Chapter 10: In the belly of the beast
Once more, deep in London's underground a small group of wizards gathered around a table. "It has worked. The Minister has been replaced and Harry Potter is no more." A woman spoke very softly.
"If the Dark Lord returns, he should find things more to his liking." A Male wizard said "However, this is Harry Potter. He lived though the killing curse. Perhaps we should have other plans to ensure that if by some dumb luck, he does manage to find a way out of this; we can stop him or at least limit him."
However, they were quite right. Harry found himself sitting at a table. He looked at his hands and frowned slightly. They were larger than they were moments before. "Where am I?" He asked and his frown became more pronounced his voice sounded like it did before fate sent him a do over.
"You are with us now, the cursed ones. Souls that have been removed from this world. Impy over there was one of the first, hundreds of years ago. What year is it old man?" a male voice said. Harry turned to look at the person speaking to him.
"Why do you call me Old Man?" Harry asked
"Because you look like you're almost as old as Impy!" The man spat. "Now the year is?"
Harry looked down at his hands and sighed. There were scars upon them that had been earned from battling the non magical world. His black hair hung well below his shoulders but it was no longer pure black. It was graying in more than one area; in fact it was more white then black or grey. He lifted his head and his bangs covered the scar that had been a part of him for over a century. "It's…" Harry thought for a moment "1993."
The man cursed slightly "Time moves slowly in here for us. It's only been a year since I joined the cursed ones."
Harry shook his head "Well, I need to leave. I have a world to save, friends to visit. Oh and Disneyland would be nice too." Harry heard a chuckle.
"No one leaves. That is part of the power that holds us. We are required to add to the Master's power." Stated another that seemed to appear at the table.
"Well I will leave." Harry closed his eyes as he flicked his hand up, trying to call upon his magic. "It is no use old man. Magic does not work here."
Little did Harry know, but his friends were at his bedside. They all looked stricken, even Draco. "There has to be away to bring him back!" Hermione suddenly said.
"Hermione, there is no recovery from this. When you are kissed, your soul is gone." Ron stated.
The Muggle born witch thought for a moment. "What if the soul is not gone, but simply lost? What if we could find some way to show him the path back to his body?" she asked
As Harry's friends sat beside him, he was speaking to the other souls that he was trapped with. "I am sure that magic works here but the question is how to use it." He said, thinking. Impy stepped up to him.
"There are two souls with you" She said, almost looking though him.
"Yes, it is part of Tom Riddle. He attempted to kill me and left part of his soul inside of me. He cannot die as long as it survives." He looked at the woman. "How can I destroy it if I am trapped inside this Dementor?" he asked
Impy smiled at Harry as she placed her hand upon his chest. "Give me that soul and I will remove it from you. We know of this Tom Riddle. He is what attracts us to you. "
Harry looked at Impy, his eyes searching for something to help him understand the woman he looked at. "How can I give it to you and what ARE you?" he asked.
Impy smiled. "We are what you call Dementors. I was the first one and I am the mother of all others. We have existed for so long, we do not remember what we were before. This is all we know." She said grimly.
Harry thought for a moment before nodding. "If you can take his part soul and ensure that it cannot be used as a horcrux, then please take it. I do not wish that evil to be so close."
The woman pushed her hand into the chest of our hero. Harry felt his eyes roll back in his head as his mouth opened in a scream. It was worse than the Cruciatus Curse as every nerve ending seemed to scream out in agony.
"It is done. Your pure soul has been cleansed of the evil within it. You have more to do chosen one." Impy stated. Her hand flicked out as Harry was banished from the body of the Dementor. There was a flash of light and an orb of that was the soul of Harry Potter felt drawn to London, to find his body.
"There is a Wiccan ritual that I had read about when I found out I was a witch. They call back the souls of their lost ones. There were warnings not to use it, as other souls tend to follow. The book said it was not very pretty." Hermione was saying to her friends. "It is Muggle magic…"
"Muggles do not have magic!" Draco snapped off.
"Yes they do. Muggles have all kinds of magic. Like the marargal spell. It wards off the nargles." Luna said softly. "But I do not think that it can help Harry."
Ron shot Luna a look "Hermione, can you find this spell? It might be the only way to get him back!" The bushy haired Ravenclaw wanna-be nodded. A few hours later she rushed back into the room.
"I found it!" She said. "Ginny, can you please seal the door? I do not want the ministry to think we are practicing Necromancy."
Ginny nodded as she moved to seal the door. It took another hour to set up the ritual. As they finished the chant, Harry felt himself being pulled even faster to London. He found himself looking over his friends. He saw his body lying upon the bed. The soul of Harry Potter moved back inside the mostly mortal shell. The problem was, he was not alone as was often the flaw with this Wiccan spell.
