Chapter3: Losing what you never had.
A.N Okay, thanks to everyone who reviewed, the critism is just as good aas the praise, it gives me alot to think about and really helps the story so keep it coming. This chap is one of my favorites but don't take my word for it, read! Okay and REVIEW when done. I need REVIEWS , hint hint nudge nudge, get the idea REVIEW... okay thats quite enough on with the show. Oh and by the way, the updates will be coming slower now, I've got exams now, and i've got to study (but maybe i can pass this off as creative writing studying hmmm possiblities...) okay, now you can read.
Monday came as most days do, with sunlight through the windows and the smell of breakfast cooking. It also came with one thing that most days don't begin with. And that would be an unnaturally cheerful and vibrantly green haired Tonks jumping onto Harry.
"Wotcher Harry." She said brightly as Harry choked, trying to regain some of the breath that she had knocked out of him.
"Tonks, you're sitting on my chest." He managed to croak out.
"I know, and as soon as you promise not to run away I'll let you up."
"Why would I run away?" He croaked. It was far too early in the morning for Harry to be thinking.
" 'Cause today I get to take you shopping!" she cried with delight. Harry groaned, he had hoped that she would have forgotten about that.
"Okay, then, get comfortable." He replied, opting for the lesser of two evils, and closed his eyes in an attempt to return to sleep. Not an easy task, with an auror sitting on top of you.
"Then I'll have to ask Remus to finish cooking breakfast." She said. Harry's eyes flew open. That was a low blow. As a friend and professor, Remus was brilliant, as a cook the man had all the finesse of a buffalo in it's death throes.
"Fine, I'll let you drag me around Diagon alley, but I want a damn nice last meal." He said pushing Tonks off of him. She smiled cheerfully and went down stairs.
That girl ain't right I tell you.
That's rich coming from the guy who has a crush on her. The smarmy voice said in his head. Oh shut up. Harry thought back, trying to figure out a way to throw a pillow at himself and not look like an idiot. Eventually he gave up and got dressed instead.
A couple of hours later Harry and Tonks were standing outside Gringotts, magical bank. Both a little soggy, it had been raining when they arrived, but it was only the tail end of the storm, and it had soon stopped. The streets around them were damp and slippery, and that smell that always comes after a rain was heavy in the air, fresh earth and moisture. As the sun re-emerged from the clouds, Harry couldn't help but think that it was a truly marvelous day.
"So what's the plan." Harry said gazing up at the white pillars, with something approaching dread. He knew that in a few moments he could be hearing Sirius's last words, that was if all the other beneficiaries had arrived.
"Well, how about ice cream?" Tonks suggested, seeing the look of dread on Harry's face. Harry nodded, relieved at the reprieve, no matter how short. They walked over to the ice cream parlor, the sounds and sights of Diagon alley seeped into Harry. He felt relaxed, partly due to the weak glamour that Tonks, had cast over him. He could walk for the first time in the wizarding world and not be stared at, it was like being free of criticism for the first time.
As they reached the ice-cream parlor Tonks ordered for them and they sat down outside. Harry tried to think of something to say, something witty, something intelligent, hell he'd even had settled for vaguely interesting, but the words eluded him.
Any help would be appreciated Harry thought, growing desperate.
Oh no, I think it is far more fun to watch you squirm.
Hey! Remember whose head you're in!
Oh get over it… besides, she's looking at you now.
Harry jolted out of his conversation in his head.
"What's up Harry?" Tonks asked, she was looking at him with her head tilted slightly to one side, her green hair falling across her face.
"Nothing Tonks, really" He replied, trying not to stare at her, but he found it hard, as if his eyes were pulled towards her face.
"Look, Harry, it's okay to miss Sirius. I miss him, he was the only cousin I would even admit to having, but we gotta get past loses like that."
"I know, but he was the closest thing to a family I've ever had, to have him come into my life, only to be ripped away…" He looked up from the table into Tonks's eyes, "I don't know if I want to get over him, I want to cling to him every moment, as if it will bring him back." Tonks stared into Harry's eyes, the bright green a sad hue, all hope fading, as if the world no longer held any promises for him. She passed, wondering if the words she was about to say were appropriate.
