Benefits of old laws

by ulktante

Parts of souls do not go on alone. When Voldemort returns to a body he is much more sane than before and realizes that he cannot go on as he started. Finding some old laws he sets out to reach his goals in another way. Harry will find his world turned upside down once more and we will see how people react when the evil is not acting how they think it should.

11. Chapter 11 - Falling Walls

AN: Welcome to the next chapter! Thanks to all those that reviewed. I love to read them. This story now has over 430 followers, 220 favourites and 130 Reviews. Thank you all for helping my muse stay on track! (Chapter 10 got the most reviews for a single chapter so far *grinningmadly*)

This is one of the shorter chapters (not much time this week), but I would say it is packed with action. Have fun reading!

oooOOooo

Falling Walls

Lunch at Nott House had been a quiet affair. Theodore and his father had exchanged looks, wondering what had happened, and tried to keep a conversation going. It was a hopeless case, though, as both house guests seemed to be deep in thought.

Now Theodore and Harry were sitting in the school room, listening to Mr. Dorian, the tutor that Lord Nott had hired for his son's lessons. Harry had feared at first that he would have trouble concentrating after the revelations of the morning. But the subject was captivating, and he found himself studying the first few runes with interest. After Mr. Dorian had listed all the possible applications for runes, wards, and permanently enchanted objects, like coats with warming charms, the teen had wondered why he had let himself be talked into taking the easy classes by Ron.

Harry was glad he now got the opportunity to change his classes, dropping Divination that had proven to be a waste of his time, and taking up Ancient Runes, which sounded interesting and like something he might actually use one day.

Together with the usefulness of the name change, the uncovered family relation between himself and Voldemort and the fact that he was cared for, at least regarding all his material and health needs, he started to fear that he would get to like the people he was surrounded by. And this thought alone made him feel uncomfortable. Why should he fear to get to like someone? Theodore had been nice enough. Healer Greengrass had been nice – for a healer poking him – and had accepted his decision to not use the ritual. Lord Nott had been nice, even if he was a Death Eater. He was also Theodore's father and lived in a cheerful house, not matching what was speculated about Slytherin homes by the Gryffindors. Maybe he should try to see what was really there, how the people acted, and not just take the rumours and prejudices repeated over and over for the truth.

After an hour the lesson was wrapped up, Harry was given a book to read and a few runes to draw repeatedly to memorize them, and Theodore was handed a longer text to translate. After the always happily smiling teacher had left, Harry and Theodore stayed a little longer, tidying up the room.

While Harry was wiping the blackboard and Theodore swept the floor of the wood shavings resulting from the carving exercises he had done during the lesson, the older teen gathered his courage and started. "Henry, I wanted to ask you something."

Looking over his shoulder to the other boy, Harry asked with a cautious look, "And what did you want to ask?"

"My birthday is in the middle of our end-of-year exams. That is why I usually have a party sometime during the summer." He stopped what he was doing and leant on the broom. "That party will be tomorrow. Some of my friends will be coming over, there'll be something to eat and we'll play Quidditch." He took a deep breath. "I want you to come too."

Harry turned around and was now facing the other teen. "Are you serious?" He sounded exasperated. "A whole afternoon alone with the people who've done nothing but ridicule and taunt me? You're okay, but I don't really want to meet the rest."

Theodore stood a while, contemplating. Harry just stared at him, past hurts clearly visible on his face. "I know that Draco is quite bad," Theodore replied. "But what have the other's done? Daphne? Blaise? What have I done?"

Harry noticed that Malfoy's bookends and the girl Parkinson had not been mentioned, but it was of no real importance either way. "And what was last year? The incident with those buttons?" As Theodore just stood there, looking uncomprehendingly at his house guest, Harry elaborated, "Potter stinks? Doesn't ring a bell?" He turned with a huff, attacking the blackboard with more fervour than before.