"Of course my heir would find the spell I created." Came a voice inside the circle of teenagers. They practically jumped out of their skins as they looked at the woman that now was walking to them.
"You're Rowena Ravenclaw!" Gasped Neville
"That's right and I am Helga Hufflepuff my heir." Came another voice, stepping into the circle. "Your loyalty to your friends is true and worthy of being my heir. That is Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin." As two more stepped in. "We have heard your call to help your friend. He is needed in the world. He will be the catalyst for change." Said Hufflepuff. As Hufflepuff spoke, three more spirits seemed to be right on the outside of being clearly seen appeared.
"As you all will be." said Salazar. "You will aid him in his quest to remove the world of the vile creature that wrongly takes my name. We brought him back to make things right."
"Things did not go as well as we would have liked the first time around. That is why Harry seems to be so much more then he lets on. It is his story and he will tell it. But you will need more then you have now. He is my heir from his father's side." said the redheaded man known as Gryffindor.
"As he is my true heir from his mother's side. She came from my first born, a squib." said Salazar.
"It will not be easy. He has already changed the river of time. What he thought would be is no longer. The final piece has changed." Stated Rowena. "To help you in your endeavors, we are granting you gifts."
"Our first gift, you no longer have to worry about the Ministry of Magic tracking your magic." Helga said
"Our second gift is to you all is the gift of Animagi. We have unlocked that power to aid the chosen one. However, you have to find what your form is." stated Salazar.
"Our third gift is the gift of learning. All of you will learn at a much greater rate." Said Rowena "Magic you will learn easily, often on the first attempt. Deep within Hogwarts is my own library holding magic long thought lost. My Heir knows how to find it."
"Our fourth gift" started Godric "is the gift of wisdom. You will have great powers but only the wise will know how to use it. Anyone can be brave, but only the foolish rush in."
One of the spirits stepped forward and seemed to become clear as he spoke. He looked like Dumbledore however; an older version of him if that was even possible. "The fifth gift is for the heir of Merlin, my magical heir." He said as he turned to look at Ron. "I grant you my magical powers young heir, and my staff." He said with a wave of his hand. A staff appeared in Ron's hands "Your powers will grow quickly but with the other gifts, you will not let it overwhelm you. You will have the knowledge to be able to create staffs for the others as most wands will not contain their awaking powers."
The sixth spirit stepped forward "I am Cliodna, The Irish goddess of beauty, the eldest daughter of the last Druid of Ireland. My gift is for Ginevra. I grant you the knowledge of the lost druids, powerful magic long thought lost. I also grant each of you the power of language with your fellow creatures. There is much magic in many of the languages if you only knew how to speak."
The seventh and last spirit stepped to Draco. "My child, you are of my direct line, I am Arthur of Camelot." He paused to smile at Draco. "Yes Draco, you are of muggle descent. I grant you my blade, Excalibur. Use it well. Train the chosen one and your fellow knights for it will be needed beyond this petty war. Listen to your friends, let them guide you."
With those words, he stepped back as Helga started to speak "The Six are now chosen"
"To help the chosen one." Salazar said
"For times have changed in ways he did not wish" Godric said
"Darkness is at the door, it envelopes all" Said Rowena
"Seven there are but not all will survive the coming of the darkness." Said Merlin
"One will seem to betray but will not." Stated Cliodna
"This war will unify both worlds if the darkness can be kept outside." Said Arthur
"Help the chosen one." All seven said at once.
The four founders bowed slightly along with the three noble spirits before fading back into the realm of the dead. "That was bloody strange" Ron said.
Luna snorted "Ronald, you are funny." She said as she seemed to move closer to the Weasley boy.
"Wha..Where am I?" Harry asked as he sat up. Hermione seemed to of thrown herself at Harry
"Oh Harry! We thought we lost you!" She said.
"It takes more than that to take out Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived." Neville said, smiling at his friend.
"What was strange" Started Ginny "Is Hermione found a ritual to help guide your soul back to you and four others came along for the ride."
She looked a little worried as she spoke "They were the founders of Hogwarts. They said something about the first time around and that we should ask you for the story."
Harry gulped slightly "Alright. I will tell you but first you must learn Occlumency. If this ever got to the wrong person…" He said "You better get a healer in here if I want to go home." He said, sounding a little dejected. Ginny moved to unlock the door.
"Healer! I need a healer in the long term ward! Harry Potter is a wake!" She yelled as she moved down the hall.
"That's impossible girl." Snapped the healer for the long term ward "I am sure you imagining things."
"Go look for yourself." Ginny snapped. The healer huffed but walked in. She stopped dead in her tracks as she saw Harry sitting in his bed and looking at her.
"Can you please hurry up? I would like to go home." He said. The healer promptly fainted.
The Boy-who-lived lives!
