AN: This chapter was difficult to write as well as edit. I'm attempting a different approach to this story and that means I'm not quite in the "flow" of writing it as I would be one of my others.
Snaperipper - Snape isn't going to be a hero in this story but he isn't evil for the sake of being evil.
geetac - This story isn't for the faint of hearts.
Bearmauls - I went back over the first chapter and couldn't believe how sloppy it was compared to what I've been putting out. I'm actually accepting cliches in this story to see how I can put different spins on them so hopefully they won't be that off putting.
With all that said, here's chapter two!
His Mother's Son
6th June, 1996
Fate and Destiny are finicky and demanding mistresses. They allow Free Will to influence the lives of their Chosen yet force the resolution of their Will without any mercy to the poor mortals involved. The end of a civilisation will always come. A son will always be the death of his father and husband to his mother. The end of some families and the rise of others are brought about through pain and blood.
Fate and Destiny are never to be denied no matter the actions of Man.
Harry Potter was proclaimed to have the power to vanquish his Destiny-sworn enemy and Fate knew that magical potential was all the Wizarding World cared about. So She took action when the soul shard that Dumbledore bound into the infant Harry's scar began to feed off his mind and magic. Fate boosted the baby's magic to compensate for what was being stolen and sharpened the potential of his mind in order to fight the horrible clouding effects of the leech. When the same wizard then bound Harry's magic, Destiny responded by increasing his core by the same amount that had been stolen. And finally, when the sacrificial protections of Lily Potter were butchered to create a static ward around a Muggle home that used the infant Harry as its living anchor stone, Fate demanded that his magic be capable of recharging at the same rate it was being stolen.
Harry, for all the disadvantages put upon him in the days after becoming an orphan, was still fated to be the Dark Lord's equal.
Fourteen Years later and Free Will once more derailed things, only this time falling in Harry's favour. His ritual was designed to strip away the weaknesses he had been forced to shoulder and it did exactly that. They did nothing to remove Fate and Destiny's little 'extras'.
But, like many things in Harry's life, this positive was to be paid in suffering.
Moony, ever the studious Marauder, had taken a measurement of Harry's magic in order to calculate both the intensity of the ritual and how much pain it would put his cub through. This miscalculation would be the werewolf's biggest regret until his dying day.
The ritual first attacked Harry's scar and the binding that held Riddle's soul piece to his mind. A pressure quickly built up above Harry's eyes as pure magical restraints tied him to the altar in order for the thrashing not to throw him off. The build up was quick, a painful wrenching that had him ready to be sick, and then the most famous scar in the Wizarding World burst open to expel a dark, corrosive cloud. The added healing runes took effect and the powerful ritual ripped apart the foreign magics to use their energy to heal the damage left behind.
By this point Harry's world had become nothing but pain. He wouldn't know that the shard had screamed in infinite agony as its dark magic was reworked to heal mental scars while repairing and strengthening the Occlumency shields Severus Snape had wantonly destroyed.
A physically felt snap of magic was quickly followed by a large boom of energy that caused the entire Manor to violently shake. The bindings around Harry's core had been viciously torn apart. His body was surrounded in a bright aura that cycled through every conceivable colour and there wasn't enough air in his lungs to scream. The healing runes took hold of Dumbledore's strongest spell and reworked it for a new purpose. The loyalty, personality and mind-altering potions that flooded Harry's body were forced out of his pores. Purple, brown and yellow puss bubbled as the raw energies vaporised the poisons moments after they were flushed.
The second and far more recent curse scar carved into Harry's right hand by an insidious Blood Quill began to weep. Corrupted blood flowed out of the reopened wound until its effects had been drained from his spirit. The hated words rippled, shifting form as they moved to his inner wrist, and rewrote themselves to read Will it Be, So Mote it Be. These new words glowed Avada green and were powered by the Harry's mental strength in surviving the darkness of his life. They would be a permanent testament to his refusal to break.
The ritual poured Harry's now released magic back into his body. It caused broken bones to shatter and old wounds to reopen in order to rebuild him from the ground up. For Harry had made one slight mistake in his reworking of the ritual, one mistranslation of a rune that would change everything. Instead of merely healing, the rune in question also meant a complete rebirth. And with the inclusion of the Adoption Potion, Harry's body would never be the same again.
The raw energies only increased in power and the room was filled with arcing flares of raw magic as the ritual turned its focus towards retaking the Blood Wards. Harry, so lost in the blinding agonies of being reborn, had no idea that his body had began to float above the altar, nor that blood was seeping from his eyes, nose and mouth.
