By gellerfan
NB: Thanks to JK Rowling for creating Potterverse.
Rated: +13
Spoilers: No
A/N
CHAPTER XX "THE COTTAGE"
Gryffindors, leaded by the Head of the House Neville Longbottom, spent the following days after the fight trying to ease the tension between Ian McCulloch y Albus, so Neville forced a meeting between them. Apart from the duo and Neville, the whole Quidditch team, Rose and Lorna Green, Gryffindor's Head Girl, attended the meeting. Lily tried too but Albus and James convinced her to stay away from there.
Albus and Ian sat and looked at each other in not an amicable way.
"That's embarrassing" said Albus.
Rose laughed.
"Actually, it's been worse at Ravenclaw" she said.
Albus turn at her surprised.
"What happened?"
"You know that the relationship between Tony and his tutor, Toby Atkinson, is virtually inexistent"
"I've heard that"
"Julia, Chinhua and others forced them to have a meeting just like Ian and you, but, to be sure that there would be no surprises during the meeting, their wands were on the table and the group was pointing at them with their wands"
Albus looked at Rose surprised.
"Wait a second, so the idea of this forced meeting was yours?" he said.
"Yes"
Rose then looked at Ian and Albus
"But this time I hope we won't need the wands" she said.
Albus and Ian looked at each other.
"Of course, it won't be necessary "said Ian.
"Great" Rose said, but she kept the wand in her hand, just in case.
Ian and Albus looked at her puzzled, but they realized she was not gonna leave them in peace, so they had to start talking.
"Why, Ian?" asked Albus.
"You ask me that? I didn't mean to hurt you, but you deserved a punishment"
"What about me, McCulloch?" asked Rose. Albus noticed that the crowd murmured. Rose was completely right.
"Look, you were never the objective, Weasley. I think no one aimed at you" answered Ian shaking his head.
"You could have talked to me, Ian" said Albus.
"Yeah, sure. You and Chang…" Ian started to say.
"Did I disappoint you during all those years? Why do you think it's different now?"
"Because it is. People talk, and you did change during last summer, Albus, you've changed a lot. Before last summer you were just like your brother James, but now, you're always hanging around with other people, even worse, you train with other people"
"And this is the excuse to attack a House's mate" said Albus" bright side, hanging around with other people suited me well, because then I knew how to handle that kind of situations and about Chinhua, well, she outsmarted you by miles".
Ian McCulloch clinched when he heard that. Old Albus would have used that to secure his position against McCulloch, but the new Albus found wiser to make amend with him, so he looked at the rest of the group.
"Could you please leave us alone? We'd like to talk privately"
It was a sign of his reputation between Gryffindors even in those days that Albus' suggestion was obeyed immediately, although some hesitated to leave because they had doubts about the result of the conversation.
"Everything will be alright. Don't worry" said Albus.
Ian McCulloch nodded, so all the students gathered started to leave, everybody except Rose and James. Neville stayed there.
"Be careful, McCulloch"
It was the first times in years that James didn't call McCulloch by his name, and it was the best demonstration of how bad the relationships between the Quidditch team were.
Ian looked at James angrily.
"Things are not settled between you and me"
James looked at Ian showing clearly that he wanted to restart the discussion, verbally and physically, but Albus didn't want it.
"James, please, leave us alone" Albus said.
James reluctantly obeyed, but his heart wasn't in it.
"Listen McCulloch, He's my brother. If you do something to him we will have another fight. Understood?" said James.
MCCulloch started to get up ready to fight again, but Albus didn't want that, so he decided to intervene.
"Ian, please, sit down, and James, I really thank you for your support, but it's not necessary, really".
Albus looked at Ian asking for support, and Ian McCulloch nodded in response.
"We're here to talk"
Neville looked everybody and settled the terms of the discussion.
"McCulloch, Potter. I'm here to be sure that peace between House mates is reestablished. I have no problems if you prefer to talk privately, but I will only leave you alone if you give me your word that the conversation will be peaceful and the crisis will be solved. Of course, after you've finished you will get my office to inform me. Do you accept my conditions?" asked Neville.
"Yes, sir" said Ian and Albus.
"Well, then we can leave you alone. James Potter, Rose Weasley, I'll walk you to the door"
When they all were gone, Albus looked at Ian.
"Ian, I can understand why you're mad at me, but I could never expect that you would ally with the Slytherins. What were you thinking?"
"I'm not the only one who has friends outside Gryffindor"
"Right, but I don't try to hurt people. You did"
"They talked to me and convinced me that a prank could be a good idea. I agreed with them and they offered their help. But it was just a prank, nothing more, and never against Rose Weasley"
"I believe you. Anything else?"
