Chapter 4: Meetings Galore
Tara woke up early in the morning to the aroma of breakfast. She walked down to the kitchen and introduced herself. Kreature served her an English breakfast and some orange juice, just like how she liked it. Tara had viewed Michael's memories from last night and was curious about something.
"Kreature, how did you know that I am being possessed?" Tara inquired.
"House Elves have magic eyes Mistress. Elves can see magics and souls." Kreature replied clearly uncomfortable at this line of questioning. Elves were supposed to serve, not have an intelligent conversation.
Michael perked up at that information. "Really?" He asked.
"Yes Master. House elves can tell who the dominant soul is." Kreature replied.
Michael was even more intrigued by this conversation. "Kreature, do you mind if I examined your magic through partial possession? I promise I wont hurt you and I wont do anything against your will. I am just academically curious."
"Michael, are you sure? This has never been done!" Tara warned.
Kreature's eyes were round like tennis balls. On one hand, it was unheard of a wizard asking permission to do something to an elf. On the other hand, the wizard was his master and wanted to possess him, though partially. The servility won out and Kreature just nodded.
Michael put his hand on Kreature's head and willed his magic to extend into the body of the elf through his elf-bond. The feeling was amazing. The way elves bodies were designed was amazing. The whole body was a conduit for magic. It was very different from that of humans where in there was a magical core and magical veins spread out from the core.
The types of magic the elves used were also amazing. It appeared as if there was a zero-wastage policy of magic usage. That means, if an elf were to conjure a table, it was done in such a way that magic would never leak out of the matrix that created the table, hence it would last a millennium without disintegrating. Elves were the true "makers". What they make, will stay that way for ever. A stray thought in Michael's mind was that if elves became the manufacturers of our world, the world economy would collapse.
Michael then examined the magic used in Elven transportation and was amazed by what he saw. Elves could create portals. If they had to pop from one place to another, they would instinctively create a portal into a sub-dimension and then a portal back to where they want to go. Amazing! And totally soundless. It was almost like fading in and out. They only made the loud crack to the oppressive wizards happy to reinforce that wizards were stronger than Elves.
Michael was giddy with happiness. He doubted if Hermione even knew about Elves as much as he learnt in a short time today. He tried to access memories of Kreature and was almost viciously thrown out. Ah! So the Elves were masters at Occlumency. It kind of made sense as they have to learn to keep secrets.
Michael then extended his magic to study the Elf's soul and was shocked by what he saw. The soul was bound by angry red serpent like ropes. Anger boiled in Michael on seeing such a dastardly thing and lashed out against the ropes.
Outside Tara could feel Michael's anger and was worried about it. Suddenly she felt the magic shift and the Elf became stiff as a board. There was a visible aura surrounding both beings. Tara was surrounded by a white aura where as Kreature was surrounded by a blood-red aura. The feeling of magic intensified and Tara started getting uncomfortable with the amount of magic.
There was a burst of fire and a Phoenix appeared in the dining room. It gave an angry screech and wanted to end the possession of an elf by a wizard. But before it could lash out, the magic disappeared and the Elf changed shape into that of a High-Elf, the race that had apparently disappeared. Tara was so exhausted that she collapsed onto the dining table.
---
An hour later, Michael groggily woke and inquired after Kreature. "Master! What have you done?" Kreature asked in shock. Kreature now resembled a middle-aged man though with pointy-ears. "Master, what did I become? How did I become this? I feel so wonderful, never felt this good before."
Michael laughed in amusement. "Kreature, there was a block on your soul. It looked like a blood magic block. It is probably inherited when your High-Elf race was forced into slavery. I have no idea why your ancestors were made into slaves, but their descendents should not suffer the wrath. A whole race into slavery! That is disgusting."
Kreature could still not believe what had happened to him. He was trying hard to stand erect and find his balance. He tried some magic and it responded to him much better. In one snap of his fingers, the entire dining room was clean. Another snap and everything there looked brand new. The dining table, which earlier was in bad need of repair and a coat of varnish, now looked like it was made of oak and looked pristine with a fresh coat of wax. Kreature was beyond giddy.
"Kreature, now you must take a room in the Manor. No more sleeping in a cupboard." Michael told him gently.
"Master is too kind! What can Kreature do to repay Master." Kreature bowed regally.
"Kreature, I want you to repay me by becoming my friend and probably teach me some Elven magics. Would that be okay?" Michael inquired.