Hedwig, his oldest and most dearest friend, could stand the pain of her wizard no longer. She launched herself from the safety of Ramses' shoulder and dived into the thick maelstrom of magic. The beautiful snow-white owl cared nothing for her own health even as the Wild Magic looked to destroy her. She landed high on her wizard's chest and nuzzled against his blood-soaked cheek, giving him a loving hoot of comfort as her life energy almost immediately drained by the hungry ritual.
The watching Ramses could do nothing for his Master nor his Master's familiar. The elf was frozen in place with fear, forced to helplessly watch with tears falling freely at his Young Master's bravery. He started to wring his hands together as he felt a tension begin to fill the room and the elf wondered if the protections carved into the Manor's very structure would hold against what was happening. The air grew heavy as the ritual took hold of Harry's deep link to the Blood Wards and pulled.
There was a great deal of magic surrounding Privet Drive. The most powerful were those blood based that Dumbledore had perverted yet they were not alone. Other magics, some were placed by the Chief Warlock himself, some by the Ministry after Harry's address became known to those in power, hung over the street like a watching vulture. There power was nothing compared to that which guided the ritual. All collapsed inward in a rush of magic that caused Number Four to implode. The backlash would send both the Headmaster of Hogwarts and the Ministry into fits trying to contain the situation and hunt for the Boy-Who-Lived.
Albus Dumbledore had been lazy in linking his other wards directly to the Blood Ward and the Ministry had followed without even checking what was already there. When the ritual wrenched the Blood Magic back to where it was supposed to be, it ended up pulling the rest along for the ride. The result was a wave of intense magic that arrived at the Manor with such force that the aura surrounding Harry burst into a white hot flame. It was pure Wild Magic, undiluted by mortal limitations. It was a sight not seen since the High Elven-Wizarding Wars.
Yet there was still one last part to the ritual that no one considered. The piece of the equation of Harry's surviving the Killing Curse that no one had understood.
The blood protections, the very reason Harry lived that Halloween, were based off the blood, magic and soul of Lily Potter. When Harry drank the Adoption Potion he had willingly opened up his blood, magic and soul to take in a deeper connection to one who loved him. While this was meant to be Sirius, the blood protections of Lily Potter had their own idea.
The re-birthing flames consumed the bodies of Harry and Hedwig. Harry's grew taller and took on the naturally athletic look of the Blacks. The features that had once been the spitting image of James Potter forever shifted. His cheekbones rose, sharpening to be more aristocratic, yet there was a difference compared to the heartthrobs of either James Potter or Sirius Black. Harry's features took on a slightly feminine slant that better fitted his piercing Avada eyes. The uncontrollable raven Potter hair grew out in Black waves to reach his shoulders and then lightened until the locks were a dark crimson. Now the name on everyone's lips when they saw him would not be the Marauder Prongs but that of his wife.
A second mark appeared on Harry's inner arm to cover the area that would mirror the Dark Mark. A raven in mid flight with four words written around it in the elegant cursive script of one Lily Potter née Evans. The words Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus – Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon – gleamed with its own magical light and was her personal mark of love to the son she died for.
The magical flames faded as quickly as they had appeared and Harry unconsciously fell onto the silver platter. The resulting clang snapped Ramses out of his daze and the frantic elf quickly entered the room to make sure his young Master still lived. The ritual was over but its magic held Harry in a status that only ended when Ramses carefully took up the long ago dropped holly wand and used it on the deactivation rune.
To the elf's huge relief Harry immediately took a deep, shuddering breath. The movement jostled Hedwig's charred remains and the burnt carcass cracked and crumbled into black ash to reveal a very small and fluffy baby owl. The small bird shook itself down in an attempt to free itself of its own remains.
"Master Harry bes very happy to know Miss Hedwig bes alive." Ramses sigh in relief at the wide-eyed chick, not even trying to understand how she was alive after everything that had happened. He hated the thought of his Young Master feeling the grief of his familiar's death. The bird's weak trill was both regretful and determined, telling the elf that she would easily do the same if her wizard needed her. Ramses nodded and gave her a sad smile, completely believing the magical bird. "Now Ramses bes looking after both Master Harry and Miss Hedwig. Ramses bes making sure both healthy."
The elf carefully used his magic to levitate the two off the alter and manoeuvred them through the Manor. The walk took on the feel of an honour procession as the other Potter elves appeared to pay their respects to their great Young Master. They had all felt the incredibly magic the ritual had released and had feared the worst. It was only Ramses promising to get Harry help that eased their worries.