"Not by me"
"What do you mean?"
"I didn't think too much about what they said, but after all this I did, and I realized this was just the first step. Something was gonna change, but I don't know more"
"You promise? There were another two Head Boys involved. It can't be a coincidence"
"I just wanted to teach you a lesson. I can't talk for the others".
Meanwhile, Professor Acheron, Head of Slytherin House, entered Page's office.
"Well? How did Slytherins react to the news?" asked Page.
"Stevenson is in bad shape. Malfoy played his cards showing how Stevenson made Slytherin losing points and he is winning supporters"
"Who's winning?"
"Stevenson is still leading, but the margin is tiny, thanks to your move"
"Good"
"But Clement, my students talked about an old man. He showed them a certain manifesto, and they are supporting it. Many Stevenson's and Malfoy' supporters do" said Acheron
"And Malfoy?" asked Page.
"I'm not sure".
"I don't care about politics unless they affect Hogwarts" said Page shrugging his shoulders.
"They do affect, Clement"
"I know, but we'll have to deal with this"
There was another knock on the door, and Jorvik entered the room
"I leave you alone" said Acheron.
When Acheron left the office, Page looked at Jorvik.
"What have you done with your Head Boy?"
"I had a talk with Brian Anderson and make him clear that I'm not supporting him. I have to send a signal to the rest of the House that he's been punished"
Page smiled ironically.
"Gerard, it's late and I don't want to read a lengthy seventh-year Ravenclaw's essay. Not today".
Jorvik laughed
"Neither I and I'm the Head of the House. I told him that I wanted him to resign of one of the posts, Head Boy or Quidditch's Captain. He chose the latter and left the team, which it's what I wanted"
"Of course, he's been punished but not humiliated. Who will be the new Captain?"
"The former Deputy Captain, Nigel Thorpe. Chinhua Chang will be the new Deputy Captain"
"She hasn't played a single game and she's the new Deputy Captain?"
"The team is almost new, and she's our best player per practices".
"As you please, I guess you've informed Madame Benson about the changes".
"Not until you'd be informed first, sir"
"Thank you. Anything else?"
"I think we should postpone the visit at Carlisle's farm some weeks until the wounds are healed, sir".
"Do you guarantee it will happen, Gerard?"
"No sir, I just thought it was wise"
"Gerard, during the following days, students will remember what happened, so they will try hard not to repeat it. Give them a few more days and they will forget it and start fighting again, so I think the wisest option is visiting the farm next Wednesday or Thursday"
"I see your point, sir" said Jorvik.
"Gerard, one last question"
"Yes, sir?"
"The rupture in Slytherin is more visible, but I think you face more problems. Don't think it's all over just by forcing Anderson to resign as Quidditch captain"
"I'm pretty aware of that, sir, but thanks for the advice"
"It's about unifying the school, without winners or losers"
"Yes, sir".
Jorvik left the office and a few seconds later Neville entered.
"Hello, Neville, please tell me Gryffindor is pacified" said Page.
"I think so, sir. McCulloch and Potter have just informed me about their meeting. Everything went smoothly. I was afraid that Potter would want revenge, but he didn't and was more interested in unifying the House"
"Interesting. I told the same to Jorvik minutes ago"
"So Potter and you share opinions. I'm proud of him".
Page smiled.
"You didn't expect that from him?. I did. He's not like his older brother"
"Sometimes I think you know him better than me, sir"
"That's because you want him to be like his father. I don't. I want Albus Potter to be him. Not better nor worse, just him, different".
Neville thought for some seconds and said nothing. Page looked at him and smiled.
"Think for a minute, Neville. He has dealt with the situation quite well, isn't it? And he has tried to heal the wounds. That's good. Now he has the whole House backing him"
"I thought you wanted to unify the school, sir"
"And I want to, but a school unified under the command of Stevenson, Anderson and McCulloch is like committing suicide in the days to come. We would have only Hufflepuff then"
"Albus Potter knows that?"
"Probably not, at least not consciously, but he's not the Headmaster of Hogwarts. That's a difference".
Neville looked at Page astonished.
"Did you plan all that?"
"Of course not, but I guessed what would bring from Potter's new friendships, and I liked what I saw. We had problems, Neville, with all those seventh-years ruling their Houses, and now we still have problems but maybe we have a solution too. It doesn't guarantee the success, but it's a hope"
Page's grin was wider than ever.
"Sometimes you don't look like a Hufflepuff, sir" said Neville admired.
