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Chapter 4: Endings Are Easy
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June 11, 1978
For the first time since he'd arrived, Harry returned to the little clearing in the forest where he'd transitioned over to King's Cross and then to the past. He needed someplace relatively anonymous and safe for the bit of work he was about to do.
He laid out the horcruxes – including the already destroyed Peverell ring horcrux – in front of him. The diary, the diadem, the Hufflepuff cup, and the blasted locket. He wanted any possible alert to Voldemort about their destruction to occur as close to the Voldemort's death as possible.
Harry smiled and pulled out his wand. He was about to perform the single most lethal fire spell still in practice (legend held that Merlin could create something called Phoenix Fire, but no one claimed to know its exact properties).
He pointed his wand at the diary and said the incantation. "Fiendfyre."
Within seconds the diary was less than ash. Harry felt the nauseating pulse of Dark magic as the soul fragment inside the diary ceased to exist. He quickly cancelled the spell before the thing got out of control. It was strong enough magic to conjure fiery animals who could attack opponents with sufficient mental control.
He quickly destroyed the bit of the Peverell ring – just to be sure – and moved on to the Ravenclaw diadem, the cup, and the Slytherin locket. Two years. It had taken him almost exactly two years to accomplish all this.
Two years of disrupting raids.
Two years of slowly disposing of the gold he'd brought back with him.
Two years of worrying and wondering.
Two years of hiding supposed war victims and ferrying select letters back and forth to ensure that a few people knew the truth.
Two years of evidence gathering and gathering anger.
Two years leading to now…to when he'd be done with Voldemort…to when he'd be ready to take on Dumbledore and the Ministry.
Two years of investing for the future.
Two years spent, hopefully, making a better future.
Two years hoping. For no good reason.
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June 15, 1978
Harry satisfied his nervous anxiety by putting the finishing touches on the books and articles he planned to unleash on the wizarding world in the coming days and weeks. He'd accidentally brought along a copy of that vile Rita Skeeter's book on Dumbledore in his library from the future. Harry had quickly plagiarized it months ago and edited it down to a reasonable length (no Rita-style commentaries, nothing past 1977, and certainly no references to Harry Potter). He had also peppered the text with actual transcripts of conversations Dumbledore had had, ones he'd stored in his pensieve. Harry had also gone back to Dumbledore Manor to copy several of the photographs the man had kept.
The book would never be a classic, like Bathilda Bagshot's A History of Magic but it would serve its purpose. Plus Harry preferred for Dumbledore to be alive to try to wriggle out of the surprisingly true accusations within its pages.
Harry had long been at work in his spare moments on a series of articles on the Aurors that was quite damning. The names of the four incapacitated Aurors had been bandied about in the press. Harry had taken the records he'd recovered from three of them to compare the 'before' and 'after' versions of their reports. He could lay dozens of Death Eater fatalities at their feet, in addition to more than twenty fatalities of non-combatants. Let the present Aurors and Barty Crouch dance their way out of that.
As for Crouch in particular, Harry didn't expect the man would be able to withstand the other part of his plan for Voldemort… It would be disturbing and shattering in so many ways.
There were an entire series of articles on the failings of the Wizengamot. The old Chief Warlock Callus Umbridge was in for a flogging as were Dumbledore and eighteen other named bigots on the body. Harry thought the most destructive article would be, "Orphans Deprived of Rights, Ancestral Lands, Family Heirloom and Moneys by Wizengamot Decisions." Adults could care less about most other adults, but most of them had soft spots for abandoned orphans and official malfeasance.
There was a small pamphlet ready called the "Corruption Detailed of British Ministry Officials Bagnold, Fudge, Philacter, and Prosody."
Finally, there was a scathing book – which Harry had plagiarized from another, more interesting book he'd brought back with him called "The Dark Years: Voldemort and the Death of Liberty" – which would examine the Daily Prophet's role in 1) subtly supporting Death Eater propaganda on pureblood supremacy, 2) underplaying the devastation caused by Death Eater raids and attacks, and 3) protecting the officials at the Ministry who paid bribes to the owner and certain editors of the newspaper.
The strongest part of the plan was for the articles to originate as investigative reporting outside Britain. The Dumbledore book would be published in America by a small magical press, followed three months later by the book on the Daily Prophet from the same press. The articles on the Aurors would come from a skeptic's magazine in Ireland that had a small, intelligent following in Britain. France would take the lead on bashing Britain's ancient form of jurisprudence. Harry expected it would be some time before all his articles and books fully permeated the British mindset – but, as the victor, Harry would make sure he was writing the history this time.
