off midsentence thanks to Daphne’s lips smashing into his.

“Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.” she said hastily once they pulled back, Daphne’s cheeks flushed red like a tomato.

“Oh, don’t stop now.” said Harry, pulling her against him and kissing her soundly.

He made a choice, and he was sticking with it to the end. The only thing left to do was to mitigate any fallout that could happen. If he was lucky and were to plan ahead accordingly, there might not be any fallout. But first, he had to speak with Fleur and see how much she shared with Tonks. After all, Fleur knew some of his secrets that most people don’t. He’d have to plug those gaps before anything untoward happens.

Chapter 62: A ghostly ritual

Voldemort was worried, and rightly so. He misplaced one of his Horcruxes. Never in the past he’d have thought something like this was possible. And yet, he had most assuredly lost Nagini. The worst thing was he was unsure whether Nagini was captured, dead, or absconding.

There was, however, a much more dangerous possibility.

The piece of his soul inside Nagini could’ve decided to take complete control over his familiar and make a run for it. All his other Horcruxes were inanimate objects, and therefore he could control the behaviour of those Horcruxes. Nagini, on the other hand, was a fiercely intelligent creature. There was no telling how much influence his soul could exert over a creature like Nagini. There was even a distinct possibility that his soul could’ve assimilated Nagini’s soul and magic to strengthen itself.

The nature of a Horcrux was such that it stood in defiance against all natural laws. Since Nagini was the first sentient Horcrux to have existed, it was unknown how far it could change from its fundamental state.

‘I should not have created a Horcrux in my reduced state.’ Voldemort thought as he overlooked the graveyard.

Abandoning the search for now, he looked towards the Gaunt shack. His body suddenly became black smoke as he took on his spectral form and flew towards the Gaunt shack. He easily bypassed the obstacles of overgrown trees and other creepers surrounding his mother’s old home. As his feet touched the ground, he could feel his enchantments activate. Small metallic snakes began to crawl out from the soil, their silver bodies gleaming under the moonlight.

“Stop.”

Voldemort hissed in Parseltongue. The snakes paused and eyed him warily, waiting for the next order.

“Return to your posts and guard my treasure.”

He moved forward unchallenged while the guardians of his Horcrux crawled back deep into the soil. The wards and enchantments he tethered to the shack welcomed him. It was comforting to know that his protections were left untouched, which means his source of immortality remains intact even after all these years.

‘Perhaps, I misjudged Dumbledore as an adversary. The Headmaster remains ignorant of the Horcruxes even after thirteen years.’ he mused.

Voldemort flicked his yew wand making the floorboards move aside, and a small wooden box floated up towards him. Slowly, the box opened, and he saw the Gaunt ring. It was his inheritance, the last piece of worthwhile heirloom the House of Gaunt possessed. There was nothing else to the name of House Gaunt other than this rundown shack which was worthless in his eyes.

Letting out a scoff, he set his Horcrux back in its place before apparating away to Malfoy manor.

His trusted Death Eaters were waiting for his arrival, gathered at the base of his throne. There was Lucius, Severus, and many lower-tier Death Eaters like David Mcnair, Amycus Carrow, and Alecto Carrow. He lamented at the fact that he only had three competent Death Eaters in his service. Out of which, Lucius was the only one that had so far been of any significant use. Severus was useful in keeping tabs on Dumbledore, but the old man was, as usual, barely making any moves that threatened him. Seriously, he wondered what was going through Dumbledore’s head when the man sent emissaries to the Giants, werewolves, and vampire clans. It was not like these creatures were ever going to stay out of the opportunity that he offered to spread carnage.

Then there was Evan Rosier, who had kept his activities a secret. Evan worked better in the shadows anyway, and he didn’t want word of Evan’s survival reaching the Ministry’s or Dumbledore’s ears. The rest of the Death Eaters were useless in his eyes. Perhaps, they’d be useful once he gained a grip on the Ministry and a favourable position in the war that was about to come. Until then, their use remained in raising the gold he needed to keep the werewolves happy.

“Lucius, you start. What news do you have for us from the Ministry?” he asked, his red eyes boring into the grey eyes of the blonde-haired wizard.

“Everything is proceeding as planned. The DMLE is kept engaged by pursuing the werewolves across the countryside. I’ve made sure they go after the werewolves from the list Greyback gave us. It should cut down the naysayers among the werewolves and increase the strength of our werewolf allies.”

“Good. I’m not ignorant of your concerns Lucius. Greyback is growing too strong using our generosity. I shall look into an alternative to Greyback should the beast become too bothersome to our goals. For now, we must use the beast on our enemies.” said Voldemort, knowing well that Greyback could become a costly mistake if he were not careful.

“Thank you, my lord. I’ve discreetly inquired about the orb that has caught your interest.” Lucius tentatively said.

“Oh!” Voldemort sat up in interest, steepling his fingers. “Do go on.”

“Unfortunately, the Unspeakables won’t allow anyone from outside their order to gain access to their department. Perhaps, if we had Rookwood amongst us, we could’ve been more successful, my lord.” Lucius reported.

Voldemort was disappointed that it wouldn’t be easy to gain access to the Prophecy. He needed to know the rest of the Prophecy if he were to move against Potter. He could not afford to face Potter without full knowledge of the Prophecy. For too many times, the Potter boy had escaped him, and he had to know what made the boy special. The clue must be in the Prophecy, and if he could find the clue, he could easily defeat his nemesis and end the threat to his power before the boy grows too powerful.

But Lucius was right. Having Rookwood would undoubtedly gain further insight into the inner workings of the Department of Mysteries and the Unspeakables that work in that obscure department of the Ministry of Magic.

“My lord. I’ve got an idea to secure the orb. I do not know whether it’ll be successful, but if I have your blessing, then I’ll make an attempt on the orb.” said Lucius.

Voldemort eyed Lucius for a moment before slowly nodding.

“Make sure you are not directly involved, Lucius. I’d hate for you to incur the wrath of the Unspeakables or even get exposed before the Ministry at this juncture.”

“I shall be conscientious, my lord.” Lucius bowed.

Voldemort nodded before setting his eyes on his spy in Dumbledore’s camp.

“What do you have to report, Severus?” he asked imperiously.

“Dumbledore is gathering more allies as we speak. He is approaching old pureblood families and beseeching them to be on guard against your influence.” Snape reported.

“Hmm.” Voldemort hummed, looking thoughtful.

The death of his chief Death Eaters had indeed depleted his following. It didn’t help that most of the extended families of the Death Eaters blamed him for the death of their family members in the graveyard. Combined with Dumbledore’s outreach to many of the old families in recent months, had left him with few supporters in the Wizengamot. Even the Notts have gone into hiding, and they were one of his oldest supporters.

‘No matter. They’ll all come crawling back once my most loyal Death Eaters are released from Azkaban.’ he mused.

“What about Potter? Has Dumbledore started training the Potter boy to face me in battle?” Voldemort asked, a bit excited at the prospect of crossing wands with his main nemesis on the battlefield.

“No, my lord.” Snape answered.

“What do you mean no? Why would Dumbledore not train Harry Potter?” Voldemort asked with a frown.

“Now that you’ve regained your full-fledged form, Dumbledore fears the Potter boy is vulnerable to your mind arts.”

Snape’s answer only confused Voldemort further. Why would Dumbledore believe so? It was not as if he could reach Harry Potter and use mind arts on the boy. The boy was far away from him, enjoying the safety of Hogwarts.

“Explain.” he commanded.

“The Potter boy claimed his scar flared up in pain whenever you were close to the boy in his first year. Dumbledore believes a magical connection was formed after your curse rebounded, my lord. He thinks your mind is connected to Potter, and he fears his proximity to Potter might function as a trigger and lets you gain access to Potter’s mind.”

Voldemort was very much confused and giddy at the same time. He was not exactly sure whether there was any connection between his mind to Harry Potter’s mind. If there was a connection, as Snape suggested, then he was bound to notice it earlier. If this connection was real, then he could go about using it to his advantage.

‘I need to explore all possibilities.’

XXXXXX

Harry found himself attending the first project meeting of Ancient Runes. He ended up getting paired with Daphne, but that was Professor Babbling’s choice, while Hermione ended up getting paired with Tracey. He got the feeling Professor Babbling purposefully paired him with Daphne specifically to curb his more ambitious projects from coming to fruition.

“No, we won’t be doing anything that has to do with muggles and their strange trinkets.” Daphne put her foot down on his idea to develop a runic array that could potentially shield muggle electronics from getting fried in a dense magical environment.

“Oh, come on. It’ll be fun.”

“No, it’ll not be fun. Have you given it no thought, Harry? You’d be breaking one of the provisions of the Statute of Secrecy. Wizards and witches are not allowed to magically charm any objects of muggle origin. They are heavily regulated by the Ministry of Magic.” Daphne pointed out, looking at him as if he had lost his mind.

“Well…” Harry rubbed the back of his neck a bit embarrassedly.

“You didn’t even think about it, did you?” Daphne asked, rolling her eyes. “And to think I thought you were smart and not an unthinking Gryffindor.”

“Hey!”

They bounced back ideas back and forth for the rest of the hour and came up with a list of ideas they thought were worthy enough to pursue. Simply coming up with the idea was not enough for their project to get approved by Professor Babbling. They had to do some research and present the concept before Professor Babbling in coherent and sensible language. If the Professor was not convinced they were not prepared to take on the task, she reserves the right to reject their idea, and then they would be back to square one. It took them three days of constant brainstorming to come up with an idea both of them could stand by. They even had a backup idea if the first one failed to meet the approval of Professor Babbling.

And that was how they ended up before the scrutinizing stare of their Ancient Runes Professor. Their professor eyed them both doubtfully.

“Are you sure you two can construct a runic chain that can absorb memories and display them mid-air?”

“We can.” Harry said confidently.

“What about you Miss Greengrass? Keep in mind Potter already completed what constitutes for project work last year. I merely assigned him to you so that I won’t have to create a three-person project team. If this project work fails, it’ll affect your OWL grade alone.” Professor Babbling warned, making Daphne squirm.

“I understand. I’d like to proceed with the project Professor.” Daphne said.

“All right then.” Professor Babbling nodded, taking the piece of parchment they gave her and putting her signature on it, giving her approval of the project. “You two will have to present your findings six months from now. It’ll be a preliminary assessment. If I’m not convinced of your progress, I’ll cancel your project, and you two will have to start from the beginning. Am I understood?”

“Yes, Professor.” they chorused.

“A month before your OWL exam starts, I’ll ask for you to submit the project in its entirety. Whether you finished your project or not is irrelevant at that time. I’ll ask for your project, and you’ll submit it without fail, as I’ll allow no concession on the submission date.” Professor Babbling said, looking far more serious than she usually appeared.

“We understand, Professor.” Daphne said, a bead of a wet forming on her forehead as she squirmed under the stare of Professor Babbling.

“Good. Tomorrow evening, I’ll give you a list of books that you’ll find useful for your project. If there is nothing else, you may leave.”

Harry and Daphne came out of Professor Babbling’s office only to see Professor Umbridge coming their way.

“Mr Potter, Miss Greengrass. What are you doing here?” Umbridge asked in a sickly-sweet voice that came off as patronising more than anything else.

“We were attending a review meeting for our Ancient Runes project with Professor Babbling.” said Harry, in an even tone.

“And you have a note to prove Professor Babbling granting you permission to walk freely during school hours?” Umbridge flashed them a simpering smile.

“This is our free hour Professor.” said Daphne, but the Ministry stooge just smiled at Daphne indulgently.

“Of course, dear. It seems there is a lot of free time for students when they should be attending classes.” Umbridge mused aloud.

Harry got the urge to laugh at the pink toad’s face or even just smash the idiot woman’s teeth in. He knew it was irrational to hate Umbridge since the woman had so far avoided him, which he was only too happy to reciprocate. He wondered whether Umbridge was just looking for a confrontation after studying the general ambience of Hogwarts. An absentee Headmaster and an increasingly divided student populace of Hogwarts was a thriving environment for a snollygoster like Umbridge.

"Professor Umbridge. Is there a problem?" Professor Babbling suddenly asked, appearing behind Harry and Daphne as if summoned.

Harry and Daphne quietly excused themselves as the two Hogwarts professors made chit-chat in the middle of the hallway.

“I don’t like that insufferable woman. She is just too creepy.” said Daphne once they were out of earshot of the two professors.

“What else is new?” Harry muttered.

Harry suddenly paused, forcing Daphne to stop walking.

“What? Did you forget something?” she asked with a frown.

“No.” Harry eyed the corridor where he just saw Helena Ravenclaw floating away in her ghostly form.

Seeing the ghostly form of Rowena Ravenclaw’s daughter gave him an idea to make it less complicated for the ritual he was planning to perform this week.

“Daphne, you just go ahead. I’ll be right back.”

“No, wait!  Harry, where are you going?” Daphne called out after him as he ran after the ghost of Ravenclaw's daughter.

“I’ll explain later. Trust me. You go ahead to the library. I’ll be right back.” he yelled back as he chased after Helena Ravenclaw.

No matter the speed his legs could manifest, he was no match for the ease at which the ghost of Ravenclaw’s daughter glided through the many halls of Hogwarts. To make matters worse, the moving stairs of Hogwarts decided to dump him on the third floor when he was supposed to go to the fifth floor. He was out of breath and sweating a river, but he was unable to catch up with Helena Ravenclaw.

“Hey, Harry.”

He nearly jumped at the sudden voice coming from nowhere. When he found the owner of the voice, it turned out to be none other than Luna Lovegood.

“Luna.” Harry gasped. “You startled me. What’re you doing here?”

“Oh me? I was just looking for some Nargles.” Luna said airily before pulling down the purple-colored glasses on her face, which were somehow tucked inside her sandy blonde hair. “And I’ve found them. You seem to be carrying around a lot of Nargles on you, Harry.”

Harry cracked out a laugh as some of the tension that was built up vented out, leaving him a bit more composed.

“These Nargles… What exactly do they do to ya?” Harry raised an eyebrow curiously.

“Oh, they prey on unsuspecting minds and create discord, Harry. The only way to ward them off is with this…” Luna touched her Butterbeer cork necklace and showed it off to Harry.

“I see.” he said, nodding slowly.

“So, you were running after Helena. Why do you want to meet her, Harry?” Luna asked, tilting her head to the side and looking at him curiously with her pale blue eyes.

“You saw her?” he asked, startled.

“I may have.” Luna said, shrugging her shoulders.

“Can you lead me to her?” he asked politely.

“I suppose. If I don’t help you, the Nargles will make short work of you, Harry.” said Luna before happily skipping away with a spring in her steps.

Harry shook his head and trailed after his Ravenclaw friend. Along the way, Luna explained to him in detail the dangers of getting exposed to Nargles for a long time. She even gifted him a spare Butterbeer cork necklace she kept as a backup. He didn’t have the heart to deny the gift from Luna. So, he took it promising to himself that he’d add Luna to his list of important friends worthy of getting a gift from him on the Winter Solstice. They walked quite a lot in the castle, but Luna kept her promise and found Helena Ravenclaw for him. The long-dead daughter of the infamous Rowena Ravenclaw was looking down at the Hogwarts grounds from a tower close to the Ravenclaw dorms.

“Helena, Harry has something to ask of you.” said Luna in a blunt manner which made Harry fear Helena would find it offensive.

Thankfully, the Ravenclaw ghost merely turned around and looked at him coldly.

“I’ll leave you two to talk it out between yourselves.” said Luna, trotting away whistling a jolly tune with her long sandy hair dancing on her back.

“First of all, I want to assure you that your mother’s diadem is free of the dark curse desecrating it.” Harry started, hoping the Horcruxe's destruction would be an excellent place to start.

“I already know. You destroyed my mother’s diadem in the process.” Helena said blandly.

“Uh… sorry for that. There was no other way to remove the curse.” Harry was genuinely apologetic as he knew there was no other way. If there were a way, he’d have taken care to preserve the artefact of one of the great founders of Hogwarts.

Unfortunately, the destruction of the host object was the only way to destroy a Horcrux, especially when it comes to powerful magical containers acting as hosts to the soul shards.

“Don’t be Harry Potter. Say what you have to say instead of wasting my time.” Helena said sharply,

'She's one snippy witch.' he thought with a scowl.

“As you’ve probably learned by now, Riddle is back in a body. He is slowly regaining his power, and he seems hell-bent on trying his best to kill me. I’ve been trying to shorten the gap in magical power and knowledge with the Dark Lord. You can help me with…”

“I’m not interested, Harry Potter.” Helena said coldly. “The wisdom and knowledge that I coveted from my mother only brought ruin to me. It’ll no doubt bring ruin to you as well. The knowledge that requires no self-discipline to acquire is bound to be a curse rather than act as a source of wisdom or power."

“I do not covet your knowledge, Miss Ravenclaw. What I need is your willing consent to participate in a ritual of sorts.” Harry hurriedly explained.

“A ritual? What kind of ritual?” Helena asked with a frown.

Here Harry knew he was taking a risk in trusting Helena Ravenclaw with the details of the ritual. But he had no other choice but to trust Helena. The other ghosts in Hogwarts were gossip queens, unlike Helena Ravenclaw, who was a treasure trove of secrets. Besides, he got the feeling that Helena would be inclined to help him out of her interest in seeing Voldemort’s downfall. There was also the fact that she owed him a favour. After all, he did undo her mistake by destroying her mother’s diadem.

Hoping against hope, he began narrating the ritual and what it entails to a curious Helena Ravenclaw.

AN:

 

For artworks: https://discord.gg/Nw2JH25fJf

Chapter 63: The ritual of Vimana

“The ritual of Vimana.” Helena muttered. “You want to conduct the ritual of Vimana while you’re this young.”

Harry sensed immense disapproval coming from the daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw.

“Ritual of Vimana. Is that what it’s called?”

“You don’t even know about the name of the ritual, but you’re willing to go through with it?” Helena asked incredulously.

“Well…” Harry coughed embarrassedly. “I know how to conduct the ritual.”

“Really?” Helena eyed him sceptically. “And you have done proper research on the consequences of the ritual?”

“Umm…” Harry trailed off, looking anywhere but at the ghostly face of Helena Ravenclaw.

“Of course, you don’t know. Show me all the notes you prepared for this ritual. I would like to see what I’m getting into even if you have no concern for your wellbeing.”

Harry was forced to take her to the Chamber and show her all the notes he had prepared for the ritual. By the time he explained and showed all the notes, he was lucky Helena Ravenclaw looked like she was just about ready to bludgeon him to death. Since she couldn’t physically assault him, she had a few choice words to say to his face. After getting an earful of colourful vocabulary from a thousand-year-old ghost, Harry decided it was better to recalibrate the design and overall progression of the ritual, even if it pushed the schedule.

It was not like he was lacking in time. He only had to complete the ritual before the next moon phase. Till then, he was free to conduct the ritual. Besides, the proposed changes by Helena were not that difficult to implement. He just had to brew two new potions and make some adjustments to the rune circle to accommodate the two potions.

With the ritual pushed to a later date, he went back to concentrating on Quidditch and schoolwork.

Angelina continued to push for more keeper trials, but no matter how far she pushed the last three keeper hopefuls, she could not pick one. On the bright side, the three permanent chasers and reserve chasers were able to get in some good practice with their shooting skills going up against three keepers. Angelina was a slave driver during practice sessions; therefore, Harry was quite happy the first two hours of the next morning was History of Magic. The physical fatigue due to Quidditch practice and the lack of sleep, thanks to patrol duties combined with his extracurricular activities the night, left him deprived of hours of sleep. He compensated for last night’s lack of sleep in the history lesson, with Binns droning on about some stupid battle in the past.

“Harry!” Hermione jabbed at him with her notebook breaking him from his peaceful slumber.

“What?” he snapped awake, looking around wildly.

“The class is over.” Hermione hissed, not liking his attitude.

“Oh, that’s a shame.” said Harry, rubbing his eyes underneath the glasses. “What do we have next?”

“Why? Are you planning to sleep through the next classes as well?” Hermione snarked.

“The thought did cross my mind.” Harry muttered, picking up his backpack and following Hermione out of the classroom.

“We have two hours of Herbology and then one hour of Arithmancy in the afternoon.”

“Only one hour?” Harry raised an eyebrow.

“Yes. We have an hour of Astronomy at night. So, the rest of the evening is free.” said Hermione.

‘Ah, an hour of studying the stars with Professor Aurora Sinistra. Now, that’s something to look forward to.’ he thought, the image of the beautiful Aurora Sinistra lighting up the sleeping corners of his brain.

Turns out it was not something to look forward to because he ended up being paired with Tracey for the Astronomy class out of some fluke. His plans to spend the night freely ogling Professor Sinistra came to a swift end with Tracey so close to him. He gathered it was a bad idea to act like a pig when he was so close to Daphne’s bestie. But sitting close to Tracey, he felt the eyes of Goyle and Crabbe being trained on him. Upon closer inspection, he realised they were looking at Tracey instead, with a healthy dose of fear shining in their eyes.

“May I ask you something, Tracey?”

“Sure.” she said merrily, adjusting the telescope on the Aries constellation.

“Why are Goyle and Crabbe looking at you like you are the incarnation of Morgan le Fay?” Harry asked curiously.

“I don’t know Harry. Maybe I’m a Dark Lady in training.” Tracey winked playfully.

“As a matter of fact, where are Malfoy, Nott and Zabini?”

Tracey looked around to see whether anyone else was listening to their conversation. Seeing nothing amiss, she leaned closer and whispered quietly.

“They are in the hospital wing.”

“Huh!” Harry was quite intrigued now. “What for?”

“They were just being a bother for the last few days, so I brought some Bulbadox powder from the Weasley twins and sprinkled them all over their robes.”

“Nice." Harry was genuinely impressed and noted to himself not to annoy Tracey. "What were they bothering you about?”

“You don’t need to know or fight my battles for me, Potter.” Tracey scowled.

“All right.” Harry raised his hands in surrender. “You made your point. You are a big girl capable of standing your ground against those idiots, which makes me wonder. How did those two escape your wrath?” Harry asked, pointing at Crabbe and Goyle.

“I prefer my enemies to have a minimum level of intelligence. There is no fun in attacking dumb people, Harry.”

Harry looked thoughtfully at the two Slytherin boys. “I can see where you’re coming from.”

“So, what’s the plan tomorrow? It’s Hogsmeade weekend, after all.” Tracey asked all of a sudden, her eyes focused on the star chart the telescope was tracing on the parchment.

“I suppose I should take Daphne someplace nice,” Harry said thoughtfully before eyeing his partner pointedly. “You know her better than most. What does she like? Any preferences that I should know about?”

“Like most girls, Daphne likes an adventure. She might behave all prim and proper on the outside as demanded by her position as the Greengrass heiress, but she is attracted to the unknown and danger. That’s one of the reasons she likes you.”

“Well, I’m flattered she thinks I’m dangerous.” Harry smirked.

“Pfft! Don’t get too flattered, Potter. You better keep that mysterious vibe going for as long as possible.”

XXXXXXX

“I was promised a very secretive and thrilling place for our date, but this is neither secretive nor thrilling.” Daphne looked at him, not at all impressed with their ‘date’ amounting to a simple visit to Madam Puddifoot’s tea shop.

“I was under the impression that you liked this place.” Harry said with a slight grin as he took a sip from the teacup.

“I don’t know. It just looks and feels so…so…” she searched for words for a moment until she settled on, “…tacky and asinine.”

“All right. I’ll take you somewhere that is not tacky or asinine. But you are not allowed to share any details of this place with anyone else. Not even Tracey.”

Daphne stared at him for a long moment before reluctantly agreeing to his demand for secrecy.

A few minutes later, Harry led Daphne to the secret place he promised. He only received an incredulous stare from her when she realised exactly where he was taking her.

“This is the secret place? This is Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom.” Daphne deadpanned, looking unimpressed.

“Yes, it’s Myrtle’s bathroom, but the place we need to go lies beneath it.”

“Beneath it?” Daphne was now looking at him as if he was mad.

“Yep. Let me show you.” Harry walked into the lavatory until he was near the sink opposite Myrtle’s toilet.

“Hey, Harry.”

He nearly jumped in fright as Myrtle jumped out of her toilet and came towards him. He was not the only one weirded out by the sudden appearance of Myrtle because Daphne was holding her heart, looking frightened out of her wits.

“Hey, Myrtle. How are you doing?” Harry waved awkwardly.

“I’m fiiiine, Harry.” Myrtle let out a giggle before her whole demeanour changed on a dime as she laid her eyes on Daphne. “Who’s this?”

“This is Daphne Greengrass.” He left the introduction at that, but Daphne suddenly skipped over to his side in fright as Myrtle suddenly zoomed towards Daphne in a hostile manner.

“Why are you hanging around with Harry? What is he to you?” Myrtle asked, mustering up an angry face.

“Myrtle!” Harry warned.

Letting out a fake pout at being denied her fun, Myrtle disappeared back into her toilet.

“She likes to keep newcomers stepping into her lair on their toes. She’s friendly once you get to know her.” Harry explained.

By the look on Daphne’s face, she was not amused or satisfied with his explanation.

“Anyway, let’s put that behind us and get this done.”

Harry turned back to the ordinary-looking sink.

“Open.” he hissed in Parseltongue.

The tap on the sink glowed a brilliant white colour and began to spin slowly. The sink started to move aside, and a large pipe hole was exposed right before their eyes.

Harry heard Daphne gasp as she looked down the endless pit of a dark hole with palpable fear in her eyes.

“Wha…? What is this?” Daphne stuttered.

“It leads to a secret place that you’ll find quite intriguing. Come.” Harry offered her his hand, but she just shook her head and stepped back from the hole in the floor.

Harry smirked at her as he moved closer to Daphne.

“Stop looking at me like that. I’m not jumping into that giant hole with… ahhhhh!” Daphne screamed as Harry quickly caught her in a vice grip by her waist and jumped into the hole together.

The pipe was cleaned off all the filth and layered with cushioning charms making their journey smoother. That doesn’t mean Daphne didn’t scream all the way to the end of their journey. They twisted and turned all the way inside the pipe, with Daphne screaming his ears out. He could only laugh as she held onto him for dear life. He could feel his shoulders bleeding thanks to Daphne sinking her nails into his skin. Their long slide through the pipe ended abruptly as the pipe levelled out, and they were promptly dumped into a thick woollen carpet. Daphne was still holding on to his body with her eyes screwed shut, her nails digging into his shoulder, and her face hidden at the crook of his neck.

“Hey, it’s okay to open your eyes. We’ve safely landed.” Harry whispered.

Daphne slowly raised her head and looked around. The stone tunnel ahead was brightly lit with candles all the way to the entrance of the Chamber. But those details were not immediately noticeable for Daphne because she gave greater priority to knocking some sense into Harry. Therefore, she immediately began hitting and clawing at Harry to show her protest at being dragged through a giant tunnel without her consent.

“Hey! Ow! Stop that!”

“You idiot!” Daphne hissed, slapping again and again until her hands hurt. “Where in all the hells have you taken me?”

“This is the vaunted Chamber of Secrets created by the illustrious Salazar Slytherin. Perhaps now you might stop beating me to death.” said Harry, carefully extracting himself from a mad Daphne, who had gone into stunned silence upon learning that she was in the Chamber of Secrets.

“Wait! Are you saying…”

“Yes.” he nodded.

“You are not pulling my leg, are you?” she asked, her blue eyes alight with a rising sense of excitement.

“No, I’m not. This tunnel leads to the famed Chamber of Secrets.”

“Oh, Harry!” she let out an excited squeal and quickly came to his side as if she used teleportation.

“All right then. Are you ready to see Slytherin’s Chamber?”

“Yes. Oh, yes, Harry. Let’s go.” Daphne was visibly vibrating with excitement.

The tunnel remained silent except for their footsteps as they made their way forward. The candles along the tunnel lighted their way forward until finally, they stood before a solid wall with two giant statues of snakes could be seen.

“Merlin! They are beautiful.” Daphne whispered in awe.

Harry looked at the girl in his arms and shook his head.

“If that’s your reaction to seeing a simple stone wall, then wait till you find what’s in there.” Harry whispered into her ears.

Daphne visibly shivered at that.

Looking at the stone wall and the carved snakes on the wall, Harry hissed out, “Open.” in Parseltongue.

The emerald eyes of the serpents came alive with light, and they slithered on the wall. The wall cracked open dramatically with proper fanfare that impressed Daphne going by her wide-eyed look.

“Welcome to the Chamber of Secrets.” Harry said with a flourish and guided Daphne inside.

Bright candlelights lit the long chamber showering the whole massive structure in golden light. Massive stone sculptures of snakes and lions stood guard on the gigantic pipes that ran through the Chamber. Massive pillars and archways were a common sight inside the Chamber.

“This is so beautiful.” Daphne said in awe, taking in the famed lair created by her House’s founder.

“Come.” Harry led her out of the long series of pillars to see the towering giant statue at the far end of the chamber.

“Is that?” Daphne whispered, too stunned to even take her eyes off the sculptured face of Salazar Slytherin.

“I assume so, yes. That might be the statue of Salazar Slytherin.” said Harry, looking at the restored face of Salazar Slytherin.

He had, in his infinite wisdom, decided to transfigure the statue into a lion head out of some misplaced notion that Slytherin was the cause of all things wrong in his life. But after reading through some of the scrolls and books in Slytherin’s collection, he could not see a Voldemort-like figure when he thought of Salazar Slytherin. There was no doubt Salazar was a well-accomplished dark wizard capable of great evil acts, but so were the other Founders of Hogwarts. The first millennium of the Common Era was rife with battles, genocide, and large-scale wars. Britain was not exactly a peaceful land during that time period. The Roman Empire was cutting a bloody swath through Celtic Europe during that time period, and anyone would be an idiot to think the four founders of Hogwarts had squeaky clean hands. He was pretty sure the Founders had seen their share of blood.

Anyway, the point was he now knew better than to take out his frustration with the situation surrounding Voldemort and Death Eaters on the footprints left by Salazar Slytherin. It also helped that all the records he had gone through so far never indicated that the Basilisk in the Chamber was meant to kill Muggleborns. There was a scroll written in Ancient Greek that spoke of a giant serpent guarding the secrets to Elysium. He had yet to find whether the scroll was necessarily talking about the Basilisk and the Chamber, but he would soon find out with more research.

“Why are there so many lions in here?” Daphne asked with a scrunched-up nose.

He didn’t want her to find out the lion statues were a recent addition.

“Perhaps, they are a tribute to the friendship between Slytherin and Gryffindor.” Harry suggested.

Daphne looked at the lion statues and then at him with suspicion.

“Come now. Our table awaits.” Harry said, snapping his fingers.

Suddenly, a table appeared with all sorts of food neatly arranged on plates courtesy of Dobby and Kreacher. The two elves also appeared beside the table with two ornate chairs from Grimmauld Place. Even the silverware came from the House of Black, seeing as the Black crest etched on the plates and other utensils. The air smelled of cinnamon thanks to air freshening charms that swept away all the smoke from the burning candles. Then again, these were magical candles. Not the mobile cancer factory that goes around in the Muggle world that looks like candles.

Even as Daphne took her seat graciously, she was still looking around the Chamber with awe and unbridled curiosity.

“Harry.”

“Hmm?”

“Wasn’t there supposed to be a monster of some sort in the Chamber?” Daphne asked, her eyes darting around with a touch of fear.

“Oh, yes. You want to see it?”

“It’s nearby?” Daphne asked worriedly, chewing her bottom lip.

“In a way.” Harry said with a secretive smile.

Daphne frowned at him and thought it over for a time before expressing her wish to meet the ‘monster’ of Salazar’s Chamber.

Harry took great pleasure in bringing down the notice-me-not charm on the Basilish skeleton hung from the ceiling before he directed Daphne’s attention upward. The shrill girlish scream Daphne let out was quite entertaining. He had to dodge a curse later down the line, but it was still worth it as Dobby managed to capture that moment using a magical camera.

XXXXXX

A perfect half-moon was visible in the night sky. The runic circle was drawn on the forest floor without any blemishes. He had triple-checked the runes, and the arithmancy also checked out. The potions were all brewed as per the requirement, and so were the special items required for the ritual, like Thestral hair and a single white feather of a lolaire suile na rein(eagle with a sunlit eye).

“Has Pluto come to the position as per the star chart?” Helena asked.

“No, not yet.” Harry answered, looking at the current pattern of the nine celestial bodies orbiting the sun. “It needs one more minute for the perfect alignment.”

Harry looked around the dark forest, and in the distance, he could see the lights coming from Hogwarts. They were not too deep into the Forbidden Forest, but at the same time, they were at the edge of the boundary between the Acromantula-controlled area and Centaur land. Curiously enough, there was no sign of the Centaurs.

‘Maybe, my warding skills have gone up a notch if even the Centaurs have not noticed intruders in their territory.’ Harry thought.

There could be another reason, though. The presence of Helena Ravenclaw might’ve given him a free pass from the Centaurs. He knew ghosts were a particular subject of interest in the Centaur community for some reason. The Centaurs, for whatever reason, give a lot of leeway to ghosts, no matter their race.

“I was meaning to ask. Why are you helping me?” Harry suddenly sprung the question on Helena.

The ghostly face of Helena Ravenclaw didn’t so much as twitch despite his intent to put the Ravenclaw ghost on the spot.

“Why? You do not like my help?” Helena asked, raising a delicate eyebrow.

“Oh no. I’m quite flattered and thankful for your aid. It’s just that you said your mother’s knowledge is not meant for others.”

“And I didn’t lie. Those who sought my mother’s knowledge have perished or become corrupted by it. I don’t need to depend on my mother’s knowledge to assist you in this ritual.” said Helena.

“Hmm…” Harry grunted, eyeing Helena like a puzzle.

“You need not worry, Harry Potter. I’m unlike my mother, who hoards her knowledge inside a tiara of all things. What good is knowledge if it is kept in darkness and away from the light of the world? If my knowledge serves in aiding you against Tom Riddle, then so be it. My knowledge will serve a greater purpose.”

Harry could detect a lot of hostility for Rowena Ravenclaw in that short monologue from Helena. But he was not complaining.

“I made the mistake of trusting my mother’s knowledge and legacy with Tom Riddle because he was a bright student. I saw so much of myself in him and the potential good he could have become for the wizarding world.”

Now, he could feel a great deal of disappointment and pain from the ghost. Perhaps, it was the resentment towards her mother and the attachment that she holds to her mother’s legacy that tethers her to the world of the living despite her death thousands of years ago.

“Oh, look! The alignment is complete.” Harry crowed happily.

Helena quickly took her position in the portion of runes assigned to her. Her spectral body pulsed as she touched the ground riddled with runes.

“Do it now, Harry Potter.” said Helena.

Harry placed the tip of his wand against the sun rune and energised the moon runes to absorb the light of the half-moon in the sky. The moon runes glowed silver white, and then the runes representing the nine celestial bodies came alive with magical energy as they absorbed the properties of the potions and other vital pieces of the ritual. The magic in the runic circle reached a tipping point before it coalesced into a wave of energy that washed into his body.

Unlike other rituals he had engaged in, this time, he didn’t feel heavy with magic. In fact, he was feeling lighter with each passing second.

“I can feel it now.” Harry whispered.

He first lost feeling in his legs, and then one by one, he lost feeling anything from the rest of his body. He could feel no pain or earthly worries. It was as if he was in an entirely other realm, separate from the earthly realm. The deafening silence that surrounded him was so peaceful that he felt like he could sleep peacefully for a thousand years. Then, there was a flash of light, and Harry felt like getting reoriented on the planet. His senses suddenly snapped back into place, and a rush of emotions and alien feelings flooded his mind.

When he looked down, he was floating a good five feet from the ground. His body was gone, and in its place, there was a grey spectral smoke akin to a ghost.

“Wow!” Harry willed himself up, and he flew up towards the sky.

He quickly flew straight into the clouds at a speed that didn’t feel any sort of air friction because he lacked a body. His material body was converted into a mass of grey ghostly smoke that allowed him magically sustained flight. He was now a formless mass of energy which should theoretically allow him to bypass most wards and material obstacles.

“Woohoo!”

Harry excitably yelled as he twisted and turned among the clouds to his heart’s content until finally, he landed back on the ritual ground. It was all-natural as his body materialised on his will as his feet touched the ground. The grey spectral form disappeared altogether, and he was back to his normal self.

“It was a success. We did it.” Harry said, smiling wide at Helena, who gave him a slight grin before promptly turning away.

“You need to get back to the castle Harry Potter.” said Helena.

After thanking her a few more times, Harry made his way back to the castle, leaving Helena alone in the forest.

“It is curious to see that you’ve taken an interest in the Potter boy Lady Ravenclaw. Do you not see Mars and Saturn moving in the heavens to shine their light upon the boy.” A centaur spoke as it slowly walked out of the darkness.

“Do you not see the light of Jupiter making its presence known with the boy?” Helena asked back.

“Hmm. I suppose you must have a reason for helping him.” the centaur muttered.

“Reason. Ah, yes. The thing that gives meaning to all life. You forget Wesgrexie that I exist beyond the edge of all reason.” said Helena before turning into wisps of white smoke and disappearing into the Hogwarts grounds.

Chapter 64: The Blood Quill P1

“So, you are saying we need a spell that can seek out the position of eyes of every viewer in the vicinity to adjust the projected imagery in such a way that they get a frontal view rather than a slanted one.” Daphne looked curiously at Harry while discreetly munching on a chocolate bar Harry generously gifted her.

“Yes. Otherwise, our project won’t be that attractive. We need to look for a charm that encompasses detection and targeted image projection.” said Harry.

“I know a book that can be of help on that front.” said Daphne, immediately disappearing into the Charms section of the library.

Harry looked around the library to see whether anyone was in the immediate vicinity. Madam Pince was sitting behind her desk near the entrance, reading what he assumed was a magazine of some sort. Standing up from his seat, he followed Daphne to the Charms section. He found her climbing a ladder to reach for the top shelf. He waited beside the ladder keeping an eye out for any intruders the whole time, until he heard a muffled “Aha!” from Daphne.

“Look, Harry! I found the book.” Daphne said excitedly, climbing down from the ladder with a thick time in her hands.

The cover read, Detecting the Undetectable by Veronica Moon.

“I think I have a copy of this back home. I’ve seen it in passing in my mother’s study.” Daphne continued to ramble without realising the changes around her.

Suddenly, she found herself cornered with her back against the bookshelf. She took note of how close Harry was to her, with his hands on either side of her against the bookshelf.

“Daphs,” Harry murmured against her lips, just a hair’s breadth between them.

“Mmm.” Daphne moaned, her eyes fluttering as Harry pressed against her.

A pair of warm lips pressed against hers stealing her breath away. She could no longer keep her eyes open as she dissolved into the warm sensation that was blanketing her whole body. Her whole body was tingling as Harry sucked and prodded her lower lip. She distantly felt the book in her slipping down from her grasp. Her hands, now free of the task of holding the book, went into threading through Harry’s black hair. In the throes of passion, she accidentally sunk her nails into Harry’s skin near his neck, earning a hiss from her boyfriend.

They broke off from the kiss, making Daphne silently protest in her mind.

“Sorry.” she muttered dejectedly.

Harry only chuckled, and she was immediately forced to bite her lip as Harry dipped his head and began leaving a trail of kisses and sharp nips all along her neck. It was like her skin was set afire, but instead of drowning in pain, she was consumed by pleasure. She felt Harry push her robe to the side, exposing the skin of her right shoulder before pressing kiss after kiss. She could feel the buttons of her shirt slip away one by one as Harry explored more of her skin. She’d have enjoyed it more if Harry was entirely successful, but they froze upon hearing footsteps drawing closer to their location.

Daphne looked down at Harry, who was just shy of a few inches from her right breast. Their eyes locked for a moment before suddenly they sprang into action. Harry was quick to comb his hair with his palm and adjust his robes, while Daphne quickly adjusted her white shirt and green robes. She acted quickly by pressing her wand against her blonde hair and applying the grooming charm that set her dishevelled hair smooth and curly. She could do nothing about her flushed face or even her reddening lips. Harry immediately pushed into her hand the charms book she took from the shelf. She quickly caught on to what Harry was thinking, and she quickly hid her face behind the book. Harry meanwhile went about climbing the ladder and made a show of browsing the books on the shelf. The footsteps suddenly came to a halt, and Daphne peeked from behind the charms book.

It was none other than Madam Pince!

The Hogwarts librarian looked at them suspiciously for a long moment before walking away. It was only when the footsteps of Madam Pince became a distant echo that Daphne let out the breath she was holding. Her whole body sagged in relief that she was not found in a compromising position with Harry in the library. She would have been the talk of the school should something like that was to happen. Not to mention she couldn’t bear to think what her mother would do to her should she bring shame to the House of Greengrass and Regensburg.

Daphne let out a gasp as Harry pressed a chaste kiss against her hair just right below her left ear. She felt his hands against her waist and steadily climbing up. Before she got immersed in pleasure, she immediately stopped Harry’s hand just as he reached her ribs by hitting his hands with the charms book.

“Stop that.” Daphne muttered and tried to wiggle out slowly from his grasp.

Harry once again tried to move his hands up while nipping at her skin on the neck with his teeth. She resisted the urge to give in and managed to wiggle out from his grasp.

“No.” she said sharply, but her eyes softened when she noticed Harry froze at her tone.

“No.” she said much more softly, reaching on her tip toes to press a kiss against Harry’s cheek. “Let’s go, Harry.”

“Fine.” Harry let out a frustrated sigh but, with silent acquiescence, followed her out of the library.

They walked through the corridors of Hogwarts in relative silence until Harry chose to break it.

“Hey, Daphne. I’m sorry if I was too forward. It was not my intention to put you in an uncomfortable position.” Harry came forward and apologised, making Daphne look at her boyfriend with wide eyes.

“You weren’t too forward.” she immediately said before she could control herself.

“Oh.” Harry now looked intrigued, while Daphne felt like she dumbly jumped into a pothole and got stuck.

There was no other recourse for her but to plough on.

“I just don’t want anyone to see us…you know…” she stuttered out lamely, searching for words to adequately describe what she was feeling.

“Oh, I get it.” Harry smiled brightly, taking her aback, but then, he leaned in close and whispered into her ear, making her blush. “You just want us to get frisky when we are all alone, huh? I think there are a few broom closets on the way to the dungeons.”

Daphne looked scandalised at the suggestive undertone.

“Shut up.” Daphne whispered, blushing up a storm at Harry’s insinuation.

“Hey. If you don’t prefer broom closets, we can spend some quality time in Slytherin’s Chamber.” Harry wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

The scandalous look on Daphne’s face set Harry off into peals of laughter.

“All right. Not the Chamber because you seem to worship Slytherin. Then how about another secret place that only I know? It can be another date.” Harry smirked, throwing his arm around Daphne’s shoulder. “So, what do you say?”

Daphne merely hid her blushing face behind a veil of her blonde hair and muttered under her breath about how much of a rogue he was.

Harry chuckled heartily at the reaction he garnered from Daphne, and he didn’t let up on the flirting till he escorted her to the dungeons.

XXXXXXX

“Ow!” Harry yelped as Katie Bell applied a healing salve on his forearm.

“Stop trying to move the arm too much, Harry.” Angelina fussed over him like a mother hen.

“Hey, it’s just a small injury. I only have a slight pain, and I’m sure it’ll pass within a day. You don’t need to make it a big issue.” Harry complained.

“If my Seeker is injured when we are so close to the match, then it is a big issue, Harry.” said Angelina.

Harry stared at the Quidditch captain incredulously.

“What are you talking about? Our first match is weeks away.”

“Weeks, not months.” Angelina emphasised with a deranged obsessive look that set both Harry and Katie on edge. “Which means we have fewer practice sessions. I want you playing more interference to give our chasers an edge because, frankly speaking, I don’t have much hope for our Keeper recruit. And you can’t do that if you’re injured.”

Harry exchanged a look with Katie, but the older girl just signalled him to shut up and go along with Angelina’s wishes. Giving in to Katie’s wisdom, he stayed still and allowed Katie to treat his ‘injury’, which was nothing but a product of a Bludger grazing his arm when he was trying to play interference with the Quaffle against the opposing Chasers.

“I’ll look after Harry, Angie. You can focus on the Keepers.” Katie offered.

Angelina sped away on her broom, muttering about having to focus on the keeper trials.

“It seems our Queen bee is on fire today.” Harry muttered.

“Angelina is just under a lot of pressure. I think she’s still second-guessing her choice of keeping Ron Weasley as Keeper.”

“She made the right choice given the options.” said Harry.

“I agree. She’s just trying to outdo Oliver.” Katie chuckled at the thought of anyone surpassing their former Quidditch obsessive slave-driver Captain.

“I’m told professional Quidditch is a cutthroat sport. Oliver will most likely thrive now that he’s in Puddlemere United.”

“Don’t be so sure, Harry. I think Oliver is dead, and his ghost is possessing Angelina.” Katie joked.

Harry promptly burst out into peals of laughter.

“Why’re you two slacking off? Join us now before time runs out. We need to practice your coordination a bit more, Katie.” Angelina shouted at them, making them scramble to get their brooms and take their positions up in the air.

Harry took a good long swim in the Room of Requirement after the Quidditch practice session as he was barred by Angelina from participating in the evening football matches. He had tried to protest, of course, but Angelina was pretty much adamant about keeping him out of the game to preserve his ‘Quidditch spirit’, whatever that meant. After getting freshened up, he decided to spend some quality time in the RoR to get some training done. His spell repository had been rather stale ever since the academic year began. He hadn’t learned any new spells that could prove helpful in the wars to come. He was sort of busy with animagus training, researching Horcruxes, Quidditch and school work.

However, he decided it was better to spend the little free time he managed to squeeze out by circling back to what he learned last year. Last year, he had mastered two shield charms, a select few hexes, and some spells from three elements. He started with the shield charms. The first was the standard Protego charm, then the more powerful Indomitus. Then he went on to practice with the disarming charm and stunning charm with the practice dummy provided by the RoR. After a few bouts with the dummy testing his speed and precision, he went on to practice elemental spells, conveniently skipping spells like Confringo, Bombardaand even the Patronus charm.

He started with fire when it came to the elemental spells, as Harry found it almost as easy as using water spells nowadays. At first, his affinity to master water-based spells were prodigious, but now he was gaining a sort of grudging competency in fire spells as well. Harry had a theory that elemental spells have a certain connection to mindset as well. It was not just simply a combination of magical energy and imagination that perfected elemental spells. A certain mindset was also crucial for elemental spells to function properly.

Water requires fluidity in mind. The more flexible he was with his imagination and allowed water-based spells a certain freedom, the more the spell gained power and precision. The impression of going with the flow was quite useful in the context of water elemental spells. It was like sacrificing control to gain greater control. The concept was hard to put into words, and Harry only noticed this from his continuous training with water spells throughout last year. Wind element spells were also somewhat similar to water, but he had sparingly spent time or effort to master wind-based spells. He knew two spells but other than that, he didn’t pay much attention to wind spells simply because he had yet to find many lethal spells when it came to the element.

Finally, there was the fire element. Fire spells were tough to master because they required a disciplined mind to control the output of fire. The initial stage of a fire spell requires unleashing strong emotions, mostly passion or anger, but then the emotion needs to be brought under immediate control to exert full control over the fire. Harry was able to quickly master this aspect of fire elemental spells, probably thanks to his Occlumency training. Even now, as he was using the fire spells he learnt last year, he was nearly there for finesse. Not at the same level as using water spells, but he was nearly there.

‘Perhaps, with more training, I might be ready to tackle the Fiendfyre curse.’ Harry thought as he blew a hole through the obstacles prepared by the RoR using the Fiery ram spell.

The next two elements on his bucket list to master were earth and lightning. The earth element remains the most unattractive element from the perspective of defensive and offensive magic. The spells are too complex to perform, and they are energy intensive. The earth is far more saturated with magic than any other element in the world because of its connection to old magic. For this reason, the earthly element always tends to resist a wizard’s will, making it unattractive for battle magic. Most earth element spells he came across in the RoR library were performed by using a wizard’s staff. He didn’t know the exact reason why this was the case, but there were alternatives for earth element spells. The most prominent one was transfiguration spells. Instead of using complicated elemental spells, one can just transfigure a small rock into a giant boulder or a wall of granite. It serves the purpose of earth elemental spells from a battle perspective, and it was easy to master, comparatively speaking.

For this reason, Harry had decided to give a pass on earth elemental spells. He’d rather focus on Transfiguration or even straight-up conjuration, which was restricted only by the imagination of the castor.

But one element that eluded him so far was lightning. It was the most dangerous element of the five elements. Unlike other elements, there was no comprehensive, diverse set of spells graded by its power when it came to lightning. There were no low-tier spells when it came to lightning. So far, he had come across only two lightning spells, and both were listed as dark magic by the Ministry because of their lethality. No matter the case, he took up the resolution that before this year ends, he’d master the Fiendfyre curse and the two lightning spells. He supposed if he was to war with Voldemort and his Death eaters, then he needed some ‘unforgivable’ curses up his sleeve.

“I’ll just add training with a pistol to the list.” Harry muttered, quickly drawing his notepad from his bag and making a note of his three new resolutions for this year.

While he was at it, Harry crossed off the second resolution in the list as he had completed the ritual to attain magically sustained flight. Now, there was a total of four resolutions on his list for the year.

1-Become an animagus.

2-Complete the ritual to attain magic-aided flight.

3-Create a spell to remove the Horcrux from the scar.

4-Master Fiendfyre.

5-Master lightning elemental spells.

Putting the notepad back into his bag, Harry checked the time. He was just five minutes away from starting his patrol duty, and that made him cancel training with his flight ability in the Room of Requirement.

‘Some other time then.’ he thought before taking his leave.

XXXXXXX

Harry was walking through the hallways of Hogwarts with his silver prefect badge shining under the candlelight that lighted the dark pathways. He whistled a jolly tune as he was in a good mood. Unlike the last ‘few’ times he was cajoled by Hermione to finish his assigned rounds, he had yet to meet a troublesome bunch of junior students sneaking around. If he managed to wind up catching someone like that, he’d have to report it to the house heads of the students, which was no fun. The whole thing was a bother, and it’d eat into his sleep time. But today was one of those days when lady luck was showering him with her blessings.

‘Just a little bit more, and I can take a long nap.’ Harry thought with a wistful sigh.

His jolly mood came crashing down like a castle of cards when his ears picked up a whimpering sound coming from a nearby classroom.

‘Oh, come on. Please don’t this be a first-year girl crying her eyes out because she’s lost.’ Harry prayed earnestly as he slowly approached one of the abandoned classrooms from where the sound was coming.

“Hey, you all right in there?” Harry asked, pushing the doors open and looking inside.

To his surprise, no lost first-year girl was bawling her eyes out. Instead, it was Colin Creevey, the mousy little fellow who functioned as the resident paparazzi and his most obsessive fan suffering from a bad case of photography compulsion syndrome. Even if that was the case, Harry had learned to tolerate Colin Creevey. He even found the little guy useful because Colin helped him get a lot of cool photos of him attempting the Tasks of the Triwizard Tournament.

“Colin. What’re you doing here?”

“Hey, Harry. I was just lost.” Colin said lamely, trying to wipe his tears away.

It was then Harry noticed an angry red scar on Colin Creevey’s right hand right below the knuckles.

“What is this?” Harry asked, taking Colin’s hand into his own, already getting an idea of what was going on.

“It’s nothing…” Colin trailed off as Harry looked at him coldly.

“I’ll have the truth. Tell me everything.” Harry commanded, and Colin spilt the beans.

Colin began narrating the incident that happened in his DADA class and the altercation that cropped up between Colin and Umbridge.

“I was just…(hic)…minding myself and keeping my head down as everyone said we should in that woman’s class. Then she said bad stuff about Professor Dumbledore and Professor Lupin. She called Professor Lupin a freak, and she…(hic)…”

Harry didn’t know how, but he somehow managed to perform a passive form of Legilimency on Colin Creevey. It was quite an experience because he was suddenly assaulted by a wave of impressions alien to his senses. He became instinctually aware of what Colin was trying to articulate. He could feel as Colin felt when Umbridge just casually demonised muggles and other magical creatures. He could feel and see in his mind the exact moment Colin snapped, unable to get chafed under the verbal diarrhoea, abuse, and bigotry that vile woman spewed. He saw the hour-long detention where Colin was forced to write lines with the blood quill. What enraged him further was the sick look on Umbridge’s face when she gave a week’s detention to Colin. He could see the vile creature adorning the face of a witch, enjoying the pain she was inflicting on Colin.

“I must obey my betters.” the angry red scar on Colin’s hand read.

Taking a deep breath, Harry clamped down on his emotions and adopted as much stoicism as he could muster. Lashing out with emotion was not going to do anyone any good.

“Come, Colin. We must go to the hospital wing to get this treated, and then we’ll be seeing someone.” Harry muttered.

“Huh? Meet who?” Colin asked with large brown eyes with dried tears.

“Professor McGonagall. We’ll move through proper channels…” Harry said, with steel in his eyes. “…for now.”

 

AN:

 

For artworks: https://discord.gg/Nw2JH25fJf

Chapter 65: The Blood Quill P2

Harry arrived before a familiar-looking door that led to the office of Professor McGonagall with Colin Creevey in tow. He was not naïve enough to assume that he would be leaving this office with even one per cent satisfaction. The reason he was taking Colin to McGonagall’s office was that he was following the rules and procedures that were expected of him as a Prefect of Hogwarts. There was also his need to see the incompetence and wimping of the Dumbledore brigade that was infesting the higher echelons of the school. Just seeing it up close should be enough fuel for what he was planning for them all in the future.

Taking a deep breath, he reached out and knocked twice on McGonagall’s office door.

“Come in.”

Harry pushed the door open and let himself in, closely followed by Colin Creevey.

“Potter! Creevey! What seems to be the problem?” McGonagall looked between the two students searchingly.

“It is my understanding that Hogwarts faculty are legally not allowed to punish students with physical harm. Isn’t that right, professor?” Harry asked, adopting a calm and placid face as he looked into the grey eyes of his head of the house.

“Yes, that’s correct, Potter.” McGonagall nodded and sat up straight, her eyes shining with alertness.

“I also understand the Headmaster has the power to dismiss such a member of the staff who uses cruel, unusual and invasive abuse that causes physical harm to students. Isn’t that so, Professor?”

McGonagall took a moment to think it through and slowly nodded, looking between Colin and Harry, showing a ton of hesitation.

“Then I want you and Headmaster Dumbledore to act against Dolores Umbridge for using a Blood Quill on Colin Creevey. He’ll provide memory evidence if that’s what you need, and the scarring is quite visible as he had just come out of his assigned detention with Umbridge.” Harry said all that with a straight face, carefully keeping out any shred of emotion from bleeding into his tone or mannerism.

McGonagall looked stunned and just stared at them open-mouthed for a while, doing a perfect imitation of a gaping fish.

Harry cleared his throat, snapping McGonagall back to reality.

“You…wha?... Potter! What did you just say?” McGonagall looked at him with wide eyes.

“I said Dolores Umbridge used a Blood Quill on Colin. Here…look at this.” Harry showed the bleeding and scarred back of Colin’s hand to McGonagall.

“I must obey my betters. This is what Umbridge made Colin write with her Blood Quill. Will you take action or not?” Harry asked coldly.

McGonagall took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes.

“Potter, you don’t understand. Professor Umbridge is…”

“Will you take action against Umbridge or not? I need a straightforward answer Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall.” Harry switched to a more formal wording, with his tone going cold.

McGonagall took a deep breath and just let out a sigh. “I can’t. The Ministry of Magic backs Professor Umbridge. She is…”

“I don’t care about any of her connections. I want to know whether you’ll move to act according to the law and principles that govern Hogwarts?”

“As I said, Potter. My hands are tied.” McGonagall said with a straight face.

“I see.” Harry whispered.

He slowly took to his feet and led Colin out of the door. But before he closed the door, he let himself in and looked at the spineless woman who was sitting behind her desk.

“Do you remember our conversation in this room last year, not too long after the Yule Ball? You accused me of not acting rationally or raising my concerns in a well-defined manner.” Harry reminded the woman of that conversation where he pretended to be chastised for the sake of saving himself the headache.

The resounding silence and the flinching eyes of McGonagall let him know that she remembered that conversation all too well.

“I didn’t argue with you that day and just nodded along like a properly chastised child, not because I found great wisdom in your words. I didn’t say anything then because I knew a day would come when I could just show you a mirror and see the incompetence, apathy, and all-around nonsense I see when I look at you.” Harry said coldly before he flicked his wand a conjured a giant mirror in McGonagall’s room that was facing her.

“Now, you see what I see, Professor. Enjoy!”

With that parting shot, he slammed the door behind his back and walked away, taking Colin with him. He was not done, not by a long shot. He had one more place he got to visit before taking Colin to the infirmary.

The Gargoyle that guarded the stairway to Dumbledore’s office refused to budge, but a Patronus message he sent to Dumbledore made it stand aside.

“Wow, Harry. That was just cool.” said Colin, his brown eyes sparkling like stars after witnessing the Patronus charm.

“I’m awesome like that. Now, come on. We’ll submit a written complaint to the Headmaster.”

“Harry, you don’t have to trouble yourself for my sake.” Colin said meekly, looking away shyly.

“On the contrary, I have to do this. Now, come on.” said Harry, dragging the fourth-year Gryffindor up with him.

The Headmaster’s office did not undergo any notable change since the last time he visited the place. Fawkes was perched on his stand, but the Phoenix looked to be sleeping going by the way it was dozing off. There was a light rain outside, so Harry gathered the Phoenix was just taking a nap enjoying the moderate chill in the air.

“Please take a seat, you two. What seems to be the problem, Harry?” Dumbledore asked, looking anywhere but Harry’s eyes.

He could not help but roll his eyes at the wimpiness on display. Nonetheless, he fished out the folded parchment from his coat and placed it on Dumbledore’s table.

“What’s this?” Dumbledore asked, looking curiously at the parchment.

“It’s a written complaint by Colin Creevey with I as witness demanding disciplinary action against Dolores Umbridge for using a cruel and unusual punishment on Colin by the use of a Blood Quill making him write this…” said Harry, taking Colin’s hand showing the words etched on the skin.

The scarring remained bright red, and the words were quite easily visible.

Dumbledore looked from the tear-stained eyes of Colin Creevey to the cold, calculating eyes of Harry. Then uncharacteristically, Dumbledore accepted the parchment but sagged in on himself.

“I’ll take up this issue with Dolores and then the Board. But I’m afraid she’ll remain in her post no matter what I do. The Ministry was the one to appoint her, and she won’t go away without the Ministry recalling her from the post.” said Dumbledore.

“Then convince the Ministry to pull her back.” Harry said imploringly.

“Trust me, Harry, Mr Creevey. I’ll do my best to make them see reason.”

Harry was a little bit surprised at how easily Dumbledore caved in and put up no considerable resistance. It was only five days later that he saw just how useless Dumbledore was in the grand scheme of things. Even after giving a complaint with a written testimony by his own hand and the evidence to corroborate it, Umbridge was not only strutting around Hogwarts as if she owned it, but she got a promotion.

The giant headline on the front page of the Daily Prophet was quite a shock for Harry. Whatever reaction he expected from the Ministry or the Board of Governors, this was not the one.

EDUCATIONAL REFORM IN MINISTRY AGENDA: DOLORES UMBRIDGE APPOINTED HIGH INQUISITOR

Harry felt like he just wanted to burn the whole thing down and set Umbridge on fire for good measure. He managed to set the paper down and grip the sides of the Gryffindor table with his fingers straining against the wood. The urge to unleash a fire with the intensity of a thousand burning suns on Umbridge and the other Hogwarts staff was quite tempting. He knew why he was feeling heightened emotions like rage right now. He had the unfortunate timing of testing out some dark curses and venturing out into lightning spells in the last couple of days. He had to vent out some of the anger in the Room of Requirement, considering DADA was a dull affair and Charms and Transfiguration classes were not exactly giving him enough to work with as far as practical spells were concerned.

“Harry. You need to calm down.” Neville quietly whispered.

It was then he realised he was being noticed.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I think everyone in the hall is rather angry at Umbridge and the Ministry.” Neville muttered.

Harry was not exactly sure how that little news travelled around in Hogwarts. Sure, he had shared the details of his appeal to Dumbledore among the Prefects and his friends. He was obligated to share the details with the Prefects as Cedric had called an emergency meeting once the Deputy Headmistress notified him. The Prefects had a chain of command, as all complaints or appeals were generally passed through the Head Boy or the Head Girl. The meeting was to determine whether his breaking of the usual protocol was warranted, and that was when he recounted the details of Colin’s situation. It was safe to say the rest of the prefects were quite horrified to find out Umbridge used a Blood Quill.

There were some notable exceptions, like Malfoy and Parkinson.

So, the prefects might have leaked the whole affair, or the portraits in McGonagall’s or Dumbledore’s office tattled to other portraits, which spread the word in the Hogwarts rumour mill. Whatever the case, almost all students now knew what awaited them in Umbridge’s detention. All Harry could see were fearful faces and hushed whispers among the students, and he couldn’t really blame them. They just witnessed the Ministry reward the walking pink toad with a promotion even after being accused of torturing a fellow student. If he were in their shoes, he’d have also been scared witless at their age.

“Do you think Umbridge will come after you now?” Neville asked worriedly.

It was a relevant question. Harry was almost sure Fudge must’ve expended some political capital to keep a lid on Umbridge’s folly. Considering the student in question was a muggleborn, it’d have been a bit easier for Fudge to keep it hushed up in the Ministry and the Board.

“She’ll turn her sights on me eventually, but not today or tomorrow. She’ll find some way to strike back.”

“What’ll you do? Maybe you need to talk to Sirius before anything untoward happens.” Neville advised.

Harry scoffed, eyeing the head table where Hogwarts staff were having their breakfast. Just looking at the toad-faced woman brought a fresh surge of rage. Harry realised if he stayed any longer, he might just end up doing something he’d later regret.

“Hey, Neville. I forgot something in the dorms. I’ll be right back.” Harry whispered against Neville’s ear and made his escape from the Great Hall.

He made a beeline for the Room of Requirement. When he entered the room, a training dummy that suspiciously looked like Umbridge was facing him. He launched two elemental spells in quick succession.

“Expugno. Torrens Incendio.”

A stormy vortex blew back the dummy and had it pressed against the back wall before a large wave of fire consumed the dummy and the floor. The fire burned bright orange as it ate away at the dummy. The fire was suddenly sucked out, and, in its place, the pink dummy stood without a single blemish on its body.

“Okay. Now, you’re just pissing me off.” Harry growled, his ire only rising and a strange weight settling just above his eyes.

Harry began using cutting curses, gouging curses and even the bloody organ liquifying curse, which only knocked the dummy back a few feet as it had no organs to liquefy. The use of darker spells didn’t relieve him of the anger that was being built up inside him as he had assumed. It only made his emotional condition worse.

It was that exact lack of self-control that led him to think it’d be a good idea to try out a lightning spell.

“Fulminis.”

Harry jabbed his wand, and from its tip, a purple bolt of lightning struck the dummy. The dummy was shattered into pieces, and a charred smell also permeated the room. The tip of his wand was smoking after the spell, but strangely enough, Harry was no longer feeling the headache. He was feeling a lot better and comparatively calm than a few minutes ago. He was also feeling like he could bring down a mountain as he was charged up as far as magical energy was concerned. He took several deep breaths to calm down as he didn’t want to lose himself to the addictive power that was influencing his mind.

“I need to cut down on dark magic for a few days.” Harry muttered, seeing the need for disciplining himself to be aware of his proclivity to megalomania.

He was just a mile or two away from reaching Tom Riddle levels of megalomania, and that was not good. Not good at all.

XXXXXXX

Harry went through a strict regimen of sorts that cut off all practice of dark spells and even elemental magic. It left him with a good amount of free time, so he took up swimming and running to keep his body in top shape. He was no longer compromising his sleep by staying awake till midnight. Instead, he went to bed early and awoke early in the morning for a run. There was a marked difference in his temperament after keeping up with the new schedule for two days.

The most significant advantage in disciplining himself was that he managed to regain a semblance of control over his Occlumency practices. He just wished the practice of Occlumency would allow him easy control over his mind and body, but that was not how the mind arts work. The mind arts require constant practice and self-discipline. Breathing exercises and meditation can help but occluding the mind from the emotional baggage of life was no easy task. It was a cumulative process that demanded versatility in a wizard and constant engagement. His mistake was that his engagement with Occlumency slips up from time to time, especially when he takes up practising darker spells.

He knew what the problem was, but the solution happened to be a difficult one. Either he’d have to give up on dark magic completely, or he’d have to be highly orderly when it comes to employing countermeasures against the influence of dark magic. His old plan to counter dark spells with more ‘light’ spells ended up being a complete failure. He found himself reverting to a mild addiction to magical power and an unhealthy dose of megalomania assisted by uncontrollable rage.

There was also the distinct possibility that he was overthinking and overanalysing everything. It could be that the ire and mild dose of the ‘I could do better if I were in charge.’ attitude was not correlated to his use of dark spells or his ‘alleged’ failing Occlumency standards. Occlumency was not primarily a defence against the addictive nature of dark spells. Occlumency had always been an art that was specifically developed to combat mind magics. It had the added effect of gaining an organised mind for a practitioner of Occlumency.

What he needed right now was some sound advice, not just in the matter of dark magic but also in the matter of Umbridge. Initially, he wanted to ask for Hermione’s advice, but he already knew some of the answers she’d give him. There was also the fear that she’d immediately tattle to McGonagall about his dalliances with dark magic. He all too well remembered what happened with his Firebolt in the third year. So, he didn’t want a repeat of that ever again.

“So, what did you want to talk about, Harry?” asked Daphne.

Harry was still mulling over whether he should take advice from Daphne. He was already in hot water after tattling to Fleur about his actions in the graveyard. Nonetheless, he was in a vulnerable position, and Daphne was someone he trusted who could give him a different perspective.

“I have a problem. Or more like two problems. I don’t know whether it is as dangerous as I think, but I need your advice on the matter.”

“Okay.” Daphne sat up straight in full alert instead of relaxing against the tree. “I’ll try to be as helpful as I can.”

Harry looked at the Black Lake and enjoyed the quiet the place offered. Taking a deep breath, he squared up his shoulders to expose his vulnerability.

“I think I’m suffering from an addiction to dark magic.” Harry managed to bite out.

Daphne’s eyes widened as she heard that. She looked at him curiously for a long moment.

“Okay. Why do you think you are addicted to dark magic?” she asked, taking his hands into hers.

Harry started to relax a bit, seeing that she was not immediately jumping to conclusions.

“I think I’m having bouts of rage from time to time.” said Harry, leaning against Daphne as he too joined her in sitting against the tree on the ground.

“So, when exactly did you notice you were becoming rageful?”

“The morning when Umbridge was declared High Inquisitor of Hogwarts.” Harry said after looking thoughtful for a moment.

“Could it be that you were just angry more than usual on behalf of Creevey?” Daphne asked.

He took a moment to think it through before slowly nodding.

“Yes, it’s possible. I was angry on behalf of Creevey, but it’s also true that I felt my rage dissipate when I trained with dark spells and elemental magic. The rage would resurface again at some random time, and then I’d require to practice again, perpetuating the cycle of addiction.” said Harry.

“But you admit that you started feeling the effects of this addiction after Creevey’s issue became a core issue, right?” Daphne looked imploringly at him with her blue eyes.

“Yes.” Harry admitted after giving it some thought.

“Then I’ll give you a simple suggestion. If you cannot follow it, we can approach Professor Babbling. Did you know Professor Babbling once served as a Mediwitch in St. Mungo’s Hospital?”

“I did not know that.” Harry admitted giving some thought to the matter.

“All right. I’ll hear out your suggestion before approaching Professor Babbling.” Harry came to a decision.

“Okay. So, in mind arts, there is a theory about fissures that form over time inside the mind of a witch or wizard who practices Legilimency and Occlumency. Certain strong emotional connections with an issue or a person could adversely change the mind on a dime. I think this is what is happening with you, Harry.” Daphne took a deep breath. “I suggest you look at Creevey’s issue not as something to be fought on his behalf but as an opportunity.”

Harry frowned as he heard Daphne’s assessment. “I don’t follow.”

“Instead of trying to fight for Creevey, why don’t you take a step back and allow Umbridge to make more mistakes? In short, I’m asking you to do nothing and allow Umbridge free reign in Hogwarts.”

Harry was horrified at Daphne’s suggestion to step back and allow that pink toad to do as she pleases in Hogwarts.

“Your reaction speaks volumes, Harry. You need to let it go and make this an opportunity that benefits you.” said Daphne.

Harry was just about ready to reject whatever Daphne was suggesting, as it involved turning a blind eye to Umbridge torturing children. He was quite aware that he was not an all-encompassing moral person, but he drew a line when it came to torturing innocent children. And kids like Colin Creevey were defenceless because of their status of being muggleborn. Nonetheless, he was intrigued by what Daphne cooked up in her little head within this short timeframe because he knew she was also a practitioner of Occlumency. Anything she had to say on the subject was intriguing as she had been practising the art far longer than him.

Besides, he could still go for the second option by approaching Professor Babbling. He’d just have to cook up a magical contract to protect his privacy.

“All right. Explain how I am supposed to make an opportunity out of this situation. I’m all ears.” said Harry.

Daphne smiled at him before leaning forward and began explaining her idea.

 

 

Chapter 66: Weasley is our King!

Harry twisted and turned in mid-air, easily slipping right through the conjured hoops hanging from the roof of the room courtesy of the Room of Requirement. His spirit form was relatively easy to control as far as the flight was concerned. He’d say it was far better than a broom when it comes to manoeuvrability, but in speed, the Firebolt would undoubtedly win. He wondered whether any supplementary spells could augment his speed in this spirit form. He’d have to check with the books in the Chamber or, better yet, Helena if he could somehow track down the elusive ghost of the Ravenclaw tower.

Not that he was in any hurry to modify his current ability. He was already quite happy with the magically sustained flight. If anything, he’d spend more time deciphering the Horcrux conundrum or even the constant references to Elysium in the ancient scrolls he found in Slytherin’s library. Not to mention he was back to trying his hand at mastering the animagus transformation. He had already stuck a Mandrake leaf on the roof of his mouth. He fervently hoped his second attempt would be the last because having a leaf clinging to the roof of his mouth for days without end was just downright uncomfortable. He had to be extra cautious too, as he had to ensure no one noticed the Mandrake leaf in his mouth.

Finished with his flight training, Harry left the Room of Requirement after taking a long swim in the pool. He walked through the vacant hallways of Hogwarts, whistling a jolly tune and a spring in his steps for good measure. There were quite a few reasons for his rather happy mood.

Daphne’s advice with his Occlumency was immensely helpful. He had followed her advice and employed Occlumency against the unfortunate events surrounding Colin Creevey. It was a difficult task, but he managed to let go as Daphne had suggested. When he managed to shield his mind from over-fixating on the issue with Colin Creevey, the uncontrollable rage that was fast becoming a problem vanished instantly. He had planned to use his considerable influence over Rita Skeeter to smear Umbridge and chase her out of Hogwarts. He’d have used the same tactic he employed against Snape against the resident pink toad, but Daphne’s advice made him rethink that strategy.

Where he saw injustice in the situation, Daphne saw an opportunity to increase his influence within Hogwarts. If he were to charge right out of the gate with a sword swinging against the Ministry and Umbridge, he’d probably win. He could potentially bring down the pink tyrant to her knees, but what would that change in Hogwarts? The criminally negligent staff of Hogwarts would continue to function like everything was right in the world while he’d end up playing the role of hero.

No, Daphne was right to say that allowing Umbridge’s reign of terror to continue was an opportunity. The more Umbridge terrorises the students, the easier it’d be for Harry to make inroads into certain groups in Hogwarts. It’d also expose the Hogwarts staff for what they were, a bunch of good-for-nothing cowards. Besides, it was not his place to butt into every little problem. If Umbridge turned against him, now that was a different matter. For now, he was going to step into the shadows and observe Umbridge from afar.

When he was just about to reach the portrait of the Fat Lady, the entrance of the Gryffindor tower swung open, and it was Ron Weasley on the other side with a broom in his hand. Seeing this, Harry was a bit confused.

“There is Quidditch practice today?” he asked curiously.

“No.” Ron muttered, looking a bit embarrassed all of a sudden.

“Then where are you going with the broom this evening?”

“Er – nothing. I’m just…ya know, taking some time to practice, as Angelina said. Just on my own, though. I bewitch the Quaffle to fly at me, and then I try to keep it out of the hoops.” Ron said nervously.

“Huh. Good for you. Keep up the good work.” Harry patted Ron on his shoulder and entered the Gryffindor tower leaving Ron outside. Before the portrait closed behind Harry, he heard a hasty ‘thanks’ from Ron, making him smile.

The following day Harry was invited to take a stroll along the Viaduct as they had a common free period. He’d have preferred to spend some time in the Chamber working over Nagini, but Daphne rarely asks for anything, so he obliged readily. Besides, there was ample time tomorrow as today was the last working day of the week.

They walked hand in hand from outside the entrance to the Great Hall towards the Viaduct, taking in the many sculptures and suits of armour that stood guard on either side of the gatehouse.

“You feeling all right, Harry?” Daphne asked as they strolled out from the gatehouse.

“I’m quite fine. Thanks for that, by the way. Your advice was quite valuable.”

Daphne smiled upon hearing that. “That’s a relief. Anyway, I asked for you to give you this…”

Harry raised an eyebrow when Daphne presented him with a book that had no title or the name of the author on the cover.

“It’s a copy of the book from my family library. It should help you better with Occlumency than the standard books on the subject.” said Daphne, handing over the book with a black hardcover.

“Oh!” Harry was a bit surprised by the gesture but happy nonetheless. “Thanks a lot, Daphne. I’ll take good care of it. I promise.”

“I know. That’s why I gave it to you. Besides, you showed me the Chamber. It’d be remiss of me if I didn’t give you something in exchange for the honour of seeing Slytherin’s Chamber.” said Daphne.

“Really! I show you a thousand-year-old secret chamber of one of the illustrious Founders of Hogwarts, and you give me a copy of one book from your family library. Come now, Daphs. You can do better.” Harry smirked at the cute frown that came over Daphne’s delicate features.

Daphne came to a halt and looked at him searchingly.

“Then what do you want?” she asked, tilting her head to the side, her blue eyes sparkling with interest.

“Don’t get me wrong. I like the book. It’s just that we could spend some quality time alone, preferably in a broom closet if you’re okay with it.” Harry said in a soft purr breathing hotly against Daphne’s ear, making the blonde-haired girl shiver at the sudden proximity.

She let out an embarrassed squeak when Harry took hold of her by her hips and boldly raised her, and set her down so that she was sitting on the railing of the viaduct. The wind from the chasm down below blew away her hair to the front. Daphne nearly screamed in fright as she realised she was at the very edge of the railing and a small mistake could leave her at the very bottom of the chasm. But no sound came out from her lips because they were otherwise engaged in a heated kiss.

When they parted after several minutes of battling it out with their lips, Harry could see how intoxicated Daphne’s eyes were. His eyes strayed to the deep chasm just behind Daphne, and he felt a little bit adventurous.

“Do you trust me?”

“Uh-huh.” Daphne moaned, reaching out and kissing him again.

Harry smirked against her lips and pushed them both over the railing. He silenced her screams by locking their lips while he consumed them both with his spirit form. He had only tried taking something along for the flight with inanimate objects but was confident he could take Daphne with him.

By the time Harry pulled back from her lips, Daphne was just about ready to pass out. She looked around wildly and saw to her befuddlement she was somehow climbing up high into the sky instead of falling to the bottom of the chasm as she imagined.

“Wha..? How?” Daphne sputtered, lost for words, as her blue eyes shined with a combination of wonder, fear, and pleasure.

“I’m the boy-who-lived, love. Nothing is beyond my reach.” Harry winked.

Harry took her for a spin for a few more minutes in the sky and around the bridge until finally, they decided to cut it short. They spent the rest of the time on the ground until it was time for their class. Daphne was shooting him impressed looks from time to time as they walked toward their potion class in the dungeons.

“So, what spell was that?”

“Do you want to know?” he asked, a smirk slowly growing on his face, which put Daphne on edge.

“I’d love to fly, yes.” She answered warily.

“Hmm. It’s going to cost you, though.” Harry whispered. “I’ve picked out a perfect broom closet if you really want to learn to fly like me.”

Daphne’s ears and cheeks turned red, and she hit him before walking away with long strides.

“Hey! I’ll compromise and let you choose the broom closet.” Harry shouted after her while chuckling all the way.

When they finally reached the Potion class, there was a crowd forming right outside the classroom. At the centre stage was Draco Malfoy waving around a parchment while strutting around like a peacock.

“I went and asked for permission on behalf of the Slytherin Quidditch team, and we got the permission right away. It’s no surprise, really. I have known Professor Umbridge for a long time, thanks to my father. He’s always popping in and out of the Ministry. Minister Fudge always asks my father for advice on important matters, you know.”

“What is the ponce talking about?” Daphne whispered to Harry.

“It must be a new educational decree. All clubs in Hogwarts require the permission of Umbridge to function.” Harry whispered back.

“Oh. Umbridge can do that?” Daphne asked incredulously.

“She seems to think so.” Harry shrugged.

“It’ll be interesting to see whether the Gryffindor team is allowed to play this year, won’t it?” Draco asked with an arrogant smirk.

“Why? Did your father whore himself out to the Ministry to make sure his useless son can boast a victory this year without us in the game?” Harry asked seamlessly, earning roars of laughter from Gryffindor students.

“You! You won’t be laughing for long, you blood traitors. You’ll all get what’s coming for you.” Draco threatened, his eyes glinting maliciously. “It won’t be long before the mudbloods and blood traitors get their due. The Ministry will deal with Dumbledore and his ilk while you, Potter…you and your friends will get the real deal. Maybe, if you are lucky, they’ll just leave you lot in the care of St. Mungo’s hospital permanently. I hear they’ve got a special ward for mental cases like you lot.”

Hermione and Ron had to physically hold down Neville as he was trying to go for Draco with burning rage in his eyes.

Harry, on the other hand, looked coldly at the Slytherin students, that laughed at Draco’s little threat.

“I see. Then let me give you a fair warning Draco. When giants battle, worms should hide under the soil, or they’ll get destroyed and dismembered, which makes them unrecognizable even for their families. If you doubt that, ask your friends Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle whether I’m wrong.” Harry smiled coldly at the Slytherins. “After all, they’re intimately familiar with such a situation, considering what happened last year.”

Crabbe and Goyle were scowling while Nott withdrew to the back of the crowd with his face chalk white.

“Please do extend my warm greeting to Mr. Malfoy. The last time we met, I didn’t get much time to speak with him or with anyone else for that matter.” Harry said, eyeing Crabbe, Goyle, and Nott before settling on Draco. “I’ll correct that mistake in the future.”

“What is going on here?” Snape barked, opening the door with a bang.

His dark eyes immediately zeroed in on Hermione and Ron, who were holding Neville back.

“Fighting in the halls Weasley, Granger, and Longbottom? Five points each from Gryffindor. Now, get inside!” the greasy-haired Potion master snarled.

Harry took his usual seat at the back of the potions class with Neville, who looked like he was just about ready to murder Malfoy.

“Calm down. This is not the place or time to settle scores.” Harry whispered to his friend. “Your time will come. Trust me.”

Neville let out a deep breath. He opened the potion textbook and stared at the page silently.

“You’ll note that we have a guest with us today.” said Snape, his eyes glinting darkly, but his face closed off, giving nothing away of his thoughts on the matter.

The potion master gestured to one of the dim corners of the room where Umbridge was sitting with a clipboard and a quill in her hand.

“Now, what is this bitch doing here?” Harry muttered.

Neville cracked up a little upon hearing that.

“She was in our Divination class as well. She was not particularly impressed with Professor Trelawney.” Neville muttered.

“Who is?” Harry and Neville shared a smile.

They went back to concentrating on the Strengthening potion they were supposed to brew and the instructions Snape had written on the board. While working on the potion, Harry eyed Umbridge from time to time whenever the ministry stooge popped with a question or two for Snape on his teaching methods. He even heard her asking about the probation Snape suffered last year. Snape grinding his teeth in frustration could be heard across the room, making Harry smile. He supposed there was some fun in watching Umbridge tear into Snape.

XXXXXXXX

Harry carefully took each breath, mindful of how much he inhaled, then slowly exhaled the air trapped inside his lungs. He repeated the process a few more times until he was confident that he had managed to suppress the pre-game jitters in his body. When he opened his eyes, he noticed his knees had stopped shaking, and he was almost back to his normal self. Breathing out of his mouth, Harry leaned back in his seat and made sure the protective gear on his elbows was strapped in nice and tight.

If he was having pre-game jitters, then Ron’s condition was much worse.

“You all right there, Ron?” Harry asked, seeing the pale white face and the occasional shivering the red-haired boy was going through while waiting in the locker room.

“Y…Yeah. I…I think so.” Ron stuttered, his cheeks turning tomato red, sinking into his seat with his head bowed.

“You should take a few breaths and calm yourself. You’ll do fine out there.” Harry consoled the guy taking pity on the roughened-up Ron. “Angelina, Alicia, and Katie are very good with the Quaffle. You’d barely get many shoots from the Slytherin team.”

“What happened to our…”

“…wee brother today?”

Harry shook his head, seeing the Weasely twins plopping down on either side of Ron. They threw their arms around Ron and began to try their best to put pull Ron out of his shell.

“What are they doing?” Angelina asked once she came out of the dressing room in her Quidditch gear.

“I think Ron is getting the motivational talk for the game.” Harry commented.

“Not on my watch. He has been motivated enough.” Angelina went straight for the Weasley twins and pulled them away from Ron.

“I won’t have you two jokers mess up the game by being hard on Ron.” Angelina shouted at them as she pulled the twins away by their ears.

“We were just…”

“…trying to help.”

The twins chorused, but Angelina was having none of it. She pulled those two away from the locker rooms by her lonesome.

“Well, I didn’t expect to see that. I thought we were supposed to beat up the other team, not our own.” Alicia deadpanned, watching their captain tearing into the Weasley twins just before the game.

“Meh. Those two can handle it.” Katie said, joining them in watching the spectacle.

“Angelina is just worried because we didn’t get enough time to practice.” said Harry.

“All thanks to that vile woman.” Angelina said, her face twisting in fury. “Umbridge was adamant about canceling all our practice sessions and giving more to Slytherin.”

“I might be responsible for that. She most likely didn’t like the fact that I complained to Dumbledore about her practices during detention.” said Harry.

“And no one will blame you, Harry. You did the right thing.” said Angelina, waving away the issue.

“I was really expecting them to fire Umbridge.” said Katie.

The blowback from the inaction in the case of Colin Creevey didn’t affect Umbridge too much. Already, most students in Hogwarts hated the pink toad with a passion. The ire of the students was mostly focused on the faculty and even the Ministry to some extent for rewarding Umbridge with a new position as the Inquisitor of Hogwarts.

“It’s time.” Angelina suddenly said, hearing the crowd making noises from the stands. “Let’s go out there and put those snakes down for good.”

Shouldering their brooms, they walked out of the locker room and into the pitch. A roar came from the stands, and Harry found the sound coming from Luna, who had a lion head for a hat which opened its mouth and let out another roar.

“That’s an impressive piece of magic.” Harry muttered.

He even gave a thumbs up in Luna’s direction for the incredible piece of magic and support shown for the team. The Slytherin team also filtered into the pitch with a confident swagger in their steps. He saw Crabbe and Goyle among the Slytherin team sticking close to Draco Malfoy. It was then that he noticed the crown-shaped badges on the Slytherin team’s robes, which read Weasley is our King.

“Madam Hooch. I understand that Quidditch has a strict code of conduct and prescribed uniforms, do they not?” Harry asked innocently.

“Yes.” Hooch slowly nodded.

“Then please do take necessary action against the Slytherin team. They seem to have broken the decorum and rules of the sport.” Harry said softly.

Madam Hooch frowned at him and then looked closely at the Slytherin team.

“What are you all wearing? Montague! What do you have to say for yourself?” Hooch tore into the Slytherin team captain, who sputtered upon being put on the spot.

“Remove all those badges. Right now!” Hooch shouted at them, making the Slytherin team flinch and obey speedily.

“Seven fouls are awarded to Gryffindor.” Hooch declared, blowing her whistle seven times.

The Slytherin team protested, but Madam Hooch was having none of it and asked Angelina to prepare for the penalty shots.

“It’s either that or your captain gets benched for the game.” said Hooch when she became tired of the complaints.

“You see. There are consequences for acting juvenile, Draco. I thought you learned that lesson last year.” Harry said, smirking at the embarrassed Malfoy he flew high into the air and made a few spins with his Firebolt.

The crowd was roaring out in approval as they realised the Slytherin team was starting with a huge disadvantage early in the game.

“Good one, Harry. I never even thought of appealing those insufferable badges.” Angelina excitedly said, whooshing past his side with a broad smile on her face.

“Meh. I just have more experience when it comes to stupid badges.” Harry smirked, earning a hearty laugh from his captain.

“Nice.” Katie said, high-fiving Harry while Alicia bumped fists with him.

“Bloody brilliant, Harry.” Ron excitedly yelled as he took his position guarding the hoops.

“It seems the slimy snakes…”

“Jordan!” McGonagall shouted.

“Just sayin’ as I see it, Professor.” Lee Jordan defended himself

“Anyway, the Slytherins team just conceded seven fouls in a row thanks to an appeal from Harry Potter. What a great bloke, Harry Potter is, huh? Always have a keen eye for detail. That’s why Potter is the best Seeker out there.”

“Jordan!” McGonagall cried again.

“Just giving the details for the crowd's benefit, Professor.”

Harry shook his head and laughed, sharing a grin with the twins as well.

“Oh, look! It’s Angelina Johnson taking the first penalty. Lovely girl. Has a good record on the pitch and is quite easy on the eyes. Shame she turned me down when I asked her out for a date.”

“Jordan!”

“What, Professor? It’s true. She turned me down. I swear.”

Harry was holding his sides while floating in mid-air on his broom. Lee Jordan’s trolling was on full blast, and he supposed Jordan was making the most of the opportunity to mock the Slytherin team. Going by all the yelling and cheering, the crowd was also enjoying it very much.

“There she goes into the snake’s lair boldly with Quaffle in hand. Malfoy looks on with a scowl as the Gryffindor captain swooshes past him with blinding speed straight for the Bletchley, who looks a tad green. She shoots, and SHE SCORES!”

“Gryffindor-10, Sltherin-0. It’s not over, folks! There are six more penalties to go.” Jordan chimed happily.

The grave silence that was coming from the Slytherin stands was quite glaring. Harry suspected Draco would get a less-than-warm welcome when the match ends today.

“Oh, look! Alicia Spinnet takes the next penalty. She is a sharp one. No way she’s going to miss it. This is more trouble for Bletchley.” Lee Jordan aired out from the stands.

Harry cheered, as did the students in the stands, when Alicia delivered the Quaffle with a spin that made the ball swing out and go through the outermost ring on Bletchley’s right side. The crowd roared out in approval. Katie was next, and she also scored in a similar fashion, making the crowd roar out their approval. The Gryffindors in the stand were on their feet and dancing with fervour at the three consecutive goals. The following four penalties were of a similar fashion, where Angelina, Alicia, and Katie took turns and found their marks quite easily. By the end of it, Bletchley looked like he might just faint as Gryffindor was leading with 70-0 on the scoreboard.

“Harry, change of plans. You don’t have to play interference. Catch the Snitch as fast as you can. Let’s not take any risk and destroy Slytherin for good.” Angelina ordered.

“You got it, Cap.” Harry said, giving a fist bump.

Madam Hooch blew the whistler and released the Bludgers and Snitch into the field while Angelina took the Quaffle and sped towards the Slytherin side with Katie and Alicia on her heel.

Harry flew straight up as he traced the Snitch all the way to the Slytherin’s side of the pitch. He didn’t make any sudden moves as he didn’t want to give away the position of the Snitch. Instead, he chose to barrel towards Crabbe in full force. Just as he neared Crabbe, he dived straight down, scaring the Slytherin beater out of his wits. It had the added benefit of the Bludger smacking straight into Crabbe’s stomach courtesy of Goyle.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Draco speeding towards him, attempting to cut off his dive, most likely thinking Harry was after the Snitch. Harry pulled out of the dive halfway and allowed Draco to needlessly sail down while he went straight up at full speed straight for the Snitch.

“Oh, look! Katie Bell scores another goal. This is a good hunt for the lions.” Lee Jordan commented with cheers coming from the crowd.

Harry chased after the Snitch taking twists and sharp turns, but he was not willing to give up the chase that easily. The Snitch went low all of a sudden, zooming past Goyle’s ear. Harry followed, and Goyle tried to take a swipe at him with his bat, but Harry rolled along with his broom and evaded the swing easily. While he was at it, he gave a sharp kick to Goyle’s face as he barrelled down at full speed. The Snitch went as low as half a meter from the ground, forcing Harry to level out, but the Snitch didn’t escape him as he reached out and plucked it out of thin air. The small golden ball helplessly beat its wings against his hand, but there was no point.

“What an amazing save by Ron Weasley. And look at that, folks! Harry Potter caught the Snitch in just under fifteen minutes. This must be a record.” Lee Jordan yelled.

His teammates swarmed Harry as they celebrated the easy victory. It was also the first Quidditch match after a year’s gap, so the excitement was quite palpable.

“We won! We won!” Angelina was crying her eyes out while the rest of the team was laughing and hugging.

Harry looked searchingly at the stands and found the owner of a pair of blue eyes.

‘I suppose I’ll have to properly thank her for giving a heads-up about Malfoy’s stupid plan with the song and badges.’ Harry thought amusedly.

Not that the song even saw the light of day. It was drowned out by the crowd's roars thanks to the stellar performance put forth by the Gryffindor team. He supposed there were also the celebrations to look forward to. After the gloomy cloud that was hanging around Gryffindor common room after the issue of Colin Creevey, this was something to celebrate.

The twins started chanting 'Weasley is the King' as they pulled Ron over their heads and began dancing around like a pair of hooligans, making everyone laugh. Pretty soon, everyone took up the slogan. 

Harry chuckled and looked at Draco Malfoy, who looked like he swallowed a lemon.

"Childish." Harry mouthed at the Slytherin seeker as he, too, joined the festivities by taking up the slogan.

AN:

 

For artworks: https://discord.gg/Nw2JH25fJf

Chapter 67: Loyal army P1

Harry enjoyed the pleasant feeling of profound silence in the deepest confines of his mind. The only companion to him was darkness and nothing else. He didn’t know how long he stayed that way, but after a long while, a small glimmer of light parted the darkness. He saw a proud lion slowly emerging out of the darkness. Its mane was golden, and how the lion carried itself screamed strength. The lion looked straight at him and roared, making Harry step back in fear.

Harry woke up with a gasp finding himself in his bed in the Gryffindor dorm. He sighed in relief when he realised it was just a dream. A strange dream but a dream nonetheless. The last thing he wanted right now was a pissed-off lion on his tail. Oh, wait! He already had a pissed-off lioness on his tail in the form of Professor McGonagall. After Umbridge went unpunished for torturing Colin, the stupid woman tried to give him detentions for laying into her without inhibitions. He told her off straight to her face and never attended any detention. His official policy was now to only attend detentions from the Hogwarts staff when Umbridge gets fired from her post. He had said so to McGonagall in her office before the Quidditch match with Slytherin. Since then, McGonagall had given him the cold shoulder, which he was all too happy to reciprocate. The less he interacted with the hypocrites in the teaching staff, the better.

Besides, He had enough on his plate to worry about.

There was the planned meeting with Fleur coming up in just two weeks. That was a more troublesome issue than the idiosyncrasies of the Hogwarts staff. His plan constituted of gaining a magical oath from Fleur to protect the secret of his involvement in the death of the Death Eaters. He lost a better part of his training time researching magical contracts, but it was time well spent if Fleur agreed to a secrecy pact enforced by the contract. He initially considered using a verbal binding oath, but those tend to be too detrimental and vague, often leading to dangerous situations. On the other hand, a magically binding contract could be more inclusive in scope and much more humane in his view. He had yet to finalise the contract's wording because he gathered Fleur would have some of her suggestions to include.

Shaking those thoughts away, Harry stretched out his limbs while sitting on his bed before preparing for the day.

After getting ready for the day ahead, he walked out of the dorms with Neville in tow when they found a large crowd gathered in their common room.

“Are we celebrating the Quidditch victory again?” Neville muttered.

“We already had a party for that. Besides, this doesn’t look like a party.” Harry observed.

They looked at each other before entering the crowd to see what was happening. There were snippets of conversation Harry picked up, but they didn’t make much sense. He finally found some familiar faces in the form of Katie, Alicia, the Weasley twins, and Angelina.

“Hey, what’s going on? And why is Angelina looking like she just took a blasting curse to her face?” asked Harry.

“Harry. Umbridge just suspended the Gryffindor Quidditch team. We’ll not be allowed to play the matches for the rest of the season.” said Katie, handing him a leaf of parchment addressed to Angelina.

“For what?” Neville asked incredulously.

“Apparently, we cheated to win the game against…”

“…Slytherin, in the bitch’s expert opinion.”

George and Fred said in their usual twin-talk.

“This cannot be allowed to stand. Umbridge is also messing with our DADA classes as well.” Hermione butted in, earning many sounds of approval from the crowd.

“Yeah. That evil woman even tortured one of us.” someone angrily growled, earning more approval from the crowd.

“She’s worse than Snape. She hates us all, and we must teach that woman a lesson.”

“Yeah. She's got to pay.”

Many other voices joined in, all of them intent on taking the fight to Umbridge head-on.

“We should complain to McGonagall and Dumbledore.” Hermione suggested, but all the gathered students snorted and groaned.

“You saw how useless they were, Granger. They don’t care about us.” an upperclassman said with a derisive snort.

“Yeah. Harry took Colin’s issue to McGonagall, Dumbledore, and even the Board of Governors. Look what they did to her. My Gran says Minister Fudge protects Umbridge.” said Neville.

More and more angry comments came from the Gryffindor students.

Harry read the parchment from top to bottom of the letter and snorted out a laugh making everyone look at him.

“Oh, you guys don’t need to worry. The pink toad can ban us all she likes. But she won’t be enforcing that ban.” Harry said confidently as he felt this was a personal attack against him more than anything else, and he would respond in a way the bitch would understand what real power looks like.

“What’d you mean, Harry?” Angelina asked, looking hopeful all of a sudden.

He saw that all eyes were on him. Harry felt like this was the moment Daphne was talking about. He had waited oh so patiently all this time, subtly inflaming the emotions of Gryffindor students against Umbridge, McGonagall, and Dumbledore. It was quite an easy job, thanks to Umbridge and the resounding silence from the Hogwarts staff. The woman had an uncanny ability to piss off people in a way that frankly astonished him. He supposed he should also thank all those stupid Educational decrees that had made Hogwarts feel like a prison camp for the students.

“When we live in a lawless land, we need to gather power to protect ourselves.” Harry said in a lacklustre manner while keeping his eyes on his fellow Gryffindors for any change in their attitude.

Unfortunately, Harry just got a sea of confused faces making it abundantly clear that his suggestion was not making much sense to his fellow Gryffindors.

“You…you can’t be serious.” Hermione sputtered. “Are you seriously suggesting that we use force?”

“Force is always necessary for change.” said Harry.

 “Harry is right.” said Neville, coming to his support. “You all saw the Prophet. All those strange happenings in the Muggle world, the Death Eater attack during the World Cup, all those wizards dying last year, Crouch Jr impersonating Professor Moody, and then the werewolf attacks. We need to learn to defend ourselves.”

“Well said, Neville.” said Harry, bringing the attention back to him. “If you think all of these incidents are just coincidence, then you thought wrong. The Dark Mark seen on the Quidditch World Cup was not a scare tactic but a declaration of war. Instead of doing something, the Ministry is trying hard to suppress anyone pointing out the obvious.”

Harry took a deep breath as he knew this would be a contentious issue and a dangerous step as he was opening himself more to Umbridge. But this was a necessary step.

“The Dark Lord Voldemort has risen to power. I fought him at the end of the Third Task when Crouch Jr had me transported to the Dark Lord’s side by turning the Triwizard cup into a portkey. Dumbledore was speaking the truth last year, and the Ministry is trying hard to discredit Dumbledore because Fudge is under Lucius Malfoy’s thumb.” said Harry.

“I knew it! Those Malfoys are always evil.” Ron growled immediately.

 The discussion then revolved around Umbridge being an agent sent by Lucius Malfoy to help Draco and the other Death Eater children in Slytherin. Some suggested she was sent here to assassinate Dumbledore and Harry. Many wild theories were spun around quickly, making even the staunchest conspiracy theorists cringe. In the end, Harry got what he wanted. His fellow Gryffindors agreed to form a secret group that’d train in battle magic to fight against Umbridge’s tyranny. The first official meeting was scheduled for the evening, and he made them swear not to breathe a word to other houses. After all, the last thing he wanted was for word to spread about their little group before their first official meeting.

XXXXXXX

“What exactly did you say to McGonagall when she assigned detentions?” Daphne asked with some mirth in her eyes.

“Meh. It’s water under the bridge.” Harry tried to shrug away the whole event.

“Oh, come on, Harry. You can tell me.” Daphne grinned playfully at him.

“You like it when we lions are at each other’s throats, huh?” Harry asked.

“Love it. Just like you love it when we snakes are sniping each other.” Daphne smirked at him.

Harry grinned, knowing that was true.

“So, any developments in Slytherin house I should know about? If Draco is making any trouble, just say the word. I can have the ferret cry like a baby in front of everyone.”

“Hmm. After last year’s poor performance from Draco, I’d have expected him to be shunned in Slytherin house. But, the upperclassmen have shown no interest in keeping Draco contained. It looks like they almost fear what might happen should they publicly oppose Draco.” Daphne said with a frown.

“I see. So, they fear acting against Draco may perceive them as someone standing against the Dark Lord. How did the ponce manage to convince your house of such a thing?”

“Because he had been running his mouth that his father was now the right-hand man of the Dark Lord to anyone who’d listen.” Daphne rolled her eyes while saying that.

“As expected of the idiot.” Harry sighed, shaking his head at the stupidity displayed by Malfoy.

Or maybe, the ponce knew the Ministry was weak, and nothing would happen to him. In that case, it was a brilliant move to hold influence over the Slytherin students.

“Are you sure you’re okay in Slytherin? I suspect Draco and his cronies are most upset with you, and the idiot might just take his frustrations out on you after suffering a series of setbacks. I’d be more than happy to deal with the ferret with force.” Harry offered, taking Daphne’s hand into his as they walked down the hall and into the courtyard of the Clock Tower.  

“I can handle Draco’s shenanigans. However, should I need you, I’ll ask for help Harry.” Daphne assured him, squeezing his hands while smiling up at him.

The evening sky let out a rumble before suddenly raining in full force. Harry and Daphne made a run for it straight for the Wooden Bridge. They ran past the Sundial Garden while the rain poured down on them with a fury until they finally managed to cross over to the other side and enter the safety of the Wooden Bridge.

“Well, that was rather abrupt.” Harry commented, wiping the rainwater from his face with his sleeve while watching the rain get rather strong, accompanied by gales of wind.

Daphne screamed in protest when the wind carried sharp stingy raindrops sharpened by the wind against their bodies. Harry at least had the glasses on him to protect his eyes, while Daphne had no such shield. So, Harry shielded her with his own body by holding her close to him. The wind slowly died down as they moved further into the Wooden Bridge. Some of the trees growing from the bottom of the canyon shielded some parts of the bridge, and they took refuge there.

Harry wiped clean his glasses and put them back on his face as it was getting blurry with all the water. As his vision cleared, he saw Daphne drenched from head to toe, her blond hair losing its curls and sticking to her skin like it was glued. Tiny drops of water clung to her full red lips while trails of drops ran along her long neck.

“You’re breathtaking.” Harry breathed out before capturing her lips in an abrupt kiss that took Daphne by surprise.

He could feel her hands nearing his chest, and when he thought she was just about to push him away, her hands instead fisted his robes and pulled him against her. Feeling a bit bold, Harry pushed his tongue against her lips. To his pleasant surprise, Daphne not only allowed him entry but greeted him with her own. Soon, their tongues were battling it out against each other as they pushed and prodded against each other. When they parted, they were breathless and flushed.

Daphne lightly pecked him on his lips and smiled at him sultrily, her nose nudging against his. Her playful smile let him know that Daphne was ready for more. His hands that held her hips climbed upward and took hold of her green robes over her shoulder. He was just about ready to slip those robes down and explore more of her skin when someone cleared their throat, making Harry and Daphne abruptly look to their side.  

“Hi.” Lavender and Parvati waved at them, their faces beet red.

Harry barely held back a groan as he realised he would be the popular topic in the Hogwarts grapevine circles for a few days. His prediction came true a few hours later as he watched a group of Ravenclaw girls passes by, giggling and whispering while eyeing him like an animal in a zoo. As thick-skinned as he was, there was a limit to being the topic of discussion, especially considering the nature of his recent fame.

“Why are they doing that?” Neville asked, frowning as another pair of girls from Hufflepuff walked by doing the same.  

“Doing what?” Harry asked, feigning ignorance.

“That.” Neville pointed at a group of giggling Gryffindor girls by the Great Hall’s entrance.

“Girls are a mystery, mate. Who knows what’s going on inside their heads.” Harry shrugged.

“Do you think someone tattled about the meeting?” Neville asked worriedly, keeping his voice as low as possible.

Harry patted Neville’s shoulder but otherwise didn’t respond. He was further saved from the awkward situation when Hannah Abbott approached them and held out a red scroll toward him.

“It’s from Headmaster Dumbledore.” Hannah squeaked out before she skipped away in a hurry.

“Oh, Merlin! Someone must’ve leaked our plans.” Neville whispered worriedly.

Harry merely patted Neville on the shoulder after reading the message in the scroll, which told him to meet the headmaster in his office and the password for the gargoyle.

“There’s nothing to worry about. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

Harry traversed the hallways of Hogwarts until, finally, he stood before the gargoyle guarding the stairway to Dumbledore’s office. After saying the password, he was allowed entry. He found Dumbledore standing by the window, looking out into the darkening sky.

“Sir?”

“Come sit, Harry. I was just enjoying the sunset.” Dumbledore smiled.

Harry said nothing, merely taking the seat offered to him and started intuitively at the headmaster.

“How’re you, Harry?” Dumbledore asked, once the old headmaster took his seat, steepling his fingers together.

“I get by.” Harry shrugged, then raised a lone eyebrow at the headmaster. “May I know the purpose of this meeting, sir?”

Dumbledore stayed silent and eyed Harry for a long minute. Harry was perfectly willing to let the silence stretch out as he took that time to eye the trinkets in the office and the many portraits of the past headmasters.

“You are still dissatisfied with what happened with Professor Umbridge.”

“I’m dissatisfied with the fact that you and the rest of the Hogwarts staff didn’t throw out Umbridge from Hogwarts.” Harry said blandly.

“We don’t have the power to do that, Harry.” Dumbledore said gravely.

“Of course you do. You are just choosing not to use your power.”

“And what power is that, Harry?”

“Your magical power.” Harry said coldly.

“You’d have me use force to dislodge Umbridge from Hogwarts?” Dumbledore asked with wide eyes.

“Force is always necessary.” Harry parroted the same line he used on his fellow Gryffindors. “Nothing changes if there is no force to facilitate that change."

“Changes that are brought about by force seldom lasts.” Dumbledore said sagely.

“That is a loser’s argument and a convenient one for your inaction. Just as action has a price attached to it, inaction also incurs a debt to the wheel of fate. In time, you’ll be held liable for your inaction.” Harry warned.

“You’ve changed greatly, Harry.” Dumbledore observed with a sad sigh.

“You’ve said that often as if I’m supposed to stay unchanging.” Harry snorted, leaning back in the chair. “Anyway, did you call me to discuss philosophical matters, Headmaster? If that’s the case, I’m afraid I tire of these talks.”

“I see. I shall come to the matter at hand.”

“Please do.” said Harry sassily, which Dumbledore chose to ignore.

“Lord Voldemort gains strength as days go by, and I suspect Tom is aware of the unique connection you two share. Tell me, Harry? Has your scar reacted in any way this year?”

“No, it has not.” Harry answered.

“Are you sure?” Dumbledore eyed him suspiciously.

“Positive.”

Dumbledore looked like he didn’t believe him.

“It is my strong suspicion that Lord Voldemort may choose to employ Mind Arts against you, Harry. Therefore, I’ve charged Severus to teach you the basics of Occlumency.”

“I’m afraid you are under the misconception that I’ll spend a second more with Snape outside the class hours. Besides, I’ve no need for Snape of all people to teach me Occlumency.” Harry stood up from his seat, realising this was a giant waste of time.

“Harry, be reasonable.”

“I’m afraid I’m unreasonable when it comes to my personal matters. If Voldemort chooses to use the mind as the battlefield, I’m more than prepared to face him on my terms. Good day, headmaster.”

Harry exited the headmaster's office with a frustrated frown on his face. He could only shake his head at Dumbledore's schemes. It was as if all the conversations in the past with the old man had never happened. The old man was smoking some strong shit if he thought Harry would take lessons about Occlumency from Severus Snape. He couldn't help but snort at the thought of him working with Snape. The first chance he'd get, he'd have Snape packed off to Azkaban. He suspected the man was a vile crazy son of a bitch, and a dose of Veritaserum should make the man spill all the crimes he committed as a Death Eater.

Rather than waste his time on Dumbledore's fallacies, he focused on cultivating a loyal army inside Hogwarts. He was sure it'd come in handy in the future.

 

AN:

 

For artworks: https://discord.gg/Nw2JH25fJf

Chapter 68: Loyal army P2

The Gryffindor common room was packed with students. Only third-years and above were included in the meeting, mainly because the prefects of Gryffindor house insisted on keeping an age barrier for the meeting. Some pragmatism was also involved as first-year and second-year students were not what some would call army material. Nonetheless, Harry would address that particular issue at a later date as Umbridge’s stupid class would deal more damage to the first-years and second-years than anyone else. Instead of studying small jinxes, and dangerous magical animals and plants prevalent in the wizarding world, they were taught to run away instead of using their magic.

Truth be told, Harry was more concerned about the gossip queens and the loudmouths in Gryffindor than some snot-nosed firstie. His eyes strayed to the corner where he saw the gossip queens of his year huddled together. It was good that he came prepared with the means to plug the gaps to keep the information about this meeting a secret for as long as possible.

“All right, everyone. Please make yourself comfortable with the seats available. And those who don’t have a seat, please sit on the floor.” Harry started, standing at the centre of the common room and waiting for everyone to settle down around him.

He looked at the Weasley twins, and they gave him a thumbs up for the go-ahead. He had handed the twins the Marauders’ Map to keep an eye on the Hogwarts staff. The last thing they needed was for McGonagall to crash their meeting accidentally. Taking a deep breath, Harry decided to start things off;

“As you all know, Umbridge is on the warpath against Hogwarts. So far, she has been targeting our education by messing with our DADA lessons. But now she has switched her ire to Gryffindor house alone. This is why she went after Colin. When we didn’t react strongly, she went after our Quidditch team. If we don’t react this time, she’ll only get more aggressive with us in the future.” said Harry.

“But why is she after us?” someone in the crowd asked.

“To make an example. Everyone knows we are the most proactive house in Hogwarts. If Umbridge manages to wind us up, the other houses will naturally go along with what she’s doing. Trust me, her next step will be forming a secondary prefect squad to stifle us.” Harry explained.

“What can we do against her? Even Professor McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore failed to do anything against Umbridge.” Cyril Meaking asked with a raised hand.

Harry supposed the sixth-year prefect would know better about the uselessness of Hogwarts staff as the Gryffindor prefects had tried their best to support him while moving the complaint against Umbridge.

“You’re right. Dumbledore and McGonagall are not going to do anything against Umbridge. But if we keep our heads down, Umbridge will only gain more power and make our lives difficult in Hogwarts. Dismissing our Quidditch team was just a start. She’s testing the waters, and we can’t allow her to gain a foothold in our school. It’s time that we take a brave stand.”

“All right, Harry. What do you suggest we do?” Angelina asked.

“If we are to do something against Umbridge, we need power. I can handle the political situation by shielding any of our actions in the Ministry. But we need to build our personal magical power if we are to contend against Umbridge. And most importantly, we need to be united in our actions..” Harry said, nodding at Hermione and Neville, who passed leaflets to their fellow Gryffindor students. “Read it carefully before writing your name and sign at the bottom of the parchment.”

While the Gryffindor students began reading the parchment, Harry further explained his plan.

“We’ll be creating a club exclusive for training in defensive magic. In this club, I hope to impart to everyone the knowledge and skill to defend yourself and your family against dangerous magical creatures and, if need be, the death eaters of the Dark Lord.” said Harry, earning a few wide eyes and muttering from the crowd. “We certainly won’t be learning anything from Umbridge this year other than how to run for our lives.”

That little joke towards the end garnered a smattering of chuckles from the crowd.

“This is a magical contract enforcing secrecy!” Jacob Flinton, a seventh-year student, claimed loudly.

“Yes. We cannot afford to let a word about this meeting reach Umbridge’s ears. Should anyone purposefully betray our secrecy, they’ll be exposed. The details are on the parchment. Sign the contract if you are loyal to our cause, or leave the common room if you are not brave enough or lack the courage to be a lion.”

Harry nearly smiled when all the Gryffindors rushed to sign their names on the contract as fast as possible. After ensuring everyone signed the contract, Harry began explaining the finer aspects of how the contract worked and what he intended to do with their secret club. Everyone agreed that they’d meet once a week for the club activity, and he promised the meeting would not interfere with other activities like Quidditch practice, prefect patrols, tests etc.

“Now that we are all agreed on how the club functions, we need a leader for our club. Someone who can organise and make decisions on the club’s functioning.”

“Harry should lead. He came up with the idea of the club, so he should lead.” said Angelina.

Almost everyone supported her suggestion immediately, and no one contended.

“All right. So, we have a leader. But we need a meeting place for the club.” said Hermione.

“I know a place.” said Harry, earning a curious look from Hermione.

“It’ll have to be a place we can train and learn secretly.” Hermione warned.

“I know. I’ve got the perfect place for our needs.” said Harry, with the Room of Requirement in mind.

“We have a leader and a place to convene. Now we need a name for the club. Any suggestions?” asked Neville.

“The anti-Umbridge Army.” Fred suggested, letting out a snicker along with George.

“The Defense Club.”

“The DADA club.”

“The Lion Army.”

“Okay. Enough! This will get us nowhere.” Hermione put a stop to all the names being thrown around. “Harry, you suggest a name.”

“Knights of Avalon. We can use KA for short. That should make our conversations easier in public, and it keeps the identity or intention of our group shielded for the time being.” Harry suggested.

There was some murmuring in the group until, finally, everyone agreed to go along with the name.

“There is one more issue. What about adding more members from other houses?” Hermione asked.

“We’ll function as a Gryffindor group for now.” Harry said after a moment of thought. “Any new member will have to be accepted by a Senate formed out of representatives elected from each year. The election for formulating the Senate starts now. Please arrange yourself into your year groups and elect a representative.”

It took nearly twenty minutes, but the elections finally ended with representatives for thirds-years and above. Dacey Lyn represented the third-years. Ginny Weasley represented the fourth-years. Dean Thomas represented the fifth-years. Katie Bell represented the sixth-years. Alicia Spinnet represented the seventh-years.

Harry was a bit surprised to see Hermione not getting the majority vote among the fifth-years.

‘At least, she won’t complain she lost because she was a girl seeing as the majority in the senate goes to female representation.’ Harry thought with some amusement.

Shaking such inane thoughts away, he focused on the next step. It was now time to formulate certain powers of the senate and his own position in the Knights of Avalon. The date for their next meeting also had to be fixed, which of course, was going to be a problem as the following weekend was a Hogsmeade weekend. He had his work cut out for him.

XXXXXXX

“So, you want me to keep the Ministry tied up should Umbridge make a ruckus in the Ministry about any of your activities?” Sirius asked with a frown.

“Yep. Keep Fudge on his toes. But don’t go to him tomorrow itself. I’ll warn you if any major incident in Hogwarts requires tactic silence from the Ministry.” Harry said, looking into the two-way mirror while lying in his bed with the covers down and a silencing ward for good measure.

“I don’t know about this, Harry. Don’t you think this is going a little too far?” Sirius asked with some trepidation.

“I know. But Umbridge was the one to cross the line, and then the Hogwarts staff, the Board of Governors, and the Ministry of Magic all crossed the line. It’s time to game the system and defeat them at their own game.” Harry said firmly.

“All right. If you’re confident this is the way forward, then that’s what we’re gonna do.” Sirius said in a placating manner. “Anyway, you’ll be happy to know we’re all set to open the joke shop on the Christmas holidays.”

“Huh. That’s rather fast.”

“Yeah. We could open it tomorrow if we want, but we’re letting it stall a bit for the twins. Fleur and Remus sped things up a lot.”

“I see.” Harry said.

He was tempted to ask Sirius about Fleur, but then he thought better. He didn’t want to involve a third person in their problems. Besides, he would see Fleur face-to-face a few days from now.

“Have you informed the twins?” Harry asked.

“Not yet. I’ll send the letter tomorrow. We did a small pre-opening sales as they suggested to gauge the customer reaction, which was good.”

“They’ll be happy to know that. Goodnight, Sirius.”

“Goodnight, Harry.”

Harry put the mirror away and stared straight ahead at the ceiling with thoughts swirling around his head. He was tempted to recall Rita Skeeter to Hogwarts and run a smear campaign on Umbridge. Still, that particular action would deprive Rita of pursuing her leads for her story on Albus Dumbledore. The last contact he received from Skeeter put the woman in Germany trying her best to gain access to Nurmengard prison to have a one-to-one talk with Gellert Grindelwald. He dearly hoped the former Dark Lord hadn’t ripped his asset to pieces. Skeeter was a useful tool and a potent one at that. It’d be a significant loss if the woman were shredded to bits by Grindelwald.

‘I’ll have her come to Hogwarts after she returns from Germany.’ Harry thought.

Clearing his mind, Harry relaxed into his bed and slowly drifted off to sleep. He didn’t know how long he slept but was jolted awake when his senses triggered a malicious magical signature in his proximity. Sitting up in his bed, he quickly took his wand into his hand and looked around for the danger to present itself. A few minutes passed, and he could sense no dangerous magical signature in his proximity. He laid back into the mattress with a frown on his face, but he did not let go of his trusted wand.

Harry was just about to close his eyes when he sensed the same malevolent magical presence again. But this time, he was awake and alert; therefore, he identified it as a presence trying to breach the sanctity of his mind. Realising what was happening, Harry immediately immersed himself in the depths of his mind and shored up his defences. It was pretty easy for him to identify the foreign presence, which was desperately trying to breach his mind to no avail. After some deliberation and reinforcing his mind, he allowed the foreign presence entry into the core of his mind. But once he did, he immediately clamped down his faculties on the mental probe and contained it in a well of darkness. After that, he began to dismember it bit by bit until the malevolent energy accompanying the probe dissipated, leaving the probe safe for the sanctity of his mind.

It didn’t take long for Harry to assimilate the probe and see what was contained inside the mental attack. When he saw what the probe contained, he was not surprised. It was a fake memory of a large door with an abandoned hallway leading to the door.

‘So, you are getting desperate. Good.’ Harry smirked.

No doubt, Voldemort expedited his plans to get the Prophecy, most likely because of the Dark Lord’s waning strength.

‘I suppose I’ll have to employ some countermeasures and prepare my mind for intrusions during sleep hours.’ Harry thought before closing his eyes and going back to sleep.

From the next day, he picked up the pace of his training and his experimentation with Nagini. Since the lightning element was oddly easy for him to master, he went back to making variants of the lightning spell. The Room of Requirement was quite a useful tool when it came to researching and finding ways to modify spells. Within three days, he found a way to tweak the lightning spell to create a new lightning spell which had a wide area effect. It was now only a matter of time to perfect the spell and master it so that he could use it in battle.

It was unfortunate, though, because the RoR was not that helpful when it came to creating a spell to extract the soul shard in Nagini. Slytherin’s chambers contained a lot of information on Horcruxes, but he was still in pursuit of any substantial breakthroughs.

Days passed until finally, the meeting day with Fleur came, coinciding with the first meet of the Knights of Avalon. So, Harry had to rush the meeting with Fleur if he was to oversee the first meeting of the Knights in time. Therefore, he was forced to switch their meeting place from muggle London to the Room of Requirement with Dobby’s help. His trusted elf teleported out of the Room and collected Fleur from her apartment, and then returned with her to the RoR. All of that happened within five minutes, saving a lot of time.

“Hey, Fleur.” Harry greeted her by giving her a loose hug before directing her to a seat across from a table.

Harry sat across from her on the other side of the table and saw Fleur was looking somewhat awkward. If it weren’t for Daphne, he would have never drifted apart from Fleur. Even now, he could feel his heart churning against his mind for the decision he was about to make, but his survival mattered more to him. The need for shoring up every scrap of power was a necessity. There was no room for even small mistakes when his life depended on amassing all forms of power in a short time. Clamping down his Occlumency shields, he purged all emotions tugging at his mind while facing Fleur.

“Hi, Harry. How’ve you been?” Fleur asked tenderly.

“I’m okay. I’m just busier than usual with the OWLs exam and my preparations for the Dark Lord.”

“Oh. I see. I… Harry, I wanted to tell you something.”

“I know. Our relationship is not working as we had hoped. It’s in our mutual interest to pursue a healthy friendship between us instead of being lovers.” said Harry.

The brazen openness briefly shocked Fleur, but her mind quickly caught on to what he was saying.

“Harry, I don’t mean to hurt you. I…”

“And you never will. I’m the cause of our failed relationship. You don’t have to blame yourself.” said Harry. “You’ll always be a treasured friend, and I hope you’ll see the same in me.”

Fleur was speechless for a long moment but finally relented and let the matter drop. They shook hands and vowed to become good friends. After that, it was only too easy for Harry to cajole her into signing the secrecy contract, which helped him keep her silent about his actions against the Death Eaters. In return, Fleur got negotiated a favour she could ask of him so long as it was within his abilities to grant. By the time the meeting ended, they had parted on friendly terms without any emotional trauma lingering behind for either of them.

Once Dobby teleported away with Fleur, he immediately went outside the Room of Requirement and changed the room to his wishes. He had tested out with the Room for this precise moment, and the Room didn’t disappoint him. The Room of Requirement was tethered to a nexus point in space, connecting it with all of Hogwarts. This feature of the RoR also facilitated in the building of secret pathways to any part of the castle.

Harry stopped pacing outside the room, and a door suddenly materialised on the plane wall. The door behind him vanished when he entered the room, leaving a smooth brick wall on his back. The room he stepped into was long and wide capable of holding a large number of people. But most importantly, there was a red door on the side, which Harry was quick to open. The door opened outward, and he saw a long dark tunnel. Harry quickly conjured his patronus and sent it off down the tunnel. A few minutes later, he saw the Weasley twins lead the members of the KA through the tunnel.

“Harry…”

“Old chap…”

“Tell us all about this place!” they said together while placing their arms over his shoulder from both sides.

“That’s a secret I’ll share with only you two ‘cause we’re partners. But don’t tell it to anyone else.” Harry said.

Once Fred and George vowed to tell no soul, he quietly explained about the RoR to the twins. While he had a quiet conversation with the Weasley twins, more and more Gryffindor students began to arrive, taking the secret passage that conveniently appeared behind the fireplace of the common room. The sheer wonder in the eyes of his fellow students was quite a sight to see.

“All right, everyone. I know you all have many questions about this place's location, but it’ll stay quiet to keep the secrecy. You can expect the door to materialise behind the fireplace whenever we convene our meeting.” Harry explained before arranging the students into their respective year groups.

“Today, we’re going to learn to use the Disarming charm properly.” said Harry, earning a slew of disappointed groans from the upperclassmen.

“Hmm. It seems quite a lot of our friends here know the Disarming charm. Care to demonstrate?” Harry challenged, flicking his wand and a sizeable podium made of white stone was conjured into existence.

He jumped into one side of the podium and looked pointedly at his housemates.

“Come on. Don’t be shy. We won’t get anywhere today without volunteers.” said Harry.

“I’ll do it.” Cormac McLaggen happily jumped abroad the stone dais with a wand in hand.

“Fantastic. Now, all you must do is disarm me,” said Harry, looking pointedly at McLaggen.

“All right. You asked for it, Potter.” McLaggen smiled confidently and flourished his wand in a way that looked like the guy was using a sword.

“Expelliarmus.”

A jest of red passed harmlessly by Harry’s left side and splashed against the wall behind his back.

“You missed.” Harry cheerfully observed.

McLaggen used the spell again, and this time Harry moved a step to the right letting the spell pass by harmlessly.

“Missed again.”

McLaggen used the spell again and again, but Harry maintained a firm hold on his wand. After a while, Harry took pity on the guy, and he silently cast the disarming charm which wrenched McLaggen’s wand away, and Harry caught it easily with a levitation charm. He let the wand float in mid-air for all to see.

“You only think you know how to disarm a wizard. Merely knowing the spell is not enough. It would be best if you learned to use the spell in any situation and fast. The disarming spell is fairly low-tier, but you'll have the advantage if it’s used correctly.” Harry said, looking into the sea of eyes trained on him.

“All right. Let’s do this again with someone else. Fred, George. Let’s start with you two…”

Harry spent the rest of the evening training the Gryffindor students in effectively using the disarming charm. It was a start, and the next time, he would make things more fun by using the RoR to its fullest. By the time the day was finished, he had managed to improve the casting speed of some students. In the next class, Harry was sure he’d have to focus more on aiming, and he had a fun training method for improving the aim of the students.

Harry supposed this was a good start for his loyal army. 

AN:

 

For artworks: https://discord.gg/Nw2JH25fJf

Chapter 69: The true meaning of power

It was a gruelling process, and he was almost getting impatient with the whole process, but his struggles were finally coming to an end. The full moon cycle was over, meaning it was time to take out the Mandrake leaf in his mouth. Kreacher was waiting by his side with a phial of dew from a place untouched by human feet or sunlight. Taking out the Mandrake leaf from his mouth, Harry placed it inside the crystal phial along with a single strand of his hair saturated by the captured pure light of the full moon.

Harry corked the crystal phial and let out a relieved sigh. Nearly half the struggle to become an animagus was now over. The next part was keeping the phial in a quiet dark place, untouched and unseen until the arrival of the next lightning storm. He supposed there was no better place than the Chamber of Secrets. He stored the crystal phial safely in Slytherin’s secret library.

“How did it go?” Sirius asked once Kreacher returned to Grimmauld Place.

“Everything went smoothly.” Harry said happily, looking into the two-way mirror. “I’ve stored the phial in a safe, dark place.”

“Good. Make sure the phial is left undisturbed. Also, don’t forget to use the incantation every sunrise and sunset until you see the lightning storm. You know the incantation, right?”

“I know. Amato Animo Animato Animagus.” said Harry.

“Don’t forget to keep your wand’s tip against your heart while chanting the incantation. It’s important that you repeat the procedure without fail. You’ll start to hear a second heartbeat if you’re consistent. If you don’t hear a second heartbeat within two or three weeks,  you’d have to redo everything from the start.”

“I know, Sirius. I’ll make sure to follow your instructions to the letter.” said Harry.

After wrapping things up in the Chamber, Harry made his exit from the secret chamber with a sense of accomplishing something monumental. He was not anywhere near becoming an animagus, but he was on the right track. Half the battle to become an animagus would be over in just one more month. He spent half an hour more in the Chamber reading up some books, and then he was off to patrol duty. When he was done with the patrol, he went straight for Gryffindor Tower, crossing paths with Hermione along the way.

“I was thinking Harry. We should create a medium for discreetly communicating with each other in the Knights.” said Hermione.

“Like the Dark Mark of Voldemort’s death eaters?” Harry asked with a raised brow as they turned a corner.

“Yes.” Hermione chirped.

“Are you trying to turn me into Dark Lord 2.0?” Harry asked, his shoulders shaking with laughter.

“Of course not. We don’t have to brand the members of the Knights. Instead, we could use an object of some sort that won’t look suspicious. Perhaps a watch or a locket.”

“And how exactly would we send messages through these watches and lockets?” Harry asked.

“I've been researching since you told me about how Voldemort used the Dark Mark to summon his followers. I think I found a spell that Voldemort has used on his Dark Mark. It’s called the Protean charm.”

“And you think you can produce a similar effect and use the charm to connect with multiple objects to pass messages?” Harry asked.

“Very short messages.” Hermione added.

“Hmm. We’ll have to talk with Fred and George before we put the idea before the senate for approval.” said Harry, after thinking it over in his mind. “I need a second opinion for possible security measures in case of theft of the charmed object or even betrayal.”

“I meant to ask this sooner, Harry. Are you sure you want a senate to function in the Knights?” Hermione suddenly asked.

“Why not? Representatives from each year would ensure the opinions of our members are heard and involved in the decision-making process of the Knights.” said Harry, shrugging his shoulders. “If I don’t involve everyone in the running of Knights and allow dissenting opinions to be heard, then there’ll be hardly any difference between Voldemort and me.”

“Pftt.” Hermione snorted. “You can’t be similar to Voldemort by any stretch of the margin Harry.”

“Power corrupts, and absolute power will always corrupt. No one should have tyrannical power, even if it’s for the right reasons. If history has shown us anything, we humans tend to do crazy things when we are left unchecked.” said Harry, as he had given it much thought on the issue. “Just look at Voldemort and Dumbledore. Voldemort has become deranged enough to believe his rule will change the wizarding world for the better, while Dumbledore has made a career out of doing nothing despite seeing the magnitude of the disaster his inaction has already wrought.”

“All right. You convinced me. Let’s ask the Weasley twins for their expert opinion.” Hermione said rather angrily before sprinting off, leaving Harry to stare confusedly at Hermione in the corridor.

“Ah! Misplaced anger.” Harry shot a knowing look as Hermione ran away from him. “You should’ve been nicer to our year mates if you wanted to get elected.”

Harry smothered a chuckle that threatened to escape his mouth and chased after Hermione.

The next day, Harry was having a deep discussion with Angelina, Alicia and Katie about their next strategy regarding the Quidditch team when he was interrupted by Hermione, who looked like she was excited about something.

“Harry, the most amazing thing just happened. Come with me.” Hermione dragged him away from the twins.

“Just think about what I said, and let’s have this talk later.” Harry shouted at the three senior players as Hermione dragged him out of the common room.

“Okay. Where are you taking me?” Harry asked, struggling to keep up with Hermione.

“Hagrid has returned Harry. I saw lights in his hut.” Hermione said excitedly.

That made Harry keep up with Hermione as he also wanted to see Hagrid, who had disappeared off for the entire term. When they finally managed to reach Hagrid’s hut, the light of the fireplace being lit could be seen from the window.

“Hagrid.” Hermione called while knocking on the door of his hut. “There is no point in hiding. We know you’re there. We saw the light. Let us in, or we’ll break the door.”

There was some smuggling inside the but and the door swung open with the large form of Hagrid presenting himself on the doorway.

“Should’ve known ye two would be the first ter come. Come in now befer’ someone sees yer two.” said Hagrid, inviting them into his home.

Harry and Hermione, we’re immediately accosted by a happy Fang who was quite enthusiastic to see familiar faces. Harry reached out and hugged the trusted companion of Hagrid, who was wagging his tail in happiness.

“Oh, Fang. I’m happy to see you as well.” Harry rubbed the dog’s neck before he sat on one of the stools Hagrid offered.

“Hagrid! What happened to your face?” Hermione gasped.

Then, Harry noticed all the bloody wounds on Hagrid’s face. The skin under all that hair looked purple and black, bruising. There were many cars on his face, which were freshly bleeding. A thick black travelling cloak covered the rest of his body, but Harry could see dried blood on the cloak. Hagrid was also favouring his right leg more than usual, which meant the friendly half-giant had an injured left leg or a few broken ribs going by the cautious movements.

“Hagrid. Did you get into a fight?” Harry asked.

“Me? Fightin’? Pfttt!” Hagrid waved his hand but flinched in pain because of the movement.

Hagrid limped over to the fireplace where a copper kettle was getting heated up with hot water inside.

“So, you were fighting someone. Was it the Giants?” Harry asked, moving closer to Hagrid, and helping the guy with the tea kettle.

“How’d you…?” Hagrid trailed off, looking at Harry in shock.

“Let me guess. You were off to appeal to the Giants on behalf of Dumbledore, asking them to stay out of the war.”

Hagrid just gaped at him for a long while until the kettle whistled.

“Yer too smart fer yer own good, Harry. Yer two are too nosy. That’s why trouble follows yer everywhere.” Hagrid grumbled.

“That’s the story of my life. You just sit back and let me handle the tea.” Harry said, taking charge of the kettle to make tea from Hagrid.

Hagrid slinked back to a corner and noisily sat down, letting out groans of pain along the way.

“You should go to the hospital wing and get these wounds healed Hagrid.” said Hermione anxiously. “Some of those cuts look really nasty, especially your eye.”

Harry meanwhile found the tea leaves Hagrid had lying around and prepared the tea. He poured the hot liquid into Hagrid’s giant cup and put two cubes of sugar just as Hagrid had always done. After some stirring, the tea was ready, and he handed over the cup to Hagrid, who took a greedy gulp.

“Ah! Good ol’ tea. I can already feel mi’ pain goin away.” Hagrid sighed happily.

“So, did you convince the Giants to back off?” Hermione asked eagerly.

“Shhh! That’s supposed ter be secret stuff. It’s fer Dumbledore’s ear only.” said Hagrid.

“So, you met them then. How’re they doing?” Harry asked, earning strange looks from both Hagrid and Hermione.

“What? We don’t see Giants anywhere near wizarding settlements. I’m just curious how they’ve been holding up.” Harry defended himself, but he had an ulterior motive in asking for the wellbeing of the Giants.

The ancient scrolls and books he found in Slytherin’s Chamber spoke of the Giants and Cyclopes a lot. According to some of the scrolls, these great creatures reshaped the world somehow, and they were intrinsically tied to magic in ways that went beyond the understanding of ordinary wizards. There were also many mentions of the mysterious Elysium and the role of the Giants in guarding and oftentimes hiding away some of the old pathways to this mysterious realm. So far, the only remotely mysterious thing he found in the old scrolls and books that’d interest his grandmother was this Elysium. Nothing else he found in the scrolls was remotely connected to the Deathly Hallows.

This Elysium was supposedly important for magical creatures, and the Hallows were made to be keys for opening up a path to this mysterious realm. Or at least, that was what he discerned from hours upon hours of reading. He still had no idea exactly what Elysium was supposed to be or why Perenelle was interested in the place but he knew it was somehow tied to some of the elder magical races.

“I suppose they’re getting by somehow.” Hagrid said, suddenly misty eyed. “There was loads of ‘em once. Musta’ been hundreds of tribes from all over the world. Bu’ they’ve been slowly dyin’ out fer ages. Some died in the war with wizards, of course. We chased them away fer some reason. Dumbledore say it’s our fault. They’re supposed to guard the forests and all, but we chased ‘em away.”

“How did they take your visit? Did they welcome you peacefully?” Harry knew it was a stupid question to ask considering the state Hagrid was in but he wanted to keep Hagrid talking.

“Well, I had to sneak upon ‘ere home. Fell creatures guarded their camp. So, I waited till mornin ter talk to the Gurb just as Dumbledore wanted.”

“What’s a Gurg?” Hermione asked curiously.

“Oh, the Gurg- it means the chief.”

“So, there is a leader to the Giants.” Harry noted with interest. “So, what did the ummm…Gurg say when he met you?”

“Not ‘appy. Not ‘appy at all. I gave ‘im a branch of the Gubrathian fire as gift. Dumbledore had charmed it to burn evermore, which no wizard can do. I went on ma’ knees ‘an gave ‘im the gift. Said it was from Albus Dumbledore.” Hagrid paused, taking large gulps of the tea from his cup and pouring some more from the kettle once it ran out.

“What happened next?” Hermione asked eagerly, her eyes alight with wonder.

“Nothin’ much. That big lazy fat Karkus just grunted and said nothin’ much. But he liked the present. So, I bowed and told ‘im I’d return with another gift the next day ter pass on a message from Albus Dumbledore. Fat load of good that did.” Hagrid said, shaking his head disappointedly.

“Why? What happened?” Hermione asked in worry.

“They fought durin the night. The sounds kept ‘mi awake the ‘hole night. It even caused an avalanche in the mountains.” Hagrid said. “The next mornin I saw Karkus’ head down the valley.”

“But…but why? Why did they fight?” Hermione asked, perplexed.

“I told yer the Giants were chased away. They’re not supposed ter live together like that in groups. They kill each other when they move around in groups. They like ter keep things simple. Too many Giants keeps in one place causes squabbles between ‘em. They fight over trees, mountains, food, and sleeping places, things like that.” Hagrid shrugged helplessly.

“So, with their chief dead, they selected a new chief.” Harry said more as a question, as it was fascinating to get an insight into the inner workings of the Giants.

“Uh…yeah. Twas more like they fought over each other for the whole night, and the meanest of the lot became the new Gurg.” Hagrid explained rather awkwardly, looking down in shame.

“I take it the new Gurg didn’t like you hanging around their home.” Harry muttered, looking thoughtful for a moment about the possibility of taking control of the Giants through a show of strength.

“Yer right, Harry. Golgomath became the new Gurg, and he didn’t like me one bit. Didn’t care much for Dumbledore’s message either. Besides, the place was ‘floddin with those Death eaters. They had nasty ideas ‘abou what the Giants should do, and Golgomath was interested in their mad ideas. I knew I was not welcome there anymore. So, I escaped from there somehow.” said Hagrid, guiltily looking in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.

Harry could see Hermione had hundreds of questions to air, but the light was dimming outside and the more time they stayed over, the chance of getting caught only increased, even if they were prefects.

“Hagrid, we’d love to talk more, but it’s getting late. A word of warning, though. A horrible DADA professor goes by the name of Delores Umbridge is teaching in Hogwarts. She’s looking to oust anyone close to Dumbledore from Hogwarts, and she’s a blood purist. Don’t say anything remotely related to Dumbledore in front of her. We’ll talk more tomorrow, yeah.” said Harry.

Harry and Hermione ran from the hut to the castle.

“Did you hear what Hagrid said about the Giants?” Hermione whispered worriedly on the way.

“Yeah. Voldemort is recruiting an army of dangerous magical creatures. He is preparing for war while our side is twiddling their thumbs doing nothing.” Harry snorted derisively.

“I’m sure Dumbledore is doing something. After all, he sent Hagrid to the Giants.” Hermione said rather half-heartedly.

Harry just shook his head. Clearly, Dumbledore was out of his depth. But that didn’t demoralise him one bit. He was not going to wait around for Dumbledore to grow a pair of brain cells. He knew what he had to do to deny Voldemort an army of Giants.

‘I suppose I know what I must do during the Christmas holidays.’ Harry thought grimly.

XXXXXXXX

Dolores Umbridge walked with long purposeful strides as she was rather upset over the recent action of Minerva McGonagall in capacity as the head of her House. She had thought she had made it clear that Gryffindor House was now banned from forming their Quidditch team. She knew she made up some excuses to enforce the ban, but that was for Potter’s benefit. The brat needed to know not to challenge his betters. She had rightly punished the Creevey brat for spreading lies and believing the pack of lies Dumbledore was peddling.

The Potter brat had no right to put his nose where it did not belong. His stunt with taking his complaint to the Board of Governors lost her a lot of goodwill in the Ministry. It was Minister Fudge’s patronage that kept her out of the claws of the vultures. There were a lot of vultures circling around, waiting to sink their claws into her. She was aware of those enemies like Bones and Scrimgeour. She could not afford to let anyone in Hogwarts place a toe out of line. That was why she took away the Quidditch privileges of the Gryffindor team as a whole. She wanted to send Potter a message that his actions would affect him and his friends. It seems the message had yet to sink in properly.

But first, she had to take care of the rogue Hogwarts staff that were making her job difficult. How was she going to discipline the children and save them from Dumbledore’s lies if the rest of the staff were working against the greater interests of the Ministry?

Dolores didn’t bother to knock and just pushed open the office doors of the Deputy Headmistress.

“I’m told the Gryffindor Quidditch team is practising on the pitch.” Dolores said with a smile, but her eyes held only contempt for the older witch.

“I see. I’m afraid you’re mistaken, Dolores.” said McGonagall, looking at her imperturbably.

“Are you saying you’re not the one who granted Gryffindor students to have the pitch for Quidditch training?” Dolores asked with gritted teeth.

“I said you’re merely mistaken. You’ve ordered the disbandment of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and therefore no such team exists. This means no Gryffindor Quidditch team is occupying the Quidditch grounds at this moment.” McGonagall said nonchalantly, leaning back in her seat.

“Let me rephrase my question then, Professor McGonagall.”

“Please do.” McGonagall said dispassionately.

Dolores nearly screamed at the older witch in frustration but kept that inside her mind.

“Did you or did you not allow the former members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team permission to play Quidditch on the Quidditch grounds?” Dolores asked, her lips set a firm line.

“Yes, this is true,” McGonagall admitted. “So what?”

“Really, professor? Have you not read the circular banning…”

“Banning the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Yes, I did.” McGonagall nodded. “You’ll be happy to note that I followed your circular to the letter. I’ve dispatched the letter detailing the disbanding of the team to the former Gryffindor team captain Angelina Johnson.”

“But..” Dolores made to intervene, but she was ignored and talked over by McGonagall.

“But, that circular does not imply that I can’t give permission to a group of students to hold Quidditch matches outside of regular practice sessions or matches in Hogwarts. Miss Johnson approached me, along with a number of students requesting permission to hold a mock game with a bunch of friends. I gave them permission. You’ll see I acted within the confines of the law, Dolores.” McGonagall said coldly. “Now, if you’d be kind, please leave. I’ve got some essays to grade and a lesson plan to prepare.”

Dolores felt like her head was about to explode, but she turned on her heels and marched out of McGonagall’s office with a thunderous expression. She was going to issue a complete ban on the Gryffindor House from playing Quidditch in Hogwarts.

‘Let’s see what’ll you do when I force your students out of the pitch by their ears, Minerva.’ Umbridge thought vindictively.

AN:

 

For artworks: https://discord.gg/Nw2JH25fJf

Chapter 70: The true meaning of power P2

Harry flew right beneath Katie, who tried to intercept his stride by blocking his path and capturing the quaffle Angelina threw at him. He veered off to his left side when a bludger rushed at him with force, barely managing to escape getting hit. He rolled in mid-air to throw off Alicia’s attempt to relieve the quaffle from his grasp and immediately threw it straight into Ginny’s hands. However, the quaffle was intercepted by Angelina, who swooped in out of nowhere and plucked the quaffle just before Ginny could catch it.

And just like that, the chase was on. Angelina and Alicia worked in tandem to keep the quaffle in between them, while Harry tried to keep Katie out of the picture by shadowing her throughout the pitch. Ginny and Edwin Baker attempted to interfere with the play between Alicia and Angelina, preventing them from scoring another goal into their hoops. In between, the beaters kept the chasers on their toes throughout the game by expertly using the bludgers.

Halfway through the game, Harry noticed Umbridge marching in with the Slytherin quidditch team closely following behind her back.

“Hey, the toad is here.” Harry shouted to his fellow teammates, capturing their attention.

They stopped playing the game and huddled together in mid-air as Umbridge crossed into the Quidditch pitch with the gear-cladded Slytherin team following her closely like henchmen. To fit the villainous theme, the Slytherin team all had cocky smirks plastered on their faces as they huddled behind Umbridge, who was sporting a nasty smile on her face.

“You sure this is what you want? Once we start, there won’t be any going back.” Harry said to his fellow Gryffindors.

“We’ll show the toad her proper place.” Ron growled, glaring at the Slytherin Quidditch team.

Harry received similar reactions from the rest of his housemates. Therefore, he waited patiently with them for Umbridge to catch up. When the pink woman was near hearing distance, Harry lowered down on his broom, hovering just above Umbridge’s head, forcing the Ministry stooge to look up.

“Is there something that matters?” Harry asked blandly, his eyes fleetingly looking to the edge of the Quidditch pitch where he could see a crowd was starting to form, all according to plan.

Other Gryffindor students were tasked with gathering as many Hogwarts students from other houses as possible for the showdown. That’s why he had waited for Umbridge to walk all her way to the middle of the Quidditch pitch so that his housemates get the necessary time to gather enough crowd.

“Yes, Mr Potter. You see, the Quidditch pitch is for Quidditch teams of Hogwarts. Other students cannot use the pitch, and as you can see Slytherin team has been granted permission to hold practice sessions for their upcoming match with Hufflepuff House.” Umbridge said sweetly, with a smile on her face.

“To my knowledge, no rules prohibit students outside of Quidditch teams of Hogwarts from using the pitch.” said Harry.

“We have permission from Professor McGonagall to use the pitch.” Angelina chimed in.

“I’m afraid the rules have just changed, Mr Potter, Miss Johnson.” Umbridge said with a smug smile, fishing out a sheet of parchment from the pocket of her pink jacket.

“This is a new educational decree that I just issued disbarring all students outside of official Quidditch teams of Hogwarts from using the Quidditch pitch.” Umbridge said, in her squeaky voice, looking far too accomplished herself.

Harry cocked his head to the side as the pink-garbed woman waved her little parchment in the air as if it was some divine ordinance with magical powers.

“Good for you, I suppose.” Harry drawled out, noticing the crowd of students was now within earshot and observing the confrontation between them. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have a game to get back to.”

When Umbridge opened her big mouth again, Harry made it look like he was flying back to join his fellow housemates.

“Mr Potter! Did you not understand what I said? The new educational decree…”

“I heard what you said, you stupid bint. I don’t give a rat's ass about your stupid decree.” Harry said firmly, looking straight into the eyes of the little psychopath who took her jollies in torturing children.

“What did you say?” Umbridge looked at Harry with wide eyes.

“I said I couldn’t care less of your decrees.” Harry said slowly, like he was explaining something to a dumb person infuriating Umbridge and wiping off the smiles from the Slytherin quidditch team.

“Detention, Mr Po…” Umbridge didn’t finish the sentence as she faced fourteen wands with their tips glowing with magical energy.

Harry smirked at the gobsmacked look on the stupid face of Umbridge and her Slytherin lackeys as they got surrounded by all fourteen of them in their broom. He could see the dawning realisation set in Umbridge’s eyes that she had pushed too far and the horror written on Slytherin students’ faces as they walked right into a trap.

Harry tapped his wand against his throat.

‘Sonorus pervasus.’ he thought, applying a special type of amplifying charm, expanding the reach of his voice so that everyone in the pitch and the castle would hear him clearly and loud.

“Since you went to the trouble to come to me with your silly decrees, Umbridge, let me give you a decree in return voted unanimously by all the members of House Gryffindor.” Harry declared, fishing out a parchment of his own which was prepared beforehand, and agreed upon by all members of the Gryffindor House.

Taking a deep breath, Harry began reading out the declaration.

“From this day forward, we of House Gryffindor do not recognise the authority of the Ministry-appointed servant named Dolores Umbridge in any matter or manner whatsoever. We’ve collectively decided not to attend the DADA classes until Dolores Umbridge is either dismissed from all posts in Hogwarts or apologises to one of our own whom she tortured with crude devices and pays due recompense for the crime she committed. It is also hereby decided by House Gryffindor to take over the custody of the Quidditch pitch until such time that the unfair disqualification of Gryffindor quidditch team is recanted and Umbridge recuses herself from the house point system, power to assign detentions or any form of power in Hogwarts should she continue to hold the post of DADA for the rest of the academic year. Until our terms are met, any action taken by anyone within Hogwarts or outside Hogwarts in an official or unofficial capacity to harm the interests of House Gryffindor and its members shall be considered a hostile act. Anyone involved in such actions shall be met with the collective might of magical power of House Gryffindor.”

Harry’s voice reached far and wide. In the wake of his declaration, there was dead silence in the pitch, with everyone outside the House Gryffindor astounded by the true meaning of his declaration.

“You…you….” Umbridge sputtered indignantly, her eyes twitching and face reddening at an alarming rate.

Harry hoped the woman was having a stroke.

“You…you’ve gone mad! This is madness!” Umbridge snarled, fishing out her wand from her pocket and opening her mouth to fire off a spell.

Harry waited patiently for Umbridge to take that next step, and he was not left disappointed. To his disappointment, she didn’t use an Unforgivable curse which would’ve worked exceedingly well in the days ahead.

“Reducto.” Umbridge screamed at the top of her lungs with a shrill voice jabbing her wand in Harry’s direction.

Harry watched Umbridge perform the spell almost in slow motion. He could have taken apart the woman with three curses between the time she raised her wand and shouted around the spell for him to hear. He didn’t dare move a muscle the entire time. He allowed Umbridge to perform the spell and acted the moment the spell escaped the tip of her wand. Remembering the lessons he got from Sirius, Harry conjured a thin layer of magical energy at the tip of his wand and caught Umbridge’s spell.

With a flick of his wrist, he deflected the spell right back into Umbridge’s hand, where the Reductor curse tore apart her wand into a fine dust. The blowback from the spell also smashed Umbridge’s fingers in odd angles with a sickening crack.

“Aaaaahhhhh!” Umbridge went down screaming, clutching her ruined hand with tears streaming down her eyes.

Harry could feel the shock emanating from the crowd of students watching the scene unravelling before them.

‘I think this is the first time Hogwarts students are watching how truly incompetent their teachers are.’ Harry thought with some amusement.

His mind then conjured up the image of a blonde idiot who only knew to smile and make ridiculous poses.

‘Or maybe not.’ Harry snickered internally, thinking of Gilderoy Lockhart and all the shenanigans the man was up to in Hogwarts.

Compared to that guy, Umbridge was competent in magic at the very least, even if the vaunted DADA teacher got smacked down by her own spell in a similar fashion to Lockhart.

It took a moment for the Slytherin quidditch team led by Draco Malfoy to comprehend what happened correctly. When they did, Malfoy somewhat bravely raised his wand, followed by other Slytherin students. However, Harry noticed the fear written in the eyes of the Slytherins as they realised against whom they were raising their wands in a challenge.

“Really, Draco?” Harry snorted derisively, taking note of the fact that Draco’s wand arm was shaking. “Do you think yourself at a level to challenge me openly where your true worth can get exposed before hundreds of witnesses?”

Harry also started to raise his wand…

“No!” Dumbledore shouted, running into the quidditch pitch with the other professors in tow.

Harry was rather impressed by the speed Dumbledore was running in his old age. But that didn’t distract him from the main objective. The time for kiddie gloves was over, and a statement had to be made.

“I’ve told you this before, Draco. The difference of power between us is like the difference between the sky and earth.” said Harry, his wand raised all the way so that the tip of his wand was pointed straight into the clouds.

“Tonitruum Fluminata.”

A thin ray of pale white lighting escaped out of the tip of his wand with a thunderous roar. The smell of ozone permeated everywhere in the wake of his lightning spell. The pale white lightning bolt touched the sky, immediately splitting off into hundreds of miniature bolts of lightning striking into the many clouds in the sky. It took only a few seconds for the white fluffy clouds to darken and cover Hogwarts under its oppressive shadow and power. The dark clouds rumbled with thunder as bright blue arcs of lightning split the sky open with hundreds of miniature fissures.

It was quite a beautiful sight, but it was also a warning. In the wake of his spell and show of power, even Dumbledore remained silent. There was a silent understanding between them as the Headmaster realised that talking out in the open would not yield any tangible results.

XXXXXXXX

Dumbledore walked back and forth across his office, deep in thought. As usual, the object of his worries was Harry Potter. He hoped to mend fences with the boy this year and start anew. Unfortunately, he suspected the chances of that happening were becoming slim as days went by. It didn’t help that the preparations to keep Voldemort’s machinations at bay distracted him from the school's happenings. As if that was not enough, he had to retrace Tom’s past to glean the truth about his immortality.

Oh, he knew Tom had survived to date using Horcruxes conclusively in Harry’s second year. When brave Harry went to the Chamber and saved poor Ginny Weasley, he returned Tom Riddle’s diary. The moment he heard the tale of the diary’s enormous abilities even to drain poor Ginny Weasley’s lifeforce, he knew it was the vilest form of dark magic. It only took him the summer holidays to confirm beyond doubt that the secret to Voldemort’s immortality was Horcruxes.

On the one hand, he was happy to have found the secret of Voldemort’s method of immortality. At the same time, he also realised the nature of Harry’s scar was a cause for concern. The events of Harry’s Third Year only further cemented his doubts as Harry reported to him about the visions regarding Voldemort.

It was fervent hope that Harry would remain immune to the shard of Voldemort’s soul lodged in his head. His only hope of saving Harry from becoming a vessel of Voldemort was to find and destroy the other Horcruxes. If he could manage that, he hoped fate would swing in favour of Harry and somehow save the poor boy from a cruel ending. It pained him to even think of what must be done in the event of failing to weaken Voldemort.

And right now, he felt that pain all the more significant because he feared the soul shard was gaining undue influence on Harry’s mind. With the recent events in mind, he feared the worst and suspected Voldemort was gaining undue influence in Harry’s mind.

‘Perhaps, it had been a bad idea to let it slip there was a connection between Harry’s and Voldemort’s mind through Severus.’ Dumbledore mused.

Then again, it was a desperate attempt to shift Voldemort’s focus from sacrificing countless children in the vain hope of escaping whatever was ailing the Dark Lord’s body. But he regretted doing that to Harry. He was in a desperate position and had a difficult choice to make. He either could’ve ignored the plight of countless children or allowed one child to suffer at the expense of saving countless more. Ultimately, he chose the latter and succeeded in shifting Voldemort’s focus away from sacrificing numerous innocent children to studying the connection between the Dark Lord and Harry Potter.

But, he didn’t expect Tom could’ve so easily influenced Harry into doing his bidding. Or maybe, he was overthinking himself. It could be just as quickly could’ve been Harry’s own intent to take on the authority of Dolores Umbridge and the Ministry of Magic through using force.

‘No, not mere force. Overwhelming force.’ Dumbledore corrected himself, thinking of the spectacular magic Harry displayed today.

There was no doubt in his mind that Harry had performed some of the most challenging magics he had ever seen performed by a young wizard of Harry’s age. Even he was not so well-versed in elemental magic in his OWL years. But Harry had proven himself to be an expert in elemental magic. The young wizard had already displayed mastery over fire, water, and wind last year during the tasks of the Triwizard tournament. But mastering lightning spells at such a young age showed the great heights Harry could climb given time. It heartened him to know that the young scrawny-looking boy he had met four years back had grown into a resourceful young wizard capable of spectacular magical feats. Such young raw talented students were needed to secure the future of wizardkind in the days to come.

However, how much of that was Harry’s raw talent or Voldemort’s obstinate influence on Harry’s mind was up for debate. And that was what concerned him the most. It was also why he hesitated to discipline the young wizard and his fellow Gryffindor housemates for essentially forming a parallel authority inside Hogwarts. He feared that if he were to take any action, that’d perhaps be the tipping point that’d skewer Harry’s mind into the hands of that sliver of Voldemort’s soul living inside Harry’s body.

Keeping all of this in mind, he decided it’d be better to resolve the issues peacefully with dialogue. Therefore, he called for an immediate staff meeting to discuss the issue at hand and address the grievances raised by House Gryffindor. Once the staff voiced their opinions, he would invite the Gryffindor House to the discussion.

Dumbledore felt the wards alert him of guests arriving outside his office. With a flick of his wand, he opened his office door, meeting the eyes of his colleagues. His eyes fell on the pink-garbed woman who was the cause of a lion’s portion of problems this academic year. Nonetheless, he invited them all in and conjured their seats with a wave of his wand.

“Please sit. If we are to resolve this small misunderstanding, we have a lot to talk about with Gryffindor students.”

“Misunderstanding!” Umbridge screamed in a shrill voice. “You call this misunderstanding Dumbledore? The Potter boy called for a rebellion against the Ministry and attacked me. I’ll see him expelled from this school and chucked away in Azkaban for this.”

“This is the same attitude that has led to this in the first place, Professor Umbridge. You tortured one of the Gryffindor students, and when they complained through proper channels, you used your position in the Ministry to smother it. What did you expect that those children were going to do? Sit back and shut up while you continuously poked them with your juvenile tantrums and decrees?” McGonagall snarked back.

“You! You’d support this madness of Potter?” Umbridge asked, aghast, her eyes wide as saucers.

“I don’t condone his methods or that of my Gryffindor students, but I certainly don’t condone your methods, Professor Umbridge. You needlessly poked them again by banning the Gryffindor Quidditch team out of a personal vendetta. When you defy laws to suit your needs, you forget that you encourage lawlessness. You have reaped what you’ve sown, and that’s all I have to say on the matter.” McGonagall said frostily, eyeing Umbridge with cold indifference.

“I agree. I’d like to add that everyone here should remember the Hogwarts motto; Never tickle a sleeping dragon.” Flitwick added, throwing his support behind McGonagall.

“Pomona.” Dumbledore nodded at the head of House Hufflepuff, who was nervously turning over her pointy hat in her hands.

“I’d like to think my puffs would show the same loyalty House Gryffindor displayed to Mr Colin Creevey. We failed when we didn’t act on what we knew was wrong. Though children they are, I see the Gryffindor students exhibit the most profound form of loyalty and sense of right. If Lady Helga Hufflepuff were alive, she’d have been proud to have such students in her school as I am.” said Pomona Sprout, her grey eyes shining with passion and resolve rarely seen in the head of Hufflepuff House.

“I see.” Dumbledore murmured, looking at the gentlest of all his colleagues for a long moment before his eyes fell on a pair of onyx eyes belonging to the resident Potion master.

“Severus.” he promoted the head of Slytherin House.

“You’ve known my opinion on the Potter since the day the boy stepped into this school.” Severus said, his dark eyes flashing with emotion that only Dumbledore could decipher. “That said, I don’t approve of actions that sideline and corner an entire house for the actions and egos of few.”

Dumbledore looked to the other professors and patiently heard their opinion on the matter. Professors Sinistra, Babbling, Vector, Burbage, Grubbly-Plank and Hagrid supported Harry’s actions. He supposed he shouldn't have expected anything less from Hagrid, who loved Harry like family. But the firm support for Harry and, by extension, the Gryffindor House from the other professors was quite surprising. He supposed the reason was sitting right among them, fuming and glaring at them all.

“Professor Umbridge. Now, it would be your turn to say your opinion.” Dumbledore offered calmly.

“My opinion? My Opinion!” Umbridge screamed shrilly, climbing to her feet with her eyes ablaze.

For a moment, Dumbledore regretted asking Madam Pomfrey to heal Umbridge’s injured hand speedily. It’d have been better for the woman to learn some lessons in pain.