Screw it, he needs someone to care for him she thought.
"Harry, you'll always have me. I know we don't know each other well, but I…" she paused, no that would be too much to say right now.
"… but I loved Sirius as well, we both have that." She paused once more.
"And just wait until you hear some of the stories I could tell you about him when he was at Hogwarts!" She said in a lighter tone. Harry look at her, and smiled a smile of such great happiness.
"Thanks Tonks, I would like that." He felt stupid after saying this, wanting to tell her so much more, but his feelings refused to be spoken. So they slipped into a calm silence. At that moment there were several soft pops, that was not unusual, wizards and witches had been appearing almost continuously throughout the day and so a few arriving together wasn't unusual. However the sudden silence, followed by screams was.
"Shit." Harry said as he leapt from the table, pulling his wand from his robes. Tonks was already up and running towards the screams, a grimace on her face. Harry followed, rounding the corner only a second or two after her. There were about twelve death eaters, throwing spells and killing in a seemingly random fashion. No one in the Alley was retaliating, they seemed only be concerned with their own escape.
'Fine, with us, less people to get in the way.' Harry ignored the thought as he dove back around the corner to avoid a curse flung at him. He couldn't see where Tonks had gone, but he knew couldn't just sit behind a wall and wait for salvation. He rounded the corner again, this time with his wand at the ready, and a shield charm surrounding him. Several spells flew towards Harry, he dodged neatly as a silver spear shot past him, remembering what he had learnt from the battle at the ministry. He raised his wand and focusing his magic into his body, flooding every cell with a raw power he had never known he had possessed. He let loose a string of stunning and binding curses, using as many he could think, hoping that by varying the types he could bypass their shields. The death eater that he had been targeting stumbled back, but his shields held. Harry swore vehemently, this was going to be difficult. More death eaters turned towards him, targeting him because he had dared to resist.
Five curses flew towards him, two cutting curses, two bone beakers and a stunning curse. Harry dodge the stunning, both the cutting curses, but both bone breakers found there mark, one only clipping his shield, flying of to the side, the other was a direct hit and shattered his shield. Harry dived for cover as the death eaters uttered more curses.
'Shit, now what?' he thought furiously to himself.
'You aren't the brightest are you?' the thought replied, it's voice laced with sarcasm.
Shut up.' Harry thought back in a sing song tone. At that same moment a curse hit the tree that Harry had taken refuge behind, there was an ominous creak as the wood shifted behind Harry's back, the smell of charred wood thickening the air.
'On second thought, if you have any advice, I'm not going to turn it down' Harry quickly amended.
'Good, you have some sense, you may even survive this. Look at the two death eaters on the far right.' Harry peeked his head around the tree and found the two death eaters the thought had indicated, there was nothing unusual about them, aside from being the slavish servants of a psychopath, of course. They were standing close together, covering each other, while at the same time, using the shutters of the store's that they stood in front of, windows to provide some mediocre protection. Harry ducked back behind the tree as the death eaters spotted him and rewarded his daring with a couple of purple curse, that crackled and twisted through the air, moving rather slowly for spells. Even so Harry barely had time to raise the protego charm, in order to deflect the curses, he wanted to keep the tree standing, to use as a last resort.
'So what?' Harry demanded, he was still in a bad situation and had almost lost his head. He could feel the thought growing exasperated with him.
'Here, let me do it.' It replied.