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June 17, 1978.
Harry stood outside in the very early morning. The original timeline had recorded this date as when Voldemort himself, plus a crew of his Death Eaters, went to kill the Muggle parents of three past and present Hogwarts students: the Ransome family.
Harry Potter could barely contain his excitement and nervousness.
If he hadn't screwed up the timelines too badly, Voldemort would be dead within an hour. And all his other plans – mostly on hold until Voldemort was destroyed – could move forward.
The ambush, Harry knew, would work. Voldemort wasn't suspecting it. He didn't know he was being hunted or that all his raids of the past two years had failed to kill their targets. He also didn't know his horcruxes were destroyed – and that he was as mortal as the next man.
The main problem wouldn't be with killing Voldemort…it would be dealing with the Death Eaters after they'd witnessed their leader being struck down.
As of today, the Code of Harry was no more. He was destroying the timeline, so his earlier measures no longer mattered. If a person stood with Voldemort in his last minutes, Harry had no mercy for him or her.
It was to be total war…
Harry heard the apparition. The Death Eaters and Voldemort had landed twenty meters in front of Harry – and that much closer to their targets of the evening.
Harry wasn't going to speechify or attempt to 'reform' Voldemort or delay things. He drew his wand, leveled it at Voldemort's chest, and sent his most powerful Reductor Curse flying. Then he turned and cursed two of the Death Eaters before the first spell hit Voldemort.
Harry had his attention divided between Voldemort and the others he'd brought with him.
The first curse impacted and suddenly there was an eight inch hole in Voldemort's chest. The dying beast grunted and shouted, "Treachery."
The other two curses found their targets: the right shoulder of one Death Eater and the pelvis of another. Harry was purposefully making the shots look like they'd come from different angles and different wizards. To the wizarding world, this had to look like a real battle or ambush, not just a massacre conducted by a lone assassin.
Harry ran from his previous location on silenced feet. The three remaining Death Eaters were in shock, but likely not for long. Voldemort was whispering things or trying to.
Harry turned to his Cutting Curses. One fell to the ground before he'd even drawn his wand. The last two decided to fight back. One of them was particularly agile. Harry kept running and firing, but so did the Death Eaters.
He felt the crushing pain of the Cruciatus Curse touch him, but he ran through the pain. It was the first time he'd been hit in a duel or in battle in twelve years. The action gave Harry the anger necessary to return fire with an overpowered severing charm. The Death Eater was now without an arm. He fell to the ground in a piteous heap.
The last Death Eater had disillusioned him or herself. This one had a bit of intelligence, but wasn't smart enough to disapparate away from the scene.
Harry was an expert stalker.
It took only one spell – a silent Homenum revelio – to show Harry exactly where the Death Eater was. Harry let the person calm down and become a bit complacent. Then he lifted his wand and sent three of his most powerful Reductors against the invisible target.
The fallen Death Eater would never move again.
Harry stalked through the battle scene, in a patch of forest behind the target's home, and stopped before Voldemort. The distorted wizard was still barely alive. "Tom Riddle, your horcruxes are destroyed. When you perish, you will be gone forever."
Voldemort's face screwed up in horrified anger. But he couldn't speak. He could only slowly take his last gurgled breath…and die.
Harry unmasked the five Death Eaters. Harry was sad for a moment when he saw Lucius Malfoy – Draco Malfoy would never come to exist in this timeline – but quite pleased when he saw the face of Barty Crouch Junior, his former 'teacher' during the Triwizard Tournament. According to the old timeline, Crouch had participated in this raid the first time around, as he'd revealed during his interrogation.
This death, publicized in the right way, would help to ensure the end of Barty Crouch Sr.'s power in the Ministry.
The others were Amycus Carrow, Callus Umbridge (who'd never been unmasked as a Death Eater in the original timeline at all), and Walden McNair.
Harry pondered over how to make it known that Voldemort was dead. Something dramatic; something that ensured Barty Crouch's dead body was shown with Voldemort's; something to sear this into the public consciousness.
Harry had a grim smile on his face as the solution came to him.
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June 17 – 18, 1978
Harry apparated back to one of his safe houses where he'd already prepared for the next step. Two press releases were already winging their way to two hundred organizations and individuals: "Voldemort Killed with Five Death Eaters; Bodies, on Pikes, on Display in Diagon Alley." "Suspected War Victims to Reenter Wizarding World Following Voldemort's Death; Ceremony at Noon Outside Tintagel."