“Yes, it’d help that you express your opinions instead of screaming our ears out, Professor Umbridge. Are you willing to apologise to Mr Creevey and accept that what you did was wrong?” Dumbledore asked, rather serenely keeping a tight lid on his emotions.

“I already knew you would turn a blind eye to the rebellion brewing in this school. You don’t suppress a rebellion by apologising but by force. And I know what I must do in the interest of the Ministry.” Umbridge said fiercely before turning on her heels and storming out of the meeting without looking back.

Dumbledore let out a sigh and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

“I suppose we have not seen the end of this madness.” Dumbledore muttered.

“What’re you going to do, Albus? You know that horrible woman will bring aurors into the school.” McGonagall said, looking nervous at the thought of aurors getting involved in Hogwarts.

“Albus, we should not allow the aurors to harm the children.” Flitwick said, with steel in his eyes.

Dumbledore sighed, knowing that the situation would get out of control once aurors stepped into the school. He’d have to find a way to diffuse the problem before it comes to violence.

AN:

For artworks: https://discord.gg/Nw2JH25fJf

Chapter 71: The protector of Hogwarts

Harry walked in between the rows of Gryffindor students practising the disarming charm and watching over their progress. The younger students of third-year and fourth-year students needed far more practice on the spell compared to the fifth-year students and above. It primarily stems from the fact that they had never gotten a competent DADA professor to teach them. The only competent DADA professor they had met was the fake Moody. Still, owing to their lower designation in the year system, they were not adequately instructed in using the disarming charm.

Therefore, it fell to Harry to train them quickly to shorten the wand movements and perform the spell as fast as possible. He didn’t mind it, though. After all, he had the bright idea to involve his senior Gryffindors in accelerating the learning process of the younger students. Teaching someone else a spell was the sure way to master said spell in his experience. After all, it was pretty recently that he learned to tweak the simple disarming charm to disarm multiple opponents at the same time. He was still developing the spell to be more effective, but he deconstructed the disarming charm to the basics and built up a new spell because he was teaching the basics to his fellow Knights.

“All right, everyone.” Harry clapped his hands, attracting the group’s attention as he took centre stage. “Most of you now know to perform the disarming charm. We’ll practice it more under different circumstances and settings in the coming days to increase its effectiveness and binding speed. However, I plan to introduce you to another useful but simple spell today.”

Harry brandished his wand facing the training dummy in the Room of Requirement. Harry made it a point to shout out the spell for the crowd's benefit.

“Stupefy.”

A red ball of energy exited the tip of his wand, striking the immobile training dummy in the chest, knocking it three feet back.

“This is the stunning spell. It’s a spell commonly used by Ministry aurors to apprehend a hostile wizard or magical creature safely. The spell, once hit, renders the wizard unconscious. As you can guess, a spell to knock an enemy unconscious is handy in a magical duel. There is also a simple counter spell to cancel the effects of the Stunning spell.”

“Rennervate.”

A lighter shade of red-coloured ball of energy hit the dummy without any marked effect.

“If someone were to volunteer, I can show the spell’s real-life performance.” Harry said, belatedly realising that showing the spell’s effect on a dummy was not exactly a sound idea for a demonstration.

Thankfully, there was no shortage of volunteers as Harry saw several hands being raised in the air. The session continued from there on out smoothly, with Harry showing the natural effects of the stunning spell and teaching them the wand movements. When he was done demonstrating and explaining the basics of the spell, he let them practice it on each other.

“Neville. Hermione. Let’s start with you two. Come over here.” Harry beckoned them and made them stand across from each other.

Harry flicked his wand and conjured a cotton mattress behind Neville.

“To cushion your fall.” Harry explained at the curious look from his friend.

“All right, Hermione. You may use the spell.”

Hermione performed the stunning spell flawlessly. He was not surprised as he was quite aware of the spell beforehand as she was quite involved in his preparations for the Tournament last year. Neville fell on the mattress, unmoving once the stunner hit him head-on.

“Rennervate.”

Harry waved his wand over Neville, and his friend woke up with a gasp.

“You all right there, Neville?” Harry asked, pulling Neville to his feet.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Neville muttered, rubbing his eyes as he climbed to his feet.

“Okay. Now you stand in Hermione’s place and use the spell.” said Harry.

Neville looked a bit troubled as he raised his wand against Hermione.

“Just visualise the spell’s effect as you go through the wand movements. Make sure that you intend Hermione to fall unconscious. Keep that intent in your mind as you utter the spell.” Harry advised.

Neville nodded in understanding. After taking a deep breath, Neville gathered himself and performed the spell.

“Stupefy.”

A red beam of light hit Hermione square on her chest, knocking her out. Harry revived her just a moment later and pulled her to her feet.

“Good work, you two.” Harry nodded at them before turning on other members of the group.

“So, who’s next?” Harry asked.

Many hands were raised in the air, eager to master the spell.

After nearly half an hour passed, Harry decided to wind up the session and let the Gryffindor students return to the tower. However, he made the senate members stay back as there were certain issues they needed to discuss in the privacy of the Room of Requirement.

Once all the regular members were out of the RoR, Harry opened and pulled a lever on the side of a sculpted dragon head on the wall. Suddenly, a portion of the wall fell away to show a small chamber housing a round table with six chairs.

“Please come in and take your seats.” Harry welcomed the elected senators into what he called the Senate chamber.

Harry took his seat and waited until Dacey Lyn, Ginny Weasley, Dean Thomas, Katie Bell, and Alicia Spinnet took their seats.

“This is our first official meeting, and I suspect we shall have many such meetings in the days ahead. But first, we must pledge our oath before the commencement of the session.” said Harry, looking intently at Dean Thomas, who had brought up the idea of a verbal oath for the Knights.

Harry knew Dean took up inspiration from the oath of allegiance given to the British monarch with some changes here and there. Harry and other senate members had some minor corrections to suggest. After much debate, there was a verbal oath they all approved. But this would be the first time they’d use it in an official sitting of the Senate. As the prime creator of the oath, Dean went first to recite the oath.

“I, Dean Thomas, do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to magic and adopt the responsibility of safeguarding magic’s might in the world.”

The oath was quite simple and to the point. Harry also knew it was a bit vague towards the end, but that was purposefully designed that way. In two years, he suspected the nature of the oath could be changed to reflect the role of the Knights of Avalon. For now, this oath was more than enough for a secret club to learn defensive magic. Everyone else recited the oath, including Harry, and then they were on the issue at hand.

“Umm, Harry. What’s that?” Dacey Lyn pointed at the fast-moving quill furiously scribbling down everything on a piece of parchment.

“That is a charmed quill that’ll transcribe everything said on the Senate floor. These records will be safely stored in this room for future reference.” Harry explained.

“Oh.” Dacey Lyn looked at the quill apprehensively as if it was going to do something horrible.

“Anyway, I’ve called you all to inform you about establishing a mass communication method. We won’t need it for now, as the Knights only have members from Gryffindor. But before the month is out, we’ll slowly induct select students that the senate approves into the Knights. We’ll need a secure communication method with all our members when we do that. My current plan is to use the Protean charm on an object like a ring, coin or locket and pass on the message of our meeting place.” Harry explained.

“Is it essential, though? We could inform the members by word of mouth.” Katie suggested.

“It could help us communicate instantly with all members even when we are not in Hogwarts.” Harry pointed out.

“If we happen to conduct a meeting during the summer holidays, we could communicate easier if we have this capability.” Ginny said, looking thoughtful. “I approve.”

“If we are getting communication channels open to all members of the Knights, then I suggest we create a separate one exclusive for the senate members.” Alicia suggested, earning several curious looks from everyone around the table.

“Uhh…If we want to conduct a meeting during the summer holidays and can’t conduct it, then a communication channel connecting all senate members could be quite handy.” Alicia explained somewhat awkwardly.

“She’s right. It also must be considered that Alicia and the rest of the seventh-years will not be at Hogwarts next year. Keeping them in the loop is also important.” Harry mused aloud.

“So, what will we use for this Protean charm to work? As a matter of fact, how does that charm even work?” Dean asked, leaning forward in his seat and looking curiously at Harry for an explanation.

“The Protean charm allows objects to be connected and make changes on it through changing one object, which reflects the change on all the other connected objects. This allows the charm to be used in mass communication. In fact, it’s used in connecting the Floo network of wizarding Britain. Think of it as radio waves in muggle terms.” Harry explained the charm as best as he could.

“Oh, okay. Thanks, Harry.” Dean gave him a thumbs-up with a grin.

“So, what object will we use it on? It must be discreet and protected from outsiders accessing any information we pass through this channel.” Katie pointed out.

“We could use it on a locket. We can tie it on a chain around our neck. With the locket under our shirt, it’d be hidden from curious eyes.” Ginny suggested.

There was a murmur of agreement on Ginny’s suggestion.

“A coin is also a good option.” Dacey Lyn commented, twirling a lock of her sandy blond hair between her fingers while her green eyes looked thoughtful.

“A coin could get easily misplaced. If we keep it out of our usual coin pouch, it’d stand out and let’s not forget that anyone can access the coin if they search our pockets or bags for some reason. As Ginny said, a locket would remain safely hidden underneath our shirts.” said Dean.

“Won’t lockets be small for our use? I assume we communicate with written letters on the locket, right?” Dacey asked.

“That’s right. But we can use enlarging charms and other sophisticated charms to make it function to our needs.” said Harry.

As there was no further objection to the idea, they unanimously agreed to use a locket as their communication device. After that issue was settled, Harry suggested establishing a three-layered hierarchy within the Knights of Avalon. He wanted the group split into three; senators, squires, and knights. Then the knights had to be further divided into defenders, attackers, and healers. But that suggestion was not accepted as there was no immediate need to establish a hierarchy within the group. There were also differences in opinion about what constituted earning the designation of a knight, senator and squire because the designations could overlap. A knight could become the senator in an election, and there was uncertainty in the term of an elected senator and Harry’s position.

In the end, Harry was about to conclude the meeting so the senators could discuss some of the issues raised with their fellow year mates and formulate a consensus. But just before Harry called off the meeting, Alicia raised a question.

“Harry. What’s our next plan with Umbridge? I don’t think she’d ignore what happened on the pitch.”

“You’re right, Alicia. Umbridge would not bow down to our show of strength without a fight. I suspect she’s trying her best to get us expelled through the Board of Governors.” Harry said truthfully.

There was a round of gasps and worried looks exchanged between the five senators at the prospect of facing expulsion.

“You don’t need to worry. She’s going to find that it’s quite hard to expel even a single student from the school. Trust me. It’s been taken care of.” Harry said confidently.

“What did you do?” Katie asked curiously.

Harry just smirked and winked at them all.

XXXXXXX

Dolores was livid. No, not livid. She was frothing with anger at the Board of Governors.

She had gone straight to the Board with her grievance, assured that her treatment at the hands of Potter and Potter’s public display of dark magic as well as rebellion, was grounds for expelling the boy. She had even prepared a long list of Gryffindor students who raised their wands against her to be expelled from the school. She was even quite sure she’d dislodge Dumbledore from the Headmaster position when she could connect Potter’s rebellion and actions to Dumbledore. After all, the old headmaster was complicit in the crimes of Potter and refused to act.

The old man even had the gall to suggest that she bow down to the demands of a delusional teenage boy!

Yet, nothing of the sort happened. She had presented her demands and grievances before the Board. She had formally appealed to the Board to take disciplinary action against Potter and Dumbledore. Instead of acting against those two and the Gryffindor students, the Board rejected all her demands and said an emphatic no. She had screamed in rage and threatened them with the might of the Ministry, but the Board refused to budge.

Instead, she was given advice! Advice! She was ‘advised’ to make amends with Harry Potter!

She could still hear the words of one of the governors ringing in her ears.

“We did not take action when your discretion was brought forth to our attention by Harry Potter. For that reason, the situation has developed to a stage where the entire House of Gryffindor has declared open rebellion against you. You should’ve treaded carefully when you brazenly walked into the lion’s den Madam Umbridge. Your influence at the Ministry shielded you last time from our action, but that doesn’t mean the Ministry has blanket power or influence over us, Madam.”

Another governor had this to say,

“There is a storm coming your way, Madam Umbridge. You are playing with forces beyond your reach. Talk to Mr Potter and resolve the issues speedily. Otherwise, you’ll be swept away by the whirlwind that’s forming around you.”

Those cowards were speaking as if they were afraid of Potter.

‘No, it was not just fear. The Board must be under Potter’s influence somehow.’ she reasoned as she walked back and forth in her room stewing in anger.

But the real blow came when she asked for Lucius Malfoy’s help. The man had abruptly cut off the floo network after warning her not to bother him with issues related to Potter. She could’ve sworn she heard fear in Lucius’s voice. She could not fathom why Lucius would fear Harry Potter so much.

Dolores looked at the floo once more and thought about taking her grievances to Minister Fudge. But she thought better of it. Cornelius had warned her not to annoy Potter and that her target should be Dumbledore. She had tried to convince the Minister that Potter was also a problem that needed to be tackled early before the boy grew too powerful. Yet, Cornelius refused to listen to her sound advice. The boy was already frighteningly magically powerful. She could still feel goosebumps when she thought of that day with Potter performing such dark magic in front of the whole school.

She paused in her step as she wondered whether Potter was using some obscure dark magic to influence the Board of Governors.

Maybe, the Potter boy was using the Imperius curse, she mused.

A thought suddenly struck her. She’d have trouble seeking the service of the aurors if it were to suppress Potter’s rebellion in Hogwarts. But, she could coerce a few aurors to apprehend Potter for practising dark magic in the open. Maybe, she could even go a step further and have Potter thrown in Azkaban.

Her giddiness, however, stopped as she realised she’d have to go around Cornelius in this matter. She was sure the Minister would never approve. Nor did she think Amelia Bones would help her in this particular matter. Bones had always been too cautious in the Ministry. It was one of the reasons why the woman got to keep the DMLE all these years.

‘No. I’ll have to be discreet. Once I have the Potter boy under custody, I’ll have him under Veritaserum and force the blasted boy to confess all his crimes. That’ll be enough for Cornelius to act.’ Dolores nodded to herself at the plan she devised on the spot.

She immediately used the floo, connecting it to the Ministry atrium. She needed to find two loyal aurors without tipping off anyone in the ministry. And Dolores knew just the two people who’d be perfect for the job. She only needed to find John Dawlish and Robert Emerson.

XXXXXXX

Harry was sitting at the Gryffindor table reading the Daily Prophet. There was an article about some more werewolf attacks happening around the countryside. But the attacks did not leave many casualties, mostly because wizards were apparating away at the first chance they got. But the Prophet was leaving out what happened to the muggle victims of the werewolves. He supposed muggles were not counted as casualties, or maybe the Ministry was quietly disposing of some newly created muggle werewolves before they became a problem.

Suppose the latter was the case, kudos to the Ministry. From a pragmatic view, it made sense for the Ministry to cut down the werewolf population, especially the muggles who became werewolves. The threat of the Statute of Secrecy being broken was too high, with muggle werewolves running around in the muggle world. The only other solution would be to hold muggle werewolves imprisoned for life which was far worse than death, in his opinion.

Harry made a mental note to reach out to Rita Skeeter. He did not find any of her articles in the Prophet but hoped the woman didn’t get skewered to death by Grindelwald. She had taken quite a sum of galleons from him to buy her way into Nurmengard prison to visit Grindelwald for the ultimate weapon he was preparing for Dumbledore. After that, there was no sign of Skeeter. He was starting to get worried about her.

‘Skeeter was not the only woman going missing.’ Harry thought, looking at the staff table where Umbridge’s seat remained vacant.

Even Dumbledore was missing, but that was common throughout this year.

Umbridge was not seen in Hogwarts for a few days. Rumour was that she had packed up and left the castle, but he knew she was trying to arm-twist the Board of Governors to act against him. Unfortunately for Umbridge, the Board would not be of much use in her fight against him. He had secured that front before he took action against her. The advantage of a corrupt system was that it was corruptible to all influences. All he had to do was find the correct leverage to make the wheels of bureaucracy turn in his favour. In this case, he cut deals with the Board members using Sirius and Daphne’s father as proxies to secure majority votes in his favour. Then adding in the Board’s inherent dislike of Umbridge, who was cutting into their sphere of influence, was all he needed to get a majority consensus from the Board.

‘I suppose I’ll learn how the Board meeting went through from Sirius tonight.’ Harry mused.

With a sigh, Harry changed the page of the Prophet when the great hall doors were opened noisily with a bang that reverberated across the hall. Harry leaned away from the table to take a good look at what was going on. To his immense joy, Umbridge stood at the hall entrance with two aurors behind her back.

“Dolores! What is the meaning of this?” McGonagall thundered from the high table.

Umbridge turned up her nose and completely ignored McGonagall. Dressed in an unholy amount of pink, Umbridge strutted forward like a victorious general as if she had won some great war and looked at everyone imperiously.

“Aurors Dawlish, Emerson. Arrest Mr Harry Potter for using dark magic and exposing said dark arts before the eyes of these misled children.” Umbridge declared for all to hear.

The gasps that rang out through the hall were quite fascinating to hear. Harry fought so hard to keep the grin off his face as this was something that he hoped the unhinged woman would try. He was not sure she’d manage to pull this off, but he had to give her points for sheer foolishness. He could use this most splendidly in the days ahead to tear down the Ministry to its last leg and leave the rest to Voldemort and Dumbledore. And in the chaos that’d follow, it’d be his time to commandeer the sinking ship that was the Ministry of Magic.

Harry stood up from his seat, turning many heads in his direction.

“All of you, stay.” Harry whispered to his housemates as he stepped into the gap between Gryffindor and the Hufflepuff table.

“I find myself curious. It requires a certain type of courage or stupidity, in this case, to bring them into Hogwarts to arrest me.” Harry said as he leisurely walked towards Umbridge.

“Why, Mr Potter? You never thought I’d bring aurors to take you into Ministry custody after you attacked me?” Umbridge sneered.

“Yes. I never thought you’d bring so few.” Harry said coldly.

Harry acted swiftly as he brought up his wand and batted away the two stunners that were sent his way.

“Attack him. Bring Potter down!” Umbridge screamed at the top of her lungs.

The students on both sides ran for a safe place to hide as spells rained down in the hall.

Harry put up a shield using the Protego charm as more curses and hexes rained down on him with impressive speed, as expected of aurors like Dawlish. One particular spell broke his shield, which made Harry assume his spirit form to evade the spells that followed, as he didn’t have much room to dodge. His body dissolved into silver-grey smoke, and he flew into the air zooming around the hall, and he settled away from the house tables.

“Okay. This is better.” Harry shouted, firing off chains of spells that forced both aurors into defence.

He kept a steady barrage of Reducto-Stupefy-Bombarda combination that forced the two aurors to defend using transfiguration and evasion rather than shield spells. While his eyes were on the two aurors, that doesn’t mean he was ignorant of Umbridge trying to take a potshot at him from the side.

So, he switched straight to elemental spells where his true strength lay.

“Expugno.” Harry said in his mind.

A fierce storm was spat out of the tip of his wand that swept his three enemies back. Harry used the opening the spell created to quickly disarm Umbridge, followed by trapping her.

“Ebublio.”

A yellow jelly bubble enclosed Umbridge, which trapped her on the spot making her immobile and unable to speak. This made aurors Emerson and Dawlish focus on Umbridge to get her out of the bubble. And Harry didn’t let that chance go to waste.

“Fulmen Fulminata.”

Harry crowed that spell out for his satisfaction as it was his favourite spell. A long arc of white condensed electrical energy struck straight for Dawlish. The auror’s instincts might have kicked in because the man put up a strong shield that managed to keep his spell at bay. But Harry only grinned and flicked his wand to the side, and a thin arc of lightning broke off from his spell and struck down Auror Emerson. The brown-haired auror was blown off his feet and fell unconscious on the floor.

“Your mistake Dawlish was thinking you were here to arrest an orphaned fifteen-year-old boy. When in fact, you were here to take on the destroyer of the Dark Lord Voldemort.” Harry shouted as he pushed his magic to greater heights strengthening his spell beyond the norm.

His lightning spell roared with power, and it smashed through Dawlish’s shield submitting the auror to a painful few seconds. Harry abruptly cuts off his magic into the spell lest he kills the auror in front of hundreds of witnesses. He sauntered towards the immobile Umbridge while he waved his wand, summoning the wands of the two aurors into his hand.

“You think you can act with impunity in these halls? You think you can torture one of the Gryffindors and walk away without any consequences?” Harry thundered as he neared Umbridge, who was struggling inside the bubble with her eyes wide with fear.

“Hogwarts and everything in it is under my protection.” Harry declared in the spur of the moment.

Suddenly, Harry felt a weight settle in his free left hand. Looking down, he saw the Sword of Godric Gryffindor materialising in his hand. For a moment, he was stunned, but he didn’t waste time thinking about the sword and rolled with it.

“I’m the last Potter. The line of Gryffindor has not yet broken. So, until that happens, scum like you have no place in my school.” Harry snarled and swung the sword of Gryffindor but not at Umbridge but at the spell that was coming towards him from his blind spot, which he could feel.

Harry didn’t know how, but he instinctively coated the sword with a dense layer of magic that acted as a deflecting shield which deflected the spell right back at the castor. Only when he turned around did he see a wand flying high in the air, soaring towards him. Thanks to his quick reflexes honed by years of Quidditch practice, Harry caught the wand in his hand. The wand let out bright white sparks once it joined his Holly wand in his right hand. It took a moment for Harry to recognise the wand, and when he did, he looked at its owner with wide eyes.

He found Dumbledore’s bright blue eyes shielded by half-moon spectacles. The headmaster was just as surprised as Harry and was looking at the Elder Wand that was comfortably sitting in the palm of his hand with wide eyes. For a moment, no one spoke, and only the soothing trill of Fawkes broke the silence. The Phoenix took flight from Dumbledore’s shoulder and settled on Harry’s head, nesting comfortably inside his black hair. Then Fawkes bit him with its sharp beak on his forehead, making Harry yelp.

“Ow!”

AN:

 

For artworks: https://discord.gg/Nw2JH25fJf

Chapter 72: Bidding time

Dumbledore stared into his own hands with a certain numbness as the early morning events repeatedly played out in his mind. He had known Umbridge would end up crossing a line that would spell nothing but chaos in Hogwarts. His fears had come true with Hogwarts students across House boundaries were now demanding the expulsion and even the incarceration of Dolores Umbridge. As a matter of fact, Hufflepuff students had even given a formal letter demanding the removal of Umbridge from her post to Professor Sprout. Filius and Severus also reported similar grumblings from Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

Luckily, he had arrived at Hogwarts before something much more horrible happened. A student could have been maimed when the fight between the aurors and Harry broke out.

Luckily for everyone involved, nothing of that sort happened, and no one was maimed.

Except for the less-than-healthy conditions of the aurors Harry put into the hospital wing, there were no injuries to speak of. Dawlish and Emerson would be in Madam Pomfrey’s care for a while. Thankfully, the aurors were not seriously injured. Both aurors had taken a significant dose of damage from Harry’s lightning spell. If he was worried, it was about Dawlish, as the auror had taken a far more severe beating from Harry’s spell than Emerson.

Usually, lightning spells were not that damaging to wizards because of the nature of lightning itself. It was a form of energy that a wizard’s body could regulate given enough time. But Harry must have gone beyond the extreme in his use of the spell because both aurors had yet to gain consciousness. He had asked Filius to draw out the excess energy circulating in the body of the aurors to ensure their quick recovery. Removing the burns they suffered was easy, but drawing out the excess energy within their body was far more complex. It was one of the reasons why he didn’t immediately transfer Emerson and Dawlish to St Mungo’s hospital. He wanted their excess energy bled away, and there was also the matter of the troubles that shall befall everyone should word get out about what happened. He had gone even a step further by cancelling all classes and confining students to their respective dorms.

Letting out a sigh, Dumbledore tiredly leaned against his chair. His eyes inevitably fell on his wand.

‘No. Not my wand anymore.’ he thought, staring thoughtfully at the Elder Wand.

Dumbledore couldn’t help but think he was misreading the prophecy on some level. His eyes strayed to the Sword of Gryffindor as well. Both the sword and the wand were seeped in ancient magic. The wand was imbued with the magic and skill of countless wizards, starting from Antioch Peverell. The Sword of Gryffindor, on the other hand, was seeped in the magic of Hogwarts and one of Hogwarts’ illustrious founders Godric Gryffindor, a mage of unparalleled skill, power, and charisma.

“Could it be the ‘power the Dark Lord knows not’ was referring to the Elder Wand and the Sword of Gryffindor?” Dumbledore muttered to himself.

Both were ancient magical weapons of mysterious origins unknown to most wizards. The sword was said to be Goblin forged, but wizards had not seen it for thousands of years until Harry pulled it out of the sorting hat. The Elder Wand had disappeared into legend, and very few knew its existence. Both were powerful magical foci capable of fitting the mould of the prophecy, granting an advantage to Harry over Voldemort.

He had briefly thought of letting Harry keep the wand but dismissed that idea almost immediately.

It was not time, he reasoned.

The bloody history of the wand made him afraid to leave it in the hands of Harry.

‘Perhaps, I could give it to Harry when he reaches his majority.’ he thought.

Dumbledore shook his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose. The will of magic and prophecies were tricky and quite challenging to discern. But he could not help but think Harry was shaping up to be a phenomenal wizard of unparalleled skill and strength. Perhaps most significant of all was Harry’s adamant refusal to bow down in the face of tyranny and political power for justice. There was no doubt Harry’s methods of fighting injustice were deplorable, but he could admire the boy’s steadfast response rooted in protecting those who can’t defend themselves. Harry had shown that sense of concern and morality many times in Hogwarts. But this time, Harry had passed on that sense of morale fibre to his fellow housemates, which was no easy feat for a teenage boy.

Truly, Dumbledore was proud as the headmaster of Hogwarts to see such loyalty and conviction among students to stand for one of their own.

He was more than aware that Harry was also stepping into a new arena. The sense of right and wrong shifts so quickly in public opinion. Harry, as well as his friends, were so young not to see the pitfalls that were along the way in their pursuit of justice. A sense of right and wrong was a desirable quality in a growing young wizard. Still, the world would not see morality in Harry’s movement but rather a rebellion against the established order of things. After all, that was why Umbridge turned against Harry.

Dumbledore sat up straight as he felt the wards alert him of guests climbing the stairs to his office. His office doors were pushed open with force making way for a livid-looking Cornelius Fudge to barge in accompanied by a number of aurors and even Amelia Bones.

“What is the meaning of this, Dumbledore? Why have you insisted on this meeting?” Fudge growled and huffed as he plopped down on a chair on the other side of the table.

“Because your undersecretary thought it wise to bring two aurors into Hogwarts and attempted to arrest Harry Potter, which ended up in a fight in the middle of the Great Hall.”

“What!” Fudge screamed, staring at Dumbledore with his eyes bulging.

“I warned you, Cornelius. Madam Umbridge and her ways will not be welcome in Hogwarts. Yet you did not listen.” Dumbledore said slowly so that the Minister could come to terms with the situation before he divulged more details.

“Wha..? But… She… She promised me. She gave me her word that she’d never again harm the children.” Fudge spluttered, shock written all over his face.

“More than anyone, you should know the worth of a politician’s word, Cornelius.” Dumbledore said, looking at the flushed face of the Minister, who refused to meet his eyes.

“What happened to Mr Potter? Is he all right?” Amelia Bones asked, a visible frown on her face.

“Harry is quite fine. Your aurors, on the other hand…” Dumbledore trailed off, looking pointedly at the brown eyes of Amelia Bones.

It saddened him to see someone like Amelia Bones not show an ounce of emotion as she maintained her iron grip on her composure. The woman had entrenched herself in the cesspool of corruption within the Ministry after he denied her the opportunity to go after the Death Eaters after the fall of Voldemort. Madam Bones wanted the former Death Eaters hunted down and killed off. She wanted their families torn asunder and their wealth seized. He knew why she wanted to do all those things. She wanted revenge for the murder of her entire family. And he had stopped her from doing so as he knew it’d one day make her the monster she despised.

He supposed it was one of the many reasons Madam Bones became an apathetic figure holding one of the highest offices in the Ministry. Also, it was one of the reasons why she managed to hold on to her post as the head of the DMLE for all these years. All the factions in the Ministry knew Amelia Bones could be counted on to keep the bureaucratic wheel spinning unimpeded.

Therefore, he was not surprised to see the complete apathy and disinterest shown by the head of the DMLE in the fate of two aurors under her command.

“What happened to the aurors?” Fudge asked, his face going white as if he was about to faint.

“They are in the hospital wing recuperating from their injuries sustained from engaging in a magical duel with Mr Potter.”

“Come now, Dumbledore. You are pulling our legs...aren’t you?” Fudge asked hopefully.

“I’m afraid I’m not the one pulling anything. Madam Umbridge was the one who went ahead and played with the lion’s tail.” said Dumbledore steepling his fingers while looking at everyone in his office calmly as he allowed the silence that followed to continue.

“What happened here?” Fudge eventually asked, taking off his hat and wiping the sweat off his face. “What would make Delores take aurors without my knowledge to arrest Harry Potter of all people?”

“To learn that, you must know what was happening in this school for the last few weeks.” said Dumbledore, bringing out his pensive, looking intently at the Minister.

“All right, Dumbledore. We’ll do it your way.” Fudge impatiently said, knowing he would not get a simple verbal answer.

Dumbledore was too happy to show them all the memories he had collected from the staff to show what was happening. He hoped, when they saw the damage Umbridge had down to the peaceful atmosphere of Hogwarts, the Ministry would stop their needless interference in Hogwarts affairs as it was distracting him from some of his other work to tackle Tom.

XXXXXX

“So, what else is Harry hiding? Is he going to come up with Ravenclaw’s tiara the next time and force Dumbledore out of the headmaster’s office?” asked Tracey.

“Tracey!” Daphne hissed at her friend, noting that many curious ears of her housemates were trained on their conversation.

“What?” Tracey raised an eyebrow challengingly. “It’s a reasonable assumption.”

“I agree.” Astoria joined them on the couch, plopping herself against Daphne’s side. “He has the gift of Parseltongue, a trait only seen with those who have Slytherin blood. He can also summon the Sword of Gryffindor, a supposedly lost artefact, and he knocked around those aurors like they were first-year Hogwarts students throwing around colour-changing charms.”

“Very funny. Now, go bother someone else.” Daphne huffed, pushing away her younger sister, who suddenly became clingy.

“Tell me, how did you do it?” Astoria asked lowly.

“Do what?” Daphne asked, frowning at her little sister.

“Seduce Harry Potter. What was it that made him fall for you?”

“Shut up. Go bother someone else.” Daphne pushed her sister away.

Astoria complained loudly but finally left Daphne alone to gossip with her friends.

“You know, I almost thought Potter was going to cut off Umbridge’s head with his sword.” Barbara Collins commented, joining Daphne on the couch where Astoria used to sit.

Daphne eyed the Head Girl out of the corner of her eyes. “He is not an idiot to do something like that.”

“Hmm. Tell me, has he said anything about his plans going forward?” asked Barbara.

Daphne eyed the raven-haired girl curiously.

“Why are you interested in what Harry might or might not do?” she asked, her eyes not straying from the pitch-black eyes of the older Slytherin girl.

“Because Potter is not the only one interested in seeing Umbridge kicked off the school. That woman’s presence brings greater scrutiny to the school, which might affect our…activities.” Barbara whispered.

Daphne’s eyes gained a glint of understanding. She had forgotten about Barbara’s interest in Harry because of his gift of Parseltongue and his ability to pull Old Magic in more significant quantities for the ritual of Red Dawn.

“Has Professor Babbling said anything about conducting the ritual this year?” Daphne whispered back, her eyes straying to some of her housemates, keeping an eye on their conversation.

“She wasn’t till now because of Umbridge. But she thinks there is a good chance for Umbridge to get thrown out of Hogwarts if the houses come together as one in this issue.”

“You know how difficult that will be.” Daphne shook her head.

“You might be surprised how many Slytherins like Potter.” said Barbara, looking over her head to stare at Daphne’s year mates. “I’ll reach out to the rest of our house to support Potter. Will you come with me?”

“Why do you want me?” Daphne asked, staring curiously at the older witch.

“If rumours are true, House Greengrass might be tied up closely with House Potter in the future. There is no doubt that Potter will grow more powerful in the future, and powerful wizards write histories with their might. It’d be a shame if the opportunity to become part of something greater would be lost because of something silly as house rivalry.”

Daphne refused to react to the claim Barbara was insinuating. It was true that her father had certain intentions regarding Harry, but she was not going to make a verbal opinion on something that had yet to be agreed upon by both parties. That doesn’t mean she would ignore an opportunity to help Harry. After all, she was the one to advise Harry to mobilise his housemates against Umbridge by bidding his time.

‘Not that I expected Harry to be so successful in such a short time.’ Daphne thought.

The more she thought about it, the more she was sure of herself to lend support to Harry. She had never openly taken a stand on anything related to Harry in her house, even when Harry had threatened everyone to stay out of her way last year. She supposed this would be the chance to clear that debt.

“All right, Barbara. Let’s do this.”

XXXXXX

“Dolores. Dolores. Open your eyes, Dolores.”

She heard her name being called by a familiar voice.

‘Is that Cornelius?’ Dolores wondered.

Her name was called again and again. Eventually, she managed to conjure up enough concentration to follow the voice and slowly open her eyes. Bright light streamed into her eyes, making it difficult for her to see, but she held on to the feeling of waking up until she finally managed to pull through. When her vision cleared, she found Minister Fudge staring down at her.

“M…Minister? Where am I?” Dolores asked, trying to blink away the black spots in her eyes.

“You are in the hospital wing of Hogwarts. Tell me, Dolores, what happened?”

“Wha…?” she was stunned for a moment, and then she remembered. “Cornelius! The Potter boy! He must be stopped.”

Her sound climbed to a higher notch as fear and hate bled into her words.

“He is a dark wizard. Cornelius. Potter is starting a rebellion against the Ministry, and Potter attacked me because I found what he was doing and tried to put a stop to it. You have to arrest Potter and his fellow rebels Minister.”

“I see.” Minister Fudge said lowly. “Why didn’t you inform me of any of this? Why did you ban the Gryffindor Quidditch team? Why did you take Dawlish and Emerson without informing me or Amelia?”

“It doesn’t matter, Cornelius. I’ve caught Potter in the act. You now have proof that Potter is practising Dark Magic. You must expel and sentence him to Azkaban for a few years.” Dolores shouted, kicking up her arms and legs in a violent fashion.

“I see. Calm down, Dolores. You take your rest now. Leave everything to me.”

On that assurance, she calmed down. She even accepted the potion Madam Pomfrey poured down her throat. Once again, she saw black spots clouding her vision. She had no choice but to succumb to the lull of sleep, dissolving herself into nothingness.

XXXXXXX

“What do we do, Amelia? The Ministry cannot be embroiled in another scandal.” Fudge murmured in frustration as he walked the length of a classroom back and forth, twisting and turning his bowl hat in his hand.

“It was by the skin of my teeth that I managed to force the Board of Governors and the vultures in the Ministry not to pounce on Dolores when she tortured that poor boy.”

“I warned you, Madam Umbridge, would only make matters worse. She’s a vindictive person and therefore not flexible when it comes to handling children.” Amelia said neutrally.

“Yes, you did, Amelia. I should’ve listened to you then. But I made her swear to me to focus on Dumbledore instead of going after Hogwarts students.” Fudge growled and stomped his foot. “She promised nothing of that sort would come from her side again. Instead of focusing on Dumbledore, she jumped right back into antagonising Potter.”

“And then she has the audacity to put all the blame on Potter! She lied straight to my face even after everything she did.”

Amelia barely restrained herself from rolling her eyes at Fudge’s huffing and puffing. She eyed the Minister of Magic, fussing over what was to happen, fearing one teenage boy. She could not help but enjoy watching the Ministry and its bureaucratic wheel bowing down like a puppy before Potter. In all these years in her capacity as the head of the DMLE, she had only seen the likes of Lucius Malfoy and his band of sycophants getting away with subverting the law that was supposed to deliver restitution and justice to the victims of the war. So, it was quite refreshing to see that same law get subverted by a teenager in pursuit of justice for an aggrieved housemate. It was a nice sentiment.

‘But such sentiments could not be allowed to take root.’ Amelia thought.

There was a plan afoot, and she had a duty to see the plan through to the end.

“Cornelius, you have withstood greater odds and accusations in your long tenure as Minister. If you submit wholeheartedly here, you’ll signal to all your enemies that you are weak. What you need, Cornelius is time.”

“Time! Yes, I need time, and these problems will go away.” Fudge muttered anxiously.

“You know how to delay any significant action against Dolores until you gain something to oust Dumbledore from his post. Declare a detailed investigation to satisfy the children and the Hogwarts staff. We’ll ensure a long and thorough investigation that’ll take enough time to investigate every facet of Madam Umbridge’s actions in Hogwarts.”

“But that won’t be enough, Amelia. Several students from all four houses have given written requests to have Dolores removed from Hogwarts.”

“We can remove all powers from Madam Umbridge’s post. After all, she doesn’t need much power to keep watch over Dumbledore’s actions.” Amelia suggested.

She could see a glint of understanding in the Minister’s eyes as the man caught on to what she suggested.

“Of course! Thank you, Amelia.”

Amelia could only grin internally as she later watched Fudge jump through hoops to appease every stakeholder in the final settlement between the Ministry and the Board of Governors, Hogwarts staff, and Hogwarts students. She enjoyed watching the man bow, scrape, and lick the feet of everyone to buy time at the expense of promising some punitive action against Umbridge. All the while, her eyes focused on the burning fire she could see in Potter’s green eyes.

‘I’ve seen far greater fire than yours, boy. You hold no candle to that fire. At least, not yet.’ she thought, eyeing the son of her old acquaintance, Lily Potter.

AN:

 

For artworks: https://discord.gg/Nw2JH25fJf

Chapter 73: The last enemy shall be destroyed is death

ATTEMPTED BREAK-IN AT THE DEPARTMENT OF MINISTRIES!

SOURCES CLAIM THE INTRUDER WAS CAUGHT RED-HANDED.

Harry read the main headlines of the Prophet, which jolted his memory a little bit. There was some incident involving a Ministry employee trying to gain access to the Prophecy. If his memory was correct, Lucius Malfoy had the man under the Imperius curse take the Prophecy from the Department of Mysteries. He didn’t remember the full name but was sure the wizard’s name was Bode. He also recalled that this Bode fellow was assassinated using a pot plant which was Devil’s Snare.

‘Maybe the guy was an employee of the Department of Mysteries.’ Harry mused.

If Voldemort was now going after the Prophecy proactively, the man was nearly ready to break out his loyal Death Eaters from Azkaban. For a moment, Harry entertained the idea of going after Azkaban inmates, but he discarded it almost immediately. Even if he wanted to take out Voldemort’s most loyal Death Eaters, he was not strong enough to breach the protections of Azkaban. There were thousands of Dementors standing guard over the wizarding prison, not to mention there were aurors stationed on the island. Even if he could overcome the Dementors with the Patronus charm, the aurors would prove to be a costly hurdle to overcome.

Harry searched the Prophet for the intruder’s identity, but the name was not mentioned anywhere. He gathered that the Ministry was covering it up either by the insistence of Fudge or the insistence of the Department of Mysteries. He assumed the DoM didn't want the public to know one of their own got cursed for stealing something from them in the heart of the Ministry. With all that was happening in the Ministry, he gathered they’d be looking to suppress all juicy stories to the best of their ability. Even the story of Umbridge got some coverage from the Prophet despite the best efforts of the Ministry.

The lack of Malfoy’s boots pressing down on the Prophet kept the daily paper free to take a more unbiased reporting style. That said, Harry was aware Damien Greengrass was now in possession of the majority controlling shares of the Daily Prophet. Daphne’s father had written to him after the events leading to the deal between the Ministry, the Board of Governors and the students. It was mutually agreed between them to let the Ministry off the hook so that further down the line, they could bury the current Ministry in graft charges and criminal behaviour of high-level employees of the Ministry.

Harry was not included in the whole plan cooked up by his grandmother, but he was let in on the fact that the Flamels were intent on overhauling the current Wizengamot and the British Ministry of Magic. He was not particularly against that idea, as he was in favour of dismantling the entire Ministry. There was too much-entrenched incompetence, institutionalised nepotism, and racial bias in the Ministry. That doesn’t mean he was an unthinking liberal-minded person. He was more than aware that bringing down an age-old institution like the Wizengamot had its own adverse effects.

He believed it was a type A and type B error problem. No matter what choice he made, there was going to be a slew of consequences.

‘I could pretend nothing is wrong and use the current system to my benefit. Or, I could take the risk of working with the Flamels and create something new, hoping for the best.’ Harry thought, setting aside the Prophet on the Gryffindor table.

“Hey, Harry.”

Harry looked up from the paper to look at Ron, who plopped into the seat across from him on the Gryffindor table.

“Hey, Ron. You are supporting the ‘claws?” Harry asked, raising an eyebrow at Ron’s blue and bronze cap.

“Those Puffs one-upped us in the last game.” Ron said, filling his plate with food from the table.

“That was in the third year. You haven’t let that go, huh.” Harry chuckled, taking a bite out of the boiled egg on his plate.

“No one’s let that go.” said Katie as she joined him at the table.

She was also wearing a similar cap. To Harry’s surprise, there was an animated image of a badger on a broom getting electrocuted by lightning.

“The ‘claws made these for the game?” Harry asked, impressed at the creativity and charmwork.

“No, it was the Twins. They are selling it for three Sickles.” said Katie.

“Huh. Good for them, I suppose.” Harry shook his head, wondering how the Weasley twins managed to find time for all their work.

“Say, Harry. Are you free this Christmas holidays?” Ron suddenly asked. “Mum has invited you to the Burrow for Christmas.”

“I’m sorry, Ron. I have some other plans for the holidays.” said Harry, thinking about his plan to acquaint himself with the Giants.

“What plans?” Ron looked a little put-off. “Even Sirius is invited, and mum says he’s coming.”

Harry cursed himself for not letting Sirius into his plans. Then again, he was sure Sirius would oppose his adventure into the mountains to clean out some tribes of Giants.

“I forgot to tell Sirius. I was invited to spend the Solstice with Daphne’s family, and I agreed. Sorry, Ron.” Harry smiled apologetically at Ron.

“Sol- what?” Ron looked lost.

“Seriously? You haven’t heard of the Winter Solstice?” Katie asked, rolling her eyes and muttering about ‘dumb boys’.

“It’s just another name for Christmas, Ron. But more accurate in meaning.” Harry explained, but he only managed to confuse the younger Weasley more.

In the end, he had to explain exactly what Christmas meant for the muggles and what Winter Solstice meant for wizards.

“So, you are saying Christmas is the celebration of the birth of some fellow named Jesus.”

“Jesus Christ.” Harry corrected.

“Right. And they celebrate this fellow’s birthday in winter even though he is supposed to be born in spring.” Ron looked confused.

“Yes.” Harry didn’t explain further as he doubted Ron would understand a word of his explanation, and he didn’t really have the patience to involve all the details that led to Christmas.

“Wicked! Who was this guy? Was he some king?” Ron asked, with a mouthful of eggs.

“I suppose, you could say he was a king of sorts. But mainly people worship him because he was a good guy.” said Harry, keeping the details to a bare minimum, not wanting a discussion on religion right in the middle of the Great Hall.

“A good guy? What do you…”

“Ron, he was a Merlin-like figure for the muggles.” said Harry.

“Oh! Okay, that makes sense, I suppose.” Ron muttered, going back to wiping his plate clean.

“Yeah. Enjoy your breakfast, Ron. I’ve some errands to run.” said Harry, quickly escaping from the table when he noticed Daphne was finished with her breakfast and waving at him from the hall’s entrance.

XXXXXX

“I don’t see why you are so obsessed with chocolate frogs. Don’t you find it weird to eat a frog made of chocolate that…”

“Croak!”

“…does that?” Harry finished, looking pointedly at the flailing frog made of chocolate in Daphne’s palm.

“No. It’s so fun to have a chocolate frog.” Daphne said, smiling at Harry before biting off the head of the frog so that it’d stop croaking.

“Oh, look! It’s a Dumbledore card. That should even up my collection.” Harry heard her mutter.

“You have a card collection?” Harry raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, yes. She is obsessed with those. She has a room full of collected vintage cards. If I’m not wrong, this one will put the tally on 105 for her Dumbledore card collection.” Astoria butted in from behind.

“What the…! Astoria! What are you doing here?” Daphne turned on her sister with her eyes blazing.

“What else am I here for? For the game, of course.” Astoria said, looking pointedly at the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff teams fighting it out in the brooms for victory.

“No. That’s not what I meant. What’re you doing here near us? Go somewhere else.” Daphne pushed Astoria’s face away from near their shoulders.

“I don’t think I will. I will be right here to watch out for any funny business.” Astoria huffed.

Daphne looked like she was about to curse the head off her sister, but at the last moment, she just huffed and ignored Astoria all together.

“Just pretend the little demon is not behind us.” Daphne bit out to Harry.

Harry saw Daphne’s annoyance, so he kept silent and let the Greengrass sisters sort out their problems. The stands erupted in a roar taking Harry’s attention back to the game. He noticed Cedric and Cho were chasing after the snitch, with bludgers whizzing past their sides. A collective groan was heard in the stands when both seekers were unable to maintain the chase and pull out as the snitch went past the Hufflepuff chasers while they were passing the quaffle between them.

Harry discreetly took out his wand and cast the muffling charm around him and Daphne.

“Anything we say will sound gibberish to others.” Harry explained when he noticed Daphne look at him curiously.

“Have you passed along the message to your father?” Harry asked.

“Yes. He’ll be waiting at King’s Cross station.” said Daphne, looking at him out of the corner of her eyes.

“What exactly is this about? Is it about Umbridge?” she asked after a moment of silence.

“No. We’ve already decided to let Umbridge off the hook and the Ministry to play cat and mouse for the time being.”

“Then what is it?” Daphne became more curious.

“It is better that you don’t know. It concerns the Dark Lord.” said Harry, making Daphne freeze.

“I see.” she fell silent after that.

“Has Professor Babbling said anything about conducting the ritual?” Harry suddenly asked.

“She has. We’ll start next Monday. Are you interested in joining in?” Daphne asked.

“Sure. It was fun last time. So, why not.” Harry shrugged.

“What are you two whispering about, and why can’t I hear you?” Astoria butted in, making Daphne engage her sister in another fight about privacy.

Harry suppressed his laughter as the two sisters were at each other’s throats and turned his attention back to the game.

******

“All right, Potter. You’ve got this.” Harry muttered to himself as he stared at the wooden practice dummy the Room of Requirement provided.

Harry squared his shoulders and was about to launch the spell. He could feel sweat roll off his temples as he stared at the dummy holding a makeshift wand in its hand. His eyes strayed to the walls of the room, enforced by magic to his wishes so that he could test out this dangerous spell.

“Nope.” Harry let out the air he was holding, losing his cool. “This is a bad idea. This is a bad idea.”

Harry muttered under his breath as he walked back and forth in the room. There was no other option but to practice the spell. If he were to take out the giants for good from the battle, he needed the spell. It was the only way he could ensure many giants would sustain serious injuries and get dissuaded from joining Voldemort. The most powerful spell in his arsenal was the lightning spell, and giants tend to have thick skin that allows them to survive lightning attacks. He couldn’t even seriously injure Dawlish using his best lightning spell, so he gathered it would be at most annoying to a giant.

This led Harry straight to the doorstep of one of the most dangerous spells known to wizardkind. Unlike the lightning spells, the Ministry had classified this spell as dark magic, with good cause. The spell that he was so afraid to use was the Fiendfyre spell, which required genuine rage to manifest the hellish hungry flames. Finding no respite, he sat on the floor and tried to centre himself to keep a tight lid on his emotions. Using the Fiendfyre spell with an untethered mind was ripe for disaster.

It took him a while, but he was in a steady emotional state when Harry opened his eyes. Taking to his feet, he stood across from the wooden dummy conjured by the RoR and hoped it would work as he expected. Taking a deep breath, he summoned rage that sought only destruction and nothing else. To manifest rage of that level, he imagined the smiling face of Dolores Umbridge in her horrible pink garb. To spice things up, he manifested Petunia and Vernon accompanying the woman on either side, all of them having matching evil looks. Seeing those three smirking faces, he felt it natural to have the rage to destroy all three in one swoop.

“Fiendfyre.”

A thick stream of bright red flames escaped the tip of his wand. The force of the flames made his hair blow back, and the heat was almost unbearable even though he was covered in flame-repelling charms from head to toe. He was suddenly overwhelmed by the desire to see everything turn into ash as his rage only spiked to alarming levels for no reason. He was no longer even seeing the faces of Umbridge and the Dursleys. But he could hear a cackling of maniacal laughter in his ears, and the fire surged with great power, responding to his rage. It took him a moment to realise that he was the one laughing like a maniac.

The flames of the spell surged and grew to the full height of the room, nearly touching the roof as it was slowly taking a corporeal form.

“No!” Harry screamed as he felt a searing pain behind his eyes, and he tried to cut off the spell.

With some effort, he managed to stop fueling his spell with his magic and rage. The spell broke the connection with his wand, but the Fiendfyre spell remained in the room. Harry stumbled back and raised a shield for good measure as the flames grew stronger and tried to come after him. But a giant stone golem fell on the flames making the Fiendfyre flames lose some cohesion. The flames attempted to eat the stone golem, but the golem suddenly changed into a massive ball of water that began to become steam because of the fire.

“Did the dummy just transfigure the golem into water!” Harry muttered in awe.

Honestly, the Room of Requirement’s powers were beyond compare to any piece of magic he had ever encountered.

While the water quickly turned into steam, it also ensured the flames were no longer that powerful. The leftover flames were sucked into the tip of the wooden dummy’s wand by some kind of suction spell.

‘No. It was a vacuum. The dummy created a vacuum.’ Harry thought.

That actually gave him a rather splendid idea. Harry was more than sure that he would not master the Fiendfyre curse in time to combat the giants. But he could master a charm that could potentially wipe away even the most powerful flames. Even the hellish flames of Fiendfyre cannot stand the might of the vacuum so long as he conditioned it properly.

It was simple science. Fire cannot exist without oxygen to fuel it. So, in the absence of oxygen, the fire cannot become visible and if the vacuum he hoped to create was absent of heat and any type of fuel, then fire should cease to exist.

‘So I need a spell that can create a space of vacuum pressure with nothing in it to sustain the heat of the Fiendfyre spell. Or, I could look for a spell to create a tear in space and seal away the flames in a pocket space.’ Harry thought, sitting in a room full of steam.

“I can do that. I can definitely do that.” Harry muttered, climbing to his feet, intent on changing the room back to library mode as he had some research to do.

******

The days leading up to the Christmas holidays were rather tense in Hogwarts. The staff always walked around eggshells with the students. In fact, there were far fewer detentions or points taken by the teaching faculty of Hogwarts. Even grumpy old Snape was relatively silent in his lessons without his usual quirks, according to junior and senior fellow Gryffindors. The popular theory was that no one wanted to reignite the ‘revolutionary spirit’ in the Hogwarts students. The most affected party in this affair was Umbridge, who now walked the hallways of Hogwarts like a wet cat that somehow winded up in Hogwarts because of a stray storm. The pink-clad woman was stripped of her titles and even the basic powers afforded to her as a professor. All her decrees were thrown out of the window, and her incessant interference in Hogwarts was at an end.

Umbridge did not even utter a single word in class. She just wrote the chapter number of her dumb book on the board and sat in a corner with a moody look.

While the downfall of Umbridge was great, the Knights of Avalon only became more relevant in the following days. The lack of proper DADA classes remained a serious issue, and Harry took advantage of it. The Knights took up the issue of proper classes for DADA, and Harry had his hands full with training Gryffindors to defend themselves and organising study classes to cover the theory. While Umbridge continued to prove to be a hindrance to Hogwarts students in gaining a proper defensive magic education, she was no longer a problem for other activities in the school. Quidditch was back on track with the ban on the Gryffindor team being lifted. It was followed by the restoration of all clubs in Hogwarts, including the football games during the evenings, which Umbridge had banned.

With Umbridge unable to exert tyrannical power, conducting the ritual of Red Dawn went smoothly. Unlike last year, the ritual had to be undertaken before the Yule holidays because of the change in the alignment of the planets with the Sun as the reference point. Just like last year, he used the Parseltongue for the ritual to everyone’s approval. However, this year, they had far fewer members as the seventh-year students from Ravenclaw and Slytherin participants of the last Yule had passed out of Hogwarts. The ritual not only helped make him feel powerful but also helped keep his magic cleansed of the dark taint that stuck to him from training with the Fiendfyre curse. There was an advantage to training constantly with the Fiendfyre curse. It allowed him some ease to use other dark spells, like the organ liquefying curse, without much hindrance.

Therefore, when the time came for the Yule holidays, Harry was pumped up and ready to deal another blow to Voldemort’s war preparations. He just wished he could keep hold of the Elder Wand, but he had to give that up lest he attracted undue attention from Dumbledore. It was not as if he could make up a justifiable reason for him to keep the Deathstick in his possession.

‘Still, the Elder Wand would’ve been a useful tool for performing powerful magic like Fiendfyre.’ Harry thought.

There was no point in thinking about what could’ve been when the Elder Wand now recognised him as its master. The implications of that position were quite clear for Harry. Should a magical fight break out between him and Dumbledore, Harry knew he’d have a slight advantage as the Elder Wand’s allegiance would not favour Dumbledore. It was a small detail, but every little thing counts in this long war for his survival. At the same time, there was not an enormous responsibility on his shoulders. He could not afford to get beaten in a duel or disarmed, as the Elder Wand would transfer its allegiance from him to those who defeat him.

With these thoughts swirling in his mind, Harry boarded the Hogwarts Express from the Hogsmeade station.

*******

Perenelle Flamel could only shake her head in amusement as she read the latest reports from Evelyn Greengrass. Her grandson not only managed to summon the Sword of Gryffindor but also managed to disarm Albus, thereby becoming earning the allegiance of the Elder Wand. She had hoped to use Albus to test Harry’s resilience and conviction by having her grandson forcibly take the Elder Wand.

‘But destiny seems to have other plans for Harry and the Elder Wand.’ she mused.

Or maybe, she could still make Harry go after Albus. After all, with the Elder Wand owing allegiance to Harry, Albus might just end up losing a magical fight with her grandson.

‘Perhaps, it’s time for Harry to learn from better teachers to embrace his true destiny.’ Perenelle thought.

“Nicholas.” she called out from her seat by the fireplace. “I think I should spend some time with Harry.”

There was silence in the chamber of her home, but she felt the air move as her long-time husband and friend arrived at her side.

“Are you sure this is how you should proceed, Perenelle? There is still time for us to abandon this plan. The boy could live his life free of this burden and…”

“…and our kind will be swallowed by death within decades if we do not act. Your methods don’t work, Nicholas. I gave you centuries without complaint, yet all that happened is that our kind turned tail and ran, hiding away from the world.” Perenelle snapped back with anger, her eyes blazing with ancient power.

“You have failed, and you alone may carry the weight of your failure. The Millenium Conjuntion arrives, and I’ll have the destiny of Antioch bloodline fulfilled through my grandson. And when the Millenium passes, this Earth shall be inherited by those who deserve it, not those who kill it.”

Nicholas opened his mouth to argue, but then he paused and shook his head.

“What you hope to achieve is impossible, Perenelle.” Nicholas looked pained as he knelt by her side, looking pleadingly at her cold green eyes. “Harry Potter is not strong enough to bear the full weight of what you hope to achieve.”

“Then I’ll make him strong enough.” Perenell turned away from the pleading eyes of her husband and took to her feet.

“I shall be leaving for Britain to make sure the edicts of Antioch’s are manifested. I hope you, of all people, would understand that the last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death.”

 

 

Chapter 74: Protego Diabolica P1

Harry looked at the chess board and then at Daphne, who had yet to take her eyes off the board. He found it cute to see her eyebrows scrunched up in concentration.

“In the interest of our relationship, I extent you the offer of a tie before I make my move.” Harry offered.

“Your mind games won’t work on me, Potter. Your move.” Daphne scowled at him, making Harry chuckle.

“You look cute when you’re angry.” Harry commented.

Nonetheless, Harry chose to move his Queen from d1 to h5, taking the pawn of Daphne out of the game. He watched Daphne’s black pieces and then at the girl in question.

“The trap is set for the snake. The question is, will the snake take a bite of the bait and doom herself on the board?” Harry mused aloud.

Daphne gave him a dirty look and moved her Queen from d8 to e7.

Harry grinned behind his hand and moved his Queen from h5 to h7, cutting down another pawn of his girlfriend. Consequentially, he also placed his Queen right across from Daphne’s King.

“Ha!” Daphne gleefully crowed, eagerly moving her King from g8 to h7, striking down his Queen into two pieces on the board.

While Daphne continued to celebrate her apparent victory over taking down his most powerful piece on the board, Harry was also celebrating in his mind.

“Oh, Slytherin! How low has your house fallen if one of your snakes can’t see a bait when it stares at her face?” Harry mocked as he made his move with quick precision.

Harry moved his white knight from e4 to f6, cutting Daphne’s Bishop from head to the base. The Bishop was split vertically down the middle and fell into two parts on the board. His knight also forced Daphne’s King in check, which caused her to move her King from h7 to h6. Harry was quite prepared for the move, and he responded by moving his other white knight from e5 to g4, once again placing her King in check.

Daphne was forced to move her King from h6 to g5 to avoid the check. Harry immediately played his pawn, h2 to h4, placing her King in check once again. Daphne moved her King from g5 to f4, escaping the check as his Rook was on h1, making it impossible for her to cut down her pawn. Harry didn’t let up on the attack and moved his pawn from g2 to g3, once again placing her King in check. Daphne loved her King from f4 to f3, escaping the check again.

Harry happily moved his Bishop from d3 to e2, shielding his king at e1 but also placing Daphne’s King in check. He could see the realisation dawn on Daphne’s face as the trap he had set was now sprung on her from all sides. He remained silent as she looked at him and then moved her King from f3 to g2. Harry moved his Rook from h1 to h2, placing Daphne’s King in check.

Harry looked at the stunned look on her face as she realised her King was now in an unwinnable position. Daphne could not move her King and cut down his Rook on h2 because that’d invite a check from his Knight on g4. So, Harry was not surprised she played the only move she had left. She moved her King from g2 to g1.

Harry responded by moving his King from e1 to d2, opening up his Rook on a1 to keep Daphne’s King in check. With a white Rook on h2 and a1, Daphne’s King was now done for.

“Checkmate.” Harry declared happily.

Daphne scowled at him before sighing and reaching out with her hand. Harry smiled, took her palm in his, and promptly kissed her on her knuckles instead of shaking her hand. Harry smirked at her before he pulled her up from her seat into his lap, using her hand to facilitate the abrupt move. Daphne let out a squeal of surprise at the abrupt change in her seating arrangement. He was quick to wrap his arms around her waist in good order while nuzzling against her neck from behind.

“So, I guess this means you agree to go out on a date with me in the muggle world.” Harry whispered against her left ear.

“No, Harry! Stop it! Someone will see us!” Daphne squirmed in his lap, her face gaining a rosy tint trying to break free.

“They’ll only see us if they can find us.” said Harry, gaining a curious look from Daphne.

“I placed a notice-me-not ward on our cabin and a silencing charm for good measure. No one would be finding us any time soon.” Harry smirked.

“Is that so?” Daphne gave him a coy smile, and then she locked her lips with his stealing his breath away.

*** Not a lemon but a lime scene ***

The glass window of their cabin began to get struck by droplets of water noisily attracting their attention.

“A rain? It looks like I’ll have to keep you warm, Daphs.” Harry smirked, pressing a trail of kisses down her neck, sliding her black robes down her shoulders.

“Oh, Harry!” Daphne moaned as he kissed her all the way down to the neckline of the sweater she was wearing beneath her robes.

Daphne kicked off her shoes and then threw away the woollen gloves on her hands. She was quick to slide her hands into Harry’s hair, threading through the locks of black hair as Harry rained down kisses on her body. Her eyes widened when Harry suddenly picked her up with his hands holding her posterior. She was unceremoniously slammed against the cool surface of the glass window of their cabin, and she was forced to wrap her legs around Harry’s waist and lock them behind him.

“I…” she didn’t get to say anything as Harry smashed his lips against hers, drowning out her concerns.

She didn’t know how long they stayed that way because her lungs were hungry for air when they eventually pulled apart. She was breathless, but her hunger was not just for air, as she wanted more from her boyfriend. Suddenly, she felt one of Harry’s hands take hold of her sweater near her left shoulder and drag it down the side.

Daphne closed her eyes as a pair of warm lips pressed against her skin near her collarbone and slowly dragged downwards, leaving a trail of warmth. She had to hold on to Harry’s body as he took hold of the right sleeve of her sweater and dragged it down her shoulder as well. Pretty soon, her sweater was dragged down her shoulders all the way down her breasts.

Daphne pushed herself off the glass window and straddled Harry when they fell on the seat. She made quick work of his sweater and threw it aside before her hands went exploring his finely shaped muscles.

“Hey, not fair.” Harry protested, tugging at her sweater, making sure to convey what he wanted from her.

“Why should boys have all the fun?” Daphne asked, smirking at him before forcing his hands above his head and leaving a trail of kisses all over his body.

They cuddled and kissed and spent the rest of the train ride enjoying the warmth of each other’s bodies in the cabin while the Hogwarts Express blazed through the tracks at high speeds despite the rain.

*** Lime scene ends ***

When the train finally came to a halt at King’s Cross, Harry and Daphne made themselves presentable and exited the train compartment with their trunks in hand. They exchanged a playful look before they searched for their families.

“Look! I can see my father.” Daphne said, pointing further west from their position.

“Don’t forget about our date. I’ll be picking you up on Sunday.” Harry whispered as they made their way towards Daphne’s father.

“All right. Now, behave, you rogue.” Daphne muttered, jabbing his side with her elbow when he sneakily squeezed her waist.

“Daphne.” Damien Greengrass hugged his daughter before turning to Harry to shake his hand.

“You need to come with me, Harry. You and I have some matters to discuss.” said Damien, with seriousness in his grey eyes.

Harry looked at Daphne’s father with a raised eyebrow.

“You mean, right now?” Harry asked curiously.

“I’m afraid so, yes.” Damien nodded.

“Father. What’s this about?” Daphne asked, frowning at her father.

“That’s not your concern, daughter.” Damien said curtly to his daughter before turning to Harry.

“Harry, you wanted to talk about something important, right? I also have something important to share with you, and it’d be better said in the privacy of my home. Please convince Sirius. We’ll be waiting here for you.”

The seriousness Harry saw in Damien Greengrass’ eyes made him realise something strange was afoot.

“Excuse me for a moment.” Harry told them before going about on the platform, looking for Sirius.

Harry wandered around the crowded platform for a while before he found his godfather in the company of the Weasleys. To his surprise, there was Mad-eye Moody and Tonks by Sirius’ side.

‘Dumbledore, you crafty old coot.’ Harry thought, realising Moody and Tonks were on Order business, which meant they were here to keep an eye on him.

He could not tolerate Dumbledore’s stooges and spies anywhere near his vicinity. He had made that pretty clear to Sirius, which was one reason why Sirius refused to join the whole Order business or even allow the Order to function out of Grimmauld Place.

“Hey, Sirius.” Harry waved at his godfather, pushing his trolly along towards the group.

“Harry! You look like a proper evil-genius rebel leader. I think your father will be quite proud of all the ruckus you caused in Hogwarts.” claimed Sirius, hugging him straight away.

“Well, I’m just happy to keep the Marauders’ spirit going in Hogwarts. Besides, the toad-woman deserved it. Nobody messes with we lions and gets away with it.” Harry smirked.

“Toad-woman!” Tonks snorted, grinning from ear to ear.

“Are there more of that size in the Ministry?” asked Fred, butting in with a faux excited voice.

“If there are, just have them sent to Hogwarts.” said George, standing by his twin’s side with a playful gleam in his eyes.

“We’ll make them into broken little things and send them back in a matchbox.” they finished in unison.

“Stop it, you two. You’ll not do anything of the sort. If I hear you two caused any sort of problems in the school again…” Molly Weasley growled, letting the threat hang while smacking the twins behind their heads.

“Mum!” the twins whined.

“Sirius, you’ll have to take my trunk home. I was invited to Daphne’s home by her father.” said Harry.

“Wait, what?” Sirius blinked owlishly.

“We need to talk about certain matters.” Harry said, looking at the people listening in on their conversation.

“All right. Can’t that wait for some other day? You just arrived from Hogwarts.” Sirius frowned.

“Don’t worry. Mr Greengrass will bring me to Grimmauld Place after our talk.”

“I suppose that’s all right.” Sirius said hesitantly.

“Now, wait just a minute, laddie. You can’t go with Greengrass willy-nilly.” Moody barged in, his giant eyeball spinning erratically.

“I can’t?” Harry glared at the former auror. “There seems to be some misconception here. No one decides what I can or can’t do, especially, you, a stranger.”

“This is not the time or place to argue it out, Potter. I’m here on orders of Dumbledore.” Moody growled.

“Then too bad for you because I don’t give a rat’s ass about what Dumbledore thinks.” Harry hissed, taking a step closer to the retired auror so that he was staring straight into the man’s eyes. “Do not ever presume to tell me what I can or can’t do again. Pass that along to Dumbledore as well. I’ll live my life the way I like it, not by the dictates of the Headmaster of Hogwarts.”

“Are you mad, Potter? We are at war with the bloody Dark Lord!” Moody hissed.

“No. I’m at war with Voldemort. You all are mere spectators, including your precious Dumbledore, who had refused to act and sat on his ass all these years doing nothing while murderers and terrorists roamed free. So do what you’ve always done and do nothing while I fight and finish the war that you useless fossils could never fight or win.” Harry snapped back and abruptly turned on his heels, walking away from the group.

“Moody, no. Let Harry go. He knows what he’s doing.”

Harry could hear Sirius say.

“I’ll be back in a jiffy, Sirius.” Harry waved at his godfather before disappearing into the crowd.

Harry managed to traverse the crowded platform once more and found Damien Greengrass and Daphne, who were now joined by Astoria.

“Let’s go then.” said Harry.

Damien nodded and reached out with his hand. When Harry took the man’s hand, he felt the telltale sign of apparition. He felt like he was being squeezed through a narrow tube, and the floor disappeared beneath his feet as time and space bent before magic for the fast-paced teleportation.

****

Harry nursed a warm tea in his hand as he sat together with Daphne at the breakfast table. Sitting across from them on the table was Daphne’s sister Astoria, who was suspiciously eyeing them.

“Where were you on the train Daphne?” Astoria asked.

“I was in a cabin.” Daphne answered in a clipped tone.

“Where? You were not with Tracey. I checked.” Astoria eyed her older sister suspiciously.

“I was with other friends.” Daphne said, scowling at her sister.

“What other friends?”

“Just eat your breakfast, sister.” Daphne bit out, glaring at Astoria.

“Harry.” Evelyn Greengrass called from the stairs. “Damien is ready for you.”

Harry exchanged a smile with Daphne before he left the breakfast table and climbed the stairs.

“Thanks for the breakfast, Mrs Greengrass.”

“My pleasure, dear.” Evelyn smiled.

Harry climbed the stairs all the way to the top floor, and he found Damien Greengrass standing near an open window overlooking the front lawn of the Greengrass manor.

“So, Harry. What did you want to talk about? I gathered it must be something important when Daphne said you wanted to meet me personally.”

“And I also gather you have something to say to me if you wanted me in your home right after I arrived.” said Harry.

“True.” Damien nodded, looking at him while turning his back on the window. “Please take a seat, and you may go first.”

“Thanks.” Harry nodded, sitting on a red cushioned armchair. “The Dark Lord has been gathering allies from Giants, Vampires, Werewolves and Dementors. I have decided to strike at the Giants and knock them out of the war before they become a dangerous factor. I know their location, and I mean to see them dead or force them to sit out of this war.”

Damien Greengrass stared at Harry with a stunned look.

“You want to attack a pack of Giants?” Damien asked incredulously.

“Yes, so that Voldemort is denied access to an army of Giants.” said Harry.

“How do you plan on killing off a bunch of Giants?” Damien asked, humouring Harry for a moment.

“Using Fiendfyre. I suppose it’d go more smoothly if you were to give me the help that you promised in bringing down Voldemort and his army.”

Damien’s mouth dropped open as he stared at Harry’s brazen claim of using one of the most potent dark spells known to wizardkind to finish off a tribe of Giants.

“Are you even hearing yourself? You want to use Fiendfyre against some Giants?” Damien asked incredulously.

“At least you have to give him some points for sheer audacity, Damien.” Perenelle amusedly said, silently climbing the last few steps of the stairs leading to the room.

Harry turned his head to stare at the ancient alchemist, who also happened to be his maternal grandmother.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you here, grandmother.” Harry said, keeping his eyes on Perenelle Flamel, who moved as silent as a cat and plopped down on a chair nearby.

“Yes, I tend to give unexpected visits to the people that interest me.” Perenelle said airily. “Now, you were saying something about how you were going to use the Fiendfyre curse to destroy a pack of Giants supporting that snake-faced boy.”

Harry took a deep breath to calm himself as he felt some hint of condescension from the older witch.

“Yes. If I have some support, I can take out the Giants using the Fiendfyre curse. You promised me that you’d help me with Voldemort and his army. So, give me the help that I need.”

“Oh, I’ll give you the help that you need, but you won’t be going around using the Fiendfyre curse in the open. When you are all grown up and capable of actually controlling that curse, then you can go around using that curse on some poor creature for all I care. But until then, you won’t even mention that curse in a conversation. Am I clear?”

The sheer audacity of the woman to air out commands on him was preposterous! Harry was just about to give her a piece of his mind when his grandmother decided to talk over him with an interesting offer.

“Instead of the Fiendfyre curse, I have a better spell that’d take care of your Giant problem. I’ll give you five days to master the spell. If you can master the spell I teach you, you can go on your little adventure to take down the giants with a specialised team of hit-wizards I provide as a support team.”

Harry was a bit stunned, and the offer took all the wind out of his sails. A spell that could potentially take down the Giants ought to be a powerful spell, and there was no doubt in Harry’s mind that such a spell would come in handy when he inevitably faced off against Voldemort. Not to mention, he was getting some quality knowledge of magic from an ancient witch who had survived centuries by dealing with many Dark Lords.

“What do you say, grandson?” Perenelle asked, smirking at him knowingly as if she already knew the answer.

“All right. I’m game.” Harry said after a moment of thinking it through in his mind.

“Good. You go and rest for today. From tomorrow onwards, I want you to present yourself at Greengrass Manor at seven sharp in the morning. Damien will transport you to my place where I’ll teach you. However, if you fail to grasp the spell, you’ll abandon your little misadventure and take proper training that I provide and fight the war based on my strategy.”

Harry stared at his grandmother with utter confidence.

“I’ll agree to that deal so long as you vow to provide me with all the nuances of the spell you intend to teach me. I’ll need to be given all the details about the spell and proper lessons.”

“Naturally. In fact, I shall give you a head start.” said Perenelle, pulling a small leather-bound book from her robes.

“Here, take this.” Perenelle offered the book to Harry. “The spell that I’ll teach you is on page 43.”

Harry stood up and took the offered book.

“So, sharp seven in the morning tomorrow.” said Perenelle, climbing to her feet. “I hope you’ll not be late. I hate tardiness.”

Without so much as a glance or by her leave, Perenelle swept past him and took her leave from the Greengrass Manor.

Harry didn’t pay that any mind as he immediately turned the book to page 43 to see what kind of spell his grandmother was supposed to have him learn. Harry could only grin like a loon when his eyes traced the large bolt letters on the aforementioned page of the book.

Spell no18: Protego Diabolica

“Okay. Now that’s a spell worth learning.” Harry muttered, already looking forward to the lessons his immortal grandmother promised.

 

AN:

 

For artworks: https://discord.gg/Nw2JH25fJf

Chapter 75: Protego Diabolica P2

Harry leafed through the information in the book Perenelle Flamel gave him. Protego Diabolica was a difficult spell to master, going by the information that was available in the book. Still, it looked like a more useful and safe spell than the Fiendfyre curse. He had no idea there was a spell of this scale hidden away from his sight. He could not recall whether such a spell was ever mentioned in the Harry Potter books or the movies, which was the extent of his knowledge of the wizarding world.

Anyway, unlike the Fiendfyre curse that was fueled by rage and unsatiable hunger for destruction, the spell he was trying to master was much more benign. The spell was constructed more as a trial of fire based on loyalty and commitment to the castor. If those two criteria were not met, the fire would devour everything in its path. The interesting bit was that the mind arts were a huge part of the spell, which also made it challenging to master. The wand movements and incantations were relatively easy to learn, but the trick was projecting a field of Leglimency probe using the energy of the fire from the spell as a conduit. The flames would work as a medium of exchange that’d facilitate a small portion of magical energy from the castor to intermingle with another sentient creature and ascertain its loyalty and commitment to the castor. Should the subject fail the test, the fire would consume the subject leaving not even ash in its wake. Unlike the Fiendfyre curse, the spell could be used in a controlled environment which was a great advantage.

Although, Harry supposed a skilled practitioner of the mind arts could potentially hoodwink the spell. After all, Occlumency was specifically designed to combat all types of mental intrusions. Harry doubted it was ever attempted to subvert this particular spell as the easier solution was to escape the spell’s reach or use a shield charm.

“Master Harry.”

Harry jumped in his bed as he found Kreacher standing beside him with a suspiciously twitching face at his reaction.

“Dinner is ready, master.” said Kreacher.

“You purposefully did that, didn’t you?” Harry accused, looking at the old house elf of the Black family.

“Kreacher knows not what young master says.” Kreacher muttered, but Harry could see the elf had snuck into his room without making a sound to startle him.

“Uh-huh.” Harry eyed the Black family elf suspiciously, who was fast becoming a skilled troller in Grimmauld Place. “Lead the way, Kreacher.”

Harry found Sirius already waiting at the table, looking a bit unhappy.

“Still grumpy, huh? I told you; you can go to France with Brigitte.” Harry said, plopping himself down on a chair across from Sirius.

“I won’t be going anywhere without you, especially with that dark tosser around. Who knows what might happen?” Sirius shook his head.

“Then let me assuage your fears. Voldemort will be so busy breaking out his Death eaters from Azkaban to care about me.”

“Wait a minute! What do you mean?” Sirius looked at him with wide eyes.

“What is there to not understand? Voldemort is planning to have his most loyal Death Eaters rescued from Azkaban. I suspect the Dementors will also join Voldemort before the vacation is over.” said Harry, happily cutting into the delicious stew and beef dumplings Kreacher had prepared.

“Are you sure about this? How can you know Voldemort is going to free his Death eaters?” Sirius asked.

“I know things. Anyway, the point is you can go to France without any worries. Besides, I’ll be spending most of my time at Greengrass Manor. I’ll be quite safe.” said Harry.

“No. I can’t do that.” Sirius shook his head, adamant about not going with Brigitte.

“Oh, I think you are.” Harry stared at his godfather confidently.

The following day Sirius was fully packed, ready to go with Brigitte to France. Harry had to spend a better part of his time last night convincing Sirius to go to France. Ultimately, he managed to convince the old Marauder with some carefully articulated arguments and a healthy dose of emotional blackmailing. All he had to do was consistently remind Sirius that he lost more than a decade in prison, which was a sore subject for the guy. Then he twisted the knife further by saying that James Potter would’ve wanted his friend to have a good life instead of being stuck in Grimmauld Place. But the final push that forced Sirius to get going on his trip to France was his subtle hints that Brigitte might find some other dude to shack up in France if he was not brave enough to go with her to meet her family.

Sirius fell for the bleak picture he painted. He felt slightly guilty for playing with Sirius’s insecurities, but it was for a good cause. The man needed to take some vacation time away from the dark walls of his family home. Besides, it was not as if Sirius would be gone for the whole vacation. After a few days of staying with Brigitte’s family, Sirius would return, and everything would be back to normal.

“How’ll you be going to the Greengrass manor?” Sirius asked, shrinking his trunk into a small box and keeping it in the pocket of his coat.

“I’ll have Kreacher take me.” answered Harry.

“All right then.” said Sirius once they reached the backyard of Grimmauld Place beyond the reach of the wards protecting the home of Blacks. “I guess it’s time for me to depart. Do you have anything to say to Fleur? I can pass on the message.”

“Why would I need you to pass a message to Fleur when I can just speak to her?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I thought you two weren’t talking, considering how things ended between you two…” Sirius trailed off awkwardly.

“Why would you think so? We keep in touch through letters.” Harry waved dismissively.

“Well, that’s a relief.” Sirius let out a relieved sigh.

“Convey my best wishes to Fleur and Brigitte. Oh, and tell them that I’ll have their gifts sent when they return from France.”

“Will do.” Sirius gave him a thumbs up. “Oh, and before I go, I want you to stay out of trouble and not give too much trouble to your babysitter.”

“Oh, all right. You know me. I’m a… wait, what! A babysitter?” Harry looked in askance as Sirius smirked at him before turning on his heel.

“Sirius! What do you mean?” Harry screamed into the empty air as Sirius apparated away, leaving only swooshing air in his wake.

‘Maybe, he’s just pranking me.’ Harry thought.

****

Harry stood before Perenelle Flamel, who was holding on to a staff of all things in her hand. The ancient witch was dressed in a red dress and black breeches accompanied by a red cloak wrapped around her shoulders. Harry took out his wand from the holster on his left wrist as he faced his maternal grandmother.

“Did I tell you to take out your wand?” Perenelle asked, glaring at him. ‘

“You seem to be under the misconception that I need your permission to do something.” Harry said, staring unimpressed at the redhead witch.

“Cheeky.” Perenelle muttered. “At least you have the presence of mind to blindly follow instructions, which is better than what most could claim.”

“So… Are we going to do something, or are we just going to trash talk each other?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

Perenelle tapped her staff on the ground, and a surge of energy passed through the floor. A glowing white dome formed around the room, attaching itself to every nook and cranny of the expansive hall of the Greengrass manor.

“That should ensure no damage comes to the room.” said Perenelle before turning her attention back to Harry. “Now, you claimed you were going to ‘deal’ with the Giants using the Fiendfyre curse. Explain to me how exactly were you going to do that?”

“Is this really necessary? I thought we were…”

“You want to learn the spell or not?” Perenelle cut him off.

“Yes.” Harry said slowly.

“Then play by my rules.”

“All right.” Harry sighed. “I was going to threaten the Gurg of the Giants, and if he didn’t back off, I would’ve used the Fiendfyre curse to kill it and force the other Giants to obey me.”

“I see. And you know to use the Fiendfyre curse?” Perenelle asked curiously.

“Yes.” Harry nodded.

“Impressive for your age. I wonder who taught you that or where you practised the spell to make such a bold claim.” said Perenelle, looking at him suspiciously.

“Does it matter how or where I learned the spell?” Harry asked. s

“No.” Perenelle shook her head. “But can you pull back the spell once you unleash the hellish flames?”

“No.” said Harry, even though he had a spell that could seal away the flames into the folds of space.

For now, he was going to keep that little detail to himself. There was no point in sharing all the details with his grandmother.

“Then show me the Fiendfyre curse.”

Harry did a double take upon hearing that.

“You want me to use the Fiendfyre curse right now? Here?” Harry asked incredulously, looking at his grandmother as if she had gone insane.

“Yes. I’ve placed barriers inside the room. Your spell won’t harm anything.” Perenelle assured him. “Now, show me the spell.”

“You told me not to use the spell last day, and now you want me to use it?” Harry looked at her funny.

“I told you not to use the Fiendfyre curse in the open. This, on the other hand, is a controlled environment under my protection.” said Perenelle, tapping the floor with her staff, and the barrier flared to life all around them.

Harry let out a sigh as he clamped down his mind using Occlumency. Purging his mind of all emotions, he pushed rage to the forefront of his mind.

‘Devour! Destroy! Burn!’ Harry thought as he opened his eyes and made a tiny flick with his wand.

His rage and the intent for unimpeded wanton destruction manifested in the form of roaring red flames with specks of gold that burned bright. The flames poured out of the tip of his wand like a tidal wave. Harry tried to control his rage and reel the spell back in, but he could already feel his control over the spell slip by slowly. The hellish flames attempted to consume the floor and the walls, but its long tongues of fire were rebuked by the barrier, keeping the flames contained within the large hall.

“Make the flames corporeal.” Perenelle shouted over the sound of roaring flames as they flooded the room and continued to grow, feeding off the magic in the air.

“I can’t.” Harry shouted back as he managed to cut off the spell.

But the flames just continued to pulse, twist and grow in size and power. At one point, Harry was just about ready to put up a shield around him and escape from the room. The moment that thought crossed his mind, he felt a pulse of magic wash over him with an oppressive aura. The flames flickered momentarily, and then they got sucked into a vortex at the tip of his grandmother’s raised staff. The hellish flames disappeared from the hall, leaving it in pristine condition and with breathable air.

“Do you understand now, grandson? It’s not just rage that powers the spell but finesse and will to command the most potent flames known to wizardkind. The flames of Fiendfyre require a rigid mind to control them. But the flames of Preotego Diabolica, on the other hand…”

Perenelle raised her staff and tapped twice. Black flames sprouted out from the ground in a perfect circle around Perenelle.

“…requires fluidity of the mind. Your emotions need not be blunt instruments to master this spell. The trick is to let them flow like a stream, gently nuzzling the rock inside the riverbed.” Perenelle breathed out, moving her free hand in an aesthetic manner.

Harry watched with wide eyes as a long tongue of black flames followed her hand like a gentle gale, behaving as if the flames were harmless vapour. He could not feel the malice he felt in the hellish flames of the Fiendfyre curse from this spell. Nonetheless, he knew it was a bad idea to so much as touch a speck of the black flame.

The flames were pulled back into the circle in the blink of an eye.

“I assume you’ve read about the spell from the book?” Perenelle inquired softly.

“Yes.”

“Then you know the Mind Arts are extensively used in the spell. You need to hold two thoughts in tandem within your mind if you are to master this spell. You need to seek the destruction of your enemies and the embrace of your friends in your mind while you use the spell. Project those two thoughts into the spell and let it be unleashed.”

Harry waited to see whether there was more explanation, but his grandmother remained silent and merely observed him.

‘I guess, it’s practice time.’ Harry thought before raising his wand to cast the spell.

****

Daphne neared the ornate doors of the ballroom with a frown on her face. Her father and mother were tight-lipped about who the redhead woman was or what she was doing with Harry inside the ballroom of their manor. The only thing she knew so far was that the woman was somehow important.

The closer she reached the ballroom, the tension became palpable. Her hands sweated a little bit for some unknown reason. She first tried to look through the windows to see what was going on, but the blinds were on, invalidating her plan to sneak a peek. She tried to keep her ears to the walls, but nothing could be heard from the inside. For a moment, she thought about using the unlocking charm on one of the windows and sneaking a peek, but she discarded that idea.

‘It’d be incredibly rude. Mother will kill me if she finds out.’ Daphne thought.

So, she circled back to the entrance door and knocked twice. She waited for either Harry or the woman to open the door, but it remained closed. Frowning at the door, she decided to open it. To her surprise, the door came unlocked when she turned the doorknob. Daphne slowly pulled the door open and looked inside. Her eyes widened as she saw Harry let loose black flames from his wand that tried to strike at the redhead woman who defended against the flames with a shield. Then a torrent of black flames converged on Harry from his back. Before Daphne could warn her boyfriend of the flames, Harry had already put up a shield around him that kept the flames at bay.

It looked like the flames nearly covered Harry’s shield, but then they retreated, leaving Harry safe behind his shield.

“Enough for today. Young Daphne seems to have something to say.” said the redhead woman, pointing at Daphne with her staff.

The door swung open fully, making Daphne jump back. The redhead woman walked towards the doorway with her strange-looking staff in hand.

“Lunch is ready. Mother asked me to invite you both…” Daphne trailed off uncertainly as she came face to face with the strange woman’s glowing green eyes that were so familiar.

“I see.” The redhead woman eyed her for a moment and then swept past her.

Daphne let out the breath she was holding after the woman left.

“This is not how I imagined you’d be spending some time in my home, Harry. What’s going on?” Daphne muttered, looking at the sorry state of her boyfriend.

Harry was sweating profusely, with his clothes scorched on many parts.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Daphne asked in concern.

“Yeah. Let me just catch my breath.” said Harry, sitting down on the smooth floor.

“Who is she?” asked Daphne, kneeling beside him and cleaning off his sweat and soot with several cleaning charms.

“Her name is Lilith. For now, that’s all I’m allowed to say.” said Harry, climbing to his feet. “Let’s not keep your family waiting. Besides, I’m famished.”

Daphne eyed her boyfriend suspiciously but led him to the dining room all the same without prying. She found the redhead woman, whose name was Lilith sitting close to her mother and whispering quietly amongst themselves.

“Who’s she?” Astoria suddenly asked, pointing at their guest, startling everyone at the table.

“Astoria!” Damien hissed at her daughter.

“It’s quiet, all right. My name is Lilith. I’m an old friend of your mother.”

Daphne looked at her father and then her mother. She had a feeling this Lilith was not at all a friend going by the stricken look on her parents’ faces and her father’s glare on her younger sister.

“Why haven’t I ever seen you before?” Astoria asked, heedless of the looks she was getting from her parents.

“That’s because I do not live in the British Isles. I became familiar with your mother when she was in Germany.”

Daphne could see her sister was only going to pry some more, so she took the eggnog on the table and offered some for Astoria to shut her up. Thankfully, Harry also understood what she was trying to do and distracted everyone with the topic of the intercontinental Quidditch tournament between Britain, Japan and Australia. As the conversation turned to a safer topic, Daphne couldn’t help but look between Harry and Lilith. She had seen Lilith was helping Harry with magic, but she could not fathom why Harry was keeping that a secret. Not to mention why her parents were walking on eggshells around Lilith.

Letting out a sigh, she took a small sip of the eggnog.

‘Mmm. Tastes better than last year’s eggnog. Probably why Astoria shut her big mouth.’ Daphne thought, sneaking a peek at her younger sister, who was happily gulping down eggnog without a care for anything else.

The next few days, Harry continued to come to her home sharp and seven and spent the rest of the day with Lilith in the ballroom, training with magic. She even saw some unfamiliar wizards join in from time to time until, finally, everything stopped on Friday. Harry said his goodbyes on Friday evening and told her he wouldn’t be coming to their home on Saturday evening. True to his word, Harry didn’t come on Saturday, but he promised to come to collect her on Sunday for their date. She was excited about that and looked forward to where Harry was going to take her. He always did have a flair for dramatics and secrecy whenever he took her on a date.

****

“Loui Bourbon.” Harry said the name aloud. “Any chance you are related to the former royal house of France?”

“Who knows? I might just be of royal blood.” the Frenchman shrugged.

“Hmm.” Harry hummed, keeping his eye on the Giants’ camp protected by several Death Eaters stationed around the camp.

“Captain Bourbon. Acknowledge.”

A small whisper was heard from the coral bead band on Loui’s wrist.

“I acknowledge. What’s the word, Aicart?” Loui spoke, bringing the band close to his mouth.

“We’ve reached the edge of the camp, Captain. We encountered no wards so far, but this place is crawling with Death Eaters. We’ll need additional backup to deal with them as we are outnumbered.”

“I’ll have additional men sent.” Loui said before going about sending an additional team towards the Death Eater camp.

Harry paid it only half an ear as his eyes remained on the camp of the Giants. Even though the hills were shrouded under the veil of darkness of the night, the huge campfire lit in the Giant camp gave it away.

“We’ll need to position ourselves better and take out the pockets of Death Eaters before moving on to the Giants. We can’t bypass them without confronting them.” Loui said, returning from the conversation with his men.

“Chances of too many casualties on our side. Besides, if our fighting attracts the attention of the Giants, they’ll charge at us like dumb trolls.” said Harry.

“All right, kid. What’s your plan?” Loui asked indulgently.

Harry looked at the brown-haired hit-wizard for a moment.

“All right, here’s the plan. Instead of first attacking the Death Eaters, we attack the Giants. When the Death Eaters learn that the Giants’ camp is under attack, they’ll move towards the camp to protect them. When their back is turned, take them all out with fatal attacks.” Harry laid out the plan.

“And how do you suggest we attack the Giants’ camp?” Loui asked with a scoff.

“Not we, I. As for the how…”

Harry assumed his spectral form, becoming weightless and, most importantly, wisps of grey smoke.

“You deal with the Death eaters while I take care of our Giant friends.” said Harry before shooting out into the clouds in his spectral form, leaving some awestruck hit-wizards on the ground.

Harry flew among the clouds bypassing the wards and patrolling Death Eaters down below.  His eyes zeroed in on the brightly lit campfire atop a clearing on a hill. He circled the perimeter taking stock of the disposition of the Giants inside the camp. After observing the camp for a few minutes, Harry stopped circling and took a dive from the skies.

The Giants were startled when sparkling grey mist fell down from the starry skies into the midst of their camp. They muttered amongst themselves as the grey mist solidified into a wizard, making their grumblings far more audible.

“My name is Harry Potter. I’m looking for the one Giant who goes by the name of Golgomath.”

“Who dares to say my name?” A behemoth of a Giant growled with a mean-looking face filled with scars and red eyes.

Harry didn’t move even as he came to look up at the huge chief of the Giants. S

“Gurg Golgomoth. I’m Harry Potter. I come seeking your friendship and as a friend of the Giants to warn you about the unsavoury intentions of your current allies, the Death Eaters.”

“Kill this chattering stripling.” Golgomath ordered dismissively.

A giant took up a club clumsily and looked to take a swing at Harry. He was not going to wait around for the Giant, so he raised his wand and fired off a spell at the club.

“Wingardium Leviosa.”

The levitation charm worked splendidly, and the Giant was left staring at the floating club confusedly.

“I had a feeling we would end up not seeing eye to eye.” Harry said, smirking at the Giants before he made the club swing with full force.

The Giant that attempted to smash him screamed as Harry used the club to smash open the Giant’s head. The Giant fell with a thud that shook the ground howling in pain, holding its bleeding head.

“As I was saying. Your Giants are in great danger if you ally yourself with the Dark Lord, Gurg Golgomath. Any ally of the Dark Lord becomes my enemy.” Harry said coldly, as more and more Giants woke up, surrounding him, attracted by the commotion.

“Kill the little wizard!” Golgomat screamed in rage.

“Pity.” Harry muttered as he spun on his feet, flourishing his wand and drawing a wide circle.

“Protego Diablolica.”

Harry called out the spell using Parseltongue. He could feel the ground tremble as a huge wave of black flames surged out of the circle he drew around him. The Giants surrounding him screamed as their usually magic-resistant skin boiled and burned away under the black flames. Their wooden and bronze weapons turned to dust as the black flames devoured everything they came into contact with except for the sand on the ground. Long tongues of black flames lashed out at the Giants that tried to throw stones and trees towards him. In the end, everything they threw at him only increased the potency of his spell.

Harry compressed a condensed ball of magical energy into the palm of his hand and let it loose. The Black flames that protectively surrounded him were expelled in a tidal wave that swept away everything from the hilltop. Seeing that the screams of the Giants start to fade down a little bit, Harry reined back the spell. When the last speck of black flames disappeared, there were not even ashes around Harry. An eerie silence permeated the air for a moment, only to be broken by the screams of men down below. He could see flashes of light coming from beyond the tree lines.

‘Well, I can’t let some Frenchmen hog all the fun.’ Harry thought, looking at the watch that showed him he had a few more minutes before the trace got activated and the Ministry started detecting his activities.

He assumed his spectral form and flew straight into the tree line. The Horus glasses gave him clear eyesight despite the darkness of the night. He saw a pair of Death Eaters engaged in a duel with one of the hit-wizards in his group. Harry’s wand hand materialised along with his Holly wand as he fired off a spell.

“Angustium.”

The pale green spell struck one of the Death Eaters square on his back. It was the lung-collapsing spell, and the effect was immediate. The Death Eater fell to his knees, unable to breathe as the man’s lungs shrunk down. Harry didn’t wait to see what came off his little help as he immediately flew towards another site where he saw a group of Death Eaters huddling behind trees.

“Bombarda Maxima.”

The ground exploded around the Death Eaters, uprooting trees and stones. The servants of the Dark Lord were thrown away by the force of the explosion, but Harry did not stop there.

“Defodio.”

The gouging curse Harry fired off clipped a Death Heater on his chest. The Death Eater fell with a scream as a chunk of his flesh was gouged out by the spell. Harry quickly turned his wand on another Death Eater who tried to fire off a spell in his direction.

“Confringo.”

The blasting curse clipped the Death Eater straight in his face. The nameless Death Eater fell with his neck broken and turned at an odd angle. Harry continued to fly around the area, taking down any Death Eater that unfortunately came into his range. The hunt for the servants of the Dark Lord continued for a while until finally, Harry activated the portkey, teleporting away.

 

AN:

 

For artworks: https://discord.gg/Nw2JH25fJf

Chapter 76: A Christmas date

Harry woke up with a start, only to find himself in his room surrounded by darkness in Grimmauld Place. He let out a sigh of relief, realising it was just a dream. He had a dream about the countless men and the number of Giants he had killed, which was disturbing his mind. Putting his head in his hands, Harry felt like a migraine was slowly taking root. Blindly reaching out with his hand, Harry searched the nightstand for a minute until he finally found the cigarette pack and his wand. Lighting a small fire, he lit the cigarette and breathed in the smoke. The warmth it provided temporarily distracted him, and after a few puffs, Harry felt the migraine lessen.

Knowing that he would not get much sleep, Harry took his glasses from the nightstand, and he was just about to walk out of the room when he heard a noise from the ground floor. Harry became instantly alert at the possibility of an intruder in his home. He silenced his feet and soundlessly snuck out of his room with his wand at the ready. He slowly made his way down the stairs and was just about ready to greet the intruder with a stunning spell to the face when he came across familiar-looking pink hair.

“Tonks?” Harry looked surprised to see the auror looking dishevelled and half-dead.

“Hey, Harry.” Tonks groaned from the table where she had her head resting.

“Kreacher.”

“Young master called Kreacher.” The old house elf asked once he popped into existence right behind Harry.

“Please light the lamps, Kreacher.” Harry ordered.

As Kreacher began lighting up the lamps, Harry sat across from Tonks.

“You look like you’re in a tough spot. You need something to eat or drink?” Harry asked, looking at Tonks, who had yet to raise her head from the table.

“No.” she groaned.

“Kreacher, bring a vial of the sleeping potion from Sirius’ stash.” Harry ordered.

The house elf popped away and returned immediately with a vial of viscous fluid in hand. After leaving the potion with Harry, Kreacher popped away.

“Here.” Harry offered the vial to Tonks. “It should help with your sleep.”

“No.” Tonks groaned. “I have to go tomorrow.”

“Actually, it’s four o’clock in the morning. So technically, you should be saying…” Harry trailed off when he received a dirty look from Tonks. “Never mind.”

“Is that a ciggie?” Tonks asked, looking at the cigarette hanging from his mouth.

Tonks snatched it away from his mouth in the blink of an eye.

“Hey!” Harry protested, but Tonks paid it no mind.

Instead, she took a puff from the cigarette and breathed a cloud of smoke before succumbing to several coughs. But Tonks didn’t give up. She continued to brave the smoke from the cigarette and managed to do so without coughing.

“You shouldn’t smoke. It’s bad for your health, Harry.” said Tonks, giving Harry free advice while doing quite the contrary to the spirit of her own advice.

“You should take your own advice.” Harry told her with an annoyed look.

“Why are you awake at this hour?” Tonks asked, vanishing the remaining cigarette with her wand, making Harry more annoyed.

“Nightmare.” Harry answered, taking another cigarette from his pocket and lighting it up. “What about you? Why were you so late?”

Tonks looked a bit hesitant for a moment.

“Oh, what the hell. It’s going to be in the Prophet tomorrow anyway.” Tonks muttered to herself.

“Azkaban was attacked by the Dark Lord last night. He freed his Death Eaters from prison with the aid of Dementors. The entire Ministry is in an uproar and running around in panic. No doubt, the DMLE is going to get the blame.” Tonks groaned, placing her head back against the table.

Harry chose not to point out that it was the duty of the DMLE to safeguard Azkaban. But that was spilt milk under the bridge and not helpful for Tonks. He wondered when the DMLE would find out about the incident with the Giants and the dead Death Eaters he left in the mountains of Northern Wales. If the Muggles were the first to notice the smoking mountains near Snowdon, then the Ministry would have another crisis on their hand with a lot of Obliviators on the field.

“Come on, Tonks. I’ll help you to your bed. Two drops of the sleeping potion should help you sleep off your weariness. I’ll call you when it’s time for you to report to the Ministry.” said Harry, going around the table and helping Tonks to her feet.

Harry managed to help Tonks into her room and tucked her into the bed. He also ensured she was asleep with two drops of the sleeping potion. Closing the door behind him, Harry allowed Tonks to take some much-needed rest for the next few hours. Harry thought about going back to sleep but thought better of it. Instead, he chose to spend the rest of the morning in the library, doing some research into the Horcrux extraction spell. The animagus transformation and the other distractions in the form of Umbridge and the Giants had railroaded his attempts to create a new spell. With most of his time spent on other avenues for the last couple of months, Harry was determined to shift the focus back to the Horcrux problem for the rest of the holidays.

When morning came knocking, Harry revived Tonks from her potion-induced sleep just as he promised.

“You all right there, Tonks?” Harry asked in concern, seeing a red nose and pink eyes on his supposed babysitter sitting across from him on the table.

“I’ll be all right. I think.” Tonks muttered, nursing the warm cup of tea in her hands.

“Maybe you should lie down and take the day off. I could draft a letter for you requesting for leave and have Kreacher deliver it to the Head Auror.” Harry offered.

“No. The department is understaffed, and with a crisis going on…” Tonks trailed off.

She suddenly sat up straight, looking around in panic.

“Did you get this morning’s Prophet?” Tonks asked in a hurry.

“I’m afraid not. Grimmauld Place is under wards, remember. Owls won’t be able to track us down. Kreacher usually picks up the Prophet from Diagon Alley.”

“Then, I’ll have to go. Sorry, Harry. Just take care of yourself, all right.” Tonks shouted over her shoulder while rushing towards the door.

Harry sat at the table, taking slow sips of a mug of strong coffee.

“Good talk.” Harry raised the cup mockingly towards the empty seat.

He was sure it was not just Tonks or the Ministry with their butts on fire after yesterday. It was an excellent thought that his enemies were running around with their butts on fire. Harry snickered as his mind conjured up the images of Dumbledore and Voldemort running around with their butts on fire. It was a shame there was no chance that he could witness their reactions with his own eyes.

“Kreacher. Go bring me the Prophet.”

****

Voldemort could not help but be merry at the moment. Despite the failures he faced in unearthing the secrets of the Prophecy that eluded him, he was pretty happy. He stared at his most loyal Death Eaters with some fondness. These Death Eaters were his most devoted followers and most powerful fighters. Some of the most powerful wizards and witches had joined him in his quest to dismantle the decrypt Ministry of Magic and Dumbledore’s traitorous muggle lovers. Some had died in his service, but those who survived were some of his most ferocious soldiers.

That was why he was happy to see them all before him.

“Welcome, my old friends. You’ve braved Azkaban and the passing of time for me. Despite all that has happened to you, my most faithful, I can see your loyalty remains unwavering.”

“Of course, master. I’ve always believed you’d come for us.” Bellatrix breathed out, her black eyes shining with utter devotion.

“We knew you’d never abandon us, my lord. There were those who believed you were gone. But we have seen your power, my lord. We would never doubt the power of our lord who defeated the clutches of death.” Rabastan Lestrange rasped.

“Ah, Bella, Rabastan. I’ve missed this, my most loyal followers. This confidence has been lacking in many of my Death eaters. With your presence, I hope they learn to emulate your faith in my power.” Voldemort gleefully said, eyeing the new recruits with a sneer.

“My lord.”

Voldemort’s attention came back to Augustus Rookwood.

“Ah, Agustus. Lord Voldemort shall require your services most urgently. I’ve made sure to ensure all of your speedy recovery. Once you have regained your former power, you shall take your rightful place by my side, my most faithful. Our work remains unfinished. Blood traitors and mudbloods must be culled to save our world from their rot.”

“Oh, my master. I remain ever faithful and most obedient. All that I know and all that I have is at your disposal.” Augustus Rookwood crawled on his knees and kissed Voldemort’s feet.

“I know, Rookwood. Lord Voldemort does not forget his loyal servants. You shall be rewarded for your loyalty. When we reclaim our world, you shall be by my side as we reimagine the wizarding world in our image.”

“Now…” Voldemort paused as the doors to his chambers were abruptly opened.

He’d have cursed the offender for disturbing him, but Voldemort saw it was Lucius Malfoy.

“My lord. There has been an incident that requires your immediate attention.” Lucius claimed, his eyes darting around at the Death Eaters surrounding the hall.

“Leave us.” Voldemort commanded, his red eyes bore into the newly recruited Death Eaters, causing them to leave the hall’s premises immediately.

“We shall speak soon, my most faithful. First, you must recover your strength.” Voldemort said, staring at the recently jailbroken Death Eaters.

Voldemort waited patiently as his most faithful Death Eaters like Rabastan Lestrange, Bellatrix Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange, Antonin Dolohov, Augustus Rookwood, Thorfinn Rowle, Mulciber, Gibbon, Jugson and Travers were escorted out by the healers.

“What is it, Lucius?” Voldemort turned his attention to his chief informant inside the Ministry.

“My lord, the Ministry is in an uproar.”

Voldemort scoffed, cutting off whatever Lucius Malfoy was going to say.

“Of course, they are in an uproar. Is this why you disturbed me, Lucius?” Voldemort asked in annoyance.

“I’m afraid not, my lord. While my lord has masterfully broken out his Death Eaters from Azkaban, there has been another attack.”

“Another attack?” Voldemort frowned.

“Yes, my master. The Giants were attacked at Yr Wyddfa.” Lucius said.

“What?” Voldemort hissed, making Lucius pale at the rage he saw in the blazing red eyes of his master.

“Yes, my lord.” Lucius gulped. “I just received word from the Ministry. The aurors were called into the scene when the muggles came across the burnt camp of the Giants. I’m afraid twelve Death Eaters stationed at the camp were killed, my lord. Their bodies have been recovered with your mark visible on their forearms.”

Voldemort stared long and hard at Lucius, who cowered in fright, keeping his eyes low on the floor. Letting out a yell. Voldemort brandished his wand and fired a blasting curse at the hall’s roof. The spell’s power was such that it disintegrated the entire roof into dust. However, the blowback from the curse was equally damaging to Voldemort, who clutched his wand hand in pain. He could see the veins on his hand bulge underneath the skin with a black tar-like substance slowly leaking out.

“Potter! It was Potter. I’m sure of it.” Voldemort snarled, falling back into his throne while hiding his pain and blackened veins underneath his black robes.

“Perhaps, it was Dumbledore, my lord.” Lucius said tenderly, trying his best to stay safe from the debris falling from the roof.

“No! Dumbledore is many things, but he has no stomach for killing. Or Snape is not as useful as a spy as I thought.” Voldemort growled, tightly gripping the arms of his throne while rage bubbled in his mind.

Once again, Voldemort was confronted with the fact that he desperately needed to know the prophecy. Without knowing the full scope of the prophecy, he was fighting against a foe with his eyes blinded to the future. He was sure the rest of the prophecy held some clue to defeat the Potter boy. He could not think of any other reason why Harry Potter was escaping him time after time and dealing blows that were far more damaging to his cause than even Dumbledore. Just as he was celebrating the return of his most loyal Death Eaters and the Dementors, Harry Potter struck at his allies among the Giants and killed off a dozen newly recruited Death Eaters.

His eyes found movement at the entrance of the hall. It turned out to be none other than Snape.

“Come, Severus. You have much explaining to do.” Voldemort glowered coldly, making the Potion Master freeze.

****

“The Dark Lord thinks Harry attacked the Giants allied to his cause?” Dumbledore asked incredulously.

When asked like that, even Severus found it challenging to comprehend why the Dark Lord would think so.

“Not just the Giants. The Dark Lord believes Potter killed twelve of his Death Eaters camping near the Giants.” Snape said, shaking his head at the strange tangent the Dark Lord had taken in recent months.

He had noticed that the Dark Lord was increasingly paranoid. Severus had at first attributed this paranoia to the difficulties the Dark Lord was facing after the shoddy ritual that restored the body of the Dark Lord. But lately, he came to realise that the Dark Lord was constantly living in fear of Potter. The desperate attempts to steal the Prophecy orb from the Department of Mysteries and the recurring rants filled with hate against Potter showed that the Dark Lord was increasingly becoming fearful of Harry Potter.

To a certain extent, Severus conceded that the Potter boy was becoming a competent wizard. The boy had stopped lazing off and started applying himself in potions class. There was a marked difference in quality in the boy’s potions since last year. It had also not escaped his notice that Potter was getting better with wand-based magic. The magical skills Potter showed off during the Tournament last year and against the aurors a few weeks back were a testament to the boy’s growth.

Having said that, the irrational fear that had consumed the Dark Lord was strange. Severus was increasingly becoming convinced that Potter had some hand in the deaths of the Death Eaters during the Dark Lord’s resurrection. He was even starting to doubt Potter had somehow botched up the reviving ritual the Dark Lord conducted to acquire a physical form. Unfortunately, he could not confirm his doubts as Lucius and the Dark Lord refused to share any details of that night.

“Why is Tom blaming Harry? Has his obsession with the Prophecy blinded him so much?” Dumbledore asked, looking gravely at Snape.

“Most likely.” Severus muttered, keeping his doubts to himself.

It was not like Dumbledore would believe a word he would say about Potter. Even if he accused Potter had a hand in the recent attack, he could not prove it with any substantial evidence. According to Nymphadora Tonks, Potter was supposedly in France with Black. And even if Potter were in Britain, the monitoring charms of the Ministry would trigger if Potter were to use magic outside any warded area.

“Severus. Could it be possible that someone with a grudge against Tom is hunting down his Death Eaters and allies?” Dumbledore asked.

“It’s possible.” Severus agreed with a nod.

But he doubted someone like that could be as resourceful enough to know sensitive information like the location of the Giants or even the location of the Dark Lord’s resurrection. Such thought only gave him more headache instead of answers.

“The Dark Lord is now adamant about claiming the Prophecy orb. Augustus Rookwood will soon share the crucial information the Dark Lord needs to remove the orb from the shelf. Once that happens, the Dark Lord will either storm the Department of Mysteries to take possession of the orb or manipulate Potter to take it for him.” Severus said.

“Then it falls to us to ensure the orb remains out of Voldemort’s reach.” Said Dumbledore.

‘That’s easier said than done.’ Severus thought, considering Dumbledore’s insistence on not using Potter to remove the orb and put a fake one on the shelf.

It was a perfectly reasonable plan, but Dumbledore stubbornly refused to involve Potter for some inane reason that remained unknown to Severus.

****

Daphne giggled as she tried to stay on her feet while holding Harry’s hand. It was a challenge to stay on her feet without falling on her ass, cold air rushing past her as they glided through the frozen floor.

“Wooo…” Daphne squealed as Harry swept her off her feet and spun around on the ice.

She had to be extra careful on the touchdown as her skating skills were non-existent. Harry held on to her waist, which was a blessing as she remained on her feet despite the wobble that she felt on her feet.

“Are you having fun?” Harry asked, his green eyes glinting under the light of the evening sun.

“I thought I’d be bored out of my mind, but I’ve got to admit this is turning out to be an enjoyable evening.” Daphne admitted.

She had very low expectations when she agreed to a date with Harry in the muggle world. Still, he continued to surprise her by making it an enjoyable evening despite her preconceived notions about the muggle world.

She had to admit Harry was quite an expert in finding out her interests. She liked old castles and secret chambers quite a lot. That was why she loved their date in the fabled secret chamber of Salazar Slytherin and the many old muggle castles she got to visit today. On the other hand, ice skating was not something she had ever done, but clearly, it was a fun activity.

“What’re you thinking?” Harry asked as they glided through the ice at a slow pace.

“I was just thinking about adding an ice rink back home. Although, my mother might not particularly like the idea of anything muggle in our home.” said Daphne.

“Hmm. Your ballroom could be refitted into a temporary ice rink. Or, I could add one to the home I’m building, and you could use it whenever you fancy.”

“You’re building a home?” Daphne asked in surprise.

“Yes. I’ll be restoring the Potter manor that was burned down by the Dark Lord. I’ll be finalising the contract tomorrow. I could add an ice rink adjacent to the ballroom if you like it so much.”

Hearing Harry’s proposal to build something for her, Daphne's heart fluttered momentarily. Without thinking, she hugged Harry, causing them to lose balance. Together they fell on the ice and skidded across the floor. Daphne ended up being on top of Harry, and she held onto his jacket for dear life. Thankfully, they didn’t get injured while some muggles around them laughed at their misfortune. She was quite embarrassed, but Harry laughed, finding their situation funny. When they tried to get up, her tie got stuck with Harry’s belt, which only furthered her embarrassment.

“I told you wearing a white shirt and tie with a skirt is not exactly a good attire for the date during winter.” Harry said in between snickers at her expense.

“I also had a coat.” Daphne argued, her cheeks becoming flushed with embarrassment. “Besides, I didn’t have that many muggle clothes to wear anyway.”

“In that case, I’ll take you shopping.” Harry offered.

Daphne forgot her embarrassment at the offer.

“All right.” she immediately agreed, already making plans to make the best out of the situation. “But first, you must remove your hand, Harry.”

Daphne looked at Harry’s right hand that was holding her just under her breast.

“My hand will stay there until you remove that stupid tie from my belt buckle.” Harry said, giving her a playful wink.

“You…” Daphne sighed in exasperation and decked Harry on his head, but she allowed his hand to stay there until she managed to dislodge her tie.

“You’ll be regretting that soon.” Daphne threatened, and she followed with that threat when Harry took her shopping.

When the date night came to an end, it was safe to say she came to own enough muggle clothes to last a lifetime, provided she could use certain charms on them to adjust their size and longevity. What she didn't like was the red Christmas cap Harry insisted she put on her head throughout the night. Harry claimed it was to blend in, but she had her doubts.

AN:

 

For artworks: https://discord.gg/Nw2JH25fJf

Chapter 77: The Marauders' Den

Harry took a deep breath before he extended his right hand and cut the ribbon tied across the doorway. Claps filled the air as witches and wizards from all walks of life huddled around the joke shop's opening ceremony. Harry held himself back from flinching as the bright flashes of lights of magical cameras shined on him. Bright gold and red letters appeared on the shop that spelt; Marauders' Den.

Bright golden lights lit up inside the newly inaugurated joke shop showing off the products the Weasley twins, Fleur, Remus and Sirius, had painstakingly built up over the last few months. He didn’t even know how the twins managed to pull this off, with just owls being their sole line of communication to Remus and Sirius. But they certainly outdid themselves, and Harry was all too happy to lend a hand by being a visible mascot for the joke shop to expand their reach among customers. Already, there was a substantial crowd formed outside. He had to endure a slew of embarrassing conversations with a Witch Weekly reporter and an invasive one with Rita Skeeter, whom he felt was getting a tad bolder as days went by. At least, Skeeter was highly competent in unearthing buried stories with gusto, and that ability kept her a valuable weapon in his arsenal.

Besides, Skeeter remains a journalist though of questionable work ethic. Harry’s general rule of thumb was to leave journalists, lawyers and doctors out of his zone. The only reason he had gone out of his way to blackmail Skeeter was because he had no intention of being a victim last year. He disliked the doormat experience where everyone walked over him without any consideration. To compensate for his admittedly ‘uncool’ actions, he had paid her quite well for her work and even gave her exclusive interviews and juicy stories about Dumbledore and Voldemort.

Then there were the common wizards and witches with their children gathered at the joke shop. They all came attracted by the promise of signed Harry Potter dolls that can spew out random jokes.

“Come along, Harry, my best of friends…” said George, guiding Harry away from the crowd converging on him towards a small stall where hundreds of dolls were placed inside glass shelves.

“A good signature is all we need…” Fred sand along, coming to his other side, pulling a chair out of nowhere and placing him on it.

“Now sign away.” the Weasley twins chorused together, placing a quill and a doll in his hand.

Harry blinked, and the next thing he knew, there was a long queue of children and adults formed before him on the stall.

“If we were on a sinking ship, and there was but one life vest…I cannot express how much I would miss you.” Harry said, looking at the twins.

“Oh, Harry. Why would you wound us so…?” Fred placed his hand on his heart, pretending to be in pain.

“Now, Harry. Before you give the doll, press your thumb over the scar on its forehead and give it to the kid. Oh, don’t forget to put your signature on the doll’s heart.” said George.

“All right, you merry pranksters.” Harry rolled his eyes.

He put his signature on the doll, pressed his thumb over the lightning bolt-shaped scar and handed over the doll to a little kid looking at him with bulging eyes and a wide smile. The lightning bolt on the doll lit up with many lights before the doll opened its mouth and spoke;

“It’s okay if you don’t like me. Not everyone has good taste.”

Harry raised an eyebrow as he heard the doll’s squeaky voice that suspiciously sounded like a watered-down version of Sirius’ sound.

“Huh. That’s not so bad.” said Harry.

“Here, see this…” said Fred, picking a pink-haired doll from a shelf wearing a pink dress.

“This is our masterpiece.” said George, tapping the head of the doll with his palm.

The doll raised its hand, holding a pink wand in its hand.

“Hem…hem. Will you be my friend?”

The doll sounded and looked suspiciously like Dolores Umbridge.

Harry stared at the doll with wide eyes and then at the twins in amazement for pulling off a prank that’d no doubt piss off Umbridge. He now knew what he should give the pink toad as a present.

“Oh, you two are pure gold.” said Harry, looking at the twins, who were sporting massive grins on their faces.

After a lengthy affair of signing up dolls and interacting with a lot of people, most of whom he had never even seen in passing, Harry was sitting at a table inside the store with a cup of coffee in his hand. When they originally envisioned a joke shop, a café was not in their mind, but once Sirius brought up the matter of a joke shop he was helping build, Brigitte suggested adding a café. Sirius, who had become addicted to certain delicacies of the French, was all too glad to follow through with Brigitte’s suggestion.

“How ‘eez the coffee?” Fleur asked, taking a seat across from him.

“Quite good. Good charm work with those dolls, by the way. The twins told me you had a hand in speeding up some of their products.” said Harry, raising his cup to compliment the work Fleur had done in the shop.

“Zank you. Did you know Fred and George were planning to quit ‘ogwarts?” Fleur asked suddenly, eyeing the twins who happily strolled around the joke shop greeting customers.

“Hmm. Not really. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they dropped out. The twins are hyperactive inventors. They don’t need structured education to succeed. Their sheer talent is enough, and a little bit of capital.” said Harry, shrugging his shoulders.

“So, how was your trip to France?” Harry asked, taking a sip of the coffee.

“eet was fine. Gabby was disappointed not to ‘zee you.” said Fleur.

“Mmhm.” Harry grunted, his eyes finding the Weasley family and Hermione in the crowd.

Hermione found him, and Harry waved at her while she was standing close to Ginny near the entrance of the shop. He noticed Molly Weasley was having a heated exchange with Remus while Arthur Weasley was quietly speaking with Sirius in a corner. Harry gestured to Hermione to come over to the table.

After a few minutes, Hermione managed to rope in Ginny and join him and Fleur at the table.

“You! You never told me all those secret meetings with the twins were all about this joke shop. You had me convinced you were reprimanding them for their pranks and illegal experimentation.” Hermione hissed.

“Guilty as charged.” Harry raised his hands in surrender.

“Did you know that the twins are planning to leave Hogwarts?” Hermione asked, her hands on her hips, staring accusingly at him.

“Calm down. Sirius and Remus will set them straight.” said Harry, sounding confident.

“Are you sure? Because our mother is furious with Sirius for going around her back and setting up this shop for Fred and George.” said Ginny.

“Don’t worry. Everything is taken care of.” Harry waved away the redhead’s concerns.

A few hours later, Harry was pointedly looking away from the stares of Ginny and Hermione in Grimmauld Place. He had to stop himself from flinching as Molly Weasley’s screams reached a new pitch.

“If this goes on, mum is going to make us all deaf.” Ron muttered, looking rather pale while staring at the shouting match between the twins, his mother and Sirius, unfolding before his eyes.

Harry raised an eyebrow when the shouting toned down a little. Instead, there were now hushed whispers with several Order members joining in, like Alastor Moody and Dumbledore. Harry got the distinct feeling that the discussion had veered off topic of the joke shop and arrived at something else. It was times like these that he regretted not placing some listening charms around the place. Before Harry could make up his mind to see what was going on, a knock on the entrance door attracted his attention.

“You expecting someone?” Ron asked, staring at the door curiously.

“I don’t think so.” Harry said, frowning at the door.

The door opened, and to Harry’s surprise, it was Dobby that came forward. But someone else stepped into the house following Dobby’s footsteps. His eyes widened when he looked at Daphne following behind Dobby. That was when it clicked in his mind. He had all but forgotten that he was supposed to take Daphne out on a date to see the old Potter manor and the new plans for restoring the Potter manor.

“From the look on your face, I suppose you forgot about our date.” said Daphne, staring unimpressed at Harry.

“What’re you talking about? I was just stunned by your beauty.” Harry replied, grinning weakly as he faced the scrutiny of Daphne.

Daphne merely rolled her eyes at his weak attempt to save face.

“Get ready, or I’m leaving.” Daphne eventually said, after letting him stew for a minute.

“Thanks.” Harry was on his feet and pressed a kiss on her cheek. “I’ll be right back.”

Harry disappeared into his room and quickly returned after slipping on better clothes.

“All right. I’m ready. Let’s go.”

“Wait, Harry! Aren’t you supposed to stay out of public spaces with you-know-who out to get you?” Hermione asked worriedly.

“If I started to live in fear of that noseless idiot, I won’t be having much of a life to live anyway. Tell Sirius I am out with Daphne. He knows where I’m going.” said Harry before taking Daphne’s hand and nodding at Dobby.

Dobby teleported them away from Grimmauld Place. When the swooshing sound and feeling stopped, Harry and Daphne found themselves in a clearing near a small stream rolling down from some huge rocks. Harry looked around, noticing the rocky hills and giant trees surrounding the place.

****

“So…this was Potter Manor.” Daphne breathed, staring at the rotten and burnt remains of the manor that was now overgrown with weed and other plant life.

“Yes. I plan to have the remains unearthed before rebuilding the whole manor.”

“Why? Are you hoping to find something?” Daphne asked curiously.

Harry frowned thoughtfully at the remains of the old home of the Potters.

“When Voldemort burnt down the manor, he also erased the history of House Potter. The loss of all the portraits and records is a far greater blow than the loss of a manor built on wood and stone.” he eventually said.

“Is it wise to build Potter Manor here again?” Daphne asked, looking a tad concerned. “The Dark Lord already knows its location. Once you start rebuilding the manor, word will get out. He’ll target this place again.”

“Exactly!” Harry grinned. “Let him come. Being the psychotic maniac he is, Voldemort shall rush towards this place to show off his power. But when he arrives here, he’ll face a far more humiliating defeat he suffered than the last time we met.”

“You’re rebuilding Potter Manor as bait for the Dark Lord?” Daphne asked incredulously.

“Hard to believe, isn’t it? That’s what I’m counting on from Voldemort as well. He’ll never expect I’ll build Potter Manor as bait for him. He’ll think that I’m emotionally attached to a house with my family name on it.” said Harry, smirking at Daphne, who frowned at him.

“Why aren’t you? I mean, why aren’t you attached to your family name?”  Daphne asked, her blue eyes trained on him with an inquisitive stare.

“The legacy of House Potter will not be built on wood and stone. It’ll be built on the blood of my enemies.” said Harry, his green eyes flashing with a firmness that took Daphne by surprise.

Daphne observed Harry for a long time as they walked around the site while Harry explained the current plan under consideration for the new Potter Manor. She had already picked up some information from her parents regarding Harry’s involvement with the death of several prominent Death Eaters. Harry’s subtle digs at her fellow housemates who lost their parents last year were also a clear indication that Harry was somehow involved with those deaths. She was not as stupid as everyone else to believe the Ministry version of the events, nor did she think the Dark Lord killed off his most prominent followers in a fit of rage, as most of her housemates believed.

Admittedly, she only knew Harry properly for just under two years, but she was his girlfriend. She had interacted with him far more intimately than anyone else. So, she knew Harry better than most people. With all that she knew of Harry, she got the feeling that Harry had somehow set a trap for the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters. Some of the most prominent Death Eaters that had escaped Azkaban by claiming to be under the Imperius curse were dead on the eve of the Dark Lord’s return. Then, two nights back, a mountain full of corpses was discovered with the Dark Mark on their forearms. The Daily Prophet was quite thorough in covering that story, and her father had been over the moon with that little story.

Daphne had also recently learned that a tribe of Giants were also burned down on the hill, according to the Auror’s office. The Daily Prophet was supposedly holding that finding close to their chest. She had accidentally learned that tidbit of news from her father while a reporter from the prophet was gloating to have found it over the floo. Now that her father had gained all the major controlling shares of the Prophet, he had a more hands-on approach while managing the Prophet. There was no news in wizarding Britain that went without her father’s attention. And therefore, she usually had far more exposure to more information than usual.

Also, she had seen Harry go through intense magical training with that mysterious woman before the newly recruited Death eaters were found dead on a mountain. The recent death of Giants made it clear that Harry had some hand in it as well because Harry had stopped visiting her home for training after the incident.

Daphne quietly slipped behind Harry and hugged him from behind. She placed her head against his shoulder and kept a close watch on his face.

“Harry.”

“Umhm.”

“Did you have anything to do with those dead Death eaters last summer and the bodies of Death eaters found on the mountain last day?” Daphne asked, without any inhibition, as she knew Harry misliked dancing around any issue.

“What brought this on? Did you forget to put the dream catcher on your bed and got a bad dream last night?” Harry asked playfully.

“Stop fooling around and be serious.” Daphne pinched Harry on his side.

“If I say yes, would you like me more, or would you like me less?” Harry asked.

That question from Harry took her back for a moment. She looked thoughtful for a moment before her mind almost immediately came up with an answer.

“I’d like you a hundred times more if you say yes.” Daphne eventually said.

“Then, my answer is...” said Harry, who quickly caught her by her left arm and pulled forward. “…yes!”

Daphne suddenly found herself staring into Harry’s deep green eyes. Her eyes fluttered shut when a pair of warm lips pressed down against hers. When they parted, she found herself holding on to Harry’s shirt while she felt Harry’s hands wrapped around her waist.

“So, you never said anything about that ice skating rink we talked about.” Harry whispered against her skin while he pressed several small kisses along her cheek.

“I would have until I learned an idiot intends to bait a dangerous Dark Lord to attack the place.” Daphne whispered back, enjoying the way they slowly moved as if they were in a waltz.

“I could hold off on that plan for a while. Besides, it’s not as if I intend for my house to be burnt down. I intend to trap Voldemort and teach him a lesson, not standing by as the idiot burns down my house.” said Harry, grinning at Daphne.

Daphne let out a sharp breath as she felt Harry’s hand getting a little adventurous behind her. She frowned at him for his promiscuous behaviour, but Harry merely smirked at her, not at all bothered by her admonishing look.

“You’re lucky you have such cute eyes.” Daphne eventually said, letting Harry get his way.

“Out of all my body parts, my eyes are in the best shape. I do at least eleven eye rolls a day.” Harry joked.

“Eleven? How can you be so specific?” Daphne raised an eyebrow.

“Three for Hermione, two for Sirius and seven for Dumbledore.” Harry said, making Daphne chuckle.

“For now, I’m all for going to that ice rink in muggle London.” said Daphne.

“Are you sure? We could go to my room in Grimmauld Place and explore the bed in my room.” Harry winked suavely.

Daphne glared at Harry and promptly punched him with her elbow on his side.

“Ow! We are going to muggle London.” Harry conceded.

****

The remaining days of the vacation passed quickly for Harry. Most of his days were spent in the company of Daphne, primarily for academic work, as they had to show their final report on the progress they made with their rune project to Professor Babbling. Usually, most of their project-related work was done in Daphne’s home, as Sirius’ house was getting increasingly crowded with Order members, especially the Weasleys, after the Azkaban breakout.

In fact, The Ministry had gone bonkers with the Prophet releasing more and more juicy details about the disappearance of a tribe of Giants, a burnt mountain and the suspicious presence of dead Death Eaters so close to muggle settlements. The rumour was that Minister Fudge had holed himself in his office, not talking to anybody, blaming it all on Dumbledore. Harry had to give it to the man. Despite finding a mountain of evidence to show that the Death Eaters were active, Fudge was quite unrelenting in conceding even a fraction to Dumbledore’s claims. Harry had thought Fudge might grow a pair of working brain cells after witnessing the mounting evidence, but the Minister continued to surprise him with sheer stupidity.

The one thing he was curious about was Voldemort’s reaction. Unfortunately, Harry could not take a peek into Voldemort’s mind without compromising his own mind. He had been employing Occlumency against the Dark Lord to keep out any dangerous mind arts from adversely affecting his mind.

However, there was one advantage to all the confusion and chaos in the Ministry. The Aurors were spread thin throughout the countryside in the hunt for the absconding Dementors and Death Eaters. They were not particularly effective in tracking down anyone, but the optics mattered for the Ministry. They wanted to appear doing something before the public. Therefore, the Aurors have been scouring all visible magical settlements like Diagon Alley, Knockturn Alley, Godric’s Hollow, Hogsmeade etc. This left the Ministry wide open, and that was when Harry rolled out his next phase of the plan.

“You know, James would be laughing with glee if he was here. He’d have been so proud of you, Harry.” Sirius said with a boyish glee as he watched the last of the charms set up in the Hall of Prophecies.

Harry smirked at Sirius.

“A noseless nuisance like Voldemort deserves to be pranked.” Said Harry, reaching his hand out to the Weasley twins.

“Harry, we can’t thank you enough for this opportunity.” said Fred, who was positively thrumming with happiness.

“Yes, indeed. You’ve made this dream possible for us.” said George, a tear falling from his eyes.

“Did you use the Faux Tear Gel again?” Harry asked, looking at George, who was crying anime tears.

“It’s been very effective against our mum for some reason. If we had known earlier, we would’ve made the tear gel years ago.” said George.

Harry saw the twins exchange a grin and shook his head. Going back to setting up the charms on the shelf containing the Prophecy orbs, Harry discretely hid certain small metal balls inside among the orbs under notice-me-not charms.

“All right. That’s done. Now, give me the orb.” said Harry, holding out his hand for the fake orb the twins and Sirius had made for the occasion.

Harry plucked the original Prophecy orb from the shelf before replacing it with the fake one.

“So, this is the little bugger that caused all of your problems.” said George, staring at the glass orb with an uncharacteristic intensity.

“It doesn’t look like much.” Fred said, looking at the orb unimpressed.

“That thing ended up being the cause of the beginning of bad luck for Voldemort and me.” Harry deadpanned, securing the orb into a mokeskin pouch.

“I’m sure this little guy would be bringing only bad luck for Voldemort alone.” said Fred.

Harry glanced at the fake orb he had placed in place of the original orb.

“Let’s hope that’s the case.” Harry muttered.

 

AN:

 

For artworks: https://discord.gg/Nw2JH25fJf

Chapter 78: Meeting the enemy

It was the first day of the new term, and uncharacteristically, the entire fifth-year Gryffindor students were happy all because they were starting off the term with two free periods. Very few knew the two free periods were Harry’s doing. And those who knew were giving him a thumbs up for his effort, except for Hermione.

“I can’t believe you’d do something like this, Harry. Isn’t this going too far?” Hermione looked at him with a disappointed stare.

“All I did was send Umbridge some dolls made by the twins as a gift.” Harry raised his hands in surrender.

“A big box full of dolls.” Neville helpfully reminded him.

“Yes. A big box full of dolls. Umbridge must’ve been overwhelmed by the fact that she got a gift for the Yule holidays. That’s why she is not taking the classes today. She must be so happy and playing with the dolls in her quarters.” said Harry, sharing a grin with Neville.

Harry was mostly happy with his action because it helped to put a smile on Neville’s face. The poor boy had been wroth and gloomy ever since the Lestranges escaped Azkaban. So, putting a smile on Neville’s face was an added bonus as far as he was concerned.

“Still…” Hermione frowned at the happily grinning boys and sighed. “I suppose it is funny.”

Harry and Neville chuckled, seeing Hermione struggling to accept that it was a good prank and perfectly harmless to boot. The only thing that got harmed was Umbridge’s ego. Even Hermione, who was a stickler for rules, was chuckling in amusement at the plight of Umbridge.

“Do you think the Ministry will recall her?” Neville asked once their laughter subsided.

“They should’ve, but I don’t think so. I mean, if they were going to replace her, they would’ve done so by now.” Hermione reasoned.

Harry nodded, seeing the soundness in her argument.

“If Dumbledore really wanted to get rid of her, he could’ve done so. She is no longer the High Inquisitor, nor is she going to get that much support from the Ministry, with the Death eaters getting out of Azkaban and the aurors finding a whole bunch of them near a muggle town.” said Harry.

“That’s true. Maybe it’s time to expand the Knights to include members from other houses.” Hermione suggested.

“Is that really necessary?” Neville asked, frowning at the bushy-haired girl.

“We created the Knights not just to oppose Umbridge but also to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts.” said Hermione.

“Hermione is right.” said Harry, nodding at his friend. “The Knights are not just for Gryffindors to fight against the tyranny of Umbridge. When the time comes, I believe the time we share in the sessions for the Knights’ meeting would come in handy. With all those Death Eaters joining Voldemort, it won’t be long before the war starts again.”

“We all will need to learn to defend ourselves against the Death Eaters.” said Hermione.

“She’s right.” Neville said after taking a moment to think. “We’ll need to know to defend ourselves and fight against the Death Eaters. The Ministry is not going to be of much use going by what’s happening.”

“Hmm.” Harry grunted, discreetly looking at Neville from the corner of his eyes.

Harry got the feeling that the increased confidence Neville gained with his magic being properly attuned with a functioning wand was pointing the boy towards a revenge mindset. Not that Harry disapproved. Unlike the bullshit some goody two shoes would profess, he saw no problem in emotions like revenge, greed or even the pursuit of power. All three were powerful motivators in his view, and he got the feeling Neville was nearly at the precipice of pursuing a higher path. All Neville needed was a small push.

“You know what. I think I’m going to invite some new members after the senate approves, of course. And maybe, I think it’s time to conduct more proactive sessions that focus not just on defending but also fighting to win against a foe like a seasoned Death Eater.” said Harry.

“Fighting against Death Eaters? Isn’t that a little too much…? I’m sure it won’t come to that.” Hermione said, looking troubled by the prospect of conflict of a different scale, Harry laid out.

“On the contrary, Hermione. I don’t intend to let go of the chance of destroying those responsible for the destruction of my family. Whether we like it or not, there is going to be a war. And just like Voldemort destroyed everything I loved, I’ll destroy everything he ever loved. I’ll destroy his Death Eaters, and I’ll turn his stupid ideology on its head and only then will I destroy him.” Harry said, his eyes gaining a cold edge.

While Hermione looked a tad uncomfortable, Neville was positively beaming.

“Let’s discuss something else.” Hermione hurriedly said, changing the conversation. “Tell us more about the date you went with Daphne in London. Did you enjoy the skating rink I suggested?”

“I don’t get it. Did Harry take Greengrass on a sledge?” Neville asked confusedly.

That question launched a long-winded explanation from Hermione about skating and how muggles have perfected it as a sport and even for dancing. It was a poor attempt at shifting the topic of discussion, but Harry went along with it because his job was done. A seed was planted in Neville, and he got the feeling that Neville might be open to more of his plans going forward. As powerful as he was, he recognised the need for more allies in this battle.

After all, Harry’s fight did not just lie with Voldemort, but an entrenched system steeped in Pureblood supremacy. While he recognised the advantages of having a political system of entrenched nobility that held onto traditions, he also saw the need to bring change. The Wizengamot needed change to reflect the diverse realities of magical Britain. And with that change, the approach of wizards and witches towards Muggles and Muggleborns also needed to change. He felt like these changes were necessary if the wizarding world was to survive and thrive in the 21st century.

Muggle technological advancements were already at a dangerous level. Once smartphones, social media and artificial intelligence take over, the pace of technological outreach and capabilities of the muggles was going to expand to a whole new level. The Statute of secrecy for the first time would be threatened by the muggles rather than the occasional accidental magic and Dark Lords from the Wizarding world. The need for change, therefore, was necessary for the wizarding world’s survival.

It was almost amusing to note that Harry found himself fearing the wizarding world’s exposure to the muggles more than the war with Voldemort.

‘I suppose Voldemort is predictable most of the time, but the muggles…’ Harry mused before shaking his head, dismissing the thought.

It was not yet time to think about the issues that were so far in the future when he had enough to worry about on his plate in the present.

****

Harry and Daphne stared at Professor Babbling, who scrutinised their work with an intensity that worried them. They were waiting in their seat for nearly half an hour, and Professor Babbling had yet to say a word or even look up from the preliminary report they submitted about their project.

Daphne tapped him on his leg, making Harry look at her.

‘It’ll be all right.’ Harry mouthed at her.

“All right.” Professor Babbling said, gaining their attention. “I see no defect in the schematics in your report, but it’s lengthy. However, I doubt an average runestone can hold this many inscriptions and function as you envision.”

Harry exchanged a look with Daphne as he heard the opinion of Professor Babbling.

“What do you mean, professor?” Daphne asked, looking a tad worried.

“It’s nothing to worry about.” Professor Babbling smiled at them. “You can just cut out the multiple locator inscriptions in your draft and focus on merely projecting the image in a singular direction.”

Seeing the dissatisfied look on Harry’s and Daphne’s faces, Bathsheda Babbling sighed.

“You two have done brilliant work with the script. The usual runestones won’t be enough to bind all the magical properties and features you intend to imbue. You’ll need enchanted crystals for your current project to come to fruition.”

“Then we can…” Harry excitedly began but was cut off by Professor Babbling.

“And that you’ll do in your NEWT level project.” Professor Babbling said, cutting off Harry. “Your natural affinity for Ancient Runes is impressive, Mr. Potter. But keep in mind that Miss Greengrass is also a part of this project.”

Harry opened his mouth to argue, but Daphne stomped on his foot, making him yelp.

“What was that?” Professor Babbling asked, looking up from the sheets of parchment.

“Nothing, Professor.” Daphne said, smiling politely.

“Well, you two can go. I’ll give you some detailed instructions on how to proceed further towards the weekend.”

They said their thanks, and Daphne practically dragged Harry out of Professor Babbling’s office.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Harry complained, wincing as he stretched his foot.

“On the contrary, I had to. You were going to make my assignments a lot more difficult than it already was.” Daphne deadpanned as they walked hand in hand along the warm corridors of Hogwarts.

“Well, I have something more serious to discuss with you.” said Harry, pulling Daphne into an abandoned classroom before she could protest.

“Don’t tell me this is one of your other attempts to get me out of my robes?” Daphne huffed, staring at him unimpressed.

“Why? Do you want to get out of your robes?” Harry asked playfully.

When he saw Daphne’s hand going for her wand, he knew it was time to drop the teasing and get serious.

“Have you heard about a group called the Knights of Avalon?” Harry asked immediately, staying Daphne’s hand.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything about a group with that name. Why?” Daphne said, frowning at Harry curiously.

“Good. You’ve been formally invited to attend a meeting of the Knights of Avalon.” said Harry, brandishing a leaf of parchment from his jacket and handing it over to Daphne.

“What’s going on?” she asked, looking at Harry and then at the parchment with a healthy amount of scepticism.

“I formed a secret group that trains in DADA after school hours. We started as a Gryffindor-exclusive group to oppose Umbridge. But now that the pink toad is written off, we thought it was time to expand the scope of membership.”

“You created a secret club of Gryffindor students and trained them in DADA under Umbridge’s nose? How long has this been going on?” Daphne asked, looking impressed.

“It’s been a few months.” Harry shrugged, grinning like a Cheshire cat. “So, are you interested in attending the meeting?”

“Who else got invited?” Daphne asked.

“You’ll find out when you attend the meeting.” Harry smirked.

****

“Master. How may I be of service?” Rookwood knelt on the floor with his head bowed.

Voldemort stared at his former spy within the Department of Mysteries.

“I assume the potions have restored your former strength Rookwood?” Voldemort silkily asked, keeping his hands hidden inside the sleeves of his dress robes while looking down at his faithful Death Eater from his throne.

“Thanks to you, my lord.”

“Hmm.” Voldemort stood up from his throne and circled the kneeling former Unspeakable.

“Tell me, Rookwood. What sort of protections are placed on the prophecy orbs placed inside the Department of Mysteries?” asked Voldemort.

“There are no charms placed on the orbs, my lord. But the shelves holding the orbs are enchanted and protected by runes. Once the prophecy orbs are placed on the shelves, only those who are mentioned in the prophecy could take it away.” Rookwood rasped out.

“I see. Is there some way to remove the enchantment?”

“Unfortunately, no, master. Any attempt to remove the enchantments would trigger the runes on the shelves that’ll destroy the orbs.”

“Are you sure, Rookwood?” Voldemort asked coldly.

“Yes, my lord. Yes… I used to work in the Department charged with the security of several chambers.” Rookwood whispered.

“And yet, Lucius told me Bode would be able to remove it. Lucius had the man under the Imperius Curse, but it did not work.” Voldemort hissed, his red eyes ablaze.

“Bode could not have taken it, my master. Bode would have known he could not… Anyone who worked long enough in the Department of Mysteries could have known it was impossible.” said Rookwood.

Voldemort could feel the urge to summon Lucius and have the man endure the Cruciatus Curse for sheer incompetence. He was starting to see why his Death Eaters were unable to execute his plans, as incompetence and laziness were impeding his victory over Potter and Dumbledore.

“You have done well in telling me this. On your feet, Rookwood.” Voldemort hissed.

Voldemort watched as the grey-haired man with pale blue eyes stood unsteadily on his feet with his head bowed.

“I have wasted so much time all because I did not have good counsel by my side. A decade of peace seems to have made incompetence and foolishness pervade even among my inner circle.” Voldemort said, shaking his head in disappointment.

“But not any more… Isn’t that right, Rookwood?” Voldemort asked softly.

“Yes, my lord…yes. I shall endeavour to always serve you and give you sound counsel.” Rookwood breathed out, his shoulders sagging in relief when the Dark Lord nodded.

“Very well. You may go. Send Lucius to me…” Voldemort hissed, turning his back to Rookwood and sitting back on his throne, becoming thoughtful.

Voldemort could not help but get frustrated at the fact that he had meticulously planned a break-in on the Department of Mysteries using his Death Eaters to retrieve the prophecy orb. Knowing what he knew, he was forced to discard all those plans and focus on manipulating Potter to take it for him. Failing that, he’d be forced to take the orb by breaking into the Ministry of Magic personally.

He got the feeling he’d have to do the latter as his plan of manipulating Potter was not getting anywhere. Severus Snape had undoubtedly given him the most valuable information about his enemy regarding the strange connection between his mind with Potter. However, he had so far been unable to use it against his arch-nemesis properly. Potter was employing Occlumency against him, and he had to admit the boy was somewhat skilled in the mind arts.

‘Just like I was at his age.’ Voldemort thought with some worry.

As days went by, he could feel himself growing weaker. His physical body was falling apart, unable to sustain his full might. The botched ritual Pettigrew conducted continued to haunt him to this day. Despite his fervent efforts to reverse the effects, he had ultimately failed to restore his health. While he was weakening, Voldemort realised Potter was growing in power. His desperation to learn the entire prophecy stemmed from his hope to find a clue to reverse his fortunes. He was hoping there was a clue in the prophecy to defeat Harry Potter for good and increase his power to new heights.

“My lord?” Lucius called from the entrance of the chambers, looking chalk white.

“Ah, yes. Lucius, come. We have much to discuss…you and I. Much to answer for…” Voldemort hissed coldly.

“My lord. I’ve been your most faithful ser…”

“Crucio!”

Lucius Malfoy fell on the floor, screaming his heart out, thrashing about as the torture curse took effect.

“You snivelling worm! You dare to lie to Lord Voldemort!” Voldemort thundered, his red eyes glowing with rage.

More screaming followed, making even the Death Eaters standing guard outside the Dark Lord’s chambers flinch and quiver in their boots.

****

“Thank you all for attending the first meeting of the Knights of Avalon after the Yule holidays. I hope you’ve all had an enjoyable vacation.” Harry smiled at his audience.

“Now…” he clapped his hands, gaining everyone’s attention. “There are some new faces amongst ourselves from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. For their benefit, I shall explain the reason why this secret club was formed. “

“If this is a secret club, isn’t this meeting illegal?”

Harry searched for the owner of the voice and found it to be Zacharias Smith.

“Very astute of you, Smith. For all intents and purposes, this meeting is illegal. That’s why I made you all sign a secrecy contract before the meeting commenced.” said Harry.

“Now, as I was saying, the Knights were formed as a resistance against Umbridge when she harmed Colin Creevey. And we have dealt a blow that made her tyrannical power over Hogwarts slip away.”

After his comment, there were whistles and enthusiastic shouts of victory inside the room.

“Yes… yes. We’ve achieved our primary goal of keeping Hogwarts safe for us despite our inability to have Umbridge fired from her post. But there is another threat that’s coming our way, and I’m here to show this to you before explaining to our newcomers what the Knights is all about.”

Harry turned his back on his fellow students and removed the veil hiding a special Pensieve the Room of Requirement had helpfully provided him for the occasion. Harry carefully extracted the memory from his mind before dumping it into the basin.

“Visio projectum.”

Harry muttered under his breath while tapping a rune on the side of the Pensieve with his wand. The rune lit up with magical power, and the liquid inside the fluid shone with a brilliant white light. The memory strand he left in the pensive glowed a bright blue, and in the next moment, the Pensieve projected the memory into the air for everyone to see. It was his memory from the graveyard last year, and everyone saw the horrible baby homunculi form of Voldemort.

“Harry Potter. We meet again.” Voldemort rasped, his red eyes staring from the bundle of cotton held by Peter Pettigrew.

Harry looked at the audience he had gathered in the room. They were looking at the project memory with fear and disgust, and a few looked like they were ready to bolt out of the room. As the memory ran its course, showing his admittedly provocative conversation with the Dark Lord, he could feel a few incredulous stares coming his way. Harry greeted them with a smile and a shrug. When Voldemort finally regained his physical form, he could hear a slew of sharp intake of breaths from the crowd. The casual way Voldemort aired out his muggle origins was a real blow to the purebloods and the muggleborns in the audience. At the pace it was going, Harry feared some of the students would be leaving with permanent bulging eyes if this kept up.

He saw the Creevey brothers hugging each other as Voldemort subjected Avery to the torture curse. Harry even heard someone let out a choked sob at the pitiful pained screams Avery let out as the torture curse took its toll. In Harry’s observation, the Slytherins invited for the meeting were the most affected by the treatment of Death Eaters at the hands of the Dark Lord and the Dark Lord’s own admission that he was far from a pureblood or blood purist he painted himself before the public. Most of the upperclassmen Slytherins were openly scowling at the memory as the Death Eaters behaved like House Elves before the Dark Lord.

The memory finally came to an end with his attack on the Dark Lord.

“Here is my welcoming gift. Battio Inflammata.”

The memory projection cut off after showing Voldemort getting blasted away by his spell. The light in the pensive dimmed when Harry vanished from the memory inside the Pensieve.

“Dear friends. It’s not just our school that’s in danger. It’s our whole world. The Dark Lord Voldemort…” Harry rolled his eyes when almost everyone flinched at the name. “…is back. And with him, the second wizarding war will start. In fact, the war has already begun.”

The flabbergasted and fearful looks in the eyes of the Hogwarts students were quite the natural reaction he was expecting.

“Now, you know what exactly happened last year during the Third Task. Any questions?”

Stunned silence was what greeted Harry.

‘I think I just broke a few of them.’ Harry thought.

AN:

 

For artworks: https://discord.gg/Nw2JH25fJf

Chapter 79: A lion's roar

“Look at Angelina Johnson go. She veers off to the right dodging a bludger from Eric Hilton, and punches the quaffle past the Ravenclaw keeper into the ring. Angelina scores!”

The stands roared in approval as Angelina punched her first in the air celebrating the goal.

“Gryffindor leads with 70-20.” Jordan announced excitedly.

“Just three more goals to go, then you’re up, Harry.” said Angelina as she hovered near him on her broom.

“I got it covered, captain.” said Harry, giving her a small salute.

Angelina rolled her eyes, aligning her broom to focus better on the Ravenclaw team as their chasers took possession of the quaffle and went on the attack.

“Just keep Chang away from the snitch. We need the extra points to make sure Hufflepuff is not going to snatch the cup away at the last moment.” said Angelina before speeding away on her broom.

Harry pulled his broom going straight up, keeping himself far away from the space of chasers and beaters. Unlike a game with Slytherin, he didn’t have to worry about the beaters taking potshots at him so long as he was not making a move on the quaffle or the snitch. The ravens played a fair game without committing fouls. Or at least, they tried to. Occasional fouls happen, but they were rare when the ravens played the game.

Harry waved cheekily at Cho once he came level with the Ravenclaw seeker. To the credit of Cho Chang, her focus never wavered, and she kept her eyes out for the elusive snitch. However, Harry was pretty confident he saw Cho roll her eyes at him. Pulling himself further up, Harry searched for the tiny glint of gold hiding somewhere on the quidditch grounds.

Taking a deep breath, Harry closed his eyes and focused on gathering magic into his body. Ever so slowly, he managed to cover his body with a thin layer of magical energy in a protective shield. His intention was not to use his power to create a shield that’d somehow repel any physical attacks. Instead, it was one of the tricks he learned from the book Perenelle Flamel gave him to increase his sensory talent. The trick was to create a barrier of magical energy that’d slowly be released as tendrils or wave patterns. Using the wave pattern usually yielded better results, but Harry was not in a war zone. He only needed to find a measly golden ball.

Therefore, Harry chose to spread his magic out as tendrils. Harry opened his eyes and started spreading a web of magical energy around him. Amusingly enough, infusing his will and a little bit of Leglimency into magical energy was one of the basic principles of mastering Protego Diabolica that decimated the Giants. The same principle had immense application in mastering magical sensing or Mage Sight, as Perenelle claimed. Although, the real Mage Sight was quite different as it involved augmenting the visual prowess of a wizard or witch. But that particular skill was the product of years of honing a wizard’s sensory perception.

For a moment, Harry thought silly for using what was arguably a prodigious magical skill to find the snitch in a quidditch game. Then again, it was a good training exercise as any. After all, he could not hone his skills if he didn’t train with his magic every day.

While his eyes kept track of the game the chasers were playing, small tendrils of his magic extended outward as if casting a giant net over the pitch. He dared not try to encompass the entire stadium as there were professors sitting in the stands like McGonagall and Flitwick. While he did not have a higher opinion about their character, Harry had no trouble acknowledging their magical skill and years of experience in different disciplines of magic.

Suddenly, Harry noticed Cho speeding away on her broom past him at high speed. He could not help but frown as Harry was sure the snitch was not in the direction the Ravenclaw seeker was going.

‘Either she is attempting a feint, or she must be mistakenly going in that direction.’ Harry thought.

Instead of chasing after Cho, Harry turned his focus to his right side. There he could feel a fast-moving object in his mind’s eye. Unfortunately, his eyes trained on Roger Davies, the Ravenclaw seeker. He frowned and moved closer towards the chaser to get a better view. His eyes picked up a glint of gold hiding near the tail of the broomstick of the Ravenclaw chaser. He kept his eyes on the snitch, and strangely enough, it was content to closely follow Roger Davies throughout the game.

Harry bided his time until Gryffindor reached 100 points on the scoreboard while closely keeping his senses honed on Davies and the snitch shadowing the guy. The moment Katie Bell scored the goal that put Gryffindor on 100 points, Harry made his move. He flew straight up and blasted faster than any player on the pitch, thanks to his Firebolt. Out of his peripheral vision, he could see Cho trying to catch up to him. Abruptly arresting his momentum, Harry laid low against his broom and forced it into a steep dive. His eyes were closed, but he knew where every player was on the pitch. He forced his broom to spin as he dived and made it veer sharply off to his left. When Harry opened his eyes, he could see a golden wing of the snitch peeking out of the tail end of Roger Davies’ broomstick.

Within the blink of an eye, Harry executed a barrel roll as he dived past Davies’ broom while reaching out with his arm, plucking the snitch from underneath the broom. The snitch helplessly beat its wings, but Harry had a tight grip on the little bugger.

The stands erupted in cheers as Harry raised his fist showing off the snitch in his hand. Madam Hooch blew the whistle signalling the end of the match.

“We did it!”

Alicia screamed as she slid beside him on her broom, giving Harry a one-armed hug. Soon, the rest of the team surrounded Harry with bright smiles.

“That’s it, Harry. We now have to beat Hufflepuff, and the cup is ours.” Angelina said, grinning from ear to ear.

“Don’t worry. This year the cup will be ours.” Harry promised.

The celebration in the Gryffindor common room was quite enthusiastic and lasted into the night. The celebration was also augmented by the fact that despite the many hurdles placed by Umbridge, the Gryffindor team was near winning the quidditch team. Their team was already 80 points ahead of Hufflepuff in the run for the cup. Since Hufflepuff had only one game, and that was against them, Diggory would have to catch the snitch from the beginning. There was the Slytherin-Ravenclaw match, but he doubted that match would produce any radical changes to the points as it stands. After all, Slytherin was in the last position with the lowest points, and Ravenclaw was not doing much better with their recent loss.

It was pretty much confirmed that the Hufflepuff-Gryffindor match would settle the Quidditch cup for this year.

Someone tapped his shoulder, and when Harry turned around, he found Neville.

“It’s time.” Neville mouthed.

Harry nodded and quietly sneaked out of the Gryffindor tower with Neville and Hermione in tow. With the aid of Dobby, they quickly arrived at their destination, and Harry wasted no time in setting up the Room of Requirement. The secret passageways were immediately created from the room towards three different parts of the castle. Once the passages were formed, Harry immediately sent the messages for the meeting to select medallions connected through the Protean charm.

Within five minutes, all the new recruits from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin were assembled inside the room with the entrances fading away.

“Hey, Harry. Good game.” said Cho Chang, standing close to Cedric Diggory.

“We had a good game. It was fun.” Harry replied, smiling at the Ravenclaw seeker.

He was happy to see Cho Chang was quite happily holding hands with Cedric Diggory. Harry considered saving Diggory from an untimely death as one of his best achievements of last year.

“Hey, you. I thought there would be no meeting because of the celebrations in your tower.” said Tracey, waving at Harry standing beside Daphne.

“Hi, Tracey. This is more important.” said Harry, walking closer to the Slytherin group and giving a small peck on Daphne’s cheek despite her glare.

A few teasing whistles came from the gathered crowd, but Harry paid it no mind. Although, he was pretty sure he was going to get an earful from Daphne for his overt public affections.

“Don’t worry, Daphne. Harry is under the influence of Wrackspurts.” Luna said dreamily.

There was a brief moment of silence before suppressed snickers could be heard in the room. Harry stared at Luna as if she had betrayed him.

“Wrackspurts?” Tracey asked, with an amused glint in her eyes. “Tell me, Lovegood. What has these Wrackspurts done to Harry?”

“Wrackspurts are invisible creatures that love to float through your ears and make your mind go fuzzy.” Luna said, looking rather happy she could share what was ailing Harry.

“You hear that, Harry? You’re having a Wrackspurt problem.” Tracey giggled.

“Very funny.” Harry deadpanned before turning away from Luna and Tracey to address the gathered students without wasting time.

“Thank you all for promptly coming. So, let’s start with the shield charm today. Sixth years and seventh years are encouraged to do it silently.” said Harry, splitting the gathered students into two member groups.

Hermione and Neville were assigned to keep an eye on the fifth, fourth, and third years, while Harry focused on the sixth and seventh years.

****

Dolores Umbridge was going through a tough time in Hogwarts and at the Ministry. She was ostracised and alone in the Ministry, with the Minister ordering a detailed probe into her every action since she stepped inside the hallowed halls of Hogwarts. She knew what Minister Fudge was doing. The man was saving face while giving her a last opportunity to turn the situation around by coming up with something substantial to change their fortunes. But she knew whatever advantage she could summon by unearthing any of Dumbledore’s crimes would be useless as far as she was concerned.

After everything that happened, the Minister could ill afford to keep her as his undersecretary. The aurors, under orders of Amelia Bones, had ransacked her office and captured several blood quills. Among the captured quills, the one she used on the little mudblood boy was recovered. Some of her informants in the DMLE informed her of this fact. No doubt, Madam Bones also knew she knew, and yet the woman was perfectly content on sitting on the ‘evidence’ of her supposed misdeeds. Dolores knew Madam Bones was a political creature through and through. The woman was keeping the investigation under her watchful eyes and keeping everything she learned in reserve to use it against her should Delores ever try to reclaim her rightful place in the Ministry.

‘I don’t begrudge that, as that’s what I would have done in Amelia’s place.’ Delores thought.

She could live with being bested by a skilled and respected pureblood woman like Amelia Bones, who rose to lead the DMLE through hard work. However, she could not stand to allow an arrogant, entitled brat like Potter to get away with destroying her life and political ambitions. The half-blood Potter brat was a danger to the Ministry. She knew it, and anyone with eyes could see it. It was unfortunate that Minister Fudge was so blinded by the threat of Dumbledore to see the rising threat of Potter.

Again, she could understand what poor Cornelius was under. After all, Dumbledore had masterfully pulled off a grand heist by breaking out the former Death Eaters from Azkaban to put the Ministry under pressure. Going by the undercurrent whispers she had heard from the Ministry, Dumbledore’s plan was working. The mass breakout with newly discovered dead Death Eaters made the Ministry look incompetent before the public eye.

The Ministry was now focusing on keeping the public docile. At the same time, Dumbledore and Potter were free to act against the Ministry with their next evil plan, all in the pursuit of overhauling the current administration. To make matters worse, the Ministry now had to worry about Potter’s rising magical power. Before, they only had to worry about Dumbledore’s magical power. But now…things were different. She had to admit it was quite a blow to her pride to learn that the Potter brat had dismantled experienced aurors like Dawlish quite easily. But the reality was reality, and she had to face up to the fact that the Potter brat was magically powerful enough to be a threat on the same level as Dumbledore.

Not only did the Potter brat show off his power before the school and humiliate the Ministry, but he also managed to considerably clip her powers in Hogwarts. She could no longer assign detentions, award points and take away points inside Hogwarts. If she wanted any disciplinary actions taken, she’d have to take permission from the Deputy Headmistress. All her Educations Decrees were null and void per the new deal inked by the Board of Governors and the Ministry of Magic.