The loyal elf tucked his Young Master into bed and then created a small nest on the bedside table in order for the baby Hedwig to watch over her wizard. Ramses was about to pop away when Harry finally stirred.
"Ramses..." He managed to croak, not even opening his eyes. "Madame Bones...the package..."
"It bes done, Master Harry. You bes resting now." The Head Elf promised even as Harry slipped back into unconsciousness. He put a ward over the bodies of both his charges in case something happened while he was away and then vanished in a slightly rush of air.
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oOoOo
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Madam Pomfrey was a caring soul. She had been an emergency trauma Healer during the first Blood War without giving up her job as Hogwarts medi-witch and there had been many times when only a brief nap in her office and carefully timed Pepper-Up Potions were how she remained on her feet. Yet in all her time treating injuries none of her patients had caught her attention in the way one raven-headed boy had. It wasn't the number of times she had treated Harry Potter that was extraordinary. After all, she'd certainly seen some patients far more often than she had him. No, it was the severity of his injuries and the stoic manner in which he bore them that had created the opening for him to worm his way into her heart.
They had shared banter between healer and patient when his need to be doing something meant he tried escaping her domain. They had even shared smiles and laughs with no one else around when his guard dropped and he allowed his humour to peak through. And, worst of all, there had been the horrible times when a nightmare would cause Harry to cry out in a voice that always chilled her soul.
Poppy knew Harry had been abused. The scars and deep medical scans showed it but it was the results of her more potent potions that proved this hard fact. Some of them had caused the poor boy to slip into drug-induced flashbacks of his childhood that always brought tears to her eyes. Those nights usually saw Poppy Pomfrey wanting nothing more than to use all her medical knowledge to make those bastard Muggles pay for hurting such a sweet child.
Oh yes, she was well aware of the horrors of Harry's home life. Just as she was also powerless to do anything about it until the poor boy took those first steps alone. Wizarding Britain still saw children as unable to handle their own care and as such, and because of her Healer oaths, Poppy was forced to only talk about a student's long-term health issues with their parents or guardians. If they were the ones causing the harm then it was to the student's Hogwarts Head of House that she was allowed to turn to.
But Harry was in a difficult situation. Just as being Muggle-raised not Muggle-born meant their society treated him as though he had a full Wizarding upbringing when he obviously didn't, so too did the fact that Harry's guardian was Albus Bloody Dumbledore trap them both. Since Dumbledore wasn't the one hurting Harry, he was the only one she could go to about Harry's abuse.
Each time she raised the issues the damnable man had promised to sort them out and each September she would see the boy underfed and weak from whatever the creatures had put him through outside of her care.
If that wasn't enough she had caught a satisfactory gleam in the man's twinkling eye during some of their talks. In her darkest moments,Poppy had wondered if the only reason she hadn't been Obliviated of the information was that all healers had their minds protected from such action.
Almost from her first year as a medi-witch she would habitually go through her files on the troubled students. It usually took the first few weeks of her summer with most of the time taken up by emotionally recovery before moving on to the next hurt babe. She would lock the Hospital Wing down and meticulously make notes on each one, working out what had been done and what was still needed to be – and what should not be - done for their continuing mental and physical health. Each summer she would rehash the notes and sent an updated copy to her solicitor with the express instructions to be forwarded to Amelia Bones if something should happen to her.
If it was the last thing Poppy Pomfrey did in life it would be to make sure her children were protected. The irony of life had it that she was going through Harry's file when Ramses appeared in her office.
"Hogwarts bes telling Ramses that Miss Healer want to protect Master." The elf said, not caring that he surprised her enough to make her squeak. "Ramses know Hogwarts wise castle but Ramses not care. Ramses need to make sure Miss Healer bes on Young Master's side."
Poppy was taken aback by the determination and rage she saw in elf's face. She knew without a doubt that the elf would do whatever it thought was best for its master.
"Who is your master, Ramses?" She asked with dread filling his stomach at someone being hurt bad enough for an elf to act the way this one did. The elf didn't reply but she caught he's eyes darting towards the open file her hand was resting on. "Is your Master hurt?"
A click of Ramses fingers had the letter she had been writing to her friend in his hand. Poppy couldn't react in time to stop him from reading it and she immediately wanted to curse the elf for its actions. What stayed her hand was the relief flooding his eyes and the tightness in his shoulders fading away.
"Ramses sorry for questioning Miss Healer and for not believing Hogwarts." The elf said weakly, handing back the note without meeting her angry stare. "Miss Healing bes trying to do what's best for Young Master. Master bes hurt, Miss Healer. Master bes doing ritual to break Mister Whiskers control but ritual go wrong. Hurt Young Master more than Master Lupin bes thinking. Ramses needs to take Healer to Master."
