A/N: Thanks to all who have reviewed, those who have placed this story in their favorites. We will soon be getting to Harry attending Hogwarts, where we start taking down his enemies, one by one with humor starting with poor Professor Snape who within a month of meeting Harry ends up in muggle traction! So, here is Harry growing up in the Underground, you will get more in flashbacks, but I wished to get to the meat of the story.
Chapter Three
Acceptance
By the middle of the new week, things in the Magical Ministry aboveground had settled from the furor of Arthur Weasley being appointed Minister for Magic. He was speaking with Tabor and Bones regarding what he had been told by the Unspeakables and after several different debated it was decided that it was for the best that the overall magical world was kept in the dark regarding the prophecy.
A visit from Albus Dumbledore who concurred and the great man headed off to his appointment with the Goblins of Gringotts, too bad he hadn't stuck around because the next topic would have interested him immensely. "Tabor, would you please look into the night that the Potters were killed. I would like to know what happened that night, I know that Potter ended up at Hogwarts at one point, because the headmaster called Molly for some clothes as Hagrid forgot to bring some with him."
"Hagrid? The Hogwarts gamekeeper?" Bones inquired. When told yes, that Molly had told him that she had heard that it was Hagrid who removed the boy from the rubble, she frowned and said "That makes no sense, why on earth would you send someone who can't do magic to retrieve anyone who was still alive after an attack by death eaters let alone by their master, why didn't the headmaster go himself?"
Arthur stopped and thought about it, they had been so thrilled at the idea of He Who Must Not Be Named was gone that so many things hadn't been given a second thought. "I don't know."
"I will speak to Hagrid, I have the perfect subject to use." Bone crisply offered.
"That leaves me with Sirius Black, the only other person we are aware that was at the house outside of his master," Tabor replied with a grimace. He had known Black from his auror training and had been shocked by the news he had been the one who had betrayed the Potters. "I will wait until we find out what you learn first, Amelia."
"Minister, who has custody of the boy?" Amelia Bones asked. "I knew that Alice Longbottom was the boy's godmother, but who was the godfather?"
"I am not sure, I wasn't particularly close to the Potters, they were at least a decade younger than Molly and myself. We were already raising a family, I would have thought it was Black, but Moody said that he had heard it was another friend, Remus Lupin."
"Interesting," Tabor stated as he wrote down some notes to look into this with the Child Protective Services. There was a knock on the door and Arthur invited his assistant in.
"Minister, there is a problem in Magical Creatures." The nervous young man announced. "Undersecretary Diggory asked that I send the DMLE to help out."
Arthur thanked Tabor and Bones for their help and went back to working on his paperwork knowing that Tabor could handle whatever was going on in Magical Creatures.
"Sir, you have a package from the Muggle Ministry." Arthur thanked the wizard and then opened the box on his desk. Inside there was a note in an envelope and a package tied up in a ribbon. Opening that, he found a couple of books. One called How Things Work and the second was a book on Muggle History and Laws that he had asked about during his visit.
Pleased with the books and then finding another package underneath, he opened them and saw the notes attached. "Congratulations Weasley family." Inside was a large package of muggle candies along with a note explaining that they were what muggle children received on Halloween and for his wife, there was a nice assortment of paper with a muggle pen set.
Albus Dumbledore left the bank, still not sure why he had been called there. Upon returning to Hogwarts, he called for his Potion's master and filled him on all he had learned in the past week. "We both know that this isn't over, that he will return."
Severus grimaced when he had first heard about the blackened orb he had hoped for the end of his service to the Headmaster and to teaching these infernal students. Now, it appeared he was stuck, with no end in sight. The duo headed to dinner and was soon joined in the Great Hall with the rest of the staff and students. The groundskeeper asked the Headmaster for permission to leave the grounds, explaining that the Bones family had offered a donation of a pair of thestals to help grow their herd.
Edgar Bones had offered two of his adult females and this meant he that the headmaster would be able to eliminate that expenditure from the budget, Hogwarts had needed new blood for their herd. He was heading through the hallways, blissfully unaware that his acceptance of Hagrid leaving the grounds would involve time spent with Amelia Bones.
Down in the Underground, Harry and his subjects were playing with his toys after his new father had banned the chickens from his quarters. The goblins were chasing young Harry around and then he would stop and turned to chase them. The young boy had spent part of the day with a pretty lady who was his father's sister who had measured him for clothes and then magically all sorts of clothes appeared in his closet to his amazement.
She left and yet another pretty lady related to the goblin king showed up and he soon had shoes and boots and other items for his closets. The third pretty lady was nice smelling and looked a bit familiar to the small boy. He kept staring at her and then it hit him who she was. "You're the nice story reader lady whose reading of my new dad's story had my cousin wishing me away."
Titania nodded and told the little boy that yes she was.
He gave her a huge grin and said: "Thank you, thank you, thank you."
Titania said "You're welcome. A wonderful boy like you didn't deserve to have that happening to you. No boy or girl deserves to be treated like that."
She knelt down next to the dark-haired boy and gave him a hug during which he tensed up then after watching her carefully returned her hug. There was a small frown for a second on his face when he said "I remember hugs. I remember daddy hugs that hugged mommy and me. Mommy hugs where she would press kisses all over my face and belly. Mooey and Puppy hugs."
The small boy went and sat down on the settee, quietly feeling the sense of love that he had forgotten in his time with the Dursleys. The Underground Queen was about to go get her son when he arrived and sank down onto his knees in front of his son and asked "Hereweald, are you alright?"
The boy nodded then after a moment, he looked at Titania and then taking a deep breath to gather courage, asked what had gotten him slapped and placed in his cupboard at the Dursleys when he was small. "I missed the hugs. Would you mind if I gave you a hug?"
Titania watched as Jareth gingerly pulled the small boy closer and tightly hugged him before saying. "No, but first I get to give you a hug first."
Harry wasn't sure how that worked, if he was getting hugged, how did it mean that his new dad would be giving him a hug first, but the sudden feel of his father's arms around him and his long hair brushing against Harry's nose making his nose twitch, the scent of sandalwood and peaches the part that had Harry tearing up the realization that the sounds he hadn't been able to recognize in the recently remembered hugs were the beating of a heart.
