AN: This chapter was a bit of a bugger to get out. I had an general idea about how the chapter would flow and even some content to put into it, but it still fought me all the way. I hope I did the trial well enough and I don't think I have to ask if any of you recognised the dagger, it should be pretty obvious. This is the last chapter that deals with this particular Alternate Universe but something someone said on one of my forums caught my attention and I'll put it here. If anyone wants to continue this AU world that has been influenced by my Harry and company then they are welcome to do so, all I ask is that you give credit and send me a PM so that I can read the story myself. Oh, one more thing. If any of you have any ideas about Harry trying to emulate a Berserker class Servant then anything at all is welcome. I have one idea that someone gave me but it might be more than a little impractical and I could always use more inspiration.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter.
Forum available on profile or here: forum/Fate-s-Gamble-Behind-the-scenes/139203/
Beta'd by: NIX'S WARDEN
Chapter 54 – Ministry and Trial
Harry watched as Amy tapped in the number 62442, spelling out the word MAGIC, and then a voice came from the air around them, as if the speaker was in the phone booth with them. "Hello visitors, welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your names and the purpose of your visit."
"Amethyst Velvet, defendant of Harry Potter, and Harry Potter himself, hear to attend his hearing." Amy replied. Harry looked at her quizzically, wondering why she chose the surname Velvet out of everything she could have chosen. Harry did jump a little, and got distracted, by two badges appearing where change normally would.
He put the badge with his own name on his chest and Amy did the same with hers. The phone booth then began to descend into the earth slowly, and Harry was rather uncomfortable right now. While he knew that it was only himself and Amy in the booth, he felt like there were others there with him, that was stupid though. If there were other people there, even invisible, he would have at least bumped into them by now.
As it was, even with just the two of them in there, Harry was rather uncomfortable. He couldn't stop looking at Amy and thinking about how attractive she was, it was even worse than whatever effect Fleur's veela allure had had on him last year. It didn't help that a former male seemed just so comfortable in a female form, it was just wrong!
Of course, Harry didn't know that the reason Amy, and even Black Wing, was so attractive was because of what had been inherited from Stheno and Euryale during the blood adoption. Men had literally died trying to get them into their beds, mostly eaten by Medusa, and Black Wing had most definitely inherited their beauty.
What Harry also wasn't aware of was that, yes, there were actually others in the phone booth with them. Fran was to follow him around, regardless of what Black Wing did, and be his bodyguard even if he didn't know it. Fran's galvanism made her essentially invulnerable to any spell the wizards cared to cast at her and her physically strength meant any binding spells, like Incarcerous, would also be useless against her.
Liz would be going with Black Wing as he stole his way into the Department of Mysteries to retrieve a certain prophecy orb, replacing it with a fake prophecy he had crafted beforehand. The fake wasn't meant to mean anything in particular, nor was it meant to point him in any specific direction. It pointed at a 'danger to the dark lord, rising from his own ranks' later on but the start of it, the part that referred to a child born at the end of July, he had lifted straight from the original. He had had to almost beg Zelretch over the phone to let him know even that bit in order to make the prophecy seem believable, and Zelretch had soon caved and told him what Voldemort should know about the prophecy, the first couple of lines.
Anyway, they soon made it to the Ministry's Atrium and handed over their wands to the man behind the counter. Harry listened on in interest when the details about Black Wing's wand were read out. Carnivorous wood? Vampire hairs? Unknown hairs, apparently divine? Succubus blood? To be honest, it sounded rather dark, but it seemed to suit Black Wing despite him not exactly being dark himself.
They two of them then entered one of the lifts behind the desk, Amy smirking slightly when she noticed that Len was already there. No one noticed a cat, it simply wasn't important enough to warrant attention, and Black Wing was taking advantage of that by having her wander around and keep an eye on things in the Ministry. With how the newspapers were attacking Harry, it was possible that someone was going to try something during the trial or even before it. Considering how messed up wizarding law is, Harry could be tried in absentia and be found guilty without a chance to defend himself.
Anyway, they took the elevator up to level two, The Department of Magical Law Enforcement, because Arthur Weasley had said they could use his office while they waited and the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office was, technically, a part of Law Enforcement even if it was one of the minor offices.