If there had been any doubt about who Ramses' Master was, it evaporated at the mention of Remus Lupin. Things must be more out of control than I even imagined if they needed a ritual to fight Albus she realised. Poppy quickly closed up Harry's file and locked in her secured safe with the rest before grabbing her bag.
"Take me to him."
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oOoOo
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The Granger Household
"Bloody Hell!"
"Professor?" Hermione asked in a panicked voice. She was used to the boys at school swearing and she'd even heard Sirius rant and rave a number of times. But the polite werewolf who had been her favourite teacher, outside of Harry of course, seemed beyond such vulgarities. Whatever he'd read, it couldn't be good. "Professor Lupin?"
"Mr. and Mrs. Granger, I'm sorry for my rudeness." Remus said, snapping out of his daze. He folded the letter and quickly put it into his jacket's inner pocket before Hermione could snatch it off him. "What I've just read forces me to take things to the next level. You need to get immediately out of the country. I can provide you with a portkey to an unplottable, Fidelius protected tropical island or you can go Muggle and visit another country. What you absolutely cannot do is let anyone here, and I mean anyone, know your plans."
The Grangers paled at his declaration and Daniel's fury at a threat to his family pushed him to ask questions he didn't want to know the answer to. "What the hell's happened now?"
A obvious war raged inside the Marauder. He looked from the enraged man, to the tearful wife, and then the determined yet scared daughter. He finally sighed and knew he had to explain more than he wanted.
"You know about the prophecy orb, the reason Harry was tricked into going to the Ministry." Remus rested his elbow on his knee and ran hands through his hair, trying his hardest to fight against his runaway emotions. The wolf pushed at him to leave the house and find his cub and it was only his honour that kept him from doing so. "Somehow Harry has been told what it says..."
"Professor Dumbledore!" Hermione gasped, remembering what was written on the plate beneath the orb. "It was his initials. He was the one who the Prophecy was spoken to."
That declaration only had Remus growling low. He pinched the bridge of his nose to fight against the feral rage he felt towards the man he once respected but now only hated. Even if Harry was being paranoid, something Moony was still debating with himself over, there were still enough facts to make the old man his cub's, and therefore his, enemy.
"It says that Harry has to fight the Dark Lord, that they're the only two who can kill each other." He explained, refusing to look at the all too smart Hermione. He didn't want his eyes to give away anything to his former student. "Harry doesn't believe the Dark Lord in question is actually Voldemort. He accepts that Voldemort thinks so, that the country as a whole will probably come to believe it, and so it will still come down to the two of them. But he believes the Prophecy is really about him fighting someone else."
"You're telling me." Emma growled low and Moony was impressed by the sound. "That the young man who has just given that ring to our daughter in order to protect her will be forced to fight a wizard so evil you people can't even speak his name? And the bastard isn't even who this prophecy is about?"
"Mum, language!" Hermione gasped in shock. It was usually her father whose language went colourful when angered.
"That's what I'm telling you, Mrs. Granger." Remus nodded with a sigh, his eyes filled with pain. Emma had seen the love he felt for Harry in everything he had done that day and couldn't imagine how she would feel if this was Hermione they were talking about. "And if Harry is right, then the real Dark Lord mentioned is in a far stronger position to target you and your husband. I would suggest taking Hermione with you but she wouldn't forgive you if you actually managed it."
"Damn right I wouldn't." The girl in question grumbled and then winced when it was her turn to be told off about her verbiage.
"So then who is the Dark Lord?" Daniel snapped.
"The man who who put the protective spell over Harry and his parents and put a spell on them to have the Secret-Keeper of his choosing." Remus answered, this time staring straight at Hermione. Her eyes widened and she brought a hand up to cover her mouth as she easily connected the dots. "The same man who allowed Harry's godfather to spend twelve years in hell-on-Earth and put Harry in an abusive home that was almost as bad."
"Harry believes." He continued, turning to stare the Grangers in the eyes as they too worked out what he was about to say. "And with what I've just read, I'm beginning to as well, that the real Dark Lord is Albus Dumbledore."
The announcement caused pandemonium and it took a long time before tempers could cool and answers given. Unknown to all in the house, Dobby had not left to see Harry as Remus had asked. Instead he had gone to the goblins and found the most senior one he could. He explained how his Master Harry Potter Sir was in trouble and needed to get the Muggle parents of his Grangey away before the evil Professor Whiskers could hurt them.