Umbridge scowled as she thought she was in the exact same position as Severus Snape was in last year. She was under ‘probation’ and under greater scrutiny by the Board of Governors, Headmaster Dumbledore, Potter and every enemy she ever made in the Ministry. One wrong step, and she was done. At this point, all her efforts should’ve focused on keeping her head down and quietly retiring to avoid any further repercussions.

‘I won’t quietly go into the night and cede victory to the Potter brat. I’ll have the boy dealt with even at the cost of my life and career.’ Dolores promised in her mind.

Her only ally in Hogwarts was the squib caretaker Filch. There were good Slytherin students who saw the threat posed by Potter, but they were few and quite useless.

‘I don’t need anyone’s help to catch Potter and Dumbledore. I need time to properly plan and set a trap for them both.’ Dolores thought.

First, she needed to find the weakness in Potter and Dumbledore. They both must have some weakness; once she found it, she could use it against them. Then, she could rid them both and help the Ministry create a perfect lawful magical Britain bereft of half-breeds, mudbloods and filthy creatures.

****

It was the last week of February, and the classwork of all fifth-year subjects began piling up over time. The frequency and depth of assignments only progressed as days went by towards the end of the term. The OWL exams were slotted to start on the first week of June. There were precisely three months for the exams to start, which meant Harry and Daphne had two months to submit their completed project in Ancient Runes. Then, there were all the other preparations for taking the practical tests for the OWL exams, along with the theory part. While practical tests were something Harry was confident he could breeze through, the theory part would need a lot of preparation and effort from his side.

Therefore, Harry took it upon himself to collect all previous question papers from the library and use them as practice tests. While repeated questions were most likely rare, he could familiarise himself with the question pattern. It was not as if there were any significant syllabus revisions for OWL exams in the last hundred years. Madam Pince was kind enough to give him all the copies of the previous OWL exam papers for his chosen subjects.

With most of his time spent on developing lesson plans for the Knights, Harry had to rely a lot on Hermione to tidy up his preparation for taking on the previous OWL question papers. Once he let Hermione know that he planned to study the previous question papers to familiarise himself with the question pattern, Hermione was enthusiastic about taking up a good portion of the effort and improving upon his idea. That was how he ended up facing a large pile of neatly folded solved previous year's question papers in his hands.

“You solved all of them in one week?” Harry asked, staring at Hermione, impressed.

“Well…” Hermione abashedly. “I had Neville’s help for Herbology.”

“I barely helped. She already knew most of the answers.” Neville helpfully added.

“This is surely going to be a lot of help, Hermione. Maybe, we could make several copies and share them with our group. With DADA going to the dogs this year, they’ll need extra help to pass the theory exams. Umbridge’s book is as good as donkey dung.” Harry suggested.

“That’s a good idea. Maybe we could do the same for NEWT-level students as well.” Hermione said excitedly.

Harry exchanged a look with Neville.

“We could perhaps ask NEWT-level members of Knights to pitch in. A joint effort from their end would be much more beneficial.” said Harry to forestall Hermione from taking up NEWT-level coursework when they were already burdened by OWL exams.

Hermione was a little bit let down, but to their relief, she agreed that it’d be better for NEWT students to work out the previous questions themselves.

That day when the sun came down, giving way for the night, Harry pressed his wand against his heart as he always did for the last few months and muttered the incantation; Amato Animo Animato Animagus.

Harry stared at the skies, unimpressed, as there was still no sight of an electrical storm. He felt like it was a giant waste of time to pursue the animagus training. It was simply becoming too much trouble in his eyes.

Therefore, it came as a surprise when Dobby suddenly popped into the Chamber of Secrets late into the night while he was working on the Horcrux spell.

“Master Harry. There is been a storm, sir. Dobby saw it, sir.” Dobby said urgently.

Harry’s eyes widened, and he immediately asked Dobby to take him to the designated spot he had prepared for this eventuality. It was a small spot inside the Forbidden Forest, and Harry immediately put up wards to keep out any unforeseen visitors. Sure enough, Harry could see an electric storm brewing in the sky.

“Kreacher.”

“Master called Kreacher.” the old Black elf croaked, teleporting in with a pop, looking rather annoyed to see Dobby beside him.

“Kreacher, bring me the Mandrake leaf potion Sirius had you keep safe.” Harry ordered.

Kreacher popped away and immediately returned with the potion in hand.

“Thank you. Tell Sirius that I’m drinking the Animagus potion.”

Kreacher popped away, leaving Harry and Dobby in the small clearing.

“Is Harry Potter sir going to drink it, sir?” Dobby asked, looking worriedly at the potion and then at the thundering skies.

Flashes of lightning arced through the night sky while thunder shook the earth. Winds gained speed, and heavy rain began to pour down from the sky.

“Yes, Dobby. I’m going to drink the potion.” said Harry, bringing the potion vial near his lips.

Taking a deep breath, Harry drained the potion in one go. After he ensured that he had drained every last drop of the potion from the vial, Harry dropped the vial. He could feel something shifting within him. His perception was somehow affected as he could feel his natural senses expanding. His ears were getting more sensitive, as was the case for his nose. He was expecting pain, but instead, he felt like he was getting an unholy strength in his limbs.

Raw emotions like the urge to dominate and the feeling of all-encompassing strength dominated his mind and instinct. Suddenly, Harry found himself somehow moving at high speeds. Raw power and speed were what he was feeling at the moment, and these feelings made it difficult for him to concentrate. Trees passed by as Harry waded through the Forbidden Forest as if he owned the place.

At one point, he came across a bunch of giant spiders.

‘Acromantula.’ Harry thought.

He wanted to take out his wand and blast them away, but instead, he opened his mouth and screamed. Or was it a roar?

Harry came to the startling realisation that he was roaring at the spiders, and they were scared right out of their minds. They screeched and ran away as fast as their many legs could carry. He clamped his mouth shut and slowly moved towards a cliff. Bright arcs of lightning could be dancing in the sky, and under a particularly powerful flash of lightning, Harry saw his giant paws and the golden mane on his body.

‘I’m a lion.’ Harry numbly realised.

The skies rumbled with thunder, and Harry roared to the heavens as if challenging the heavens themselves.

 

AN:

 

For artworks: https://discord.gg/Nw2JH25fJf

Chapter 80: A date and the Quidditch cup

Harry felt like he owed Voldemort. The Dark Lord had been a good sport so far and had unintentionally become his training partner in the Mind Arts and other disciplines of magic . The amusing thing was that Voldemort did not even realise he was only strengthening his skills in magic. Over the last few weeks, Voldemort had been desperately trying to infiltrate his mind.

At first, it was just a mere nuisance for Harry. He had even taken it upon himself to combat the Dark Lord in the Mind Arts as a healthy way of practising his Occlumency skills. But Voldemort remained persistent in trying to breach the safeguards Harry placed in his mind. As days went by and Voldemort’s attempts never seemed to be stopping. Harry thought about the possibility of attacking back in the same vein. Harry assumed Voldemort's razor-sharp focus or obsession with gaining control of his mind would open up the Dark Lord’s mind for him.

And Harry was finding out he was not far off from that assumption.

As of late, he had managed to slip unnoticed into Voldemort’s mind whenever the Dark Lord was desperately cramming down visions about the prophecy orb and Department of Mysteries into his mind. The few times he successfully employed Leglimency against Voldemort, he gleaned some helpful information like the current bases of Death Eaters. He also gleaned some useful obscure spells from Voldemort’s mind created by the Dark Lord. He had a feeling they’d come in handy, and he could make some countermeasures now that he knew the spell repository inside Voldemort’s mind.

But the most crucial information he gathered was some of the plans Voldemort was working on. He was amused to find out Voldemort had sent some of his Death Eaters into the Muggle world to track down his relatives to use as hostages. But there were other targets far closer to home, and Harry could not allow that to stand. He had already sent out warnings to Sirius and the Tonks family to look out for certain shady characters. They all mutually decided to leave the matter to Nymphadora, who assured them the Death Eaters would get a straight trip to Azkaban.

Harry was not exactly keyed in on the details, but he was told not to worry too much. He was confident to leave such matters to Nym because she had covered for him during the summer holidays while Dumbledore was snooping around with his big nose. Besides, she was a big girl being an auror and all.

While he left the security of the adults his life to the adults, Harry focused on a more subtle method of waging a shadow war on Voldemort and keeping up his activities in Hogwarts. Between the Quidditch practices, his academic commitments, Horcrux research and training in combat magic, he was nearly stretched thin. At times like these, he felt immensely thankful for the Hogsmeade visits.

“What’re you thinking?” Daphne asked, elbowing him on his ribs.

“Ow! You’re getting abusive these days.” Harry complained, rubbing his side while balefully staring at Daphne.

Daphne, however, remained unimpressed with his attempts at faux intimidation.

“I know that look. You’re planning something in that crooked mind of yours.” Daphne accused, her blue eyes gaining a sharp glint while Harry raised an eyebrow. “Out with it.”

“I was thinking of ways to get you out of those robes.” Harry whispered.

“Oh, really?” Daphne rolled her eyes. “Tell me, what great plans have you come up with this time?”

“You’ll see.” Harry winked, throwing his arm around Daphne’s shoulder as they walked through the busy streets of Hogsmeade on a date.

As usual, their first stop was Honeydukes. Daphne being a chocolate maniac, could not breathe without replenishing her stock of chocolates. Seeing the obsession of Daphne and most witches and wizards for chocolates, Harry was thinking of starting a chocolate-based business. He was not exactly looking to produce new chocolate bars, but something modelled after Starbucks. It’d be a challenge to make the Brits drink anything but tea, but as an ardent coffee enthusiast, he hoped he could ‘save’ the wizarding world from the ‘demonic’ grip of the ‘evil’ tea. Maybe he could somehow spin hot chocolate and coffee as proper ‘wizarding beverages’. While he was not confident in the success of coffee, he was pretty much assured of hot chocolate gaining popularity if there were more chocolate-addicted witches like Daphne around.

After raiding Honeydukes for all kinds of flavours across its many shelves, they were out of the shop. Harry stared at the hairdressing salon across the street from Honeydukes thoughtfully.

“If you want a haircut, I can wait.” Daphne offered.

“No. I think I’ll grow out my hair. Who knows? Maybe my chances with you might improve.” Harry said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“Don’t pin all your hopes on your hair Potter.” Daphne smirked, walking away from the shop with Harry.

“Oh, I won’t. My dashing looks and brilliant mind are enough.” Harry boasted.

Daphne rolled her eyes, but the slight grin adorning her lips showed she was amused by his flirting.

“We’ll see.” said Daphne hummed, bobbing her head.

“I wonder who Neville is bringing to our double date. He has been very secretive,” said Harry as they closed in on Madam Puddifoot’s tea shop. “Could it be Hermione?”

“I don’t think so. Hermione is with Tracey. They’re working on their runes project.” said Daphne.

“Then who could it be?” Harry wondered.

“We’ll find out soon enough.” said Daphne.

When they reached the tea shop, Harry could see it was already filled with more customers.

“After you, my lady.” Harry said, holding out the door for Daphne.

“Why, thank you, sir.” Daphne gracefully walked inside the tea shop.

“Oh, no.” Harry muttered once his eyes fell on Neville and his ‘date’.

“Wow! That’s rather surprising.” Daphne muttered after a moment of stunned silence.

Harry couldn’t agree more with Daphne’s comment as he stared at Neville sitting with Susan Bones. Before he could say anything, Neville noticed him and beckoned him towards the table.

“I don’t think this is such a good idea. What if she’s here to do her aunt’s bidding?” Harry muttered to Daphne.

“What if she isn’t?” Daphne asked back, leaving Harry wordless. “Let’s sit down with them and see where it goes.”

Harry was more than suspicious about Susan’s sudden presence right when the Knights started admitting members from other houses. He had shot down the idea of bringing Susan Bones into the Knights because of her aunt. He didn’t want to give any ammunition to Amelia Bones despite the safety of magical contracts enforcing binding secrecy with penalties on the signatories.

However, Harry gave heed to Daphne’s advice and, against his better judgment, joined Neville and Susan at the table with Daphne by his side.

“Hey, Harry.” Susan greeted him.

Harry merely nodded at the Bones heiress to acknowledge her presence. He could endure sitting with the niece of his political enemy, but that doesn’t mean he had to be friendly until he knew for sure Susan Bones had no ulterior motive.

“This is surely a surprise, Neville. You kept this a secret from us for long enough. So, spill the details.” said Daphne, her eyes shining with excitement.

‘And I thought she was different. Girls, they are all the same.’ Harry thought with a scoff.

Throughout Neville’s tale of running into Susan during the Yule holidays at a private greenhouse in Yorkshire, Harry kept his senses on full alert, focused on Susan for any incongruity. Unfortunately, his magical senses could feel no taint of deceit coming from the younger witch. Using magical sense to discern deception was not exactly a time-tested method, but he tried anyway. Harry remained a passive observer as Neville and Susan engaged with Daphne. He occasionally stepped in to make a comment, but other than that, he preferred to keep mum.

Thankfully, the date finally ended, and they split off from the tea shop.

“You were rude. You could’ve been a little more friendly towards Susan.” Daphne commented as they walked hand in hand along the streets of Hogsmeade.

“She’s the niece of the woman who heads the DMLE. I had to fight tooth and nail to clear Sirius’ name while her aunt was trying to put my Godfather in Azkaban for a crime he didn’t even have a trial for. I think I’m owed a little latitude here, don’t you think?”

“I suppose you attempted to talk to her.” Daphne mused aloud.

“Thank you.” Harry harrumphed.

“I mean. there were many moody grunts, and the largest word you ever said in the conversation was ‘great’. But yeah, you talked.” Daphne deadpanned.

“Are you my girlfriend or Susan Bones’?” Harry asked, not impressed with Daphne.

“I’m debating the merits of that in mind right now.” Daphne shot back.

“Don’t make any hasty decisions. We still have a place to visit, and after that, you can take the decision.” said Harry.

“All right, Potter. Impress me.” Daphne challenged him, and Harry was all for it.

A few minutes later, Daphne looked scared out of her mind at the place they were visiting.

“The whomping willow!” Daphne said incredulously. “That’s your ideal place for our date?”

Harry laughed off the look Daphne was giving him.

“There is no need to worry. The whomping willow won’t attack us. I’ve seen to that.” said Harry, dragging a reluctant Daphne with him.

But Daphne became less worried as the whomping willow did not make any moves to smash them despite getting closer to its base.

“How did you…?” Daphne asked, still looking at the giant branches of the violent tree warily.

“Everyone underestimates my resourcefulness, my love. Well,…except for the Sorting Hat, who thought I’d fit right in with the house of snakes.”

“Wait!” Daphne came to a halt forcing Harry to stop as well. “The Sorting Hat wanted to place you in Slytherin?”

“As a matter of fact, yes. But I talked that dusty old hat out of that particular decision,” said Harry, leading Daphne slowly towards the tree's base.

“Why? You would’ve done great in Slytherin. For Merlin’s sake, you’re even a Parselmouth! You have Slytherin’s gift and his blood.”

“Look at me, Daphne. Do you think I’m anything else but great?” Harry asked with a smirk.

“You arrogant prick.” Daphne hit him on his arm while Harry chuckled.

“Anyway, we are here. Tada!” Harry waved his wand, and the secret entrance at the tree's base became visible before Daphne’s eyes, making her gasp.

Harry had Dobby clear out the entrance and install an ornate door with magical graffiti of a lion, stag, grim and werewolf on the door.

“Welcome to the secret lair of the Marauders.” Harry whispered into a surprised Daphne’s ear.

“You mean this is where your father and Sirius went with Professor Lupin when he transformed?” Daphne asked, looking parts thrilled and surprised.

“Not exactly. This is merely a secret entrance. Our true destination awaits us, my lady.” Harry said with a smirk, offering his hand to a stunned Daphne.

Eyes alight with wonder and joy, Daphne placed her hand in his, and together they traversed through the secret passage beneath the whomping willow. The previously narrow dark corridor filled with roots and soot was now expanded and layered with polished enchanted wood that kept the passage dust free. The whomping willow would also find it hard to penetrate the area with its giant roots, thanks to the enchantments on the wooden floorboards.

“You cleaned this all up for me?” Daphne asked, staring in wonder at the brightly lit corridor.

‘Yeah, let’s call it that and not preserving the legacy of Marauders.’ Harry thought.

“All for you, Daphs.” Harry grinned at her while patting himself on the back for smoothly turning everything to his advantage.

They finally came to the end of the corridor in no time.

“Welcome, to the infamous lair of the Marauders. I give you the Shrieking Shack.” Harry said with a flourish while opening the door for Daphne.

Daphne stepped inside, followed closely by Harry. There were many paintings inside the room, all of them with rare magical creatures in their habitat. There was a wide expanse of a couch and several large cushioned chairs inside the shack. There was even a fireplace inside, and she saw two empty glasses with a bottle of wine on the table.

“So, what do you think?” Harry inquired as he uncorked the wine bottle and poured half a glass into both glasses on the table.

“This is wonderful, Harry.” Daphne said, looking genuinely impressed by the length of detail and preparation Harry took for her.

“Hold your horses, woman. You haven’t seen the main attraction.” said Harry, passing one glass to Daphne while he kept the other.

“There is more?” Daphne asked, her mouth parting in disbelief while a smile threatened to overcome her face.

“You’ll have to finish the wine if you want to see more. And don’t worry. It’s sweet wine.” said Harry, taking a sip and enjoying the delicate taste as it trickled down his throat.

“What else have you planned?” Daphne wondered aloud, making Harry wink at her while he drained the last drops of wine in his glass.

“Finish your wine and find out.” said Harry, setting the empty wine glass down on the table.

Daphne took her sweet time to finish her wine, all the while searching for any hidden surprises. When she couldn’t find any despite her strenuous efforts, Daphne drained the last drops of wine in her glass and set the empty glass o the table.

“Okay. Show me.” Daphne said, finally admitting defeat as she could not find anything.

Harry smirked before rapidly shifting his form. In the blink of an eye, an enormous lion was standing before Daphne. When Harry let out a growl, Daphne screamed and fell back into the couch in fright.

Harry couldn’t help it as he started laughing in his animagus form. The sounds that came from his lion-mouth were indeed strange, but he couldn’t contain his laughter seeing the look on Daphne’s face.

“You… wha...How?” Daphne spluttered as she came face to face with a giant lion whose eyes were a familiar shade of bright emeralds.

It took her a moment to realise Harry had changed into a lion without his wand.

“This is not a self-transfiguration.” Daphne said tentatively, and the lion nodded, making her take a mouthful of air to fill her lungs.

“You’re an animagus!” Daphne exclaimed, looking mighty impressed.

Harry moved forward, startling Daphne, but he merely nuzzled against her with his head. It took Daphne a moment to overcome the surreal experience of a giant lion nuzzling against her hand. Once she recovered, she took off her robes and adjusted herself on the couch so that Harry could lie his head on her lap.

“Well, aren’t you cute li’l cat?” Daphne cooed, scratching Harry’s chin while her hands threaded through his golden mane.

Harry let out a growl in offence, making Daphne jump in her seat.

“Oh, all right. You are a mean mighty lion.” Daphne rolled her eyes.

Harry leaned in more so that he was nudging her abdomen and climbing.

“Bad lion.” Daphne slapped his nose and pinched his ear, making him whine.

“Master Harry. Miss Daphie.”

Harry and Daphne looked to the owner of the sound, who turned out to be Dobby, with a camera in hand.

“Smile.” said Dobby.

Daphne laughed, threw her arms around Harry in his animagus form, and made different poses while Dobby took many photos of them together.

In the end, Harry only got a pyrrhic victory of sorts.

As he promised, Harry made Daphne drop her robes. Unfortunately, Daphne was not willing to drop the dress she was wearing underneath the robes despite his best efforts.

****

The classes continued in earnest while OWL and NEWT students focused more and more on their exams. Despite the exams on the horizon, the attractive activities in Hogwarts did not suffer a bit. The Weasley twins continued to terrorise Hogwarts with their new prank products. Peeves wasted no opportunity to surprise students in the hallways. Even Harry was a victim of a water balloon by Peeves that turned his hair neon green for a whole day.

Voldemort’s desperation and obsession with the prophecy also worked wonders for Harry. The Dark Lord’s arrogance, magical weakness and thanks to the botched-up ritual made it possible for Harry to weaponise their connection in ways he had never dreamed. This left Harry quite pleased, but every day he was carefully building up a niche trap for the Dark Lord. He was waiting for Voldemort to become desperate enough to make an even greater mistake for the final blow.

Even Quidditch practice was going quite well despite Angelina’s worries. To take the pressure from the Gryffindor captain’s shoulders, the Slytherin-Ravenclaw match ended in favour of Ravenclaw, but their points were not enough to be a threat. Cho Chang had captured the snitch early on, defeating Slytherin with an 80-point margin. But Ravenclaw remained in the third spot, although they were shy of twenty points from a tie with Hufflepuff for the second spot. As they had predicted, the match for the Quidditch Cup would be a Hufflepuff-Gryffindor match.

When the last week of April came, fifth years students were required to attend a meeting with their respective heads of house for career guidance. It was supposed to be a session to help the students prepare for their professional careers and get valuable advice or guidance to select their courses in the sixth year. But Harry was already pretty much confident about what he wanted to do.

“Professor.” Harry nodded, sitting across from McGonagall, who looked a tad hesitant and rattled.

Harry could understand why his head of house was behaving that way. They had not talked much after their explosive conversation regarding Colin Creevey.

“Potter. I assume you understand why we are having this discussion.”

“Yes, Professor. You want to give me ‘advice’ on my career prospects.” Harry almost regretted the inflammatory tone he used on the word ‘advice’, but it came out involuntarily.

Thankfully, McGonagall ignored his tone if she picked up on it, and Harry was grateful for that.

“So, what sort of career do you want to pursue, Mr Potter?” asked McGonagall, taking a quill into her hand, ready to scribble something down on parchment.

“My temperament leaves me dispositioned to challenge any authority exerted over me. So, I need a profession where I can grow and be a decision-maker. Therefore, I believe I’ll be pursuing my own business. Should the climate and time be conducive enough, I believe I’ll also be pursuing the post of Minster of Magic.” Harry said confidently, leaving McGonagall to stare at him with a dropped mouth.

McGonagall cleared her throat and regained her composure.

“That’s an ambitious goal.”

“I know.” Harry shrugged.

“There are other options before you. Your father chose to join the aurors. You could also pursue a career in Quidditch. You are more than skilled enough to play the league games, and perhaps you could end up playing for the national team.” McGonagall suggested.

“My father might have preferred to sit far away from the table and unquestioningly take orders. I don’t. As for quidditch, it’s a sport that I enjoy in school. I don’t prefer doing it my whole life. Being a circus monkey for the masses is a waste of time when my skills and energies are better spent elsewhere.” Harry waved his hand dismissively.

“So…business. What sort of business are you looking to start, Mr Potter?” McGonagall asked after a moment of silence.

“Well, I’ve already invested a small amount of gold in a new business, as you might know. I’ve yet to earn back my initial investment, but I believe I’m heading for a good profit margin in the coming years. Other than that, I’m also interested in pursuing chocolate and silk. Honeydukes is the only major provider of chocolates, and I think I can provide some competition in the market.”

“I see. You might be interested to know that Potters made their fortune through potions.” McGonagall said, looking up from her notes.

“I know. Sirius told me.” Harry acknowledged the professor with a nod.

“Well, based on the two fields of business you mentioned, I recommend that you take Charms, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy, DADA and Herbology for your sixth year. Pursuing these subjects to the NEWT level would certainly aid you. However, you must know Professor Snape only allows those with an Outstanding in the OWLs into sixth-year Potions class. Your performance in other subjects is quite consistent.”

“I see. Thank you for informing me, professor.” said Harry.

“Then there is the matter of your entry into politics. No amount of schoolwork would be strictly necessary for the field. But, I’d advise you to give more focus on the History of Magic. No one would ask for grades you scored in school, but it’ll be good to have a lawmaker who knows our past so that they may make better judgements in the present and the future.”

Harry mulled over the advice provided by Professor McGonagall in his head and found it held some substance.

“I’ll keep that in mind, professor.”

“Good. I’d recommend that you continue your current subjects into the next year. Professors Babbling, Flitwick, and Vector have only high praises for you. Ancient runes would hardly be something you’d encounter if you pursued the businesses mentioned. Still, your talent in the subject might give you an opportunity to pursue a business in enchanting or warding in the future. Should you find the subjects too bothersome, you could drop them in your seventh year when you appear for the NEWT exams.”

Harry nodded, and the meeting ended with that last piece of advice.

The very next day, Harry was dressed up in Quidditch robes for the final game of the season. It was the match that’d decide the Quidditch Cup and perhaps settle the House Cup as well. The more points they could shell out, the better the point level would be for Gryffindor.

“All right, everyone. Gather around.” Angelina called, looking confident as she stood on the ground like a lone wolf warrior.

Harry exchanged a smile with Katie.

“Yeah, I’m thinking the same thing, Potter. Now move before she bites our heads off.” Katie pushed him forward.

Harry chuckled but walked towards their captain. The stands erupted in cheers as the Gryffindor team assembled as Angelina requested.

“Look at that! Angelina Johnson is gathering her team for one last bit of talk. Wonder what she is saying to the team. She has had a good season so far. Oliver Wood in female form, some call her.” Lee Jordan enthusiastically shouted for everyone to hear.

“Jordan!” McGonagall warned.

“It’s just locker room talk, professor. Oh, look! The Hufflepuff team is here.” Jordan pointed his hands excitedly.

“I’ll be having some choice words with that guy after the game.” said Angelina, eyeing the commentary box with a fiery look. “Now, I don’t have anything to tell you other than you guys are the best team I could ever ask for. I’m sorry if I was hard on you this year.”

“Oh, Angie. You were not so bad.” Alicia rubbed her friend’s back in support.

“Yeah, Angie. You were like a fairy…”

“A scary fairy with sharp claws and teeth…”

Fred and George snickered as they made their pitch.

“You’ve had your moments, Cap’n. But we wouldn’t have it any other way.” Harry said, giving a thumbs up to Angelina.

“Harry’s right. Look at me. You made me what I am.” said Ron.

“Hey, Angie. You’re the best.” Katie gave a hug to Angelina, who looked like she was about to cry.

“All right, then. It’s time to put our names on that Quidditch Cup. Harry, you ready to settle that score with Diggory?”

“Way ahead of ya on that front. He won’t know what hit him, Cap’n.” Harry gave a salute to Angelina.

“Good. Harry, you don’t have to play interference. Focus on the snitch. The moment you see it, you catch it. We have the advantage in points, and I don’t want to take any risks. End the game as fast as possible. Fred and Goerge, keep the bludgers away from us. Ron, make Hufflepuff chasers cry.” Angelina finished her fiery pep talk.

“The players are now taking their brooms and setting themselves into formations. Hufflepuff and Gryffindor chasers look to take up positions favourable for attack backed up by their beaters. It looks like Cedric Diggory is opting to lend his hand to his chasers, or maybe not. Never know what Diggory would do, but Harry Potter looks like he is hanging out with Ron Weasley near the hoops. Not sure what they’re talking about, but I hope it's some last-minute strategy.” Lee Jordan commented.

Madam Hooch blew the whistle, and the game started off with Fred taking a beating down the bludger against the quaffle, settling the ball safely into Angelina’s safe hands.

“Look at Angelina Johnson go – she’s a pro in evasion tactics.” Lee Jordan claimed from the commentary box.

Sure enough, Harry could see Angelina making a beeline for the Hufflepuff keeper with the quaffle while Fred and George kept the bludgers away from her path. Angelina veered off to the right forcing Hufflepuff keeper Eddy Greaer to mimic her. Unfortunately for Grear, Angelina threw the quaffle behind her straight into Katie’s hands. The Gryffindor stands erupted with cheers as Katie Bell punched the quaffle through the hoop with precision. Lee Jordan was praising Angelina for executing a perfect and timely reverse pass.

Harry meanwhile blocked out the game and went straight down to the ground. He could feel Cedric trailing behind him. Harry picked up the speed as he started a classic spiral dive, one of the manoeuvres used by seekers to catch the snitch in a dive quickly.

“Look at Harry Potter! He is executing a spiral dive to clinch the snitch. Cedric Diggory is right behind his tail.” Lee Jordan shouted off from the commentary box.

Harry made sure to increase his speed slightly, and when he was sure Cedric had fallen right behind him, Harry reached out with his hand as if to catch the snitch.

“Harry Potter is reaching out with his hand. Does he have the snitch?” Lee shouted impatiently.

Harry smiled as he could feel Cedric commit fully to the dive and force his broom to full speed.

With one hand on the broom, Harry pulled out of the dive at the last second. Before the eyes of every student at Hogwarts, he performed a Wronski Feint.

“Would you look at that! Harry Potter has executed a Wronski Feint. But Diggory has managed to stave off the worst by somehow managing to arrest his speed. Still, the Hufflepuff captain looks to have sustained some injury to his leg. A good piece of flying on display by the two seekers.”

Harry turned out what Lee Jordan was saying and focused on the snitch. He blasted off towards the stands, and sure enough, his senses were not failing him. The snitch was hiding right on top of a flagpole. He urged the Firebolt to go faster and tried to snatch the immobile snitch, but it flew away at the last second. Harry didn’t let up on the chase as he quickly manoeuvred his broom after the fleeing snitch. He had to dive underneath Zacharias Smith, who was trying desperately to snatch the quaffle from Alicia. Harry's arrival spooked Smith into giving Alicia to pass the quaffle to Angelina, who scored another goal for Gryffindor.

The screams and shouts from the stands blasted into his ears, but Harry’s eyes were on the snitch. The snitch suddenly came to a halt and dived, forcing Harry to do the same. The snitch came level with the ground, just a few inches above the grass and flew parallel to the floor. Harry was also forced to do the same, pulling out of the dive and getting level just above the ground. He pushed the Firebolt to full speed closing the distance with the snitch fast. When he threw out his arm, he could feel the beating wings of the snitch struggling against his palm.

“I caught you, you troublemaker.” Harry whispered while looking at the snitch, which stopped beating its wings, accepting defeat.

The stands erupted into cheers as Harry raised his fist, showing off the golden snitch in the palm of his left hand.

“He’d done it! Potter has done it. He has got the snitch. Gryffindor wins the match 180-20. Gryffindor wins the Quidditch Cup!” Lee Jordan happily exclaimed, jumping out of his seat and hugging Professor McGonagall.

Harry flew straight towards Angelina and presented her with the snitch.

“I told you we’d win.”

“Yes, you did, Harry.” Angelina smiled and hugged him as the team converged around their captain.

“We won!” Angelina cried. “It was my last game, and we won!”

The group hug lasted quite a while, and Harry had to say it was nice to be on the winning team.

 

AN:

 

For artworks, Discord channel: https://discord.com/invite/XKnmQxeGSu

Chapter 81: Bane

Towards the end of April, a new face joined the Hogwarts staff. A Centaur named Firenze took over some of the classes of Professor Trelawney to the vocal displeasure of said Divination professor. While Professor Trelawney became upset, Firenze was a rave among the students, especially the girls. Not a day goes by without Lavender and Parvati 'secretly' discussing the advantages of having Firenze as their Divination professor and his 'enlightened' ways of approaching the subject.

The rumour was that Dumbledore picked Firenze to replace Trelawney the next year, but Harry knew that would not happen. Professor Trelawney, despite her faults, holds a valuable piece of information somewhere in her head about the prophecy. If she were to leave the protection of Hogwarts, she'd find herself as an esteemed guest of Voldemort. Most likely, the Dark Lord would leave her comatose or straight-up kill her after extracting the prophecy from her mind. It could be argued that the prophecy would remain hidden deep in her soul and shielded from Legilimency, but he was not certain. Prophetic dreams tend to be unpredictable, and he was not certain whether prophecies could be retrieved from the seer after delivery.

‘I suppose that’s why Dumbledore keeps Professor Trelawney in Hogwarts.’ Harry thought.

Not that it bothered Harry. Trelawney and Firenze had nothing to do with him. At least, he thought the two fortune tellers were someone else’s headache until he got a request from Firenze for a meeting. Though initially surprised, Harry was happy enough to meet the famed rebel Centaur, who got expelled from the rest of the Centaur clan and overnight became the focus of gossip in Hogwarts. Besides, he distinctly remembered Firenze was the Centaur that gave Harry a ride out of the Forbidden Forest four years back.

Harry arrived at classroom eleven on the ground floor as requested by Firenze. The door was left wide open, and Harry saw the floor was slightly mossy, and trees were growing out of it. Magical plants of many varieties were thriving inside the room, robbing the previously unused classroom of its dusty aroma. Instead, the room smelled like the Forbidden Forest without all the doom and gloom.

But just as he was about to step into the classroom, he got a sense that he was being watched. Harry paused at the doorway and expanded his senses out of the confines of his body.

“Hmm.” Harry let out a thoughtful hum as his magic returned with interesting results.

Harry carefully stepped into the classroom seeing Firenze leaning against a tree, whispering something against its bark in a language that sounded gibberish to his ears.

“Harry Potter,” the rebel Centaur looked up from whatever he was doing to stare at Harry. “We meet again as it was foretold.”

‘He has all the mysterious vibe going on with his seer talk. He’ll fit in without an issue.’ Harry thought.

“Hi. Welcome to Hogwarts. I hope you had no trouble fitting in.” Harry greeted politely while holding out his hand.

“Thank you. Professor Dumbledore was very accommodating.” said Firenze, shaking Harry's hand while looking at him with his crystal blue eyes.

“You said you wanted to talk to me about something.” Harry went straight to the matter after the pleasantries were out of the way.

“Indeed.” Firenze inclined his white-blonde head. “There is a matter of some importance that you need to convey to your friend Hagrid. He is your friend, is he not?”

“Yes, he is my friend. What did he do?” Harry asked curiously, wondering what sort of trouble Hagrid got himself entangled in this time.

“Just give him a warning Harry Potter. His attempt is not working. It’d be better to abandon it.”

“What’re you talking about?” Harry asked, looking blankly at Firenze.

“I would have warned Hagrid myself, but my interference might exacerbate the problem. My banishment has created tensions in the Forbidden Forest now – Hagrid has enough trouble without a Centaurs’ battle.”

“So, Hagrid is trying to do something to reverse your banishment?” Harry asked curiously.

“No. That’s beyond even Hagrid.” Firenze shook his head.

“Then what is he doing that warrants you asking for my help stopping Hagrid?” Harry asked.

Firenze stared at Harry impassively for a minute before sighing.

“I gave Hagrid my word that I’d never tell another soul what he is doing. I shall not betray his trust. All you need to know is that you need to convince Hagrid of the folly of his current actions. The attempt is not working. Tell him, Harry Potter.”

****

It took Harry a lot of internal searching, but he remembered Hagrid was supposed to have brought his Giant half-brother to the Forbidden Forest. He had all but forgotten about that particular can of worms. Interestingly though, he had yet to run into the Giant on his many trysts in the Forbidden Forest for training with his animagus form.

He suspected Dumbledore must’ve somehow shielded Hagrid’s half-brother from the four senses of all creatures. That was the only reason he could come up with for a Giant going unnoticed when he was in his animagus form.

Harry didn’t immediately spring the discovery on Hagrid as he was a bit engaged with schoolwork and the many sessions of the Knights. While the pressure of the Quidditch Cup was now off his shoulders, the pressure of exams came like a ton of bricks. Not to mention, Harry had to juggle his attention between schoolwork, the classes of the Knights, and somehow keeping it together every day to face off against Voldemort’s mental intrusions.

Of all the most exhausting activities, the lion’s share of stress came from the training he was giving to the Knight. Of late, Neville had requested more advanced training that was geared to employ defence and offensive magic. Once Harry decided to give those extra lessons, he thought to expand beyond Neville. He ended up roping in the Weasley twins, Hermione, Tracey, Daphne, Luna, Ginny, Ron and Katie, into what he called the Accelerated Knightly Course, which focused solely on offensive magic. There was, however, an advantage in giving special lessons to a select group. He could delegate a lesson to Neville, Hermione, Katie or the Weasley twins, while Harry could take a day off.

But ever since March began, he let the offensive magic some rest and instead focused on teaching the Patronus charm to the group. While he saw no immediate use for the group in learning the Patronus charm, he knew the strategic advantage of sending quick messages was quite useful.

In the worst-case scenario, his friends could call in help using the charm.

“I still don’t understand why you insist on asking us to focus on the modified Patronus charm. I mean, won’t it be more useful if we learned to use the Patronus charm to chase away the Dementors?” asked Hermione.

Harry had to admit Hermione had mad skills when it came to mastering magical spells. Therefore, it was no surprise to see Hermione managing to conjure a corporeal Patronus before anyone else.

“Because communications is a vital part of warfare. It doesn’t matter how powerful an army is because defeat is certain when its lines of communication are compromised,” said Harry, watching the ethereal otter Hermione created dance around the room. “The only way to confirm that you can create a Patronus in the presence of a Dementor is to try and create one in the presence of that creature. Since we don’t have a Dementor lying around to test your skill, I suggest you run away rather than confront a Dementor.”

“Running away does not sound like the bravest thing to do.” Neville complained, a look of concentration on his face as he tried to make a corporeal form out of the sliver vapour that was coming out of the tip of his wand.

“In a war, the focus must be on winning the war, not the battles. That’s why Dumbledore and the Ministry failed the last time. They obsessed over each battle and nearly lost the war. I’ll not make the same mistake.” said Harry.

“Winning battles is important, Harry.” said Ginny, looking slightly out of breath.

“Important, yes. But not necessary for winning the war. On the other hand, strategic retreats allow you to recoup losses, strategise, make the enemy overextend, and set traps – the possibilities are endless.”

“Still, what’s the point of learning the Patronus charm if we are not going to use it against the Dementors?” Ron complained, looking grouchy and sweating as only small wisps of silver vapour came out of his wand despite his best efforts.

Harry hadn’t really wanted to include Ron in the group, but he was present, thanks to Hermione. Hermione had come to terms with Ron and tried to rekindle their friendship. But Harry didn’t take in Ron solely because of that. The Weasley family was already a target for Voldemort. Therefore, he thought it’d be better for the Weasleys if Ron had more combat training.

“What’s the point of throwing your life away meaninglessly for the sake of pride?” Daphne asked tacitly, and that made everyone fall silent.

“Self-confidence is necessary for war, but overconfidence is fatal. The Death Eaters fight for personal glory because that elevates them in the eyes of Voldemort. Our strategy should be to use that against them. Use teamwork to take out the Death Eaters rather than fight for pride or glory. That’s why communication and retreats are important. If you can’t work as a team, I can’t tell you about the plan to expose Voldemort.”

“What exactly are you planning, Harry?” Hermione asked, dismissing the Patronus charm to look at him curiously.

“I’ll tell you when I think you’re ready. For now, the plan remains a secret between a select few,” said Harry, his eyes finding George and Fred, who were snickering at Hermione’s annoyed look.

The Weasley twins laughed at something they muttered amongst themselves, and together, they cast the Patronus charm. Two magpies formed from silver vapour galloped out of the twins’ wands, catching everyone’s attention.

“Well done, Fred, George.” Harry clapped.

“The trick is to think of a happy memory and allow joy to permeate every inch of your body.” Harry reminded everyone.

“I don’t think I can do it, Harry.” Neville said, dropping his shoulders as his attempt to cast the spell failed for the umpteenth time.

“It is no easy spell to perform. Most grown wizards are unable to perform the spell. Trust me; the spell does not require great magical power to perform. It depends on your ability to be happy.”

“But happiness cannot be created on a whim.” Neville argued, frustration evident on his face.

Harry felt some pity for his friend. He understood Neville was tackling everything with brute force because of his singular focus on the Lestrange brothers and Bellatrix. Neville’s motivation to train stemmed from his desire to kill or punish the Lestranges for what they did to his parents. Harry walked towards Neville and took him to a corner of the room.

“Vengeance is a powerful motivator, Neville. But not all magic can be learned because of your burning hatred for Bellatrix and the Lestrange brothers.” Harry whispered.

“You know?” Neville asked, his eyes widening slightly as Harry nodded.

“I know enough.” said Harry, patting his friend on the shoulder. “I also know there is more than just vengeance in your mind, Neville. If I can perform the Patronus charm, then you can definitely perform it with ease. You just need to find the right memory buried deep in your…”

Harry trailed off as an idea came to him.

“Do you trust me?” Harry asked Neville.

“Of course I do.”

“Do you trust me enough to let me inside your mind?” Harry asked.

Neville took a moment to think before nodding.

“All right. This might make you feel a little uncomfortable but keep looking into my eyes.” said Harry before diving into Neville’s mind using Legilimency.

Harry was initially bombarded with many memories that reeked of strong negative feelings. He could feel rage as he saw Neville reading the Prophet about the escape of the Death Eaters from Azkaban. The image of a witch sporting a deranged look assaulted him. Harry had to forcibly push away all the negativity he was being bombarded with inside Neville’s mind, and instead, he began actively searching for memories with a more positive vibe. Harry searched for what seemed forever until he stumbled upon a piece of memory buried deep in Neville’s mind.

‘This is it.’ Harry thought, tugging the memory out so that Neville could feel it and see in his mind.

It was the memory of a young Neville visiting his parents in St. Mungo’s hospital on his birthday. Despite their mental impairment, Alice and Frank Longbottom had somehow managed to make a hat in the image of a dragon for Neville’s birthday. Neville had been so happy that day as he thought his parents were slowly recovering.

Harry pulled out of Neville’s mind, and he saw his friend with tears running down his eyes.

“That was on my seventh birthday. I had forgotten about that day.” said Neville.

“It’s the curse of human existence to place despair before hope. But all hope is not lost. If magic caused your parents to suffer, magic can heal them.” said Harry.

“It has been so long, Harry. Everyone says it's impossible.” Neville shook his head, rubbing the tears from the corner of his eyes lest someone else saw him.

“Everyone thought the Killing curse could not be stopped. My mother stopped it and made it so that the curse bounced back on the Dark Lord when he tried to kill me. Magic is the art of mastering impossibilities.”

“Are you saying, my father and mother…”

“Yes, they can be cured one day. I think I might know someone who can help us better than the healers of St Mungo’s hospital.” said Harry, squeezing Neville’s shoulder.

“You’re not just saying that to… you know… are you?” Neville breathed out slowly, overcome with emotion.

“If death can be defended, then anything is possible with magic.” Harry said confidently, patting his friend on the shoulder. “Trust me. Now, try the spell again with the essence of the memory in your mind.”

Neville closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly he raised his wand after taking a moment.

“Expecto Patronum.”

A brilliant white light exploded from Neville’s wand, making Harry smile.

“Okay. Now, that’s a start.” Harry muttered.

When the lesson finally ended, Harry was in a good mood and fired up. While he had ended up possibly shouldering one more herculean task on his shoulders, he was pretty much happy to pursue this one with zealotry. Neville was a good friend, and the Longbottoms were some of the bravest people he knew. He thought they deserved better, and he was pretty sure he was already close to coming into possession of an object that could heal the Longbottoms and even the blood curse afflicting the Greengrass family. Not to mention, he had access to an ancient alchemist. Surely, Perenelle Flamel could be of some use in healing the Longbottoms.

The good mood that he was in also made Harry decide to approach Hagrid.

So, the moment everyone safely returned to their dorms, Harry used the Marauders’ map to chart a safe path towards Hagrid’s hut. But when he reached the hut, Hagrid was nowhere to be found. This led Harry to track Hagrid using his sensory abilities.

However, it was taking too much time. Therefore, he took off into the air changing his body into sparkling grey mist. He knew Hagrid wouldn’t leave a Giant in the Centaur or Acromantula territory. That would cause a war in the Forbidden Forest, inevitably ending in Hagrid’s brother’s death. So, Harry went straight for the portion of the Forbidden Forest that was relatively ‘neutral’ territory. And that’s when Harry came across a few uprooted trees.

He immediately knew he was getting closer, so Harry climbed down a few notches from his position. His search finally yielded a result when Harry came across the prone form of a giant. Harry immediately dropped down a few meters from the sleeping giant. To his relief, he also found Hagrid not far from the sleeping giant.

“So, this is the big secret you’ve been hiding.” Harry said, walking into the small clearing where Hagrid had lit a small fire to keep himself warm.

“Wha..? Harry! How?” Hagrid spluttered.

“Firenze asked me to pass on a message to you, ‘The attempt is not working’. He was quite insistent on being cryptic but knowing you, I guessed it had something to do with a magical creature.” said Harry, waving his wand, transfiguring a pebble into a chair which he used to sit down close to the fire Hagrid made.

“His name is Grawp. He is ma’ brother. He was bein’ bullied by the others. I couldn’t leave ‘im with those giants…” Hagrid trailed off.

“I understand. He is family – your brother.” Harry nodded.

“Yeah… Grawp is family. Ol’ mum didn’t like him much more’n she like me. Giantesses want good big kids, and Grawp, he’s a runt compared to other Giants – only sixteen foot…” Hagrid trailed off miserably, shooting a pitying look at his snoring brother.

“Have you tried to find him a home somewhere else, Hagrid? The Forbidden Forest is home to many other magical races. Won’t they object to his presence? If the Ministry gets wind of a giant so close to Hogwarts, you can imagine what they’ll do to him.” said Harry.

“I know. With that woman searching fer’ summat’ to blame Dumbledore, Grawp is in danger. But I don’t know where ter’ move him, Harry.” Hagrid said helplessly.

“Don’t worry, Hagrid. We’ll figure something out.” Harry said.

“Do you want ter’ meet him? I’ve been trying ter’ teach him a bit of English, but – it’s been difficult, you see.”

“Perhaps another day, Hagrid. I don’t want to disturb Gwarp in his sleep.” Harry said immediately before Hagrid poked at a sleeping Giant.

“Oh! All right then. Let’s go back, and you need ter’ get back ter’ yer’ bed, Harry.” said Hagrid, shouldered his crossbow and led Harry out of the Forbidden Forest on foot.

“How did yeh’ even find me?” Hagrid asked as they struggled to walk through a sea of thick knotgrass on the forest floor.

“You’re not the only one who knows their way around in the Forbidden Forest.” said Harry.

“Wait!” Hagrid suddenly said, pausing midway while taking out his crossbow.

Harry armed himself with his wand as his ears also picked up on movements in the darkness of the forest.

“I thought we made it clear you are not welcome in our lands, Hagrid.” said a deep male voice from the darkness of the night.

Harry saw a man’s naked torso coming from behind a pine tree. The chestnut body of the horse attached to the man’s torso exited the shade of the tree, making Harry frown as he searched for the rest of the Centaur clan. The Centaur had high cheekbones and flowing black hair that swayed in the wind.

‘If Parvati and Lavender were here, they’d swoon over the Centaur.’ Harry thought amusedly.

“How are yeh, Magorian?” Hagrid asked warily, his eyes looking searchingly at the edges of the line of trees behind the Centaur.

The bushes around Harry and Hagrid rustled as more Centaurs surrounded them. Harry eyed each of the faces, some familiar to him. However, the only one he knew was Bane, the black-bearded mean-looking Centaur who sported a cruel look on his face.

“I hope you remember what we agreed to do if this human set foot on our grounds again?” Bane asked gleefully, looking at Magorian.

“All I did was stop yeh’ lot from killing a friend.” Hagrid growled at Bane.

“Then you should have made better friends than consorting with traitors, Hagrid. Our ways and laws are ours to uphold and defend. Firenze betrayed our ways and dishonoured us.” said Magorian.

“I dunno how yeh’ worked that out, Magorian,” Hagrid growled. “He’s done nothing wrong except help Albus Dumbledore…”

“Ha! Firenze swore to be a servant of humans. There is no greater betrayal, no greater shame.” a grey-haired Centaur said.

“Servitude!” Hagrid said angrily, affronted at the very notion. “He’s doin’ Dumbledore a favour…”

“He’s selling out our knowledge and secrets to unworthy humans in that school of yours. There is no greater crime than this.”’ Magorian said gravely.

“If that’s your problem, I could arrange for the knowledge of wizards to be transferred to the Centaurs living in the Forbidden Forest.” Harry offered.

“Do not speak in our presence, boy!” Bane snarled, moving a few steps forward threateningly with a bow in hand. “You have probably profited from our knowledge…”

Harry transformed into his lion form and roared with full might, surging forward. With a swift swipe of his paw, he disarmed Bane. The dark bow in Bane’s hand smashed against the bark of a tree, and Harry growled threateningly at the Centaur, making Bane stumble back in fear.

Harry swiftly changed back into his human form as he took note that bows were being trained on him. Harry flicked his wand, and a bubble of protective shield converged around Hagrid and himself.

“Speak to me like that again, and your friends will be making funeral arrangements for you, Bane.” Harry said in a deceptively cold tone, directing his intent through his flaring magical power.

“We do not harm the young. Stand down.” Magorian said forcefully.

The Centaurs lowered their bows and took a few steps back, and Harry followed suit by cancelling the shield.

“I also have a policy of not spilling the blood of magical creatures if possible. But I’m contemplating whether I can exclude morons from that policy.”

“You human…” Bane growled.

“Bane!” Magorian warned.

“Come on, Harry. We’ve seen enough of these stubborn ol’ mules.” Hagrid growled, moving away from the Centaurs with Harry closely trailing behind.

“We know your secret, Hagrid. This is no place for that thing.” Magorian shouted at them, as the Centaurs slowly withdrew from the forest. “Our patience grows thin every day.”

“Yeh’ll learn to tolerate ‘im.” Hagrid yelled back.

“Bunch of stubborn ol’ mules.” Hagrid growled under his breath before turning on Harry with a proud look.

“Yeh learned ter’ become an animagus like...”

“Yeah.” Harry nodded with a grin. “Keep that a secret, though. I have not registered with the Ministry yet.”

“Just like James and Sirius, then. Yer secret is safe with me, Harry.” Hagrid promised jovially.

“Unless, of course, someone offers you a dragon egg.” Harry teased, making Hagrid laugh.

“Hey, Hagrid. I think we should use a code word when we are talking about Grawp.” Harry suddenly said.

“Code word?” Hagrid looked in askance at Harry.

“Yes. Something that’d make others think we are not talking about your brother.”

“Oh! I suppose that’s smart with that woman breathing down our necks.” Hagrid nodded in understanding. “So, what word are we going to use?”

“We can use Bane. It’ll be the perfect cover. Even if someone overhears our conversation, they’ll find out we were talking about the Centaur Bane rather than Grawp.” Harry suggested with a secretive smile on his lips that Hagrid totally missed.

“That’s brilliant, Harry.” Hagrid beamed.

****

Weeks passed in a blur, and the OWLs and NEWTs exams arrived with the advent of June. Most students were running around like headless chickens as they took on the exams, but one particular student was under Dolores Umbridge’s keen observation.

It was none other than Harry Potter.

The Potter boy had once again become the talk of the castle with his supposedly stellar performance of magic. The examiners from the Ministry were all praises for the boy’s skill in magic, especially Madam Marchbanks. The old stooped witch looked a few decades younger after overseeing Harry Potter’s practical tests in DADA, Charms, Transfiguration and Ancient Runes. Dolores had to endure hours of praise heaped on the Potter boy from the examiners. The Hogwarts staff were only too happy to pitch in, exalting the boy as if he was Merlin reincarnate.

But Dolores was the only one who knew what the boy was planning. No amount of praise and smokescreen could keep her eyes from finding out the truth. Her patience had borne fruit, and just like she predicted, Harry Potter had slipped up with the OWLs exam. She had been secretly following Harry Potter for months and keeping watch on every move the boy was making.

It was by luck that she chanced upon the boy's conversation with his friends about a ‘Bane’. She knew something dangerous was happening, and her instincts were later proven correct. Dolores had secretly followed Potter and found out he was having regular meetings with Firenze and Hagrid. Once she learned that, she had Filch keep tabs on the activities of Hagrid and Firenze.

That was how she learned to suspect Potter was somehow building up an army of Centaurs to overthrow the Ministry. Filch had reported to her about a Centaur named ‘Bane’ living in the Forbidden Forest who was antagonistic towards wizards. From the many conversations she had overheard between Potter and Hagrid, this ‘Bane’ sounded dangerous. They often talked about Bane being too strong and angry at not being allowed to attack someone. She had a feeling it was the Ministry they were talking about. She suspected Dumbledore was building an army with Potter’s help to overthrow the Ministry. She came to that conclusion when she overheard Potter talking about secretly moving ‘Bane’ to a location under the Minstry’s nose.

But she didn’t act immediately. She still needed to catch Potter in the act to prove the boy’s criminal activities to the Ministry. Therefore, she waited patiently for the right moment, and when she got word from Filch that the Potter boy was again on the move right after the OWLs were finished, she thought this was the time to act. Dumbledore and the rest of the staff were busy seeing off the Ministry delegation while she made her move to catch Potter.

She secretly followed Potter under an invisibility cloak as he entered the Forbidden Forest. It was challenging to keep track of the boy, but she somehow managed to move through the forest floor undetected despite the impediments along the way. She didn’t know how much time had passed, but finally, Potter stopped near an uprooted tree. Dolores moved closer to see what made Potter stop, but her breath hitched when she saw a Giant.

‘Potter is planning on unleashing the Giants against the Ministry?’ Dolores thought incredulously.

She suddenly remembered reading a story about a clan of Giants getting wiped out in the Prophet.

‘That must have been a hoax orchestrated by Dumbledore and Potter. They have transported the Giants secretly to the Forbidden Forest to launch an assault on the Ministry. The Centaurs must also be their allies, and they might be helping Potter and Dumbledore to move the Ginats undetected to and from the forest.’ Dolores reasoned.

“Your plans won’t work, Potter. Everything ends now.” Dolores muttered under her breath as she took careful aim with her wand.

With glee, Dolores released the spell aiming for Harry Potter’s back.

“Stupefy.”

However, her glee fell apart, giving way to confusion as the red bolt of magic passed harmlessly through Potter’s body. Suddenly, her whole perception changed as the Harry Potter standing before her eyes vanished, and so did the trees and the Giant.

“I’ve always believed that misdirection is a basic concept of magic.” a voice whispered succinctly behind her. “Too bad Hogwarts never bothers to teach that concept to its students. I’ve found it to be extremely effective and rewarding.”

Her wand was wrenched away from her hands, and she found herself hung upside down by her ankles. The invisibility cloak draped around her body vanished, and she looked fearfully into the twin glowing orbs that were Potter’s eyes.

“Potter you…”

With a flick of Potter’s wand, Dolores found herself unable to utter a single syllable.

“I think I’ve heard enough from you, Dolores Umbridge. All your life, you’ve been nothing but a waste and pain to society at large. Tonight, you are going to be extremely useful for Wizarding Britain. Take comfort in that because you will be in a world of pain.” Harry Potter said before darkness claimed her whole.

 

AN:

 

For artworks, Discord channel: https://discord.com/invite/XKnmQxeGSu

Chapter 82: Department of Mysteries

Harry walked deep into the Forbidden Forest, crossing into Acromantula territory with Umbridge floating by his side. The Horus glasses allowed him to see the giant spiders, keeping their many eyes trained on him from all directions. There were many spiders quietly moving into position above him on the branches of the trees, readying themselves to jump on him from their webs.

A brave Acromantula, the size of a bulldog, jumped on Umbridge but was repelled away by the protective bubble flaring up at the last moment. The giant spider screeched in pain as it violently smashed into the ground, kicking up sand and dust. It thrashed on the ground indignantly at being denied its prey and snapped its pincers at him menacingly.

“Shush now, little spider. I’ve come here to speak with Aragog. Now, be a good lad and tell the fellow Harry Potter has come to see him.” Harry made a shooing motion at the spider, which only made it more mad.

Two Acromantulas tried to take him from his back, but Harry was already aware of the two. Swiftly turning on his heels, Harry let loose two consecutive blasting curses that made the two giant spiders smash into trees. They fell down with a few legs broken, whimpering and screeching in pain.

“Now, don’t be like that. This won’t be like the last time, you little buggers. I’ll have you all burned to ashes if you don’t behave.” Harry shouted, but many more screeches and menacing clicking of pincers filled the air.

“All right, you little buggers. You only understand one language. Power!” Harry scowled, raising his wand above his head as he gathered his magic for a spell.

“Torrens Incendio.”

Bright red flames blasted out of his wand, saturating the air with heat. Long tongues of fire snaked out and lashed against the hairy beasts, leaving searing gashes on its body. The smart ones in the lot fled as soon as heat bared down upon them, while the idiotic ones tried to kill him straight-up. Harry burned them without remorse, but he made sure not to kill them. He also had to cover himself and Umbridge under the bubble head charm as the heat made breathing harder.

“Stop!”

A loud voice shouted from the darkness, making the Acromantulas surrounding Harry suspend their activities. They screeched but fell back quickly, giving Harry space. After ensuring the spiders had withdrawn, Harry withdrew the fire into his wand, keeping the shield and bubble head charm intact. Slowly, Harry walked forward with an unconscious Umbridge floating behind him until he came across a steep slope leading to a large clearing. The sky could be seen clearly, with twilight slowly passing to welcome the night and the stars covering the sky's expanse.

“You…I should know you. Your smell is familiar.” Aragog spoke from the giant cocoon of webs that covered the gigantic Acromantula.

Harry stared at the elephant-sized Acromantual for a moment in stunned silence. The grey hairy legs, a giant dome for a head with many large milky-white eyes and the pincers the size of an elephant’s tusks made Harry uneasy. He tightened his hold on his wand as he walked a few steps forward.

“I’m Harry Potter. I’ve come to speak to you with a mutually beneficial proposition, Aragog.” said Harry.

“Harry Potter? Ah, yes. I remember now. You are Hagrid’s friend.” Aragog rumbled.

“Yes. We met two years back.” Harry said frostily.

“Ah, yes. My sons and daughter were disappointed indeed. Very disappointed. We rarely get fresh meat of a wizard.” Aragog said fiercely.

The spiders surrounding Aragog clicked their pincers menacingly, agreeing with Aragog.

“And that’s what I can offer you, Aragog. I can offer you a steady supply of delicious flesh from wizards and magical creatures. Your family can feast on fresh blood and flesh to their heart's content.” Harry said silkily, ensuring his voice reached the many spiders surrounding Aragog.

Harry could see the chatter among the Acromantula clan pick up. But any conversation was difficult to follow because of their constant snapping of pincers.

“Oh! You want to give my family flesh from your own kind. Why?” Aragog asked warily.

“There is going to be a war among the wizards. There’ll be many dead wizards, and I suppose there is also something that I want from your family.”

“What is that?” Aragog asked, intrigued by the wizard’s offer and information about a war among the wizards.

“Acromantula silk. I’ll give you fresh meat, and you’ll pay me ten times the weight in silk.” Harry offered.

“Ha!” Aragog chuckled. “Do you take me for a fool, Harry Potter? I know the worth of our silk amongst your kind.”

“And I know that your family likes to hunt. I’ll make sure to deliver them alive with their magic bound. That’s my final offer. Take it or leave it.”

The excited chatter from the Acromantula clan surrounding Aragog filled the clearing. Harry got the feeling that the offer of hunting wizards or magical creatures excited the giant spiders.

“I even have the first shipment for your children to enjoy.” said Harry, pointing his wand at the floating prone form of Umbridge.

The chatter only increased among the Acromantula as their eager eyes were suddenly trained on Umbridge.

“You drive a hard bargain, Harry Potter. But my family seems interested in what you offer.” Aragog rumbled.

Harry floated Umbridge away from the protective shield surrounding him. But he kept her at a sufficient height, making the Acromantula clamour beneath her, eager to get their pincers around Umbridge.

“You are the elder of your family. You make the decision, Aragog. Your family awaits your word.” said Harry, standing back and watching the pressure mounted on the old Acromantula.

“All right then, Harry Potter. We have an accord.” the giant spider rumbled after a moment of consideration.

“Good.” Harry smiled, rennervating Umbridge from the suspended animation before dropping her on her ass.

Umbridge fell on the ground, wandless and without any means to fight back. The Undersecretary of Minister for Magic screamed as she was picked up by an Acromantula by her waist using its pincers, keeping her upside down.

“No! Release me. I’m the Undersecrataeeeeeyyyyyyy!”

“She’ll be a bit handful, but I believe your family will enjoy feasting on her flesh.” Harry turned away from the screaming Umbridge, who was carried away into the darkness of the forest by several eager Acromantula.

“I believe we shall, Harry Potter. Now then, as a sign of goodwill, you may take our silk as much as you need.” Aragog said, a tad upbeat.

“Kreacher.” Harry called, and the old elf teleported to his side immediately. “Take the silk, but make sure you only take ten times the weight of Umbridge.”

“Yes, master.” Kreacher popped away.

Harry was gearing up to ask Sirius to transfer Kreacher to his custody. The old elf of the Blacks enjoyed working on shady deals like this and was an expert in extracting useful parts from magical creatures. Dobby and Winky were his good pals, but they were a little squeamish after he employed their aid in gunning down the inner circle Death Eaters of Voldemort. They’d oblige any order he gave them, but he knew they didn’t enjoy work of shady nature, and therefore, he chose to leave them out of this deal. Kreacher, on the other hand, approved such business deals that harm others.

According to Kreacher, his ‘Black blood was showing’ by making these deals. Kreacher’s passion for being a Black elf might actually keep the little guy from agreeing to work for him on a more permanent basis. Harry kept those thoughts away and focused on the milky white eyes of Aragog.

“I needn’t tell you that our arrangement remains a secret even from Hagrid.” Harry reminded the giant spider.

“Of course, I know.” Aragog grumbled.

“Good. If someone were to know of our arrangement, your meat supply would end, and I’d be forced to act against you.” Harry threatened, only to receive an amused chuckle in return from Aragog.

“You…?” Aragog laughed. “You think you can threaten me, Harry Potter?”

“Threaten? No, not at all. It was a promise.” said Harry, unleashing bright torrents of fire that formed a cocoon around Harry and spread out into the Acromantula colony.

The heat and light created by the spell kept the smaller Acromantula away until Harry had Aragog surrounded in a ring of fire.

“You should know that the Harry Potter you knew three years back is not the same Harry Potter that stands before you. Keep that in mind, Aragog.” Harry warned before cancelling the fire and restoring the whole area with a simple flick of his wand.

Kreacher returned to his side carrying a large bundle of Acromantula silk.

“Kreacher has the silk, young master.” Kreacher muttered, shooting nasty looks at the spiders.

“Thank you, Kreacher. Keep it safe.” said Harry.

Kreacher nodded before popping away.

“I hope you heed my warning, Aragog. For your and your family’s sake, I hope we remain on good terms.” said Harry before assuming his spectral form and flying away.

Harry appeared near the edge of the Forbidden Forest before calling Dobby.

“Master Harry, What be Dobby do’s for you, sir?” Dobby happily asked, bouncing on his feet in excitement.

“Hey, Dobby. I need you to do what we discussed in Umbridge’s room. Pack everything, but only take the essential things with you. Take care not to leave a trace or someone from seeing you.” Harry ordered.

The plan was to make it look like Umbridge ran away trying to escape the Ministry enquiry. A few features in the Prophet should neatly tie up any loose ends, and the Ministry would soon leave Umbridge alone as they’d have bigger fish to fry soon enough.

“Dobby be’s doing that, sir.” said Dobby before popping away.

With Dobby gone, Harry was about to check the Marauders’ Map to sneak back into the castle, but he was suddenly bombarded by visions of Sirius and Andromeda Tonks getting tortured by Voldemort in the Ministry. He even saw the door leading to the Department of Mysteries clearly in the visions before it abruptly cut off.

“Winky.” Harry called, and Winky popped into existence before him within the blink of his eyes.

“Master, what can Winky do for you?”

“Tell Sirius that the game is afoot for the prophecy orb. He’ll understand what to do next.”

“As you wish, Master Harry.” Winky said before popping away.

Harry immediately took out the locket secured on a chain around his neck. Pressing the tip of his wand against the locket, Harry reached out to a select group of friends and sent a message. After that, Harry went to the Seventh floor and opened the Room of Requirement. The room connected itself to the secret spots inside the common rooms so his friends could walk in as usual during a Knights’ meeting.

“It’s happening. Voldemort has sent his Death Eaters into the Ministry.” Harry said once all his friends arrived.

“You never explain why You-Know-Who would send his followers to the Ministry and wait for you, Harry.” said Tracey.

“Because the Department of Mysteries holds a prophecy orb that foretold the fall of Voldemort. Voldemort never heard the full contents of the prophecy last time. He heard a portion of it and thought to eliminate me, and you know what happened next.” Harry explained.

“So, he wants to know the full content of the prophecy because he is afraid of you. He fears you more than he fears Dumbledore.” Daphne said, a strange gleam in her eyes as she stared at Harry like she saw him for the first time.

“Well… I call it Potterphobia.” Harry shrugged.

“Wrackspurts. My father wrote a feature on what ails the Dark Lord after the war. Wrackspurts are turning his brain fuzzy.” Luna said dreamily, her pale blue eyes gleaming with a subtle hint of mirth.

“It might as well be the case, Luna.” Harry said fondly, trying his best not to laugh at the notion that some invisible magical creature was making Voldemort bad by buzzing through his ears.

Clearing his throat, Harry addressed the rest of his friends.

“Anyway, Voldemort is sitting back in his abode, waiting for the Death Eaters to capture me while I lift the prophecy orb from the shelf. Before you ask, all prophecies in the Department of Mysteries can only be safely taken by the people the prophecy mentions.”

“So…what’s our plan? Tell on the Death Eaters to Dumbledore and the aurors?” Ron asked eagerly.

“No. Capturing Death Eaters won’t do the trick. I have two plans. The twins already helped me set up Plan A. That plan hopes to capture Voldemort alive and throw his physical body into the Veil of Death in the Department of Mysteries. No one has survived an execution through the Veil, and I’m hoping the Dark Lord won’t be able to resurrect himself if his body and soul are trapped behind the Veil.”

Harry took a deep breath and immediately continued before anyone could interrupt him.

“Plan B kicks in if our plan to incapacitate Voldemort fails. It means I’ll have to fight him face to face in a straight magical duel on even terms.”

“But Harry… Voldemort is too dangerous. You said it yourself; he has got a body now and had a year to get familiar with his new body. What if he…” Hermione trailed off, looking fearfully at him.

“He won’t. He’s not the only one who has grown over the last year, Hermione.” said Harry, his eyes holding firm as he believed he had sufficient skill on his side and half the battle was always keeping the battlefield in his favour.

“However, a word of warning to everyone. If you want to be a part of this, you’ll strictly follow my instructions and never try to make a go at the Dark Lord. Even if you see me getting overwhelmed or injured by the Dark Lord, you’ll not come between us. Your sole focus will be on the Death Eaters. Am I understood?”

Harry looked at each of his friends assembled in the RoR. Katie, Luna, Hermione, Neville, Ron, Ginny, George, Fred, Tracey, Daphne, Cedric Diggory and Barbara Collins stood facing him, ready to embark on a perilous journey. Cedric and Barbara Collins were last-minute additions, and he wanted to keep them as a backup. Cedric, being Head Boy and a fellow Champion last year, made the guy one of the most skilled wizards in the group. Barbara’s knowledge of the Dark Arts was impeccable, and Harry was quite satisfied with her performance in the Knights. Not to mention, Barbara was also the Head Girl, which gained her a lot of freedom to act within Hogwarts to cover for Daphne and Tracey.

“Okay. Now, explain your plan, Potter. Let’s see whether you need the help of a Slytherin in your Gryffindorish plan.” Tracey said, looking rather excited.

“Give me five minutes of your time. I’ll be accepting your apologies after that.” Harry said confidently, grinning at Tracey.

****

“Is everyone clear on the plan?” Harry asked one last time after explaining everything in detail.

It was not a complicated plan per se. He had built-in safeguards for keeping everyone safe and sound with the help of the Weasley twins and Sirius. Besides, he had rained them all for their roles during the many training sessions. Of course, he hadn’t explained the plan to any of them during those sessions, but they were pretty much ready.

Seeing that no one had anything to say, Harry decided to proceed.

“All right. Follow me.” Harry led them to the corner of the RoR and yanked open a red door. “After you.”

Harry was the last to step into the secret tunnel, and together, they slowly walked the length of the secret passage until they found themselves facing a ladder leading them to a small wooden hatch. One by one, they climbed the ladder and found themselves behind some trees in the Forbidden Forest. Dobby, Winky and Kreacher were waiting for them with all the essentials Harry’s group needed for the mission that lay ahead.

“Everyone, you’ll be using these cloaks for the mission ahead. They are made from Basilisk skin. If, for some reason, you cannot conjure a shield, use the cloak to protect yourself from enemy spells.” said Harry, as Dobby and Winky handed everyone cloaks made of the gleaming green scales of a thousand-year-old Basilisk.

“Cloaks made of Basilisk skin! How in Merlin’s name did you get this Potter?” Barbara asked, her dark eyes greedily looking at the cloak in her hands.

“Killed a thousand-year-old hungry Basilisk in my second year.” Harry said with a shrug of his shoulders, making Barbara stare at him with a dropped jaw.

“What?” Harry raised an eyebrow. “That thing was giving me a bad rep in school.”

“Of course. Only a Gryffindor would consider being called the Heir of Slytherin a bad rep.” Tracey snarked.

“If it lands me in Azkaban, then yeah. I’ll stick with Gryffindor, thank you.” Harry shot back.

It took them a little over ten minutes to prepare before they teleported away, thanks to Dobby, Winky and Kreacher. For some asinine reason, the Ministry was vacant. Not a soul could be seen in the Ministry atrium. Despite that, the group remained invisible under the disillusion charm as they quietly walked through the atrium towards the lifts. Along the way, Harry saw the fountain of Magical Brethren. The security guard who was supposed to screen people was also not present on his post. He could even see the brass scale that was supposed to check the wands of visitors on the desk on his way towards the golden gates. The gates remained open, and they immediately found the lift that was supposed to take them to the Department of Mysteries.

“Gentlemen, ladies, if you have any second thoughts, now is the time.” said Harry, pulling the golden grill of the lift to the side and simultaneously cancelling the disillusion charm as well.

“We’re with you, Harry. Let’s do this.” Cedric said resolutely. “What we do today will make a difference. If we are lucky, we’ll make sure the worst Death eaters are no longer free. If we’re even more lucky, we’ll put an end to the war before it starts. So, let’s finish this tonight.”

“Cedric is right. Let’s finish this here.” Neville said, nodding firmly while gripping his wand closely.

“Very well. Let’s finish the war our elders couldn’t finish.” said Harry, welcoming everyone into the lift.

“Department of Mysteries.” Harry said to no one in the lift.

The grill slammed shut, and the lift started moving down until it stopped at a floor where no one was in sight.

“If this is the security of the Ministry, I wonder why the Dark Lord is even bothering to fight this war in the shadows. He could just waltz right in and win the war easily.” Barbara muttered darkly.

Harry agreed wholeheartedly with the Head Girl’s assessment. Only the sound of flickering torches along the walls of a lengthy corridor made a sound. Everyone in their group wore dragonhide boots, but they were charmed not to make a sound. They traversed the dimly lit corridor until they reached the plain black door that was the entrance of the Department of Mysteries.

“All right, everyone. Place your half-masks and glasses and cover your head with your hoods. Your masks will filter the air, and the glasses will allow you to see clearly in the dark. Place sticking charms on all of them as well.” Harry instructed.

Harry nodded at them when they complied with everything, and they turned invisible again. Harry remained visible, and he pushed open the door to the department. The tip of his wand lit up with bright white light, and Harry stepped inside, closely followed by his invisible friends. Harry closed the door once he was inside, and the walls around him immediately rotated. The door he walked through shifted away. But Harry didn’t care one whit as he moved forward.

There were many doors before him, but Harry chose a random door and stepped inside. Unfortunately, he took the wrong door. He ended up inside a large chamber with an archway in the middle. The Horus glasses allowed him to see in the dark so he could see the Veil fluttering in the archway.

“Nope. Not this one.” Harry muttered before stepping back from the chamber.

Harry trusted his friends had followed him back from the chamber when he heard the door shut behind him. Nonetheless, Harry marked the door with a colour-changing charm, changing the pitch-black door into bright yellow. Harry tried the next door, and luck was on his side as it revealed a long hallway filled with clocks – large and small on either side of the hall. But at the end of the hall, Harry saw the gleaming jewel on a door.

‘This is it.’ Harry thought, striding towards the jewel-encrusted door.

Harry took hold of the door with his magic and willed it to open. Trusting his friends to follow and do their part, Harry strode forward through the open door into a large chamber filled to the brim with glass orbs on the many selves.

Harry made a show of looking around while he subtly showed a thumbs-up to his invisible friends. He waited by the door for some time, giving ample time for his friends to get in position. While this was happening, Harry kept track of the hidden Death Eaters, staying still in the darkness. It was the height of arrogance for the Death eaters to so brazenly stand in the dark without a disillusion charm. He supposed they thought their dark robes were perfect to blend into the dark.

Harry slowly moved forward as he walked between familiar shelves until he reached the stand where the fake prophecy orb was left in place of the original. Instead of touching the fake orb, Harry looked around, subtly taking a packet from his pocket. The pendant tied around his neck shivered twelve times, letting him know his friends were in position.

“I find it interesting that you’d hide in the dark like common criminals. Come now, Death eaters. Are you so afraid of a fifth-year Hogwarts student? What would your noseless master think of you?” Harry snickered, hearing a shriek of rage coming from the darkness.

“Stop it, Bellatrix. Remember our orders.” Lucius hissed.

Soon, the Death Eaters came into the light, surrounding Harry from all sides, making Harry whistle appreciatively.

“Well, I’m pleased. That’s a lot of Death Eaters. Mr Noseless must be thinking highly of my abilities, or he thinks so low of your abilities to handle a fifth-year Hogwarts student.” Harry chuckled.

“You have a loud mouth on you, Potter. But you are surrounded. Your fake bravado will not save you from the darkness cast by our lord.” a masked Death eater growled.

“You salves think your master knows darkness? Unfortunately for you, my masked friends, Darkness is my ally.” Harry said coldly before throwing the packet in his hand straight up.

The eyes of the Death Eaters followed the packet, which expanded in size as Harry enlarged the packet while it flew straight up. He followed up the throw with a spell so that the contents of the packet get perfect delivery.

“Reducto.”

The packet exploded high in the air, a few inches above the tallest shelves, hosting many glass orbs. The Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder Fred and George Weasley had imported from Peru courtesy of Sirius blasted out of the packet. This powder was slightly modified, however, by none other than Remus Lupin. Harry applied a minor wind spell that spread the powder in all directions, ensuring it affected the entire room. The room went dark as he could see the Death Eaters panic while Harry slipped past them quickly. The Horus glasses he was using allowed him to see through the powder, thanks to Remus tweaking the powder slightly with charms.

Like Harry, his friends could also see clearly in the dark, and all their wands were now trained on the Death Eaters.

‘You might be experienced wizards with decades of combat experience. But strategy is the cornerstone in winning battles.’ Harry thought, raising his wand and taking aim like his friends while falling to his knees and keeping the Basilisk skin cloak as a shield.

“Confringo.” Harry silently cast the spell, blasting Bellatrix off her feet, followed by his favourite dark cutting curse.

“Sectumsempra.”

Harry watched in slow motion as the cutting curse severed the wand arm of Bellatrix at the wrist.

‘Lucky shot.’ Harry mused, watching coldly as Bellatrix thrashed around blindly on the ground in a pool of blood while her palm lay motionless by her side.

He was not the only one. Brightly lit spells smashed straight into the Death eaters from the wands of his friends from all sides.

‘Now, the battle has begun.’ Harry thought as more screams filled the air.

But he was not done, not by a long shot. Harry carefully withdrew as he observed his friends handling the Death Eaters expertly. It was now time for the next part of the plan. After all, he had a Dark Lord to kill.

AN:

 

For artworks, Discord channel: https://discord.com/invite/XKnmQxeGSu

 

Chapter 83: The duel

Voldemort was in a deep trance behind some of the strongest wards known to wizardkind. He had been observing everything that was happening in the Ministry. To be frank, he was observing everything Potter had been doing since he sent the boy visions of Sirius Black and Andromeda Tonks getting tortured in the Department of Mysteries. It had been not easy to ensure the floo network and owls in Hogwarts would not work, and Severus had done his part. Still, it was a gamble on his part, but it worked like a charm. Severus had informed him that Potter was not on good terms with Dumbledore or the rest of the Hogwarts staff. Building on that, he had devised a plan to get Potter out of Hogwarts.

Unfortunately, his incompetent Death Eaters were unable to capture the Tonks family or Sirius Black. As a last resort, he had sent a few Death Eaters after the Greengrass family, but those Death Eaters went missing. Either Damien Greengrass killed them off, or those idiots tried to run away from him. Either way, he knew he’d be punishing them both in due time. With no other option left, he had to resort to trickery using the Mind Arts. He disliked stooping to such cheap tricks to capture Potter, but he was surrounded by incompetent fools. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

Therefore, he sent visions of Andromeda Tonks and Sirius Black getting tortured in the Department of Mysteries, hoping to entice Potter to rush after his surrogate family like an unthinking Gryffindor.

His plan went smoothly. Potter took the bait and rushed into the Department of Mysteries. Unfortunately, his Death Eaters were proving to be idiots once again. Voldemort grimaced as he watched Bella put the boy through another dose of the Cruciatus curse, forcing him to temporarily withdraw from Potter’s mind.

“Take the orb, Potter. Or else my master will come here and torture you until your skin peels off.” Bellatrix screeched.

“Fuck you.” Potter spat.

Bellatrix let out a rageful screech and put under another dose of Cruciatus.

Voldemort abruptly stood up and walked out of his lair with long, purposeful strides. He could not have Potter turn into a blubbering mess by Bellatrix’s hand. The Potter boy had to be killed by his hand. There could be no doubt left in everyone’s mind about his power. Harry Potter had escaped his clutches far too many times, and he had to make sure people understood that their precious hero was slain by his own hand. No one else could be allowed to have the honour of slaying Harry Potter.

With this in mind, Voldemort apparated away from his hideout straight for the Ministry. The incompetence of the Ministry didn’t disappoint him the least. The entire Ministry atrium was left vacant. It was as if the wizards fled, fearing the breakout of a plague inside the Ministry. But he knew why the entire Ministry was left wide open. All Ministry employees were enjoying a party thrown by Fudge, whose niece was getting married tomorrow.

‘I suppose I could give Minister Fudge a nice wedding present for the family in Lord Voldemort’s name tomorrow. The cold dead body of the boy-who-lived by the fountain should suffice.’ he thought amusedly, gliding through the vacant halls passing by the Fountain of Magical Brethren.

He couldn’t help but sneer at the stupid statue of lesser magical creatures standing as an equal to wizards.

‘That’ll be the first thing to go in my reign.’ Voldemort promised to himself as he entered the lift.

“Department of Mysteries.”

The lift started going down, and anticipation built up within him. He could feel that he was so close to victory over his greatest enemy. With the death of Potter, the hold of Prophecy over him would go. He was sure his deteriorating health was somehow linked to the Prophecy. There was no other explanation as he had tried to cleanse his body with the blood of a hundred pure souls. Not only did his weakness remain, but Voldemort felt like the counter ritual only increased the deterioration of his body.

The only answer he could see in the absence of any other explanation was it had something to do with the Prophecy. He cursed himself for being short-sighted last year. He had assumed Harry Potter’s blood would increase his power, incorporating the Old Magic protections Lily Potter bestowed on her son into his new physical form. In his haste, he had forgotten to consider how the Prophecy would affect him.

‘Immortality is a double-edged sword. It makes me blind to the subtle aspects of magic. It is the same mistake I made when I confronted the Potters.’ Voldemort mused.

The lift came to a stop at the lowest level of the Ministry, and the grill slid to the side. He slowly stepped out of the lift and stared at the jewel-encrusted door of the Department of Mysteries.

‘All those mistakes will be undone tonight. I, Lord Voldemort, will become invulnerable.’ He thought, opening the jewel-encrusted door and leisurely strolling inside the Department of Mysteries.

Contrary to his expectations, Voldemort found the Hall of Prophecies to be empty sans the many prophecy orbs in the dozen or so shelves arranged inside the expansive hall. He could not help but glare at the hall, confused out of his mind. There was also a gnawing fear scratching at the base of his mind, but he found it easy to shove that feeling aside. He moved forward, looking around for his Death Eaters and Harry Potter, but try as he might, he could only see the innumerable orbs made of glass glowing eerily on the shelves. The rest of the hall was hidden away in a veil of darkness, which bothered Voldemort more than he let on. He felt as if his every move was being watched. But his blazing red eyes could not find anything in the darkness. He stopped walking once he reached the prophecy orb that had haunted his dreams for more than a decade. His eyes traced the distinct label beneath the orb, where he could see the undeniable proof of his destiny within his hand’s reach.

S.P.T. to A.P.W.B.D.

Dark Lord & Harry Potter

Once again, Voldemort stared at the vacant hall for his Death Eaters and his nemesis, but there was no sign of them.

‘Could they have left the hall while I was on my way to the Ministry?’ he mused distractedly.

His eyes went back to staring at the glass orb, enticing him with the entire content of the prophecy. Voldemort could no longer suppress his curiosity, and for the life of him, he could not fathom why he didn’t do this sooner. After all, why the heck should he be scared to stroll deep inside the bowels of the Ministry? He was Lord Voldemort, after all!

Reaching out with his pale white hand, Voldemort took the orb into the palm of his right hand. The glass orb remained impassive in his hand despite waiting for a while to see whether the orb showed any reaction. The orb started to let out a small light, garnering Voldemort’s attention. Bringing the orb closer to his eye level, he saw there was some kind of smoke moving inside. The smoke suddenly developed a smiley face inside the orb, making Voldemort frown.

Little Tommy wanted a peek,

He was a loser nosy boy!

All he got was a smack on his cheek,

For he had no nose for a flick!

Little Tommy wanted a peek,

He was a loser nosy boy!

All he got was a glassy bowl,

For his troubles to be a sneak!

Little Tommy wanted a peek,

He was a loser nosy boy!

He forgot he was a baldie boy,

With a face even a mother would balk!

The loud, high-pitched, girly voice singing coming from the glass orb made his ears ring.

The rage and hatred Voldemort was feeling right now was unimaginable. He was right about to smash the orb when it shattered in his hand and turned into pink dust that quickly covered his entire body. He couched out the powder as he accidentally breathed some of the powder through his nose and mouth. With a flick of his wand, Voldemort tried to vanish the pink powder, but that created a massive explosion, and he was consumed by a raging fire.

“Aaaahhhhhhh!” Voldemort screamed as the magical fire burned through his skin and robes.

With a might bellow, he snuffed out the flames by absorbing them into his magical power by converting the fire into wisps of magical energy and pulling it away with the tip of his wand. However, Voldemort was allowed no respite as he was immediately assaulted by the need to scratch all over his body. While he struggled to get a grip on what was happening, the shelves carrying many other orbs in the Prophecy hall began to fall one after another. With one hand, Voldemort tried to scratch himself to death, while with his wand, he banished the orbs and shelves that came close to his body. His senses suddenly screamed danger, and he placed the strongest shield around him. Not a moment later, four pairs of bludgers violently smashed into his shield. But the iron balls found themselves grinding to a halt as his shield refused to grant them entry. Observing the bludgers more closely, Voldemort realised they were targeting his limbs, possibly to immobilise him.

‘A trap of this depth on such short notice. How?’ Voldemort mused as he destroyed the bludgers with a couple of blasting curses.

Voldemort was still feeling the urge to scratch all across his body, and he was suffering from pain because most of his body was burnt. He decided not to waste any more time in the hall and was about to make a run for it when a figure emerged from the shadows. He only had time to widen his eyes as the shadowy figure acted before he could defend himself.

“Battio Inflammata.”

Voldemort immediately regretted cancelling the shield around him as he was smashed through a line of shelves by a familiar fiery spell that singed his arms under its assault. The air was knocked out of his lungs as he was forced through a wall into another chamber. He let out a scream of pain and rage as he could feel intolerable pain flare up from his back. With some effort, Voldemort managed to climb to his feet, but he could hear several voices asking him to come to their side. His red eyes widened as his eyes fell on the Veil of Death pulsing with a silver sheen. The voices from the beyond became more pronounced, and for a moment, he could hear several voices of his victims from the Veil. He took several steps back in reflex as fear permeated every corner of his body and soul despite being assured of his immortality.

“Voldemort – the one who flees from death. I should’ve seen this coming, but I expected my enemy to have some standard regarding what he fears the most in the world. Instead, I find myself disappointed in you, Riddle.”

Voldemort gritted his teeth as he slowly turned around to see his archnemesis step into the light from the shadows with his glowing green eyes wand in hand.

“You…!” Voldemort snarled, banishing a wooden table straight against the smug face of Harry Potter.

A fiery red shield materialised between them, burning away the table into fine dust and making Voldemort’s eyes twitch.

“Me! Who else did you expect to see in this trap, Riddle? After all, you were the one who desperately wanted to see me and created an elaborate scheme to get me into the Department of Mysteries.” Harry tilted his head to the side, giving the Dark Lord a chiding look.

“Well, it doesn’t matter what means were used. I’m here now as you wanted. You can surrender to me now and apologise for all the cruel things you’ve done. I, being a gracious wizard, accept your unconditional surrender. Out of the goodness of my heart, I’m even willing to forgive you for killing my parents. If you give me an Unbreakable Vow to leave the British Isles and never step foot on these shores, I’ll happily leave you alone and never knowingly disturb you in any way. What say you, Riddle?”

“You dare mock me, Potter? Lord Voldemort never surrenders, least of all, to a scrawny toddler like you.” Voldemort snarled, his red eyes blazing with rage.

“Ah, yes. You have a habit of disintegrating into ashes before babies. How silly of me to forget that! I apologise if I have struck a nerve there, mate.” Harry mocked.

“Avada Kedavra.” Voldemort jabbed his wand with every fibre of his being oozing with hatred.

Harry shielded himself by placing a glass orb on the spell’s way. The killing curse struck the glass, shattering it to dust, but the curse was successfully thwarted.

“For someone who fears death, you throw around the Killing Curse like cotton candy.”

“I fear nothing.” Voldemort snarled, transfiguring several broken wooden pieces into snakes.

“$Bite him. Kill him.$” Voldemort ordered in Parseltongue, causing the snakes to rush towards Harry with their fangs at the ready.

“Incendio.” Harry waved his wand in a wide arc, burning away the snakes easily.

“If you fear nothing, why is your wand arm shaking?” Harry shot back while conjuring a metal spoke and banishing it towards Voldemort.

“Arrrrggghhh!” Voldemort screamed in rage and launched a flurry of curses at Harry, who chose to deflect a few back while dodging the rest by moving around in the chamber.

“Where are my Death Eaters, Potter?” Voldemort asked angrily.

“Why ask me when you can sift through my memories, Riddle? After all, you are a master of the Mind Arts. Or are you?” Harry finished ominously.

Voldemort’s eyes widened as his senses suddenly went chaotic. His magic was screaming at him to step away, and he realised with growing horror that he had somehow walked right next to the Veil of Death. With wide eyes, he looked towards Harry Potter, but a stab of fear took birth in his heart when he saw the image of Harry Potter slowly disappear. Instead, he found Harry Potter sitting on a table in a relaxed manner.

“You…! When did you get inside my head?” Voldemort asked fearfully, training his wand on his most hated nemesis.

“I see. Let me ask you then, Riddle. Why do you think I was never in your head from the beginning?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

Voldemort let out a frustrated yell before immediately firing another Killing Curse, but it passed through harmlessly, and Harry flickered away as if it was a mirage.

“No! This is not possible! I’m Lord Voldemort.”

The Dark Lord let out a terrifying roar, unleashing all his magic and rage. The thick magic unleashed was quickly turned into bright, hot flames of the Fiendfyre curse, which spread out into every corner of the chamber. Voldemort laughed like a maniac as he unleashed the flames of hell all around him. But he glared ominously at the Veil of Death that remained unharmed despite the bright flames of Fiendfyre curse trying its best to destroy the archway. After many attempts, Voldemort turned away from the archway and directed the flames at everything around him. He willed the flames to pour out of the Veil chamber and spread it into the Hall of Prophecies in search of his most hated enemy.

“Where are you, Potter? Come out and face me.” Voldemort screamed as he unleashed more power into the Fiendfyre curse to burn everything faster as he sought out his enemy.

****

“Well…there goes my plan to blast snake-face into the Veil of Death in flames.” Harry muttered as he ran for his life as the Fiendfyre curse gobbled up everything in its path.

Harry cursed himself for not considering Voldemort using the Fiendfyre curse inside a tightly packed chamber. He had counted on the Dark Lord’s self-preservation to keep the man from using a curse as volatile as Fiendfyre in the bowels of the Ministry. He should have just stopped gloating around and blasted Voldemort into the Veil, even though there was a very low chance of that working. Voldemort was a gifted sensor. Harry was sure he was only able to trick Voldemort for so long because all the other steps in the plan worked flawlessly, and the Dark Lord was not in his best state of mind.

Harry knew he had wasted a great opportunity because of his hubris. And now, he was paying the price for his overconfidence by running for his life as a serpent made of hellish flames chased him through the many halls of the Ministry.

“Protego.”

Harry put up a shield behind his back just as the flames tried to catch him. The shield spell kept the flames at bay while Harry quickly turned into his spirit form to escape faster from the hellish flames. Assuming his spirit form, Harry flew straight towards the doors of the Prophecy Hall, but the flames quickly converged on the door, cutting off his escape.

“Oh fuck!” Harry muttered as the flames converged together and formed into a giant serpent.

Harry turned in mid-air and went straight towards a wall at full speed. Along the way, he solidified his arm and aimed at the wall with his wand.

“Bombarda.”

The spell blasted the wall open, allowing Harry to escape the Hall of Prophecies consumed by Fiendfyre. Unfortunately, the hellish fire followed him to the Time Chamber, where rows and rows of time turners could be seen neatly arranged on many shelves. With a roar, a serpent made of fire smashed through the hole Harry made in the wall and entered the Time Chamber inside the Department of Mysteries.

“Fuck me!” Harry muttered before running away as fast as his legs could carry.

The time turners began to fall one after the other as the raging fire inside the chamber. A few of those time turners bounced off of his head, making Harry flinch. The chances of getting caught up in a space-time continuum were high, with time turners raining down on top of him, but somehow, he managed to traverse through the length of the hall with a few scratches and a small bump on his head. It was by the skin of his teeth that Harry managed to escape the Time Chamber and exit the doors to the Department of Mysteries. He quickly found the lift and escaped to a higher level.

Harry found his friends patiently waiting by the fountain in the Ministry atrium, along with Sirius, Remus, Fleur and Nymphadora.

“Run!” Harry shouted as he ran towards them.

“Why? What’s going…holy ghost of Merlin!” Sirius breathed out with wide eyes, seeing a giant serpent made of fire smash through the lift Harry ran out a moment ago.

They all ran as fast as they could put some distance, but Harry paused once he reached the Fountain of Magical Brethren.  Turning swiftly on his heels, Harry used the spell he had created to subdue the Fiendfyre spell a few months back when he was preparing to finish off the Giants.

“Locus Sigillum.”

Harry drew a small circle in an anti-clockwise direction with the tip of his wand in the immediate space before him. A black circular tear in space formed before him and collapsed in on itself right when the Fiendfyre spell barreled towards him in its snake form with its jaws wide to devour him. But the spell Harry used let out a powerful repelling force that smacked away the head of the fiery snake before dragging the flames into the tear formed in space. A violent vortex of wind formed around the tip of Harry’s wand as it pulled the hellish fire into the eye of the storm. The sound of crackling flames was drowned out by the whooshing air as the hellish fore of the Fiendfyre curse was dragged away into the folds of space. Once the last ember of flame was sucked away, Harry cut off the spell forcing the space to seal itself shut, sealing away the raging fire of the dark spell in a pocket of space accessible only to Harry.

“You have been a permanent annoyance to me since you were born, Potter.” Voldemort snarled, looking positively livid after seeing the Fiendfyre getting sealed away.

“I’ll try my level best to keep up my performance for the foreseeable future until you die.” Harry snarked.

“No. Not if you’ll die here.” Voldemort snarled, brandishing his wand and firing off a familiar green spell.

“Avada Kedavra.”

Harry was ready to face that spell with something of his own.

“Fulmen Fulminata.”

A bright blue arc of lightning arced out of the tip of Harry’s wand, striking the killing curse in mid-air. The two spells clashed against each other before locking themselves in a battle of wands enforced by the brother wand effect. A golden energy dome suddenly formed around Harry and Voldemort, shielding them from everyone else in the atrium. Harry felt his feet leave the floor as phoenix song filled the air. The meeting point between the spells glowed with a bright golden colour, forcing him to avert his eyes.

He poured more power into the spell, and that was enough to push the meeting point towards Voldemort’s Yew wand. Harry was fortunate because Voldemort was scared shitless by what was happening, and the Dark Lord was relatively weak. Therefore, he encountered little resistance until the meeting point between their spells finally touched the Yew Wand. A sharp trill emerged from the wand, and one by one, the souls of those who died at the hands of Voldemort emerged. To Harry’s horror, so many children's souls emerged from Voldemort’s wand.

“You can do it, big brother.”

“Kill the monster.”

“I’m scared.”

“Help me. Mommy! Daddy!”

The desperate cries of children filled the Ministry atrium, spiking Harry’s rage as he realised Voldemort had gone on a killing spree after getting resurrected.

“You bastard son of a whore!” Harry snarled.

With a sharp tug upward, Harry broke the connection, and before Voldemort could recover from the fear of seeing so many of his victims appear in their spirit form, Harry unleashed a curse that connected with full power.

“Defodio.”

The gauging curse punched through Voldemort’s shoulder, making the Dark Lord howl in pain.

“Sectumsempra.”

The dark-cutting curse cleaved through Voldemort’s left arm, cutting it off clean at his shoulder.  The silence that followed was deafening as Voldemort stared numbly at his severed hand in disbelief. The silence was broken by one of the mute spectators of the whole battle.

“Good Merlin!”

Harry turned his eyes sharply to the sound and found that it belonged to none other than Minister Fudge.

“He’s back! He’s back!” Fudge kept on muttering, staring slack-jawed at Voldemort.

“You – you’ll suffer for this, Potter. You’ll know the true might of Lord Voldemort.” Voldemort growled.

“Based on what I’ve seen so far, I believe I’ve nothing but disappointment to look forward to when you’re involved, Riddle.” Harry shot back before Voldemort let out a frustrated yell and apparated away.

“I believe you’ve had an eventful evening, Harry.” said Dumbledore, looking rather tired and older than he ever looked as he slowly made his way towards the group.

“It’d seem so Headmaster Dumbledore.” Harry said blandly but otherwise didn’t deign the man with any response as he focused on the Daily Prophet reporters and Ministry officials. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a war to fight that you are too spineless to finish.”

Harry turned his back on Dumbledore and walked towards the Ministry employees and Wizengamot members in the crowd. While his plan to kill Voldemort went up in smoke, his Plan B was still salvageable. It was time to spread his reach in the Ministry and form his own faction. Today would be the first step in a long series of moves that’d lead the way to the highest office of power in Wizarding Britain.

 

AN:

 

For artworks, Discord channel: https://discord.com/invite/XKnmQxeGSu

Chapter 84: The time heist P1

The Ministry was in an uproar over the aftermath of the fight between the Dark Lord and Harry Potter. The fact that the entire event transpired inside the Ministry premises was more than enough to spell the end of Fudge’s term. No one knew this better than Cornelius Fudge himself, and that was why the man was grovelling at Dumbledore's feet.

Amelia could only look on with amusement as she watched Minister Fudge all but wash the feet of Dumbledore with water and drink that water as if it were the greatest cure for all ailments. But she doubted Fudge would find much luck with Dumbledore. On the other hand, the illustrious Headmaster of Hogwarts was pretty much set on events to play out naturally without his interference. There was no doubt after tonight, Fudge would be pressured out of his office even if Dumbledore chose to support the man. Dumbledore remains a well-respected wizard and holds enormous influence among the Wizengamot members. But that influence had proven to be fickle with the latest witch-hunt by the Ministry.

Fudge didn’t succeed in keeping Dumbledore suppressed for nearly a year because of his skill but because of the enemies Dumbledore cultivated after the first wizarding war. A silent minority within the Wizengamot and the Ministry had wanted Reformation, and they were cheated out of that by Dumbledore and his insistence on keeping the status quo. When Dumbledore compromised his ideals to shake hands with the likes of filth like Malfoy, Mcnair and Nott, a permanent fissure was created in the base of Dumbledore’s political base in the Ministry. It was that same group that tactically aligned with Fudge to let Dumbledore reap his just desserts.

And now, that same group was going to pull Fudge down. After all, she had worked diligently in the shadows to set up Fudge for the big fall. But merely pulling down Fudge was not enough. The entire Ministry needed to be purged and rebuilt from the ground up. There was no other time than wartime to accomplish such a task, and she now had the backing and resources to pull off such an ambitious task.

“You must do something, Dumbledore. You must help me.” Fudge begged.

“I warned you last year, Cornelius. I warned you about Voldemort’s rise, and what was your response to my warnings? You declared war against me instead of preparing the Ministry to face Voldemort.”

“I know Dumbledore. I know…” Fudge let out a pitiful groan while rubbing his face tiredly. “I was wrong. I made a mistake. Can we put this behind us and work together?”

“I’m afraid it’s not that simple, Minister.” Amelia spoke up, earning the attention of both men in the room.

“What do you mean, Amelia?” Fudge asked warily.

“I’ve just received word from some Wizengamot members. There have been some movements within certain factions, and the topic under discussion pertained to your removal from the post of Minister.” said Amelia, staring impassively at Fudge, whose chubby face now looked like melted ice cream.

“It won’t be long before the Prophet starts printing the whole story about a bunch of teenagers breaking into the Department of Mysteries to fight and capture Death Eaters. They’ll also know Harry Potter fought a very much alive Dark Lord to a standstill and cut off his arm in a duel all on his own. While all this was happening, not a soul in the Ministry was aware of what was going on.”

“I… Amelia…! You… How am I going to get through this?” Fudge groaned, putting his sweaty face into his palms.

Amelia could only feel a surge of excitement seeing Cornelius Fudge. But the man was a corrupt wastrel who was not really the object of his ire. He was just the product of the corruption in the Ministry. Her ire had always been on people like Dumbledore, who promised change and attracted the young of their world to waste their lives on false promises like her brother and sister-in-law. Her entire family, including her parents and grandparents, had paid the price for her brother’s misadventure in joining Dumbledore’s stupid crusade to ‘reform’ murderous scum who should have been put down like rabid dogs. Not only did Dumbledore fail to reform the Death Eaters, but the old man was directly responsible for allowing them to grow in strength and blocking her path over the years to make them pay for their crimes in the interest of keeping the status quo.

She had lost all hope and was ready to slink back into the shadows to care for her orphaned niece, but she received an unexpected visitor who offered an alternate route. Amelia hadn’t blindly taken the words and offers of a stranger for granted. She had seen for herself with her own eyes about the visitor’s claims replicated in other wizarding communities across the world. The visitor offered no grand utopia, but she was convinced things could be better and leaving wizarding Britain as it was would only spell disaster down the line.

“Maybe Harry Potter can help me, Dumbledore.” Fudge suddenly sat up straight with an excited gleam.

This time Amelia couldn’t hold herself back from grinning at the buffoon who adorned the post of the Minister of Magic.

“How exactly do you expect Harry to help you, Cornelius?” Dumbledore asked passively.

“He can help me, Dumbledore. If Harry says certain things in favour of the Ministry…yes…why yes – it could work splendidly. All Harry has to say is that the Ministry was aware, and everything happened with my full blessings.”

Amelia looked at Fudge like the man had grown another head. She marvelled at the depth of idiocy and ignorance on display by the Minister of Magic. But she held her tongue and let the man walk into a hole of his own making.

‘Besides, it’s almost time for the fun to begin.’ Amelia thought.

Just then, the door to the Minister’s office swung wide open. Amelia’s eyes fell on the faces of Damien Greengrass, Sirius Black and Harry Potter. Behind the trio were a few Wizengamot members, all members of a secret faction that was carefully built over decades with careful planning and patience.

“H…Harry! How wonderful to see you. We were just talking about you.” Fudge’s eyes lit up with delight, and the blubbering man climbed to his feet with his bowl hat in hand.

Amelia couldn’t help but roll her eyes, lamenting at the fact that an idiot who could not even read the room somehow ended up as the Minister of Magic. Then again, that was probably why most of the Pureblood maniacs supported the man in the first place. While Minister Bagnold was as corrupt as they come, at the very least, she managed to hold the Ministry together when the Dark Lord was in his prime.

On the other hand, Fudge was chosen by the Wizengamot as the Minister of Magic precisely because he was easy to control through bribes and threats. But that was soon coming to an end. It was now time for the rot infecting the Ministry to be cut out without mercy.

“Minister Fudge. You’ll immediately declare a nationwide emergency in the wake of Voldemort’s sighting inside the Ministry atrium. After which, you’ll resign, thereby transferring your post to Amelia Bones, who in your absence becomes the natural head of the Ministry in her capacity as the Head of the DMLE.” Harry declared, leaving Fudge to gape like a fish.

Amelia could feel her smirk widen as she stared at the surprise on the two men she hated most, Albus Dumbledore and Cornelius Fudge.

****

“You want Amelia Bones to become the interim Minister with all the emergency powers assigned to her position? She was trying to put Sirius in prison a year ago.” Harry whispered furiously at Damien Greengrass.

“Because she plays her part well, Harry. Amelia Bones is Lady Lilith’s creature through and through. She’ll do anything to maintain her position in the Ministry, including pretending to harass you to gain the confidence of the likes of Fudge and many other players who wanted Sirius silenced.” Damien explained earnestly.

“She was working for HER?” Harry asked curiously.

“Yes, Harry. Once Fudge declares a nationwide emergency and resigns, Amelia will be in a position with unlimited power without facing an election. We’ll make our move on the Wizengamot members supporting the Dark Lord and Dumbledore’s stooges who obstruct the Ministry from using deadly force. We’ll use the Aurors and Lady Lilith’s men to bring them into our cause. Those that won’t turn will be quietly disposed of.  Within a few months, we’ll have the Ministry under our command. Then, the real purge will start, removing all obstacles from your path to eradicating the Dark Lord and his cause.”

“But still… Amelia Bones…” Harry trailed off hesitantly, unable to believe that the head of the DMLE was a Flamel loyalist all this time.

“Why do you think she sent her aurors on a merry chase across the continent for your godfather? She was instructed not to capture Sirius by Lady Lilith. But she had to act in a certain way to ensure the likes of Malfoy and Nott were not tipped off.” said Damien.

Harry let out an angry huff and proceeded to walk back and forth in the lobby while he thought over what to do.

“Harry, we don’t have much time to waste. We must press the advantage while we still hold it. Fudge is like a cat in a boiling water. We must turn up the heat, and that’ll be enough to make him jump to save his own hide.”

Harry was hesitant to go ahead with Damien’s plan because he could not trust them, and his own plans were entirely different. However, he acknowledged this was an excellent opportunity to hijack the Ministry. The confusion and fear would soon settle with Dumbledore’s cooperation. It’d give the Ministry bureaucracy the breathing space to step in and keep the status quo until the elections happen. The time it takes for fresh elections to be conducted would be the lifeline for Voldemort and the bureaucracy to act.

“All right. We’ll do it your way. But I have a condition.” Harry agreed, keeping in mind that he could turn the tables around on Perenelle Flamel by having her carefully constructed faction in the Wizengamot transferred into his control in exchange for access to Slytherin’s Chamber and the secret hidden inside.

“Name it, Harry.” said Damien.

Harry stared at Daphne’s father silently for a moment before he whispered his demand into the man’s ear. While a bit confused by the demand he made, Damien vowed to abide by his demand.

Harry managed to convince Sirius to go along with the plan by the skin of his teeth. He was not the only person to hold a grudge against Madam Bones. But Sirius was eventually convinced that Amelia Bones would be a manageable figurehead they could use against the supporters of Voldemort and Dumbledore. After that, Harry had to get reacquainted with some of the major Wizengamot players under his grandmother’s thumb. Some of them he had met at the ball hosted by Daphne’s family last summer. There were only a few new faces he had to acquaint himself with, like Amir Shafiq, Olivia Blair, and Lachlan Brown, before stepping into the Minister’s office.

Harry led the delegation into the Minister’s office and saw Dumbledore sitting across from Fudge. He knew he had to go for the jugular from the start if the plan made the desired result.

“Minister Fudge. You’ll immediately declare a nationwide emergency in the wake of Voldemort’s sighting inside the Ministry atrium. After which, you’ll resign, thereby transferring your post to Amelia Bones, who in your absence becomes the natural head of the Ministry in her capacity as the Head of the DMLE.”  Harry said, leading with a dialogue he thought would unsettle the Minister of Magic.

Going by the wide eyes and the impression of a gaping fish made by Fudge, Harry was certain he nailed it.

“Wha…? Pre…Preposterous!” Fudge spluttered, looking like melted ice cream.

“On the contrary, Minister Fudge. We are as serious as we can get. We have enough proof to prove your financial dealings with the likes of Malfoy. If you don’t cooperate, all the evidence we have amassed about your collusion with the captured Death Eaters will get into the Wizengamot and the Daily Prophet. When all is said and done, you’ll be lucky not to be called a Death Eater.” Damien threatened, loudly dumping a thick file on Fudge’s table.

“D… Death eater? Me?” Fudge asked, gulping audibly.

“Should you do as we ask, these records will never come to light. You can quietly retire and lead an enjoyable life with no one bothering you. However, if you remain in the post of Minister, you'll find yourself incarcerated in Azkaban for aiding the rise of a Dark Lord.” Amir Shafiq threatened, glaring at the sweating Minister of Magic.

Fudge looked helplessly at Amelia Bones, who only stared back at him coolly.

“You have no other moves left, Cornelius. It's time that you retire from the Ministry.” said Damien Greengrass.

“I… Dumbledore. Please help me!” Fudge begged, turning to the old wizard in the room who so far had stayed silent and merely observed everyone quietly.

“Is this how you want to pursue this war, Harry, Sirius?  Do you think I'll stay a silent spectator as you overthrow the Ministry in this manner?” Dumbledore asked, staring down at everyone through his half-moon glasses with a disappointed look.

“On the contrary, that's exactly what you'll be doing, Albus Dumbledore.” said Harry, looking coolly into the blue eyes of the Headmaster of Hogwarts.

“You've stayed silent all these years as this corrupt Ministry released some of the worst scum of this world into the open and declared them upstanding citizens. You’ve had nothing to say for over a decade as murderers, rapists and criminals escaped justice while their victims starved for justice. You’ve remained silent as those same scum cropped up another generation of mini Death Eaters and sent them off to Hogwarts, where they continue to celebrate and profess the ideology that killed thousands of innocent people.” Harry said coldly, moving close to Dumbledore, never taking his eyes off for a second.

“So, you’ll stay silent now while I do what I must to clean up the mess you left, Dumbledore. You lacked the will to bring justice and thought to smother yourself under shadows. Unfortunately for you, I’m committed to exposing those shadows that you worked so tirelessly to conceal.”

“And this is how you right the wrongs of the past, Harry?” Dumbledore asked tiredly.

“Yes, by shining a little bit of light on you all. If it is becoming uncomfortable for you, that’s only because you’ve been living for too long in the shadows.” Harry retorted rather nonchalantly.

“The light spreads warmth and comfort, Harry. Not fear and despair.” Dumbledore said sagely.

“Yes, indeed. But you forget the light also eradicates darkness, Professor. Those who have thrived in darkness for too long will find that the light burns them whole.” Harry calmly countered.

“I tire of this conversation, Professor Dumbledore.” Harry said before turning his sights on Cornelius Fudge, who looked like he was a minute away from having a heart attack. “Will you do as I ask, or are you brave enough to face Azkaban?”

“I…I…I’ll do as you all say.” Fudge stuttered out, keeping his head bowed low.

“Good.” Harry smiled, nodding at Damien to finish off everything so that no backdoors were left open to challenge their decision.

The first thing Damien did was call on the Head of the Department of Mysteries, Saul Croaker, to witness Fudge signing the declaration of a nationwide emergency followed by his resignation, thereby charging the Head of the DMLE with emergency powers. All of this was completed in the swiftest manner possible, as time was of the essence. All the paperwork was done within half an hour, which conferred Amelia Bones with emergency powers until a new election could be called in a Wizengamot session. Harry waited patiently until Fudge vacated his seat, and Amelia Bones took the seat of the Minister for Magic.

And that was it. It was now official. Amelia Bones was now the interim Minister until fresh elections were called. If all went according to plan, Madam Bones would also become the next Minister for Magic.

“Now, then. I assume everyone is happy with what has transpired.” Dumbledore spoke up after all the official ceremonies were finished.

“So far, yes. Maybe some biscuits and tea would’ve smoothed over the ceremony.” Sirius quipped.

“I’ll have that arranged in the next ceremony, Lord Black.” Madam Bones commented.

“Wonderful! Now, Harry. You’re out of bounds when you should’ve been sleeping soundly in the Gryffindor tower. I believe you’ll not protest when I ask you to return to your dorms.” said Dumbledore.

“Naturally.” Harry nodded at Dumbledore.

“Good.” said Dumbledore before fishing out a sock from his robes and tapping it with the tip of his wand.

“Portus.”

The sock glowed a bright blue before settling down, and just like that, a portkey was created inside the Minister of Magic’s office in violation of a plethora of laws.

“An illegal portkey? You created it inside the office of the Minister with two senior heads of the Departments of the Ministry and several Wizengamot members as witnesses. My…my…you must be slipping in your old age, Albus.” Saul Croaker said, an admonishing look on his old face.

“Quite necessary, I’m afraid. With Voldemort out in the open, I don’t believe it’s wise to take Harry through the floo. A portkey to Hogwarts from the most secure room of the Ministry is the safest mode of transportation for Harry, no?” Dumbledore said with twinkling eyes.

“Dumbledore has a point. The aurors have yet to vet the floo network to see whether they were tampered with.” Madam Bones also agreed with Dumbledore’s portkey idea.

“Very well,” said Harry, shrugging his shoulders. “What about my friends?”

“I’ll send them over after you and Harry…please don’t get into any more trouble. It’s only a few hours, and you can leave Hogwarts to your home,” said Dumbledore.

“I’ll think about it.” Harry quipped, taking the offered portkey.

“I shall see you in half an hour, Harry.” Dumbledore muttered before moving a few paces back.

“One…two…three…”

Harry felt the familiar sensation of a tugging in his gut as reality warped around him. But unlike the last time he used a portkey, Harry saw a bright golden sphere form around him, and soon, a myriad of colours appeared around him in the form of smoke.

“What the hell…?” Harry muttered in disbelief as he saw the smoke getting sucked into his jacket.

Harry parted his cloak slightly and saw a time turner hanging loosely from his pocket, absorbing the golden light around him and spamming out a myriad of colours from its other side. He winced as the whooshing energy around him grew into a storm of colours, and he felt the brightly polished floor beneath him disappear. When the bright colours around him dimmed, Harry stood on a grassy hill surrounded by forest on all sides. The time turner continued to glow an eerie bright gold in his pocket while its many needles and rings continued to spin, making Harry worry. To make matters worse, he could see a slight crack in the glass holding some sand inside a small hourglass of the time turner.

He did the only thing that made sense in the situation despite the growing fear that something had gone wrong in his mind. He applied a stasis charm on the time turner and kept it safely in the inner pocket of his jacket. Harry looked around the area bathed in moonlight but saw no familiarity.

‘I think I’m stranded far away from Hogwarts in a good scenario. In the worst scenario…’

Harry shook his head, as such thoughts were not helpful in his situation. He could see a hill ahead of him that looked covered in grass, similar to the one he was standing on. Assuming his spirit form, Harry flew straight towards the hill and settled himself on its peak. The view he got once he settled on the hill was both comforting and troubling at the same time.

Standing before Harry was the towering castle of Hogwarts in all its glory. But there was one glaring problem. He could see several globes of fireballs being thrown at the castle as if Hogwarts was under attack by some foe. Another disconcerting observation he made was that he could not find the village of Hogsmeade anywhere near the castle.

Under the extraordinary circumstances he found himself in, only one thing came to Harry’s mind.

“What the fuck is going on?” Harry asked no one in particular, but he only heard the sound of crickets and the booming sound of the bombardment of Hogwarts Castle.

AN:

 

For artworks, Discord channel: https://discord.com/invite/XKnmQxeGSu

Chapter 85: The time heist P2

“What is the meaning of this Dumbledore?” Sirius snarled, holding Dumbledore up by the collar of his robes. “What have you done with my godson?”

“I swear on my parents’ grave I didn’t do anything to Harry. Please be calm so that we may study what happened and reverse the damage.” Dumbledore pleaded.

“No, you twinkly-eyed bastard. You’ve meddled enough with our lives. I’m going to curse your head off!” Sirius roared, brandishing his wand and pressing the glowing tip into Dumbledore’s neck.

But before a spell could be fired, a stunner slammed into Sirius’ back, leaving the last Black unconscious.

Dumbledore felt his feet touch the ground, gasping for air while he rubbed his sore throat.

“Thank you, Madam Bones.” Dumbledore nodded gratefully at the newly charged interim Minister for Magic.

“Oh, don’t thank me yet. I’m merely keeping Lord Black out of prison when we could use that space for you, Dumbledore,” said Amelia Bones. “Now tell me. What have you done with Mr Potter?”

“I don’t know Amelia. I swear I’ve not done anything nefarious with Harry, and never would I do so to any child.” Dumbledore said earnestly.

“I believe Dumbledore is speaking the truth in this instance, Madam Bones. This is not Dumbledore’s doing.” said Saul Croaker, poking at the bubble of magical energy formed around a small space that used to contain Harry Potter.

“What do you mean?” asked Amelia with a frown, lowering her wand trained on Dumbledore.

“As I said, this is not a spell of Dumbledore’s doing. At least, it’s not entirely his doing. I received word from my colleagues in the Department that the Time Chamber was smashed beyond repair. It looks like the Dark Lord unleashed the Fiendfyre curse inside the premises.”

“That’s unfortunate. But what has that got to do with this spell?” Amelia nodded at her room's slowly growing golden bubble of magical energy.

“It’s not a spell, Madam Bones. It’s an expanding tear in space-time, powered by an infinite source of magic that’ll consume this building and, in time, our whole world.” said Saul Croaker with a grave look.

“Space-time tear, you say? How can this be possible? What sort of spell could create something like this?” Damien Greengrass asked with fear shining in his eyes.

“Not a spell, Lord Greengrass.” Saul Croaker sighed. “I suspect Mr Potter was either doused in the time-sand used in Time Turners or had a malfunctioning Time Turner on his person. When Dumbledore’s portkey activated, the space occupied by Mr Potter was moved sideways in time. The question is whether he went into the past or the future.”

“What can we do to reverse this, Croaker?” Amelia asked.

“We’ll need another Time Turner, one powerful enough to reverse the damage in space-time. We can create a containment field to render the space around the anomaly in a stasis temporarily.”

“Then what are you waiting for? Let’s reverse the damage done and retrieve Harry Potter.” Amelia urged, but she got a bad feeling when Croaker remained grave.

“As I’ve said, the Dark Lord unleashed Fiendfyre in the Time Chamber. There is nothing useful left in the chamber. Depending on several factors, we’ll need to ask for aid from foreign ministries to loan a powerful Time Turner or even several Time Turners.” Craker explained.

“It’ll be difficult to arrange for new Time Turners. They are a safely guarded secret of the Ministries…” Dumbledore started to say with a pessimistic look.

“I can have as many Time Turners you want to be arranged tonight itself.” Damien butted in, addressing Croaker. “Can you make sure Harry will return without any harm?”

“If you can ensure the delivery of the Time Turners I require, I can reverse the space-time anomaly. But Mr Potter’s safety depends on his survival in the past or the future he is currently inhabiting. I’m afraid you’ll have to make arrangements should the worst come to pass.” Croaker warned truthfully.

“We’ll cross that bridge when the time comes. You are positive that you can retrieve Mr Potter if you have a functioning Time Turner?” Amelia asked.

“Yes. I’ll need to call in my colleagues from the Department.” said Croaker.

“Then do it fast.” Amelia said before turning her attention to Lord Greengrass.

“Lord Greengrass. If you need any help…”

“I’ll need an international portkey to Dresden.” Damien said immediately.

“You’ll have it.” Amelia nodded before she went straight for the fireplace in the office, connecting it immediately with the Department of Magical Transportation.

“Perhaps I can be of some aid, my boy. I do have some connections outside Britain.” Dumbledore offered, looking imploringly at Damien.

“If I need any help, I’ll be sure to ask for it, Headmaster Dumbledore.” Damien said calmly.

“Damien. Go to Level Six. Robert Skiver will help you reach Dresden.” said Amelia.

“Thank you.” said Damien before turning to leave.

But he paused halfway towards the door.

“What about Lord Black?” Damien asked hesitantly, looking at the unconscious form of Sirius lying on the floor.

“I’ll take care of that. Go.” Amelia urged the man.

She immediately contacted the Aurors and had them track down Andromeda Tonks to make sure Sirius Black remained calm. Of course, she had to go over the circumstances that led to the unconscious state of Lord Black. The expanding glowing ball of magical energy in her office at least made the whole story more believable. By the time Amelia had explained the situation to Andromeda Tonks, Croaker’s colleagues in the Department of Mysteries had gathered and started placing several wards and charms that isolated the sphere of energy.

“Do you think they can reverse what happened?” Andromeda asked worriedly.

“I do not know.” Amelia admitted. “If the Unspeakables can’t help Mr Potter return, I’ll ask for foreign aid. We are not the only Ministry of Magic in the world with knowledge over time and space.”

“Do you think they’ll help? They didn’t aid us with the Dark Lord last time.” Andromeda reminded her.

“That’s because we were led by indecisive leaders. This time, it’ll be different.” Amelia promised.

Even if she had concerns about accepting foreign aid in public for the sake of her political career, there were other avenues to receive help. The only downside was that once it got leaked to the public, it’d damage her far more than accepting aid in public. Her political opponents could launch a witch hunt against her and pin everything wrong with the Ministry on her head. This was why she had only agreed with Lady Lilith to accept aid from her mercenaries instead of hit wizards registered with foreign Ministries. If the mercenaries got exposed, she could disavow any direct involvement in their deployment. With the hit wizards, it’d be impossible to manoeuvre out of direct responsibility.

But that point was moot now. Harry Potter was now beyond space and time. If word got out that the Boy-Who-Lived went missing right after fighting Voldemort to a standstill, the public outcry would pull down her regime faster than she could blink. She’d end up losing the fight even before it began, and that could not be allowed to happen.

****

It was as if the whole world had gone mad in a few minutes. One moment, Harry was bringing down Fudge and helping the ascension of Amelia Bones like in one of the most significant political coups Britain had seen. But now he was in a time and place that was alien to everything he knew, and most importantly, this whole new chapter of life that opened before him was something that made all his plans useless. He had never factored in time travel into the many plans he had constructed in his mind; therefore, his mind was a blank slate.

He could only dumbly stare at the Hogwarts castle undergoing a siege like in the Middle Ages with siege engines. But strangely enough, magical attacks landed on the protective shield around the castle. He could tell because there were flashes of strange light impinging on the shield and fracturing it in places. Harry could see several large holes blown open on the barrier protecting Hogwarts.

He immediately took his wand into his hand, determined to lend a hand in protecting the school from harm, but then he hesitated.

‘If I interfere, I could destabilise the entire timeline. I should be a mute spectator and invisible to this time and its people.’ Harry decided.

But there was another danger in that decision. It left him wholly separated at an unknown time without any help. If there was any chance of returning to his own time, he needed the help of the most knowledgeable wizards and witches of this time to make it possible.

“My knowledge of magic is lacking in deciphering the secrets of time travel on my own. I’ll need help.” Harry admitted to himself while staring at Hogwarts uncertainly.

There was no telling whether the Ministry of Magic, Dumbledore or even his grandmother would succeed in helping from their side. Therefore, Harry was left with the prospect of seeking local help. Unfortunately, the best help he could think of right now was in the castle that was under siege. So, his choices were clear. He could either turn a blind eye to the world around him and hope the Unspeakables manage to save him, or he could seek Hogwarts’ help.

A woman’s scream suddenly captured Harry’s attention. Since he wore the Horus glasses, he could make out a woman running out of a tree line. To his surprise, he saw a stave in the woman’s hand with which she threw a curse blindly over her shoulder. One of the trees suddenly came alive, its roots and branches attacking something in the forest. Harry frowned as he stared at the witch dressed in grey robes running towards his direction. The stave in her hand made Harry worry that he was too far back in the past. Magical staves had gone out of fashion in the wizarding world for centuries. So, seeing a stave-wielding witch made Harry worry that he was too far back in time.

Harry was startled when the witch fell with a cry, and he found the reason in the form of an arrow sticking out of her left knee.

‘An arrow. Muggles?’ Harry frowned thoughtfully, staring at the treeline with keen eyes.

His eyes, however, widened when he saw several small creatures dressed in gleaming silver armour with wicked-looking axes in their hands.

“Goblins.” Harry breathed, staring at the foot soldiers led by five mounted Goblins.

“Is that wild boars they are riding?” Harry wondered, looking at the mean-looking creatures mounted by the Goblins.

The mounted Goblins atop the boars ordered something in Gobbledegook, which made Harry remember that his modern English would probably stand out like a sore thumb. He was sure modern English was not around at a time when even Hogsmeade was absent. He was expecting Gaelic or even Scot to be the dominant language in the area. There was a chance Latin was a preferred language among some wizards and even nobles of the time. Thankfully, he had an easy remedy for the language barrier. Harry placed the All-speak charm on himself before moving towards the downed woman.

“Bind the witch in magic suppression shackles. She'll be a nice amusement for the men in our camp.” a mounted Goblin ordered.

But to Harry's surprise, the woman was no damsel in distress despite the arrow sticking out of her leg. The red-haired woman slammed the butt of her stave into the ground generating a blast of magical energy. Harry hastily placed a shield before him to withstand the blasting spell. The land around tore apart under the force of the spell. It was as if someone had carved out a giant hole in the face of the earth. Most of the goblins close to the woman were blown to bits while the force of the spell smacked away the rest.

“Who’re you?” the woman turned her blazing green eyes on Harry with her stave raised threateningly.

“A traveller who thought you needed help. But I seem to have misjudged the situation,” said Harry, bringing down the shield with a thought while eyeing the downed Goblins warily. “Do you need any help with that arrow?”

“I do not, stranger.” the woman growled, tapping her stave against the arrow, making it disappear into thin air.

But Harry noticed the woman was not healing the wound on her leg, and she was losing blood.

“May I?” Harry looked pointedly at her wound.

“You know to heal wounds made by Goblin steel?” the woman asked with a raised eyebrow.

Harry remembered a portion of a half-forgotten lesson from Professor Binns’ history class. Goblins used to coat their steel with poisons that were most harmful to wizards and witches in wars. Therefore, he understood why the woman was not treating the wound with simple healing spells that’d close the wound.

‘She must be forcibly fighting off the effects of the poison with her magic and sheer will.’ Harry mused.

“No, I won’t be able to treat the poison, but I can keep it contained in your leg and prevent it from spreading into other parts of your body. I know a spell to keep you safe until you can find a good healer to administer a proper antidote,” said Harry truthfully. “Now, may I?”

“You may.” the redhead woman said after a moment of scrutiny.

Harry bent down to get a closer look at the wound. He looked hesitantly at the woman who slowly hiked up the hem of her grey robes, allowing him to see the wound. Harry held his palm hover over the wound, trying to sense malicious magic from the wound. There was a faint echo of destructive magic in the wound that made Harry assume it was some form of a mild poison.

“There's poison, but it's non-lethal. I suppose they were trying to take you hostage.” Harry told the woman as he applied a stasis charm on the whole leg to keep it in suspended animation.

“That makes sense.” The woman muttered but didn’t elaborate.

Either the woman was someone important enough to take hostage, or the Goblins had certain nefarious intentions in capturing her alive.

“I've placed your leg in suspended animation. It'll regulate the flow of your blood, preventing the spread of the poison. I'll carry you to your destination.”

“What is your name, traveller?” the woman suddenly asked, making Harry flounder for a second.

He couldn’t use his real name because he feared changing things too much.

'I need an alternate name that'll have the least impact on the timeline. Something that could blend in.' Harry thought.

Suddenly, he remembered the name of one of the Five Good Emperors of the Roman Empire.

“Hadrian. My name is Hadrian.” He said, smiling at the witch while mentally patting himself on his back for a job well done.

“Only Hadrian?” the woman asked with a raised eyebrow.

'Darn it! Family name. I need a family name that won't conflict with the future. Something unique.' Harry fussed over in his head.

Then, an idea came to his head, and he said the first fictional family name that came to his head.

“Targaryen. Hadrian Targaryen.”

Immediately after, he said that Harry felt like he made a mistake.

“Hadrian Targaryen.” the red-headed woman slowly said, testing out his name with a thoughtful frown. “You are not from the Kingdom of Alba, are you?”

“I…”

“Rhhhhaaaaa!”

A Goblin warrior roared, swinging a wicked-looking axe aiming for Harry’s head from behind. On instinct, Harry dived, pulling the witch with him. They rolled under the wild swing of the axe, and Harry quickly followed it up with the gouging curse.

“Defodio.”

Harry’s aim was true as the gouging spell struck right between the eyes of the Goblin. A straight cylindrical hole was punched through the head of the Goblin, making it keel over dead with blood pooling beneath it.

“Filthy human!”

“Scum!”

More Goblins poured out of the forest with warcry on their lips and weapons in their hands.

“No.” Harry said, placing his hand on the redhead woman’s shoulder when she brandished her stave to perform a spell. “The poison could spread fast if you weaken yourself magically. Let me deal with this.”

A line of Goblins stayed back close to the treeline and chose to release a sea of arrows high into the sky.

“Magical shields won’t work. Their arrows can breach our shields.” the woman warned him immediately.

“Don’t worry. My spell is designed to combat Goblin Steel.” said Harry.

The advantage of time travel was that he had the edge when it came to certain spells that became sophisticated enough over the passage of time.

“Indomitus.”

A golden sphere of magical energy swirled into existence around Harry and the woman. The enchanted steel of the Goblins harmlessly impinged on the shield and was consequently repelled away in quick order. Cancelling the shield, Harry immediately launched a spell in his arsenal that had the scope to take out multiple opponents with precision.

“Tonitruum Fulminata.”

A ray of pale white lightning blasted out of the tip of his wand before branching off into hundreds of miniature lightning bolts. The Goblins and their armour were no match for the power of lightning. Thousands of volts of lightning energy arced through the Goblin warriors in an instant. With no magical defence, their bodies fried instantly under the onslaught of his lightning spell, turning them into charred corpses within minutes.

“You’ll suffer for this human! After this, there’ll be no peace but only war and death between us.”

A Goblin groaned from the ground who had miraculously survived. Because of the lack of burn marks on the Goblin’s body, Harry assumed the Goblin was a survivor of the witch’s spell.

“That was a mistake. You could’ve lived had you remained silent.” Harry said coolly.

He conjured a metal spike and banished it straight into the Goblin’s head, silencing the creature forever.

“We must leave this place and seek refuge inside the walls of Hogwarts. More of them will be coming towards us.” the red-haired witch warned Harry, heaving herself over using her stave as a crutch.

“I’ll carry you to the castle. It’ll be better if you’re not moving that leg.” said Harry.

When he was sure the woman was not showing any protest, Harry gathered her up bridal style and slowly walked towards the castle.

“Forgive me for not asking. What’s your name?” Harry asked the beautiful woman in his arms.

“I’m Rowena Ravenclaw.”

Harry had to exercise all his willpower to not react in sheer surprise. He looked closely at the face of the woman in his arms, and she didn’t look anything remotely similar to Helena Ravenclaw. There was also the possibility that the woman was lying. But he couldn’t think of any reason for someone to impersonate Rowena Ravenclaw, least of all before him. The fact that he was carrying Rowena Ravenclaw made him silent throughout the rest of their journey. His mind was whirling with possibilities and the dangers of discovery as well. Ravenclaw was a beautiful woman but renowned for an even more beautiful mind. This was the same mind that birthed the Room of Requirement and the enchanted ceiling of Hogwarts. A single misstep by him could jeopardise the entire future. Therefore, he felt it was better to keep his silence and think things through while he had the time.

The closer he got to Hogwarts, the sounds of the bombardment became more pronounced. At least, the siege’s sounds had the effect of distracting Rowena Ravenclaw from scrutinising him further.

“Stop here!” Rowena suddenly spoke up. “We are at the edge of the wards. I must open the wards to grant you entry within its protection.”

Harry nodded and carefully set Rowena on her good leg. She leaned on her stave and carefully moved a few feet forward.

“Tell me, Hadrian Targaryen? Why have you come to Hogwarts?” Rowena suddenly asked. “I ask because I want to know whether you are a threat.”

“I seek the greatest treasure known to man in Hogwarts. Knowledge! If you’re willing to share that, then allow me entry.” said Harry.

Rowena remained contemplative for a moment before tapping the wards with her stave.

“You are welcome to share the hearth of Hogwarts Hadrian Targaryen.”

The wards and barriers surrounding Hogwarts flickered into existence near Rowena.

“Come,” Rowena said before stepping inside the ward.

Harry took a deep breath, gathering himself before he followed Rowena Ravenclaw into the protection of Hogwarts. He hoped he was not going to screw things up.

AN:

 

For artworks, Discord channel: https://discord.com/invite/XKnmQxeGSu

Chapter 86: Meeting the Founders

“I meant to ask this earlier. What is that strange thing on your nose?” Rowena asked, an inquisitive frown on her face while looking at the glasses on Harry's face.

“Oh, this? It helps me see more accurately. I have trouble seeing with clarity, you see.” said Harry, tapping the glasses on his nose.

“You are blind without these glasses?” Rowena asked curiously.

“I'm not blind. I have poor eyesight, and these glasses improve my vision. That's all.” Harry explained.

“I see. You are not from around here at all, are you?” said Rowena.

Harry merely smiled at Rowena instead of dignifying that with a response that’d undoubtedly land him in a heap of trouble. Instead, Harry diverted the conversation to a more relevant topic as he carried the Hogwarts Founder into the castle.

“Why are the Goblins attacking the castle? Why were you even so far away from the castle?” Harry asked, taking an unfamiliar flight of stairs that led to a giant oak door.

“The Goblin King Sabretooth wants to carve out a kingdom of his own in this place. Hogwarts will pose a threat to his plans if we educate the wizards and witches to fight back.”

“Shouldn’t they see the Muggles as more of a threat than wizards and witches? After all, there are more of them than us.” Harry pointed out.

“I take it you’ve never encountered the Goblins before. They are not exactly the brightest bunch. All they want is a good fight, and whenever a new king is crowned, they’ll launch an assault on wizarding settlements.” Rowena said with a huff.

“I see.” Harry nodded.

With a flick of his wand, he unlocked the door. He could hear the locks coming undone one by one on the other side.

“I was sent to negotiate with King Sabretooth. It was a desperate attempt to stop the bloodshed, but I suppose it was a wasted effort from the start expecting such bull-headed creatures to see reason.” said Rowena, a look of disgust on her unblemished face.

“Sometimes, war is the only path to peace.” said Harry, opening the doors wide with his magic.

“Wise words, stranger. Now, who are you?”

Harry was immediately on the business end of a long stave with a glowing crystal at the tip. A bearded, bulky man was holding the stave, glaring at him threateningly.

“Enough, Godric. He saved me from the Goblins. I owe him, and I can vouch for him.” Rowena said immediately, pushing the stave away from Harry’s face.

“Is he a…?”

“Yes, Godric. He is a wizard. Now, can we please go? I need Helga’s aid.” Rowena said in an annoyed manner.

“Are you injured?” Godric asked in concern.

“A Goblin arrow struck her leg. I’ve placed her leg in stasis. The poison will be slow to spread, but she’ll need the antidote before the wound is healed.” said Harry, struggling to keep a straight face standing before Godric Gryffindor.

“Come inside. I’ll lead you to Helga.” Godric let them inside while tapping his stave on the floor.

Harry could feel the raw power of magical energy from the illustrious Hogwarts Founder even though the spell was merely to lock the door.

“You are finely attuned to magic, aren’t you?” Rowena asked, staring at his face with discerning eyes.

Harry didn’t say anything and focused on following Godric inside the castle.

“Your mastery over magic is almost uncanny for a young wizard. I don’t believe I’ve seen anyone so eloquently bend lightning to their will.” Rowena commented.

“Lightning!” Godric looked at Harry with an impressed look.

“Yes, Godric. He used a lightning spell to kill the Goblins attacking us.”

“Impressive!” Godric nodded in a respectful manner. “You look a tad younger. What’s your name, and how old are you?”

“I’m Hadrian Targaryen, and I’m sixteen years old.” Harry lied through his teeth with ease.

While the conventional times were pretty much lax on age restrictions, he didn’t know how the Founders viewed the world during this time. The Founders were portrayed as the prime movers of the wizarding community of Scotland during this era. So, they must’ve had a standard in accepting students. According to the Ministry of Magic, the age of majority under normal conditions for a wizard or a witch was seventeen. Unfortunately, he was aware his body didn’t have the physique close to an ordinary seventeen-year-old boy, nor did he have substantial facial hair to pass off as older than he looked. Therefore, he hedged his bets on passing off as a sixteen-year-old. Going by the lack of reaction from the two Founders, he supposed he nailed it.

“Lightning spells at such a young age.” Godric looked appreciatively at Harry. “You must’ve had quite a skilled master.”

Harry didn’t vocally respond to the comment, poised to dig into his past. Therefore, he merely nodded while thinking up more lies for short-term use until he properly grasped the situation in Hogwarts.

But Harry didn’t get the time to cook up a false story in his head on the fly as his senses went haywire, making him stop walking. It was as if his entire being screamed at him with such urgency as if he was about to die.

“What the hell?” Harry muttered confusedly as the feeling slipped away from his senses.

When he looked at the Founders, he saw Godric and Rowena signalled at him to remain silent. Harry gripped the Holly wand, feeling the tension in the air. He slowed his breathing rapidly while occluding his mind to sharpen his focus. He could see some sort of danger afoot in the area, but it was as if the danger was also expert at hiding from his senses. Suddenly, a section of the roof collapsed, forcing Harry to back-pedal. But from the ceiling, a giant golden head of a vicious-looking lion emerged, and it promptly roared. The force of the roar forced Harry to his knees while his ears started ringing, and all over his body, he felt as if miniature blades were spearing into his bones.

A rush of warmth suddenly enveloped him, making Harry gasp as if he was breathing for the first time.

“It’s the roar of a Chimera. You managed to stay conscious without a magical shield in between.” Rowena commented randomly; her stave churning out a warm golden glowing shield that allowed Harry to regain his wits from the attack.

“This is not the time and place to study and observe magic, Rowena.” Godric Gryffindor grunted.

“I shielded my mind.” said Harry, pointing his wand at the most fearsome creature in the magical world right after an adult Nundu and Thunderbird.

“A shield around your mind? That’s a brilliant piece of magic.” Rowena said, straining a little as her shield flickered as the Chimera launched another roar.

This time, Harry acted on instinct and put up a shield. He could feel tiny needles of energy pushing against the shield he created, desperately trying to breach the barrier. His eyes widened as his senses screamed at him, warning of another impending danger. Pouring more power into his shield, Harry braced for the next attack. It came in the form of a golden snake, opening its mouth and spitting out bright gold fire.

‘Of course. A Chimera has a snake as its tail.’ Harry thought.

The snake blasted more fire at Godric and Rowena, forcing them to defend themselves from the onslaught.

‘A Chimera has six eyes because it has three heads. Therefore, attacking a Chimera and forgetting the defence is futile. The solution is to create a blind spot.’ Harry thought.

Harry windlessly performed Serpensortia and cast an enlarging charm on the snake in quick order.

“$$Attack the Chimera. Kill it.$$” Harry ordered in parseltongue.

The enormous cobra lunged into action, which was enough to distract the tail of the Chimera, giving some breathing room for Harry as Godric and Rowena were appropriately distracting the lion and goat heads of the beast. Harry allowed his shield and used a spell targeting the snake head.

“Suffusio.”

A torrent of water jumped from the tip of his wand and smashed into the Chimera. But it hardly damaged the beast, which was to be expected. However, he followed it up with a spell that made the Chimera regret not escaping when it had the chance.

“Pruine Ventus.”

Gales of frosty wind bellowed out of his wand, turning the water he used earlier into ice. The Chimera’s movements became sluggish as frost formed all over its body. Harry could see the lion-head was almost entirely frozen dead as it had stopped moving altogether, but the snake-head managed to burn away the snake he conjured. But before the snake head could burn away the frost, Godric removed the snake head with his sword out of nowhere. When Harry blinked again, Godric had stabbed his sword through the goat head of the Chimera with the tip of the blade protruding from its frosted lion head.

To Harry's relief, the monstrous form of Chimera fell dead with a distinct thud that shook the floor.

“A young wizard proficient in elemental magic and conjuring with the ability to speak to snakes.” Godric muttered, a shadow falling on his face as he scrutinised Harry with his brown eyes. “Are you an illegitimate child of Salazar?”

Harry gaped at the founder of his House for a moment, but he was spared from saying anything when he saw Rowena Ravenclaw collapse.

“Arresto Momentum.”

Rowena’s fall was arrested by the slowing charm he cast. The spell probably helped save the Founder from getting a nasty concussion.

“She needs Helga’s help.” said Godric, taking the fallen staff from the ground.

Harry applied the levitation charm on Rowena that floated her prone body in mid-air.

“Then let’s go fast. If the wards have been breached, it’ll be better to fight as a group.” said Harry, which earned him a strange look from Godric.

“Follow me.” said Godric, running ahead with Harry closely following with Rowena floating alongside.

Harry found it all surreal that he was walking amongst the Hogwarts founders, and by the looks of the incomplete corridors, classrooms, and sculptures, he had a feeling Hogwarts was still under construction. Strangely enough, he wished Hermione was with him in this adventure. Her expertise in the written history of the Founders’ era would’ve been immensely useful for him. But that was spilt milk under the bridge. He hoped the Ministry and his family back home had better luck reversing his time travel problem. With the godforsaken siege going on against Hogwarts, his first priority was to survive the siege and, along the way, befriend the Founders so that they’d later be amicable to help him return to his time.

****

“You are telling me that my grandson is lost within the folds of time somewhere in the past or the future.” Perenelle said, keeping her voice deadly cold, devoid of a hint of emotion.

Damien could feel pinpricks on the back of his neck as he felt the tension in the room.

“I’m afraid so, my lady. Croaker believes the battle in the Department of Mysteries must have left a stray damaged Time Turner on Harry’s person. So, when Dumbledore gave Harry the Portkey, it…”

“I gave you a simple task, Damien. Do you remember what the task was?” Perenelle asked coolly, cutting off the explanation Damien was making.

“You ordered us to keep Harry safe from Dumbledore, my lady.” Damien muttered, keeping his head bowed low.

“And is he?”

“No, my lady.”

“You became blinded by power that was nearly in your grasp. You forgot your duty in your haste to consume the factions inside the Wizengamot.” Perenelle accused.

“My lady, Harry fought the Dark Lord to a standstill and even cut off the man’s arm from his shoulders. When I met Harry, I only looked for injuries from the battle, but he never sustained any. It was a misjudgement on my part, but Croaker assures me that he can bring back Harry if he can gain access to a powerful Time Turner.”

“We’ll see, Damien. You’ll have as many Time Turners as the Unspeakables in Britain want. But if they can’t rescue my grandson, I’ll be coming for you. Keep that in mind.” Perenelle warned.

Within half an hour, Perenelle arranged the Time Turners from the German Ministry. Of course, she didn’t hand over the Time Turners alone. She also had the most competent authority in Time Turners sent to Britain to ensure her grandson safely escaped the time anomaly.

“I warned you something like this could happen to the boy. Magic herself does not wish for what you intend to happen. She will fight you every step of the way.” Nicholas whispered from the shadows.

Perenelle scoffed before lighting the chimney with fire that chased away the darkness in her room, revealing her husband.

“Perhaps it’s the will of magic to fade into nothingness like the elder races. But I won't allow that to transpire. Wizards and witches are the inheritors of this world, not the Muggles. As Antonich Peverell dreamed, the Hallows will become one, and the Muggles will face judgment when the clock strikes Millennium, no matter the hurdles that come my way. This is inevitable.” Perenelle said firmly.

She could hear a deep sigh let out by her husband.

“I do not like the path you’ve taken, Perenelle. But I won’t stop you since you have given me time to try my hand at uniting our worlds. Sadly, I failed.” Nicholas shook his head. “However, I advise you to inform the child what you intend for him soon.”

“He has an inkling.” Perenelle said with a scoff. “The only reason he has yet to give me access to the Chamber was because he wanted to find out what I wanted in the first place. Why do you think I let him take his merry time?”

“Still, it’ll be better if he hears it from your mouth.”

“Hmm.” Perenelle grunted.

She supposed it was time for her grandson to at least understand his destiny.

‘As soon as he returns, a talk will be necessary.’ Perenelle mused.

****

‘Helga Hufflepuff must be the most powerful healer in the history of the world.’ Harry mused.

He could not think of any sorcerer with the power and skill to draw out poisons from blood and healing wounds using wandless magic. Harry strongly suspected Helga Hufflepuff had a unique magical ability that helped her heal this fast. Otherwise, her capabilities didn’t make much sense.

Harry watched quietly as Lady Hufflepuff held her hand against the wounded leg of Rowena. Her hand remained on the leg for less than a minute, but the skin was unblemished when she took back her hand. The arrow wound on the leg had closed up, leaving not even a scar. The most impressive part was that Lady Hufflepuff did not even use potions to counteract the poison in Rowena’s bloodstream. Instead, she drew it out with magic like it was a walk in the park.

“I take it you’re suitably impressed by Helga’s skill as a healer?” Rowena asked with a grin as she sat up on her bed.

“I’ve never heard of a sorcerer capable of drawing out poisons without the aid of a foci like a wand or a stave. You must be the most gifted healer in the world.” Harry admitted, staring at the auburn-haired witch with wide eyes.

“I have what you’d call the skill to enchant anything I touch with my magic. So long as my skin is in contact, I can reverse any damage done at the expense of my magic.” Lady Hufflepuff explained.

“I’ve never heard of such an ability manifesting in anyone.” Harry said honestly, already in awe of the woman.

“Neither has any one of us until we met Helga.” Godric said.

Harry was the next patient on Lady Hufflepuff’s list. The older witch placed both hands on either side of his head. He could feel a pulse of energy passing through his body as Lady Hufflepuff began healing him from the injuries he sustained from battling the Chimera. One by one, his joints started to click back in place, and the strain Harry was feeling on his shoulders eased as Helga Hufflepuff’s magic enveloped him from head to toe.

“You are inflicted with a curse of a dark nature. Right here.” Lady Hufflepuff said, sweeping the bangs covering his forehead to the side as she stared at the lightning bolt scar etched on his skin.

“I know. Unfortunately for you, that one is beyond even your abilities, Lady Hufflepuff.” said Harry.

“I’ll be the judge of that.” said Helga Hufflepuff after staring at him for a few seconds with her onyx eyes.

Her eyes scrunched together in concentration as she tried to undo the curse clinging to the scar. Despite strenuous efforts on her part, the curse remained whole and bound to the scar.

“As I said, this is beyond your abilities. You should focus on your other patients.” Harry advised, removing her hands from his head while standing up from the bed he was sitting on.

“There is no curse, poison or wound that I can’t undo.” said Lady Hufflepuff, becoming flustered as she stared at his scar.

“Except this one.” Harry smiled at the older witch. “I thank you for healing me.”

“I’ll need to study this curse more closely.”

“Not now, Helga.” Godric said firmly before turning his sights on Harry.

“Hadrian Targaryen. I know this is much to ask from a traveller, but we are severely outnumbered and outmanoeuvred. Your skill in magic is commendable from what I saw while battling the Chimera. Will you help Hogwarts in defending families and children from this war?” Godric asked seriously.

“I’d be honoured to fight alongside you all.” said Harry, making the illustrious founder of his house grin.

“Very good. Welcome to Hogwarts.” Godric patted on Harry’s shoulder appreciatively.

“Thank you, Hadrian.” said Rowena. “It’s time you met another one of our friends, Salazar Slytherin. He oversees the castle’s defences.”

“It’s entirely possible you might know him or even related to him by blood. After all, you are both Parselmouth.” said Godric.

“That doesn’t mean they are related. There must be many wizards and witches with that ability…” Rowena argued.

Harry remained silent as Godric and Rowena argued back and forth as his mind was otherwise engaged. Out of all the Founders, he knew Salazar Slytherin far better. While the Slytherin never left any memoirs, several of his works survived in the Chamber. Therefore, he knew the land upon which Hogwarts was built was the ancestral land of the Slytherin family for generations. The Chamber only held his writings on magical fields of study that he found interesting. But from those writings, Harry could understand Salazar Slytherin was a wizard of extraordinary calibre. Throughout his century-long life, the man managed to gift many great magical discoveries that empowered wizardkind in the future. Most of them were in the field of potions, rituals, and charms.

But what interested him most was how Slytherin developed all those potions and rituals. He was sure beyond doubt Parseltongue was involved in the process as it had a deep connection to Old Magic. Unfortunately, he had no concrete proof or details on the processes involved. Salazar had almost as if painstakingly done everything in his power to keep all information about Parseltongue from his written works that survived in the Chamber. Or it could be that future descendants of Salazar took the works based on Parseltongue out of the Chamber.

There was also the interesting fact that the hollow earth theory was a reality and deeply connected to those carrying Peverell blood. If his stay during the Founders’ era were to be extended, Harry intended to learn everything he needed to know about Elysium from Salazar Slytherin himself. At least, he hoped he could convince the wizard to share those details.

And Harry finally saw the illustrious Founder of Hogwarts watching over the battlefield from a tower. Salazar Slytherin was as tall as Godric Gryffindor, but the wizard had no hair on his head. Slytherin was dressed in dark robes while holding a stave with a snake head at one end.

“Salazar.”

“Godric. Rowena.” Slytherin acknowledged without taking his eyes from the battlefield. “I take it the Goblins refused our peace proposal.”

“They want war.” said Rowena.

“We’ll give them one that they’ll never forget.” Slytherin said darkly before pointing a finger at Harry.
“But tell me, who’s this guest you’ve brought inside Hogwarts?”

“My name is Hadrian Targaryen. I came across this battlefield and found Rowena injured near the forest. If you’ll have me, I’ll lend you my power to win this war.”

Slytherin said nothing and merely observed Harry with keen onyx eyes.

“Hmm. We’ll see whether you are useful or just another one of those useless rabble cowering inside my castle.” Slytherin said harshly before turning his sights on the enemy ahead.

Harry didn’t react to the barb, nor did he feel slighted the least bit as he understood why Slytherin said that. He had seen many wizards and witches hiding inside the castle without doing anything worth their while to defend the castle. He also remembered most witches and wizards were weak morons hardly able to defend against even muggles of this era.

Instead, he focused on the Goblin army arrayed outside Hogwarts. He supposed it’d be interesting to fight against Goblins as he had only read about Goblin wars in books. The chance to engage the Goblins in a battle was something he looked forward to. After all, he had always wanted to test some spells, and the Goblins were giving him the opportunity. He was not going to waste it.

AN:

 

For artworks, Discord channel: https://discord.com/invite/XKnmQxeGSu

Chapter 87: In for a penny, in for a pound.

Harry levitated the rubble out of the way, blocking a corridor. The roof had collapsed on the corridor, probably by the siege engines of Goblins. He could see a massive stone inscribed with runes among the rubble. The rock looked like it had come out of a scorching furnace. Most of the runes inscribed were blackened out after breaching the wards surrounding Hogwarts. He became curious about the runes used by the Goblins. While the runes were burned out, a chuck of the stone was missing, and he used his sensory abilities to get a feel for ambient magic in the runes.

Unfortunately, he received mixed results. The magic lingering on the stone gave him only vague intent to grind, shield and pierce. He could’ve pieced that together without even looking at the rock.

“The barriers surrounding Hogwarts are empowered to burn away foreign hostile magic. Rarely anything survives once it comes in contact with the barriers.”

Harry looked over his shoulder to see Rowena Ravenclaw, dressed in fine blue silk, strutting towards him with her staff in hand.

“I thought you were asked to take bed rest by Lady Hufflepuff.” said Harry.

“And you believe yourself to be far too clever than everyone else, don’t you?” said Rowena, her eyes sharpened as she scrutinised him.

“Why would you think so?” Harry asked, taken back by the suspicious look the Hogwarts Founder was throwing at him.

“I’ve been carefully analysing everything that happened since I met you in the forest, and two things stood out.”

“Is that so? Let’s hear it then,” said Harry, forcing his body to relax a little bit, but his magic was spreading out of his body, looking for any threats around him.

“You have so far avoided saying anything about your homeland despite repeated inquiries, which means you’re probably on the run or a spy. Second, you’ve shown you're terribly misinformed about Goblins, which does not happen to wizards and witches in the isle. So, you're from a distant land with little to no exposure to Goblins or a spy sent by the Goblins.”

“Or maybe, I come from a place where Goblins are nasty little buggers but don’t wage war on wizards and witches.” Harry retorted.

“And what place is that, Hadrian Targaryen? Rome? Because I've been to Rome and never heard of a wizarding family named Targaryen.” Rowena said, scowling at him while keeping her staff at the ready.

Harry knew he was in a bind as he had not considered a specific area as his homeland. He thought he could wing it by passively projecting himself as a Roman or Greek , but that idea was now useless. Under pressure, he spouted out the first name of a place that came to his mind.

“Valyria.”

“What?” Rowena asked, staring at him with a raised eyebrow.

Harry felt like palming his face but resisted the urge by sheer will.

'No choice but to roll with it.' Harry thought.

“Valyria is my homeland. It’s an island city near Greece’s western coast. It’s a city made by fourteen great sorcerers five centuries ago. To this day, those fourteen families administer the city, forming the Dragon Council of Valyrian Freehold.” Harry made up a backstory, heavily drawing from a fictional book on the spot.

“Name these fourteen families.” Rowena demanded sharply, still eyeing him suspiciously.

“Balerion, Vhagar, Meraxes, Vermithor, Syrax, Caraxes, Tessarion, Meleys, Tyraxes, Arrax, Sunfyre and Targaryen. You happy now?”

Harry thanked his lucky stars he was obsessed with House Targaryen and their dragons in the past. Otherwise, he’d have floundered for names. The dragon names of House Targaryen were the perfect cover for the lie he was spinning. However, he also understood he was weaving a web of lies, and sooner or later, he would get caught up in it if he was not careful enough. But for now, he had no choice but to proceed.

‘In for a penny, in for a pound.’ Harry thought.

“I’ve never heard of this place before,” Rowena said suspiciously, but Harry noticed her stance relaxed slightly.

“I’d be surprised if you’ve heard of it. Valyrian Freehold is a city exclusively for magical beings. Our ancestors built the city to avoid getting embroiled in muggle wars exacerbated by the rapid expansion of the Roman Empire.” said Harry, turning his focus back to repairing the damage inflicted on the roof.

Harry unleashed his magical power and let it blanket the whole area before he applied the repairing charm. The wide area effect of the charm started a chain reaction that reassembled the broken roof from all the rubble lying around. Within half a minute, the collapsed roof reassembled itself in pristine condition.

“That’s impossible. No magic could shield an entire island from the eyes of muggles.” Rowena argued.

At this point, Harry realised the Founders had most probably not developed muggle-repelling wards or even Unplottable wards that secured magical communities inside muggle settlements. In History of Magic taught at Hogwarts, he had learned the Founders created the muggle-repelling wards and other illusion charms that kept Hogwarts as a run-down old castle to the muggle eyes. There were also some popular questions about why the Founders built a school for children so close to the Forbidden Forest filled with dangerous creatures. Harry now understood why.

‘The Founders used the dangerous creatures in the forest as a buffer against muggles. They must have created the muggle-repelling wards after Hogwarts was built.’ Harry mused.

“There are charms that can shield entire tracts of land from muggles. The Freehold uses it most extensively. My family had developed even a charm to ward off the Freehold from even foreign magical creatures and wizards.” Harry claimed.

“Is that true? Is there magic capable of hiding lands under wards even from wizards and magical creatures?” Rowena asked excitedly.

“Of course. I’ll be happy to share it with you to protect Hogwarts.” said Harry.

And that offer clinched Rowena Ravenclaw, smashing through the doubts plaguing her mind. At least, Harry hoped that was the case because he was winging it with his backstory, and now he was in uncharted territory. He also felt the Founders would not be of much help in solving his crisis. Still, he hoped to use the Founders and their knowledge to his advantage to get back to his time without disclosing his true identity. He just had to come up with a good story.

****

Harry had spent the rest of the night helping the inhabitants of Hogwarts and cleaning up the wreckage from the siege. For some reason, the Goblins had stopped their attacks against Hogwarts. Whatever the reason behind the abrupt stopping of the siege, the people huddled inside Hogwarts were immensely thankful, as was Harry. With everything falling quiet for the night, Harry had the opportunity to observe the refugees inside Hogwarts properly. There were some thirty-odd wizarding families taking refuge in the castle. Of those thirty families, only ten wizards and witches pitched in to help with the castle's defence. The sad fact was that most of them were too young and some of the first students of the Founders.

So they were not as knowledgeable.

“Aguamenti.”

A jet of water blasted out of the tip of his wand, dousing the flames burning the window. Harry transfigured a stray piece of wood into a metallic square plate the exact size of the window. Using the sticking charm, he fixed the plate on the window to close off a potential place the enemy could infiltrate in the worst-case scenario.

“You’re so fast at casting spells, Lord Targaryen.” said Ciaran, with stars in his eyes.

“Hmm.” Harry grunted, moving ahead to look for any other damage to the castle.

Ciaran Flanagan was a boy of twelve who took a fancy to hang around him, and due to the lies he spun with Rowena, he became a lord within the span of an hour.

‘I guess rumours spreading like wildfire is a tradition that started from the Founders’ era.’ Harry reflected with some amusement that made him grin.

Or he was not giving Rowena the benefit of the doubt. His well-dressed attire might’ve given a ‘noble’ or ‘lordly’ impression to the wizards and witches dressed in rags and animal skin. Harry was fortunate to have dressed in dragonhide boots, a basilisk skin cloak and jacket, a cotton shirt and dark pants. Of course, there was trouble waiting for him as he had not carried anything on his person that translates to wealth in the time he found himself in. He was sure that would bring trouble upon his head, but he possessed a small pouch of gold and silver.

However, the coins were few, not enough to cover an extended stay.

“They say you slew goblins by summoning lightning from the sky. Is it true?” Ciaran asked, keeping up pace with Harry’s long strides.

‘The kid is persistent. I’ll give him that.’ Harry mused, eyeing the young brown-haired wizard out of the corner of his eyes.