Finally understanding what the younger boy wanted to say, Theodore got a sheepish look about him. And the embarrassment was clear as day in his voice as he answered, "Well, it's not exactly easy to decline a button given out at the entrance to the common room when everyone is on the way to breakfast." As Harry seemed to ignore him, he added with a little anger in his voice, "Tell me, what House do you cheer for during a Quidditch match against Slytherin? I'll tell you: whatever House we're playing against!" He threw the broom away, and it landed with a clatter on the floor. "And it's not only for Quidditch. I tried to befriend a few Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, no need trying for a Gryffindor. And even though they said I was nice enough, they didn't want to be seen with me. Didn't want to be seen with a Slytherin."

Harry realised with a pang of guilt that this was true. He had assumed that this arrangement would only last for the summer, never once had it crossed his mind that they could continue on the small path to friendship once back at Hogwarts.

"We'll stick together no matter what, when not in our common room. We cannot hope to find friends elsewhere, and we can't risk appearing weak and divided. So, sorry if I appeared to be a bully, it wasn't by choice."

Both boys stood in silence for a while. Both embarrassed over the loss of control in front of one from the opposite House.

It was Harry who finally broke the uneasy silence. "I'm sorry. You are nice, I think, and most of the bad stuff was started by Malfoy." He rubbed his neck. "I would like to meet some of the others." He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, "But if Malfoy gets too annoying, I will leave. Is that okay?" Seeing that Theodore still had his hands clenched into fists by his side and was staring at the floor, he tried to get some semblance of order in his thoughts. "See, I'm totally confused at the moment. Too much has changed in the last days. You've been nice and helpful and..." he huffed in frustration, this was entirely too hard. "I want to get to know you. Away from all this House rivalry. But I don't think that Malfoy will help matters."

Taking a few deep breaths, Theodore turned to Harry. "You're my guest, we're not at school, so the rules are different. And if Draco is a prat, you can go to your room. But I don't think he will be. The adults will be here too, so… I don't think that he or any of the others will be a problem."

After that they cleaned up the rest of the room together and went to the library, Harry to write letters to his friends and read his books, and Theodore to work on his summer homework. It was a little awkward, but Harry had the feeling that they had made a big step in getting to know each other. He just had to give the Slytherins a chance, especially those that had never actively participated in the bullying.

ooOoo

Theodore sat working on his Potions essay. He was a little smug, because he had found a way to get Henry to reconsider his beliefs about Slytherins. He had known that simply stating the facts in a clear and calm manner would not convince the Gryffindor that he was speaking the truth. So he had dropped his control and brought his emotions forward. And it appeared to have worked. And it had felt good. Not something he would do often, but once in a while, to reach a goal and get the frustration out of his system, was acceptable. So tomorrow he would get a chance to establish his place as a friend and advisor to the heir of Lord Slytherin in front of the other Slytherins.

At the start of summer, his father had said that he could not promise his son that he could hold his party this year. With the Dark Lord in their house, it might not have been possible. Considering the possible complications of a slightly mad man staying, he understood but was sad none the less. But now, the man had been proven to be sane and quite nice company, so the party would be held. Theodore suspected that the Dark Lord had ordered his father to organize the gathering, so Henry would get the opportunity to meet with the others. Not that he would complain, this was better than missing out on the party.

He opened the book he was using as reference, inked his quill, and started on a rough draft of his essay.

oooOOooo

At the same time Lord Slytherin and Lord Nott were sitting in the study on the ground floor, with a nice view of the rose garden at the back of the house.

They had tea sitting on the desk between them, Marvolo sitting behind the desk as if this was his study. He really needed to look over the houses he now had available, so he and Henry could move, and he no longer had to borrow studies from his followers.

Benjamin looked on curiously as he pulled out the folded family tree and laid it flat on the unoccupied part of the desk.

"Do you think it is possible for you to find records on Squibs that were born into the Nott family in the last two hundred years?" Red eyes fixed on the point on Henry's tree where there was a Squib of his own family that had married another Squib, just to have at least one muggle child together. It went against everything he thought he knew about the way magic was passed on from parents to their children. He had thought that magic was lost when a squib was born, but it seemed to only go dormant for a few generations, only to resurface again some decades later.