In a shocking announcement by St. Mungos this afternoon is that Harry Potter woke this morning. As readers will recall, he was kissed by a Dementor last night. Healers at St. Mungos are at a loss as to explain how this could have happened but this is just another feat for the Boy-Who-Lived. On a related note, Arthur Weasley was appointed to our high court as no other then Baron Slytherin. He quickly used his new position to push Dementor regulation. The new law will have them removed them from Azkaban. The ministry will build a place to contain them to prevent attacks like this from happening ever again.
Harry snorted as he read the paper. He was still in St. Mungos as the healers had not finished poking and prodding him to figure out how he recovered. "Can't they give names without hyphens?" He asked "He-who-must-not-be-named, You-know-who, The Boy-Who-Lived…Can't they think of better names?" He snapped off at Hermione who was sitting next to him.
"The Wizarding world is practically lost in the 17th century. What do you expect?" She asked. She looked up as two men entered.
"Harry Potter, you are charged with practicing Dark Magic and being in league with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. You are under arrest. You will be moved to a secure ward until the healers find you fit. At such time you will be moved to a Ministry Holding Cell pending trial."
Hermione stood up. "This is stupid! He lives though a Dementor attack and you charge him with a crime."
Harry sighed "It is alright Hermione. Things will be taken care of." He looked at the Aurors. "I am ready to be taken to the Ministry."
It did not take long for the Wizengamot to be gathered. Harry found himself in the chair, chains wrapped around him. Lockhart looked down at Harry. "You charged with practicing Dark Magic that you learned by being in league with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. How do you plead?"
"First off, who are you talking about? I do not know who that is." Harry said.
"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the dark wizard!" Lockhart snapped.
"Who? That could be almost anyone. It could be Gellert Grindelwald, Tom Riddle, Adolf Hitler…anyone."
Lockhart sputtered "Lord..Vold…Vol..Vold…Voldemort…" He spat out.
"I am officially charged with being in league with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. That person does not exist. Thus the charges are false." Harry said with a smile.
Dumbledore looked at the paperwork that had the official charges. "Minister, he is quite right. As the charges clearly states He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and as he pointed out that name could be anyone, The Charges are dismissed." He said with a wave of his hand, causing the chains to fall from Harry.
"Then I charge him with being in league with Voldemort!" The Minister snapped off
"Oh but Minister, I have already been charged and those were dismissed. By Wizarding law, you cannot charge me with the same crime a second time." He did leave off that he had that law added once he found out about Lockhart being minister. He said as he stood up, fighting a laugh as Lockhart gave a passable imitation of the former Minister Fudge. "Have a good day Minister." He said, turning to leave. Lockhart seemed to be gob smacked as he watched Harry leave. He hated being out maneuvered by a 12 year old.
September came rather quickly and the Magnificent Seven or the Potter Seven as Harry and his group of Friends were called rode on the express in their own compartment. "Hermione, where do you think Raven…" Ginny started to stay but was cut off by a look from Harry
"Shhh Ginny, you never know who or what could be lurking just outside." Our hero of the story said.
Ginny sighed "Your right Harry, I just want to start to learn." She gave him a look that said that she could not wait for learning.
"Ginny, stop looking like a power hungry Ravenclaw!" Ron snapped off "That kind of look is only decent on Hermione!"
His reward for the comment was a friendly slap across the chest with the back of her hand from the Heir of Ravenclaw. "Oh do stop that Ronald. Name one Ravenclaw Dark Lord."
"Lord Granger…" Harry said, smiling at his friend. "That does have a nice ring to it does it not?"
The rest of the teenagers laughed as the door was opened. "Oh look, it's the blood traitors and the mudblood." Came a sneer. Harry looked over at the door and frowned when he saw Knot. He was not like that last time around but there was a first for everything. He stood up as his anger built, taking a step to the door. Ice started to form on the windows. "Knot, get out of here and leave them alone. You think about hurting someone from non gifted parents, you will know pain that the half blood, Tom Riddle or as you know him, Lord Voldemort, would never think about attempting on a pour soulless wonder as yourself." He snarled. Knot and the two with him bolted from the door, leaving three small puddles where they were standing.
"Blimy Harry, I thought a dementor was here." Ron shivered slightly
"It must be a side effect of being kissed." Hermione said, frowning slightly as she thought. "There has not been a recorded case of recovery from a kiss."
"Well I do hope that is one kid that will not become a death eater." Harry mused mostly to himself as he sat back down. He glanced out of the window. "It is getting dark. We will be at Hogwarts in a few minutes. We should get dressed."
A/N: For the spell used to bring Harry's soul back, I am not going in to how it is set up as it is a real Wiccan spell. Hermione probably would not even find how to do it as most do not know how to do it and really don't want to use it. Year three starts. It will likely be a short chapter, but I am still in thought over that.