Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion.
Chapter 2
1st of November just before noon outside the Leaky Cauldron.
In a quiet street, just outside the centre of London, a trio of black limousines stopped before a small dingy pub. When the doors opened three hooded women stepped out of the middle car, one of them holding a baby wrapped in a long piece of black silk beneath the wide folds of her cloak. Three men in their mid-thirties stepped from both the first and last car and formed a loose circle around the women. There was a distinct military air around the six men who were all dressed in black suits, as they looked around checking the area for possible threats.
Finding nothing suspicious, one of the men nodded to the woman in the middle and the group went towards the door. One of the men opened the door and let the others in before closing the door behind him.
Inside the pub the few people that were present turned their heads towards the group that had just entered. The barkeeper Tom started to speak, but a look from one of the men shut him up. Walking quickly towards the back courtyard, one of the men drew his wand and opened the gate towards Diagon Ally.
Not unusually in these perilous times, the ally was almost deserted. Making their way towards the large white marble building in the middle of the street, the group was followed by only a few dark looks.
When they reached the large double bronze doors, the man in the lead showed a badge to the fully armoured goblins that stood on guard. They promptly saluted and bowed before opening the doors. Entering a small hallway, they stopped before a second set of doors. These were made of silver and bore an inscription.
Enter, stranger, but take heed,
Of what awaits the sin of greed.
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors,
A treasure that was never yours.
Thief, you have been warned, beware.
Of finding more than treasure there.
These doors were opened by a second set of goblins who wore a uniform of gold and red. Entering the majestic central white marble hall, the group was met by a regal looking goblin who was flanked by two guards. Bowing to the group the goblin spoke up, "Lord Ragnok is expecting you, if you would please follow me."
The goblin led them through a door on the right side of the hall and into a well-lit corridor that gently sloped down in to the earth and rock beneath. The goblin led them through a series of tunnels, and after a few minutes he knocked on a set of large mahogany doors. Making a deep bow the goblin opened the doors. The woman in the middle nodded to one of the men and they immediately formed a line on each side of the double doors. When the three women had entered, the goblin closed the doors behind them.
Seated behind a large, gold filigree decorated dark wooden desk sat Lord Ragnok, current leader of the goblin nation and director of Gringotts. Seeing the three women enter, Ragnok stood up and walked around his desk. Making a slight bow, he gestured for his guests to take a seat.
When the middle woman lowered her hood, Lord Ragnok sank to one knee, placed his right arm on his chest and his left on the floor, and bowed deeply. "Your Majesty, it is a privilege to be allowed to receive such an honoured guest."
Looking down on the goblin before her, Queen Elizabeth said, "Rise Lord Ragnok we have some very important matters of a personal nature to discuss."
The goblin rose and offered the queen a chair. Thanking him she motioned to her companions who also lowered their hoods and sat down. Recognising them immediately Ragnok bowed his head and welcomed them.
To his surprise he saw that Aurora carried a baby in her arms. Speaking hesitantly, he said, "May I be so bold as to presume that these matters concern the baby?" Looking at the Queen he waited for a response, which followed swiftly.
"That is indeed the reason for our presence here my Lord. I would like to introduce you to my nephew, Harry, the son of James and Lily Potter. We are here to inform you of their deaths, and have their will read. There are some things we have to arrange." The Queen finished.
The goblin let go a quiet sigh and said, "I would like to offer my sincerest condolences. I was informed of their demise a few hours ago when we noticed that their vaults had been sealed shut. This only happens when the owners of the vault have died. They cannot be opened until their will has been read. I was about to send word to you, when I was notified by Minerva McGonagall that I should expect an envoy from the palace. Fearing you had already been informed I decided to wait and see what the envoy had to talk about. However, I did not expect to see your Majesty here in person."
