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Balance Factor Chapter 28
Year Five
Hearing
A/N: Thanks for the reviews!
"Voldemort is building an army. There is a rumor he is looking for the man who dueled with him last year," Sirius said. "He's pretty angry too. Since the man used magic that no one has ever heard or seen of."
Lupin stepped in. "The Order of the Phoenix was created during the first war against Voldemort."
"He's found some things on Ryuuko," Harry said. The people at the table gave a small start, but Harry ignored it to continue. "They're dated ages ago though. Time has faded out any details."
"Dumbledore said you know this man, Harry," Arthur said. "He said the man was an ally of ours."
"Please do not be mistaken. He is an ally of mine, not yours. He is not a member of the Order, nor can he be," Harry said. "He is my ally and my ally alone. He will likely refuse to cooperate with Order members or with Professor Dumbledore."
"How much do you trust this man, Potter?" Moody growled. Harry hummed.
"With my life, existence, body," he said without hesitation. "Though I cannot say the same for you. He is not on your side, he's on mine."
"If you haven't noticed, Potter, we're on your side," Lupin said gently.
"If that were true, Professor Dumbledore would have told me everything I needed to know and not keep me from the Order meetings," Harry said. "No. None are you are on my side. You all are on Professor Dumbledore's side. It is very different."
No one had any response to that. Then Molly spoke.
"It's because you're too young," she repeated. Harry glared sharply at her.
"Professor Dumbledore knows of my true capabilities," Harry said acidly. "And he still thinks me as lesser than him. That is nothing short of an insult to me. He believes I cannot walk up to Voldemort right now and chop off his head, tear open his chest, and pull his entrails out and use them as decoration. Believe me, I can. It doesn't matter how many spells he knows. No wizard alive today knows the true fundamental existence of magic."
"Well, alright then," Lupin said unsure, looking a little green. "We're having some trouble finding members at the moment. We're kind of small right now, as you can see."
"No doubt people reading the Prophet about Professor Dumbledore losing his marbles," Harry said calmly, running his hand through his bangs. "Besides that, I doubt many people want to admit there is a problem. Denial is the first step to acceptance."
"Right," Lupin said, nodding. Some of the other members looked surprised at the knowledge Harry expressed, but Sirius looked thoughtful.
"What are the chances You-Know-Who will find and recruit the man that can fight on par with Ryuuko?" Sirius asked.
"Less than one percent," Harry said. "I don't even know where he is and even if Voldemort did find him, he would see Voldemort as beneath him. Voldemort could offer him nothing he cannot take. What's Fudge's problem, by the way? Why is he slandering Professor Dumbledore and me so much? I haven't read the Prophet, but it has been weeks since we told him and he's still going at it."
"He thinks Dumbledore is going to throw him out of power," Lupin said.
"Did you hear about the weapon You-Know-Who is looking for?" Sirius asked. Harry raised an eyebrow.
"If he is looking for a weapon," Harry said. "Then it must be a wand. I doubt he would lower himself to the level of muggles and actually use live steel against me. He thinks wizards are superior and to prove it, he'll probably want to kill me with a wand."
"Alright, that's enough!" Molly said. "We've told him more than he needs to know."
"Voldemort will remain hidden," Harry said, completely ignoring Molly at this point, sick of her arguments. "He will hide until the Ministry strips Professor Dumbledore and my position and power. Then he will strike. At this rate, perhaps in a year or two." He folded his hands, placing his chin on top of them. "To gain allies, one must have a common enemy. He is definitely gaining followers faster than we are. But that is not that big of a problem for me, though it might be for the Order."
"If he gains the man on par with Ryuuko, how will you fare?" Sirius asked. Molly shot him a look. Lupin looked interested as well.
"Well, I assume," Harry said, "I am not as strong as Ryuuko, but I doubt that man will do anything against me." Harry smiled a little, leaning back and thinking about it. "Should I ask Kou to assist you all?"
"You'll have to ask Dumbledore that," Lupin said, smiling a little. "The more people we have, the better."
"Kou is very reckless though," Harry said. "He might just decide to go kill Voldemort or chase him around the country for fun. So it might not be the best idea to call him."
Sirius gave a bark of laughter.
-0-
Harry woke up early for his trial. Or, to be specific, he withdrew from his core early for his trial. The balance was fluctuating so Harry had supplied Light into the balance. Then he had worked on recycling his elements. It was easier to recycle Light than it was Darkness, so he had only gotten about half done with the Darkness before he had to pull out.
He was still hesitant to readjust the balance. Though Ryuuko had told him that the inshi were in their proper places, he wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to use his power so much. Especially now when Ryuuko's successor was in charge.