In a way, this could prove useful for his plans. It would be so much easier to get the pureblood families to accept muggle-borns – well they needed a new term for them – if they were distant descendants from their own families. But for this to work, he would need to track the ancestry, without going to Gringotts. At least to begin with, it would be best to not attract too much attention.

Benjamin gave him a puzzled look. "I'm not sure," he answered, obviously thinking about the problem. "There are the family tomes, of course, but normally there wouldn't be anything written about such failures." He drummed the fingers of his right hand lightly on the desk. "All children born are named, with date of birth, parents, and so on. Maybe I can compile a list and see what is written about each of them. I would guess that Squibs are just not mentioned after the point they were identified." The older-looking wizard frowned. "May I ask why you want this list?"

By way of explanation Marvolo turned the tree, so Benjamin could get a good look at it. "This is the ancestry test we had made this morning for Henry. And here," he laid his finger on the crucial point, "Is a Squib of the Gaunt family, married to a man who is also noted as a Squib." He moved his finger down the line until he reached the name of Lily Potter née Evans, "And this is the first witch born in generations from this family. But the magic did not come out of nowhere. She actually was family to me."

Benjamin's eyes grew bigger at this explanation, he leant forward and let his gaze wander up the part of the tree that was mostly muggle, and thus unreadable, but had sprinkles of Squib names here and there.

"But this… this implies that all Squibs thrown out to live with muggles are responsible for the catastrophe of witches and wizards born to muggles!"

"It would seem so," Marvolo confirmed in an even tone. "We need to find the families that have dormant magical blood, and we need to bring the Squibs back." He sighed, "But one step at a time." He took the tree and folded it back again. "I want to bring magical orphans and those that are in foster care back into our world as fast as possible. I want to place them with good, traditional families, so they can learn our way of living."

Benjamin nodded thoughtfully and listened with rapt attention, while Marvolo explained his plan for the children. "I would like to place them with actual family. But as I want us to use the muggle system for the adoption, we would need to know of the family connection before they are brought into our world."

Now Benjamin looked apprehensive "You wanted to speak with me about the order to marry and get children?"

Understanding the man's worries – he just could not see himself with another woman than his beloved Juliet – Marvolo attempted a friendly and soothing smile. "I do not require you to marry, but I want you to adopt at least two more children. You could hire a nanny, a Squib maybe? And fill this house with the laughter of small, happy little witches and wizards again."

Benjamin smiled relieved, a little amused over the rather overdone speech about children. By the way Marvolo smirked, it was done on purpose, maybe to lighten the mood. Which it certainly did.

"I also want you to visit with the others and deliver my task to them. I need time to check over the houses, so Henry and I can move. I want to have it done well before my son's birthday."

Giving an almost-bow in his Lord's direction, Benjamin answered, "I'll pass the task along, my Lord." Benjamin was one of the Death Eaters who were faster in picking up the right pattern of when to treat him in what role. "And I'll make sure that all guests for tomorrow's little get-together can come."

They both rose from their chairs, the tea set vanishing from the desk, collected by one of the elves, one to go over to the Malfoys, the other to check out the one Manor and the town houses he deemed suitable for his son and him to live in.

oooOOooo

While Lucius and Severus had a nice, long chat with Narcissa, later joined by Benjamin, Draco sat in the garden with Vincent and Gregory, complaining about his school rival.

"It's so irritating, that Potter is getting everything handed to him. House points for breaking the rules, getting on the Quidditch team as a first-year, flying on the bloody hippogriff, all the teachers simply love him!"

He listed all the unfair happenings around the Potter git, and listed them again. He worked himself up to the point he could no longer sit still, and started to pace up and down in front of the others.

On the first train ride to Hogwarts, he had tried to make friends with Potter, and he had rejected him. That had hurt. So he convinced himself that he did not want to be friends with Harry Potter. And now he had to try to become his friend again. On his father's orders, no less. He saw that it was a smart move, to be friends with the son of the man he would swear his loyalty to, once he was of age. But he saw no way to achieve this. He huffed in frustration and stalked in tight circles over the well-tended grass.