"Master wants to be Kreature's apprentice?" Kreature looked shell-shocked.
"Yes Kreature. Then I will have to call you Master Kreature." Michael burst out laughing. It was only then when the Phoenix joined in the laughter that they both realized that a third person was in the room. "Hello! Who are you? You are not Fawkes, are you?" Michael asked gently.
The Phoenix flew and landed on the dining table and extended its leg, indicating that it was delivering mail. Michael opened the letter and blanched as he read it. He gulped at the thought of meeting his ex-boss.
Dear Time Traveler,
You are requested to present yourself at my office in the Department of Mysteries for an interview to determine the reason for your time travel. The letter is a portkey and will activate after 15 minutes of reading this message. Failure to comply will lead to forceful transport through Phoenix and incarceration.
Lady Dragon,
Department of Mysteries,
Ministry of Magic
---
"Hello Auntie Nelle" Michael greeted the Lady Dragon. The portkey had dropped the time traveler in an interrogation room in the Department of Mysteries. As soon as he landed in the room, three people in gray cloaks entered the room. They hoods were drawn and it obscured their faces and altered their voices. Michael felt almost at ease in such familiar surroundings. Harry and Hermione had worked on this floor for many years before Tonks joined them after retiring from the Auror force.
Michael could feel the anti-transport wards such as the anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards in the room. He wondered if they could block Elven transport or had this mighty department underestimated the little people. "Dragon, Chief", Michael bowed to the other two in greeting.
"So you know who we are?" The lady asked him.
"Of course I do! I worked for you for seven years. I have something for you from my best friend, who gave me this mission." Michael laid the letters over the table in front of them. "Though I did not expect to be summoned so soon. I didn't think that it was possible to monitor time travel."
As expected the Dragon scanned the letters for any foul play and picked up his letter. "We do not have means of monitoring time travel, but we did feel a large disturbance in magic itself. Eves dropping on you gave us the answer. Now, sit back and relax while we read these letters." Michael transfigured his chair into an easy-chair wandlessly and did as instructed. The Lady Dragon followed his actions like a Hawk which slightly unnerved Michael. The Flamels were really paranoid couple.
"I, Michael Magnus Moon, swear on my soul and magic that I do not mean or wish to harm to Nicholas Flamel, Paranelle Flamel, or Algernon Croaker while in the Department of Mysteries unless they wish or mean harm to me." There was a flash of magic waiting for the other three to accept the magical oath.
"So mote it be." Said the three voices. "What about the one you are possessing?" Mr. Flamel asked Michael.
Michael chuckled at the paranoid man. "I, Tara Moon, swear on my life and magic that I do not mean or wish harm to Nicholas Flamel, Paranelle Flamel, or Algernon Croaker while in the Department of Mysteries unless they wish or mean harm to me." Again there was a flash of magic and the three accepted the oath. "Now Auntie, could you please stop with the stares and get on with reading about my mission? I have a distinct feeling that you three were the original architects of my mission. If so, I could use a lot of help. Also, could you please summon an elf with some lunch?"
---
Back in Grimmauld Place
The meeting at the Department of Mysteries had gone on until it was after dinner time. By the time Michael left, they had all reached a consensus on the future plan of action.
"Kreature!"
"Yes, Master."
"Kreature, could you please scan Tara's magical core and see if you can create an enchantment to stop the Metamorphomagus feature?"
"Master would let Kreature scan Mistress' magic?" Kreature asked incredibly. Michael smiled and nodded. He indicated Kreature to do his scanning. A few minutes later, Kreature spoke up, "Master, Kreature can create an Elven block on Mistress' magic for self-transfiguration."
"Is that what being a Metamorphomagus is? Having an instinct towards wandless self-transfiguration?" Michael look amazed at this newer insight towards understanding magic. "Kreature, can you anchor this ward on an external object such as a toe-ring perhaps?"
"Master, it would have to be a silver ring as Mithril is difficult to obtain these days."
"Alright, Kreature. I need you to make a dozen such Silver toe-rings with standard features such as automatic resizing, invisibility cloaking features, non-scannability to wizard magic such as mad-eye's eye, removable only by the wearer, etc. Could you please have 3 such rings ready in the next day or two?"
"Yes Master. Kreature will do that right away."