The Queen looked most serious and answered him, "As you probably know James Potter was my cousin. Which means this is a matter very close to my heart, for Harry is all I have left of both my sister and my cousin. This being the case I wanted to be here personally. This morning at around 2 a.m. I declared myself his guardian. I then transferred his guardianship to the commanders of my guard, Aurora and Gabrielle. They will raise him and love him as their own son. That is one of the reasons we are here, to arrange all legal matters and officially transfer Harry in to their care."
The goblin nodded silently and answered, "It would be my honour to arrange all legal matters personally. However, I would suggest we read the will first, for there might be a clause in it for a situation like this." Seeing the Queen nod in agreement Ragnok picked up a small golden bell and rang it twice. A small side door opened and a goblin clad in red and gold entered.
The goblin bowed deeply before asking, "You called my Lord?"
"Yes indeed, please bring account manager Griphook to my office immediately and tell him to bring the will of James and Lily Potter." The goblin bowed again and left.
After about two minutes the door opened again and another goblin entered this one was dressed in a black business suit and carried a scroll of parchment under his arm. He made a bow towards the Queen and took a seat behind the desk next to Ragnok.
"It is an honour to be in your presence your Majesty. I would like to offer my personal condolences on your loss. I understand that you have requested the reading of the will of James and Lily Potter." The Queen nodded and motioned for Griphook to continue.
The goblin broke the seals on the scroll and started to read. "This is the will of Lord James and Lady Lily, of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter. Before the reading of this will continues, the following people should be present. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Lady Minerva McGonagall and our son Harry James Potter". At this the goblin stopped reading, "My apologies your Majesty but it seems we have to postpone this reading until Lady McGonagall can be present."
The Queen nodded again and turned towards Gabrielle, "Please bring Minerva here as soon as possible." Gabrielle stood up and bowed to the Queen, she put a gentle kiss on Harry's head and on her partner's lips. She walked to the middle of the office and vanished in a flash of fire.
The Queen sat back in her chair and said, "And now we wait, but in the meantime I would like to request a personal favour from you Lord Ragnok".
The goblin tipped his head and answered her, "If it is within my power I would be honoured to fulfil your request your Majesty."
The Queen continued saying, "Since Harry was, for a short time in the hands of that old fool Dumbledore. I would like to request that you summon your best healers and give him a full check-up. I want to know if that meddler did anything to harm him."
The goblin nodded in concern and picked up the golden bell again. After two short rings the small door opened again and the same goblin as before entered. "You called my Lord?"
"Please fetch my personal healers and our best curse breakers," Ragnok said.
"At once my Lord," the goblin replied, before bowing and then he left.
Meanwhile at Hogwarts.
Minerva was pacing around her room trying to digest the disturbing news she had pried from Albus just half an hour ago. When suddenly there was a flash of blue fire in her hearth, and a woman with silver and blue hair appeared. Minerva nodded to her and said, "My Lady what can I do for you?"
"I'm afraid I have to ask you to come with me immediately. Your presence is required for the reading of the will of James and Lily. We should not leave her Majesty waiting." Gabrielle spoke before the fire had died down around her.
Minerva nodded and wrote a note saying that she was away on family matters and left it on her desk. She summoned her cloak and walked towards the waiting woman before her hearth and took the offered hand. Both woman stepped into the fireplace and vanished in a second flash of blue fire.
In Ragnok's office there was a knock on the door before a trio of goblins, dressed in floor length emerald green robes, entered the room. They were followed by two other goblins who were dressed in grey military looking uniforms.
The group bowed to the Queen and Lord Ragnok, before walking towards the desk. The lead goblin in a green robe said, "You requested our presence my Lord?"
"Yes I would like you to perform a full check up on the baby. Check him for every and any possible piece of magic both light and dark."
Lord Ragnok turned to Aurora and noticed the apprehension in her posture at the notion of letting the baby out of her arms. He folded his hands and kindly told her, "My Lady, Harry will be safe with them. I swear on my honour that they will do everything they can to keep him safe. They won't leave this room and you can watch their every move if you want to."