Harry stood there and remained quiet. With how early it was, the Ministry was decidedly empty and there were very few people about. There was still some people there, one rotation of Obliviators for example, but it was before regular office hours right now. He was curious about the paper aeroplanes flying around, memos apparently, and he noticed that Amy seemed to be examining them and how their magic worked.
Perhaps Black Wing was a bit of a mad genius, Harry thought. While Amy carried herself and acted like a woman, albeit a woman who could kick arse at a moment's notice, Black Wing always seemed to be doing something, usually inventing something or making something else. He turned slightly green as he remembered how he had seen Black Wing with his arm cut open, etching runes into his bones, and he wondered what would make a person want to do that.
He had asked, despite his revulsion of the idea, and had been told that every single bone in his body, including his skull and finger bones, had been treated in exactly the same manner. He had idly asked whether he would start tattooing runes onto his heart and other organs next, he had been a bit disturbed by how Black Wing seemed to be contemplating it.
The way Black Wing seemed to act and treat things seemed rather different to how a wizard goes about things. Witches and wizards seemed to treat magic almost like a toy or a book or something, they study it and learn about it and then apply it to whatever they want, making it follow what they wish.
Black Wing was more scientific in his approach to magic, studying it, understanding it, pushing the boundaries of what is possible, but also treating it almost as if it was sentient. He had made a magical staff and bow, almost giving magic a brain with which to think, he wove it into his actions and body.
When they'd asked Harry to spar with someone during the sessions he taught, he moved differently to other people. His movements were graceful, ethereal, elegant. It was like Black Wing made his life out of what he was rather than making things he had bend to his way of life, it was a rather interesting dynamic really.
Anyway, they soon made it to Arthur Weasley's office that he shared with Edward Perkins. Both Harry and Amy got some odd looks from the few people they passed on the way, no one was dressed as formally as they were. Harry's robes felt weird on him, but they were at least light weight and comfortable, and they had the Potter crest stitched over the breast.
Amy's robe was rather reminiscent of a dress, one that was rather fitted and followed her curves, and there was some kind of intricate eye symbol where the family crest normally went stitched there in purple. Harry had asked about what that eye symbol meant but he hadn't been able to get a straight answer out of Amy, Black Wing or Holly! They'd told him it was old, thousands of years old, and that it wasn't representative of wizards, but it was representative of Black Wing's family.
Now that they were inside Mr. Weasley's office, Amy did relax slightly and separated into Black Wing and Amy. It was interesting to note that when they separated they were in the clothes they wore before the merge, Harry wondered where they disappeared to since he couldn't see any sign of them.
Holly sat herself on one of the desks and Harry got his first proper look at her up close. She had the same proportions as a human would, if they were that size of course, and she had the appearance of a grown woman in her early to mid twenties. He did notice that she had a very attractive figure, if she was human size then there would undoubtedly be those who lusted after her. Now that he got a close look, Amy's form was actually rather similar to Holly's. The only differences were made by Black Wing's seemingly beyond human nature, like veela allure made beautiful women into goddesses clothed in flesh.
Harry looked up when he heard the door click shut, not having noticed when Black Wing had disappeared out of it. He sighed, he really didn't like it when people kept secrets from him. It can be said that he was something of a hypocrite, keeping things secret himself while trying to find out things other people didn't want known. Some would call it curiosity, others would call it poking his nose where it's not wanted.
Glancing around once more and seeing that he and Holly were alone, as he couldn't see Fran standing there with her large mace in hand, he tried to strike up a conversation with Holly. He wasn't really focusing on what he was saying though, his mind was wondering what business Black Wing could have in the Ministry of Magic, especially one in a different world than he originated.
xxxxx
Black Wing was making his way down to the Department of Mysteries as quickly and quietly as he could. With his new ability to became physically untouchable and the invisibility cloak from his own world thrown over his shoulders, there was little that could even notice him right then.
That didn't mean he was going to be careless though, he had disillusioned himself and added scent erasing charms, silencing charms and a variety of other stealth spells to himself to make his disappearance as complete as he possibly could. It would do no good if someone saw him, no matter how few people there were around to actually take notice of him.
It felt odd wearing the cloak, incomplete. He had noticed how, on the few occasions when he actually did wear it, he had felt an unconscious need to hold the other two deathly hallows in his hand, but he ignored it. He knew that becoming an avatar of death had changed him, he didn't know how far he'd changed though.