"Maybe, but I hope you see in me a worthy Hogwarts Headmaster"
"You can be sure"
Harry didn't want to admit it, but the real fact is that he welcomed the delayal suggested by Shaklebolt. His team could use the extra time to collect valuable information about the cottage and who inhabited there, so they could stablish a proper line of action because now they had a correct vision about the situation and the best line of action. Two days later he wrote a memo for Shacklebolt.
"I'm impressed, Harry. Now I see we must investigate" admitted Shacklebolt.
"Do I have your permission?"
"Yes, but I told you before, I'll be part or the team, because, let's be honest, there are questions to be asked to Mr. Carlisle but I see no proofs of magical beats down there"
"No. We are sure there are some, but we don't know what kind of beasts they have because they use some cover spells so we cannot see them"
"And we know the spells we will use"
"We have a certain idea but, to be honest, we will improvise"
"Did you decide the date of the mission?"
"Not yet, sir" said Harry.
Shacklebolt raised a brow and smiled.
"I hope the beasts won't be too dangerous" he said.
Meanwhile, Eric Inverness, officer of the Department of Magic Law Enforcement, was keeping the garden of his house close to Coventry. He had a splendid sight of the ruined cathedral from there but, thanks to some invisibly spells, Muggles could not see them.
"I have to pay more attention to the hedge, because I have abandoned it lately, and I want to finish the job before my wife and the kids return from visiting their grandparents" he thought.
Eric was so focused in his job that he didn't hear a light sound behind him.
"Now" mutted a voice.
The pair of Laumés attacked Eric Inverness. He was carrying his wand, but the attack was so fast that he could not use it. A few seconds later he lay dead in his garden.
"Good job, now we got back home" said the voice, and after that he called the laumés and they all disappeared.
Few hours later, Inverness' wife and her children returned home. She called her husband and went to get him because he didn't answer back, and so she found him in the garden. After making sure the children did not see his dead father, he called the Ministry.
The news of the death caused a shock between Ministry's personnel. Shaklebolt ordered that only the death of Inverness would be reported, but not its causes. Initially Harry thought it was a mistake, but he had to admit that the Minister was only trying to buy time until the operation against Carlisle succeeded.
.
"You have just two days, Harry. I cannot contain media anymore" said Shaklebolt.
"Thursday then?" asked Harry.
"Yes"
Harry was so focused on the operation that he did not inform Page, because he thought the cottage visit would be delayed because of what happened at Hogwarts. Besides, Harry did not want put under risk the secret of the operation. Page also thought that Harry needed more time to launch his operation, and that was one of the reasons he advanced the visit. The consequence of this lack of communication was both were scheduled for the same day, Thursday, just what Page and Harry were trying to avoid.
That Thursday, students had breakfast early and concentrated following the instructions of the Heads of their Houses to move to the cottage via portkey.
"Lily, that´s a portkey. Dad was older than you the first time he used one" said Albus.
"I know what a portkey is, Albus" answered Lily.
Page appeared with another man of his age and looked at the Heads of the Houses.
"Everybody ready? We will be accompanied by… well, we'll make the introductions at the cottage".
After that, the students used the portkeys and appeared at Carlisle's cottage, where Carlisle and Luna were waiting for them.
"I didn't expect such a crowd, Headmaster" said Carlisle.
"I wanted them to enjoy the visit" answered Page.
"I will show you other creatures and how to feed them, including the ones you saw at Hogwarts. Then the kids will see the creatures under a new light"
"Great, that's the spirit" said Page.
Carlisle looked at the students.
"Today you will say the daily life of the three creatures you saw recently at Hogwarts plus two new, the Fire Crab and Nifflers.
"The Fire Crabs are from Fiji, which is a quite hotter habitat if we compare to Britain. I guess it's been difficult" said Professor Khan.
"Yes, I'm proud of my success because Fire Crabs trade is quite profitable" said Carlisle, and he started to explain the process of adaptation.
The tour lasted two hours and Carlisle, helped by his two assistants, was friendly and explained very well how to deal with every creature, so Page and Luna thought that their theory was wrong.
During the break for lunch some students decided to visit the whole cottage for ourselves.
"If you wanted to hide a Laumé, where would you hide them?" asked Albus.
"There" said Chinhua pointing at a certain natural field close to a lake.
"And you said that because…" asked Albus.
"Because Laumés love water, Albus. I should have noticed it" said Julia.
"Is that a Dugbog?" asked Tony pointing at the lake.
"A Dugbog or a piece of dead wood, and the latter doesn't make sense" said Chinhua.
"I don't know why Carlisle didn't say a word about it" said Albus.
"Because Dugbogs have no market value. Do you see the other creatures? They are all pretty expensive" said Ronnie.