“Summoning lightning from the sky is beyond me. But yes, I used a lightning spell to dispatch some Goblin warriors.” Harry answered, knowing the kid would not give him peace of mind if he remained mute for too long.

“That’s so wonderful. I’d have loved to watch that, but my mother refuses to let me help in the war effort.” Ciaran complained, his eyes darkened suddenly. “Even after what they did to my father… she won’t let me.”

“A mother’s love for her children is the most powerful force in the world and, therefore, the most revered even by magic. Great feats of magic have been done by those who loved fiercely. So, do not despair for what you have, Ciaran. Its value is incalculable.” said Harry.

“I suppose.” Ciaran said morosely. “But I want to fight.”

“And you will, in time. There will be many wars to fight in your lifetime. I guarantee you that. First, learn to harness the magic within you. You have to learn to walk before you can run.”

“Then, will you teach me?” Ciaran asked eagerly.

“Aren’t you a student of Hogwarts? Why would you need my tutelage when you have four of the finest teachers in these lands?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

“They don’t teach us anything of war. Lady Hufflepuff taught us how to heal injuries, grow plants and brew potions. How’s any of that useful when the Goblins attack? I want to protect my mother.”

Harry was taken aback by the resolve shining in the boy’s eyes. It was almost like seeing a reflection of himself in that moment, which made Harry give in.

“All right. I’ll give you some tutelage.” Harry said to the excitement of Ciaran Flanagan.

Harry was not blindly jumping into any commitment out of a spur-of-the-moment decision. It was all but sure that his stay at this time would get extended a bit. While he was here, it behoved him to share some of his knowledge with Hogwarts so that the Founders would not be reluctant to share theirs.

‘After all, a bridge has to be used from both sides.’ Harry thought.

Harry spent the rest of the short time he had to instruct his new student in casting the Stunning charm in between cleaning up the northern parts of the castle. When he was finally done, Harry was relieved there was no trace of the enemy or hostile magical creatures unleashed by the Goblins hiding in the northern parts of the castle. When he finally returned to the hall where the families were camping, it was time for dinner, and the four Founders were also there.

Dinner was a silent affair, which Harry was not used to in Hogwarts. The Great Hall was usually brimming with the excited murmurings and jokes of students from all four houses. To sit in the Great Hall and not experience the sensory overload of hundreds of teenagers was disconcerting for Harry. Not to mention, the food was abhorrent.

Harry was used to rich, spicy food in Hogwarts, especially some smoked beef, mashed potatoes, or even some tasty chicken soup. Whatever soup was currently on his plate was something he could not identify. But he couldn’t complain as everyone was eating the same food.

‘Right. Scotland’s cuisine during this time can’t be expected to come close to 20th-century Scottish cuisine.’ Harry mused, taking a spoonful of 'soup' into his mouth.

“Lord Hadrian...”

“I'm not really a lord.” Harry interrupted Salazar Slytherin.

“I was told your family was a noble family from a distant island ruled by fourteen noble families.” Salazar looked at him with an unimpressed look.

“My family is what your people would call a noble house, but I'm not a lord. My father Aegon holds the title, and after his time, my eldest sister Visenya shall inherit the title as per Valyrian custom.” Harry carefully said, neatly following the backstory he had painstakingly crafted after much internal debate.

Painting himself as a spare heir also had the added advantage of explaining his long journey away from his ‘home island’. Without the responsibility associated as the ‘heir’, he was free to roam the world, giving him the perfect cover. It also neatly disassociated from any formal nonsense that could rear its head in the future.

“Hmm.” Slytherin grunted but didn’t say anything else but observe Harry closely.

“It’s fascinating that wizards came together to build a city. Most of our people never see eye to eye on any matter.” Godric commented.

“I imagine it was no easy task. But the Fourteen were convinced to take as many magical families away from the constant war of muggles. Since then, we’ve had five centuries of peace on our island while Europe bleeds under Roman greed for power.”

“How did your people keep yourself unseen all these years?” Helga Hufflepuff asked curiously.

“Our people realised early on the Roman fleet could find our island as it’s located between Rome and Greece. So, our ancestors designed a ward that turned the whole island unplotable for muggles and magicals alike. Then, there is the Muggle-repelling charm that encompasses the island’s shores for added protection, making it inaccessible for ships to access our waters.” Harry explained.

“Muggle repelling charm?” Salazar asked with renewed interest, steepling his fingers as he stared at Harry with unbridled curiosity.

“It’s a charm that specifically targets the minds of muggles to ignore an area warded by the charm. It’ll make them unable to see the warded area and deflect the attention of their mind.”

“That’s an impressive piece of magic. I’ve been thinking of a spell that could be something along those lines. Can you share this spell with us for Hogwarts’ protection?” Salazar asked eagerly.

“We, of course, understand if it’s a secret of your people…” Godric started to say, but Harry cut off the man.

“I’ll be happy to share the spells with you. Your efforts to safeguard wizards and witches and empower them through knowledge is commendable. I’ll be happy to help in any way I can to safeguard Hogwarts.” Harry readily offered.

“This is heartening to hear. You’ve our heartfelt gratitude, Hadrian.” Helga Hufflepuff graced him with a radiant smile.

Harry nodded at the older witch with a smile.

****

“Your spells are far different than I assumed,” Salazar said, staring at the rising sun from the top of a tower.

“Our spells were designed with wands in mind. Our people have abandoned using staves,” said Harry, joining Slytherin in watching the sunset.

“$$ How many in your home island speak the noble tongue of serpents?$$” Salazar asked in parseltongue.

“$$ Only those with Targaryen blood.$$” Harry answered.

Slytherin showed no reaction to his parseltongue ability, which Rowena or Godric mentioned to the man at some point.

“If Valyria is a secure island, why have you left its safety?” Salazar asked.

“Because Hadrian is adventurous like me. Isn’t that so, friend?” Godric laughed boisterously, clapping Harry on his shoulder.

“I wish that were the case, Godric.” said Harry, sticking to the made-up story he had prepared beforehand. “Truth be told, I wouldn’t have ventured out of the island for an adventure. Our people are facing an unprecedented threat, and I was assured the answer to our problem lies in the British Isles.”

“What do you seek? Perhaps we can help you.” Rowena offered.

“I seek knowledge of time magic,” Harry answered.

He was not surprised to see the total bewilderment on the faces of the four Founders. But he was disappointed because he had hoped they’d show some familiarity with the subject.

“Time magic? What’s that?” Godric asked curiously.

“It’s the magic that exerts power over time and perhaps space. Theoretically, time magic could bend space and time. It could reverse an event after it happened or empower a wizard to move backwards or forward in time.” Harry explained, gaining only fascinating looks from the Founders.

“That’s… I had never thought of such a magic.” Salazar muttered, looking at Harry with intrigue.

“Why do you want the power to control time? What sort of threat does your home island face that you require dominance over time?” Rowena asked.

“That’s a long tale, and one I don’t think most would readily believe,” said Harry.

“Then that tale will have to wait. Our enemy is getting ready to attack.” said Salazar, capturing everyone’s attention.

Harry was a little relieved for the distraction as he didn’t want to lay out all his backstory in one go. That was a classic way to fuck things up down the road. It was better to treat everyone with doses of his backstory for authenticity.

‘Or maybe I’m over-planning this whole stuff. They look like they are eating out of the palm of my hand.’ Harry thought, bucking up a little as he dosed himself with some self-confidence.

‘I’m good at making up stuff. I got this.’ Harry said to himself in the confines of his mind.

But his attitude changed when he looked at the Goblin army arrayed against Hogwarts.

‘Oh, I’m so fucked!’ Harry thought, staring at the four massive dragons facing Hogwarts.

“Dragons!” Helga Hufflepuff breathed, staring at the battlefield with wide eyes.

“There are four of them, Salazar.” Rowena said worriedly.

“I know. I can see the battlefield, Rowena.” Salazar muttered, glaring at the dragons as if the man was willing them away with his eyes.

“Well, I say we slay them all. I could use some dragonhide armour.” Godric said giddily, looking rather eager to battle the dragons compared to the others in the tower.

“Do you not see what Sabretooth is planning, Godric? That horrid creature wants to shift our attention to the dragons so that he can attack the barriers that protect Hogwarts in earnest.” said Rowena.

“Ah, but Sabertooth is discounting our new friend here.” Said Godric, placing his hand on Harry’s shoulder. “While we confront the dragons, Hadrian can hold the wards together, protecting the castle.”

Harry was somewhat stunned by the level of trust Godric was showing. Entrusting the keys to wards to someone was a sign of great trust. Trusting the wrong person with such an honour would also undo everything, like what happened to the Potters. He was not the only one stunned into silence by Godric Gryffindor’s show of trust. The other Founders looked apprehensively at each other.

“Salazar. I trust in Godric’s judgment.” said Helga Hufflepuff.

Her easygoing attitude was nowhere to be seen as a mask of stoicism surrounded her.

“I concur. If we’re free to focus on the dragons, our chances of victory increase twofold.” Rowena quietly said, her green eyes staring piercingly into Harry’s for a moment before being trained on Slytherin, who remained silent till now.

Suddenly, Harry was facing the full attention of Salazar Slytherin.

“$$Will you guard Hogwarts Hadrian Targaryen?$$” Slytherin asked, switching to parseltongue.

“$$No harm shall befall Hogwarts or her inhabitants under my watch. I swear it.$$” Harry hissed back in the noble tongue of serpents.

“Then the wards are yours to command Hadrian Targaryen.” said Slythern, raising his staff, which glowed an eerie white glow at the snake head on its top.

Harry raised his wand, pressing the tip of his wand against the snake-head when Slytherin extended his staff in his direction. The white glow slipped into the tip of his wand, and Harry could feel the wards encompassing the castle.

“All right, then. Let’s give Sabertooth a warm welcome.” said Godric, fishing a pointy hat out of nowhere and covering his head with it.

Chapter 88: The siege of Hogwarts P1

It was the first time Harry was in control of the wards of a magical place, much less a gigantic castle like Hogwarts. He had experience in erecting wards over Grimmauld Place with Sirius. That was the extent of his expertise in maintaining wards. But, those wards were later upgraded by Sirius, employing some professionals and tethering the wards to a proper wardstone. However, Harry didn’t have the opportunity to study the intricacies behind such a method properly. He was keyed into the wards of Grimmauld Place, and to him, that was more than enough. He also didn’t have much time to study the wardstone and how the wards were tethered or controlled because he was otherwise engaged. His focus tended to focus overtly on battle magic in the past, and right now, Harry was feeling the weight of responsibility on his shoulders.

The only reason he was not panicking was because he knew he had to stay strong and keep Hogwarts safe while the Founders handled the dragons. Failure was not an option when he was in charge of the fate of thirty wizarding families. Only ten wizards were capable of defending themselves out of those thirty families, which was a poor number. He had counted ninety-seven wizards and witches, including children, among the refugees. Out of such a staggering number of people, only ten were moderately powerful enough to defend themselves.

‘It’s no wonder why Muggles dominated the world.’ Harry thought. ‘Most wizards and witches have not even mastered fire.’

“They’re guarding the entrances as you ordered, Lord Targaryen.”

Harry eyed the man who updated him on the status of the wizards and witches assigned to guard the entrances and passageways inside the castle.

“Good. You can stay by my side, or you can stay with the families. It’s your choice.” said Harry.

“I’ll stand by your side, my lord.” Keith Doyle said.

Harry nodded before his attention shifted to the battlefield. The four Founders stood inside the protective barriers surrounding Hogwarts, facing the Goblin army.

“They’ll triumph over the dragons, right?” Keith asked earnestly.

“You’ve known them far longer than I do. What do you think?” Harry turned the question around to the troubled-looking wizard.

“I’ve known Lord Salazar all my life. The Slytherins have guarded this land for generations. The other three came from afar with Lord Salazar after one of his many travels. Together, they’re the most powerful sorcerers this land has ever seen. But…” Keith trailed off

“But what?” Harry asked curiously.

“The Goblins – they’re powerful and cruel. They’re strong warriors with strange magic, and they burnt down our houses and villages. Even if we survive this war and return, we’ll be blamed by the muggles and hunted down as word spreads about us to other villages. Either we all die at the hands of the Goblins, or we get hunted by the muggles.” Keith said, his eyes downcast.

“Then band together and make yourself a new home close to Hogwarts. Your children can benefit from Hogwarts, and your families can build a safe haven for future generations of wizards and witches.”

“It’s not so easy, Lord Targaryen. How will we benefit from trade if we are not among the muggles? Who’ll give us access to gold and silver? Who’ll trust us when we sell our wares?”

“Nothing worth doing in life is ever easy. There will always be obstacles, no matter what you do. The strength of a people – a civilisation is not defined by how easily they succeeded but based on how much they endured together.” said Harry, disliking the attitude of wizards who always give up and hide away rather than face the world with their heads held high.

“It’s easy for you to say these things, my lord. Our families are not as strong as you or them,” said Keith, nodding at the Founders.

Harry turned his back to the battlefield as he stared at Keith. The wizard looked young, but the dishevelled black hair, unkept black beard and the dark beneath his eyes made the man look far older.

“Do you think it’s magic that makes those four stand straight with their shoulders back as they stare down at the dragons and an entire army of bloodthirsty Goblins? No, it's not. They know they can die any moment, but they stand because they have the resolve to assume the weight of responsibility on their shoulders.” said Harry, looking at the Founders.

“Once you assume responsibility, it weighs you down but also tethers you firmly to the ground. That’s why this huge army cannot make them move an inch backwards. They’ve planted their feet firmly on the ground and are ready to take on all the challenges the world throws at them. The question is, are you ready to do the same?”

****

War horns blew across from the battlefield, making Harry take a deep breath.

“It begins.” he muttered, staring at the flurry of activity behind the Goblin army lines.

The Goblin warriors unleashed a first salvo of attacks using their siege engines against the protective barriers surrounding Hogwarts. Harry felt every single bombardment in his bones as his magic made him aware of every single attack and its intensity. It was a feeling Harry was unfamiliar with so far, and it was slightly disconcerting to focus his attention on a singular matter or area in the battlefield as the Goblins attacked many places simultaneously.

Taking a deep breath, Harry closed his eyes and centred himself in his mind. Withdrawing his awareness gently, Harry managed to occlude his mind. The magic in his body, which had been acting restless till then because of the constant barrage of attacks, settled like a placid lake. When he opened his eyes, Harry felt slightly better with his magic settling down and not acting like he was about to get pulverised by the siege. With his mind firmly tucked behind a barrier, he could feel the wards with greater precision. The attacks on the barriers were like pinpricks, and he found he could reinforce the barrier with his own magic.

“This is… exhilarating!” Harry muttered, feeling like he was in multiple places simultaneously because of the wards.

He distinctly remembered that the wards surrounding Grimmauld Place had a vaguer stratum when it came to pinpointing the location of a breach. Those wards only gave a general idea of the direction of the breach and didn’t distinguish whether it was a large or small breach. But the wards currently surrounding Hogwarts were far more sophisticated than what Harry was used to. It even challenged the notion that magic became far more versatile and sophisticated as time rolled by.

‘Or Hogwarts still had wards like these but remained inactive because it had stopped facing sieges for centuries.’ Harry mused.

Either way, Harry made a mental note to study the wards protecting Hogwarts. He had no doubt it’d come in handy in the future.

“I’ve always wondered why they keep attacking the topside of the barriers instead of the ground.” Keith commented from his side.

“It’s because all barriers are strong near the ground. The weakness of the magical barrier lies at the farthest point from the ground.” Harry answered.

“But why?”

“Because the magic of a wizard alone does not fuel barriers. It absorbs magic from the earth to sustain itself. As you can guess, the farther it is from the ground, the weaker a barrier gets.” Harry explained, watching more and more large rune-enforced boulders grind against the magical barriers protecting Hogwarts.

However, Harry noticed when the Goblins switched from bombarding the barrier with stones to long metal bolts. This time, the push against the barriers was far more powerful than the boulders.

‘Shield breakers.’ Harry thought with a frown.

The bolts impinging on the wards were somehow consecrated with magic meant for breaking shields.

‘They might be enchanted bolts.’ Harry thought.

After a couple of hits on the barrier, Harry felt holes opening up over some parts of the spherical barrier. He immediately poured more energy into the barrier to close up the holes, but more and more boulders and bolts started hitting the barrier. There was a concentrated barrage of attacks against the barrier, keeping Harry on edge as he strained to keep the protective barrier intact. Suddenly, Harry felt a large breach open on the barrier. He saw a half-burnt boulder breach through the barrier coming towards the castle. Before he could strike down the boulder, a bright flash of yellow energy struck it, shattering it into smithereens.

Harry was not surprised to see Salazar Slytherin with his serpent-headed staff raised high in the air.

‘Good to know a blasting curse would destroy these boulders despite their runes.’ Harry thought.

“Look! They are releasing the dragons.” Keith pointed out in alarm.

Sure enough, Harry saw the Goblins unchaining the dragons one by one. He was a little relieved to see no Hungarian Horntail among the four dragons. All four dragons looked native to the British Isles with their long, curvy horns on their heads and wide, expansive wings. Their tails were not thorny and looked rather plain. Two dragons had jet-black scales, while the other two had red and green scales adorning their bodies. For a moment, Harry thought the dragons would attack the Goblins as their bindings were released, but the beasts took to the skies carrying three goblin warriors on their necks, respectively.

‘How the fuck did these Goblins tame these dragons?’ Harry wondered.

“Wow!”

The sound coming from the back attracted Harry's attention as it was not Keith Doyle who spoke up. His instincts were not wrong as Harry’s eyes met the wide brown eyes of a familiar boy he met earlier. It was none other than his new student – Carlan Flanagan.

“Boy! What’re you doing here?” Keith thundered. “Why aren’t you with the families?”

Harry couldn’t be bothered to focus on the two wizards because the four dragons opened their maws and breathed bright, hot fire into the barrier. The outpouring of magic in the flames was tremendous, and Harry was forced to pull more magic into the barrier to maintain it. Harry braced himself for the next attack, and he knew what was to be expected. Confirming his worries, the dragons smashed into the weakened barrier with their heavily scaled bodies. The strain this time was far too great, and Harry couldn’t replenish the barrier in a timely manner. The dragons clawed their way in, shearing off chunks from the barrier with their claws while thick scales protected their bodies.

Four blasts of energy struck the green dragon on its belly, blowing it away in one swoop. The dragon roared as it was blasted away from the barrier by the force of the spells. Even when Harry was far removed from the Founders, he could feel the pre-eminence of their magic. Especially when the four of them were together, it was like watching raw magic coming to the surface, shining like a bright star.

The green dragon tumbled down from the sky, falling face first on the barrier, crushing the Goblin warriors on its neck against the surface of the barrier. The armour the Goblin warriors wore didn’t help them the least as they were cooked alive by the barrier and crushed to a pulp by the dragon’s weight. The other three dragons managed to claw their way inside the barrier while the Founders were distracted, but not without suffering some damage. Harry had tried to rejuvenate the barriers as best as possible despite the dragons smashing several large holes. Their scales were sizzling with heat after they forced their way in. The mighty dragons let out terrifying roars that shook the castle to its core before they took flight in different directions. Two dragons went straight for the Founders, while the third dragon went straight for the castle.

‘That's not good.’ Harry thought, seeing the dragons split off.

Just as he feared, the two black-scaled dragons were enough of a distraction to keep the four Founders engaged. This left the red dragon free to do what it wanted, which meant Harry would’ve to fight it to keep Hogwarts safe.

“Oh, no. Not again.” Harry muttered dejectedly, realising he was about to face a dragon in a straight battle.

Unlike last time, the battle would not end if he stole an egg. Strangely enough, he found himself missing the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament.

He cast a hopeful look at the Founders and found them wholly engaged in a fight with the two dragons. Helga Hufflepuff had a dragon ensnared in vines and thick wooden roots while Rowena bombarded the trapped dragon with spell after spell. Godric and Salazar, on the other hand, were forming rock golems to attack and defend against the dragon they were facing.

‘No help from them.’ Harry mused, keeping a wary eye on the red dragon as it drew closer towards the castle.

At this point, Harry had two choices. He could either focus on strengthening the barrier, which had weakened under the dragons’ assault, or he could focus on the dragon that would undoubtedly burn Hogwarts to the ground. Either way, Harry saw no way to avoid a lot of damage on Hogwarts, but the dragon was far more threatening than the bombardment from the Goblin army in his eyes.

“Keith.” Harry suddenly called the wizard standing by his side.

“My lord?”

“Can you use the blasting curse?” Harry asked.

“Yes, lord.”

“Good. Hogwarts will be facing bombardment from the Goblins. Try to destroy as many attacks as you can with the blasting curse from this tower.” Harry ordered before jumping on the parapet of the tower.

“Also, keep the boy close.” Harry added as his eyes fell on Carlan. “It’ll be dangerous for him to go back now. I’ll shield the tower from any attacks.”

Harry placed a runestone on the tower and charged it with his magic. A shield made of blue energy encompassed the tower partially. The runestone was a work in progress, and it showed by the incomplete shield surrounding the tower. But for the time being, it was an adequate shield for the situation they were facing. He had been hoping to complete it and use it to protect Potter Manor from Voldemort’s attack in the future.

With that done, Harry jumped out of the tower, assuming his spirit form. His body transformed into sparkling silver smoke as he streaked across the early morning sky straight for the red dragon.

‘That should look so cool.’ Harry thought giddily.

Harry couldn’t help but feel the rush of battle despite the massive dragon heading his way. More than fear, he was excited at the prospect of an air battle against a dragon. The worries he had been having while standing inside the tower fled as Harry streaked across the sky at full speed. The red dragon had undoubtedly picked out Harry’s arrival and considered him a threat because once Harry climbed straight up to the clouds, the dragon followed him instead of attacking Hogwarts.

“Okay. You got the dragon’s attention, Potter.” Harry muttered.

Several whistling sounds reached his ears, and Harry was forced to do several acrobatic twists and turns while flying to evade a rain of arrows. Looking back, Harry saw the Goblins strapped to the harness on the dragon’s back were the culprits.

‘Okay. New plan. Kill the little buggers on the dragon’s back before dealing with the dragon.’ Harry decided.

With that thought in mind, Harry twisted and turned in mid-air, forcing the dragon through hard turns while evading the arrows from the Goblins until suddenly, he disappeared into a cloud. When the dragon came soaring in, Harry expertly hid himself on the underside of the dragon’s belly. The dragon flew aimlessly, searching for Harry until it slowed down a little after finding nothing but white clouds and a blue sky around it. After ensuring the dragon was sufficiently distracted, Harry emerged from beneath it in haste from its tail end. The Goblins were wide open before Harry’s eyes, and he didn’t waste the opportunity to kill all three.

“Torrens incendio.”

A blast of red-hot fire shot out of the tip of his wand, consuming the three Goblins. The flames cooked the Goblins in their armour while also burning away the bindings of the harness they were using. The Goblins, consumed by his spell, fell from the dragon’s back with the harness slipping away. Their tale of suffering ended abruptly when the red dragon promptly snapped its jaws around the burning goblins in mid-air. The sickening crunch as the dragon munched on the bones of the Goblins made Harry flinch. It was all the more intimidating because the dragon stared at Harry with its large yellow eyes while enjoying the fried Goblins for breakfast. Gales of wind brushed past Harry as the dragon remained suspended in the air, its wings flapping in the sky to stay afloat. Even though he was a bit intimidated by the dragon, Harry felt like trying his luck in suspending hostilities with the red dragon.

“$$ I mean you no harm, great dragon. I’ll help you to get free from the Goblins. $$” Harry hissed in parseltongue.

The dragon paused its chewing and roared at him.

‘Oh yeah. I should’ve tried French.’ Harry thought sardonically.

Harry turned mid-air and flew away with the red dragon hot on his tail. He twisted and turned, tried going high and low, tried all sorts of manoeuvres, but the dragon was unwilling to leave him be.

“Oh, come on, you blasted dragon. Why don’t you just fly away?” Harry screamed.

The dragon answered with a roar, and it tried to roast him alive with dragon fire. But Harry evaded it by plunging into a steep dive. Startling Harry, his ears picked up on the painful whimper of the dragon, making him look up. He saw the dragon going into a free fall with a shower of stone along with its massive body.

‘One of those stone boulders must have hit the dragon.’ Harry thought.

Harry also noticed that one of the dragon’s wings was twisted at an odd angle. The dragon desperately tried to beat its other wing as it spiralled towards the ground. The dragon made pitiful sounds all the way, and Harry, who heard these sounds, found it to be a desperate cry for help from a creature that was staring death at its face.

“Oh, what the hell.” Harry muttered, chasing after the dragon on instinct.

The logical side of his mind kept saying that he should leave the dragon to fall to its death or even get gravely injured. After all, the fall would keep the dragon out of the war and make it easy to kill. On the other hand, another voice in his head was urging him to save the dragon. For reasons beyond his understanding, Harry found himself heeding the latter voice. Streaking past the dragon in his spirit form, Harry fired off several cushioning charms on the ground before conjuring a giant rubber bed. The dragon smashed into the rubber bed with full force but suffered no further injuries.

Harry kept a wary eye on the dragon as it slowly moved out of the rubber bed he conjured and into the ground. It let out pitiful sounds while licking its injured wing. Harry even saw tears leaking from the dragon’s eyes, making him feel sorry for the magnificent creature.

“I offered you peace. We could’ve parted on good terms.” Harry said to the dragon, only to receive more pitiful groans and screeching from the dragon while he materialised in his physical form on the ground.

The dragon made a fearful noise in the back of its throat as it backpedalled on the ground, seeing several streaks of burning boulders coming its way.

“Tonitruum Fulminata.”

The white lightning that blasted out of the tip of his wand split off and struck down all the boulders within the blink of an eye. The boulders exploded into a shower of pebbles.

“All right. As for you…” Harry said, pointing his wand at the dragon, making it backpedal more. “You’ll behave and harm no one.”

The dragon folded in on itself and stayed unmoving on the ground while observing him. Noticing that the dragon was not acting hostile, Harry focused on the barrier surrounding Hogwarts. Raising his wand, Harry shot raw magic into the barrier. Steadily but surely, the barrier started to recover, blocking out the siege weapons of the Goblins once again. The holes that were clawed open by the dragons sealed themselves shut.

“Okay. That’s dealt with.” Harry let out a relieved sigh once the barrier was back in place.

Other than some minor damage, Hogwarts was mostly standing intact, and he could see the tower he had left Carlan and Keyth was standing strong without suffering any damage to its structure.

“Now, let’s see how the Founders are fairing.”

 

AN:

 

For artworks, Discord channel: https://discord.com/invite/XKnmQxeGSu

Chapter 89: The Siege of Hogwarts P2

Harry found the Founders in battle with the two dragons. He wouldn't exactly call it a battle because it was so one-sided. The dragons were getting thrashed by the Founders. Lady Hufflepuff had one dragon ensnared in gigantic roots and vines while Rowena bombarded it with blasting curses. The dragon struggled to move or even let out a sound as its mouth was tightly wound up by whatever spell Lady Hufflepuff used. The dragon looked like it was on its last legs, fighting to keep its awareness despite the spells impacting its body. He decided to pitch in and help the two witches deal with the dragon.

 

 

He touched down on the ground with his body covered in sparkling silver mist that vanished as his body assumed physical form once more. His sudden appearance on the battlefield startled the two witches.

 

 

"You can fly?" Rowena asked in amazement and a hint of jealousy.

 

 

Harry was momentarily confused as to why Rowena Ravenclaw was jealous. After all, he had acquired the skill thanks to Helena Ravenclaw sharing her mother's knowledge with him in the future. Therefore, it stands to reason Rowena and Salzar were aware of the ritual to acquire the ability of flight in a spirit form.

 

 

'Unless, of course, Rowena has yet to stumble onto the ritual.' Harry thought.

 

 

There was also the distinct possibility that Rowena had the knowledge of the ritual but had not perfected it yet.

 

 

"On a good day, I can go faster than a dragon. Thankfully, this was one of those days." Harry replied in a lacklustre manner.

 

 

The dragon strained against the bindings, snapping one or two wooden shackles, attracting their attention. Harry could see the crushed forms of Goblins on the dragon's back, bathing the dark scales of the dragon in Goblin blood.

 

 

"This one is a stubborn one, huh?" Harry stared at the defiant look in the dragon's eyes as it renewed its efforts to break free from the bindings.

 

 

Rowena and Helga resumed bombarding the dragons with spells, but the dragon refused to go down. Harry was a tad surprised to see the dragon resisting the attacks from the two witches. They were not throwing around simple magic against the dragon. An ordinary dragon should've fallen unconscious by now. Feeling a little curious, Harry pointed his wand at the dragon's head.

 

 

"Stupefy."

 

 

Harry cast the stunning spell consecutively against the dragon's head. After the eighth time, Harry stopped bombarding the dragon with the spell, seeing as it only annoyed the dragon. He wished he had the foresight to learn the sleeping charm Fleur used on the dragon when she faced the First Task. He felt the charm would've been extremely useful in handling the dragon. A giant fist made of rock smashed on the dragon's head with ample force. The dragon that had refused to go down stubbornly till then slept soundly on the ground.

 

 

"That's how you deal with a drake like this one." Godric bellowed, letting out a hearty laugh standing atop his rock golem.

 

 

Harry saw the other dragon had stopped thrashing around with a stone arm choking it until it fell unconscious. Its limbs were locked in with earthly hands clamping the dragon down by its wings and tail to the ground.

 

 

"So what're we to do with these dragons?" Harry asked.

 

 

"We'll have to kill them and extract useful parts, but first, we have to destroy that army." said Salazar, glaring at the Goblin army that had renewed their assault on the barrier protecting Hogwarts.

 

 

"I agree." Rowena pitched in, shooting a cold look at the Goblins. "Sabretooth will never let us conduct our affairs in peace. The Goblins must learn a lesson in blood that they'll never forget for a few generations."

 

 

Harry's eyes shifted to the frontlines once again when he felt the barrier flicker far more than usual. To his utter surprise, the first dragon knocked out by the Founders at the beginning of the fight was now making itself known by clawing at the barrier.

 

 

"Oh, I've had enough of these annoying beasts." Harry groaned in frustration.

 

 

"We'll need a plan of attack," said Slytherin.

 

 

"I have a plan. Attack!" said Harry.

 

 

Assuming his spirit form, Harry started to lift off from the ground.

 

 

"I like this plan." Godric said with a massive, bloodthirsty grin.

 

 

Harry flew straight for the edge of the barrier, where the dragon was trying its best to claw a hole through. He went past the barrier and avoided battling the dragon. Instead, he flew straight for the Goblin army.

 

 

"You little buggers were tolerable as bankers. Because of you, I've been unable to even take a good look at the time turner that brought me into this blasted place. Now disappear into ashes!"

 

 

Concentrating the rage and all the worries, he poured every ounce of those feelings into his magic. The tip of his wand pointed towards the Goblin army below. With a mighty yell, he unleashed a devastating spell that was fueled by rage and hunger for death.

 

 

"Fiendfyre."

 

 

Bright red flames roared out of the tip of his wand. Harry tied his bet to control the flames, to shape it in such a way that it assumed the form of a snake. A head of the snake formed, followed by a long tail connected to the tip of his wand. Harry was pleasantly surprised to see the Finedfyre curse bend easily to his will. But that surprise was momentary as he ignored it in favour of unleashing the spell on the army. The hellfire curse bent perfectly to his will and created wide rings of fire as it crashed into the ground. The snake made out of hellfire reared its head as the rest of its body burned away the tents and Goblin warriors into ashes.

 

 

Feeling complete control over the spell, Harry directed the snake to attack the siege engines. The wooden constructs had no chance as they were quickly devoured by the cursed flames, as were the Goblin warriors nearby. Harry was forced to cut off the spell when some of the Goblin warriors tried to shoot him down with their arrows. But he was not worried as the Fiendfyre curse was notorious for sustaining itself by devouring everything around them. The screams of the Goblins reached his ears as the Fiendfyre curse became far more brutal without his control. The fiery snake made of the cursed fire sought out the Goblins one by one and devoured them en masse. It went on to attack the tents and the supply carts of the army and started to devour everything in its vicinity to sustain itself.

 

 

This was the true danger of the Fiendfyre spell. It was a spell that refused to subjugate itself to a wizard's will. It devoured everything to fuel itself and, in the process, destroyed everything. Harry allowed the spell to wreak havoc for a few more minutes before he settled down near the edge of the wards beside Godric.

 

 

"That's a dangerous spell." Godric commented.

 

 

The illustrious founder of Hogwarts didn't look the least bit bothered, nor was he unhappy with the spell Harry used. Harry was relieved that Godric was not antagonistic towards him for using a dark curse like Fiendfyre against the Goblins.

 

 

"Yes, it is. It's far more dangerous when it's set loose without a wizard to control its hunger." said Harry.

 

 

Pointing his wand at the wildly cackling fire, he drew a circle in the air, opening a tear in space. A dark hole opened up in the middle of the camp and began to suck in the flames and everything that was burning. It took a few minutes, but all the flames were sealed away in the tear in space, and Harry allowed the spell to collapse in on itself. He noticed the green dragon was bound by giant earthen hands, pushing its head and limbs to the ground. The dragon was grunting and struggling against the bindings on its body, but it was having no success in escaping its fate.

 

 

"Your proficiency in fire magic is commendable. I don't believe I've ever encountered such a powerful flame in my journey." Godric commented, bending down and inspecting the charred ground with his palm hovering above the sand.

 

 

Harry was somewhat confused by Godric's words as he had seen references made in several scrolls inside Slytherin's Chamber about the Fiendfyre curse.

 

 

'Maybe the Founders learned about the spell later, or Slytherin never shared the spell with his colleagues.' Harry mused.

 

 

There was also the distinct possibility that one of Slytherin's descendants brought the knowledge of the spell to the Chamber. There was no reason to believe Tom Riddle was the sole person to find the secret Chamber left by Salazar Slytherin.

 

 

"Your magic is also unique. I've not seen anyone bend the earth like you and with such ease." Harry paid compliments to Godric where it was due.

 

 

"Despicable scum! The lot of yeh!" a Goblin shouted, riding into the field atop a massive boar with a huge hammer in hand.

 

 

"Sabretooth. We meet again. I see your people have placed a crown on atop your head. Were your people that desperate and lacking anyone of sound mind?" Godric shouted back a tad gleefully.

 

 

'Nice trash talk.' Harry thought, eyeing Godric Gryffindor and the Goblin king.

 

 

Harry had read in passing about Godric Gryffindor's many battles against the Goblins. Of course, any information in the history books was vague and limiting. The only relevant part was that Godric Gryffindor was gifted a Goblin steel sword for his ferocious battle prowess by some nameless Goblin after an unknown battle.

 

 

"You! I curse you, wizard. You and your kind are a blight on this world. I'll end you by my own hands." Sabretooth declared, brandishing his hammer threateningly.

 

 

'What a douche.' Harry thought, readying for anything from the Goblin king.

 

 

"Attack!" Sabretooth yelled, charging forward on his giant boar.

 

 

The surviving Goblins heeded the call and rushed towards Harry and Godric, brandishing their weapons and war cries on their lips.

 

 

"You've done enough, Hadrian. Leave them to me." Godric whispered when Harry started raising his wand.

 

 

Godric walked forward and raised his staff in the air. Harry's eyes widened as he sensed the build-up of a tremendous amount of magical energy. He found himself looking at the ground where he could feel the magic rushing towards Godric. Then Godric slammed the staff on the ground, and Harry's senses went haywire momentarily. It was as if there was a clap of thunder, and in the next moment, the earth shifted under the feet of the Goblin army. Earthen spikes skewered the incoming Goblins to death, and the rest were thrown away by the overturning of the ground they were standing on. Harry's eyes widened when he noticed trees had fallen over as far as his eyes could see under Godric's spell.

 

 

"That's an impressive spell," Harry muttered.

 

 

"Not as impressive as flying, though. You should prepare for a persistent onslaught of questions from Rowena. She'll not leave you alone until she pries that spell out of you." Godric laughed.

 

 

Harry stared at Godric Gryffindor, weirded out by the man's attitude. One moment, the wizard was crushing the entire earth for miles on end and in the next, he was laughing like someone told him a great joke. Harry was wondering what sort of emotional rollercoaster Godric Gryffindor was going through in his mind. He had no doubt Godric Gryffindor was using what the modern-day wizards would call Old Magic. He sensed the magic surge from the earth and bent to Godric's will in a jiffy. It was the art of manipulating the magic of the world without using the bodily magic of a wizard. It was pretty fascinating to watch a man like Godric Gryffindor performing magic long lost to the wizarding world.

 

 

'Is it because of the staff that he is using Old Magic so easily?' Harry wondered in the confines of his mind.

 

 

Wizards had gradually stopped using staves in favour of wands as spells became more sophisticated and connected to runes and arithmancy. The magic prevalent in the world was gathered up by wizards in their bodies naturally, like all magical beings. But wizards of the future had stopped directly wielding the magic of the world and instead termed it as Old Magic, confining it to the magic of a bygone era. Instead, wizards and witches depended on their wands to pull out the magic in their bodies to shape their spells.

 

 

'A staff is in constant contact with the earth. Does that make it easy for a wizard to wield Old Magic easily?' Harry wondered.

 

 

If that was the case, Harry saw the advantages in learning to use a staff in tandem with a wand. But he could also see why the Ministry would never approve. Using Old Magic would leave all their monitoring spells impotent. The unique energy signatures of wizards and witches would be scrubbed altogether if they started using Old Magic en masse.

 

 

'Maybe the wizard's staff went out of fashion after the creation of the Ministry.' Harry mused.

 

 

He wouldn't be surprised if that were the case. Tracking wands and controlling the supply of wands should've been one of the first things the Ministry did after its creation. Managing the supply and monitoring the production of weapons were always some of the first things any government did once it came into power. Harry accompanied Godric when the older wizard carefully navigated through the desolate battlefield until they reached the prone form of the Goblin king lying on the ground, choking on his own blood. Several earthen spears had skewered through the Goblin king's legs and shoulders. The chest plate of Sabretooth was crushed under the attack of earthen spears made by Godric, but the armour held firm on the Goblin's body.

 

 

"I'll… kill yeh for this." the Goblin king spat out blood at Godric's feet.

 

 

"No, you won't." Godric said firmly.

 

 

Godric unsheathed his sword and plunged it straight through the throat of Sabretooth. The Goblin King grunted as blood flowed out, and slowly, his eyes lost their light.

 

 

"If any of you foul creatures have survived this battle, I suggest you run back to your homes. If you dally any longer in these lands, I'll have your heads mounted on the castle walls. You have till sunset to make yourself scarce." Godric yelled into the deathly silent battlefield, which had turned into the graveyard of the Goblin army.

 

 

Harry was relieved that no one among the survivors was courageous enough to challenge Godric.

 

 

'Finally. This blasted war is over.' Harry let out a relieved sigh.

 

 

****

 

 

"We should kill the dragons. They'll be quite useful for their parts." Salazar commented, glaring at the four captured dragons.

 

 

The red dragon Harry had captured let out a fearful whine as it tried to hide its enormous body behind Harry quite unsuccessfully. For some odd reason, the red dragon took a shine to Harry and thought it could get away scot-free if it acted like an innocent puppy. While Harry was becoming increasingly sympathetic to the dragon's attempts to escape what was most assuredly a painful death, the rest of the Founders were lacking any sort of sympathy for the creatures. While the red dragon was somewhat behaving tame for its kind, the other three dragons were not so diplomatic. The black-scaled dragons were the worst, as they constantly tried to burn everyone while the green dragon attempted to break the bindings.

 

 

Their reaction was understandable. If Harry were in their position, he'd also be trying to break free.

 

 

"I concur. I could see many uses for some dragon blood." Helga Hufflepuff added, eyeing the dragons like they were a prize.

 

 

"Spare them," said Harry, earning curious looks from the four Founders. "They've been held captive for so long. Give them freedom.

 

 

"They'll only bring ruin everywhere. They could even attack us once we release them in the wild." said Rowena.

 

 

"Or they might fly far away from the land they've been held captive for so long. They've probably served the Goblins from the moment they hatched from the eggs. Give them the chance to live a free life." Harry argued.

 

 

"Why are you so adamant in defending the dragons?" Godric asked.

 

 

Harry turned his head to stare at the red dragon, looking at them all fearfully. Sometimes, he felt like the dragon understood what they were saying.

 

 

'Oh, what the hell. Might as well make up some more lies to save four lives.' Harry thought.

 

 

"My family carries dragons on our banners – a three-headed red dragon. Valyrian noble houses are called dragonlords because we learned to coexist with dragons on our island. Valyria is a sanctuary for all magical creatures, and these dragons deserve another chance. Let them be free to make their own choices rather than sentence them to death for their actions while serving under the thrall of Goblins."

 

 

The Founders stared at him silently for a long moment, making Harry slightly nervous. Thankfully, the scrutiny came to an end when Godric let out a loud sigh and spoke in favour of Harry's decision. It didn't take long for Helga and Rowena to side with his opinion reluctantly.

 

 

"Fine." Salazar grunted. "The dragons can go free, but they're your responsibility, Hadrian Targaryen. If they harm Hogwarts, you'll kill them. Do you agree?"

 

 

Harry had no other way but to assume responsibility for the dragons.

 

 

"I hope you're happy." Harry muttered to the red dragon once the Founders left him with the dragons. "I hope you can communicate with your dragon friends to fly as far away from here as possible and never return."

 

 

The red dragon let out a snort through its nostrils. Harry didn't know whether the dragon was mocking him or saying yes. He liked to think the dragon was replying to him positively because he was not looking forward to killing four dragons if they misbehaved. The dragons had to stay the whole day on the castle grounds, and he had tried to help them the best way he could. At his request, Helga had attempted to heal the dragons as best as she could. Unfortunately, most of her enchantments did not work on the red dragon whose wing was bent at an off angle. The thick hides of the dragons not only resisted hostile spells but also healing spells. The other dragons were less injured comparatively, and they were quickly patched up and ready to go.

 

 

So, hoping nothing untoward happened, Harry released the dragons after urging them using Parseltongue to fly away. The dragons had looked at him with thinly veiled contempt whenever he used Parseltongue. But he knew no other language that could communicate with the dragons. Thankfully, the dragons must've understood that they were being set free because when he vanished the bindings on their body, they didn't linger for a moment and flew westward.

 

 

"Phew." Harry released a breath he was holding, feeling somewhat relieved the dragons didn't make an issue.

 

 

He could see some of the families taking refuge in Hogwarts come out to see the sight of the dragons taking flight. While there was the danger of the dragons turning hostile, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see so many dragons assembled in one place. Even now, he could feel awe when he looked upon such majestic creatures like dragons.

 

 

Turning his sights on the red dragon, he was left with a quandary. The dragon had to be sheltered until it could be healed. That meant it had to be fed as it was unable to hunt.

 

 

"Well, I guess I'll have to feed you somehow. What is your preference?" Harry asked the dragon, which tilted his head in return.

 

 

"Right. Silly of me. Do you prefer a goat or a cow?"

 

 

The dragon snorted and lay down on the ground, watching him like a hawk.

 

AN:

 

For artworks, Discord channel: https://discord.com/invite/XKnmQxeGSu

Chapter 90: A dilemma

“Finally!” Harry let out a breath he was holding as he finished writing the schematics of the ward scheme and some assortment of enchantments that he thought would be useful for Hogwarts.

 

He took a last cursory look at the scroll's contents before rolling it up. Harry patted himself on the back for having the foresight to take up Ancient Runes and Arithmancy in his fourth year. Without those two subjects, he’d have sounded like an idiot while describing the spells in the scroll. Most Latin-based spells were derived from their Anglo-Saxon runic counterparts and streamlined by Arithmancy. Even the most basic spells that were in use before the advent of wands were converted to fit the modern script. This also meant the spells in Harry’s repository of knowledge were only as useful if wizards and witches were using their wands and not their staves.

 

This was why he was not surprised when he was asked to incorporate the wards and charms into the ward scheme of Hogwarts. The Founders understood that their way of magic was not suited to the wards he proposed, not without some heavy modifications. But Rowena was not someone so easily let down by the differences in their approach to magic. He didn’t know how, but the woman had found a wand on short notice and started practising with it. Or maybe she had the wand long before he met her. According to the history lessons he received in Hogwarts, the invention of wands preceded Hogwarts, but it took time to get popular with wizards and witches.

 

Harry supposed the advent of the modern English script hastened the popularity of wands. Since the modern script of English was derived from German and Latin, it was not a long shot to assume the Gaelic-based spells became unpopular among wizards and witches, which led to the decline of staves. Of course, there could be other reasons, and Harry was merely basing his observations on pure conjecture at this point.

 

Setting aside the quill, Harry stretched his limbs. He was feeling the telltale signs of boredom as he had been cooped up in a chamber Salazar Slytherin had graciously offered him in Hogwarts. In return, Harry had started giving lectures to the handful of students that Hogwarts was currently housing. Some were newly made orphans, and Harry felt obligated to help them get back on their feet. Seeing that they needed financial security, he had them training in magical sensing and some gouging spells that could work in their favour. Gold and other precious metals were the currency of the time. Harry felt like wizards could utilise their magic to unearth precious metals and make a decent living. While the four Founders covered other bases of their knowledge, Harry tried to impart the knowledge they needed the most to thrive in the world.

 

But that was not the extent of his involvement. He had been lobbying the families to build a new village near Hogwarts. He even offered them aid in the construction and warding of the village to give them a safe place to live without being bothered by any foe. But the people were still hesitant to form a tight-knit magical community for idiotic reasons. At this point, Harry was starting to think most wizards and witches were closet masochists and had zero survival instincts. All of them were worried about how they’d get cut off from trade with muggles when they should be worrying about their lives.

 

But, at the same time, he could see the disadvantages of cowering behind wards for perpetuity. While wizards needed tight-knit communities under protective wards, they also needed to get exposed to the world.

 

Harry was broken out of his musings when he heard a knock on his door. With a flick of his wand, the door swung open, and it was none other than his apprentice.

 

“Carlan. You should be with Lady Hufflepuff.” Harry said, staring at the boy confusedly.

 

“Lady Hufflepuff cancelled the classes. The families are moving out today.”

 

“What!” Harry sat up straight in his chair. “Where are they going?”

 

“No one knows. I suppose most of ‘em want to return to their old homes and rebuild.” Carlan said with a shrug.

 

Harry almost facepalmed and wanted to use a few choice words on the stubborn wizards and witches.

 

“What do you want to do, Carlan?” Harry asked patiently, suppressing his annoyance.

 

“I want to stay close to Hogwarts and you, my lord.”

 

“What about your mother?” Harry asked.

 

“She wants to stay. She thinks staying close to Hogwarts is safe.”

 

“Good. Your mother is wise, unlike those idiots with a death wish.” Harry muttered, shaking his head disappointedly.

 

“My mother says they’ll listen if you talk to them again. If you promise protection, they’ll follow you.” said Carlan in a manner that was supposed to look innocent, but he knew his apprentice was a crafty fellow.

 

The little bugger was goading him to assume responsibility for the thirty or so families and build a village for them. Voldemort’s philosophy of ‘Magic is Might’ had some elements of truth in it, especially during this era. Power was a currency highly sought after at this time.

 

‘Perhaps across time.’ Harry mused.

 

“My mother asked me to give you this,” said Carlan before placing a black cloth on the table. “It’s a gift for saving our lives, my lord.”

 

The innocent look on the brown-haired boy’s face let Harry know that it was another trick of some sort. When he unruffled the cloth, he was met with the three-headed dragon banner of House Targaryen.

 

‘Crafty little fellow. Trying to appeal to my ‘noble lineage’ and guilt trip me or entice me with the opportunity to lead a village. Not bad.’ Harry thought.

 

Of course, he had suspected something of this sort when they had insisted on seeing his family’s sigil. Their reasoning was to honour the noble lineage that saved their lives.

 

“I believe I’ll have a talk with them one last time. Let’s see whether I can’t persuade them.” Harry said eventually, which lit up his apprentice's face with a radiant smile.

 

It was not like he was making much progress with deciphering the time turner anyway. There were so many unidentified spells bound to the time turner in his hand, and he could not discern most of them. The library in Hogwarts had so far proven to be a giant disappointment. There was not a grain of information about magic related to the aspect of time. He was still searching and combing through the many available scrolls in his free time, but he was starting to get the feeling that he was wasting his time.

 

The only good news so far was he managed to keep the Time Turner intact. He had even secured the delicate piece of cosmic time bomb in a charmed box under heavy wards. With nothing much going for him, Harry thought it’d be worth his time to help the refugees in Hogwarts settle. Besides, there was a certain thrill in participating in the construction of what’d eventually become Hogsmeade village.

 

****

 

If he didn’t know warming charms, he was sure he’d have been suffering from hypothermia or worse as the climate had taken a turn for the worse overnight. Still, Harry made sure to buy some fur from the local hunters. However, it became a problem when the families did not have enough fur to keep them warm on the snowy nights in Scotland. It became all the more important to gather as much fur as possible because the refugees had no homes to resettle after the war.

 

That was how Harry found himself facing the first challenge to make Hogsmeade possible. Fortunately, hunting for fur was an easy enough activity for a wizard with a certain skillset. All he had to do was track the wildlife using tracking charms and have them killed before they could blink. After some judicial use of cutting charms, Harry scored the highest number of kills among the hunting party. The number of bears, badgers and red deer that fell prey to his spells was enough to keep a good number of people warm in the worsening cold that was setting in. When Harry returned with the hunting party from the nearby forest, he found the people were fast working on raising temporary tents a bit farther from the Black Lake. But they needed more forest area to construct houses for the families.

 

“Cut down the trees and make a long clearing. I’ll have the trees marked.” Harry ordered the wizards and witches around him.

 

It took him the better part of the day to cut down the trees and make a clearing near the Black Lake. Fires were up and running by the time the evening sun was shining in the sky. The tents the people erected were charmed with warming charms to ward off the cold during the night. By the time the sun started to disappear from the sky, Harry had nearly finished placing all the relevant wards he knew that could safeguard the budding wizarding community from harm. He even made it into a practical session of his class for his students while he helped their families set up their new homes.

 

“You must visualise the result of the spell that you’re using. The imagery helps in the concentration and execution of the spell.” Harry advised some of his struggling students to perform the spell.

 

Harry walked among his students, observing their work and, if need be, helping them with the spell. When the light started to dim, he escorted the children back to the castle while he stayed behind to light the fires to keep the families warm. While the tents were warm thanks to the vigorous use of the warming charm, the lands around them were another issue. People had to cook their food and could not do it inside their measly tent. It’d have been possible if space expansion charms were used. Unfortunately, that spell was something Harry never bothered to learn. His one-track mind of focusing on offence and defence was biting him on his back.

 

Harry looked up when he picked up on the sound of flapping wings. A strong gale of wind rushed past him, making him shield his eyes as the snow acted like arrows on his body. He observed the red dragon circling back in the sky, intent on landing near the small camp they had set up.

 

“Don’t panic. The dragon is harmless.” Harry shouted to assure the inhabitants the safety of the camp.

 

But the howling winds and fear of dragons proved to be an effective barrier in warding off his words from having the intended effect. Wizards and witches ran out of their tents in droves, screaming their hearts out. Harry immediately touched his throat with the tip of his wand when he saw the chaos unfolding.

 

“Sonorus.”

 

“Go back to your tents. The dragon is harmless.”

 

The magnifying charm did the trick in projecting his sound to all the camp's inhabitants.

 

“But my lord. That’s a dragon!” Keith said with frightened eyes.

 

“So what?” Harry shrugged, walking a few paces away from the folk in the camp.

 

Once he put some distance from the people, the dragon landed in front of him, unceremoniously kicking up sleet mixed with sand. If it weren’t for the shield he put up, Harry would’ve most likely swallowed a whole lot of snow and sand.

 

“Your wings seem to have healed.” Harry observed.

 

The red dragon let out a huff through its nose and stretched its wings to show it was completely healed.

 

“Good for you. So, what’s the plan now? You could go anywhere you know. Find a nice place to nest and hunt in the mountains away from goblins or wizards.” Harry suggested.

 

The dragon cocked its head to the side before looking back at the castle, making Harry frown thoughtfully.

 

“You want to stay here?” Harry asked curiously.

 

Harry's eyes widened in realisation when the dragon bobbed its enormous head.

 

“You want to stay with me?” Harry asked, staring into the large yellow eyes of the huge dragon.

 

The dragon lay down on the ground and looked expectantly at him.

 

It took Harry a moment to realise what the dragon was doing. It was all so surreal, but excitement smashed away the doubts in his mind. He made tentative steps towards the dragon and let out a breath he was holding when he reached the neck of the dragon. His eyes lit up when the dragon adjusted itself, giving him a clear path to climb onto its neck. Harry didn’t think anything else and followed his instincts by climbing atop the dragon. He promptly used the sticking charm on himself once he nuzzled between two giant spikes and cushioning charms to make himself comfortable. He could see the inhabitants of the camp looking at him with their jaws on the floor.

 

“All right then. Let's fly!”

 

The dragon let out a roar before flapping its massive wings. Harry slightly lurched forward despite the sticking charm as the dragon climbed into the sky.

 

“Whoo-hoo!”

 

Harry laughed as he soared through the sky, riding a dragon. It was not the first time he was flying, but this was the first time he was riding a dragon, and the feeling was powerful. At first, he thought it was because of speed, but he dismissed that absurd thought as he could fly faster in his spirit form.

 

‘No, it's because of the powerful magic emanating from the dragon I’m riding.’ Harry thought, nodding to himself as they soared high into the sky.

 

Closing his eyes, he could feel the draconic magic pulsing with a unique magical signature emanating from the dragon’s body. He knew what it was. It was the raw form of fire magic, given shape and form. Ultimately, dragons were creatures of fire given shape and form by magic. Dragons were supposed to be the guardians of Elysium, while the Giants were supposed to be the gatekeepers of the mythical dimension that was the source of all magic. He had read about several elder races of magic from the tomes and scrolls in Slytherin’s personal collection. Dragons were one of the most prominent races. It was no coincidence that dragon blood had such innumerable properties when used correctly.

 

He didn't know how long they sailed among the clouds. But he returned to reality when the dragon made a steep dive towards the ground, making the air rush past Harry. It felt like his heart was about to exit through his mouth. Thankfully, the dragon gracefully pulled out of the dive and glided over the surface of the Black Lake with its talons and tail skimming the surface. It gracefully landed on the side of the Black Lake near Hogwarts, and Harry carefully dismounted from the dragon’s back once it settled on the ground.

 

“That was exhilarating. I can see the appeal of being a dragon rider.” Harry muttered, patting the long neck of the red dragon with his gloved hand.

 

The dragon shook its head before settling down on the ground with its head tucked between its limbs. Harry found it amusing that the dragon was now peeking at him from between its limbs. One moment, the dragon was all adventurous, and in the next, it acted like a shy toddler. Harry frowned thoughtfully before looking towards the castle to find a familiar figure walking towards them at a sedate pace.

 

“I think it's time that you take a name. How does Athena sound?” Harry asked, but the dragon withdrew into itself, refusing to communicate with him any further.

 

“You are naming that dragon after the Greek goddess of war?” Rowena asked with some amusement.

 

“Athena is also the goddess of wisdom. She had the wisdom to behave in your presence.” Harry said with a chuckle, seeing the dragon snort out a puff of smoke in displeasure.

 

“It’s fascinating to see a familiar bond form between a wizard and a dragon. I think this is the first time in our islands.” Rowena commented, her green eyes holding a peculiar gleam that was hard for Harry to discern.

 

“Hmm. Is there something that you wanted, Rowena?” Harry asked.

 

“Your method of magic seems to be easier for the students to learn. We’ve been noticing a marked improvement in their spell work as of late.”

 

“I see. That’s mostly because the students already have a thorough base in magic. You’ve educated them very well.” said Harry.

 

“I doubt that,” Rowena said with a slight smile before her expression smoothened out. “We are impressed with your unique magical skills, and I’d like to see it imparted to the children on a more permanent basis.”

 

“What’re you saying?” Harry questioned the woman.

 

“We’d like to offer you a permanent spot in Hogwarts. Like the rest of us, you can make Hogwarts your home and spend the rest of your life educating the young ones on the intricacies of magic.”

 

Harry was, in parts, surprised by the offer, but at the same time, he was sort of expecting it.

 

“As I told you earlier, I’m on a journey to unearth the secrets of time. At the same time, I might get called back to my home by my family. If they call, I’ve got to leave.”

 

“You could build a home here and have a family.” said Rowena.

 

“It’s not that simple.” Harry said nervously, reluctant not to divulge any details.

 

“Why? You said you were not your family’s heir and have travelled afar from your people. Why go back when you could build a new life here?” asked Rowena.

 

Harry had no answer to that question. He had even asked himself this same question for many sleepless nights while lying in bed. He had almost given up hope in finding anything of value regarding time magic in Hogwarts. The fact that the Founders had also bluntly told him they had never encountered time magic was also a blow to his hopes. As of now, he had little hope of returning to his time from his end. All his hope was now on the incompetent Ministry, and he felt they were their usual bumbling self.

 

Still, he hoped Dumbledore and the Flamels would never allow him to be lost. Their self-interest would make them work hard to rescue him from the clutches of time. Of course, it was possible that even Dumbledore and his grandmother might fail in their endeavour.

 

“I suppose I could stay for a while.” Harry hedged a little.

 

“Hmm.” Rowena hummed in the back of her throat before she moved into his personal space.

 

Harry was a little taken aback as he was treated with a full-blown equivalent of a death stare from Basilisk from Rowena Ravenclaw.

 

“That’ll do for now, I suppose. Now come. We have something important to talk about.” said Rowena, taking his hand into her own before dragging him towards Hogwarts.

 

Harry had the distinct feeling that Rowena was giving him some mixed signals. Either way, he was curious to find out what the future holds as he had nothing better to do.

 

“When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Harry muttered to himself as he followed Rowena Ravenclaw.

Chapter 91: A nation forged from war

“How dare you say this to me, Croaker?” Amelia thundered, her eyes blazing with fury as she stared down at the head of the Department of Mysteries, calmly sitting across from her on the other side of her desk.

 

“I know this is not what you wanted to hear, Minister, but you’ve got to come to terms with the truth. Harry Potter is lost to us.” Croaker said in a monotone voice, largely unbothered by the outburst of the newly elected Minister of Magic.

 

Amelia continued to glare into the emotionless eyes of Croaker before she fell into her seat with all the strength leaving her limbs.

 

“Why? You promised everyone that you could return Harry Potter so long as you had access to Time Turners. What has changed Croaker? I need answers.” Amelia asked.

 

“We’ve located Mr Potter, but retrieving him is now nearly impossible,” Craoker admitted with a sigh. “On second thought, highly improbable might be the right words.”

 

“Explain.” Amelia demanded before taking a deep breath to calm down and think. “Wait a moment, Croaker.”

 

Amelia immediately moved towards the fireplace and threw a handful of floo powder before dipping her face into the fire.

 

“Hogwarts Headmaster’s office.”

 

“Amelia! What a pleasant surprise. I…”

 

“Spare me the platitudes, Dumbledore. I have news to share about Harry Potter. You better come in haste.” Amelia bit through her pursed lips before withdrawing her head from the fireplace of her new office.

 

The old office of the Minister of Magic was now sealed off under the most powerful barriers and wards the Department of Mysteries could employ. To the public, it was under the pretence of an ongoing investigation regarding Fudge’s corruption and possible Death Eater connection. To sell it better to the public, she had to place Fudge in a detention cell in the Ministry. She had expected stiff resistance from Fudge’s old colleagues and supporters but was greeted with dead silence. How long that’d continue was a relevant question, but she was willing to put that aside for the time being.

 

The floo lit up with flames, and Albus Dumbledore stepped out of the fireplace in his flamboyant robes.

 

“Amelia. What news…”

 

“Croaker says he can’t retrieve Harry Potter.” Amelia bluntly said forthrightly, leaving the Headmaster gaping like a fish.

 

“What?” Dumbledore was aghast. “Why?”

 

Amelia stared at Croaker, who remained patiently in his seat without a change in his posture. “Explain Croaker.”

 

“Very well.” Croaker sighed before standing from his seat.

 

Taking out his wand, he drew a straight line in thin air. Amelia raised an eyebrow when a thin silver line manifested on her eye level. Croaker then tapped two points on the silver line. Two dots formed on the line; one was red, and the other was black.

 

“Consider for a moment the black dot is us in the present, and the red dot is Mr Potter in the past. We must traverse the distance between these two spots to get to Mr Potter. The good news is we know for certain Mr Potter is lost in the past, but we cannot retrieve him because the past branched off into a new reality.” Said Croaker, drawing a red line from the red dot branching away from the white line.

 

“I don’t follow.” said Amelia, scowling at the wizard.

 

“I’m also confused, but first, how are you sure Harry is not lost in the future instead of the past?” asked Dumbledore.

 

“Because the future is not set in stone. The future contains events that have not happened, and therefore, magic has limited powers over the future. Time turners are specifically designed not to access the future because the entire magic in the world is not enough to construct events that are yet to be. If Mr Potter is in the past, on the other hand, it has already happened and is therefore accessible, transporting matter through time and space.”

 

“Okay. Then what is the issue in retrieving Harry from the past?” Dumbledore calmly asked.

 

“Because Mr Potter is no longer strictly in the past.” Croaker said.

 

“You are not making sense, Croaker. If Mr Potter is not in the past or the future, where is he?” Amelia asked, annoyed by the long-winded conversation. “Speak plainly instead of wasting our time.”

 

“Very well then. I’ll make it simple. Mr Potter is in an alternate reality of our past.”

 

Amelia looked expectantly at the man, but Croaker looked at her as if that explained everything.

 

“Croaker.” Amelia bit out.

 

“Yes.”

 

“I distinctly remember asking you to explain what happened to Mr Potter plainly,” Amelia said with restraint she thought she lacked.

 

“I don’t think I can make this any plainer, Minister Bones. Mr Potter is in the past, but a significant event changed in the past, which has triggered the creation of an alternate reality to branch out from our past.”

 

“Are you saying a whole new world was born from Harry’s accidental arrival into the past?” Dumbledore asked curiously.

 

“Yes. Some event in the past shifted so drastically that it has created the reality we have experienced.”

 

“I do not understand this. How can a new reality be born if something changes in the past? Whatever changes in the past do not affect the future because we are here, right?” Amelia asked confusedly.

 

“That’s because you are viewing time as a linear stream. You think the clock spins and time passes with every second. But that’s the low-resolution understanding of time we created to make sense of our everyday lives. That’s not how time works.” Croaker said with a sigh.

 

He drew a large circle in the air with his wand.

 

“Time is cyclical, and we observe time from one point. But what if I take an arbitrary point in space and create another loop of time?”

 

Croaker tapped his wand at a point on the circle and drew another circle, but it was tilted on its axis. Again and again, he drew several other circles with tilted axes but with a common centre. These are all time loops but observable only in a specific dimension of space.

 

“Similarly, Mr Potter is in the past, but he occupies a space different from our dimension. I don’t know what changed, but it must’ve been something fundamental enough that shattered reality as we know it.”

 

The silence that prevailed was the most uncomfortable for Amelia as all her plans hinged on rescuing Harry Potter from the freak accident that whisked away the boy.

 

“We must get the boy back somehow. The Prophet has already started to call him the Chosen One as some idiot in the Ministry spilt the beans about rumours of a Prophecy involving Potter and the Dark Lord. If the public learns Harry Potter, the boy who crippled the worst Dark Lord we have ever seen, is lost due to a fluke accident, they’ll lose all hope to fight. It’ll be an easy victory for the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters.” Amelia said, falling into her seat and placing her head in her palms.

 

“Amelia is right. Harry is a beacon of hope for many, and we can’t afford to lose him at this juncture. Is there any way we can retrieve Harry?” Dumbledore asked, looking hopefully at Croaker.

 

“There is a small chance,” Croaker breathed, shaking his head. “But it’s highly experimental, and I’ll need the aid of your Phoenix, Dumbledore.”

 

“Fawkes?” Dumbledore blinked in surprise. “Of course, but may I know why?”

 

“Because a Phoenix is a creature untouched by time in the conventional sense. Only two days have passed for us, but that may not necessarily be the case for Mr potter. A day for us might be a month, a year, or a second for Mr Potter. We frankly don’t know.” Croaker shrugged while rubbing the back of his neck in a sheepish manner.

 

“I see. Fawkes perceives time differently.” Dumbledore nodded in understanding.

 

“Yes. It’ll be better if we have the aid of a Phoenix. I’ll need your phoenix to carry something to Mr Potter and create a bridge connecting us through time and space if we are to retrieve them successfully.” Croaker explained.

 

“I believe Fawkes would be more than happy to help. It also helps Fawkes have a rapport with Harry.” said Dumbledore.

 

“Then it’s settled.” said Amelia.

 

Seeing the two men nod, she let out a sigh of relief.

 

“How long will you need to make the attempt?” she asked immediately.

 

“Soon. As I said, Minister, this will be an experimental procedure. We’ve never done something like this in the history of the Department of Mysteries. Give me some time.” said Croaker.

 

“Unfortunately for us, time is something we do not have in abundance,” Amelia said, rubbing her face tiredly. “Do what you must, but do it fast. I hate to say this, but the fate of the wizarding world rests on that boy’s hands.”

 

****

 

As months passed, Harry developed a tight schedule between his duties at Hogwarts and Hogsmeade's demanding work. At first, his work in the village was focused on building houses for the thirty families that were refugees in Hogwarts during the war. This later developed into Harry being saddled with the responsibility for the village’s security and being the sole arbitrator of disputes despite his strenuous objection. He had tried to pawn off the undesirable job on Salazar Slytherin or the other Founders, but they expertly evaded all responsibility.

 

It was not that he disliked the position of power in Hogsmeade, but the responsibility of being a village leader of wizards and witches robbed most of his free time. This left Harry little time for his attempts at studying the Time Turner in his possession.

 

But that was two months back, and Harry had abandoned his study of the faulty Time Turner after constantly hitting dead ends. Instead of wasting his time on an impossible task, Harry was more or less resigned to accepting the harsh truth that he was not getting out of the current timeline. With his attempts to study the time turner to rest, he dedicated much of his time to Hogwarts and helping wizards and witches to thrive in the world. Instead of viewing his situation as a curse, Harry started seeing an opportunity. The muggles were bereft of rampant scientific and technological advancements. This left them relatively weak in Harry’s eyes. However, in that weakness, he saw an opportunity for the wizarding world.

 

As of late, he started to entertain the idea of creating a magical nation in the British Isles. While he had made up the fanciful tale of Valyria, he was equally enthralled by the prospect of forging a nation exclusively for magical beings.

 

‘A nation exclusively for those blessed with magic.’ Harry mused, staring at a crude map of the British Isles.

 

The idea had its merits, but Harry knew accomplishing such a task was bloody. What would happen to the millions of muggles inhabiting the home islands if a nation for magical beings was forged in the British Isles? That was a moral, political and geopolitical quandary.

 

With a deep sigh, Harry set aside the map and tended to the fire that was giving him the warmth to ward off the cold of the night. Instead of using the bed in the castle, Harry decided to camp near the Black Lake. He also waived the use of warming charms to keep himself warm during the night. The bright full moon shining in the night sky tempted him not to think of dreary topics of conquests and wars. But the markers he made on the map of Britain stole his attention from the beautiful moon in the night sky. Harry had marked the different kingdoms that were in existence in England and Scotland. The Ango-Saxon petty kingdoms in English lands were getting consolidated under the rule of a single King of England. On the other hand, Scotland was also suffering from small kingdoms inside the larger Scotland area Harry knew from his time.

 

Hogwarts was sitting inside the territory claimed by King Constantine of the Kingdom of Alba, while the rest of Scotland proper was divided between Strathclyde and Northumbria. Those Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were kept in check by constant Viking invasions. The situation in the Irelands was far worse from all the sources he could get from Hogwarts. Supposedly, there were Viking enclaves in Ireland, leaving the Irish kings in a constant state of war. These settlements were also a cause of concern for the rest of the Isles because the Vikings could launch their ships from Ireland to anywhere in the home islands.

 

However, the levers of power were truly in the hands of Rome even though the Roman Empire had withdrawn from the British Isles on paper. The clergymen were in key positions of the many royal courts, and they enforced church doctrine on the Isles using the muggle kings. Whenever the church’s authority was challenged, the king would either get deposed or invaded by a rival kingdom. Therefore, the church and its teachings had to be destroyed if he were to forge a magical enclave inside the British Isles.

 

Unfortunately, that was nearly an impossible and bloody task. If he wanted to use the muggles in an army against their own kind, he’d definitely want to make this a religious war, and he’d need non-Christian allies.

 

‘I’ll have to turn the Vikings into allies at some point to sow more discord among the muggle kingdoms.’ Harry thought with a grimace.

 

Harry shook his head, realising the conquest he fantasised about was too much of a hassle. He began scribbling down the idea in a diary he kept exclusively for jotting down ideas for the expansion of Hogsmeade. It also had to be factored in that some of the information he gathered from Hogwarts about the present-day polities of Britain might not be accurate. It was not as if he could verify and cross reference the current status of the isles using newspaper clippings or some media reports.  The curse of the ancient world was that information was sketchy and highly unreliable.

 

He suddenly sat up alert when the proximity ward he had set up was breached. However, he relaxed upon seeing Rowena walking towards him from afar.

 

“What was that ward? Was it some kind of an early warning spell?” Rowena asked once she neared his tent.

 

“A proximity ward. It allows me to find intruders in an area under the ward.” Harry explained.

 

“Hmm. That sounds useful.” Rowena nodded before looking around his modest campsite with a curious look. “Did the facilities in Hogwarts displease you?”

 

“Oh, heavens no. I just wanted to enjoy the moon.” Harry nodded towards the full moon shining brightly in the night sky.

 

The night sky was beautiful, littered with spots of brightly shining stars and constellations. Harry could even pick out a few planets in the sky. The lack of industrial revolution and wide-spanning metropolitan cities cropping up every few miles meant that there was less pollution and artificial light in the sky. This made it easy to enjoy sights like these. Then again, he desperately missed modern food and other muggle inventions like the radio. He desperately wanted to enjoy some music while camping outside but was out of luck.

 

‘I should’ve carried an emergency supply bag on my person.’ Harry thought.

 

Harry quickly jotted down a reminder in his diary about the emergency supply bag as a backup with all the essential things he needed to survive if he were to be cut off from all known civilisation.

 

“What’s that?” Rowena asked.

 

“Oh, this? Just some notes on… hey!” Harry was affronted when Rowena snatched away his diary.

 

“Hmm.” Rowena hummed to herself over the notes he made.

 

“Your language… Valyrian is simpler.” Rowena said in perfect English instead of the guttural Gaelic.

 

He was not surprised to see Rowena had quickly learned modern English, which he had passed off as Valyrian, the official language of his fake homeland. To facilitate the fast learning curve of his students, Harry had to write a whole book on the English language and keep it in the library of Hogwarts. It was a necessity because correct pronunciation of spells was necessary for beginners.

 

“It’s made from the combination of…”

 

“Latin and Germanic languages. I know, I read your book.” Rowena commented, never taking her eyes away from the contents of the diary.

 

A light gale went past them, and Harry was mesmerised by the beauty of the witch standing before him as her hair danced in the wind. Her blue and red dress hugged the curves of her body in all the right places. Her hair was the colour of the reddest of wines he had ever seen, which he only found more attractive in the moonlight.

 

“You know it’s rude to read someone’s diary.” Harry scowled at the woman, beating down the kind of feelings that were overtaking his mind.

 

“I’m just curious what you’re planning.” said Rowena while leafing through the pages of his diary.

 

“Haven’t you ever heard of the saying, curiosity killed the cat?” Harry asked, gazing at the Hogwarts Founder in a different light.

 

Of course, Harry was not blind to see the sheer beauty of the witch he admired in his own timeline. Anyone possessing the sophisticated mind that birthed the Enchanted Ceiling of Hogwarts was worth his attention. Since then, many great wizards and witches have copied the work of Ravenclaw, but they all paled in comparison. It was one of the most elegant magic Harry had ever seen in his admittedly short stint as a wizard. There was also the masterpiece in the form of the Room of Requirement, a piece of magic that no one in the wizarding world could ever replicate.

 

“Never heard of it.” Rowena muttered distractedly while running her eyes through the pages at a pace that made Harry raise an eyebrow.

 

Shrugging his shoulders, he settled on the ground and waited patiently for the witch to finish reading his diary. There was no great secret hidden in his diary anyway.

 

“So, you’ve decided to stay in these lands.” Rowena commented, holding out the diary after she finished reading.

 

“What gave you that impression?” he asked, taking back the diary into his possession.

 

“What other reason is there in planning a conquest of Scotland?” Rowena asked, tilting her head to the side.

 

“Maybe I’m bored.” Harry shrugged his shoulders.

 

“Bored enough to be callous of the bloodshed from the war you’re planning?” Rowena asked, with a hint of disapproval shining in her eyes.

 

“Nations are forged by waging war. If you’re comfortable watching the muggles take over all the lands, then by all means do so.” said Harry.

 

“I find you interesting, Hadrian. You advocated strongly for the lives of four dragons that attacked us, but now you plan on waging a war on the muggles that never harmed you.”

 

“I’ll fear dragons when they start breeding like rabbits.” Harry said blandly.

 

He was a little disappointed that a brilliant woman like Rowena Ravenclaw could not see the obvious threat muggles posed to wizardkind. Of course, the Founders don’t have the benefit of foreknowledge regarding the growth curve of the muggles.

 

“Man has been waging war amongst each other since he walked the Earth. He is not going to stop till the end of times. If our people and other magical creatures are to survive better, we need a place of our own.”

 

“A sentiment that I share, Hadrian. But our people are not strong enough. Most wizards and witches are not skilled to protect themselves, much less attack huge swathes of muggle armies.”

 

“Well…I can be persuaded not to seek war with the muggles if I’m otherwise engaged.” said Harry, reaching out with his hand towards Rowena.

 

The silence that followed stumped him. Harry thought he had overstepped a boundary for a moment, but he was startled when Rowena placed her hand in his. A grin broke out on his face, and he pulled her into his lap. They gazed into each other’s eyes before their lips met with the moon and the stars as their witness.

Chapter 92: Freedom, Magic and Scotland!

“A mage’s power comes from their relationship with the magic in the land. The stave helps to keep the nodes on our wrists connected with magic, but it’ll be on the wizard to shape the magic to cast spells.” Rowena said.

 

Harry maintained his posture while sitting cross-legged on the ground, trying his best to pull magic out of the land with the aid of a stave. In theory, it was a simple process. All he had to do was to pull magic out of the ground, coalesce the energy inside the stave, mix the energy with his bodily magic and then shape the magic into a spell. However, it was a challenge to pull magic out of the ground. Try as he might, Harry found he had mixed results in pulling magic out of the land. He could achieve this task using Parseltongue, but that was not good enough. While Parseltongue was a useful skill, it was not combat-friendly. While no one could identify the spell if her were to speak in Parseltongue, it still announced to his enemies that he was attempting one.

 

The advantages of silent casting would be nullified if he were to rely on Parseltongue. Not to mention, it was not a bright idea to air out his status as a parselmouth. The last thing he wanted was to air out his secrets to random strangers or even possible enemies. This was not exactly a safe time for wizards. Witch burnings were rampant among the muggles.

 

The problem he was facing was not from magic. At least, he hoped it was not. Harry was sure his ability to absorb magic into the stave from the land had more to do with the stave. He came to this conclusion simply by observing the lofty quality of wands used by the wizards. Therefore, he saw no reason to assume the stave he found was any better. The quality of magical foci available at the current time was lacking mostly because of a lack of professional wand crafters or staff crafters. This also led to a shortage of core materials. Unicorn tail hair was the most common core material used in wands or staff.

 

Unfortunately, Harry’s bodily magic was diametrically opposed to the Unicorn hair core in his stave.

 

“My suggestion would be to practice with your wand for now. Perhaps you’ll bond with a better stave in the future.” Rowena suggested after seeing his repeated failures.

 

Harry scrunched up his nose in dissatisfaction. The entire reason he had gone out of his way to procure a stave was to master Old Magic in the traditional sense. If that was not possible, he had no choice but to depend on Parseltongue.

 

Harry abandoned the stave he procured from a local stave crafter for the next few weeks in favour of his trusted Holly wand. At the same time, Harry also started venturing into wand-crafting. He was mostly focused on collecting small parts from the dragon he had charmingly named the Red Queen. By the preening the dragon had been doing at the name, Harry was sure the dragon just got an ego boost.

 

He remembered dragon heartstrings being one of the core materials Ollivander used in his wands. But Harry couldn’t get his hands on one of those because there were no dead dragons to harvest. Therefore, he went on occasional hunts for other magical creatures in the forests surrounding Hogwarts. Mostly, his prey were a stray Thestral heard, Kelpie, kneazles, etc.

 

One night, he returned from his hunt, securing a few strands of Thestral hairs from a herd not far from the castle. The Thestrals, being a peaceful bunch, were hardly bothered by his scavenging for their tail hair. But upon his return to the castle, he was immediately accosted by a grieving family from Hogsmeade.

 

“They took my husband, my lord.” the witch wailed, crying her eyes out.

 

The witch refused to elaborate despite Harry’s strenuous efforts and repeated the claim like a mantra in an endless loop. So, he abandoned the hope of getting any straight answer from the hysterical woman and instead inquired with other wizards and witches accompanying her.

 

“What happened to her husband?” Harry asked.

 

“The muggles, my lord. They took Cato, accusing him of being a wizard when selling pumpkins in the muggle village. They say the church is keeping him prisoner and intends to burn him tomorrow.” one of the villagers said.

 

“It’s starting again, my lord. They’ll come after us all and burn us all at the stake.” another villager fearfully said, spreading a wave of fear among the villagers.

 

“No one is coming to burn us, and Cato will not be burned at the stake either,” Harry said firmly. “Does anyone know where this muggle village is located?”

 

“I know ‘em, my lord.”

 

“That’ll do.” Harry nodded at the man before shooing away the rest of the villagers, including the grieving wife of the hostage.

 

“What’s your name?”

 

“Pelius, my lord.” the man grinned, showing off his crooked teeth.

 

“Hmm. I need you to tell me everything you know about this village.”

 

****

 

Harry observed the village in question from a distance under the cover of a disillusion charm. The village looked like a run-down hell hole crawling with rats. The worst thing was that he could feel the odorous shit of the village folk from miles away. Scrunching up his nose in disgust, he congratulated himself for having the presence of mind to build a sound sewage system for Hogsmeade. He had Rowena’s help setting that up as she had experience doing the same for Hogwarts.

 

He supposed he shouldn’t disparage the muggles too much on their planning skills as wizards had an advantage with magic. The average muggle during this era was ignorant of the importance of cleanliness. People shat and pissed on the open fields without a care in the world because they didn’t know any better and they were poor. Most people didn’t have a roof over their heads. So, having a functioning toilet and waste disposal systems was a luxury they couldn’t afford.

 

Harry dispelled the invisibility charm around himself and Pelius.

 

“Where is Cato held?”

 

“That chapel, my lord. The church people keep our kind in the dungeons of their church like rats.” Pelius said with wroth as he stared at the chapel.

 

“Hmm. Let’s break them out then.” said Harry before walking straight towards the village.

 

“Wait! My lord, what’re you doing?” Pelius asked in a hurry as he followed Harry.

 

“What wizards should’ve done from the beginning – wage war.” Harry said frostily before walking towards the village with long strides.

 

The village had little to no fortification anywhere. But it had a few armed soldiers patrolling the streets near the road leading to the village.

 

“You1 Who are…”

 

The soldier didn’t get to finish before Harry promptly cast the disarming charm, silenced him and had him neutralised using the body binding charm. Seeing the bright flashes of spellfire, the remaining two guards charged at Harry with their swords drawn.

 

“Levicorpus.”

 

The two soldiers let out frightened screams as they were suddenly dangling upside down in mid-air by their ankles. He let them dangle in the air but secured them using ropes that shot out of his wand on a mere thought. Though he had left two muggle guards to dangle in mid-air, he had left them conscious and free to scream their hearts out. Just like he wished, the villagers woke from the guards' frightened screaming, which made it easy for what Harry was about to do next.

 

“Witch!”

 

“Satan spawn!”

 

“Demon!”

 

The villagers began shouting once they saw the soldiers dangling in mid-air. To Harry’s mild surprise, instead of getting frightened, the muggles started throwing stones and anything solid they could get their hands on against him.

 

But he was well prepared. Harry covered himself and Pelius using a shield charm that made the stones and other objects bounce away.

 

“You’ll never again pick up a weapon against a wizard.” Harry vowed before using a wide area blasting curse that blew the villagers off their feet.

 

The church bell began ringing in earnest, possibly to alert the entire village of the impending danger. Harry fired off a spell, pointing his wand at the church's doors.

 

“Bombarda maxima.”

 

The church doors were blown wide open as a sizzling orange spell impacted the doors. The muggles standing behind the doors were blown to bits under the spell’s power.

 

“Incendio.”

 

Harry spun his wand in a wide arc that made it put out flames that lit up the whole street. The sudden emergence of flames made the disoriented muggles scream in terror and give him a wide berth. Using the situation to his advantage, Harry walked towards the church with long, purposeful strides while he cleared off the debris blocking his way by vanishing them into thin air.

 

Once he stepped into the church, he faced a priest holding a cross while muttering prayers. The priest was a middle-aged bald fellow dressed in dark robes. The man shook like a leaf while speaking softly into his closed hands as if some divine entity heard the man's mad ramblings. Harry's attention went to the aides of the priest instead.

 

“You. Lead me to the cellars beneath this church where you hold prisoners.” Harry ordered, jabbing his wand threateningly at the pair of aides standing near the priest.

 

“I command thee, Sata… Ahhhaaaa!”

 

The aide screamed as Harry used a bone breaker on the man's hand. The sound of the bones snapping could be heard loud and clear inside the church, making the priest and the other aide flinch.

 

“Extorqueo.”

 

A sickly-looking yellow spell crashed into the aide’s shoulder.

 

The aide screamed again as his right arm hung loosely from his shoulder when Harry used the joint dislocating spell.

 

“I don’t have all day. One of you will lead me to the cellar, or heads will roll.” Harry threatened the remaining duo while their colleague screamed to the heavens, cradling his broken arm.

 

The other aide to the priest volunteered, and Harry was promptly led towards the cellar while he left the priest in the custody of Pelius. The cellars were filled with prisoners, most of them women and children.

 

“Tell me of their crimes.” Harry ordered, staring coldly at the muggle, making him gulp nervously.

 

“Witchcraft.” the muggle whispered with fear shining in his eyes.

 

“Release them all.” Harry ordered without showing any emotion.

 

One by one, the prisoners were released from their cells.

 

“Who’s Cato?” Harry asked loudly at the group of prisoners.

 

“My lord! My lord! You came for me.”

 

A brown-haired man came before Harry and prostrated himself at his feet.

 

“I promised you protection when we built the village. So, of course, I came for you. Now, up on your feet, man.” said Harry.

 

“May the spirits bless you, Lord Targaryen.” Cato bowed his head before walking out of the cellar with the other prisoners, who also muttered their thanks to Harry for freeing them.

 

Harry had the Church aide at wand point and had the man escorted out after the prisoners. He had the newly freed prisoners, and the church officials assembled outside the church.

 

“From this day forth, Christianity will never be practised in this village. I, Hadrian Targaryen, declare this religion foreign and alien to Scotland. This is the land of magic, and it’ll remain so till the sun loses its light.” Harry proclaimed with the aid of the Sonorous charm, amplifying his voice so that the entire village could hear him.

 

“This will not stop the Lord’s work. You’ve merely ensured your doom, satan spawn. Your magic comes from the Devil, and in God’s good time, your kind will be wiped out by his favoured knights.” the priest loudly proclaimed once Harry made his

 

With remarkable sagacity, Harry thwarted the priest’s attempt at controlling the crowd through religious fanatism and fear.

 

In such situations, Harry knew only one thing could swing public opinion – power.

 

“Flagerate Flagellum.”

 

A long ten-foot whip of bright orange flames formed from the tip of his wand. The ground sizzled as the fiery whip coiled on the ground. Harry made the priest press face-first against the church wall with a flick of his left palm. Wandless magic was a difficult trick to pull off in the past, but Harry had noticed he was getting better with it every day under Rowena’s tutelage of Old Magic.

 

“You claim your god will strike me down. Let’s see if this god of yours has the power to defend you, his faithful servant, from my strike.” Harry said coldly before he swung his wand arm.

 

The fiery whip seared a long gash on the back of the priest, making the balding priest scream at the top of his lungs. He swung again, and there was now an X-shaped burnt scar on the priest’s skin while the priest screamed himself hoarse. The priest's clothes were aflame, and Harry doused them using conjured water. The priest continued to cry as the burnt skin on his back remained an angry red despite the water cooling off the searing heat.

 

“Now you see my brothers and sisters of Scotland. Where is this all-powerful god? Where is the might of the heavens? Where is the miracle?” Harry asked, looking at the villagers while pointing at the helpless crying priest.

 

Harry turned his attention back to the priest.

 

“You may leave this village. Spread the word to the rest of your friends that your shared delusion will no longer be tolerated in Scotland. I’m coming for you all.”

 

A few minutes after his decree, Harry, as well as the villagers, watched the Priest and the aide with the dislocated shoulder was exiled from the village. Harry gave them a horse to ride away, knowing they’d inform some petty lords or knights of what happened in the village. That was precisely what he wanted anyway.

 

Harry also had the prisoners strip everything remotely useful from the church. While they were looting the church, Harry focused on applying the memory charm on the captured villagers. His intent was quite simple. He removed all memories of the church and preaching the villagers ever heard from their minds. He also had all religion-related icons and records summoned using magic and had them destroyed.

 

While destroying the icons and written records was easy, wiping out the memories of religious indoctrination was not an easy feat. It was time-consuming and challenging to pull off. Harry was not surprised that he had barely wiped the memories of half the people in the village before a scout alerted him about a company of knights riding towards the village.

 

“We should withdraw to Hogsmeade Lord Targaryen. They’ll not hesitate to send an army of thousands against our kind.” Pelius warned quietly.

 

“Good. That’s exactly what I want.” said Harry.

 

Harry expected the confused stare from Pelius, and therefore, he was not surprised to see the wizard looking lost.

 

“I don’t understand my lord. The muggles – they are…”

 

“They are a valuable resource for those who can see their worth. Maybe they lack magic, but they can provide us with a sizeable army.” Harry cut in.

 

“An army for us? But who’ll they fight?” Pelius asked.

 

“Who else? Their own brethren and, if need be, the Goblins.” said Harry with a disinterested shrug.

 

“But…but…that’s impossible.” Pelius stuttered while looking at Harry in disbelief.

 

“Is it?” Harry asked rhetorically.

 

Looking ahead, Harry waited patiently for these knights to arrive. He had given some thought in length about the muggles on both timelines. While many Dark Lords saw the muggles as an enemy that had to be wiped out, he saw the value in muggles because he was one in the past. The muggles were capable of radical advancements at a pace that frankly outstripped the growth of the wizarding world by leaps and bounds.

 

Harry only saw advantages in combining the scientific exploration embedded in the muggle consciousness and the magical power of wizards.

 

The hurdles before such a union were the inherent deep, entrenched misconceptions among muggles and magicals alike. The enmity cultivated for over a thousand years was hard-pressed to be wiped away from both people overnight. He doubted even centuries of peaceful coexistence would heal such deep wounds of the past. At least, it was nearly impossible for muggles and magic to coexist in the future timeline despite the rainbow utopian bullshit Dumbledore was selling.

 

But that was not the case in the current times, where Harry found himself in by a trick of fate.

 

He understood the unique advantage he was presented with. If he could pull the wizards and witches of the current time to a level of competence in magic, many great things could be achieved. Instead of brutishly taking the fight to the muggles all the time, a more subtle approach could yield better results.

 

Therefore, Harry was intent on testing out his theory, and if it yielded better results, he could replicate it on a larger scale.

 

“My lord, look!” Pelius urgently whispered.

 

Harry found the company of knights emerge from the treeline, riding as fast as possible on their horses.

 

“Swords and arrows are not something to be feared when you have magic, Pelius. The problem with our people is that most of our kind don’t know anything about magic or don’t bother to learn. If they had…”

 

Harry flicked his wand, and a bright wave of blueish energy washed over the knights and their horses.

 

“Levicorpus.”

 

“…they’d have never feared muggles.” Harry finished, staring unimpressed as the knights and their horses were hung upside down by their ankles in mid-air.

 

“Mobilicorpus.”

 

With another flick of his wand, he had the floating knights move with his wand movement. Harry counted twelve knights among the group and had them disarmed before having them bound in ropes. He promptly used a combination of memory charms and legilimency to convert the knights into his loyal soldiers with no memory of their religious convictions.

 

Without the element of religion in their heads, the knights were quite cooperative. He continued his work on the villagers one by one until finally, he finished his work on most of the people by sunset. The remaining were stuffed and kept isolated under spells as his prisoners until he could rewire their minds.

 

When the night fell, Harry had the villagers gathered before a bonfire as he addressed them. His casual displays of magic had long since become familiar to the villagers, and therefore, they didn’t bat an eye when he conjured an enormous amount of fire behind him with a flick of his wand.

 

“Our enemy is cunning and subtle. It hides within constructs like these, indoctrinating good Scottish men and women of their lies so that they can sap our strength. They want to keep us weak and force us to forget the delightful blessings of magic. They want us to turn our eyes away from nature's beauty, diversity, and divinity. They want to destroy our oneness with nature to worship a fictional story with fictional megalomaniac characters.”

 

“they want us and our children to become slaves to a fictional construct of theirs so that we lose our strength and sight of magic from our blood and souls. Do you want to become slaves to such an uncaring, cruel and imaginary being?”

 

“No!” the villagers shouted with the twelve knights, the most prominent with zealotry in their eyes.

 

“My friends, I do not wish to wage war on our brethren. I wish to save them from the danger of these Romans and their lies.”

 

“Join me, sons and daughters of Scotland, to free our land from the church of Rome and its perfidious hold on our people’s minds.”

 

“For freedom!”

 

“For magic!”

 

“For Scotland!”

 

The chanting of the villagers grew more potent, and Harry let the spell lose on the church behind him. The flames consumed the building whole and left nothing in its wake. The fire burned brightly, lighting up the whole village with its light chasing away the darkness of the night.

 

‘One village down. Several more to go.’ Harry thought.

 

AN:

For artworks, Discord channel: https://discord.com/invite/XKnmQxeGSu

Chapter 93: In a raven's arms

What started as a rescue mission spiralled into a war of conquest in a matter of days.

Initially, Harry had only intended to carve out a small fiefdom for the magical community to thrive by taking possession of several neighbouring muggle villages within a 50-mile radius of Hogwarts. To that effect, he used the same strategy in the first village. He selected a village, attacked them early in the morning, and destroyed everything related to any religion in one day.

Then, he wiped the villagers' memories the following week while securing the village under wards to keep them safe from muggle attacks. After entrenching himself in these villages, he also started recruiting muggle militias by turning the knights sworn to King Constantine of the Kingdom of Alba into his loyal followers. The constraints presented by the rapid expansion of his fiefdom also presented a problem. He alone remained the skilled wizard capable of wiping memories from the muggle populace.   

It was a taxing process to wipe memories of the muggles one by one, supplanting the indoctrination done by the church of Rome. But the sheer number of muggles made it impossible for Harry to reach everyone.

This led him to confine his 'brainwashing enterprise' to knights and recruit militia soldiers.

For now, the time constraints on his person and the lack of skilled wizards and witches affected any expansion he could possibly make. However, it was by no means a simple feat to capture fourteen muggle villages in the span of three weeks with no army to speak of or even supplies. His budding army of knights and common soldiers could not fight on an empty stomach. Establishing a stable source of food, water, medicine, weapons, and other resources was necessary to pursue a successful war against the muggles.

That was why Harry understood the need to enlist the aid of the world’s most powerful Herbologist for his war effort.

“My lord. Are you sure you should leave now? We don’t have enough men to guard our gains should Constantine’s armies turn their sights on the villages we captured.” Pelius urgently whispered.

“I know. That’s why I’ve erected wards to deter the muggles. Their armies won’t find our villages.” Harry assured the man.

“When the Romans came to these lands, our people thought our magical skills could withstand their assault. Look at us now,” said Pelius, sweeping his arms wide. “We’ve forgotten who we were and are busy doing what the Romans are doing.”

“What’re you saying?” Harry asked with a frown.

“It’s good that you’re leading us, and it’s good that your magic is so overwhelmingly powerful enough to sweep through village after village on a dime. But the people need a king – a King of Scotland to rally behind.” said Pelius.

Harry fell silent and merely stared at the boundaries of the village he was occupying. The thought of staking his claim for kingship had crossed his mind, and he was prepared to wage a war to that effect. After all, his aim of creating a magical fiefdom in Scotland would only become a reality if the wizards and witches of Scotland created the ruling bureaucracy.

What that current government form remained a mystery, but he’d definitely not want democracy to crop up. At least, he didn’t see any virtue in establishing a democracy in a land where the majority were illiterate buffoons.  

He was a staunch believer in the critics of Plato on democracy. Without a literate, wise, and well-educated populace, democracy would only facilitate selfish and ignorant people to attain power. In his lifetime, he had seen the rise of populist regimes and the nation plunging into chaos in their wake.

However, he was also mindful that the wizened elitist rule proposed by Socrates was also an abject failure. Primarily because men and women could not ensure their wisdom could be sustainable in their chosen successors. Even great men like Marcus Aurelius had failed to produce worthy and wise successors. So, Harry saw no reason to trust an elite council of wizards and witches to rule Scotland.

There were no good answers to the question of who should rule Scotland. It had been the age-old question humanity had been asking since man learned to hunt and farm. It was a question that’d never be settled without some form of bloodshed.

Despite all that, Harry saw the merit in crowning a magical king for Scotland. Establishing a kingdom that’d safeguard the rights of wizards and muggles could perhaps be a beacon of hope for wizarding communities across the planet.

‘Perhaps we can coexist if I can purge religion from muggles.’ Harry thought.

The moment the thought came to him, Harry shook his head at his naivete. He knew religion was not the core issue. It was in the nature of muggles and wizards to distrust and destroy each other. Religion or no religion, the conflict could never be permanently settled.

“Those with power will try to safeguard it at all costs, and those without will kill for it.” Harry muttered.

“My lord?” Pelius looked at him in askance.

“It’s nothing,” said Harry. “I’ll give your suggestion some serious thought, Pelius.”

“I hope you do. Even if your magic can protect us, Constantine’s court might advise him to employ other wizards against us like the Romans did when they first came to our lands. They’ll start to use their maps, and they’ll trace the villages.” Pelius warned.

“Let me assuage your fears about the village’s security.” Harry turned his wand on the whole village.

“Nebulus.”

Thick fog began to gather outside the village. He willed his magic to let the fog surround the village from all corners, neatly hiding the place from curious eyes.

“Even if the muggles king enlists the services of sorcerers, they’ll be hard-pressed to find the villages I conquered. For now, that’ll do.” said Harry, nodding at the thick fog covering the village.

After saying his goodbyes, he ascended to the sky in his spirit form. He was really starting to regret not learning to apparate or even the Portus spell. His method of transportation was not as fast as the ones used by the wizards of his time.

****

 

Harry’s return to Hogwarts was with some fanfare. Hogsmeade had immediately turned his arrival into a sort of mini-festival. With his conquest in full swing, Hogsmeade was experiencing an increased trade, especially in magical potions. The muggles were far more receptive to magical medicines and the wares of wizards.

However, how long would that last? That was a question Harry was asking himself every day. He knew religion was not precisely the sole issue between muggles and wizards. It was just that the intensity of persecution only increased when the muggles abandoned the worship of forces of nature. There was no shortage of bigots among muggles and wizards.

‘I suppose I’m a bigot among wizards now.’ Harry amusedly thought as he waded through a sea of happy faces and well-wishers to Hogwarts.   

He was more careful when he entered Hogwarts by cloaking himself from the students. Getting swarmed by the residents of Hogsmeade was one thing, but having it repeated by Hogwarts students would be disruptive to the school’s normal functioning.

“You’ve become popular among the people of Hogsmeade and the students.”  

Harry paused as the words filtered in through his ears before he slowly turned around to find Salazar Slytherin leaning against a wall. He had completely missed the man standing there, and not even his sensory magic had detected the Founder. But, of course, Harry was not that surprised. Slytherin was a master of blood magic and parselmagic, allowing him to blend in almost anywhere. It was something Harry was trying to learn under Rowena’s tutelage by mastering Old Magic.  

“They desperately wanted trade restored, and I’ve seen to it.” Harry replied.

“Do you really think that’s the only reason?” Salazar asked with a snort.

Harry didn’t answer that and merely shrugged his shoulders.

“Follow me, Hadrian.” Salazar suddenly said before turning around and walked away.

Harry had to walk a bit faster to catch up with the Founder. He soon found himself entering Salazar’s office adjacent to the room where potions were brewed. The room was filled with potion ingredients and scrolls.

“It’s the first time in living memory of our people that a wizard is trying to carve out a kingdom of his own.”

“I…”

“You needn’t feel like you’ve to defend or explain yourselves. If I hadn’t been bound by oaths, I would’ve… anyway.” Salazar shook his head. “Let me say that what you’re doing is something that I approve of, and I wish you the very best in your campaign.”

“I…thank you, Salazar.” Harry nodded, feeling happy for the compliment paid by the Hogwarts Founder.

It was not every day that one of the Hogwarts founders gave you their blessings and compliments. So, Harry soaked it up like a sponge, especially since it came from Salazar Slytherin.

“Anyway, I’ve been studying your form of magic and found it extremely easy to learn and teach compared to our own. You’ll be heartened to know that we’ve started framing the lessons based on your branch of magic and language.”

“That’s heartening to hear.” Harry said, feeling a sense of accomplishment.

One of the major reasons wizards preferred to hide instead of fight the muggles for dominion over the lands was that most wizards were unskilled in battle magic. At the same time, muggles were quite adept at fighting and followed a militaristic culture out of necessity. While Harry didn’t wish for the wizarding population to turn militaristic, he hoped they would develop a spine and defend themselves from their attackers rather than cower behind wards while the world changed around them.

“Well, I won’t keep you from meeting Rowena. But I have something for you, Hadrian.” Salazar fished out a scroll from his black robes and gave it to Harry.

“Rowena told me that you’ve been struggling with our form of magic but excelled at it while using Parseltongue. This should help you more in that endeavour,” said Salazar.

When Harry unruffled the scroll, he found it was a treasure trove of information on Parselmagic, which also meant he was now in possession of a scroll on binding magic using blood. When he looked up from the scroll to thank the Founder, Salazar was nowhere to be seen.

‘So cool. I think I’m on team Slytherin from now on.’ Harry thought before his eyes went back to admiring the elegant English script on the scroll.

‘He even learned the language this fast. Salazar Slytherin is a genius.’

 

****

 

Harry found Rowena in a class full of students hanging on to every word she was saying about runes. He remained invisible as he didn’t want to disturb the class.

Unlike popular belief, Rowena Ravenclaw was not a highly skilled enchantress or a charms mistress in modern magical terms. She could enchant, but her primary skill lay in runes and astronomy. She had a huge repository of battle Charms in her mind, but her forte lay in runes and astronomy. He supposed she later developed the fortitude for Charms and became renowned for the enchanted ceiling of Hogwarts.

The fact that Hogwarts still lacked an enchanted ceiling proved his assumption. The same could be said about the Sorting Hat. He had seen the hat on Godric Gryffindor, but it neither talked nor gave off a magical aura when he scanned it.

Once again, Harry was reminded of how far he had travelled back in time. The Founders were young, considering the lifespan of powerful wizards. It was just a theory on his part, but Harry believed the more magic a wizard amassed over the years, the greater their lifespan is extended. All sacrificial rituals he had studied from the Black Library and Slytherin’s Library used components that could enhance the inflow of magic into the body. All strengthening rituals also followed the same pattern. The real-life examples of Dumbledore, Grindelwald, Alastor Moody and even Voldemort, to some extent came to his mind. Most of the Founders were in their early forties or thirties. So, they had more than enough time in the world to become far more powerful and renowned for their magical skills.

Harry waited for the class to end, patiently listening to Rowena’s words. When the class finally ended, he waited for the students to filter out before he stepped into the classroom. Carefully, he made his way towards Rowena, who had her back turned while cleaning the runes drawn on the board.  

When he was just about to surprise her from behind.

“I know you’re there. Your charms are flimsy at best for hiding yourself from a proper sorceress.” Rowena’s words cut deeply into him, making him freeze.

Shrugging his shoulder, Harry dropped the spells concealing him, but he wrapped an arm around Rowena’s waist, earning a squeak of protest from the witch.

“I have something for you.” Harry whispered before offering the book he had painstakingly written, employing all his imaginative powers.

The book’s cover read The House of the Dragon with the Targaryen sigil of the three-headed dragon painted on the cover. It was a brief ‘history’ of House Targaryen in ‘Valyria’. He had been worried whenever someone asked about his home island and his family. So, he thought it’d be better to write it all down in a book so he’d never get caught in the lies he had peddled.

“You finished it!” Rowena gasped, taking the book out of his hand.

“Of course. I needed some form of relief during the campaign, and you were not available, so…” Harry smirked before pressing a kiss against the nape of Rowen’s neck.

The older witch moaned, and Harry smiled against her skin, knowing it was a sensitive spot for her. His hand that was squeezing her hips climbed up, but before it could reach its destination, Rowena pushed herself away from him.

“Stop it. I’ve got a class coming up.” said Rowena before pushing him out of the classroom.

“That’s no way to treat a man who returns from war with a present for his woman.” Harry complained when she slammed the door shut.

He could hear deep breaths being taken by Rowena from the other side of the door.

“Come to my quarters at night.” came Rowena’s muffled reply. “Now go before someone sees us like this.”

Harry chuckled but complied with her demand.

“All right, Rowena. I’ll be going to meet Lady Helga. I need her help with something.” Harry said before walking away.

He found Lady Helga in her usual spot, tending to her garden filled with magical plants as well as everyday vegetables and fruits that kept Hogwarts fed.

“Lady Helga.”

“Lord Hadrian. Back from your war, I see.’

“Yes.” Harry kept his hands behind his back as he carefully stepped into her garden.

He could feel an undercurrent of disapproval and wariness from the older witch in her mannerisms. Yet, he kept that feeling aside and prowled on.

“I came seeking your help, Lady Helga.”

“With the war? I’m afraid I’m not the one you should be talking to if that’s the case. Salazar would be a better choice.” said Helga without looking up from her work in the garden.

“It’s not related to the war. I’m seeking your help to increase the yield in muggle farms.”

“Increasing the yield, you say?”  Helga looked up from harvesting the roots of a plant in the garden to stare at Harry.

“Yes. Most of the muggle villages under my protection are underdeveloped and incapable of feeding the muggles. Cut off from the rest of the settlements of the kingdom, they’ll starve without a higher farm yield. I’ve already used several warming charms to protect the crops from the cold, but your expertise in Herbology would help me lift the rationing of resources allocated to the muggles.” Harry explained.

“Dragon dung in sufficient quantities and tepid water would help turn a barren land into fertile ground in a matter of days.”

“Ah!” Harry had forgotten all about using that avenue with the Red Queen being a resident near Hogwarts.

“I’d also have to apply some spells on these lands to regulate some of the extreme properties of dragon dung. That means I’ll have to travel to these villages, which would separate me from Hogwarts and my work here.”

“You could teach me.” Harry suggested.

“You’re right!” Helga suddenly smiled. “That saves all of our time.”

‘No. It saves your time.’ Harry grouched in his mind but didn’t show his displeasure outwardly.

Besides, learning new magical spells was always fun.   

 

****

 

Harry stood outside the oak doors of Rowena’s room. He raised his hand to knock on the door but hesitated at the last moment.

Women had historically enjoyed much freedom before the Roman church started cracking down on the feminine in the world. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t stigmas in ancient cultures. Relationships outside marriage were frowned upon, but he didn’t see much attraction in confining carnal pleasures solely to the marriage bed.      

However, that was his opinion. In this place and age, a woman’s reputation was easily tarnished compared to the modern era, though such situations were not nonexistent. Rowena was not merely a woman he found attractive. She was also a friend and someone he deeply admired. So, he was evaluating his current position.

Ultimately, his dilemma was for nought because the door swung open, and Rowena pulled him inside before slamming the door shut.

“Well, that was unexpected.” Harry muttered.

He took in Rowena's flushed face in the dimly lit room. Her red hair was swept to a side, falling over her right cheek like a curtain. She was dressed in a plain white gown that barely reached her knees.

“Was it?” Rowena asked, raising a delicate eyebrow. “Then what do you say about this?”

She smashed her lips into his own, taking his breath away.

 

***** Lemon start *****

 

Harry’s hands wandered along the fine contours of Rowena’s body until finally settling for resting against her hips. His hold on her hips tightened when Rowena pressed herself more firmly against him while becoming more passionate in her kissing.

It felt like ages had passed when they parted. His lungs greedily took in some much-needed air. Rowena was no better. She was out of breath, listening with sweat on her forehead and her eyes shining with dark desire.

Catching her just ass in his palms, Harry lifted her making Rowena squeal. He carried her forward until he reached her feather bed and dropped her into it before he climbed in. Harry undid his shirt and pants while Rowena lay there on the bed, watching him closely. When he was done disrobing, he threw away the clothes to the side before he pressed his body against her.

Their lips met again in a frenzy while his hands squeezed her thighs, making Rowena moan against his lips.

Harry dragged his hands upwards, rolling up the gown along the way until his hands settled on her hips. He could feel the skin under his grip heating up.

Their lips separated again, and their eyes locked on each other. Harry dipped his head to the side of her neck and sucked on her pulse point.

“Oh!” Rowena gasped sultrily.

Suddenly, Harry felt her nails dragging up along his back until they bit into the skin of his shoulder. A tingling sensation was left in their wake that made Harry bite against the skin of her neck.

His hands that were resting on her hips climbed upwards and took her breasts in his palms. Her round orbs filled his palms, and he squeezed them, earning a lustful, drawn-out moan from the witch underneath him.  

“Hadrian!” Rowena moaned out his name as he pushed his length inside her.

He hid his face in her red hair while peppering kisses along her neck. His right hand sank into the bed for support as he pistoned in and out of her warm folds. He kissed all the way from her neck to her lips before leaving a trail of kisses on the other side of her neck.

Rowena gasped at a particularly hard thrust from his side, and she dragged his face towards her to kiss again. Their lips battled in a frenzy as his pace increased. When he felt her walls clamp down on his length hard, he knew what was about to happen. He slammed his cock, again and again, churning her insides, making her gasp and moan to the heavens.

He felt her entire body shudder in pleasure as she came to her release, moaning up a storm. He let her vent out the pleasure while his lips dragged downwards.

Harry dragged the gown down her shoulders, exposing her round breasts to his eyes. He squeezed her right breast while peppering the left one with kisses and playful bites that forced Rowena to make all sorts of sounds.

His hips picked up pace when he also felt cresting over his own release. With a gasp, he let go while Rowena pressed his face against her breasts. Her fingers were threading through his hair. He could hear Rowena whimper as he filled her up.

They stayed like that in bed for a while; his face pressed against her breasts while he slowly humped against her folds. Pressing one last kiss against her pink nipples, Harry laid down beside her in bed, pressing against her back. His left hand snaked around her waist and pressed her back against him while he peppered her shoulder with kisses.

They were both drunk in pleasure and hardly able to do any talking for the rest of the night. Harry also felt like an unbearable weight on his psyche had been dealt with.

 

***** Lemon scene ends *****    

 

A fire cackled in the fireplace, which was the sole source of sound in the room save for their heartbeats. Harry stared at Rowena, who also had her eyes open as they lay in bed. The skies remained dark outside, but he knew it was early morning.

“What?” Rowena asked.

“Nothing. You look beautiful.” said Harry.

“Did Helga agree to help with the farms?” Rowena asked while drawing circles on his back with her fingers.

“She agreed to teach me some spells that’d help increase the yield. She also agreed to supply some potions that’d help to increase the fertility of the soil as well.”

“I see. So, you’ll be staying in Hogwarts for a while.”

“Why? You want me in your bed for the next few nights… Ow!” Harry winced when Rowena dug her nails into his shoulders.

“I can’t afford to stay away from the conquered villages. There is still work to be done, and I’ve sent spies to Constantine’s court to glean their actions. And most importantly, I need to build an army to defend our gains and enforce our rule on the lands we take.”

Harry saw a thoughtful frown adorn her face.

“An army, you say? I have an idea to solve that dilemma, but it’ll be a little unorthodox.” Rowena warned.

“I love unorthodox ideas.” said Harry, poking Rowena on her nose playfully. “Now, let’s hear this idea of yours.”

AN:

For artworks, Discord channel: https://discord.com/invite/XKnmQxeGSu

Chapter 94: Amassing an army

"When you said you had an unorthodox idea, I didn't expect this." Harry said, keeping his eyes open at the clearing ahead from the top of a tree.

 

"If you want a strong and trained army to fight against the muggles, then the Goblin army is the better choice." said Rowena.

 

"I don't think it's a good idea to involve the Goblins. They won't be interested in fighting under my command after what I did to their army."

 

"That's where you are wrong. Goblins respect two things: wealth and power. You've proven yourself capable and powerful by decimating their army. You stand to become wealthy after you've crowned yourself king of all Scotland."

 

"I don't think we've decided on that." Harry shook his head.

 

"Well, I have, and so have the people of Hogsmead. These lands have never had a king of magical blood. You've managed to unite more people and conquer more lands than any wizard had done in living memory. You're the king of Scots in all but name. The students have even started to call you dragon king."

 

"Monarchies are an unstable form of governance. Look at the muggles. They kill each other in droves because some idiot tells them to." said Harry with a derisive snort.

 

"Then create another form of government. Maybe use the governance model of Valyria in this new polity you're creating." Rowena suggested, forcing Harry into silence.

 

"That is not as easy as it looks. A ruling council must have a shared vision and the resolve to set aside their personal differences to achieve the common good. That's a difficult balance to achieve most of the time."

 

"Then I suggest you crown yourself as king but also create this ruling council in the model of Valyria. You could keep the council in check while the council could keep your power in check. The system of checks and balances could form out of these two pillars of power in the kingdom." Rowena suggested.

 

Harry gave the suggestion some serious thought.

 

He was not ignorant of the fact that a new kingdom in Scotland that works as a sanctuary for pagan culture and magical communities could become a target in the long run. Under such threats, a singular leadership that could make quick decisions to mobilise resources and armies to defend the nation and withstand the test of time was necessary. Under the current geopolitical scenario, the best form of government to preserve the new Scotland would be a kingdom where a king and a wizengamot could share power. He could see that such a dual form of government could offer long-term political stability and equip the kingdom to face the challenges ahead.

 

Maybe Scotland could expand its borders and kick out Rome's influence in its entirety from the British Isles. A new kind of power could rise on the European continent, and that could change the world forever. For ill or for good, only time could tell, and Harry was the least bit bothered by such speculations.

 

"Are you interested in making me king so you can become the queen?" Harry teased.

 

"So, you've considered making me your queen." Rowena turned the tables on him expertly.

 

"Hmm… I'll give it some serious thought if your idea pans out. After all, a queen must be witty, cunning, merciful and wise." Harry said sagely.

 

Movement in the clearing attracted their attention. Harry saw a small delegation of goblins in the distance carrying a white flag of truce.

 

"Looks like they seem to be in a talking mood." Harry muttered.

 

"Snipshank is far more reasonable than his predecessor. But I suggest we stick to the matter and avoid bringing up the battle." Rowena advised.

 

"All right." Harry said before taking her hand in his.

 

Harry assumed his spirit form and allowed it to encompass it over Rowena. Together, they surged upward into the blue sky, leaving sparkling grey smoke in their wake.

 

They fell from the sky and hovered above the ground before reforming their physical body a few feet from the goblins. Harry took in the armour-clad goblins while maintaining a firm grip on his wand.

 

"Lady Ravenclaw. Lord Targaryen."

 

"King Snipshank."

 

Harry observed the crowned goblin king. Like all typical goblins, this one sported the standard pointed teeth and a crooked nose. But he couldn't make out the rest of the physical features of the head as they wore steel helmets save for their slanted eyes. All four goblins in the delegation were barely three feet tall, and he was being generous with their heights. But these goblins were clearly warriors, or at least they worked out because their physical characteristics spoke of their martial culture. Their bodies were stocky and filled with muscles.

 

He supposed their wicked-looking axes and hammers were not for show.

 

"You asked for a meeting, Lady Ravenclaw. Say your piece."

 

"Our peoples have warred for centuries, spilling magical blood. But what if we can come together as allies against a common enemy."

 

"You speak of the muggles?" Snipshank asked coldly.

 

"Yes. Together we could…" Rowena started but was cut off.

 

"You want us to fight your battles."

 

"No. Not at all, King Snipshank. We hope to reclaim these lands from the muggles and establish a kingdom of wizards. But there is so much land under muggle control. We could divide the lands claimed equally between our people upon victory." Rowena offered.

 

Harry only kept an ear out for the conversation between Rowena and the goblin king. His true focus, however, was on the guards of Snipshank.

 

More specifically, their minds and the secrets they hid in their wicked little minds. When he finished skimming through the surface thoughts of the goblins, Harry knew what he had to do.

 

"You think too highly of your people's capability." Harry said cooly while looking down on the goblin king.

 

"What!" Snipshank snarled at the insult to his people.

 

"Hadrian, what're you doing?" Rowena asked worriedly.

 

"I can't see any other reason why you'd think having some weak fools of your kind hide away like rats under the ground and hope to entrap us with your weak juvenile magic." Harry said with a snort.

 

"What? How…?" Snipshank spluttered before his brain finally realised the gravity of the situation. "Attack!"

 

"Yeah right." Harry snorted before using the blasting curse on the ground.

 

The goblin delegation was blasted away by the explosion while Harry placed a shield around himself and Rowena from the debris.

 

"Rowena. Will you keep these fools bound for a moment? I've got some pests to kill."

 

"It'll be my pleasure." said Rowena before channelling magic through her stave and binding the goblin king and his guards under the hold of a stone golem.

 

Harry walked a few paces away from Rowena and touched the tip of his wand on the ground. He dipped into the magic in his body and connected it with the magic in the natural world. Keeping a clear picture of what he wanted in his mind, Harry began uttering a spell in parseltongue.

 

The ground underneath him shook as the enchantment took effect. The tremors on the ground stopped, but a radical change happened. The greenery that surrounded the clearing vanished instantly, and in its place, there was smooth white marble from one edge of the forest to the other.

 

"That should do it." Harry nodded to himself before standing up from his crouch.

 

"What did you do, wizard?" Snipshank snarled.

 

"I transmuted the all the land a few feet down into marble. Yes, I turned this land into a tomb of your precious warlocks." Harry said coldly.

 

"No!" Snipshank looked at the white marble in horror.

 

"Yes! Your people are now taking their last breath of air in a dark place where they can't see or move. They'll scream at the top of their lungs, but no one will hear them. They'll call out to their king and wonder why they're abandoned. They'll reach out with their magic to feel a bit of hope that's never there." said Harry, bending a knee so that he was level with the trapped goblin king.

 

"Instead, they'll die blind, deaf, and dumb when they should've been enjoying their life in a land ruled by those gifted with magic. All because little Snipshank thought he could destroy what I'm about to start."

 

"We offered you peace and an alliance. Why would you reject it?" Rowena asked, staring at Snipshank with a disappointed look.

 

"Because he'd like to live in a world where the wizards are nothing rather than something." said Harry.

 

"Your kind is an abomination – a mistake! You should've never existed. You are wrong!" Snipshank snapped.

 

"I see. Then let me tell you a little secret, goblin. I will build the most beautiful castle the world has ever seen in this place, atop the tomb of your people. I will build a throne fit for myself and my descendants here, and your kind will call me king, as will the wizards, the muggles and every other creature that breathes in these lands." Harry claimed while glaring into the slanted eyes of the goblin king.

 

"You are delusional! No goblin worth their name would call you king." Snipshank yelled, straining against the restraints.

 

"That's where you are wrong," Harry smirked before standing to his full height while pointing his wand at the goblin. "You will be the first to do so."

 

"Imperio."

 

****

 

The goblin army was barely two thousand strong. But numbers didn't bother Harry that much. He was expecting such a low number, especially after some mutinies.

 

As expected, Snipshank's 'decision' to join the wizards in the battle against the muggles was unpopular. Harry had hung back and watched as some goblins mutinied and fled Snipshank in protest when he declared his intentions to fight the muggles.

 

Of course, Harry could never allow a breakaway goblin army to crop up a new goblin kingdom in his lands. Therefore, he had to wipe out all deserters of Snipshank's army without any mercy. It was cruel and not gentlemanly, but Harry had no intention of getting bogged down in a cycle of war against different breakaway groups of goblins for the rest of his life. He already had the massive hostile muggle populace of the islands to contend with.

 

After securing the aid of Snipshank and his army, Harry returned to the villages under his control with the goblin army in tow. As expected, the muggles could not locate the exact position of the settlements because of the muggle-repelling wards he erected. But that doesn't mean the muggles were not making the lives of the villagers any more difficult.

 

King Constantine had sent an army of 700 men strong to reclaim the villages. They patrolled the roads to other parts of the kingdom, forcing Harry to suspend all trade with the outside world. The only reason they had survived so far was because Hogsmeade and Hogwarts were keeping them supplied with all the essentials and traded for valuable commodities.

 

"They've blocked all the major trade routes to our villages. While Constantine's men have not found the villages, they're keeping watch on the roads." Keith explained, pointing at several roads on the map laid bare on the table.

 

Harry didn't say anything and merely observed the enemy positions on the map. It looked like the muggles were slowly surrounding the lands close to Hogwarts. The muggle-repelling wards kept Constantine's army miles away from any of the villages under Harry's control or Hogwarts. But having the war drag on for too long was not smart.

 

Besides, Constantine was not the only king who posed a threat to magical beings in the British Isles, nor were the many kings the sole threat.

 

"We need to attack these three villages where the army is concentrated simultaneously." Pelius pointed to three villages on the map where their scouts claimed to have seen more soldiers.

 

"It won't be easy to dislodge Constantine's army and secure the village from…" Keith started, but Harry cut in.

 

"We won't be needing these three villages intact." Harry said before turning his sights on the silent goblin king in the room.

 

"Snipshanks. It's time for the goblins to enter the field."

 

The goblin king nodded before leaving the room silently.

 

"But my lord. The goblins – they'll show no mercy." Keith said worriedly.

 

"Good. We need Constantine to take our threat seriously. Once word spreads of the battle, he'll be forced to gather a large army and perhaps even lead it against us. We'll save ourselves months of war if we're lucky." said Harry before calling the meeting to a close.

 

The goblin army was brutal in its attack against the three villages and spared nothing after the battle. They killed anything that moved in the villages and left nothing to stand after the soldiers were killed off. After looting anything of value from the villages, everything was set on fire. Harry watched dispassionately as screams tore through the battlefield as the goblins ransacked the villages.

 

He had left the goblins to conduct warfare on their own terms to take the pressure off Snipshanks. Even if Harry had the goblin king under the Imperius curse, the rest of the goblins were hardly impressed by their king's decision to join the wizards to war against muggles. Having the goblins thrown into battles kept them from rebelling against the current arrangement. He needed their cooperation until Constantine was defeated and Scotland was liberated from muggle rule. Harry was confident he could make some inroads into the goblin community within that timeframe. Harry was hoping to take advantage of their greed for power and wealth in the coming days.

 

Harry walked through the burnt remains of one of the villages after the fighting subsided. The goblins had torched everything to the ground, and Harry had to use the bubble head charm to avoid the smoke. Half-burnt bodies were strewn across the streets, which gave Harry the urge to throw up. Despite that, he braved the streets as he owed it to himself to see the aftermath of his decision.

 

So far, his war had always been with minimal war crimes and deaths. Keeping the muggles alive had been one of his prime concerns as he found value in their lives, and he knew muggles could contribute immensely to the benefit of the kingdom he was building. But this time, he had allowed wanton destruction and indiscriminate killing to unfold, and he needed to see it with his own eyes to ensure that he learned the actual cost of war of this scale.

 

He walked the length of the destroyed village for nearly an hour before returning to the camp set outside, where the goblins held a few prisoners.

 

Harry found the prisoners shivering in fright, surrounded by goblins armed to the teeth. Before the battle, Harry had asked the goblins to capture the priests from the church, and thankfully, they followed through with that order.

 

"I have a message for your king, priest." Harry said while coldly staring down at the priest.

 

"What do you want, monster?" the priest stuttered out after gathering some courage.

 

"Imperio."

 

****

 

Harry returned to Hogwarts to oversee the dragon dung being transported out to the fields under his control. He also had a few things to set up in Hogsmeade, like recruiting a lot of builders to start building his castle. The workforce that built a massive castle like Hogwarts was a sure bet in raising his grand new castle. Therefore, he made sure to recruit some of the best builders he knew for the castle. He also had plans to build a new city around the castle in time, which required some advanced planning and space allocation. There was also the need to discuss the finer points of what a new Kingdom of Scotland would look like with the Founders.

 

It was also a convenient excuse to spend some time with Rowena during her free hours.

 

"So, you want to create a council of wizards and witches mimicking the one you told us about in the Valyrian Freehold?" Helena asked with a pensive look.

 

"Hmm. Something like that. I call it the Wizengamot." Harry said with a bright smile, earnestly looking at the Founders for their opinion.

 

"Where will you find worthy wizards to fill this Wizengamot, and what powers does it have?" Slytherin questioned.

 

"I have four worthy wizards before me now. The rest will be picked to represent a specific locality within the kingdom. As for powers, I envision the Wizengamot becoming the chamber where new laws are proposed, discussed and voted on."  Harry explained.

 

"I'm sorry, Hadrian. We cannot join the Wizengamot. It'll interfere with our work in Hogwarts." said Godric, shaking his head.

 

"What? Don't be ridiculous. You are some of the best healers, potion masters, battle mages and enchanters. To top it all off, you are educators. Your voice must be heard in the Wizengamot."

 

"I think our voice is aptly represented, Hadrian." said Godric, nodding at Rowena.

 

"Of course, Rowena's opinions and advice are highly valued and taken into consideration. But I require people with wisdom and differing opinions in the Wizengamot for it to function productively." Harry argued, but it was for nought.

 

All four Founders were adamant to keep themselves away from a seat in the Wizengamot despite Harry's repeated attempts to influence them. He even offered to create a law that'd ensure Hogwarts would remain an independent entity without any interference from the state. But even that refused to make them change their opinion. He went a few steps back and even offered a seat for a representative of Hogwarts, but even that got rejected.

 

Harry was flummoxed when Salazar Slytherin, a man who was famed for looking for traits like ambition and cunning in his students, was the most adamant in rejecting any position of power in the Wizengamot for Hogwarts or the Founders in their individual capacity. But he managed to extract a promise from the Founders that they'd join the Wizengamot when they stopped working in Hogwarts. He had no intention of leaving the Founders out of the Wizengamot. He was confident he could convince them to join the governing body in time.

 

Harry spent most of the next two weeks in Hogsmeade. If he was not overseeing the construction of his castle, he was training with the Red Queen. Riding a dragon was far different, and Harry was intent on using the dragon in the war. As Rowena pointed out, he was the only wizard to have bonded with a dragon, and he wanted to milk it for all it was worth.

 

His wait, however, came to an end when Harry got word from his spies.

 

"My lord. We got word from our spies. King Constantine has called all his banners. He has started gathering his full army like you wanted." Pelius reported.

 

Harry was immediately on his feet, feeling satisfaction at his plan having its intended effect. He had sent the corpses from the goblin attack to Constantine with imperuised priests to spread every gruesome detail of the attack. The priests under his control were also ordered to stir up religious fervour to force Constantine's hand. By the looks of it, his plan worked like a charm, forcing the muggle king to commit most of his forces in a decisive battle.

 

It'd have been hell to fight all his opponents spread out in the kingdom, and by Constantine calling all his banners, Harry got the opportunity to destroy and capture the muggle army. It was now time to put an end to the Kingdom of Alba.

 

"Very good. Let's begin."

 

 

AN: I planned to write eight chapters on Harry's time travel. I've reached the ninth chapter. I could go on for another five at max with the plots in my head, but I'm winding it up in the next chapter with a time skip.

AN:

For artworks, Discord channel: https://discord.com/invite/XKnmQxeGSu

Chapter 95: The King of Scotland

“Are you sure that’ll work?” Albus asked, staring at Croaker expectantly.

“It’ll work, Dumbledore.” Croaker said firmly.

“I only ask because the last few times were a failure, and I get the feeling Fawkes would be less inclined to spare me his flames.”

The trill from his companion, who was entrapped in a contraption, sounded like a promise of bad things to come if Fawkes was hurt.

“As I told you before, Dumbledore. The last few times, our calculations were way off. We didn’t take into account that the branch reality could be developing a temporal dissonance as it branched away from the main timeline.”

“A temporal dissonance?” Albus asked curiously.

“Mr Potter’s arrival has created a branch reality that occupies a unique space in time, connected to our reality by a common past but at the same time far away from us because of the differences. Do you understand that?”

“Yes.” Albus nodded.

“Then you understand Mr Potter has inadvertently become the focal point of change within this new reality. Every action he takes is creating ripples in space and time. It is affecting other people, and those people are making decisions that deviate from their future selves. These differences or anomalies in the past have created more distance between our reality and the branch reality. Does that make sense?”

“I suspect what you are saying is that as Harry makes more changes in the branch reality, that reality is branching farther away from our reality. So, there is more distance between our reality and the branch reality than, say, last day.”

“Essentially, yes.” Croaker nodded slowly. “But it’s not just Mr Potter. He must’ve affected other people’s lives since his arrival. Those changes are also reverberating across reality, making this branch reality farther away from our own.”

“I see. Does that mean Harry has spent more time in this new branch reality than we experienced?” Albus asked.

“I can’t say for sure. There are no specific laws for space and time. If there was, we didn’t know about it. In my experience, the laws that bind time and space are fluid in nature. They’re always in a state of flux – always unpredictable.” Croaked explained.

“Yet, you claim you can retrieve Harry.” Sirius barged in with a cold stare.

Albus could see the man was apocalyptic and, therefore, chose to keep his silence despite Croaker’s hopeful look.

“How can you retrieve Harry when you don’t even know whether he is in the past or the future?” Sirius asked furiously.

“Do you know what happens when you cast a spell Lord Black? Do you truly know what happens?” Crocker asked.

“I'm not here to get lectured on magic.” Sirius thundered. “It has been nearly a month. I want my godson.”

“I assure you. Mr Potter will be brought back. We’ve toiled day and night to make this work, Lord Black. Today, you’ll be leaving with Mr Potter from the Ministry.”

Sirius growled one last time before walking away while muttering darkly under his breath.

Albus watched Sirius join Damien Greengrass and Minister Bones in a corner of the chamber. Of all the people who had worked strenuously to bring Harry back, Damien Greengrass worked the hardest. The man had not only obtained time turners from beyond Britain but also got expert wizards from across the many wizarding communities of the world.

‘That’s probably why Minister Bones made Damien Greengrass the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation.’ Albus thought.

However, he felt there was something driving Lord Greengrass. Albus recognised some of his paranoia stemmed from the Greengrass family’s sudden closeness to Harry and Sirius. After Voldemort’s fall, he had been responsible for keeping Harry insulated from the unwanted attention of several elements within the wizarding world. Of course, his protection was necessary as Harry was a little child barely able to make coherent sounds on his own. Even if he had let Harry grow up among the Dursleys, it would have been a kinder fate than what would’ve happened had a wizarding family raised him.

But now, things have changed. He knew Harry was more than capable of taking care of himself. The fight in the Ministry atrium proved Harry was ready to stand against Voldemort and all the challenges that lay ahead. It was his hope that Harry could succeed where he failed and overcome all the odds that were arrayed against him.

Nonetheless, he could not help but worry for Harry. He had once abandoned his family, and Albus has lived with the consequences of that decision till now. He could not do the same to Harry, whose parents died because he failed to destroy Voldemort.

The endless resources that Damien Greengrass was magically pulling into London were concerning.

‘It’s true the Greengrass family stayed away from the isles during the war. But to amass such connections to not only make different Ministries cooperate but also share their resources…’ Albus trailed off in thought.

Shaking his head, Albus put such thoughts at the back of his mind. For now, he focused on getting Harry back safely. His worries went to Harry’s condition in the branch reality. From what he had observed so far, the chances of Harry getting into the future were slim. If their current reality were not a branch reality, then the future would remain unknown to everyone.  Under such a circumstance, Harry was most likely stranded in the past.

How far in the past was a question that could only be answered by Harry.

But his worry was the time Harry spent on this branch of reality. If too much time had passed in the branch of reality, then Harry might’ve started a life of his own in the new world he found himself in. It’d be cruel to wrench Harry back from the branch reality. But most importantly, Albus knew Harry would’ve comparatively a safer and normal life in the branch of reality than in this world.

“Albus. We’re ready.” Croaker suddenly said, snapping him out of his thoughts.

He kept his concerns in a dark corner of his mind and instead went straight for Fawkes. His trusted phoenix companion was dressed in a small black jacket lined with runes with no beginning or end.

“Are you ready, old friend?”

His trusted phoenix trilled a hopeful note that lifted his spirits.

“I hope everything works as we hope for Harry’s sake and our own.” Albus muttered before taking Fawkes towards Croaker.

Croaker chanted something under his breath and, together with the Unspeakables, both foreign and British, used a spell against the suspended sphere of energy that swallowed Harry into a different reality. The barriers that were keeping the sphere contained flared to life as the sphere rapidly expanded.

Albus could see the wizards straining against the sphere as they manipulated it to suit their needs. Unlike many of the last attempts, this time, the sphere collapsed in on itself to form a whirlpool that began sucking everything inwards.

“Dumbledore! Now’s the time. Remember, it has to be quick. Not a drop of time should be wasted.” Croaker shouted over the whirling sound of the portal opening.

“You know what to do, Fawkes.” Albus said, petting his friend on the head. “Bring Harry home.”

Fawkes bobbed his head before turning himself into a ball of fire. The Unspeakables lifted a portion of the barrier, allowing Fawkes to slip in, and he disappeared into the vortex of space.

“What now?” Sirius asked.

“Now, we wait for Fawkes to return with Harry.” said Albus, looking expectantly at the whirlpool that was ever so slowly expanding.

Albus hoped there were no hiccups and Harry returned safely. If they could not return Harry, then all hope was lost for the wizarding world. There was far too much at stake.

****

“Company, release!” Pelius shouted at the top of his lungs.

The siege engines lining the cliff released as one, throwing huge round rocks carved with runes courtesy of the goblins. He’d have never imagined the goblins would give up their weapons of war for the benefit of wizards. But impossible things tended to happen under the reign of his king, Hadrian Targaryen, the first of his name, King of Scotland.

Hundreds of rune-enforced boulders fell on the ships from the kingdom of Bernicia. The stones began exploding with terrifying power once they fell on the unsuspecting enemy ships. Planks of wood splintered away as ships were blown to three or more pieces under their assault.

“Arm the catapults!” he shouted.

He could hear the screams coming from the shoreline as the men of Bernicia faced their worst defeats in the sea. Pelius could sense the desperation and fear of his enemies. It was only natural for them to feel this way. His king had spread fear in their home islands as his armies marched in all directions, expanding the newly formed Scottish kingdom. Constantine’s defeat at the Battle of the Dragon, as it was called, was the deciding moment when the Kingdom of Alba was done away, and in its place, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged. All across the countryside, dragon banners rose within a month as King Hadrian enforced his control by turning his kingdom into an impenetrable fortress. No one could enter or leave the Kingdom of Scotland without the king’s permission.

The following year, the army of Scotland gathered to invade Dalriada. With the former army of Constantine under King Hadrian’s control, the fall of the many tribes in Dalriada was almost inevitable. Despite being the centre of Christian expansionism, Dalriada was rife with factionalism between different tribes and the chieftains that led these tribes, like in the old days. But the main reason his king attacked Dalriada instead of Moray or Strathclyde was to gain access to the vast naval fleet in the region. With the entire region of Dalariada assimilating into the Kingdom of Scotland, they now had access to the North Channel and possessed a large fleet of ships.

The rapid expansion of the kingdom had spooked the surrounding kings of Moray, Strathclyde and Lothian. An invasion attempt from the highlands was expected by the king by the spies in Bernicia. But what surprised them was a naval invasion from their enemies supported by the Vikings. For years, his king had tried to court Vikings as allies, but they had joined with the enemy.

Pelius was relieved the Vikings had joined the enemy. He was not fond of muggles, and the less of their kind in the kingdom, the better it was in his mind. Looking at the screaming men desperately trying to land their row boats, Pelius could only scoff in derision.

'Where did the vaunted ferociousness of the Vikings go?'

“Company, release!”

Another volley of boulders took flight from the cliff, bombarding the Vikings and Bernician army. The siege weapons of goblins were terrifying, and Pelius was relieved the goblin army was on their side instead of fighting against wizards. He didn’t know what his king did to earn the allegiance of the goblins, but there were rumours of a single combat between King Hadrian and Snipshank. Whatever the case, goblin weapons were highly effective in combating muggle armies. This is why the goblin army was deployed along the Scottish kingdom's borders to destroy Bernicia's invading army.

Pelius oversaw a few more volleys, wreaking havoc on the enemy fleet. The muggles could not properly execute their amphibian assault because his king knew their landing site beforehand. The few that landed on the beach were unlucky, and his thoughts were proven correct when a huge cavalry force rode into the beach with dragon banners in hand. The screams from the muggles and the clash of steel filled the morning sky.

He ordered the assault to stop as the king’s army was now pushing the enemy into the sea. The battle at the beach quickly turned into a one-sided slaughter. Even if the Vikings were ferocious fighters, they were outnumbered ten to one. Those were odds that even the best of armies could not easily overcome with the sea at their back.

Pelius’ attention shifted to the surviving ships in the enemy fleet. They were not even attempting to rescue their stranded brethren. Seeing the losing fight, the ships turned away from the disastrous battle to flee and survive the day.

A guttural roar came from the north, making Pelius and his men look back. From the clouds, a giant red dragon glided through the air towards them. His men began hollering the king’s name to the heavens as King Hadrian, atop his draconic mount, passed by the cliff at great speed and dived down the edge of the cliff. Pelius doubted he was the only one to feel a surge of glee and satisfaction as his king swept away the remnants of the enemy fleet on his dragon. The men under his command screamed and shouted in jubilation as the king’s dragon breathed out a long line of fire that broke several ships trying to make their escape.

For someone who had only known the taste of helplessness and defeat, the string of victories under his king tasted like the sweet wine of Hogsmeade. Pelius hoped it was a taste that’d never leave his tongue.

****

Harry scoffed as the muggles in the enemy ships tried to bring down his dragon using their archers. Steel-tipped arrows only bounced off harmlessly against the magically protected hide of the Red Queen. His dragon opened her maw wide and breathed dragon fire upon the ship that dared to attack her. The screams of men and the smell of burnt flesh and wood were kept at bay from his nostrils by the bubblehead charm.

But that didn’t prevent his dragon from inhaling the smoke and the scent. Letting out an unhappy growl, the Red Queen flapped her wings and put some distance between her and the ship she was intent on destroying. She breathed out another globe of fire at the ship as it started to come undone at the seams. The ship broke by its centre as wood burned away under the intense heat of dragon fire. Water began rushing into the ship, dragging it ever so slowly underneath the sea.

Harry’s attention was taken away from the sinking ship when an arrow was stopped by his magical shield. The red cloak he had on his back flared up with runes once again, producing a shield of energy that stopped more arrows. He found the culprits on a rowboat busily arming themselves with more arrows when they realised their first salvo was ineffective. Going by their attire and the colour of their hair, Harry assumed the men were Vikings.

Harry snorted when the Viking archers tried their luck once again by shooting arrows at him. The Celtic runes woven into his cloak flared to life again, making the arrows bounce off harmlessly against an energy barrier.

‘No muggle weapon in existence could bypass the protections enchanted by my wife.’ Harry thought as he took careful aim with his wand.

“Bombarda Maxima.”

The rowboat was blown to bits, as were the soldiers who didn’t have the presence of mind to jump from the boat when he cast the spell. He began to similarly destroy any stray ships or boats that were trying to escape the trap he had set for them. The flames of the Red Queen burned and set the sea alight, turning the small pocket of the sea into a burning oven for his enemies. Many of his enemies begged for mercy, but Harry had none to spare. He had graciously offered the Viking raiders a peace deal that would’ve allowed them to keep the highlands of Moray and Ireland. He had offered them an alliance of equal partners and preference in maritime trade, but they had spurned his generous offer to side with Bernicia to attack his lands unprovoked.

He could've understood if the Vikings had disregarded his offer of alliance as he was new to kingship and the Kingdom of Scotland was newly formed. But to attack his lands when he extended them the hand of friendship…

‘Well, there is only one thing left to do. A total purge of the Vikings from all the islands and even Ireland.’ Harry vowed.

The war didn’t end at the sea. There was a host of Bernician soldiers trying to invade his lands, but magic kept them at bay, and then he unleashed the goblin army on them along with some wizards. It was a one-sided slaughter that decimated the Bernician army and opened up the Scottish lowlands for further invasion by his army. When Harry marched his army into the lowlands, he faced little resistance. One by one, villages, towns and castles fell under his control. He took the church officials, lords and knights as his prisoners and wiped their minds clean. The churches were either converted into temples of learning or soup kitchens for the children.

The former church officials were tasked with increasing literacy rates by functioning as educators and surveyors for the crown. They were also charged with undoing Rome’s hold on the populace. Harry had seriously contemplated the introduction of a new religion to replace the old one, but he left that idea on the back burner as he was not entirely sure what could replace the existing Christianity and whether it’d be of benefit to the people.

Bernicia eventually came under his control when the Bernician king was captured by his soldiers before the man could escape to Strathclyde. There were disgruntled and wary eyes in Strathclyde that Harry was not prepared to address at the moment, so the capture of King Malcolm of Bernicia was a boon in his eyes. With the capture of King Malcolm, his campaign in Lothlan came to a close. The complete subjugation of Lothlan was unfinished, as the purge of church infrastructure and doctrine was incomplete. But that was a time-consuming process, and Harry left some of the work to his apprentices and the royal army. His army would go around the newly conquered area, imprisoning church officials and having them transported to the capital of Scotland to get brainwashed. All it took was a memory charm and some memory modifications to get the former church officials to become loyal servants of the Scottish crown.

After the fall of Bernicia, Harry was forced to spend some time in the newly conquered land to ensure Strathclyde did not develop any ideas to invade his lands. To that effect, he erected muggle-repelling wards that blocked major passes that’d facilitate army movements to be on the safe side. He preferred to act against Strathclyde as soon as possible and gobble up the kingdom into his expanding Scottish polity. But Harry was forced to reevaluate his strategy now that he knew he had to contend with the Vikings. There was a need for a strong fleet on the North Channel and the North Sea. It was not imperative to strike at Viking positions in Ireland and have them dislodged from their entrenched positions.

Harry was starting to see the danger of weakening the Christian kings too much if the Vikings were hostile to the Kingdom of Scotland.

‘This’ll need to be discussed in the Wizengamot.’ Harry mused.

It was with such thoughts that he returned to his capital city of Valyria. There was a celebration going on when he entered the city walls. The celebration of Scotland’s victory over Lothian was indeed an occasion for great revelry. The captured former king was also paraded through the city's paved streets, but of course, the former monarch was welcomed into the city with dignity. There was a ceremony where Malcolm had to voluntarily submit to the crown and accept subservience to the Scottish crown.

But all those ceremonies or the politics of the kingdom fled his mind as Harry entered his castle.

A bright smile overtook his face as his wife, and son waited for him near the doorway of his throne room.

“Rowena. Alexander.”

Harry pressed a chaste kiss on his wife’s lips and another on his son’s forehead.

“Make sure I’m not disturbed for the remainder of the day.” Harry ordered his advisors and servants.

For the remainder of the day, he spent his precious time mostly entertaining his son and sharing some intimate moments with his wife of two years. The entire day he spent with his family as he had missed the warmth of his wife and the joy of holding his son in his arms. When night came, Harry slept peacefully in bed with Rowena in his arms.

The next day, Harry was greeted by dark clouds in the sky. At first, he thought the sky would clear itself once it rained. But the sky remained filled with dark clouds and fierce winds while rain eluded them. He got the distinct feeling that the rain was waiting to pour on them to disturb the ceremony.

When it was time for the ceremony to begin, arcs of lightning started dancing in the sky. Fearing a fierce storm was brewing, he ordered the ceremony to speed up. The former king of Bernicia was forced to kneel before Harry’s throne and offer his crown and sword. After giving an oath of allegiance to the Scottish crown, Malcolm was allowed to leave Valyria for his home.

When Harry, along with his court, came outside the castle to see the departure of the former king of Bernicia, the storm that was brewing in the sky took a turn for the worse. A giant vortex started to form in the sky, surrounded by dark storm clouds that made everyone uneasy. The clouds gathered around the vortex as if shielding it from something.

“Rowena, take Alex inside.” said Harry.

“What is it?” Rowena asked worriedly.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s a Thunderbird.” Harry said, but he doubted that was the case.

Suddenly, a whooshing sound reverberated across the land as the vortex in the sky suddenly became pale white and started emitting rainbow colours.

‘Yeah, definitely not a thunderbird.’ Harry thought.

He took his wand into his hand, ready to face whatever was brewing in the sky.

To Harry’s surprise, the whooshing sound stopped abruptly, and a phoenix song filled the air.

“What the hell?” Harry's eyes widened as he saw a familiar phoenix exit the vortex in space.

The soldiers around him unsheathed their weapons while the wizards produced their wands and staff, but Harry stopped them from acting against the phoenix as it flew towards him. Instead, Harry offered his arm for the bird to land.

“Fawkes.” Harry breathed in surprise once the phoenix landed on his offered arm.

The flaming bird let out a trill that sounded like a happy greeting to Harry’s ears.

“I don’t understand. How did you come here?” Harry breathed out in amazement.

Fawkes shook his head before he climbed onto his shoulder and rubbed his head against his cheek.

“Harry?” Rowena called him cautiously.

“It’s alright. Fawkes is a friend from home.” Harry said, smiling at his wife.

The air around him suddenly simmered, making Harry’s eyes widen. Bright gold flames started to cover him like a cocoon, making Harry look in panic at Fawkes.

“No! Stop Fawkes!” Harry shouted, but his attempts to dissuade Fawkes from teleporting fell on deaf ears.

The golden aura completely encompassed him, and in the next moment, he felt like he was being squeezed through a small tube at breakneck speed. His body felt like it was being melted off, and his ears could only make out a high-pitched scream. Harry had to shut his eyes as he could see an explosion of colours that threatened to make him blind. He didn’t know how long he was subjected to the assault on his senses, but when it finally ended, he was on his stomach on a smooth marble floor.

“Harry!”

“Harry, my boy!”

“You’re safe, lad. Up now.”

Different voices bared down on him, but he could not discern who was talking or where he was. His eyes were out of focus, and he could only see dark spots in his vision. His legs gave out, and Harry fell, allowing darkness to claim him.

AN:

For artworks, Discord channel: https://discord.com/invite/XKnmQxeGSu

Chapter 96: Summer holidays

“You know you could’ve warned Hermione.” said Tonks.

Sirius looked at her incredulously.

“Are you kidding? I told her not to go in there. She didn’t listen.” Sirius shook his head helplessly.

“You could’ve explained it a bit better.” said Tonks, cringing slightly as more shouting and the sound of glass and furniture breaking could be heard throughout Grimmauld Place.

Sirius looked troubled for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and lying back down as he held a wet cloth against his broken nose.

“Where is Kreacher? I told him to bring me the…” Sirius was cut off by an abrupt popping sound near the couch he was lying down.

“Did the blood traitor master call Kreacher?”

Sirius was so startled by Kreacher’s sudden appearance that he nearly fell off the couch.

“Kreacher brought the potion for blood traitor master.” Kreacher drawled, holding out the small vial of green potion in his hand.

Sirius plucked the vial with a growl while Kreacher popped away after shooting him a nasty grin.

“One of these days, I’ll wring his neck.” Sirius grumbled as he poured the green sludge over his nose.

The Essence of Dittany worked its magic within a few seconds after he poured it over the bridge of his nose. The bleeding stopped altogether, and when Sirius looked himself in the mirror, he found the skin had knitted itself back together.

“Harry, no! Stop it! I meant…”

Sirius looked up as he heard Hermione’s voice getting consistently high-pitched and closer as seconds trickled by. He found the curly-haired teen floating down the stairs and unceremoniously dumped on the wooden floor on her back with a distinct thud.

“Harry, he…”

“I know.” Sirius abruptly cut in before Hermione could dig a bigger hole. “I warned you to give him space.”

“But…but… he’s so different now.” Hermione said, her lips quivering as she looked up the stairs with a frightened look.

“Well, that’s because Harry is different, Hermione. If we experienced three weeks without him, Harry spent three years wherever he went. Whatever happened there affected him deeply.” Tonks explained as she helped Hermione to her feet.

“How… how do you know that?” Hermione asked with a gasp of surprise.

“That’s because Harry shouted that before punching Sirius in the nose.” Tonks snickered.

“I have so many questions.” said Hermione, looking expectantly at Tonks.

“Yeah, you’re not the only one. Dumbledore said Harry might’ve grown accustomed to life at the place he went, and his abrupt departure from the place might be causing him some misery.” Sirius explained.

“Really! How does that even work?” Hermione asked with an inquisitive look that rubbed Sirius the wrong way.

“You’d have to ask Dumbledore.” said Sirius with a shrug of his shoulder as he made himself comfortable on a plush chair.

“Did Harry say anything else?” Hermione asked, turning her sights on Tonks once she realised Sirius was not expanding on it further.

“Nothing. He has been moody and silent ever since he came back,” said Tonks, hugging a cushion close to her chest.

“And he punched me in the face.” Sirius added.

“We can’t let him spend the whole summer cooped up in his room.” said Hermione, staring at Sirius and Tonks earnestly.

“You’re right, of course. But give him some time to come to terms with his situation, Hermione.” said Sirius, patting the girl on her shoulder. “He’ll speak to us when he’s ready.”

Despite Sirius’ hope for Harry’s return to normalcy, it didn’t happen in July. The month ended unceremoniously, giving way to August, and still, Harry didn’t change his attitude. Even Dumbledore tried his hand, and Sirius had never seen Dumbledore getting pushed out so violently with magic. If the Headmaster hadn’t countered with his own magic, the man might’ve broken his back against one of the walls of the Black Manor.

“This is not healthy, Sirius. Something must be done.” Andromeda said as she walked back and forth inside the drawing room of Grimmauld Place.

“Don’t you think I know that?” Sirius asked in frustration while rubbing his temples. “He threw Hermione out of his room and had her levitated down the floor. He nearly blasted Dumbledore through the wall, and I got punched in the face.”

“I got electrocuted for my efforts to get inside his room.” Tonks raised her hand not to be left out.

“He only lets in Hedwig, Kreacher and Dobby, but that’s mostly for food, cigarettes and firewhisky.” Sirius said grimly. “To think that I thought I was moody and self-destructive after escaping Azkaban. I was nowhere near this level of depression.”

“I think it’s time that we asked Damien to send his daughter.” said Andromeda after a brief moment of silent contemplation.

“Are you insane?” Sirius asked with an incredulous look. “In his current state, I don’t know what he’ll do to the girl.”

“He won’t harm her. They were involved, were they not?” Andromeda asked with a frown.

“They were, but not for the last three years from Harry’s perspective. Do you really want to make this more complicated?”

“I see no harm in it to try.” Andromeda shrugged.

“No.” Sirius decided. “It’s too dangerous. We don’t know what happened to Harry when he was away, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to throw Daphne against Harry and hope for the best.”

“We’ll not be throwing her against Harry. We’ll tell her and Damien the truth. Let them decide the rest.” Andromeda suggested.

Sirius just shook his head. He was sure Harry could regain his bearings by himself, and he certainly didn’t want Daphne to get hurt by seeing the state Harry was in. He also feared the girl would push Harry too much, and there was no way to predict how Harry would react. It was the only reason he kept denying Daphne’s requests to see Harry all these days.

“Sirius, I’ll keep an eye on her when she’s with Harry.” Tonks said earnestly.

“The girl is not a helpless maiden, Sirius. She went with him to the Ministry to confront the Death Eaters. She’s brave and strong enough.” said Andromeda, staring at him pointedly, daring him to disagree with her.

In the end, Sirius caved in to Andromeda’s suggestion. Taking a handful of floo powder, he threw it into the fireplace.

“Greengrass manor.”

****

Daphne had spent the entirety of July rife with worry after she learned what happened to Harry inside the Ministry. At first, her father had tried to hide what exactly transpired, but he eventually caved in after her persistent attempts. After that, each day was filled with worry and helplessness until finally, Harry was rescued from the space-time anomaly that took her boyfriend away from their reality.

Now, she learned Harry had closed himself off from the rest of the world for some reason. She did get the gist of it from her father, who informed her about the time disparity Harry endured. According to her father, Harry looked older than when they last saw him. The Unspeakables also shared the possibility of Harry’s attachments to the people in the branch reality with her father.

So, Sirius’ floo call about seeking her help to bring Harry out of his self-imposed incarceration inside his room was not surprising. She had been trying every day to get Sirius to let her speak with Harry. It was only when they had mucked up for a whole week that they allowed her into Grimmauld Place.

“You should’ve let me see him earlier.” said Daphne, glaring at Sirius once she stepped out of the floo.

“It’s not as simple as it sounds. Harry is different than you remember.” Sirius just shook his head as he exhaled out to calm his nerves. “I suppose your father told you the gist of it.”

“Yes.” Daphne said impatiently. “Where is he?”

“Upstairs. Tonks will come along for your safety.”

“No.” Daphne put her foot down. “I don’t need anyone’s protection.”

“Daphne, you don’t understand…”

“I know how to take care of myself, and I don’t need anyone protecting me from Harry, of all people.” Daphne said firmly.

Sirius let out a tired sigh and led her upstairs.

“Just be on guard, Daphne.” said Sirius before knocking on the door to Harry’s room.

Sirius stood back, and Daphne moved towards the door.

“Harry. May I come in?” Daphne waited patiently outside for an answer.

“Whatever.” came the muffled reply after a few minutes.

She opened the door and let it close behind her. The room was submerged in darkness from top to bottom. It was as if someone stole away all the light.

“Harry.” she tentatively called as she made slow and careful steps inside the dark room.

The urge to light up her wand was there, but she held back, afraid it’d annoy Harry.

“Harry, I can’t see anything.” Daphne said as she tentatively made each step forward.

Suddenly, a small globe of light flickered into existence before her eyes.

“Wow! That’s new.” she muttered under her breath as she carefully moved forward.

Daphne could see Harry sitting up in his bed with his back to the wall. There was a strong stench of smoke in the room as she came closer to Harry’s bed. She saw the ashtray on the bedside table filled to the brim with ash and the remains of muggle cigarettes. She never understood Harry’s fascination with muggle cigarettes when wizarding smoke tubes were available.

The globe of light floated upwards until it hit the ceiling, where it stayed, lighting up the room.

“You seem to have picked up a few tricks.” Daphne commented in an attempt to break the ice and regain her bearing upon seeing the physical changes in Harry.

Her comment didn’t elicit any response from Harry. Instead, she took a closer look at her boyfriend.

Harry was far more rugged-looking than she remembered. He was also taller and even grew a beard. His hair was long, and she could see that his eyes had grown only brighter. Or maybe that was because Harry had forgone wearing his glasses. His arms looked well-defined, and his chest and abdomen were packed with muscles. Dark bangs covered his forehead, shielding the lightning bolt scar and half his right eye. There were dark bags underneath his eyes, signalling a lack of sleep.

In short, Harry looked older and tired in her eyes.

“You look different.” Daphne commented as she untied the green robe from around her shoulders and hung it near the nightstand.

The yellow summer dress she had underneath allowed her more freedom of movement. She carefully sat on Harry’s bed and kicked out her shoes from her legs.

“I wish I could say the same about you.” Harry murmured.

“What makes you think so? I grew half an inch this summer. But Astoria had me beat with a solid one-and-a-half inches.” Daphne said with a shake of her head as she crawled into the bed and joined Harry.

Daphne heard a distinct snort from Harry, which gave her more confidence. Harry positively responded to her presence, which was a win in her books.

She rested her back against the wall as she sat beside Harry. Daphne held back a smile when she saw a ghost of a grin tugging at the corner of Harry’s mouth.

“So… care to share why you’ve imprisoned yourself in the darkness?” Daphne asked, arching her eyebrow while looking at Harry.

Instead of answering, Harry picked up another cigarette and began smoking it in her presence. It was a signal that he was not interested in having this conversation with her, but she did not come here to be so easily dismissed.

Daphne reached out, plucked the cigarette from Harry’s mouth, and took a drag. A second later, she regretted doing that as she began coughing.

“I don’t how you can stand this thing…” Daphne croaked out between coughs.

“No one told you to use it.” said Harry, taking the cigarette out of her hands.

But she was not so easily cowed. She snatched the cigarette back after he took another puff, and this time, she managed to smoke without an issue.

“I really don’t see the appeal in this.” Daphne commented, blowing smoke out of her mouth.

“Then give it back.” Harry tried to retrieve his cigarette, but Daphne held it out of his reach.

“I’ll, but first answer me– what do you hope to gain by locking yourself in a dark room?” Daphne eyed him critically.

“You don’t know what happened – what I lost…” Harry whispered.

“You’re right, I don’t. No one knows until you tell them, but I won’t force you to speak of it. However, is hiding away inside this room going to change anything that happened?” Daphne asked rhetorically.

Daphne observed her boyfriend closely as he stared into the distance in thought.

“Have you given any thought to what the Dark Lord is planning at the moment? While you shut yourself from the outside world, your enemies gather strength, Harry. Your sudden disappearance from the Ministry also disturbed your plan with Bellatrix.”

When she said that, Harry looked at her with a sudden realisation.

“Lestrange. You still hold her?” Harry asked curiously.

“Yes. Under the Drought of Living Death as we planned. It took all my father’s political goodwill with Minister Bones to declare Bellatrix was captured by the Ministry. Minister Bones had been hounding my father for days to know why we were keeping Bellatrix as a prisoner. We can’t answer that because only you know the true reason.”

“She’s healthy, right?” Harry asked.

“For now. If we’re to make any moves, we must do it soon. Shutting yourself in this room won’t solve any problems. You need to come out no matter what transpired while you were gone. Time waits for no man.” said Daphne.

She watched Harry take a deep breath before letting go.

“You’re right, of course.” Harry rubbed his temples tiredly. “I need to sleep.”