Before he had known what was going on, when he had gotten those flashes of 'something' before, he had been wondering how far it would develop. Now, it was one thing that he almost hated. Whereas before he could get a general impression of someone's soul, which direction they leaned in, now it was like he could know them intimately with but a single glance.
Before he had looked at Shirou and had gotten the impression of a sharp blade, one that existed to be wielded in defence of someone else. After that he had started seeing something else, a desert covered in blades sticking point down, gears hanging in the sky, a reality marble. Now though, now he could look at someone and see glimpses of their past, experience things that they had, know what they knew.
It was worse with Fran and Len, two people who he was closely connected to through his command seals and spent a lot of his time, nearly all of it, in their company. He didn't know how to tell them what he knew, that he had pretty much experienced their lives and that he understood them as no one else could!
How do you say to someone that you know everything that has ever happened to them in their entire lives? How they felt at those times? What emotions they attached to those experiences? How their minds had worked at those moments in time? How do you tell someone that you have seen the world through their eyes?
It was much more invasive than legilimency and it seemed that no one had even noticed it happening, meaning that there was no way for them to try and build a defence against it. He had managed to get something of a hold on it though, limiting it so he could look at someone and know their age, their name, their element and origin and that was it.
It was interesting to note that it had been through this method, rather than the regular one, that he had found out what Satsuki's element and origin were. Her element was Ether and her origin was Nothing, a rather interesting combination. It was no wonder that she had developed a reality marble like Depletion Garden, it gave her a supreme advantage over any opponent who relied on spells to win something.
In some ways, her Depletion Garden trumped Fran's Galvanism. Whereas Fran was empowered by non-physical attacks of any kind, Satsuki would simply make any spell fail around her. Depletion garden was one of the most efficient methods they had to get rid off his Patronuses, they simply ceased to exist in her garden.
Black Wing's gaze flickered to Liz whom only he could see, in her astralised state at least. He did find it a little amusing that it was the Servant that had difficulty finding the master right now rather than the other way round, she was relying completely on the mental connection she maintained with him to keep track of where he was right now.
Anyway, they headed down to the ninth level which was where the Department of Mysteries was located. They weren't going to be here long, it wasn't like they had an infinite amount of time with which to explore the place, but they had certain tasks that they were most definitely going to do.
First and foremost was the switching of the prophecies, that was the primary goal right now. Second was to search the place for anything useful, there must be something interesting in the 'Department of Mysteries' after all. Third was to see what kind of information they had that could be useful to him, hopefully he'd find some spells or something that he wouldn't be able to find anywhere else.
He was amused when they reached level nine, and how messed up was it that the Atrium was on the eighth level of all places, and the elevator voice merely declared it to be the 'Department of Mysteries' and didn't give any additional information.
Black Wing used Structural Analysis in the general area, a spell he was becoming extremely well-acquainted with to the point it was sort of becoming a sort of personal radar for him, and found one member of the Order of the Phoenix standing guard under an invisibility cloak. It wasn't anyone he recognised, not someone he'd paid attention too, and so he completely ignored him.
Black Wing, in his intangible form, passed through the door to the Department of Mysteries, Liz right behind him, and found himself in a circular room. There were doors all around the outside edge of the room and two of them immediately caught Black Wing's attention.
One door seemed to be pulsing with emotion, love if he got the feeling right. He analysed the door and was rather impressed with the vast quantity and quality of locking charms, spells and wards in place. There were also several mundane methods of keeping a door shut in place as well, making for a heavily fortified door.
Still, there was nothing preventing him from simply walking through the closed door, which he did, to get to the other side. On the other side of the door, he didn't see anything particularly impressive, just a lump of glowing pink rock. He put one hand to it and analysed it, finding it to be the source of the pulsing emotion that he'd felt from the circular room. He shook his head and left, there was nothing useful to him there.
He re-entered the circular room and looked at the other door that had grabbed his attention. This time, both he and Liz stepped through the door together. On the other side, they found the first sign of the unspeakables they'd seen in the department so far.
They had entered a large, rectangular, dimly lit room. There were stone benches, or they could be steps, around the outside which all descended to the sunken pit in the middle of the room. In said pit there was a raised stone dais on which stood an ancient looking and crumbling archway. There was some kind of veil draped across the archway and it was this that the unspeakables in the room seemed to be studying.