His small arms didn't reach around the goblin king, but curled around his upper arms as Harry buried his head against his father's chest, the silver and gold pendant around his neck digging into his forehead and allowed tears to fall as memory after memory of hugs and love just ebbed and flowed as magic filled the room.
Titania watched as that magic coalesced into a bright and shiny mass that soon formed a young couple who were watching Harry and Jareth. There were tears in their eyes as they looked like they were trying to reach out and touch the small boy before they nodded her way and the magic floated back to the small boy and surrounded the goblin king and Harry.
Jareth heard the words but knew that only he was able to as the assassinated magical couple thanked him for his acceptance and love for their son. "Thank you for taking him out of that horrible situation. Please, tell him we love him. That we are proud of him for surviving all he has lived through."
Rubeus Hagrid was thrilled to be helping prepare the two female thestals to join the Hogwarts herd and when Amelia Bones had helped him deliver them to Hogwarts, accepted her offer of a drink down at the Three Broomsticks.
Amelia had had one of her aurors planted in the pub and using the rowdiness inside to have drinks brought to Hagrid and herself in a private room as she listened to him telling Rosmerta about what they had been doing that evening. A sharp glance her way then the barmaid exited the private area and Amelia was telling Hagrid about her family's interest in raising exotic creatures and making a mental note to watch the other man closely after he bragged about having many, many strange and wondrous pets.
Using the idea of pets, she was soon telling him all about taking her niece and friends visit a magical zoo the month before. "We saw a few of her future classmates there that day. It was such a nice change from the world we lived in not that long ago. Thank Merlin for Harry Potter."
To her shock and bemusement, that was all she had to say before the Hogwarts gamekeeper began to spill about his involvement in retrieving the Potter boy from his hiding place in Godric's Hollow. He told a tale of being called to the headmaster's office and sent on the errand of retrieving the small tot. "How did he know that the Potter boy was alive though, Hagrid?"
The big man shrugged and said he surely didn't know, just that the Headmaster had known the Potter parents were dead and the boy was alive. Young Sirius Black showing up, the motorcycle and how he had wanted Hagrid to hand the boy over.
Amelia was looking at the big man with gratitude as she realized he had somehow defeated the right-hand man of the dark lord and saved the Potter boy, at least that was what she believed until she heard the rest of the story which now had her asking more questions than just why Hagrid.
"Anyhows, I took him to the castle and then again to his new home after the headmaster had Madam Pomfrey check him over," Hagrid said. "Wes left the poor tyke with those muggles and returned to the school. I came here and celebrated along with ever'bodies."
"At least he is safe with his family." She said in a leading tone.
"The Headmaster says that it is the safest place for the poor tyke. Stills I wishes we at least' stayed 'til they found the tyke in the baskets on the doorsteps." Amelia blinked at that statement, did the big man just tell her that the headmaster left a small sleeping toddler on the front doorstep in the middle of the night during the fall, she remembered that year, the weather had been very chilly around Halloween.
Changing the subject to Quidditch, she spoke on several other different topics and then made a point of escorting the big man home. Entering the castle and inquiring from Minerva McGonagall for permission to use the floo, she covered for her time spend with the gamekeeper and returned to her home and wrote out her notes, positive that there was a huge part of this story that they were missing and one that had her wondering just where in the world was Harry James Potter?
Plea
The next year moved quickly in the magical world, Arthur Weasley was still Minister for Magic and had been gaining recognition as a good and fair one. His wife who at first had been angry that they wouldn't be accepting the spoils of the patronage system soon found herself heralded in the press for the way they were rejecting this corrupt position. She might turn a blind eye to small discounts that came their way, but she was finding it easier to pay their bills and buy their children what they needed for school and small treats. To her surprise, she was also soon on the receiving end from gifts that they could accept from those who were her husband's equals from various magical governments and even the muggle government. She had regretfully been forced to send back certain gifts that her husband had used family magic to force her to refuse.
Her children were doing well, her eldest son had just graduated that year from Hogwarts as Headboy and a chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. She was unhappy when he went to work for Gringotts but he soon had her convinced that he didn't become a curse-breaker for the adventure but to strike out on his own so that no one would think he had gotten his job because of his father being the Minister for Magic.
His brother Charlie was now Quidditch captain and doing well in school, so well that her Aunt Muriel was speaking of making the Weasley second son her heir. Percy had spent the summer trailing after his father at the Ministry and she had received accolades once again on how well behaved he was and how smart he seemed.
The twins had been invited to attend the local magical primary school and while she hadn't wanted them to attend, Arthur had convinced her that it would look good for them with those magicals who did. The twins were still a handful but with them attending school outside the home, she found she had more time to devote to her duties as the Minister's wife and her youngest two.
Ron had taken the test for this magical primary school and she was thrilled to find out he hadn't scored well enough to attend, even if Arthur had been upset at the report that his youngest son was emotionally immature and that he had issues with his attention span. She wished to keep her youngest two home with her for as long as she could in spite of Arthur's concerns regarding Ron's schooling.
They had two owls assigned just to Arthur's mail and she had been assigned a Ministry owl for her own use, allowing them to retire Errol. Molly was still planting her garden but now, the Daily Prophet was inviting her to write a weekly article and paying her for it about gardening and housekeeping. Her only real complaint though, was that they didn't have even one house elf. In spite of trying to convince Arthur to agree to accept the Headmasters' offer of one of the Hogwarts house elves, he refused in spite of her pleading that all decent magical houses had at least one.
In the Underground, Harry had just sunk onto his father's throne and with a sneaky glance around, lifted his legs to place them on the arm of the chair just like his father did. Finding that very uncomfortable, he removed them grumbling about how his legs weren't long enough.
"You do know, that anyone else daring to sit there would be bogged and then sent to an oubliette?"
Harry hopped down the stone steps and went to greet his grandmother who grinned back at him then grimaced when he deliberately called her granny. "You know, you are begging for trouble, young man."
He gave her a cheeky grin and said: "Oberon came and took me to visit the unicorns if I kept doing so."
"Why am I granny and he gets to be called by his given name?" She asked a bit put out at how her husband had avoided the title he felt aged him.
"As I said, he offered up unicorns."
"I up his bid, how about a visit to the above. We can go see the Magical Gardens of Olympia?" she suggested.
Harry thought about it then said "Oh, I like that. Maybe we can go swimming?"