Harry felt a cool presence slid over his consciousness, the sounds of the battle faded, the screams of victims and the crackle of curses, all disappeared. The smell of his sweat And fear, lessened before also disappearing altogether. His vision dimmed slightly and grew almost hazy, as if viewed through smoke. At first Harry was too shocked to do anything, but then he fought, trying to regain control of his body, but it
was hopeless he was too deep into his mind. He watched through his smoky version of vision as he leapt out from behind the tree, sweeping his wand in a wide arc,
"Flagrate." He heard his voice say, but it was distorted, as if speaking under water. A shimmer followed his wand's path, Harry knew that it was the heat distortion from the spell. But spread over such a wide arc, it would be useless, the death eaters shields would dispel it with ease. And besides the aim was off, it was far too low… the heat wave collided with the wet street, causing an eruption of steam, instantly obscuring Harry from his attackers. But Harry wasn't going to stay standing still, he used the momentum from his initial leap to run side ways, bursting out the side of his cloud. The two death eaters that the thought had targeted earlier were still focused on the center of the cloud, where Harry should have been standing. They were the only ones who could have seen him, he had kept the cloud between him and the others.
"Reducto, Reducto." The two curse flew of Harry's lips in quick succession, each collided with a section of wall right above the death eater's heads. The same sections of wall that had until recently had held up a huge awning. The bright orange and white fabric flew onto the death eaters, weighted down by the iron rods on each side.
'Oh, well done, you have managed you improve their dress, but don't you think actually hitting them with the curse would be better?' Harry's though was dripping sarcasm. The thought didn't reply, instead it threw one last curse towards the two.
"Flagrate." The canvas caught alit. Harry felt himself thrust forward into his body again, the sound came rushing back, the death eaters screams were clear, piecing the morning as a they burnt alive beneath the cheerfully colored cloth, their shields rendered useless. The smell hit Harry last, the rank stench of burning flesh as his spell devoured the death eaters. Harry stood there, looking blankly at the flaming canvas.
'MOVE!' the thought yelled in his head it sounded tired, as if taking control of Harry had cost it a great deal of strength. He gathered his legs underneath him and sprang backwards. There were nine death eaters left standing, one was lying on the floor not too far from an alley way. That was probably were Tonks had ran to.
'Where are those friggin aurors?' he thought.
'Don't worry about that now, we seem to have attracted some attention.' The thought had returned to its standard state of nonchalant commentary. But it was right, a curse flew through the now thinning cloud of steam, and cracked the ground at Harry's feet. Harry was thrown onto his back but quickly rolled to the side. His eyes locked onto the death eater across the street. He was standing in front of a shop that specialized in organic potion ingredients.
"Protego." Harry shouted as the death eater flung a red bolt towards him, the air sizzled with power, but Harry's shield held. The death eater stood mutely, shocked that a child could stop his curse.
'The pot.' The thought hissed in Harry's head, imprinting the plan directly to harry's mind. Harry grinned.
"Accio pot." He screamed pulling his wand towards him, to add urgency to the spell. The death eater reacted by staring at Harry as if he had gone completely mad. What he didn't see was that in the store behind an innocent herb, in a ceramic pot lifted up to Harry's eye level, before smashing through the glass as it rushed towards Harry. The pot continued upon its course, which took it right into the back of the death eater's head. The man flew forwards before smashing into the ground, a slowly spreading pool of crimson blood, appearing around his head.
Harry's only regret was that an innocent herb had been sacrificed in the process. Harry was suddenly flung to the side by an explosion by his feet. He hit the ground hard, rolling a little way before coming to a stop. His body pummeled by the cobble stones kicked up by the blast. He scrambled to his feet, and managed to dive into the nearest alley as more spells pounded the earth were he had stood.
'Shit, I'm dead if I keep this up.' He thought.
'Then try something new.' Said the thought, implanting another plan on Harry.
"You fight dirty." Harry muttered as he got to his feet again.
At that moment there was an incredible bang that was followed by a couple of screams that were soon cut short.
'Sounds like the pink haired thing is angry.' The thought supplied. Harry mentally lowered the number of standing death eaters to six. Half down, half to go. He calmed his mind and focused, pouring as much of his new found strength as possible into his shield. A pale bubble took form around him.
'Impressive, you learn fast.' Said the thought.
