Ever since their little meeting, Harry had never heard even a whisper of students being hurt in Umbridge's detentions. The other Heads had dropped hints to Umbridge that they were well aware of what she had done, and the idea of going against them, as well as Harry, kept her in line. To compensate for the lack of cruelty in her punishments, Umbridge decided to increase their quantity. Any student that attended Harry's classes would find themselves in detention so often that the Heads had to step in once more when both the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Quidditch teams were lacking several members on the day of their first match. Rather than act as a deterrent, though, Harry found attendance in his class increasing, and more and more students were approaching it with a vigor few had ever seen before.
About two weeks after his confrontation with Umbridge, Harry was curled up as Nightfire with Daphne as they sat through the full moon. Remus hadn't been able to attend, but Sirius had reassured Harry that he would transform and spend the night with his old friend, leaving just Nightfire and Daphne curled up on the ground with Kyddris and Rosie while Severus and Minerva were visiting as they normally did during the full moon until Harry succumbed to his bestial half. They were about to leave when a rapping on the window caught all of their attentions. Perched on the windowsill was a very weary Hedwig, and Minerva stood up to open the window, letting her in. Nightfire rose and loped over to nuzzle Hedwig affectionately while Daphne grabbed the letter she was carrying.
"I guess it would seem the Flamels are still alive after all," Severus remarked as Daphne showed him the seal on the letter.
"What do you mean, Severus?" Minerva asked.
"Harry sent a letter to them in the hope that they would still be alive," Severus replied. "He was hoping they would give him some answers as to why he was named lord of their family when there is no biological link between him and Nicholas Flamel."
"I suppose we'll have to wait until tomorrow to inquire as to what's inside," Minerva sighed.
"If he'll even tell us," Severus added. "Even now, he's a very private person."
"He will," Daphne assured them. "You two were the first authority figures Harry found he could trust. He adores you both the same way he does Sirius and Remus."
"That's very kind of you, Miss Greengrass," Minerva said happily. "If that's the case, I think we'll leave you two to retire for the night."
Severus nodded as well, fighting to appear unaffected, and quickly followed Minerva out the door while Daphne merely sighed and dropped down against Nightfire. She smiled as a blanket of affection came through their bond and Nightfire licked her cheek with his huge, sandpaper tongue. He was quite a bit bigger than when she had first seen him nearly two years ago, easily dwarfing her as he curled up around her and draped a dark wing over most of her body.
"Why can't you be this open when on two legs?" She whispered as Nightfire started to purr. More and more she had begun to feel Harry closing himself off from her. One moment there would be a burst of emotion cascading through the bond between them, and the next he would squash it down. On the rare occasion where she managed to catch him in the act, he always seemed like he was admonishing himself for something, and she couldn't help but wonder why he would be so hesitant to feel such positive emotions. "What are you so afraid of?"
*(OoO)*
Harry woke the next morning to Hedwig lightly pecking at his face and smiled as his old friend greeted him. He gently ran his hand over her feathers and smiled when she closed her eyes and hooted contentedly. Quietly extricating himself from Daphne's grasp, he quickly changed into his wetsuit and walked towards the large French doors that inexplicably opened on the ground right near the lake thanks to the unique properties of his office. Kyddris returned to his tattoo on Harry's chest, only to re-emerge once Harry had dived in, taking advantage of the early hour and murky depths to gleefully swim around like a sea serpent. By the time he was done swimming his laps and playing with the giant squid, Daphne was waiting for him on the shoreline with Rosie. Kyddris returned to his tattoo once more, having gorged himself on the seemingly unending supply of fish and Grindylows, and Rosie transported them all back to Harry's office. They were engulfed in shadows momentarily and the feeling of ice water being poured down his spine made Harry shiver before they reappeared in a darkened corner of his office.
Harry quickly changed into a pair of jeans, with a t-shirt and jacket, while Kyddris returned to his favourite corner with Rosie, before walking out and heading over to the pot where his staff was growing. The plant growing out of the electric blue soil had changed dramatically in such a short amount of time. Already, it had grown to be just over three feet tall. The gnarled grey wood looked like three ancient trees that had intertwined themselves as they grew towards the small bulb at the top. Taking a deep breath, Harry impaled his hand on the bulb and began reciting the proper incantations as his blood and magic flowed down the length of the plant. Once he was finished, he healed his hand and turned to Daphne who was already sitting at a table with a large breakfast on the center.
"Shouldn't you be downstairs?" Harry asked. "First Quidditch match of the year is supposed to be a pretty big deal."