"Deal, but remember, I am Titania and what will you now be calling my husband?"
"Any and all variations on Grandfather." He promptly replied then mischievously added in a way that reminded her of her son added, "Until he comes up with a better bribe, anyhow."
She messed his already messy hair even more than reaching for his hand popped them out of the castle and sent her son a note telling him where they were going and then a daunting challenge to her husband deliberately calling him grandpappy knowing it would send the vain man into the doldrums.
The Dursley family was a not-so-happy as a rift grew between the child and his parents. Vernon had held onto his position. His division was still showing a profit, even if it was more the result of his staff's hard work than Vernon's. Things at home were a bit strange.
First had been all of the questions regarding Harry's disappearance then after a visit from a woman wearing a monocle, the troublesome questions had gone away. His wife had been despondent as their son often suddenly had toys that they hadn't purchased for him and sweets that they had refused to give him. Vernon blamed it all on the freakishness from the boy rubbing off on his boy.
Petunia's plan for hard work and no time outside the house seemed to be working. It was only when Dudley was given special treats or taken out to the store that he was magically inclined. So now, instead of hanging out every day with his friends after school, Dudley was picked up by his mother, driven either to his church youth activities or home where he was immediately put to work doing a long list of chores.
They had removed anything that remotely was thought magical, even Science Fiction was banned from the house, which had upset Vernon at first, but now thanks to his wife's guilt at what had happened to their son, he now spent every single Saturday and Sunday with Marge watching Doctor Who and anything else banned from their home.
Harry was thrilled when a week after spending time on Mount Olympia, his father took him to a muggle art museum in some place called Washington DC. Every single day, they explored a different museum that corresponded with a different textbook that his father used to teach him about the Aboveground world.
Natural History where he marveled at the size of long-dead dinosaurs, shivered as he looked at snakes who he would swear he could hear talking and bugs, had to drag his father away when the man spent too much time admiring a large diamond. Thankfully Jareth had read how it was supposedly cursed and it stopped his father from creating a facsimile and helping himself to the real one. He learned about American History, Airplanes, and outer space. Art in all sort of forms and had even gone to visit a zoo!
That morning when he woke up, he went to his nearby bookshelves and grinned at his growing and eclectic selection of books. From standard mortal books to magical books to books from the Underground, his vocabulary and view of the world were constantly growing. Hearing footsteps, he turned to see his father was once again wearing aboveground fashions, but ones different than they had worn all week.
"How about we visit the American Magical Community, Jamestown isn't far from where we have been going above?" Harry was thrilled and after a small glamour charm which they had discovered was necessary thanks to the Goblins of Gringotts, the small family were soon exploring the small community where they learned that Salem, Massachusetts, Orlando Florida and Anaheim California contained the largest populations of magicals in the United States even if there were smaller communities elsewhere in the land.
Jamestown had proven interesting as Harry has finally seen the so-called Harry Potter books that were for sale in Britain and that had recently been exported to the rest of the magical world. Jareth frowned when he saw the photo of the small boy on the cover and made a note to speak to Gringotts about this violation of his son's privacy.
Amelia Bones sank into the chair across from her boss and asked: "What do you think?"
"I think that you are right that something is very wrong but we have used up all our leads unless you wish to go to Azkaban and speak to Black." Tabor pointed out.
"I thought about it." Bones admitted. "When I found out Lupin is out of the country, I did consider going to speak to the man, but when I looked I found his file missing. I spoke to Crouch and he said that the headmaster sealed anything to do with Potter, supposedly for his protection."
Tabor raised his eyebrow and said "The same person who is working so hard to prevent us from reviewing the trials of the death eaters. I really, really want to know why."
"The only thing I know for sure is that Potter was removed from the Dursley home thank Merlin," Amelia said shuddering as she recalled what she had learned when she had paid Lily Evans Potter's sister a visit. "And it was done magically and had to have been done with someone with no ill intent towards the boy due to the wards."
"We are a year into this investigation and all we are coming up with is more questions and no answers," Tabor replied. "I did ask Moody about Black when he was here last month. He had nothing good to say about the man and mentioned that Remus Lupin had good reason to stay out of the country."
"I think I know the reason. I believe he might have been bitten by a werewolf in the last war." She replied. "Even with all the changes, there are some fears that most of our citizens will never lose."
"I did have one interesting tidbit for your file." He replied as he leaned back in his chair. "I ran a list of convicted wizards and witches over to the goblins and they told me that Black's mother passed away and he is the heir to the entire estate. What is strange is this means that his will comes into play since he is a convicted murderer. I went to see if it was on file and it is. Care to guess who inherits his entire estate?"
She shook her head no.
"Potter." He replied. "His will states that in the event of his death or being incapacitated, James and Lily's son Harry James Potter inherits everything he owns minus a minor bequest of a book to Remus Lupin. The goblins were also rather interested in the sealed Potter will because there are some charitable funds that are in a vault unable to be used because of it being sealed by Chief Warlock Dumbledore. Funds that someone has been attempting to access."
Albus Dumbledore was seated upon his throne, watching over the students as they celebrated Halloween in the Great Hall. He was listening to bickering between Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape over the subject of points taken from her students in his class.
Over on the other side, Hagrid was talking to Professor Kettleburn about the thestrals who had given birth, while Professor Sprout was listening in. Beside them was Filius Flitwick who was politely listening to Sybil Trewlawny who was speaking about her latest 'vision'.
Master of all he surveyed, he thought of all that had happened in the last year since the strange appointments of the Wizengamot. He was still suspicious of Lucius Malfoy and why he had gotten Arthur Weasley appointed Minister for Magic but the blond had been noticeably absent from the political arena for the last year.
His man Fudge had quit working for the Ministry by Christmas time and was now employed by the Chuddly Cannons. Delores Umbridge was still at the Ministry and working in the Goblin Liaison office where she was very vocal about loathing her job. The rumor was that she had been interviewed by the Daily Prophet for a position but had lost out to Rita Skeeter who she swore had stolen the job away from her.
Albus heard a crash and turned in the direction of the sound only to see the young Tonks girl tripping over her own feet as she reached for some treats in the center of the Hufflepuff table. Madam Sprout quickly went to check on the young metamorph and Albus turned his attention to the Gryffindor students who were joking around and some even heading out towards their tower.