Harry began the process of notifying the forty-one families he'd hidden that Voldemort was dead. He wore an appropriate glamour: brown haired, scarred, a prominent jaw, oversized cheek bones, gray eyes. He looked nothing like a Potter.
Most broke into tears at the news. Harry had been sure to supply the families with the Daily Prophet for the last few months, after one family requested it through Kepler the House Elf, and any other news sources he could find to ensure their temporary exile wouldn't leave them too far behind in current events. They knew what kind of havoc Voldemort was reported to have caused.
He made his final stop at the home of his grandparents. For the first time ever, Harry would get to speak with them. Timelines no longer mattered.
"Sir, Madam, the war is over," Harry said after he was admitted.
"Who won?" His grandfather was taking no chances.
"Voldemort and five senior Death Eaters were killed very early this morning. My employer asked me to let you know. There will be a ceremony to reunite you with the wizarding world…"
"Who is your employer?"
Harry just smiled. "An individual who cared very much that people survive the war…"
"While some might consider this being locked up, my boy, I came to appreciate the effort. But I can't say I won't be glad to leave this place. I've had a few letters from my son, but I want to see him again, you know… He's graduating in a couple of days. I guess we'll get to attend in person, rather than just in spirit."
Harry just nodded.
"Ma'am, is there anything you need?"
"Just to go home…"
"Excuse me," Harry said, "your Manor was destroyed in the attack. I thought you knew…"
His grandmother just nodded. "I did. Home is where my family is. A pile of stones is easily rebuilt."
"I see."
Harry turned to leave when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Is there nothing we can explain about who has cared for us the past year?"
Harry turned back around to face his grandfather. "It was a private individual, sir. People may try to spin stories about the government doing this – or people may try to claim credit for themselves. But, know this: the individual who has done this for you and the other rescued families will never come forward to take credit. Remember that."
His grandmother smiled. "Thank you again. I don't suppose you can tell us your name?"
Harry shook his head. "I'm afraid not, ma'am."
Harry then walked out of the cottage and into the waiting firestorm his actions had caused.
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June 21, 1978
Harry Potter attended the graduation ceremony of his parents, James Potter and Lily Evans. He used another glamour this time: strawberry blonde hair, a moustache to hide the features of his face, and unchanged green eyes. He could be a distant relative to the Weasleys or an unknown Muggleborn wizard or anything at all.
The first round of articles was out, many not even written by Harry. The Daily Prophet was apparently feeling unrestrained after so many years of obeying the whims of the Ministry.
The image of Barty Crouch's son on a pike next to Voldemort had made the front page of the Prophet and would become an iconic image. Barty Crouch Sr. had been forced to resign.
The Irish pamphlet and expose on Bagnold, Fudge, and others had already backed all of them into a corner. Cornelius Fudge was rumored to have hung himself this morning now that copies of his bank records had been made public and his corruption was known. Neither Bagnold nor any of the others would ever hold Ministerial office again.
The coming week would be even more tumultuous. The Dumbledore book would be coming out on Monday in America and the rumors would fly quickly to Britain…plus the articles on the abuses of the Aurors and the covering up done by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement would be out on Thursday.
Of course, after the known bumblers and incompetents were gone, Harry's job would only get harder. He'd have to sit in judgment of a number of people who'd never held power in the first timeline. What might they do?
Would Dolores Umbridge still entrench herself there – even with her powerful grandfather, Callus, dead and exposed as a Death Eater? Would Arthur Weasley, Amelia Bones, and Amos Diggory make the same kinds of contributions? Would an unmarred Moody remain a 'Ministry malcontent'? Would that vile woman Tatiana Edgecombe still try to turn the Floo office into a home for blood purists? Would Kingsley Shacklebolt even enter Ministry service this time around (the man had another two years of Hogwarts to complete first).
Harry's head snapped up when the ceremony held in the Quidditch pitch finally got underway.
He listened as Dumbledore and the present Head of the Board of Governors – a wizard named Tiberius Ogden – gave brief speeches that garnered lots of applause, especially the bits about the ending of the civil war. Minerva began calling out the names of the graduates, but she had a tough time keeping everyone serious during such a jubilant time.