'Okay, let's hope your plan works, this is my body we're playing with.' Harry thought as he sprinted out of the alley, turning towards the nearest death eater who stood, maybe twenty meters away. He caught sight of Harry's movement and turned his attention away from the corner that he had been carefully approaching, following two other death eaters. He spat out a curse, another red flash sailed towards Harry, who easily side stepped. The other two turned as the first started another curse, but Harry was close enough now. He leapt forward tackling the death eater. The other two shot off their curses, but missed badly, due to Harry's unexpected leap.
"Stupidfy" he said as he landed on top of the death eater, his wand only inches from the man's face. The spell flowed into him point blank, not even leaving the wand before hitting its target. The death eater went slack, and Harry quickly rolled to the other side of him. He lifted the man, holding him in front of himself, like a human shield. The two death eaters paused uncertain of what to do. Tonks emerged from around the corner that they had been approaching, she shot a curse that Harry had never heard before onto the ground right behind the two, it threw up shrapnel, splitting the stone into jagged splinters as a crack shattered the air. The two dropped screaming, their backs a mangled mess of muscle, rock and blood. Harry dropped his hostage and had to turn away in disgust. Their screams were cut short as Harry heard Tonks use a stunner spell that knocked the two out.
"We're still three short." Harry said, regaining his composure and gesturing towards the bodies. Tonks grinned.
"I saw them, they got a little to close to Gringotts for the goblin's liking and th…" Her voice was cut off and she collapsed forward. Her eyes closing as behind her a black fog flared into existence. Harry smelt a damp, decaying stench filling the air that reminded him of a crypt. There was a low rushing noise as the fog gathered up behind Tonks and started to flow through the air towards a bloodied death eater standing behind her, evidently goblin aren't very thorough in the art of war. Harry's anger blossomed, raging to the fore. He ran to the side, throwing another flagrate curse onto the damp road, a warm steamy haze surrounded him. A couple of curse flew by him at random, but Harry was lost in his own world of hate.
That bastard will die! He raged in his mind, planning what he would do. He strode forward raising his wand and prepared to use his rage.
"Blaze!" he screamed envisioning the death eater's blood burning, blossoming into sweet flames, Harry's retribution for daring to harm Tonks. The dark fog hung in the air, before breaking apart, dispersing in the air as the death eater's concentration broke. The death eater wasn't faring any better, his wand which had moments earlier been pointed at Tonks's back, had fallen to the floor. The veins in his neck and down his arms glowed bright yellow, his eyes rolled back and his mouth opened in a silent scream that would never be able to express his pain, as his own magic fed the now burning blood that coursed in his veins. All of a sudden a flame blossomed just on the left of his chest as his heart exploded. The glowing lines on his face and arms died as his magic left this world. His skin was blackened where the burning blood had coursed, and then as Harry watched the man fall for the last time, his face looked like a patch work cloth sown together with thick black thread.
Impressive the thought commented as the death eater hit the floor with what sounded to Harry like a deafening thud. The noise jerked Harry away from his horror. He ran forward to where Tonks had fallen, her green hair fanned out as she lay face down and un-moving on the damp street. Harry fell to his knees and rolled her over.
"Come on Tonks." He whispered urgently, as if his voice was enough to wake her up. The black fog had disappeared completely now.
"NO!" He screamed, remembering the spell he had created at Privet drive. He forced the magic, pushed it to his hands that held Tonks's head, he felt the burning sensation and then… nothing, it refused to enter Tonks. Harry screamed his frustration to an empty street. This wasn't fair!
'Why, won't it work' he snarled in his mind.
'That spell was both ancient and dark… without deep understanding of dark magic, it will be impossible to heal.' The thought had a tone that Harry had never heard from it before, it was awed. Harry didn't bother to notice. He had to do something! Call someone! Why didn't the wizarding world have a goddamn 911?!
"HELP ME!" he screamed, unable to leave Tonks, but unable to sit there and do nothing at the same time. Slowly wizards and witches appeared, staring around at the carnage. The streets had been blasted apart, windows shattered, several doors hung crookedly in their frames and to the side a still smoldering canvas was billowing out smoke, but even that could not smother the metallic smell of blood that laced the air. Harry could smell it, it had worked its way into his clothes. His left arm began to throb, as his heart continued to beat and the adrenaline faded. Every time he shifted his weight he felt splinters of various sizes bore their way into his flesh. His right ankle had swollen up, and he could fell the blood trickling from the cuts he had on his head.