Taking a glance at the Queen and seeing her nod, she relented and handed Harry to one of the robed goblins.
At that moment there was a flash of fire and two women appeared in the office. Seeing her partner hand Harry to a strange goblin Gabrielle cried out, "What is going on here?"
Standing up the Queen answered her, "I asked Lord Ragnok to have his best healers examine Harry to see if that old fool has done anything to him and to make sure he is healthy. These honourable goblins are Lord Ragnok's personal healers and the best curse breakers Gringotts has to offer. So please let them do their jobs while we will continue with the reading of the will."
Seeing the wisdom in these words Gabrielle sat back down on the other side of her partner while Minerva took the seat on the other side of the Queen.
Griphook took up the scroll again and introduced himself to Minerva. "My name is Griphook and I'm the account manager for the Potter vaults. I would like to commence with the reading of the will of the late Lord James and Lady Lily of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter.
Clearing his throat Griphook continued. "This is the will of Lord James and Lady Lily, of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter. Before the reading of this will continues, the following people should be present. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Lady Minerva McGonagall and our son Harry James Potter". At this Minerva realised why her presence was required.
Griphook kept reading "In the case of our demise, our first concern is the care of our son, Harry. If we should pass away before his seventeenth birthday we name as his legal guardian her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Knowing that as Queen she cannot take personal care of him we rely on her to make sure he is well cared for and guarded until he is old enough to take care of himself. We would like to ask Minerva of clan McGonagall, to take upon herself the burden of teaching him everything he must know about the magical world, and the dangers that lie therein."
Griphook paused for a moment. While Ragnok managed a weak smile and said, "I see that, that part of their will has already been executed. If I didn't know any better, I would think that you had previous knowledge of this part of their will." He looked at the Queen and noticed a similar weak smile on her face.
The Queen answered him saying, "James and Lily had indeed informed me that this was their wish. Though I was to wait for the reading of the will to let my knowledge of this matter be known. That is the reason I made the decisions I did this morning." She motioned for Griphook to continue, which he promptly did.
"On the matter of our possessions. We leave to our good friend Remus Lupin the sum of 100,000 Galleons in the hopes that with it he can buy a house somewhere, and live in peace without all the prejudice that plague our world.
To our other good friend Sirius Black, we know you have no use of money for you have plenty. So we leave to you the responsibility to teach Harry everything you know about being a true marauder. And show him how to enjoy life to its fullest. Along with this responsibility we leave you our apartment in London so you can finally leave your parents' house.
To whoever are chosen by Elizabeth, to care for our son we give lifelong permission to take up residence in Potter Manor and the use of all its facilities. We beg you to take good care of him and give him the love we are no longer able to give him."
While Griphook took a pause to let this settle in, Aurora put an arm around Gabrielle and gave her a gentle squeeze. She whispered in her ear and said. "I guess this solves the question of where we are going to raise our little boy." She received a weak smile in return.
Clearing his throat Griphook continued with the last piece of the will. "Everything else we own or could have owned will be left to our son and be available for him on his fifteenth birthday. A trust vault is to be opened for his care and the upkeep of his guardians. This vault will contain a total of 10,000 Galleons to be refilled every year on his birthday.
If you are hearing this and can understand us Harry, we want you to know we love you with all our hearts and will continue to watch over you from this life or the next. Should you ever want to meet us, all you have to do is visit the hall of portraits at the manor, and we shall be there for you. We will always love you Harry.
Being of sound body and clear mind we declare this to have been our last will and testament. Signed on the 5th of March 1981. James and Lily Potter."
When Griphook finished speaking even the hardened face of the goblin leader was showing signs of emotion when he heard the last personal message from James and Lilly to their son.
When Elizabeth looked to her right she was surprised to see tears running down the faces of her guards, the first tears she had ever seen shed by either of them. They were silently holding hands and mourned the passing of James and Lily. They made a silent vow to never abandon their son and to care for him as best they could, as only his birthparents could have done better.