Chief Ragnok was easily able to interpret the jumbled explanation and got in touch with the Muggle extension of Gringotts to book two emergency first-class flights out of the country. He gave a promise to the frantic elf that a protection detail would be waiting for the Granger parents to land, take them to one of the holiday homes House Potter owned, and finally be capable of taking the two anywhere else in the world they wished to go.
Dobby eagerly took the tickets and letter explaining everything, popped to Grimmauld Place in order to pick up a pair of new communication mirrors Master Harry Potter Sir's dogfather and wolf had made, and returned to Miss Grangey just in time to see the end of the chaos.
"Dobby? What are you doing back?" Hermione's question cut across the shouts and arguments as the adults looked in surprise at the elf.
"Dobby bes GOOD elf! Dobby bes getting help from goblins." Dobby quickly handed over the tickets and paperwork explaining everything that had been set up to Emma. "Goblins bes taken Master Harry's Grangey's parents away so bad Professor Whiskeys not hurt them or make them hurt Master Harry's Grangey. Mirror bes so Miss Grangey keep in contact with parents. Dobby make sure to look after Master Harry's Grangey!"
The surprised silence was broken as the two Granger women dropped to their knees and smothered the surprised elf in a double hug while Dan stared at the amused Remus. Moony quickly rose and approached the man in order for his words not to be overheard.
"Dobby gets his devotion to Hermione from Harry." He explained, amazed at what the elf had done in such a short amount of time. "It's only Harry's upbringing that keeps him from understanding what he feels for your daughter, sir."
Dan Granger looked at his two girls and really thought about what he had learned in the whirlwind of a day. A boy cared so much for his little pumpkin that he gave her something of such value it boggled the mind of wizards, let alone him, just to make sure she was as protected as was magically possible. The situation then becomes worse and his man-servant...elf-servant...gives them an immediate route out of danger while allowing them to keep in touch with their little girl. No questions asked. Daniel Granger was forced to accept that his daughter had found a man with the same personality as his older brother and he realised he couldn't be prouder of her.
"We'll go on one condition." He announced, breaking the silence that had fallen. "You're saying there's going to be a war, that my little girl will be in the middle of it. Then I want your bloody word that if things go tits up, you get her out of here."
"Daddy..." Hermione whispered in awe at her father channelling her uncle Wendell. He was even using the similar words she'd heard her uncle tell him had been said when one of his missions went bad.
"Your word, Mr. Lupin." Dan pushed, locking eyes with the werewolf and refused to look away from the amber glow. "If things go bad, you get her out even if you can't bring her to us."
"You have it, sir." Remus promised without looking away. "And I'll even ask Harry to give all his elves an order for that very thing to happen. Trust me, Harry would be just as loudly demanding for her to leave."
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oOoOo
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Potter Manor
It was only Poppy's instincts as a trauma healer that had her immediately scanning the unconscious young man. Her brain couldn't match the changed body with the boy she had been thinking about mere minutes ago.
"Magical Exhaustion, entire skeleton looks to be recovering from some type of non-potion Skele-Gro episode, muscles everywhere are pulled, some torn." She counted off everything her readings told her with a shake of her head. "You foolish boy. Just what did you do?"
"Miss Lily gave Master Harry blood protections against evil wizards, Miss Healer." Ramses explained from the bedroom door, the elf nervously wringing his hands together. "Nasty Mister Whiskers bound Master Harry's magic then turned protections into wards. Wards draining Master Harry's magic. Ritual supposed to break binding and wards."
"Yes, yes, that would certainly do it." She agreed in a clinical tone, her Occlumency needed to keep the anger rising over Albus doing such vile things to a little babe. "But what about his looks? This isn't the Harry I know."
Ramses was unsure about how to answer. Instead he watched her retrieve a selection of potions from her bag and gently pour them down his Young Master's throat.
"I need to know." Poppy assured the elf after giving Harry a Muscle Recovery Potion that had originally been designed for professional Quidditch injuries. "I can't treat him if I don't know what's happened and I can already tell it's more than his looks that have changed."
"Master Harry added to ritual." The elf hesitatingly began. "Said magic bes released and could help with nasty childhood. Master Sirius and Master Remus agree but they bes not knowing Master Harry also take Blood Adoption potion before ritual."
"You silly boy!" Poppy closed her eyes in exasperation. She could easily guess what had gone through Harry's head. "You don't add foreign magic to a ritual."
"Miss Healer...how bes Master Harry?" Ramses nervously asked.