Can't they see it? Black Wing mentally asked Liz, he really couldn't believe that he was the only one seeing what he did.
See what? I can feel something at the edge of my senses, something that I'd rather leave alone mind you, but I can't actually 'see' anything unusual. There are wizards examining that stone archway but that is pretty much the extent of what I can see. Liz replied.
Black Wing blinked at her before turning his attention back to what he alone, apparently, could see. Reaching through the veil was a gigantic grey-skinned hand with blunt fingernails. There seemed to be some sort of translucent barrier preventing whatever that hand was attached to from coming further through, but he could clearly see that there was a lot of give in that barrier.
He watched fascinated as the hand passed through one of the unspeakables, seemingly unnoticed, before withdrawing. The next thing he knew, Black Wig saw an enormous eye looking through from wherever that portal, if that was what it was, led to. The large yellow eye, one that filled the full expanse of the veil-covered archway, definitely looked t him and Black Wing forced himself to look away.
Right! Black Wing mentally said to Liz. Let's split up. The quicker we leave this place, the better I'll feel, especially as I'll be far away from whatever that is. I'll head left, you right. If you find something of interest then let me know.
Liz nodded her head and headed straight through a doorway on the left. Black Wing headed to where the prophecies were to make the switch. It wasn't exactly far to go but he kept the row number in mind, number ninety seven. His eyes did flicker over a few of the other prophecy orbs on his way past, but he didn't linger there any longer than he had to.
Once he'd found the appropriate prophecy orb, he hoped his theory about anyone who was Harry Potter could pick it up and not just the one native to that reality. He took a breath and reached out a hand, feeling the identification magic keeping the orb there working.
After a moment, the magic accepted him and Black Wing lifted the prophecy off the shelf and replaced it with the one he'd brought with him for just this purpose. This orb was laced with all sorts of madness and insanity charms, curses and hexes for if Riddle ever did come here himself. He'd managed to discretely acquire a few drops of Harry's blood so he was keyed into it, stopping said spells from affecting him, in case he ever needed to retrieve it but that was it.
He let out a breath once he had teleported the orb away, somewhere safe, and relaxed just a tiny bit. He did look disapprovingly around, wondering if anyone ever bothered to dust in here as the place was absolutely filthy! He looked back and was proud to see his stealth charms holding up, he hadn't left a single footprint which was one of the more unexpected ways to bypass invisibility cloaks.
He left the room and then began searching throughout the department, searching for anything useful. He found a room that seemed dedicated to time and snagged two of the time turners there, one for himself and one to replace the one Hermione broke when they got sent here. Being a muggle-born was hard enough in the wizarding world, it was probably for the best that she could return a functional time turner rather than a broken one.
The next room he found himself in seemed to be full of brains. Now, Black Wing wondered what exactly they could do with them but he didn't really want to use legilimency on them. He settled for what his Soul Sight, as he had thought to call it, could tell him.
Suffice to say, it seemed that these brains had all been taken out of people who had been unspeakables and had died. Perhaps they were working on a way for them to keep contributing to the wizarding world, to put their genius to further uses. Whatever it was, it wasn't important to him.
He then got a mental nudge from Liz which he followed into another room. If he wasn't silenced when he went in there, he would have let out a low whistle. Like with the hall of prophecy, this room was absolutely filled with dust, but the contents seemed to be far more interesting.
The room was filled with 'magical items of unknown powers and origin', ones that were unique and not in circulation on the black market. One dagger in there caught his eye, one that looked like it was meant for ceremonial purposes. Black Wing rubbed the command seals on his arm that were hidden beneath one of his vambraces, the seals seemed to ache just with him looking at it.
It was an odd looking thing, with a zigzag iridescent blade that, while it looked sharp, was incredibly impractical. The hilt and guard was black with red and gold detailing on it. Black Wing didn't know who it might have belonged to but he most certainly recognised the feel of it.
A Noble Phantasm? What in the name of Akasha is something like that doing here? Black Wing wondered in his mind. There is absolutely no way I'm leaving this lying around, there's no telling what humans might try and do with this thing, whatever its function might be. He stored the dagger away in his pendant, where he kept all of his weapons and armour.