"Evans, Lily." Harry watched his mother walk to Professor Dumbledore and accept her Hogwarts Diploma. She shook the hand of Governor Ogden, smiled for the photographer, and gracefully returned to her seat. Harry looked in the audience. He saw someone who looked a bit like his Aunt Petunia had – was that his maternal grandmother? He didn't see anyone who looked like a young Petunia. She'd probably refused to attend out of jealousy and spite.
"Potter, James." Here the cheering came from all over before James even stood up. Wormtail was clapping (Harry still hadn't decided what to do with him…as the vile betrayer wouldn't be given the same chance to betray his parents this time around). James' parents were cheering. Sirius was almost jumping up and down. His father made his way from his seat. He had the goofiest expression on his face as he accepted his diploma from Dumbledore. About the time James was in front of the camera, a giant poof of smoke erupted near Dumbledore and the man's tasteful, sedate formal robes became a garish mixture of orange and purple.
The entire audience burst into laughter at the Marauders' last official prank at Hogwarts.
James returned to his seat amidst the laughter. Even the normally dour McGonagall couldn't keep the smile from her face.
Harry watched the rest of the ceremony with a content smile on his face. As he had never gone through the ceremony – with his nominal seventh year of school a giant mess where many people died and the school partially leveled in the attacking – it was wonderful to witness.
After Dumbledore dismissed everyone, Harry watched as James, Sirius, Lily, Remus, and Peter congregated together. Lily's parents were introduced probably for the first time to James'.
Harry Potter felt a bit sad that he would never really get to know his parents, his godfather, his grandparents from both sides. But he had begun this mission for one reason: vengeance. That objective plus a happy life weren't able to co-exist.
Harry quickly left the grounds before any of the Marauders could be bothered to open their Map and see the name of Harry Potter on it. He wondered if Filch already had it in his possession…
It didn't matter as there was always more work to do.
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June 29, 1978
Harry had been busy in the week since his parents' graduation from Hogwarts. The book on Dumbledore had barely made the rounds before Dumbledore lost his position as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot in a no confidence vote. He still had a seat on the body, as did all holders of an Order of Merlin, but he no longer determined its agenda or sidestepped the rules as if he owned them.
That was the good news. One the flip side, the Aurors were so disorganized with the chaos in their ranks that no one was moving to round up the still-free Death Eaters.
The articles that had been coming out on the Auror problems had seven of them on suspension and the overall department without its top three layers of leadership. The Minister for Magic, Reynaldo Helfgott, had just made Alastor Moody Interim Head Auror after giving the man a public veritaserum hearing: Alastor, thankfully, had come out clean of lying, taking bribes, and killing innocents and wounded Death Eaters.
But Moody still had to come up to speed. He had an entire department to check for traitors, violent thugs, and every other kind of problem – and he had to do it all publicly to reinstill confidence in the Aurors. He was focused internally for now. Harry decided to give him some persuasion to work on the remaining Death Eaters.
Harry sat waiting for a meeting to start in the woods outside the Lestrange Manor. He'd been keeping tabs on the known Death Eaters from the prior timeline. He'd only caught a hint of this meeting the day prior from one of the listening charms he'd set in Knockturn Alley.
Apparently the remnants of the Death Eaters were trying to decide what to do – flee from Britain before the Aurors captured them, claim bewitchment and use money to stay out of Azkaban, attempt to reorganize around a new leader, or just hope for the best.
Harry set up listening charms nearby. Each one was tied to a crystal Harry had on him. He was going to make an audio record of this 'meeting' which would fall into Auror hands, along with the more permanent results he intended to ensure.
Rodolphus Lestrange, a young bachelor still, strode into the clearing first. After all, it was his recently inherited home. He waited silently for a few minutes before Augustus Rookwood showed up.
"About time," Rodolphus said. "I was beginning to think Avery, Flint, and you weren't going to show…"
Rookwood shook his head. "Avery and Flint aren't coming. They've apparently made up their minds. They'll wait for the Aurors and claim the Imperius defense, along with Goyle and Crabbe and a few others…"
"The bloody cowards…"
"What about Bole?"
Rookwood shrugged. "Haven't heard from him or Pucey or Corner. Rowle has already left the country. Gibbon has been completely ignoring all my messages, so I have no idea what he's planning…"
Another man stalked out of the forest. "Gibbon has changed his name and gone into hiding."
Rookwood turned to look at the new arrival, while Lestrange just nodded his head.