"Kazu!"
Kou's voice made Harry shift. He reached over his bag and pulled out the mirror, placing a hand on his mouth. Kou was being rather loud as it was still around three in the morning.
"What is it, Kou?" Harry whispered, looking a little hesitant. Ron was still snoring away.
"Aki wanted to meet you," Kou said, also dropping his voice.
"Alright," Harry said, closing his eyes and letting his Light wash over him. He looked down at the mirror and spotted a boy with short, wild brown hair and green-grey eyes. "Hello. I am Kazuki. I assume you learned of my existence from Ryuuko's memories."
"Yeah. I'm Akira," Akira said, rubbing his neck. "This is a little strange. Talking to a mirror that actually leads to someone." He looked a bit awkward, so Kazuki smiled.
"It is strange, isn't it? I've gotten used to it though," Kazuki said. "This is my rei form. In Ryuuko's memories, I'm in this form. But normally in the human world, I am in my vessel's form." He let the Light slip through him and vanish, turning back to Harry. "Of course, Shirogane never told you of my existence, right?"
"Of course that bastard wouldn't," Akira said. Harry stifled a laugh.
"He wishes to protect my existence as long as possible, I think," Harry said softly. "Please don't be too hard on him. None of Shadow's Children know of my existence. Not yet, anyway."
"In Ryuuko's memories, you got a sealer put on your Darkness. Why?" Akira asked. "I tried to ask Shirogane, but Shirogane just brushed me off and pretended that he had no idea what I was talking about."
"Ah. Because when I was sparring with Shirogane once, he stabbed me in the chest with his sword," Harry whispered. "And the Darkness inside me got corrupted. It blew out and almost destroyed the Light Palace. Ryuuko was in the Human World that day." He smiled a little at Akira. "We're almost brothers, aren't we? It would be awkward to call you father. Do you mind if I call you brother?"
Akira shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me. But I guess brother is fine." He paused. "So the sealer was put in place to prevent the Darkness from going rampant."
"Yes. Shirogane was supposed to lift it when I got more control over my Darkness. He weakened it," Harry said. "And it blew out of control again a while back. It would have leveled a castle if the magic wasn't so saturated there. Since then, I've gotten a good hold on it." He smiled and took a deep breath. Of course, that wasn't the whole story, as Ryuuko had tried to separate from his body that time as well. Pulling Light away from Darkness when Darkness was going rampant was a terrible idea in itself. "You live in Japan, right? Or do you live in the Light Palace now?"
"I live in the Light Palace now," Akira said. "I only came down here because I asked Kou about you. Ryuuko's memories said you were able to create inshi."
"Only in dire circumstances," Harry responded. "I actually have never been to the Shadow Palace. The air there is apparently enough to trigger the Darkness inside me, so I never went. One day, I do want to go." He smiled and leaned back, tapping his chin. "And perhaps meet the other Children."
"I don't know the Shadow Palace too well either. I usually go with Shirogane or Nanaya," Akira said. "Okay, I should get going. You don't want Shirogane to know where you are, right? Kou told me."
"Yeah. I wanted to keep it from him a little longer," Harry said. He touched his chest, feeling the Light inside him react gently. Ryuuko… "If I have time, I'll see if I can visit you in the Light Palace."
"I'll keep it a secret then. It'll be good for him to see how it feels being left out of the loop," Akira said, grinning. "See you soon." Harry returned the grin and waved. Kou and Akira both vanished.
Well, that went well. So Akira was a rather laid back person. He could picture himself getting along with the brown haired man.
Strangely enough, he could also picture Shirogane falling in love with the strong willed man.
Harry wondered if he was overthinking this. Akira was Shirogane's counterpart. So different than the polite, kind Ryuuko. And yet…
Through their short exchange, Harry could see a King in Akira. Perhaps, when they met, Harry could attune his Factor to include Akira too. That way, he could assist Akira in balancing. Then there was the matter of Shisui's new inshi…
Harry let out a deep sigh. So much to do and so little time to do it. He needed to get a move on. Only Shirogane could tell him if he had made another inshi. A shadow tuner's inshi. But as he had made one for Light, Harry was fairly certain he had made one for Dark as well.
It was a bit of a pain, really. Who would he give the inshi to in the Shadow world?
He needed more information. Perhaps, it would be best to give it to Shisui's counterpart.
Harry got up and headed down the stairs. He stopped by the kitchen, grabbing a slice of toast from the plate at the table and then pausing. There was a spread of eggs, sausage, toast, and juice on the kitchen table.
Since it was so early in the morning, who had made him breakfast? Harry looked around, not spotting anyone. It was only four in the morning.