When everything had been said they sat in silence for almost five minutes. Then they realised that the goblins who were checking on Harry had started to begin a heated argument. Aurora looked at Ragnok and asked him, "What's wrong, what are they arguing about?"
Ragnok listened for nearly a minute before he barked out, "That is enough. I want a report right now what is wrong with the boy?"
The lead healer turned towards the desk and with a look that spoke of disgust and shock he replied. "We have found one very powerful suppressing charm that was supposed to neutralise his magical power to a state of near inexistence. In addition to this there were certain blood wards keyed to his magical core. These all carried the magical signature of Albus Dumbledore. Unfortunately, these were only the minor ones we found on him."
Before the goblin could continue, Gabrielle had to quite literally, force Aurora back in her seat. All who were seated at the desk could see her normal light blue eyes had turned black with rage. Her hair seemed to be burning with black fire and all could feel the heat that was radiating from her. The wooden armrests of her chair were burning beneath the armoured fingers that were grasped around them. Gabrielle kept whispering to her, in an effort to calm her down.
The large double doors opened and the six guards entered. Each of them now carried a large foldable shield which emitted a faint white glow. They formed a barrier, between Aurora and Gabrielle, and the rest of the inhabitants of the office. Griphook asked in a loud whisper "What is going on here? What is happening with her?"
He directed his question to the Queen, but it was Ragnok who answered. "Those two carry a burden that is both a blessing and a curse. Aurora is Merlin's daughter and Gabrielle was her best friend and partner. They were asked by Merlin if they were willing to become the guardians of the house of King Arthur. When they accepted he used a very obscure and powerful ritual of his own design to give them the strength of a dragon. It was only supposed to boost their magical power and grant them a life well beyond the years of normal people but something went wrong."
Taking a look at the two women on the other side of the shield wall in front of him. Ragnok saw that Aurora's eyes and hair had returned to normal and the fire beneath her hands was slowly dying out. For the benefit of Minerva and the 6 Goblins in the room he continued his tale.
"The dragon blood that was used in the ritual was far more powerful than Merlin expected. The result was that they lost all of their magical power and became a sort of hybrid. A soul with the power of a dragon, but trapped in a human body. That is one of the reasons they are so dangerous. They need to constantly keep a close watch on their emotions, particularly anger, to prevent it from obliterating everything around them. Right now Aurora was on the brink of losing that control and if Gabrielle had failed to calm her down we could have all died.
Those shields were made by goblins and wield an enchantment, designed by Merlin, to counteract the force of their draconic powers and form a measure of protection. The only ones in the world who are safe from their powers are those that are under their protection. Meaning themselves, the Queen and young Harry over there."
Seeing that Gabrielle had managed to fully calm down Aurora, Ragnok motioned for the lead goblin healer to continue his diagnostics. Sparing a cautious look at Aurora who gave him a weak and apologetic smile and nodded to him to encourage him to continue. Swallowing noticeably the goblin continued his tale.
"We have found the remains of a very evil spell that was meant to use the boy's death to create a Horcrux. We regret to inform you that this spell has done its purpose and Lord Voldemort has created a Horcrux, or I should say more than one. For what we can sense of the Horcrux, it contains one seventh of a soul."
At the confused looks of the group at the desk the goblin healer explained. "A Horcrux is a dark object that contains a part of the soul of a dark witch or wizard. Records have shown that the more Horcruxes someone has the more instable his soul becomes. This is the first time, for as far as we know, that someone has made more than 2. The soul in question, that of Voldemort, has been torn in seven pieces. One of which is in his body and the others are hidden in various objects."
At this point the goblin swallowed audibly and hesitated a moment before he said. "The worst part however is that the latest Horcrux has chosen to hide in the body of the baby, just underneath his scar to be precise." Fearing for his life, the goblin looked at Aurora and was relieved to see that her eyes had remained normal.