"Welcome Vindicus. That's bad news for Gibbon, then. They'll find him eventually and he'll look all the more guilty for it," said Rodolphus.
Rookwood looked at the new person, too. "Bulstrode, did you use proper precautions? You led those fools from the Order of the Phoenix to a meeting once before…"
"I took the precautions, Rookwood…"
"Is no one else coming," Rodolphus asked.
Both of his listeners shrugged. Bulstrode held up his hand and pointed to his fingers. "I know Nott has put his Manor into a state of readiness to seal up if he's arrested. Rosier buried his father and is just waiting for the Aurors to come. I think he's preparing to testify…"
"Merlin," Rookwood exclaimed. "If he does, no one will be able to claim Imperius…"
Rodolphus looked amused. "I don't think anyone should be able to claim it. Sure Mulciber used it on a number of Ministry types to get us records of where the Mudbloods lived…but none of them were even supporters which is why they were selected, you see… The best one was Arthur Weasley under the curse hauling out records of which wizards had registered owning muggle televisions that ran off magic instead of ekel…instead of whatever."
Harry had to swallow deeply to keep from calling out. Had the numerous spies and saboteurs inside the Ministry all been reasonably innocent Imperius victims? It sort of made sense…but Arthur. Harry felt rage for the poor man.
"Jugson," Rodolphus asked.
"Never liked him. Don't know much about him," Bulstrode said. Rookwood just shook his head.
"What about the idiots who were freed from the Ministry?" Bulstrode asked.
"Barton Scrimgeour? He's back under arrest. His own brother brought him in. Saved Rufus from being suspended as he's not terribly clean in the Auror investigation. Bastard used the Cruciatus on me a year ago before I managed to escape from a raid gone wrong. Hierophant Umbridge has already claimed Imperius and his toad of a sister is helping him mount a defense. I can't believe the Magical Creatures department would hire a woman who looks like she does… Sure, have a bit of fluff, but make sure it's attractive, right?"
"Her dead father got her the job," Rookwood said. "She'll likely be gone if anyone with half a brain does a clean up…"
Rodolphus sighed. "All our power. All our contacts. It's all gone. The best and brightest minds of three generations are dead or likely to be imprisoned…"
Bulstrode chuckled. "I wouldn't call Umbridge or Jugson or Travers very bright…"
Rookwood smiled. "But that Lockhart fellow, Talmadge, he certainly had some convincing stories to his name…and then there were the Yaxleys, brilliant and cruel."
"What are the Yaxleys doing?"
"They've decided not to claim Imperius and not to flee…They even refused to help the Karkaroffs and the other foreign fighters in their efforts to leave. I think Reginald Yaxley said, 'Burn with us or burn without us. Your soul is already judged.'"
Even Rodolphus seemed impressed at that. "People with backbone."
"And the other supporters? Runcorn in Magical Transportation; Hopkirk in the Misuse of Underage Magic Office; Kentleworth in Games and Sports; and that wizard with that revolting mole in the Wizengamot Office?"
None of them knew…
But Harry finally had enough for his recording crystals. He was preparing to launch his attack until he heard something very curious.
"What about the Dark Lord's wife?"
Harry stopped. Voldemort had taken a wife? Did the evil man have children? The very notion began giving Harry waking nightmares.
"I heard Daphnis Kantor killed herself the day after the Dark Lord died…"
"The child died, too, then?"
Rookwood just shook his head. "It would have been the Dark Heir. They were sure the baby would have been a boy."
Harry let out a silent sigh of relief. He then began to wonder why none of this had ever come out before. Harry had never heard the name Daphnis Kantor before tonight or the possibility of a child. Had Daphnis died in the original timeline before giving birth? Or had she snuck away with her child to a different part of the world… Even with as much research as Harry had done, he still learned new and disturbing things everyday.
Harry decided to let the men talk for a bit longer. He didn't want any more surprises to stay hidden.
When it appeared the meeting with breaking up, Harry moved to act. He cast the Imperius Curse on Vindicus Bulstrode and had him say a few words. "In case I didn't mention it, gents, I'm going to pick up the pieces and rid the world of all the cowards…"
Then the Harry-controlled Bulstrode cast Avada Kedavra at Rodolphus and a bludgeoner at Rookwood. Rodolphus Lestrange dropped to the ground dead. The enraged Roodwood shot Bulstrode with the Avada Kedavra curse just as Bulstrode set Rookwood on fire.