"Harry Potter does not like toast?" A voice croaked from the ground. Harry looked down, finally spotting the source of the voice. It was Kreacher.
"Ah. Did you make this for me?" Harry asked, kneeling down to Kreacher's level. Kreacher gave a small nod, his hands shaking a little, reaching out to touch Harry's. Harry allowed him, still holding the toast in his hand. "Thank you, Kreacher."
The elf placed his old, wrinkly head on Harry's arm. "Harry Potter is powerful. His magic sings. Warms."
Harry smiled a little, placing the toast in his mouth. "Kreacher, is it because you respond to my magic that you did this for me?"
Kreacher looked up at Harry slowly, nodding. "Harry Potter makes friends with mudbloods and traitors… but Harry Potter is not a bad wizard. Harry Potter is powerful… His magic says so."
"What does my magic say, Kreacher?" Harry asked, intrigued. He didn't even notice Mrs. Weasley and Sirius at the doorway, too busy questioning the house elf. "What does it tell you?"
"That you are important. That you hold the balance of this world," Kreacher croaked. "That you were created by the beings that rule the realms." He looked up at Harry's smiling face. "You have the same… face as my Master Regulus… He was… very kind too."
"I see," Harry said quietly. "Thank you for telling me this, Kreacher." He placed a hand on the elf's head and sent a warm string of Light into the poor elf. Kreacher gave a small sob and rested his head on Harry's arm. Harry let him, sitting down on the kitchen floor and munching on the toast in his hand. "This toast is very good, Kreacher."
"It's just toast," Sirius said, picking up a slice, walking through the doors and spotting the spread. Harry smiled.
"But it's good," he said, patting the elf on the head. "Kreacher made it."
"Kreacher did? Huh," Sirius said, taking a bite of the warm toast. "…Okay. I admit it. It's good."
"Isn't it?" Harry said, looking at the house elf. Kreacher looked back up at him.
"Harry Potter… I need your help…" Kreacher said. Harry nodded a little.
"Alright. But it'll have to wait until after the Hearing," Harry said. "In the meantime, can you clean up a bit? It's a bit dusty here." Which was an understatement, but Harry didn't really want to put too much pressure on the elf.
The elf slowly nodded, standing up and vanishing. Harry looked at Sirius.
"Please control your temper around Kreacher," Harry said. "He is very old. Even if you do not like this house or your family, he doesn't deserve your ire." He took a plate and helped himself to some eggs and sausage. Sirius paused and nodded.
"I'll try," he promised. Harry smiled.
-0-
Mr. Weasley pushed Harry into the courtroom. There was a single lone chair in the middle of the room, which was obviously for him. Harry sat in it, ignoring the chains on it and then promptly tuned Fudge out. Dumbledore arrived minutes later, acting as Harry's defense. Harry didn't particularly care for the trial, completely ignoring Fudge until he shot him the question.
"…you willingly and knowingly preformed magic in front of a muggle?"
Harry turned to Fudge and gave a pleasant smile. "Not at all."
Fudge looked stricken. "Lies!"
"I did not willingly or knowingly do magic. I didn't have my wand at the time," Harry said. "I did, however, really, really wish that I did magic. And apparently ended up doing magic." He ran a hand through his hair and undid the ribbon in it. His hair slid to the floor, pooling around the legs of the chair. "Which would be considered accidental magic."
"Minister, if this is a case of accidental magic, then the court has gathered here for what, exactly?" Amelia Bones asked, raising an eyebrow at Fudge. Fudge flushed deeply.
"Regardless, he performed magic and-"
"In front of two people who already knew the existence of magic. One being my cousin and the other being a squib," Harry said bluntly. "Therefore, neither were unsuspecting and unaware of magic. The Law prohibits use of magic in front of unsuspecting muggles. Are we done here, Minister? You have my wand. Checking for spells is easy enough, isn't it?" He rebound his hair, calmly looking around the court.
"Laws can be changed!" Fudge roared, slamming his hand on the table, upsetting his inkpot.
"Whatever you feel is appropriate, Minister," Harry said calmly. "Recall that wizards cannot contain their emotions all the time though." He shrugged, sitting back in the chair, looking at Fudge. "I repeat, Minister, are we done here? I'm getting tired of wasting my time."
Dumbledore looked shocked when Harry spoke, unaware he didn't have his wand at the time. Harry ignored him and yawned, bored.
"All in favor of clearing all charges?"
Hands rose. A lot of them. Harry sniffed a little when he saw that Fudge's hand didn't raise or the ugly pink toad's next to him. Apparently, Fudge didn't like him anymore, which suited Harry just fine.