“I’ll make sure you get your sleep.” said Daphne.

“How do you expect to accomplish that task?” Harry arched an eyebrow.

Daphne pushed him off the wall, making his head hit the pillow. A moment later, she was by his side, drawing the covers up over their bodies. She pulled his head close against her neck and rubbed soothing circles on his back with her left hand. Her free hand paid attention to his head as her fingers glided through his long black hair.

“Sleep, Harry.” Daphne softly whispered as she held him close.

****

No matter how much she insisted, Harry didn’t sleep for more than five hours. But those five hours were nerve-wracking for her as he was thrashing and mumbling in sleep, suffering from a nightmare. The urge to use a potion was there in the back of her mind, but she held back as she felt it was better this way. She was confident Harry could pull himself out of the current situation. They skipped lunch as they were in bed, but when evening came, she suggested they go out for dinner.

At first, Harry was reluctant to follow through with her suggestion, but he eventually caved in before her perseverance.

She stepped out of the protective wards surrounding Grimmauld Place and stood beside Harry.

“Where are we going?” Harry asked once they were outside.

“Somewhere far away from here.” Daphne said with a scowl as she noticed the ridiculously transparent attempt of Sirius and Tonks trying to follow them.

“You seem to be in a foul mood.” Harry commented airily.

“That’s because I’m being teased by your mean relatives. They’ve been making insinuations that I… we were doing something inappropriate in your room. Deal with them.” Daphne said impetuously while glaring at the bush where Sirius and Tonks hid.

“Sirius, leave us be.” Harry said with a sigh.

“Can’t do that, Harry. You don’t know how dangerous our islands have become as of last month.”

“Don’t worry too much, Sirius. The islands will know how dangerous I’ve become soon enough.” said Harry, pointing his wand straight to the sky.

With a bang, the Knight Bus strolled into the driveway at breakneck speed. It halted abruptly once it neared Harry and Daphne.

“Oh, hey there, Harry. Ernie look! We’ve got Harry Potter with us.” Stan Shunpike shouted in excitement. “You remember me, Harry? I’m…”

“Stan Shunpike. I haven’t forgotten.” said Harry.

“You hear that, Ernie. Harry Potter remembers me.” Stan hollered excitedly.

Daphne could see they had become the centre of attention for the passengers of the Knight Bus.

“Perhaps this was not a smart idea.” Daphne muttered as she took a few steps back, intimidated by all the stares.

“Come.” Harry took her hand and walked inside the bus, forcing Daphne to follow.

“Where to Harry, ol’ chap?” Stan asked in a wholly familiar manner as if they had been friends for a long time.

Daphne looked suspiciously between Harry and the conductor.

“Diagon Alley.”

“It’ll be eleven sickles each. And who’s your lady friend?” Stan asked, grinning like an idiot while looking at Daphne.

“Stan, meet Daphne. Daphne, meet Stan.” Harry proceeded with the shortest of introductions she had ever heard.

Harry gave a couple of extra sickles than necessary before asking for a more private setting on the bus. Stan was all the more happy to oblige.

Once they settled into a cabin that warded them off from the rest of the shady passengers of the Knight Bus, Daphne let out a relieved sigh. She sat across from Harry inside the cabin. Harry placed sticking charms on their body just when the Knight Bus sped away with a bang.

“We should’ve gone to muggle London. That’d have been far safer.” Daphne muttered, shivering in fright as chaos ensued inside the Knight Bus.

Seats were moving freely, and she often saw a few wizards getting smashed into the glass cabin that separated them from the rest.

“No, it won’t. Muggles are facing constant attacks from Dementors, Werewolves, Vampires and Death Eaters.”

“How do you know that?” Daphne asked curiously.

“I might’ve sealed myself inside a room, but I read the wizarding and muggle papers. I’ve also been listening in on the conversations in the house.”

“I suppose you know everything that happened then.”

“Not everything.” Harry leaned forward in his seat so that he was looking straight into Daphne’s eyes. “What does your father say?”

“He says thank you for destroying the Giants. The Ministry is stretched thin responding to the Dark Lord’s attacks. The priority of the Ministry is now to contain the war rather than fight the Dark Lord head-on. Most Ministry employees work around the clock to keep the Statute of Secrecy.” Daphne explained.

“So, Minister Bones has been entirely useless.” Harry frowned before dropping his shoulders in disappointment. “I don’t know why I expected more from her.”

“She managed to force the Death Eaters out of the Wizengamot using the wartime powers of her post. All previously convicted Death Eaters have been declared enemies of the Ministry. The Aurors are also empowered to use deadly force while confronting Death Eaters and other dark creatures aligned with the Dark Lord.” Daphne suddenly came to the defence of Madam Bones.

She didn’t particularly favour Madam Bones, but the woman was far better than Fudge. She also inherited a dismantled and incompetent ministry, and only one month had passed since her ascension to the post. Seeing the curious look Harry was directing at her, she rushed to explain.

“It has only been a month since she came to power. Also, my father talked about Minister Bones’ attempts to involve the ICW in the war. It won’t be long before other ministries offer assistance to combat the Dark Lord’s forces.”

“Hmm… Asking for military assistance from ICW member states is all fun and good, but how’ll we know those that come to our shores are not sympathisers to the Dark Lord’s ideology?” Harry asked.

“I suspect that’s why the Ministry has so far not given any clearance to outside entities to operate inside our borders.” Daphne mused aloud.

Harry let out a noncommittal grunt but otherwise remained silent.

Daphne knew he had some misgivings about Madam Bones because of her involvement in Sirius’ case. Even she shared those same concerns, but if not Madam Bones, then who? Her replacement would not be any better. She suspected Harry also realised it on some level. Just thinking about the stuff she heard from her father about the internal state of the Ministry gave her nightmares. Nepotism, recommendations, and bribes were the real currency from top to bottom in the Ministry.

Honestly, she was surprised Minister Bones managed to keep Harry’s disappearance a secret till now.

“Enough about politics. Now, tell me, why are you not wearing your glasses?” she asked.

Anything to keep Harry’s mind off depressing subjects was her goal. In time, she was sure she could bring back the old Harry, who was confident and strong. The one that she truly loved.

AN:

For artworks, Discord channel: https://discord.com/invite/XKnmQxeGSu

Chapter 97: The rise of House Potter

"You could postpone this, you know." Sirius said with a troubled look.

 

 

"No. It has waited long enough. It's time for House Potter to emerge from obscurity." Harry said, nodding at the completed Potter Manor while sitting on a bench in the garden.

 

 

Winky popped next to their side and offered them orange juice.

 

 

"Thanks, Winky." Harry smiled at the elf, who happily nodded at him before skipping towards Dobby, who was working on watering the plants in the garden.

 

 

"Don't you think you're setting up the manor for Voldemort to attack? It'd be better to ward the property using the Fidelius charm." Sirius suggested.

 

 

Harry shrugged his shoulders.

 

 

"On the contrary, I'll not use any wards on the property."

 

 

Sirius stared at Harry with wide eyes when he heard that.

 

 

"Are you mad? It'll be like a beacon goading Voldemort to attack this place." Sirius said with alarm.

 

 

"Perfect. I want that party to happen within two weeks." said Harry, taking a sip of the orange juice, completely disregarding the incredulous stare from Sirius.

 

 

"Two weeks! Harry, what are you doing?"

 

 

Sirius was on the edge now with worry. He feared what was going through the mind of his godson. Just blatantly disregarding all dangers was not how Harry operated.

 

 

"What? I've restored Potter Manor, and I want to hold a party to celebrate its revival," said Harry like it was a trivial matter.

 

 

"Okay." Sirius took a deep breath. "Then we can hold a ball inviting the people we trust. We can limit the invites so the word never gets to Voldemort's ears."

 

 

"No. I'll have the date published in the Daily Prophet and send public invites. The party will be open for all."

 

 

Sirius just gaped at his godson with a flabbergasted look. But before he could say anything else, Harry's friends came out of the manor.

 

 

"So, how does it look?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

 

"Is it okay for me to admit I'm jealous of your game room?" Cedric asked.

 

 

"That's the prevailing opinion among many people. You're, of course, free to visit whenever you wish, Cedric. Any man who can take down Rabastan Lestrange with a blasting curse has an open invite to the manor lasting a lifetime." Said Harry.

 

 

"I'll hold you to that promise, Harry." Cedric grinned.

 

 

"What about you, Neville?" Harry asked.

 

 

"Well…there are too many fountains." Neville said hesitantly, looking around the garden.

 

 

"Hmm… Let's say that those fountains might come in handy soon." Harry said with a wink before turning his sights on Tracey.

 

 

"You could've gone with fewer lion sculptures." Tracey commented.

 

 

"Well… let's just say…"

 

 

"Let me guess. They have a specific purpose as well." Tracey drawled.

 

 

"Yes." Harry unashamedly agreed.

 

 

Tracey sighed and looked at Daphne.

 

 

"Honestly, what do you see in him?"

 

 

"In a vulnerable moment, I took pity on him." said Daphne, rolling her eyes.

 

 

"Maybe it's because of the Wrackspurts. They have the power to mess with your head." Luna airily said, making everyone goggle at her.

 

 

"These sakura trees are a nice touch." Tracey admitted, staring at the pink flowery trees in the garden.

 

 

"That was thanks to Sirius' fiancé. I'll have to think up a good gift for her." Harry mused aloud.

 

 

"All right, kids. I want your attention." Sirius said while clapping his hands. "Someone please tell my godson that it's a bad idea to hold a party in the manor with an open invitation."

 

 

"You're doing what?" Neville gaped.

 

 

"When everyone is trying to keep their heads down, why are you painting a target on your back and inviting You-Know-Who to attack this place?" asked Cedric.

 

 

"Do you fear the Dark Lord?" Harry asked, casually leaning back against the bench.

 

 

"Of course I do. Are you saying you don't?" Cedric frowned.

 

 

"Anyone who does not fear Lord Voldemort is an idiot with a death wish. The man is a sorcerer with decades of experience. But fear doesn't mean I should run away and put my life on the ice."

 

 

"Harry, you'll be painting a huge target on yourself if you publicly declare Potter Manor's rebuilt status." Tracey slowly said as if she was speaking to a child. "He might attack you and your guests. He might even burn down your home."

 

 

"I'm counting on his arrival." Harry smirked.

 

 

Tracey rolled her eyes and stared at her friend with folded hands.

 

 

"Honestly! What do you see in him, Daphne? Not only is he an unthinking Gryffindor, he's also suicidal."

 

 

"Hey!" Neville protested.

 

 

"Oh, come on, Longbottom. Tell me I'm wrong." Tracey challenged.

 

 

Neville looked at Tracey and then at Harry apologetically before shrugging his shoulders.

 

 

"She has a point."

 

 

"At least tell us you have a plan." Cedric said earnestly.

 

 

"Oh, I've got a plan." Harry said confidently. "But Voldemort is not one to be underestimated. He'll be cautious after what transpired in the Ministry."

 

 

"So, what's the plan?" Tracey asked with a sceptical look. "Does it involve getting blasted into the past and returning as an old man?"

 

 

"You'll see." Harry said enigmatically, letting her jab at his older appearance pass.

 

 

"Maybe we could hold the celebration elsewhere instead of risking your newly built home." Sirius suggested again.

 

 

"We'll be holding the party here as well as your wedding. I think enough delays have pushed back your wedding with Brigitte." said Harry.

 

 

Sure enough, Sirius' postponed wedding plans became the centre of discussion instead of the impending party or Voldemort.

 

 

Before long, his friends departed one by one, leaving only Daphne and Sirius in his home. Harry took a stroll through the manor with Sirius and Daphne accompanying him. The floor was layered with red granite that gleamed under the sunlight, while the walls were made of pitch-black stone. The windows were stained with a multitude of colours from chamber to chamber with intricate artworks. Sumptuous adornments, plush cushions, detailed curtains and rugs of velvet covered the manor, and all of that was Daphne's selection with some help from Tracey.

 

 

"You'll need to fill in the wine cellar. It won't be much of a wince cellar if there is now wine, firewhisky, or butterbeer." Daphne pointed out.

 

 

"Hmm. Can you make a list of wine that…"

 

 

"I'll be happy to." Daphne said eagerly.

 

 

Adopting a bashful look when he looked at her amusedly, she defended, "I know a thing or two about wine."

 

 

"All right then. I'll leave the wine cellar in your capable hands." said Harry, happy to dump that work on Daphne.

 

 

"You'll also need to add more chandeliers and furniture. Having some wall scones should also lighten up the place." Daphne suggested.

 

 

"All the furniture will be delivered by tomorrow, but I don't know about the chandeliers. Seems a bit excessive to me." Sirius commented, taking an apple from the fruit bowl and taking a bite.

 

 

"I agree. I'm not a fan of candlelight. I've another thing in mind." said Harry.

 

 

"What other thing?" Sirius asked curiously.

 

 

"He is just itching to show off his lighting stones." Daphne said with a snort.

 

 

Sirius perked up.

 

 

"Lighting stones?"

 

 

"It's just something I've been working on for smokeless light." Harry explained.

 

 

"But…scented candles are the best. People buy them because of their fresh scent." Sirius said, looking lost.

 

 

"Don't bother. He just wants to show off his rune skills." Daphne said with a sigh.

 

 

"Hey! Do you want to help me send out the invites, or are you too busy disparaging me?" Harry asked.

 

 

****

 

 

It took an entire week for Harry to invite some prominent personalities in the wizarding world. In some cases, Harry sent an invite using owl post, but in rare cases, he personally went to invite them and their families. The Wizengamot members in the ministry got a personal invite from Harry, and it was also a convenient time for learning Apparition. Though he had the capability of flight, apparition was a faster mode of transportation.

 

 

He also visited some of his friends and their families in person to deliver the invitation cards. The first family he saw was the Weasley family. They were the first family to host him in the wizarding world, so Harry felt it was better to start from the roots. It was followed by the Lovegoods because their house was closer to the Weasleys. After that, he visited Cedric and his parents to deliver the invite in person. Tracking down the rest of the Knights proved to be a hassle as most lived in the muggle world.

 

 

So, he stopped delivering invites in person after tracking down Katie Bell's home. The rest of the invites went by owl or using the floo network except for one last invite. It was the one he reserved for the Minister of Magic. But before he went to the Ministry to deliver the invite in person, he had to do one more thing.

 

 

Taking a handful of floo powder, he threw it into the fireplace of Potter Manor.

 

 

"Rita Skeeter's office, Daily Prophet."

 

 

The yellow flames turned green for a brief moment, and Harry allowed the flames to wash over his face.

 

 

"Rita."

 

 

"Harry Potter?"

 

 

Harry took notice of the woman on his payroll.

 

 

"I'll be at the Ministry meeting with Minister Bones. You might get an interesting bit of news if you're not tardy." said Harry before abruptly cutting the call.

 

 

With a flick of his wand, he vanished the flames and sealed off the floo with wards. With that tip-off delivered, he set forth to Grimmauld Place to find Sirius. While he had every right to be confident in his abilities in case of any Death Eater, he was not foolish enough to discard the help of another skilled wizard.

 

 

Therefore, he picked up Sirius along for the ride, and together, they arrived at the Ministry.

 

 

"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Sirius asked once they were in the lift. "I still think this is a terrible idea."

 

 

"Was it a bad idea to sneak into the Department of Mysteries and remove the prophesy orb? If we hadn't acted and hoped Dumbledore's half-ass plan to post some untrained wizards as guards would work, then Voldemort would be in possession of the orb. We could've never exposed him to the public." Harry pointed out.

 

 

"This is different, Harry. You're directly daring Voldemort to attack your home. What is to say that he won't use his entire army to overwhelm you with sheer numbers?"

 

 

"I've planned for that scenario." Harry said.

 

 

"I think you're underestimating Voldemort and his army. His Death Eaters might be fresh recruits, but he has the allegiance of werewolves, vampires, dementors and other dark creatures."

 

 

"I've accounted for them as well. Trust me, you'll be pleasantly surprised by my preparedness should Voldemort take the bait." Harry promised.

 

 

"I hope you're right. Because I don't think James and Lily will let me off the hook in the beyond if something happened to you."

 

 

"You sound like a mother hen, Sirius. Are you sure you're a Marauder?" Harry asked with a chuckle.

 

 

"I'm pretty sure even your father would say this is madness." Sirius muttered.

 

 

****

 

 

"You want to do what!"

 

 

Amelia Bones looked at Harry like he was the dumbest person on planet Earth.

 

 

"As I told you, Minister. I've restored Potter Manor, and I'm holding a party…"

 

 

"A party? Are you insane?" Minister Bones shouted.

 

 

"The thought had crossed my mind." Sirius said while eyeing Harry from the corner of his eyes.

 

 

Harry merely shook his head and made himself comfortable on his seat while watching Minister Bones walking back and forth behind her desk, muttering something under her breath.

 

 

"Do one thing, Mr Potter. You send an invite to the Dark Lord while you're at it." Madam Bones grumbled as she angrily sat back in her chair.

 

 

"I don't have his address." Harry drawled.

 

 

"You! Do you care to know that we are at war?" Minister Bones thundered.

 

 

"That's your problem, Madam Bones. You thought the war started last year. As far as I'm concerned, it never ended, and I've been fighting it ever since I stepped into the wizarding world." Harry said, forcing the Minister of Magic to fall silent.

 

 

"The party will go on as planned. You're cordially invited to attend the party. Good day, Minister." said Harry, climbing to his feet and extending the invitation card to the Minister.

 

 

"Tell me, Mr Potter. If the Dark Lord attacks your home during this party of yours, what do you think will happen?" Minister Bones asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

 

Harry grinned at the leader of wizarding Britain.

 

 

"The last time we duelled, Voldemort lost his arm. Maybe this time, he'll lose his head." Harry said with a shrug.

 

 

Minister Bones let out a long-suffering sigh when she heard that.

 

 

"I'll have an auror detail posted outside your home if you're intent on going through with this party."

 

 

Harry let out an internal scoff. The aurors were most likely to cut loose and run or join in with the Death Eaters if there was an attack.

 

 

"It's unnecessary, but do what you must." said Harry. "However, I've got a request."

 

 

"Let's hear it then."

 

 

"I'll need a blanket pardon for my actions from here on out."

 

 

Minister Bones looked gobsmacked by the demand.

 

 

"Pardon? What for?" she asked incredulously.

 

 

"You don't expect me to fight a war and destroy the most powerful Dark Lord born in our isles with the disarming charm or the stunning charm, do you?" Harry asked with a pointed look.

 

 

"I don't have the power to…" Minister Bones started protesting.

 

 

"Of course you do. Wartime powers allow the Minister of Magic to pardon someone without a trial." Harry cut in.

 

 

"That provision only applies to hit wizards and aurors under my command. It does not apply to a civilian." Minister Bones argued.

 

 

"Then it's quite simple, isn't it? You can accept me as a hit wizard." Harry smiled triumphantly.

 

 

"Tell me he's joking." Minister Bones looked at Sirius.

 

 

"I wish that was the case." Sirius said with an uneasy look.

 

 

Minister Bones took a deep breath before staring at Harry with a troubled look.

 

 

"You look like I'm asking you to sell me your firstborn Minister. You'll do as I ask, yes? It'll only benefit you in the end. Think of all the publicity you stand to gain when the news breaks that you recruited the "Chosen One" into the Ministry's army against Voldemort and his Death Eaters."

 

 

"You mean the one where I get grilled by the Wizengamot for recruiting an underage wizard into a branch of the DMLE, flouting laws and traditions that were followed for centuries." Minister Bones said, her eyes twitching with irritation.

 

 

"Ah, you forgot, Minister. I'm no longer underage." Harry waved his hand dismissively.

 

 

"That's true." Minister Bones said, looking intrigued at the possibilities that now lay open before her.

 

 

"All right. I think it's a reasonable request to issue pardons for using lethal force against the enemies that you face, Mr Potter, considering we have a war to win. But I can't issue a blanket pardon no matter the circumstances."

 

 

"Hmm… I'm sure we can come to an understanding of sorts on the scope of legality should I use deadly force against the Death Eaters." said Harry.

 

 

"Yes, an understanding would be perfect." Minister Bones nodded with a sigh. "Now, I need to know something. What've you done with Bellatrix Lestrange?"

 

 

"You'll soon have her in your possession, Minister."

 

 

"But…"

 

 

"When I'm finished with her, I'll deliver her to you. For now, know that I need Bellatrix to make Voldemort vulnerable." Harry cut in smoothly.

 

 

After the meeting with Minister Bones, Harry and Sirius made a swift exit towards the Ministry atrium. Many eyes followed their every move, and Harry kept a tight leash on his magical power to keep himself from reacting. In the branch reality, he was used to people bowing and scrapping before him. It came to a point where some of the muggles and even wizards started to see him more as a god or a demigod rather than a powerful sorcerer. The constant battles he was involved in had also taken a toll on him as he was always in a warrior mode most of the time. Anything that made him fall back into those instincts made Harry very uncomfortable.

 

 

While Occlumency had helped him recover somewhat, years of behavioural patterns could not be quickly suppressed over a few weeks.

 

 

Thankfully, they passed by the people in the Ministry without incident until they found Rita Skeeter and a photographer by the Fountain of Magical Brethren in the atrium.

 

 

The resident bug journalist was in her element as she skipped past many in the crowd and positioned herself before Harry and Sirius. Her quill and a notepad were out in a flash, and the photographer positioned himself behind her.

 

 

"Mr potter. Mr Potter. Rita Skeeter for the Daily Prophet. Do you think you have a few moments for some questions?"

 

 

"I suppose I could spare a few moments of my time."

 

 

"The people are calling you the Chosen One. Do you agree with that title?" Rita asked with a sparkle in her eyes.

 

 

"No." Harry answered shortly.

 

 

"Any particular reason?" Rita asked with a strained smile.

 

 

Harry knew the woman was only trying to get something juicy out of his mouth and making the most of the chance.

 

 

"I've got a wonderful name. I urge people to use that instead of silly titles made up by some interesting personalities."

 

 

Here, Harry stared pointedly at Skeeter to get the point across.

 

 

"There are rumours that there was a prophecy in the Department of Mysteries, which was why you were fighting the Dark Lord in the atrium. Is this true?"

 

 

"Yes, there is a prophesy, and yes, that's why we were duelling. I won't be sharing the details of that prophesy, and no, it's not in the Department of Mysteries. I've taken custody of the prophecy so it won't fall into the wrong hands." He answered truthfully.

 

 

Harry saw no reason to deny any knowledge of the prophecy. Frankly, he saw no reason to publicise the prophecy either. Whether Voldemort knew its contents or not didn't make much difference. Either way, Voldemort wouldn't stop trying to kill him.

 

 

For now, the only use of the prophecy was the psychological warfare aspect. The fear of the prophecy's contents kept Voldemort in flux, making him act irrationally.

 

 

"So you admit you're destined to fight the Dark Lord?" Rita asked excitedly.

 

 

"I wouldn't call it destiny. Voldemort chose to attack my family more than a decade ago. He set everything in motion. You could say Voldemort chose his destiny that night when he attacked my family at Godric's Hollow."

 

 

Rita Skeeter just smiled wickedly as she furiously scribbled on her notepad.

 

 

"Why did you come to the Ministry, Harry?" she suddenly asked, switching to a topic he wanted all along.

 

 

"To meet Minister Bones and deliver an invite in person."

 

 

"An invite?"

 

 

Harry furnished a card he had made for the public.

 

 

"Potter Manor was destroyed after my grandparents passed away during the last war. I've restored it to its former glory to the best of my abilities. Though I had lost all my family's precious history and my ancestors' portraits, I believe it'll be a new beginning for House Potter. Therefore, I cordially invite you all for a party to celebrate the restoration of Potter Manor on the 20th of this month."

 

 

"More details are available on the card, and I hope everyone can partake."

 

 

Skeeter had more questions, but Harry was on a schedule here. He had one final invite to deliver, and that required him to visit Hogwarts. It was finally time he checked in on Albus Dumbledore.

 

AN:

For artworks, Discord channel: https://discord.com/invite/XKnmQxeGSu

Chapter 98: Meeting the Slug

“Why? Why did you do this?” Dumbledore asked earnestly, with a look of concern shining in his blue eyes.

Harry looked at the front page of the Daily Prophet, where his invitation card was printed in bold letters under the headline that read;

Harry Potter: The Prophesied One!

He had to admit Skeeter had gone out of her way to captivate her audience using a flare for dramatics in retelling their conversation. She cooked up an entirely new story for the prophecy all by herself to augment the drama involved. According to Skeeter, Merlin crossed into the mortal plane from the afterlife to deliver the prophecy of the Chosen One to Dumbledore and the Potters. Then she spun another fantastical tale of how Peter Pettigrew heard a portion of the prophecy and reported it to the Dark Lord. She then connected this half-knowledge of the prophecy as to why Voldemort attacked the Potter family.

Rather than taking offence to the false tale spun by Rita Skeeter, Harry found himself impressed by her narrative skills.

‘Skeeter should try her hand at writing fictional stories.’ Harry mused.

“Harry. Are you listening?” Dumbledore asked, looking rather frustrated.

“I came here to invite you, Headmaster, to the party I’m hosting at home. If you have the time to spare, please pay a visit.”

“Are you alright, Harry?” Dumbledore asked with concern.

“I’m quite fine. Thank you.”

“I don’t think so, Harry. How do you explain this?” Dumbledore shook the paper he was holding for emphasis.

“What is there to explain?” Harry raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t you see the danger you’d invite with this act, Harry? Lord Voldemort will take this as a challenge. He will attack you and burn your home to the ground.” Dumbledore said earnestly.

Harry snorted as he stood up from his seat and walked closer to the vacant stand where Fawkes was supposed to stay.

“I’ve been constantly in danger from the moment I stepped into these halls. I didn’t see you warning me not to return to Hogwarts. So. Don’t you think it’s a little late to ‘warn’ me about any dangers?” Harry raised an eyebrow at Dumbledore.

For once, the Hogwarts Headmaster had no answer and observed silence.

“Look, Harry. I’m only concerned for your safety.”

Harry outright laughed at Dumbledore’s face when he heard the word ‘safety’ from the man’s mouth.

“No, you’re not Dumbledore. Your concern is not for Harry Potter, an orphan boy. No, your concerns and actions have always been in the interest of your beliefs on what is best for the boy-who-lived and your petty war against Voldemort.”

“You’re wrong, Harry.” Dumbledore disagreed. “I do care about you.”

“I don’t think so. Else, why would you…” Harry stopped himself at the last moment before spilling the beans about the Horcrux stuck in his head.

“Harry?” Dumbledore sat forward in his seat, looking expectantly at him.

But Harry was distracted by something else as he got a glimpse of Dumbledore's blackened hand.

‘He is afflicted with the withering curse. That means…’ Harry thought as the realisation set in.

“Harry?”

Dumbledore’s voice brought him out of his musings. After clearing his throat, Harry addressed Dumbledore.

“There is no point in arguing about this Headmaster. The party will go ahead as planned.” Harry said firmly.

“You’re putting yourself and everyone that arrives for the party in grave danger.”

“Look around you, Headmaster Dumbledore. The wizarding world is in danger as long as that madman lives.” Harry said with a scoff. “No one is safe when vampires, werewolves and dementors are wreaking havoc in public while Death Eaters are spreading terror in the muggle world.”

“Then cancel that party. Voldemort will only find incentive in attacking such a large gathering to sow more terror in the minds of the people.”  Dumbledore pleaded, but Harry just shook his head.

“You had the ability, political clout and resources to destroy Voldemort’s support base all these years. Yet you chose to do nothing and allowed them to walk freely simply because of misguided morals and cowardice on your part.”

“Harry, please. You don’t understand what I faced…”

“I understand more than enough, Dumbledore. I had a long and fruitful chat with Bathilda Bagshot. She had many stories to tell me about you, Grindelwald and Arianne.”

The way Dumbledore just froze up filled Harry with more confidence.

“You had your chance to destroy Voldemort and his cronies. You failed. Now, I’ll try my hand, but it’ll be my way. You can sit back and watch as I wage war against Voldemort not out of some misplaced notion of saving the foolish masses of the wizarding world but out of my own self-interest.”

“It’s not as easy as it looks, Harry. Trust me. I understand…I wish I could’ve done more so that no one else had to bear this burden.” Dumbledore said with sorrow.

“I have a right to live freely, just like everyone else. I have the right to have a family like everyone else. I’ll fight for those rights, and I’m prepared to kill Voldemort and his entire army if that’s what it takes.”

“Yes, you have that right, my boy. And I wish you live a far better life than this old man. But understanding your enemy is important if you’re to destroy him. Lord Voldemort is a powerful sorcerer who has gone farther than any dark wizard has gone before.” Dumbledore said.

Harry eyed Dumbledore warily as the man came forward from behind the desk and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I admit you’ve come far ahead than I had ever hoped or envisioned in terms of sheer power and skill in magic. But your…our foe is far better, Harry. If you hope to defeat him, you must strike at the very foundation upon which Voldemort has built his power.”

Harry raised a curious eyebrow at Dumbledore.

“Have you not wondered, Harry, how Voldemort survived all these years without a body?”

“I have.” Harry nodded slowly.

“Then that’s what we need to find out. His immortality is one of the major pillars that gives him strength and confidence. We must make lord Voldemort a mortal before a killing blow can be struck.”

Harry stared at the headmaster, who was looking at the pensive cabinet with a hesitant look. He was tempted to come out with the knowledge of the Horcruxes. It was true they could do so better if they could talk freely without keeping secrets from each other. However, he had to constantly remind himself that Dumbledore was the one who started this game of secrets long ago.

Even now, the man was dancing around with what he knew instead of taking any proactive action. Dumbledore knew about the Horcruxes from at least Harry’s second year or even before that. All this time, Dumbledore had sat on his ass and done nothing. The only move Dumbledore had ever made against Voldemort in this war was the destruction of the ring Horcrux. Even that little bit of news was not shared with Harry. He was merely deducing that’s what happened from the withering curse that was eating away Dumbledore.

Harry's eyes inevitably fell on the Elder Wand, and the call of power permeated his mind. The Deathstick was his by right, and even now, Dumbledore was holding it just like he was planning to use Harry as a lamb for slaughter in the pursuit of Voldemort’s destruction. More than anything else, that thought emboldened Harry on the spot to go ahead with his plans.

“So, how do we stop him, sir?” Harry asked.

“We must know Voldemort’s past to understand the source of his immortality; for that, we must need someone who intimately knew Tom Riddle. The distance from Tom Riddle to lord Voldemort is not great; therefore, we must secure the aid of an old friend.”

“Who is it?” Harry asked, already knowing where this was all leading to.

“Professor Horace Slughorn is an old colleague of mine and one of Tom Riddle’s favourite professors in Hogwarts. I had tried many times in the past to enlist his aid, but this time, I believe he’ll come around with you by my side, Harry.”

“What do you want me to do, headmaster?” Harry asked.

Dumbledore shot him an enigmatic smile.

“Do you have more of those invitation cards in hand?”

****

Harry had expected Dumbledore to ask his aid in bagging Slughorn and bringing the old potion master to Hogwarts. But he didn’t expect it to happen so soon. Dumbledore wanted to move today itself, which had shot down several of his plans.

For one, he hoped to use Bellatrix to retrieve Hufflepuff’s cup from Gringotts. Then there was the check-up on preparations of the defences he had built in the castle to face Voldemort’s army in case the Dark Lord chose to attack.

Because of Dumbledore, he had to suspend the plan to retrieve the Horcrux the next day and clear off his evening schedule. But that still allowed him some time to assess the defences in Potter Manor.

“Is everything in place, Dobby?”

Dobby happily bounced on the balls of his feet, nodding enthusiastically.

“Everything is done as per your orders, Harry Potter, sir. Dobby found it difficult to arrange for other elves without master’s presence but Winky and Kreacher helped to convince them you’ll return.”

“Good. Winky told me you had difficulties recruiting the elves because of my absence. But you’ve done wonderful work, Dobby. Thank you.”

“Dobby is happy to help, sir.” the elf squealed happily.

Harry smiled at his elf friend. Winky and Dobby were also affected by his abrupt disappearance. Perhaps they felt it more keenly than anyone else. They had carried on his plans for Potter Manor even in his absence, hoping he'd return one day.

Together, they walked beneath the extensive tunnel system the dwarves had built as per his specifications. Harry walked further into the tunnels while Dobby continued to regale him with some funny stories about the dwarves not allowing the elves to clean up the place while they were working in this place.

Dobby, however, stopped the many complaints the elves were making when they finally arrived at a prison cell inside one of the tunnels. Instead of being the lively little social butterfly Dobby usually was, he became withdrawn and tactically moved behind Harry with a dose of fear in his eyes.

“Oh, come on, Dobby. Don’t tell me you’re afraid of this weakling.” Harry snarked, and it had the intended effect on the woman who was keeping herself in a dark corner of the cell behind iron bars.

Bellatrix rushed towards the bars of her cell with a deranged look on her face.

“You mudbloo…”

“Infligo.”

The knockback jinx struck Bellatrix square in her gut, making her stumble backwards.

“What have I told you, Bellatrix? You must behave in my presence and not call me any names.” Harry tutted, shaking his head in disappointment, which only enraged the mad witch.

“Your end is near, Potter. You and that blood traitor cousin of mine will face a horrible death. I’ll watch with glee as the Dark Lord peel the flesh off your bones.” Bellatrix screamed while thrashing against the body bind curse Harry placed her.

“You seem to have disturbing but impossible dreams in these dark tunnels. Fear not, Bellatrix. I’ve come to put an end to this dark but unamusing chapter of your life once and for all.” Harry said without missing a beat before nodding at Dobby.

Dobby snapped his fingers, and the door to the cell swung open.

Bellatrix bared her teeth and renewed her struggles as Harry stepped into the cell with his wand in hand.

“You do not have the guts to kill me, boy. You’re weak like your parents and that fool Dumbledore.”

Harry laughed at the obvious ploy of trying to get a rise out of him.

“Oh, I’ve got no trouble in killing at all. I quite enjoyed killing off Voldemort’s Death Eater pals when he was resurrected.”

“Do not speak his name!” Bellatrix shrieked, glaring at him with the burning hatred of a thousand suns.

“Since you asked so nicely, I won’t mention his name again. For the sake of our conversation forward, I shall call him Mr Noseless from now on.”

“Argh! You dirty half-blood. You’ll suffer for this insolence. The Dark Lord will come and…”

“Mr Noseless will do all sorts of terrible things to me. Yes, I get your doomsday threats.” Harry waved dismissively, which made Bellatrix frothing at the mouth.

“No, I’m not here to speak of your impending death but about how to kill Mr Noseless.”

“The Drak Lord is all-powerful. My lord has triumphed death long ago.” she said with a mad grin and a wicked chortle that came straight out of cliché ghost movies.

“Does the Hufflepuff’s cup in your vault would have anything to do with his immortality?” Harry asked innocently.

“What?” Bellatrix froze while staring at him with wide eyes.

It was the exact moment Harry launched an all-out assault on Bellatrix’s mind that cut through her mind without any shred of mercy or concern. He cut through her attempts to block him out. He had to admit her mind had formidable defences even when the witch was a deranged psychopath who was under the grip of continuous use of negative emotions to amplify the repeated use of dark magic.

Bellatrix Lestrange was the prime example of the dangers of the continuous use of dark magic. He suspected the witch had most likely forgotten how to use less dangerous magic because of her fall from a normal mental state. The repeated use of dark magic gives rise to megalomania, which even Harry suffers to a certain extent but on acceptable levels. He had learned to suppress the egotism mostly thanks to the Goblins and their warrior culture. The militaristic discipline among their race had somewhat rubbed off on him while he was in the branch reality. More physical activity and learning swordsmanship had allowed him to vent off some of the aftereffects of dark magic.

But Bellatrix Lestrange was a witch beyond the edge of sanity. Yet, her offensive power was nothing to scoff at, even at the mental plane.

But Harry didn’t rise to his state of power without mastering his mind, body and magic. He tore down all attempts by Bellatrix to keep him out of her mind most cruelly. He could hear the witch screaming madly to the high heavens as he demolished her will without any concern for the sanctity of her mind.

Images started to flood his mind as he gained total access to her mind.

Harry cajoled her brain to ignore all the episodic memories and focus on the semantic memories. His will was enforced on her mind, and soon, he began to gain access to a lot of information. Digging deeper into decades of memories was difficult, as Bellatrix’s mind was not emotionally stable. Some memories caused volatility within her mind, mostly related to her past battles.

Harry carefully navigated around the memories of battles past, and with some effort and luck, he found what he was looking for. The memory of Voldemort awarding the Hufflepuff’s cup to Bellatrix filtered into his mind, and from that thread, he accessed all memories related to the cup.

Harry pulled back from her mind when he finally learned all the security measures enforced on the vault and the cup.

“What’ve you done?” Bellatrix gasped, looking pale white as she stared at him in abject terror.

“I was merely confirming my suspicions. The cup contains Mr Noseless’ soul, and thanks to you, I know how to access the vault and deactivate the traps you’ve laid around the cup.” Harry said, smiling brightly at the witch.

“You’ll never get access to the vault. Only I can get inside the vault, and I’ll never betray the Dark Lord. I’d rather die.” Bellatrix snarled even as blood trickled down from her nose.

“I know. You’re the most loyal servant of Mr Noseless…” Harry said sardonically.

“Stop insulting the Dark Lord.” Bellatrix screamed.

Harry flicked his wand, and Bellatrix fell silent.

“As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted. I know of your loyalty to Mr Noseless, and you’ll never betray his trust. But I’ve methods to make you cooperate.”

“You are nothing but a half-blood. You cannot do anything that’d make me betray my lord.” Bellatrix mockingly laughed.

“On the contrary, nothing could be farther from the truth. I’ve subverted far terrible foes than the likes of you to my side, Bellatrix Lestrange.” Harry’s words were tinged with the weight of his magical power as he mustered his magic for a spell.

Harry pointed his wand right between the eyes of Bellatrix with a green glowing aura at the tip of his wand.

“You have years of experience over me. You’ve travelled farther than myself in the vast, everchanging frontier of the dark arts. You’ve had more practical experience in magical battles than me. I admit all that. In fact, I acknowledge you as a worthy, skilled and dangerous witch.”

Bellatrix stared defiantly at him even as his aura manifested into a visible oppressive force that bared down on her shoulders.

“But the difference between your power and my power is as wide as the gap between the sun and the earth.”

“Obliviate.”

Bellatrix's vacant eyes after the spell took effect gave him no pleasure. Harry hadn’t wanted to go with the current plan but couldn’t think of any other way to safely and easily access Bellatrix’s vault in Gringotts.

****

A distinct pop came out of nowhere in a dark alley, scaring away a cat rummaging inside a garbage can.

“I think we scared off a cat, Harry.” Dumbledore said with some amusement.

“Shame we can’t use the same technique to scare off vampires, werewolves and Death Eaters.” Harry muttered as he walked down the street with Dumbledore.

“Indeed.” Dumbledore said with a chuckle.

The lights lining the street flickered on and off as they walked towards a house in the distance.

“I couldn’t help but notice you seem to have no reaction to apparition.” Dumbledore commented.

“Sirius taught me to apparate this summer. It’s mighty convenient than flying but not as fun.”

“Good. Practice regularly until it becomes second nature. Mastering teleportation magic would be a boon in getting out of a tight spot, and it’s extremely useful in battles.” Dumbledore advised.

Harry merely nodded, appreciating the rare good advice that came from Dumbledore.

“That’s the house.” Dumbledore pointed at a small house covered in darkness, unlike the surrounding homes nearby.

“I can feel a vague aura of magic. It’s most likely some form of concealing magic.” Harry whispered.

“Your senses have sharpened, Harry. I’m heartened to see that you’ve not abandoned the simplest forms of magic in pursuit of powerful spells.” Dumbledore said.

Together, they walked into the home, which looked like it had been abandoned, and a fight had broken out.

“What do you think, Harry?” Dumbledore asked while looking around the house's interior with the tip of his land lit with white light.

“It’s quite a good illusion, but the castor forgot to use the Dark Mark.” said Harry before asserting his magic over the whole house.

“Aparecium.”

The revealing charm consumed every nook and cranny of the house, and the concealment charm broke. The illusion around them peeled away, leaving Horace Slughorn standing in a corner where an armchair was supposed to be.

“Oh, bollocks! I should’ve moved yesterday.” Slughorn cursed himself while throwing a dirty look at Dumbledore.

“Hmm. It was a worthy effort, Horace. Very impressive. I assume you didn’t have much time to put more spells and details without revealing yourself.” Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled merrily.

“I suppose I could’ve performed better, but under the circumstances…” Slughorn looked at Dumbledore and then at Harry.

Slughorn’s eyes sparkled with recognition, and then a resigned sigh fell from his mouth.

“Perhaps I didn’t have much of a chance to remain inconspicuous when faced with you two.” Slughorn said resignedly.

“Oh, it was all Harry. I merely apparated us to a nearby alley.” Dumbledore said distractedly while looking around the homes as if he was searching for something.

“Ah, of course. I should’ve guessed.” Slughorn said with a beaming smile while looking at Harry. “You’re her son, after all.”

“You knew my mother, sir?” Harry asked politely.

“Oh, yes. Lily was absolutely brilliant. A professor is not supposed to have favourites among his students, but your mother was one of my finest students. Her skill and vivid sense of imagination was a marvel to witness when she applied them to magic.”

“I’ve been told she was highly skilled in Charms.” Harry said.

“Oh yes. But not just Charms. Her Potions were a work of art.” Slughorn reminisced with a gentle smile.

“I’ve been told of that as well.”

“Come, let me show you.” Slughorn directed Harry’s attention to a picture on a table where Slughorn and a young Lily Evans.

“It was taken during Lily’s graduation. She was such a skilled witch. Lily was supposed to make such phenomenal contributions to different fields of magic.” Slughorn said wistfully.

“But then…” Slughorn trailed off, looking sadly at the picture.

“Horace. May I use the loo?” Dumbledore asked innocently.

“Oh, yes. Please be my guest.” Slughorn said distractedly.

Slughorn blinked rapidly, took a closer look at Harry, and frowned.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing, Albus. My answer has not changed, you know.” Slughorn shouted after Dumbledore, but the headmaster didn’t reply.

“Professor Slughorn. Can I get a copy of this picture? You see, I don’t have that many photos of my mother.”

“Of course. I’ll be most happy to give you a copy, Harry.”

“Thank you.” Harry smiled at the gentle old man.

“You’re in the Daily Prophet. They’re now calling you the Prophesied One rather than the Chosen One.”

“I’m sure they’ll come up with more silly names after I destroy Mr Noseless.”

“Mr Noseless?” Slughorn asked with a chuckle.

“It’s the name I have for Tom Riddle. I think I’ll keep using that instead of the name he chose for himself.”

“Do you think you can destroy him, Harry? Many have tried in the past, including Dumbledore.” Slughorn asked with an unreadable expression.

“I’ve battled the Dark Lord many times in the last five years. Not once had he triumphed over me. He couldn’t win even when I was a baby. Within two years, I’ll destroy him and anyone that supports him.” Harry said firmly.

“You’re very brave, Harry. Your parents would be very proud.” Slughorn said after a moment of silence.

“Oh, before I forget…” Harry took out the invitation card for the party and gave it to Slughorn.

“I’m holding a party to celebrate the restoration of Potter Manor. I hope you’ll come, Professor.”

“Ah, yes. The party. I…”

Dumbledore chose that moment to come out of the loo.

“Well, Horace. You know why I’m here. Hogwarts would be most blessed by what you’ve to offer for our students. I extend you the same offer I’ve offered you for the last decade. The position is yours if you’ll take it.”

“Well… I…” Slughorn looked indecisive for a moment before caving in.

“Fine. But I want a raise, and I want my old quarters.”

Dumbledore smiled.

“That can be arranged, old friend.”

**** BRANCH REALITY ****

An excerpt from,

Hogwarts, A History by Bathilda Bagshot

The century of Hogwarts’ rise as a formidable castle and centre for learning was a time of great upheaval among wizards and muggles. The formation of the Kingdom of Scotland under House Targaryen catapulted magical education and muggle education.

Some say the influence of Queen Rowena Ravenclaw shaped the education-oriented policies implemented by Scotland’s first king in his admittedly short reign. King Hadrian reigned for barely two and a half years, but throughout this reign, he created hundreds of learning centres in the lands under his control. The Roman churches that symbolised oppression and blind faith became centres for learning for both muggles and wizards. The King and Queen of Scotland directly funded the schools using the royal treasury to ensure they ruled a populace who valued knowledge above all else.

It was Queen Rowena who enshrined the motto of all royal schools,

Wit beyond measure is man’s greatest treasure.

As the borders of Scotland expanded, so did the number of schools. But Hogwarts remained the prime destination for magical children to complete their studies. At first, Hogwarts struggled to attract many students once it was created by the Founders. However, King Hadrian’s endorsement of the school and appeal to wizarding families saw a significant influx of young students to the school. The assurance of free meals and fee-less education must’ve also been attractive for many poor families.

Even during the regency of Queen Rowena, the rapid pace of education never stopped. Centuries of repression on free speech, freedom of thought and expression were suddenly taken away inside the newly formed Kingdom of Scotland. As a result, many more wizarding schools, muggle schools and even mixed schools started to form inside the kingdom.

This was also a time of most epic wars. In his short reign, King Hadrian had waged many great battles that saw the defeat of the muggle kingdoms bordering Scotland. The schools also became the training grounds for the future army of Scotland, which incorporated the warring ways of the Goblins into its curriculum. While Queen Rowena initially opposed teaching warcraft in schools, she eventually came around to the idea proposed by her husband.

When King Hadrian disappeared or ascended (as believed by modern muggles), the four Founders of Hogwarts became involved in a fight amongst themselves. Salazar Slytherin wanted Hogwarts to adopt the teachings of war as he feared the absence of King Hadrian would threaten the kingdom's stability. Slytherin feared the muggles would rebel and try to wrest control of the Kingdom from House Targaryen in the King’s absence. He wanted Hogwarts students to learn warfare so that wizards would never become subservient to muggles again.

When the differences between the Founders widened, Salazar Slytherin turned his back on Hogwarts. Despite allowing her husband’s policy of military training in schools, Queen Rowena was not willing to forcibly enforce this in Hogwarts.

Even if Salazar Slytherin abandoned Hogwarts, he never abandoned the family of the man he admired most. He went to the capital and met with Queen Rowena, requesting that he be allowed to impart his knowledge to her children. At the time, Queen Rowena had only given birth to her second child, Princess Daenys Targaryen.

Some say Slytherin was attracted to the royal court because of the allure of power and influence. But most historians agree that Salazar Slytherin must’ve settled at the court to guide his kin. It was no secret that King Hadrian Targaryen was a parselmouth like Slytherin. While it was uncertain whether the Slytherins gained the gift of parseltongue from House Targaryen or vice versa, it was agreed upon by many that both families shared blood.

Time would prove Salazar Slytherin’s decision to join the court and focus his efforts on Prince Alexander's and Princess Daenys's education to be a boon for the kingdom.

The enemies of Scotland had rejoiced upon hearing the unexpected absence of Hadrian the Dragon. But they never realised the Age of the Dragon was only beginning. After all the blood of the Dragon remained strong on this earth and they'd soon realise the true might of the House of the Dragon.

AN:

For artworks, Discord channel: https://discord.com/invite/XKnmQxeGSu

Chapter 99: Party at Potter Manor P1

Gringotts Bank was the sole wizarding bank of magical Britain. It was also a neutral territory where the goblins of the Goblin Nation and wizards of the wizarding nation interacted freely. Goblins were natural hoarders of wealth, weapons, artefacts and anything of substantial value. They also controlled the wizarding economy, at least in Britain.

But the Goblins also provided their vaults as holding lockers for objects of no particular value with no questions asked for a fee. Such vaults could hold projects of questionable origin and magic, facilitating wizards to circumvent Ministry regulations.

That was why Bellatrix and Voldemort had confidently tucked away Hufflepuff’s cup in Gringotts.

Unfortunately for the Dark Lord, getting past Gringotts’ security was peanuts so long as Bellatrix cooperated with Harry.

Harry eyed Bellatrix Lestrange, walking side by side with Sirius as they entered the bank. He erased decades of her memories after he extracted all the information he wanted from the witch. Right now, Bellatrix had no recollection of what happened in her life. She didn’t even see herself as an adult, which made it easier for Harry to keep her on a tight leash.

For all intents and purposes, Bellatrix was a child ignorant of most things in the wizarding world.

But he wasn't confident the memory charm would hold for too long. A witch as powerful as Bellatrix could overcome the charm's hold on her mind given enough time. That was why Harry brought Bellatrix straight to Gringotts with Sirius as a backup after he was confident the memory charm had taken effect.

“Walk fast, Bella. Once we’re finished here, I’ll buy you two more chocolate ice cream.” Harry said, urging the witch towards a teller.

“I want three.” Bella said with a pout.

“All right. You’ll have three.” Harry said with exasperation, eyeing the older witch blindly enjoying a vanilla ice cream inside the bank, ignorant of her surroundings.  

“Good day, master Goblin. She needs to access her vault.” Sirius said, facing the teller while Harry closely watched his surroundings.

“Does ‘she’ have a name, Lord Black?” the Goblin grinned down at them, showing off a row of pointed teeth.

“She’s my cousin Bellatrix. For her safety, she is under a glamour charm. I hope Gringotts will respect the privacy of one of its most valued clients.” Sirius said.

The Goblin teller eyed them keenly for a moment.

“Of course.” The Goblin teller said softly. “Key, please.” 

“She doesn’t have her key, but her blood should suffice, no?” Sirius asked.

“Very well.” The Goblin teller sighed.

Thankfully, Bellatrix cooperated and did not make a fuss when the Goblin teller pricked her finger and drew a drop of blood. The Goblin smeared the blood on a long sheet of parchment and stared intently into the parchment as if it held all the secrets of the universe.

“Everything seems to be in order.” The Goblin teller looked up from the parchment. “Bogord will take you to your vault.”

A scrawny Goblin came around the teller’s desk with a constipated look on his face.

“Follow me.” Bogord growled before walking into the interior of the bank.

Harry exchanged a look with Sirius, and they followed Bogord, taking Bellatrix along with them. The cart ride through the intricate tunnels was fun, as usual. After nearly ten minutes of going through many tunnels deep into the earth, the cart stopped before a large stone cave.

Bogord looked closely at Bellatrix and then at the two of them before huffing.

Harry smirked at the Goblin once its back was turned. He had scrapped together a rune bracelet to make Bellatrix immune to any screening of Goblin magic that could undo the memory charm. Thanks to his extended stay in the branch reality, he had a deep understanding of Goblin magic, which facilitated the creation of some cloaking magic that allowed him to withstand the usual scrutiny inside Gringotts. Goblins could temporarily break all wizarding spells within their bank, which would’ve interfered with the memory charm he placed on Bellatrix. But that was no longer possible, and he wasn’t waiting around to see how long that shield would last.

“Stay close to me.” Bogord muttered as he pressed his hands against the wall.

Harry felt a rush of magic pass through the cave ahead. Before his eyes, lamps lit up with yellow flames.

Once they crossed the dark cave, they came across a huge hall where a gigantic pale dragon guarded five vaults on the other end.

“Dear Merlin. That’s a huge dragon.” Sirius breathed out upon seeing the giant dragon wrapped in chains.

“Come,” Bogord said, picking up a pair of clankers from the side of the cave. “This is the most secured area in Gringotts. The dragon is a savage even if it’s half blind.”

“How are we to get around the dragon?” Sirius asked with a slight shiver.

“These Clankers will help us, Lord Black.” said Bogord.

The dragon suddenly roared and looked in their direction with a snarl.

“It might be partially blind, but its ears function exceptionally.” Harry muttered.

The dragon reared his head to breathe fire at them, but Bogord used the Clankers. The small instrument in the goblin’s hand began to make loud ringing noises when he started shaking it in his hands. The dragon let out a painful howl as it moved to a corner as if in fear and pain.

Harry, Sirius, and a fearful Bellatrix closely followed Bogord. Harry kept his lit wand ahead, but his eyes were pinned on the dragon. He felt pity for the majestic creature bound in servitude to the Goblins. Perhaps his bond to the Red Queen made him more sympathetic to the pale dragon bound in chains. He could also see the long red scars on the dragon’s body. It was as if someone had used a flame whip on the dragon.

Once they reached the other end of the hall, Bogord pressed his palm against the dark wooden door of the vault. The door melted away, and Harry saw the large treasure inside when he directed his lit wand inside the vault. There was silver and gold aplenty inside. Suits of armour, shields and swords lined the walls, and so did skins of different animals, bones, and stuffed heads.

He suspected the vault was not just the safe haven for Bellatrix’s wealth and the Horcrux. It was most likely the war chest of Voldemort or perhaps a portion of loot from the last war.

Harry conjured a long metal stick in his hand and stepped into the vault. He was careful not to touch anything inside the vault because of the Gemino and Flagrante curses. Harry placed a hovering charm on his boots, lifting him a few feet from the ground. He immediately directed the light from his wand into the top shelves of the vault as he carefully searched for the cup.

He searched shelf after shelf for the cup until finally he found it. The intricate patterns on the cup matched the images he saw in Bellatrix’s memory. Besides that, he could feel the cup starting to assume a dark aura now that it had been found. The Horcrux could already feel the danger Harry posed to its continued existence and was trying to assert itself with its dark nature.

‘Your mind tricks are not going to work here.’ Harry thought with a snort.

He plucked the cup by locking its handle with the stick in his hand. Carefully, he held out the cup towards Sirius, who let it fall into a wooden box. Once the box was sealed, runes flared to life, and the dark aura of the Horcrux suddenly disappeared.

Harry cancelled the hovering charm and exchanged a look with Sirius.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Sirius asked with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

“I suspect that’s the case. Let's take the swag out of the vault and put it to some good use.” said Harry.

“Oh yeah. I’ve always thought Hogwarts could use some new brooms and a nice scholarship program for the children.” Sirius mused aloud.

Harry looked at Bellatrix once he found merit in Sirius’ suggestion.

“Bella, what’d you think? If you take all this into this little pouch, you can have as much ice cream as you want.”

Safe to say, Harry and Sirius managed to walk out of Gringotts with a sizeable portion of wealth in Bellatrix’s vault. The exciting part was all they had to do was buy a couple more ice creams for Bellatrix.

 

****

 

“Are you sure this is what you want to do?” Sirius asked, watching from a corner of the cell.

“This is for the best.” said Harry, finishing the transference process.

Harry removed the runestone glowing with Egyptian hieroglyphs from the forearm of Bellatrix.

“It looks like you succeeded. She no longer bears the Dark Mark on her arm.” Sirius said with a look of contemplation.

“She’ll not need it any longer.” Harry said succinctly.

 “If she escapes Azkaban again, Voldemort will be cross with her. Once he sees the mark is absent, he’ll tear apart her mind and find what we’ve done.” Sirius warned.

“I agree.” Harry nodded absently.

“You agree?” Sirius blinked in surprise. “Then why are you sending her to the Ministry? She’ll only warn Voldemort of our plans in advance.”

“Oh no, she won’t.” Harry said.

Harry pressed the tip of his wand against Bellatrix’s wrist and began murmuring a spell in Parseltongue while calling forth Old Magic to bind the spell into the core of Bellatrix’s soul. The cell was bathed in the heavy presence of Old Magic until Harry stopped the spell.

Glowing red runes began appearing on Bellatrix’s wrist until they finally burned onto her skin in the form of three rings.

“There, that’ll do to keep her quiet.”

“What did you do?” Sirius asked warily.

“Let’s just say she’ll be a nasty surprise and another painful lesson for our resident dark lord. But I doubt his thick skull will allow the message to sink in properly.” said Harry, holstering his wand and walking away from the cell with Sirius following closely behind.

“What’s the message?”

“To never cross a Potter.”

“That’s a good message as any, I suppose.” Sirius snorted with laughter.

Harry and Sirius went further down the tunnels until they finally reached a chamber.

“You asked me why I’m not powering the wards before the party. You’ll have your answer today.” Harry said before closing his eyes and clearing his mind of all distractions.

Harry placed his hands horizontally on the floor while standing on his feet, connecting his ring fingers with his thumbs. On his left hand, the runestone containing the dark mark started emitting a faint pulse of magic, while on his right hand, the wand started humming with the song of a phoenix.

He could hear the gasp of surprise from Sirius as the magic deep in the earth responded to his will.

When Harry opened his eyes, the room was filled with several concentric circles of runes. Harry stood at the dead centre of the runic circles and unceremoniously dropped the runestone in his hand. The runestone struck the ground at his feet and was swallowed up promptly.   

“What was that?” Sirius asked awestruck.

“You wanted wards, did you not? Let’s see Voldemort and his cronies try their best to breach my wards.”

“Harry,” Sirius said with trepidation. “When you were gone last month, what exactly were you doing?”

“Conquering and ruling as the king of Scotland.” He answered truthfully.

“Oh.” Sirius said faintly, suppressing the urge to pry. “I was just mostly drinking firewhisky and occasionally trying to blow up Dumbledore’s head.”

“Both are worthy endeavours.” Harry said after a moment of consideration.

“Are you all right? I mean, are you happy being here?” Sirius asked softly.

Harry fell silent and observed his godfather, who had nothing but concern in his eyes.

“Why do you ask?” Harry asked.

“Dumbledore and Croaker warned us that you might’ve started a life of your own in the other dimension. They were right, weren’t they?”

Harry nodded.

“I’m so sorry Harry. You might’ve been…”

“There is no point in dwelling on the past. I’m teaching myself to stay in the present and look towards the future.”

“That’s good.” Sirius patted him on his shoulder. “I won’t ask of what you lost. I have enough experience to know that there is nothing that could equal wasted time. But someday, when you’re ready, I hope you regain something of greater value than you lost.”

Harry frowned thoughtfully into the distance before sighing.

“Come. There is much work to be done.”

 

****

 

“We’ve pulled off a good enough party…” Daphne said, looking around the crowded garden with a thoughtful frown. “…I think.”

“There is decent food, fine wine and an atmosphere that’s making everyone around here jumpy. This is a good party as any, Daphs.” Harry whispered, strolling through the garden arm in arm with Daphne by his side.

“Hmm… I couldn’t help but notice that you had a long chat with my father and mother today. What was that about?” she suddenly asked, but Harry was hardly surprised.

He wondered why she hadn’t brought up that question so far. Damien and Evelyn hadn’t bothered covering up their sense of victory.

“Do you really want to know?” Harry asked.

Daphne blinked at the undertone in Harry’s voice, but she was curious.

“Yes.” she said succinctly.

“Your parents wanted to know what my intentions towards you are. They’re under the impression that you’re smitten by the Potter charm, and they want to protect you.”

“What did they do?” Daphne asked with some wariness.

“They proposed a betrothal contract to be drawn up.”

Daphne was stunned into silence.

“What did you…?”

Harry took a long look at her before pressing his lips near her ear.

“I agreed. I couldn’t let go of the chance to make you mine.”

Daphne glared at him, making him chuckle.

“But I told them I’d agree to any contract only after you consent.” Harry said with a minute twitch of his lips.

“Honestly, I don’t like the idea of a contract between us. It’s an old tradition, and I’m surprised you even entertained the thought.” Daphne said with pursed lips.

“Well, it’s not a marriage contract. This is merely a betrothal contract with no penalty for voiding the contract.”

“Is that supposed to make me happy?” Daphne asked in annoyance as they stopped near a sakura tree.

“Aren’t you?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I don’t know what I should feel.” Daphne looked searchingly into his eyes.

“You’re not the only one. I quite like our current dynamic, but I understand the concerns of Damien and Evelyn. Discarding their concerns seemed inappropriate, so I said I’ll consent if you agree to it.”

“I suppose I knew this day was coming at some point. So, there’s that…” Daphne said, trying to channel aloofness, but he could read her like a book with one look into her eyes.

“Oh, it can’t be all that bad. I’m charming, funny, wealthy, powerful and whimsical. What more do you need?” Harry asked with a faux pout.

“Modesty and an absence of reckless behaviour for a start.” Daphne said blandly.

“Where is the fun in that?” Harry shrugged.

“I suppose I could be persuaded to marry a rapscallion like you provided the right incentives.” she said snobbishly, turning her nose up.

“What might these incentives entail? I only ask because there is a shortage of blonde-haired, blue-eyed witches who’d never think of marrying the last Potter,” Harry said sardonically.

“I’ll owl you a detailed list.” Daphne smirked.

“You two are worse than mum and dad. Get a room, you two.” Astoria came out of nowhere to deliver a sledgehammer that broke their conversation.

“Why’re you here? Go bother someone else.” Daphne huffed.

“Everyone in the ballroom is asking for the host inside to start the dance. Hogging the ‘Prophesied One’ all for yourself at this crucial juncture would be discourteous.” Astoria said with a straight face.

“We just came here from the ballroom. They were talking our ears off.” Daphne rolled her eyes.  

“Maybe you should go find someone else to bother and let me escort Harry back to his wonderful guests. After all, he was the one to decide on an open invite was a fantastic idea. He should get to meet and greet the wonderful fellows of our little squalor.” said Astoria with a wicked glint in her eyes.

“What a fantastic idea. He’s all yours.” Daphne skipped away happily from his arm, leaving him with Astoria.

Harry watched his girlfriend go with a tinkling laugh in her wake, her green dress glittering under the light.

“Let’s go. My father has gathered several foreign dignitaries and eminent personalities to meet you. I’m sure you’ll enjoy every moment of it.” Astoria said with a wicked smirk.

“How cruel of you, Astoria.”  

“Cruel is my middle name.” she said with a chuckle while leading him to the ballroom without remorse.

As Astoria led him towards her father, he had to meet and greet a whole lot of people along the way. Lady Longbottom and Marchbanks were the first he met on his second arrival. Neville’s grandmother was distant but polite as well. She was distracted the whole time they conversed and looked ready for a fight.

On the other hand, Madam Marchbanks was talking entirely about his OWL results. He derived some sick pleasure in watching the woman tear into Astoria, warning her not to waste her time on parties and glittery things and to focus on studies like him. She was all praises for Harry, and being the vain little rascal he was, he ate it all up the entire time.

He supposed scoring straight Os in every subject except History of Magic would impress the governor of the Wizarding Examinations Authority.

Astoria was understandably all too eager to escort him away from the good woman who only spoke so highly of him. They met some Hogwarts students and their families along the way.

Finally, they arrived at a round table where Damien and Evelyn Greengrass were sitting with some of their acquaintances.

“Father. I’ve brought our gracious host as requested.” Astoria said, executing a perfect curtsey.

“Thank you, dear.” A familiar voice said from their back.

Harry didn’t need to turn around to know that it was his grandmother.

“We’ve been most eager to speak with our host. There are many important matters that we ought to discuss. Isn’t that so, dear Harry?”

Harry had been expecting a visit from his grandmother. He was surprised it had taken this long. He expected her to visit him immediately after returning from the branch reality.

After all, she wanted access to Slytherin’s Chamber before the school opened.

“Yes. We have a lot of things to discuss.” Harry said with a nod.

“Good.” Perenelle smiled. “Now take a seat, young man.”

 

****

 

An excerpt from The Grand Alliance: Goblin-Wizard Pact that Transformed the Century by Madam Selene Smith.

While some see King Hadrian as a sorcerer of great battle powers and magical skill, he was also renowned for his diplomacy. His single-handed effort bound the Goblins to pledge their fealty to House Targaryen in perpetuity. He had proven his strength to the Goblin kings when he decimated their army that tried to attack Hogwarts.

It’s mentioned in the journals of Queen Rowena the First that the Goblin kingdoms were wary of Hogwarts and what it meant for the future. The consolidation of wizards and witches in any form was recognised as a threat by all the Gobling kings of the time. They feared the unity among wizards rather than the rapid expansion of muggle kingdoms and empires. Though great in number, the Gobling kingdoms did not consider muggle kingdoms a threat.

This belief would later be the undoing of goblins across the rest of continental Europe.

But in Scotland, before the consolidation of wizards happened, Goblins suffered defeat at the hands of the four Founders of Hogwarts. The Goblin King Sabretooth broke an uneasy peace between the Goblin kingdoms and the Founders. It was the internal politics within the nearby Goblin kingdom that led King Sabretooth to put Hogwarts under siege. But his luck ran short as the siege attracted a traveller from the faraway land of Valyria to Hogwarts.

The story of the battle is carved in great detail on the front doors of Hogwarts. To this day, it serves as a warning for those who dare to challenge Hogwarts and the authority of House Targaryen.

However, the decisive victory over the goblin army led the way to an alliance when King Hadrian began his conquest. The Targaryen king swayed the Goblin King Snipshank to forge an alliance in return for expanding the land holdings of the Goblin kingdom. During the three-year reign of King Hadrian, the land holdings of Scotland increased fivefold. This, coupled with the assimilation of other Goblin kingdoms into the new Scottish kingdom, slowly but surely integrated the Goblins into the common army and then accepted the authority of the crown of Scotland.

It is told, however, that House Targaryen’s unique gift of bonding with the dragons was one of the main factors that led to their acquiescence before the Scottish crown. Not only was the Goblin army now sworn to a Targaryen king on the throne, but they were also the royal smiths of the kingdom. Each Targaryen king from Hadrian the First commissioned their blades upon their ascension to the throne. The old sword of the monarch was returned to the Goblins as per goblin traditions.

All such swords of past Targaryen monarchs were later moved to a Goblin-run museum at the request of Queen Esteria the Second during her reign in 1775, adjacent to the Goblin Bank of Gringotts.

To this day, Goblins of Scotland holds a special status among the Goblins of the world. The entire economy of the Eurozone was run by Scottish Goblins after Titus Targaryen’s Continental War in 1670. While many Goblin kingdoms outside Scotland view Scottish Goblins as the lesser for swearing oaths to a wizard, the Scottish Goblins considered it the single most brilliant decision in their recorded history.

As an old saying among the Scottish Goblins goes,

‘We traded a crown of steel for an entire continent.’

 

Chapter 100: The party at Potter Manor P2

Benedict Ferguson glared at the horde of blood traitors and mudbloods partying away at Potter manor. In his eyes, these people didn’t deserve to be happy or enjoy a party. These people should’ve surrendered to the Dark Lord and allowed his lord to cleanse the undesirables so that good wizarding folk could live free of muggle influence.

For centuries, his people had hidden under a rock and allowed the muggle filth to take control of the world. But the Dark Lord would soon change all that. The Dark Lord would soon destroy the magic-stealing muggles, and then wizards would rule over the world.

But first, the enemies of the Dark Lord in the wizarding world had to be purged. So many muggleborns had already stolen magic from the good pureblood families. Such thieves and their blood-traitor friends had to be put down for good before the Dark Lord could purge the muggles.

It was for this reason Benedict was here in Potter manor. When his lord had tasked him with infiltrating the party in Potter manor, he was understandably worried for his safety. He had no choice but to obey his orders and attend the party.

However, his fears were for nothing, as he was not even searched while entering the manor of his lord’s most hated enemy. Once inside, he signalled the rest of his lord’s servants through the Dark Mark. He watched his fellow Death Eaters enter the Potter manor one by one.

As minutes passed by, he felt his confidence climb. He was giddy that he was about to become a part of a major attack on the Potter manor. Suddenly, he found a house elf with a tray full of drinks before him.

“Firewhisky master.” the elf offered the tray with many beautifully designed glasses filled halfway with his favourite drink.

Benedict happily took two drinks from the tray and drained one glass in one go. But as soon as the liquid drained down his throat, he felt drowsy. It was as if his limbs were weighed down by thousand pounds of iron.

“Does master wish to rest?” the house elf asked in a squeaky voice.

“I…waaaannn…” Benedict felt the words slur in his mouth.

The next thing he knew, he felt like he was being squeezed through a tube, and his vision distorted. He felt a stillness set in for a time before he slowly started to regain his bearings.

Benedict immediately sat up and found himself sitting on the floor in a dark room.

“What in the name of Merlin is this? Where am I?” Benedict muttered as he looked around in the dark room with growing fear.

“Don't worry. Everything will be over soon.”

A silky, smooth voice suddenly spoke, startling Benedict. The darkness in the room suddenly disappeared, and Benedict was left facing a blonde-haired girl standing outside a cell. It was then he realised he was behind bars.  He immediately searched his pocket and robes for his wand but found it empty.

“Looking for this.”

Benedict’s breath caught in his throat when he saw his wand in the blonde girl’s hand.

“Don’t worry. You’ll have the rest of your friends to keep you company.” The girl gave him a derisive look before turning away to walk away.

“No, wait! You’re Damien Greengrass’ daughter, aren’t you? Help me out of this prison, and you’ll be richly rewarded by the Dark Lord.” Benedict said desperately.

He saw the girl freeze and look at him with cold blue eyes.

“Really? What sort of rewards?” the girl asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Power beyond measure. The Dark Lord will make you strong. He’ll welcome you, a pureblood witch of noble lineage, into his ranks.”

“I see. You must’ve been granted this great power by the Dark Lord if you’re speaking so confidently.”

“Yes! Yes, of course. The Dark Lord grants power to those of pureblood ancestry and loyalty.” Benedict lied easily.

“I see. Then, you’ll be capable of breaking out of this cell all by yourself. You only need to muster this great power bestowed by the Dark Lord.”

Benedict scowled at the girl, realising she had no intention of releasing him from the cell.

“The Dark Lord will bring death and destruction upon this place. You and your family will die a most painful death.” Benedict screamed as he slammed into the cell with rage in his eyes.

“Oh, there’ll be a lot of death this night.” The girl looked down at him as if he were a fly, making Benedict’s blood boil.

“Blood traitor! How could you consort with dirty mudbloods and half…” Benedict started to go off on his tirade, but he found his voice leaving him.

“There – that’s better. You’ll get the company of your friends shortly.”

Benedict watched with baleful eyes as the Greengrass girl walked away while he desperately tried to break the iron bars holding him prisoner. Suddenly, his fellow Death Eaters started to appear in his cell one by one, just as the Greengrass girl promised. With a sigh, he leaned against the wall of the cell and waited for his lord to rescue him and the others.

****

Harry observed the people sitting beside his grandmother at the table. Damien Greengrass was the only man he could tentatively trust because of certain aligned interests. There was Loui Bourbon at the table, the hit wizard his grandmother assigned him for destroying the Giants loyal to the Dark Lord. The other two men at the table were a mystery to Harry.

He felt a localised secrecy ward going up surrounding the table.

“I have to say this party of yours is not half bad. Though, this home could use a better look.” Perenelle commented after making a show of looking around.

“Oh. Do you have any suggestions for my home?” Harry asked for the sake of conversation.

“Oh, yes. Don’t build one in these damp islands.” Perenelle said with a chuckle, followed by the other men sitting at the table.

“Some of us must content ourselves with what we have, Lady Lilith. Not all of us can enjoy the sunny beaches of France indefinitely.” said Harry.

“Hmm. Let me introduce you to Christoph Schmidt and Ivan Volkov. These men will help you with your troublesome Dark Lord.”

Harry frowned at the two men who waved at him lazily. With a cursory look, he could sense their magic was strong. But having a strong aura was not a guarantee for anything.

“What brought this sudden dose of generosity?” Harry asked, keeping his doubt about the competence of these two men.

“I’m merely fulfilling my end of the bargain, and it is now time for you to reciprocate. Now, give me what I want, Harry.” Perenelle looked pointedly at him.

Harry stared into the green eyes that were perfect copies of his own before sighing.

“All right.” Harry said with a short nod.

He took an envelope from his pocket and slid it towards his grandmother.

“Inside, you'll find instructions to access Slytherin’s Chamber from the Forbidden Forest. There is also a portkey to take you to the site. You’ll find a closed lid made of stone on the floor, leading you to the chamber through a long pipeline.”

Perenelle stared long and hard at her grandson before taking the envelope.

“You’ve been scouring the Chamber for years. What interesting things have you found, Harry?” she asked curiously.

“Oh, I don’t think it’d be appropriate to deny you the gratification of a treasure hunt, Lady Lilith.” Harry evaded giving any information. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some guests to attend to.”

With that parting shot, he escaped from the table and took rounds amongst his guests. The music band Gaelic Hummers were starting another jaunty tune when Harry found Daphne at the entrance of the ballroom. He immediately went to her side after exchanging some polite greetings with the guests along the way.

Harry offered his hand and led Daphne to the dance floor.

“They’re here. The elves have started to take them into the cells.” Daphne whispered as they made slow steps, following the music in the ballroom.

“Mmhmm. Wizards always underestimate the power of those they consider their lesser. I’ve found the house elves to be wonderful beings with magic surpassing most wizards.” Harry said with a grin.

“What’re you planning to do with these prisoners?” Daphne asked curiously.

“I’ll have some delivered to the Ministry in exchange for favours.” Harry mused audibly for her ears.

Daphne shot him an approving look.

“That’s smart. What about the rest?” she asked, raising a delicate eyebrow as they glided through the floor in tune with the music.

“That’s a secret.”

He was subjected to the infamous Daphne-stare that was in parts cute and compelling.

“But I might be tempted to share more details if you agree to the contract.” Harry winked.

Daphne audibly huffed in exasperation.

“Out of the many things that I expected to happen in the future, I never expected Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived to ask for a marriage contract to my face.” Daphne said while shaking her head.

“You could consider it being a privilege.” Harry smirked while adjusting his hold on Daphne’s waist to get a better reach.

“Don’t be cheeky.” Daphne pinched his shoulder.

Harry retaliated in kind by pinching along her navel, making Daphne let out an ‘eep’.

“Stop that. People are watching.” Daphne warned him.

“You think they're watching us when they're most likely focusing on their dance partners. Somebody has an over-inflated sense of self-importance.” Harry said with a chuckle.

“Oh, in that case, why don’t we just dance naked in this ballroom?” Daphne snarked, rolling her eyes at him.

“Interesting thoughts you got there, Daphne. I find it interesting that you immediately thought of getting naked.” Harry said suggestively. “There is a lot of subliminal messaging with you, isn't there?”

“Why you...” Daphne looked incensed, her eyes faring up with an affronted look.

A tremor passed through the whole manor before she could tear into him for teasing her so much.

“What was that?” Daphne asked with worry as she looked around.

Harry frowned as the music slowly came to a standstill.

“It's the wards. Someone tried to bring down the wards protecting us.”

“Is it holding together?” Daphne asked, looking concerned.

“Don't worry. Voldemort will find that my wards are not so easy to breach.” Harry said with a wicked smile.

Harry and Daphne moved outside the ballroom and into the garden, where they could observe the wards outside. They could see flashes of light and slight tremors passing through the area as someone assaulted the wards from outside. Despite the continuous assault on the wards, the protective dome hardly changed, except it became visible to everyone.

While Harry wasn’t troubled by the assault on his wards, that was not the case for the wizards and witches in the manor. He tapped his wand against his throat, applying the magnifying charm.

“Sonorous.”

“There is no need to worry. The wards surrounding the manor cannot be breached. As for those assaulting the wards…”

He let actions speak rather than some lengthy explanation.

The ground beneath them shook as the sculptures and fountains in the garden started to shift, and in their place, large ballistas came up. He could hear the people whisper amongst themselves as the ballistas aimed their bolts at the areas where the protective dome was being attacked. Once they aimed, the bolts on the ballistas glowed with runes before being shot towards their target.

While the witches and wizards were stupefied at the freely moving ballistas, Harry knew they were being controlled by the house elves from the cellars beneath the garden grounds. There were charmed periscopes fitted to the ballistas that allowed the elves to zoom in on their targets.

Bright flashes of fire and explosion could be seen in the distance. The advantage of seclusion from muggle settlements allowed Harry to use some flashier attacks against his enemies. The elves didn’t let up on the offensive and maintained consistent assault on enemy positions.

After a steady stream of assault, the ballistas stopped and folded back into the ground, only to be replaced by sculptures and fountains. Harry initially wanted to use machine guns, but his trip to the past left him with some serious advantages over magical warfare. The secrets of Goblin warfare were quite interesting and adaptable for wizards to master. And he had mastered the art out of necessity.

There was also caution about staying his hand in using muggle weapons against wizards in a public setting. He didn’t want to get suspicion on his head for the murder of ‘reformed’ Death Eaters towards the end of the Third Task.

“I think they’re dealt with.” Daphne said in awe.

“Of course they are. Was there any doubt?” Harry looked at her in bemusement.

“Believing it and seeing it with my own eyes are different.” Daphne muttered.

“That has to be the wickedest thing I’ve ever seen.” Tonks came from nowhere, right behind Harry.

“I’ve been wondering where you were all this time.” Harry looked critically at Tonks.

“I’ve been around.” She answered evasively.

“You mean you were disguised.”

“Someone had to keep an eye out for you.” Tonks winked, changing her face and hair to that of another woman before retaining her original look.

“Anyway, the Aurors are moving into the position where you attacked. If we’re lucky, we’ll capture a few Death Eaters. See ya.”

Harry stared after Tonks as she walked out of the garden, giving him a backhanded wave.

“She is so rude.” Harry muttered.

“I like her.” Daphne grinned.

“Of course you would.” Harry sighed.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

A pair of blue eyes glared into his own and just like that Harry was in trouble again.

****

There was a brief recess to the party because of the attack but it came back to full swing once the aurors returned with good news that the attack had been successfully repelled. Unfortunately, the Aurors couldn’t take any prisoners from the Death Eaters. By the time a squad of aurors approached the site of the enemy, they were already gone. There were a few bodies on the field, but the aurors had already identified most of them as werewolves of Fenrir Greyback’s pack.

Seeing the dour face of Amelia Bones and the way she was tearing into the aurors for their inability to capture even a single Death eater, Harry offered the Ministry a way to save face. Harry releases two of the Death Eaters he captured into the Ministry custody. He also sent Bellatrix along with them, and Minister Bones was happy to a few Death Eaters to parade before the press.

The last he saw of Amelia Bones, she was happily chatting away with a few of his guests while her aurors took the prisoners discreetly into the Ministry holding cells. He suspected a press conference was being prepared in the Ministry while the Minister interacted with his guests.

Harry also noticed his grandmother was nowhere to be seen. He suspected the woman felt it was better to leave rather than threaten her exposure with Dumbledore present at the party. The Order members were now prowling his manor openly. Even Professor Slughorn had arrived for the party, but the man stayed close to Dumbledore’s shadow, probably fearing another attack.

Harry slinked back into the cellar to meet with Dobby, seeing that the party was going smoothly without any issue.

“Master Harry.”

“Good work, Dobby. Now, deliver one of these Death Eaters to Aragog.”

“Yes, Mater Harry.”

As the excitable elf teleported away with a Death Eater in the cell to the Forbidden Forest, Harry went straight to another part of the cellar. The deal with Aragog was still on for Acromantula silk. He had his doubts about how long it’d last with Aragog’s health in decline. The Acromantula silk was making him a lot of gold so he hope he could keep the deal with Aragog’s children. Otherwise, he’d have to kill them all.

He found Winky and a few other elves setting up Nagini's cage. With his grandmother having access to the Chamber, he felt it was better for Nagini to stay at Potter Manor.

Besides, he was almost ready to try his hand at extracting the Horcrux from Voldemort’s pet snake. He supposed he could close that chapter before Hogwarts reopened. And then, he could try to extract the soul shard trapped in his head if the process he devised was a success.

**** Branch Reality ****

An excerpt from The Age of the Dragon by Diana Black

The Age of the Dragon is commonly acknowledged as the 10th century. However, the exact date would be 930 CE to 1000 CE.

This period of time was eventful in world history, but none so more than in the Scottish Isles. The rise of House Targaryen changed the course of history in the Scottish Isles and the world. It was the first time in recorded history that a wizard bonded with a dragon. All contemporary sources from that era, close to the first Scottish king, highlighted this fact in their writings.

However, the most interesting phenomenon was the continued bond the descendants of Hadrian Targaryen enjoyed with dragons.

Hadrian Targaryen’s familiar, the Red Queen, later bonded with his son, Prince Alexander Targaryen. The dragons that hatched from the eggs of the Red Queen bonded with Princess Daenys Targaryen and other Targaryen descendants. This was another event that was unheard of in the wizarding history. The bond that those with Targaryen ancestry enjoyed with dragons allowed them to exert power over the Scottish islands.

Within three years, King Hadrian had assimilated three kingdoms to make the Scottish Kingdom. Prince Alexander and Princess Daenys would expand the kingdom's boundary even further as Queen Rowena reigned by conquering all the kingdoms in the Isles. Before the Queen abdicated her throne and crowned her son king, all the islands came under the Scottish crown.

With the aid of the dragons bonded to Prince Alexander and Princess Daenys, the Viking menace was destroyed on the islands, and all Viking ships later feared to sail into the Scottish channel in fear of the dragon kings of Scotland. But Vikings were not the only foe decimated during the Age of the Dragon.

The power wielded by House Targaryen was such that they started to systematically cull the Roman influence in their newly conquered lands. The non-magical populace was barred from practising their faith in the Roman church. The churches and other religious structures were forcibly taken over by the royal house. While considerable efforts were made to remove religion from all walks of life, the vacuum left by the absence of religion gave birth to a new one amongst the non-magical populace of the kingdom.

The Valyrian faith took birth among the non-magical citizens of Scotland during the Age of the Dragon. Queen Rowena made concerted efforts to cull the spread of the religion, but during her last years on the throne, she changed her opinion. The court records from that time indicate that Salazar Slytherin was the man who convinced the Queen to stop suppressing the new religion. These records were later cited to claim Salazar Slytherin was the one who started the religion. But this was never conclusively proven.

The Valyrian faith proclaimed King Hadrian to be a demigod sent to the Scottish Isles by the heavens to establish God’s kingdom in the mortal realm. It was believed that God recalled King Hadrian to the Kingdom of Heaven, only to return when the armies of Hell rose to wage war against Heaven. According to the faith, the war was prophecised to happen in fourteen locations across the planet, and this future war is called the War of the Fourteen Flames. It is believed fourteen Targaryen princes would wage this war against the armies of Hell and save the world from destruction.

It became abundantly clear among the wizards of the time that someone used the details left by King Hadrian about his home island to create a new religion. However, the Valyrian faith only became stronger and spread wide after many wizards failed to find the mythical island of the first Targaryen king.

The Age of the Dragon would strengthen the Valyrian faith in the kingdom of Scotland. When House Targaryen started to expand into mainland Europe, the Valyrian faith came into conflict with the Christian faith and Islam. This later led to the War of Faiths for the next five centuries until the Continental War, waged by Titus Targaryen in the 17th century, cemented the Valyrian faith's dominance in the Eurozone.

Chapter 101: Sarcophagus

Harry pondered the silence from his grandmother. Ever since he gave her access to the Chamber, she had gone silent. He supposed Perenelle was trying to piece together the information about Elysium from the ancient scrolls in the Chamber.

He had an inkling as to why Perenelle Flamel was after Elysium. After all, he had also read the lore of the Hallows, which was vital to unlocking the full power of Elysium to destroy the blood enemy. But Harry seriously doubted the blood enemy the scrolls kept mentioning were muggles.

Because, in the scrolls, there was a different tale of the Peverell brothers. The scrolls talk of three brothers who lived amongst their hated enemy so that they may learn of their plans and bring destruction to their blood enemy. But these same scrolls also spoke as if the enemy was too powerful, technologically advanced and knowledgeable.

That was another thing that didn’t make much sense. He could understand why the Peverell brothers would consider the muggles dangerous. But knowledgeable and technologically advanced were not exactly the words he’d use to describe ancient muggles. The more he read from the scrolls, the less it made sense to think Elysium was some magical dimension that spawned all magical creatures.

Elysium was described as the origin of magic and all magical creatures. It was also considered as a place of great power. It was also touted as a place where the wielder of all three Hallows could bring about the destruction of the blood enemy. There were also some ludicrous claims that the three brothers were the creators of all magical creatures on Earth. The more he read, the more Harry felt like it was one of those loony, pureblood conspiracy theories made to stroke their ego.

Or, in this case, a wizarding supremacy story.

His own theory was some hollow earth theory where a separate magical dimension somehow functions inside the Earth’s core, spawning all magical creatures. From the inter-species relationships, humans inherited these magical powers. Then, for some reason, this Elysium started to make many elder magical species fade or diminish, leaving the humanoid magical folks like goblins and wizards to dominate the planet.

But Harry was not shouting his theory from the rooftops, nor did he have any particular stake in asserting his theory as the truth.

Harry had even broached the subject with Salazar while in the branch reality. Even Salazar was unaware of most of the stuff relating to Elysium. But the man was a treasure trove of knowledge when it came to drawing magical energy from the planet to power spells and rituals.

It was only thanks to Slytherin that he managed to decipher three specific scrolls written in a different language with some similarities with Latin. Even then, the All-speak charm could only do so much because the translations were wonky and, most of the time, made less sense. The charm worked on the residual magic left on the written word, which carried the writer's intent and the source of knowledge of the language. Since the only source Harry got for the old Latin was from Slytherin, the translations were poor quality.

‘I suppose I’ll learn more once Perenelle has a closer look at those scrolls. Maybe she has access to this Old Latin to make accurate translations.’ Harry mused.

Keeping thoughts on Elysium in the back of his mind, Harry focused on the task at hand. The task was carving runes into a stone sarcophagus to create a device capable of projecting a soul.

In his admittedly humble research into the Horcrux magic and the nature of the soul, he came to one conclusion. A spell to tear off the soul shard from his head could potentially affect his own soul.  The problem he encountered was that a spell designed to tear off a portion of the soul could not be made to specify which soul to slice off.

So, the solution to this quandary was two spells working in conjunction.  One to project the soul in a body and the other to pluck the soul out of the body.

But using two spells in conjunction was very dangerous, especially when his soul was on the line. Therefore, Harry had the choice of charging someone else to perform the spells, but since he trusted himself above anyone else, he came up with the Sarcophagus.

The sarcophagus would project the souls inhabiting his body into a manifestation of its spirit form. An ordinary soul’s spirit form could usually be seen in ghosts, but he didn’t know what form the horcrux would take. Either way, so long as the Sarcophagus distinguished the soul signature, he could use a spell to shear away the parasitic soul shard invading his spirit without harming his soul.

Then came the most challenging part. Merely cutting away the Horcrux was not practical. He had to bind it to another object and then destroy it. The problem was that shearing off a soul was no laughing matter. Harry suspected it’d be taxing on his spirit and body. Voldemort’s soul shard had lived within him for nearly two decades; in that time, the soul shard had rooted itself so thoroughly.

Also, he was up against Voldemort’s soul, which had undergone one of the most unnatural forms of magic known to wizardkind. The factor of unpredictability and risk was always high, no matter the precautions he took. But he had no other option but to go ahead with what he had. The alternative was sacrificing himself to Voldemort by following Dumbledore's idiotic plan.

No self-respecting human with even a microscopic sense of self-worth would follow through with Dumbledore’s plan. There was no power of ‘love’ as Dumbledore preached. If there were such a power, then it’d have to be acknowledged that there was also a power of ‘hatred’.

If Harry had learned one thing in his study of magical energy, it always liked to balance itself and never play favourites. Magic was power, and it cared not who wielded it or for what purpose. Magic was untouched by emotion; only the wielder was.

Finally, after days of toiling on the sarcophagus, it was finally finished.

Harry audibly yawned and stretched his boy, popping a few bones in the process. He had gone with less than four hours of sleep for the last week to finish the sarcophagus, and now he was ready to take a long nap. But before he fell on a bed and let sleep claim him, Harry summoned a snake using the Serpensortia spell.

“$Stay.$” He hissed at the snake.

The cobra that appeared on the Sarcophagus stayed docile and lay down without a fuss.

Harry charged the runes on the Sarcophagus, and lo and behold, a tiny spark of energy was projected outwards from the snake’s body.

“So tiny and fragile but so elegant.” Harry whispered in fascination as he stared at the wisp of pure energy that was the snake's soul.

The magical senses he had honed over tireless training and practice became highly alert when he saw the physical manifestation of the soul for the first time. Sure, he had seen ghosts in Hogwarts, but this was a whole new experience. The surge of energy he could feel from the soul was something otherworldly but familiar. It felt inconsequential but, at the same time, endless, as if the universe itself was baring its enormity before Harry.

Even his magic surged outward, mirroring the joy and excitement he was feeling now. It was a profound moment, and Harry understood the gravity of the task ahead. He was more determined than ever to decimate Voldemort, who dared to butcher such a gift the universe had granted the man.

Soul, he realised, was sacred. It was something that should be preserved, protected and revered.

“Anything that subverts the soul should be destroyed.” Harry whispered before he depowered the Sarcophagus.

“$Come, little one. I’ll take you to your new home.$”

Harry took the cobra into his hands and left the Sarcophagus chamber. He stopped by the door and looked back into the room as if he felt something flicker in his senses. But when he scanned the room, he found nothing. It almost felt like something or someone was watching him, but he could not sense anything when he trained his senses in the room.

Shaking his head, he left the chamber to find some nice juicy mice for the snake whose soul he had seen.

In the chamber where the sarcophagus was kept, the air shimmered as a ghostly figure appeared and stared at the sarcophagus for a long moment before vanishing into thin air.

****

“So, you had a piece of the Dark Lord's soul stuck in your body for all these years, and you want to remove it using this stone bed.” Daphne said slowly with a look of utter bewilderment on her face.

“Not a stone bed. I call it the Sarcophagus.”

At her pointed stare, Harry shrugged and said,

“But basically what you said.”

“So long as this soul shard is not destroyed, would the Dark Lord remain immortal?”

“Yes. He'll just keep coming back.”

“And you said the Dark Lord split his soul many times and kept these shards in powerful artefacts.”

“Yes. I've destroyed them all except for the last two. The one in his pet snake and the one attached to my scar.” Harry answered.

“Okay.” Daphne took a deep breath. “Why are you telling me all of this now?”

“What better time is there?” Harry asked.

Daphne looked at him like he had gone bonkers. After all, Sirius and Brigitte were exchanging marriage vows before the assembled guests in the garden of Potter Manor.

It was a relatively muted affair with very few chosen guests. Harry had wanted a large function with a long guest list, but Sirius put his foot down, citing security concerns. Brigitte also wanted a private event with some family and friends. Harry had to cave in when the two of them insisted, and therefore, there were hardly 25 guests in his garden. Remus became the best man, which left Harry to be the overall organiser of the event.

“Are you sure you didn’t hit your head recently?” Daphne mocked him.

“Everyone is in their own bubble or engrossed in the ceremony. Besides, I set up a ward around us.”

“You’ve known about this soul shard for a long time, right?” Daphne asked.

“Yes.” Harry nodded.

“So why tell me about this now?”

“Well, we’re now officially a couple, and you signed that contract last day…” Harry reminded her, which earned him a glare at the reminder of that particular function.

“I also need someone I trust with sufficient skill in healing, and that’s you.”

Daphne looked mollified and a touch happy at his admission.

“Of course, I’ll help you, Harry.” Daphne said, smiling at him. “How can I help?”

“First, let’s dance, and then you can listen to all my secret plans.” Harry grinned.

Daphne just nodded with a hint of a grin tugging at the corner of her lips.

****

Harry was nervous and thrilled at the same time. He watched Winky float Nagini into the Sarcophagus impatiently. Once she set down Voldemort’s pet snake, Harry conjured bindings on the snake, which bound it securely against the Sarcophagus.

“Administer the antidote Dobby.”

Winky magically forced Nagini’s mouth open, and Dobby poured the antidote into the snake’s mouth. Immediately, the giant python wakes from the slumber induced by the Draught of Living Death. It began to struggle against the bindings, but its movements were sluggish. Harry maintained a sense-disorienting spell on the snake to keep it docile throughout the procedure, but he needed the creature to be conscious for the Sarcophagus to work properly.

Before Daphne’s watchful eyes, Harry charged several rune sequences, and the Sarcophagus came to life.

“You got the sequence?”

Daphne just nodded silently.

Now came the hard part. He activated the rune that projected the spirit form, and the Sarcophagus worked like a charm. The energy field projected by the Sarcophagus projected two distinct soul signatures. There was the wholesome soul of Nagini, and the reduced, tainted soul of Voldemort projected apart.

Harry placed a gold ring on a table beside the Sarcophagus before he trained his wand on the soul shard of Voldemort.

“Anima apscido.”

Tendrils of golden red strings made of magical energy shot out of the tip of his wand and latched on to the soul shard. He could feel the soul shard fight back against the spell, but Harry remained resolute and began to pull the soul out of Nagini’s spirit. Slowly but surely, the soul shard came out of Nagini and remained on the tip of his wand. Harry immediately tied the soul shard into the gold ring and bound it with enchantments so that it remained dormant.

“It worked. There is no tainted energy left. The soul remains pure.” Daphne said with wide eyes as she stared at the glowing ball of energy now exuding a warm aura.

He watched from the sidelines as Daphne started using diagnostic charms to see whether there was anything wrong with Nagini.

“There seem to be no side effects. But I recommend keeping the snake under observation for a few days before you use the Sarcophagus.” Daphne suggested.

“No. I want this thing gone now.”

“You’ve carried it all this time. Just wait a few more days. Don’t be a Gryffindor now.”

Harry strongly objected to the insinuation that he was thick-headed. But he caved in to her suggestion to wait a few days before using the Sarcophagus. When he eventually came to do so, it worked quite splendidly without any adverse effects.

Once the Horcrux was removed, he felt like something weighing down his neck was removed. He felt like he could battle Voldemort for an entire day without breaking a sweat. Perhaps it was the psychological effect of knowing his soul was whole again and untainted by the soul shard of a psycho. Whatever it was, Harry felt like he was at the height of his power and from that feeling emerged confidence in his victory over the Dark Lord.

That sense of victory was compounded when he used basilisk venom to destroy Voldemort's two soul anchors. Lord Voldemort was now genuinely mortal, and that knowledge made Harry spend the rest of his summer holidays in relative peace.

****

Perenelle poured over the scrolls and books she collected from Slytherin’s Chamber.

If her grandson thought she’d be swimming aimlessly in the massive repository of knowledge of Cadmus’ descendants, he was mistaken. She was an adept sensor and had the gift of finer aspects of magic. Therefore, she could trace her grandson’s signature of magic on the books and scrolls. Those were the first to be examined, and she easily found what she was looking for that way.

The trail to Elysium hadn’t gone cold as she had feared. She solved half the puzzle and now knew how to read the map to find Elysium. Her grandson couldn't have pieced it together because he didn’t have all the tools. But she had those tools thanks to her connection to Antioch Peverell.

“You see now, Nicholas. My way is not hopeless after all.” Perenelle looked at her longtime husband and friend triumphantly as she showed the partial map.

“You’ll need the Hallows to complete the map.”

“No, Nicholas.” Perenelle shook her head. “I need only one Hallow. The Cloak of Invisibility, and we both know where it is.”

Perenelle looked at the large map on the stone tablet left by her ancestors. She had searched for a way to read the map for centuries, but now she knew how.

Elysium opens to the transcendent keys

the map of one of three shines the way

see the world through death’s skin

the light of ascended shines the path.

“You see, Nicholas. I know I’m one step closer to embracing our destiny.”

“The stone tablet had a proximity ward to show the clue.” Nicholas said with a thoughtful frown as he read the lines written in the precursor language from which Latin was born.

“Something like that. It’s difficult to get a proper read on the magic in the stone. It’s beyond our level of magical finesse.” said Perenelle.

“But you understand what this means, right?” she asked earnestly.

“The transcendent keys means the Hallows. We’ve always known they were powerful artefacts and had nothing to do with all that nonsense about Death and the Peverell brothers.” Nicholas said softly, staring at the lines intently.

“The map of one of three. It obviously speaks of the stone tablet left by Antioch.” Perenelle said, nodding at the tablet in her hands.

Nicholas nodded as they also had two other tablets of the Peverell brothers, but those hadn’t so much as twitched so far.

“Seeing the world through death’s skin could allude to the Cloak of Invisibility. So we might need Harry’s help.”

“Yes. But what does ‘the light of ascended shines the path’ mean?” Perenelle asked.

“I do not know.” Nicholas frowned. “We might need to look for any references for this ascended light in our archives.”

“Hmm. Let’s not waste any more time then.” Perenelle said, climbing to her feet and swiftly walking into their library with Nicholas closely following behind.

**** Branch reality ****

An excerpt from Atlantis and Valyria, Myth or Reality? by William Poesy

When Plato brought forth the fictional city of Atlantis in his works Timaeus and Critias, he might’ve never intended for people around the world to take it literally. Plato’s intentions for introducing a mythical city, which was supposed to be a naval power, was purely as an allegory.

However, a considerable number of people started to believe in the tale of the mythical city that was supposed to have sunk to the bottom of the ocean. Kings have spent ships after this fictional city, hoping to salvage the sunken city's remains, but nothing was ever found. Such people believed Atlantis was the cradle of civilisation, ignoring that Plato used Atlantis to enshrine the superiority of Athens, an ideal state in his mind. This little fact is conveniently forgotten by the proponents of Atlantis and its existence.

Similarly, those following the Valyrian faith believed the city of Valyria or the Valyrian Freehold, to be the birthplace of civilisation. Some even claim Valyria is the mythical Atlantis described in Timaeus and Critias. But Plato himself disproves such claims by alluding that Atlantis was near Egypt, while the Valyrian faith claims that Valyria was in the Mediterranean between Greece and Rome.

But centuries of expeditions have disproved the existence of any such islands.

Yet, some people still believe in Atlantis and Valyria's fantastical tales. Thanks to the shortsightedness of 19th-century novice historians, the tales of the mythical cities spread far and wide.

In the Kingdom of Scotland, it became a tradition for a newly crowned king to send naval expeditions to find Valyria. It often resulted in war with Rome and other European states during the reign of Alexander Targaryen and his descendants.

The quest for Valyria also made Scotland the mightiest naval power in the Western hemisphere, eventually empowering them to destroy the Vikings and take control of all the Nordic states. Even the Continental War of Titus Targaryen had elements of a Vlayrian expedition in his fleet.

But to this day, Valyria and Atlantis remain a mystery and a rich source of contemporary fiction.

AN: 

For artworks, Discord channel: https://discord.com/invite/WWN6chU299

Chapter 102: Desperate times

Vol3: The Secrets of House Peverell

The night was chilly as usual, but it was no better than the days. There was a marked difference in climate not just in Westminster but across the entire United Kingdom. There were undoubtedly some very unfortunate events happening across the nation, and despite being the prime minister, Alvin Thomson had no control whatsoever over the situation. That was a fact, and it was being used by his political opponents to discredit him in the media.

For a moment, he wondered why his political opponents even bothered. The entitled idiots in the media were doing a far better job than his political opponents in blaming everything wrong that was happening under the sun on his head. Just thinking about those smug sons of bitches in the media and their holier-than-thou attitude made him mad. The more he attempted to put such thoughts out of his mind and relax, the more agitated he became. Whenever he closed his eyes, those smug mugs of those media reporters came to mind.

Somehow, the media was spinning the unfortunate events happening in the north and west of London as somehow the government’s fault. There was a string of strange night raids on homes near Scotland. The police reports suggest they were gang-related crimes, and he had promised all resources to the police to control the situation. There was also a string of rabies infections going around even though his people on the ground promised him the stray dogs were under control in the streets. The media claimed the vaccinations were not working, but the last report on his table suggests that the vaccines were of high quality.

Still, he formed a special committee to investigate the quality of vaccines and, in the meantime, find alternate sources of vaccines for emergency use.

Then, there was that infernal bridge collapsing that was creating a headache for the govt. How was he supposed to know when or why the bridge would collapse? He was not a fortune teller to have guessed the bridge was about to collapse. The accusations in the media were that the govt spent less on the bridge, entirely skipping the part where it was not his govt that built the damn bridge in the first place!

Still, he immediately sent a team of some of the best engineers and investigators, and they were as clueless as the government as to why the bridge collapsed. But the media was uninterested in facts and was after their ratings. The more they blamed the government, the better their ratings were.

Frankly, Alvin was starting to see that the people were the problem. His fellow Brits were getting soft-bellied lazy bums, easily influenced by some two-bit hacks in the media and their daily nonsense.

It was disparaging to think his fellow citizens were stupid, but these days, he was thinking of retiring from politics altogether. Some of his opponents even blamed him for forest fires, for the lord’s sake!

What was he? Rain? How was he supposed to foresee forest fires in West Sussex, Yorkshire, Moray, and some other areas in the Scottish Highlands? His opponents claimed it was all the government’s fault, and the media goons happily parroted the narrative. The silver lining in all of this was that Wales was spared from all these unfortunate events so far.

Shaking his head, Alvin let himself relax in his chair and switched on the TV. The first channel that came up was the BBC. He scowled upon seeing the headlines.

“A grim fog clouding Wessex.” Alvin muttered incredulously.

The reporter narrated how ’sad’ and ‘gloomy’ the people of Wessex were. Their days were supposedly cold and dreary, forcing most inhabitants to stay indoors. Parks were supposedly left vacant, bereft of children or families.

Of course, the prevailing theme of the report was that the government was not doing enough to make people happy.

How was he supposed to make people happy? He was not a jester. He was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom!

Letting out a huff, he switched off the TV and poured himself a glass of brandy. Draining the glass in one go, he immediately refilled it again.

Alvin remembered he was supposed to meet with the US President on a formal state visit next week.

‘Perhaps I should ask the guy for citizenship.’ Alvin thought with a scowl as he drained the glass again before pouring himself another shot.

His daughter was settled in Florida with her husband and the grandkids.

‘Maybe it's time I visit them. Florida will be a perfect place to retire.’ he thought, a momentary smile overcoming the gloominess as he thought of his family.

He heard a soft cough, which brought him out of his musings. Alvin looked around the empty room and frowned.

“Up here.”

Alvin could only gape as a man with a pointed nose spoke from a dirty old oil painting in the corner of the room.

‘My mind is playing tricks on me.’ Alvin shook his head.

“To the Prime Minister of Muggles, it is urgent that we meet. Kindly respond immediately. Sincerely, Amelia Bones, Minister of Magic.”

It took a moment for his brain to catch up to what was happening, and he immediately remembered his predecessor talking something about magic and all that nonsense. He had hoped his predecessor was pulling his leg or the man had gone senile. But now, he was faced with the truth of the situation. He could now understand why Ellington wanted to retire. The man and the party had trapped him by foisting all of this into his lap.

Bloody wanker!

‘I should’ve listened to my wife and remained an MP or even quit politics altogether.’ Alvin thought.

“I have other matters to attend.” Alving explained, “You see… it’s not a very good time for me. I have a Cabinet meeting, and I need to prepare for…”

“That can be rearranged. This is more important.” the blonde-haired man in the portrait said firmly.

“You don’t understand. This meeting is very important.“

“We shall make other arrangements for that meeting. Meanwhile, please respond immediately to Madam Bones.” the man said again.

Alvin straightened himself and adjusted his tie, preparing to project confidence. He didn’t want to show these magic folk how rattled and out of depth he was. So, he adopted what he hoped was a stern look and stared at the door, waiting for his guests to stroll in.

But that quickly changed when bright green flames ignited in the grate beneath a white marble mantlepiece. He openly gaped as people in funny clothing walked out of the flames as if the devil was walking out of hell.

“Good lord in heaven, give me strength,” Alvin muttered, clutching the silver cross pendant his mother had given him.

All of these magic folk were wearing pointy hats and blue robes except for one woman who was wearing long red robes. The woman stood in the front, her eyes stern and red hair glittering eerily under the fire.

“Amelia Bones, I presume.” he said bravely, forcing himself to regain his composure. “Please, take a seat.”

“Prime Minister, I’m afraid I’m on a rather tight schedule. I was supposed to have this meeting at the beginning of the month, but certain circumstances forced me to postpone it. Thankfully, it also gave me time to prepare.”

“Understandable. Please take a seat and…” Alvin offered, but the magic woman declined promptly.

“I will be brief, Prime Minister. Our people are at war, and that war has spilt into your world.”

Alvin froze in his chair and stared incredulously at the red-head woman.

“You mean… everything that is happening is your people’s fault?” Alvin asked after finding his voice.

“Unfortunately, yes. We’re facing an insurgency within our people led by a dangerous Dark Lord. The followers of the Dark Lord are responsible for these attacks. We’ve had some of these attacks in our world as well and…”

“Now, just wait a minute. Why is this Dark Lord…” Alvin couldn’t help but make a face at the unfamiliar term, “…attacking us? What could we’ve possibly done for one of your people to attack my people?”

“You exist, and that’s reason enough for the Dark Lord.” said Amelia.

“He is attacking us because we exist?” Alvin asked incredulously.

“Yes. The Dark Lord hates muggles, and he supposedly claims to want to eradicate all muggles and establish the rule of wizards.” said Amelia said with a roll of her eyes.

“What? Why would such madmen be allowed free reign? You’ve got to do something to stop this,” Alvin demanded, his voice rising.

“We will take care of such unstable elements shortly, Prime Minister. First, we must secure your govt’s protection. We cannot allow the Dark Lord to gain undue influence over you or your cabinet.”

“I can take care of myself, and I’ve got some of the best security details in the country. I won’t be needing your protection.” Alvin said morosely while shooting a disgruntled look at the blue-robed men and women behind his magical counterpart.

“I’m afraid I was not asking for your permission. I’m saying that your government will be placed under our protection.” Amelia said firmly, her stare eerily reminding him of the Catholic school teacher he used to fear in his younger days.

“How do you plan on doing that? You people are not exactly inconspicuous with your silly hat and dress robes. Besides, how can this Dark Lord influence my govt?”

“The Dark Lord and his followers can use spells to control the minds of men in key positions of power in your govt.”

“They can do that?” Alvin asked in horror.

“I’m afraid so, yes.” Amelia nodded.

“This is just preposterous! How can we defend against mind control?”

“We could post our aurors within your protection detail, but I scrapped that plan because I need all my best forces to destroy the Dark Lord and his followers. So, I came up with a much more simpler solution.”

“Oh. What’s that?” Alvin asked curiously, even if he was overwhelmed by the strange tangent his life was taking.

“It’s quite simple, Prime Minister. We take control of your minds before the Dark Lord can.” said Amelia.

“Wait, what?” he stared dumbly as one of the blue-robed women stepped forward and pointed a stick at him.

The stick glowed eerie bronze before he heard a faint whisper.

“Imperio.”

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom was not the only one to be put under the spell. In the span of a few hours, the entire British government fell under the control of their wizarding counterparts. Amelia Bones was the first Minister of Magic to take such drastic steps to maintain order in the history of the wizarding world. In doing so, she also proved just how vulnerable the muggles were to wizards despite their advancements.

****

While the entire British government was being systematically taken over by the British Ministry of Magic, a desperate mother begged an old friend for help.

“Severus, I wouldn’t have asked you of this if there was no other way. Please Severus. Draco is just a boy.”

“A boy initiated by the Dark Lord. His fate…his mission…it’s beyond me, Narcissa. You already know this.” Snape said curtly.

“Draco is foolish like his father. He doesn’t understand what he is getting into. He doesn’t…he is just a boy, Severus.” Narcissa said with tears rolling down her cheek.

“Yes, he is foolish. His petty feud with Potter has clouded the boy’s mind and filled it with thoughts of revenge. He has eyes, but he refuses to see how dangerous it is to incur the wrath of an enemy like Harry Potter.” he said calmly and took a sip from the glass of wine to wet his dry throat.

“I agree. But he won’t listen, and he goes ahead without a moment of thought. The Dark Lord is also punishing us for Lucius’ failure. You know as well as I do that there is no other reason for this…unreasonable demand foisted on Draco.”

“Careful now, Narcissa. You are skirting close to treason against our lord.” Snape warned.

“My son’s life is all that matters to me, Severus. The Dark Lord means for my son to die trying in this ridiculous task. He wants vengeance for Lucius’ mistake, for Bellatrix’s mistake… he is punishing my son… my son!” Narcissa let out a choked gasp.

“I’m afraid the Dark Lord’s mind is set on this matter, Narcissa. There is nothing I or anybody else could do to change his will. Draco must prevail in this task now that he has taken the mark.” Severus said firmly.

Narcissa cried in earnest as she gazed at Snape beseechingly.

“Please, Severus. He is my only child…my baby boy. I have no one else I could ask for help.” Narcissa sobbed.

“If Draco succeeds, he’ll be rewarded by the Dark Lord.” Snape said in a softer tone.

“He won’t succeed!” Narcissa wailed, “How can Draco succeed where even the Dark Lord has failed? The Dark Lord wants my son to die trying.”

“I do not think the Dark Lord intends for Draco to succeed in his task, nor does he think Dumbledore will kill Draco.” Snape said, looking away from the grieving mother.

“Please, Severus. I beg of you.” Narcissa fell on her knees, “I urge you to ask the Dark Lord to spare my son from this burden. He’ll listen to you. You’re his most trusted advisor. If you say that Draco will fail in this task…”

“The Dark Lord will not be persuaded by me or anyone else for that matter. He is… displeased with Lucius and Bellatrix for failing to retrieve the Prophecy. He is wroth with the position he is dealt with after Potter wounded the Dark Lord before the whole world to see.” Snape shook his head after taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Narcissa.”

“My son… my only son…” Narcissa wailed in despair

She fell from her knees and sat on the floor as she cried.

Snape seized her by her arms, helped her into a couch, and gave her a glass of wine.

“I cannot change the mind of the Dark Lord, but I might be able to help Draco with his task.” Snape said slowly.

She sat up, her face pale white while her eyes remained red and puffy. But there was desperate hope shining in her eyes as she gazed at Snape.

“Severus – you would help him? Help my son! Would you look after him and see to it that he returns safely with no harm?”

“I can…try.” Snape whispered.

“Oh, Severus!” she flung herself into Snape's arms and hugged him in utter relief.

“I need to know some things from your Narcissa. I need to know anything Lucius might’ve shared regarding Harry Potter and anything that happened at the graveyard on the night of the Dark Lord’s revival. It might be completely inane, but anything at all would be of great help.” Snape said.

“Lucius never told me anything, but I got the feeling that he was afraid.”

“Afraid? Afraid of who?”

“Afraid of Potter. When Draco returned that summer in his fourth year, Lucius was adamant that Draco stay away from Potter. He ordered Draco to stop antagonising Potter or any of his friends.” Narcissa said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“Have Lucius ever said something like that to Draco before?”

“No.” Narcissa shook her head, “But I’ve told Draco many times to stop his unreasonable behaviour with Potter.”

“Did he say anything about what happened during the night of the Dark Lord’s resurrection?” Snape asked a curious glint in his coal-black eyes.

“No, Severus. He never told me anything. I had asked many times, but Lucius never said a word. But he was terrified of Potter.”

“I see.” Snape frowned as he thoughtfully stared out the window of his home.

“Severus…my son…”

“You do not have to worry, Narcissa. The Dark Lord has tasked me to see to the success of the task. I promise you…Draco will be unharmed if he listens to my advice.” Snape said curtly.

“Thank you, Severus. I’ll make sure he knows to follow your command in Hogwarts.” Narcissa said with relief.

****

Tonks stretched her back and yawned tiredly in her bed.  She had arrived late at night from work. The Aurors have been working overtime with Minister Bones’ aggressive moves in the last two weeks. The momentum the Ministry gained from arresting Death Eaters from Potter Manor worked like a charm in public. Madam Bones had naturally exploited the political milestone she was handed on a silver platter in a direction Tonks or the rest of the Order had never thought of.

She immediately passed on the information about Madam Bones’ actions in the muggle world to Shackbolt, who had no doubt passed it on to Dumbledore. The Headmaster had correctly identified that Madam Bones would pursue the war far more pragmatically and ruthlessly than her predecessors. But never to this extent.

She hadn’t thought Madam Bones would be callous enough to use the muggle govt under the Imperius Curse. This was why she passed on the information to Shackbolt. She knew it was a risky play on her part, but she felt like she had to inform someone responsible. She’d have gone to Harry with the information, but despite his recent success against the Dark Lord, she saw him as a kid. Besides, Harry already had the Dark Lord to worry about. It didn’t feel like a good idea to involve Harry in whatever mess the Ministry was getting into.

If something were to go pear-shaped, she wanted someone like Dumbledore in the know to pick up the pieces.

At the same time, she understood why Madam Bones was taking extreme measures. The Dark Lord had unleashed legions of Vampires and Werewolves into the muggle world, wreaking havoc, and this had forced the Aurors to be stretched thin. The presence of Dementors nesting in muggle towns didn’t help either.

Taking control of the muggle govt certainly removed any escalation from their part. But it was a slippery slope. Who was to say that the Ministry would continue to hold the reins of the muggle govt indefinitely?

Thus, the reason for her snitching on the Minister despite the sensitivity of the information. There was also the slim possibility that the Aurors could be sympathetic to the cause of the Dark Lord. It was a less likely case with Harry sharing his Dark Mark screening ward with the Ministry. They had used that useful little ward to clean house in the Ministry. Madam Bones had been all too gleeful to haul off all marked Death Eaters.

Suddenly, her nose picked up the aromatic smell of French roast in her flat. Tonks pushed the sheets to the side and climbed out of the bed. She walked out of her bedroom following the smell and found a beautiful spread on her dining table.

There was coffee on the table, as well as bread, butter, boiled eggs, and bacon. She immediately took a plateful of everything she liked and eagerly dined. She was starving as she hadn’t had the chance to have dinner last night.

“’ave you ‘eeven brushed your teeth?” Fleur asked as she walked into their dining room dressed in a bathrobe. Her hair was dripping with water, and she was drying it with a towel.

For a moment, Tonks was mesmerised by the beauty of her lover. Fleur’s blue eyes were sparkling, and her skin had a glow to it. It also helped that the bathrobe left nothing much to the imagination.

“I’m starving here. My teeth understand the demands of the stomach come first and foremost.” Tonks grinned.

She saw Fleur shake her head and join her at the table.

Luckily, she had no duty today and could spend time with Fleur. She supposed she could accompany Fleur to Marauder’s Den. Tomorrow, she’d be posted at King’s Cross to ensure the safety of the Hogwarts Express. Keeping Hogwarts safe was now a priority, and she needed to blow off some steam before she was thrown into work.

The DMLE had proposed an alternative to the Hogwarts train, considering the security risks involved. But Madam Bones had put her foot down on the proposal and killed it. She reasoned that the Ministry would be perceived as weak if they cancelled the Hogwarts Express.

‘Bloody politics.’ Tonks thought.

At least she knew someone would be happy with the results. She had seen how Harry was acting all lovey-dovey around Daphne. She suspected the two were up to no good in those long train rides like she had seen many couples do in her time at Hogwarts.

“Why make ‘zat face?” Fleur asked.

“Oh, nothing. Just thinking about all those Hogwarts kids who get to ride on a train all warm and cosy while we aurors get to escort that bloody train for a whole day.” Tonks grumbled.

The tinkling laughter that escaped Fleur’s throat lifted her spirits a little bit. In these trying times, laughter was the only remedy to preserve hope.

 

AN: 

For artworks, Discord channel: https://discord.com/invite/WWN6chU299

Chapter 103: A Sluggish train ride

“Father has been going mad with worry over our home’s safety. He had half a mind to send us all packing to Germany if it wasn’t for you, Harry.” said Astoria as she munched on a chocolate frog on the platform while students boarded the Hogwarts Express.

“I’m regretting my actions, you chocolate thieves.” Harry glared at the Greengrass sisters for stealing his chocolate stash.

“A small price to pay for my company and my sister’s favour.” Astoria cheerfully said.

“You have a rather high opinion of yourself, Astoria.”

“I learned from the best,” Astoria said, pointing at Harry, making his eyes twitch.

“It’s pointless to engage my sister in a war of words, Harry. She was born with a silver tongue.” said Daphne without looking up from the chocolate frog card she was reading.

“It’s rare when my sister compliments my prowess. But I’m usually in a good mood when that happens.” Astoria grinned happily.

“See…” Daphne deadpanned.

“But I can’t thank you enough for warding our home, Harry. Without that Fidelius Charm protecting us, I fear our father wouldn’t have sent us to Hogwarts this year.” said Astoria.

“I, for one, could not have thought of spending a second apart from my lovely betrothed.” said Harry, throwing his left arm around Daphne’s shoulder, making said girl blush.

But she also didn’t forget to elbow his ribs in silent protest at his comment. At the same time, she didn’t mind too much at his hand around her shoulders. Harry took it as a win and his ability to wear her out of the conservative outlook of Daphne. Usually, she was not game for showing any affection in public.

“I wish I had a camera.” Astoria pouted as she stared at them.

“Hmm… You know it’ll be an interesting idea to make a compact camera that can take as many photos as we want and is easily carried around,” Harry mused aloud.

Harry had an aversion to wizarding cameras even though he always liked the sound made by the old cameras when the flash occurred. Come to think of it, he wondered why wizarding cameras made such a sound. He knew for a fact that the wizarding cameras worked on charms, so there was no possible reason why the flash should make any sound. The old muggle cameras made that sound due to the electric charge passing through the filament, which made the gas in the bulb expand rapidly, generating a small shockwave with a popping sound.

The more he thought about it, the less it made sense. Wizarding cameras used charms to generate light and a remarkable runic array to capture the reflected light, so there was hardly any need for sound and the camera's ridiculous size.

“Maybe we should work on that for our Ancient Runes project this year.” Harry suggested to Daphne, who looked ready to punch his teeth out.

“I don’t think so. I’ll be changing my electives if I’m saddled with another one of your impossible and highly complicated projects.” Daphne threatened with a huff.

“She is just joking. She loves it when I drag her into different projects,” said Harry, seeing Astoria’s concerned look, “Daphs likes to protest, but she ends up being a phenomenal partner in the project. Just last year, we reversed the effects of a Pensieve by projecting memories outwards in a holographic display.”

“Don’t call me that.” Daphne muttered furiously with red cheeks.

While Harry might have obliged with her request, Astoria didn’t let the matter drop. Daphne endured her younger sister’s teasing until Tracey came to her rescue out of nowhere.

Harry made sure the Greengrass sisters safely boarded the Hogwarts Express, and he even left a few wards to keep an eye on them. He had personally vouched for their safety to Damien, and he had escorted them from their home. After all, the Greengrass family was a prime target for Voldemort because of his relationship with Daphne. So, he was covering all the bases. He had offered the Fidelius Charm to Andromeda and Nymphadora, but they politely declined his offer, just like the Weasleys.

He knew Voldemort well enough to understand how the little psychopath’s mind worked. The Dark Lord was denied the destruction of Potter Manor and served the minor confrontation as a major embarrassment for the Death Eaters. The Ministry and Harry came out of that incident in a stronger position with many captured Death Eaters.

Voldemort had turned that embarrassment into a rage and channelled it into Diagon Alley and the muggle world. The Dark Lord’s forces kidnapped Ollivander, leaving new Hogwarts students to depend on less-known wandmakers. The news in the muggle world was not great either. There were too many attacks, and most of them were vampire and werewolf attacks. The muggles were under the impression that it was an outbreak of rabies or some such infection.

Therefore, he knew the next target of the Dark Lord’s ire would be his friends. For this reason, he approached most of his friends and their families, placing his skill in warding and protective charms at their disposal. Some had taken up his offer, like the Lovegoods, Grangers and Bells. While he couldn't keep watch over all of them, he felt relieved to have put his knowledge to some use to keep their homes under the best protective wards.

Harry traversed through the compartments of the train while he kept an eye out for the aurors standing on the platforms. While he personally disliked Amelia Bones for her hand in Sirius’ issues with the Ministry, he had learned to work with the woman. At least, she had so far been competent in keeping up the fight against the Death Eaters.

From what Damien told him, Minister Bones had been secretly bolstering her auror force with foreign and local hit-wizards. She seems to have taken a leaf out of Voldemort’s book and chose to obscure the identity of her hit-wizards to protect them from retaliation.

He could see how that’d boost morale within the Ministry forces, but it was also a double-edged sword.

Harry focused on the wizards and witches standing outside the train. Their faces were obscured, making them unidentifiable. The weakness of this move was that a Death Eater could sneak into the auror force unless precautions were taken to prevent infiltrations.

Either way, Harry was not worried about the aurors getting infiltrated. He was more than aware that he couldn’t possibly micromanage all aspects of the war.

No, he had other methods of waging war against the Dark Lord. While he had handed over the ward scheme to screen for the Dark Mark to the Ministry, Harry kept a charm to track all those branded with the Dark Mark under wraps. He had developed a small prototype, but he was sure he could develop it further. He just needed more time. This year offered him that time, and he was going to use it to hunt down not just Voldemort but also his lackeys for good. After all, he had access to a group of mercenary wizards ready to do his bidding, thanks to Perenelle Flamel.

So, with a spring in his step, he entered the first compartment of the Hogwarts Express for the prefects' meeting.

****

The prefects' meeting went without a hitch, but Draco Malfoy never attended. The new Head Boy, Elphias Everton, was not happy with Malfoy's absence. There were security procedures in place in case an attack happened, and Everton was annoyed. Malfoy thought he could give it a skip. Everton took it personally as an insult and had taken all his frustration on the resident air-head Pansy Parkinson, who claimed Draco had better things to do. It took considerable effort from the Hufflepuff Head Girl to keep the peace.

“Don’t you think it is strange Malfoy didn’t attend the prefects’ meeting? He usually never wastes a chance to pick a fight with you,” Hermione said as they made their way out of the first compartment with their train patrol schedule.

“Maybe he lost his nerve with his daddy dearest in prison.” Harry said, not wanting Hermione to dig too deep into Malfoy’s shenanigans for this year.

“Still, it’s strange. I think he’s up to something.” Hermione muttered.

“I’m sure he’ll come up with some idiotic scheme to annoy us somehow.”

“Or maybe Malfoy never boarded the Hogwarts Express.” Ernie Macmillan said as the Hufflepuff prefect overtook them with Hannah Abbott.

“One could only hope, mate.” Harry called after the puff.

“Don’t keep your hopes up, Potter. Malfoy might just be hiding in some corner to get the better of you.” Hannah shouted back as the Hufflepuff duo walked speedily away.

Harry snorted at the comment and sought out the compartments for his patrol with Hermione. After a round of patrol duty, he went straight after Daphne’s compartment. To his surprise, Neville and Susan Bones were sitting along with the Greengrass sisters.

“This is a surprise. I thought your aunt would take you straight to Hogwarts herself,” Harry commented as he entered the compartment.

“She nearly did. Then she remembered all those aurors moving along with the train. So, here I am,” the redhead Hufflepuff shrugged.

“Uh-huh.” Harry muttered, his eyes settling on Neville. “Hey, you. Did you go to the Stonehenge as planned?”

Neville perked up at the question.

“Oh yes. It was wicked.” Neville said happily before his smile turned into a frown, “Although, grandmother had a hard time there. The muggles were giving her strange looks all throughout the day.”

Harry wisely kept his thoughts on why that might’ve been the case. It wasn’t exactly the norm for the muggles to see an old woman strolling through their streets wearing a vulture hat and dress robes. At Halloween, that might’ve been acceptable attire, but during July…

Shaking off that train of thought, Harry engaged in a quiet conversation with Neville about other important things, like the quidditch league matches. He had missed many of the games, all thanks to his impromptu reality hopping. Since no one really knew what happened, he had to come up with a ridiculous cover story that involved a training trip that involved his disappearance from the home islands. He was so engrossed in their conversation that he didn’t hear someone knocking on the cabin’s sliding door until Tracey opened the door.

It was none other than Luna Lovegood who stepped into the cabin.

“This one is for your Harry. And these are for Susan, Daphne, and Neville.”

Two scrolls tied neatly with green ribbons suddenly came before Harry’s eyes.

“Oh hey, Luna. What is this?”

Before Harry could pluck the scroll out of her hand, his magic jumped to work like an overeager child. The scroll jumped from Luna’s hand, untied itself, and unruffled before Harry’s eyes in a way that he could read in comfort.

Harry frowned as he once again met with the excitable nature of his magical power. Ever since he had rid the Horcrux in his scar, his magic was acting weirdly. It was almost as if his magic was overeager to get things done fast without waiting for his human instincts to catch up. He had to consciously keep his magic from acting out his thoughts all the time. He had relaxed his mind and let it unrestrained while he was among friends.

He could already see his friends giving him strange looks because of the apparent display of his telekinesis powers without the aid of a wand. It was not an unknown phenomenon in the wizarding world. Accidental magic had often resulted in such powers manifesting without the aid of a wand. There have been wizards and witches capable of doing the same, but they certainly can’t do the other things that he was now capable of doing.

One reason he had become so attuned to warding, enchanting, and wielding the planet's natural magic to his needs was these newfound changes within his body. So long as he had a tight leash over his mind, he could assert complete control over his magical energy.

“Harry, you…” Neville let out a gasp, “…you mastered wandless magic.”

He could see Susan also staring at him in awe. Daphne, Tracey, and Astoria looked at him with wide eyes. He supposed he should’ve mentioned it to Daphne, but the opportunity never came. Toward the end of the summer holidays, he had been busy visiting various homes and seeing to their protection.

“Something like that.” Harry admitted, deciding to roll with it now that the cat was out of the bag.

His eyes briefly ran over Professor Slughorn's finely written invitation. With a thought, he banished the scroll into thin air.

“He wants us to be there in his compartment.” said Harry.

“But why? What did I do?” Neville looked flabbergasted.

“You need not worry, Neville. Professor Slughorn is a man who likes to hold parties.” Susan explained, “Aunty said Professor Slughorn might hold several parties, and he’d invite some famous personalities. It’s good for making connections outside of Hogwarts.”

“The Slug Club. Father told us about it. I never thought Professor Slughorn would hold a party in the Hogwarts Express.” Daphne said with a pondering look.

“Maybe it’s something else. Let’s go see what he wants,” Harry said, rising to his feet.

They walked all the way to compartment C, and Harry had to endure some staring more than usual. At least, his newfound status as the ‘Chosen One’ or the ‘Prophesised One’ was a boon when he made rounds. The younger kids would become obedient little ducks and look at him as if he was about to turn into a dragon. The braver few would ask for an autograph or even strike up a conversation with him.

His policy of random engagements with the crowd helped him avoid being swarmed by his ‘fans’ and ‘well-wishers’. Running away would only cause too many problems. The Weasley twins were also a big help in averting too much crowding of his fans because they sold merchandise in his name and with his signature on it.

Besides, thanks to the Knights, he was quite friendly with many Hogwarts students from across houses.

“Harry, do you plan on continuing the Knights this year?” Susan asked as they trekked through the corridors and a sea of students.

“The Knights were created to give combat experience to defend themselves and their family from danger. Since that danger is ever prevalent and out in the open, I think it’ll be wise to continue the Knights as it is.” Harry said after a brief moment of thought.

“That’s good. I was afraid you’d stop the Knights. I learned a lot more of DADA from you in one year than I did in five years at Hogwarts,” Susan said happily, “Auntie was very impressed by my DADA score.”

“Same here.” Neville nodded along happily, “Gran was over the moon when I got an O. Sometimes, I can’t believe it myself.”

“It looks like you’ve got skill and patience for teaching Harry. After Hogwarts, maybe you could apply for the DADA post. I’m sure Dumbledore would happily accept you into the staff.” Susan suggested making Daphne snort.

“If you plan on wasting months in Hogwarts teaching a bunch of children how to hold their wand after we graduate, you can find someone else to court Potter.”  Daphne said in a way that brokered no argument.

“As you can see, my lovely yet ambitious girlfriend has plans for poor old me.” Harry laughed while Daphne looked rather pleased that he didn’t speak in favour of a post at Hogwarts.

While Hogwarts was a beautiful place, he would be bored to heaven if he were stuck there for ten months every year teaching magic to children. Such a position was unamusing and frankly too restrictive. His ambitions mirrored Daphne’s to an extent. In his opinion, the Ministry offered far more flexible career options even though, as of late, he tended towards magical experimentation and spell crafting.

When they finally reached Slughorn’s compartment, they saw they were not the only guests in the hasty little get-together the new professor had set up.

“Harry!” Slughorn greeted jubilantly once the man’s grey eyes settled on him. “Good to see you, lad. And you brought Mr Longbottom, Miss Bones and Miss Greengrass. Wonderful!”

Neville was taken aback as the professor clapped on his shoulders happily.

“Professor Slughorn, I hope we didn’t keep you waiting for too long,” Harry said politely as the professor welcomed them into the compartment.

“Not at all, m’boy! Not at all. Come have a seat.” Slughorn happily welcomed them in and offered them seats.

He also noted that the compartment had changed. The interior had expanded, and his magic could glean several other niche spells that folded space in on itself to make room without disturbing the fundamental structure.

“Ah, noticed it, have you?” Professor Slughorn looked at him with a knowing look as Harry sat across from Slughorn with Daphne by his side.

“Your mastery over spatial charms is most excellent, sir.” Harry nodded at the professor with a grin, which made Slughorn clap excitedly.

“Thank you, Harry. I pride myself on my potioning skills, but it’s good to know that my spells are just as sharp,” Professor Slughorn said happily.

Harry glanced around at their fellow guests. He was not surprised to see Blaise Zabini and a few other upperclassmen Slytherins and Ravenclaws. Thanks to Daphne and Tracey, he knew most of them. His eyes then fell on the Weasley twins and Ginny sitting in a corner, making his eyebrows shoot up. The twins gave him a wink while Ginny waved in greeting. Close by the Weasleys sat Cormac McLaggen and Marcus Belby.

“Now, do you know everyone here…”

Slughorn went on to ‘introduce’ everyone in the cabin. The rest of the train ride went largely uneventful, with idle conversation as Slughorn ‘interrogated’ everyone. He had to admit the man had an uncanny ability to gently pry information out of everyone. One by one, Slughorn dug into their background to see whether they were influential or had any interesting connections. He was delighted and over the moon to prod into Susan and the infamous Bones family.

While Harry had reservations about Amelia Bones, the rest of her family were staunch enemies of the Dark Lord. Voldemort even killed most of their family members personally because of the threat they posed to his reign of terror. Slughorn’s interest in Susan, however, stemmed from her close relation to Minister Bones.

In Harry’s case, Slughorn wanted to know whether the Prophet was right to call him the Chosen One. For that, Harry had a ready answer, the same one he had given to anyone who bothered to ask.

“Voldemort started this conflict when he killed my parents. I was a small child then, and my mother destroyed him where he stood at the cost of her life to protect me. This time, I’ll make sure there won’t be even dust from his bones that remain.”

If Slughorn was bothered by his statement, he didn’t show it sans for the lengthy silence.

“You think your mother destroyed ‘Him’.” Slughorn asked hoarsely.

“My mother was a phenomenal witch, professor. It was her magic that protected me and made the killing curse rebound.”

“Yes… yes, of course. Lily Evans was a very resourceful student.” Slughorn blinked a faraway look in his eyes before snapping out of it to gaze at him with a growing smile.

“And you, Harry. You seem to have inherited much of that raw talent from your mother. To go toe-to-toe with a wizard like the Dark Lord and draw first blood. Not many can boast it, m’boy! You do your family proud.” Slughorn beamed.

Then, Slughorn’s eyes fell on Daphne, and it was her turn to face Slughorn with questions related to foreign relations because of her father’s current position as the head of the Department of Magical Cooperation. By the time Daphne was finished, Slughorn’s attention had jumped to the Weasley twins asking about their successful business, Ginny’s stellar spell work, and on and on.

Thankfully, Slughorn had the grace to let them all go when the sun started to glow red in the sky.

****

Harry found Luna standing near one of the carriages with a half-eaten apple in her hand. Suddenly, the skeletal head of a Thestral came down and plucked the remaining apple into its mouth.

“I see you’ve gotten acquainted with our ride to the castle, Luna.” Harry said as he patted the skeletal horse on its side.

“Oh, I’ve known Bob for quite a while.” Luna said breezily with a disarming smile.

“You named a Thestral Bob?” Harry asked incredulously.

“Bob is a good name, is it not?”

“It is, but it’s so plain for a unique creature like him,” Harry said, patting the Thestral as it nudged his side with its head.

Harry unwrapped a chocolate frog and offered it to the skeletal winged horse, which happily munched on it. They moved out of Hogsmead station in carriages while Hagrid led the first-year students to Hogwarts in boats. He had hoped to see some aurors at Hogwarts, but there were none.

He let his senses fly, and he could see almost all living things in a minimal range in his mind.

‘I was wrong.’ Harry thought.

He looked in the direction where he could feel Tonks’ magic and waved cheekily. He was sure his distant cousin saw that, as he could feel a subtle fluctuation in her aura.

“Why are you waving at that tree?” Daphne asked worriedly.

“Oh, just greeting a friend.” Harry smiled charmingly at his girlfriend, who looked back at the tree and then stared at him with a speculative look.

“You two are weird.” Astoria snickered, which led to Daphne turning on her younger sister with a glare.

As the Greengrass sisters exchanged heated words, he kept his eyes on the approaching castle. If everything went according to plan, he hoped to end the menace that was Voldemort this year. No more Horcruxes were protecting Voldemort, which left the Dark Lord mortal. It also left Dumbledore weakened as well. The withering curse was eating away at Dumbledore, and soon, he’d also be two feet under the ground.

Harry could not be happier as he stepped out of the carriage into the Hogwarts ground. The tidal wave of magical power in Hogwarts encompassed him, promising him days of glory and freedom from two of his enemies.

‘The sun sets on Voldemort and Dumbledore. It’s now my time under the sun,’ Harry thought as he entered the castle with his friends.

AN: 

For artworks, Discord channel: https://discord.com/invite/WWN6chU299

Chapter 104: The mind of a spy

Harry smiled when he saw Katie Bell, with the Quidditch Captain badge pinned on her robes, sitting by her lonesome in the common room.

“Congratulations are in order, Katie. You made Captain.” Harry smiled at the senior chaser in the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

“Thanks.” Katie grinned, “Honestly, I thought you’d be given the badge.”

“Meh. I’m good at finding the snitch. You chasers are the strategists. You’d know more about the game and have more experience than me,” Harry shrugged indifferently.

He was quite happy he was not given the position. He liked flying, and playing Seeker depended wholly on his flying skills. He was comfortable playing the game rather than worrying about recruitment, strategies, and whatnot. That was the core of the game, and he had no interest in putting too much of his energy and attention into it.  

“Are you about to go into the Great Hall for breakfast?” Katie asked curiously.

“Oh yes. I’m starving.” Harry patted his stomach, making Katie grin and jump out of her seat.

“Then, let’s go. I’ve been sitting in that chair waiting for too long.”

Together, they walked out of the common room while the rest of their housemates were only preparing for the first day of school.

“I’m rather mad McGonagall picked me.”

“Why?” Harry raised a brow as he looked at Katie from the corner of his eye.

“How am I supposed to find replacements for the Weasley twins? Those two were rouge troublemakers, but they were fantastic beaters.” Katie sighed in frustration. “Then I’ve got to find two chasers to replace Alicia and Angelina.”

“You hold tryouts and find the best for the positions. It’s not as if any of our positions were permanent. Oliver and Angelina always held tryouts for all our positions.” Harry pointed out.

“I know. But this is not like those times. If we lose against Slytherin, it’ll be like we lost against You-Know-Who.” Katie whispered a look of utter horror dawned on her face, “Oh Merlin! If I don't find good players, I’ll be blamed for losing to Slytherins.”  

“Oh, come on. You can’t believe that,” Harry said with a slight bemusement, seeing Katie hold her head with two hands as if it were about to explode.

“No… no, this is much worse. I’ll have to find the best chasers and beaters and win the games while preparing for NEWTs. I think I’m… I’m…”

“Sit here. Have some tea.” Harry guided a hyperventilating Katie to the Gryffindor table and helped her sit.

Thankfully, the house elves must’ve picked up on his verbal wish. A cup of tea suddenly appeared before Katie on the table.

“Our house has always produced several players with raw talent. Trust me, everything will go smoothly.” Harry patted her shoulder as he sat down next to her.

“What happened to her?” Neville asked, sitting down across from Harry and Katie.

“The realisation that being the captain of the quidditch team involves a lot of work.” Harry said with a grin.

“Uh-huh. Hermione was looking for you in the Common Room. She’s mad that you left her alone to deal with the firsties.” said Neville, taking some boiled egg and bread to his plate.

“She likes to drone on and on about Hogwarts. Let the firsties suffer her for a little while.” Harry snickered.

Neville’s face reddened, his shoulders shook, and he tried desperately to contain his laughter. Katie, on the other hand, laughed heartily.

“Don’t let her hear that,” said Neville, grinning.

“Why do you think I tell jokes only at a reasonable distance from Hermione?” Harry winked.  

As they talked amongst themselves while having breakfast, Professor McGonagall came to the Gryffindor table with several parchment leaves in her hand.

“Bell, Potter, Longbottom. I’m glad I found you three.” Professor McGonagall pinned them all with a pointed stare that made them sit straight.

“Longbottom, I’ve got your schedule on hand, but I see you’ve not applied for Potions. You wanted to be a professional Herbologist and I remember recommending you to put more focus on Potions.”

Neville looked like he had something lodged in his throat as he stared at McGonagall.

“Do you want to put Potions for your NEWTs Longbottom?” McGonagall asked with a hint of frustration in her tone at the prolonged silence.

“But… but I only got Exceeds Expectations Professor. Professor Snape told us he’d only take those with Outstanding in his class.” Neville stuttered out.

“Then you’re in luck, Longbottom. Professor Slughorn accepts those who scored E grades into his sixth-year class.” McGonagall gazed at Neville expectantly, “So, shall I put your name into the NEWT level Potions?”

“Uh… yes, ma'am.” Neville looked a strange mixture of happy and worried.

“You’ll do fine, Longbottom. I was impressed with your Transfiguration work.” McGonagall looked at Neville with a hint of a smile.

“Thank you, Professor.” Neville grinned.

“Good.” McGonagall nodded before turning her eyes on Harry, “Now, Potter. Your schedule.”

Harry happily took the offered parchment.

“I’m happy to see that you’re taking all your OWL subjects to the NEWT level. Your schoolwork has improved considerably, and you did fine work in your OWLs despite last year's unfortunate events. Keep up the good work.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Professor.” Harry nodded.

“Good. Miss Bell, I assume you’re ready to assume the responsibilities as captain of the quidditch team.”

“Umm…” Katie looked troubled as she became the centre of attention.

“I was under the impression that you can manage the team, Miss Bell. Was I wrong?”

“Uhh… It’s just that I’ve got the NEWTs, Professor.” Katie said rather lamely.

“Hmm…” McGonagall looked at her with an unimpressed stare.

“Katie will be fine with the position, Professor. I’ll help her if she’s overwhelmed by schoolwork.” Harry offered.

“Believe it or not, I did consider other options, Miss Bell. I had a talk with Miss Johnson, and she recommended your name.”

“Oh.” Katie looked like she didn’t know what to say.

“Anyways, I hope you’ll do your position proud.”

McGonagall breezed past them, leaving an awkward silence at the table.

“Funny lady, huh?” Harry said airily, feeling a bit guilty seeing Katie’s hopeless expression.

He had worked hard last year, indirectly convincing Angelina to recommend Katie as the captain. It took a lot of subliminal messaging, but his hard work paid off. He had to ensure Katie was the captain because he had other plans this year. The last thing he wanted was for his precious time and energy to be wasted on quidditch. He enjoyed the game and flying, but not enough to harm his training.

 

****

 

The first class of the day was Ancient Runes with Professor Babbling. The NEWT level runes deal mostly with enchantments and the pairing of wand work and runes. To accomplish this, some substantial skill in charms was necessary, while the basics of enchanting objects were also a major focus in the curriculum. But there were also some chapters on ancient languages, especially Latin and Sumerian.

The first class itself was focused on Sumerian and Latin script, as most enchantments were recorded as spells, and those needed to be broken down to their base forms to be converted into runic arrays. This was a field of study where ancient languages, arithmancy and runes met in common ground.

The talks of ancient languages immediately captured Harry’s attention. He had an old script in his possession that needed better translation. So, he was interested in gaining any source material to read the script in his possession. When the class ended, Harry stayed back and approached Professor Babbling.

“Mr Potter. Is there something you need help with?” Professor Babbling asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, Professor. I couldn’t help but notice that you said the NEWT level runes engage in more ancient languages.”

“Yes. So far, we’ve touched on Celtic and Anglo-Saxon runes. At the NEWT level, the same will continue, but there’ll be cuneiform writing systems of ancient languages like Sumerian, Hittite and Akkadian.”

“Right. I was wondering if you’ve come across this script?”

Harry abruptly scrawled a few letters off the top of his head that he remembered from those old scrolls in the Chamber. He gave the parchment to his professor and waited patiently. When Professor Babbling saw the letters, he could see a microscopic twitch on her face. Even his magic somehow alerted him that his professor knew those letters.

So, he was surprised at the answer he received from Babbling.

“I’m afraid I’m unfamiliar with these letters, Mr Potter.”

Harry stared keenly into his professor's onyx eyes. While his professor could keep a mask, her magic, on the other hand, told all that he wanted to know. Professor Babbling immediately recognised the letters, which meant the woman had studied the language quite thoroughly or recently.

If it was the latter, he suspected he was standing before an informant of his grandmother. It was a wild assumption on his part. Professor Babbling could’ve simply chosen not to share her knowledge of the language for other reasons.

However, his gut told him Babbling was not as clean as he thought.

While he maintained eye contact, he let his magic flare to life. The aura around him shifted to one of hostile intent, and he immediately saw Babbling’s magic coiling around her body in a protective manner.

“Is there something else, Mr Potter?” Professor Babbling asked with a straight face.

Harry didn’t reply; he merely directed his magic to manifest physically and channelled his hostile intent. The effect was immediate as the air around them heated up, bearing down on Babbling. She became alarmed and raised a protective shield using her wand. The shield flickered as Harry imposed his will on the defensive layer. It crumbled entirely when he placed his palm against it and channelled a wave of destructive force.

“So, Professor. How long have you been working for Lady Lilith?” Harry asked, pinning down his Ancient Runes professor with his stare and magic.

He could feel several runes flare up across Babbling's arms, which immediately made Harry amused. But his reach with magic was such that he could simply overpower the amassed magic in his professor’s body despite the clever augmentation of magic using runes.

Harry was also surprised that his control over wandless magic was so strong that he felt like he had his claws clamped tightly on all magical energy. It was almost second nature to him now as he beat down Babbling’s magical power and started to siphon her power from the runes engraved on her flesh.

With a thought, a ward covered the whole room, and Harry stared intently at his Ancient Runes professor.

Professor Babbling looked around the room, desperately looking for an exit before her shoulders slumped in defeat when she failed.

“Professor, the truth shall set you free.” Harry said serenely, “One way or other, I’ll learn the truth. It’ll be safe for you to come clean with the truth with me and insulate yourself from my enmity.”

“Yes, I’m an informant to Lady Lilith.” Babbling admitted while letting out a sigh.

“What does she want with me? What are her plans?” Harry demanded.

“I do not know. I was told to watch you and report your movements within the castle.”

Harry didn’t wholly believe her, but he had bigger fish to fry.

“These letters, you know them, yes?”

“I do.” Babbling looked pained while admitting that.

“Good. I want you to give me all the information you have on this language.”

“That’s impossible. I can’t…” Babbling tried to protest.

“You will share that information, or I can tear apart your mind to find what I seek. It's your choice.” Harry said coldly, which stopped Professor Babbling's protests.

“I’ll be happy to share the information, Mr Potter.”

“Good.” Harry smirked at the black-haired woman, “I’ve got some other questions as well…”

 

*****  

 

Harry walked out of Babbling’s classroom with a spring in his steps. He had gotten what he wanted out of his grandmother’s pet spy. The woman thought she could stammer and delay the inevitable until Harry lost his patience and invaded her mind to know what he wanted without the slightest bit of concern. His newfound power had even affected his blunt Legilimency skills. Somehow, he could instinctively poke and prod the weaknesses of an occluded mind with ease now.  

He was not complaining about his newfound jump in an unnatural finesse in magic. Usually, he needed to augment himself with planetary magic to achieve that level of perfection. But somehow, something had changed within him after destroying the soul shard infesting his curse scar.

Even the lightning bolt scar on his forehead had disappeared. Harry had gotten used to that nice forehead tattoo, and now he was missing it... somewhat.

But still, it was a happy day for him. He had gotten quite a lot of juicy details from Babbling’s mind. The woman was involved in many shenanigans right under Dumbledore’s nose. His first instinct was to take some good, honest revenge on the woman for daring to manipulate him. But he gradually developed a grudging respect for his professor the more he dug into her mind.

After scrying through Babbling's mind, some of the missing dots were now connected. He knew much more about the Flamels’ intentions and true reach.

A frown came to his face as he thought of his grandmother.

‘A seer. It’s no wonder she has been ahead of her enemies. And she is a patient one, waiting out a century in hiding to leave her enemies to naturally die off instead of directly confronting them.’ Harry thought worriedly.

He got a lot of interesting information about his grandmother and the precursor language to Latin, but he knew nothing about Nicholas Flamel. That man remained an unknown in all of this. That was a bit concerning.

Whistling a jaunty tune as he wandered through the corridor, he encountered Luna, who looked at him with a dreamy smile.

“Hey, Luna.”

“Hi, Harry.” she blinked like a sloth, making Harry grin.

“A free period?”

“Mmhm.” she nodded very slowly and walked with very slow steps.

“Same here. Are you intentionally acting slow…” Harry asked curiously before hastily adding, “…for fun.”

“I’m trying to see whether the Bumbling Mungus around you would say hi to me. They respond positively to sloth-like behaviour.” Luna explained.

“Uh-huh. Are they communicating?” he raised an eyebrow.

“No, not really.” Luna shrugged her shoulders.

“That’s a shame.”

“It is.” Luna nodded, holding her silver-grey eyes on him, “Will you be floating away into wisps of white smoke now?”

“Huh?” Harry suddenly eyed Luna incredulously at the weird question.

“Hmm. You’re close enough to go poof,” Luna said airily, gesturing with her hands to show an explosion.

“Your mind works in strange ways.” Harry eventually said after gaping at the sandy blonde-haired girl.

Strangely enough, his comment made Luna quite happy.

 

****

 

After spending his free period with Luna discussing inane things like imaginary creatures and strange hobbies like her butterbeer bottle cap collections, he finally arrived at the DADA classroom. Strangely enough, he felt like there was a feather-light charm on his body and mind after some fun talks with Luna.

Thankfully, he was right on time. Not giving Snape an excuse to play his petty games ensured he went through the day without the urge to murder the greasy git. Avoiding headaches was generally his policy, and Snape's rebranding as the DADA professor didn’t help it one bit.

When he entered the class, he could see Daphne and Tracey sitting on the Slytherin side. He scooted over to the Gryffindor side and slipped into the front bench while the remaining benches were taken. Neville and Ron were sitting a row behind him, and the rest of the Gryffindors were seated behind them row after row.

“Where were you?” Ron asked once Harry dropped his bag next to his seat and made himself comfortable, “Hermione was looking around for you.”

“I was having a chat with Professor Babbling. Why was she looking for me?”

“Something about escorting First Years to their class.” Ron shrugged.

“Ah!” Harry winced.

He had forgotten that schedule he and Hermione had agreed to beforehand. She was supposed to escort the firsties to their first class, and then he was supposed to do the second one.

“I don’t suppose she was mad at me.”

“Oh, she was pissed, mate.” Seamus grinned before he perked up, “Oh, look! Here she comes.”

“You! Where were you?” Hermione scowled upon seeing Harry sitting in the front row without a care.

“Ah, I was lost on the road of life.”

“Lost in the what?” Hermione looked like she was about to explode.

But she sat down quietly when the resident dungeon bat swept into the classroom with a bang.

Harry amusedly noted that Snape had needlessly used a charm to slam the open doors against the classroom wall for dramatic effect. As usual, Snape’s robes billowed behind him as he swept into the room with a sneer plastered on his ugly visage. The drama queen came to a halt at the centre of the room, and with a flick of his wand, the light in the room dimmed.  

Harry had to struggle not to laugh at the parlour tricks Snape was pulling.

‘Getting the DADA post must’ve made Snape happy. He is pulling no stops to make himself more important and mysterious.’ Harry thought.

“Have I asked you to take out your books, Miss Granger?” Snape sneered when he saw Hermione opening her bag and taking out the DADA textbook and several pieces of parchment.

“No, sir.” Hermione said demurely, averting her eyes.

“Then don’t make a ruckus in my class, Granger. Keep your books in your bag.” Snape glared around at the class, making sure everyone had a good look at his ugly mug.

“Headmaster Dumbledore has tasked me with teaching you dunderheads how to defend yourself now that the Dark Lord has risen. Your previous teachers have left you with subpar instructions and lessons that impaired most of your skills in the subject. I’m here to correct ‘all’ of their mistakes.” Snape seemed to gloat as he stared into Harry’s eyes as if insulting Remus was somehow a score in their little game.

Harry didn’t hold back this time and grinned crookedly at Snape, daring the man to go further. Dumbledore’s protection could only go so far now. If Snape stepped one little toe out of line, Harry could take up the matter with the Ministry and have the man removed from Hogwarts despite what the Board of Governors said. He didn’t like using his influence to attack a petty bully like Snape now that he had better things to do. But Snape needed to know there were lines he ought not to cross.

The way Snape turned his head away and stalked the classroom instead of going further indicated that the man was aware of his limits. As Snape continued his lecture about DADA and veered off into extolling the intricacies of the Dark Arts, Harry discretely eyed Draco Malfoy.

The Malfoy heir was sitting at the farthest corner of the room with Theodore Nott. The sullen look he saw on Malfoy’s face was not surprising. Usually, the blonde git was overly eager for Snape’s lessons. But now, there was no trace of joy or gloating usually seen on Malfoy’s face. There was only a grim sort of acceptance and the weight of a herculean task.

All in all, Malfoy looked like an emo bitch who got the rough end of the stick lodged up his ass.  

Harry cast his eyes back into the blackboard while Snape continued his monologue. Thankfully, Snape must’ve realised that his boring monologue was not necessary for the class. Instead, the man gleefully declared that a practical session would be held to practice the shield charm.

If Snape thought to overwhelm the Gryffindor students with his ‘superior’ Slytherins, he was sorely mistaken. All Gryffindor students of his year were competent in using the basic shield charm. The disappointed frown on Snape’s face when he saw many of his vaunted Slytherins failed to do anything substantial, and the greasy git switched tactics to non-verbal spells.

Throughout the lesson, Snape pretended that Harry didn’t exist, and that was perfectly fine as far as he was concerned.

He ended up partnering with Lily Moon, who was an introvert, according to Tracey. He raised an eyebrow when she nonverbally cast the stunning charm, which splashed harmlessly against his shield.

Looking around, Harry confirmed that no one had pulled that right off the bat. Even his Knights were not that proficient in silent casting.

“Impressive.” Harry said as he silently cast a stunner at the auburn-haired girl.

Moon hardly blinked as she defended herself, nonverbally erecting a shield. Her response to his compliment was a quick stunner that splashed harmlessly into his shield, which he hastily erected.

He grinned at the girl, who remained expressionless but held a silent challenge in her brown eyes. He was more than happy to take up that challenge.

 

****

 

Bathsheda Babbling scowled at her trembling hand. The sheer terror she had felt as she felt the full might of Potter’s power had left her vulnerable. Unlike most witches employed by Lady Lilith, she was not a warrior. She was a researcher, and her academic interest made her a perfect spy in Hogwarts. Not even Dumbledore could see through what she really was.

Yet Potter managed to successfully break through the charade she had been running. How? She didn’t know. She didn’t know what gave her away, and frankly, she was least bothered by that right now.

No. The thoughts that bothered her right now were about Harry Potter. She had severely underestimated the boy and suspected her benefactors were also making the same mistake. She suspected that Potter had easily surpassed the Dark Lord and Dumbledore in sheer power. No wizard could wield magic as brazenly as Potter, and the ease at which the boy performed wandless magic was stupendous.   

It was now out of her hands anyway. Potter had easily entered her mind and learned what he wanted, leaving her position in Hogwarts vulnerable. Potter now also possessed sensitive information about her research into the precursor language of Latin. She didn’t know what was his interest in that language, but seeing as Lady Lilith was also interested in that language, she knew the situation had gotten out of her hands.

The runes on her arms flared up as she channelled magic into them.

“Lady Lilith.” she called, looking at the glowing runes.

Magical energy swirled on her palm for a few minutes before coalescing into a miniature head of her mistress.

“Bathsheda. Why have you called me at this hour?”

“Potter has learned of my allegiance. He invaded my mind and learned everything that he needed to know.”

“He invaded your mind?” Lady Lilith asked sceptically, “Why did you not defend yourself?”

“I couldn’t, my lady. It was unlike anything I’ve ever encountered. He suppressed my magic and slipped past my defences with ease. He…” Bathsheda took a deep breath to steady her trembling body as she was assaulted by the memory of the event.

“Potter was using wandless magic with ease. He is far more powerful than we ever imagined.”

“He used wandless magic, you say?”

“He broke my shield with a flick of his finger. He invaded my mind by holding my head in his hands. It was surreal.” she explained the ordeal she went through in detail.

After she was done explaining, Lady Lilith remained silent.

“It seems I need to have a word with our young friend.”

AN:

For artworks based on the story, join my Discord server. 

https://discord.gg/4hhXR3fAeT

Chapter 105: Special lessons from Dumbledore

The first meeting of the Knights took place on a Wednesday. After much deliberation, Harry decided to split the Knights into two batches. His tight schedule because of the NEWT level classes had thrown a wrench into his normal schedule. The NEWT level Arithmancy had more hours, and Astronomy classes were far more regular than they used to be.

In comparison, Transfiguration and Charms took on a more practical side, which was fun. That didn’t mean the theory work was removed entirely from the curriculum. The long essays on viridis transfiguration McGonagall assigned them as homework remained unfinished on his desk. However, much of that theory work was less important because the NEWTs focused on practical tests. Unlike the OWL tests, NEWT practical tests for select subjects had more marks than theory. 

The best way he could schedule the meeting was by taking Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs on Saturday and Ravenclaws and Slytherins on Sunday. It was the best way to circumvent a lot of other club activities and quidditch practice sessions. Not everyone was happy keeping the Knights’ meeting on Saturdays and Sundays, especially the quidditch team hopefuls. Some were afraid their chances of getting into their teams would be affected.

But since it was not compulsory to attend all meetings, he let them decide whether flying around on a broom or staying alive was their priority. Each day, more and more attacks were being reported in the Prophet, with the Aurors retaliating with deadly force. There were casualties on both sides, with Madam Bones gaining a slight edge by fielding foreign hot wizards to strike at Death Eaters.

“Don’t always use the shield to block spells. Try to move around,” Harry advised as he repeatedly fired the knockback jinx at Susan, Neville, and Seamus.

In their first meetings, he opted to teach his Knights more about battlefield awareness than any spells. In his opinion, the three sixth-years were performing well. However, only Seamus seemed intent on firing back a few spells while on the move. The other two were completely on the defensive.

Harry continued to fire back as he deflected or dodged some of the spells coming his way. Most of Seamus’ spells were wide off from their mark and splashed harmlessly against the barrier he had erected. A stunning charm Seamus used against him was repelled back and clipped Susan’s shoulder. She fell unconscious, and Neville’s immediate response was to help his fallen friend, which made Harry stun Neville before his attention focused on Seamus. However, his dormmate was out of breath from all the running and dodging.