"Could be. However, we're here to check if that natural field contains something covered by spells. The Dugbog can wait" said Albus.
"Well, I hope they've used typical spells, so it'll be easy" said Tony.
"Expect the worst, Tony" said Chinhua, and as usual, she was right, because in that very moment the worst happened. They heard a sound and several Aurors appeared from nowhere.
"Ministry of Magic. Mister Carlisle, we'd like to ask you some questions" the Aurors said.
"Merlin's beard, it's Dad" said Albus.
The two men who accompanied Carlisle shouted something and suddenly the invisibility spells around the natural field vanished and four strange creatures were released.
"Laumés" shouted Julia.
Albus looked at the creatures, which looked like women (although with only one eye, like Cyclops) with large breasts, the lower body of a female goat and birds' claws for feet.
"We need to look for cover. Which was the spell against them?" said Albus.
He looked at Julia, who seemed petrified looking at the Laumés.
"JULIA" he shouted. After that Julia reacted and they all found cover behind some rocks. Ronnie and Pat arrived first and started to cast bewitched sleep charm against the Laumés. The rest of the group followed them.
A pair of Laumés tried to reach them, but their advance was greatly slowed thanks to the spells.
"Well, there are only two Laumés left, so the Professors and the Aurors won't have any problem" said Julia.
"They are quite busy. Look" said Clarke.
The rest of the group realized then that Carlisle's men had released a couple of Nundu and four Hipogriffs.
"Great, we have four XXX class creatures, the Hippogriffs, a couple of Nundu XXXXX class and I don't know how to rate the Laumés" said Tony Blackburne.
"Believe me, they are XXXXX class" said Chinhua.
"So it's a picnic" said Albus.
"Look for another cover, because those two are still approaching" said Rose.
Meanwhile, Harry was hiding behind a rock after stunning one of Carlisle's men. Ron followed them.
"Ron, do you see our kids?" Harry asked.
"Over there" Ron said.
"Let's go"
"But Harry, they seem to be ok, and there are plenty of creatures around"
"The Aurors are dealing with the men, and the Professors seemed to be doing fine against the creatures, let's go to help our kids" and he ran.
"Ok, but maybe we should help Neville" said Ron, but however he followed his friend.
One of the Nundus was menacing a group of students. Neville cast several stunning spells against it.
"This Nundu is really resistant, or maybe I'm not as powerful as Page, because he has neutralized the other Nundu" Neville thought.
Neville looked at the Nundu, which seemed about to attack him.
"To hell with that. AVADA KEDAVRA" Neville said, and he killed the Nundu.
Page approached to him.
"Very well. We cannot risk our students' life" he said.
"I'm sorry, sir. I don't master the Stunning spell as you do" said Neville.
"It doesn't matter. It seems that we have the situation under control. The Professors took care of the Hippogriffs and the Aurors arrested the men"
"What about the other creatures?"
"You mean the Laumés. Khan killed one of them and I neutralized the other" said the man who accompanied Page.
"So there are only two Laumés left" said Page, and then they saw them menacing Albus and his friends.
"I will do it. You just monitor the sleeping creatures. We need them alive" said the man to Page, and he run towards the group.
The pair of Laumés left were getting closer to Albus and his friends, even after receiving tens of bewitched spells cast by the group. They seemed to be more resistant than dragons.
"We have to move" said Rose.
"Yes, but the problem is that the Laumés are blocking the path. Can they swim?" said Albus.
Julia looked at the Laumés.
"According to their morphology, they shouldn't, but they love water, so who knows. Any other alternative?"
"I'm afraid we only have one" said Chinhua. They all knew what she meant.
Suddenly they heard a voice. It was Harry.
"AVADA KEDAVRA" and one of the Laumés fell.
The other Laumé turned to Harry ready to attack, but then there was another voice.
"NARCOLEPSIA" and the last Laumé fell completely asleep.
Harry then hugged Albus and, to everybody's surprise, to Chinhua. Ron did the same to Rose.
"Are you ok, kids?" asked Harry.
"Yes, but who is he?" said Albus.
The men looked at the Laumé, checking if it was asleep but ok, and then looked at Harry and the group.
"I'm sorry but we need them alive. Someone modified them and we need to know more about them"
"I didn't know that spell, Mr…" Harry said.
"Allenstein, Ernst Allenstein. Headmaster Page explained me his theories about what was happening. We have exchanged letters back and forth and finally Headmaster Page invited me to the visit. I'm glad of that because I've neutralized two Laumés".
Harry was a bit off the wizarding academicals forums, but people like Chinhua, Julia and Tony gasped, because that tall men who exuded power was one of the most famous wizards in the world, and maybe the one with the brightest mind, even more than Page.