As more and more wizards and witches crawled from the holes that they had hidden in, Harry felt the rage that had started to leave him return, like a tide turning. The cowards! The worms! These gutless cowards had hidden while two people had stood against twelve death eaters. They could have fought, the death eaters would have been over whelmed in seconds, but instead they left the task to a boy and a single auror. His aura flowed out and surrounded him, a deep purple hue, crackling with power that was unable to heal Tonks. The gathered crowd stopped their advance, muttering under their breaths. His aura spread. A voice in his head started was screaming at him to just vent his anger, to obliterate these inept cowards where they stood. But Harry couldn't he wouldn't be a killer… yea, right like he wasn't one already… No he amended, he wouldn't be another Tom. He wouldn't leave Tonks's side. He just sat there, holding Tonks's head in his hands, as blood and tears mingled on his face. Growing ever more frustrated, more angered. His aura, feeding of his emotions, was spreading, running through the cracks in the street like a purple stream, liquid power. He heard several soft pops, apparition. He considered turning around, drawing his wand and preparing for the attack that more death eaters would launch. But he didn't, he wouldn't leave Tonks, he couldn't fight while she was dieing, he would protect her, like he failed to do earlier. So he just sat there preparing for the worst. But it never came. Instead a voice rang out clear and in control.
"Raise your wand into the air." Harry almost laughed, that line sounded like the speaker had been watching too many cheap movies.
"Why?" His voice was soft.
"Because you are at the scen…"
"Why, do they send aurors, when I need a medic?" Harry continued over the man.
"You will receive medical attention when you comply with our…" The man started.
"No, Tonks will receive medical attention now, or I will burn every one of your nerve endings one at a time until you are nothing more than a blackened husk." Harry's back was still facing the man, and his voice was still soft, but the tone of his voice, combined with the fact that his aura was now moving with great purpose towards the source of the man's voice was enough to let him know he wasn't joking.
"You will not threaten me." He voice shook slightly, betraying his true fear, of course being surrounded by carnage can take one's confidence down a notch or three.
"Now place your wand on the ground and…" Harry had had enough, he flung his wand over his shoulder.
"You want my wand there it is! Now get a fucking doctor!" He screamed, his aura rushed back to envelope Harry in a near black cloud of power, sensing that Harry might need defense. Harry heard two men running forward. The captain must have given a silent command. They knelt by Tonks and Harry, one tried to start on Harry's left arm, but Harry shook his head empathetically, waving towards Tonks with the hand that wasn't in pain. The two muttered quickly as they examined her. Then one turned to Harry.
"We are going to take her to St. Mungo's, is that alright?" He seemed anxious, Harry took this as a bad sign and just nodded once. There were a couple of cracks as they disapparited. Harry slowly stood up. He winched as various cut and gashes were reopened, and every piece of shrapnel in his body burned. His ankle almost gave out as soon as he put any weight on it. He paused, considering.
Healing this is beyond you, that kind of magic requires finesse not brute power. The thought muttered in the back of his mind. Harry had thought the same, and so settled on doing the next best thing. He drew the power in his aura back into him, flooding his system with power. All the pain was burnt away as Harry drowned it in his own strength. It was a temporary fix, but it stopped the bleeding and erased the pain. Harry slowly turned around, taking care to keep his face as neutral as possible, he looked at the gathered crowd. He thought they looked remarkably like sheep, all looking at him, he wouldn't be surprised if they suddenly started bleating. He gazed over them, this eyes lingering on the aurors, the late coming idiots. They were arrogant, assuming they had control over the situation. He turned away from them, and started walking back towards Gringotts.
"Halt! Where do you think you're going!" the gruff captain barked at Harry's back. Harry waved towards the smoking corpse of the last man he had killed.
"We are two short." He said as he continued towards the corner that the last death eater had come around.
