Old-Crow, Scribe
Having been pulled aside and briefed for a moment before dinner by Dumbledore, Becky Abbott had kept the conversation light. She told them stories of her days at school in the early seventies.
Harry sat there politely, but he wasn't really listening. He kept thinking about the day's events; in awe of Madam Pomfrey's skill as a healer. By any stretch of the definition, she had been amazing. He thought of many adjectives for her as he had watched her work, but cool under fire kept coming back to him. He had never seen anyone injured as badly as she had been, let alone have them survive.
After desert had been served and eaten, Dumbledore announced that several of the Ministry investigative Aurors had scheduled some time to come over and talk with Susan and Harry about the events of the day.
Sensing what was coming, Becky Abbot asked, "Professor, might this wait until Amelia is well enough to participate?"
Dumbledore replied, "Yes it could, but as far as most of Wizarding Britain believes, Harry and Amelia were both killed today."
"That's a terrible lie," admonished Poppy, who rarely spoke at the dinner table. Then again, she usually was forced to sit next to Snape. The Abbotts, Susan, and Harry were, in her opinion, far more interesting.
"For once, Rita Skeeter appears to have printed what she believed to be the truth," replied Dumbledore. "It appears that she overheard one or more of the investigative Aurors and she was on the scene at Privet Drive and observed the officials discussing the case."
"What happened there?" asked Harry.
"From what we know or can surmise, the house caught on fire and those inside were unable to escape. The muggles are treating it as suspected arson due to the nature of the fire."
"What do you mean, Professor?" asked Susan.
"The information that we were able to obtain from witnesses is that the entire outside of the home was suddenly engulfed in flames and the Dark Mark was cast above the fire. One of the neighbors claims to have heard pounding on the door and screams for help. That was not the case by the time that we had arrived. That said, it is most likely that someone managed to breach the protective wards, seal the home and start a fire from the outside. Based on the speed with which the house was engulfed in flames, it is likely that there were three or four Death Eaters at work. They were probably not on the property longer than a minute."
Hannah sat there in horror as Professor Dumbledore described in detail how Harry's Aunt, Uncle, Cousin and a family friend were trapped inside, dying horrible deaths using the very spells that she had learned last year in charms. She had no idea how badly Harry had been mistreated there over the years and assumed that he would be devastated over losing his relatives.
Susan held Harry's arm as Dumbledore spoke. A moment later, Freedom flashed above them and glided down to Harry's shoulder. She began singing softly, washing away some of the hurt that Harry was feeling. In truth, Harry was feeling hurt, mostly at the loss of his Cousin who had changed greatly after the dementor attack the summer before. He felt truly alone in the world.
"You're not alone, Harry," whispered Susan but she wasn't able to finish her thought as Smidgen suddenly appeared. "Miss Susan, comes quick. Miss Amelia…"
Before the house elf could finish her thought, Harry had grabbed Pomfrey's hand and Susan grabbed Harry and the three of them disappeared in a flash of flame.
An instant later they were in the hospital wing. Amelia was shivering in her bed but was awake. Poppy cast a warming charm on her friend, smiled and said, "If you wanted to spend an evening visiting Amelia, you could have owled." She smiled again at her friend and asked, "Are you in any pain?"
Bones answered, "Not much, but I feel quite weak. How did I get here?"
Harry replied, "I brought you here, Ma'am."
She gave Harry a thoughtful look and asked, "And do I want to know why you brought me here?"
"It was the only thing I could think of."
Having arrived just a minute after Harry, Dumbledore said, "Poppy and Amelia, with your permission, I will floo to the Wizengamot office and bring back one of the solicitor pensieves and a few interested people. I won't be but a minute; then perhaps Harry and Susan can share their remarkable story with us."
Hannah whispered to Susan, "What's going on?" but Becky gave her a 'mum look' to be patient.
Meanwhile, Susan gave Amelia a huge hug and said, "I love you so much, Auntie. I was so scared."
When she was done, Poppy said, "If you will all give me three minutes, I want to have a quick look at our patient before they return." Everyone congregated right outside the door to wait. Poppy waived her wand over Amelia's neck several times and made a few notes then repeated the procedure around her chest and arms. Again, she wrote a few notes in her logbook. Finally she carefully checked around Amelia's eyes noting that her eyes were following the movement of her wand tip and appeared focused.
Amelia asked, "Do I want to know?"
Poppy replied, "We have a little work to do tomorrow and I will suggest that you stay at home for a week, but I do expect to receive a Christmas card from you again this year."