It was a tiny miracle of timing – and all recorded for posterity. All the names of the surviving followers. The tactics they'd used. The plans they'd laid to escape punishment, including detailed analysis of the Imperius defense. And then a double cross from inside the group.
Harry broke the listening charms, but stuck two of the crystals inside Rodolphus Lestrange's robes. The Aurors would find the bodies, along with the recording crystals, soon enough.
Harry would judge them by what they did with the information.
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August 3, 1978
Harry spread out the Daily Prophet (Double Edition) in front of him. It was quite a bit of reporting.
"Voldemort Supporters Arrested Within the Ministry; Eight in Holding Cells."
"Nineteen Former Death Eaters Swept Up in Raids."
"Ministry Sets Rules for Public Trials; Veritaserum For All Witnesses."
"Ministry of Magic Appeals to France, Bulgaria, and Russia for Extradition of Dozens of Suspected Death Eaters."
"Negotiations with Gringotts Continue Over Use of Death Eater Funds as Reparations to Victims."
"Dumbledore to Face Inquiry Over Actions as Chief Warlock."
"Bartemius Crouch Arrested for Massive Ministry Coverups."
Harry liked the news he was reading. It all pointed to thinks getting better in Britain. But, as Moody had always said, practice Constant Vigilance.
It was possible the Ministry would go too far and accuse the innocent of crimes they hadn't committed. Harry would read the trial transcripts and continue probing the minds of people he encountered from time to time. It was possible that the Ministry would slip back into the corrupt morass it had previously found itself within. That too would be monitored.
But, most of all, Harry feared Dumbledore running roughshod over the Ministry. The man, even in his current circumstances, could turn to more than persuasion to retake a position of importance…the man could use compulsions, or trusting potions, or even the Imperius Curse for outright control.
Dumbledore was now the main obstacle, as Harry saw it, to a better Britain. But he was giving the old wizard the benefit of the doubt. He had a seat on the Wizengamot and the Headmastership of Hogwarts…if that contented him, Harry would leave him along so long as he stopped mucking around where he wasn't needed.
That wasn't to say that Harry didn't keep up his spying on the old man. He kept listening charms in many places and on many different items of clothing. Harry had tagged Dumbledore several different times when he'd seen the man out in public.
He pulled out a recording crystal and tapped it with his wand.
"Thank you for coming to tea, Elphias…" Harry recognized the name: Elphias Doge, an old friend of Dumbledore's.
"Of course, old friend. I was very saddened that the Order seemed to have crumbled as it did…"
"Yes, that book from America had its effect."
"Why haven't you refuted the charges, Albus?"
Dumbledore was quiet for a few moments. "Because most of the allegations are true…"
"You can't be serious…"
"Unfortunately, I did know and befriend Gellert in our younger years. And I did make some decisions that turned out to have questionable merit regarding the estates of certain orphaned children in recent years…"
"You allowed the Ministry to steal from children…without respecting the wills left by their parents?"
Albus said nothing, but Harry assumed the man had nodded.
"I've been your friend a long time, Albus, but I don't…I just don't understand how you could do these things…and not tell me at least. I'd have tried to talk you out of some of it…or at least given you some sort of comfort…"
"Embarrassment, I suppose, kept me from speaking of it. I didn't like the even think about what happened with Gellert…I know Aberforth still hates me for it to some extent, after all it cost us both our sister."
"But the laws…and disregarding wills…and giving the Ministry that kind of power…"
"It's all been reversed. The past, my friend, is best left in the past."
"Right now, very few think that. You're going to have some hard times ahead of you, Albus."
"I know. I'll weather it."
Doge was quiet for a few moments. "I hope so, but I wouldn't expect it. Pull back and stay out of politics, Albus. Whoever knows all this about you seems not to have decided to destroy you, just rap you on the nose and tell you to behave. I don't know what would happen if you didn't take the warning."
"I'm an old man, Elphias, and I've seen many things. I'll survive…"
"That doesn't sound like someone planning to drop out of politics, Albus."
"I'm not. I'll lay low for a while, but I won't let the world careen around willy-nilly…"
"You know my counsel, old friend. I pray you listen to it."
"Thank you, Elphias. More tea?"
Harry listened to the rest of the crystal but the two old men just talked about their other old friends and old memories. At the least, it was proof that Dumbledore had done what the book had accused him of – and that Dumbledore wasn't withdrawing.
Harry would keep a very close eye on his former Headmaster. He'd had his single warning. He would not get a second one.