Fudge took a deep breath and spoke, "Very well, very well… Cleared of all charges."
Harry stood up. "Wise choice, Minister." He swept out of the room, both annoyed and a little bit angry. No one stopped him.
Lucius Malfoy was standing outside the courtroom, no doubt waiting for someone. He gave Harry a blank look and Harry realized that Lucius had heard everything that was going on. Mr. Weasley was next to him, glaring at him deeply.
"Mr. Potter… Quite snake-like… Escaping punishment," Lucius Malfoy said. Harry stopped dead, looking at Lucius.
"Mr. Malfoy," he said slowly, his voice as smooth as silk but with all the coldness of a winter storm, "you should throw away that cheap pride you have in your abilities. In this world, no matter how good you are, there is always someone stronger. If Voldemort continues to pursue me, he will be delving into things he does not understand." His emerald green eyes bore into Lucius' familiar blue.
Harry turned away from Lucius and walked briskly down the corridor. Lucius had frozen, his eyes wide and his hand very tight over his cane. The rest of the Wizengamot were walking out now. Arthur Weasley caught up with Harry.
"What was that, Harry?" Arthur demanded, his eyes very wide.
"A threat? A promise? Who knows," Harry said vaguely. "I just hate being baited."
"You were cleared?" Arthur asked, his eyes wide as he saw the amount of people. "Goodness… Did you face a full court?"
"Yes," Harry said calmly. He paused at the fountain in front of the Ministry and tossed in a shiny sickle.
-0-
When Harry stepped back into Grimmauld place he was a little shocked at the difference. The hallway was cleaned, the floor polished to the point where there wasn't a single blemish. The walls were scrubbed, though it still very much stained over the years. Harry was greeted at the door with a cup of tea from Kreacher.
"Oh…! Wow… Wonderful job, Kreacher," Harry said, looking down at the house elf. Kreacher smiled and scurried off to clean more.
"Isn't it great?" Sirius asked, leaning against the kitchen doorway. "It's the first time since forever he's actually been productive. Though it wasn't on my orders."
Harry smiled a little, inhaling the scent of the tea before taking a sip. "Does it matter?" He closed his eyes and let the warmth of the tea sink through his tired body. "Cleared of all charges."
Sirius beamed. Harry walked into the kitchen, placing down his cup. There was a crash and then screaming from the hallway. Fred and George had apparated down the stairs and crashed into the hallway stand. The screaming came from a portrait of a woman. Lupin and Molly hurried to close it.
Harry stepped back into the hall, looking at the portrait. The woman's eyes turned to him and her eyes narrowed. Her screams died in the air. Lupin and Molly tugged the curtains closed.
"That's my lovely old mum," Sirius said from behind Harry. Harry looked back at Sirius and then sighed.
"I see..." Harry turned back into the kitchen, pausing as Fred and George gripped his shoulders, one in each twin's hand. "Hello Fred. George."
"Hey mate," Fred said. "Ickle Harry-kins is kinda popular among beings and beasts, isn't he? Heard what you did this morning."
"Kreacher's finally cooperative," George said, grinning. "No more cleaning for us."
"Great," Harry said looking between the twins. "Fred, George, what have you been up to?"
"We want to start a joke shop-"
"But mum doesn't like the idea-"
"She badgers us about getting-"
"Respectable jobs in the Ministry-"
"But we don't like Fudge much-"
"So we're not going."
Harry smiled. "A joke shop. I approve. Come to my room later. I'll leave you a present." He still had his Triwizard winnings after all.
"Harry Potter…"
Harry looked down at the locket clutched in Kreacher's hand. He bent down and picked it up out of Kreacher's hands.
"This locket?" Harry asked, looking at Kreacher.
"Master Regulus asked me to destroy it…" Kreacher said, shaking his head. "I couldn't… no matter how many times I tried. But if it's Harry Potter… Maybe he can destroy it."
"Alright," Harry said. Sirius glanced at the locket and brushed it away, not particularly caring of the trinket. "Thank you for bringing it up to my attention, Kreacher."
Kreacher bowed and then shuffled away. Harry pocketed the locket.
"That elf is nutters," Ron said, sitting down at the kitchen table. He had obviously been awake for some time. "You really going to take that little thing, mate?"
"Ron! Kreacher isn't nutters," Hermione said impatiently. "I'm glad Kreacher likes you, Harry."
"Kreacher is a house elf," Harry said shrugging. "If you can recall, the house elves of Hogwarts all liked me." He sat at the table. "Though one has to wonder, if house elf magic can't destroy an object, then what kind of cursed object is it? I'm curious to find out."