"I stopped being very interested in Quidditch when my favourite seeker stopped playing," Daphne replied easily, not even bothering to look up from her copy of the Prophet.
Harry grinned as he sat himself down, warmth filling his chest and working its way up his neck as he served himself a heaping pile of eggs, sausage, and toast. Full moons always left him famished for some reason. "Anything interesting?"
"Not really. There is a report that a Wampus Cat was seen in Edenborough, but other than that, it's pretty much the same old propaganda. This time they're going after Remus."
"Let me guess, they called a meeting of the Wizengamot last night, and since Remus was unavailable, they're saying he's unfit to hold my seat?"
Daphne chuckled as she folded the paper. "I'm impressed. That's almost exactly what they did."
"Moony will be able to handle it. I'm wondering what a Wampus Cat would be doing in Britain. They're native to the United States."
"Probably just a hoax," Daphne said dismissively. "What I'm wondering is how long you're going to stall before opening that letter you got last night."
Harry smirked as he picked the letter up from where it had been very conspicuously laying in front of his plate. "You mean this letter?"
"Yes, you prat," Daphne replied, rolling her eyes as they both stood up and walked back towards the couch in front of the fireplace. She curled up next to Harry and leaned over his shoulder as he opened the letter, only to yelp as they felt a sudden tug behind their navels before being thrown painfully onto a stone floor.
"Daphne," Harry called out as he looked around. "Talk to me!" Wherever the portkey had taken them, it was pitch black and musty. He heard a groan not far from where he was, and followed it towards Daphne. Holding his hands out, he could tell he was in some sort of tunnel. He heard Daphne mutter and a bright ball of light appeared at the end of her wand, allowing him to finally see her, and illuminating the tunnel around them. Reaching down and helping Daphne to her feet, Harry examined her for any sign of injury before turning and examining their surroundings.
He had been correct in assuming they were in a tunnel of some sort. What he hadn't been expecting was to see skulls lining the walls for as far as the eye could see.
"This can't be good," he muttered as he examined the skulls.
"You can say that again," Daphne replied. "I'm thinking trap."
"Possibly. If it is, then whoever laid it is both skilled and not bearing the Dark Mark," Harry said as they started walking down the tunnel. "I had warded both Hedwig and the letter against someone bearing it specifically using Parsletongue."
Daphne was about to reply when the tunnel suddenly opened up into a massive circular room. Her light wasn't nearly enough to pierce all the way through the shadows, so it was only thanks to Harry's quick reflexes that she wasn't hit by the twin streaks of red light that had suddenly erupted out of the darkness. Harry blocked the spells and casted a ball of light the size of a beach ball that he flung into the air before transforming into Nightfire and shrugging off the spells being hurled at him as he charged the man and woman who had suddenly appeared. Unfortunately, they seemed to know what he was doing as the man simply waved his wand and Harry was forced to change back mid charge, causing him to stumble and only narrowly avoid being stunned by the woman. Rolling to his feet, he conjured a long rope of fire in one hand, and lashed it through the air, forcing both of their opponents to conjure shields. He and Daphne both took advantage of the moment to gather themselves only for their opponents to wave their wands, causing the chamber they were in to start rumbling as the ground beneath their feet shook and a pair of massive golems rose up. Followed by another. And another.
"Drop your wands!" The man called out as they were suddenly surrounded by ten-foot giants made of earth.
Harry and Daphne did as instructed, and their wands flew through the air as the woman summoned them to her hand.
"Who are you?" Harry demanded as the man and woman huddled together, whispering between themselves.
Now that he was standing still, he took the time to examine their attackers underneath the pale light of the sphere still floating about fifteen feet in the air. Both of them looked to be no older than Minerva, with greying hair – though the woman's still held streaks of black down its length – but their eyes looked older than Harry could possibly imagine. Both of them were dressed in dark robes that helped them practically melt into the shadows, and there was an aura of power that surpassed even what Harry had felt when he confronted Riddle in June.
Rather than answer, the man dashed forward and jabbed his wand beneath Harry's chin while holding the stick Harry was using while his staff grew in his other hand.
"You are not in a position to be asking questions," the man muttered lowly, the slightest hint of a French accent slipping through his tone. "Or lying to us. Now, give me your wand before we decide that you aren't worth interrogating."
Harry took a deep breath and nodded, reaching into his jacket with one hand slowly before slapping the man's hand aside with a vicious backhand just as a powerful cutting curse flew out of his wand. Harry grabbed the man's wrist and flipped him over his shoulder and wrenched his wand from his hand as he slammed his opponent into the ground. Without wasting momentum, he tossed the wand to Daphne who caught it and reignited her duel with the woman as Harry yanked the man off the ground and pinned his arms behind his back, only for the man to rear back and head-butt him in the nose, breaking it with a sickening crunch.