“Avis. Opugno.”

A flock of birds appeared around Harry, and they shot straight towards Seamus, who dived to the ground. Harry was disappointed to see that, as he instantly transformed the birds into ropes and tightly wound Seamus’ legs together.

When Seamus tried to cut off the ropes binding him, Harry easily disarmed him.

“Seamus, well done. You’ll need to increase the accuracy of your spells and build up more physical endurance. I can help you improve your accuracy, but you’ll have to deal with the latter on your own.”

Seamus showed him a thumbs up. Harry dismissed the bindings and revived Neville and Susan.

“Ow.” Susan groaned as Neville accidentally elbowed her ribs as they tried to untangle themselves.

It created a smear of chuckles from everyone watching.

“You two need to think on your feet. Why didn’t you try to split up or use any offensive spells against me?”

“You asked us to defend…” Neville said as he helped Susan to her feet.

“Offense is the best defence. I told you to defend yourself from my attack using any means necessary.” Harry frowned at the two, “Have you two forgotten all the training of last year?”

Neville and Susan looked properly chastised, making Harry sigh.

‘And they wonder why I keep them at arm's length in my plans,’ Harry mused, shaking his head.

But he shouldn’t be too hard on them either. After all, they performed quite well against the Death Eaters. Sure, they had a lot of advantages in the fight, but a victory was a victory. Still, despite their poor performance, having a mini militia of his own was better than depending entirely on his grandmother’s mercenary army, no matter their effectiveness.

“Susan will be the one to attack while you two must defend yourselves. Switch up the roles after every five minutes.” Harry said, escorting his three friends to a corner of the room and warding the area to let them practice without bothering anyone else.

He returned to his previous spot and selected another team of three to continue the lesson.

Harry had to admit that he was a tiny bit thankful to Snape. The man was a competent DADA professor who taught useful spells in the DADA classes. This left Harry concentrating on their practical applications and situational awareness amongst his Knights rather than teaching spells. Helping wizards and witches to use what they learned in class to the best result was far easier and less time-consuming than teaching them from scratch.   

When that day’s meeting concluded, Harry returned to his dorm. Slughorn, McGonagall and Snape had left enough homework to make the weekend less enjoyable. But despite that, Harry found some time to write down the information he extracted from Professor Babbling. Strangely, he found it way too easy to deconstruct the old language, almost as if he already knew it far more intimately than he ought to have. It was like parseltongue all over again. He had somehow acquired an in-depth understanding of Latin to deconstruct the root language, or he had become so proficient in the Mind Arts overnight that a single peek inside the mind was enough to learn a new language almost instinctively.

Harry leaned back against the cushion of the armchair as he pondered the strange changes he had undergone ever since he removed the Horcrux. At first, it was simpler things like the ease of doing magic. Then, it became easy to perform wandless magic. Now, he was almost effortlessly capable of breaking through the occlumency barriers of a fully grown witch like Bathsheda Babbling.

Something was changing within him, and he could feel it in his bones and magic. Of course, he was aware that the Horcrux getting removed was bound to make some changes within his spirit and body, but not to this extent.

‘Is it because I have the allegiance of the Elder Wand and possess the Cloak of Invisibility?’ Harry mused as he scribbled a few lines of his Potions essay.

He was starting to wonder whether the hare-brained rantings and conspiracy theories mentioned in the scrolls had a grain of truth to them. He knew it was a silly thought, but he was dealing with magic. The realm of logic hardly worked when magic was involved.

So far, whatever was happening to him was making him stronger. At least. He hadn’t felt any adverse side effects so far. In times like these, he missed the wise counsel of his wife and Salazar. They’d have thought of some out-of-the-box solution to glean the truth from his magic. While he was an accomplished sensor, he was nowhere near the expertise of Rowena or Salazar.

Thinking about them also brought the unpleasant memories of a son he lost. He had barely gotten enough time to spend with the little tyke because of the constant battles and the expansion of his kingdom’s borders. Just thinking about the unfairness of it all made him clench his fist as red-hot anger surged from within his soul. It was almost enough to crack the walls he had built around his mind and his tight leash on the magic coursing through his veins.  

Suddenly, his mind reverberated with a foreign voice that vapourised the anger which gave in to confusion.

‘I’m meeting Harry Potter. Eeep! I can’t wait to look into his beautiful green eyes and kiss those lips, and then his hands will be all over me. Mmmm! If all goes according to plan, Harry will start to love me and escape that Slytherin bint’s control from tomorrow. Once the love potion starts working its magic, he’ll be mine forever.’

Harry was immensely confused by the girlish sound in his mind spewing nonsense. But that immediately cleared up when he felt the presence of a girl behind the entrance that led to the girls’ dorms. He could suddenly hear the girl taking a deep breath as she gathered her courage. Harry stared at the girl as she stepped out of the entrance into the common room carrying a basket and a neatly wrapped scroll with a red ribbon on top. The girl flushed a deep scarlet red as she took each step towards his seat.

“Hi, Harry. I’m Romilda Vane.”

“Charmed. How can I help you?” Harry asked, schooling his features expertly to polite indifference.

“Headmaster Dumbledore asked me to give you this.” said Romilda, tucking a stray raven hair that fell into her face and offered Harry a scroll tied with a red ribbon.

‘The old man is up to his usual tricks.’ Harry thought as he accepted the scroll.

“And this is from me.” Romilda hurriedly said, offering him a small basket of what appeared to be Chocolate Cauldrons.

“For what?” Harry asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl, which made her look like a tomato.

“Oh, you know… for standing up to You-Know-Who. For being a great hero.”

“I see.” Harry murmured.

He accepted the basket despite the warnings his magic was giving him. There was a type of compulsive magic in those Chocolate Cauldrons. He assumed it was a love potion or even the Firewhisky content inside the chocolate shell. He avoided the contents of the basket for the scroll. It was an invitation for ‘special lessons’ from Dumbledore. There was also a time and password of the Gargoyle that led to Dumbledore’s office in the scroll.

So, he quickly said his thanks to Romild Vane and went straight into the boys’ dorms.  

“Hey, Harry. What’s that?” Ron asked, noticing the basket in his hand and a scroll on the other.

“This is a message from Dumbledore.” said Harry, shaking the scroll, “And this is a basket full of Chocolate Cauldrons.”

Immediately, Ron, Seamus, Neville and Dean perked up.

“Really! Chocolate Cauldrons, say. Did Dumbledore send them?” Ron asked excitedly.

“No. It was a gift given by Romilda Vane.” said Harry before an idea quickly struck his mind.

“You want it?” he offered the basket innocently while, in his mind, he was laughing at the easy prank he was pulling.

The good part was he wouldn’t even be implicated in the whole mess that was about to happen. So, Harry maintained a poker face as his friends happily munched on the Chocolate Cauldrons. With his dormmates starting to fall in everlasting love with Romilda Vane, he left the Gryffindor Tower to see what was up with Dumbledore.

 

****

 

Harry didn’t know why he expected anything different from Dumbledore. He had known Dumbledore was inviting him for a movie night with some stupid memories the old man collected about Tom Riffle’s past. But he had held out some hope that Dumbledore would give him something else other than the life story of Voldemort and the petty Gaunt family drama. It was like watching a boring documentary, but Harry remained stoic even as a portly Ministry worker named Bob Ogden came to visit the Gaunts.

Dumbledore had welcomed into this trip to his memory lane by spewing a load of crap about knowing your enemy and whatnot.

Harry so wanted to blow a gasket and ask the old man whether throwing the contents of these memories would make Voldemort croak and die. But he held back the indignation at being treated with these reproachful and useless memories that only wasted his time. Instead of raging at Dumbledore, Harry had to remind himself constantly that he had already won over Dumbledore.

Standing so close to Dumbledore, he could feel the vile curse that was in Dumbledore’s right hand. The only reason he hadn’t gone after the ring horcrux was for this to happen. This was the easiest and effortless way to kill Dumbledore. His inaction was all that was necessary to strike a mortal blow against Dumbledore. The old man barely had a year to live, and that knowledge kept Harry silent while observing the drama unfold before his eyes.

But watching the sorry state of the Gaunt family was revolting. He had seen the sad state of wizarding families of the past in Scotland. But the Gaunts had fallen far lower to the bell bottom. Seeing Slytherin’s descendants in such a disparaging status made Harry wince. He also felt a twinge of pity, but he schooled his face so as not to show any of his inner turmoil.

In the end, Harry had to accept that the strong survived and the weak perished. Besides, the Gaunts had most likely se;lf inflicted the current degradation he was seeing, and all that was over at the hands of Voldemort.

He was once again reminded that Voldemort was one of the last embers of the declining House of Slytherin and a descendant of House Peverell. Harry’s eyes fell on the Ressurection stone on Marvolo Gaunt’s ring finger. That same ring was now with Dumbledore.

Harry could feel the presence of the two Hallows with Dumbledore. The Elder Wand and the Ressurection Stone were with Dumbledore. He could reach out and pluck them away from the old man if he wanted. The Elder Wand already owed its allegiance to him since he disarmed Dumbledore last year. Taking the stone would make him the master of all three Hallows. The temptation was overwhelming, even if he hardly knew what’d happen once he possessed the hallows.

Obviously, the Master of Death story was a fluke, or it was just a silly children’s tale. The existence of Perenelle Flamel, Nicholas Flamel and Voldemort was proof enough that death could be staved off without the use of a fancy title granted by the hallows. The few lines he had translated so far with the new language only proved to be a dead end. There were only some vague speculations and nothing concrete. It required more research, in-depth reading, and translation of the scrolls to know more.

Harry was broken out of his musings when the memory shifted and showed Marvolo Gaunt shouting.

“Slytherin’s!” Marvolo shouted with glee, puffing his chest as if it were the answer to all the world's mysteries, “We’re his last living descendants! What do you have to say about that, eh?”

‘Oh, dear Merlin. When will this boring documentary end? This is slowly killing me.’ Harry bemoaned in the confines of his mind.

Thankfully, the memory ended with Bob Ogden leaving the Gaunt family house with a firm look on his face that promised nothing good for the deranged maniacs who were the last descendants of Salazar Slytherin. Once Harry and Dumbledore exited the pensieve, they took their respective seats in the office.

“So, what do you think, Harry?” Dumbledore asked.

“I think I’m not surprised why Voldemort turned out as a psychopath. He inherited the madness and callous nature from those people. These Gaunts… they were his relatives, weren’t they?”

“You’d be correct, Harry. That was Voldemort’s family. Marvolo was his grandfather, Morfin was his uncle, and Merope Gaunt was his mother.”

“I see. I guess his mother married a muggle then, and the Gaunt family disapproved.” Harry said to move the conversation along.

“Merope used a love potion on a local muggle she fancied. She eloped with him after ensnaring young Tom Riddle Sr. At some point, she stopped giving him the potion, hoping that he had developed genuine feelings of love for her. Alas, that was not to be,” Dumbledore said, shaking his head with pity. “He left her in her heavily pregnant state and returned to his home.”

Harry hardly felt any shred of pity for the woman, although he could understand the desperation Merope Gaunt must’ve felt to push her into doing something like this. Marvolo and Morfin were bonkers, and they were reaching the very heights of mental disorder and insomnia from what he saw in the memory.  

“I gather Voldemort paid a visit to his dear family and found them terribly disappointing.” Harry said blandly.

“Indeed. He had expected to see them in good health and wealth, but Voldemort was sorely disappointed to see his kin. Once he learned the truth about his mother, he became all the more enraged. Till then, Voldemort had thought he was a pureblood with Slytherin’s blood in his veins, abandoned at the orphanage or by some misfortune that befell his parents in the muggle world.” Dumbledore took off his half-moon spectacles and rubbed his eyes.

“So, once he learned the truth, he became more unhinged.” said Harry.

“Tom was unhinged long before that. But once he knew the truth, he became obsessed with power and hated any sort of weakness. He plunged into a greater, darker path of no return.”

‘What a touching story.’ Harry thought sardonically.

“You’re wondering why the memories of the past are important.” Dumbledore said with a knowing look.

“The thought did cross my mind. Voldemort will not die if I say I know his family history.” Harry said with a cross look directed at Dumbledore.  

“Yes, you’re right, nor will his quest for domination of our world stop. But in these memories lies the key to ensuring Lord Voldemort’s defeat. Soon, you’ll notice this, Harry. Of that, you can be sure.” said Dumbledore.

Harry was very tempted to send a bat-bogey hex at Dumbledore’s face. However, he resisted that urge by turning his attention to Fawkes. His enhanced senses made it almost impossible to ignore the bright aura of the sleeping phoenix.

“Sir, where can I get one of those?” Harry jabbed his thumb at the red and gold phoenix, who snapped out of his sleep to stare at him.

“Hmm, phoenixes are often hard to find. Usually, they find you.” Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling as he looked at Fawkes, who let out a soft trill, “Maybe Fawkes will take a liking to you after my time.”  

“In that case, I’ll make sure to hold a stash of sweets for him in advance.”

“That’d be for the best.” Dumbledore chuckled, “Now before you go, I want you to have this.”

Dumbledore reached into his drawer and offered a worn-out book to Harry.

“What is this, sir?”

“It’s a book I wrote about using transfiguration and charms and spells in combat. Of course, I never published it, but I believe it’ll serve you well.”

Harry was surprised at Dumbledore’s unexpected move. He took the book in stunned silence.

“You’ve already mastered some of the best defensive spells and elemental magic at a young age. I truly hope you won’t have to use these spells, but nothing is certain in war. Lord Voldemort holds decades of magical knowledge over you, and I hope this book will strengthen your expertise in the two disciplines of magic that you’re relatively weak.”

“Uhh… Thank you, sir.” Harry muttered.

“Now, off you go, Harry. I’ll contact you soon with the next lesson.”

Harry left Dumbledore’s office with less hostility than when he arrived at the place. Dumbledore hadn’t given him anything substantial to give him an edge.

‘I suppose a personally written book was better than nothing.’ Harry thought as he returned to his dorms and turned in for the night.

AN:

For artworks based on the story, join my Discord server. 

https://discord.gg/4hhXR3fAeT

Chapter 106: The power of love

Harry was up early, as were all of the Gryffindor quidditch team hopefuls, their hearts pounding with anticipation. They were all standing on the quidditch pitch, their eyes fixed on the selection of the new quidditch team. The sheer number of hopefuls was enough to make Katie sigh in exasperation. Knowing that they’d be stuck forever on the ground if they took every position in the tryouts, Harry suggested a simpler plan.

“I suggest we hold only the seeker and chaser position for the trials. Otherwise, we won’t be able to finish the tryouts by breakfast.” Harry suggested to Katie.

“You’re right. I suppose we can conduct the beaters’ trials with the keeper’s trial.” Katie muttered to herself.

“Hey, listen up. Due to the large number of hopefuls that showed up, there’ll only be chaser and seeker tryouts today. The beaters’ trials will be held on Friday evening with the keeper’s trial.” Katie declared loudly, her voice carrying a note of relief and reassurance, for everyone on the ground to hear.

The group let out several loud groans. Most of them complained that they had woken up so early in the morning for no reason.

When he saw Katie struggling to control the angry crowd gathered and made them leave the ground, he chose to step in.

“Silence!” Harry shouted.

Harry's voice boomed across the quidditch pitch, and immediately, there was silence. It was not just the power of his voice but something else. Harry could feel his magic acting strangely again, connecting with the quidditch hopefuls like threads of energy. His vision shifted, revealing a world bathed in a new light. Wisps of energy poured from his body, weaving a colourful web among the gathered students, filling him with a sense of awe and wonder.

His magical energy was pure white, but the wisps of energy that branched out from his magic and connected with the students were glowing with different shades of colours. It was the most surreal thing that he encountered. He wanted to study what was happening more closely, but he decided to do that at a later date. He immediately clamped down on his magic and withdrew all the tendrils of his magic.  

Once he withdrew the magic into his body, he saw everyone looking confused.

“Now, anyone not having your tryouts today, please leave the pitch.” Harry yelled.

Slowly, the crowd started to dissipate, but he could see Ron running after Romilda Vane with a dreamy look in his eyes.

‘That ought to be entertaining to watch.’ Harry thought.

Soon, Harry was occupied by the tryouts. The tryouts for the seeker position were the first to happen. There were quite a few seeker hopefuls on the pitch. If he were a lesser man, he’d have allowed some poor sod to best hom and take the position. He’d have been free to concentrate most of his time on his training. But Harry held some team spirit and wanted Gryffindor to win the quidditch cup.

But more than that, he loved victories of all kinds. Harry liked winning, even if it was a silly quidditch competition in school or the house cup.

Therefore, Harry gave his best in the air. He flew circles around his opponents and easily captured the snitch in record time. Having the fastest broom played a great part in catching the snitch, but his senses were also obscenely sharper than usual. It was almost as if he was blessed with the ability of forethought or his brain was processing thoughts and time differently than normal. Whatever wonky stuff was going on with him, changes were happening not just to his magic but also to his body.

Whenever his emotions were at their peak, his magic acted out. Similarly, his physical prowess was at its peak whenever his adrenaline was high.

As he chased after the snitch released by Katie for the umpteenth time, his mind was only partially engaged in the game.

He wondered whether the blood ritual he used to heal his eyes had worked far more than he anticipated. After all, he had worked on his eyesight, an area where even the St. Mungo’s healers refused to tread. He had checked with those healers during his fourth-year summer holidays. It was only thanks to the knowledge he gained on blood rituals and old magic from the Founders that prepared him for healing his eyes. That same knowledge made him learn to cleanse the blood curse afflicting the Greengrass family.  

‘It could be a combination of removing the Horcrux and the ritual affecting changes in my brain.’ Harry mused.

The wizarding world had made great strides in medicine, but they had shown reluctance to play with eyes because they were tied too closely to the brain. It was one of the reasons why wizarding healers always suggested using glasses instead of attempting to cure the eyes.

Harry had jumped at the chance to heal his eyes without overthinking about the consequences, mainly because Lady Hufflepuff gave him the necessary knowledge to do so. He had no reason to think there might’ve been any adverse consequences at the time, considering he had more serious matters to worry about in the Founders’ era.

Harry noticed a glint of gold shining near the leg of one of the airborne seeker hopefuls. He immediately urged the Firebolt towards the snitch. The snitch flew straight up, and Harry chased after the golden ball at full speed and easily plucked it out in quick order. With that, his position was secure, and he could return to his dorms. But instead of going straight to the shower, he went to the RoR and asked the room for a pool.

He spent nearly half an hour in the pool, mostly thinking about what he could do to rein in his wayward magic. Using Occlumency was impractical because suppressing emotions for hours without end would undoubtedly affect the psyche. Emotions were not something to be abandoned in pursuit of strengthening the mind or controlling magic. After all, some of the most potent spells were fuelled by emotions. The only other option before him to ensure that his magic never goes out of control was to train continuously.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t an easy or quick solution. Despite the troubles it brought him in the past, Harry desperately needed a Time Turner. Many of his problems could be solved with a Time Turner in hand. Sadly, that was out of his reach.

‘I guess I’ll have to devise a different training method to keep a tight hold on my magic.’ Harry mused as he just floated in the pool with his eyes closed.

 

****

The Great Hall was partially filled when Harry arrived for breakfast. He slipped in next to Hermione, who was engaged in a whispered conversation with Ginny.

“Hey, Harry.” the two girls greeted once he sat on the bench.  

“Hey, you two.” Harry greeted back as he filled his plate with bread, scrambled eggs, beef and tomato sauce.

“I got in, Harry. Katie offered me the spot.” Ginny shared the good news.

“Congrats, Ginny.” Harry grinned, happy for the redhead.

“Why didn’t you know? Weren’t you in the trials?” Hermione asked, looking confused.

“Seeker tryouts were over first. After that, I went for a swim.” said Harry as he dug into his breakfast.  

“Why didn’t you say anything about what Sirius was doing?” Ginny suddenly asked.

“Sirius? He is on his honeymoon. He should’ve come back yesterday.” Harry frowned, noticing the elevated chatter in the hall and the look on the faces of his two friends, “What did he do?”

“He bought Nimbus 2000s for all house teams except Slytherin.” said Ginny.

“He did what?” Harry’s eyes widened.

“It’s in the Prophet.” said Hermione.

Hedwig gracefully flew into the hall and divebombed him with the Prophet. The snowy owl settled on the table as Hermione and Ginny fawned over the owl and gave her some food from the table. Harry looked reproachfully at the owl when she stole a piece of beef from his plate. But his attention was back to the front page of the Prophet.

Sure enough, he could see Sirius and Brigitte posing with a stack of Nimbus 2000 brooms. The Nimbus makers were also in the picture, quite happy to get some limelight after the disaster of the Nimbus 2001s. Those interested in quidditch knew Nimbus was struggling after the introduction of the Firebolt. It also didn’t help that the Nimbus 2001s were a sham. Those brooms had a fancy handle and speed, but they were only good for broom racing competitions, not for quidditch, which required manoeuvrability and braking.

“Blimey! I thought he’d start a couple of new scholarships or something.” Harry muttered, thinking about their discussion on what to do with Bellatrix’s gold they spirited out of Gringotts.

He supposed having some Nimbus 2000s for the quidditch teams would even the field. Besides, the old Cleasweeps and Comets were difficult to maintain, and most of those Hogwarts brooms performed subpar compared to the Nimbus.

“This’ll make the game more fun.” said Ginny, thrilled at the prospect of getting her hands on a Nimbus.

“And more dangerous.” Hermione added before she set her eyes on Harry, “Didn’t you say the Nimbus brooms were too fast and difficult to control?”

“Not the 2000s. They’ll function smoothly for chasers and beaters. I’d recommend the Nimbus over the Firebolt for chasers and beaters.” said Harry.

Their surprisingly amicable quidditch talk abruptly stopped when a gaggle of giggling girls came close to their position at the table. Harry could see Hermione and Ginny frown at the sudden intrusion by one Romilda Vane, sporting rosy cheeks and a victorious grin on her thin lips.

“Hi, Harry.” Romilda greeted him, her long black hair swept to one side and her eyes gleaming excitedly.

“Hi.” Harry greeted back but kept a poker face as he waited for the inevitable showdown.

“Why don’t you join me at our side of the table? We can have fun.” Romilda winked while her friends giggled.

“I’m quite comfortable here, and I’m having fun. Thanks for the invite, though.” Harry smiled disarmingly at the girl before concentrating on the food on his plate.

“Oh, Romilda. How beautiful you are today.”

Harry struggled to keep the grin tugging at the corner of his lips when he heard Ron’s voice.

“Ron!” Hermione looked scandalised, and for good reason.

Harry found Ron on one knee before Romilda Vane with a palm over his heart.

“Oh, Romilda, my love. How I heart you so.” Ron sang romantically.

The look on Ron’s face, combined with the utter panic on Romilda Vane, made Harry lose his composure. His shoulders started shaking as he struggled to contain the laughter bubbling within. To make matters worse, Seamus entered this scene with a worship in his eyes.

“Oh, my lady Vane.” Seamus fell on his knee and took a gobsmacked Romilda’s palm into his hands. “I see you in my dreams every night. You’re the sparkling dawn of my darkest day.”

With that, Seamus pressed a kiss on the back of Romilda’s knuckles, making her stumble back with a loud ‘eep!’.

“How dare you defile my poor Romilda. She is mine.” Dean shouted and tackled Seamus to the ground.

The entire hall collectively gasped upon seeing a fistfight break out between Seamus and Dean right in the middle of the hall for a girl’s favour.

“I’ll protect my Romilda’s virtue.” Ron declared boldly and promptly jumped into the fight with his fists raised.

“Ron! Stop it! What’re you idiots doing?” Hermione shouted.

But her voice went largely unnoticed as the students in the hall started shouting and clamouring as the three Gryffindors brawled on the ground.

Harry stared at the scene with bemusement as the three Gryffindors fought earnestly while shouting increasingly cheesy lines that claimed their everlasting love for Romilda. Then, Harry saw Neville sneak in next to Romilda Vane and pull her into a full-lip kiss. Several catcalls were let out by the students who saw this, but the girl pushed Neville away and looked way out of depth.

“Look! It’s Professor McGonagall.” someone shouted.

Harry looked at McGonagall's stern visage and looked eagerly at the fun that was about to unfold. He served himself with more beef into his plate and entertained himself with the satire unfolding before his eyes.  

‘This is my best prank ever after Tommy-boy got made in the Ministry.’ Harry thought with delight, stuffing more beef into his mouth while watching the show.

 

****

 

“Is Longbottom and your other friends okay?” Tracey asked, standing by his side, watching the Greengrass sisters doing their best to stun Luna, who danced around their spells with a dreamy smile.

“Oh, they’re hunky-dory. But they’re embarrassed out of their minds. Now, dear Romilda, on the other hand…” Harry snickered as he remembered the horrified face she made when McGonagall towered over the girl in her office and declared she was to serve detentions until the Christmas holidays.

“Let’s just say she’ll be rubbing cauldron bottoms and polishing suits of armours for the rest of the term.” Harry let out a snicker again.

“How did she sneak in the love potion anyway? I thought Hogwarts’ security was supposed to be increased this year.” Tracey asked with a frown.

“Security and Hogwarts do not mix well in a sentence.” Harry snorted derisively.

“Daphne has sworn vengeance against Vane and her cohorts for daring to take what is hers…”

At Harry’s amused look, Tracey quickly added,

“Her words, not mine.”

 “I don’t think poor Romilda Vane is in any position to endure an enemy like Daphne.” said Harry. “Besides, that girl has been humiliated before the entire school.”

“I doubt she’ll see it that way.” Tracey rolled her eyes with a grin.

“Enough talk. Now, shield yourself.” said Harry, firing off a slew of spells against Tracey, who did an admirable job of defending herself.

When the lesson ended, the ravens and snakes were exhausted from the physical activity that was involved. Many of them were out of breath and sweaty after the training exercise he had devised for the day.

“All right, everyone. We’ll meet here at the same time next Sunday. Off you go now.” said Harry.

The RoR made two doorways appear so the Ravenclaw and Slytherin students could safely enter their common rooms undetected.

The last to leave was Tracey, who whispered something into Daphne’s ear before disappearing into the doorway. The doorway shut itself, leaving Daphne and Harry in the room.

“What did she say?” he asked.

“Warning me not to stay too long.”

“Why? Afraid that I’ll steal your virtue?” Harry joked.

For his trouble, he got a kick to his shin.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” Daphne asked, with her arms folded and a frown on her face. “No funny business.”

“Do you remember what I said about the change in my magic after I removed the Horcrux?”  

“Yes, I do.”

“Well, I’ve got a problem with my magic, and I’d like to pick your brain about what to do.” Harry said before explaining the instances when he started losing control of his magic.

Daphne listened patiently as Harry explained everything, and she immediately devised a solution to his dilemma. The fact that she didn’t even blink when he said that he was randomly doing wandless magic with ease of breathing emphasised that she had become normalised with the brand of crazy stuff that happened around him.

“I’m no master of magic, much less wandless magic. But why don’t you use the Room of Requirement for training?”

“How would the RoR help? I have already used it to the best of its abilities.” Harry shook his head.

“Ask for a place to train in wandless magic.” Daphne said as if it were the most obvious solution.

For a moment, Harry stared dumbly at her before his eyes lit up with understanding.

“You’re bloody brilliant!” Harry crowed.

He picked her up by the waist and kissed her firmly on the lips as he twirled her around. Once he let her stand on her own two feet, he could see that Daphne was left breathless, and her hair was all over the place.  

“Of course I’m brilliant. I’m a Slytherin, after all.” Daphne said with her head held high, trying her best not to seem affected by his sudden spark of affection.

“Let’s check it out to see if it works as you suggested,” Harry said excitedly.

They stepped out of the room, and Harry walked back and forth before the RoR, thinking of a place to train in wandless magic. A doorway materialised on Harry’s last pass. Harry entered the new room the RoR provided and was pleasantly surprised to see that it was entirely different from the room where he used to train the Knights.

“Jolly good! I’m glad you’re on my side.” Harry said, pressing a tender kiss against Daphne’s cheek. "Do you have any other brilliant idea you want to share?”

“I might.” Daphne grinned, enjoying the show of affection before her eyes grew serious, “Now tell me all about this, Romilda Vane. I hear she tried to give you a love potion.”

Harry brushed it off as an unimportant matter, but the vindictive look on Daphne’s face keyed him into the fact that Romilda Vane might’ve earned a dangerous enemy.

 

****

 

Harry flicked through the goldmine of transfiguration spells and charms in the book given to him by Dumbledore. While he had some choice words for Dumbledore, the man at least gave him a treasure trove of magical spells. The book's central theme was the tandem use of transfiguration and charms in battle. There were many transfiguration spells, and then they were deconstructed using arithmancy. Subtle changes were made in the transfiguration spell to incorporate charms into the spell to make it versatile.

He particularly liked a spell that used a transfigured, lifelike vine that exploded upon wrapping around an opponent’s limb. It sounded like a fabulous spell to permanently incapacitate enemies quickly and maybe even cripple them for life if the explosive component of the spell was tweaked enough. Another spell detailed in the book used a blasting curse on the ground and transfigured the debris into fine silver blades. The blades could then disrupt nerves within the body using nerve-wracking charms.

The book had many such fantastic spells with a lot of potential on a battlefield. But these spells required finesse and speed. This was the epitome of silent casting and shortening wand movements for speed. While the spells in the book were beneficial, employing transfiguration in battle was not his forte. He was more of a charms and hex expert in battles.

‘I’ll have to train with this often when I have time.’ Harry mused.

He immediately placed his book under his pillow when he heard sounds coming from outside the dorm door. He stared intently at the door and was vindicated when it swung open to show Neville, Ron, Dean, and Seamus.

“Oh, look who is here. Welcome back, lover boys.” Harry teased.

“You! It’s all because of you!” Ron wagged a finger in his direction.

“Me? If anything, you four wouldn’t have fallen under the love potion if you hadn’t taken those chocolate cauldrons off my hands.” Harry expertly turned the argument against Ron, who was now on the receiving end of three glares.

“Oh, by the way. Thank you, Ron.” said Harry with a grin.

“Whatever for?” Ron asked suspiciously.

 “Because of you, I was saved from a major embarrassment. Your sacrifice for the greater good will be remembered.” Harry said gravely.

“Oh, shut up, you wanker.” Ron threw a pillow at Harry, who dived into his bed and drew the curtains.  

“Get some sleep, you three. We have Snape first in the morning.” Harry said, and he could hear four groans from his dormmates at the reminder.

AN:

For artworks based on the story, join my Discord server. 

https://discord.gg/4hhXR3fAeT

Chapter 107: Liquid luck

Harry ran as if his life depended on it. A giant hammer came too close for his comfort, but he put his palm against the hammer’s surface and let his magic out in the form of the blasting spell. The hammer was blasted away. But he couldn’t relax as he had to duck as a pair of bludgers tried to smash his face in. He evaded those in the nick of time, but he was immediately accosted by a stone sculpture wielding a spear.

Harry used the blasting curse to blast the stone into smithereens and banished the shower of rocks against the bludgers that came after him again. One of the bludgers veered off while the other slammed into a hastily erected shield. He reduced it to dust with a well-placed blasting curse.

Just then, he turned his body into wisps of grey smoke and allowed a giant sword to pass through his spirit form. A huge stone knight stood over him and kicked out with his leg, but Harry flew away to put some distance from the golem knight. But the giant golem was fast and chased after him with its sword raised.

Harry placed his palm against the floor and used an ice spell to turn it into ice. The giant knight slipped on the ice and fell face-first on the floor with a bang. It stabbed its sword on the floor to arrest its movement and tried to rise back to its feet.

But Harry was not having it.

He let fly a gouging curse that punched a hole cleanly through one of its knees, making it fall on its sole functioning knee. Harry ran towards the golem knight as fast as possible, and before it could swing his sword, he summoned a fire whip and had it decapitate the golem. The golem’s helmed head fell on the floor with a loud crash.  

With an almost dismissive wave of his hand, he shattered the remaining bludger with an exploding hex.

The rest of the golem fell on the floor with a thud, kicking up a cloud of dust, but Harry had his body covered under a shield so as not to get dirt and sand on his clothes or body.

Two more giant stone golems were present facing him in the training room. But unlike their fallen brother, these two were not knights but ninja golems.

‘This room is so imaginative, or maybe I am.’ Harry mused as he stood ready with his magic to face more RoR would throw at him.

The remaining stone golems started throwing daggers and shot arrows at him. Harry broke into a run while throwing blasting curses at the giant daggers and arrows that came after him. Halfway through the run, he changed into his animagus form and broke into a sprint at fearsome speed. He evaded all the arrows and daggers primarily because of his speed and the shield he could maintain, even in his lion form.

When he finally reached the remaining two golems, he jumped high in the air, transformed halfway back into his human form, and sent a wave of destructive energy at them. They were reduced to rubble by the time his feet touched the ground.

When Harry looked around, the training room of the RoR remained vacant and dead silent.

“I guess today’s training is over.” Harry muttered.

He kept an eye out for any movements until he changed the room into a pool and had a swim before he scooted from the seventh floor. The RoR had taken the concept of games from his mind to form a training room for his wandless magic. The first few times he attempted the room, the difficulty was less, but over time, the RoR adapted to his strength by increasing the strength of the golems and giving him a more physically taxing training set.

But Harry had to admit the RoR knew what it was doing. Ever since he started training in the RoR, as Daphne suggested, the tight leash he had over his magic had not slipped even once. It seemed more taxing his training, the less trouble his magic gave him. He was developing good instincts, making him capable of hosting a greater volume of magic without issue. Seeing everything was going so well, he was in a better spirit.

It was reflected in the next potions class with Slughorn. The potion class was a mixture of all four houses, and its strength was woefully inadequate. Most sixth-year students had chosen to drop Potions because of Snape, only to get outplayed by the arrival of Slughorn as the new Potions professor, while Snape became the DADA professor. The small number of students made it difficult to hold classes in the same pattern as other subjects. There were only four Ravenclaws, two Hufflepuffs, four Slytherins and three Gryffindors who opted for potions in the sixth year.

But some things didn’t change for the potions class. It was still held in the dungeon, and most unusually, it was already filled with odd smells. Unlike Snape, Professor Slughorn set them up with individual workstations from the get-go. The first few classes from Slughorn were purely theoretical, mainly dealing with some rare potion ingredients and their effects on certain potions. There was also a small session about different styles of potion making as an introductory class last week. All of those dealt purely with theory, but today, their workstations hosted cauldrons, and the potion cabinet hosted many potion ingredients.

“It's good to see you all bright and eager for the class. Now, I assume you all have had time to read about the different ingredients and their uses I taught you in the last classes.” Slughorn looked at them all with excitable, beady eyes.

“Yes, sir.” The class chorused.

“Marvellous." Slughorn clapped his hands with a genial smile, "Today, we’ll be conducting a wee little competition.”

There were hushed whispers in the classroom upon hearing that.

“Nothing to worry about at all. It’s just some fun on my part but not without its attractions.” Slughorn smiled at them while rubbing his hands.

With a flourish, the potions professor fished out a small vial of golden liquid from his pocket and showed it to everyone in the class.

“This, ladies and gentlemen, is a marvellous potion called Felix Felicis. Now…” Slughorn looked eagerly at everyone in the class, “I suspect some of you might know what Felix Felicis does?”

Hermione’s hand shot up with the speed of a rocket.

“Yes, Miss Granger.” Slughorn was jumping from one leg to another, almost as eager as Hermione.

“It’s liquid luck, sir. It makes anyone who drinks the potion lucky.”

“Correct! Take ten points for Gryffindor.” Slughorn declared happily.

Hermione was also similarly happy for scoring points in the Potions class. Usually, this was the class where Gryffindor lost points for simply attending the class, all thanks to Snape. But that was no longer the case with Professor Slughorn.

“Felix Felicis is a tricky potion to make and has disastrous effects if a mistake is made in its conception.” said Slughorn. “However, if you manage to brew it correctly… you’ll find yourself enjoying a fabulous day… at least until the effects wear off.”  

“Sir, if everyone can get lucky, then why don’t they use it all the time?” Ernie Macmillan asked, looking at the small vial with wonder.

“Ah, because the potion in excess quantity might induce recklessness and remove all inhibitions from oneself.” Slughorn said sagely, “Too much of something, even if it is the most potent medicine, can be toxic to the body. But taken sparingly, it might just serve you well.”

“Have you ever taken it, sir?” Tracey asked, leaning forward in her seat with great interest.

“Yes, of course. Twice in my life…” Slughorn smiled with a faraway look, “Two perfect days of my life…”

Slughorn shook his head and looked at each of them with a grin.

“And that is what I offer as the price for a little friendly competition if you’re up for it.” Slughorn smiled indulgently at them, seeing the obvious excitement in everyone as clear as day.

“Very well, then.” Slughorn suddenly became curt. “To win this fabulous prize, you must brew the Draught of the Living Death within the hour. The instructions are on page ten of your textbook. I do not expect a perfect brew as it is a complex potion. Therefore, the person who does best will win liquid luck. Now, you may begin!”

Everyone scrambled to set up their cauldrons and secure the ingredients. Harry, like everyone else, was adamant about winning the Felix Felicis. His advantage was that he was prepared for this competition in advance. In fact, he had come prepared for the first class itself, but Slughorn’s focus on theory material had thrown him off his rocker. But now, he was vindicated for preparing in advance. At this point, he knew the ingredients by heart and quickly picked them up from the cupboard with practised ease.

Returning to his workstation at record speed, he absently used a wandless cleaning charm on the cauldron, spoons, and knives while measuring the weight of the ingredients on the scale. One by one, he started cutting down the size of the ingredients into the required weights with his silver knife. The last ingredient that required some knife action was the roots of Asphodel.

Once he had finished preparing the ingredients, he heated the cauldron and poured in a measured amount of sterile water. One by one, he started adding the ingredients to the cauldron as prescribed in the potion book he nicked from Snape. He knew he was on the right track when he added the crushed Sopophorous Bean into the potion, which turned a bright shade of lilac.

He placed a slight repulsing charm around his workstation to ensure the other potion fumes wouldn’t interfere with the rest of the process. He started stirring the potion counter-clockwise but stopped on the seventh stir and added a clockwise stir.

The bright lilac potion became a shade lighter before his eyes. He repeated the stirs until his potion became as clear as rainwater. He finished the potion ten minutes before the hour was up. When finished, he immediately placed a stasis charm on the potion and secured the cauldron with a glass lid to ensure it wasn’t tampered with. With his work done, he looked around and noticed everyone was busy working on their potions. Neville’s potion was letting out pink fumes, while Hermione’s potion let out fumes with a yellowish tint. Slughorn was passing through between the students, looking sparingly at the workstations.  

“Sir, I think you knew my grandfather, Abraxas Malfoy?”

Harry eyed Draco Malfoy, who looked eagerly at Professor Slughorn. The Malfoy scion undoubtedly thought he could cosy up with Slughorn by bringing up his grandfather.

“Yes,” said Slughorn, looking anywhere but at Malfoy, “I was sorry to hear he had passed away. Of course, it wasn’t unexpected, dragon pox at his age…”

Harry smirked upon seeing the scowl on Malfoy’s face when Slughorn moved away from Malfoy as if there was some plague nearby. If poor Draco expected any preferential treatment as he got from Snape, the poor Death Eater dog was barking up the wrong tree.

Inevitably, Slughorn came upon Harry’s workstation and a look of utter joy spread across the man’s face after inspecting the potion.

“Excellent! Absolutely marvellous!” Slughorn exclaimed with a joyful glint, “Good Merlin, you’ve inherited your mother’s talent! Lily was a dab hand at Potions.”

Slughorn immediately fished out the vial of Felix Felicis from his robes and presented it to Harry.

“There you go – one bottle of Felix Felicis, as promised and use it well.” Slughorn patted his shoulder with a beaming smile.

Harry had the satisfaction of seeing the utterly crushed look on Draco Malfoy’s face. No doubt, the newly branded slave of Voldemort thought the potion would come in handy in his mission. Unfortunately, he had no intention of making Draco Malfoy’s work any easier. Besides, the mini Death Eater was on his radar, with Dobby watching his every move.

“How did you do that?” Hermione whispered, jealously looking at the vial of potion in his hand.

“You heard Professor Slughorn. I inherited the skill from my mother.” Harry said smugly, making Hermione roll her eyes while muttering under her breath about getting lucky and whatnot.

 

*****

 

Harry was watching the trials for the Keeper and Beaters position from a bench in the stands. He was dressed in his quidditch robes, and his broom was nearby, but he waited for the trials to end so that they could train as a team. Just like last time, there were too many hopefuls for the positions, which kept poor Katie engaged while boring him as he had nothing to do.

At least, he had his entertainment in the form of Daphne, who reluctantly joined him on the stands after his persistent nagging.

“Anything interesting in the Prophet?” Harry asked curiously, seeing his girlfriend’s unwavering focus on the paper.

“The Ministry hit-wizards attacked a pack of werewolves. They were killed, but Fenrir Greyback escaped the slaughter.” said Daphne.

Harry became immediately interested. He placed his chin on her shoulder and read the news over her shoulder.

“Madam Bones is getting ruthless.” Daphne commented with an approving tilt to her tone.

“Uh-huh.” Harry muttered distractedly as he deduced this was the work of his grandmother’s men.

The more he read the article, the more he saw the precision and brutal efficiency by which the werewolves were killed. All of them were stabbed with silver stakes that punched through their bodies. He suspected someone conjured them and banished those stakes into their bodies.

Brutal and effective. It was the signature style of mercenaries. After all, he learned a lot from them, thanks to his grandmother.  

“Madam Bones is cleaning up the street of these rabbles. Soon, we might just win this war without your involvement.” Daphne said casually.

“Ha! There’ll be no war without my involvement, Daphs. But I’ll be sure to tell Madam Bones that she has an admirer who believes in her ability to defeat Voldemort on her own.”  Harry teased lightly.

“I don’t admire anyone.” Daphne scrunched up her nose.

“Sure, you don’t.” Harry smirked.

“Shut up.” Daphne jabbed at his ribs with her elbow.

Harry laughed at her antics and tried to tickle her, but she sat far away from his reach. At that moment, Katie called for him.

“Hey, don’t forget about our date in Hogsmeade.” Harry said as he mounted his broom from the stands.

“Maybe we could spend the date in Hogwarts. Hogsmeade might not be safe for you.” Daphne said, frowning in concern.

“You worry too much.” Harry waved dismissively. “We’ll have a splendid time as usual.”

With that said, he joined Katie on the pitch. To his bitter disappointment, he was called in to deal with the obnoxious dolt that was Cormac McLaggen. The guy was boasting that he’d be capable of blocking all goal hoops without moving to anyone who’d listen.

“Can you just take him away from here? I can’t concentrate on the beaters’ trials if he opens his mouth again.” Katie whispered to him. “The idiot won’t stop talking about how he’d choose the beaters, having them engage in a fight with their best to find the strongest.” 

“Don’t worry. I’ll handle him.” Harry whispered back.

“Hey, Cormac. Let’s have a talk.” Harry approached the loudmouth seventh-year Gryffindor with attitude issues.

When it became clear McLaggen had no intention of shutting his trap and continued to interfere in the selection process, Harry used the Confundus charm to make the idiot shut up. When the tryouts for the Keeper position inevitably came, Harry made McLaggen fall unconscious by sending a psyche assault that rendered McLaggen useless on a broom. Cormac behaved like a drunkard on the broom and swayed back and forth while trying to goalkeep. Katie, Demelza and Ginny ended up taking great pleasure in humiliating the annoying prick by shooting a flood of goals while Cormac drunkenly attempted to capture the quaffle.

Ultimately, Cormac McLaggen didn’t qualify, and the team felt a collective sense of relief. With McLaggen out of the position, he lifted the Confundus charm and allowed the disgruntled seventh-year to storm off from the field.

“Good, Merlin. We were saved by luck.” Ginny said that once she had landed on the ground with Katie and Demelza, “If that prick had somehow qualified, he’d have annoyed us for the whole year.”

“I don’t know what you did, but thank you. You saved us all.” Katie whispered to him once they were out of earshot.

“I’m here to help Captain. You ask, and I deliver.” Harry smirked.  

“Then take Jimmy Peakes and Ritchie Coote for a spin. They are the best beaters in this lot. It won’t hurt to get them some practice with you instead of sitting around and wasting time. I get the feeling that these Keeper tryouts will drag on.” said Katie.

“Alright, lads. Let’s fly a few rounds and practice with that bludger.” Harry said to the newly made beaters and flew with them to the other side of the quidditch pitch while Katie continued with the Keeper trials.  

Harry expected Ron to win the Keeper spot, but when Katie called them back, he saw a familiar auburn-haired girl standing beside Katie, Ginny, and Demelza.

“We’ve got our Keeper. It’s…” Katie started.

“Vicky Frobisher.” said Harry, frowning at the third-year girl critically, “Angelina said you didn’t want to focus on Quidditch last year.”

“Well, I quit the Charms Club when you started the Knights. I didn’t see much point in continuing that. besides, Umbridge outlawed the Club last year, and I never attended its meetings when it was restored.” Vicky said tentatively.

“Huh. Welcome to the team, Vicky.” said Harry.

As Katie started laying out the training plans before their first match against Slytherin, Harry looked for Ron in the crowd of hopefuls on the pitch. He didn’t find the redhead anywhere on the pitch, which made him sigh internally. Though he was not as friendly with Ron, he still considered the bloke a friend.

“He left immediately after Katie picked Vicky as the Keeper. Ron missed one while Vicky saved all penalties.” Ginny explained, seeing his look.

“Oh.” Harry said awkwardly.

His eyes strayed to the stands to see Daphne conversing with Hermione.

‘I suppose she didn’t screw up Frobisher for Ron’s sake.’ Harry mused.

 

*****

 

After the training session, Harry walked down the lengthy corridors of Hogwarts, escorting Daphne back to her dorm. They mostly talked about their plans for the upcoming Hogsmeade visit and what they should do for their date. He also had to endure endless complaints and some snide remarks against Hermione. Apparently, Hermione grilled Daphne about the nature of their betrothal the entire time.

Knowing Hermione’s obsessive nature and higher-than-thou attitude, he suspected she had said some unsavoury things that might’ve insulted Daphne. Going by the frosty look on her face whenever Hermione’s name came up, his suspicions were pretty much confirmed. But still, Daphne didn’t elaborate on what was said between them.

“You Gryffindors have no tact, and you’re highly opinionated.” Daphne complained.

While Daphne was a lovely dame who didn’t air out her grievances, she loved to use blanket insults. Her favourite was insulting Gryffindors as a whole.

“Hey. Don’t forget I’m one of those Gryffindors.” Harry reminded her.

“Hmm. You’re cultured, somewhat unlike your housemates.” Daphne grudgingly admitted, “But that’s because of my influence. Who knows how you’d have ended up if it wasn't for me.”

Harry had to suppress a smile as she snottily strutted ahead.

“Why don’t you make friends with someone better? Granger has book smarts, but she is a disaster for your social life. No one likes her attitude. I don’t know how you tolerate that girl.” Daphne huffed.

“I get by.” Harry said with a shrug.

They finally reached the entrance wall of the Slytherin dorms.

“I’ll have a word with Hermione.” Harry promised as he kissed Daphne’s cheek.

“Please don’t. I don’t need anyone else to fight my battles. Besides, Granger is inconsequential.” said Daphne.

She said her goodbyes and gave him a parting peck on the cheek before stepping into her dorms.

On his way back, Harry came across Professor Babbling waiting near the corridor leading to the Fat Lady's portrait.  

“I was told to give you this by our mutual acquaintance.” said Babbling as she pressed a piece of parchment into his hands.

Before he could ask anything, the Ancient Runes professor walked away without looking back. The parchment she gave him was written in a familiar old script. It read;

Dear grandson,

Meet me in the Chamber at 6 PM on the day of your Hogsmeade visit. Bring your betrothed along as well. It’s time we have a heart-to-heart conversation and properly introduce myself to your wife-to-be.    

Sincerely,

Perenelle Flamel

PS: Don’t be tardy.

 

AN:

For artworks based on the story, join my Discord server. 

https://discord.gg/4hhXR3fAeT

Chapter 108: Assassin in Hogsmeade P1

With a new Gryffindor team forming, they had to ramp up the practice sessions. But this time, it was not just to mesh the individual skills into teamwork but also to get familiar with the new brooms. The brand new Nimbus 2000s became accessible once Katie presented Professor McGonagall with the list of the official playing seven of the Gryffindor quidditch team. The excitement of taking possession of one of the fastest brooms in the market was quite palpable among the team, and when they were finally given access, Katie pushed for more practice sessions.

Katie reasoned that the team needed more time to familiarise themselves with increased speed and manoeuvrability. But Harry thought she was making excuses to make them train hard for the first game against Slytherin, which was only a few weeks away.

But Harry was not complaining, unlike the others on the team. He was entirely dedicated to his role in the training Katie devised for the team. All he had to do was play interference between the Chasers as they passed the quaffle between them. The Beaters, Jimmy and Ritchie, played their usual game, trying to take down the Chasers while Vicky defended the goal hoops.

After half an hour of training, they were packing up from the pitch while the Ravenclaw team took over the pitch for their training slot.

“Do you think we Chasers were not performing well?” Katie asked once they were out of the earshot of the rest of the team, “We scored fewer goals than what I’d have expected.”

“No. You gals were quick as a wink on those brooms. I had a hard time breaking your coordination. Vicky is just a better keeper, and that’s the only reason you scored less.” Harry said truthfully.

“That’s nice to know. These brooms are quite nice. Please convey my thanks to your godfather.” Katie said with a grin.

“I’ll be sure to pass on the message.”

“Did he really have to buy all those brooms and give them to the puffs and ravens?” Katie complained after a short moment of silence.

“Hey, we want the game to be fair play. We’re not like Malfoy and his ilk.”

“There is that.” Katie said, with a grimace, “But still…”

“Hiya Harry!” Hagrid shouted from across the quidditch pitch, waving a lone hand.

“Sorry. Got to go, Katie.” Harry said his goodbyes to Katie and the rest of the team as he ran towards Hagrid.

“Hey, Hagrid. What do you have in that box?” Harry asked once he got close to see the box in Hagrid’s hand, shaking with something inside, trying to break free.

“It’s a Niffler. A sneaky nick, he is. Two times, he sneaked out and robbed Tom.” said Hagrid.

“Here, let me help.” Harry brandished his wand and cast the levitation charm, which made the box float out of Hagrid’s hand.

“Thanks, Harry. I’m knackered after running after this ruddy blighter.” Hagrid said with relief as they walked towards his hut.

“Is he going to be in the lesson the next day?” Harry asked curiously.

“I was planning to. But now, I don’t know Harry. It’ll take time for ‘im to get around, I guess.” Hagrid shook his head, but he perked up with a gleam in his eyes, “But there’s nothin’ ter worry about. I have another lesson planned. Come. I’ll show ye.”

Hagrid waddled to his hut in a hurry and opened the door while Harry followed the friendly half-giant with the box floating beside him. Fang came rushing out of the hut when Hagrid opened the door with his tail wagging happily. Hagrid rubbed Fang’s head sparingly while rushing inside.

“Come in, Harry. I’ve got quite the surprise for ye.” Hagrid yelled excitedly as he nosily walked into the hut.

“Hey, Fang.” Harry patted the friendly dog as Fang rubbed its head against his knees in a friendly manner. “What is Hagrid hiding in his hut? I hope it’s not a dragon or any massive creature that could devour us both and still have enough space for dinner.”

When Harry stepped inside and set the floating box on a corner of the hut, Hagrid came back with a piece of log in his hand. But what was on that log took Harry’s breath away.

“Tada!” Hagrid smiled upon seeing Harry’s gobsmacked face.

“A Bowtruckle!” Harry exclaimed in excitement, seeing the small green twig-like creature.

“Found ‘im and a couple of other fellas of his kind when I was looking for some Mallowsweet leaves in the forest.”

“There are more?” Harry asked in surprise, watching the little creature slowly munch on the wood.  

“Oh, yeah. The whole lot was happy ter follow me when I said I wanted ter show ‘em ter my students. Come, I’ll show ye.”

Hagrid ushered him further into the hut, and he saw several Bowtruckles happily running around a couple of logs of wood in Hagrid’s home.

“Amazing.” Harry’s eyes gleamed upon seeing the cute little creatures. “Can I hold one of em?”

“Of course, Harry.” Hagrid said happily.

Hagrid managed to cajole one of the Bowtruckles running around his hut to climb into Harry’s extended palm.

“Wow!” Harry giddily looked at the twig-like creature, which was making ridiculous poses while standing on his palm.

“He is so cute.” Harry was ashamed to say he nearly giggled when he poked the little green creature on its green skin.

“Bowtruckles make their homes on trees that we use for wand wood. They’re mostly peaceful fellas, but when their homes are harmed, they might just show how dangerous they are.” said Hagrid.

“This will be a fantastic lesson. I’m sure everyone loves these cute guys.” Harry couldn’t help but tickle the Bowtruckle one last time before he let the little guy join his friends in munching on a log.

Suddenly, Harry heard a loud squelching noise that startled him. He noticed a barrel in the corner shaking suddenly with more squelching noises. Then, he saw a ton of large maggots inside the barrel, which made him take a few steps back.

“What are they, Hagrid?” Harry asked, trying not to show his worry that these maggot-like creatures might grow into giant hideous creatures capable of killing ordinary wizards with a simple sneeze.   

“Oh, them,” Hargrid waved it off as if it was a silly question, “Just giant Grubs.”

‘Giant.’ Harry thought warily.

“Oh, there is nothing to worry about, Harry. They’re not like the blast-ended Skrewts.” Hagrid promised. “I just got ‘em ter feed ter Aragog.”

“I see.” Harry hummed.

As Hagrid explained the troubles Aragog has been suffering, he was thinking of another matter. So far, he had maintained a fruitful relationship with the Acromantula clan in the Forbidden Forest, but he was now running short of Death eaters to feed the giant spiders. Besides, he had already accumulated enough Acromantula silk to create a fortune for four generations of Potters to live lavishly. With Aragog’s health declining, the effort to keep his side deal with the Acromantula clan would be in jeopardy.

‘I’ll need to remove these giant spiders from the board quietly and efficiently.’ Harry mused as the beginnings of a plan started to form in his mind.

He went back to listening to Hagrid’s retelling of the heart-touching story of how he came to possess Aragog while making a mental note to wait until Aragog kicked the bucket for Hagrid’s sake.

 

****

 

A wave of destructive energy shot out of the palm of his right hand, smashing away the stone knight into rubble. At the same time, with his other hand, he held up an energy shield that made tone knives crumble to dust as they were thrown in his direction.

With a flick of his wrist, Harry transfigured the pieces of shattered stone into a pack of wolves and set them up on the remaining stone golems. A concentrated blast of fire nearly burnt his face if not for his instincts kicking in, forcing Harry to roll out of the way.

“Suffusio.”

A torrent of water was conjured out of his palm and slammed into the wooden dummy with wand in hand, expelling the flames, and he immediately froze the dummy in a block of ice. He put up a shield again, which protected him from more knives as they shattered against the shield.

“Defodio.”

He swiped his hand in a wide arc. The golems attacking him were bifurcated, with their top halves falling unceremoniously on the floor. He ducked immediately and rolled away as the wooden dummy shattered the ice and banished blocks of ice against him.

Harry broke into a run around the dummy and started deflecting the spells that rained down on him. When the dummy realised simple banishing charms, stunners, and blasting hexes were not working, it started to get into transfiguration spells. All sorts of creatures like bears, foxes, and dogs started popping up and starting to chase Harry. He kept them all at bay by using a wide area banisher, which threw them back a good distance, but the dummy began to conjure more such animals to keep him occupied.

Harry took his wand out for the next spell and pulled off a spell he had learned from Dumbledore’s book. He transfigured a small rock into a wide net, which he banished to the transfigured animals. Once he got most of them, the net grew large steel spikes, which destroyed the transfigured animals by disrupting the magic holding them together. A pack of wolves that escaped the net tried to jump him, but Harry summoned a fiery whip and cut them all down in two swift strikes.

He immediately cast the hovering charm on the fallen piece of a stone golem and banished it straight at the wooden dummy. The dummy snapped it in half on a gouging charm with a swift slice of the wand in its hand. Harry used that distraction to perform another transfiguration spell he learned from Dumbledore’s book.

“Riata Laquem.”

A broken piece of the stone golem was transfigured into a giant steel spring, and Harry wrapped it around the dummy. The spring's steel coils were super-hot, burning the wooden dummy as they dug into the wooden body like a hot knife cutting through butter.

“Expelliarmus. Bombarda.”

The wand in the hand of the dummy was pulled away from its hand, and the dummy turned into splintered wood in the next second.

‘Phew. It’s over.’ Harry thought, wiping the sweat on his forehead.

Whenever he came to the RoR to train his wandless magic, the room turned the difficulty up a notch. This was the first time he was forced to use his wand to come out on top with a simulation provided by the RoR. Harry got freshened up and went straight for the Great Hall with his backpack for breakfast. He was nearly late for breakfast, but he managed to put some veggies and bread into his stomach before catching up with his friends in the Herbology class.

“Where were you?” Neville asked once he plopped down next to Neville.

“Just trying out some spells. I lost track of time.”

Professor Sprout walked into the classroom in her bright yellow robes.

“All right, children. Today, we will learn about the different ways to nurture Fluxweed. Now, turn to page 20 of your textbook and read the third paragraph. As you read, I’ll have some pots of Fluxweed distributed…”

The lesson progressed as usual and without any incident. But it hit a snag when Professor McGonagall came and whispered something in Professor Sprout’s ear that made the friendly woman go pale. The next thing Harry saw was Hannah Abbot getting excused from the lesson, and Professor Sprout followed shortly after McGonagall left everyone to gossip and speculate. But by noon, everyone knew that Death Eaters had attacked Hanna’s family, and her mother was found dead.

That day, students from across the four houses were moody as the news of the Abbott family’s tragedy spread like wildfire. Hannah was taken out of Hogwarts to attend her mother's funeral, and no one knew whether she’d return.

 

****

 

Harry waited patiently outside the doors of the great hall where the flight of stairs that led to the dungeons were situated. He greeted a few of his Slytherin acquaintances as they left for Hogsmeade. If the older Slytherins had made fast friends with him after the Triwizard Tournament, now it was the younger years of Slytherin students that made the effort to get in his good graces.

Daphne and Tracey had told him the younger years were no longer intimidated by Malfoy and his cohorts. Ever since he dealt a blow to Umbridge and her cronies and Snape got knocked down a few pegs, younger Slytherins were bold enough to resist intimidation from the Death Eater legacies in the house. According to Tracey, most of the Slytherin house was filled with half-bloods who pretended they were purebloods to get away from trouble. Harry’s consistent beating down of the Death Eater groupies in the house and Snape, along with his public display of cutting off Voldemort’s arm, was enough to inject a dose of courage into those students.

“Pssst! Master Harry.”

Harry was slightly startled to hear a whispered voice, but he calmed down when he found Dobby behind a curtain. He immediately put up a Notice-me-not ward around the area.

“Dobby. Did you find anything?”

“Dobby did, sir. The bad Malfoy boy is getting a cursed necklace. Dobby heard the boy whisper his dark words after receiving a letter – yes, he did.” Dobby reported readily, his small face sporting a grave look.

“Good work, Dobby. Do you know who is coming to deliver the necklace and where?” he asked eagerly.

“Dobby doesn’t know who is coming, sir. But Dobby knows the evil Malfoy boy will wait for someone in the Three Broomsticks.”

“Good work, Dobby. I’ll deal with the rest from here. Send Sirius my best.”

Harry watched Dobby teleport away, and he fished out a two-way mirror.

“Amelia Bones.”

It took a minute before the face of the Minister of Magic appeared in the mirror.

“Mr Potter. I hope you have something important to discuss.” Minister Bones said with a frown.

There were dark circles under the woman’s eyes. He supposed the latest death had struck a blow to the Ministry, considering Mrs Abbott was a high-ranking official in the Department of Magical Transportation. There was already speculation that Voldemort was recruiting from beyond the borders of Britain.

“Indeed, Minister. How would you like to capture a Death Eater who is trying to assassinate Albus Dumbledore red-handed?” Harry asked.

The way Madam Bones’ eyes lit up was answer enough. After all, the Ministry needed a victory to boost the morale, and Harry was happy to spell the end of House Malfoy for good. It was a win-win situation for them both.

“I’m surprised you’re offering to capture Draco Malfoy alive. We made this arrangement solely for your extrajudicial activities. So, why let the Ministry capture him?” Madam Bones asked curiously.

It was true he was given immunity from the Ministry so long as he used deadly force against marked Death Eaters. But Madam Bones’ questioning had another meaning. Harry suspected she was gauging his limits to use deadly force and see where his boundaries were.

“You just lost a valuable ministry employee, and Malfoy is a fellow student. He has not yet claimed any lives. So, I’m giving a pass on this one. There are far worse Death Eaters than Draco Malfoy.” Harry answered.

“Hmm.” Minister Bones stared at him briefly before shrugging her shoulders, “Very well. How do you want to proceed, Mr Potter?”

“Don’t send Shacklebolt. He is Dumbledore’s man. Send someone you trust. I’ll be waiting outside the Three Broomsticks. Here is the plan…”  

 

****

 

Harry walked hand in hand with Daphne. They chose to do away with their uniform robes and wear jackets over their shirts and ties for the date. They couldn’t wear any casual dress because there were strict instructions to wear uniforms because of security concerns.

“Why is he checking us when we are going out? Shouldn’t the checking be done when we return from Hogsmeade?” Tracey asked with a scowl as they came upon Filch standing outside the large oak doors of the castle inspecting the students.

“You know by now he enjoys anything that torments us.” Daphne whispered back at her friend.

“I don’t know why this man is even hired. It’s not like he can detect anything if we conceal it with magic.” Asif Ahmed scowled at Filch while holding hands with Tracey.

“I sense a funny story to that hostility.” Harry said, eyeing Tracey’s date out of the corner of his eyes.

Harry was genuinely surprised when he saw the fourth-year Ravenclaw accompanying Tracey as her date. While Slytherin students were less hostile with his relationship with Daphne, he supposed they’d have taken up an issue when one of their own started dating a muggleborn. He supposed Tracey’s half-blood status must’ve kept them to turn a blind eye, or he didn’t give due credit to his girlfriend’s prowess within the house. After all, she had kept the Pureblood maniacs at bay on her own, even if he lent her some help in their fourth year.

“That man confiscated a couple of Dungbombs I planned to use on a bully. I got two weeks' worth of detention cleaning the broom closets in the castle.” Asif said with a huff.

“At least you know the location of all the broom closets. I’m sure that’ll come in handy pretty soon.” Harry snickered as he saw Tracey’s cheeks reddening while Asif remained clueless.

“Be nice.” Daphne slapped the back of his palm, but she was enjoying it, going by the smile on her lips.

After going through Filch’s scrutiny, they went out to visit Hogsmeade.

“So, where will we go first?” Tracey asked as they neared the village.

“We should visit Fickle Fabrics. We should look for that blue hat you mentioned last night.” Daphne piqued up.

“I nearly forgot about that. Let’s go.” Tracey rushed them towards the hat shop.

The massive collection of hats with various enchantments was on display as Daphne and Tracey went from shelf to shelf, looking for the best hats in the shop.

“How does this look?” Daphne asked, wearing a bronze-coloured hat with a white feather on top.

“Not bad. It’ll look good if it is green.” Harry commented.

“Where is Neville? I don’t think I saw him with you.” Daphne said as she set aside the hat and searched for another one.

“Neville and Susan went to visit the Abbott family to pay their respects. Neville’s grandma came to pick him up.” Harry said, picking a green hat he saw and placing it on Daphne’s head.

He adjusted the hat a bit to let her tuck in some stray hair which had fallen into her eyes. Daphne stood before a mirror and looked at all possible angles to see whether the hat was a match.

“Yep. Looks perfect.” Harry smiled as he hugged her from behind and pulled the hair over her shoulder to press a chaste kiss against the nape of her neck.

“Hmm. You’ll buy me this one if you like it so much.” said Daphne, smiling at the compliment and the kiss. “Now, let me look for that blue hat Tracey was talking about. She said it had warming enchantments for winter.”

“While I like to see you in many colourful hats, dresses or in nothing at all…” Harry yelped as Daphne kicked his shin with the back of her heel.  

“You should hurry up, Daphs. We’ve got a Death Eater to catch and make ourselves presentable for that meeting.” Harry whispered against her skin before he retracted his arm from her waist.

“You still haven’t told me who we’re meeting.” Daphne said, rolling her eyes.

“It won’t be a secret meeting if all the secrets are known beforehand.” Harry smiled while Daphne rolled her eyes.

“Fine, keep your secrets. You’ll be buying me extra Chocolate Cauldrons from Honeydukes.” Daphne said, brooking no argument from him.

 

****

 

An excerpt from The Continental War 1660-1670 by Marcus Slytherin

Titus Targaryen ascended the throne at the age of 24. His ascension caused many rumours across the vast Scottish Kingdom, as his father, Edgar Targaryen, was still in sound health and only 56 years old. Most historians agree, citing contemporary sources and surviving court transcripts, that King Edgar was fascinated by art and magical exploration. He abhorred court politics and was largely unambitious about expanding Scottish power, trade, and influence worldwide.

King Edgar’s eldest son, Prince Titus Targaryen, was the exact opposite. He was a gifted warrior and a sorcerer of great power and skill. From an early age, his mastery of the elements was unparalleled. At the age of sixteen, Prince Titus became a complete master of the element of water. As such, he could summon water with a mere thought. His mastery over the water element was such that he could turn them into the finest blades of ice and rain death upon his enemies at will.

His unparalleled mastery over water, combined with his colossal dragon Moonfyre, made him the most dangerous warrior in the Scottish Kingdom.

Prince Titus was a great admirer of Hadrian I, Alexander I and Visenya I. These three monarchs had ensured the complete subjugation of the surrounding kingdoms of Scotland. There is even a famous saying by the prince;

“Hadrian started the kingdom. Alexander crushed the enemies circling us. Visenya took all the islands she saw, birthing the Scottish Empire. I will make sure the sun never sets on the Scottish Empire.”

His claim was initially dismissed as flights of fancy by a young prince. But when King Edgar crowned his son king, he retired from kingship and retreated to mountains and forests in pursuit of knowledge. With King Edgar’s absence, the royal court started hearing different voices that concurred with King Titus' ambitions. It didn’t take long for the aspirations of a young Prince Titus to become the official policy of the Scottish Empire. The Targaryen court that desired peace suddenly found itself in disfavour of the young monarch who looked to Europe and saw more land to expand and inferior enemies to defeat.  

The Goblins were King Titus’ steadfast allies and advisors. Their voice drowned the court within the year of his ascension, and the loudest voice in the court was calling for the Conquest of Europe, wallowing in the Dark Ages. When King Titus looked upon the old kingdoms that were once the Roman Empire, he saw weak theocratic states believing in an imaginary deity and clergy that had no spark of power to their souls but a power granted by the words of one book.

Before King Titus finished a year upon his throne, he declared war on all of Europe. It was in Yule of 1660 that he declared war and made his intentions known to Europe that the House of Dragon was coming.

When King Titus declared war upon Europe, he famously said this to the detractors in his court, who cautioned him against such naked aggression;

“I have the might of Dragons, Scotland, Magic and Valyria on my side. What is Europe going to do? Pray to their big bearded man in the sky. I say, let him come. I, too, prefer a fight between equals!”  

While many historians credit Titus Targaryen’s ambition, greed and arrogance for the continental war that followed, many more pragmatic historians, such as Lionel Green and Victoria Smith, point to the expanding population of House Targaryen. At the time of Titus’ ascension, there were seventeen Targaryen princes and princesses with bonded dragons. King Titus, a shrewd man with excellent political acumen, keenly observed the internal politics churning inside the House of the Dragon. He was a master of subterfuge and political power plays in his court and abroad, and he saw a remedy to prevent the possible fracturing of his family.

Titus saw the individual ambition simmering within House Targaryen could be channelled effectively, and he saw an easy way to ensure his family could peacefully expand into the vast lands of Europe. Thus, the conquest of Europe became a preventive medicine for internal strife and the expansion of the Scottish Empire.

AN:

For artworks based on the story, join my Discord server. 

https://discord.gg/4hhXR3fAeT

 

Chapter 109: Assassin in Hogsmeade P2

Draco Malfoy was submerged in a tempest of emotions, fear reigning supreme at the moment. It was a fear that threatened to engulf him, to lay bare his vulnerability before those close to him.

He was about to do the greatest act in the war against mudbloods. He was about to kill Albus Dumbledore, the wizard who even the Dark Lord feared, in a straight fight. He was about to kill Albus Dumbledore, the wizard whom even the Dark Lord feared, in a straight fight. His entire body shook at what he was attempting. The largess of it all, the moment of greatness and truth, stared back at him. It was a point of no return as well. He had never killed anyone before, but then again, he had wanted to kill but never got the chance.

His thirst for power and recognition was a fire that raged within him. If his target were Potter or that mudblood Granger, he’d have felt a surge of exhilaration. But the Dark Lord demanded Dumbledore's death. If he succeeded, the reward would be immeasurable. He’d elevate the prestige of House Malfoy and secure a place at the Dark Lord’s side as they usher in the era of Pureblood dominance in Britain.

Draco could think of the many things he could do if he had such power. He could show those blood-traitor Weasleys their place once the Dark Lord won. Without Dumbledore, Potter could be dealt with. He believed it was because of Dumbledore, his arch nemesis was powerful. Once the Dark Lord destroyed Potter, he could also pay a visit to some of his fellow housemates, especially the Greengrass sisters. He was sure Greengrass and her little gang could be of some use to the Death Eaters even if they were blood traitors.

But they were not the sole blood traitors in his house. It was sad to know how many pureblood Slytherins had fallen for Potter’s false charm. Once the Dark Lord won, he’d make everything right, and House Slytherin would be purged of the undesirable elements that polluted its sanctity.

However, for any of that to come to pass, he had to complete the task set out by the Dark Lord. While the rewards of victory were indeed great, the consequences of failure were much harsher.

Draco was acutely aware that failure would not only crush him but also tarnish his family name. The thought of his family falling further into disfavour with the Dark Lord was a heavy burden that threatened to break him. It could lead to his death or even his mother’s death.

Draco’s hands shook as he sat in the Three Broomsticks, waiting for Travis Finch to show up with the cursed necklace he purchased from Borgin and Burkes. He chose to sit at the table close to the door and was seated in a chair that gave him a full view of the door. He was hardly bothered by the inane conversation amongst his friends as he sweated a little while eyeing the door like a hawk.

He eyed his supposed friends and beat down the urge to sneer at these idiots. Crabbe and Goyle were as useless to his father as their parents were. Pansy was a disturbance more than anything at this point with her incessant nagging. Millicent was silent and useless, just like Pansy. He didn’t consider Zabini a friend, but that one was too dangerous to trust, even with a toothbrush. Nott was silent and creepy. He never knew what that boy thought, which made Theodore Nott dangerous and untrustworthy.

Any one of his so-called friends could bring him down if they knew what he was doing. After all, his failure would benefit them and their families. House Malfoy gaining the Dark Lord’s favour would not sit well with his friends and their family’s interests. So, he kept his eyes peeled for a spell in the back from his so-called friends. Even now, he had kept Crabbe and Goyle in the dark despite how dumb they were.

After all, it was not just his fellow Slytherins he had to worry about. Snape was also after his hide, constantly offering his aid and prying for information about his plans. It was a good thing he had started taking lessons in Occlumency over the summer. While he was not at a level to face a skilled Legilimens like Snape, he could detect intrusions into his mind, which was more than enough to safeguard his secrets.

Draco sat up straight when he noticed Travis Finch walk into the pub.

“I’ll be right back.” Draco said to his friends as he stood and walked towards the men’s restroom.

It didn’t take long for Finch to follow him and enter the restroom. They immediately secured the restroom with a few wards to keep out any surprise visitors.

“Did you bring it?” Draco immediately asked.

“Of course I did.” Finch said, taking out the cursed necklace that he brought from Borgin and Burkes before coming to Hogwarts.

Draco immediately took the wooden box from Finch’s hands and looked inside. The shiny black necklace gleamed menacingly, making Draco shiver in fright from the palpable malevolence. For a moment, he doubted his plan to have Dumbledore get afflicted with the curse on the necklace.

After all, if he could feel the dark magic in the necklace, Dumbledore could most certainly detect the magic.

But Draco already had a plan that he hoped would circumvent that little problem. All he had to do was force someone else to use the necklace on Dumbledore. It had to be someone Dumbledore wouldn’t suspect capable of attacking him. Thankfully, he just had the best person for that job.

“You may leave now.” Draco said to Finch while handing the man a pouch of galleons. “Do not linger in this place.”

“You ain’t need to worry about me, Malfoy. I’m off to Knockturn to find my red-Beth and have a nice evening.” Finch grinned lecherously before taking his leave from the restroom.

Draco wiped the sweat off his forehead and tried to get a grip on his shaking hands. It was now time to execute his plan. Taking a deep breath, he walked out of the restroom, the box safely hidden in a pocket inside his robes. He looked around at the pub for his Target while standing inconspicuously close to a darkened corner of the pub, away from anyone’s notice.  

His eyes were solely trained on Madam Rosmerta as the voluptuous witch served the customers butterbeer and wine. The barmaid of the Three Broomsticks was a wet dream of all male students in Hogwarts. She was attractive with her long, curly dark hair, hazel eyes and an impressive bust that made all the boys swoon. Having captured the eye of the majority of the male population of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, Madam Rosmerta was a perfect pawn for this task.

But directly using Madam Rosmerta was not a sound idea. Draco knew this, and therefore, his plan was far better.

When Madam Rosmerta finally left the tables and came behind the counter, Draco was ready with his wand and pointed discreetly at the witch.

“Imperio.”

He could see the spell take effect. He had practised the spell repeatedly on a few captured muggle prisoners during the holidays, and it was not different when used against Rosmerta. He didn’t even need to use verbal commands to make her obey. He only had to convey his intentions silently while the spell took effect.

‘Find a lone Gryffindor student and put them under the Imperius curse. Order them to give this necklace to Albus Dumbledore. Order them not to open the package for anyone else. Order them to go straight to Albus Dumbledore and make sure he touches the necklace.’

Draco slid the wooden box on the counter, and Rosmerta took the box without protesting. The woman kept it inside her coat, making Draco let out a relieved sigh.

‘You’ll forget who gave you this necklace. You’ll obey my order without fail and never tell anyone about the necklace. Now, act normal to everyone else.’

Draco let out a sigh of relief when Rosmerta turned back to her job. The woman was back looking at the shelf, probably for a butterbeer bottle.

It was as if a great weight was lifted off his shoulder. He had done it! He could feel a surge of victory coursing through his body. Some of the confidence that he had lost was returning in full force. He had done the most difficult task right under the noses of the occupants of the Three Broomsticks. He now had the most attractive barmaid of Hogsmeade under his command.

His grey eyes fell on the shapely bottom of Madam Rosmerta. Draco couldn’t help but smirk at the older witch as she continued to serve and tease the men and boys in the pub.

‘When this is all over, I should visit Rosmerta to properly ‘celebrate’ my victory.’ Draco mused, smiling lecherously at the voluptuous woman.

He remained in the dark corner, watching Rosmerta work while looking for an opportunity to use an unsuspecting Gryffindor in his scheme. As minutes ticked by, his anxiety only increased, and it notably spiked when he saw Potter enter the pub with a bunch of Aurors.

‘What is Potter doing here now? Why is he with Aurors?’ Draco thought, his fear rising to new heights as he frantically looked around the pub for an escape route.

Potter suddenly clapped his hands, and a loud sound attracted everyone’s attention. The entire pub fell silent and looked at Potter, whose eyes gleamed with a bright green hue.  

“Everyone, I’d like you to cooperate for a few minutes. Please stay where you are and stay silent.” Potter said loudly.

Draco’s eyes widened, and his heart started beating faster. He began to sweat as the Aurors spread out in the pub, making it impossible for him to leave without a fight.

“What is the meaning of this? Who do you think you are, you half-blood lun…” Pansy shrieked, but Potter just waved his hand, and Pansy was lifted off her feet and slammed into the pub's roof.

The wooden planks of the roof suddenly started to move and rearrange themselves as if they were being transfigured. When the planks stopped moving, everyone saw Pansy Parkinson trapped inside the wood. All her limbs were locked in, and even her mouth was covered by a wooden hand, making it impossible for the sixth-year Slytherin to make any sound sans some groaning and moaning.

“I’m afraid I don’t have the patience for Death Eater bitches today. Now, I won’t be taking too much of your time. So, please remain seated.” Potter said with a disarming smile, but the weight of his command was palpable.

No one moved from their spot, especially after witnessing the casual display of wandless magic that rendered Pansy Parkinson immobile and silent. Draco couldn’t help but gape as he stared at the bound Pansy struggling on the roof. His thoughts of attacking Potter and the Aurors and somehow making a run for it fled his mind upon seeing the ease at which his arch-rival was performing magic.

When he tore his eyes away from Pansy's prone form and looked at Potter, he saw his rival was holding a stone in the palm of his hand with glowing runes carved on its surface.

‘What in the name of Merlin is that?’ Draco wondered.

Suddenly, many beams of golden light shot out of the runestone, which jumped around the pub. The runestone continued to shoot out many beams that banked left and right around tables, shelves and counters. Some of those beams swirled around some people in the pub before they shot back into the runestone. It was a beautiful light show, and Draco would’ve secretly enjoyed it in any other situation.

When Draco saw a lone golden beam remain in the pub swirling around Rosmerta, he knew he was had.

“Incracerous. Expelliarmus.”

Madam Rosmerta was immediately bound and disarmed by an Auror in the blink of an eye.

Draco shivered in fright as the Aurors followed the light beam, which pointed at an inner pocket inside Rosmerta’s coat. The Aurors levitated the wooden box from her pocket, making Draco gulp audibly.

“There is definitely dark magic emanating from the box.” an Auror said after casting some spells on the box.  

“Of course, there is, and Madam Rosmerta is under the imperius curse.” Potter said almost casually.

Draco felt like he couldn’t breathe as Potter and the Aurors started unravelling his plans to glory right before his eyes. His danger senses went haywire when the Aurors started to inspect Rosmerta for the spell.

“I believe Mr Potter is right. She has glazed, unfocused eyes.” an Auror said after inspecting Rosmerta.

“I believe the one who put her under the imperious is not too far away. In fact, I’m pretty sure he is right there.” Potter pointed straight at him out of the blue.

Draco jumped out of the seat he was sitting in and made a run for it while firing a couple of exploding curses at Potter and the Aurors. But his curses were blown away, and the next thing he knew, he was blown straight out of one of the pub’s windows. His ears started ringing, and he spat out dirt from his mouth while lying prone on the ground. He shook his head to regain his bearings. He slowly crawled up to his hands and knees even as his vision swam.

He could hear distant shouts and screams, so he searched for his wand. But he couldn’t feel the warmth of the hawthorn wand in his hands, which sent a jolt through his body. He panicked and wildly searched for his wand by patting down the ground around him. Fortunately, his fingers graced a piece of wood and a familiar warmth spread through his right arm. The familiar sense of warmth also helped to chase away the blurriness covering his eyes.

He immediately tried to apparate away, but he found something like a hammer punching into his gut, knocking the air out of his lungs.

‘Anti-apparating jinx.’ Draco bemoaned.

Draco keeled over as he struggled to breathe, and his wand flew out of his hand before he could do anything.

“I warned you that the Malfoy line would end if you sought my enmity.”

Draco gritted his teeth as tears prickled his eyes at the weight of his failure set in. He could see Potter standing a few paces from him with a carefree look.

“Look at you now… crying like a baby in the middle of Hogsmeade for getting caught in service to the Dark Lord. I can feel his tainted magic on your left arm.”

“The Dark Lord will kill you. He’ll… he’ll…” Draco threatened furiously as shame and fear dominated his mind as he felt a thousand eyes on him.

“He’ll fail like he always has. The last time we met, I took his arm. The next time, I’ll take his soul.” Potter said as if he was talking about the weather.

Draco couldn’t understand how Potter could so callously and bravely state such things without a shred of doubt. He couldn’t understand how someone similar to his age could stand up to the Dark Lord. He couldn’t understand why Potter was powerful enough, but he wasn’t.

“Come on, lad. We have many questions for you and a long stay in the cell next to your father to look forward to.”

Draco heard one of the Aurors say as he was bound in ropes, and his possessions, including his wand, were carefully sealed away. The last thing he saw before the Aurors side-along apparated him was the many judging eyes of his fellow Hogwarts students. At that moment, he knew he had brought shame and ruin upon House Malfoy.  

 

****

 

An excerpt from The Continental War 1660-1670 by Marcus Slytherin

The Scottish Empire under King Titus Targaryen was clear on its way forward in foreign policy. The Scottish court sought expansion into mainland Europe. Despite the many wars fought over the years with the former colonies of the Roman Empire, Scottish kings and Queens have always been satisfied with ruling over the home islands and never expanding further into mainland Europe. This policy was not borne out of magnanimity or a desire for peace. It was sheer pragmatism, and the Scottish throne hardly needed any resources outside its lands. The Scottish Empire hosted the most powerful sorcerers in the known world, with vast tracts comprising Scottish, Welsh, English and Irish lands. This magic allowed them to become immensely strong in military affairs, agriculture, mining, crafts, and art, and they boasted a vibrant economy.

The Scottish Royal Navy was historically the most powerful navy the world had ever seen, as it had single-handedly broken the Viking dominion of the seas. There have been many failed attempts by Frank, Spanish and Dutch kings to reclaim the Scottish Isles under Christendom, but they’ve all failed and become the graveyard of their armies and navies. This eventually resulted in a lukewarm peace between mainland Europe and the Scottish empire known as the Dragon’s Peace. It was a treaty signed by four dominant crowns of the European continent. The signatories were the Scottish Empire, France, the Dutch Republic and Spain.

This mutually agreed-upon peace treaty brought almost a century of peace to the Scottish Channel. This peace even led the Scottish Empire to become a peacemaker whenever the European kingdoms waged war against each other as a neutral party with no stake in the conflict. This state of affairs brought three Targaryen Kings with excellent diplomatic skills and a century of peace. European history remembered them as the three saintly dragons for their efforts to diminish the expansion of the Scottish Empire in the pursuit of peace with other European polities.

Therefore, it was a surprise when King Titus declared war on the Dutch Republic and its entire colonial possessions in the Americas and Asia. It was a war the Dutch Republic was not prepared for or even assumed in their wildest dreams would happen because the Dutch Republic was one of the most lucrative trade partners of the Scottish Empire.

On New Year's Eve, the Dutch Republic received the declaration of war. So, when the year 1660 started with the shores of the Dutch Republic burning as dragons laid waste to their enormous fleets and harbours, King Godfrey II of the Dutch Republic was said to have sported a look of utter befuddlement at the sudden hostilities from Scotland.

As a protestant nation, the Dutch Republic had often come into bitter conflicts with France. But never with Scotland, as their battles had been forgotten in the annals of history in favour of the Protestant-Catholic civil war within Christendom. In fact, it was the Catholic Church’s obsession with waging endless wars against the Scottish Empire that inflamed the Protestant movement in Europe. If anything, the Dutch Enlightenment Age and the reforms that led to freedom from the grip of the clergy of Rome were because the Scottish Empire defied Church power and doctrine. At one point, the Dutch kings of House Nassau tried to establish marital alliances with House Targaryen in hopes of preserving their shrinking republic, which France, the Holy Roman Empire, and Spain besieged.

Though unsuccessful, the Dutch kings enjoyed better relations with their Scottish counterparts.

So, Scotland's sudden declaration of war caught the Dutch Republic woefully unprepared. By the end of January, the Dutch fleet was completely wiped out of the Scottish channel, and most of their islands, cities, and towns close to the shores were under Scottish occupation. Their overseas possessions were essentially cut off from the mainland. Without the support of the mainland fleet, these colonies became easy prey for rival colonial powers or were forcibly absorbed into the Scottish Empire by the Scottish Royal Navy.

However, the quick fall of colonies was also due to the Scottish Empire’s ability to project its power using two special classes of ships unassailable by conventional weapons: the Royal Navy’s U-boat and the Airship.

It took King Godfrey II and his generals a long time to understand the true might of the enemy invading their nation. But by then, the Dutch Republic had become increasingly weakened by the relentless assault of the Scottish Royal Navy and Royal Army. 

However, the Dutch Republic's woes didn’t end there. Under Antoine II of House Bourbon, France invaded the Dutch Republic, resulting in a series of skirmishes and eventually the unilateral annexation of the Duchy of Lorraine and the invasion of the Spanish Netherlands. This, in turn, caused the Holy Roman Empire and Spain to declare war on France in defence of the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Netherlands. It was a complex situation on the ground where bitter rivals suddenly found themselves allies of convenience.

When word reached the Targaryen court in February that war had broken out between the major European powers, Titus Targaryen allegedly laughed so loud that the whole castle of Dragonshire shook. Whether Titus Targaryen planned for the distrust and greed that spun the wheel of European polities to lead France, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire into a war remained unknown. However, many agree that Titus goaded the European powers to war against each other by spreading misinformation.

Some court transcripts of the French court support this theory because King Antione believed there was a secret alliance between the Scottish Empire and the Habsburgs of Spain, the Holy Roman Empire. At the same time, the Habsburgs believed House Targaryen and House Bourbon had come to an unholy alliance to divide Europe between themselves. Therefore, a bitter war broke out between France and Habsburg ruled Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. 

This neatly allowed King Titus to solidify his hold on the Dutch Republic, leading to its capitulation on June 3, 1660. The Dutch Republic was reconstituted into a Principality under King Titus’ uncle, Henry Targaryen. Immediately after that, he turned his attention to another European power while holding the borders of the newly formed principality with his dragons and sorcerers.

 

Chapter 110: Meeting two immortal alchemists

Harry had a spring in his steps as he walked away from Hogsmeade with Daphne. They had an overall neat date. They held hands while they walked, they snogged a lot, he brought her a cute hat, and she made him buy her a mountain of chocolates as usual, like in all their previous dates. Then, they had the exciting adventure of hunting down a couple of Death eaters and foil their plots. It was quite fun to watch Draco Malfoy being dragged out of Hogsmeade under the guard of Aurors, bound and gagged. The entire Hogwarts student body with access to Hogsmeade had come to watch the spectacle. There was no sympathy for Draco Malfoy, especially when everyone had a frontal view of the glaring Dark Mark on his right arm.

Of course, Dumbledore and Snape tried to talk the Aurors out of taking Draco into their custody, but sadly for the dynamic duo, the Aurors were sent with clear orders from Minister Bones. It also helped there were no Order members among the Aurors assigned to the Hogsmeade mission. It left Dumbledore powerless, and he could only watch Draco Malfoy being dragged away by the Aurors.

Harry took great comfort in watching the twinkle in the man’s eyes disappear when it was trained on him. It was one of those sweet moments of revenge that he enjoyed watching the level of discomfort he brought upon the head of Dumbledore. But it was never enough for what that man took from him. He had lost the woman he loved, a son and an entire kingdom all because Dumbledore couldn’t let go of his favourite pawn. No matter what, there was payback coming for Dumbledore in store, and he wanted to do that with his own two hands.

That was one of the reasons why he didn’t allow Draco Malfoy to stumble around Hogwarts in his idiotic mission to assassinate Albus Dumbledore.

‘As if that ponce could assassinate a fly.’ Harry thought with a scoff.

“You’re thinking about some plan to cause more trouble for Dumbledore, aren’t you?” Daphne said with a knowing look.

“You know me so well, love.” Harry grinned, squeezing her hand as they walked towards Hogwarts with their fingers intertwined.

“I don’t think Dumbledore is happy with what you did. He looked like you stole away his phoenix.” Daphne said, her shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.

“Oh, I’m going to do much worse in the near future.” Harry muttered darkly.

“Leaving your justifiable revenge against Dumbledore aside, who are we meeting?” Daphne prodded before Filch checked them outside the entrance into the castle.

“You’ll see.” Harry whispered as they neared the Hogwarts caretaker.

Filch allowed them entry after being searched and found nothing untoward in their possession. Immediately, Harry found a secluded spot and called for Dobby to transport them into the Chamber.  

Harry expected Perenelle to greet him with a flashy entrance, but the woman was already there when he arrived with Daphne. The interesting bit was that she was not alone. A man accompanied her, and they were both sitting on a red couch.

“She seems familiar.” Daphne muttered. “Isn’t she one of my father’s guests…? The Lady Lilith?”

“Yes.” Harry whispered.

“I don’t recognise the man, though.” Daphne said. “Harry, what is going on? How did they gain access to the Chamber?”

Harry didn’t say anything and merely walked forward with Daphne until they stood before Perenelle and the unknown man. The man beside Perenelle was not dressed in the standard wizard attire of a cloak and a pointed hat. Instead, the man wore a long grey coat, a cream-coloured sleeveless jacket, a dark green sweater, and black pants. Harry would’ve taken the man for a muggle noble if it wasn’t for the dragonhide boots he saw on the man’s legs.

He eyed the man and wondered whether this was Nicholas Flamel. But he couldn’t be sure because he had never met the famed alchemist. Whenever Perenelle brought other guests, they were foreign politicians, mercenary wizards, or even heads of foreign magical law enforcement.

“Harry. You are right on time. That’s good.” Perenelle commented.

Harry flicked a finger, and a green couch was conjured before them. He led Daphne to the couch, and he took a seat beside her while staring at Perenelle. If his grandmother had noticed his casual display of wandless magic, she wouldn’t have shown it. The same couldn’t be said about the man accompanying her. He looked mighty impressed.

“So, this is the first time we've met Mr Potter. My name is Nicholas Flamel.” the white-haired man introduced himself.

“The Nicholas Flamel – the alchemist?” Daphne asked with a gasp.

“Yes, the very same.” Nicholas smiled genially.

“Oh… I…” Daphne stuttered before she rounded on Harry with a frown.

“Don’t tell me this is one of your pranks.” Daphne accused.

“It’s not.” Harry raised his hands in a placating manner.

“He is not pranking you girl. I’m Perenelle Flamel, and your mother was once my student.” Perenelle said as if she was talking to a small child.

Harry scowled and barely held back from snapping some choice words at the woman for taking that tone with his girlfriend. He had to endure such a patronising tone in the past because he was unfortunately dependent on the woman to get rid of Voldemort’s supporters. But that doesn’t mean he could tolerate this attitude indefinitely.

“Have a care how you speak.” Harry warned, glaring into an identical pair of green eyes.

“Oho! Or else what are you…”

Harry didn’t let the woman go off on a tangent and insult him this time as he brought forth the full might of his magical power upon Perenelle. The raw power that he mustered and enforced upon Perenelle manifested in the form of a bright green aura, a crushing pressure in the air and wave after wave of hostile gales that slowly moved the couch the old alchemists were sitting on.

“You invited us here to talk. You’ll be respectful, or I will force you. And trust me, you won’t like it when I use force.” Harry said firmly.

“Force me? Do you hear that, Nicholas?” Perenelle said with an amused tilt of her head.

“My hearing is quite fine, my dear. But Mr Potter is right. You invited them, and as hosts, we must show proper respect to our guests.” Nicholas commented airily.

Perenelle snorted derisively while eyeing Harry and Daphne.

“Do you think this little trick is intimidating, Harry? I have faced many youngsters who thought too much of themselves over the centuries. It didn’t end well for them.”

“I already have one manipulative, condescending old man to deal with in my life. I will not tolerate a woman of that same calibre in the list.” Harry said quite firmly.

He glared into the green eyes of his grandmother, who did the same while countering his assertive power by shielding herself with her own magic. But before it could escalate, Nicholas Flamel intervened.

“This is enough. He inherited your stubbornness, and you know where that’ll lead to…” Nicholas said, squeezing his wife's hand.

“Fine.” Perenelle snorted derisively but reeled in her magic and turned her eyes on Daphne.

“I was discourteous to you, Miss Greengrass, Mr Potter. My apologies.” Perenelle dipped her head gracefully.

Harry pulled his magic into his body and let the pressure drop. There was an awkward silence where all four of them struggled to start again.

“Mr Flamel, you said earlier that Harry inherited Mrs Flamel’s stubbornness. Does that mean Harry is related to you?” Daphne asked tentatively.

Nicholas and Perenelle exchanged a look between them and started regaling their tale.

Harry listened, but his other senses were tasked with scanning the Chamber. After all, he wouldn’t put it past his grandmother to put some trap in the Chamber. Trust was something that hardly came to Harry, especially from those with comparable power and influence. His eyes landed on Daphne, who was listening intently to the story of how his mother was conceived using a squib line of House Gaunt. When it was finally done, he saw a look of utter bafflement on Daphne’s face as she stared at Perenelle.

“Why did you do what you did? I mean, if you wanted a child, you could’ve… you know…” Daphne blushed and nodded at Nicholas Flamel.

“Because my wife was gifted with the abilities of foresight. She has had prophetic dreams from early childhood, and she saw the need for his existence before the Millenium Conjunction.” Nicholas explained, nodding in Harry’s direction.

“The Millenium Conjunction? What is that?” Daphne asked curiously.

“It is an event foreseen by the Peverell Brothers. You might’ve heard of them from the Tales of Beedle the Bard. There are many such stories and folktales spread across different magical communities.” Nicholas explained.

“In Britain, the tale of the three brothers spoke of the Deathly Hallows and how the youngest brother, Ignotus, used the Cloak of invisibility to cheat Death and when the time came, he greeted Death as an old friend. Well, in France, the tale is slightly different. The story spoke of the eldest brother, Antioch, who cheated death by casting the most powerful ward with the Elder Wand. In Spain, the story shifts again as it was the second brother, Cadmus, who cheats death with a necromantic spell, binding his soul to his body using the Resurrection Stone.” said Perenelle.

“I don’t understand what folklore has anything to do with Harry.” Daphne said confusedly.

“Because Harry has all three bloodlines of the Peverell brothers converging together in his veins. House Potter are descendants of Ignotus, House Gaunt are descendants of Cadmus, and I am a descendant of Antioch.” said Perenelle.

“But that still doesn’t explain…”

“Be patient, you little gi....” Perenelle scowled as Nicholas interrupted her by loudly clearing his throat.

“What my wife meant to say is that there is a good reason we want the bloodlines to merge so that the wizardkind may escape the Millenium Conjunction.” Nicholas talked over his wife.

“What is this Millennium Conjunction?” Harry asked, breaking his silence.

Perenelle and Nicholas grimaced.

“It is an event that spells the end of all magic.” Nicholas said with a sigh.

“You’re pulling our leg, right?” Harry said with a scoff.

“We wish we were making this up. But no. The history of magic could be traced back 10,000 years and maybe even more. Every millennium, one of the dominant magical races is selected to prove its worth. If they fail the test, the entire species slowly fades away from the planet.” Perenelle said grimly, with her fists clenched in obvious discomfort and anger.

“I don’t believe this. You are just making this up.” Daphne denied loudly while standing up with a scandalised look.

“If you want proof, look at the Elves, the Mermen, the Dwarves and the Goblins. They were the great four races that dominated our world for thousands of years. The world trembled before their might in the past. Look at them now. They can barely sustain any magic. They cannot even protect their homes and take shelter close to wizardkind in fear of the muggles.” Nicholas said, letting out a long-suffering sigh. “The Elves have been reduced to slaves. The Mermen lost their ability to weave magic and live in the deepest oceans or close to wizardkind. The Dwarves and Goblins had the most powerful armies in the world, but now they are glorified builders and bankers.”

“But our dominance will not last for long.” Perenelle warned, her green eyes darkening all of a sudden. “This is our millennium. Soon, wizards will also weaken, and it’s already happening now that we are so close. The wards that protect our communities will collapse, and the muggles will either hunt us down, or we’ll have to depend on the Veela community and Centaurs to survive.”   

Harry stared at the duo calmly while, in his mind, he was anything but that. He had read some snippets of this goofy story from the scrolls in the Chamber, but he thought it was just some folklore of the past to scare away children. Now that he had the chance to look at the Flamels and their reaction, they seemed genuine and believed this hyped-up story. Even Daphne looked lost as she returned to the couch and fell silent.

“Surely you’ve started to notice that as generations pass, the lesser we become.” Nicholas said with a pointed look at them before explaining further, “The Pureblood families who had developed special gifts in magic have nearly vanished. They think this had been the consequence of breeding with muggleborns. Of course, the muggleborns have nothing to do with it, considering they are offsprings of a wizard or a witch in one way or another. Now, even their numbers are also dwindling.”

“Which is why destroying the muggles and appropriating their knowledge into our society was a viable plan.” Perenelle grumbled.   

“It’s not a viable plan. The muggles and their technology are incompatible with magic and our way of life. Besides, how will we do such a dastardly act and survive knowing that we stand upon the bones of billions? What sort of a civilisation will be that? If we stoop to such a level, we are better off dead.” Nicholas said firmly, while Perenelle just huffed and glared in the opposite direction.

Harry eyed the old Alchemist, who defended the muggles so openly. The man looked to be in his fifties with full white hair and a trim white beard. But the alchemist retained a relatively youthful face.  

“The Stone.” Harry suddenly said, staring intently at the Alchemist duo. “The Sorcerer’s Stone is a remedy to this, yes? You made it to ward off death and maintain your magic for as long as you live.”

“You are quite mistaken, Harry.” Nicholas chuckled. “We are not the creators of the Stone.”

“What?” Harry asked with wide eyes.

“But it’s known… you’re the famous alchemist…” Daphne was also equally taken aback by the piece of information.

“No, Miss Greengrass.” Nicholas chuckled. “The Sorcerer’s Stone was created by an unparalleled genius this world has never seen in 10,000 years.”

“Then who made it?” Harry asked curiously.

“In the old days, he was known to his people by the name Moros.” Perenelle said. “But you’d know him by the name of Merlin.”

“But that’s impossible. Merlin came after the time of the Founders.” Daphne argued.

But this time, it was Harry who corrected Daphne.

“Actually, he didn’t.” Harry said, “As someone who travelled to the past and had spent three years with the Founders, I can confirm Merlin was before the Founders' time. His legends were known during their time as well. Although, the people of those times called him Myrddin.”

“Myrddin, Merlin, Moros. They’re all the same. All the artefacts we have collected, all the writing, paintings and carving over the centuries, lead to one man and the Peverell brothers.” Perenelle said, taking a scroll from her coat and offering it to Harry.

He unruffled the scroll and looked inside to find just four lines written in the strange language he learned from Professor Babbling’s mind.

“It’s a clue to reach Elysium. It is the birthplace of all magical creatures, and all legends compel us to visit this place for judgment. We’ll have to find the Deathly Hallows and arrive at Elysium with their help before the Millenium is complete.” said Perenelle.

“But the Hallows are not real, right?” Daphne asked, looking quite overwhelmed and lost.

“The Hallows are very much real. Your betrothed inherited one from his father’s family – the Cloak of Invisibility.” Nicholas said with a knowing look at Harry.

Daphne stared at him in disbelief and silently questioned with her eyes, so he just nodded minutely, making her jaw drop open.

“What do you want to do with it?” Harry asked.

“Not us…you.” Nicholas said with a pointed stare.

“Me?” he raised a sceptical eyebrow.

“Yes. You are my grandson and your mother’s son. If there is one thing I know, it is that you’re extremely resourceful. I suspect you already know where the Deathly Hallows are. After all, you have learned most of what we talked about from the Chamber. Am I right?”

Harry stared at his grandmother with a sharp look. He didn’t for a moment think those couple of compliments were genuine. After all, Perenelle Flamel was a cranky old woman who insulted everyone as a first response.

“We already know where the Elder Wand is, and I suspect you also do. A brilliant young man like you might’ve deduced the most powerful wand is with the most powerful wizard.” Nicholas said with a knowing look.

“I know. It’s with Dumbledore.” Harry said with a sigh.

“So, that’s why he is so strong.” Daphne muttered.

“Don’t be so sure, my dear. The Elder Wand was once wielded by Grindelwald. Albus won the wand in a fair duel. The wand is a powerful foci, but it cannot make a wizard invincible.” Nicholas said.

“Now, we know the final Hallow should be with House Gaunt. So, it must be with that silly Dark Lord running around here because I couldn’t find it anywhere else.” Perenelle said with a frustrated sigh.

Harry debated within himself whether he should tell the truth about the location of the Resurrection Stone. On one hand, it was in his interest to stop the weakening of magic in the wizarding community. But at the same time, he was not wholly certain of the intentions of the Flamels. They were immortals, and they could’ve expertly fabricated this whole story in an elaborate scheme to take possession of the three Hallows.  

Now, even if the Elysium existed, he didn’t want these two to take possession of it. This means the Resurrection Stone was his leverage, and no sane person would ever concede the upper hand when there was so much at stake.  

“I’ll need everything you have collected so far to ascertain the truth by myself.” Harry said after giving it some thought.

“You don’t trust our word or the information you gleaned from violating Bathsheda’s mind or from the Chamber?” Perenelle asked with a curious look.

“I’d be an idiot to take any information purely based on trust. I need proper time to ascertain certain things before I commit to any action.” Harry said.

“That is more than fair. We’ll have all the necessary materials moved to the Chamber.” Nicholas immediately agreed.

“It goes without saying what we discussed here will not reach another ear.” Perenelle leaned forward in her seat, her stare gaining a steely edge. “The only reason we included you, Miss Greengrass, is because you are betrothed to my grandson and my student’s daughter. Do not make me regret that trust.”

“Of course.” Daphne quickly said.

“All right. That’s enough, my dear. We have taken up too much time from them.” Nicholas said as he climbed to his feet.

After saying their goodbyes, the Flamels left the Chamber, leaving Harry and Daphne on the couch by their lonesome.

Harry leaned back against the couch and tried to relax. To his surprise and approval, Daphne leaned into his side and rested her head on his shoulders.

“Why are you always at the centre of all this intrigue? It’s becoming a recurring habit.” Daphne muttered.

“I’m the boy-who-lived, love. Battling dragons, dark lords and unravelling thousand-year-old mysteries are right up my alley.” Harry said, rubbing her back soothingly.

“Still, it feels like you’re not catching a break. We haven’t even dealt with the Dark Lord, and another problem is already cropping up.” Daphne complained.

“Yes, woe is me. A kiss from my dear betrothed might chase away all the gloom and doom.” Harry suggested playfully, making Daphne raise her head and stare at him.

Surprising him, she captured his lips in a searing kiss that took his breath away. When Daphne pulled back, he nearly whined at the loss of her warm lips.

“I suppose you do deserve a kiss for being the hero.” Daphne grinned at him, which made Harry throw his arms around her.

“Only one?”

“How many would satisfy you?” Daphne arched an eyebrow.

“Details.” Harry said dismissively before their lips met again as he was pushed against the couch while Daphne straddled him.

“Details are…” Daphne gasped out in between kisses, “…important.”

Harry didn’t heed that as they spent the next couple of minutes snogging the life out of each other.

Chapter 111: The meddler

Harry was not surprised when he got a summons to Dumbledore’s office. He expected the Headmaster to do it immediately after Malfoy was hauled off from Hogsmeade. He supposed the man was busy trying his luck to get Malfoy out of the DMLE’s clutches. But the front page Daily Prophet article about the arrest of Draco Malfoy with the standard Death Eater brand proudly displayed on his forearm put all the confusion to rest. The ministry had immediately cashed in on capturing the hired wand of the Dark Lord charged with assassinating Albus Dumbledore.

He particularly liked the fact that Malfoy was charged with attempted murder, being a member of a listed rebel organisation, casting an Unforgivable curse, possession of an object enchanted with dark magic, purposefully endangering underage wizards and breaching the Statute of Secrecy. The last charge was a common charge applied to all Death Eaters regardless of any of their individual actions. The organisation as a whole was responsible for exposing the wizarding world to the muggles because of their actions.

Harry doubted Draco Malfoy would get the Dementor’s Kiss, but he doubted the Ponce would get a reprove from Azkaban. Of course, Minister Bones was no longer trying to hold Death Eaters in Azkaban, considering the fickle nature of Dementors.

If Harry was satisfied with the results of Draco Malfoy’s capture and subsequent incarceration, Ron was over the moon upon hearing the news. Once Ron read the Daily Prophet in the Great Hall, the redhead jumped over the Gryffindor table, shouted out his support for the aurors, and fist-pumped for good measure. Ron’s reaction, while dramatic, attracted quite a few shouts and whistles of approval from the student body.

Draco Malloy, over the course of five years, had painstakingly carved a reputation of a schoolyard bully. That reputation had soared to new heights since the Dark Lord’s return, and the mini Death Eater got the prefect badge. Ever since that idiot got a taste of power, he had been lording it over everyone, heightening the dislike of the Malloy brand across the four houses.

It was pretty natural for those who exercised policing power to get disliked. So, most prefects tend to get a lot of blowback because they use the power against those they dislike or even enforce their authority enough to piss off everyone. Adding Snape’s standard dose of daily abuse and Malfoy’s ego into the mix, anyone at the end of Malfoy’s shenanigans was teeming with outright hatred.

It was one of the reasons why he never took points from anyone or assigned detentions. It was an easy way to get disliked, especially by the students who thought house points and house cup were worth a damn.

Ron’s over-the-top celebration did not go unnoticed. Professor McGonagall put Ron on a month of detention, but that never put any damper on the wide, satisfied grin on the redhead’s face throughout the day. The classes went on almost smoothly even though the rumour mill of Hogwarts was churning a lot of theories about Draco Malfoy’s current condition and incarceration. Most students believed Malfoy would get the Dementor’s Kiss, missing the fact that most of the Dementors had rebelled and left Azkaban. Some thought Malfoy would be subject to torture to find Death Eaters and the Dark Lord’s lair.

But out of the many such rumours, Harry loved the one Luna unwittingly started. According to the latest edition of the Quibbler, Draco Malfoy would be sent to work in the mines of Gringotts under a secret pact between the Ministry and the Goblin Nation. Though many students were aware of the Quibbler’s reputation, they forgot that in favour of their shared dislike of Draco Malfoy. According to Luna, the Quibbler had become highly sought out by the students, and she had to write to her father to send more of the print to Hogwarts.

Harry had his print of the Quibbler safely tucked away in his trunk. He hoped to keep it in a frame and preserve the article for the sheer comedic value. He had taken Luna’s autograph and hoped to get her father’s autograph in due time. Luna even managed to extract a promise from him to give an interview about Draco Malfoy. He was just debating himself about the pros and cons of such an enterprise when Professor McGonagall swooped in with a summons from Dumbledore.

That was how he found himself stepping into Dumbledore’s office. Dumbledore was in his seat with a grave look plastered on his face.

Harry’s eyes searched for the phoenix, but Fawkes was nowhere to be found. The phoenix tended to leave the headmaster’s offices whenever there was a severe contentious issue to discuss that could devolve into a fight. He didn’t think Fawkes was a coward but more of a drama queen. He suspected Fawkes liked to make dramatic entrances at an emotionally volatile moment to diffuse it with a distraction or even a Phoenix song.

He couldn’t be sure, but he’d bet on it. In some ways, it was an effective rapport Dumbledore and Fawkes were having.

“Harry. Please take a seat.”

“Thank you. I take it this is not another one of your lessons, professor.” Harry commented as he gracefully sat on the chair across from Dumbledore.

“I’m afraid you’re right. Lemon drops?” Dumbledore offered, pointing to a bowl of sweets on the man’s table.

“No, thank you.”

“Harry, I’m very disappointed in you.” Dumbledore started with a grave tone, looking mighty disappointed.

“Okay.” Harry nodded genially.

It was not as if he cared one whit what anyone thought of him. Their opinions meant nothing to him, least of all Dumbledore. So, Harry merely raised an eyebrow and looked expectantly at Dumbledore while folding his hands against his chest.

“Do you not have to say anything?”

“Of course. I feel quite happy to have done a splendid job in service of the British wizarding community to ensure a dangerous criminal has been pulled off the street.” Harry said with an easy shrug.

“A criminal? Draco Malfoy was a fellow student in this school.” Dumbledore looked like someone punched him in the nuts as he said that.

“Oh, right! I forgot there is a law that claims any wizard or witch can use the Imperius Curse on a sentient being and get away with it so long as they’re a Hogwarts student.” Harry drawled as he stared at Dumbledore unimpressed.

“I did not say that, Harry.” Dumbledore said disappointedly.

“Then please…by all means. Say what should be done with someone who uses the Unforgivable curse on a barmaid who serves butterbeer and engages in small talk with her daily customers.” Harry pinned Dumbledore with a hard stare.

As usual, there was silence and more attempts at guilt-tripping from Dumbledore.

“Why didn’t you come to me, Harry? I could’ve…”

“Are you an Auror?” Harry cut off the headmaster.

“That is not important.”

“Oh, I think it is. You believe only you know what is best, and everyone must follow your wishes, right?”

“No, Harry. I only want…”

“Then sit back and relax and for once let the law enforcement do their job instead of imposing your will on the world Headmaster. It’s time for you to remember that you are Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. That’s it and nothing more.” Harry said, talking over Dumbledore once again.

“I know my limits, Harry.” Dumbledore frowned.

“I really don’t think you do headmaster.” Harry shook his head. “You get constantly reminded by the tragedies that happen around you that you’re not infallible, and yet you insist on meddling in affairs that have nothing to do with you.”

“Are you any different, Harry? You were only too happy to interfere in matters that didn’t concern you.” Dumbledore said.

Harry felt a sliver of rage crop into his mind as he temporarily lost his hold on his mental faculties. But he managed to beat down that rage with cold, hard logic that, in the end, Dumbledore didn’t matter. The man was inconsequential for the future.

“I’m not going to be a part of giving second chances to Death Eaters when they are running around doing the bidding of Voldemort without any remorse and with the intent to kill and maim people around them.” Harry said firmly.

“Do you not see anything redeemable in Draco Malfoy? Do you not find it in your heart to give a chance to a fellow student to make the right choice?” Dumbledore asked in a desperate yet soft tone.

“No, not when I’m fighting a war to destroy Voldemort and all his supporters.” Harry answered without any hesitation.

Dumbledore now looked like someone crushed the man’s soul.

“I’m so sorry Harry. I have burdened you with such a tall task of battling Voldemort, which has robbed your childhood and made you into who you are.”  Dumbledore’s blue eyes shined with tears.

Just seeing that made Harry develop an urge to punch the man in the face, consequences be damned.

“May I be excused? I have better things to do than waste my time in pointless banter.” Harry said as he felt the tolerance level dropping with the more time he spent in the presence of Dumbledore.

“How dare you, boy! In my time, no student would dare to talk back to the headmaster of Hogwarts in such a disrespectful manner.” One of the portraits of the past headmasters piqued up with a scowl on his portly face.

“In that case, you must’ve lived in an era where the headmaster of Hogwarts was not a meddlesome old man who minded the running of Hogwarts instead of micromanaging the lives of everyone around him.” Harry retaliated sharply.

“Why you…” the old man in the portrait growled.

Harry paid no mind to the opinions of dead men.

He stood up and stared at Dumbledore, imparting a last bit of thought before he left the office.

“To repeatedly defend oneself and never retaliate against an enemy determined to kill you is suicide. You made that mistake with Voldemort and his Death Eaters when they waged war on the wizarding world. I don’t intend to make that mistake.”

 

*****

 

The whirlwind of excitement and chatter surrounding Draco Malfoy’s arrest by the aurors continued despite the professors giving everyone a pile of assignments and stepping up their game in the classroom.  It was hard to let go, especially when Rita Skeeter took a particular amount of glee to drag the Malfoy name through the mud. Skeeter’s peculiar style of digging up dirt from the past and blowing it out of proportion works wonders.

By the time she was done with Draco Malfoy, everyone had the perception of a disturbed teenager who was unredeemable and stuck in the ways of his murderous father and grandfather. Of course, the final nail in the coffin came from the Quibbler. Luna had gone around the school interviewing students from different houses and years to make a long-running feature out of the schoolyard bully that was Draco Malfoy.

The only people who were disappointed or sad in Hogwarts about Draco Malfoy’s fate were Dumbledore and Snape. Both men were reserved in the following week, and Dumbledore was usually absent most of the days from Hogwarts. Even Slytherin House was not bothered by Malfoy’s absence because they immediately replaced the guy with William Harper as their Seeker. According to the rumour mill, the Slytherin Captain replaced Malfoy the very next day while loudly complaining about Malfoy’s refusal to participate in practice sessions.

While the classes and the usual Hogwarts drama were going on, Harry was also engaged in sifting through all the finds the Flamels dumped on him. Unlike in the past, he now had Daphne’s help to go through the piles of information. The All-speak charm took care of the language barrier for Daphne, even though she could handle Latin.

“This language is strange, and I think I have seen some of these symbols in some ancient rune texts.” Daphne muttered as she sifted through piles of copies of transcripts taken from stone tablets and cave paintings.    

“I wouldn’t be surprised. If Merlin lived 10,000 years back, as the Flamels claimed, then it’s only natural for the written script to have survived hidden within the known scripts of our time. I mean, just look at the symbols for numbers in the script. They’re quite sophisticated and useful for crafting runes.” Harry pointed out.

“I have noticed. The runic representation of numerals has always been difficult, but this language has the flow patterns necessary for flawless uninterrupted carvings.” Daphne mused aloud.

“Indeed. These numerical symbols have better synergy with alphabets, which is unheard of in old runic languages. It’s a departure from the commonality of all runic languages, which use a combination of alphabets to represent numbers.” Harry muttered as he carved a simple rune matrix on a stone pebble.

“Do you think they were speaking the truth about Merlin being the progenitor of all magical beings?” Daphne asked after some time, looking up from some of the records in her hand.

“I do not know. Some of these texts mention Atlantis, where Merlin and ‘his people’ supposedly lived. The city of Atlantis is an old muggle legend, and I suspect by the look on your face there are legends of the mythical city in the wizarding world as well.”

“There are tales just like there are tales about Avalon. But they are just children’s stories and old songs. There is nothing substantial in such stories.” Daphne said with a shrug.

“Every story has some information embedded in it. Maybe there is something in it that could connect with any of the information we currently have before us.” Harry said, rubbing his eyes and leaning away from the number of parchments and scrolls laid out on the table.

“I suppose I could ask for some of my old books from home and look for some common tales connected to any of this.” Daphne murmured, nodding at the scrolls sprawled before her.

“Let’s call it a day.” Harry sighed, setting the scroll he was reading.

They had combed through a lot of stuff in an hour they managed to find after the classes were over for the evening in the Chamber. It became apparent that Daphne was also bored out of her mind by the speed with which she stood up from her seat, ready to leave the Chamber.

“You want to bet who’d win the quidditch match?” Harry asked.

“I bet Gryffindor will win with a hundred points lead over Slytherin. Interested to take the bet?” Daphne raised a delicate eyebrow.

“Touche. You seem to have no confidence in the Slytherin team. What would Salazar think about his snakes betting against his house?” Harry smirked at his girlfriend.

“I’m sure Salazar will approve. I have the sense to win instead of being blindly loyal to his house, unlike an unthinking Gryffindor.” Daphne said with a snort and flick of her hair over her shoulder as she sauntered away.

“Hey!”

 

*****

 

An excerpt from The Continental War 1660-1670 by Marcus Slytherin

The Christmas of 1661 was a pivotal moment in the history of two powerful polities of Europe. The Scottish Empire launched a war of conquest without much provocation against the rest of Europe in 1660 under the reign of Titus Targaryen. When one year passed, the Dutch Republic had fallen under the relentless assault of the Scottish army and navy. The Scottish fleet had cut off Dutch shores from the rest of the world before they landed troops in Dutch lands. The Scottish army, led by Henry Targaryen, took complete control of Danish territory. The Dutch royal house Nassau capitulated to the Scottish crown on 3rd June 1661. But it was on 1st December 1661 that a formal proclamation came from the Scottish crown. The Dutch Republic was officially dissolved by the order of King Titus, and in its place, the Dutch Principality was established with Prince Henry Targaryen as its first reigning prince.

The six months that led to the official crowning of Henry Targaryen was not a period of peace because, outside the borders of the principality, an ugly war was being waged. While France and the Holy Roman Empire were initially trying to take over the lands of the Dutch Republic, it devolved into a direct war between the two great European powers. The war, however, was only exacerbated when King Titus enforced muggle-repelling wards across the captured territory of the defeated Dutch Republic.

A portion of the muggle armies of France and the Holy Roman Empire were trapped inside the ward, and those outside found themselves cut off from their battleground. While this should’ve given pause to any reasonable polities, the two empires, spurred on by regional ambitions and bloodshed of the past, continued the conflict.

The six-month period was not wasted by the Scottish Empire. Under the orders of King Titus, the Scottish Empire underwent a massive military build-up, expanding its army and navy. Three new invasion forces were created by King Titus under princes Henry, Jason and Hector.

Prince Henry was ordered to pacify the Dutch and use the fallen republic as a stable base for further invasion into the heart of central Europe. Prince Jason Targaryen, the king's second cousin, was charged with the invasion of Spain, while Prince Hector was tasked with subjugating France. Seventeen dragon riders were under the Scottish crown at the time of this invasion. Nine of these seventeen dragon riders landed on mainland Europe with a massive armada under their command.

The port of Le Havre was the first place to feel the scorching heat of dragon fire, where Prince Hector Targaryen, Princess Rhaenys Targaryen and Prince Edward Targaryen landed on their dragons. The assault on Le Havre was led by the three dragons Stormcloud, Deathwind, and Redburn. The dragons unleashed their potent flames on the port city, turning it into a living hell on the planet. Unlike the Scottish cities that were enchanted to stop the spread of flames, the muggle port city on the banks of the Seine had no such protections. The dragonfire of the three dragons burned so hot the river boiled for an entire day, and the flames consumed the entire port within the hour of the attack. As Le Havre was a strategic port city, the official plan of the Scottish crown was to capture the city intact but destroy the French fleet moored at the port.

But contrary to their plans, the entire city was consumed in towering tongues of red, gold and green flames that lit the night sky. The port city burned for three days, and the Scottish fleet found itself in a difficult position by being forced to land their troops on the mouth of La Morelle. The Scottish sorcerers had to overwork and transfigure the difficult terrain of the shores of La Morelle to anchor their ships.

Despite the strategic setback in terms of achieving their primary military goal of securing the port city of Le Havre, their army managed to land on French soil. The Scottish army was now at the western banks of the Seine instead of the east, but this was only a temporary setback. Whether their landing changed or not, the blow on Le Havre was felt all the way in Paris. The capital city of France shook when the news filtered in that half their fleet was gutted in the Battle of Seine, and their port city was now nothing more than ash.  

The complete destruction of Le Havre with a death toll in the thousands while grotesque started the long and bloody tale of Prince Henry the Annihilator. From court sources in France, the name was assigned by none other than King Antoine II of House Bourbon.   

AN:

For artworks based on the story, join my Discord server. 

https://discord.gg/4hhXR3fAeT

Chapter 112: Quidditch mania

"You all right there, Katie?" Harry asked, sitting next to his captain.

 

 

Dumbledore could moan and groan about not giving an infinite number of chances to Draco Malfoy all he wanted. As far as Harry was concerned, the fact that Katie Bell was sitting next to him, healthy and hale, was conclusive proof that his actions delivered a net positive result.

 

 

After all, he certainly would put Katie's health and comfort over a walking disaster like Draco Malfoy any time of the day. If not Katie, it could've been anyone else from Hogwarts. That hare-brained plan of forcing a random Hogwarts student to throw the cursed necklace at Dumbledore was stupid and downright dangerous. Only an idiot like Malfoy could think up such an idiotic plan.

 

 

He hoped Malfoy would get his just desserts once the war was won. At least, it'd send the right message.

 

 

"I don't think I've ever been this cold. Is it cold out there, or am I just frightened?" Katie asked with a flustered face.

 

 

"What is there to fear? You've got the best team under you, captain. We'll trash those Slytherins on the pitch. They'll be scrapping the bottom of their non-existent skill to score a single point." Harry boasted.

 

 

He was mostly blowing a load of smoke, but Katie had confidence issues far greater than Ron right after she became the team captain. The Katie Bell he knew was funny, carefree and confident. He supposed she was all those things because she wasn't the captain.

 

 

"Oh, I used to poke fun at Angelina all the time about her paranoia when she became captain. I kind of understand it now." Katie muttered while rubbing her hands in a vain attempt to ward off the 'cold' she alone was feeling.

 

 

"Well, we both did make fun of Angelina. At least you're not being possessed by the ghost of Oliver." Harry chuckled, patting Katie's shoulder.

 

 

By the cross look on her face, he knew his joke didn't help.

 

 

"Think of it this way, captain. Slytherin had to cough up a new Seeker on short notice. Malfoy is gone, and they're playing Harper in his place."

 

 

"He is an idiot and dumb as a mule."  Ginny piqued up as she pulled a pair of socks from her locker.

 

 

"See...there is nothing to worry about." Harry said, grinning at Katie.

 

 

"Remember, their Chaser Vaesy is also out of the game. That idiot is in the infirmary for accidentally drinking a faulty calming potion." Ginny grinned wickedly, "Rumour has it the idiot has been in a right rage ever since."

 

 

"Well, that does it." Harry jumped to his feet and smacked a fist into his palm, "We have the advantage, and we have an easy win out there."

 

 

"I suppose we do have an advantage. Alright then! Let's make sure Slytherin remains far away from the Quidditch Cup this year." Katie proclaimed.

 

 

Once they got properly dressed and got ready with their brooms, the team walked out of the locker room to the pitch to the thunderous roars and boos. The stadium was packed full, with a whole portion of it dressed in solid red and gold.

 

 

'The arrest of Draco Malfoy certainly damaged Slytherin's reputation more than I thought.' Harry mused as he took position behind his captain.

 

 

Madam Hooch approached them with the Slytherin team in tow.

 

 

Amidst all the yelling, clapping and booing, Harry heard the distinct sound of a lion's roar.

 

 

"Don't tell me we have a wild lion on the loose." Harry muttered, looking around for the sound.

 

 

"Oh, no. It's Luna." Ginny pointed at a spot in the stadium.

 

 

"Is that a lion's head on her hat?" Harry asked, squinting his eyes to get a good look.

 

 

"Oh, yes. A lion hat. It's very fashionable." Ginny said.

 

 

Harry stared after his teammate, wondering whether she was serious or being sarcastic.

 

 

"Captains, shake hands." Madam Hooch said.

 

 

Harry witnessed the most awkward handshake any two human beings could possibly make as Katie and Slytherin Captain Urquhart tried to crush each other's hands.

 

 

"Mount your brooms!"

 

 

Harry stood ready with his firebolt while the rest of the Gryffindor team brandished their brand-new Nimbus 2000s courtesy of Sirius. Madam Hooch blew the whistle, and Harry was off the ground, as were the rest of the team. He soared high into the air and hovered over the pitch, casting his eyes out to watch for any sign of the Snitch. He noticed Vicky take a defensive position by the hoops as the keeper while Katie, Demelza and Ginny were battling the Slytherin chasers for possession.

 

 

He directed his Firebolt and went into a sharp dive at full speed. He positioned himself between the Slytherin Chasers in the blink of an eye and kicked away the Quaffle when Urquhart tried for a pass. Demelza immediately picked up the Quaffle and sped her way on the Nimbus straight for the exposed Slytherin hoops. The Slytherin beaters attempted to send the Bludger her way, but Ritchie was there to protect her by smacking away the Bludger to the far side of the pitch. Demelza passed the Quaffle to Katie, and she punched it through one of the hoops. The stands broke out into applause, drowning out everything else, even the less favourable commentary from Zacharias Smith.

 

 

The match resumed, and Harry searched for a glint of gold across the playing field.

 

 

"Slytherin takes back possession with a nasty shove to Demelza Robins, and Coote tries to pin the Slytherin Captain with a nasty Bludger but fails. Slytherin puts the Quaffle in, but no! Vicky Frobisher saves it! I suppose this is beginner's luck for the new Gryffindor Keeper."

 

 

'Beginner's luck, huh? We'll see about that Smith.' Harry thought with a chuckle.

 

 

The advantage was squarely on the Gryffindor team's side for the next half an hour. They had a lead of eighty points over the Slytherin team, which had yet to put a point on the board. Any attempts at a goal the Slytherin Chasers made were expertly defended by Vicky. As the game progressed, Slytherin Chasers and Beaters were less and less confident, leaving themselves open for Katie, Demelza and Ginny to score more easily.

 

 

The Slytherin team morale was so low Harry stopped playing interference and just observed the play from a safe distance while looking for the Snitch. 

 

 

The hunt for the Snitch was renewed, and Harper desperately sought to get hold of it. The only way Slytherin could win right now was by catching the Snitch with Gryffindor Chasers drubbing their hoops with goal after goal.

 

 

Ten minutes passed, and Gryffindor scored more points, which put their score at 110. That's when Harry noticed a glint of gold safely hovering over the grass on the ground. He immediately raced towards the Snitch at full speed. Of course, the Snitch didn't remain idle for long. It moved from its resting place, sensing his approach. It chose to keep close to the ground as it flew around the length of the Quidditch pitch. But Harry was not willing to let it wander around to its whims.

 

 

He chased it around with the wind whistling in his ears, his mind singularly focused on the little ball of gold. The sounds from the stadium faded away, and it was just him and the Snitch out there. He could feel his heart beat faster, and then swiftly, he sensed danger. On pure instinct, he banked to the left and flipped himself on the broom. It was just in time because Harper tried to ram into him.

 

 

Harry regained his lane in the nick of time, continuing his pursuit of the snitch while Harper collided with the ground. He didn't look back to see what happened as he remained singularly focused on the Snitch. He stretched out his hand, and time crawled down to a halt. His heart hammered inside his body loudly. He could feel the moment of victory in his grasp.

 

 

Harry pulled up sharply and punched his fist high in the air with a little ball of gold safely in his grasp. The stadium erupted in a roar as Madam Hooch blew the whistle to signify the end of the game.

 

 

"Wooooo!" Harry yelled.

 

 

His teammates immediately accosted him from all sides in a group hug in mid-air while the stadium erupted in cheers at the resounding victory.

 

 

"That was the most beautiful game I have ever played." Katie screamed at the top of her lungs.

 

 

"Are you crying?" Ginny asked, staring at Katie with a massive grin stretching across her face.

 

 

"Of course not. Why would I cry? We won!" Katie sniffled and laughed at the same time.

 

 

It was quite the supercharged air in the stadium after the drubbing Gryffindor gave to Slytherin. It was 260-0 in Gryffindor's favour, and they were off to a tremendous start for the Quidditch Cup while Slytherin was staring down a horrible season with no points in their bag.

 

 

When they finally entered the locker room, many of their Gryffindor friends were there to congratulate them. After a round of handshakes, pats on the back, and hugs from almost everyone on the Gryffindor team, Harry felt his face hurt after smiling for hours straight. When he finally managed to get free from all his well-wishers, he found Daphne and Astoria standing to the side, away from the crowd.

 

 

"Congratulations, Harry." Astoria chirped happily.

 

 

"Thanks." Harry grinned, "I thought you'd be sad at the drumming Slytherin took today, but you seem pleased." 

 

 

"Of course, she's pleased. She won quite a few galleons betting against Slytherin." said Daphne.

 

 

Harry raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend, who grinned. She showed a small pouch to show she had also made a few coins.

 

 

"Nice." Harry grinned.

 

 

"Thank you. You made it possible for me to buy a couple of dungbombs." Astoria said happily and pressed a kiss on his cheek, "Warrington will rue the day he messed with my Potions essay."

 

 

"Warrington?" Harry frowned, "I thought Cassius graduated last year."

 

 

"He did. He left a younger brother, Oliver, to torment us all." Astoria said dramatically, but that was followed by a savage grin, "Oh, he'll be so pissed tonight."

 

 

"Uh-huh."

 

 

Harry was a little disturbed to see the evil grin on the usually chirpy Astoria.

 

 

"Anyway, it was a nice game. Toodles." Astoria said before she slinked away.

 

 

"Chocolate?" Daphne offered a handful of chocolate.

 

 

He plucked a chocolate from her and enjoyed its honey mixed with chocolate flavour.

 

 

"Thanks. Only chocolate? Don't you think your boyfriend deserves a kiss for winning the match?" Harry asked with a wink while moving closer to Daphne.

 

 

"He'd have if I cared a whit about Quidditch," Daphne said disinterestedly while scrunching her nose, "…and if he wasn't so sweaty and smelly."

 

 

"Oh, come on." Harry made to hug her, but Daphne skipped away with a tinkling laugh.

 

 

"Go take a shower. You smell like a wet cat." Daphne yelled before she turned the corner and disappeared from his view.

 

 

Harry shook his head at her antics.

 

 

"C'mon, Harry. Party in the common room." Dean yelled, pumping his fists in the air.

 

 

Harry also joined in the festivities once in the common room, which was heartily supplied with butterbeer and sweets he had arranged beforehand with the help of Dobby and Winky.

 

 

 

 

 

*****

 

 

 

 

 

After a long break, Dumbledore summoned him for another one of the man's stupid and entirely wasteful 'special lessons' followed by a lecture on working together for the sake of the greater good and whatnot. Supposedly, Dumbledore was now 'overlooking' his 'actions' for the sake of ending the war.

 

 

Harry was up to the inch of his limits, tolerating Dumbledore's higher-than-thou attitude and the man's preconceived notions of what constitutes good behaviour. He consoled himself with the fact that this was all coming to an end by the end of the academic year. Therefore, he trudged through the 'documentary' of Voldemort's life story. This time, the story was seen through a younger Dumbledore's eyes when he went to recruit young Tom Riddle into Hogwarts. It was all very dramatic and boring. Harry was suitably numb from boredom when the whole light and show ended. He even felt like these ridiculous movie lessons were purposely made to torture him. All that showed him was how thoroughly disturbed the matron of the orphanage was with Tom Riddle, and the young Dark Lord was a kleptomaniac.

 

 

It was a complete waste of his time.

 

 

The days after the 'movie night' with Dumbledore were hectic, to say the least. There was another quidditch match between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Though he wanted to spend the time in training, Daphne convinced him to spend the day with her on a date. So, they went together to see the game, and he was thankful he did so simply because of the commentary.

 

 

Professor McGonagall, in her infinite wisdom, gave the job to Luna Lovegood. In her usual fashion, Luna spoke of inane things like the strangely shaped cloud following Zacharias Smith, suggesting that the Hufflepuff Chaser was cursed. She claimed Smith was bound to have slippery fingers and was secretly afflicted with an ailment. While no one initially believed her claims, throughout the match, Smith found himself unable to hold on to the Quaffle. Ultimately, Ravenclaw won the match, and many Hufflepuff fans blamed Smith for the loss.

 

 

Harry personally thought Smith played well, but the guy was a right prick to everyone. So, no one liked the git, and they seemed content to blame him for the loss.

 

 

It was right after the match Slughorn held his party, the Slug Club. The original date of the party was moved further down because of Draco Malfoy's sudden incarceration. Harry supposed the Potion Professor got skittish after learning Voldemort sent a student assassin to kill Dumbledore. The man couldn't be blamed. If he were Slughorn, he too would be looking at each student and wondering whether there was an assassin lurking behind with a mission from the Dark Lord. He bet Slughorn tried to escape from Hogwarts or at least wanted to leave, but somehow Dumbledore talked the man out of it.

 

 

Despite his dislike of the Headmaster, he had to admit the man had a peculiar skill to bullshit his way out of any situation. 

 

 

Either way, Slughorn was staying, and the party was rescheduled for a later date.

 

 

However, Daphne refused to be his date for the Slug Club. Samhain was fast approaching, and Daphne was supposedly preparing for some obscure ritual this time, which required her complete attention. Harry was doubtful of that claim, though. He suspected his girlfriend had given in to pressure from a cunning friend who conveniently became his guest for the day.

 

 

"Hey, Harry." Tracey said jovially.

 

 

"Hey. You look good." Harry said, appreciating her shiny cream dress.

 

 

"You clean up nice as well." Tracey smiled while offering her hand, "Shall we."

 

 

Harry took her hand and walked together with Tracey towards the Slug Party.

 

 

"So, I'm curious to know. What did you give up for making Daphne allow this?"

 

 

"I don't know what you mean." Tracey looked up innocently at him.

 

 

"Uh-huh. Daphne is too busy with a super-secret ritual that I don't know about or can't find in the Hogwarts library. Then you happened to be free, and Daphne felt guilty about making me go alone, so she generously asked her trusted friend to accompany me as my date for the party." Harry deadpanned. "I'm not brain dead to believe all that nonsense."

 

 

"A wee bird told me the Holyhead Harpies are guests of honour in this party. I mean to get an autograph from them all." said Tracey.

 

 

"You must've given something substantial in return for Daphne to let you come in her stead." Harry looked intently at his date.

 

 

"Something like that." Tracey murmured.

 

 

Harry didn't push for more because they arrived at the entrance of the party venue, and Professor Slughorn ushered them in quite jovially. He spent the next few hours as Slughorn's most precious showpiece. But he got acquainted with quite a few acclaimed personalities and posed with a few of them while Colin Creevey took the photos. Tracey also got her way by collecting the autographs of the entire Holyhead Harpies. They even had a group photo to commemorate the event. 

 

 

When they finally turned in for the night, Harry noticed snow outside the window. It was the telltale sign of the early arrival of winter and, with it, the Samhain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*****

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An excerpt from Magical Communities of Western Europe & the Continental War by Diana Adler.

 

 

The magical communities of mainland Europe lived a completely different life than their cousins in the Scottish Empire. There were significant magical communities in Europe during the golden era of the Roman Empire and during its decline. However, the rise of the Scottish Empire, the first openly magical polity in the known world, radically changed the dynamics of Europe.

 

 

Until then, wizards and witches had always been careful to conceal their magical abilities and blend in with the non-magical population. However, the emergence of Scotland and House Targaryen presented a direct challenge to this practice. It showed that wizards and witches could live openly without the need to hide their gifts.

 

 

The rise of a single magical family to forge a vast empire like Scotland sparked a new line of thinking among many other magical families. They entertained the idea that they could achieve such greatness by emulating House Targaryen.

 

 

From the eleventh century onwards, such thoughts gained traction within the magical communities of Europe. But the problem was that no magical family could exert such great power as House Targaryen and impress upon their brethren to unite under a common cause. Often, the magical families ended up fighting each other and destroying any sort of strength by shedding blood within the community. This caused a long period of bloodshed called the Warring Barons Era.

 

 

The constant warring between relatively well-off magical families led to the consolidation of powerful magical communities across different regions in Europe. Different landowning families came together to form closed-off communities within Europe with the aid of the Scottish Empire. While House Targaryen, during their long reign as magical monarchs, were disinterested in expanding its power into mainland Europe, they were keen to see the wizards and other magical creatures in the continent safeguarded.

 

 

To ensure the safety of magical communities in Europe, the royal court of Scotland dispatched some of their best enchanters and ward masters to create warded spaces. These spaces provided a secure environment for magical communities to thrive.

 

 

These communities were allowed to send their children to Hogwarts for their magical education, and over time, these communities started developing their own schools. One of the first such institutions was the Aesir School of Magic, built amongst the Ahir Hills of the Rhineland. It became one of the premier schools of Western Europe by 1357.

 

 

Many such schools of magic cropped up across Europe under House Targaryen's patronage or even without such patronage.

 

 

In the next century, many Wizengamots started forming across different regions of Europe, emulating the Scottish senate. The Rhine and the Pyrenees region had two of the most prominent magical schools in Western Europe. Centred around these two schools, they also formed two of the most significant magical communities.

 

 

In the Rhine, the Aesir School of Magic was built and with it came the Rhine Ministry of Magic of Rhineland. The Rhineland Wizengamot, formed in 1412, declared itself an independent authority and was formally recognised as such by the Scottish Empire. In the southern Pyrenees, Académie de Magie Beauxbâtons was built, and in 1422, the French Ministry of Magic was formed by the French Wizengamot. By the early 1500s, Bavarian, Russian and Austrian ministries were formed, taking inspiration from their Western counterparts.

 

 

Despite wizards and witches banding together in mainland Europe, they lived in secluded communities under muggle-repelling wards and in mostly defensible areas like hills and mountain ranges. However, the relatively sheltered life of these communities changed when King Titus Targaryen launched the Continental War.

 

 

It was the pivotal moment in the history of magical Europe that changed the destiny of wizards and witches across the land.  The calamitous upheaval that took place in Europe as the Continental War waged affected the Ministries of Magic spread out across Europe.

 

 

It started with the Ministry of Rhineland swearing their support to the Scottish Crown, followed by the other ministries as the war progressed. The time for wizarding rule in Europe had arrived.

 

 

Chapter 113: The Slug Club

A brilliant blue bubble of energy formed around him as red hot flames poured into the spot Harry stood. The shield kept the fire at bay, leaving Harry to stand unharmed within the eye of the protective bubble. Even as the intensity of the flames assaulting his shield increased, Harry didn't falter. He remained firmly in control of his magic and focused on the energy flow within his body into the surroundings. The flames suddenly twisted and turned before collapsing completely, allowing Harry to glimpse the training dummy constructed by the Room of Requirement.

 

 

Immediately, his shield was assaulted by multiple bolts of lightning cackling out of the training dummy's wand. Despite the relentless and intense assault, his shield remained intact and never buckled. The dummy blasted the ground open, turning the broken earth into stone spears. It let the spears assault his shield, but they all crashed into the energy field and crumbled to dust.

 

 

Harry raised an eyebrow and looked expectantly at the dummy, but it turned its wand away and disappeared into thin air.  

 

 

'Looks like I aced this training session as well.' Harry thought.

 

 

Lately, the RoR's training sessions have become less and less challenging. His blasting curses could tear away any golems the RoR could conjure. The dummy was also becoming similarly less and less challenging. The shield-breaking charms used by the training dummy were simply no longer potent enough to break the integrity of his energy shield. He could now muster an impenetrable repelling energy force field around his body that could defend him from most spells with a thought. It was the result of hours of methodical training, and he was now in a position where he felt ready to face someone like Voldemort and come out on top.

 

 

Finishing up his training for the day, he left for the Gryffindor common room after checking the Marauder's map.

 

 

Walking Hogwarts's dark and silent corridors, he chanced upon the snow falling outside. Samhain had passed with little fanfare, and the Christmas holidays were fast approaching. It was the time when most of the students would return to their homes.

 

 

Unfortunately, it would not be an enjoyable winter holiday for most families.

 

 

Death Eater attacks have grown bold lately.

 

 

There was an attack at Diagon Alley two days back. The Death Eaters were met with hit wizards and aurors, but there were many casualties in the ensuing fight. A couple of bystanders were killed in the spellfire, and Ollivander was spirited off from his shop with his shop set on fire. The kidnapping of Britain's premier wandmaker was a severe blow to the Ministry's image despite felling four Death eaters in the fight.

 

 

At this point, the ministry was in a bind as they were engaged in a quagmire where they were forced to respond to repeated Death Eater attacks. The Ministry could never go on the offensive simply because they don't know anything about Voldemort's lair.

 

 

So, they were forced to react rather than act against the enemy.

 

 

Harry wouldn't blame the Ministry. It was the inherent disadvantage the Ministry was saddled with in this game from the very beginning. It was pretty hard to put spies in Voldemort's camp for an extended period. The only one that managed to survive so far was Snape, but the greasy bat remained Dumbledore's creature through and through. It was the only way Snape could play both sides and keep his sorry ass out of a Ministry holding cell or get the Killing curse to the face from the Dark Lord.

 

 

As days passed, the icy winds picked up their pace, covering the grounds outside in more snow. As snow piled up, so did the assignments from the different disciplines of magic. The piles of assignments from Flitwick and McGonagall alone were enough to break the bones of his fingers. But worst of all, they were quite mind-numbing.

 

 

After going over advanced transfiguration that could make him transfigure shards of stone into flying steel knives or even a transfigured eagle with metallic claws, writing a page-long report about all the wand movements and arithmancy involved behind a spell used to transfigure a mouse into a cat. At this juncture, Harry felt like he was wasting most of his time in Hogwarts with needless schoolwork. As someone who had spent the last three years forging a nation and expanding its borders with his grit and sheer hard work, he found schoolwork entirely unnecessary. Compared to that, Hogwarts only offered him boring lectures, lengthy assignments and boring movie nights with Dumbledore.

 

 

"You look like you're trying to burn a hole in that parchment with your eyes." Neville said as he dropped next to him on the couch.

 

 

"Would that I could. It's my runes assignment." Harry said with a huff.

 

 

"Have you finished the Transfiguration assignment?" Neville asked.

 

 

"No. I fell asleep the last time I tried." Harry sighed tiredly, "I'm leaving it out for the last."

 

 

"Uh-huh. Keep in mind that there is another one of those Slug Club meetings coming up." Neville reminded him, which made Harry curse.

 

 

"Bollocks!" Harry hissed, remembering Slughorn's invite to another party, "I had forgotten all about that."

 

 

"You could skip it, mate. I would have, but Susan would have my hide. Her favourite band will be there, and she is eager to be there." said Neville.

 

 

"I can't skip it. Daphne wants to go to this one since she missed the last." Harry dropped his shoulders with a sigh.

 

 

"There is the Slytherin-Hufflepuff match." said Neville, making Harry frown thoughtfully.

 

 

He had never missed a quidditch match so far, but he supposed he could afford to sit this one out and spend the day finishing the assignments in peace. 

 

 

"I'm knackered, and I promised I'd help Hagrid with some stuff in the morning." said Harry, stretching his limbs out, "You turning in for the night?"

 

 

"I'm afraid not. I've got to finish the Charms assignment." said Neville.

 

 

Harry just waved his goodbye before turning in for the night.

 

 

The next day, he was up early as promised and made himself present before Hagrid's hut. When he neared Hagrid's home, Fang ran out of the hut, his tail wagging happily.

 

 

"Hey there, Fang! Happy, are we?" Harry smiled as Fang happily ran circles around him.

 

 

Fang started rubbing against his leg repeatedly while whining pitifully. Harry placed a warming charm on Fang, and Fang immediately stopped whining. Instead, Fang let out a couple of happy barks and licked his feet for good measure.

 

 

"That's enough, ya troublemaker. Back off Fang." Hagrid grunted as he came out of the hut with a giant axe and thick ropes.

 

 

"It's alright. He is just happy to see me." Harry scratched behind Fang's ears, making the dog purr in satisfaction.

 

 

"He 'as been a right prick las' night, I tell ya. He 'nocked off my cuppa last night 'an ruined my lesson plans." Hagrid said with a huff while Fang hid behind Harry with an innocent look.

 

 

"He didn't mean to… Isn't that right, Fang?" Harry rubbed Fang's head, earning an affectionate 'woof' from Hagrid's companion.

 

 

Harry and Fang followed Hagrid towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest to cut a couple of trees for the Christmas celebrations in Hogwarts. It was tradition for Hogwarts to host twelve trees for Christmas, but for the life of him, he couldn't understand why. The Samhain celebrations were over by the first week of December or even the last week of November, depending on the alignment of Pluto and the moon with respect to Terra. That was the usual time when most people in the wizarding world had their own celebrations. Also, cutting down trees was not part of Samhain or Saturnalia. The ritual was bringing a plant into the homes and making sure it survived the ensuing winter.

 

 

It was quite a treat to watch Hagrid climb a tree. He had to appreciate Hagrid's knack for doing such a thing owing to his size. But Hagrid had been doing this for years now, so he shouldn't have been that surprised.

 

 

"So, Hagrid. Did you send away the Skewts somewhere? I haven't seen them around for a while." Harry asked while watching Hagrid start cutting the top portion of a tree with his axe while sitting on a lower branch.

 

 

The only reason the branch hadn't snapped was because Harry put a featherlight charm on Hagrid.

 

 

"Oh, them? They are under the wards of Professor Flitwick. Poor fellows got inter' a skirmish with Aragog's folk. A total misunderstanding, 'o course." Hagrid said as he delivered another blow to the tree, which made it sway lightly.

 

 

Harry grunted while using his magic to hold the tree in a telekinetic grip. One more strike and the top portion of the tree was dislodged. Harry kept the hold on the tree with his magic and gently floated the severed portion to the ground.

 

 

"The Acromantula attacked the Skewts? Why? How come they're coming out of the forest?" Harry asked curiously.

 

 

He was a bit surprised to hear about this. His deal with Aragog and his family expressly forbade them from reaching beyond their territory.

 

 

'Those infernal spiders were supposed to keep a low profile and be content with the food supply I provide them.' Harry thought with a scowl.

 

 

"Aragog 'as been sick these days. He 'as been tryin' ter keep 'em controlled, but he's been strugglin' lately." Hagrid said gruffly with a sigh.

 

 

"Oh, that's sad. I hope Aragog gets well." Harry said entirely insincerely.

 

 

He knew Aragog was struggling with a flailing health. But he had hoped his steady supply of Death Eater snacks would keep the Acromantula content within their boundaries. It'd seem Aragog was incapable of holding their deal, and the young within Aragog's family were rebelling. That was not tolerable, and he had no intention of allowing the Acromantula to remain unchecked in the Forbidden Forest.

 

 

'The Acormantula… I should take care of them after the Christmas holidays.' Harry promised himself while he continued to help Hagrid cut down the trees and transport them to Hogwarts.

 

 

 

 

 

******

 

 

 

 

 

"You know my father was quite cross with me when he learned I didn't attend Slughorn's party with you." Daphne whispered to him as they walked hand in hand towards Slughorn's office.

 

 

"Blimey… even Damien agrees it was unrighteous of you to abandon your betrothed to the unsolicited proclivities of your friend." Harry said eagerly with a look of faux indignation coming into his face. "Tracey dragged me into a most boring and long conversation about Quidditch league matches with Gwenog Jones."

 

 

"Oh, come on. It shouldn't have been that bad. You love Quidditch." Daphne said.

 

 

"I love playing Quidditch here. That doesn't mean I'm interested in league matches." Harry rolled his eyes, "I was horribly ill-informed, and it was by luck that I didn't offend the Holyhead Harpies."

 

 

"Really?" Daphne raised her brow curiously, "Tracey spoke quite highly of the party and her meeting with Gwenog Jones."

 

 

"Of course, she'd say that. She was shooting her mouth off about the number of points the Harpies scored on each game in the current season and the season before like an excited fangirl. I just pretended to drink butterbeer and nodded along to what she was saying." Harry admitted with an exasperated sigh.

 

 

"Tracey is a staunch fan of the Harpies." Daphne let out a tinkling laugh before grinning thankfully at him. "Thank you for taking her. She was pleased when she came back."

 

 

They picked up loud conversations as they closed in on Slughorn's office.

 

 

"No silencing charms." Daphne muttered.

 

 

The sounds of laughter and music blared as they approached the Slug Club. Unlike last time, Slughorn's office was draped in green and silver curtains.

 

 

'Very Slytherin of Slughorn." Harry muttered.

 

 

"Shush." Daphne whispered as Slughorn came towards them with a wide, satisfied smile.

 

 

"Aha! Come in… come in…" Slughorn happily welcomed them into his office, "Harry and Miss Greengrass… the most unlikely couple to have come out of Hogwarts. A Gryffindor and Slytherin together… it's quite a marvel to watch. I suppose opposites do attract."

 

 

Slughorn wore a brown jacket over his cream shirt with a pointy green hat.

 

 

Slughorn gripped Harry's shoulder, led him and Daphne, and led them inside to meet the guests at the party. Unlike last time, the guests were a bit older. From acclaimed authors, charms masters, rune masters, politicians, potion masters, to even an old Vampire were present at the party.

 

 

Harry exchanged a look with Daphne, and he could swear he saw his girlfriend roll her eyes as Slughorn went around.

 

 

"I don't like it." Daphne said to him in confidence when they got some breathing room.

 

 

"Don't like what? I thought you liked meeting Damocles Belby and Rufus Scrimgeour." Harry asked confusedly while sipping butterbeer.  

 

 

"I dislike the fact that a blood-sucking Vampire is present at the party, especially when many of the Vampires are serving the dark Lord." Daphne whispered with a frown, "I don't know how Slughorn managed to welcome a vampire into Hogwarts. What was Dumbledore thinking?"

 

 

"Hmm. There are wizards and witches in Voldemort's employ. Do you think we should keep all witches and wizards from Hogwarts?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

 

"That's not comparable." Daphne argued.

 

 

"Why not? Mr Sanguini might not be as taken by Voldemort as any of us." Harry pointed out.

 

 

"I still don't like it. It's an unnecessary risk." Daphne muttered with a displeased look directed at the tall vampire with dark shadows under his eyes, which stood out on his pale skin.

 

 

 "He should've brought a werewolf, and we'd have one right party. A vampire, werewolf and my Daphne attend a party…" Harry joked.

 

 

"Stop joking. It's just like you Gryffindors to be so unconcerned about the people around you. You trust so easily. This is not a time to be lax, especially for you, Harry." Daphne said, casting a suspicious look around the guests at the party. "Who knows who the Dark Lord sends after you?"

 

 

Harry just smiled, hearing her concern for his well-being. He took her hand in his and brushed his lips against her knuckles.

 

 

"There is no need to worry. We are perfectly safe." said Harry. "No one can hurt us here."

 

 

After all, it was not just the five senses in his body that were keeping watch of his surroundings. His magical power was all-encompassing and spread out into every nook and cranny of the room. Those blessed with exceptional senses could feel his magic washing over them wave after wave. If anyone so much as twitched in Slughorn's office, he knew it before their body could execute that motion entirely.

 

 

Even if he trusted Slughorn not to bring any suspicious characters into Hogwarts, Harry did take due cognisance of his surroundings. Dumbledore had been absent in Hogwarts for the last few days. So, he kept a close eye on who came in and went out of the school using the Marauder's map. There were only three more days before he returned to Potter Manor, which was the perfect time for the Dark Lord to try something.

 

 

But, he supposed Voldemort was otherwise engaged and not focusing on getting to him using any proxies. He half-expected the Dark Lord to use Snape to pull something, but nothing happened.

 

 

'I wonder what the noseless wonder is planning.' Harry mused amusedly.  

 

 

 ****

 

 

King Titus Targaryen, the Dragon of the West by Alexandra Greengrass

 

 

Despite what many in Europe in the 1660s believed, Titus Targaryen was not a mad conquerer on a quest for land and wealth. The preserved documents of court transcripts of old French, Spanish and Austrian kings painted a bleak picture of King Titus. They believed King Titus was a madman who loved war and waged it out of arrogance and greed with no thought behind it.

 

 

However, the truth of the matter was that King Titus waged his war with a thorough and detailed strategy, a fact that often went unnoticed by the contemporary powers.

 

 

While it is true that King Titus deployed the princes of House Targaryen and their dragons to launch devastating assaults across Europe, these were not reckless acts. Each target was meticulously chosen to draw the attention of the European kingdoms. As they gathered their armies to counter the perceived threat, King Titus clandestinely dispatched a force of wizards and witches into Europe, led by a skilled sorceress called Boudicca Nott.

 

 

Lady Nott's mission was simple. King Titus charged her to ward off mainland Europe's mines, water bodies and farmlands from the muggles.

 

 

The reason was simple.

 

 

King Titus, being an acute student of war and an admirer of his ancestors who waged war against the muggles, knew that the key to victory against muggle armies was to deprive them of resources.

 

 

In King Titus' own words;

 

 

"Without the mines, the muggles cannot forge their swords, spears and arrowheads. The muggles cannot quench their thirst without access to rivers, ponds, wells and lakes. Without that water, the muggles cannot water their farmlands. And then, when they lose their farmlands, they will starve. A starving, unarmed army with an unquenchable thirst is not an enemy to kill but an enemy ready to sell their souls for survival."

 

 

King Titus' strategy was clear from this statement he gave to his war council, which was later revealed to the public in 1810 when King Jaehaeron declassified several documents related to the Empire's war council. This showed that King Titus was keenly aware of the war he was waging and deeply understood the enemies arrayed against him. One of the curious facts was that King Titus had teachers from early childhood who were aligned with pursuing a trade-oriented relationship with the European monarchies.

 

 

Therefore, it was a surprise to many that King Titus later strongly disliked the isolationist policies of his father's court and pursued an interventionist policy. However, the royal court and the Wizengamot were left stupefied by the pace with which King Titus pursued his interventionist policy. Everyone knew King Titus had aspirations for expanding the empire's territory. Still, they probably never imagined that he'd wage a war against the entire continent almost immediately after he ascended the throne. Once he started the war, many factions within the Wizengamot worried that the conflict would irrevocably destroy the empire's ties with the rest of European polities once peace was established.

 

 

However, the peace faction within the Wizengamot never realised King Titus was not merely interested in winning battles against his enemies but quite intent on subsuming the European kingdoms under the Targaryen reign.

 

 

This became clear when he successfully annexed the Dutch Republic, and Prince Henry was crowned as the reigning monarch of the region under the auspices of the Scottish Crown. It was a clear signal to the peace faction within the Scottish Wizengamot that their sovereign would not stop and was not an unthinking warmonger as they thought. Their renewed attempts to end the conflict were equally met with a warmongering faction within the Wizengamot, which suddenly became strengthened by the victory in the former Dutch Republic.

 

 

Lords Maesy, Crooke, Vance, Brooke, Rosier, Theovel, Nott, Slytherin, Smith and Bones were the most vocal in the Wizengamot for the complete annexation of France. There was a staunch Francophobes faction within the Wizengamot led by these lords who thought that France was the major obstacle in breaking Europe out of the muggle hold. Interestingly enough, they were quite ready to make peace with the Holy Roman Empire with an independent Rhineland in between Scottish-dominated France.

 

 

This was the 'reasonable' war aims of the pro-war faction within the Wizengamot.

 

 

However, King Titus' ambitions were far greater than even his supporters imagined. During the complete occupation of the Dutch Republic and its subsequent reformation as the Dutch Principality under Prince Henry Targaryen, the plans were already laid out for war with France, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. When it was revealed that King Titus planned to dismantle Spain, France and the Holy Roman Empire, there was chaos in the Wizengamot. Almost everyone in the Wizengamot felt fighting three great nations of Europe was an unnecessary risk and needlessly bloody.

 

 

But there came surprise overtures from the Ministries of Magic of the Rhine, France, Bavaria, Austria, Prussia and Russia that changed the perspective of the war. Suddenly, the war was not just a war based solely on Scottish imperialism but one for the supremacy of wizards over those without magic.

 

Chapter 114: Lunch with the Weasleys

"I've got to give it to you, Harry. You singlehandedly smashed the Malfoys into the trash bin." said Sirius, looking quite content as he lounged on his armchair.

 

 

"I did have a lot of help. I couldn't have done it without Malfoy's need to serve as a slave to Voldemort." said Harry, happily drinking the morning tea Kreacher was so kind to make.

 

 

Looking around, Harry almost didn't recognise the ancestral home of the Blacks. The previous moody feeling he got when he stepped into Grimmauld Place was gone. In its place, a more vibrant energy was in the air. He supposed the influence of a French witch was all that was needed to get some colour into Sirius' home.