Bones said, "Thank you, Poppy."
The Master Healer replied, "For my small part in this, you're very welcome. However a life-debt is owed to Mr. Potter, not me. We would not be talking together if he had taken another minute getting you here."
She answered, "He does seem to be collecting them this year."
Poppy nodded and said, "If you're up to it, I'll get the others."
Dumbledore, Hammer, Daily, and Minister Scrimgeour arrived a moment later. Daily was holding the penseive. Dumbledore flicked his wand once moving one of the other beds to the other side of the room, conjuring ten chairs and a pedestal for the pensieve. That he was able to do all of those things simultaneously and seemingly effortlessly was amazing to everyone there.
Assuming his Wizengamot role for a moment, he said, "This will serve as the official inquiry into the events at the Ministry of Magic on the date of July 14. Miss Daily, would you be willing to act as scribe?"
She nodded and replied, "Of course, Professor."
"Rufus and Amelia, do you find these arrangements acceptable?" Dumbledore did not want this to escalate any further and did not want to give Scrimgeour another opportunity to parade Harry around like a show dog.
Seeing that Dumbledore might be doing something that had Harry's best interest at heart, she mustered her strength and in a surprisingly firm voice, replied, "I find this acceptable as I'm certain Minister Scrimgeour does, as well."
Trading an opportunity to find out what really happened earlier than he would have, against the public relations potential, he nodded and replied, "Of course. Let us begin. Amelia, if I may?"
Dumbledore was going to argue the point, but decided to wait.
Scrimgeour began, "Amelia, can you tell us what happened?"
She answered, "At about 7:30 a.m. I arrived at the apparition point, walked to the elevator along with some students. I walked out of the elevator on my floor. I was surprised to see Susan and that was the last thing that I remember until I woke up here a few minutes ago."
Scrimgeour asked, "Susan, can you show us your memory of the event?"
She nodded and Dumbledore said, "Susan, please concentrate at the point when you knew that you needed to get to the ministry until the time that I found you." She nodded and he held his wand up to her temple. A moment later, he extracted a shimmering strand of light. He carefully looped the memory into the dish and said, "Please don't say anything until it is finished. I doubt that it will last more than a few minutes. We can view it a second time if there are questions."
Hannah watched in rapt attention as the image of Susan said," Auntie forgot her lunch." A moment later she and Harry were in the Ministry lobby. She caught the speed that Harry picked up the situation as he pointed to Susan's Aunt Amelia standing at the lift to go down to her office. She saw the immediate concern on Harry's face when he saw the two men get into the elevator immediately after her. She tensed as she saw the tip of a wand pointing out of the sleeve of one of the men.
A moment later the scene changed and Susan and Harry were in the receptionist area and the lift door opened. Through Susan's eyes, Hanna saw her Auntie take a step forward and heard the words that she'd only learned of in class, Avada Kedavra. In the same instant she saw two jets of green light fly towards Auntie and a dinner plate thrown. Whether by miracle, or profound skill, the plate intercepted the beams of light and shattered into hundreds of pieces. She saw Harry come into her view taking a step towards Auntie and heard another killing curse being formed. Quicker than she imagined possible, Harry had drawn his wand and fired a Reducto hex in the direction of the lift door which was closing. She had a hard time reconciling the two images that she had of Harry – teenager fumbling over himself at the sight of her and Susan in skimpy swimsuits and the actions of hero that she was just witnessing.
Through Susan's eyes Hannah saw her Aunt Amelia crumpled on the floor, bleeding from hundreds of places, blood beginning to pool on the floor. With the same quickness that he'd shown on the quidditch pitch, Harry stooped to pick her up and a moment later vanished, leaving a nearly hysterical Susan staring at a large bloody smear on the floor. Rather than watch Susan crumble from fear, Dumbledore stood, tapped the pensieve on one of the runes and the three-dimensional holograph sank back into the bowl.
There was silence for nearly a minute until Harry asked, "What happened to the two attackers?"
Hammer replied, "They were marked Death Eaters, Harry. Your spell must have hit both of them. They died a short time after we found them."
Harry slumped down and in a defeated voice said, "I didn't mean it."