Greg and Vince were not particularly helpful, but they were patient and listened to his tirade. He was aware that he was behaving like a child. Today he could be like this, but tomorrow he would have to be grown up and swallow his pride, to try to make amends. He only hoped that Theo had not made his task impossible.

After over an hour of aimless rambling and pacing, Greg got his two friends to the Quidditch pitch and they started to fly. A much better way to spend an afternoon.

oooOOooo

Sirius breathed heavily, trying to control his anger, crumpling the parchment of a Ministry letter in his hand. Across from him, at the other end of the table, sat Dumbledore, for once not with madly twinkling eyes.

The others, namely all the Weasleys, save the older sons, and Hermione, were looking on with a horrified fascination, normally reserved for the most gruesome accidents. They really did not want to watch, but could not look away.

Half an hour before, there had been an owl from the Ministry again, delivering the letter summoning Sirius to his own trial on Monday, the seventeenth of July. Sirius was elated over the prospect of gaining his freedom, the ability to walk into Diagon Alley and buy something, or going to the Leaky Cauldron and drink a butterbeer. He could not wait to share the good news. Peter Pettigrew and Lord Slytherin had been named witnesses, as Shacklebolt had told him in passing a day ago, so he was pretty sure that he would be cleared.

The twins and Arthur had been happy for him, and started making plans for what he could do once he was no longer a wanted man. And then Dumbledore had come to the house. It had gone quickly downhill from there.

The old Headmaster had not been happy to learn that he had not been told about the impending trial, and accused Sirius of being ungrateful and working against the Order. Never mind that the few aurors in their ranks had known as well. The whole department still talked about the furious Madame Bones storming into the office Monday morning, demanding preparations for a trial to be started as fast as possible.

Sirius jkhad brought up the point that he could take up his seat on the Wizengamot, after his name had been cleared. As Albus no longer was part of the Wizengamot, they needed a new set of eyes and ears in the meeting of Lords and Ladies.

Dumbledore deflected this reasonable idea by suggesting that it was a trap to lure him out and that he could not risk placing himself in danger, now that Harry needed him more than before. As this did not have the desired effect – Sirius only sneered – he changed tactics again, claiming that Sirius was not capable of handling the responsibilities of a Lordship and had best go on a long vacation to heal after his long stay in Azkaban.

"You meddling old fool! First you claim that I can't risk contact with the Ministry for fear of a trap and the fact that my godson needs me, and now you want to send me on a long vacation?" Sirius growled out, sounding remarkably like his animagus form.

"Now, my boy, you clearly are distraught. Maybe you should take a calming draught. I only have your best interest in mind. It's no wonder that the long stay in Azkaban has affected your health. I think..."

With a growl of frustration Sirius interrupted the grandfatherly drawl of the man he had once looked up to. This was enough, he no longer would put up with the Headmaster deciding his every move. "As you seem to want to treat me like a child, I don't want you here any longer, Albus! Leave my house. And you should find another place to use as headquarters." With this decision made at long last, he felt calmer and much more like himself. He turned to the elder Weasleys and smiled at them. "You can stay here, if you don't feel comfortable returning to the Burrow."

A little shaken, Arthur nodded. "That would be good."

Albus stood next to the kitchen table, dumbstruck and not preparing to leave.

Sirius glared in the old man's direction. "Leave, or I will use the wards to throw you out of my house!"

Without a word the Headmaster gathered his robes around him, nodded in Arthur's and Molly's direction, and left.

Sirius took a deep breath and made his way to the wardstone down in the basement. He needed to adjust the wards. And after that he would have to write a response to Madame Bones, and find a solicitor. No time to lose. He wondered idly what Moony would say to this.

oooOOooo

After dinner Marvolo went into the study to prepare. He set up candles for soft light and transformed one of the visitor chairs into a wingback chair.

Only minutes after he was finished with his preparations, he felt a person crossing some of the wards he had set up and not yet fully activated. A moment later there was a knock on the door. "Come in, Severus," he called out.