Deciding that it was safe for him to head up to his office and do his annual inspection of certain instruments in his office, he heard Hagrid telling Kettleburn about what had happened the night the Potters had died and made a mental note to have the gamekeeper pay him a visit this week. The last thing he needed was for Minerva to hear Hagrid's version of that night, the witch in question might realize that he had altered her memory of those events.
Seven-year-old Prince Hereweald was returning to the Underground after having spent the night having gone trick or treating above under the supervision of one of his tutors, having been returned to the outside of the Labyrinth where he saw Hoggle the dwarf his father liked to annoy. The dwarf was in view from the window of his cabin and Hereweald knew he would love one of the treats he had been given this evening.
The creature who was his size was speaking to someone in a mirror when Prince Hereweald knocked on his door. "Hoggle, Hoggle, I have a present for you."
The door was quickly opened by a very well known small knight named Sir Didymus and Hereweald entered the cottage and quickly greeted those within. "Ludo of the Rockcallers are you well this evening?"
Ludo yodeled his response and Hereweald who was trying to understand the languages of all of his future subjects took a few minutes to decipher the words then responded "I am glad to hear that. I just came from above where I was Trick or Treating and have brought gifts with me."
With a smile on his face, he handed over the candy from his sack and told Ludo. "The mortals call it rock candy. Sir Didymus, for you... it's a Three Musketeer bar. It's named for three knights who save the life of a king. And for you, Hoggle, guess what I was given..."
The seven-year-old pulled out the bright red candy on a plastic ring and said with a huge grin "Its called a Candy Flash Pop Ring."
He turned to the mirror and looking at the dark-haired young woman inside of it said "I am sorry, I don't know what you would like but if you tell me a name of your favorite candy, I might have it in my sack. Oh, I am sorry, I am being rude. My name is Prince Hereweald, I am the Goblin Prince."
The girl in the mirror gasped at this news and quickly disappeared.
"Where did she go?" Harry asked in a disappointed tone. "I only wanted to..."
Harry heard his father calling out his name and with a quick smile flashed at those who had suddenly gone still inside the cottage rushed out and went back to where he had been waiting to meet his father. "Thank you, Mr. Gustav, for taking me Trick or Treating. Did the runner get to the castle, dad?"
Jareth looked at the seven-year-old and compared him to the nervous and scared child who had landed in his world a mere year before and bent down to lift him up. "No, they quit after meeting Right and Wrong."
"Aw, so no real challenge then?" He asked as he found himself suddenly back in the castle throne room. Sinking onto the steps, he looked around and asked "Where are the goblins? I brought them back treats."
"I sent them home after the wished away was sent to his new home." He replied as he sat down next to his son. "Hereweald, you do know that you don't have to give away your candy, that you can keep it for yourself, right?"
"It's more fun this way. I gave Sir Didymus a Three Musketeer Bars, Ludo rock candy and a Ring Pop to Hoggle but then you called for me before I could give away any more." He replied as he leaned back against his father and yawned. "I am so tired."
"Let's get you to your bedroom, my goblin." He said as he carried the small boy dressed as a goblin to his bedroom and using magic soon had him tucked up under the covers. Placing the large sack of candy on the nearby table, chuckling when he saw the animated stuffed bear that his mother had given to his son climb up onto the bed and cuddle with the small boy, Jareth was about to lower the light when his son yawned and said "Dad, would you please tell Hoggle that I am sorry I scared away his friend."
With that, the small boy was fast in dreamland. Taking a small peek into his son's dreams, Jareth chuckled when he saw him dreaming of dancing fish and talking horses that stood on hind legs, he brushed the hair out off his forehead and went to his own room thinking of his son's plea to apologize to Hoggle, he decided that the next thing he needed to add to his son's lessons was who he was and why it was so important that he act as the future ruler.
Wondering who Hoggle had been talking to, he had just begun to drift off himself when he had a thought. What if it was Sarah?
Human
As the next three and a half years passed, to keep Hereweald's human side from developing an allergy to iron, Jareth and he spent quite a bit of time in the aboveworld, if most of that just happened to be on the East Coast of the United States, it was merely a coincidence that that was were Sarah lived.
Jareth and his son spent time in the magical kingdom in Orlando, in a small part of the park just for magicals. They spend time in more museums, in libraries and sneaking into concerts and festivals as Harry learned about all parts of the world. His father had even used one of his crystals so that they could attend sessions of various non-magical government meetings and often took him to the Underground Court meetings.
Below was spent learning wandless magic and the appropriate response in almost any situation, with learning to dance and how to know where a particular wished away would end up. The only area that the young prince wasn't allowed was contact with those who made the wishes which only seemed to happen about ten times a year if they were lucky.
Unlike young Sarah, most wishers were either sad people who couldn't raise their children and wanted a better life for them which meant Jareth would go easy on but they still more often then not had already given up and rarely fought hard to retrieve their children or horrible people who should not have been allowed to be parents at all.
Those were the ones that angered Jareth the worst and when those wishers were loose in his kingdom, Jareth's parents would distract young Harry with trips to Mount Olympus or to visit the unicorns or dragons, or even once on a memorable trip to visit the penguins who lived in Antarctica.
Oberon and Titania had only three children, all were adults and only Jareth had offspring. His sisters who had married rulers of more two of the more distant lands of the Underground often spoiled Hereweald even more than his adopted grandparents resulting in them rarely being given unsupervised visits with their nephew.
Cassiopeia and her husband Ethberg of the Elvin lands and King of the North were hoping for a wished away of their own at some point, the small adopted boy of her brother would find elaborate gifts when they would visit their aboveground kingdoms which included books, wonderful wood carvings and on one rather deafening occasion for Jareth, a ceremonial horn that Hereweald found the goblins loved the sound of. Ethberg often taught Harry court rules for his kingdom and athletics as he was an action man, not one prone to sitting about reading.
Cassie's twin sister Penelope had married Gorem the ruler of the Eastern lands and Gorem who ruled a land with dragons and yeties often would invite Hereweald to visit but after one particular visit where he had somehow convinced a dragon to let him ride on it's back, both Gorem and Jareth agreed that for the sake of Gorem's health and future it would be better for them to visit the young Prince in the land of the goblins.