Scrimgeour said, "Of course you did, Son. You saw an eminent attack of deadly force and did what you had to do to stop it. You improvised in a moment of need and reacted faster than anyone that I've seen to save Amelia's life. You're alive, Amelia's alive, Susan's alive and two more killers are off the streets. I wouldn't have expected as much from any of the Aurors that I commanded and I'm certain that I couldn't have done as well myself. You're not in any trouble Harry, and to be honest, I don't know how to adequately thank you. You ended two lives today Harry, there is no denying that, but you did what you had to do to save good people's lives."
Amelia said in a much gentler voice, "Harry, I have a friend on the Auror services team that I would like you to talk with in a few days. She'll help you sort out your feelings about this." She glanced at Hammer, who nodded imperceptibly. Then she asked, "Harry, I'm not sure that I want to know, but how did you think to toss the plate in front of those curses and how did you know that it might work?"
Sheepishly Harry replied, "Professor Dumbledore did the same for me in the Atrium that night, and honestly, I didn't know if it would work. It was all that I had available. I'm sorry that it blew up and cut you so badly, Ma'am."
She held her arms out to him and Harry came to her, with tears welled in his eyes. He might be the savior of the wizarding world, but at that moment he was a stressed-out fifteen-year-old teen who'd had a terrible day.
The others looked away to give them a moment to collect themselves. Amelia whispered something in Harry's ear. He nodded and she patted him on the head and released her hold on him.
As Harry sat down, Hammer said, "I know that it's just a formality Mr. Potter, but I need to examine your wand again." Hannah gave another snigger until her mum gave her a withering look. True to his word Harry had just cast the one spell since the last time that she had checked and cleared it. Daily recorded her findings in her logbook and Hammer handed the holly wand back to the teen. She said, "Thank you, Mr. Potter. Everything is in order."
It looked like the meeting was over, but Amelia surprised everyone by saying, "Thank you Connie, thank you Anna. Please return the equipment and file your reports. It has come to my attention that Harry has filed a Head of Household application. Professor Dumbledore, if you would be willing to act in your Wizengamot role, we should be able to hear this and be done in the next few minutes. I will be acting as Harry's advocate in this matter. Minister, if you would proceed."
Scrimgeour was taken surprise at this, but given the events of the day, it made sense. He began, "Harry, do you have the financial means to support yourself for the next few years?"
He replied, "I have quite a bit of gold left in the vault that my parents left me sir, nearly fourteen thousand Galleons. Actually, I have a bit more than that," he said as he reached into his pocket.
Scrimgeour chuckled, and replied, "An exact count to the nearest knut isn't required Mr. Potter. Where will you be living for the remainder of the summer?"
Harry replied, "Susan and her Aunt invited me to stay at their home for the summer, Sir. I've been there for a few days now. I could find someplace else next summer."
Amelia shook her head and replied, "Harry, you may stay with us as long as you wish."
Dumbledore added, "Harry also has some additional assets that he may not yet be aware of. In the coming years he will gain full access to the Potter trust. The specifics are not material to Harry's application, but it is unlikely that he will ever want for money."
Harry looked embarrassed at his words and was glad when Dumbledore said, "Harry has met the financial means test; he has a good home to live in. Rufus, please continue."
"Harry, have you ever been convicted of a serious crime?"
Amelia spoke up, saying, "Harry was falsely accused of using a hovering charm in his home when he was twelve. It turned out that Dobby the house elf was levitating a cake in the kitchen…"
Harry interrupted and said, "Pudding. It was a pudding. My Uncle was pretty put out about it when it smashed on the floor."
Everyone except Amelia laughed at his words. She gave an involuntary shudder thinking what 'pretty put out' would have resulted in.
Poppy was watching her patient and said, "If possible, perhaps we could hurry this along."
Harry was trying to frame his response about the unforgivable cast in the Atrium but Bones replied, "Acting in my official capacity, I did levy a small fine against Mr. Potter for mishandling his wand a few weeks ago. As such, that is not a part of his record, and Mr. Potter is under no obligation to ever bring it up again regardless of the circumstances."
Dumbledore understood the implications of expunging the failed Cruciatus curse from Harry's record, knowing that he would soon be called as the star witness in the trial against the captured Death Eaters. He waited in silence until Scrimgeour asked, "Can you give us the specifics, Son?"
Harry replied, "Not really sir, I was fighting against Bellatrix Lestrange after she had murdered my godfather. I tried to stop her, but in the heat of the moment, I couldn't cast my spell properly."
Harry was pleased with his answer. It was truthful, but had not revealed anything.