"Better than he has a right to be." She grumbled. "I'd like to stay here until I'm satisfied there are no long-term problems. I don't want to risk something happening when I'm not available."
"Ramses make room nearby, Miss Healer. Ramses bes thinking Master Harry and Master Remus bes okay with you here."
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oOoOo
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7th June, 1996 – DMLE, Ministry of Magic
Madam Amelia Bones, Regent to the Most Ancient House of Bones and Head of the DMLE, stalked into her office and froze mid-step. There, sitting bold as brass on her desk, was a box that hadn't been there the night before. She very carefully took two steps back until she was out of the office.
"Moody, Shacklebolt. Front and centre!"
The reinstated Auror along with her second-in-command charged through the bullpen. It was a testament to Amelia's deserved reputation that Moody, once her own instructor, didn't grouch at the command. Much.
"What's got your knickers in a twist so early in the day, Amelia?" He snarled, his magic eye spinning wildly in its socket until it rested on the package. "Oh."
"Yes, oh." She said deadpanned having not taken her eyes off the suspicious box. "I haven't requested my mail from the elves and yet I have something waiting for me."
Moody grunted and slipped past her to enter the office, his wand ready for the slightest attack. Both Amelia and Shacklebolt had their own wands ready to provide him with a covering shield in case the parcel was booby trapped.
"No curses or poisons on the box." He informed them, his spells causing the box to glow an innocent blue. "There's parchment inside as well as a bunch of vials. Potions maybe."
"Can you open it without getting caught in a cross-fire?" Her mind was already working furiously to come up with a list of possibilities. She felt bile rising at the obvious answer of it being a message from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Moody easily conjured a long stick and carefully used it to lift the box's lid. When nothing happened he pushed the lid away from the box and edged towards the desk.
"Well, it ain't potions." He said in a surprised voice that had both Amelia and Shacklebolt raise eyebrows. The paranoid Auror spent the next five minutes using every revealing charm he knew of or had personally modified only to draw a blank. "It's clean, lass. Someone sent you a present."
"Close the door behind you, Kingsley." She commanded and she stalked into her room to find out what in Merlin's name was going on. What she found confused her even more. She carefully lifted the collection of clear vials out of the small box, the silvery wisps inside the vials clearly announcing them as memories. Beneath them was a letter addressed to her and, after yet more scanning by Moody, she opened the parchment and read aloud.
"Madam Bones,
You are the guiding light of truth in our government. A woman who believes in right and wrong, the law and protecting the innocents. With this in mind it is clear to me that you would be one of the first Riddle, the man who calls himself Voldemort, would need to kill now that he has been revealed to the public."
"Bloody right, too." Moody interjected. Neither men mentioned how she had stumbled over the name. "He takes you out and we're lambs to the slaughter, girl."
Amelia could only nod at the stark reality being given to her.
"With that said, guard yourself well, Madam Bones. Guard your niece just as tightly. Last year I taught Susan her extra-curricular DADA lessons. This year I'll be teaching her how to survive Death Eaters.
"Potter." She immediately guessed. Susan had been detailed and energetic in her explanations of the past year at Hogwarts and that most definitely included the secret DA that allowed six teenagers to go toe-to-toe with Death Eaters mere weeks prior.
"The kid taught them?" Shacklebolt asked in shock. "The education department has been going crazy. Apparently the DADA OWL marks are the highest across the board for decades."
"Really?" The eyebrow to Moody's normal eye rose in surprise. "And Potter did that? Impressive."
"But for all I can teach Susan, she needs her aunt. Her family. Trust your safety only in those you would allow a wand at your back while you were unarmed for I don't doubt your Aurors, Hit-Wizards and even Unspeakables have been infected with a Marked disease. It is one thing to fall to the Dark when standing tall against it, it is another to be stabbed in the back by a supposed protector.
"Bollocks." Moody spat, the idea right up his paranoid alley. "We didn't even think about that. We were sure that was the case last time, we just couldn't prove it."
"Boss. If the kid's right and we've been compromised..."
"Take everyone off my protection detail." Amelia demanded, unable to argue against the potential threat even if she wanted to. "I'll send Susan to the Abbotts until we can check the Department."
"As you have no doubt worked out, I have sent memories along with my elf delivered post (By the way, according to my understanding Death Eaters throw up anti-Apparition and anti-portkey wards when they attack at night. If you find yourself betrayed or simply in danger, use an elf belonging to a family you trust to get you and Susan away.)"
"The kid's got style!" Moody laughed in delight, a calloused hand slapping his thigh while the other two had their mouths open at the simple solution. "It's back-up that no one would consider. Get him in here, girl. Pump that boy for every idea he has and I bet we won't regret it."