Penelope who had a better understanding of aboveground magic and to young everlasting Hereweald's regret a love of aboveground fashion was often one of his tutors when his father wasn't available to travel above with him. The young boy had once been a child who wore only second-hand clothes four sizes too big for him now had a wardrobe even his father envied.
Aboveground, Arthur was in his fourth year as Minister for Magic and was working the job as a partnership with his Undersecretary Amos Diggory whose son Cedric was a year behind his own son Percy at Hogwarts. His twin boys had begun to attend two years before and were already responsible for creating mischief at school in spite of all of his wife's admonishments about it.
This fall his youngest son, Ronald was to start Hogwarts and in a few months, Charlie would graduate. His wife had been very upset that their son had accepted a job working at a dragon reserve in Romania, but after having dealt with something similar with her eldest, she had come to if not accept it, learn to keep quiet about her complaints.
Hearing a knock on his door he saw the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and both Amos and he warmly greeted Amelia Bones who after the normal greetings began her weekly round-up report from her department.
After her report, she hesitated then opened up the dog-eared folder she had been working from for over three and a half years. "I have a few other things we need to discuss. First of all, Arthur, when Tabor retired, he and I spoke to you about getting permission to speak to the death eaters in Azkaban and the Wizengamot has always refused."
Amos nodded then asked, "Why do you wish to speak to such scum?"
"I have questions, mainly about the raid on the Longbottoms as you know, Alice was my partner at the time." She replied. "More than that, with the recent uptick in petty crimes, I have come up with a solution to our problem of how to deal with such criminals and it means testing it on prisoners already locked up seems like a better idea than using dummies like was recommended. We are already paying for their care and upkeep, why not put them to good use."
"Fine, but with the bug that Albus Dumbledore has about Sirius Black, choose a different prisoner," Arthur replied. "I am gathering you are talking about the suppressor that the Unspeakables created?"
"Yes." Amelia replied then said, "I know it's not my department but we keep ending up dealing with the fallout, what are you going to do about Walden Macnair?"
The Minister for Magic, his Undersecretary and she all shuddered as they thought about the photo that had appeared in the Daily Prophet of the former head executioner. Most had heard the rumors about Aberforth Dumbledore and his unnatural love of goats, but Macnair and his uh, interest in hippogriffs and his rather public visit to the Forbidden Forest and his attempt to woo a centaur were now front page news.
"I have no idea how Rita got her article and that photo. In spite of everything, my people researched all laws they could find and apparently it is not a crime for Macnair to be uh, well, um.." Amos stated, his face flushed as he tried to find a delicate way to discuss the situation. "My wife, however, was furious with the Daily Prophet for publishing that picture on the front page."
"I have never seen my wife so angry. She is still writing that column for them and was looking forward to this particular copy of the paper but she quickly threw it into the fire before the children could see it." Arthur replied. Arthur hastily changed the subject to asking her about her niece Susan and if she was getting excited about heading off to Hogwarts that fall.
Up in the Aboveground, it was late May and a beautiful twenty-one-year-old young woman with black hair and green eyes was slamming the door to her home and stomping into the living room where her father and stepmother were still up. In spite of the very beautiful dress she was wearing, the girl threw herself down into a chair and glared at the coffee table.
"Sarah?"
The scowling young woman looked at the couple and throwing the small delicate clutch purse onto the table said "It was a complete and total disaster. I swear I don't know whatever convinced me to go to the wedding with that imbecile."
Karen Williams hid her need to smile, she had tried to warn her stepdaughter that the very good looking but not very bright young man was not the best choice for her, but as the very stubborn Sarah had pointed out, she had dated a rather large assortment of guys with brains and who was kind and none of them had worked out much better.
"Oh, just let it out, Karen." She said as she shook her head then with a slight giggle told them "We were leaving the church and the idiot saw the leftover chocolates that the wedding planner had and decided to help himself, never mind that the reason they weren't used was that they had already begun to melt. He ruined his tux shirt."
"He at least made it through the dinner and the toasts without another disaster then spilled the punch all over Tiffany Wallon's bridesmaid's dress. He was dancing rather wildly and hit one of the groomsmen in the nose and then, when it was a slow song didn't know how to dance. Not even that sort of shuffling that most guys do let alone to attempt anything as elaborate as a waltz."
"They played music, you could waltz to?" Karen asked a bit surprised considering the young age of the couple getting married.
"Well, no, but I mean, if they had, he couldn't have managed it. Why is..." Sarah trailed off, reminding herself that her fevered fantasy of a certain goblin king was not a good idea. Hoggle had confirmed for her that the King had a son and she herself had seen that beautiful blond woman. She had heard the boy calling her petite mama just a year ago during a sneaked visit to the kingdom. Just because every man she dated was compared to the goblin king she had once met, didn't mean anything, no nothing at all and there was no way that anyone but anyone was going to convince her any differently.
"Sarah?"
The twenty-one-year-old looked at Karen and realize that she had been once again having a conversation with herself so went back to her story. "We were waiting for the bouquet and garter toss and Thad tripped over the red carpet. I had to take him to the hospital because he was bleeding from his chin and he ended up with four stitches, his knees were badly scrapped and he had sprained his ankle and wrenched his calf. Tripping over the edge of the carpet."
"Oh dear." Robert didn't know what to say, he had met the young man his daughter had gone out with that evening and while he knew he wasn't the most observant father in the world, it had been rather clear that his daughter was able to run rings around the pretty boy with the blond hair and blue eyes.
"You know, it could have been worse, dear." He said. "He could have been drunk."
"No, after the disaster with the Goodrich boy throwing up all over me, I have only gone on dates with boys who don't drink," Sarah admitted. "I just have no luck with men, even in England. Maybe I should give up on dating and join a convent. I mean, when my closest friend is a girl a few years older than my little brother...seriously, it is not good."
"It can't be that bad, Sarah," Karen replied. "Toby came home from his slumber party, his night wasn't much better than yours. Why don't we head into the city tomorrow, maybe we can check with that bookstore in the city you love for that old book you were looking for?"
Sarah yawned and agreed then telling them goodnight went to her room and sank onto her bed. Using the crystal that Sir Didymus had given her to make it look like her lights were out and so that no sound escaped from her room, she called out for her friends hoping that they were still awake.