The Queen let everything sink in before turning back towards Ragnok and asked, "What can be done about this?"
He in turn looked at the healers, and the lead healer spoke up. "We have already removed the 'handiwork' of Albus Dumbledore. But the removal of the Horcrux will be far harder. Normally it is enough to destroy the container, but that is obviously not an option in this case. So we recommend a cleansing ritual, but to do that we need to take him to a ritual room."
At this Aurora turned a murderous look towards the healer, but was brought out of it by the Queen who said, "Do what you have to do." Turning towards the Queen she gave her a frightful look.
The Queen tried to placate her by saying, "This is Harry's best chance of survival dear. That Horcrux might mean his death someday, it has to be removed. So please let them do their job." At those words she relented and sat back down.
The five goblins left with the baby and the six guards returned to their stations behind the door leaving only the small group around the desk.
They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Minerva spoke up and said, "This last piece of information is disturbing, because I spoke with Dumbledore a few hours ago and he told me that he was absolutely certain that the war is not over. We have merely begun a ceasefire that might last a few decades at most, because Voldemort is not dead and he will do his best to return. This just confirms his suspicions. The question though, is how much does Dumbledore know or suspect?"
At this the Queen looked first at her guards and then towards Lord Ragnok, and spoke up, "Then we must decide what we are to do next. I can maintain the military presence in the city for a few more days at most. We must use that time to take out as many of his followers as we can. But when the public starts realizing the attacks have stopped, they will demand the cancelation of martial law."
When she heard this Aurora spoke up again, "Then we must use whatever time we have left to cull his numbers as much as we can. If you can maintain military presence for another 3 days, I believe the Legion can do some serious housecleaning in and around London. However, the biggest part of his supporters will simply return to normal life and act as if nothing is wrong, and we haven't got the numbers to sort them all out.
At the moment we have around two hundred and fifty Legionnaires and one thousand Aurors on our side. However, our estimates are that Voldemort's followers number in the thousands. He has between three and four thousand Death Eaters, mostly foreigners, eight hundred of which are momentarily locked up in Azkaban.
That leaves him with several hundred werewolves', a few dozen vampires, and a further few thousand of all kinds of dark creatures. In addition to this there are more than five hundred giants and several hundred trolls on his side.
We can quite easily remove the giants as a threat, for we know where their camps are located. That would however, be asking you to authorize a genocide for practically all of them have joined Voldemort's cause."
The room was lost in thought for a few minutes as everyone tried to think of the best way to continue from here. Finally, the Queen spoke up, "We shall continue as followed. Lord Ragnok I would like to ask you to lend the strength of the Goblin Nation to our cause and help us destroy as many of Voldemort's Death Eaters as we can."
At this Ragnok nodded and said, "I can pledge about three hundred goblin warriors to this cause. They can do considerable damage to the Death Eaters, but it is unwise to put them against the giants. However, I fear that soon the news of Voldemort's disappearance will become known and they will return to their normal lives."
"Thank you my Lord your help is greatly appreciated," the Queen replied.
Turning to her guards she said, "I am authorising Operation Downfall. Gather the Legion and go to the camps, kill all who resist. Those that surrender will be relocated to a giant preserve on the mainland. Kill all Death Eaters you find. The aurors and the goblins will focus on taking down as many of Voldemort's forces as possible. You have 3 days, after which I will cancel martial law and request a meeting of the United Nations Security Council. We need to inform the rest of the world of the danger they are in."
Everyone agreed with this course of action. The Queen made to stand up and her group prepared to leave, when Ragnok spoke up, "When everything is settled I will personally oversee the updating of the protection of Potter Manor with the strongest Goblin Wards available. Free of charge."