Harry snarled and let go of his captive, who easily summoned his wand out of Daphne's hand just as she was about to cast a shield charm, causing her to be hit in the chest by a powerful stunner. Harry roared in anger at seeing Daphne slump to the ground and conjured another rope of fire in his left and whirling it around. With the flickering light of his flames so close to his face, the woman finally gasped and grabbed her partner by the sleeve.
"Nico, it's him," she said breathlessly.
The man paused and walked slowly over towards Harry. He repelled the fire with a slash of his wand and continued to approach Harry only to pause when Harry's sword appeared out of nowhere and was pressed into his neck. Narrowing his eyes, Harry watched as the man's eyes scanned his face before settling just above his right eye. Upon seeing his scar, the man's eyes widened and he took a large step backwards before sweeping low in a bow.
"I sincerely apologize for our actions, Lord Potter," the man said to the floor before straightening up. "My name is Nicolas Flamel, and this is my wife Perenelle. When you didn't arrive last night, we feared that our letter had been intercepted, and so when two people arrived, we acted without thinking."
"I was indisposed when I first received your letter," Harry replied coolly as he stooped down and revived Daphne. "I didn't get a chance to look at it until this morning. In my haste to read a letter from two people who are supposed to be dead by now, I forgot to check for any traps within the letter."
"It was not our intention for this to be a trap," Perenelle said as she handed Daphne her wand. "The Portkey was on a timer that was supposed to have brought you here at midnight last night. It must have activated belatedly when you finally got around to opening it today."
"You know, when imagining a meeting with the famous Flamels, I doubt most people imagine being kidnapped and brought… wherever we are," Daphne quipped as she flicked her wand at Harry's face with a muttered Episky, smirking when he yelped as his nose was unexpectedly repaired with a crack.
"We are in the Paris Catacombs," Nicolas informed them. "Despite the poor interior design, it is one of the best places in France to meet privately."
"And why would we need to meet privately?" Harry asked.
"Because there are powers at work throughout the world that would benefit from knowing that my wife and I are still alive, and the Philosopher's Stone not destroyed."
"So, Dumbledore lied about that too," Harry surmised while Daphne crossed her eyes and glared at the Flamels, hiding the fact that she had been secretly reeling almost from the moment they had been unceremoniously dumped in the tunnel behind her usual cold demeanor.
"To be fair," Perenelle replied. "So did my husband."
"What do you mean?" Daphne asked.
"Albus Dumbledore and I have been colleagues for several decades," Nicolas explained as he conjured chairs for the four of them. "He'd like to think we were quite good friends, but the truth is that I was more like his watcher. He was a powerful, ambitious man, and were it not for one quarrel gone awry, he most likely would have still been sided with Grindelwald. As such, I was dispatched to keep an eye on him – make sure he didn't try to finish what his old friend had started."
"Dispatched by who?" Harry asked suspiciously.
"You've heard of the Order of Merlin, I take it?" Nicolas asked.
"It's an award bestowed upon those who have achieved great things for the Wizarding World," Harry replied.
"That's partially correct," Perenelle said. "The Order of Merlin is an actual organization."
"So that's who dispatched you to keep an eye on Dumbledore?" Daphne asked.
"Not quite. Unlike the award, which is bestowed by the Ministry of a wizard or witch's home country, our organization is the Eastern-European branch of a larger collective known as the Circle."
"The circle?" Harry parroted.
"Sounds ominous," Daphne muttered under her breath.
"The Circle has existed for millennia," Nicolas exposited. "Their central goal is to watch over the world, and, more importantly, protect it from threats to the very nature of magic itself."
"Right, that explains why all of human history – both magical and Muggle – has been nothing but peaceful cooperation and acceptance," Daphne interrupted sarcastically.
"Conflict is part of nature," Perenelle replied patiently. "Our goal is not to rule the world, but protect it and maintain the balance of the natural magic that flows through the planet."
"One would think Voldemort would present a bigger threat to this so-called balance than Dumbledore," Harry said.
"The actions of Tom Riddle before his defeat at the hands of your mother were little more than a purely British problem," Nicolas replied. "And while there is a growing international concern due to his activities in Bulgaria, the danger Albus Dumbledore presents is of existential proportions. I'm sure you've noticed the falling standards at Hogwarts, correct?"
"I have," Harry said. "What was OWL material thirty years ago is now NEWT level. I understood it to be the actions of the Ministry, though."