"I must admit I didn't know that Narcolepsia spell" said Harry.
Allenstein smiled.
"It's not very useful for an Auror like you, Mr. Potter. Narcolepsia spell causes the victim to fall asleep immediately. It's stronger than bewitched sleep spell, and not everyone can cast it" There was a clear note of sufficiency in his voice when Allenstein said that "of course you used Avada Kedavra because the primary goal was saving lives, but I wanted Laumés alive".
"It's clear that you can show us a thing or two, Mr. Allenstein" said Harry.
"Same to you, Mr. Potter. The students are safe, so I think we should help Headmaster Page with the situation".
When they join Aurors and the rest of Hogwarts students, they noticed that Carlisle and his two Assistants were alive.
"You look fine, Mr. Carlisle" said Allenstein.
Carlisle looked at him surprised.
"Who are you?" he asked.
Allenstein raised a brow and smiled ironically.
"That's surprising coming from you. We met three years ago, and then your memory was excellent, so you suffer Parkinson or you're not Carlisle".
"Polyjuice" said Page.
"Sure" said Allenstein "we should look for the real Carlisle, because he's alive, isn't it?" asked to the fake Carlisle, who said nothing.
Harry looked at his team of Aurors.
"Good job. Who are them?" pointing at Carlisle's assistants.
"Considering the situation, we will check if they are the real ones, sir".
"Perfect. Let's see"
He noticed that Page and Allenstein were analyzing the Laumés.
"Sir, I think we should bring the students back Hogwarts" said Neville.
"Of course, Professor Longbottom. Proceed, please"
Neville turned then to announce the students the comeback.
"Professor Longbottom" said Page.
"Yes, sir?"
"Good job"
"Thank you, sir" said Neville, visibly surprised and proud. Page's compliments were scarce. Neville waved goodbye to Harry and Ron and joined the group of students trying to hide his joy.
Page saw Neville with a smile and then turned to Harry
"Mr. Potter, we will analyze at Hogwarts the Laumés and will make a report. If you need help, just call us. You know we know many people abroad" said Page.
"We will, Headmaster" said Harry.
"I hope you will find Carlisle alive and well"
Harry noticed that his sons were approaching.
"Dad, we have to go. Will I see you next Saturday?"
"I guess you mean Tutshill's match. I think that you should stay at Hogwarts for a while"
"But you will come to see me playing against Hufflepuff. It's the next week, and in two weeks Ravenclaw plays against Slytherin"
"Of course, I will attend both matches"
Harry hugged his sons and let them depart.
Minutes later they found the real Carlisle and two men. Luna recognized one of them, so it was clear that the other three men used Polyjuice.
The Aurors sent Carlisle and his real assistants to St Mungo and the fake ones to the Ministry.
Two hours later, Harry was at his office when Lockerby entered.
"We have identified the men. The fake Carlisle is Robert Moresby. The fake assistants' name are John Cohen and Paul Collins" said Lockerby.
"I know none".
"Neither I, and I have checked our archives. This is bad"
Harry nodded.
"Any news from St Mungo?" he asked.
"No, sir, but considering the situation that's good"
"Can we interrogate Moresby?"
"Sure. I walk you to his cell"
They heard a knock at the door and other Auror entered.
"Moresby is dead, sir" he said.
They ran to the cell and found Moresby's corpse.
"I want to know how it happened, and I'm not only talking about what he used to commit suicide. How what is possible? And interrogate the others. Use Imperio, Veritaserum or whatever you want, but I need answers, because I have to inform the Minister"
Minutes later, Harry and Shacklebolt were assembled when Lockerby entered.
"I'm coming to inform you about our first conclusions, but they are almost irrelevant. Moresby hired them and paid them well. They didn't ask about Polyjuice because Moresby said something about his former employees abandoned him and he wanted to show everyone that he wasn't too old".
"And they believed them" said Harry
"They believed his money".
"What about the real Carlisle and his assistants?".
"They are not recovered, but I'm afraid they've suffered a Memory Mod, so I don't expect much from them"
"Thank you, Lockerby" and Lockerby left.
Shaklebolt looked at Harry.
"Did you remember what we saw at the cottage?" he said
"A writing on the wall saying for liberty?"
"We have a problem and we know nothing"
"We know that and we're gonna face it. You're not Fudge"
Shaklebolt smiled faintly.
"Sir, I need absolute priority on this problem. Those men at St. Mungo will need the best Healers if we want information from them, and we need to know how the creatures entered our country… everything. They are one step ahead of us"
"You can count on me, Harry".