 

 

The walls were now painted blue in wave patterns. The walls looked like an ocean, with little plants, fish, and other sea creatures painted across them. The floors were now paved with intricately painted rugs. Gold-coloured curtains decorated each doorway inside Sirius' home. There were expensive-looking chandeliers hanging from the roof holding some of the best-perforated candles from France.

 

 

'I ought to get some of those back home.' Harry mused.

 

 

He made a mental note to ask Brigitte for more information about those scented and coloured candles she used to fill the place. The French were the experts in such finer aspects of life.

 

 

He had to admit Brigitte did terrific work in overhauling the entire look of Grimmauld Place, making it more aesthetically pleasing.

 

 

"Brigitte has done a fine work. This place looks more homely."

 

 

Harry observed Sirius while quietly sipping

 

 

"So, when are you going to the Burrow?" Sirius asked curiously.

 

 

"About now." Harry said after looking at his watch, "I'm waiting for Daphne to come along."

 

 

Harry saw the way Sirius' eyebrows shot up to his hairline.

 

 

"I know. I wasn't expecting Daphne to accept when I asked, but she agreed for some reason." Harry said.

 

 

He had been pretty surprised when Daphne agreed to go with him when he brought up Mrs Weasley's invitation to lunch at the Burrow. On different occasions, Daphne had made it known that she disliked getting involved with the Weasleys. He had asked for the reason, but she had always found some way not to answer and distract him somehow. Sirius thought the Greengrasses were too 'posh' and 'stuck up' and that they'd never get caught mingling with the Weasleys. Even though the Weasleys were purebloods, their reputation was not peachy in certain circles.

 

 

Harry would've suspected the blood-purity issue if it hadn't been for the fact that the Greengrasses were quite chummy with the Davis family and they were not purebloods.

 

 

So, he suspected it had to do with wealth and the general quirkiness of Arthur Weasley. Even he had to admit Arthur Weasley was too obsessed with muggles enough to make the man toil away in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. The man was half Black from his mother's side.

 

 

Not that it made much of a difference. Arthur Weasley's mother might've been a Black at one point, but she was disowned by the family for marrying a Weasley. He had seen the blackened patch on the Black family tree in Grimmauld Place.

 

 

The fireplace suddenly lit with green flames, making Harry sit up and notice. Daphne walked out of the flames dressed in a fine blue and gold dress that complimented her.

 

 

"I still don't know how you managed to step out of the Floo without a single soot getting in the way." Harry said, letting out a forlorn sigh, thinking about his attempts to replicate such grace.

 

 

"That's because some of us have class. Become my devoted boyfriend and you might gain some insight into the graceful etiquette employed by us noble folk." Daphne said snobbishly.

 

 

"No, thank you. I like keeping my ear to the ground, not my nose high in the air." Harry sniped back with a grin.

 

 

"I'll inform my father and mother that my attempts to impart nobleness to my boyfriend remain an unassailable task." Daphne said, dropping her shoulders in disappointment.

 

 

"Good. So, are you ready to go?" Harry asked, standing up on his feet.

 

 

"I don't know how you two manage to stay together. It must be one of life's great mysteries." Sirius piqued up from the table after watching their banter.

 

 

"I don't know what you mean. We were just flirting." Harry said, throwing his arm around Daphne's shoulder while staring at Sirius as if he had some mental disorder.

 

 

"Yes, indeed. Are you all right, Sirius?" Daphne asked with a concerned look.

 

 

"It must be the Frenchness. They took him in and straightened out his tail. Poor Padfoot." Harry said, wiping away a fake tear.

 

 

"Enough dissing on me, you two troublemakers. Go and do whatever it is that you want to do, but keep in mind that Damien is not expecting to be a grandfather anytime soon." Sirius shooed them away with a smirk.

 

 

"Don't take him too seriously. I'm sure your father will be happy to have grandchildren as early as possible."  Harry said, which only made Daphne turn away from him with her cheeks bright red.

 

 

They didn't dally any longer in Grimmauld Place. They walked out of the wards protecting the manor grounds to safely apparate.

 

 

"It's disconcerting to see you with that beard. It makes you look older and more… rough." said Daphne, reaching out with her right hand and tracing the trimmed beard on his lower jaw.

 

 

"If you dislike it, you show a strange way of showing it." Harry said with an amused smile, looking pointedly at her hand, which was rubbing his beard.

 

 

Daphne immediately withdrew her hand while glaring at him.

 

 

"Are you ready?" Harry asked with a chuckle while holding out his hand.

 

 

"Yes, I am." Daphne placed her hand in his.

 

 

Harry immediately apparated them to the grounds outside the Burrow.

 

 

"This is the Burrow?" Daphne asked with a frown. "It's…

 

 

Snow covered the fields and the trees as far as their eyes could see. At the very centre of the spanning snow-covered landscape, the Weasley home remained covered under snow. Harry raised a repelling shield around them before they walked towards the front door of the Burrow. He could feel a slew of wards from his senses, and he boldly breached the first ward, which was an alert ward.

 

 

"An intruder ward?" Daphne asked curiously.

 

 

"You felt it then?"

 

 

"Yes."

 

 

"Your senses have sharpened considerably."

 

 

"I'm a fast learner." Daphne smiled.

 

 

"I think I saw Mr Weasley looking at us from the window." Harry said, squinting his eyes at the window in the distance. "Can you feel any other wards?"

 

 

Daphne screwed her eyes shut while holding out her wand in hand. He could see and feel small tendrils of her magic reach out and poke at the wards surrounding the Burrow.

 

 

"They seem welcoming." Daphne said after opening her eyes.

 

 

"You're not wrong. Mr Weasley just allowed us entry." Harry said, taking a step forward inside the warded area.

 

 

The snow crunched under their boots as they walked further in until they neared the front door of the Burrow with the wards not acting up.

 

 

"You know you agreed to come with me to many other dinners and parties hosted by respected guests, right?" Daphne asked just before they stepped close to the door.

 

 

"I know I promised." Harry said with a roll of his eyes.

 

 

"Good. Trust me, you'll thank me in a few years. Building a good rapport with Wizengamot members and influential caucuses that control concentrated votes in the Wizengamot is important if you want any reasonable political power. Your fame is a good tool, but don't think wizards and witches with entrenched power in the Wizengamot would easily roll over and take you seriously just because you are famous." Daphne muttered.

 

 

"Oh, I know. I just think my time is better spent on training and studying those records we got from Perenelle." said Harry.

 

 

"You better not spend the holidays with your nose in those old parchments and stone carvings because you gave me…" Daphne gave him a warning look.

 

 

"I know, I know. I promised." Harry raised his hands in the universal gesture of surrender.

 

 

When they finally reached the door, they were about to knock, but the door swung open, and Mr Weasley was by the door with a bright smile on his face.

 

 

"Harry, Miss Greengrass. Please come in." Arthur said, holding out the door for them.

 

 

"Good morning, Mr Weasley. I hope you're having a fine day." Harry greeted the jovial redhead.

 

 

"Quite fine… quite fine indeed." Mr Weasley welcomed them in.

 

 

Steeping inside the Burrow, he was greeted by Fred and George.

 

 

"Let us begin by…

 

 

"…giving you a…

 

 

"…deep bow…"

 

 

"…for finally putting…"

 

 

"Malfoy in his place…"

 

 

"…a prison!"

 

 

Fred and George bowed with a flourish, sporting wicked grins.

 

 

"Enough of that, you jesters. Give Harry some breathing space." Mrs Weasley said as she pulled him into a hug.

 

 

Mrs Weasley then shook hands with Daphne and invited them in. As they walked in, Harry was surprised to find another guest in the Weasley home. It was none other than Nymphadora Tonks.

 

 

"Tonks!"

 

 

"Oh, hey, Harry." the pink-haired auror waved at him, looking up from the game of Gobstones with Ginny.

 

 

"I didn't know you were coming to the Burrow."

 

 

"I had some extra time on my hands." Tonks waved it off before roping Daphne to her side, engaging in a conversation about hats and dresses.

 

 

"Father roped her in on mum's orders." Ginny whispered conspiratorially to him, "She is hoping to set up Bill with Tonks."

 

 

"Uh-huh. Does Tonks or Bill know what they are in for?" Harry whispered back, knowing full well the futility of such an attempt.

 

 

"Not yet, but if they have any sense to them, they soon will." Ginny said.

 

 

"So, Harry. We heard Ravenclaw is leading this season in the Quidditch Cup." Said Fred as he dropped into a couch with George.

 

 

"Is our little Gin-Gin not playing up to expectations?" George threw an arm around his twin's shoulder and grinned indulgently while Ginny threw the twins a dirty look.

 

 

"They're leading only cause they had two matches before the Christmas break. They trounced Slytherin and Hufflepuff in the game. That winning streak will be brought to a halt when they face us." said Harry.

 

 

"Yeah, you tell them, Harry." Ginny said with a pointed look at her brothers.

 

 

"All we're saying is you got to live up to the Weasley name in Quidditch, little sis." said George with a wink.

 

 

"Yeah. Our hopes and dreams are on you, Gin-Gin since Ron never made it to the team." said Fred.

 

 

"Sod off, you two." Ron grunted as he came down from the upper floor into the drawing room of the Burrow.

 

 

"Maybe grouchy Ron not making the team was a good thing." George whispered conspiratorially but loud enough for Ron to hear, "They still have a chance to win the Cup."

 

 

Ron threw a pillow at George and started a fistfight with the twins. He saw the way Daphne was eyeing Harry, making him shrug his shoulders with a helpless look. Thankfully, Bill came in and pulled Ron and the Weasley twins back from turning the Burrow into a warzone.

 

 

 

 

 

*****

 

 

 

 

 

"Are you sure you can't stay for dinner, Harry?" Arthur asked as Harry and Daphne decided to leave after lunch and a lengthy game of Exploding Snap, which left Harry's fingers blackened.

 

 

"Ah, I promised Sirius and Brigitte I'd be back before the light is out. Also, Daphne has to go back to her parents before the sun is down." said Harry. "Besides, I don't think my ego can take another beating today."

 

 

Harry flashed his blackened fingers, which made Arthur laugh and show his own.

 

 

"I, too, am terrible with cards. I have the worst luck in this home." said Arthur.

 

 

"How's the Order doing?" Harry asked, seeing Daphne was still engaged in an animated conversation with Ginny and the twins. "Surely the news of Draco Malfoy's interrogation records published by the Daily Prophet must've been a curious piece of news to be discussed amongst the Order members."

 

 

"Ah. I'm afraid the Order has been focused on other matters." Arthur said a tad uncomfortably.

 

 

"Like what?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

 

Arthur fell silent at his question.

 

 

"Let me guess what happened." Harry said, seeing the uncomfortable look on Mr Weasley, "Several Order members raised their concern that the Dark Lord is sending assassins to Hogwarts to kill Dumbledore, and strangely enough, the chief spy of the Order is blissfully unaware of any such moves. Am I wrong?"

 

 

"I know you have reasons… relevant reasons to distrust Professor Snape Harry. But Dumbledore trusts him, and he has said so many times."

 

 

"Then let me give you some advice, Mr Weasley. You shouldn't trust a word that comes out of Dumbledore's mouth. If I were you, I'd stay far away from the man." said Harry.

 

 

Mr Weasley winced and looked troubled, but the man remained stubbornly silent.

 

 

Harry genuinely wanted Mr Weasley to be far away from Dumbledore, not because he wanted to pull support from Dumbledore but because he liked the Weasley family. They were good people, and he didn't want a good, happy family to suffer because they were following a deranged man who was out to do the 'greater good'. That ridiculous phrase meant nothing but trouble for everyone around Dumbledore. The 'greater good' meant whatever Dumbledore thought was good for everyone at the expense of those who were actually the good guys in this war.

 

 

"Many people have said it in the past about Snape. Other people raised the same concerns you raised to Dumbledore. I admit, there is not much to be liked about that man, but Harry… you have to understand that Dumbledore has been the one man that delivered us from the dark shadow of Grindelwald and the first war with you-know-who." said Arthur.

 

 

"Then you might be surprised to know that Dumbledore was best of friends with Grindelwald and quite aligned with the former Dark Lord's idea of world domination. He only broke away from Grindelwald when Dumbledore's sister was killed by a rebound spell from Grindelwald or Dumbledore."

 

 

"What!" Arthur gasped with wide, frightened eyes.

 

 

"Oh, yes. There are all kinds of skeletons in Dumbledore's closet, Mr Weasley." Harry said grimly, "I had a little chat with Bathilda Bagshot, and I barely managed to scratch the surface. I'd be cautious in engaging with Dumbledore and get tied to his cause because, trust me, I'm the living embodiment of where that ends up."

 

 

"That's… Harry… Bagshot…there has to be some mistake…" Arhur said, his face losing all colour.

 

 

"Tell me Mr Weasley… Who was the Supreme Mugwump, the Chief Warlock and the Headmaster of Hogwarts of the last two decades where rapists, murderers and blood-purists thrived with a stake in the power lobbies of our world?" Harry asked with a faint smile.

 

 

The utter silence that came from Mr Weasley was answering enough.

 

 

"Please remember that you are following a man who tolerated the likes of Lucius Malfoy." Harry reminded the man.

 

 

"Look at what has happened by Dumbledore's inaction. Dumbledore had the power and influence to bring Lucius to justice a decade ago. It'd have dramatically changed the life choices of his son." Harry said lowly, knowing that Daphne was finishing up her own conversation.

 

 

"In my albeit limited understanding of the world, there are two types of people that we should worry about: those who seek unchecked power with the intent of self-gratification, and the other are those who have power but refuse to do anything that brings change."

 

 

"Harry? Is everything alright?" Daphne came to him with a curious look, her eyes darting between him and Mr Weasley.

 

 

"Of course." Harry smiled at her as she slipped her hand into his.

 

 

They said their thanks before walking away from the Burrow.

 

 

"So, how did it go?" Daphne asked.

 

 

"Mr Weasley is already shaken, and I think I just gave him the necessary push. We'll give that same push to the rest of the Order until it crumbles from within under the weight of Dumbledore's secrets and lies." Harry smirked, "The illusion of infallibility and wisdom is already gone from Dumbledore. All it takes right now is just the right amount of pressure."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*****

 

 

Titus Targaryen, King of Germany by Irene von Fitchburg

 

 

The Ministry of Magic of Rhineland was formed by several noble families with ambitions of emulating the Scottish Empire. Many wizards and witches within the small borders of the Rhine had hoped to forge an empire right in the middle of Europe between the old and powerful states like France, Poland-Lithuania, the Dutch Republic and the Holy Roman Empire. The plan was to forge a German Reich emulating their Scottish cousins and show their might to the world.

 

 

But such ambitions never came to fruition as the question of who'd become the emperor created conflict among the Rhineland wizards. 

 

 

This need for a separate empire was not always present in the Rhineland wizarding community. This idea came forth when the Rhineland wizards failed to draw the interest of the Targaryen royal family to launch their armies and dragons into central Europe to expand the sole wizard-ruled empire. The wizards and witches of the Rhine believed the wonderous lands of Central Europe were the natural ground for the Scottish Empire's expansion.

 

 

But the royal family of Scotland never harboured ambitions of expanding beyond the Scottish Channel. House Targaryen and their dragons remained comfortable in the "Dracheland", as the Rhineland wizards called Scottland. Still, they held out hope that the "Drachenreiters" would one day turn their gaze on the muggle-controlled lands of Europe.

 

 

Therefore, when King Titus launched the Continental War and showed great promise, the Rhineland Wizengamot held an emergency session and passed the "Deutsches Konigreich" resolution. The Wizengamot essentially declared a new German kingdom and proclaimed Titus Targaryen as their king and emperor.

 

 

This was a pivotal moment in European history as this declaration later prompted similar declarations from other European ministries.

 

 

But this moment had another importance.

 

 

Up until this point, Titus Targaryen remained the King of the Scottish Empire. Even though Scotland was addressed as an Empire and recognised as such by other European polities, Targaryen kings never took up the title of Emperor or Empress. They considered Ireland and England to be part of the Home Isles and never saw these lands as other lands.

 

 

For the Tragaryens, it was all Scotland. There were no Irishmen or Englishmen within the lands they ruled. There was only the Scottishmen.

 

 

But, with the declaration of the Ministry of Magic of Rhineland, House Targaryen's status changed.

 

 

King Titus called the Wizengamot and presented the Rhine Declaration. The Wizengamot accepted the declaration, and from that moment on, King Titus became King of Scotland and Germany, earning himself the title of Emperor.

 

 

On the auspicious morning of 5th January 1662, King Titus was crowned the King of Germany in the Ministry atrium of Rhineland. While Titus officially became an Emperor, a massive armada of flying ships accompanied by two Targaryen princesses landed on the Rhine.

 

 

Princess Grainne Targaryen and Rhianna Targaryen landed on the Rhine atop their dragons Sunburn and Moonburn, escorting a massive armada of flying ships carrying vast armies from the Irish Isle. They were the only recorded female Targaryen twins. They were the daughter of Princess Adwen Targaryen, the Viceroy of Irish Isle. The Princesses were as their names implied. They were like the sun and the moon. Both were highly beautiful and fierce in their own way.

 

 

So, it came as no surprise when they joined the war front with King Titus, as they were the thickest of friends from a young age. The three dragons of the Targaryens, Moonfyre, Sunburn and Moonburn, brought the lands east of Rhine to its knees. The armies of the Holy Froman Empire were quite suddenly overwhelmed by the sudden attack by the three dragons and the air fleet of the Scottish Empire.

 

 

The wizards of Rhine were not one to be outdone. They worked tirelessly to deny the armies of the Holy Roman Empire any reprieve by sealing off any water bodies, farmlands and mines from the muggles. Emperor Titus and the Princesses burned the enemy's supply chains, leaving them stranded in a pincer, starving and beaten.

 

 

Therefore, they were met with minimal resistance when the royal army marched into Lorraine and Baden. It was a one-sided battle where most of the splintered army either surrendered or ran across the French border in fear.

 

 

The French were not looking at who was crossing their border because they were dealing with their own problems.

 

 

By the end of February 1662, the road to Bavaria was wide open before Emperor Titus. The Rhine started expanding slowly, setting forth the creation of the German Kingdom.

 

 

Chapter 115: A Greengrass Christmas

Harry groaned and hid his face in the pillow as some sounds invaded his ears.

 

 

"Harry, you have to wake up."

 

 

Harry had no intention to wake up. He had earned his right to sleep as long as he wanted.

 

 

"Harry!"

 

 

He groaned pitifully as Daphne tried to wake him awake.

 

 

"Please, let me sleep." He pleaded, trying to stuff his head further into the pillow.

 

 

"You promised you'd spend the day with my family." Daphne reminded while shaking him again.

 

 

Harry rolled to the other side of the bed to escape from Daphne's reach. He smiled when he felt she could not disturb him and happily snuggled under the sheets to get some shut-eye.

 

 

But his relief was short-lived as Daphne climbed into his bed and continued to disturb him.

 

 

"Wake up! If you don't wake up, I'll have you doused in water." Daphne threatened.

 

 

Harry let out a mournful whimper at the loss of his sleep.

 

 

"I'm awake!" he declared, turning around in bed.

 

 

Harry opened his eyes with some effort to stare reproachfully at his girlfriend.

 

 

"Good. Now, get yourself out of bed, freshen up and come with me to my home." Daphne demanded with a glare and her hands on her hips.

 

 

"You look like an angry cat." Harry blurted out sleepily before he could bite his tongue.

 

 

The glare on Daphne's face turned up a notch, making him fully alert.

 

 

"You…" Daphne started pointing a finger at his face, but he caught her hand and pulled her over.

 

 

As Daphne tumbled into his bed, he threw his arms around her and tried to pin her against the bed. They tumbled around in the bed as she fought back with her nails working as claws until she finally tired herself out.

 

 

"You messed up my dress." Daphne muttered while he nuzzled into her hair and planted his lips against the crook of her neck.

 

 

"You messed up my sleep, especially after I spent the better part of last night in Tracey's home shaking hands with a bunch of old men and women. My cheeks hurt from keeping a smile plastered on my face for the entire evening." Harry complained.

 

 

"Shall I kiss away poor Harry's ouchies?" Daphne mocked.

 

 

"It'll be a good start if you ask me." said Harry, grinning against her neck.

 

 

Daphne scoffed but didn't say anything else and lay there in bed with him. He made the most of it with his wandering hands, tracing the fine contours of her waist while his lips continued tasting the skin on her neck and shoulder. Inevitably, their lips danced against each other when Daphne turned her head and caught him by surprise. He felt her fingers thread through the hair on the back of his head as they deepened the kiss.

 

 

They inevitably pulled back for air, leaving them panting with their lips apart by an inch.

 

 

"You smell funny. Go take a shower, you lazy bum." Daphne said after regaining her breath.

 

 

"You're welcome to join…" Harry offered with a wink.

 

 

Daphne pushed him away and climbed out of the bed while he laughed. Harry soon followed suit to get himself ready for the day.  

 

 

 When he followed Daphne to the Greengrass manor, he was unsurprised to find the garden bereft of any snow touching the ground.

 

 

"Mum wouldn't let the snow destroy her garden. She's very protective." said Daphne, seeing his look.

 

 

Harry merely smiled, knowing full well that it wasn't just that. The garden hosted some of the best offensive tricks, hiding amongst the innocent-looking flowers against any enemies in the event of a fight.

 

 

"I know your family don't celebrate Christmas, so what is going on?"

 

 

"We have a couple of special guests coming over." Daphne said enigmatically.

 

 

"Who?"

 

 

"Some people you know." Daphne said shortly. 

 

 

"Is it the Flamels?" He asked, rolling his eyes at her attempts to keep an air of mystery. 

 

 

"You'll see." Daphne grinned.

 

 

"Mistress and Mistresses' friend is welcome to the Greengrass manor." A house-elf standing by the side of the door bowed.

 

 

"Where are they, Mitsy?" asked Daphne.

 

 

"In the game room, mistress."

 

 

Daphne caught his hand and urged him to walk faster towards the game room, which was on the second floor of the manor. They climbed the stairs and walked into an area where colourful drapes adorned the doorways and walls. Carpets of intricate designs spread out on the floor with many fancy furniture, a coffered ceiling and a statement chandelier shouting out the opulence.

 

 

Daphne took him further in until they came across a room within the game room where a giant chess set could be seen. But his eyes also fell on an elderly couple sitting on two comfy chairs with teacups in their hands.

 

 

"Harry, meet my grandparents from my mother's side, Conrad and Adelaide Regensburg." Daphne said happily.

 

 

While he greeted the two old grandparents of his betrothed quite warmly and with the appropriate courtesy, he was worried. He worried about the prospect of this day being a meet and greet with Daphne's extended family and spending another day with fake smiles and inane conversations. But thankfully, his worries were unfounded as it became clear shortly that only Daphne's grandparents had joined them from across the English Channel.

 

 

Even so, he didn't escape the scrutiny of Daphne's grandparents. Breakfast and lunch were little more than an interrogation of sorts where the elderly couple grilled him on his intentions and ambition and then tested his patience with their wordplay. His academic status, financial status, and anything else relevant to him became a topic of discussion.

 

 

Damien was the only one who sympathised with his plight, but the man kept a safe distance away from him.

 

 

Daphne's grandparents were slightly interested when he lifted the Fidelius Charm surrounding the Greengrass Manor to open the Floo network for their guests for the evening to arrive.

 

 

Harry was finally given space by Daphne's grandparents when new guests arrived in the evening.

 

 

"You don't know how happy I am to see you, Neville." Harry hugged the surprised-looking boy while Madam Bones and Agusta Longbottom exchanged greetings with Damien and Evelyn.

 

 

"Okay. I think I'm missing some context here." Neville muttered.

 

 

"All you need to know is that you saved me. You're a true friend." Harry patted Neville on his back before moving on to hug Susan.

 

 

"You too, Susan. Don't think I forgot about you. Thank you for coming as soon as you could. You look beautiful, by the way."

 

 

"I don't understand." Susan looked confused as she hugged back before pulling away, "What're you so afraid of?"

 

 

"Germans." Harry whispered.

 

 

"He's being overly dramatic. He is talking about having a little talk with my grandparents." Daphne said with an unimpressed stare, which Harry actively avoided in regaling his sad tale for the guests.

 

 

"I was sleeping peacefully in Potter Manor this morning. Then a conniving, beautiful Slytherin girl broke into my home, snogged me until all reason left my mind, seduced me to go with her to her home and then threw me to the wolves without an ounce of mercy." Harry said, throwing his body behind Neville when he felt like Daphne might kick his shins.

 

 

"I hope you had your fun, Harry. Because you might not be so snippy with your words once I get my hands on you." Daphne said with a scowl.

 

 

"Such open threats on the Chosen One in the presence of the niece of the Minister of Magic, no less. All tact seems to have fled from your mind, dear Daphne." Harry remarked, his eyes alight with mirth.

 

 

"I apologise for his childishness." Daphne said to Susan, completely ignoring Harry, "Please follow me."

 

 

"You better start preparing for several gruelling sessions with her aunt if you're serious about pursuing Susan." Harry piqued up as they watched the two girls walk away hand in hand.

 

 

"That's not so bad." said Neville, a self-deprecating smile stretching on his face while his ears turned pink at the subtle implication, "I doubt Susan's aunt can be any more intimidating than my gran."

 

 

"You know nothing, Neville Longbottom." Harry said with a shake of his head.

 

 

Dinner was a far better experience simply because he was no longer under the scrutiny of the pair of old Germans. The presence of Amelia Bones and Lady Longbottom kept the conversation on much less invasive topics. However, the conversation at the table did dip into less savoury topics like the war from the 'adults' in the room. Astoria was all too happy to redirect that back to her incredibly pink Pygmy Puff. 

 

 

Harry could only shake his head at the incredible interest shown by both Dahne and Susan for the pink little creature sold in the Marauder's Den.

 

 

"It is still one of life's greatest mysteries why girls like fluffy pink things." Harry joked making Neville laugh, which didn't go unnoticed by the girls.

 

 

"How can you mock my poor Squee?" Astoria asked with a bit of heat as she produced the Pygmy Puff in her hand and showed it to Harry and Neville.

 

 

"She named it Squee…" Harry bellowed out in laughter, which only served to infuriate the girls.

 

 

But he had another justifiable reason why he was laughing. They reminded him of a character in an old comic book he read. The Squee character and the Squee, the Pygmy Puff, were quite the character and visual clash, which made him laugh all the harder. His renewed laughter only served to dial up the intensity of the girls' stare. 

 

 

"Boys are mean and ignorant. How do you both tolerate them." Astoria scrunched up her nose as she posed her question to Daphne and Susan.

 

 

"Sometimes we pretend they don't exist when they open their ignorant mouths." said Susan all too seriously.

 

 

"Or hex them." Daphne added, her wand arm going to her hips where her wand was strapped to her green dress.

 

 

"Okay." Harry raised his hands in surrender,

 

 

"Keep in mind that the Pygmy Puff in your hand exists only because of me. If I hadn't invested in the Weasley twins, Squee…" Harry's lips twitched as he struggled not to laugh, "…wouldn't exist."

 

 

"All the more reason for us to hex for taking advantage of us girls for our love, beautiful and subtler things in life, and insulting us after making a profit off of us." Susan pitched in like the ever-loyal Puff she was.

 

 

However, Harry was saved by Minister Bones, who asked him for a private talk.

 

 

 

 

 

*****

 

 

 

 

 

"It has come to my attention that Dumbledore has taken long leaves of absence from Hogwarts. If I'm told right by my aurors, he has gone missing for days. Do you know what he is doing?"

 

 

Harry stared at the Minister sitting across, casting the eerie green light of the fireplace.

 

 

"He is doing what he has always done in the past decade, which amounts to nothing." said Harry, but his answer didn't satisfy Minister Bones.

 

 

"You should leave Dumbledore alone. You'll have nothing interesting to do with pursuing his actions. Trust me." Harry said, seeing the Minister's look of frustration.

 

 

"Trust me, I wish I could forget Dumbledore and his secretive ways. But the man is resourceful and instrumental in putting down Grindelwald. He remains one of the few enemies the Dark Lord fears, a position you also share." Madam Bones raised her wine glass in his direction before taking a sip.

 

 

"I'm flattered to be given this high honour." He said with a chuckle, mimicking her action with his glass of eggnog. "But seriously, don't waste your time with Dumbledore. He is on a fool's errand."

 

 

"So, you know what he is up to." Minister Bones leaned forward in her seat with an intrigued look.

 

 

"If you must know, Dumbledore is tracking Voldemort's earlier footsteps. Dumbledore is interested in tracking Voldemort's activities. At the same time, he was a student in Hogwarts." said Harry, to the immense disappointment of Minister Bones, who expected something of a sure-shot secret to end the war.

 

 

"Why now of all times?" Minister Bones muttered thoughtfully, leaning back into her chair deflated.

 

 

Harry debated whether he should share the information about Horcruxes with Minister Bones. It was not as if any of the Horcruxes were intact. All of them were destroyed, and Dumbledore was the one to finish the last one by destroying the Gaunt Ring. But the risk of Voldemort learning about the destruction of Horcruxes remained in case the Dark Lord plucked the information out of Minister Bones' mind.

 

 

He supposed he now understood why Dumbledore remained prickly in sharing the information with a third party. He had revealed the full picture only to Sirius and Daphne, and that only happened because he trusted them explicitly and was confident he could keep them safe. He hadn't even told Hermione on account of security reasons. After all, her parents were vulnerable, which made her vulnerable. He couldn't rule out the fact that Voldemort could track down Hermione's parents and use them to get to her.

 

 

Of course, Voldemort had a giant ego, which prohibited the man from using sound strategy to win the war. He was only too happy that his enemy remained blissfully unaware of such simple methods and preferred elaborate, cartoonishly dumb plans for world domination.

 

 

"The Dark Lord has stepped up his offensive. I'm sure you've noticed he is shifting his target from muggles to wizarding families." Minister Bones started delicately breaking the lull in their conversation.

 

 

"I have. It's quite hard to miss when one of the best wandmakers gets kidnapped from Diagon Alley." said Harry.

 

 

"Unfortunately, yes." Minster Bones nodded succinctly, "We both know we can put as many Death Eaters behind bars, but the war won't be over until the Dark Lord is dead for good."

 

 

"I'm aware." Harry said, curious to see where this was going.

 

 

"Unfortunately, the Dark Lord has been elusive. He hasn't even participated in most of the raids. So, it gets increasingly difficult to end this war."

 

 

"You don't have to dance around the issue, Minister. Ask what you want." Harry looked imploringly at the older witch.

 

 

"The only time the Dark Lord came out of his hiding is when you were involved. I think your presence will force him to come out in the open." Minister Bones said carefully.

 

 

"You want to use me as bait." Harry said bluntly.

 

 

"Well… that is…unfortunately true." Minister Bones admitted with a flustered look, "I wouldn't have asked if there was…"

 

 

"I agree with your assessment. So, how may I help?" Harry said without any complaint, which made the older witch gape.

 

 

"You…you do realise I'm asking you to place yourself in grave danger." Minister Bones said with a pinched look. 

 

 

"I've been in grave danger from the day I was born, Minister." Harry reminded the older witch with a shrug.

 

 

"Be as it may, I'd like you to think this more carefully. I cannot impress upon you the danger involved in this scheme." Minister Bones said seriously, 'In fact, I cannot guarantee that we can destroy the Dark Lord by setting this trap. It may as well end in both of our demise."

 

 

"Greater risk is certain for greater reward, madam." said Harry as he brought forth a palm of his hand where his fingers crackled with lightning. "Trust me, I'm quite prepared to end this war."

 

 

 

 

 

*****

 

 

 

 

 

The Siege of Paris (1663) by Camilie Leroy

 

 

The siege of Paris took place from 3 January 1663 to 7 January 1663. The end result of the siege was predetermined long ago when Prince Henry, Princess Rhaenys and Prince Edward landed their army and dragons on the mouth of the Seine.

 

 

The three Targaryen royals had shown the true power of the House of the Dragon during the battle of Siene. Their dragons had decimated the French fleet and turned one of the largest ports of France into rubble within a day. From the rubble of the port city of Le Havre, the Targaryen army launched a massive invasion into the heart of France.

 

 

Prince Henry split his forces into three groups. His daughter, Princess Rhaenys, was given a force of 6000 strong and 100 wizards. His nephew Prince Edward was gifted 4000 soldiers and 50 wizards. Prince Henry commanded the largest force numbering 7000 men and 200 wizards. Their forces made the vibrant trade city of Honfleur their base in the invasion of France. The merchant ships and a portion of the French fleet centred around the port city were captured intact by Prince Henry. He didn't make the mistake of launching his dragons like he did with Le Havre.

 

 

Instead, he took the conventional approach by using his army and wizards to cripple the defences of the city and capture it. Within two weeks, all resistance to the Scottish occupation of the city was destroyed. Once he made Honfleur his base, he sent forth Prince Edward to capture all French coastal cities and ports along the Scottish Channel and swing eastward to take the cities of Rennes, Nantes, Le Mans and Tours. Princess Rhaenys was sent forth to capture the cities of Beauvais, Amiens, Compiegne and Reims.

 

 

Prince Henry would set forth from Honfleur and capture the city of Rouen as he marched his army through the banks of the Seine straight for Paris. All three Targaryen royals would face stiff resistance from the French cities thanks to word spreading of the fate of Le Havre. The strategy employed by the three Targaryens was twofold.

 

 

Before they attacked with their conventional armies and weapons, they'd send forth the wizards and witches in their armies to ward off all major resources like mines, water bodies and farmlands to deny the population of cities crucial resources to fight back. They also sent forth saboteurs under disguise to burn stores of grain, steal enemy weapons and poison wells.

 

 

Misinformation was also a major strategy employed by Prince Henry's army.

 

 

House Targaryen had a long history of warring with the Christian population of the Scottish Isles. They had worked tirelessly to purge all foreign labels and faith systems from the home isles, which made them experts in the field of propaganda and controlling information. Therefore, they were quite adept at waging this war with sophistication the French royal court could hardly compete.

 

 

The propaganda Prince Henry used in France was particularly effective in turning the commoners against the French nobles and royal family. Across the many cities, towns and villages surrounding Paris, rumours started to spread that the King and the nobles were possessed by the demons of hell. These propagandists were none other than the clergy of the Church, who made large swathes of people believe.

 

 

Of course, the muggles could never understand the clergy were put under Confundus charms. There are unverified claims that House Targaryen used a spell in their secret repository formed by King Hadrian and Queen Rowena. To this day, the spell remains a classified secret in the Targaryen library.

 

 

The three prongs of attack led by Prince Henry, Princess Rhaenys and Prince Edward converged on Paris from the north, west and east on the evening of January 3. By the time the three Targaryen royals surrounded Paris, there was a civil war within the city, and royalists were fighting off the enraged commoners. King Antoine II of House Bourborn fled the French capital with his family in tow and moved to southern France.

 

 

For the first time, dragons were in the Parisian sky, and their roars shook the French capital.

 

 

The Targaryen army marched into the city of Paris almost uncontested. The Targaryen royals landed on Paris mounted on their dragons while the army took over the strategic positions across the capital city.

 

 

On the morning of 7 January 1663, the Targaryen banner flew atop the walls of Paris. 

 

 

 

Chapter 116: Memories

Harry stumbled out of the fireplace into McGonagall's office. He coughed and shook off the soot clinging to his robes.

 

 

"Still not mastered getting through the floo network, have you, Potter?" McGonagall glanced at him over her square glasses with a slight twitch to her lips.

 

 

"It remains an uphill battle, Professor." he said with an impish smile.

 

 

"Hmm." McGonagall snorted before she flicked her wand.

 

 

The ash clinging to his body and the floor vanished as McGonagall's magic washed over him and the area near the fireplace.

 

 

"Off you go, Potter. The password for the common room is Abstinence."

 

 

"Thank you, Professor." Harry dipped his head before skipping away swiftly from McGonagall's office.

 

 

"Oh, I almost forgot. There is one other thing, Potter."

 

 

Harry turned back from the doorway as Professor McGonagall pulled a stack of parchments from her desk drawer and presented it to him.

 

 

"They are application forms for apparition license. Have this distributed to your peers who are interested in securing a license from the Ministry. All the relevant details are mentioned in the leaflet. Have it pinned in the common room." said McGonagall.

 

 

"Yes, ma'am." Harry nodded, taking the stack into his hands.

 

 

Once outside McGonagall's office, he took the shrunken trunk from his pocket and restored it to its original dimensions. Opening the trunk, he took out Hedwig's cage.

 

 

"Stretch your wings, girl." said Harry, opening her cage.

 

 

Hedwig let out a happy hoot before taking flight. The grounds outside the castle were covered in snow, and the sun dipped behind the hills, darkening the sky.

 

 

He smiled, watching his snowy white owl fly through an open window. Poor Hedwig had been cooped up in Potter Manor with nothing much to do other than dive bomb Buckbeak. The Fidelius charm surrounding Potter Manor kept out any other owls.

 

 

He had the distinct impression Buckbeak enjoyed having a rebellious owl to contend with in the sky. The poor creature must've been bored out of his mind with only the house-elves to keep him company.

 

 

"What do we have here?" Peeves zoomed in from the hallway with a nasal voice, making Harry stare keenly at the playful spirit.

 

 

"Is Potty smiling? Peeves wonder why Potty smiles?"

 

 

"Hello, Peeves." Harry waved at the resident poltergeist warily, "Had a nice Christmas, did you?"

 

 

"Much better than Potty. But now that you're here, Peeves would happily make Potty's…"

 

 

"No thanks." Harry said blandly, pulsing his magic with the clear intent of banishing the troublemaker from his vicinity.

 

 

"eeeeeeee…!" Peeves screeched as Harry's magic blew the spirit away.

 

 

"That is a neat trick." A familiar voice said from behind Harry.

 

 

"Hello, Tracey. I hope you had fun during the holidays." Harry said without turning around.

 

 

"Oh, it was quite the fun. Do you have eyes behind the back of your head?" Tracey asked as she walked beside him while Harry levitated his trunk behind him.

 

 

"Something like that." Harry grinned.

 

 

"So, how was it?" Tracey asked with a sassy grin.

 

 

"What?" he raised an eyebrow.

 

 

"Meeting Daphne's grandparents." Tracey giggled at the face he made at the reminder.

 

 

"That bad, huh."

 

 

"She didn't even warn me." Harry said with an affronted look, "I think Daphne's grandfather thinks I'm delirious, while her grandmother thinks I should see a healer for my own good."

 

 

Tracey laughed at that loudly, the sound echoing throughout the otherwise silent hallway.

 

 

"What is that stack of parchments?" asked Tracey, noticing the pile of parchments floating beside him with his trunk.

 

 

"Ah. They're application forms for apparition license."

 

 

"They're holding tests?" Tracey asked, intrigued.

 

 

"I'm sure there will be classes for those interested."

 

 

"Did you take a license early?" Tracey asked curiously.

 

 

"No. Why do you ask?"

 

 

"I've seen you apparate from my home with Daphne."

 

 

"Well, no one said one can't learn apparition without a license. Sirius taught me the skill to get myself out of a tight spot."

 

 

"Huh. That's nice."

 

 

"Has Snape picked a new Slytherin prefect to replace Malfoy?" Harry asked as they rounded a corner.

 

 

"To my knowledge, no. But I have it on good authority that he might give the position to Nott." said Tracey.

 

 

"Theodore Nott. What is he like?"

 

 

"Silent and creepy."

 

 

"Creepy?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

 

 

"He prefers to converse in a maximum of three words. If that's not creepy, I don't know what it is." Tracey threw her hands out in frustration. "Somehow, all the broken ones end up in our house."

 

 

"Too bad you didn't ask the Sorting Hat for a different house. You'd have done well in Gryffindor." Harry said, patting Tracey's shoulder.

 

 

"What do you mean I could've asked for a different house?" Tracey asked with a frown.

 

 

That question launched a longwinded explanation about the nature of the Sorting Hat, which Tracey was too stubborn to take his word for. She believed he was pulling her leg with his 'one can argue with the Sorting Hat' claim.

 

 

When he parted ways with Tracey, he was a bit thoughtful about the true nature of the Sorting Hat. He made a mental note to inquire among the students to see whether the Hat engaged them in a conversation during the sorting.

 

 

"Abstinence."

 

 

The portrait of the Fat Lady swung open, allowing Harry entry into the Gryffindor common room. He was immediately greeted by Dean and Ginny on the other side of the portrait.

 

 

"Hey, Harry." Dean waved at him and looked at the floating stack of parchments warily. "Please don't tell me that has something to do with our assignments."

 

 

"No, nothing of that sort. These are application forms for an apparition license." said Harry, handing over one to Dean.

 

 

"Apparition license? Can I have one of those?" Ginny reached out to take a parchment, but Harry pulled it back.

 

 

"Aha! Sorry, Ginny." Harry shook his head. "This is only for sixth years. You'll get yours next year."

 

 

"That's not fair. There is a war going on. What if I wanted to escape?" Ginny huffed.

 

 

"Hey, I don't make the rules." said Harry before a conspiratorial look adorned his face, "While you can't gain a license, nothing is barring Dean from teaching you the skill."

 

 

Dean looked put on the spot as his girlfriend turned her fiery eyes on him.

 

 

"Well, maybe it could be covered in the next Knights' meeting." Dean weakly suggested.

 

 

 "No one can apparate in or out of Hogwarts." Hermione suddenly piqued up coming into the common room. "Harry won't be able to teach apparition even if he wants to."

 

 

"That means I can't teach it as well." said Dean with obvious relief.

 

 

"Indeed. Let's not forget, no one here is knowledgeable enough to heal someone who splinches if the apparition fails." Hermione followed up with more reasons for the relief of Dean but also raised more concerns.

 

 

"Splinching? That doesn't sound fun." Dean said with a concerned look.

 

 

"It's not fun at all." Harry agreed as he put up the flyer on the noticeboard of the common room with a sticking charm.

 

 

"Splinching happens when a wizard only partially apparates, leaving behind a chunk of their body." Hermione explained to the horrified looks of Ginny and Dean. 

 

 

"It's not that bad. So long as someone knows where the missing part of the body is, St. Mungo's can patch up any such injuries." Hermione hastily added, but if it was to alleviate the fears of Dean and Ginny, it didn't work.

 

 

"That… I think I'm going to be sick." Dean said, looking green while the horror on his face only worsened.

 

 

"Harry does it often enough, and he doesn't splinch." said Ginny, adopting a sceptical look. "He came to the Burrow this Christmas by apparition, and he had Daphne with him."

 

 

"You apparated without a license!" Hermione hissed, "You could get fined by the Ministry."

 

 

"Not unless someone tattles on me." Harry said with a pointed look, which only made Hermione sigh in exasperation.

 

 

"It says here that we'll get an instructor from the Ministry." said Dean, distracting himself from some vivid images of splinching by directing his attention to the flyer on the noticeboard.

 

 

"And it costs ten galleons." said Ginny with a roll of her eyes, "There goes my allowance next year. I haven't even become an adult, and already the Ministry is poking at my purse."

 

 

"I suppose we could ask Luna to publish an article about the evil Ministry and their evil plan of stealing young witches' allowance. I'm sure she can spin it into a conspiracy by the Ministry and the Goblins to make wizards and witches indebted from an early age or something." Harry suggested with a wicked grin.

 

 

"You spent too much time with the Weasley twins." Hermione said with a huff.

 

 

"Actually, I think it is not a bad idea." said Ginny while looking thoughtfully weighing the pros and cons. 

 

 

The rest of the evening passed by with them making up ludicrous conspiracy theories just for the fun of it with the Ministry at the centre.

 

 

But before Harry turned in for the night, Fawkes came to the dorm and dropped a scroll in his hand. The rest of his dormmates were spooked by the sudden flare-up of flames in their little corner of the tower.

 

 

"What in the name of sweet Merlin!" Seamus shouted, jumping from his bed and falling spectacularly on his ass on the floor.

 

 

The rest of his dormmates weren't any better. Nevile knocked over a few candlesticks in his rush to get hold of his wand, which made the curtains catch fire. Ron jumped out of bed but had the misfortune of getting entangled in the sheets and fell face-first against the nightstand. Dean stood in fright against a corner in the room with his wand pointed at Fawkes.

 

 

"Relax everyone. Fawkes is a friendly phoenix." said Harry.

 

 

Fawkes let out a soft trill before flaming away, leaving Harry with a scroll and a room full of scared teenagers. Unsurprisingly, the scroll contained the time for the next 'lesson' with Dumbledore and the password for the Headmaster's office.

 

 

 

 

 

*****

 

 

 

 

 

Harry frowned in concentration as he carved the last few runes into his runestone. His usual method of carving runes using his wand was prohibited in the class as it was an advanced method.

 

 

Instead, he was forced to chug along with the rest of his classmates using a hammer and chisel to do the work by hand.

 

 

He supposed there was a therapeutic element to work like this instead of waving his wand and carving runes through a varied powered-down version of the gouging spell.

 

 

Rune carving was an art. There was something primal about it that made it a special discipline of magic.

 

 

Perhaps it was the way in which old languages interacted with magical energy. Modern English script couldn't make so much of a spark if he carved some fancy letters into a runestone, but any dead language would function almost immediately. Celt, Sanskrit, Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Norse, Latin, Sumerian and even the old language unearthed by the Flamels all worked splendidly as runes.

 

 

The exact reason why this was so eluded him. The only explanation he could come up with was that these old languages, in their raw forms, were used to carve into stone tablets and caves. Thus, these ancient languages were forced to interact with the planet's magic in some way from man's awakening. No one was carving modern English script into caves anywhere other than maybe some idiot spray-painting some nonsense on buildings.

 

 

Finally, he finished his work and set aside the tools on his work desk. He swivelled the vice holding the runestone to inspect the carved script. Seeing that his script was intact, he looked up at Professor Babbling to signal her that he was finished.

 

 

Professor Babbling came by his work desk and inspected his work.

 

 

"This seems to be in order." Babbling nodded before casting a small repelling shield around the runestone, "You may charge the runes." 

 

 

Harry charged the runes with his magic, which was followed by a brief flareup of magical energy from the runestone. The runes powered down after the brief flare-up of magic, followed by a wide array of detecting charms being cast on the runestone by Professor Babbling.

 

 

"Hmm." Babbling hummed before nodding at him. "You may test the runestone."

 

 

Harry pointed his wand at the runestone and cast a mild fire spell. A thin jet of fire shot out of the tip of his wand, which consumed the runestone on his work stand. Instead of burning down the desk, the runestone absorbed the fire, keeping the desk safe.

 

 

"Splendid work, Mr Potter. Take 10 points for Gryffindor." said Babbling before she moved to inspect the works of other students.

 

 

He was hardly the first one to finish the work in the class. He could already see Hermione and Tracey had finished their work. Tracey was secretly making an origami crane under the desk while Hermione was staring intently into a book, looking as if she might jump into it if she could. Daphne was doodling down something in a parchment.

 

 

Seeing as he didn't have much to do in the last ten minutes of the hour, Harry pulled out the transfiguration book Dumbledore gave him from his backpack and decided to read a new chapter. By the time the bell rang, he was halfway into the chapter on a treatise on wide-area transfiguration spells.

 

 

"Next class, we'll have water-absorbing runes. So, read up on Frisian runes beforehand." Professor Babbling said while Harry quickly bagged everything to leave for the Charms lesson, "Also, as an assignment, write a short essay on spatial tethering runes not exceeding 350 words. You'll have till the end of this month to submit the assignment."

 

 

"Oh, come on. This is the first day, and we're already getting assignments." Harry muttered after leaving the class.

 

 

"Please don't jinx it, Harry. We have Charms with Flitwick next." said Tracey as they climbed a flight of stairs to the next level for their Charms lesson.

 

 

 

 

 

*****

 

 

 

 

 

"How were your holidays this Christmas, Harry?" Dumbledore asked as Harry settled into a seat across from Dumbledore.

 

 

"It was fun." she said shortly.

 

 

"I take it you had no trouble at home from Voldemort or the Death Eaters."

 

 

"Oh, no. I've placed the Fidelius over my home." Harry said distractedly as his eyes fell on the Gaunt ring sitting inconspicuously on Dumbledore's table.

 

 

"Good." Dumbledore nodded and promptly started without further ado,

 

 

"Now, today's lesson starts with where we left off last time. The tale of Tom Riddle truly started with his arrival at Hogwarts. You'll remember how excited Tom was to learn that he was different from the other children at the orphanage. He went shopping all alone in Diagon Alley after my warning not to steal anything further. The more he interacted with the wizarding world the greater was his hunger for knowledge and an uncanny desire to find his roots."

 

 

It was by no accident that the ring was on the table. Nothing Dumbledore ever did was by accident. Every seemingly inconspicuous act had a larger meaning and intent. This was the second time Dumbeldore was flashing him the Gaunt ring. 

 

 

He could feel no malice from the ring as the Horcrux was no longer infecting the ring. He suspected the ring was also a new addition as there was no possible way the original would have survived if Dumbledore had used the Sword of Gryffindor. The basilisk venom on the sword would've undoubtedly annihilated the ring band, leaving the stone intact since it was a Hallow.

 

 

Still, Harry listened to Tom Riddle's ridiculous backstory.

 

 

"Here he was, a poor orphaned boy with phenomenal magic skills and a stellar student in classes. The Hogwarts staff had a soft spot for him, and he was quite resourceful in using his status and abilities to get what he wanted. It didn't take too long for Tom to realise that he was also even more special among wizarding children. His ability of Parseltongue undoubtedly made him connect his ancestry to Slytherin. Thus, Tom's quest to find his family roots began in earnest." 

 

 

"I suppose he was less than impressed when he learned about his family. Voldemort didn't sound particularly happy about his parents when he monologued in the graveyard of Little Hangleton." Harry commented.

 

 

"Yes, indeed. Tom assumed the nobility of Slytherin's blood extended throughout the generations, and something must've happened to his family that left him orphaned." Dumbledore sighed wearily, "Needless to say, he was very wrong, and he had living relatives in Little Hangleton. The circumstances behind his birth only made him angrier. It didn't help that the Gaunt family was not particularly wealthy and wallowed in mediocrity when Tom tracked them down. I suspect Tom would've been happy if his family had died off, but when he found them in poverty and mediocrity, it brought forth a searing hatred within him that detested any sort of weakness."

 

 

"He didn't take the news of his muggle parentage well, did he?" Harry asked.

 

 

"No, he did not. He only had the name Marvolo to track down his family. But that was more than enough for someone like Tom Riddle. What happened after that… well… it's better that I show you." said Dumbledore.

 

 

Dumbledore rose from his seat with a small crystal bottle taken from the drawer towards the Pensieve cabinet. 

 

 

That particular memory launched a long, arduous tale of Tom Riddle finding the Gaunt family and subsequently unearthing the secrets behind his birth. The memory was from the point of view of Morfin Gaunt which showed his heated conversation with Tom Riddle until the Dark Lord was in a dark rage after finding the truth.

 

 

The memory was unsurprisingly corrupted, evident by the blackened tint towards the end.

 

 

"Ah, you noticed, did you not?" Dumbledore said knowingly after they came out of the memory.

 

 

"Yes, it was manipulated. A memory charm perhaps." said Harry.

 

 

"A combination of memory charm and fake memories. Tom had already become a master of the mind arts. It was almost easy for him to plant false memories into Morfin's mind." said Dumbledore, his eyes distant, "Tom slaughtered his father's family and framed Morfin for the murders he committed in Riddle Manor that day."

 

 

"He left no trails either." Dumbledore hunched over the cabin in disappointment, "When the Ministry heard of the murder of the Riddle family, they obviously suspected Morfin, who had a reputation for muggle baiting. The Aurors came to Morfin, and to their surprise, Morfin didn't deny the charge. He was extremely cooperative and confessed to the murders. Morfin was sentenced to Azkaban for life for his crimes." 

 

 

"You pulled this memory from his psyche even if he had forgotten it, didn't you, sir?" Harry asked.

 

 

"We truly never forget anything. Everything is right here," Dumbledore pointed at his forehead, "…waiting for the right moment to reveal itself. The continued exposure of Dementors and Morfin's own character suppressed the truth. I was merely fortunate to know there was more to the case than what was reported, especially after Tom's transformation into the Dark Lord we see today."

 

 

"What happened to Morfin?" Harry asked curiously.

 

 

"He passed away before his innocence could be proven. I had attempted to get the man out of Azkaban and commute his sentence based on the memory I extracted. But time was an enemy that I, in my hubris, never factored into account." Dumbledore rubbed his eyes in discomfort, "Before I could make any progress with the Ministry, Morfin passed away in a cold cell of Azkaban for a crime he never committed."

 

 

"I see." Harry said, caring not one whit about the supposed sob story of Morfin Gaunt.

 

 

It was not a particularly heart-wrenching story Dumbledore was making it out to be. Sure, the guy didn't deserve to be chucked in Azkaban, but that was life.

 

 

The story's moral was: never keep your doors open for a scorned nephew and learn to read the room before running off your mouth.

 

 

"Now, before you return to your dorms, there is one more memory that I wish to show you. This one is perhaps more important than the one we saw, but know that all these memories are connected." Dumbledore said gravely before pouring a vial of glowing silver strand of memory into the Pensieve.

 

 

"After you… Harry." said Dumbledore.

 

 

Harry fell into the memory and came to face a familiar man. It was none other than a much younger Horace Slughorn. The Potion master was no longer bald or sported a pot belly. Dumbledore also appeared beside him in the memory as the imagery became clear, and they found themselves standing inside Slughorn's office.

 

 

It was the infamous conversation between Slughorn and Tom Riddle about Horcruxes. The mental gymnastics Tom Riddle went through to get Slughorn to open up about the Herpo's worst creation.

 

 

"I don't know anything about such foul magic, and I wouldn't tell you if I did! Now, leave my office and never speak of such dark magic in my presence!"

 

 

Harry was suitably impressed by Slughorn's ability to construct such a memory within his mind and conjoin it with the rest of the real memory before giving it to Dumbledore. Even though the small discolouration of the memory gave it away as a fake, it was still a masterful attempt at deception.

 

 

"Professor Slughorn was not being entirely honest. This memory is tampered." Harry said as soon as he came out of the memory before Dumbledore could go on in circles.

 

 

"Indeed. Horace was extremely reluctant to part with this memory and I'm afraid he is being dishonest out of misplaced fears." Dumbledore said with a tired sigh.

 

 

Harry watched the aged old headmaster sagged into his chair. Fawkes trilled softly to lift the spirit of Dumbledore, which earned the phoenix a grateful smile.

 

 

Harry plucked the bowl of candy from Dumbledore's desk and offered it to Fawkes, who happily plucked one from the bowl with his beak. Surprising Harry, Fawkes jumped onto his shoulder and seemed content to feast on the candy from the bowl.

 

 

"Ah, do be careful, Harry. Fawkes has a bit of a sweet tooth. It is one vice he cannot overcome." Dumbledore said with a grin.

 

 

Harry merely smiled at the headmaster before turning serious as he decided to push ahead.

 

 

"Horcrux, it is magic related to the soul, isn't it?" Harry asked almost noncommittally.

 

 

The absolute shock on Dumbledore's face was immensely satisfying. He could almost read Dumbledore's thoughts just by the sheer fright and horror shown on the man's face.

 

 

"How…? How did you…?" Dumbledore stuttered, his grip on the table tightening almost as if the headmaster was holding on to the table desperately.

 

 

"You said to me long ago that my mother's love protected me from the Killing Curse. I, of course, never believed what you said and thought there was more to the story. As I delved deeper into the Killing Curse, I realised it was a spell that reaps the soul off from a body. Such a curse could only be defeated if there was something else that mimicked the properties of a soul or a physical barrier shielding me." Harry explained as he took a seat from across Dumbledore, with Fawkes settling happily on his shoulder.

 

 

"But I know the curse was not absorbed but deflected. Whatever my mother and father did, it reflected the Killing Curse at Voldemort and reaped his soul. But neither Voldemort nor I died that day. I survived because of my parents, but something caused Voldemort to survive as well. This made me look into any type of magic that keeps the soul safe from the clutches of death." Harry regaled to the growing horror of Dumbledore.

 

 

Oh, he was enjoying the look on the man's face. He could see why Dumbledore was so horrified. The old man was worried that the secret of the soul shard was out, but Harry had no intention of showing his hand this early. There was a time and place for such things, but this was not the time.

 

 

"I ransacked the Restricted section of the library here to find out why Voldemort was capable of transcending death, but I didn't find much. However, in the Black Library, I found my answer in the works of an ancient dark wizard named Herpo the Foul. Horcrux – a magic so foul that it grants a wizard immortality by splitting one's soul and keeping it tethered to an inanimate object. The moment I read it, I knew I found Voldemort's secret to immortality. I immediately realised Tom Riddle's diary was a Horcrux because it fit with the ritual passingly mentioned in the book. Myrtle was Voldemort's sacrifice to shear off his soul, right?"

 

 

Dumbledore stared at him slack-jawed for a few minutes.

 

 

The headmaster shook his head and regained his bearings.

 

 

"How long have you known about this, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, looking intently at him.

 

 

"Since last Christmas." said Harry.

 

 

"Ha! I had told you, Mr Potter. Slytherin would've suited you far better. The resourcefulness, the cunning, the thirst for knowledge – it's all there in your head." the Sorting Hat suddenly chimed in, surprising Harry and Dumbledore.

 

 

"Well, it'd have been a load of help if I were in Slytherin since Daphne is also there, but that's water under the bridge. Besides, I don't think I'd have made it past a year in Slytherin with Malfoy's hysterical screams about his father and all the pureblood nonsense." Harry said with a shrug.

 

 

"I need not tell you the danger of this kind of knowledge, Harry." said Dumbledore, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes. "It's only natural to feel curious about the Dark Arts. It's in our nature to seek the unknown and the peculiar. The Dark Arts is addictive as it changes our perception of the world and reality if we continuously use it. The raw, primal emotions that fuel dark spells leave us hollow, which tempts us to seek raw power."

 

 

Harry merely nodded.

 

 

"It's important that we gain the real memory from Professor Slughorn. If I force the issue on him, he'll leave Hogwarts. However, I believe there is another way. You can succeed where I failed. I believe Professor Slughorn will share the real memory with you." Dumbledore leaned forward in his seat with his blue eyes shining like stars, "Harry, I don't have to tell you how important this piece of information is. We need to know what Horace said, leading Voldemort to split his soul. We need that memory and when you have secured that memory, we'll talk more about this subject. So, good luck… and goodnight."

 

 

"Goodnight, sir." Harry nodded and withdrew from the office with his mind churning plans upon plans. 

 

AN:

For artworks based on the story, join my Discord server. 

https://discord.gg/4hhXR3fAeT

Chapter 117: Apparition lesson

While Dumbledore had given him what the man assumed was a vital mission, Harry gave it no consideration. He continued attending classes as usual, doing the usual schoolwork and the prefect duties assigned to him.

In fact, he never even broached the subject with Slughorn. For now, he was content to leave Slughorn alone. Instead, he focused on other important matters like quidditch practice and assignments.

The snow covering the castle melted away as February arrived with rain to start things off. The cold blizzards were now replaced with cold, dreary rain in the mornings and wetness throughout the rest of the day, with the ground turning muddy. Harry felt the raindrops slam into him like bullets as he soared through the sky, chasing after the Snitch.

“Oh, come on, you little bugger. Why are you making this difficult?” Harry muttered as the Snitch went straight into a cloud, making him hang back while the Hufflepuff seeker chased the Snitch into the cloud.

He hung back, drenched from head to toe for a few minutes until, finally, the Snitch slipped out of the cloud, shooting straight towards the ground.

Harry didn’t let up on the chase and followed after the Snitch while Simon Summerby was nowhere to be seen. It’d seem the Hufflepuff seeker got lost in the cloud.

“It’s too bad Summerbelly got lost in the clouds. I wonder whether he’ll stay there and enjoy the hospitality of Cloud Gnomes for the remainder of the match.” Luna’s dreamy voice boomed in his ears.

“It’s Summerby!” McGonagall shouted exasperatedly.

Harry bit his lips as he struggled not to laugh while McGonagall scolded Luna to keep track of the score, but Luna was more interested in the comical looks Zacharias Smith was making, which she claimed mimicked a hamster.

“Oh, look! Smith dropped the Quaffle. I’m told he has small, slippery hands.”

“Oh my.” Harry muttered as Luna trolled Smith in a soothing, dreamy voice.

“Ginny Weasley has taken the Quaffle, and Smith looks livid as his small hands fail him at a crucial moment. It seems he is still suffering from loser’s lurgy.”

“Lovegood!” McGonagall hissed.

“Ginny passes to Katie, the Gryffindor captain.” Luna said breezily, “Both quite likeable, unlike Smith, who looks quite red. Oh my, the poor Hufflepuff chaser must’ve seen a Blubbering Humdinger! Very unlucky for Hufflepuff’s prospects in the game. For those who are not well-read, a Blubbering Humdinger is…”

Harry really had to struggle not to laugh out loud and fall off his broom. He heard Luna’s spectacular commentary, and she explained in detail the effect of her imaginary creature on luck and whatnot. Even the stands were roaring with laughter.

The Snitch zig-zagged its way into the pitch between players, making Harry take sharp turns and swift dives to traverse the playing field. He ducked his head just as a Bludger whistled past his head. His eyes darted around until he found the Hufflepuff beaters setting up a trap for him by concentrating the Bludger on him.

Harry found Ritchie Coote moving in to intercept the Bludger, which made him stay on the chase after the Snitch instead of pulling out.

That decision turned out to be the right call because the next Bludger that came at him was beaten back by Ritchie, who intercepted quickly.

‘The Nimbus 2000s have really enhanced team performance.’ Harry thought.

As the Snitch decided to take refuge among the stands, Harry chased after it without any hesitation.

“Oh, look! Harry Potter is coming this way. I wonder whether he is coming to check on his girlfriend, who is a victim of unfortunate attention of the Wracksprut community.” Luna said breezily, her voice echoing throughout the stadium, eliciting more laughter.  

This time, he couldn’t help but laugh even as he chased after the Snitch right above the screaming heads of Hogwarts students. The Snitch, however, took a sharp turn and seared straight into a Gryffindor flag hoisted on a tower of the stadium. This made Harry struggle as he manoeuvred around the fluttering flag. He rocketed past the flag in the nick of time, but the Hufflepuff Seeker catching up with him was not soi lucky. Summerby got tangled in the flag and fell off his broom.

The Snitch tried to sneak into the pitch and disappear among the players, but Harry caught up with it and caught the Snitch in his grasp. The stands erupted in cheers as the Snitch remained firmly in his hands despite its attempts to escape. It beat its wings a few more times before falling silent.

When he looked at the scoreboard, he saw that it was 40-210 in Gryffindor’s favour. The feeling of victory was enough to chase away the pinpricking he was experiencing across his face, thanks to the rain.

“Wooooo!” Harry punched his fist in the air as the Quidditch Cup was almost within their grasp.

The only remaining opponent was the Ravenclaw team, which was slotted to be the last match. The next game, however, was between Slytherin and Hufflepuff. It was not much of a deciding game, as Ravenclaw and Gryffindor were far ahead of points. So, unless there was one side drubbing in the coming match, it was likely that Hufflepuff would come third and Slytherin would come fourth. There was only a 30-point difference between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw for the Quidditch Cup, which made the final match all the more interesting. Their team was in good form, and they were 30 points ahead. Harry had a good feeling the cup was theirs this season.

‘Hopefully, this bloody weather will change by that time.’ Harry thought as he joined the team hug and the celebratory march into the Gryffindor common room for the party.

 

*****

 

“So, all we have to do is think of the place we need to travel to and whether we will get into the place.” Susan asked, wringing her hands anxiously.

“There is magic involved.” Harry added, seeing the stupefied look on Neville’s face.

On the other hand, Daphne was unbothered by the whole conversation while Tracey was hanging on to his every word. Hermione also looked the least interested as she was scribbling away in a notebook. Still, she occasionally looked up when he shared his experience of apparition.

“I’d be careful in taking his word without a pinch of salt. He has developed a mean pranking streak these days.” Daphne cautioned everyone.

“Please don’t mind her. She’s upset she got insulted during the match.” said Harry.

Tracey giggled, earning a glare from Daphne, but her best friend was hardly intimidated.  

“There is nothing to worry about. It's an easy skill to learn. There is no complex wand-waving involved like other disciplines of magic. It just requires your will, concentration and imagination.”

“It’s easy for you to say. Whenever I think of apparition, I fear leaving parts of my body behind.” Susan said with a shiver.

“It’s nearly ten. We should go,” said Hermione, standing up and dusting away soil from her skirt.

When Harry arrived at the Great Hall with his friends, the hall was already filled on Saturday morning, and all the house tables were absent. All sixth-year students were filled into the hall, and he could see a ministry employee having a silent conversation with Professor McGonagall. Just as they settled against a corner of the hall, he noticed the high windows of the hall darken slightly, and rain clouds covered the sky. Pretty soon, rain started pouring down in earnest.

“Good morning to you all.” said the Ministry man after McGonagall closed the door and raised a silencing ward, which warded off the sound of rain and wind from outside.  

“My name is Wilkie Twycross, and I shall be your Apparition instructor for the next couple of weeks. I hope to impart the skill of Apparition and prepare you for the test after twelve weeks. I hope everyone here knows how useful instantaneous teleportation is, especially now. Apparition helps you escape dangerous situations or even quickly bring help.”

“He wants us to run away.” Neville muttered with a scoff, “Why am I not surprised.”

“I hope by the time my classes end, each of you will be capable of securing your Apparition licence.” Twycross continued.

As McGonagall and Flitwick went around the hall arranging the students into orderly lines with even spaces between each student, Twycross continued to explain what they were about to do in the session.

“As you already know, Hogwarts doesn’t allow anyone to apparate or disapparate within the castle grounds. But Headmaster Dumbledore has graciously lifted the wards within the Great Hall for one hour so that you may practise.”

The students scrambled to arrange themselves while Twycross placed a hoop in between the negative space between students.

“Your task is quite simple. All you have to do is apparate into the hoop before you. Apparition does not require a spell. All that is needed is for you to remember the three Ds!” said Twycross, “Destination, Determination, Deliberation!”

“Psst, Harry.” A whispered call came for him from his left side.

Harry found Ernie Macmillan looking at him.

“I heard you know how to apparate. Any tips?” Ernie asked in a whisper.

“It’s all about belief. You have to believe you can teleport. Then comes will and imagination.” Harry whispered back.

“Potter!” Snape marched towards him with a sneer plastered on his pale face. “Do you think yourself above these lessons?”

Harry didn’t respond and merely stared ahead, his eyes pinned on Twycross while ignoring Snape and his yapping.

“– turn on the spot, feeling your way into nothingness, moving with deliberation! On my command now… one, two, three!” Twycross shouted towards the end.

Harry saw almost everyone looking like they stopped breathing and looking intently at the hoops before them. Ron looked like he was about to faint by holding his breath while glaring at the hoop. Seamus spun on his feet and fell comically on the floor while trying to apparate. Lavender looked happy she succeeded, but he could hear Hermione say she just jumped into the hoop.

“What is it, Potter? Are you scared to apparate?” Snape asked nastily.

Harry rolled his eyes and apparated into the hoop without much effort with his hands in his pocket. The air snapped, and the telltale popping sound was heard as Harry gracefully landed inside the hoop.

“I think I’m doing fine.” Harry said to Snape before he repeatedly apparated between the hoop and his original position to rile up Snape.

“Shall I go again?” Harry asked with a raised brow.

Snape curled his lips with an angry sneer on his face and walked away with his black robes billowing behind his back.  

‘That was surely therapeutic.’ Harry thought as he watched Snape run away while Twycross rushed to Harry’s side.

“That’s fantastic! You might just be a natural Mr Potter.” Twycross looked positively glowing as he heaped praises on Harry for what everyday wizards do.

Thankfully, when he pulled the stunt of apparating around the hall repeatedly and scaring the shit out of students from all four houses, he was excused from the lessons on account of his superior mastery over teleportation magic. That stunt lost Gryffindor ten points because McGonagall was not amused, but he was excused from future apparition classes. He was promised the licence to arrive by Monday morning and that was how he earned himself a free hour daily for the next twelve weeks.   

 

*** Branch Reality ***

Christianity in the Scottish Empire by Mariyam Evenglass, Published by Glasgow Books 2002

 

The Kingdom of Scotland was formed as a direct consequence of persistent witch burnings and the persecution of pagan cultures that thrived in the Scottish Isles. The Roman invasion of Britannia and years of the Roman Empire’s attempts to forcibly convert and destroy the predominant Celtic and Gaelic cultures in the Isles resulted in the consolidation of wizards and witches who were scattered throughout the land.

So, when Hadrian Targaryen started his conquest, the most obvious target was the prevalent Roman hold on religion, which was sustained even after the withdrawal of the Roman Empire. In King Hadrian’s mind, the Romans may have left the land, but they were colonising the minds of his fellow brothers and sisters.

Therefore, his initial campaigns were specifically targeted at the churches. Once a church fell into his grasp, he’d use it as a learning centre to ‘deromanise’ the populace. Consequently, this policy adopted by Hadrian I led to the rise of Celtic and Valyrian religions in the Scottish Empire.

But Christianity was not completely wiped out. Pockets of Christian faith remained within the empire, primarily thanks to the reign of Visenya I, the granddaughter of Alexander I.

Queen Visenya’s reign was most interesting as she, like her grandmother, was no proponent of the Valyrian faith or the Celtic religious practices. Queen Visenya viewed the flowering of polytheistic religions in the Scottish Islands as a stagnant outlook on the realm of all things spiritual. She was of the belief there was an inherent weakness and tribal mentality that comes with too much emphasis on polytheism or even adopting a pantheon of gods.

It was even more troublesome considering most of the Celtic gods were just ancient wizards, Fey or Veela or even wizards themselves. Queen Visenya took some aspects of Christianity and adopted them into the Valyrian faith.

It was a pragmatic move on her part to the faster assimilation of her Christian subjects in Ireland, a recent conquest of her grandfather Alexander I.

There is, however, another version of the story involving a scandal within the Targaryen royal family.

There are claims to suggest that Queen Visenya’s father, Daeron Targaryen, fell in love with a Christian woman. This claim, while unverified, remains relevant because nothing is ever said about the Queen’s mother other than her name, Rachel. The suspicious circumstances in which both Prince Daeron and Princess Rachel lost their lives in a storm, sinking their ship in the sea, further strengthened such rumours.

Whatever the case, Visenya I, in her reign, formulated a new approach to her Christian subjects. She reformed Christianity and took an active part in editing the Bible to a version which she believed would mesh well with the Valyrian faith. At the same time, she considered the Roman Catholic Church as a sworn enemy of House Targaryen and Scotland to appease those in her court.

Therefore, the Christian population of the Irish Isle, which was a recent conquest, fared better compared to the Christians in mainland Scotland.

The neo-Christian faith considered Jesus Christ as a lord and saviour in the same status as Hadrian Targaryen. The story Queen Visenya developed established continuity between Jesus Christ and Hadrian Targaryen, not as children of God or even as a God in human form.

Instead, she established that Valyria is the name of the city of angels and that both Jesus and Hadrian were human forms taken by Angels most dear to God.  Their mission was not just to spread the word of God but to enlighten humanity to seek out the enormous complexity of the world and beyond. That was the message Queen Visenya and her propaganda arm of the Scottish state spread.

This later evolved into a much greater political arm within the Wizengamot. Starting as a minor caucus within the Scottish Wizengamot, this group gained much traction as the movement brought together muggles and wizards alike under a common umbrella. The propaganda that wizards and witches were descendants of Angels made the overwhelming majority of the Christian populace revere and even worship those with magic.

It has to be assumed this particular twisting of the Christian faith proved quite effective as Scottish citizens led relative lives of peace within its boundaries. However, religions continued to clash in mainland Europe, Asia, and the Americas. There were even great battles within Christianity, which only made the Scottish Christians develop a new belief that Roman Christianity had perverted the teachings of Christ for Roman imperialism.

The Valyrian faith, though not expressly prescribing a Christian view of the world, was all too happy to propagate anything that painted Roman imperialism in a bad light. The Catholic Church, being a strong arm of Roman imperialism, inevitably became a common villain in the religious lore of both faiths.

In 1085 AD, churches across the Scottish Kingdom declared Rome as the guilty party for the murder of Christ and declared all Roman and Roman-born states to be an empire of Satan. This movement gained official recognition by the Wizengamot in 1095 AD after Rhineland Jews were subjected to a crusade by the marching crusader army, heeding the call of Pope Urban II. This incident even led the Wizengamot to officially recognise the rest of Europe as Satandom as opposed to Christendom.

The Scottish antagonism of the time was such that they even decided to harry the ships of European kingdoms to disrupt the crusades in the Holy Land.

This policy directly resulted in three crusades being declared against Scotland by different Popes and earning the eternal enmity of the Catholic Church.

Positioning themselves as the enemy of Western Christian states naturally attracted pagan tribes of Germany to the Scottish Isles as the Crusaders turned inward to purge non-Christians from mainland Europe. Jews and Muslims also migrated to the Scottish Isles in smaller numbers, first as traders and then in later years, as it became clear Scotland remained a kingdom of a thriving economy and a land of miracles. Endless wars and sicknesses were a rarity in Scotland compared to Europe or Asia Minor as the Wizengamot slowly weaned itself out of religious politics in the 1300s.

By the 1350s, Scotland remained entirely unbothered by the affairs of Europe or Asia, preferring strictly a transactional relationship with Europe and other polities of the world. This policy of isolationism was naturally formed within the Wizengamot and the royal court after seeing three crusades consuming life and money in a needless religious war.

This forced isolation was only possible by maintaining a strict noninterference policy in the affairs of other nations. This peace was further enforced by building a dedicated spy and assassin network throughout Europe that purged radical elements within European royal courts and the Catholic Church.

A golden age of peace and prosperity for Scotland until Titus Targaryen launched ten years of a brutal war on Europe. The subjugation of Europe under House Targaryen brought peace between the warring European states but also gave birth to a new conflict.

If the crusades and jihad were the result of Christianity and Islam clashing in the Holy Land, the Great War was the result of the Scottish Empire and Ottoman Empire fighting for world supremacy. It was, in the end, a war that was inevitable. Rome fell in Europe to be supplanted by the Scottish Empire.

However, unlike the Roman Empire, the Scottish Empire was ruled by the most powerful family. That was one fact the European kingdoms knew and factored into their decision to make peace at any cost before the Continental War.

This was a lesson the Ottoman Empire learned too late when they started hostilities with the Scottish Empire.

Chapter 118: Herpo's Dark Arts

Voldemort glared at Evan Rosier, making the man cower while on his knees. He could see the man was afraid that he was about to throw the torture curse, but he did no such thing.

Lord Voldemort was many things, but he was not merciful. But that doesn’t mean he was not an idiot. Rosier was one of the last remaining inner circle Death Eaters he hadn’t lost to Potter. He liked to keep it that way for the foreseeable future. The man was loyal enough to go into hiding instead of surrendering to the Ministry like Malfoy, Nott and the others.

Voldemort didn’t consider Rosier on the same level as the Lestranges, but he valued the man nonetheless. Considering the Lestranges got caught again, Rosier’s worth only increased in his mind.  

“Are you certain of this information?” Voldemort asked, settling his burning red eyes on the man.

“I’m most certain, my lord. My contacts in France and Germany can be trusted. Some of the most dangerous hit wizards have crossed our borders. It’s most likely that your Death eaters are being hunted by these wands for hire.”

“I see. Minister Bones is proving to be a competent one for her post.” Voldemort mused aloud.

“But this is a cause for concern, my lord. These mercenaries getting contracts by the Ministry points to a powerful supporter for Minister Bones.” said Rosier

“You believe someone else is working against us?” Voldemort inquired with a frown.

“Yes, my lord. Forgive me for any offence but Amelia Bones does not strike me as someone with links to the most dangerous mercenaries of France and Germany. Some of these hired soldiers have roots in Grindelwald’s followers.”

Voldemort leaned back in his black throne, looking thoughtfully into the distance.

“What you say makes sense, Evan. Minister Bones does not strike me as someone with connections into the criminal underbelly of our European cousins.” Voldemort finally said after some thought.

“Someone with such intricate connections is backing her, and I think Damien Greengrass might be link to this foreign power.”

Now, Voldemort looked at his trusted servant with renewed interest.

The Greengrass family had been a target of his for their closeness to his nemesis, but they had gone into hiding behind wards. He suspected that insufferable Fidelius charm was used as all his methods of scrying yielded no result. He had yet to find a way to break that charm, which was proving to be a real thorn in his side.

‘Even Potter’s home is hidden from me.’ Voldemort thought with gritted teeth.

“I suppose it could not be a coincidence that Damien Greengrass now serves as the head of International Magical Relations.” Voldemort said.

“I believe so as well, my lord. There is no other explanation as to why the Aurors suddenly became competent overnight to battle your Death Eaters. We have lost many of your followers in this conflict in such a short time.” said Rosier.

Voldemort went into deep thought, wondering whether there was a hidden enemy in Europe that he had not taken into account and who was intent on curtailing his rise. He immediately disregarded Dumbledore as the man would never use such underhanded tactics.

‘No. All of this has the markings of a new Dark Lord or a wealthy globalist wizard or a group of wizards out to prevent my rise.’ he mused.

His ability to strike fear into the hearts of his enemies was being curtailed. First, it was Potter’s actions at the Ministry. But now, it was someone unknown.

Voldemort didn’t like any of this. If anything, it became imperative that Dumbledore’s death happen as soon as possible.

Just as that thought entered his mind, he saw Severus Snape standing at the doorway, seeking permission to enter.

“Come, Severus.” Voldemort said silkily while dismissing Rosier from his presence with a simple gesture.  

“My lord.” Snape fell on his knees with bowed head.

“What news do you have for me, Severusss?” he asked, the words toward the end slurring into Parseltongue.

“Dumbledore spends less and less time at Hogwarts, my lord. He goes somewhere, but he does not tell me. I suspect his confidence in me wavers ever so slightly these days after Draco Malfoy’s debacle.”

“I see. That is not ideal, but this was expected. That blasted boy has set back my plans with his incompetency. I should’ve never given this task to that useless spawn of Lucius. He is as useless and bumbling as his father.” Voldemort sneered.

“However, I may regain Dumbledore’s trust, my lord, if you declare me a traitor and act against me. I might be unable to visit you for the duration of the year, but I might be able to finish the task you gave me.”

“An intriguing suggestion, Severus.” Voldemort immediately understood what his loyal minion was suggesting, “I could arrange for you to get attacked at your home. I believe you to be capable of dispatching a few of my Death Eaters.”

“I am your disciple, my lord. The knowledge you’ve trusted with me will not fail me in fulfilling your will.” said Snape.

“Good. Then go, Severus. I shall make the arrangements. I expect the news of Dumbledore’s demise when we meet again.”

“I will not fail you, my lord.” Snape bowed before leaving.

Voldemort watched his spy in Hogwarts leave with a brisk face. No doubt the Potion Master wanted to keep his visit short, not to bring scrutiny on his whereabouts. He briefly considered using Snape to capture the Greengrass children if only to bring Damien Greengrass to come clean with him. But he immediately dismissed such thoughts.

The task he had entrusted to Severus was already complicated enough. Kidnapping the Greengrass children would only prove to be a hindrance to his plans to ensure Dumbledore’s demise. The task was already difficult with Draco Malfoy’s blunder.

For a moment, he considered using one of the Hogwarts students, but he dismissed that idea as well. Draco Malfoy’s poor performance made him less confident about such tasks being given to children, especially pureblood children.

‘The whole lot are weak, unlike Potter or myself at such a young age.’ Voldemort mused.

He had reason to suspect this foreign foe was in cahoots with Potter. It would explain how fast the boy grew to such power and his closeness to the Greengrass girl.  

‘Amelia Bones, Damien Greengrass, Harry Potter. They’re all connected somehow.’ Voldemort thought.

Finding this new threat had to wait. He could only exert his full power for a short time interval with the help of some potions. So, the first thing he had to do was to eliminate the most dangerous wizard he knew from his opposing side. With Dumbledore gone, magical Britain would lose the will to fight him.

‘And that’s the moment I’ll strike! The world will fear the name of Lord Voldemort!’ he mused while smirking wickedly at the storm he’d unleashed upon the world.

 

*****

 

“Someday, I’m going to find a spell that can permanently alter the weather in Britain.” Daphne muttered as she carefully walked through the castle grounds, hand in hand with Harry.

“Get in line. Dean and Seamus were planning on launching a sea of magical firecrackers into the clouds to ‘bloody murder’ the rain clouds. They’re very unhappy that their plans for football in the evening are consistently being blocked by the bad weather.” Harry said with an amused snort.

“I distinctly remember rain being not an issue. I’ve seen you with them all muddy and wet after that horrible muggle game.” said Daphne, her nose scrunched up in distaste.

“Hey! Football is a fun game.” Harry defended.

“Maybe it's fun for you, but you smell like a wet dog after that game.” Daphne said with a scoff.

“A wet dog!” Harry spluttered indignantly.

“A cute wet dog.” Daphne said, patting him on his head.

“That’s not an improvement.”

“Oh, it is.” Daphne said with a twitch of her lips, “You take care now. I have the Apparition class to attend.”   

Daphne pressed a kiss on his lips and skipped away into the dungeons.

‘Well, that girl has just gone bonkers with her daily dose of chocolate getting cut off.’ Harry thought with a roll of his eyes.

Daphne was not the only one with a shortage of essential supplies. Dumbledore had established a blanket ban on all Hogsmeade visits, citing a security threat. The ban was not popular with any of the students. It probably was the result of pressure from parents as more and more reports of Ministry aurors and hit-wizards duking it out in the streets with Death Eaters. Just last day, he saw the Prophet report six Death Eaters captured, and two were reported killed in the middle of a raid in Richmond. There were several injured aurors on the Ministry’s side, but no details were published about that, unlike the mugshots of screaming Death Eaters being hauled off being plastered across page after page.

With heightened tension running and Malfoy getting hauled off into Ministry custody, it was only natural for the parents to get concerned.

Still, no Hogsmeade visit meant less date time with Daphne, and he had to get along with a cranky, chocolate-starved girlfriend.

He put all of that behind him as he called for another meeting of the Knights of the fifth and fourth-year students. He had one free hour and thought teaching some kids a few hexes might be worth his time.

The following day started off with two consecutive DADA classes that were slightly fun. Snape had them practising nonverbal blasting curses and the standard shield charm. Despite being a douche, Snape had a knack for teaching practical spells. The man was still a nasty, unpleasant fellow with a constant sneer on his face.

But, at least for once, the lessons were much more bearable than the potion classes with the dungeon bat.

After the DADA class came the potion class, which lasted two hours.

“So…each of you may take the vials on my desk. These vials contain poison.” Slughorn said grandiosely, eyeing each student with wide grey eyes, “Your task is to make an antidote to the poison within the vial.”

Harry stared at the vials of colourful liquid on Slughorn’s desk. He got a dark sludge-like poison when he got his hand on one of the vials. The thing even smelled like a combination of an odorous rotten egg and a dead cat.

He set up the workstation by first heating up the cauldron. While the cauldron was getting heated, he searched for ingredients. Since the poison was unknown, he had to be creative with the antidote. The entire point of the lesson was not to make an antidote on the fly. It was an impossible task to accomplish unless someone was extremely lucky.

The point was to find ways to neutralise the poison. It was also one of the experimental ways to devise an antidote. The first step in creating an antidote was determining the components that can weaken the poison and then conceiving a potion using those components.

However, there was a much more nuanced way of making an antidote on the fly. It was not commonly used because the results were not always guaranteed. It involved infusing certain components with magic channelled with the intent to heal. So long as the components selected were receptive to the magic, the chances of making an antidote for the poison were high.

Despite the low chances of success, Harry tried his hand at it. He had never done such a thing, but he had read about the method from a reference inscribed on one of the pages of Snape’s potion book. Harry chanced to read that book in his leisure time and hoped to apply the theory in practice.

After noting the cauldron was sufficiently heated, he let the flame to simmer. He slowly poured the vial's contents into the cauldron parts by parts. Then he started with a revealing charm to see whether he got a resonance or special properties from the poison. He felt a distinct blend of berries of all things, which was weird, and a smell of treated asphodel root wafted out of the poison. 

Rapidly heating small quantities of the poison helped break the bonds within or as the book claimed.

So, he followed that procedure. It took him eight minutes to do this, after which he started slicing up the ingredients he took from the cupboard. He chopped them up into tiny pieces and treated them with his magic infused with the intent to heal before throwing them into the cauldron.

His potion gained an orange hue after he was done bombarding his cauldron with all the cut-up components. Then he started crushing some sea bean seeds for their pulp and even made oil from one of the seeds in a smaller cauldron.  That took him more than an hour to prepare, and when he was finally done, he poured all the contents into his cauldron.

He then started the long, arduous process of stirring, heating and cooling down, which he had to repeat again and again while he grounded just five grams of powder from the root of asphodel. He mixed that with a pinch of honey and dumped the mixture into the potion once it cooled down. He gave the potion one counterclockwise stir followed by two clockwise stirs. The potion, which had turned bright red by then, lost its colour and settled into a pale silver.   

He closed the lid of the cauldron and allowed the potion to cool.

After he was finished, he settled back in his seat and looked around. A green sludge jumped from Ernie Macmillian’s cauldron into the desk, making the Ravenclaw boy’s eyes widen like saucers.

Harry saw a yellow foam coming out of Neville’s potion while a combination of different coloured steam rose from Ron’s cauldron.

His eyes then fell on Hermione, who looked a bit deranged in his eyes. His bushy-haired friend was sweating profusely while pouring over her cauldron and doing something with her wand. She was using nonverbal spells, so he didn’t know what she was doing. But whatever it was, the potion seemed to have declared war on Hermione.

Harry’s eyes landed on the cupboard where the potion ingredients were stored. He went there and rummaged around for more varieties of sea beans. While searching, he came across a bezoar in the cabinet. He thought momentarily before swiping the bezoar out of the cabinet and settling back on his workstation.

“Time’s up!” Slughorn declared jovially, “Now, let’s see who among you have done it!”

Slughorn moved from student after student with a clipboard in his hand, noting down the number of the poison vial before scribbling down something else after inspecting the potion. Slughorn was less than impressed with some of the potions, but the man kept any comments to himself even if his expression was quite telling. It was far better than the drama Snape usually engaged in.

The Potion Master finally reached his table, looking quite green after sniffing some fumes from Neville’s cauldron.

“Now you, Harry! What have you got for me?” Slughorn looked vibrant and eager as Harry removed the lid and showed what he had.

“Oho! I see what you did there. Ingenious thinking… brilliant indeed!” Slughorn grinned from ear to ear, resorting to some charms to inspect the potion after a cursory visual inspection.

“Quite good indeed, perhaps a tad rushed. You should pace yourself while working with antidotes to unknown poisons, my boy. But quite the splendid work. It’s not enough for an antidote, but this one would certainly ward off the worst from the poison.”

“In that case, I have this Professor.” said Harry, holding out his palm, which hosted a bezoar.

“Aha!” Slughorn roared with laughter. “Quite cheeky, aren’t you! I can’t blame you… it’s only natural. You’re Lily’s son, after all… a bezoar is certainly enough to act as an antidote against most poisons.”

While Slughorn thought it was Harry's most daring and imaginative act, the other students were less than pleased. It mostly had to do with the horrible potions that came out of their cauldrons more than anything he did.

When the bell rang, everyone in the class was happy to bolt right out of the class. But Harry stayed behind as he had another agenda.

“You’ll be late, you know.” Slughorn passingly mentioned that he noticed Harry dallying while cleaning up his workstation.

“I wanted to ask you something, sir.”

“Oh! Ask away, my boy.” Slughorn said happily.

“Sir, can you determine what kind of magic is used on this thing?” Harry asked as he produced a mokeskin pouch from his bag and deposited the content on the table before Slughorn.  

Slughorn reeled back from the charred remains of Ravenclaw’s diadem with a look of horror after using a detection charm.

“Good Merlin! What is this? Where did you get this, Harry?” Slughorn asked, frightened out of his mind.

“Well, sir. You must be familiar with the work of Herpo the Foul. This is one of his contributions to the field of the Dark Arts – the magic that desecrates the soul – a Horcrux!”

 

***  Branch Reality ***

An excerpt from the Continental War by Marcus Slytherin

If January 7, 1663, saw the fall of Paris under the Targaryen banner, then in March of 1664, dragon fire touched the mainland of Spain.

King Titus Targaryen left Spain's conquest in the hands of Prince Jason Targaryen, who was also the admiral of the Royal Navy. Sending the bulk of the Royal Navy and four dragons to wage war against Spain may seem unnecessary, but the Spain of the 1660s was not the Spain of the 12th century. This was Spain, wholly different from the Spaniards that the Scottish Empire dealt with during its Islamic rule.

Islamic Spain held long-lasting ties with the Scottish Empire, enjoying extremely profitable trade relations. Under Islamic rule, Spain was the Scottish Empire’s doorway to the Mediterranean trade in silk, spices, and diamonds for the Far East. However, the reconquest of Spain and the rise of Christian dynasties brought much strife to the two peoples.

Ever since the reconquest, Spain had asserted its naval power in the seas while the Scottish Empire withdrew increasingly because of isolationist policies.

When King Titus launched his Continental War, Spain was the most powerful naval power in Europe, and it had the largest sea empire in the world. It was also one of the economic powerhouses in Europe because of its overseas colonies in the American continent, which fielded the largest navy, rivalling France.

This is why King Titus sent his distant cousin Prince Jason to subdue Spain and crush its naval power for good. Accompanying Prince Jason were his two sons, Oscar Targaryen and Fionn Targaryen, as well as his sister, Princess Caireann Targaryen. They were accompanied by the bulk of the Royal Navy’s sea and air fleets. Their mission was to crush Spanish and Portuguese sea power and contain the two global empires within Europe before the decisive blow came to topple them.

Therefore, the first attack by Prince Jason was on the Madeira and Azores islands, followed by an attack on the Canary Islands and Morocco. Within three months, the Strait of Gibraltar was under Scottish control, choking the lifeblood out of Portugal and Spain.

The initial plan of King Titus was to find support from the Portuguese court to stifle Spain. But that plan was never needed as Spain and Portugal went to war on the Christmas of 1662. The exact reasons for the war were lost to the Scottish War Council. It was assumed that their rivalry was getting out of hand and tensions flaring as the war in Europe reached its zenith this year.

Whatever the case, it was a suitable distraction that Prince Jason was all too happy to exploit. With four dragons and a massive fleet, he delivered a single blow that knocked out Spain and Portugal's American and African holdings. By March 1663, Prince Jason attacked and captured all the major ports of Spain and Portugal, leading to the gruelling land invasion of the westernmost European polities. By Christmas, most regions were pacified, with the Portuguese and Spanish armies decimated and their royal houses surrendering their crowns before House Targaryen.

But unlike France, pacifying Spain and Portugal was arduous because of fanatic local resistance. It became much more complicated as the fleeing royal house of France stirred up trouble. The rebels in both Spain and Portugal pooled their strength behind the King of France in a last-ditch effort to repel the dragons from western Europe.

Only on Christmas of 1665 were all rebellions in Spain and Portugal crushed properly with the capture and execution of Antonie II of House Bourbon.

However, Prince Jason still had the monumental task of reorganising the devastated lands of Spain and Portugal to their former glory. At the same time, the status of overseas land holdings in the Americas and Africa also became a question. King Titus’ orders were only to capture Europe, but Prince Jason extended that mandate a little bit further and sought to secure all possessions of Spain and Portugal.

The war waged on in the seas as the dragons’ appetite for land grew.

AN:

For artworks based on the story, join my Discord server. 

https://discord.gg/4hhXR3fAeT

Chapter 119: Herpo's Dark Arts P2

“What… what did you say?” Slughorn looked pale as a ghost as he stared at the blackened remains of Ravenclaw’s diadem.

“I said this was once a Horcrux.” Harry repeated slowly, closely watching the understanding dawn on Slughorn’s face.

“You know, I had wondered how Voldemort survived the Killing Curse that night. I theorised the Dark Lord had taken precautions to guard his mortality. After all, I had seen him in his spirit form in my first year at Hogwarts.”

“You... you knew about Horcruxes since your first year at Hogwarts?” Slughorn asked with horror.

“Of course not.” Harry said, rolling his eyes, “I merely searched for ways to achieve immortality and came across this method recently. But I soon found myself facing a dilemma, Professor.”

“What?” Slughorn stared at him warily.

“There are reasons to believe Voldemort took the teachings of Herpo to the farthest extent than any wizard in the history of the Wizarding world.”

“What do you mean?” Slughorn looked like he was ready to keel over.

“Voldemort has managed to create multiple Horcruxes.”

“He… made many of those things?” Slughorn inquired with a mortified look.

“Yes, he did. I know you were the one to tell him about the Horcruxes.”

“How…?” Slughorn looked surprised and guilty, but then realisation set in, “Of course, Dumbledore told you.”

“He showed me the memory, and it doesn’t take a genius to see it’s a fake memory. You tampered with it – rather shoddily, I might add,” said Harry, directing an unimpressed stare at Slughorn.

“Harry… you must understand. I…” Slughorn gulped while sweating bullets, “I didn’t know then what he was and what he would become.”

“I know professor. Tom Riddle was charming and a nice, helpful boy – a mask he presented to the world to get what he wanted.” Harry said with a sigh, “You were not the only one Voldemort deceived. He desecrated the relics of the Founders one after the other after obtaining them from their descendants through deceit and murder.”

“Truly?” Slughorn looked sick.

“Yes. Voldemort chose to bind his soul to different artefacts of the Founders. Now, the only thing we need to know is how many. So, if you could please give me the untainted memory.”

“Please don’t judge me too harshly when you see this. What I did that day… it haunts me to this day.” Slughorn said pitifully, but he dragged a thin strand of memory from his mind and tapped it into the tip of his wand.

“A teacher’s duty is to give knowledge to the student. It’s the student’s intent that decides what that knowledge can accomplish. It could lead to greatness or… well, I think you get the picture.” Harry said with a shrug of his shoulders, taking the memory into a glass vial and securing it in his pocket.

With the memory in his grasp, he should’ve happily skipped over and went his merry way straight to Dumbledore. However, Professor Slughorn was a treasure trove of information on old and rare magical disciplines, as evidenced by the potion master’s knowledge of Horcrux magic.

He spent the next half an hour picking Professor Slughorn’s brain on some of the obscure magical spells which were darker in nature. But mostly, he was curious to learn the limits involved in crafting darker spells and the arithmancy involved in factoring darker emotions to fuel the spells. After all, he couldn’t exactly discuss the intricacies of Dark Magic with just anyone.

Most wizards were ignorant of Dark Magic, and those few who knew anything about it rarely knew how to create spells that could deal with permanent damage. One of the greatest advantages of using Dark Magic was its irreversible nature, which could permanently incapacitate an enemy. While Harry knew many such spells, he had so far been unable to find anything related to the process involved in the formulation of such spells.

He was sure he could find something related to that subject if he combed through all the books in the Black Library. But going after Slughorn for advice seemed a far easier option, and it saved time.

Though initially reluctant to share such information, Professor Slughorn caved in under Harry’s persistence. When he returned that night to his dorm, he did so with a collection of books from Slughorn’s personal library. He hoped they were an interesting read because he was curious how the most dangerous spells known to wizardkind were crafted.

He couldn't wait to see what these books held in their old dusty pages.

 

*****

 

“You know Mr Potter. I think this is it. You performed exceedingly well on your test. Here is your licence.” said Twycross after watching him apparate around in circles around the man and the Ministry examiner.

Harry thought the Ministry official was too happy to see him gone from ever gracing the Apparition classes. It was probably why he got tested ahead of his peers.

He was not complaining. He received the license quite happily and went away from the Great Hall with a spring in his steps. Neville was patiently waiting outside the Great Hall when Harry whistled a jaunty tune as he walked out of the hall.

“You got it?” Neville asked, looking searchingly at the card in Harry’s hand.

“Yep. One nice little Apparition license freshly delivered.” Harry handed over the card with the official Ministry seal stamped on it prominently.

“Huh. I expected something more fancy.” Neville said, his brows creasing in disappointment at the plain-looking card.

“What did you expect the Ministry to cough up from their dusty treasury – a gold-plated badge?” Harry asked with a snort.

“Wouldn’t have been bad instead of this silly little thing.” said Neville handing back the license card as they walked out of the castle towards the Quidditch stadium.

Harry and Neville arrived at the Quidditch stadium, where all Hogwarts were assembled to watch the Slytherin-Hufflepuff game. There was a lot of excitement from the Hufflepuff side as the game finally decided who’d settle at the bottom of the point tally for the Quidditch Cup this year. Currently, Slytherin was at the dead bottom, and their chances of advancing to the third spot were slim.

On the other hand, Hufflepuff got the opportunity to clinch the second spot if they could win against Slytherin by a large margin of points. Of course, their second spot on the point tally depended on Ravenclaw losing against Gryffindor in the next match with a low point on the scoreboard.

This particular predicament put the Ravenclaw fans in the corner of the Slytherin team. The age-old rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor placed the House of Lions on the side of the Badgers.

While Harry was not particularly picky about who won the Cup or the second spot, he weighed on the Badgers to win this on a good tally. He supposed it was part of going native and becoming a real Griff.

“Nice hat, Harry.” Susan said when she set her eyes on his ridiculously large hat with charmed imagery of a green snake repeatedly stomped on by a golden badger.

“You like it? Luna made this for me on request.” Harry twirled his hat on his finger to show the imagery on the hat changed with the badger smacking away the snake with a beater’s bat.

“Wicked!” Debra Stein, a third-year Hufflepuff, commented with wide eyes.

“It is, isn’t it?” Harry said brightly, happy that Luna’s handicraft skills were being appreciated, “That girl has a bright career with the Weasley twins’ shop.”

“I don’t know about that. She seems quite interested in chasing after imaginary creatures no one has ever heard of.” Neville muttered as he took a seat beside Susan.

Nothing else could be said as the stands erupted with shouts and enthusiastic clapping as Hufflepuff and Slytherin teams walked onto the pitch with brooms in their hands.

“I don’t think your girlfriend will be particularly happy supporting Hufflepuff.” Neville shouted over the sound in the stands.

“Are you kidding? She put a lot of money on Hufflepuff to win the game by a 200-point margin.” Harry said with a derisive snort.

“Really?” Neville looked taken aback.

“You know nothing about Slytherins, my friend.” Harry patted his naïve friend on his back and enjoyed the game as Madam Hooch blew the whistle.

 

*****

 

“That’s a lot of butterbeer.” Harry commented with a pointed look at John Blake, a fourth-year Hufflepuff he had caught out of bounds.

“Umm… you can have one, Harry. Our treat.” The brown-haired boy with peculiar eyebrows said in askance at what he assumed was a bribe.

“I’m not ruining your celebrations tonight. Just don’t make a habit of getting caught out of bounds with two casks of butterbeer. If Filch gets his hands on yeh, well… I don’t need to tell you you’d be serving as the janitor in most of the lavatories for the rest of the year.”

“That’s is not ideal.” John muttered with a wince.

“Come. I’ll escort you to your common room.” Harry said with a sigh.

“You know, you’re not supposed to help me smuggle in butterbeer.” said John.

“You saying you want to get reported to one of the professors and serve detentions?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No!”

“I thought not. Now, keep your mouth shut and follow my lead. The trick is to walk like you belong in the corridors after curfew.” Harry gave his sage advice as he escorted the fourth-year puff safely to the Hufflepuff dorms.

“Thanks, Harry.” John waved at him before disappearing into the Hufflepuff dorm.

While his duty as a prefect was supposed to keep the students out of bounds and report anyone getting caught, he’d be a hypocrite to turn in students, considering the innumerable times he broke curfew. Besides, Hufflepuff earned their right to celebrate tonight as they had trounced Slytherin with a 40-250 score. Daphne was quite happy to cash in her winnings, with Hufflepuff clinching a more than 200-point lead.

That win placed the Puffs in the second spot ahead of Ravenclaw by 40 points.

Now, the only thing left to see was whether Hufflepuff could maintain their second spot. It depended on Ravenclaw losing the game, with Gryffindor scoring below 40 points.

When Ravenclaw and Gryffindor take to the pitch, he was sure the puffs would throw their support behind Gryffindor.

Harry went back to finish patrolling for the next ten minutes before going straight for the Headmaster’s office.

“Ah, Harry. Come in.” Dumbledore welcomed him into the office.

Dumbledore looked tired more than usual, and for a moment, he wondered whether the withering curse was working faster through the headmaster. But Dumbledore was not alone in his office. There was Snape standing in a corner, looking pale and as unamusing as a pebble.

“If you’re busy I can visit some other time, sir.” Harry offered.

“If that is all, Headmaster. I have some assignments to grade.” Snape said curtly before vanishing out of the door in a hurry with his black robes billowing behind him.

“I suppose we have the rest of the evening to ourselves, Harry.” Dumbledore attempted a smile, but it came more as a grimace.

“He doesn’t look particularly happy. I thought I saw a ghost of a smile when he got the DADA position this year. Has he realised teaching is not the best career path after all?” Harry asked.

“Ah, Severus remains content with his DADA post. His concerns are related to another matter which we will not discuss.” Dumbledore said with a grandfatherly smile, “Now, onto our matters, Harry.”  

Harry fished out the glass vial containing a slivery memory strand within that had Dumbledore’s eyes widen and a bright smile spread beneath his beard.

“You… I knew you could do it, Harry. This is instrumental in learning about our enemy in ways we haven’t before so that we may stop Voldemort’s rise for good.” Dumbledore said as he took the vial delicately into his hands and went before the Pensieve cabinet with Harry closely following behind.

“Now, before we see the unblemished memory from Horace we must first see two other memories I managed to gather. Those memories will show us what Tom Riddle was doing after he left Hogwarts. But as you know, Tom Riddle was obsessed with Hogwarts and wanted to stay close to the school despite his darker inclinations and ambitions.” Dumbledore said as he placed the vial in the cabinet and picked another one.

“While Tom’s peers were making plans to join the Ministry, start their own businesses, or apprentice under masters of different magical disciplines, Tom asked for a post in Hogwarts. Headmaster Dippet denied Tom’s request, citing his young age, but promised him a spot after gaining a few years of experience. I, for one, never believed Tom was interested in teaching. It was likely that Tom wanted a place at Hogwarts for him to recruit young disciples for he was already determined to become a Dark Lord. The rest of my peers failed to realise there was another face to the charming Tom Riddle, one filled with malice and subjugation of others.”

“So, when Tom chose to work for Borgin and Brukes, a shady shop in the Knockturn Alley, many among my peers were shocked and saddened such a bright student would join an inconspicuous shop that sold antique items. They failed to realise that Tom’s intentions were not to settle down with a respectable job.” Dumbledore shook his head, “No. Tom wanted a place where he could work from the shadows, where no one would think to look at him twice. The charming, brilliant Tom Riddle was slowly coming out of the mask and stepping into the world as Lord Voldemort.”

“I attributed many other reasons for Tom’s choice to work at Borgin and Brukes. But I later realised it was his need to collect powerful magical objects that made Tom seek out a job at the shop. Tom was sent forth to negotiate with old families to part with their treasures or even sell the antique collections of the shop to wealthy clients. Tom was quite good at his job as persuasion was one of his strong suits.”

“Let me guess. He used his position in Borgin and Brukes to find powerful magical objects to make a Horcrux.” Harry said to speed things along.

“Indeed, Harry. You see, Tom has always been attracted to other people’s possessions from a young age. He stole several things he found attractive from the children of the orphanage. That character of his never disappeared when he grew into an adult. In the end, he was a petty thief.” Dumbledore said with a faint smile, “Now, let me show you a memory of Hokey, the house elf who served a very rich witch from an old pureblood family named Hepzibah Smith.”

Dumbledore poured the vial's contents into the pensieve and nodded at him.

Harry dipped his head into the shiny silver water in the pensieve, and he was transported into the memory of Hokey, the house elf.

Harry found himself watching a portly old lady with hazel eyes and a ginger wig flirting freely with a young Tom Riddle. He watched the gleam of greed enter Tom Riddle’s eyes as he set his eyes on the Cup of Hufflepuff and Slytherin’s Locket. Hepzibah Smith claimed to be a descendant of Helga Hufflepuff, and Harry felt a small tug on his heart.

He wondered whether the woman’s claim was true. Owning Hufflepuff’s Cup didn’t make the woman a descendant of his old teacher, just as the Slytherin’s Locket didn’t make her Slytherin’s descendant. Still, he wondered whether this woman was related to the founder and one of his teachers who taught him alchemy and much of the secrets of Old Magic the world had forgotten.

The memory ended with the house elf watching the old woman dying from poison while the Cup and the Locket were nowhere to be seen.

Dumbledore and Harry returned from the memory.

“So, Voldemort found the relics of the Founders and stole it from the woman while framing the house elf with a false memory like he framed Morfin Gaunt. I suppose the Ministry didn’t look further into the case and wrote it off way blaming the house elf.” Harry quipped with a roll of his eyes.

“Indeed.” Dumbledore said with a sigh, “I was, however, not convinced when I heard of Lady Smith’s untimely passing. I tried to gather evidence, but as you know, the Ministry of that day was not so different from what we have right now. The word of a house elf was not admissible as an expert witness, especially after the house elf admitted to poisoning Lady Smith’s drink.”

“Was it that bad? I mean… you’re Albus Dumbledore, the wizard who defeated the Dark lord Grindelwald.” Harry frowned at the man, making the headmaster laugh.

“Oh, Harry.” Dumbledore shook his head with a faint grin, “Many people think I have this magical power to convince politicians to do what I want simply because I said so. I’m sorry to disappoint you like many others, but my influence and word carry a certain weight, and they are not enough to move the bureaucratic wheel of the Ministry of Magic.”

“Oh.” Harry replied, eyeing Dumbledore searchingly.

“Now, back to the second memory.” Dumbledore poured the vial’s contents into the pensieve, “After you, Harry.”

This particular memory showed Voldemort trying a second time to get a post at Hogwarts. But this time, Headmaster Dippet was no longer in Hogwarts, and the position was now occupied by Dumbledore. Harry watched closely the simmering resentment in Voldemort’s eyes as Dumbledore rejected his request for the DADA post.

“So, Voldemort really wanted a post at Hogwarts.”

“Maybe. I think he knew I’d never let him stay at Hogwarts. By this time, I’ve been closely tracking Tom’s activities, and I suspect Tom knew that as well.” said Dumbledore.

“He formed his Death Eaters by then?” Harry asked.

“Yes, his inner circle. Tom had started recruiting from old Pureblood families, spinning fanciful tales about reclaiming the wizarding world from muggle influence.”

“I see.”

“But recruiting is not the only reason he came to me that day. That’ll get clear after we watch the memory you collected, Harry.” said Dumbledore, pouring Slughorn’s memory into the pensieve.

Harry went first, as usual, and Dumbledore joined him soon after. Together, they watched Tom Riddle coax every bit of detail Slughorn knew about the Horcruxes, and in the end, they discussed the ideal number of Horcruxes to make.

When they came out of the memory, Dumbledore looked pale and extremely worried.

“Seven times! I had hoped for a much lesser number, like three.”

“Seven is a magically significant number.” Harry said, watching Dumbledore slink back to his seat and sagged into the chair.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Dumbledore muttered.

“To make Voldemort mortal, we’ll have to find and destroy all seven Horcruxes.” said Harry, taking a seat across from Dumbledore.

“You’ve already destroyed one in your second year.” Dumbledore suddenly said while removing the destroyed Diary of Tom Riddle from a safe and placing it on the table.

“I destroyed another this summer.” Dumbledore pulled back his sleeve, showing his blackened hand and the Gaunt ring on his finger.

“So, there are five more Horcruxes out there – Hufflepuff’s Cup, Slytherin’s Locket, possibly Ravenclaw’s Diadem and some other object that belonged to Gryffindor. After destroying all that then Voldemort can be killed for good.” said Harry.

“Ravenclaw’s Diadem has been lost for centuries. No one knows anything about it, and I have yet to find any record of Gryffindor’s artefacts besides the sword and the hat.”

“Are you sure the Sorting Hat does not contain a soul shard of the Dark Lord? It tried very hard to put me in Slytherin.” Harry sneaked in a jab at the old, tattered hat sitting on a shelf on the wall.

“Very funny, Mr Potter. If you had taken my advice, I’m sure you’d have destroyed the Dark Lord by now. Instead, you lost quite some valuable years to grow into your full potential.” The Sorting Hat spoke up when its character was called into question.

“Harry, I shall endeavour to find other artefacts of the Founders or something close to Voldemort.” Dumbledore said, steepling his fingers, “But I believe I might be close to finding another one of his Horcruxes. This time, I extend the offer for you to accompany me.”

“I’ll be happy to do that, sir.” said Harry.

Harry left Dumbledore’s office, knowing it was time to shift the whole board.

 

 

Chapter 120: The fall of Aragog's clan

The crowd in the stadium roared in approval as Vicky caught the quaffle just as it looked like it was going to go through one of the hoops.

“Gryffindor fans can breathe easy now that their Keeper has caught the bludger.” Luna said breezily through the magnifier.

“Not the bludger. It’s the quaffle!” McGonagall hissed from Luna’s side.

“Is it?” Luna seemed genuinely surprised.

“Yes, I’m sure, Miss Lovegood.” McGonagall said with gritted teeth.

“Oh my! I must be under the influence of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. Forgive me, Professor.”

Harry held on to his side as laughter broke through despite his best efforts. Luna’s shenanigans were quite the treat during the game. He suspected Professor McGonagall enjoyed Luna’s commentary style, so she kept her as the commentator despite her quirks.

The scoreboard had barely moved despite half an hour into the game. Both teams were showing their best game so far by defending their goalposts steadfastly throughout the game. The results could be seen on the scoreboard, where Gryffindor scored 20 while Ravenclaw scored 10. The Chasers and Beaters were at their peak performance, showing off their skills in a spectacular display of rapid attacks and defence that kept the crowd on edge. The Keepers of both teams also displayed grit in keeping up with the fast pace of the game and secured the goalposts with utmost dedication.

This left the pressure on the Seekers of the two teams.

Unfortunately for Harry and the Ravenclaw Seeker, the snitch was nowhere to be found. It had disappeared in the midst of the game. It was last seen hiding behind Gryffindor’s goalpost.

Harry continued to keep an eye out for the little ball of gold throughout the length of the stadium, but to no avail. The blasted thing was out of range from everyone’s perception.

For Ravenclaw, this was a good thing. It was in their interest to prolong the game until they scored more points. On the other hand, it was in Gryffindor’s interest to catch the snitch as fast as possible and end the game in their favour since they were leading in points.

Harry turned abruptly with his broom when he saw a glint of gold in the distance. When he arrived at the spot, he found it was just a chocolate wrap reflecting light.

As he was about to turn away disappointedly, the glittering chocolate wrap was blown away as the snitch jumped from underneath it. Harry was left gaping as the snitch accelerated away. He chased after it abruptly, evading the bludgers and players that came in between.

“Oh, look! Harry Potter has seen the snitch.” Luna chirped.

The one time he wanted Luna to say something else, she let him down. If the Ravenclaw seeker hadn’t noticed him chasing the snitch, he definitely did now. This only made Harry fly aggressively in pursuit of the little gold ball.

The snitch was not ready to give up despite Harry’s aggressive pursuit. The little troublemaker flew through the hoops of Ravenclaw side, forcing Harry to weave through them at breakneck speed. He heard a loud yelp followed by something breaking, but his eyes didn’t leave the snitch.

The snitch took an abrupt turn, followed by a steep dive towards the ground. Harry closely followed, and only then did he see Ravenclaw seeker had his broom in two pieces and was falling straight towards the ground.

Harry pulled back slightly, caught the guy on his arm, and gently dropped him to the ground before quickly continuing the chase to the crowd's roar. The snitch again took a hasty turn to the left, which Harry followed, only to see Katie coming towards him at full speed with the quaffle in her hand. Harry pulled his broom sharply so that he managed to give room for Katie while chasing after the troublesome snitch.

‘I’ve got you.’ Harry thought as he closed the gap on the snitch.

The snitch tried to veer off from the path again, but this time, Harry correctly read its movements. He turned in the same direction before the snitch and gained the distance in a short time before reaching out and plucking the snitch with his trusted fingers. The gold ball beat its wings tiredly against his fingers, but his grip was solid.

The entire stand erupted in cheer as the game came to an end, with Gryffindor clinching a decisive victory and, therefore, the Quidditch Cup. Harry let out a whoop of joy just before his teammates surrounded him and hugged him.

“You’re crying!” Harry shouted at Katie as she hugged him.

“Don’t be silly.” Katie shouted back, tears of joy rolling down her cheeks.

The euphoria of victory was therapeutic. It was felt keenly when Katie received the Quidditch Cup from McGonagall and she brought the cup to Gryffindor common room for celebration. It was one of those days where the dark stain gripping their world was forgotten, and Gryffindor house celebrated long into the night like no tomorrow.

 

*****

 

“Harry, I can’t thank you enough for this. It’s so hard, you know… to find a fully matured Acromantula. Oh, the things I could do with its venom…” Slughorn coughed to regain his bearings, “… of course, I’ll be respectful to Hagrid’s feelings. It must be painful to lose a… a pet despite its monstrous size.”

Slughorn looked rather pale, and Harry found the reason why. He followed the Potion Master’s look to find Aragog’s carcass near a small hill near Hagrid’s hut.

“Well, that’s Aragog.” Said Harry as they paused to stare at the massive Acromantula lying lifeless on the hill.

“Are you sure it is dead?” Slughorn asked in a whisper, looking somewhat afraid his voice might awaken the massive spider.

“You have nothing to worry about professor. Aragog is dead. Hagrid had to drag him out of the Forbidden Forest lest his family consume him whole as per their custom.”

“There is a family of Acromantula living in the Forbidden Forest!” Slughorn asked with surprise.

Seeing Harry nod, Slughorn looked rather worried.

“I always thought those were just strange rumours, you know. These beasts are unreasonable monsters. They will threaten every life in the forest and drain it dry of anything worth preserving.” Slughorn warned.

“They’ll be taken care of shortly.” said Harry.

“Ah! Thought ahead of everyone, have you.” Slughorn looked at him with a proud glint in his eyes.

“They’re a risk not worth tolerating considering the current situation and their proximity to the school. Riddle can be persuasive with such beasts and use them against our detriment.”

“Right, you are, Harry. May I ask how you plan on doing so? A nest of mature Acromantulas is not to be underestimated. Their senses are sharp, and their speed is deadly.” Slughorn warned gently.

“There is nothing to worry about, professor. I have been developing a version of the Draught of Living Death in vapour form for some time.”

“Truly? How far along are you in this task?”

“Oh, I completed it a month ago.”

“What! Why haven’t you come forward with this to me, my boy? Do you know what you’ve done? This is a discovery that’ll take the field of Potions by storm! You’re most certainly assured several acclamations from the most respected Potion Masters from around the world for your work.” Slughorn looked ready to jump up and down in joy.

“Ah, I didn’t want the knowledge to get out, considering the state of war now, sir. After all, the use of such knowledge might give Riddle an edge.” Harry pointed out.

“Ah!” Slughorn’s eyes dimmed before nodding with a look of understanding, “You’re right, Harry. Such knowledge could negatively impact the war efforts of the Ministry should it fall into the wrong hands. You can trust me to keep this a secret.”

“I know I can trust you, sir.” Harry smiled at the gentle professor, “That’s why I told you, and I know your love for potions. I’ll be most happy to share the process with you, and I’ll be honoured to hear your opinion, Professor.”  

Slughorn perked up at that, and he was back to his jubilant self, excitedly talking about all the different methods he could use to study the process and look for room for more improvement. They talked and talked all the way to the hill, where they stopped their conversation out of respect for the dead. Hagrid was understandably grieving the loss of his oldest friend. Harry helped Hagrid dig a massive grave for Aragog while Professor Slughorn ‘prepared’ the body.

Hagrid was initially reluctant to harvest the venom from the lifeless body of his friend. But Slughorn’s gift of one of the older bottles of Firewhisky smoothed over any ruffled feathers. They spent the night in Hagrid’s hut, sharing a couple of bottles of Firewhisky and Hagrid’s own homegrown mead. Stories were told, and songs were sung that night, with Harry keeping his wits until the two men were peacefully snoring away in their seats.

Harry drained a couple of pepper-up potions and purged the influence of Firewhisky from his body. He took out a two-way mirror and contacted the mercenaries.

“It’s time. Meet me at the spot.” Harry said through the mirror before he cut off the connection.

He swiftly changed into his animagus form and ran out of Hagrid’s hut straight into the heart of the Forbidden Forest.

He ran with all his might until finally, he reached the pipeline that came out of Slytherin’s Chamber. Just as he shifted to his human form, several figures apparated into the spot. He knew only Christoph Shmidt, a hired hit-wizard serving the Flamels.

“So, what do you need, Herr Potter?” Shmidt asked.

“I need your men to maintain a perimeter around the ward that I create and ensure no Acromantula escape.” Harry removed several canisters from his mokeskin pouch, “After I deploy these canisters, the Acromantula nest will be put to sleep. After I vent the area of the gas, I want you and your men to gather as many of them as you can grab and meet me here.”

“Any questions?” Harry looked expectantly at the men, but they remained silent like a rock.

“Good. Let’s begin.”

Harry started off with a ward which trapped the Acromantula nest within a boundary enforced by magical energy while the mercenaries spread out across the edge of the wards. He started deploying the canisters inside the region using runes to set off the canisters to spill their contents onto the forest floor. Some good use of wind spells saw the gas spread far and wide across the area.

Pretty soon, the bubble of energy covering the forest area was not filled with potion fumes that put all creatures to sleep. A couple of Acromantula tried to claw their way out of the energy barrier, but they were put down for good unceremoniously by the mercenaries.

“All right, Herr Potter. How will you take away the potion fumes? Or do you want all of us to go in with the bubblehead charm and let the wind take care of the fumes?” Shmidt asked curiously with no judgment in his tone.

“I prefer not to leave evidence if possible.” said Harry.

Taking a few steps forward, Harry raised his wand and concentrated his magic to wipe out any evidence of the potion.

“Locus Sigillum.”

A circular tear in space was formed inside the barrier, which began sucking in the air, which also removed the fumes from the canisters. After holding the spell for half an hour, Harry cancelled the spell.

“Now, you may use the bubblehead charm.” said Harry after cancelling the barrier.

He also called for Dobby and Kreacher to lead an army of elves under his employ to gather all the Acromantula silk from the nest and move it to Potter Manor.

Harry waited patiently until the mercenaries returned with sleeping Acromantulas under body-bind spells.

“This is all we could carry.” said Shmidt.

Harry could see an emotion on the German mercenary's face for the first time. It was one of revulsion.

“That’s it then. You may drop them and be on your way.”

Without saying another word, the mercenaries apparated away after the dropped the captured Acromantulas at his feet. Harry summoned a rope and turned it into a portkey before wrapping it around all the captured Acromatulas. He sent them away to a safe location before turning his sights on the nest.

Once again, he raised a barrier before setting the whole place under a blazing inferno. The Acromantula nest burned in the darkness of the night, and Harry shielded from prying eyes what was happening under the most advanced wards.

With that, the threat from Acromantula nest and his connection with them were severed permanently. At the same time, he also gained a couple of healthy Acromantula and a lifetime supply of quality Acromantula silk. It was one of the most productive nights he ever had. With that happy thought, he retired to the castle and spent the rest of the night sleeping comfortably in bed.

 

 

*****

An excerpt from The Field of Fire by Ernst Eckhart.

 

The fall of France, Spain and Portugal by 1664 solidified the hold of the Scottish Empire over Western Europe. While the Empire laboured to hold the vast lands they conquered within four years, King Titus was heartily waging a fierce campaign against the last major power in Central Europe.

After King Titus was coronated as the King of Germany, any illusions of peace or armistice between the Holy Roman Empire and the Scottish Empire were disregarded. House Habsburg and House Targaryen were in deadlocks, fighting for total control over Europe. The only way the war would end was with a decisive defeat of either one of the empires.

House Habsburg was not alone in their struggle against the Targaryen push into Central Europe. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth also joined in combating the relentless assault of King Titus, Princesses Graine and Rhianna Targaryen.

Two long years of campaign against Central European powers saw Poland and the Holy Roman Empire constantly on the back foot. But both nations put up a valiant fight, with more troops joining the frontlines each passing year in a desperate struggle to preserve the integrity of their nations.

King Titus preferred a methodical conquest of all German-speaking lands. Therefore, he took his time to capture cities, towns, and villages. Unlike the other Targaryen princes waging wars in Europe, King Titus showed no hurry in gobbling up enemy territory.

The reason for this strategy became evident when war broke out between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire. The Mediterranean suddenly engulfed in flames of war was the last blow the flailing economy of the Holy Roman Empire could take as they fractured from within with a starving and hopeless populace. The tenuous hold of House Hapsburg on their empire crumbled, with many local aristocrats swearing allegiance to the House of the Dragon in exchange for securing their posts and protecting their lands from the ravages of war.

The Ottoman Empire had long desired the opening of trade routes into Central Europe, but the Holy Roman Empire and the Commonwealth stood in their way of further expansion into the Balkans and Western Europe.

However, the Continental War offered them a unique opportunity to invade Europe further, as the Western Catholic Kingdoms had fallen to the Scottish Empire. Since war broke out in Europe, the Ottoman Empire had been preparing to wage war to secure their interests in the region. But they were patient and chose to watch rather than interfere immediately. Only when Russia fell into civil war and the Holy Roman Empire was invaded by the Targaryens, they decided to make their ambitions known.

So, on the eve of March 3 1665, the Ottoman Empire crossed into Hungary, starting the age-old war between the sons of Abraham.

The weakened state of the Holy Roman Empire made it easier for the Ottoman army to march virtually uncontested further into Habsburg lands. Wild tales of atrocities by the Ottoman army reached Vienna and Rome, making the two centres of power panic. All the powers that be that moved the cogs in the wheel of the successor of the old Roman Empire were left with nothing but fear of the imminent destruction of the centre of the Christian faith.

King Titus saw the opportunity for what it was. Being a pragmatic man, he used the age-old fears and conflicts that existed between Christians and Muslims to his advantage. He sent negotiators to Rome as the Ottoman invasion gained ground rapidly in Vienna. Rome was expected to be the next target after Vienna fell to the Ottoman expansion. The pressure mounted on Rome once the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania surrendered to Princess Graine.

Rome was forced to choose the lesser of two evils and made peace with the Scottish Crown.

On September 5 1665, King Titus and Princess Rhianna Targaryen flew their dragons Moonfyre and Moonburn into Rome. It is said the bells tolled for a whole hour across Rome as the reigning monarch of Scotland landed inside the grounds of Quirinal Palace, the official residence of the Pope. The skies of Rome were filled with the airships of the Royal Fleet of Scotland.  

It was in the Quirinal Palace that the Holy Roman Emperor and the Papal states signed the declaration of surrender to King Titus Targaryen. Before the ink dried on the document, the banners of House Targaryen flew across Rome and the Holy Roman Empire.

Following the treaty signed, the Pope declared the line of Targaryen kings to be declared Archangel Michael’s favoured kin. King Hadrian Targaryen was declared a saint and years later modified it to reflect the Valyrian faith’s claim that first Targaryen was an angel who took human form.

But war seldom stopped in King Titus’ gaze. As the last great power in Europe fell under his command, King Titus now faced a new enemy – the Ottoman Empire. He gathered his two steadfast friends, Princess Graine and Rhianna and their army to wreak havoc on the invading Ottoman Army outside Vienna. The Ottoman troops that were engaged in the siege of Vienna suddenly found themselves facing the formidable army and massive dragons of the most powerful Empire the world had ever seen. Within a month, all the gains the Ottoman Empire amassed outside their natural borders were seized by King Titus. The Ottoman army faced dragonfire and it was then the Turkish empire learned that they were not ready to face the might of the dragon and survive to tell the tale.

In the following years, the Ottoman Empire would shrink in land size as King Titus chased the Ottoman Empire out of Europe all the way to Constantinople. The fall of Constantinople was the last blow that shattered Ottoman supremacy in Europe and the beginning of the end of Ottoman supremacy in the eastern seas.

Ships bearing dragon banners sailed into the Mediterranean Sea, the Ionian Sea, and the Aegean Sea. The arrival of the Targaryen fleet was followed by the dragons settling in Austria, the Papal states, Hungary and many other cities, all the way to Greece and finally Constantinople. With the fall of Constantinople, the Ottoman Empire was forced to sign a peace treaty that forced them to swear off any claims to Europe.

In Russia, the civil war that broke out from the rise of the Ministry of Magic of Russia delivered half of the vast kingdom into the hands of the Scottish Empire. The rest tried to stay in defiance of Targaryen rule until 1669. Still, the constant flux of political games created the absence of strong leadership until the Ministry of Russia decided to join the Scottish Empire.  

Thus, King Titus was crowned the Emperor of Europe, ending the Continental War in 1670 with no more enemy states in Europe.

However, if Titus dreamed of European conquest, his son, who was born to Princess Rhianna, dreamed of the conquest of Asia.  

When his time came to ascend the Scottish throne, Hadrian the Stormdragon would become the whirlwind that’d bring Asia's old and ancient states to their knees. His ambition was great, and that greatness made him the favourite of King Titus, who also saw the inevitability of a Targaryen-ruled world.

 

Chapter 121: The fall of Dumbledore P1

“It’s time Severus. You must ready yourself and complete the mission assigned by Tom this week.” said Dumbledore, eyeing his trusted companion with a look of pity. 

He knew it was a terrible thing he was asking, but there was simply no other way.

“There is still time for us to do something else. Together, we can surprise the Dark Lord and destroy his body. He will be weakened in his spirit form. We will have enough time to find all his anchors and destroy them for good.” Severus said desperately.

Dumbledore smiled tiredly at the Potion Master. He was touched by the concern shown by Severus, but he had made his peace with his death long ago.

“Trust me, Severus. My time in this world has been longer than I ever wanted. This old man has seen too much to muster up the will to face the trials of life for another decade. Death is not my doom but my salvation. It is eternal rest that I now seek.” Dumbledore said, taking a deep breath as he rested against his chair.

“You are a coward, Dumbledore. You’d leave all of us with the mess of the Dark Lord.” Severus thundered.

“Destroying Tom has never been my destiny. That task belongs to Harry, and I believe he is more than capable of accomplishing it.” Dumbledore said calmly.

“It is cruel what you have planned for the boy.” Severus said frostily, glaring daggers at Dumbledore.

“Don’t tell me you have suddenly started to care for the boy.” Dumbledore looked at the man with a raised eyebrow.

“I care enough to see Lily’s son live.” Severus replied curtly, directing a dirty look at Dumbledore.

“Good. I have every confidence Harry will survive.” said Dumbledore.

“Do you? Then why have you not told him about the nature of his scar?” Severus asked angrily.

“Because it’ll be a needless distraction from Harry’s true mission. He must only know the true nature of that scar when the time is right. I cannot emphasize how crucial this is, Severus.” Dumbledore leaned forward in his seat, looking expectantly at Severus, who was forced to nod and agree to his demand.

“If I know more about this mission, I’ll be able to provide assistance to the boy.” Severus scowled while Dumbledore chuckled.

“Harry will need assistance, but not now and certainly not from you at the beginning of his journey. A time will come, Severus, for you to help Harry from the shadows as you have always done.”

Severus made to object, but Dumbledore talked over him before he could raise any objections.

“I know you have your concerns, but I ask that you trust in me and let the events play out as they may. I believe Harry will finish his tasks and live to tell the tale. When he is near victory, you may reach out to him and show the entirety of your mind.”

“He will not forgive me for what I did.” Severus said with a faraway look.

“Perhaps it’s better that I’ll take the truth to my grave. You may choose to share or not share the details about your involvement in the prophecy with Harry. I leave that it in your hands, Severus.” said Dumbledore, eyeing the man with a hint of pity.

Dumbledore could see Severus was not satisfied with his offer and advice. The sad fact was there was no right answer to Severus’ dilemma. Even though it was by total mistake, Severus played a small part in the demise of Harry’s parents.

He was aware more than anyone else that Severus had worked tirelessly to save Lily Potter and eventually her son after her demise ever since the man informed him of what he had done. Voldemort may have come to know about the prophecy from Severus but in his eyes, Severus had worked tirelessly to remedy that momentary lapse in judgment. Severus had devoted his life and magic to the total destruction of Voldemort and daily took the risk of staring evil in the eye so that the future of the wizarding world could be free from the terror wrought by the Dark Lord.

While he disliked keeping the truth from Harry, he thought it best that Severus’ involvement remain a secret.

‘It is for the greater good.’ Dumbledore thought.

“So, when do you want me to…” Severus asked, looking pale and a bit sweaty.

“The day the exams are over for the seventh-year students, I’ll be taking Harry with me on a journey. If we’re lucky and the information I have gathered is true, I suspect we’ll be able to deliver a serious blow to Tom.” Dumbledore explained, feeling rather strange and amused that he was planning his own death.  

But he didn’t show the amusement he was feeling on his face as it was a terrible ask he was making from Severus.

“During that night, you may end me and that one act shall solidify your position within Voldemort’s inner circle. There’ll be no one more he trusts than you, Severus. From that position, you shall help Harry accomplish his destiny.”

“You still haven’t told me what I am supposed to do to help the boy.” Severus said with a huff.

“I’m about to explain.” said Dumbledore before he imparted some essential information Severus needed to help Harry, starting with the Sword of Gryffindor and its importance in the mission.

He also gave Severus an enchanted tracker tied to the deluminator he was planning to gift Harry. He wanted to place the same enchantment on the Gaunt Ring, but it refused to bind with any foreign magic. At least, it was conclusive proof that the power of the Deathly Hallows was extraordinary.

‘Harry is already the master of the Elder Wand by the will of destiny. He inherited the Cloak from his father, and now, the Ring will be gifted by me.’ Dumbledore thought, eyeing the snitch that lay inconspicuously on his table.

He was not exactly a believer in the wild tales of Beedle the Bard. But he was also humble enough to know there were higher powers beyond the limits of magic. It was his hope those powers would aid Harry in a crucial moment. Above all else, he firmly believed light would always prevail over darkness. It was the law of nature, and he believed the Hallows were the objects that would tip the scale in Harry’s favour.

 

****  

 

Harry looked on curiously as Professor Babbling disseminated his work into many parts with a careful application of charms. She sifted through the matrix blocks with a keen eye. The woman had been at it through ten minutes, muttering under her breath and making notes on a piece of parchment at her leisure while Harry stood by the tableside.

“This seems to be in order.” Babbling declared, stacking up the parchment with a satisfied look, “Exemplary work once again, Mr Potter. I daresay you have a bright career ahead of you as runemaster should you pursue the subject further.”

Harry just shrugged his shoulders instead of verbally replying. His work was not that great, considering it was a reduced replica of Rowena Ravenclaw’s work. All he had done was create a rune matrix that tied down an image to a surface. In this case, he shortened the runes so far that they could be carved on a quill and get a positive result. The idea was to use several small-sized rods to pin imagery to a surface, resulting in a wide area coverage.

“I think this will work for your NEWT project. It’s not strictly necessary for you to pursue this for practical application, but I see no reason not to do so. It’ll certainly save you the time next year.” said Babbling.

“I’ll think about it.” Harry hummed.

“Off you go then. Oh, also ask Miss Davis to present herself within five minutes.” said Babbling.

Harry just nodded and left the Runes class with his exam finished. It was Harry's last exam, leaving him free from any academic obligations for the rest of the days.

Ever since the end of the Quidditch Cup, he had been back tinkering about his academic life in Hogwarts. The classes were picking up more pace as professors rushed to cover portions before the exams. The only entertainment in between was the occasional football game organised by the muggleborn students in the evenings. But those sessions became short and sparring as assignments piled up and the exam drew closer.  

But now, exams were over. Only some OWLs and NEWTs were left to finish, which will be completed by tomorrow. Only the practical exams were left as the theory parts were finished.

He found Tracey sitting at the Hufflepuff table with the rest of his fellow classmates.

“Tracey, you’re up.” Harry said as he plopped next to Daphne and stole a cupcake from her plate.

“Wish me luck.” Tracey muttered while gathering a set of parchment into her hands and sped away.

“How was it?” Daphne asked while smacking away his hand when he reached for her lemon juice.

“It went smoothly. Babbling asked some basic questions about the schematics, but other than that…” Harry shrugged as he savoured the taste of the cake.

“Are you planning to hold another meeting of the Knights? Tomorrow night all of us will have to leave the school for home.” said Susan.

“Hmm. I guess I can call for a small meeting, but there won’t be much time. Everyone will have to pack and get ready for the train tomorrow.” Harry said, frowning thoughtfully, as he had plans for tonight with Dumbledore.

“We could meet during the evening then. By then, all exams should be complete.” Susan suggested, which sounded manageable to his ears.

Therefore, he went around the castle, tracking down the members of the Knights one by one and giving them personal invites. The last few meetings mostly involved training them in obstacle courses set forth by the Room to increase reaction time and provide some real-life experience in making decisions under pressure.

After all, the Death Eaters or werewolves weren’t about to give anyone time to choose a spell before an attack. Therefore, thinking on one’s feet became an essential skill in magical combat rather than knowing a bunch of fancy spells.

But this time, he was not interested in giving a lesson to anyone in the Knights.

When the clock struck five, Harry opened the portals from the Room of Requirement, and he waited patiently as the students streamed in. It took a few moments for everyone to settle down, and when they did, Harry loudly cleared his throat to gain their attention.

“Welcome, everyone. We’ll only have a short session because of time constraints, but I want to take a minute of your time before we begin. We’ll be leaving Hogwarts tomorrow night, and the day after that, we’ll be in our homes. It also means we’ll be outside the protective wards of Hogwarts. I do not need to tell you what that entails. So, be on your guard in the coming days.”

Harry looked at the faces of his friends and nodded to himself.

“All right! With that out of the way, we’ll practise the Patronus charm today and use a corporeal patronus to carry messages. While putting up a proper defence in a fight is important, it’s equally important to establish communication with allies.”

With that, Harry went around the room, helping his friends with the spell in the short time they had before dinner. It was a brief lesson but an important one. The Death Eaters could block apparition and the floo network, but they had yet to perfect a ward capable of holding back a messenger patronus.

When the hour came, he dismissed the meeting, pulled the prefects aside, and requested that they keep a keen eye out tonight. While he was certain no one within Hogwarts was working for Voldemort, he wanted to be sure, and therefore, he tasked some of the prefects he trusted with the location of entrances into Hogwarts. In case someone was using those entrances to sneak into Hogwarts, he wanted the teachers alerted.

As an added layer of protection, he gave the Marauders’ Map to Daphne and charged her with keeping an eye on the castle while he was away with Dumbledore.

 

****

 

“Well, this is not as fun as I imagined…” Harry muttered as he looked around the dark alley in Hogsmeade, where he was waiting patiently for Dumbledore to show up.

He didn’t understand why Dumbledore couldn’t have just set a meeting spot in the Headmaster’s office. It’d have been far more convenient than meeting in a random alley in Hogsmeade.

Suddenly, a cracking sound reached his ears, making Harry look around alert as he was sure it was the sound of apparition. He was put at ease when Dumbledore came walking into the alley with his wand tip glowing with a dull white light. The waning candle lights coming from the window sills of many of Hogsmeade’s buildings started to dull further as Dumbledore reached him.

“Ah, Harry! It seems we’re blessed tonight with vacant streets. It’ll be better if no one sees our departure.” said Dumbledore.

Harry had some choice words to say about the convoluted and frankly stupid methods of keeping their actions a secret. There were far simpler ways to keep their departure from Hogwarts a secret. But he didn’t make his opinions known because he wanted to finish this excursion as soon as possible. Besides, a few more hours and he’d be rid of the pain in the ass that was Dumbledore.

So, he kept his mouth shut and went along with Dumbledore.

An uncomfortable few seconds later, after getting tightly squeezed through a narrow tube, Harry found himself far away from the comparatively warm surroundings of Hogsmeade and the chilly salt-tinted air of this unfamiliar place. The sea breeze was quite strong, making Harry shiver from head to toe. He immediately put a warming charm on his body, which gave him some respite. A fine spray of salt water carried by the sea breeze inland showered upon him, and he could feel a salty taste on his lips. The moon was lit with brilliant silver light in the night sky, making the surrounding area visible.

He stood on a dark rock where seawater churned and foamed below him. He carefully moved away from the edge of the rock in case the wave got strong enough to sweep his legs away. Harry saw a towering cliff behind him, which cast a long shadow on the sea. Behind him, the waters turned dark, giving the area an ominous feeling.

“He has a Horcrux in the cave.” Harry commented to break the silence.

“This is a cave Tom once visited as a child when the matrons of the orphanage brought children nearby for a bit of sea air. He used this place to terrorise those he disliked among his peers. This was one of the places where he threw off the mask and became his true self.” said Dumbledore, lighting his wand brighter and casting the light on the whole rock, which showed a cave closer to its edges.

“That fact that he chose this place to hide one of his Horcruxes shows that despite assuming the mantle of Lord Voldemort, he still remains that boy who wants to intimidate people and get what he wants. He never grew from his childhood character.” Dumbledore added with a disappointed sigh.

“On the contrary, professor. I get the feeling he grew too much going by the feeling I get from that cave.” said Harry, concentrating his senses on the cave.

“What do you feel, Harry?” Dumbledore asked with a sudden spark of interest firing behind his eyes.

“Sacrifice… blood… death and malevolence of the most perverted kind.” Harry breathed out as an icky feeling settled in the pit of his stomach after sensing the magic in the cave.

“Not bad at all. Now, the cave awaits. Let’s go.”

Dumbledore moved first, followed by Harry as they carefully stepped over the jagged edges and pockets of seawater, which made the rock slippery. The sound of waves hitting the rocks became much more pronounced, and he occasionally got hit by a spray of seawater.

Finally, they reached a boulder closest to the cliff. Harry pulled his wand out and lit it with the light spell. The shade striking on the side of the rock retreated under the light, and he could see the dark waters clearer.

“There…look!” Dumbledore pointed at a fissure into the cliff where dark was swirling in. “Let’s take a dip.”

Dumbledore boldly threw himself into the water and began swimming towards the rock's fissure.

Harry wasn’t ready to take on the cold water tonight. So he cast a full-body repelling charm which held back the cold and the seawater from making contact with his body with a thin barrier. He easily followed after Dumbledore and swam to the other side without issue. He maintained the barrier along his body, following Dumbledore into a pitch-black tunnel through the fissure.

‘Space expansion charms.’ Harry absently noted as he swam further through the tunnel.

They finally felt the water receding a bit as their legs began touching the floor. There were steps beneath them which led them up to a large cave.

“I believe this is the entrance.” Dumbledore said, fawning over a wall with a frown on his face. “There is a key of some sort or a payment to gain entrance.”

“Blood sacrifice.” Harry supplied once he emerged from the water and dried his clothes with a simple spell.

“Ah, yes. The oldest of sacrifice known to wizardkind. How typical of Tom.” Dumbledore said with a snort.

Dumbledore made a thin cut on the palm of his blackened hand with his wand and smeared the blood on the cave. The cave wall parted, and a tunnel appeared, leading into the dark cave.

“After me, Harry.” Dumbledore said, leading the walk with his wand lit while also looking for potential traps.

They didn’t have to walk much longer as they quickly found themselves before the edge of a lake. Dumbledore threw a ball of light across the lake, which remained suspended near the cave’s ceiling. The lake turned out to be a body of potion, and under the light, they could see a boat tied to their side of the lake. At the centre of the lake, a huge rock was jutting out of the water, holding a crystal basin. The dark and foreboding feeling only increased now that he was this close to the lake.

Knowing what it contained, Harry was not surprised his magic was feeling revulsion, death and rot from the place.

“The boat can only hold one adult wizard.” Dumbledore said after a careful inspection of the boat. “I suppose I should start breaking the enchantment…”

A small ripple was made on the lake's surface as Dumbledore poked and prodded the boat with his wand. Harry could feel the dark magic slumbering beneath the lake surge ever so slightly. He’d have missed it if he wasn’t focusing on the malevolent magic permeating the lake.  

“No need,” Harry said, stepping forward and touching Dumbledore’s shoulder.

He concentrated and assumed the spirit form with a thought. His magic enveloped Dumbledore and forcibly enveloped the man with his magic before flying across the lake. Dull grey sparks of vapour converged on the raised rocky platform in the middle of the lake, where Harry and Dumbledore reformed their physical body.

“I see you’ve dabbled in obscure rituals in your leisure time, Harry.” Dumbledore said with a bemused look.

Harry felt his walls come up and wanted to share a piece of his mind on the man’s judgemental tone.

“I’m not judging.” Dumbledore hastily added, seeing Harry’s look, “I’ve had my fair share of exploring obscure magic. So much wonderous magic has been lost to time. I’m rather happy that you unearthed such a useful form of magic. But be careful, Harry. Ritualistic magics are dangerous. All it takes is one small mistake, and irreversible damage will be dealt to your body and your magic.”

“I checked multiple times before I went through with the ritual.” Harry said cordially with some effort.

“I see. Very good. I assume your dalliance with the past was rather productive in gaining some of the obscure magics of the time.” Dumbledore said with a growing smile, “Sometimes, life surprises me. Even our greatest of failures can become a blessing in disguise.”

“Sometimes, but not always.” Harry said with a pointed look at the crystal basin.

“Ah,” Dumbledore’s cheerful demeanour fled as his blue eyes settled on the basin with a pained look, “Unfortunately, you’re correct, my boy. Tom’s actions are some of my worst failures.”

‘But not the worst, old man.’ Harry thought, eyeing Dumbledore, who was close to his demise as the headmaster poked around the basin looking for a Horcrux. ‘It’s time you leave the board so I may decimate my enemies without restraint.’

Harry gripped his wand and sharpened his focus as the time neared for him to get rid of Dumbledore for good. His eyes fell on the Elder Wand, and he couldn’t help but grin greedily at the most powerful wand in the world. He wondered how it’d feel in his hand and use it to the fullest extent, unlike Dumbledore who feared his own power.

 

Chapter 122: The fall of Dumbledore P2

Harry stared at the back of Dumbledore’s head as he muttered and hummed while talking to himself about the wards bound to the crystal basin protecting the Horcrux inside. He didn’t disturb the man while Dumbledore tried to discern the nature of the wards and barriers. Instead, his eyes were peeled open, and he observed the lake, which was made of a potion surrounding them from all sides. The unnatural stillness of the lake gave him an eerie feeling, and he felt like a hundred eyes were staring at him in hunger from beneath the waters.

‘Creepy cave.’ Harry thought as he stared around the darkened cave in full alert.

“Simply marvellous! I daresay this is one of Tom’s best creations. He has used an intricate pattern of charms and wards interwoven so finely we will have to drain the crystal basin manually to get to the Horcrux.” Dumbledore declared with some excitement and a hint of pride.

“Are you seriously complimenting the Dark Lord’s skill at this time, sir? He has made our work more difficult, not easy.”  Harry deadpanned, seeing the excitement in Dumbledore’s eyes.

“Ah! You’re right, of course.” Dumbledore cleared his throat embarrassedly, “I’m afraid this is the most I have been excited about in the last decade. I simply forgot myself.”

“Anywho, I believe I have found a remedy to our dilemma. This potion cannot be magically tampered with. So, we must drain it physically.”

“Then, I’ll simply throw the potion into the lake.” said Harry.

 “Ah, no. That won’t do. I believe the potion must be consumed. Otherwise, it’ll just replenish the potion in the basin.” said Dumbledore.

“We don’t know what the potion will do. It might be poison.” Harry warned, showing concern for the well-being of Dumbledore.

Sometimes, he marvelled at his ability to act. Also, he couldn’t help but think Dumbledore forgot he had magic. It’d be so easy to transfigure a pebble into an animal and have that animal consume the potion. Even if that didn’t work, the snake summoning spell could easily function as a backup, as the spell summoned a real-life serpent instead of a pale imitation of a transfiguration spell.

“I do not think so, my boy. Tom wants anyone who attempts to take his Horcrux alive and captured so that he can interrogate them and learn their secrets. This potion is designed to incapacitate, not kill.” Dumbledore deduced with a thoughtful look directed at the potion in the crystal basin.

“But surely, sir, there must be another way.” Harry said earnestly.

“I’m afraid not, my boy.” Dumbledore said with finality, “This potion might tamper with my senses and chip away at my resolve. No matter what, you must ensure I consume the potion until the Horcrux appears. Even if you have to force-feed me the potion, you must do so because gaining possession of the Horcrux is paramount. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.” Harry agreed with a nod.

“Good.” Dumbledore nodded before conjuring a cup into his hand.

Without wasting more time, Dumbledore dipped the cup into the basin and filled it with the potion. He brought the cup to his lips before winking at Harry.

“To your good health, Harry.” Dumbledore said before draining the potion in the cup in one go.

Harry watched this with excitement bubbling within his mind. He stared at Dumbledore as the man continued to take three more cups full of potion from the basin and drain them in one go. However, On the fourth attempt, Dumbledore’s legs wobbled, and the old man fell to his knees with a painful groan. Dumbledore’s eyes were closed, but Harry could see the man’s eyes moving restlessly behind the eyelids as if reliving a terrible dream. Dumbledore let out a pitiful whimper reminiscent of a kicked puppy.

Harry saw Dumbledore drop the cup, which he caught and helped steady the headmaster.

From there, Harry took over. He force-fed the potion to Dumbledore just like he promised.

“No! Please stop! Please stop!” Dumbledore whimpered, shaking his head with his ocean-blue eyes becoming dull

“A little more, sir.” Harry said, pouring four more cups of potion into Dumbledore’s mouth.

“No! Please don’t do this to me. I’ll do anything. Please, I beg you.” Dumbledore whimpered pitifully.

“It’ll be over soon, sir. Just one more.” Harry consoled the man as he poured more cups of potion into Dumbledore’s mouth.

Dumbledore continued to beg and ask for an end in all kinds of pitiful ways as Harry supported the man against his shoulder and fed him the potion.

Harry couldn’t discern the potion Voldemort used despite his knowledge of the subject. He theorised that the potion induced nightmarish memories in a loop. As the Dark Lord wanted anyone breaching the cave incapacitated, he suspected the potion was designed to attack the mind. After all, weakening the mind of an enemy was the easy way to cripple a wizard’s magical power.

“I want to die! Please, let me die!” Dumbledore sobbed.

Harry was overcome with pity and grief watching an old man like Dumbledore beg so pitifully for death. He was tempted to abandon this pointless exercise and take Dumbledore away from the cave. At the same time, the rational side of his mind kept him grounded in the fact that Dumbledore’s time was over. The potion-induced suffering only played a small part in weakening the old man, as death was ensured by the withering curse ravaging Dumbledore’s body.

Therefore, Harry hardened his heart and tried his best to weather the painful, pitiful sounds from Dumbledore.

Finally, the last cup of the potion was fed to Dumbledore, and the locket appeared at the bottom of the crystal basin.

“We got the locket, sir.” Harry said, plucking the locket out of the basin and showing it to Dumbledore.

Of course, Dumbledore was not in a state of mind to notice the locket was not teeming with dark magic.

“Water. Please, give me some water.” Dumbledore moaned.

Harry conjured a block of granite and helped Dumbledore to lean against the solid surface. With his hands now free, he placed the cup on the floor and summoned a jet of water from his wand to fill the cup with clean water.

“Water, sir.” Harry placed the cup against Dumbledore’s lips.

He poured the water against Dumbledore’s lips and helped the man to drink the water slowly. His attention shifted to the lake surrounding their position as he heard the splash of water.

Harry flicked his wand and fired off a bright ball of light that soared over the lake's top layer. As he suspected, he could see rotting humanoid hands breaking out of the top layer of water.

‘Inferi.’ Harry thought with a scowl.

A foul smell started to seep into his nose, forcing Harry to cast the bubble-head charm on Dumbledore and himself. Just as he finished casting the charm over Dumbledore, his eyes fell on the Elder Wand, lying innocently on the floor. Dumbledore’s fingers were barely touching the wand’s rough surface.

Therefore, Harry found it all too easy to take the Elder Wand away from Dumbledore into his left hand. He felt a surge of power within his body as his magic bonded with the Elder Wand. Though the cascading effect of his magic took him aback, he was not blind to his surroundings.

Therefore, he was quick to act by firing off a wide-area banishing spell, which blasted away a couple of animated corpses sneaking into his blind spot. Standing up, he turned his wand on the rest of the inferi in the cave.

He jabbed the Elder Wand at the lake and amassed a dense quantity of magic.

“Fiendfyre.”

Angry red-hot flames poured out of the tip of the Elder Wand with a roar. The hell flames burned away the inferi trying to claw their way into the rocky platform Harry and Dumbledore were standing. The corpses let out horrible screams and wails as the hellish flames burned away the corpses. Harry thanked his lucky stars for he had the presence of mind to use the bubble-head charm. Otherwise, he suspected the foul odour of burnt flesh would invade his sensitive nose.

The flames pouring out from the top of his wand blasted away any attempts from the inferi to touch the edge of the rocky platform he was standing on. The few inferi that tried to swim close to the platform got a healthy dose of the hellish flames even though they were partially submerged in the lake. The potion in the lake boiled as Harry directed the cursed fire to devour the inferi that dared to break the top layer of the lake. He could see the flames once caught on an animated corpse refused to snuff out even under the lake.

Feeling the power within him surge to the natural maliciousness of the Fiendfyre curse, he strengthened his magic and forced the flames to coalesce into a corporeal form. The angry red flames of the cursed fire converged together and took on the mighty form of a lion.

‘Burn them all!’ Harry screamed in his mind as he directed the lion at the rest of the inferi.

The amassed cursed fire in the form of a giant lion broke into a sprint with its fiery maw wide open and dived head-first into the lake. The cave was suddenly filled with steam as the lake made of potion boiled and evaporated under the intense heat of the Fiendfyre curse. Harry placed an additional shield charm around himself and Dumbledore as the lake superheated and more fumes filled the cave.

Within the safety of the shield charm, Harry marvelled at the ease with which he was controlling the Fiendfyre curse. He no longer felt the mental strain of keeping an iron-clad hold on the cursed flames.

Instead, he felt like his dominance over the Fiendfyre curse was complete and absolute with the Elder Wand. Usually, certain dark curses that required negative emotions to fuel the spell were challenging to maintain for a long time. But with the Elder Wand, he no longer felt that strain in his mind. He still had his Occlumency shields on his mind, and his will remained connected to the cursed flames, but it felt like just any other spell.

‘Fascinating! Is this the true power of the Elder Wand?’ Harry wondered absently as he directed the blazing lion to consume all the inferi taking refuge at the bottom of the lake.

The last drops of liquid in the lake became steam, and the cursed fire replaced the lake around the rock he was standing on. After making sure not a single inferi survived his purge, he tugged at the core of the magical power, keeping the Fiendfyre curse. The cursed flames were sucked into the tip of the Elder Wand with little resistance to his will. The cursed flames disappeared from the cave, leaving only steam stuck inside.

“Harry!”

Harry whirled around to see Dumbledore regaining some of his faculties and staring at him with wide eyes.

“You… the cursed flames… How?” Dumbledore stuttered, his blue eyes swirling with slight disorientation and skin sweating profusely, trying desperately to fight off the potion's influence.

Harry calmly looked at Dumbledore, but he refused to utter a single word. The time for words was long gone in his mind. There was only one thing left to do as the fall of Dumbledore would pave the way for his rise as the centrepiece on the board. Harry raised the Elder Wand and pointed it straight between Dumbledore’s ocean-blue eyes.

“Legilimens.”

He powered through the barely coherent protections surrounding Dumbledore’s mind like a raging bull. The potion’s influence also helped as Dumbledore’s mind laid open before his intrusion. Memories flittered by as he searched after the specifics of the old man’s plans and political connections. He smashed through any attempts made by Dumbledore to resist him quite painfully and ruthlessly. Dumbledore was screaming as his brutal legilimens attack tore through the man’s mind without care, seeking out every piece of information.

Once Harry ensured Dumbledore’s mind was bereft of any defence and incapable of forming one after his assault, he jabbed his Holly wand against Dumbledore’s temple. He started extracting memories he found interesting and valuable for the days ahead. He secured memory after memory containing information about Dumbledore’s political allies and opponents in the Wizengamot into a glass vial he secured in his Mokeskin pouch.

When he was done, he held in his hands decades of crucial information that could serve his interests in the law-making body of wizarding Britain and even on influential foreign wizards. He also took his time to extract every piece of useful information about magic swirling inside Dumbledore’s head, as well as the detailed studies conducted on the Deathly Hallows.

When he was finally done extracting anything useful from Dumbledore, he pulled back from the old man’s mind.

“All this… and you never used it to change magical Britain for the better.” Harry said with a snort. “Instead, you pampered and allowed to breed the likes of Malfoy and Nott in society, hiding behind a twisted form of pacifism which spat on the sacrifices and pain of thousands. But this ends now.”

“Imperio.”

Dumbledore became docile under the Unforgivable curse and Harry gained total command over Dumbledore’s senses and mind. He raised his wand straight up, gathering his magic for another spell.

“Confringo.”

The power of his spell was such that the blasting curse smashed a sizeable hole in the roof of the cave. The seawater rushed into the cave from the hole he blew open at the ceiling. But Harry was unbothered by this fact. He grabbed hold of Dumbledore’s shoulder and assumed his spirit form. He flew out of the cave with Dumbledore in the form of glittery grey smoke and apparated away to Hogsmeade.

 

******

 

“Why a pretty little thing like ye’ out this dark, eh?” the slurred words of drunk Hogsmeade resident made Tonks eye the bearded man out of the corner of her eyes.

“Come with me, lass, and I’ll show ye a good time.” The drunk placed his hand on her thigh, making Tonks’ eyes twitch.

She caught the man’s offending arm, twisted it in quick order and slammed the drunk idiot on the counter of the bar. Her glass of firewhisky lay forgotten on the counter as she fished out her wand and placed it against the neck of the drunkard.

“Lay your hands on me again, and you can forget ever seeing all fingers on your hand.” Tonks growled.

The drunkard just moaned against the counter. She had the suspicion that the drunkard was enjoying getting beaten up by a woman, so she growled in frustration.

“You ain’t gonna get through his thick skull, lass. That man drowned half a bottle of firewhisky and two bottles of butterbeer today. You’ll be lucky he even remembers his name.” Aberforth said with a snort, eyeing Tonks and the drunkard while cleaning glasses from behind a counter.

Tonks rolled her eyes but let go of her hold on the drunkard. To her amusement, the drunk wizard pinned on the counter was now snoring away.

“You want another pint?” Aberforth offered, taking a bottle of Firewhisky. “It’s on the house.”

“No. It’s time for a patrol on the southern edge.” Tonks said, draining her glass of Firewhisky and standing up from her seat after placing a couple of knuts on the counter.