Hoggle appeared almost immediately and when Sarah asked, invited her through. Seeing the sunshine, she turned to the dwarf and asked. "What time is it here?"
"Around lunchtime." He replied as he told her that Sir Didymus and Ludo were outside waiting for them. The quartet sat there as Sarah told them about her horrible night. She had long stopped asking about the possibility of the goblins interfering in her life when things went wrong but she still couldn't help wondering...
"No Milady, the goblins have no way to visit without the King's permission and he would not be able to grant it without yours." Sir Didymus replied. "You do look wonderful, though, Milady, such a shame for all that beauty to be wasted upon such an unpleasant evening.
Sarah leaned back against her stone chair and admitted to wishing that it had gone much differently then asked Hoggle about the absence of fairies. The small dwarf frowned then said "My house was moved, we are now on the opposite side of the labyrinth, the fairies stayed behind. I am now in charge of the fruit and nut orchards for the rat."
Feeling the orb in her pocket vibrating, Sarah reluctantly headed back to the mirror inside the cottage and returned to the aboveground, watching who had entered the magical perimeter around Hoggle's house. Hearing the young boy who Hoggle greeted as Prince Hereweald, she got a quick glance at the young boy with hair as dark as her own and who was telling him that now that he was almost eleven his father had agreed he could walk through the maze on his own. A bit thrown to realize that the king's son was only ten years younger than herself, she reminded herself that she didn't care, not one bit.
However, as she hung her dress up, the girl admitted to herself that she was lying but pointed out to herself that she was only human and that any woman or girl would have found the Goblin King attractive.
Irony
The school year had ended and Dumbledore watched as his former Muggle Studies and future Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher left for his sabbatical to be spent in Albania. It had been a very long year as even Albus Dumbledore found himself impatient for what he believed to be a new age for the magical world that would begin with the return of the Boy-Who-Lived. He had spent several months believing that the boy was going to be worthless to his plans, but then he had discovered proof that his enemy was still alive and realized that somehow the Unspeakables had gotten something wrong. Now, once again, he was eagerly awaiting the Potter boy.
Arriving at the Ministry, he was soon greeting his fellow witches and wizards as he went to his Wizengamot session, the first of this summer. On his way through the lobby and past the lovely fountain that was located there, he saw the former head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Barty Crouch arguing most strenuously with the current head of that agency.
Eavesdropping as he walked past, he frowned and decided to have a little talk with Arthur Weasley to find out what exactly it was that Amelia Bones was doing visiting death eater prisoners when the Wizengamot had expressly forbidden it.
Just outside of the large room that they were to be meeting in, he found himself in a conversation with Amos Diggory and the newest employee of the Improper Use of Magic Office, Mafalda Hopkirk. She was speaking to the headmaster about how much work her department did during the summer when Hogwarts wasn't in session so Amos excused himself to join his boss in the front of the room.
"Chief Warlock Dumbledore isn't going to be too happy with the person we are bringing before the court today," Arthur said with a grimace. "Dung Fletcher and he go way back."
By the end of the afternoon session, Albus was not a happy wizard, especially when he found out that Amelia Bones and Arthur Weasley had rallied the light wizards and the dark into agreeing with their proposal on how to deal with the recent uptick in petty thefts and that the first wizard to be sentenced under the new guidelines was Mundungus Fletcher.
He had been aghast at learning that Fletcher was going to be wearing a magical bracelet that would remove all of his magic for sixty days and that if he was caught stealing again, it would be a hundred and twenty. That each offense doubled the time he lost his magic and after the fifth time, he would be sent to Azkaban's new non-dementor wing for five years as an incorrigible repeat offender.
"Surely, this is an inhuman punishment." He said in protest.
"We tested this on a death eater. Augustus Rookwood was placed in this new wing with the bracelet on his wrist for thirty days and it has proven quite effective. At the end of his sentence, we get a notice that the ring has to come off and it does so magically. We have tested every single magical way to remove the bracelet before the sentence is up and it isn't removable. The best part is that the bracelet using magic itself to know if a criminal is guilty of the crimes he is being charged with."
"Would you please explain that." Theodore Nott Senior inquired from his placement in the chamber.
"I have the ability to show you a demonstration sentencing and placement of the bracelet and if Chief Warlock would like, I can use him as the test subject as no one would ever consider him a thief." The chief warlock declined like Amelia had expected him to. She had slowly over the last few years gathering evidence and knew that while it was not yet time, there would be a reckoning at some point for the man many held in way too high of a regard.
"Now, may I have a volunteer?" She inquired and Amos Diggory offered himself like they had prepared beforehand knowing that Albus Dumbledore would refuse. "I hereby sentence Amos Diggory to a term of sixty days for theft of my wand."
The bracelet unlike what had happened with Mundungus Fletcher didn't light up and disappear from his wrist. "As you see, in spite of my attempt to remove his magic, he wasn't guilty of the crime charged so it didn't work. Now, watch. Amos Diggory, I hereby sentence you to a term of ten minutes for forgetting to buy your wife a birthday present."
Nothing happened but some chuckling as the bracelet lit up but didn't disappear. "While he was guilty of the offense, it wasn't a magical crime so the bracelet didn't sentence him to the mentioned term."
"I'm sure ol' Diggory's wife sentenced him to a term much, much worse." A raucous voice in the upper stands called out to the amusement of everyone.
"We only are able to use these bracelets for minor crimes and they are based on magical intent. They have been very strenuously tested in every single type of situation we could think of from convicting innocents to people being guilty of crimes that they weren't being charged with to those found guilty trying to get someone else to remove them. They are tied to your magical core and have fail safes to prevent use by those with ill thoughts. By using these instead of sentencing minor criminals like Mr. Fletcher to jail time, we are able to save the Ministry over five hundred galleons a year per prisoner."
There was some muttering about the removal of magic but Amelia responded. "This doesn't affect someone's magic when visiting their bank vault at Gringotts, any inheritances that they might receive nor their ability to visit magical areas, merely their ability to do magic which considering that to be sentenced to this punishment they would have had to repeatedly commit a whole list of petty crimes I think we can agree that they deserve the inconvenience. And you must be over seventeen for this magic to even work so it will not affect children."