----
Privet Drive, the next day
Michael apparated to Little Whinging a few blocks away from Privet Drive and after applying the disillusionment charm silently walked towards the house where he spent most of his childhood. He silently slid into the house from the backyard and observed the household. Vernon Dursley seemed to have left for work. Petunia was busy in the kitchen cooking lunch with Little Harry helping her peel potatoes. Young Dudley was playing with his new Cricket bat and swinging at imaginary balls.
Michael extended his magic in the room to feel for any magical or enchanted items using the same technique he learned from Kreature to see magic. What he saw shocked him. There are multiple items that had been enchanted. The dancing figurines, that Petunia was so fond of, glowed blue and yellow indicating compulsion and loyalty charms. Petunia herself glowed blood red indicating some form of a ward anchor. As he looked at other objects in the room, he found the salt and pepper shakers glowing bright green and orange respectively. To Michael, these items felt like they brought out the maliciousness and anger in him towards anything magical.
Michael wondered if these items were responsible for his relatives' behavior. He sent a wandless compulsion to Dudley to smash the salt and pepper shakers with his Cricket bat. As soon as Michael heard the two glass shakers break, he heard a huge cry from the kitchen, "Oh my God! What have I done!" and a dull thump in the kitchen. Michael still disillusioned, rushed into the kitchen to see that Petunia had fainted. Michael immediate sent a wandless obliviate and compulsion charms to both Harry and Dudley to go their room and sleep.
Michael stunned Petunia and carried her to the living room and put her on the couch. Once she was comfortable, Michael extended his magic to read the memories of Petunia to see how much she had been influenced by these compulsion charms. The most recent memories all showed the general neglect and abuse of her nephew. As he looked at her older memories, Michael found the memory of how the Dursley household had acquired the shakers.
Lucius Malfoy.
Petunia had bumped into Lucius at the supermarket last year and during the confusion he had dropped the jinxed shakers into her shopping cart and picked up the ones Petunia already had in her cart. It was so simple yet effective. All those years of the old man's protection and a simple switch of an item bought brought about years of abuse.
Michael realized that he could no longer hate the Dursleys. How low could the Wizarding world stoop to follow an agenda, he wondered. Now that he calmed down, Michael was now curious about why Petunia hated her sister. Or was that also due to another compulsion charm?
As the memories went back further into the past, Michael witnessed the various fights Petunia had with Lily about the 'greatness' of magic. During those fights, it appeared that Petunia was very patient in trying to explain her side of the story, but Lily being the young firebrand she was, ended up walking out on her multiple times. Michael probed more into the past and was shocked by what he saw.
Petunia was born Leona Prewitt and on the day Molly Prewitt had banished her two younger sisters into the town square, Petunia had been tortured under the Cruciatus curse. Hermione had studied the curse's effect on magic cores and concluded that Neville almost became a squib because of the torture he had undergone under the curse. Michael wondered if Petunia became a squib for the same reason.
Michael probed further to witness that Petunia had indeed shown signs of magical activity when she was younger. He also found multiple memories of her siblings pranking her and teasing her. The last prank that was played on her was when Molly had turned her hair blonde and her features to look like a giraffe. No wonder Molly felt so guilty about this whole deal and was so intolerant of the twins' pranking.
Michael's original plan had been to send the Dursleys to prison for child abuse, but having witnessed Petunia's memories, he could not follow that course. Michael was suddenly alerted to a noise in the drive way. It appeared that the enchantments were broken on Vernon Dursley too and he had come rushing home in remorse as soon as he felt them.
Michael quickly disillusioned himself, threw a cloaking ward on the figurines canceling the compulsions and enervated Petunia. Vernon came into the house thundering calling for his wife to make sure that she was okay. Michael in all his life had never seen is uncle so concerned or loving towards his family. By now Vernon was hugging his wife and both of them were crying. Michael threw a wandless calming charm on both of them and a compulsion charm to their trusted friend Edward Moon at the Savoy for dinner who would explain everything to them. Michael watched as Petunia went to the cupboard and picked up Little Harry and hugged him and kissed him. Not wanting his raging emotions to cause his disillusionment charm to wear off, Michael walked out of the house and disapparated.