"Without your wand? We will handle that! You are to remain here for questioning!"
You should probably listen to him, he's an idiot, but he's the government's idiot. The thought supplied.
You're more talkative than usual. Harry replied bitterly.
Almost dieing a second time does that to you. It replied.
Wait you're a ghost Harry thought back, but all he felt was his own mind, evidently the thought didn't want to talk any more.
You're so childish. Harry thought just to goad it. He still felt nothing in return. He sighed, and then winced, his hold on his power had slipped when he was distracted. He was losing it. The wonderful numbing sensation seeping away, unveiling more and more pain. Harry's ankle suddenly collapsed beneath him, sending the boy to the floor. Several of his wounds reopened without the magic binding them, Harry gasped and desperately tried to draw upon his power again, but the pain was clouding his mind, he just could muster anything strong enough, and the pain was gradually getting worse. Eventually Harry gave up on trying to banish the pain, and instead focused on staying awake, he would not black out. He wouldn't give into the beckoning darkness. If he knew what he was to do in the future, he may have retreated into the darkness, saving his resolve for later, but as it was, he fought it. His vision was blurry, he could just make out the shape of someone leaning over him. He could here the faint tinkle of words. Suddenly he felt like he was being pulled through a rubber tube that was to small, and emerged into far too bright room. Harry tried to roll over to shield his eyes from the light, but his body protested, he groaned loudly as red spots danced across his vision. The medical wizards were pushing the trolley that he had been apparated onto. He heard a wizard mutter some spell and the darkness that Harry had been holding at bay swelled to swallow him.
Two hours later (an extremely long period for wizarding surgery.) a very sorry looking but still sleeping Harry was wheeled into a private ward, at the request of Dumbledore. Dumbledore had visited Harry's operation and had been shocked at the amount of shrapnel that the medics had had to pull out of the boy, almost half a kilo of wood, stone and glass, in various sizes and shapes had been removed before the healing had begun in earnest. His ankle had been a serious problem, a piece of glass from some point in the battle had wedged itself in the joint, and as Harry had continued to walk, dive and fly (if you believed the slightly embellished stories circulating in the wizarding world.), the glass had been ground up into numerous shards. In the end, his foot had been partly amputated, the joint cleaned, and the foot reattached. His head was fixed up, almost easily, with numerous healing charms. He had needed to have his fractured left arm and shoulder healed, which had taken only a few minutes. His stomach however was the worst, it was partially burnt and some shrapnel, stone this time, had sunk deep into it. It had taken almost and hour of extremely delicate summoning charms to get them out without causing more damage. And on top of that, two witches had been brought in just to keep him from bleeding to death. At the end of it Dumbledore stood talking with a witch, the head surgeon, who was looking far more pale than usual.
"I don't know how he did it Dumbledore, his body was punctured so many times he should have bled to death long before the arrival of the aurors." Her voice was weak and shaky, her strength drain, after performing spells that had saved Harry's life.
"He is more powerful than anyone had thought." Dumbledore said his voice soft. "He has truly grown into himself. I believe his Potter blood is shining through." The woman, who had slumped against the wall with exhaustion, narrowed her eyes at Dumbledore.
"Are you saying that you believe in pure bloods superiority…" her voice was sharp, being a muggleborn she had always resented pureblood superiority.
"No, but all magic has a thuarmency element to it, blood magic." He took a breath, "In purebloods who have a strong affinity towards the blood magics, it can allow them to benefit from their ancestors instincts, this is where the idea of blood superiority started." The witch still eyed Dumbledore suspiciously.
"Lily was gifted at healing, when Harry's magic felt threatened it reached through Harry's ancestry, looking for anything that could help, it latched on to Lily's healing inclined style of magic, and managed to impersonate it long enough for Harry to receive help."
"I have never heard of this before."
"Not many have, the mind arts and blood magics are rare gifts and most people are weak in them, so Hogwarts and most other wizarding schools don't teach them. The last wizard to hold both powers, in any amount of strength was Grindelwald." The witch's eyes widened at the mentioned of the great dark wizard that Dumbledore had defeated long ago.