Severus stepped in, closed the door, and sank gracefully into a kneeling position, head bowed. Setting two vials filled with potion down on the desk, Marvolo sat down on a stool in front of the new, well-padded wingback chair regarding his Potions Master.

The man seemed calm and collected on the surface, but he was anything but calm. "Do you want to talk before we start?"

Nodding, Severus took a shaking breath and directed his gaze up to his Lord's eyes. "When I realised that Lily became your target, my Lord, I did not only beg you to spare her. I also went to Dumbledore to warn him, and by extension her." He closed his eyes, steeling his resolve before he opened them again. "He demanded I spy for him, and I did. I would have done anything to get my Lily to safety again." Severus watched his Lord with wary eyes, and as the man only waited calmly for the kneeling wizard to continue, he got to the next bit of his story. "After the night she died, I wanted to die as well." He struggled to keep the tears from falling. "Dumbledore used my mourning, my despair and guilt, to bind me with an oath. He was sure you would be back, my Lord. And I could not bear the thought that the last bit of Lily would vanish as well."

Marvolo listened with rapt attention. The Potions Master sounded sincere, but so had he all the other times he had told lies. But tonight he would see for himself what the truth was. But first he needed to calm the man down a little more. The task would be easier on him if the man did not attempt to struggle and was calmer overall.

"Regardless of what I will find in your mind tonight, I do not intend to kill you. But my findings will determine how much you will know and how deeply you will be involved." Still kneeling just inside the door, Severus breathed in a pattern Marvolo recognized as one from the typical calming exercises taught for meditation. "Two tasks are set: Tutoring my son, and brewing the potions he will need to overcome the damage done by those vile muggles." Marvolo smirked inwardly at seeing a spark of hatred in the dark eyes of the spy. Good. Hatred for the people who had harmed his son was an emotion he could approve of. "Come here Severus."

Cautiously the man stood and sat in the wingback chair his Lord indicated. Both potion vials rose from the desk and floated over to the two men. "This," Marvolo took the vial nearest to him, containing a light lavender coloured, milky liquid, "is a strong calming potion. It will hopefully help in dampening the panic you most likely will feel after your shields are rendered useless."

Severus nodded reluctantly.

"The other will lower those impressive shields around your mind." He handed Severus the calming potion and grasped the other vial with the extremely obscure potion out of the air, removing the stopper.

"Down with it, Severus," he said in a hard, commanding voice. He did not like the fact that his suspicions had been proven correct. That he had miscalculated so badly and had not seen that Severus would change his allegiance over a witch.

With shaking hands, the Potions Master opened the vial in his hand and, after sniffing at it, downed it with one big gulp. Marvolo smirked despite himself, old habits died hard.

The effect was almost immediate. His eyes began to droop, the shaking lessened and then vanished altogether, the dark man's breathing evened out and became deeper. Knowing that the man was now no longer capable of doing much on his own, Marvolo stood and conjured some silken ropes to bind the man to the chair he was sitting in. All texts he had read concerning the potion he was about to use, mentioned that strong Occlumence were known to jerk around while under the influence of it. And as he needed to keep eye contact, that was not an option. He did not want to cause any permanent damage to his Potions Master, after all.

Gently tipping the head of the younger wizard back, Marvolo let the potion, stinking of foul eggs, flow into the slightly opened mouth, causing Severus to swallow sluggishly.

Fixing his head to the wing chair, Marvolo began to prepare himself for the task before him. He started with activating the wards keeping everyone away, he could not afford to be interrupted. Next he made himself more comfortable on his low stool, casting a cushioning charm on the hard seat. Lastly he cast a curse on Severus that would keep the man's eyes open until it was removed. He saw the raw terror in the dark, almost black, eyes. Gently picking up one of Severus' hands, placing his own fingers so he could monitor the heartbeat, he met the dazed and panicked gaze and delved into the usually well-protected mind.

First he moved through the panic and fear that dominated the thoughts of the Potions Professor. He carefully erected a weak barrier around those feelings, containing them so they would not get in his way, making sure that barrier would fall as soon as Severus' shields came back up.