"The first memories are from two years ago when the Minister refused to believe the innocence of my godfather. Because of this and other factors, he has died while the country till believed him to be my family's traitor. I beg you, please use these memories to clear the name of Sirius Black, the name of the man my father called his brother in all but blood. Do not let manipulative men and Dark Lords cause House Black to be only what they wish it to be. I need you to help show the world the hero my godfather truly was. The type of man whose love for his godson allowed him to survive twelve years in Azkaban without a trial.
Oh, and enjoy the Patronus show."
"Boss..." Shacklebolt said into the heavy silence. When Amelia looked up from the letter, she found the man looking more sheepish than she'd ever known him to be. "I don't know what's in those memories but the general point is true. Black was innocent."
"And why am I'm hearing about this now?" She glared at the two men, the monocle covering her injured eye doing nothing to soften the harsh stare. A part of her heart she had walled away for years weakened at the idea of her old lover being innocent the entire time. "And the explanation had better not include the words 'Dumbledore', 'Order', and 'Phoenix'."
The winces both me gave caused her to snap. Amelia stood with a force that knocked her chair over and began to pace, her short burgundy hair crackling with sparks of magic.
"I don't believe it." She snarled in perfect mimicry of Moody. "The Chief Warlock knows a member of a Most Ancient and Noble House...Merlin anyone...is innocent and I find out that two of my finest know as well. Yet not one of you comes to me and explains this so I can get that man his freedom?"
She spun to face them both and and Moody's instincts had him wanting to reach for his wand. This was the woman who had defied the odds to be the DMLE Head.
"Gentlemen, before I read anything more from that." She pointed at the dropped letter. "I want your sworn oaths that this department is where your loyalties lie and not Albus bedamned Dumbledore. If you can't find it in you to give me that then I'll have you reassigned to walking beats until we're either dead or the war is over."
It was Moody, much to the surprise of the other two, who gave the oath first. His faith in his long time friend had eroded after his year trapped inside his own trunk and it had truly crumbled when Black died. Moody had managed to sneak into the Infirmary to talk to the Granger girl about what they thought they were doing running into battle without backup. By the end of the debrief he realised that the bastard Snape had delayed the message for hours in order to let his Death Eater friends play with the kids. When he confronted Albus about the entire thing the damn fool blew him off, continuing to spout his trust in the worthless sack of shit.
So if it had to be between Amelia and Moody's former friend...well it was war and Albus seemed to be thinking they were inviting the bastards around for tea and biscuits.
Kingsley Shacklebolt believed in Albus Dumbledore. The warlock had taken down Grindelwald and stood against You-Know-Who during his first reign of terror. Yet the dark-skinned Auror had still been forced to ignore his questioning conscience. Dumbledore could have easily done something for Black and the entire Order were aware of how bad Potter's home life was. When Alastor Moody, the most paranoid man anyone knew of, gave the oath as quickly as he did, Kingsley knew he had nowhere to hide. Not if he wanted to be able to look himself in the mirror. He gave his own oath in a much more sedate voice that lacked the glee of the older man.
"Good." Amelia nodded, sitting back down to pick up the letter. It didn't mean she wasn't still annoyed with them but they could continue with a relatively clean slate. She didn't have enough good people around her to simply throw either away.
"The third, fourth and fifth memories are what happened at the end of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. You will see the needless death of Cedric Diggory, the resurrection of one Tom Marvolo Riddle – Rearrange his letters to spell I AM LORD VOLDEMORT – Junior, and his high ranking robe kissers returning to his side. He also names names so do enjoy Malfoy's simpering and hearing your wonderful Wizengamot members announced as terrorists. The second part is the identity of the man who made sure I got to the graveyard and his full confession. Then you'll see the Minister using Dementors to kill the man in question, hushing everything up and refusing believe anything else but his own delusions."
The trio were silent after the reading until Moody spoke what they were all thinking. "Those memories would be enough to rip Fudge, his bribers and half the Wizengamot apart."
"Merlin." Shacklebolt whispered, eyeing the vials as though they were venomous snakes ready to strike. "Potter sure knows how to rock the boat."
Amelia Bones couldn't believe what was sitting on her desk. While potentially not being proof enough to throw everyone into cells, the memories would send shock waves throughout the Ministry and potentially allow the good guys a chance at fighting. She briefly wondered if she wanted to know what else the letter said and then forced herself to keep reading for having the thought.