At this the human occupants of the room looked at Ragnok in surprise for this was something they did not expect. Gabrielle was the first to recover from the surprise and asked, "Not that we are not grateful but why would you offer such a valuable gift. I know for a fact that when Buckingham Palace was finished in 1837, the then, goblin council charged Queen Charlotte over 500,000 Galleons to install a complete set of goblin wards. So why would you now offer to do if for free"?
Griphook started to laugh and Ragnok began to explain. "While it is true that we hold the British Monarch to be the highest authority in these lands. There is one family we hold in even higher esteem. When the Kingdom of England was originally created by King Arthur there were seven founding families in Arthur's court. The Pendragon's, who ruled the normal world, were the only non-magical family. The magical world was split in six duchy's each ruled by a founding family.
Together the founding family's held the seven seats of power. The only one currently occupied is that of house Pendragon, by her Majesty. The others are currently without an occupant.
In the north there was Gryffindor in Scotland. Underneath that was Slytherin in what is now known as North England. In the east was Hufflepuff, and the Midlands were ruled by Ravenclaw. Descendants of those four duke's later cooperated to create Hogwarts. Each of these also held one of the seats.
Only the duchy of Slytherin has remained independent because after the only son of Salazar betrayed and killed his father the rest refused to have anything to do with him. This caused the downfall of the House of Slytherin until only one member was known to us, Marvolo Gaunt. The maternal grandfather of the one now known as Lord Voldemort.
The Westland's and Wales were, and rightfully still are, under the rule and protection of the house of Emrys, consequently they hold another one of the seats of power." At this there was another shocked silence from the four women, as Aurora and Gabrielle looked at each other and realised that Merlin, had not told them everything there was to know about being an Emrys.
Surprised by their shock, Ragnok carefully inquired, "I take it your father did not tell you this before he left this world?"
The look on her face should have been confirmation enough but Aurora still answered him. "No he did not, though I do not know why he didn't. However, that is a care for later, please continue Lord Ragnok." The goblin nodded in acceptance and continued his story.
"Through internal marriages the remaining four duchy's have all come into the possession of 1 family whose name has been erased from magical history because its descendant are still alive this day. This family controls four seats of power, which effectively makes them royalty.
This family is now known as the Ancient and Noble House of Potter. Originally they ruled Southern England including London. It was one of the earliest Lords Potter who gave ownership of the very ground on which Gringotts is built to the Goblin Nation. For this the Goblin Nation owes an eternal debt of gratitude to the House of Potter."
This revelation caused the longest silence thus far as everyone realised that little Harry Potter had the power to effectively dissolve the Ministry and burn it to the ground. He held four of the seven ancient seats of power, and would have the support of two others, giving him an absolute majority in the Wizengamot.
After almost 10 minutes the Queen spoke up again and asked Ragnok, "Did James and Lily know about this"?
Ragnok's answer came almost immediately. "No. Legally this information was only to be shared with the Lords and Ladies of the founding families. Since James and Lily had decided to wait on officially accepting the responsibilities as Lord and Lady of House Potter until more stable times, we were not allowed to tell them.
But our debt of gratitude is the reason for my gift. Young Harry can always count on the help and support of Gringotts and the Goblin Nation. Whether it be in a court of law or on the battlefield, the goblins stand beside him."
After a minute Gabrielle spoke up, "So all we have left to decide is this. Who will take care of Harry while we take care of the Giant camps?"
Ragnok answered her and said, "The cleansing ritual will take a day, at least. Afterwards Harry will be given to Minerva who can care for him within the walls of Gringotts, here they will be safe until the manor is ready. When everything is sorted out you can come and get your son back, and live in Potter Manor. In the meantime, I believe we all have a lot of planning to do so the sooner we get to it the sooner it is done."
Walking around the desk Lord Ragnok and Griphook opened the doors and bowed to the Queen. Ragnok said goodbye and added to the queen, "We will await the result of your meeting with the United Nations."
The three woman donned their hoods again and the group left the bank and returned to the muggle world. Minerva returned to Hogwarts by the flu in Ragnok's office.