Then he started his search for the crucial memories and thoughts. He started with Lily. She was the reason Severus had turned traitor, so he needed to see exactly what had happened. The first memories were of two children, friends spending time together, peaceful afternoons in the park and with Lily's parents – at least he thought they were her parents. And always linked with those happy memories, the contrasting ones from Severus' home. Those he had seen before, as Severus had shown him his motivation to join him, his reason to hate muggles. As the years of Hogwarts raced past his eyes, he realized that Lily Evans had been the young Severus' only happiness. No wonder a threat to her had shaken his loyalty.

He saw the night Severus had taken the Mark, and felt how good the young man had felt despite the pain. He saw the day he had heard the first part of a prophecy. Felt the shock seeing the announcement of the birth of the son of James and Lily Potter, painting a big target on his only true friend. Saw the moment Dumbledore had wrenched the oath out of the grieving man.

Marvolo moved with the utmost care from memory to memory, getting to more recent ones. It was obvious that Severus did not enjoy teaching young students, preferring to tutor those that had talent for the subtle art.

On more than one occasion, Marvolo got to witness Severus resenting an order given by Dumbledore, the old man using guilt to get the younger wizard to do his bidding.

Marvolo saw the world through the other wizard's eyes, and what he saw answered the question he wanted the answer to. Severus Snape wanted to preserve traditions, and he did not see the reason to eradicate the so-called dark arts. Monitor, yes. Make sure those that learned them knew what they were doing, yes. But not ban them. He wanted to change the world he lived in. And neither of his masters had the right way to go about it.

Retreating, Marvolo found himself in the study again. The candles were almost gone, and one look at the clock told him that he had been in the other's mind for close to four hours. Standing up and working the kinks out of his back, Marvolo lifted the curse holding the Potions Master's eyes open. Carefully removing the ropes and checking that he had not done too much damage, he yawned. Time to go to bed. He lowered the wards and left the study, the floating body of his follower behind him. He would settle him into the room prepared for this occasion, and go to his own room without further delay.

ooOoo

Trapped in his body by the extremely powerful calming potion, Severus cried silent tears. To live through all those memories again had been painful. To see what he had hidden for so long in the dark of his mind behind his most potent shields had opened old wounds.

But he could feel what the man invading his mind had felt. Whether by accident or on purpose, he didn't know. Just that it had given him another point of view on his own life. There was no point in dwelling in the past. If he wanted to make a difference, he needed to live in the present, not the past.

He would not forget the first and only woman he had ever loved. But he would strive to change the magical world to a better place for her son. And maybe the Dark Lord was the person capable of bringing the changes needed.

oooOOooo

Dumbledore was pacing in his office, wondering when his plans had started to go so horribly wrong. He never would have thought Tom sane enough to try for a political approach. And now he had lost control of Harry to him, of all people, and if Sirius' name was cleared, he would not regain that control, even if they managed to somehow get the boy back.

He was almost certain now that he understood what had happened on that Halloween night. He was not happy with his findings, but he needed Harry to behave a certain way. If he did not find a way to sever the link, there was only one way to make Tom mortal once more.

With a sigh the Headmaster moved to his desk. He still needed to find a new Defence against the Dark Arts Professor, and on top of that, he now had to search for a new headquarters. He was getting too old for this.

oooOOooo

AN: Some have mentioned that I did not stick to facts published by J.K. Rowling (like the grandparent thing). Yep, that is true, I change the things I want to change to suit my needs. If we did not do this, where would fanfiction be? I appreciate these alterations pointed out, as I use all reviews to evaluate if I am still on track and communicating the story the way I want. Do not be surprised if I change things you would keep, that is just the way life is ;)

For everyone getting a bit impatient with Harry being stubborn, remember this is only his third day with his new father. Even if I wanted to make the changes fast, this would be too fast!

Thanks to everyone pointing out errors :) I try to make as few as possible, but finding them in one's own writing is always hard. Until next time!

First published: 4th of December 2015

Last edited: 26th of April 2017

Thanks to Jordre and Jake for helping to improve my spelling!