"Partially, but the Headmaster has more power than you'd think. His fault isn't in actively reducing the curriculums, but in doing nothing to stop it."
"Why would he do that?" Daphne asked. "Dumbledore might be a manipulative old codger, but he's dedicated to the school."
"Because, if the average witch or wizard becomes weaker over time, then Albus Dumbledore will continue to seem greater and greater as the years go by," Perenelle explained. "He doesn't need to occupy the seat of Minister to have power, he just needs people to continue to see him as the greatest wizard of all time. Under him, the progress of the Wizarding World will halt and become stagnate as it withers away."
"This is all very interesting, but what does it have to do with me?" Harry asked.
"In your letter, you asked how you could somehow gain the lordship of my family despite you and me not sharing any familial link." Nicolas paused and Harry nodded. "The object that was hidden in Hogwarts four years ago, while not the original Philosopher's Stone, was still a Philosopher's Stone, albeit not a perfect one. Albus suggested I put it in Gringotts for safekeeping, despite the fact that in over six centuries, no one has ever succeeded to steal it before, and I was curious to see what he was planning. When I was notified by Gringotts that the content of the vault I had taken out to store the stone had been moved to a separate branch, I knew Dumbledore was after it. He used it to lure out Tom Riddle, and once he was dealt with, told me that the stone was better off being destroyed. I agreed and Perenelle and I went into hiding, knowing that Dumbledore would use the imperfect stone for his own ends. Once we heard about your valiant attempt to keep the stone out of Riddle's hands, I myself made you my heir."
"Why would you do that?" Harry asked.
"Because, I saw something in you," Nicolas replied. "There was a desire to protect that isn't normally seen in one so young. My thoughts were confirmed the next year when you descended into the Chamber of Secrets. You, Harry Potter, embody everything the Circle stands for. Protection without repression. Progress without revolution. If you wanted, you could maneuver yourself into the Minister's seat with little to no effort, instead, you elected to use your power to give voices to those who don't."
"I'm not sure I understand," Harry said slowly.
"Harry Potter, the Circle would like to ask for your help in protecting the Wizarding World, and, by extension, Magical Britain from those who would fundamentally threaten it."
Harry's jaw dropped as he considered what he was being asked. "What… what would that entail?"
"As a member of the Circle, you would have access to our information network and our accumulated magical knowledge to better yourself, and as such will be asked to go on certain missions," Perenelle said. "More specifically, you will be covertly sent on missions to interfere with the plans of both Tom Riddle and Albus Dumbledore. The Circle will provide a cover for you while on these missions in the form of another member using Polyjuice to disguise themselves and will be briefed on everything they need to know to believably pass as you. You will also be allowed one confidante who will be aware of your whereabouts at all times, and, considering her presence here, I believe your friend has unfortunately volunteered herself for that position. Unless she were to consent to being Obliviated after our business is concluded."
"Not a chance," Daphne said resolutely.
Harry sat very still as he quietly thought about what he was being offered. He knew he was going to have to face Riddle sooner or later. The man was obsessed with him, and wouldn't stop until one of them were dead. Having access to resources like what the Flamels were offering certainly seemed worth finally being able to go out and make a difference in the war effort. With a heavy sigh, Harry steeled himself and looked into the eye of an ancient Alchemist who should have died centuries ago.
"I'll do it."
Smiling as he finally felt like he was doing something, Harry's good mood was suddenly interrupted as he gasped and the entire world fell away.
Please… please help me. I'm scared.
"Harry? Harry!" Daphne shouted, bringing Harry back to the present. "What's wrong?"
"The girl," Harry muttered. "From my dreams. I can hear her again."
Nicolas and Perenelle looked on in concern as they both drew their wands and began muttering different diagnostic spells.
"Fascinating," Nicolas muttered.
"Nico, not the time," Perenelle admonished. "Harry, we need you to tell us, are you a Mentalist?"
Harry nodded as the girl in his head started to scream in terror. "I've never been able to hear her while awake before."
"It would seem that coming outside of the wards around Hogwarts has increase the connection between yourself and whoever it is that's calling out to you," Nicolas surmised. "Have you attempted to contact this girl before?"
Harry shook his head and immediately closed his eyes in concentration.
Hello? He thought. Can you hear me?
For several minutes, there was nothing but the sound of everyone's breathing around him, but, just as he was about to give up, he heard a reply.
Please help me… I don't like it here.
Where are you? Harry asked.
I dunno, the girl replied. It's always so dark and cold. I think I might be in a castle, but every time I try to look around she comes back. Please, help me, she's been hurting me for so long.
Can you tell me your name?
Bella. Bella Black.