"Although, if Harry can wield blood magics, it would explain his rather bold acts against the numerous evil events at Hogwarts over the years, the Potters have always been… active with the dark magics. It would also explain why he could cast the Patronus charm after only a few months of practice at such a young age."
"It would explain why he didn't die, I agree, but still…"
"He is powerful in his own right, which is another reason he didn't die."
"I don't think so, I think it had more to do with the woman they brought in just before Harry, he refused to be treated until they brought her in, the medics had just apparited back when he collapsed." Dumbledore nodded as the woman spoke, that did sound like Harry, refusing help while others needed it.
"What did they do to her Dumbledore?" the woman whispered.
"She was hit with an ancient curse, one that I had hoped was forgotten to this world, it pulls the life out of the person, and into the caster. It is not an unforgivable, only because it requires a lot of power and concentration and it is so rarely known." Dumbledore said. She nodded as she listened, during the last war she had grown used to hearing about new curses from Albus, all of them were dark.
"Seeing as the curse was interrupted, she should be alright, but I believe she will be in a coma for a long time, damage like this is not easily healed." He continued.
"Can you do anything?"
"No, you will have to find a way to heal it on your own, I fear that there was little research into the curse at the time of it's creation and due to it's rarity, no one has ever investigated it since." Albus's eyes were sad as he announced this, he had visited Tonks right before he had come to Harry, there was very little that he could do to help the peacefully sleeping auror. The witch nodded slowly, Dumbledore had always held her in high regard, she was a skilled healer and knew how to keep important things… confidential. This was why he trusted her with the knowledge about Harry that many, even Harry, didn't know. The witch nodded once more and bade Dumbledore a half-hearted pleasant evening as she left. Dumbledore, sighed he had to go to Diagon alley and see what kind of battle had taken place, with a crack the head master vanished.
"Evening Dumbledore." Miss Bones said as she approached Dumbledore.
"Good evening Amelia." He replied. He was standing in the department of magical law enforcement, he had been redirected to here as soon as he had arrived at Diagon Alley, even though he had only caught a glimpse of the street where the battle had taken place, it had reminded him of the old battles between the Order and the death eaters. He had not been told why he was to come here, and to be honest it had taken all his years of experience in politics not hex the auror in charge, the man made a mockery out of his work.
"If you would follow me please." She said turning sharply on her heels. Dumbledore's usually unflustered face frowned. The head of magical law enforcement didn't come to pick up visitors, so this had to be serious. As he entered her office he saw two other men had already arrived, namely Fudge and Ollivander, and sitting off to one side was Ms. Botten. Dumbledore gave her a glance, and she shrugged ever so slightly. Taking the hint Dumbledore reached out to her mind, placing his thought there.
Why are we here?
He felt her Legilimency enter his mind.
I have no idea, how is Harry?
He reached back into her mind as he sat down. Thought conversations like these were rare, as they require at least moderate skill in Legilimency, but they were impossible to track. Making them extremely useful to those who knew how. Dumbledore feed Alexia's mind with the information on Harry, before turning to the desk.
"Why am I here Amelia?" Dumbledore asked.
"You are here because I have serious issues with the spells you are teaching to your students Dumbledore!" it was Fudge who had spoken, Dumbledore shot him a withering look.
"And what spells would those be minister?" He asked tightly.
"We don't know! That's the problem!" His voice was loud but then again, Cornelius had always been more of a politician than a leader, and so resorted to volume when his vocabulary and logic ran out.
"Show him Ollivander." Amelia said coldly. Ollivander started muttering over a wand, Harry's wand, Dumbledore realized. Out of the wand tip, several smoky words appeared, the first being Blaze, followed by Stupidfy, and nameless smudge, several curses and accio, all of which were bunched together, shifting places with each other.
"This is a modified version of the charm that I use during a wand weighing, it allows others to see the spells recently cast though the wand, the ones shifting position, are the ones that I can't easily put in order, and I believe the smudge to be silent magic that has no incantation." He summarily explained.