Albus was not a happy wizard as he returned to his castle, he had tried to convince Arthur Weasley that this was wrong, but the other wizard had countered every single argument he tried to use. As he went back to his office, he decided that maybe just maybe having the returning Harry Potter spend time with the Weasley family, just might not be in his best interests in spite of Molly's generous offer.
In Little Whinging, Dudley Dursley, if he had known about the concept, would not have found the irony laughable as he spent the day weeding the garden while his mother sat inside watching her serials. He didn't connect the way his life had changed over the last few years with the day he had forgotten he had wished his cousin away.
If he had, he would definitely be ruing said day as he finished the weeding and watering of the garden after double checking on the shed he had painted the day before. Entering the house and panicking as he realized he had gotten mud on the floors he had just mopped and waxed, he kicked off his sneakers and hastily wiped the floor before going up the stairs to his bedroom. Showering and soon wearing clean clothes, he went downstairs and gathering the small snack his mother considered acceptable returned to his room watching through the window as the other kids his age played outside.
His birthday was this weekend and would be spent with his parents. At one point he would have been angry and tried to get revenge for such a thing, but over the last three years, he had slowly been isolated by his parents from other people. He lived for school, which was the only place he was allowed contact with anyone outside of his family. If he upset his mother, she often kept him home from school.
He had lost weight as his parent no longer took him to the store with them where he could steal snacks and or toys, there were locks on the cabinets and while his father often brought him new toys, he had no one but himself to play with making things very boring. He often resorted to reading books to escape said boredom even if he didn't always understand the concepts of anything without pictures in the books to guide him along.
His mother avoided him most of the time and it was she who forced him to do the excessive amount of chores around the house and garden. His father was at work most days and spent at least one day on the weekend with his Aunt Marge who sent gifts even if she never visited anymore.
Dudley couldn't wait, his father said that if he didn't get some letter on his eleventh birthday, he would be attending Smeltings. He couldn't wait, he wanted to get so far away from his mother that he could almost taste the freedom.
Harry was juggling two crystal spheres as he sat on the royal throne while his Aunt Cassiopeia watched over him, amused at how much her nephew resembled her brother as his slouched on the throne. "Where are the goblins?"
The young prince bobbled his spheres and with a lopsided grin told her that he had been using magic to clean the throne room. "I lost control of the water spell and they couldn't get away fast enough."
She chuckled and then reached over to hand him the present she had brought with her. "Penny told me that you asked for a feather from one of Ethberg's hawks when you asked her for a dragon drought."
Hereweald nodded and explained "The wandmaker is going to make me a custom wand. He had me go into a trance and tell him what I saw. I saw a Habrok Hawk core dipped in the fire dragon drought inside of wand made from the wood of a peach tree."
"So, are you up for your test today?" Cassiopeia asked as she escorted him to his school room. Once there, she handed him the rather creative aboveground world test she had written for him. Resting on the nearby chaise lounge, she watched as Hereweald would answer questions then stop for a moment and then answer more questions until he had finished answering all one hundred fill in the blank questions.
Handing him the maths test, she used magic to correct his history test; he had only gotten two questions wrong, both about mortal historical dates. Taking his offered maths test, she gave him the vocabulary and grammar and spelling test while correcting the math's test. Smiling broadly at the perfect score he had gotten, she waited until he was finished then escorted him to lunch.
An hour spent joking around with his father and aunt had Harry laughing as they returned to the schoolroom and continued on with his tests in mortal studies, civics, both aboveworld and Underground. By the end of the day, Harry could feel his brain hurting while his aunt pressed a kiss and told him he had done wonderfully then with a sly look towards where his father was speaking to her husband, handed her nephew a present. "Wait 'til you get to your room and resize it."
Harry grinned then hugged his aunt before going to speak to Jareth and Ethberg who asked if Harry was ready for his meeting with the goblins who lived aboveground later that week. The boy nodded in a serious manner then admitted that he was not sure how he was going to handle being so far away from his family once he was at Hogwarts.
"The Underground will only be a crystal away and you only need to wish for me, Hereweald." Jareth reminded him while pulling the young boy close to him. Hugging him loosely with one arm, he looked at Ethberg and admitted "Oberon has created a doorway for me to Hogwarts in case it is needed. We are also going to put the plans we set in motion when Hereweald was adopted."
"If you need support from the Northern kingdoms, it is at your disposal," Ethberg replied. "I am sure you have had the same offer from the other kingdoms as well."
"We have." Jareth admitted then with a fond look at his adopted son admitted: "Someone who shall remain nameless has won over certain rather hard-hearted individuals."
"Gorem mentioned the incidents with the trolls," Ethberg said with a shake of his head as he looked at his nephew whose sheepish grin has all the adults chuckling. "You young man have no concept of danger, do you? Playing hopscotch with the bridge trolls, only you would think to do that."
"Only when my father calls me by my full name," Hereweald admitted with a wary look at his father. In the last four years that had only happened twice. The time he had ridden on the back of a winged fire-breathing dragon. And when he had realized that his father's beloved Sarah was in danger and he had interfered in the aboveground world to save her without thinking to call for his father straight away.
The man who had been stalking Sarah through the park, was now dragon fertilizer for daring to have thoughts about harming the beautiful mortal and for actually trying to harm the ten year old boy who had used a crystal to go to the aboveground park to save her even if she had been unaware that she had needed to be saved or had been saved.
"We must return to our kingdom. Jareth, thank you." Cassiopeia said as the goblin nurse entered the throne room carrying a small boy who had been turned into an elf. "We will never forget all you have done for us."
"Just be good parents, young Elberg deserves a second chance." He replied watching as his sister and brother-in-law left with their newest family member. "Shall we?"
Hereweald let his father guide him to his room where they sat down on the settee where they often held important conversations. "Are you okay?"
The small boy nodded then looked at his father and asked. "Are you sure that I am going to get this letter, that I can't just stay here?"
"Yes and I would love for you to stay here, but you must at least listen and consider with an open heart and mind to what the Seer has to tell you," Jareth replied as he looked at his son. He still found it astounding that this self-assured, lively and inquisitive boy was the same child who the goblins had brought below over four and a half years ago.
The small boy sighed then said, "I know that there are good and bad in both worlds, that most who live above are not like my aunt and uncle, but in truth, I find out hard to care about saving people who would allow someone like them custody of a small child."