Scrimgeour had heard a confidential debriefing on the matter and was also satisfied with the teen's response. He said, "Son, must of our Aurors on the force would wet themselves at the thought of facing Bellatrix Lestrange, let alone chasing after her. I think what you meant to say was that in the fog of battle, you did everything that you could to stop an escaped, convicted murderer and keep yourself alive. No additional detail is required, now or in the future. Between us, I wish that you'd have had the chance to pop her with a solid Reducto or bone shattering curse, but you did what you had to do. I have no further questions and recommend immediate approval of Mr. Potter's application. Amelia?"
She replied, "I also endorse Harry's application and have every confidence that he will continue to exercise good judgement within our world. Professor?"
Dumbledore was silent for a moment as he framed his response. He knew that Harry was as safe at the Bones residence as anyplace except Grimmauld place and Hogwarts. He had no authority to force Harry to live in a home that he didn't own and didn't want to stay at. He asked, "Harry, have you considered staying with Remus Lupin?"
Not wanting to go there, Harry replied, "Remus and I talked about it yesterday, Professor. He decided to put his new home up for sale and find someplace else to live. I told him where I was staying and he seemed to think that it was a good idea that I stay there if I was welcome. Otherwise, I suppose I could go and lease a flat somewhere."
Dumbledore really didn't have the authority to force Harry to live with anyone either and didn't want to damage their relationship now that it seemed to be on the mend. He said, "I concur with Amelia and Minister Scrimgeour that it is in the wizarding world's best interest that you be considered an adult. As such, you will be solely responsible for all of your own debts and actions from this day forth. You will be allowed to enter into contracts, though seeking qualified advice is always a good idea. Should you find a willing partner, you will be allowed to marry, and you are granted adult status with respect to Gringotts. The Potter trust, as I am aware of it, is a phased-in trust, meaning that at age seventeen you would have had partial access to it with full access attained at age twenty five. The last person to have full access to it was your Grandfather. You now have the same access that you would have attained on your seventeenth birthday. I would recommend that you continue to keep in contact with your account manager there. He will be informed of your change in status within the hour."
As he conjured the form, signed it and handed it to the others to sign, he said, "Harry, as I've mentioned to you before, my greatest concern for you is in regards to your safety. You have acquired a sizeable collection of enemies thus far, and will need to continue to exercise vigilance through your life. Your enemies are also the light side's enemies, and you have many resources to draw from. However, having enemies should not preclude you from enjoying your life to the fullest. You will want to learn to create portkeys and to apparate as soon as you can. As you probably know, those are regulated activities and you need to fill out a form and demonstrate sufficient skill in both to be licensed when you are ready."
Harry nodded in response.
Dumbledore continued, "Perhaps you might convince Director Bones to let you avail yourself of some of the training facilities that the Ministry has available to assist the continued development of your already formidable defensive skills. In fact, there are many witches and wizards who would be more than willing to assist you as you grow your skills. However those are different topics for another day. Lastly, Amelia, as a precaution, you may consider stationing one of the hit-wizards at your fine house for the rest of the summer." She nodded in agreement.
Looking at Susan, Harry, Hannah and Becky he asked, "Might I offer the four of you sleeping quarters in the castle's guest rooms for the evening? Doubtless you will all want to help Amelia continue on the path to full recovery in the morning."
It sounded like a good idea. They all hugged Susan's weary Aunt and Poppy goodnight and were shown to their rooms where they had a restful night's sleep. Harry was grateful that Freedom was there to sing off and on throughout the night.
… --- …
The next morning, Severus Snape had the unfortunate luck to still be at Voldemort's hideout in Blackpool when the morning edition of the Daily Prophet came.
Convulsing under the strongest Cruciatus curse that he had ever experienced, Snape saw the object of his Master's anger. On the floor was a half burned copy of the morning paper. On the front page was a photo of Harry Potter standing by Bones' hospital bed. Bones was holding up the special edition of the Daily Prophet that had announced their deaths. The headline read Light Side two, Death Eaters nil.
Several minutes later Snape crawled away from the room a broken man. Forget children, he doubted that he would ever be able to stand in a men's room again.
… --- …
"Mr. Crow, a lot seems to have happened in a day's time. Your report was accurate, I'm certain, but what of this Gold for Freedom scheme, and whatever were you thinking of leaving poor Molly unattended like that? I expect another update on my desk within two days. Ten feet of parchment, Mr. Crow."
The old scribe knew that his thoughts had turned to blue bikinis, and any news about a hidden home in London might have to wait. He needed to read the latest installment of OlafR's story, The Time of Change.
… --- …