"The next batch of memories are of the Fudge's Pink Toad forcing me to use a Blood Quill in detentions and her insane, bigoted rantings. I wouldn't be surprised if she did this to more students who some in the Ministry considered from bad stock. Do notice the last memory has her about to cast the Cruciatus on me as well as admitting she was the reason for my Dementor visit last summer."
While not as Earth shaking as the the rest, the three were horrified and incensed by what they had told.
"I'll get Tonks to start an investigation." Shacklebolt promised without being prompted, his magic rising to match his anger at what he had heard. "She's young enough that she can connect to the students."
"Start with Potter's friends and then send her to McGonagall to find out who had detentions. There should be a record somewhere." Amelia commanded, outraged at herself for not doing anything more during the joke of a trial a year previous. "And send someone to Azkaban about those damn Dementors. That's an assassination attempt on the Scion to a Noble and Most Ancient House!"
"The last memory is as painful as it is recent. On false information I, and five fellow students and friends, were tricked into entering your Ministry in order to rescue my godfather from torture. It was a ruse. The aim was for me to pick up a prophecy orb about myself and a Dark Lord trying to rule and ruin the world. Speak to Moody, Aurors Shacklebolt and Tonks. For while I believe they're loyal to you, they've also been well aware of Dumbledore and his Order being interested in the orb."
A raised eyebrow caused both men to once again look sheepish.
"Albus wouldn't tell us a damn thing." Moody grumbled, looking away from his former protégé. "Only that Voldemort wanted it, it needed to be protected, and involved Potter in some way."
"For not telling you a damn thing, that's an awful lot of information to take an educated guess on, Alastor." Her tone gave the older man no doubt how angry she was.
The man could only grunt his acceptance at the point while Shacklebolt tried to not catch her ire once again.
"You'll watch six students fight, stun, and fight again against the Death Eaters until help arrives. One of those coming to our aid being the very man I believed I was rescuing. You will see his death at the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange, the final fight between Riddle and Dumbledore, and then the information and my reaction to the reason behind everything those two men have done in the last decade and a half.
Clear my godfather's name, Madam Bones. Be the woman Susan looks up to and emulates in using the rest of the memories to fight the good fight. Keep Vigilant and stay alive. I truly believe that between us we can win this war and put down a Dark Lord long overdue of retirement.
Harold James Potter"
"Kid's got guts, that's for sure." Moody actually sounded impressed and Shacklebolt had to agree.
Amelia was putting the letter down when a sudden thought flashed through her mind and she instinctively acted on it . A press of a hidden rune and the two visitor chairs lit up, stunning both men and wrapping them in Incarcerous ropes. A quick Enervate later and she was being glared at by a bound and annoyed Moody.
"What the hell is this, Amelia?" He snapped, fighting against the binds. "I already gave you an oath!"
"Only for Dumbledore, Alastor." She coolly pointed out. "Now you're probably dosed up to the eyeballs with the Veritaserum antidote so here's what's going to happen. I'm going to stand behind you, put your wand in your hand and you'll swear that you've never been a Death Eater or sympathiser and have no intentions of becoming either. We then get to give Kingsley some drops and make sure he's good."
To those who knew Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody, his reaction to her plan was to be expected. He gave a full belly laugh and readily agreed only if she did the exact thing first. Two oaths later, a Veritaserum questioning on a very annoyed Shacklebolt and the three were back to being mostly friends.
"These memories could end up taking all day to view what with the way things can change around here." Madam Bones said with a sigh, staring at the large number of vials. "So we'll do them piecemeal with the pensieve on projection so no one can sneak up on us."
"Boss, you're really starting to sound like this guy." Shacklebolt teased with a flick of the head towards Moody in an attempt to move past their tension. She chuckled at the joke while Moody grumbled about it keeping them all alive.
"Before we start, I want you both to get Susan and take her to the Abbotts. Relieve the security detail and tell my niece that 'The barrel has been broken.' That'll tell her this is a trust no one but you two situation. Make sure no one knows where you've taken her and inform the Abbotts that they have to initiate the extra wards I had installed."
The two men shared a look and then it was Moody's turn to speak.
"Not a chance, lass." He argued with a shake of his grizzled head. "Send Kingsley and Tonks for that. I'm staying here as your protection detail. We can get working on the memories while they look after Susan."
Amelia glared at the men even as she knew they wouldn't budge on their decision. Potter's worries over a potential attack had them all on edge and nervous. She was about to pull rank when she remembered the plea to stay safe for Susan's sake and mutely nodded in agreement. The boy was right. She was doing all of this for her niece and dying because of stubbornness would not do Susan any favours.
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