Jareth pulled his son close and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. "I don't wish to send you above any more than you wish to go. I would rather we go to this meeting that is to happen with Sarah then all three of us return below and stay here forever and ever, but Hereweald, we must at least listen to the Seer."
Two days later, on June 1st, King Jareth and his son Prince Hereweald were announced as they entered the Royal Court. The Seer was sent for and soon the royal family was gathered in the court and listening to the seer's proclamation.
"This prophecy has since been declared a false prophecy whose only power is that there are some who believe it real."
Harry listened to the man speak and frowned as it mentioned power approaches, live while the other one survives. When it was finished, he turned to the Royal ruler and said: "Grandfather, this prophecy makes no sense."
"No, it doesn't. We rather fear that the one who offered up this prophecy took remnants from unfulfilled prophecies and combined them together to convince this man Dumbledore that it was real. It's why we have to talk honestly about a few things including your scar and what was behind it." The Seer announced. "They now believe it to be fulfilled, all except this Dumbledore.
"Please tell Prince Hereweald the real prophecy." The King commanded.
"The prophecy given by not a Seer but a wizened crone states that the world above would be destroyed not by the darkness that would come twice, nor by the one of light who has false wisdom, blind faith, and hidden pride but by the inaction by the one whose fate was altered by the ambitious pretensions of the one who remained hidden at the end."
The young prince took each sentence apart in his mind and said: "The darkness that comes twice?"
"We believe this to be this creature known as Lord Voldemort or as his real name states Tom Marvolo Riddle to be living a half-life. He uses the first to hid his real name and to strike fear in his enemies by creating a taboo on his fake name." The Seer replied.
"The light with false wisdom would be this man Dumbledore," Hereweald stated thinking of all he had learned of the man who held as many titles yet did none of the true work of any of them. "The inaction by the one, that would be me. By staying here."
"No, in truth, that part was altered by your arrival in the underground. The one with ambitious pretensions was always hidden, we never knew who that was so by bringing you here, we were hoping that a different boy who lived would keep that part from happening." The Seer announced.
Hereweald looked to his father who frowned then at looked at Hereweald. "Do you know what this inaction is about?"
"Yes, it involves Prince Hereweald's beloved. False emotions helped separate them until it was too late and allowed the world above to remain unchanged resulting in the Great End to Magic in the above."
"Surely the soul bond would prevent him from having false romantic emotions," Penelope asked.
"Do to the young Prince's destiny, until he has returned from his quest, he won't be truly fae. He is a half fae, not full just yet." The Seer replied.
"So that he has a soul mate is known but not who she is," Gorem stated as he began to understand.
"By the choice to bring him underground, he has a chance at finding his true love, but she won't be a soul mate, at least until they return to the Underground." The Seer replied. "If he were to make the wrong choice, he would be unable to return. But with the change in his childhood, his chance of making the wrong choice was slimmed down considerably."
Seeing the disgusted look on Hereweald's face, Oberon chuckled and said: "We might want to wait to speak of true love and forever together until young Hereweald is a bit older, I think it is a bit much for him to take in at this time."
"The young Prince will meet his beloved at Hogwarts, that is the only advice I can give him and that she will be following in the footsteps of his two mothers." The Seer replied.
"Two mothers?" Harry asked a bit confused. "I have two fathers, but..."
"Magic shows a second maternal line for you, Prince Hereweald. It hasn't connected as of yet, but it is through your fae parent." The Seer announced then with a bow returned to his quarters to watch the Tapestry of life as was his fate.
"I wonder, do you think she happens to have green eyes that are cruel when angry and hair black as midnight?" Hereweald asked with a smirk as he looked at his father. "My second mother, I mean."
"What a pity, for your sake, that you aren't too big to bog," Jareth warned his son while creating a crystal in a threatening manner.
"After lunch, you may consider bogging him, for now, let's enjoy the midday meal," Oberon said as he escorted his wife towards the dining chamber. Once seated, the royal family were soon joined by it's straggling members who were chuckling and telling Jareth about how their son had been growing the points to his ears. "Hereweald, thank you for your very thoughtful gift to young Elberg."
A quick and cheeky grin came to the boy's face before he announced: "I just can't wait until he is old enough for me to tutor him in what is the best way to make sure you are found endearing and beloved to all especially our grandparents."
"No teaching him to ride dragons," Cassiopeia stated.
"No teaching him to talk to bridge trolls," Penelope added with a smirk at her nephew who grinned unrepentantly at her.
"No teaching him to swim naked in the waterfalls of the fairies," Oberon added, still chuckling at the memory of the outraged fairies swarming his son regarding what Hereweald had done.
"No teaching him to send his vegetables to oubliettes," His father added with a warning look at the artichokes on his son's plate.
"He is NOT to call me Granny or I will have you convinced your name is Dogbreath and that you are a common goblin," Titania warned her grandson who gave her a slight grin.
"Awww, you are taking all the fun out of it. Besides, it was Aunt Cassie who dared me to swim in the waterfalls by the edge of the Labyrinth."
"I never told you to do so completely naked," She reminded the eleven-year-old.
Jareth shuddered as he recalled the way the fairies had reacted and how he had had to give in to their wishes regarding Hoggle's move and how the dwarf had not been very happy at all after that particular prank. Not to mention the sunburn his son had gotten and where.
"Jareth when is your meeting with the goblins and where?" Oberon asked. He had offered to attend but due to his position, it had been recommended that it only be his son and grandson.
"They informed me there is much that needs to be discussed and that is even before we see the place that they have acquired for myself and Hereweald for our time aboveground," Jareth replied. "I am rather certain it will be an informative meeting."
"Do you still wish for me to take young Hereweald shopping when he receives his letter from this school?" Penelope inquired.
Jareth knew that her son was looking forward to another shopping trip with his aunt and he was quite sure that she was the best person to outfit his son. "Yes, but remember, he must be dressed as an aboveground mortal, Penelope."
"I know." She said having already studied the aboveground fashions for both worlds that Hereweald would be living in and what was required for school as well as what she could get away with sending extra to him. She couldn't help smirking as she looked at how the young boy was dressed in an almost identical outfit to his father's, the only difference being that Hereweald chose fewer ruffles to his shirts and his boots had no heels to them.
To Be Continued!