---
Private room at the Savoy, London, that evening
"Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Dursley. My name is Edward Moon. I am sure you are wondering how I can help you and why you are here." Both the Dursleys nodded their head. "Mrs. Dursley, are you familiar with magical oaths?" Vernon stiffened at the mention of the M-word while Petunia nodded her head. "I am going to take a magical oath and to accept it, you must say 'so mote it be' and mean it. If I violate my oath, I will lose all my magic and my life." The two Dursleys again nodded their head.
"I swear on my life and magic that I do not wish harm to the following: Harry James Potter, Dudley Dursley, Petunia Dursley nee Evans and Vernon Dursley. In fact I wish to help them as much as I can." There was a flare of magic and the Dursleys accepted the oath.
"Now that is done, please believe me when I say, 'trust me'. You both have been manipulated by the Wizarding world and I wish to help you get out of the manipulations." Michael declared. The two Dursleys looked at him with hope on their faces. "Mr. Dursley, may I scan you for any magical compulsions on you?"
When Vernon gave his consent, Michael extended his magic and scanned him, he found a mild compulsion to never send Harry Potter to an orphanage. He also scanned his body for any potions such as an imperious potion and also a general health of his body.
"Mr. Dursley, may I call you Vernon?" Vernon nodded his head. Petunia piped up and said, "And please call me Petunia."
Michael smiled and said, "Only if you call me Edward. Please consider me as your lawyer, though I am actually represent a secret branch of our Ministry of Magic. I am here to give you sound advice and remember that I cannot mean you or your family harm."
"There is a Ministry of Magic???" Vernon looked very shocked as if it was ridiculous.
"Yes, Vernon. Now for a little history lesson. As you are aware, there was a war in the Wizarding world until recently when little Harry destroyed the Dark Lord Voldemort on the Halloween of 1981. What you have to understand is that, even though he was destroyed, he did not die. He just became incorporeal, i.e. he became a spirit with no body. The reason he did not die is that he created an anchor for his spirit so it would not die. That anchor is little Harry's lightening shaped scar. That is the reason why the old man is so interested in little Harry and went to all the trouble of ensuring that Harry is cared by you."
"You mean, the old man is responsible for us treating Harry so badly?" Vernon spluttered and turned an interesting shade of purple in rage.
"Vernon, calm down. When I scanned your body, I could see plaques in arteries. You do not want them to dislodge and give a stroke do you?" Both Petunia and Vernon paled at that. "Don't worry. I am going to ensure that you both are healthy when you leave here." The Dursleys looked reassured by that.
"The old man is not responsible for your ill treatment of little Harry. That honor goes to a man called Lucius Malfoy. Petunia, do you remember the day you bought those salt and pepper shakers, the aristocratic blond man who you bumped into at the supermarket?"
"You mean that man did something?" Petunia stuttered.
"Yes. Malfoy jinxed those items and since Dudley smashed them today, those compulsions were removed. Please don't be mad at me, because I was the one who influenced Dudley to break them." Even without Legilimency, Michael could see the emotions playing on the Dursleys, first shock, then anger, then acceptance and forgiveness.
"Now there are at least three factions to this Wizarding war: the old man and his cronies who are supposed to be the 'Light', the do-gooders of the magical society, the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters who believe that pure-blood wizards should exterminate non-purebloods including non-magicals and the totally inept Ministry of Magic and its employees." The Dursleys listened with fascination. Nobody had ever sat them down and explained what was going on.
"One might think that the old man was ethically and morally correct in the war, but look what he has done. He has used and authorized the use of compulsions, love potions and memory charms for the 'Greater good'. Nobody in their right mind should follow the Dark Lord unless you are psychopath. The ministry of magic is full of weak-minded and powerless politicians."
"So here you are under compulsion to be loyal to the old man, under compulsion to ill treat your nephew by Malfoy, a follower of the Dark Lord and have no rights to appeal to the Ministry of Magic because you are a non-magical person. What do you want to do? How can I help you?"
The Dursleys were outraged at the reality of their position. They had absolutely no idea as to how to get out of this situation. "Do you have any suggestions?"
"Yes Vernon and Petunia. In fact that is the whole point of this meeting. I will help you get out of the old man's clutches. First I will get rid of the scar from little Harry, which will remove the interest of the old man in little Harry. This may have a side effect of little Harry losing his magic, but trust me, he will have a much better life. You must realize that the old man wants to train little Harry into a perfect weapon to kill the Dark Lord."
"Yes please. Magic has brought nothing by trouble in our lives. This way we can be normal people." Vernon really began to love this plan.