Aberforth just nodded, and Tonks walked out of the bar with her hat tucked beneath her arm while adjusting the gloves on her hands. Once outside the bar, she tucked her pink hair and neatly swept it behind her ears before placing her cap on her head. She quickly put a warming charm and repelling charm on her coat as she stepped into the cold night, starting her patrol of the southern side of the village.

A few minutes into the patrol, she heard the telltale sound of an apparition right behind her back. Tonks whirled around with wand in hand, a stunning spell on the forefront of her mind, but she cooled down once she saw a familiar bright silvery robe and long white beard of Dumbledore.

“Dumbledore!” Tonks cried as she ran towards the hunched-over figure in the dark.

It was then she saw another figure in the dark holding up Dumbledore. Tonks directed her wand at the dark figure and lit up her wand with the Lumos spell.

“Harry!” Tonks gasped in surprise as she took hold of Dumbledore's free hand, which helped to stabilise a tired Dumbledore.

“Oh, hey, Tonks.”

“What is going on? Why are you out here at this hour? What happened to Dumbledore?” Tonks asked with wide eyes as she looked back and forth between Dumbledore and Harry.

“We were hunting something that belonged to the Dark Lord. There were protections guarding that spot, and Dumbledore, the stubborn man he is, chose to head right heedless of the danger.” Harry replied as they carefully carried the Headmaster through the night towards the castle.

Tonks helped Dumbledore into a wooden plank Harry conjured. Together, they transported Dumbledore by levitating the headmaster straight into Hogwarts while she sent a messenger patronus to Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall.

Ten minutes later, Tonks watched Madam Pomfrey fussing over Dumbledore in a hospital bed. Harry was sitting on another bed with a pepper-up potion in his hand at the insistence of Madam Pomfrey.

“He is not responding to anything. What happened to him?” Madam Pomfrey worriedly asked as she cast diagnostic charms one after the other.

Suddenly, McGonagall came marching into the infirmary out of breath and looked upon the bedridden Dumbledore with stunned disbelief.

“Albus!” McGonagall cried and rushed to his bedside.

“Pomona, what happened to him?” McGonagall asked urgently.

“I do not know. His health is deteriorating, and I have done all that I can to stabilise him, but…”

“But what?” McGonagall asked worriedly.

“He is not responding to my spells.” said Madam Pomfrey with a troubled look. “He had been unconscious when Miss Tonks and Mr Potter brought him to the infirmary. He remains unconscious even now.”

“Potter!” McGonagall whirled on Harry with a desperate look. “Tell me what is going on? Now!”

Harry started recounting the day's events, and Tonks couldn’t help but stare at Harry with her mouth agape. The entire tale sounded like one from the fanciful tales she used to read as a child. But hearing something of the like from Harry’s mouth just emphasised how eventful Harry’s school life was compared to hers. There was also the sheer incredulity she felt when Harry recounted Dumbledore’s decision to consume a potion made by the Dark Lord while Harry combated hundreds of inferi in a dark cave. All of this was in pursuit of a secret special object supposedly capable of weakening the Dark Lord. She couldn’t help but imagine how many other stupendous events happened in Harry’s life while he was in Hogwarts in the past. Compared to that, her Hogwarts life was boring.

‘Of course, I didn’t have a murderous Dark Lord after my head, so there is that…’ Tonks thought, feeling a surge of pity for her distant cousin.

No matter how powerful or how used Harry grew to situations like this, she felt Harry deserved to be carefree like any other teen in Hogwarts.

“Perhaps, ma’am, we should let Harry rest for the night. He has been through a horrible ordeal. We can ask for more details tomorrow.” Tonks spoke up before the two witches could continue the interrogation.

For Merlin’s sake, Harry looked like he was about to fall dead any minute and Tonks was not having that happen in her presence.

“Yes… yes… you’re right, Miss Tonks.” McGonagall suddenly looked disoriented and a touch compassionate as she stared at Harry. “Please go to your dorms, Harry. Straight to bed and sleep as best as you can.”

After that, McGonagall swiftly addressed Madam Pomfrey.

“Pomona, can you give Harry a sleeping potion? He’ll need the rest after these unfortunate events.”

“Yes, yes, of course.” Madam Pomfrey promptly ran towards the cupboard and started searching for the potion.

“Miss Tonks, will you be okay with escorting Harry to the Gryffindor tower? I must ask for Severus and Horace's expertise. We have the best potion masters in our school. I’m sure they can find an antidote to whatever potion Albus drank.” McGonagall said with an increasingly calm and collected voice as she regained her bearings.

“Of course, professor.” Tonks promptly chirped.

She escorted Harry away from the infirmary straight to the Gryffindor tower. The Fat Lady swung the portrait when Harry muttered the password.

“Don’t worry, Harry. Everything will be fine by tomorrow morning.” Tonks said while hugging him. “Now, go get some sleep. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Tonks.” Harry muttered before walking through the doorway.

“Don’t forget to take the potion.” she called out before the portrait swung shut.

“Poor kid. He can’t catch a break.” Tonks muttered before she walked back to the infirmary and muttered some choice words about Dumbledore.

After all, who in their right mind would take a student out of the dorms at night to fight inferi and traps set by the most dangerous Dark Lord Britain had ever known?

‘Dumbledore is surely getting barmy with each passing day.’ Tonks thought to herself.

 

Chapter 123: The funeral P1

Severus took measured steps as he closed in on the infirmary with a basket full of ingredients in his hand. Each step he took became difficult as he felt like he was being weighed down by tons of iron on his legs and shoulders. The weight of the act he was about to commit was not lost on him. His hands shook uncharacteristically as he turned a corner, and his eyes fell on the doors to the infirmary.

‘Ten more steps, and I’ll be a murderer once more.’ Severus thought.

He remembered the first time he had killed. It was on a raid in a muggle village under the orders of the Dark Lord. It was an orientation all fresh Death Eater recruits had gone through. It was right after he graduated from Hogwarts. He had foolishly chosen to join the Death Eaters, swayed by the honeyed words of Lucius Malfoy and some of his fellow Slytherins.

He could still remember that cold night when he and three other new recruits led by Walden Macnair wreaked havoc in that muggle village. The events of the night, which he had tried so hard to suppress all these years, resurfaced as he stood before the infirmary. The recruits were assigned a muggle home to wipe out its inhabitants. This was the ritual to be granted the mark of the Dark Lord.

Severus could still hear the screams and desperate begging in his ears of muggle families his fellow recruits tortured. They were innocent souls who had never harmed anyone from the Wizarding world. Those muggles had never even known the wizarding world existed. Their only experience of magic was probably one from some street performer juggling some balls or a muggle magic show using smoke and mirrors. He had known that then, but he had watched dispassionately as his fellow recruits burned, mutilated and tortured those poor people. Even the children were not spared under the watchful eyes of Macnair.

When it was finally his time, he was faced with an ageing couple and their grandson. Those three pairs of fearful eyes burned a hole in his mind. No matter how proficient he was in the Mind Arts, those eyes remained capable of shattering his defences. He liked to think he was far more merciful than his fellow recruits by granting his three victims the mercy of a quick painless death using the Killing Curse.

Whatever reasons and arguments he made in support of his actions to make it seem like kindness, he knew he had committed a worse deed than anyone else that night. He alone had not felt anything that night. He was plain indifferent and considered the pain of others as insignificant before his goals. It was this indifference he considered a greater crime than the act of murder.

It took him the death of Lily to truly understand the horrors he had committed in his rage and hatred.

For a time, he blamed his Death Eaters companions for his actions. He convinced himself he wouldn’t have acted the way he did if not for the Death Eaters or the Dark Lord.

But Severus knew better now. With age came more wisdom, and he knew now his actions were his own and no one else was to blame. The fruits of those actions were his own to bear, no matter how much he wished otherwise. It was for this reason he had never sought to build a family of his own. He knew he was unworthy of such a life when he had helped snuff out many families and loved ones of so many people.

‘Now, I’m to become a murderer once more.’ Severus thought grimly.

Taking a deep breath, he cleared his mind and regained his bearings. Severus took measured steps forward, counting each step along the way. He tucked the basket under his arm against his body while his free hand pushed the doors open.

“Ah, Severus! Why did it take so long? Did you get the ingredients I asked for?” Slughorn rushed to his side and took the basket off his hands.

“Yes, everything you need is right there.” Severus said curtly while his onyx eyes fell on the prone form of Dumbledore.

“Hmm, yes… yes… I think this will do.” Slughorn hummed and hawed as the Potion Master sifted through the contents of the basket.

To his relief, Severus saw Dumbledore’s eyes gain a flash of recognition when they settled on him. The potion he and Slughorn had administered to Dumbledore had brought the headmaster to consciousness. However, despite regaining awareness and opening his eyes, Dumbledore refused to utter a single word.

They theorised that whatever elixir the Dark Lord concocted still affected Dumbledore’s mind.

“Severus.” Dumbledore rasped.

He stared at the headmaster with wide eyes. He was not the only one to do so. Madam Pomfrey stopped what she was doing and rushed to Dumbledore’s side. Slughorn, who was about to leave for his potion lab, stopped at the doorway and walked back to Dumbledore's side.

“Albus! Are you okay, old friend?” Slughorn fussed over the prone form of the headmaster.

“Severus… please…” Dumbledore muttered again, raising his cursed hand towards him.

Severus gulped at the request being made. He shut his eyes for a brief moment to ready himself for what he was about to do. When he opened his eyes, he gave a curt nod to Dumbledore, assuring that he’d keep his word to the man.

‘For the greater good.’ Severus thought as he swiftly took his wand into his right hand and pointed it straight at Madam Pomfrey.

“Expelliarmus.”

Madam Pomfrey’s wand immediately was wrenched from her hand and safely landed in his waiting hand.

“Flipendo. Incarcerous.”

He followed up with quick spells which knocked away Madam Pomfrey and bound her with a rope.

“Severus! What’re you doin…?” Slughorn shouted, reaching for his wand.

“Levicorpus. Expelliarmus.”

The old Potion Master was held upside down by his ankles while Severus neatly snatched Slughorn’s wand. With two other able-bodied occupants of the infirmary bound, Severus turned his attention back to Dumbledore. He didn’t stun them because they needed to witness this event.

Severus turned his wand straight at the prone form of Dumbledore while Madam Pomfrey and Slughorn cried and shouted at him. He didn’t know whether it was his imagination, but he saw a brief smile on Dumbledore’s face. He liked to think Dumbledore was at peace and happy to suffer no longer.

With that self-consolation, Severus gathered his will and magic.

“Avada Kedavra.”

The poisonous green-coloured spell hissed out of the tip of his wand and struck Dumbledore’s chest. Just like that, life was snuffed out from Dumbledore’s body.

“No! Albus!” Madam Pomfrey wailed with tears streaming down her cheeks.

“What have you done?” Slughorn cried, his grey eyes glistering with tears.

“I have done what must be done.” Severus said coldly before sweeping out of the infirmary with his cloak billowing behind him.

Severus walked right past the many sculptures and warm corridors of Hogwarts. In some ways, he felt wistful as he passed by the familiar spaces of the castle, which had served as his home for more than a decade. The castle was also his escape from a dark childhood. He couldn’t help but remember all the fond memories tied to the castle as he strolled out of the castle into the grounds. He paused midstep, cast his eyes on the castle one last time and seared the image into his mind.

But the beauty and tranquillity he felt when he watched the castle didn’t stop him from leaving behind the mark of the Dark Lord.

“Morsmordre.”

A colossal skull comprised of specks of green stars with a snake protruding from the skull appeared on the night sky over Hogwarts.

Severus turned away from the castle and never looked back as he walked towards the edge of the wards before apparating away.

 

*****

 

Harry lay awake in bed with the sleeping potion remaining untouched in his trunk. The notice-me-not ward surrounding his bed gave him the needed discretion as his wand’s tip glowed with light while observing Snape using the Marauder’s Map. He sat up in his bed when Albus Dumbledore’s name disappeared from the infirmary. At the same time, Snape’s name and Madam Pomfrey's and Professor Slughorn’s names also remained on the map.

“Dumbledore is dead.” Harry muttered as he stared at the map for a long moment.

Strangely enough, he felt nothing different as the knowledge of Dumbledore’s passing set in.

His eyes traced Snape, making his escape from the infirmary, and Harry frowned at the name on the map. He was tempted to go after Snape but he held off the urge and remained on his bed. While battling Snape was undoubtedly exciting, he held off such baser urges in favour of allowing Snape to dig his own grave. He assumed Madam Pomfrey and Professor Slughorn witnessed Snape’s crime since they were present in the infirmary.

However, Harry was slightly worried their memories were tampered with by Snape, who remains an accomplished Occulmens. The urge to interfere was great, but Harry remained rooted in the spot. He watched Snape exit the castle into the grounds and walk somewhat close to the Gryffindor tower.

Harry quickly took his Omnioculars from his trunk and moved to the window. He opened the glass window and let the cold air into the room. His eyes quickly fell on the illuminated Dark Mark in the sky, where an illuminated snake could be seen extending out of a light-green skull. Using the Omnioculars, he even zoomed in on Snape, who was rushing towards the edge of the wards after placing the Dark Mark in the night sky.

Harry snorted before turning away from the window. His dormmates were out like light despite the chilly air entering their dorm room. He closed the window and returned to bed with his focus back on the Marauder’s Map. When nothing happened for a while, he tucked the map safely beneath his pillow and went to sleep.

The following day, Harry was not surprised to find the castle flooded with aurors. A gloomy raincloud hung over everyone as word had already spread across Hogwarts. The portraits and the ghosts were mostly responsible. The Fat Lady was the one to break the news in Gryffindor Tower and he supposed the other portraits were mouthing off to students about Dumbledore’s death.

So, before anything else that day, Harry got the summons to McGonagall’s office. The entire Gryffindor House was in mourning while he set out from the tower straight for McGonagall’s office. When he finally arrived at the office, he saw McGonagall sporting baggy eyes, probably from lack of sleep.

“Take a seat, Mr Potter. I assume you have heard what happened to Headmaster Dumbledore.”

“I have, Professor.” Harry nodded as he sat across from her on the other side of her table.

“I need to know what happened last night.”

“I already told you…” Harry started, but he was abruptly cut off.

“Enough with the secrets!” McGonagall said sharply, “I just found out a man I have known for the better part of my life has been murdered by one of our fellow professors. This happens right after whatever you and Albus were doing last night. I need to know the truth.”

Harry stared at McGonagall for a long moment. He wanted to blow her off just like she had done to him in the past, but he liked to think he was not as petty and dismissive as she was. Besides, keeping secrets from people who were important enough in the battle against the Dark Lord was Dumbledore’s idiotic style, not his.

Harry let out the breath he was holding.

“I suppose you deserve to know why Dumbledore did what he did and what we were hunting. But first, I believe the Order also needs to know this. They need to know why Dumbledore believed Voldemort never died that night and why he could’ve never destroyed Voldemort for good despite his great power. I also think Minister Bones needs to know.”

McGonagall looked like she swallowed a lemon, but she acquiesced.

Harry was temporarily left off the hook and allowed to have breakfast with his friends in the Great Hall. The hall was deathly silent, unlike most days with a dark cloud hanging over them. The banners of Hogwarts were all black instead of the red and gold of Gryffindor banner as they had won the House Cup.

“Snape! It had to be that bloody traitor. We always knew that slimy git was a traitorous snake.” Ron muttered moodily, poking dejectedly at his pork chops with the silverware.

“Snape must’ve taken revenge for Malfoy.” Seamus whispered, “I think Malfoy was his godson.”

“If that was the case, then Snape would’ve gone after Harry. Merlin knows that git wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to go after Harry if he could help it.” Ron shook his head before his face pale a little bit, “It was definitely on the orders of You-Know-Who.”

“I can’t believe Professor Snape would do this.” Hermione said with trembling lips.

Harry and most of the table stared incredulously at her.

“You still calling that traitor Professor!” Ron hissed furiously, lips pulling back in a sneer, “He is no professor… the blood Death Eater.”

“Yeah. He had it out for anyone decent in Hogwarts. Dumbledore should’ve never allowed that man in the castle.” Ron muttered darkly, glaring at the Slytherin table as if he could see Snape in the rival house.

It was largely a pointless exercise, considering that the staff had gone to certain lengths to shield Slytherin House from any aspersions cast on them because of Snape’s actions. Towards that end, all robes, ties and sweaters were black today, taking the colour of mourning instead of the distinct colours of the four Houses.

McGonagall and the other Hogwarts staff seated themselves at the high table, and all whispered conversations came to a halt when Professor McGonagall stood up to address the hall. Her expression was grave but composed as her brown eyes fell on the hall.  

“Students,” her voice thick with emotion as her magnified voice reached them all, “I regret to inform you that our beloved Headmaster, Professor Albus Dumbledore, passed away last night.”

The Great Hall dimmed further as the weight of her words sank in.

Harry could see many faces in the Great Hall turned pale, and many eyes welled up with tears. Despite what he thought about Dumbledore, many young and old wizards and witches looked up to Dumbledore. Despite everything, Dumbledore was a great wizard worthy of becoming a yardstick for young witches and wizards.

“He was a great man, a light in the darkest hours of our world and a mentor, a friend and family to all of us.” McGonagall continued, her eyes glistering, “Though we grieve his passing, we must also remember to stand together in the face of darkness, to be brave and to stand by for what is right even at personal cost.”

McGonagall paused to gather herself before continuing.

“Professor Dumbledore has shown these qualities throughout his life and we must strive to emulate such qualities. We will honour his memory by continuing to support one another and upholding the values Professor Dumbledore held sacred.”

“In the days to come, let us support each other, and together, we shall overcome the dark days ahead. The funeral…” McGonagall paused to compose herself, “…shall be held tomorrow morning, after which you’ll be boarding the Hogwarts Express from the Hogsmeade station.”

The hall remained silent save for the sound of muffled sobs.

Harry’s eyes sifted through the sorrowful faces in the Great Hall until finally locked with a pair of blue eyes in the Slytherin table.

‘Wait for me.’ Daphne mouthed.

Harry nodded discreetly.

He quickly finished the breakfast and rose from his table when he noticed Daphne rose from her table.

“Harry.” Daphne reached out and took his hand in hers, “How’re you doing?”

“Not bad.” said Harry, intertwining his fingers with hers.

“Is it true that… you know… Snape?” Daphne asked quietly as they walked past the other students.

“Yep.”

“How did he… you know… do it?” Daphne asked, glancing at him intently.

Harry made sure there was no one around before he answered.

“I didn’t see it, but I tracked them last night through the Map. It was in the infirmary, and I suspect Slughorn and Pomfrey witnessed the deed.” Harry whispered.

“I see. You know what this means, right? The Dark Lord will start asserting himself harshly, and I suspect he’ll gain more followers.” said Daphne while leaning closer to his side and looking at him with concern shining in her eyes.  

Harry was not wholly bothered by what Voldemort would do with Dumbledore’s death. The Ministry was fighting the war with a good attrition record so far. While Dumbledore’s death was a morale blow to the Ministry, the facts on the ground were not going to shift too much. The Death Eaters were a diminished organisation, with much of its cream of the crop dead. The new recruits were not as experienced to wage a war against a bolstered Ministry.

“One death is not going to change too much. Voldemort will understand that soon enough.” Harry pressed a kiss to the side of her head.

“I am concerned. There are some in Slytherin making some noise emboldened by Dumbledore’s death.” said Daphne as they sat on a bench outside the castle under the cover of a tree.

“Hmm… I think a visit is in order.”

“That might not be a good idea. With everything that happened…”

“I’ll take permission from Slughorn. He won’t deny me.”

“Be careful. Tension is high.” Daphne warned him, her grip on his arm tightening a fraction.

“Whenever there is a power vacuum, there is bound to be tension. All the hyenas will come out smelling blood and an easy prey, but…” Harry wrapped his arm around Daphne’s shoulder and watched Hagrid walk towards his cabin, “…it’s the lion’s duty to maintain the order forcefully.”

“You’re getting way worse with these kinds of talks.” Daphne rolled her eyes, “Just leave my housemates intact after whatever you do. I have one more year in Hogwarts, and so do you.”  

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Harry said, his eyes lighting up with mirth.

Chapter 124: The funeral P2

Despite McGonagall’s plan to conduct the funeral faster so that the students could be brought home as soon as possible, it was not fast enough for some parents. Harry, being a prefect, had a front-row seat when parents came marching into Hogwarts to collect their children from the castle. He had escorted a fair share of Gryffindors from the castle.

Some of the brave lions strenuously objected to being taken away. Such students thought they would be perceived as cowards, but Harry smothered such thoughts from his fellow Gryffindors.

“There is nothing heroic about attending a funeral, Freckle. For now, go with your father and be with your family these holidays. I’m sure you’ll have your opportunity to pay respects to Headmaster Dumbledore next year. By then, everything should be back to normal.” Harry consoled the troubled youngster, who was only a second-year student.

“Will everything go back to normal?” Freckle asked with giant doe eyes.

“Of course. Trust me, you go and enjoy the holidays with your family.” Harry patted the boy’s shoulder and shook hands with the kid’s father.

 “Thank you, Mr potter. I… please don’t think less of me… I…” Mr Roberts looked flushed and stammered a lot, searching for words.

“Family comes first, Mr Roberts. You take care now.” Harry said before extracting himself from the awkward situation and letting the father and son take their leave.

Like them, many others were leaving Hogwarts early, not waiting for Dumbledore’s funeral. Running parallel to this was the funeral preparations in Hogwarts. A lot of important people gathered at Hogwarts for the funeral. The Board of Governors agreed to bury Dumbledore inside the castle grounds, which was unprecedented. No other Hogwarts Headmasters in the past were buried inside the castle grounds. If there was precedence, it remained in the dusty pages of history long forgotten. There were no marked graves near Hogwarts that much everyone knew.

Pretty soon, Hogwarts crawled with Ministry officials, foreign dignitaries, parents, and other guests. Hagrid made the grave while Professor Flitwick helped construct the tomb. Hagrid’s eyes were red, brimming with tears as he helped carry Dumbledore’s body in a casket. There were many sorrowful faces as Dumbledore’s body was placed before them to pay last respects.

The air hung heavy with palpable grief as if the very skies mourned the loss. Hogwarts, once alive with laughter and the clamour of students, felt eerily still.

Harry stood with Neville, and his fellow year-mates sat along with guests who were welcomed to the castle grounds. There was quite a long lineup of guests present as Dumbledore’s fame and connection stretched across international boundaries. Almost all European Ministries of Magic were represented with at least one representative to pay their respects to the famed defeater of the Dark Lord Grindelwald.

But it was not just wizards and witches appearing for the funeral. Centaurs were present for the funeral, although they stayed far away from everyone else at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. But that didn’t make Professor Firenze shy away from standing prominently with other Hogwarts professors. The Merpeople had chosen to come out of their watery homes to attend the funeral, and they paid a jaunty tune with their special flutes. There were a few Dwarfs in attendance as well, although Harry had no idea what their connection to Dumbledore was as they were highly isolationist and secretive.

Even Hagrid’s half-brother, Grawp, was present. Thankfully, Hagrid’s ‘giant’ brother was on his best behaviour and seemed to understand Hagrid was in mourning. He supposed even thick-skinned Giants could feel deep sorrow when their loved ones were hurting.

His eyes once again went to Hagrid, and he felt a twang of pity for the friendly half-giant. He could understand why Hagrid would be so heartbroken today. Dumbledore was the only guy who believed Hagrid when Tom Riddle framed him all those years ago. If it wasn’t for Dumbledore, it was most likely that Hagrid would’ve ended up in Azkaban or worse. 

“Thank Merlin, those Merpeople are not singing their song.” Ron was heard muttering in the background.

Everyone in Harry’s company flinched at the reminder of their fourth year when Harry opened the golden egg inside the common room. No one wanted that horrid sound to repeat here. Thankfully, the Merpeople used their flutes to expertly touch notes so beautifully, leaving many in tears.

Suddenly, with a bright glare of fire, Fawkes appears above the casket with a sorrowful trill. Fawkes' majestic flames cast a warm glow on the guests assembled, putting everyone at ease. Even Harry, who was on edge, looking out for any sneak attacks from Voldemort’s supporters, momentarily relaxed as the Phoenix song reached his ears.

He looked closely at Dumbledore’s familiar. Fawkes looked healthy and brightly lit, with red and gold flames clinging to its body. He wondered what would happen to Fawkes now that Dumbledore was dead.

As the thought crossed his mind, Fawkes disappeared in a flash of flame.

‘I suppose he can do whatever he wants.’ Harry thought.

Then, there was a long line of eulogies from those who wanted to honour Dumbledore’s memory. It was a long, tedious hour of different people outperforming each other, but he survived the event somehow without falling asleep. When the time came for everyone to pay their last respects to Dumbledore, he went near the open casket, conjured a couple of white lilies and placed them beside the casket. While he did that, he couldn’t help but stare at the fake wand Dumbledore was holding in his hands. It was the exact replica of the Elder Wand, but it was entirely a transfigured piece of wood and nothing more.

If Voldemort happened to discover the tale of Elder Wand and trace it back to Dumbledore, all he’d be getting would be a piece of wood he transfigured from a pebble. He wished he could see the face Voldemort would make once he took this fake wand.

Once he paid his respects, Harry was about to join his friends when he noticed a familiar couple. He swiftly changed direction and went to greet them, expertly evading other guests.

“I’m surprised you came.” Harry commented as he reached the Flamels.

“Albus was my most talented student. Of course, I’d visit him on his untimely passing.” Nicholas said with a poker face that Harry struggled to read.

“You realise Dumbledore sentenced you to death for his act of destroying the Sorcerer’s Stone even though he didn’t realise it was fake.” Harry said blandly.

“When you have lived long as I have, you’ll tend to develop immunity to such backstabbing.” Nicholas said with a placid smile, sounding like an old monk with some nonsense live-and-let-live shtick. 

“Speak for yourself. I came here to spit on that man’s grave.” Perenelle said with a snort.

“As you can see, not everyone gains wisdom with age.” Nicholas said with a grin.

“What you call wisdom, I call it the refusal to do what is necessary.” Perenelle said, throwing a dirty look at her husband before her eyes zeroed in on Harry, “But you… you surprised me. You had the guts to do what was necessary. I suppose you got that from me.”

“What do you mean?” Harry asked, playing it cool.

“There is no need for playing ignorant.” Perenelle chided him as if she was speaking to an unruly child, “I can feel that fake crutch on Dumbledore’s body in the guise of a wand. You might’ve used the most powerful wand to place the spell, but my eyes can easily see past such frivolous magic.”

Harry didn’t say anything and merely stared at his grandmother until it finally clicked that she had prophetic powers.

“You had visions?” Harry asked curiously, neither confirming nor denying her accusation.

“I saw you in possession of all three Hallows. When you are ready, reach out to us. There is work to be done.” Perenelle said with a triumphant gleam in her eyes, “I’m sure you know why, and you’ll need my help.”

“I believe this is not the place or time to discuss these matters.” Nicholas commented.

“We shall meet… soon.” Perenelle said before setting her sights on the casket.

Harry watched Perenelle and Nicholas Flamel leave his side to pay their respects to Dumbledore. He turned away from them and found himself locking eyes with a pair of brown eyes, which turned out to be Minister Bones.

“I believe we need to talk.” said Madam Bones, looking intently at him.

“I believe we shall.”

 

*****

 

“I believe we have waited enough, and you owe us an explanation.” McGonagall looked pointedly at Harry. “What were you and Dumbledore doing the night before he was… murdered?”

Harry stared at the occupants in the room. Almost all the members of the Order were present inside McGonagall’s office, including Moody, Remus, Tonks, Arthur Weasley, Elphias Doge, and Kingsley. Sirius was also present with his wife Brigitte, along with Professor Flitwick, Sprout and Slughorn. From the Ministry’s side, there was Amelia Bones, Rufus Scrimgeour and Damien Greengrass.

“Dumbledore wanted me to keep this a secret, and I have adhered to his wishes so far. I disagreed with his method, so I’m choosing to reveal this information now.” said Harry.

“If Dumbledore didn’t want this information to be known other than you, Mr Potter, then it’s better that this information remains as it is per his wishes. I have known Albus the longest amongst everyone here, and he does not do something without reason.” said Elphias Doge, his faith in Dumbledore unwavering.

“Stubborn old goat.”

Harry resisted the urge to laugh as he heard Tonks mutter under her breath while Moddy chastised her for the comment.

“No one is infallible. Dumbledore included.” Sirius spoke up, and no one had the guts to correct him, considering he spent thirteen years in Azkaban on a faulty assumption.

“Sirius is right.” Remus came to his friend’s support, “Dumbledore was a great wizard, but he can make mistakes, too. If he didn’t, we’ll not be sitting here with Dumbledore buried in the ground.” 

“Mr Potter.” McGonagall looked expectantly at him.

“You might’ve noticed that Voldemort appears to be immortal. Even though his body was destroyed when he attacked my family, he has managed to cling to life and regain his body.” Harry started.

“Yes, we’ve noticed that.” Moody growled.

“The reason the Dark Lord cannot be killed is because he has achieved immortality by splitting his soul into several pieces and binding them to vessels.”

“He broke his soul into multiple pieces!” Elphias Doge cried in horror, looking pale.

“Yes.” Harry nodded, “It’s the foulest of Dark Magic performed by the act of murder and an obscure ritual. The details of the process are far too ghastly for me to explain here, but the gist of it is that to kill the Dark Lord, we need to destroy each of his soul containers.”

“He created more than one of these foul things!” Arthur Weasley exclaimed, looking horrified at the prospect of multiple soul shards.

“Yes. You might remember the incident related to the Chamber of Secrets in my second year, Mr Weasley.”

“How could I forget?” Arthur said with a shiver, “Are you saying one of these foul things was responsible?”

“Yes.” Harry nodded, making Arthur look thoroughly floored.

“Oh, Merlin! My Ginny… possessed by You-Know-Who’s soul!” Arthur just sat there with his shoulder dropping and looking like he wanted to run out of the room and be with his family.

“Ah…!” Harry cleared his throat with an uncomfortable look, “Unfortunately, yes, but there is nothing to worry about. The soul shard was destroyed that year itself and no longer has any influence over Ginny.”

“So, these soul pieces can possess people?” Minister Bones asked while exchanging a concerned look with Scrimgeour.

“To a certain extent, yes.” Harry admitted, “But, some of these containers are not designed to manipulate but to kill. Professor Dumbledore came across one such container during the summer holidays and was inflicted with a dark withering curse.” 

“So, the blackened skin on Albus’ right hand…? It was…” McGonagall asked hesitantly.

“He fell to the effects of a Confundus charm set by the Dark Lord, which made Dumbledore throw caution into the wind and touch one of the soul containers without protection.” Harry explained.

“So, you were out with Albus that night to hunt down one of the Dark Lord’s soul shards?” Professor Flitwick asked curiously.

“Yes. We tracked down another one that night in an abandoned cave. The defences in the cave were rather ingenious, and Dumbledore insisted on taking them on by himself. I was only forced to intervene when the inferi surrounding the cave attacked us, and Dumbledore was too weak to do anything about it.”

“So, I take it you destroyed this soul container then?” McGonagall asked, looking displeased for some reason.

Harry assumed McGonagall was exasperated at Dumbledore’s secretive nature and refusal to ask for help.  

“Yes, and I’m happy to say we have destroyed them. Right now, Voldemort is as mortal as any of us. A well-placed cutting curse can be the end of Voldemort’s reign of terror.” said Harry, to the relief of everyone in the room.

“I’d like to inspect this cave you spoke of.” Minster Bones suddenly piqued up.

“Of course, but only after Voldemort is dead for good.”

“Why?” Scrimegor asked, staring suspiciously at Harry.

“Because if Voldemort learns his soul anchors are destroyed, he’ll attempt to make another one, and we’d be forced to deal with an immortal Dark Lord once more.” Harry explained, taking no offence from the current head of the DMLE.

“That could be the reason why Albus kept this a secret.” Elphias Doge commented grimly.

“Yes, but I believe I can trust the interests of people in this room are aligned in seeing the complete destruction of the Dark Lord and his band of murderers. They need to be brought to heel by any means necessary. Britain cannot be held hostage to his mindless terror any longer.” Harry said firmly.

“Hear! Hear!” Sirius voiced his agreement.

“Rightly said, Mr Potter.” McGonagall said, looking proudly at him with a hint of a smile before that turned to concern, “Could Severus be aware of these soul anchors? If he knows…”

“No.” Harry shook his head. “Professor Dumbledore never told anyone else about this.”

“How can you be so sure? Albus trusted Severus far more than anyone for some reason.” Flitwick said with a pained look, still smarting from the betrayal of their colleague.  

“Because Professor Dumbledore was a firm believer in the Prophecy. He was convinced only I could kill Voldemort, and he only gave this information to me for this sole reason.” said Harry.

“This prophecy… what does it say?” Scrimgeour immediately latched on to it.

“You don’t have to answer that, Mr Potter.” McGonagall immediately intervened, throwing a dirty look at the man.

“I don’t mind actually. It doesn’t make much of a difference as far as I’m concerned.” Harry shrugged before he recited the prophecy.

“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...”

Just like Dumbledore, the prophecy easily made more believers in the span of a couple of seconds. In the minds of those in the room, he solidified the position as the prophesied hero born to destroy the worst Dark Lord their world had ever seen. While Dumbledore might’ve never aired the prophecy to even the staunch Order members, Harry had no such inhibitions.

After all, it was in his interest to make himself invaluable. Every scrap of influence was a stepping stone to take to great heights of political power within the wizarding world. And there was no better position than becoming the prophesied hero, considering he had the magical power and skill to fill that position. If anyone in the room understood that as he did, it was Damien Greengrass. The man was looking at him with a look of understanding.

 

******

 

The air in Nott Manor was heavy with the scent of triumph. In the grand drawing room, the flickering candlelight cast elongated shadows, dancing across the walls as if caught in the throes of some dark celebration. Voldemort, pale and snake-like, sat at the head of the long, black table, his crimson eyes gleaming with a mix of satisfaction and malice. The Dark Lord was silently gloating at the sweet taste of victory over his most dangerous enemy.

Around Voldemort gathered his most loyal followers, the Death Eaters, clad in their black robes, faces obscured by masks, yet their body language betrayed an electric anticipation. Whispers of Dumbledore’s death had swept through the ranks like wildfire, igniting a fervour that rippled through the group.

“Tonight, we commemorate a victory,” Voldemort began, his voice hissing like a serpent. “The death of Albus Dumbledore marks a turning point. The wizarding world will now understand that hope is a fleeting illusion, easily crushed beneath our boots.”

The Death Eaters in attendance exchanged excited glances but stayed quiet out of deference for their lord.

Voldemort’s eyes fell on the sole man other than himself without a mask in the room. It was none other than his spy amongst Dumbledore’s little band of rebels, Severus Snape. The former potion master was not someone he’d have thought capable of committing the act. He had even expected Severus to botch it up after the disaster that was Draco Malfoy.

But Severus surprised him by completing the mission. It was so hard to find competent followers, and Severus seemed one of the best he had right now. Of course, he shouldn’t have been this much surprised. Severus was a half-blood and had to strive most earnestly for everything, unlike his pureblood followers.

For a brief moment, he could see a part of himself in Severus.

“You have played your part well. Your loyalty, though questioned by many,” Voldemort cast his eyes wide at the other Death Eaters at the table, “…has proven invaluable. Come, Severus. Tell us how you achieved this great victory over Albus Dumbledore.”

Snape leaned into the dim light, the flicker of candles illuminating his pale features. There was a moment of hesitation before he spoke, his voice steady and cool.

“Albus Dumbledore is a powerful wizard even my lord respects. I knew I could not overpower such a man but Dumbledore’s weakness lies in seeing the better side in everyone. My success lies in convincing Dumbledore that I was his man through and through so that he never saw the trap being sprung.”

“Ah, the irony!” Voldemort laughed, his red eyes blazing with mirth. “Albus Dumbledore was brought low by the one he trusted the most. His weak heart finally destroyed him, and you deserve all the credit, Severus. You’ve performed most splendidly.”  

“His trust was his downfall,” Snape replied, his eyes cold as he met Voldemort’s gaze. “He underestimated the depth of my resolve.”

Voldemort rose from his seat, his serpentine form looming over Snape. “You have proven your worth, Severus. Your reward will come in time. But for now, let us toast to this monumental victory.”

He raised a goblet filled with a dark liquid that swirled ominously. “To Dumbledore—may his legacy be forgotten in the ashes of his defeat.”

The Death Eaters echoed his sentiment, raising their goblets in a toast.

Voldemort savoured the moment before his attention shifted to his next most hated enemy that remained in defiance of his designs.

“With Dumbledore out of the way, the sole enemy that stands in defiance against me is Harry Potter. The boy will now learn the true power of Lord Voldemort and what it means to attract my enmity.” Voldemort hissed, his thin lips stretching across his face as he laughed cruelly.

“Now, the real war begins!”

 

Chapter 125: I open at the close

The dim torches adorning the walls of Nott Manor flickered like a dying ember as Voldemort strode into a dark dungeon, his presence dark and foreboding. Shadows clung to the walls, twisting in unnatural shapes as if recoiling from the very aura of the Dark Lord. A lone figure stood in the centre of the room, surrounded by dust and the remnants of forgotten luxury.

It was none other than Ollivander, the master wandmaker of magical Britain.

Ollivander’s silver hair shimmered faintly in the dark, and his once-bright eyes now reflected a deep weariness, the weight of months spent in the dungeon and the terror of his captivity evident in every line of his face. Bound to a chair with ropes that shimmered with a faint enchantment, he appeared both fragile and defiant, a testament to the strength of his spirit even in the face of overwhelming despair and helplessness.

Voldemort approached slowly, savouring the moment. His red eyes glowed with an otherworldly hunger, and the air thickened with tension.

“Ollivander,” he said, his voice a serpent’s hiss, “you have something I desire.”

Ollivander lifted his chin with a hint of defiance, though the tremor in his hands betrayed his fear.

Voldemort’s lip curled into a sneer, but there was a flicker of intrigue in his gaze. He was someone who respected strength, and the wandmaker had proven so far to be a sturdy fellow. The man had not helped to provide the information he sought so far, and Voldemort respected the man for it. It was refreshing to see such defiance from someone other than Potter and Dumbledore. Now that Dumbledore was dead, there were hardly a handful of people who could dare to look into his eyes with defiance.

Besides, Voldemort had immense respect for the wandmaker. Ollivander was the one who crafted his wand, which had served him well for a long while now.

“Is that what you think? That your defiance will shield you? Tell me what I need to know, and you’ll have the gratitude of Lord Voldemort.” Voldemort said silkily, pinning Ollivander with a hard stare.

Ollivander remained tight-lipped.

A flash of irritation passed through Voldemort's fiery red eyes.

“Crucio.” he hissed.

Ollivander screamed at the top of his lungs as he spasmed despite being tightly bound to a chair. The torture curse burned through his body like hot nails scratching through his skin.

Voldemort suspended the curse and allowed Ollivander a slight reprieve.

“You must’ve held out under my Death Eaters, but you should know better than to deny Lord Voldemort. I thought you were a smart man, Ollivander.” Voldemort gloated with a smirk.

Ollivander groaned as the aftershocks of the curse made him twitch repeatedly. The curse’s lingering effect made his teeth chatter while his veins felt like they were carrying fire instead of blood.

Voldemort raised his wand once again, and he could see Ollivander shaking with fear.

“Tell me why my spell couldn’t break Potter’s spell? Why were our wands locked in battle, and why did apparitions rise out of our conflict at the Ministry?” Voldemort hissed.

Ollivander flinched when Voldemort moved his wand again.

“The brother wand effect!” Ollivander blurted out, fearing the unbearable pain.

“The brother wand effect.” Voldemort uttered slowly, testing the strange term with his tongue while intrigued at what it could mean, “Tell me more.”

Ollivander hesitated, but upon seeing the flash of anger in the fiery red eyes of the Dark Lord, he relented.

“The phenomenon of brother wands is well-documented.” Ollivander started with his lips quivering, “It is a rare occurrence where two wands share a core, leading to a unique connection between them.”

“Unique?” Voldemort echoed, leaning forward, his red eyes glinting with a predatory curiosity. “Tell me more. Why is it that they can perform such… extraordinary feats?”  

“Wands are extensions of their masters,” Ollivander explained, forcing himself to maintain eye contact despite the horror that gripped him. “When wands share a core—such as phoenix feather, dragon heartstring, or unicorn hair—they may recognize each other. This bond can create unexpected effects during duels.”

Voldemort’s expression darkened, frustration mingling with intrigue.

“Potter… that wretched boy. He fought me to a standstill using a wand that was, in essence, a brother to my own.” Voldemort hissed, “So, it was luck that gave the boy a momentary advantage.”

Voldemort focused on the wandmaker again and glared at the old man.

“Tell me more.” he ordered.

Ollivander took a deep breath to steady his racing heart, and the guilt overwhelmed him for disclosing this crucial information.

“Six decades ago, I was fortunate to receive two Phoenix feathers and made two separate wands using them. One of them was made with Yew, while the other was made using Holly. Yew wands stand closer to death and usually suit the wizard with focused magical power. It is most common to bond with wizards and witches who develop skills in duelling. On the other hand, Holly wands stand close to life, making it uncertain and unpredictable. Holly wands choose wizards with raw untamed power and help them to channel it effectively, unlike other wands.” Ollivander was exhausted after the long-winded explanation.

“I see.” Voldemort adopted a thoughtful frown, but it didn’t last. “Tell me why ghosts started to emerge when my spell connected with Potter’s at the atrium?”

“I can only guess that it must be Priori Incantatem, otherwise known as the reverse spell effect. It is a rare manifestation of magic that happens when twin cores are in battle. When one wand overpowers the other, it forces the other wand to show an echo of the spells it performed. This happens because the cores will never destroy the other since they are brothers.“ Ollivander explained.

”So, I cannot defeat Potter with my wand.“ Voldemort thought aloud.

Ollivander just nodded with his head bowed.

Voldemort turned away from the old wandmaker and pondered his situation. He now knew what he had to do to overcome his most hated enemy.

‘I am in need of someone else’s wand.‘ Voldemort thought with a frown.

He considered asking Ollivander to create a wand, but he thought better of it. He didn’t trust the wandmaker to do justice to a new wand. Besides, he didn’t want to depend on the wandmaker to kill the Potter brat. His pride didn’t allow it.

It was already difficult for him to accept the fact that Potter forced his wand to submission at the Ministry atrium. The last thing he wanted was to get humiliated again because Ollivander messed with a new wand.

‘I’ll just have to find a spare.’ Voldemort thought.

 

******

 

Daphne Greengrass leaned against the cool brick wall of a quaint muggle Café, her blonde hair catching the amber glow of the streetlights. She grinned and flashed a victory sign as Harry clicked a couple of photos on his camera. The air was turning chilly as the evening progressed, and the sun slowly disappeared from the sky. The bustling sounds of Muggle life filled the air—laughter spilling from cafes, the distant honking of cars, and the rhythmic clatter of footsteps on the pavement.

But she didn’t feel like the day was over in the city. Unlike the wizarding world, where the streets would be consumed by left vacant edging closer to the night, the muggle world was lit up with many of its colourful lights. The people were still going about their business. The city never stopped functioning. The roads were packed with metal contraptions called cars carrying the muggles to their destination.

It was fascinating what muggles could do without magic, and she had never heard of this side of ingenuity before her exposure to the muggle world. She had thought the muggles were living in a gutter and mostly making a nuisance out of themselves by merely existing. She learned this was not the case when she first went out with Harry on their date in the muggle world. That day, she had spent most of her time skating, seeing old castles and even a huge aquarium. She particularly liked the boat cruise when Harry took her to Loch Ness yesterday. It was a wonderful experience, and it was a shame that nothing like that existed in the wizarding world.

“Let me see.” Daphne said excitedly, prying the camera from Harry’s hands.

She scrolled through the images Harry took with the camera. She couldn’t help but be impressed once more. The muggle camera captured her admittedly beautiful figure quite nicely with clarity. This was no clunky, huge, noisy camera used in the wizarding world. This one was sleek and easy to carry, and the photos were immediately available for her to see at her leisure. Of course, the pictures didn’t move or say anything, unlike the magical pictures, but they were fun nonetheless. Besides, she heard the muggles have another camera for that sort of thing.

The camera managed to capture her sparkling pink dress and her face in detail. The camera also held other pictures of the day as they spent most of their time on a muggle beach. With the wizarding world reeling from the loss of Dumbledore, she was not allowed to step out of her manor. It was only thanks to Harry’s assurance that they’d keep out of any major settlements and also keep to the muggle side that she was allowed to go on the date. 

“You know I had a great time today.” Daphne said, hugging to his side as they resumed walking through the sidewalk.

“Really! Has the pureblood snob in you turned into a muggle lover?” Harry asked with an amused tilt of his head.

“Hardly.” She answered with a scoff. “But I understand why you like it here.”

“Hmm?”

“No one here is bothering us, and there is much to enjoy in this side of the world.” Daphne admitted.

“I assumed you would.” Harry said before his attention shifted to a stall on the side of the street. “Come on. I think you’ll enjoy this.”

Daphne followed him into the side street on the other side of the road. She just hung back by Harry’s side as he bought something wrapped in glittery paper.

“What is that?” Daphne asked, seeing a spherical food item that made her mouth water from just the smell.

“You’re going to love this. This is Scotch egg, one of the best street foods in this part of the city. Go on, try it.” Harry nudged her side.

As she bit into the spherical beauty, flavours exploded in her mouth that made her moan appreciatively. She could taste pork, egg and something else. It was quite delicious, and she bought a couple more in a box for her sister.

By the time they finished the Scotch egg, the night had settled into the city.

“Look at that,” Harry said, his voice barely above a whisper. “It is beautiful, isn’t it?”

Daphne glanced at the multitude of lights coming alive around the city, chasing away the darkness. She felt a slight chill settle in despite the onset of summer. So, she pressed herself closer to Harry with his left hand wrapped around her waist. They wandered once more through the streets, taking in the sights, and she was thankful for the date.

They wandered into an interesting section of the old city wall, a beautiful priory and a relatively untouched garden. The sound of the city faded into the background. They sat on one of the benches, with Daphne resting her head against Harry’s shoulder.

The whole day made her forget all about the troubles that lay ahead.

“We must do this often.” said Daphne, finally breaking the comfortable silence.

With a tentative smile, Harry reached out, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. The world around them faded into the background, leaving the two of them in their own reality.

Daphne smiled against his lips when they paused kissing. She nibbled at his lower lip one last time before pulling back with a playful smile dancing on her lips. Her eyes suddenly picked up movement, and the next thing she knew, she was soaring above the city. She wanted to scream, but a warm pair of lips smothered her scream in its infancy. This was not the first time Harry had taken her flying using his spirit form, but her heart was racing as they sped through the air between towering buildings. They weaved through the buildings and massive towers until finally, they left the city behind, and her feet touched solid ground.

“Don’t do that.” Daphne hit his arm for scaring her out of her wits.

She found herself standing on a hill with the moon shining down upon them.

“You love it when I do that.” Harry said, smiling roguishly at her.

“Do I?” Daphne was about to hit him again, but Harry caught her hand and spun her around.

Suddenly, she had her back against him with her arms locked to her waist as Harry hugged her from behind. Just when Harry’s lips pressed against her neck.

“Look at the sky.” Harry whispered against her neck.

He suddenly flicked his wand, and the sky was magically cleansed.

Daphne gasped at the effect of whatever spell Harry used. She could see all the brightly lit stars in the sky without announcing a cloud in between.

“How did you do that?” Daphne turned to look at him.

“Magic.” Harry cheekily replied.

It was then she noticed the wand in Harry’s hand was different. She remembered Harry’s wand was a smooth piece of wood with a dark brown colour.

“This is not…” Daphne’s eyes widened in realisation, “Is it…?”

At Harry’s nod, she looked at the wand in awe and a healthy amount of respect. She had known of the Deathly Hallows, and unlike most, she knew the importance of the three magical objects better than most wizards and witches. After all, she helped Harry decipher most of the secrets from the ancient language scribbled in the scrolls and stone tablets.

“Can I?” she asked hesitantly.

It was rude to ask to use someone else’s wand, but she couldn’t help it. The Elder Wand was as old as magic, and if the lore she helped unearth were true, then the wand would be a creation of Merlin. To touch such an artefact was to connect with the history of the wizarding world.

Therefore, she was all the more surprised and happier that Harry gave her the Elder Wand. As her fingers wrapped around the wand, she felt a shiver down her spine. The most powerful wand, arguably the first wand ever made, was within her grasp. She felt like her ancestors would be proud a Greengrass came to possess the Elder Wand, however brief it lasted.

She was startled when Harry’s fingers covered her own, and together, they held the most powerful wand in the world.

“What will you do with this wand?” Daphne asked quietly.

There was a pleasant interval of time where there was only silence.

“Whatever we want.” Harry whispered in her ear before moving her arm in a familiar pattern.

“Expecto Patronum.”

The bright silver light exploded out of the tip of the Elder Wand and coalesced into a glowing ball of light. The ball of light churned and churned into something brighter every moment until there was a light that was so bright that she was forced to turn her head away. It was then that a thought sparked in her mind.

“Harry… the light the tablet spoke of…” she immediately said, her grip on Harry’s arm tightening a tad bit while her eyes widened with the realisation settling in, “What light can ascend beyond normal light, but the light born from the heart?”

“Huh! Interesting.” Harry murmured.

The bright ball of light suddenly broke away and flowed across their body, hugging snugly like a second skin.

Daphne stared at the patronus, behaving like flames without any actual heat. She marvelled at her lover’s ability to bend magic in all sorts of ways because right now, she could see the world in a whole different light.

“You’re right when you said the Patronus charm might be the ascended light, but to see a path using the ascended light, one must have the vision for it.” Harry murmured against her ear.

Of course, Harry was right, and she could feel her vision change as the aura from the Patronus charm merged with her eyes. For the first time, she saw the world in a different light.

 

******

 

“Thank you, Mr Black.” Amelia Bones nodded before she entered the room in the Black Manor where Harry Potter sat waiting for her.

“Is it normal procedure for the Minister of Magic to execute the will of someone in the wizarding world?” Harry asked, his piercing green eyes boring into Amelia’s.

“No, but these are not normal circumstances now, are they?” Amelia asked, settling her coat on a hanger and sitting across from Harry.

“I see.” Harry nodded. “Go ahead then.”   

“Dumbledore left some considerable assets in his will to be disposed of. Naturally, we were curious what he wanted to leave for certain individuals.”

“Naturally.” Harry agreed with an amused look.  

“So, Dumbledore left most of his liquid assets, that is, the contents of his Gringotts account, to his brother Aberforth. A set stipulated amount was moved to the Hogwarts scholarship account per his wishes from a separate account he set up. He also…”

“I’m sure you have places to be, and I have other matters that take up a lot of time. So, can we skip to the part where it’s relevant for my presence?” Harry politely suggested.

“Yes, that’d be lovely.” Amelia cleared her throat, “Mr Dumbledore left his entire personal collection of books to you. He writes that your journey into the great mysteries of magic has only just started, and he hopes you explore it with great passion. However, he reminds you not to lose sight of what is close to your heart during the journey.”

“Spoken from the heart and from experience.” Harry commented with a chuckle.

“Yes, I gather that to be the case.” Amelia said, eyeing him closely, “That was not the only item he entrusted you with.”

“Oh. What else?” Harry asked curiously.

Amelia picked up an envelope from her purse and took out a golden snitch.

“A snitch.” Harry said, controlling himself to smooth out any expression.

“The first one you caught when you joined the Gryffindor quidditch team.” said Amelia, reaching out with the little ball of gold in her hand.

Harry reached out and plucked the snitch from the Minister’s hand.

“You should know there is a powerful…”

“…enchantment. I know. I can feel it.” Harry finished for Minister Bones.

He rolled the little gold ball between his fingers. He looked up at Amelia Bones and inclined his head.

“Thank you for delivering this.”

“Of course. I did so only because I’m one of the few entrusted with the address of your current location.” said Amelia.    

“Hmm.” Harry hummed with a smile, knowing that was not the case.

He stood up with the snitch safely tucked in his hand.

“There is one other thing. Dumbledore also left you the Sword of Gryffindor.”

“It was not his to give.” Harry said with a frown.

“I agree. Besides, we cannot track the sword.”

“There is no need. The sword will reveal itself to those in need at the most opportune time. It was designed to be that way by its owner.” said Harry.

“I see. That is good to know.”

“The books Dumbledore left for me. Where is it?” he asked.

“Outside in a trunk. A detailed list is inside that envelope.” said Amelia.

“Good.” Harry nodded, seeing a folded piece of parchment inside the envelope he picked from the table.

“One more thing. Did you not want to be informed when the Death Eaters attacked?”

“Yes.”

“We have information that an attack is being planned on Diagon Alley. Are you interested?”

“Very much so.” said Harry.

“Good. I’ll call for you when the time comes.”

“You realise my presence might draw the Dark Lord out into the open.”

“That’s the plan.” said Amelia with a cold smile.  

Harry watched Amelia Bones leave the manor, and he retired to his room immediately. In the privacy of his room, Harry pressed the snitch against his lips, and the message ‘I open at the close’ appeared on the snitch.

Harry snorted, seeing the silly message. He sharpened his mind and forced his mind to think of self-sacrificing thoughts. He shifted his magic to resonate with the emotions that came with such thoughts, and the snitch folded in on itself. Inside the little piece of metal, he found the Resurrection Stone.  

“Finally. The puzzle of Merlin is complete.” Harry muttered as the Resurrection Stone rested on the palm of his hand.

 

Chapter 126: The battle of Hogsmeade P1

The night sky loomed over Hogsmeade village, shrouded in a blanket of thick, swirling clouds that veiled the moon. Dark figures emerged from the long shadows cast by the towering trees at the edge of the village. The full moon in the sky revealed their savagery even though no one was around to witness it.

Fenrir Greyback stared at the slumbering village with a savage grin. He could feel his blood pumping in his veins at the opportunity that was presented before him. He was being used as a distraction by the Dark Lord to collect another ally in his war but Fenrir didn’t care about that at the moment. After all, the opportunity to unleash his pack on Hogsmeade residents with the support of Death Eaters was something he couldn’t deny.  

“John, you take five men with you to the south.” Fenrir ordered while his eyes trained on the village with hunger.

“Are we allowed to eat them, sire?” Jon asked, licking his lips.  

Fenrir grinned at the savagery on display by his elite troops. These men were his most experienced troops, and like him, they had developed a taste for human flesh.

“Feast on as many as you like, but we need to increase our numbers.” Fenrir reminded them, not minding whether his troops went a little overboard as it was a full moon night, “Leave some alive, preferably the females. We need more of those within the pack.”

Some appreciative grunts followed his command. They were solely in need of some witches as his pack had expanded considerably following the Dark Lord’s patronage. With the Giants somehow turned to ashes by an unknown enemy, the Dark Lord increasingly relied on his pack to strike terror in the hearts of wizards and witches.

Therefore, he was allowed to expand his pack at a considerably faster pace, which was not allowed during the First War.  

“Alden, you take six men to the north. Cause as much carnage as you want. The rest, follow me.” Fenrir commanded.

Before he led his pack into the middle of the village, he glanced at the Death Eaters working in the background. Some set up anti-apparition wards while others moved towards the Forbidden Forest surrounding Hogwarts. The Dark Lord had sent envoys to the Centaur clan and the Acromantula nest, hoping to gain allies poised to strike at Hogwarts.

Fenrir thought the whole exercise to be a waste of effort. With Dumbledore dead, he saw no importance to Hogwarts. If the Dark Lord wanted to win the war, the Ministry should be attacked.

But he was not about to waste his breath on matters outside his purview. He didn’t care whether the Dark Lord won or not. In fact, Fenrir saw the Dark Lord only as a hurdle now that Dumbledore was dead.

With Dumbledore‘s passing, the Dark Lord was the most dangerous wizard in magical Britain. He was under no delusion the Dark Lord would tolerate his kind once the man took over the Ministry. He was banking on the ICW to intervene should the Dark Lord gain control over the British ministry. Even now, there was a nominal foreign hit-wizard presence within magical Britain‘s borders.

It was only a matter of time before the Dark Lord faced off against the might of other magical ministries. It was this opportunity Fenrir was hoping to exploit to his advantage. Not that he wasn’t already doing that. But he knew he could do better and turn more wizards and witches into werewolves. He no longer needed to turn children as he had already trained werewolves under his command.

Now, he needed turned wizards and witches to strengthen the pack. The more radical legislations used against werewolves would ensure he gained a pool of turned werewolves in his service, whether the witches and wizards he planned to turn to accept him or not. They would have no choice but to fight by his side.

Howls started to pierce the night sky, breaking his musings.

“Boys, it looks like the others have started the fun. Let’s not keep them waiting.” Fenrir said with a bloodthirsty grin.

His pack showed their agreement by transforming into their werewolf forms and howling into the night. The transformation began in earnest as the moon fully crested above the trees. Bones snapped and reshaped, claws extended, and faces twisted into muzzles. Their howls cut through the silence, a blood-curdling call that echoed over the village, awakening its residents to the horror on the horizon. A wave of howls followed, each one reverberating through the valley, an ominous warning of the slaughter to come.

He didn’t hold back, transforming into his werewolf form and led the charge into the village. The power that coursed through his veins made it easy to smash through the houses, inns and shops in the village. Along the way, his sharp claws tore through flesh and bones as he unleashed death and suffering upon the Hogsmeade denizens.

The attack was swift and brutal. Fenrir led his pack through the narrow streets, smashing through doors, ripping through walls, and attacking anyone unfortunate enough to be awake. Mr Rockwell, the ageing man who works at Zonko's Joke Shop, was caught trying to board up his windows, his scream drowned by the growls as a young werewolf tore into him. Blood splattered the cobblestone streets as the werewolves leapt from one shop to another, a whirlwind of carnage.

In the Three Broomsticks, Madame Rosmerta and her aide, Mr Murphy, tried to barricade the doors as the sounds of chaos grew louder. She barely had time to grab her wand before the front windows shattered, and a massive wolf leapt into the room, its eyes blazing with a feral hunger. Rosmerta threw a stunner at the werewolf, but it shrugged off the spell. The beast pounced on Mr Murphy, sending them crashing through the counter. Rosmerta screamed as two more werewolves charged through the wreckage, forcing her to retreat up the stairs.

Many floo calls went up trying to desperately contact the aurors for help. Meanwhile, the villagers tried desperately to stay alive and fight off the werewolf pack attacking their families.

Fenrir could only grin savagely as wizards desperately tried to fight his pack. It was a full moon in the sky – a time when werewolves gained incredible powers. Even aurors would struggle to properly breach the thick skin of his pack.

With increased confidence, he unleashed his savagery on anyone unfortunate enough to cross his path.

 

*****

 

The warmth of a bustling kitchen filled the house as Harry, Brigitte, and Sirius arrived at the Tonks family home for what was to be an evening of family bonding. Andromeda Tonks greeted them at the door with a radiant smile, her dark hair streaked with a few strands of silver, matching her husband Ted’s greying hair and gentle demeanour. Nymphadora Tonks, in contrast, was a vibrant splash of colour, with her hair currently a mixture of deep purple and a warm, cheeky grin adorning her flawless face.

When they were welcomed inside, Harry found Fleur at the dinner table.

“It’s one large Black family dinner, isn’t it?” Sirius said happily, slipping into a seat with his wife close by.

“I wouldn’t call it large, cousin.” said Andromeda.

“It’s the thought that counts. Besides, the company is much better than all the previous family dinners I attended.” Sirius said with a roguish grin.

With the kitchen full, everyone was quickly seated around the wide wooden table that bore signs of wear and love. Andromeda set down trays of traditional English dishes, and Ted popped the cork on the French wine Fleur had brought.

Harry helped Andromeda bring over the platters of shepherd’s pie, roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, and thickly buttered rolls. There was a rich, steaming bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy, as well as roasted root vegetables dusted with fresh herbs. Fleur admired the spread, glancing with particular curiosity at the Yorkshire pudding.

"Ah, zis is an English delicacy, yes?" Fleur asked, sniffing the pudding after a careful inspection.

"Yorkshire pudding, yeah. Best eaten with roast beef and loads of gravy!" Tonks smirked.

Fleur didn’t look particularly happy, but she stuffed her plate with the spread on the table.

Harry eyed Tonks and Fleur and then at Andromeda and Ted. As he quietly ate some beef, he observed the interaction between Fleur and Nymphadora’s parents. By the looks of it, Andromeda and Ted knew the two were dating and seemed unbothered by their daughter’s choice. Considering Sirius had married, the chances of House Black going heirless were slim. So, Nymphadora doesn’t have that obligation on her shoulders yet.

As they started eating, Sirius, in typical fashion, shared outrageous stories from his youth, much to his wife’s amusement and Andromeda’s sighs of exasperation. Fleur, delighted, joined in with a few tales from her time at Beauxbatons, causing everyone to laugh when she shared how she once enchanted a particularly annoying fellow student’s robes to burst into butterflies during exams.

But the light-hearted vibe in the room shifted when the conversation moved, almost unavoidably, to the mounting tensions in the wizarding world by the time they started on dessert.

“Things are getting darker by the day,” Andromeda said quietly, her usually strong voice tempered with concern. “The rumours coming through the Ministry… I hear them from Ted. Even though Dora isn’t allowed to tell us much, she can’t hide her worries.”

Tonks shrugged, though a flicker of worry crossed her face. “There’s only so much an Auror can do with You-Know-Who’s supporters cropping up everywhere, so don’t you all get all grim on my account.”

“Well, if you happen to hear anything about that annoying red-eyed troublemaker, just give me a call. Ending that tosser should bring all this to a halt.” said Harry.

“Enough of such grim topics. There is enough doom and gloom out there. Leave that out of the dinner table conversation topics.” Andromeda suggested rather sternly.

No one made a fuss when they were on the receiving end of the infamous Black stare.

“Wow! Andy, when did you learn to channel my mum?” Sirius asked with a snicker, and just like that, the ice broke.

The two cousins exchanged barbs at each other and soon started discussing embarrassing childhood stories.

As the night wore on, each member of the group took turns sharing stories, from their Hogwarts days to their present lives. Harry found himself feeling a rare sense of family—a mix of bonds forged by choice and history rather than blood. Andromeda even shared stories of her sisters, Bellatrix and Narcissa, but carefully steered clear of darker memories, preferring to focus on the good times before the Dark Lord tore their family from within.

Fleur’s grace and poise paired with Tonks’s quirky humour was an unlikely combination. Yet, they were laughing and swapping stories of their respective homes—Tonks's tales of her strange Auror adventures and Fleur’s memories of Beauxbatons and seaside in France. Brigitte followed suit with more stories from the French school and her family in France.

But that warm moment came to an abrupt end when a shiny silver patronus appeared in the middle of the table.

“Tonks, your presence is required at the Ministry. Come quickly.” the voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt came from the Patronus before it collapsed.

Troubled looks were exchanged between Andromeda and Ted while Nymphadora tried to play it off as a normal occurrence. While Tonks said her goodbyes and made some flimsy excuse of the aurors being understaffed to do proper paperwork, Harry got a jolt when one of his wards was triggered. He focused his mind on finding the source of the disturbance, and he was bombarded by the vision of the Forbidden Forest, specifically close to the former nest of the Acromantula clan.

‘Huh! So, setting up a detection ward close to the area wasn't a waste of my time.’ Harry thought with a savage grin.

Before he could make an excuse to leave the Tonks household, the locket connecting him to his other Knights flared up. Harry took out the locket, and on its silver surface was a short message in red letters.

“Werewolves in Hogsmeade. Help!”

Harry was immediately on his feet, and he gathered his coat to leave.

“Harry! Where are you going?” Sirius asked in alarm.

He looked at the concerned faces staring back at him.

“Pest control.” Harry said shortly before his body dissolved into silver mist.

“No, wait! Don’t rush into things like I did.” Sirius shouted.

That actually gave Harry pause, and he rematerialised.

“You’ll need help. I’m coming, and we can pick up Moony along the way.” Sirius suggested promptly.

“Actually, we can’t take Remus today.” Harry said, sneaking a glance at the night sky where a full moon was shining brightly.

“Wait just a minute. What is going on?” Ted asked with a look of frustration.

“Werewolves are attacking Hogsmeade. I know a couple of students living in Hogsmeade, and they just called for help.” said Harry.

“I’m coming.” Sirius jumped at the chance to lay onto the Dark Lord’s allies.

“I’m coming azz’ wiill’.” Fleur was on her feet, her blue eyes shining with resolve.

Harry’s instinct was to object, but then he remembered Fleur was a skilled witch. Though he had great confidence in his skill, he was not arrogant enough to think he was all-powerful.

“Okay.” Harry said, nodding at the French witch. “I appreciate the help.”

“Sirius.” Brigitte called, her eyes shining with concern, “Be careful.”

Sirius nodded before turning to Harry and Fleur. “Let’s go.”

“I’ll inform the Order.” Tonks said after kissing Fleur goodbye.

Rushing out of the Tonks’ home, they ran to the edge of the wards and apparated away.

 

******

 

Harry, along with Sirius and Fleur, apparated far away from the Hogsmeade village, but it was a vantage point from which they could see the village in its entirety.

The once-lively streets of Hogsmeade were unrecognizable. Fires burned in the windows of the Three Broomsticks, the Hog’s Head had been partially demolished, and screams echoed through the village, punctuated by the guttural growls and bone-chilling howls of Fenrir Greyback’s pack. The werewolves had spread throughout Hogsmeade, their eyes gleaming in the shadows, ripping through doors and walls, hunting anyone they could find.

“There eez’ a ward.” Fleur said after using a mild detection charm.

“This is merely a distraction.”  Harry said grimly, hearing the desperate screams of people from the village.

“A distraction for what?” Sirius asked.

“For something they’ll never get and pay a great price.” Harry growled before shouting, “Dobby!”

“Master Harry called Dobby, sir.”

His trusted elf popped into existence before him.

“Dobby, I want you to set off the traps you lay near the nest. But make sure you’re not noticed or caught in the trap.”

“Dobby will take care of it, sir.” Dobby nodded before popping away.

By that time, Fleur had managed to breach the wards surrounding the village. He could feel the anti-apparition wards collapsing.

“We stick together no matter what. There is a full moon in the sky. The werewolves will be stronger and faster tonight.” Harry warned before the three of them stepped into the village.

As Harry, Fleur and Sirius entered the village, they saw the signs of the werewolves’ brutal handiwork firsthand. Shattered windows, splintered wood, and blood spattered across the cobblestones were the scene that law before their eyes. Under the light of burning inns and homes, they could see bodies and limbs lying prone on the streets. It was a ghastly sight.

They moved cautiously, slipping between buildings and using shadows to stay out of sight. The sharp scent of burning wood and fresh blood filled the air. Then, they heard a howl from down the street, louder and closer than any they had heard before.

In a narrow alleyway near Honeydukes, Harry spotted a hunched, dark figure in tattered robes, teeth bared in a feral grin. The dark brown fur and yellow eyes that glowed in the dark made it clear it was a werewolf. With a feral growl, the wolf came charging at them with terrifying speed.

“Confringo.” Fleur cast the blasting curse.

A yellow ball of magic struck the werewolf right on its chest and smacked it back a few feet. But the beast just shrugged off the spell and stood at its full height.

“Use more lethal spells.” Harry shouted before the smell of ozone became prevalent as the tip of his wand cackled with lightning.

With a jab of his wand, a bright beam of lightning cracked through the air and struck the werewolf head-on. The werewolf howled in pain and writhed on the ground as volts of electricity burned through its body. A burnt smell reached his nostrils as the werewolf became a charred corpse within a minute.

“Show no mercy. They won’t hesitate to kill you or do worse.” Harry warned while looking at Fleur, making the French witch nod jerkily.

The Elder Wand in his hand was thrumming with magic. He could feel an unnatural excitement s he moved further into the village at the prospect of unleashing himself in full against the werewolves. The opportunity came immediately when they came upon four werewolves terrorising a family of three.

“Here, you beasts!” Harry goaded them.

His plan worked as the werewolves focused on Harry instead of the family under their mercy.  A werewolf jumped straight towards him, showcasing its excellent physique.

“Suffusio.”

A torrent of water formed from the tip of his wand and encased the creature in a ball of water.

“Glacius.”

The ice spell immediately turned the water into ice, leaving the werewolf trapped inside a ball of ice. Fleur immediately followed it with a strong gouging curse that punched a hole through the ice and the abdomen of the werewolf.

“Nice.” Harry grinned.

Fleur grinned at the compliment and they were back at it again.

Sirius batted away a werewolf that tried to sneak towards them using a shield charm and a banishing spell. Harry noticed the other two werewolves surrounding them, so he acted immediately. He traced a circle above his head with his wand.

“Indomitus.”

A pale blue shield in the form of a sphere formed around them. A werewolf tried to swipe at them with razor-sharp claws, but the shield repelled the creature. Sirius followed it up by banishing a block of rock he conjured. The werewolf howled in agony, and the distinct sound of its bones snapping could be heard as the stone smashed into its body.

“Battio inflammata.”

A fiery battering ram slammed into the werewolf, crushing it against a wall. The beast fell to the ground and whimpered pathetically as it struggled to move.

Another werewolf tried to slam its entire body into the shield, but Harry’s spell was firm. Fleur ensnared the creature in a charm that put the beast in a disoriented state. Upon closer inspection, Harry saw that the werewolf was fighting off the spell by hurting itself.

Harry didn’t give it time to regain its full faculties.

“Intabeviscus.”

A bolt of dark purple-coloured spell struck the werewolf straight on its chest. The beast let out a blood-curdling scream as its skin melted away and a fist-sized hole opened up where its heart was supposed to be. Dark red blood oozed out of its mouth as it fell dead to the organ liquifying curse.

Harry couldn’t help but let out an appreciative hum as he stared at the Elder Wand in his hand. The organ-liquefying curse was as dark as a spell could get, yet he hadn’t fed as much negative emotion into the spell.

‘The perks of using the Elder Wand, I suppose.’ Harry thought with a shrug.

There was a brief stillness in the air, broken by a whimper from the werewolf lying on the ground, its bones broken under their assault. Harry eyed the beast before slashing his wand dismissively. Its beastly head was severed clean from its shoulders.

“Come. Let’s put the rest of these beasts out of their misery.” Harry said coldly, turning away from the butchered werewolves on the street.

The cold wind that ruffled his hair carried the scent of death, blood, ash and despair. But, soon, the werewolf pack of Fenrir Greyback would reap the whirlwind, for they had attracted his ire on this otherwise peaceful night.

 

Chapter 127: The battle of Hogsmeade P2

Harry swiped his hand in a wide arc, casting a black energy whip which cut straight through the flesh and bones of the werewolves surrounding him. Sirius and Fleur picked themselves up from the floor after his spell took effect. It was a modified rotting curse which ate through anything organic it came in contact with. Even the highly regenerative properties of werewolves under moonlight stood no chance against the dark curse.

“That ‘eez a sick spell.” Fleur said with a grimace, watching the rotting curse eat away the flesh of their enemies.

“I don’t disagree, but against these beasts, it is quite effective.” said Harry, glaring coldly at the fallen beasts. 

The werewolves writhed on the ground, struggling to survive the unbearable pain as the corrosive magic ate their flesh away. The few werewolves that took Harry’s spell head-on were dead the moment their bodies hit the ground. However, the few who managed to avoid the brunt of the attack by partially dodging at the last second were left to suffer.

Sirius and Fleur used cutting curses to decapitate the struggling werewolves and put them out of their misery. With that done, they moved as one into the heart of the village.

Harry conjured a silver spike and banished it straight into a leaping werewolf. The silver spike punched straight through the heart of the beast. The werewolf fell to the ground with a painful whimper as silver’s corrosive effect on werewolf blood made it gasp painfully. The beast didn’t last long as it reverted back to its human form and choked on its own blood before dying.

Seeing the street clear of any more danger, Harry concentrated his magic on his locket and connected it to the other knights. The Protean charm connected his locket to all other lockets in the possession of other Knights. The charm allowed him to track the Knights even though it was never designed for that purpose.

His magic suffused with his locket and tapped into the Protean charm, tracing the other lockets in Hogsmeade. Immediately, he could see in his mind‘s eye the location of three lockets in the vicinity.

“I found them.” Harry declared before he placed his hands on Sirius’ and Fleur‘s shoulder.

He assumed his spirit form and took both of them with him as he soared above the village towards the closest location of one of the lockets. Harry settled down with his two companions close to a half-destroyed building. He could see two werewolves attacking a family of four within the broken home. The family huddled behind a shield while the werewolves were clawing and smacking at the shield to get to the terrified family.

He noticed the familiar face of a fourth-year Ravenclaw standing behind the shield with a panicked look on his face. So, when the kid saw Harry, the relief that washed over the youthful face was palpable. Unfortunately, that was not the smart thing to do as the distraction faltered the cohesion of the shield, and it broke on the next blow from the werewolf.

Harry could see the exact moment it dawned on Courtney McKinnon that she placed herself wide open before the werewolf. But Harry was quick to react before the werewolf could harm the young witch.

“Ignis vincula.”  

A fiery chain blazing with red-hot flames shot out of the tip of his wand and wrapped around the werewolf’s neck. The skin around the werewolf’s neck sizzled as the fiery chain burned the flesh away. The beast howled to the high heavens as the skin started to peel off.

Harry yanked the chain wrapped around the beast while windlessly using a bludgeoning hex to blow the legs from underneath the beast. This made the werewolf fall on its back, and Sirius finished it off with a gouging curse straight through its eye. All struggle left the savage beast, and the creature lay there on the ground in a pool of its own blood.

The remaining Werewolf had its legs cut off by a cutting curse from Fleur. A well-placed exploding spell set its head to explode promptly.

“Dear Merlin!” Mrs McKinnon whimpered and shielded her children from seeing the gory sight.

“Harry, you came!” Courtney cried her eyes out in sheer relief.

“Of course. We arrived as soon as we could. We were held up only because the streets were crawling with werewolves.” said Harry, patting the girl's head, trying to calm the hysterical witch.

“What should we do? They are everywhere.” Mr McKinnon said with fear.

Harry eyed the four-member family with pity. Their home was almost unrecognisable, with most of the interior trashed and the doors nowhere to be seen. Courtney's younger brother was sniffling quietly in Mrs McKinnon’s hands.

“Listen closely to what I say. Potter Manor can be found in Plockton by the shore.” said Harry.

Four pairs of confused eyes stared at him.

“Mandy.” Harry called.

A house elf serving in Potter Manor appeared by his side wearing a yellow hat and a dark brown dress.

“Master called for Mandy.” the little elf asked happily.

“Please take them to the Potter Manor and help them settle in for the night. Take care of their needs.”

Mandy looked at the surroundings, and her eyes widened comically upon seeing the bodies of werewolves lying prone on the ground.

“Master.” Mandy nodded, trying her best to remain composed before taking the McKinnon family out of Hogsmeade.

With the McKinnon family out of the village, he went after the next location, which was pinged by his locket.

On high alert, they moved through the streets, scanning the shadows, wand in hand. He was aware of every flicker of movement, every sound amplified in the chilled air. The streets that were previously crawling with werewolves were now suddenly absent.

“Any sign of them?” Sirius asked, his voice low, barely more than a whisper, his eyes fixed on the dark alleys.

“They pulled back.” Harry whispered quietly.

“Their instincts,” Sirius said thoughtfully as they moved further in.

“What?” Harry asked.

“The werewolves have a keen sense of danger during the full moon. They must’ve pulled back to regroup.” Sirius mused.

Suddenly, a low growl rumbled through the air, sending a chill up Harry’s spine. Three dark, hunched figures emerged from the shadows, their eyes gleaming red in the moonlight. Their breaths came in ragged huffs, clouds of misty air forming as they advanced. These were no ordinary werewolves—they were wild and feral, and they were unusually large compared to the werewolves he had seen so far.

“Confringo!” Sirius shouted, his wand aimed directly at the lead werewolf.

The jet of pale yellow light burst forward from the tip of Sirius’ wand, striking its target with force, but it merely staggered, snarling before resuming its charge.

Fleur sent a wave of fire towards the werewolves, arresting their charge and forcing them to split.

“Avis. Opugno.”

The conjured birds swiftly rocketed straight for a werewolf. Mid-flight, Harry transfigured them into bolts of sharp metallic spears. With a swift jab of his wand, he tried to pin the werewolf down. Only one of the spears struck true and punched through the fast-moving werewolf’s shoulder. The pinned werewolf attempted to pull the spear out of its shoulder, but Harry used that moment to put the beast down.

“Depulso.”

The repelling charm he used on the spear made it bite further into the werewolf's body, making it scream in pain. The creature desperately tried to make its escape, but he held it against the ground.

“Defodio.”

The gauging curse punched a hole through the exposed neck of the werewolf, killing it instantly.

Sirius and Fleur were not as lucky as he was. The other two werewolves were too fast on their legs for spells to clip their bodies. Harry spewed out a flood of flames from the tip of his wand, forcing the werewolves into a confined space. Thus, this created a small opportunity for Sirius and Fleur.

“Expulso.” Sirius shouted.

A violent popping sound was heard caused by the abrupt expulsion of air. The spell blasted a werewolf against a stone slab Harry hastily conjured while the other one made its escape. He also conjured a metal spike and banished it straight through the beast's heart. The werewolf was pinned to the stone slab, with the metal spike piercing through the other side of the slab. The werewolf bled to death, pinned against the stone slab while they moved further into the village.

They could hear renewed fighting in the village as aurors started to engage the werewolves. They came across another pack of werewolves and greeted them with a barrage of spells.

The air crackled with the energy of their magic as the spells collided with the werewolves, who moved with unnatural agility, dodging and evading in ways that defied their hulking forms. One of the werewolves howled—a chilling, blood-curdling sound that echoed through the village, sending shivers down Harry’s spine. His primal instincts were ruffled with the bone-chilling howl, which sounded more like a beacon than a painful scream.

More figures slipped from the shadows, surrounding them. There were now at least six werewolves, snarling and snapping, their claws scratching the ground as they inched closer, tightening their circle around Harry, Fleur, and Sirius.

Sirius immediately conjured a wall of fire around them, keeping the werewolves out.

“Why did you do that?” Harry hissed. “We can’t see anything now, and we’re stuck inside the ring of flame.”

“Sorry. I panicked.” Sirius apologised with a wince.

Suddenly, a manic laughter filled the area, forcing them to look up at the source of the sound.  

“Look what we have here, boys. We have the boy-who-lived surrounded.” Fenrir Greyback said with a mocking smile stretching on his cruel face.

Harry found the infamous werewolf standing on the roof of a home. Soon, more werewolves joined their leader by climbing to the top of the buildings and surrounded them.

“I count ten.” Sirius muttered, his eyes darting from one beast after the other.

“There ‘eez more.” Fleur whispered with concern.

“I give you this one chance, Greyback. Get on your knees and surrender. I shall show you mercy by delivering you a quick death.” Harry shouted back, making Greyback sneer.

“You have guts, boy. But you don’t know anything about us werewolves.” Fenrir growled. “Attack them.”

The werewolves surrounding them howled, looking at the moon shining in the night sky before leaping from the roofs.

“Indomitus.”

A spherical dome of energy surrounded the three of them just before the werewolves rained down punches on the shield. They tried to claw their way in, but Sirius and Fleur blasted them back one by one with blasting hex.

Harry’s eyes trained on Fenrir Greyback standing on the roof. Greyback started to assume his own form, which was massive compared to the others. Long brown fur covered the man’s body, and a large snout formed on his face. Large hulking muscles grew across Greyback’s body, and his wolf form stood a few feet above the other werewolves.

Harry waited patiently for the right moment to strike, and it presented itself before him when Greyback chose to leap from the roof. He didn’t waste the opportunity and launched a powerful arc of lightning from the tip of his wand.

Greyback was caught off guard and fell straight into the barrage of lightning. The screams that tore through Greyback’s throat were loud and filled with agony. Harry didn’t let up one bit, and he watched the most dangerous werewolf blasted into a wooden building by the arc of lightning. The building suddenly caught fire as Harry didn’t relinquish the spell and continued pouring lightning from his wand.

Seeing the leader of the pack get electrocuted and burned alive inside a building gave the other werewolves pause. Fleur and Sirius used that lapse in judgment judiciously, and they were quick to drop a couple of werewolves with well-placed cutting curses.

Harry followed it up by unleashing a barrage of lightning from his free left palm, striking randomly at the werewolves surrounding them. Painful howls and the smell of burnt flesh reached them in response.

Beating back the werewolves became easier when the villagers and aurors were emboldened by the fall of Greyback and saw the werewolves run to escape after the fall of their leader. The arrival of reinforcements made Harry leave the village in search of the Deah Eaters he knew were prowling the Forbidden Forest.

He left things in the hands of Sirius and Fleur while he soared over the village in the form of a sparkling grey mist. It didn’t take long for him to arrive near the Acromantula nest, and he was amused by the sight that greeted him. The Death Eaters that came to the nest looking to recruit the Acromantulas or even force them to attack Hogwarts or Hogsmeade were lying prone on the ground. He could feel the faint outline of a barrier, keeping a thin mist within the barrier. The fog he could see was his creation. It was a modified version of the Draught of the Living Death. He managed to replicate the properties of that potion into a gaseous form.

“Good job, Dobby.” He patted the elf on his round head once Dobby appeared beside him.

“Thank you, sir.” Dobby perked up at the praise and puffed his chest in pride. “What do you want Dobby to do with them, sir?”

Harry pondered for a moment before ordering Dobby to imprison the captured Death Eaters in his dungeon. While he had every reason o hand over captured Death Eaters to the Ministry he felt like holding on to the prisoners. He wanted to see whether he could glean the location of Voldemort’s hideout from the prisoners.

 

******

 

As dawn broke over, Hogsmeade, Harry, Fleur, and Sirius surveyed the aftermath, their faces grim. The village had taken heavy losses; buildings lay in ruins, and several villagers were being treated for injuries. There were a lot of causalities and an equal number of newly turned werewolves. In general, the Hogsmeade residents survived, thanks to the bravery of the villagers and the timely arrival of aurors and hit wizards. Most importantly, the architect of this attack was now captured and seriously injured.

“You seem to have done a number on him.” Tonks said with a grin as she stared at the half-burnt body of Fenrir Greyback.

“Not enough. This idiot still lives.” Sirius growled, reminding everyone of the fact that Greyback was responsible for a lot of woes suffered by families and, most importantly, for the misfortunes of Remus Lupin.

“Not for long, Lord Black.” said Rufus Scrimgeour, marching into the broken building with a cold look in his eyes. “Fenrir Greyback is a wanted criminal by four other Ministries, and I suspect he’ll get a death sentence with an expedited trial.”

“I suppose being a werewolf grants an expedited trial.” Sirius snarked.

“If you must know, we are also expediting the sentences of Bellatrix and the Lestrange brothers. They’re set to be executed with Greyback.” Scrimgeour informed them.  

“Is it? That’s a relief. Keeping those three alive is just asking for an attack from the Dark Lord.” Sirius muttered with a grimace.

Harry grunted at that, and he couldn’t help but wonder why Voldemort hadn’t tried to break those three out of the Ministry holding cells.

‘Maybe Voldemort is weakened far more than I thought.’ Harry mused.

Harry watched the aurors place magic suppression shackles on Greyback and bound the man with enchanted chains before teleporting away.

“I suppose this will be a blow to Voldemort’s ability to gather werewolves to do his bidding.” Harry said, looking expectantly at the head of the DMLE.

“It’s our hope that is the case. Without Greyback holding the group together, we expect the werewolves to start to fight amongst themselves.” Scrimgeour said with a sharp nod.

“So, you’ll be leaving them alone then.” Harry prodded.

“It’ll be to our advantage to do nothing while our enemies make mistakes.” Scrimgeour said with a shrug.

Harry generally would’ve agreed, but he had a different opinion on what to do. Standing back and doing nothing, hoping for the best results, was lazy and a decadent idea. But he wasn’t about to take a class on how to wage a war with the head of the DMLE. He had his own ways to pursue the war in the way he wanted. Knowing that he had to act fast before the opportunity passed, Harry rushed to settle the affairs in Hogsmeade.

Before he could leave, he had to meet with the families of some of the Hogwarts students and some of the other residents in the village. The aurors were understaffed to properly transport the injured and the dead to St Mungo’s, as there were other attacks unleashed by the Dark Lord running parallel to the one in Hogsmeade. So, all the help was needed for the night, and the Daily Prophet reporters were like vultures snooping around the scene.

So, when the sun rose, the first thing he did was track down Remus in one of the Black properties in the countryside.

“Harry?” Remus said tiredly with dark bags under his eyes. “What’re you doing here?”

“Last night, there was an attack on Hogsmeade.”

“Oh!” Remus immediately went to apologise, “I’m sorry I was indisposed last night because of the…”

“Full moon, I know. It was Greyback and his pack that attacked the village.” Harry said with a sigh.

“Greyback!” Remus’ eyes flared with a sudden flash of rage.

“You don’t have to worry. That guy is lying in a Ministry holding spell with a half-burnt body after taking a lightning strike to the face.”  

Remus looked like he didn’t know whether to be happy or horrified.

“Your doing?” Remus asked curiously.

“It was a group effort.”

“Ah, too bad I couldn’t see it myself.” Remus muttered. “I’m sure it’d have been a sight.”

“I can make some arrangements to let you pay your respects to Mr Greyback before his esteemed presence leaves this world into the next great adventure.” Harry offered.

“Hmm.” Remus nodded thoughtfully. “I’d like that.”

“Good. Now, one more thing. I need you to introduce me to the werewolf community.”

“Introduce you…? Do you expect werewolves are living in some secret caves and meet in shady bars to discuss their woes and plan in the shadows of the underbelly of cities or something.”

“I do.” Harry said with a straight face.

Remus rubbed his eyes and sighed.

“Well, you’re not wrong. I think I can get you an in with them.”

“That’s good.” Harry grinned.

 

Chapter 128: The fall of Nott Manor

Harry pulled his cloak tighter against the chill as he followed Remus through the twisting alleys of an abandoned muggle estate. The night was cloaked in mist, the pale glow of the half-moon struggling to pierce through the heavy clouds above. The air smelled of damp concrete and rusting metal, a sharp contrast to the countryside where Harry had spent most of the summer. A couple of flickering lights lined the muddy road here and there.

“This doesn’t feel right,” Remus muttered, glancing nervously at the shadows with weary eyes. “What if it’s a trap?”

“I like traps.” Harry said as they followed the road into the estate as described by their hosts.

 “The werewolf gangs are dangerous and unpredictable, Harry. They don’t trust wizards, and for good reason. If they think we’ve come to trick them, we won’t leave here unscathed.” Remus muttered.

“I’m not here to trick them.”

“Do they know that?” Remus asked with a huff, huddling inside his cloak to ward off the cold.

“We’ll see soon enough.” Harry said as they walked the length of the road for a few more minutes before finally reaching their destination.

The meeting point—a dilapidated factory whose shattered windows gaped like empty eye sockets. Remus pushed open a creaking metal door, and the sound echoed ominously through the expansive interior.

Harry’s wand was lit already and only shone brighter once he stepped inside the factory. Across a slew of broken, rusty old machinery stood a gang of roguish-looking men and women.

There were at least twenty of them, their silhouettes barely visible in the dim light filtering through holes in the roof. Some were hunched, their movements animalistic, while others stood tall, their postures radiating defiance. The air was thick with tension, the faint scent of fur and sweat mingling with the metallic tang of the factory.

A tall, broad-shouldered figure stepped forward, his face partially obscured by a tangled mane of brown hair. His yellow eyes gleamed in the darkness as he regarded Remus and Harry with suspicion.

“Lupin,” the man growled, his voice rough as gravel. “You asked for a meeting. You’ve got one, but be quick.”

“Will, it’s been long.” Remus replied evenly.

“Not long enough,” Will snapped. “Last I heard, you were licking Dumbledore’s boots and pretending to be one of them. And now you bring the Chosen One or the Prophesised One or whatever silly name the cowards out there call this one? What do you want from us?”

“We want your unfettered cooperation and a promise to keep your people out of the war in Britain.” Harry boldly stepped forward with his demand. “You’ll pass the word to the rest of the packs and impress upon them the need to stay out of this war.”

“You dare threaten us!” Will snarled before turning into his werewolf form on the spot.

Harry was momentarily stunned to see someone other than Greyback capable of assuming the werewolf form on nights without a full moon in the sky. That was what made Fenrir Greyback a dangerous enemy for the wizarding world. The werewolf form was the epitome of speed and strength, which made it a threat to most wizards and witches. Not many could adapt to the speed of a werewolf and possess a repository of spells to break through the regenerative properties of the werewolf form.

It was one of the reasons why werewolves were considered far more dangerous than vampires. At least the vampires could be easily defeated by shining some sunlight on their faces.

The werewolf before him had fur as black as night and eyes glowing an eerie yellow. It let out a threatening howl and took an aggressive step forward. But Harry could see as clearly as day that Will had no intention of escalating beyond a certain limit. After all, it was no secret that he killed Greyback. The news was all over the Daily Prophet.

Harry shifted into his animagus form in the blink of an eye. He stood before the werewolf and let out a roar backed by his magic, which made Will take a step back. The rest of the werewolves accompanying Will similarly took several steps back on instinct as Harry reinforced his roar with magic.

He reverted to his human form and stared unflinchingly into the beast's yellow eyes before him.

“You see, I can also change into an animal form at will. Now, drop the dramatics and let’s discuss what you benefit from a negotiated peace deal. Shall we?” Harry stared pointedly until Will reverted to his human form.   

“You have guts, Potter.” Will nodded with grudging respect, “We will hear you. But keep in mind that not every one of us is like Greyback. We won’t fight your battles for you.”

“Are you then comfortable living under the Dark Lord's yoke?” Harry asked.

“If the future is the Ministry’s yoke, then what difference does it make?” Will asked with a scoff.

“What if I can promise you there won’t be a Ministry yoke in the future in return for your valuable assistance in the fight against the Dark Lord?”

“I have heard many promises before, Potter.”

“Yes, but not from me.” Harry said, staring intently at the werewolf leader.

“What assurance can you give that any agreements we make will endure after the war?” Will asked after a lengthy pause.

“None except for my word and my interest in seeing the eradication of discriminatory laws set against the werewolves.”

Will shook his head and let out a long breath.

“I can’t trust you.”

“You’ll have to, or the alternative is for us to meet in battle. Fenrir Greyback and his friends found it extremely detrimental to their lives to cross paths with me on a battlefield.”

“The Dark Lord is not someone you defy easily.”

“Leave that tosser to me, and you focus on keeping the packs off the streets. Now, if you can capture Death Eaters and deliver them intact to us, a monetary reward is involved.”

“Monetary reward? How much are we talking?” Will looked interested, making Harry grin as they started the negotiations.

 

 

*****

 

The cold, stone walls of Potter Manor’s dungeons reverberated with silence. A single flickering torch cast long shadows that danced on the floor, their flames trembling like the last vestiges of hope in the dreary place. That silence was broken by Harry's slow and deliberate steps as he walked further into the dungeon where the captured Death Eaters were imprisoned.

“Are they awake?” Harry asked the elves guarding the dungeons.

“Yes, master. We gave the antidote as you instructed.”

Harry found Evan Rosier slumped in a chair, his arms bound by ropes that seemed to hum with the enchantment holding him in place. His dark eyes, though bloodshot, still held a glint of defiance—something Harry admired, considering he had kept the guy in an animated sleep for a few days and revived only recently.

“I’m not telling you anything, Potter,” Rosier growled, his voice hoarse but steady, even in his restraints. His lip curled into a grimace as he spat on the cold floor. “You think you can break me? You’re wasting your time.”

Harry merely raised an eyebrow at the reaction from Voldemort’s trusted Death Eater in service. Harry stood across from him, silent for a long moment. The air in the room was thick with tension before he chose to break it with a chuckle.

“I was not going to ask anything, Rosier.” Harry said with an amused tilt to his voice.

“Then why am I here?” Rosier asked, glaring with his ocean-blue eyes.

“Why not? I captured you, so I should get to keep you—finders, keepers, and all that,” Harry said with a shrug.

“I don’t believe you. Your comrades in Dumbledore’s circle won’t stand for it. They’ll give us a fair trial.” Rosier sneered.

“You know your enemy well.” Harry nodded in respect at that. “Unfortunately for you, no one knows you’ve been captured by me. So, I can do whatever I want with you.”

“You’ll not…”

“Crucio.” Harry intoned without a shred of mercy.

The word was barely out of his mouth when the air itself seemed to warp around them. A pulse of dark energy shot from the tip of Harry’s wand, and Evan Rosier’s body jerked violently in the chair as if struck by an invisible, electrified force. The scream that tore from Rosier’s throat was raw and desperate, the kind of scream that only comes from a soul drowning in pain and despair.

The spell cast using the Elder Wand was far more potent than any normal wand. The strain on his mind was almost negligible, which was not a characteristic of an unforgivable curse. The mental strain of maintaining a curse like the cruciatus was almost unbearable if it was a normal wand. But the Elder Wand was uniquely suited for casting the worst dark curses known to wizardkind.

Rosier’s body contorted, his mouth open in an endless scream, his face turning pale as the curse ate into his mind. The cruelty of it was indescribable—an excruciating torture that gripped every nerve, every fibre of his being.

Harry cancelled the spell and allowed Rosier a small reprieve.

“I won’t… I won’t tell you… anything,” Rosier gasped between waves of pain.

“Good.” Harry nodded with a grin.

“Crucio.”

 The rush of power he felt as he watched Rosier writhe in agony was pure euphoria. There was something distinctively addictive and attractive in holding someone else’s life in his hand. He knew it was wrong to do so, but in a deep corner of his mind, he felt some vindication in stepping into the darker side of the magical spectrum. This level of control over someone else’s fate stroked his ego in all the wrong sorts of ways that gave him some guilty pleasure. But it also sated some dark desire he constantly tried to ignore.

The higher he climbed in magical power, the more tempting it became to do what he wanted without caring about the consequences.

“Not so innocent now, are you, Potter?” Rosier gasped out as Harry lifted the curse once more.

“Innocent? When scum like you walk this earth innocence of every decent wizard and witch is threatened.” Harry said, circling Rosier.

“Is that so? You… think this makes you better… than me?” Rosier’s voice cracked as he tried to speak, his words slurred.

“Think? I know I’m better than you, Rosier.” Harry said coldly before he dug the tip of the Elder Wand into the back of Rosier’s left palm.

Rosier started screaming as the tip of the Elder Wand glowed a fiery red, and the skin slowly began to peel away from Rosier’s hand.

“You have one chance,” Harry said, his voice low and steady. “Tell me where he is. Tell me where Voldemort is hiding, and I’ll let you go. I’ll stop this.”

Rosier’s lips parted in a weak, cruel laugh. “Never!”

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and stepped back from Rosier.

“You have an unusually strong resolve for a branded slave. I’ll give you that.” Harry said through gritted teeth, staring at the stubborn man before him.

“You don’t know anything about me.” Rosier breathed out while his face turned into a bright shade of tomato.  

“I can make a guess. Someone introduced you to Voldemort, and you were awed by the power possessed by the Dark Lord. You thought the Dark Lord’s leadership would help tip over the Ministry and place the wizards in a position of unrestricted power over the muggles. I’m sure there are other such grandiose plans swirling in your mind.”

“What is wrong with wizards ruling over the muggles?” Rosier snarled, straining against his bindings like a rabid dog.

“There is nothing inherently wrong about it so long as you have the skill and the patience to govern,” Harry said without batting an eye. “Your mistake was thinking Voldemort wanted to rule over anyone. That madman only wants to kill, maim and force others to worship him like a god. Voldemort is no statesman. You should know this by now. But you’re in denial, and you’ve unfortunately been taken by the sunken cost fallacy.”  

“You talk too much, Potter.” Rosier muttered after taking a deep breath.  

“I apologise for the inconvenience. Are you sure you don’t want to volunteer the information I seek?” Harry asked one last time, but he only received silence from the bound Death Eater.

Harry nodded to himself before pocketing the Elder Wand.

“I’m afraid you’ll not be of much use after this is done.” Harry said coldly as he placed his palms on both sides of the Rosier’s head and stared straight into the man’s eyes.  

Harry unleashed a full-scale legilimency probe without any care for the potential damage he could cause to Rosier’s mind. Rosier only managed to hold off his attack for a minute at most before the Death Eater’s mind cracked open under his relentless assault. He punched straight through the barriers and searched for what he wanted to know. When he eventually pulled back, Rosier was screaming at the top of his lungs, with blood flowing out of his nostrils.

“I warned you.” 

Harry left Rosier in the cell, doing nothing to alleviate the pain the Death Eater was feeling. In the best-case scenario, Rosier would suffer from a week-long migraine. Harry was leaning toward the worst outcome, which was a fragmented mind with huge gaps in memory and a radical shift in character. There was a small chance of some neurological problems cropping up, but that was the rarest of rare cases.

The other prisoners in his dungeon were eerily quiet after listening in on his ‘interrogation’ of Evan Rosier. Most of them were low-level grunts with their minds wide open. Just a simple glance was enough to let him know their secrets, which was not much. These low-level Death Eaters were either taken by the ‘glory’ of ruling the muggles or were just simply attracted by the gold and silver Voldemort threw around.

Some of the prisoners here were newly caught by the werewolves, thanks to the deal he made with the werewolf packs. He was good on his promise by paying them good silver and gold for a branded Death Eater.

Between the Dark Lord losing Death Eaters to the aurors and hit-wizards, the addition of werewolf packs into the mix of hostiles was doing a number on the Dark Lord’s army. In addition to that headache, Harry was now in possession of Voldemort’s location, which was quickly becoming useless as every minute passed.

He went straight to the fireplace and threw some floo powder.

“Greengrass Manor.”

When Harry put his head into the fireplace and welcomed the green flames to wash over his face, he gained access to Daphne’s home. Fortunately, he could see Damien sitting by the fireplace, nursing a cup of tea in one hand and a boon in the other.

“Damien.”

“Harry?” Damien stared at the fireplace in surprise.

“Sorry to bother you, Damien. I need you to pass on a message to Ivan Volkov.”

“Sure. What is it?”

“Tell him it’s time to hunt a snake.”

 

******

 

Harry Potter crouched low behind a jagged rock, his wand gripped tightly in his hand. The air around the craggy hillside was unnaturally cold, a stillness that felt alive with danger. The base of Voldemort’s operations was heavily guarded, its perimeter bristling with Death Eaters.

“Christoph and his team will lead the attack while we bring down the wards and act as backup. Anything to add?” Ivan said from their hiding spot.

Harry just nodded and let the professional hit-wizards do all the grunt work while he conserved his strength in case he got to confront Voldemort.

He felt the wards collapse one by one as the hit-wizards arranged by the Flamels expertly unravelled the layers of barriers almost seamlessly.

“It’s time. You ready?” Ivan asked just before the last ward was dismantled.

“I was born ready.” said Harry.

Harry closely followed Ivan into the manor grounds, where flashes of light lit up the otherwise darkened grounds. The hit-wizards under Ivan were ruthless and were not interested in taking anyone alive.  He could feel a couple of unforgivables sizzling past his senses. But he didn’t miss the opportunity to knock a few out by sneaking a couple of reductors in between battles.

Just as they reached the castle entrance, Ivan acted on his own.

“Lumos Maxima.”

A brilliant orb of light shot from his wand, soaring into the air like a miniature sun. The darkness recoiled, and the entire fortress was illuminated for a brief, blinding moment.

Chaos erupted. Death Eaters shouted orders, some shielding their eyes while others immediately began casting spells. Harry didn’t wait. He sprang to his feet, aiming his wand at the nearest group.

“Confringo.” Harry cast the spell.

The spell detonated against the rock wall beside three Death Eaters, throwing shards of stone and debris into the air. The Death Eaters were sent sprawling on the floor and moved quite a number of feet before they were promptly killed by Ivan’s men.

The adrenaline surged through him as he pressed forward. A jet of green light whizzed past his ear, so close he felt its heat. Another Death Eater appeared, wand raised, but Harry was faster.

“Sectumsempra.”

Blood sprayed as the Death Eater fell, clutching their chest.

Harry barely had time to catch his breath before three more figures emerged from the shadows. All three of them were promptly dispatched by a well-placed wide area exploding charm. The force of the explosion three the three Death Eaters against a wall, never to rise again.

They swept through the stronghold room after room. Unfortunately, there was no sign of Voldemort anywhere in the base, but they caught more Death Eaters than any day since the war started.

“Where is the Dark Lord?” one of the mercenaries shouted in the face of a young Death Eater while peeling the skin from the back of his hand.

Harry turned away from the desperate cries of the downed Death Eater and went with a couple of hit wizards into the manor's dungeon. There were a couple of guards guarding the dungeons, but Harry fell them with multiple stunners and exploding hexes.

Stepping over the downed Death Eaters, Harry clipped them with bonebreaker curses to ensure they didn’t rise up and make a fuss.

“There are prisoners in here.” one of the hit-wizards shouted.

Harry found Garrick Ollivander in one of the cells while the other hit-wizards helped the rest of the prisoners out of the cell and escorted them to safety.

“Thank Merlin!” Ollivander gasped when Harry broke into the cell and helped the old wandmaker out of the cell.

“Is that… are you Harry Potter?” one of the wizards rescued from the cells gasped in recognition.

Harry conjured a long rope and tapped his wand against it.

“Portus.”

There was a flare of green aura as the spell took effect before it died down, turning the rope into a portkey. He ensured the prisoners were whisked away from the manor to get preliminary treatment before being sent to St. Mungo’s hospital.

Harry continued to sweep through the manor in search of the Dark Lord, but there was no sign of the guy. But he did come across Theodore Nott, a fellow student in Hogwarts. The black-haired Slytherin was bound in chains and being escorted out with other prisoners by the hit-wizards.

“Where is Voldemort?”

“Do you think the Dark Lord shares his travel plans with me, Potter?” Nott asked rhetorically.

“I suppose not. Where are the rest of your family and Snape?”

“I don’t know.”

Harry got the feeling that Nott was not going to be cooperative. Though tempted to dip into Nott's mind, he decided to leave the interrogation to the aurors.

“Let’s take them away. There is nothing else for us to do.”  

Chapter 129: Back to Godric's Hollow

Severus stared at the devastation before his eyes and did his utmost to keep himself composed outwardly. In his mind, he couldn’t help but feel glee at the sight of the utter carnage that was the Nott Manor. The Nott family had their time under the sun, and he could say with some confidence that the world would be better off without the Notts.

However, he wondered what had happened to Theodore Nott. The boy was diligent in his studies but silent and withdrawn otherwise. But then again, the child came from a family of sycophants, so he couldn’t expect much from their progeny.

“How dare they!”

Severus flinched as the rageful screech of the Dark Lord reached his ears. It was followed by a scream from one of the Death Eaters as the Dark Lord subjected a random wizard to the Cruciatus curse. The fury of the Dark Lord was such that he could feel waves of dark magic emanating from the terrifying man. It was not the deep knowledge of the Dark Arts or the sheer power that made the Dark Lord terrifying. The ease at which the Dark Lord used the Dark Arts and how naturally the man wielded it made Lord Voldemort the most fearsome creature on the land.

But all that raw power was wasted on the Dark Lord, who had become more unhinged as days passed. He doubted he was the only one to notice this but fear kept all the Death Eaters in line.

Severus had to admit he was somewhat surprised Potter had maintained a relentless assault on the Dark Lord’s forces with ruthless precision. Dumbledore would’ve never stood for any attack that cost many lives and destroyed many families, even if those families were supporting the Dark Lord.

Severus noted with some approval that Potter showed no such considerations. In his mind, it was a welcoming change in the war and a change the Dark lord was struggling to cope with.       

The Dark Lord was accustomed to causing terror to his enemies, not the other way around.

The Ministry also played a part in the Dark Lord’s current predicament. Severus had to admit Madam Bones had the guts to take on the Death Eaters head-on. Between Potter and the Ministry, the strength of Death Eaters had significantly plummeted. Most were under Ministry custody, and some were outright killed. The harsh stance of the Ministry was widely criticised. However, Minister Bones not only managed to stay firm in her policies but also weather all the political pressure from the different factions within the Wizengamot. He didn’t know how this was possible as Wizengamot was ripe with factionalism, a fact the Dark Lord had used to his advantage in the past.

The Dark Lord was no longer as politically inclined or influential to manipulate the Ministry from the shadows. Such subtilities were alien concepts to the resurrected Dark Lord.

But the blow that came from the loss of Fenrir Greyback and the werewolves was the most significant blow the Dark Lord suffered. The fresh recruits of Death Eaters were nowhere near the skill or possessed the grit to seed terror into the wizarding community as the Dark Lord wished. So, this task was largely handled by Fenrir Greyback and his pack of rabid werewolves.

But Greyback was now dead, as were the most savage werewolves under the man’s thumb. They had the misfortune of crossing wands with Harry Potter in a raid of Hogsmeade, which was supposedly a distraction for negotiations with the Acromantulas nesting in the Forbidden Forest. Severus knew the reasoning was bollocks. If discretion was what the Dark Lord was after, it could’ve easily been accomplished without an attack on Hogsmeade.

Instead, the Dark Lord wanted to terrorise the village and cause all sorts of ruckus. The Dark Lord’s obsession with spreading terror had lost them the alliance with werewolves. Instead, the werewolves had turned on the Dark Lord’s forces and chose to capture Death Eaters from across wizarding Britain. The few vampire clans aligned with them were now pulling back from their alliance because the Dark Lord could no longer ensure peace between werewolves and vampire clans.  

The Dark Lord had ensured the cooperation of werewolf packs and vampire clans by brokering peace between the two factions. That deal was now in tatters after the death of Fenrir Greyback. Though he hated the werewolf with a passion, Greyback had the power and influence to keep the many werewolf packs working as a cohesive unit. That same ability of Greyback made Dumbledore’s efforts to pull the werewolf packs from siding with the Dark Lord.

But that was no longer a problem. While Severus would’ve loved to assign luck as the key factor in Harry Potter’s current advantageous position, the rational part of his mind recognised there were other factors. In his opinion, Dumbledore could’ve done the same if the Headmaster had been a bit more practical.

‘But of course, Albus had his principles.’ Severus thought with a mental scoff.

Those principles only ended up helping murderers, and the worst scum of the wizarding world was the Stark truth. It was the reason that emboldened many to join the Dark Lord once again. But new recruits were hard to come by with the recent merciless streak of the Ministry and Potter. After all, no cause could write away the deaths of dear ones in the family, especially in the close-knit family groups of purebloods.

‘At least the Ministry is correcting that mistake.’ Severus thought.

Severus immediately schooled his features when he saw the Dark Lord march out of their temporary stronghold near Glastonbury Tor.

“Let’s go, Severus.” The Dark Lord hissed, his amber eyes blazing with fury enough to burn the whole world down.

“Where are we going, my lord?” Severus asked softly.

“We are going to Godric’s Hollow. I’ll burn that accursed place to the ground.” The Dark Lord snarled.

“My lord, we have a plan. Let’s stick with that plan instead of changing our planned target.”

“Enough with the plans, Severus. None of my plans have gone right, thanks to that blasted boy. He is behind this all. He was the one to turn the day of my resurrection into a bloodbath which cost me my most competent Death Eaters.” Voldemort thundered with spittle flying from his mouth.

Severus was slightly surprised to get the confirmation from the Dark Lord about that incident in the graveyard. He suspected Potter was involved somehow, and he had said so to Dumbledore, but the Headmaster wouldn’t hear it. Just like the Headmaster had stubborn, bordering on suicidal beliefs about the goodness in pureblood lunatics following the Dark Lord, the man had the same outlook on Potter.

Somehow, ‘love’ was involved in all of this.

Whenever he brought up Potter’s change in attitude and possibly the boy's involvement in the graveyard massacre, Dumbledore always pivoted to Potter’s ability to love. Dumbledore believed that Potter’s ability to love would somehow disseminate into all his other actions and life choices. The Headmaster also had the quirk of bringing up his own case whenever that conversation was brought up. It was a strange justification to use, considering he was the cause of Lily’s demise and the tragedy that befell her family. It was true he took responsibility and desperately tried to save her and her family by immediately coming to Dumbledore with the information that the Dark Lord was targeting her child.

While his actions may have helped Lily and her family go into hiding, they ultimately resulted in the death of his oldest friend and her husband, leaving Harry Potter orphaned. The Dark Lord also killed other families because he informed the man of the incomplete version of the prophecy. All of those deaths were because of him, and not a day goes by that he curses himself for the choices he made.

But no amount of regret would absolve him of his crimes. He knew this for a fact, no matter Dumbledore's honeyed words of forgiveness. He knew in his heart that he didn’t deserve anything when he had caused such horrendous damage to his oldest friend and one true love.

Severus was prepared to face the consequences of his actions, and therefore, he said nothing further as the Dark Lord gathered all his forces to attack Godric’s Hallow. He waited patiently for an interval where he could find some privacy, and it came when the Dark Lord went away to gather the Dementors. In that brief moment of privacy, he waved his wand in a pattern familiar to most Order members.

“Expecto Patronum.”

A doe made of silvery vapour slipped out of the tip of his wand. He raised his palm, and the doe settled on his palm where he muttered the message for it to carry. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the doe away into the darkened night.

Severus watched his patronus guardian fly away with a contemplative look. He had sent the patronus straight to Kingsley Shacklebolt, the only one in the Order to take his message seriously and at least doublecheck to verify instead of dismissing the information entirely.

Now, all he could do was hope Potter was prepared to face the Dark Lord and fulfil the prophecy.

*****

Harry was peacefully asleep in his bed at Potter Manor when he was unceremoniously woken up by Dobby, of all people.

“What is it, Dobby?” Harry stifled a yawn as he got out of bed.

“Sir, there is Mr Volkov in your fireplace. He insists he needs to speak with you.” Dobby said in a rush, which made it slightly harder for Harry to follow.

“What did you say again?” Harry managed to mutter out while he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

“It’s is I, Ivan. You need to get a grip, Potter.” shouted a familiar voice from the fireplace.

Despite being under the grip of sleep, Harry managed to waddle his personal study and saw for himself the face of Ivan Volko sticking out of the flames in his fireplace.

“Why are you disturbing me this late in the night?” Harry tiredly asked while plopping himself into an armchair sitting conveniently close to the fireplace.

“It’s early morning.” Ivan corrected.

“Is it? I didn’t know because I was asleep like most normal people.” Harry glared at the man.

“We’ve got actionable intelligence that the Dark Lord is about to strike at Godric’s Hollow.”

Harry sat up straight at that particular news.

“How do you know?”

“The DMLE got tipped off from an unknown source. Kingsley Shacklebolt was the one to share the intel, and the Minister has marshalled all her forces…”

Harry didn’t hesitate to jump to his feet. This was a good opportunity, with the Ministry gathering their forces to confront Voldemort. He’d be a fool to waste such an opportune moment to finish off Voldemort for good.

“I’ll be ready in a short moment. I’ll meet you at the extraction point.” Harry said in a rush, not waiting for Ivan to complete.

“Dobby!”

His trusted elf was by his side immediately.

“Sir?”

“I’ll need coffee. Lots of coffee.”

“Right away, sir.”

The elf popped away, leaving Harry to prepare for the fight that was about to follow.

“Mr Potter.”

Harry was so startled by the sound he dropped the pair of basilisk hide boots he was holding.

“Mr Ollivander. I’m sorry if I woke you up.” Harry said, eyeing the battered man apologetically.

“No… no…” Ollivander waved dismissively from the doorway, “I wasn’t getting much sleep anyway. But I can’t help but wonder why the rush this early in the morning…”

A look of understanding flashed through the aged lines of Ollivander’s face.

“There has been attack.” Ollivander breathed deeply.

Harry understood the situation was delicate. He had allowed the old wandmaker to rest in his home because the man was suffering from long exposure to the Cruciatus curse. Most of Ollivander’s family were outside Britain, and they were hard to reach in a short time with the war raging. So, he took it upon himself to host the old wandmaker in his home.

“Very perspective of you. But don’t worry. Everything is under control. You just need to rest, and everything will be over soon.” Harry assured the man.

“No, you do not understand. I told him… I told him about the brother wand effect. He will be prepared.” Ollivander warned with a regretful look.

“I had no choice.” he whispered.

“Tom isn’t the only one prepared for this meeting.” said Harry, “Trust me, I’ve got this. If we’re all lucky, it’ll end here.”

A few minutes and three cups of coffee later, Harry joined the meeting point dressed for battle. He was in his basilisk hide armour, boots and even arm guards made of the best hide to get some quality protection from spell fire in case he was in a tight spot. The hit-wizards under Ivan’s command brought their own gear, mostly comprised of dragonhide armour and boots.

“Why did the Dark Lord change his plans? We knew he was planning a big attack on Diagon Alley.” Harry asked once he met with Ivan.

“You took out Rosier. It’s only natural for him to think his plans are compromised.” Ivan said with a shrug.

“He is lashing out.” Harry muttered.

Ivan chuckled as he collected a couple of rune balls and pinned them against his tactical belt.

“Something like that. I’d say he is barking mad and wants to wipe the very existence of you from the world.”

“The feeling is mutual.” Harry muttered.

“Yes, I got that feeling. That’s why we’ll not be pulling back on our spells. We go there to kill without hesitation. No more holding back or taking prisoners. Let’s end this fight today.”

Harry just nodded jerkily, not voicing his thoughts on the matter. While he had no qualms about killing Death Eaters, he only went for the extreme measures as a last resort. But he supposed this was a last resort.

“Potter, this is not the time to hesitate. We go in and kill anything wearing a mask and black robes,” Ivan said before they entered the battlefield.

“I know.” said Harry after taking a deep breath, “Let’s end this.”

*****

When Harry arrived in a swirl of colours twisting around him from the portkey magic, he was greeted by the sight of widespread destruction, screaming and a blazing inferno eating through the erstwhile peaceful streets of Godric’s Hollow. 

Harry had to deflect a chain of spells that came his way and provided ample cover for Ivan and his men to settle a defensible barrier to hide behind.

“Well, we are right in the middle of a fight. I thought you said we’d be far away from the fight, Frederick.” Ivan shouted over the screams and the roaring flames with a displeased frown while Harry took refuge behind the giant granite wall Ivan had made, strengthened by other enchantments.

“I’m sorry. It has to be some sort of interference. We were not supposed to be this far inside.” Frederick shouted back.

“Well, there goes our plan to sneak our way in and take out as many Death Eaters.”

“It doesn’t matter. We fight our way…” Harry trailed off as an unnatural chill settled in on the village.

“Oh, that’s not good.” Ivan muttered.

Harry noticed the fires raging around them get dimmer and a cold breath coming out of everyone. He stood up immediately and glared into the dark night, where he could feel the unnatural presence of the Dementors.

He slowly raised his wand with its tip, cackling with magical power.

“Tonitruum Fulminata.”

With a clap of thunder, a massive bolt of lightning snapped out of his wand, illuminating the night sky. Miniature arcs of lightning rained down the sky as thunderclouds formed overhead, hiding away the starry night. Unholy screams came from the darkness as the innumerable lightning bolts struck down the Dementors.

“Lightning to deal with Dementors. That’s a novel way of handling them.” Ivan gasped as he stood on shaken legs.

“Why do you think these creatures prefer to hide away in caves and castles? The Patronus charm can repel them, but this… this’ll destroy them for good.” said Harry.

“Huh! Good to know.” Ivan patted his shoulder.

“As you said, we fight to kill.” Harry grinned before focusing his attention on the spell.

One by one, he executed the Dementors with bolts of lightning, leaving nothing but smoking remains of their tattered cloaks and sometimes only ash. He strengthened the spell when he noticed some were fleeing the village to save themselves, but he directed the reach of the spell to strike them down as well.

When Harry felt the last Dementor was struck down, the air around him crackled with anticipation, heavy with a silence that felt poised to shatter. That brief moment of silence was broken when several distinct cracks of apparition reached his ears. He was ready with his wand and pointed at the new arrivals, but those turned out to be aurors.

“Harry! What’re you doing here?” Tonks was the first to notice him, and she ran towards him with a glare.

Before he could say anything, the ground beneath Tonks’ feet exploded violently. Harry put up a hasty shield to save himself from the debris. Tonks and the three aurors that arrived with her were thrown off their feet.

“Potter!” Voldemort hissed.

Harry found himself staring into the twin blazing red eyes.

“Riddle.” Harry greeted back, but that only infuriated the Dark Lord.

“You continue to meddle in affairs beyond even your comprehension, Potter," Voldemort hissed, his voice a sibilant menace. "You stand between me and my destiny.”

“What is your destiny? Scaring toddlers and being the villain in bedtime horror stories to young children?” Harry snarked with an amused look.

More cracks of apparition were heard, and this time, masked Death Eaters came, but they were immediately engaged by Ivan and his men.

“You know nothing, you insufferable brat.” Voldemort screamed while flicking his wand aggressively.

A serpentine flame erupted from Voldemort’s wand, curling and twisting into a blood-red serpent before racing towards Harry. Harry parted the air before him with a swift, fluid motion, creating a vacuum. A sphere of vacuum conjured by his will sucked away the flames, and then he pushed out with a telekinetic blast, which dispersed the remainder of the flames. The houses around him were flattened by the blast, and Voldemort was swept off his feet even though the Dark Lord had tried to shield himself.

“What’s the matter, Riddle? You’re already on the backfoot this early in the game.” Harry goaded slightly.  

The words barely left his lips when Voldemort’s wand lashed forward, emitting a burst of green light—the Killing Curse.

Harry swiped his wand, and the ground raised in front of him like a barrier, absorbing the Killing Curse. Upon impact of the spell, the rocky barrier shattered, but Harry was prepared for it. With a slight twist of his wand, he transfigured them into small metallic balls, which he banished straight towards Voldemort.

The Dark Lord hastily conjured a purple shield, but a few metal balls managed to sneak in. The rest were burned away by the shield charm. Voldemort tried to banish the metal balls that sneaked in, but they morphed into inflated metallic balls and exploded outwards. The shrapnel from the explosion bit into Voldemort’s body, making the Dark Lord howl in agony.

Harry batted away a curse that came at him from the side and retaliated with a blast of highly energised plasma from his open left palm. The Death Eater that dared to take a sneak shot at him was reduced to a glob of melted fat and bones.

“What is the matter, Riddle? Are you afraid to fight me when I’m grown up? Are you only comfortable waging a battle when I’m an infant?” Harry goaded, and just as he hoped, Voldemort became enraged.

Voldemort bellowed out in rage and conjured a sphere of dark energy between his free hand and wand. It cackled menacingly while swirling around with unstable magic.

“Die!” Voldemort yelled, unleashing the spell where serpentine tendrils of dark energy lashed out with venomous intent.

Harry immediately put up a shield, and everything before him went dark.

Chapter 130: Back to Godric's Hollow P2

"Harry Potter," Voldemort hissed, his voice slicing through the chaos of the battlefield like a blade. "The Boy Who Lived. How poetic that you should die here, where it all began."

“Oh, shut the fuck up, you whiny bitch!” Harry growled from behind the shield he put up as tendrils of dark energy tried to rip him to shreds.

As expected, Voldemort became enraged and screamed, followed by the Dark Lord’s magical attack intensifying. Harry grunted as his shield strained against the modified withering curse unleashed by the Dark Lord. Frankly, he was a bit impressed Voldemort could unleash such power without any consequences, considering the botched ritual and its aftereffects weighing down the Dark Lord.

However, when Voldemort was forced to pull back, Harry was given a respite. This was thanks to Ivan and some other hit wizards who engaged Voldemort directly after cutting down the less experienced Death Eaters. As Voldemort struggled to defend against around-the-clock spellfire from all directions properly, Harry took a breather.

Harry watched Ivan Volkov and his band of mercenaries create a ring of death around Voldemort. The Dark Lord fell into his usual style of throwing around Killing Curses, but it was a blessing to a dedicated lethal mercenary group. They were trained beforehand to tighten the noose around Voldemort and were intimately familiar with Voldemort’s tactics. They knew Voldemort leaned heavily on creating the fear of immediate death by throwing around Killing Curses. To combat this, Ivan’s men set up a masterful defensive barrier using transfiguration and conjured stone walls.

It was a combination of systematic defence and a barrage of exploding hexes that tore through Voldemort’s barriers and shields. On a dime, the battlefield was turned into a consistent hammering that Voldemort struggled to face. The Dark Lord was accustomed to people fleeing in fear when he used the Killing Curse and, therefore, scrambled to react to this turn of events adequately.

As Voldemort busied himself battling multiple hit wizards and mercenaries, Harry managed to track down Tonks and the other Aurors blown away by Voldemort’s initial attack.

“Tonks!” Harry rushed to her side, seeing her left leg bent at an odd angle while lying prone on the ground.

“I’m alright. It’s just that bastard clipped me with a blasting hex.”

“Your leg is broken. You need to get that fixed.” Harry said in a rush while using some detection charms to ensure Tonks was not suffering from any serious injury.

He was about to try his best to snap the bones back in place, but Tonks stopped him.

“No. It’ll be useless. I think I got two broken ribs as well and a concussion. Don’t waste your magic on me.” Tonks managed to mutter while holding her side with a wince.

“Then I will take you straight to St. Mungos.” Harry said, reaching out to take Tonks into his arms.

“No.” Tonks shook her head and pushed his arms away, “Stop worrying about me. I have survived far worse.”

“I wasn’t asking for permission, cousin.” Harry said before consuming Tonks in his spectral form before flying away from the area.

Once he was outside the wards, Harry set Tonks down and was about to call Dobby when Fakes appeared above him in a puff of flame. Before Harry could get a word out, Fawkes swooped down and disappeared with Tonks in a flash of flames.

“Huh!” Harry stared confusedly for a moment before regaining his composure.

With Tonks hopefully safe, he unholstered a Glock he had secured to his belt prior to his arrival in the village. He made sure the magazine was properly set and took the safety off. He had a nasty surprise set for Voldemort with the Glock. He cast the disillusion charm on the Glock before he turned his sight to the battlefield.

Gathering his magic, he twisted and turned the magical energy at the tip of his wand. He shaped it into a lance of pure destructive force.

Harry jabbed his wand, sending a wave of pure destruction.

“Haaaaa!”

With a thunderous crack and flash of light, the barrier surrounding a portion of the village shattered. With it, any sense of control the Death Eaters enjoyed crumbled before their eyes.

Harry assumed his spirit form and rushed towards Voldemort. As he flew back, he saw the carnage in Godric Hollow. Despite the Aurors’ timely arrival, the Death Eaters wreaked havoc on the village. When he finally reached the battlefield, he found Voldemort had discarded the tactics of throwing around the Killing curse left and right. Instead, the Dark Lord had summoned the hellish flames of Fiendfyre spell.

Harry fell right in front of Ivan and his men before the cursed fire could consume them. With a mighty wave of his wand, he sent out a telekinetic blast that pushed the cursed flames back a few feet. With a twist of his wand arm, he opened a tear in space which sucked in the cursed flames for good and left Voldemort gasping with nothing in between.

Harry’s eyes locked with the Dark Lord’s red ones blazing with anger and hate. Voldemort swung his wand, and a blood-red orb cackling with magical energy flew straight for him. Harry formed a dense layer of repelling force at the tip of his wand and, with expertise, deflected the spell to the side.

With a roar that’d put a full-grown dragon to shame, blood-red flames burst out of the ground upon impact. The intense heat from the spell was such that Harry was forced to put up a shield to repel the hot air. Harry retaliated with a chain spell of banishers and exploding hexes, forcing Voldemort to defend or evade. Harry kept up the pressure of a constant barrage of spellfire mixing in transfigured animals to hound the Dark Lord.

He conjured a dog to sneak in and attack Voldemort while peppering the lunatic’s shield with a barrage of spells.

Just as the dog managed to get close to Voldemort, he stopped the barrage of spells, allowing Voldemort to act against his conjured animal. Harry seized the moment when Voldemort dismissed the shield to banish the conjured dog. The Glock in his left hand fired a bullet, and his aim was true despite the distance.

Voldemort reeled back with wide eyes as the bullet punched straight through his chest.

Harry didn’t pause and fired two more bullets in quick succession, which tore through the chest of his most hated enemy. The fourth one he aimed at Voldemort’s head, but he missed that one. The fifth bullet was repelled as Voldemort wizened himself to raise a shield.

Seeing the shield protecting the Dark Lord, Harry threw away his Glock and gathered magic in the palm of his hand.

“You are a coward, Potter. Using muggle weapons against a wizard shows the depth of your weakness.”    

“This coming from the whiny bitch who set out to kill babies in fear.” Harry shouted back with a scoff.

“You….” Voldemort started to snarl but sputtered when a burning sensation overcame his body.

“I can’t hear you. Cat got your tongue?” Harry asked with a cruel smirk as he realised his plan worked splendidly.

Sure, he was confident he could take down Voldemort with his magical power alone, but why would he take the risk? So, he came prepared to tip the scales in his favour.

“If you haven’t realised it yet, those bullets were laced with Cyanide.” Harry crowed, taking great pleasure in his foe's wide, fearful eyes.

But that fear was smothered over by a confident smirk.

“I’m Lord Voldemort. I have defeated death long before you, silly child.” Voldemort laughed mockingly.

“Oh, you mean those little Horcruxes of yours. Twisted things, I must say.” Harry nodded with a smirk, seeing the dawning horror on Voldemort’s noseless face, “I’m afraid they’re all destroyed.”

“What!?” Voldemort shouted in fear.

“Oh, dear! It seems you have trouble hearing in this old age as well.” Harry said with faux concern.

Voldemort stumbled on his feet as he tried to exert his magical power to heal the wounds and purge the poison from his blood. But a dark tar-like substance leaked out of the wounds on his chest, which sizzled on contact with the ground.

Harry pointed his wand at the ground and sent out a pulse of magic. Two earthen hands rose out of the ground near Voldemort’s feet and caught the Dark Lord’s legs in a vice grip. Before Voldemort could do anything, the earthen hands crushed Voldemort’s legs. The twin snaps of bones could be heard across the now-silent battlefield.

“Ahhhhh!” Voldemort screamed to the heavens as his legs were crushed between transfigured rocks.

Voldemort’s eyes blazed with fury and pain as he raised his wand in Harry’s direction.

“Avada Kedavra!”

Harry was not taken by surprise as he was expecting something similar from a cornered animal like Voldemort.

“Confringo.” Harry retaliated.

The two spells collided right in between them with a bang. A strong explosion blew the ground apart, but after that, Voldemort’s spell was eviscerated. Harry's blasting hex struck Voldemort’s wand, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

The power behind Harry’s spell was such that Voldemort also lost two fingers from his wand arm. Black blood started to pour out of the mangled limb of the Dark Lord. He expected more raging from the Dark Lord, but none of that manifested, and the reason became pretty clear.

Voldemort was no longer capable of articulating his rage as Harry found the Dark Lord’s body convulsing violently. Potassium Cyanide quickly made its ‘magic’ work on his enemy, and Harry was treated to the wonderous sight of a kneeling, helpless Dark Lord.

Suddenly, Fawkes appeared in a flash of flame above his head, carrying the Sword of Gryffindor safely held in his golden talons. Fawkes released a soft trill before dropping the sword into Harry’s hand.

Harry used his magic to catch the sword and safely direct its handle into his hand. He was not idiotic enough to try his luck at catching the sword and getting nicked by the venom-coated blade. Soon after, Fawkes landed on his left shoulder.

“Strange. I was just thinking about conjuring a sword to behead this idiot. How did you know?” Harry asked, looking curiously into the golden eyes of Fawkes.

Fawkes sang a musical note and rubbed his soft head against Harry’s cheek.

“Oh, all right! Keep your secrets.” Harry grumbled before turning his attention to the prone form of the Dark Lord.

The man was going into shock and possibly already unconscious, considering the Dark lord’s eyes were closing.

“Well… I did offer you peace. Now, I offer you steel.”

Harry swung the Sword of Gryffindor with practised ease, and the rest was history.

*****

The hall was a cacophony of cheers and applause, yet Harry Potter felt strangely detached from all of it. He stood just beyond the grand double doors of the Ministry’s Atrium, his reflection in the polished brass candelabrums showing the reflection of his bright green eyes. He was no longer under the yoke of the prophecy, and the spectre of death hanging over his head was no longer there to haunt him. Despite putting up a brave face, he was always prepared to face the threat of Voldemort at any given time. But now, that was in the past.

The death of Voldemort had cooled things down in wizarding Britain. The few Death Eaters that remained loyal to the Dark Lord were captured and waiting for trial. The dark creatures aligned with Voldemort withdrew from the scene into the shadows. The Dementors were decimated, and the few that remained were getting hunted by the Ministry.

Overall, it was a peaceful week where Harry was only required to enjoy the summer holidays.  

“Harry?” Daphne Greengrass’s voice was soft yet commanding, cutting through the clamour beyond the doors.

She stepped closer, her emerald-green dress flowing around her like liquid silk. The flickering candlelight reflected in her pale blonde hair, giving her an almost ethereal glow. She looked at him, her gaze steady but filled with concern.

“They’re waiting for you.”

Harry turned to her, his lips curling into a joyful smile. He stood up from his seat and placed his hands on her waist.

“Are they?” Harry asked with a slight jitter.

Daphne’s expression softened. She reached out, her fingers brushing against his. The touch was light, tentative, but it sent a warmth coursing through him that had nothing to do with the enchanted candles overhead.

“You deserve this.” she said firmly. “You’ve given so much, Harry. It’s okay to let them honour you for it.”

“Hmm… I just feel somewhat underwhelmed, that’s all.” Harry murmured.

“Why? This is not the first time you’ve been honoured with an Order of Merlin.” Daphne looked curiously at him with her shining blue eyes.

He shook his head slightly, his brow furrowing.

“I don’t know, really. For a long time, killing Voldemort was the goal. But now that I have done it, I suppose I’m somewhat lost. It’s not something I expected to feel. I thought I’d be more excited or happy. Instead, I just feel… hollow.” Harry dropped his shoulders.

Daphne stepped closer, her other hand coming to rest on his arm.

“You’ll honour everyone who survived and died in the two wars by accepting this, Harry. You’re honouring what they fought for – what they believed in.” Daphne said earnestly while looking deep into his eyes.

He smiled at Daphne and nodded as some tension bled out from him.

“You look very beautiful today.” Harry murmured, toying with a loose strand of Daphne’s hair between his fingers.

“Of course I am. Someone has to look the part of a dignified aristocrat.” Daphne said with a faux pompous look.

“Are you saying I can’t pull that off? Need I remind you; you’re talking to an anointed King of Scotland.” Harry said with his chin raised.

Daphne laughed softly, a melodic sound that lightened the air around them.

“I humbly ask for your mercy, your grace. I shouldn’t have doubted your nobility.” Daphne gave him a mock bow, making him let out a soft chuckle.

Harry reached up to tuck a stray strand of hair behind Daphne’s ear. His fingers lingered, tracing the delicate curve of her jaw. Their lips met in a tender kiss for a brief time before pulling back to gaze into each other’s eyes. For a moment, neither of them spoke. The world beyond the doors faded into insignificance as they stood there, wrapped in the quiet intimacy of their shared understanding.

“What’re you two doing out there? Everyone is waiting?” Sirius hissed from the doorway.

Harry exchanged a grin with Daphne as they snapped out of their private, intimate moment.

“A moment please.” Harry told Sirius before returning his attention to the woman in his arms.

“Thank you,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “For being here. For… being you.”

Daphne’s breath hitched, her cheeks flushing a delicate pink. She leaned into his touch, her eyes fluttering shut for a brief moment before opening again to meet his gaze.

“Always,” she replied simply.

“I suppose we have that little puzzle to look forward to and our marriage.” Harry whispered.

“Really, Harry? Our marriage is only the second exciting thing?” Daphne asked with an arched eyebrow.

“What is marriage but a few nonsensical words and a party of food and wine? For all intents and purposes, we’re already married.” Harry tried to save face and escape the icy wrath of his girlfriend.

“You keep on dreaming and no funny business until we exchange vows.”

“Oh, come on! Don’t I get a reward for ridding us of the most dangerous Dark Lord?” Harry whined petulantly.

“No rewards until we are married. After that…” Daphne gave him a sultry wink, making Harry grin like a loon.

The sound of a throat clearing behind them shattered the spell. They turned to see Susan Bones, dazzling in blue robes, standing a respectful distance away.

“Sorry to interrupt,” she said, her delicate voice laced with amusement. “But the ceremony is about to begin.”

Harry and Daphne nodded, following their friend into the atrium, hand in hand for the ceremony. Together, they stepped through the doors, the roar of applause crashing over them like a wave. The telltale sound of the camera and flashes of light fell on them as they joined Minister Bones, Rufus Scrimgeour, Damien, Sirius and other Ministry officials on the stage. Minister Bones said something, addressing the crowd, but Harry didn’t keep track of what was said once his eyes fell on a familiar couple sitting inconspicuously in the crowd.

‘Perenelle.’ Harry thought with a frown.

He was once again reminded of his obligations to the Flamels. After all, they held their end of the deal by providing him the tools and manpower to destroy Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Even now, the mercenaries hired by the Flamels secretly dismantled Voldemort's entrenched sympathisers and his hardline policies. He suspected that was more for the agenda of Flamels, but he was nonetheless bound to profit from the decimation of such political opponents.

Minister Bones finished addressing the crowd before she called on Harry. He realised he had to say a few words, unlike the last time. There were more people in the atrium now that the war was over, and he happened to know there was international press covering the event.

“Brothers and sisters –” Harry started, his words reaching the far end of the atrium under the magnifying effect of the sonorous charm “– we are brothers and sisters born to mother magic blessed with her power. But like all power, some will use it for dark deeds. Our world was under the grip of one such dark man, ruled by greed and cruelty. Tom Riddle sought to subjugate us all, and many were his fell plans, no doubt. Many brave souls have valiantly fought against this dark spectre for decades with utmost dedication and self-sacrifice.”

“But for every dusk, there is a dawn. And this is the dawn, ladies and gentlemen. Through our relentless pursuit of freedom and perseverance, we have overcome the darkness that sought to shackle us. We have all struck the killing blow to the Dark Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. The Ministry, the Aurors, hit-wizards and even friends from beyond the shores of our home have enabled this victory. May the bonds of Magical Brethren remain strong evermore.”

Harry stepped back, and applause filled the atrium.

As Harry ascended the stage to receive the Order of Merlin from Minister Bones, he carried with him the quiet strength of his fiancé by his side. And for the first time in a long time, he felt like there was no weight on his shoulders.

‘I won.’ Harry thought as he grinned at the cameras with Daphne by his side.

Chapter 131: The Gate to Elysium

Potter Manor was eerily silent despite the revelry going around the rest of Magica Britain. Only the ruffling of parchments was heard in the otherwise silent chamber Harry was occupying.  

Harry stared closely at the Resurrection Stone as it was delicately placed into the ring band and pressed the holding arms against the stone. Once done, he poked the stone with his finger and ensured it was held tight. He used a sticking charm to keep the stone bound to the ring band for good measure.

With that done, Harry unceremoniously slipped the ring onto the ring finger of his left hand. The smooth black stone glinted almost ominously on his hand, and he felt a strange sensation go through his body. Before he could identify what it was, it slipped past his senses.

“Weird.” Harry muttered with a frown.

“I agree. This tablet is weird.” Perenelle agreed, her attention almost entirely focused on the stone tablet in her hand with the Patronus charm used as a visual medium to deconstruct the hidden map.

The clue on the tablet was just a key to unlock the map inscribed within it, but the map itself did not make much sense. The continents were all wrong, and it was as if someone doodled half asleep to draw some random lines and continental borders to generate a map within the tablet.

“I strongly believe Antioch Peverelle left this map as a practical joke.” Nicholas piqued up from the couch near the fireplace, nursing a glass of fine French wine.

“No.” Harry and Perenelle said in unison.

“Well, you have to concede this map doesn’t make much sense, Harry. There are no known continents looking like a jackfruit or an onion ring on our planet.” Daphne said with a sigh, dropping the parchments and old maps of the world drawn by wizards throughout the centuries.  

“Maybe it’s not a map of the world we know of.” Harry theorised with a thoughtful frown.

“What do you mean?” Perenelle asked with a frown.

“Elysium is supposed to be this magical place from where all magical creatures were born, right? Why can’t it be another planet?” Harry suggested.

“That’s a silly idea. We are the children of Terra. Our magical power is closely tied to our planet.” Perenelle said dismissively.

“Not exactly. Our magic is resonant with Earth, but it’s not just Earth that amplifies our power. The moon, other planets in our star system and even the stars amplify our power.” Harry argued, making Perenelle fall silent in contemplation.

When he looked at Nicholas, the old Alchemist also looked thoughtful, so he pushed on more confidently with his theory.

“Consider the werewolves. Their power is amplified under the full moon. The Vampires are weakened under the glare of our sun. The Merpeople are tied closely to Neptune. The Centaurs have their magic tied closely to celestial bodies more than our planet. I could go on and list more, but I believe the point is clear.”

“There are things I could say against such a theory, and I remind you that this is not the first time we’ve discussed this possibility.” Nicholas started, exchanging a look with his wife.

“Nicholas is correct.” Perenelle said, “We cannot access Elysium even if we have identified it as a planet. We don’t know where Elysium is in the cosmos, and even if we did, we have no way to reach said planet.”

Harry frowned as Daphne also concurred with the Flamels. With a sudden inspiration, he took the Invisibility Cloak and draped it over his shoulder while also taking the Elder Wand into his right hand. With three Deathly Hallows in his possession, Harry took the stone tablet into his hand and gazed upon it after channelling the ethereal light of the Patronus charm into his eyes.

The world suddenly shifted in his perception, and knowledge was inscribed deep into his mind. The tablet in his hand crumbled to dust, leaving Harry with a fine grain of sand and dust. But he was now holding what he sought in his mind.

“What was that?” Daphne moved to his side with concern.

“That was a strange bit of magic.” Harry said, blinking the spots away from his eyes. “The tablet had some sort of spell on it to inscribe a location in my mind.”

“Have you found it then?” Perenelle asked excitedly.

“I got a location, but I get the feeling it’s not the location of Elysium.” Harry said with a frown as he disseminated the knowledge inscribed in his mind to greater scrutiny.

“What do you mean?” Perenelle looked frustrated.

“Don’t you get it by now? It’s another clue that’ll take us on a merry chase. This is a waste of time.” Nicholas said with finality.

“No, I don’t think that’s it. I believe there is one more test, and I must complete it to gain access to Elysium.”  said Harry, but he could see Daphne wasn’t convinced.

“Are you sure? Maybe this is not worth the effort.” Daphne said with some concern.

“No. I feel like I have to do it.” Harry said, keeping his thoughts on the matter private in his mind.

He had a nagging feeling about what was going on. He had his suspicions and wanted to pursue this recent clue to confirm his suspicions on the matter. The name Moros and the strange language used by Melrin were all clues to a fact. He had not explored that until now because he was otherwise engaged with Voldemort.

“All right then.” Daphne sighed, knowing he wouldn’t back down once he made up his mind, “Where are we going then?”

Harry walked towards the table where a most recent map of the world was sprawled out. His eyes fell on a lengthy mountain range that gave the Atlantic Ocean its name. Harry looked at the other three people in the room to make his declaration.

“We’re going to Africa.”

******

Harry listened to the Wizarding radio as it covered the celebrations in Diagon Alley. The Ministry decided to throw a party to honour those who lost their lives to the war in the main trading hub of Magical Britain. Madam Bones declared a week of celebration, inviting even foreign ministries to participate. It was a sound move, and Harry was supposed to make an appearance once in a while to keep the excitement going.

But today, he had other plans.

The fireplace in his study flared up with green flames, and Daphne stepped out of it dressed in a light green dress.

“Well, I’m right on time.” Daphne muttered, cleaning the soot that clung to her dress with a swish of her wand.

“Uh huh, but that dress won’t do.” said Harry.

“Why not?” Daphne asked with an arched brow.

“Because we’re not going for a picnic. There is a suit on my bed. Wear it if you want to come.”

He thought Daphne would protest, but she huffed and went straight into his bedroom to change into the suit he bought for her.

“Is this really necessary, or are you just using this as an excuse to get me into tight, muggle clothes?” Daphne asked from behind the closed doors.  

“Who said it can’t be for both?” Harry smirked, listening in on the sounds his fiancé made while struggling to get into the wetsuit he bought for her.

When the door of his room opened, Daphne stepped out wearing a fitting black wetsuit that hugged her curves.

“Why aren’t you in one of these if it’s necessary?” Daphne asked, some pink colouring her cheeks as he ran his eyes over her body.

“Who said I’m not?” Harry pulled his t-shirt down from his neck to show the black wetsuit underneath.

“Then why are you wearing pants and I’m not?” Daphne asked with a glare.

“My fun.” Harry grinned while Daphne tried to swat his arm.

Harry caught the offending limb and pulled Daphne into his lap. For once, Daphne didn’t protest his forwardness and pushed her lips against his taking the initiative. Her arms were thrown around his shoulders, her fingers threading through his hair. He held her closer, taking in her scent while he took his sweet time enjoying the taste and warmth of her lips.  

‘I suppose she doesn’t mind giving me a reward.’ Harry thought with a goofy smile.

It gave him the confidence to wander his hands along the side of her body. Just as his hands climbed over her waist, the fireplace flared with green flames.

“Harry.”    

The sound of his grandmother snapped Daphne and Harry to part and his hands to freeze.

“Oh, for the love of Merlin, why?” Harry whined.

Daphne giggled at his antics; her cheeks flushed red, and her cherry-red lips quirked with a beautiful smile.

She quickly gave him a peck on his cheek and whispered,

“Another time.”

Then, she pulled back to stand on her own feet while Harry let out a breath of frustration to follow her.

Harry raised the wards to allow Perenelle and Nicholas entry into his home. Together, they took portkey straight to Africa.

******

Some sheep were grazing leisurely under the glare of the sun when the space distorted around them with bright rainbow colours. They looked up only for a moment before scattering in all directions as their instinct to survive kicked in.

Harry landed on his feet and nearly stumbled, but he managed to catch himself. He caught Daphne by the waist when she landed on her feet. The Flamels somehow managed to land gracefully despite the turbulence.

“So, we’re in Africa. Where to now?” Perenelle asked immediately.

Harry looked around and found the mountain he knew to be a landmark. The cave systems he saw in his mind were right outside the northern city of Taza, close to the Middle Atlas Mountain ranges.

He took out four brooms from his mokeskin pouch and handed them to everyone. Daphne, being not a fan of broomsticks, chose to fly with him instead of taking one for herself.

“Follow me.”  

Harry kicked off from the ground while Daphne hugged him for dear life. His Firebolt took them on a joy ride across the valley. Nicholas and Perenelle chased after them, and they went on a steep ascent, passing above the Atlas mountain ranges until Harry finally found the cave systems in his mind.

“There!” Harry pointed at the right cave before pulling into a dive.

“We need to go into that?” Daphne asked hesitantly, eyeing the steep cave with apprehension as they set their brooms outside the cave.

The sun dipped low over the rugged peaks of the Atlas Mountains, casting long, jagged shadows across the rocky terrain. Harry stood at the mouth of the cave, his wand gripped tightly in his hand. The air here was cool, tinged with the earthy smell of moss and damp stone. Behind him, great gales whispered across the mountain slopes, but before him loomed the dark tunnel that legend promised would lead to Elysium.

“There is a steep tunnel that goes some 2000 meters long with a large underground river at the bottom. We’ll have to trek for a few meters on foot to reach the mouth of the tunnel.” Harry explained.

“So, we’ll need the brooms.” Perenelle said with a long-suffering sigh.

“I’m afraid so.” Harry nodded.

Together, they trekked through the rocky terrain of the cave for a few minutes. Their dragonhide boots allowed them to traverse the rocky terrain without injury. The cushioning charms and other assorted spells that regulated body temperature and such comforts made their journey more friendly. They finally reached the mouth of the tunnel.   

“Brooms?” Daphne said, looking the least bit happy to continue their journey on brooms.

“It’s either that or we climb down the tunnel with a harness.” Harry said with a pointed look.

“Brooms it is.” Daphne said with a sigh.

Once again, Daphne was forced to slip behind him on the Firebolt.

“Hold on tight.” Harry said as he raised the broom to hover above the mouth of the tunnel before diving straight in.

A pulse of light blasted out from the tip of his finger, lighting up the whole tunnel.  A ball of light formed before him and fell straight down, lighting Harry’s way forward. The tunnel was steep and narrow, forcing Harry to duck and manoeuvre around sharp outcroppings. His Lumos spell cast a pool of light ahead, illuminating strange etchings on the walls as he went deeper. Some were runes he vaguely recognised, and others were pictorial depictions of creatures—serpentine beings with elongated limbs and glowing eyes. The deeper he ventured, the more oppressive the silence became, broken only by the howling air in his ears and the occasional drip of water.

The tunnel gradually widened, the air growing cooler and more humid. The sound of rushing water reached his ears, faint at first, then growing louder with every step. He finally emerged into a cavernous chamber, its ceiling lost in shadow. Before him, an underground river cut through the bottom pit with a large rock at the river’s centre, its surface shimmering with an unnatural silver light.

Harry pulled off the dive and gracefully landed on the rock. The Lumos spell floated above him, lighting the tunnel. Soon, he was joined by Perenelle and Nicholas Flamel.

“From here on out, we’ll have to swim through the river to reach that rock where a small tunnel leads to a different chamber.” Harry said, pointing to the tunnel's far end, where a pitch-black boulder stood apart from the rest.

Together, they plunged into the river with a Bubblehead charm and other temperature-regulating charms to weather the river. Harry led the way forward with a ball of light floating inside the river. He used the repelling charm to ward off the river's current as all four of them swam to the other side of the tunnel. Once they traversed the underwater tunnel, they found an open chamber with breathable air at the end of the tunnel.

Harry was the first to break out of the water into the land. His eyes finally fell on a large obelisk made entirely out of smooth silver metal, with its tip nearly touching the rocky ceiling. When his two feet were firmly planted on the same land the obelisk was standing on, Harry felt a hum of magic in the air. It was as if a beacon resonating from the basilisk was calling to the deepest parts of his psyche.

He absently applied a cleaning charm, which took off the water clinging to his body and moved forward without waiting for anyone else towards the obelisk. The obelisk, in return, started to hum to life with each of his steps forward. Several streaks of light shot out of the obelisk and fell on his head. Harry instinctively raised a shield which pushed away the streams of light from touching his body.

The obelisk hummed almost eerily, and he got the feeling it was somehow not trying to harm him. This was the point where he had to take a leap of faith. The beams looked innocuous, and his senses did not detect any hostile intent. When he looked closely, the beams felt like a detection charm.

He removed the Hallows from his mokeskin pouch so that the beams could detect them. After all, the clue called them transcendent keys.

‘Here goes nothing.’ Harry thought before dismissing the shield and allowing the beams to scan him.

The beams scanned his body from head to toe and even the Hallows. Harry kept his Occlumency shields up when he noticed the beams take a particular long interest on his head. He also felt a subtle pinprick sensation behind his eyes when the beams passed along his forehead and eyes.

‘Is this thing trying to read my mind?’ Harry thought.

Harry, being the cheeky bastard he was, started to project some comical memories into the surface of his mind. They were fake memories and fake thoughts he manufactured on the dime.

The beams abruptly cut off, and he felt a shield sprung up around him. Harry turned abruptly to look back, only to notice an energy shield was now raised behind him, separating him from Daphne and the Flamels.

“Harry!” Daphne shouted in alarm.

She started throwing blasting charms at the shield to no avail. The shield remained intact and absorbed any magic thrown at it.

Suddenly, a projection of a man in a grey cloak flickered into existence before the obelisk.

“I’m Moros, sometimes known as Myrddin or Merlin. If you have managed to activate the obelisk, it means you have met the evolutional criteria to unleash its full potential. The obelisk holds the key to unleash the true power of the Hallows.” Moros said as the obelisk started to unravel before Harry’s eyes.

As the silver metallic surface rippled and pulled back against the ground, he found a crystalline structure within. Within it was a map of the entire planet etched on the crystal surface, with three distinct colours dotting the continents.

“It gives you the power over life itself. It’s for you to decide who is worth living on this planet. The green represents all magically enhanced creatures, both humanoid and nonhumanoid. The blue represents all non-magical animals in the world. The red represents all non-magical humans. Once command can wipe out an entire species, the rest will bow before you.” Moros said almost mechanically without a hint of emotion.

“Do it!” Perenelle crowed. “Your destiny is to destroy the muggles. This is what you were born for. Wipe this world clean of their polluting presence.”

Harry couldn’t help but snort at Perenelle’s hatred for muggles. It was not the muggles’ fault that the wizards chose to hide instead of fight for the land and power. He had shown it was possible when he was pushed back in time. The failures of wizards were theirs to live with. Sadly, Perenelle was in denial of this reality.

“No!” Nicholas shouted over his wife. “We do not know what this thing will do. How do we even know this thing is speaking the truth?”

“Well, we can find out now. Do it, Hary. Fulfill your destiny.” Perenelle said earnestly.

Harry’s eyes fell on Daphne’s to see what she had to say.

“No.” Daphne mouthed him.

Harry smiled at her before turning back to stare at the projected figure and then at the crystalline pillar before him. Coming to a decision on the spot, he gathered magic into his hand and started preparing it for a spell.

“No being should have such vast power over life and death.” Harry said before he unleashed the spell on the crystal pillar.

The plasma he gathered in the palm of his hand streamed out almost silently and blew the crystal pillar away. The power of the spell was such only a few half-melted pieces of crystals remained littering the ground. The rest were instantly vapourised.

“No!” Perenelle shouted with a crazed look in her eyes, “What did you do?”

Nicholas held back his wife from doing anything that she’d later regret.

“Well, this was a giant waste of time.” Harry snorted before turning his back on the melting crystals.

The shield parting him from Daphne collapsed, and his fiancé rushed to hug him.

“Thank you for doing that.” Daphne said with a gasp of relief once she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him dearly.

Harry felt some relief at the validation he received from Daphne. He let out a sigh of relief as her warmth comforted him.

“Of all my creation, only you have shown the wisdom to identify the trappings of unchecked power.” Moros spoke once more, his voice echoing in the chamber.

The ground beneath them shook, making Harry and Daphne break apart and stand at the ready for any funny business.

“Look!” Daphne pointed at the ground as a cavity started to form where the obelisk once stood.

The ground parted, and a huge ring started to rise, along with a dialling device. Harry’s eyes widened as his suspicions were proven right. He was quite familiar with the huge ring-like object and the dialling device with some familiar symbols of Moros’ language. A small obelisk also rose up with a Lantean Repository on it.

‘Oh my god!’ Harry thought with his mouth agape.

“It’s true that one being should not hold the power over life and death. It’s also true that one species must not hold that same power and authority in the universe. You’re all children born out of my blood, destined with a noble purpose. It’s your destiny to defend this universe from the unchecked ambition and greed of an enemy so dangerous and vile.” said Moros while the obelisk powered up with the repository glowing with blue light.  

“I sense that your mind and body are now strong enough to receive the knowledge and the tools necessary to protect this world and many other worlds from an enemy even I failed to defeat. Take this knowledge I offer from the Repository and do what you think is right. The doors of Elysium are now open to you and those you deem fit.” Said Moros.

The giant ring started moving with different symbols lighting up on the dialling device. With a whoosh, the ring activated, making everyone jump at the strange sound and the rippling effect it produced upon activation.

“What is that?” Daphne asked in awe.

“An event horizon made through a tear in space-time.” Harry absently said as he eyed the wonder before his eyes.

“What should we do?” Daphne whispered.

Harry looked at the Lantean Repository and made a split-second decision. While he was apprehensive about turning his brain into mush, he was confident his proficiency with the Mind Arts would aid him in properly disseminating the knowledge within the Repository safely into his brain.

He placed his face into the Repository without any hesitation and welcomed the packets of information bled through his eyes into his brain. And with it, he knew that his story was far from over. If he thought the rest of his life would be spent bitterly fighting it out in the political arena of Wizengamot, he was wrong. He had a far better future to look forward to, and it made him giddy.

*******

Alternate Reality (Year 1943)

Queen Elizabeth Targaryen stared at the rising sun from her room’s window and marvelled at the peace and warmth it brought to her being. The last few weeks were hectic. The empire that had conquered all known lands on the planet was no more. In its place, the Federation of Terra has emerged as the singular world government.

It was a significant change brought forth by necessity and new discovery. The ruling format set forth by Titus Targaryen was no longer feasible. It had only brought infighting and deep-seated ambitions to tear the Targaryen family apart. It was said Emperor Titus thought of bringing stability and an end to ambitions within the family by expanding the borders of the Scottish Empire. If anything, ambitions only grew within her family.

Perhaps she was being a little naïve in making such judgements on her ancestor. No doubt, Titus must’ve known ambitions would only increase in time. He might’ve thought his descendants would be smart enough to weed out the worst within the family.

Unfortunately, such high expectations were way off the mark. Courtly intrigues and political power plays were not a strong suit of the Targaryen emperors and empresses that followed Titus. Targaryen princes and princesses were left unchecked, and they went around the world, conquering lands and peoples in search of glory, power, and wealth. When there was no place to conquer in the world, they turned on each other.

The Targaryen Civil War of 1890 had a real chance of destroying the empire. It was a few good people and luck that managed to keep the empire together. The discovery of Merlin’s hideout in Glastonbury Tor was one of the first incidents that showed they were not as alone as they thought in the cosmos. Then, the discoveries in Egypt, unearthing parasitic beings that dared to style themselves as gods, made it necessary for the empire to hold together. This led to a worldwide hunt for more of these parasitic beings and their remnants, if any.

Elizabeth had nightmares reading the reports about these serpentine creatures. Two of their kind were captured from Egypt, and another was captured from China. All three were prisoners for a short while until their existence was no longer useful to the empire. From these serpents, they unearthed more secrets of the stars and the many civilisations that spanned across multiple planets.

When it became clear that the threat the Goa’uld posed was far greater, it became a unifying force. The unearthing of the Stargate and the consequent build-up of an orbital defence and fleet was quick to follow.

“My queen.”

Elizabeth turned away from the window to look at her secretary.

“Eleana.”

“The excavation team has returned. It was a success.”

“I see.” Elizabeth expertly hid her excitement at the news.

She knew how important the excavation was in Antarctica. The Lantean orbital defence system was discovered in the icy continent. For a time, they had thought of keeping it in Antarctica, but the status of Antarctica was in flux. As the only continent to remain unclaimed by any of the Targaryen princes, Antarctica’s status was about to be settled in a conference next month with a full senate hearing. So, before anything could be settled, she wanted the orbital defence platform to be safely kept in Scotland under her dominion.

House Targaryen might’ve splintered, but the true dragons were still those with Scottish blood. That would not change no matter what the up-jumped Germans, French and Koreans thought of themselves.

THE END

AN: The story will continue in the Stargate Universe.

The sequel, Pax Elysia, will begin soon.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of The Lion Cub