"See!" Fudge shouted, pointing accusingly to the first word, Blaze, "What is that, we can't find any reference to it!"
"I assume that by 'we' you refer to you and Amelia? Not to insult you minister, but neither of you have the ability to see spells as they truly are." Dumbledore murmured as he peered at the writing, slowly extending a steady hand to touch the word. Alexia raised an eyebrow, this was rare. Dumbledore was opening himself to the meaning of the spell. Something only a handful of wizards could ever do, it allowed a practiced wizard to learn a spell, how to cast it, what it did, what it sounded like as it was cast, everything, about the spell. It would be laid open before the skilled user. Of course, it had to be magical text that was touched, either in a tome referring to the spell, or a sort of magical writing, such as this. He gasped as he touched it. It was dark magic to be sure, but he could also see that it was Harry who had created it, in a fit of anger, desiring vengeance. It was an invisible, fast moving spell that only made a soft hissing on the tip of the wand as it was cast. If it hit a living target, and the caster had enough dark feelings to feed the spell, then it would tap into the target's own magic, using it to set their blood alight, focusing around the heart. The only relief for the victim would be death as his heart was consumed in a blaze of magic. It would require a strong caster as to overcome the target's magic's natural instinct to defend its wizard. This was a spell to kill in a very painful way. Dumbledore instantly knew that to defend against it, a witch or wizard would have to be calm and perfectly in control of their magic, any loss of control and the spell would snatch the magic and turn it to its own needs. It certainly supported his idea that Harry was inclined towards the art of thuarmency, controlling blood was very difficult.
"Good god." He muttered as he understood the spell. It was almost worthy of an unforgivable, but he doubted that it would ever achieve that level, it was too easily blocked.
"What is it Albus?" Amelia asked.
"A dark spell that ignites a wizard's blood until he burns to death." He said quietly.
"Ha! And just where did he learn such a spell, hmm?" Fudge asked arrogance bleeding into his voice.
"He created it." Dumbledore said quietly. Amelia paled slightly, and Ollivander nodded regretfully as if he had expected as much. Alexia however placed a question into his mind,
Tonks?
Yes, he replied.
"Why would he do such a thing?" Amelia asked, eyeing the word.
"It was the last spell he cast in the battle." Ollivander volunteered.
"I believe he did it as revenge, to the death eater that cursed Ms. Tonks." Dumbledore said, already reaching out his hand to the smudge, it was a shield to protect from bone breaking and stunning curses, while dampening physical impact as well. Dumbledore let out a sigh of relief that it wasn't another dark curse.
"Just a shield." He said as everyone in the room looked towards him. Amelia nodded.
"Thank you, Ollivander you may leave now." The wand maker nodded and left, heading towards the apparition room.
"Dumbledore, I will need to enter this curse into the records, as well as how to prevent it and such, and then, I think we need to talk about Mr. Potter." She continued. Dumbledore nodded.
"If I may just have a word with Ms. Botten for a moment." He walked out the office without waiting for a reply.
"I think you'll need to have a word with Harry, Alexia that curse… It doesn't seem like Harry."
"Do you think there is something wrong with him?"
"Alexia, ever since Tonks told me how much trust Harry lost for me, I've been working to get it back, revealing things that I would have rather kept for later, but…" "You don't know this new Harry enough to manipulate him." Alexia finished. "Alexia… I love the boy as a son, but we need to win this war, otherwise there will be no future for people like him."
"You're playing a dangerous game Dumbledore, if Harry finds out that you're still trying to manipulate him, the results could be disastrous." She said, not afraid to look him in the eyes.
"I know, but we can't let him do something stupid, we can't lose him."
"Just be careful." She sighed. "Okay, Albus, I'll talk to Harry, but I won't be your spy, I'll do it for Harry."
Dumbledore bowed his head, as if he had expected as much.
"Have a good evening, Alexia."
"Night, Albus." She replied.
The head master turned and walked back into the office, it was going to be a long night.