"I can also make little Harry look more like your child. We call it blood adoption and he will be magically renamed Harold Dursley, so that no magical person can search for Harry Potter magically." Petunia looked excited at the idea of adopting Harry and giving him the Dursley name.
"Next, I will ensure that Potter estate and the Prewitt estate are moved to the non-magical world and you receive a monthly stipend of at least 10,000 pounds a month from the investments." Petunia blanched at hearing the name Prewitt. "How do you know about that?" She stuttered. Vernon too was curious about this.
"I learnt about it when I scanned your memories and body earlier today. Don't worry, I will not betray you. Vernon, Petunia and Lily were born Leona and Elizabeth Prewitt. When Petunia was the age of five, the Death Eaters, who are the followers of the Dark Lord, attacked her home and killed her parents. Petunia was tortured with the torture curse, which lead to her losing her magic and she became a non-magical. Petunia's older sister Molly banished her two younger sisters to the town square where they were picked up by non-magical authorities. They were later adopted by the Evans and renamed Petunia and Lily Evans. Petunia loved her little sister so much that she tried to keep her from her magical abilities. Magic has always caused quite a lot of trouble to her, with her older sister and brothers bullying her by pranking her."
Petunia in the mean time burst out in tears. Vernon did not know how to react to this news. On one hand it felt good to know the truth at the same time, he felt horrible that his wife was tortured as a five-year old. Vernon, in a rare show of affection, pulled Petunia into his lap and hugged her in comfort. He asked the question that he was sure Petunia wanted to know, but did not vocalize. "What happened to her family?"
"As I said, her birth parents died in that attack. Molly hid herself in a cupboard after banishing her sisters. She was too traumatized by the attack that she never told anyone where Leona and Elizabeth were until it was too late. The others assumed that both the younger girls died or were captured by the Death Eaters. Her elder twin brothers Gideon and Fabian were visiting a friend and hence they survived."
"Where are they now?" Petunia asked in a child-like voice.
"Gideon and Fabian joined the old man's bunch to fight the Dark Lord and died in a battle 7 years ago. Molly Prewitt, during her seventh year at Hogwarts, used a love potion on Arthur Weasley and married his shortly after graduation. They now have seven children, six boys and one daughter. The whole family are firm supporters of the old man and follow him blindly. Molly currently has plans for her youngest child, Ginevra Weasley to marry Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived and will not mind using love potions to do so in the future."
"WHAT? He is her cousin! How dare she use such abnormal means to ensnare Harry!" Petunia screeched.
Michael happy that he had put silencing wards around the room, calmly told her that Molly did not really know that little Harry was her nephew. "Petunia, do you know that you are currently under a charm that changed your appearance? If I am not mistaken, you are actually a red head and will look exactly like an older version of lily. This was the result of the last prank played on you by Molly."
Petunia could not take any more revelations and fainted. Vernon let her sleep it off for a while. Michael walked to the refrigerator and pulled out a couple of beers and handed it over to Vernon. "I really wish we had something stronger. But I did not want alcohol to alter our perceptions."
"Thanks Edward. What happens now?"
"I take little Harry with me tomorrow and we get rid of his scar. He will be a little weak and might need bed rest for awhile. Then I will wipe all his memories of his abuse so that he does not have any nightmares in the future. I will also wipe memories of Dudley's aggression towards little Harry. Then I will implant a memory block on both you and Petunia so that you will not be able to remember this meeting or the subsequent follow up." Seeing Vernon about to protest, he raised his hand and continued. "The old man is a mind reader, so we don't want him knowing our plans. This memory block will be removed upon reading a password which I will mail you."
"We will then stage an accident where the old man will believe that removal of little Harry's scar was an accident. Once the old man confirms that the scar is missing, he will lose interest in little Harry and will let you move on with your lives. I will scan you folks for compulsions and then help you move to the United States where you may pursue your dream of going to business school. Since you will be financially set, you should have no problems. I only ask that you do not mention about the Wizarding world to little Harry in case he loses his magic during the scar removal. We can also change his birthday to make it look like Harry Dursley is actually your son."
Vernon and Petunia agreed to the plan and Michael warned them that Mrs. Figg was actually an informant of the old man. So they were to keep all their plans secret and not discuss it anywhere. Michael had already scanned #4 Privet Drive for listening devices and moved them all into the basement.