Standing up, he took another look around, searching for other things that he would not trust in these humans' hands. A low growl would have been heard from him if he wasn't silenced, as his eyes fell on another weapon. This one, despite never having seen before, was instantly recognisable to him.
A long shaft made up the main body of it but there was a blade at one end, curled inwards like a hook, that was sharpened only on the inside edge. This was a weapon that, if he was capable of it, he would break without a moment's hesitation. Harpe, the weapon used to cut Medusa's head off, was right there in front of him.
It looked rather innocent as it lay there, coated in dust, but there was absolutely no way it was staying here any longer. Harpe was a weapon that prevented any wound it caused healing unless it followed the natural laws. No magic would close the wound, no potion either. Regeneration was useless against a wound caused by that weapon. Black Wing stored that away in his pendant too, not wanting to look upon it any longer than necessary.
He took a calming breath and went back to searching through everything there. While there were other weapons there, Black Wing didn't think them too powerful for human hands and left them alone. There were several interesting looking books there, a few of them written in parselscript, that he decided to take with him. Judging by how much dust had collected in the room, he didn't think that they were doing much where they were.
Once they had finished in that room, they looked elsewhere for anything that might prove useful. In some kind of records room, Harry found a collection of blood samples that caught his eye. He removed a few drops from each one for his own purposes before returning them, still with a sample inside. There were also reports on what the unspeakables had found out about certain things, Metamorphmagi, Animagi, and various other magical abilities that turned up occasionally.
A mental nudge from Len got his attention at around twenty to eight, it seemed that she'd noticed an increase in activity around the Ministry. There were a few of those flying memos that had gotten her attention and she'd managed to catch one, pinning it to the floor and opening it up so she could read it. Black Wing swore in his head, he knew that they might try something. Harry's trial had been switched to eight o'clock in courtroom ten, only twenty minutes from now!
He quickly put everything he had out away and called to Liz to await him at the lower levels, where the courtrooms were. He then utilized the Kaleidoscope to appear in Arthur Weasley's office while still maintaining his invisibility and other stealth charms. He quickly cancelled them, tearing his cloak off and looked Harry dead in the eye through his blindfold. "We need to go, now!"
xxxxx
While Black Wing had been skulking around the Department of Mysteries, Harry had struck up a conversation with Holly. Seeing as she was the only person in the room with him, that he could see, it wasn't surprising that he'd try to talk to her to while away the time.
"So, how long have you been hanging around Black Wing?" He asked, feeling more than a little awkward.
"About a year now, we met early on in his second year at Hogwarts." She replied, wondering just what this other Harry was thinking, Black Wing would never have been this awkward around her. Black Wing would have never been this awkward even around a complete stranger though, his general disregard for regular social interactions meant that he was never awkward around people he didn't know.
"How did that happen then? I'm sorry if this feels like I'm prying, but I just can't imagine how I'd ever meet you." Harry said, wondering exactly that. He had never even seen anything like what Holly was, she was nothing like those Cornish Pixies that Lockhart had let loose in his first class and that was the closest equivalent he had of her.
Holly narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, wondering if he was digging for secrets or just trying to make conversation. "He woke me up." She eventually told him. "I had been asleep for centuries, I was very lonely, and the first person I saw on waking was him." She chuckled a little. "He seemed rather taken aback when the first thing I did was start crying all over him."
"I see, so what exactly is the deal between the two of you? I mean, this is the first time that I think I've ever seen you two apart from each other. Do you go with him everywhere?" He asked the tiny girl.
"Yes, I do. Black Wing is like an anchor for me. Before I met him, Hogwarts castle was what anchored me to reality and I was stuck there permanently." She was also created by the large amount of magic in the area. "With Harry I am able to go wherever he goes, be free to travel as he does. While I am still attached to the castle, even if it doesn't exactly hold any good memories for me, that connection is getting a little weaker every time I am away from there. I don't mind it of course, it means that I am actually free from what I view as imprisonment, but it does ache a little." She told Harry.
What she said was true. She had been created by the large amount of magic in the area and bound to the castle, never being able to go any further than the Entrance Hall. She had not even been able to go outside, that was the most aggravating part of it. There had been such an expanse of colour and life and she had not been able to even touch it, much less be a part of it. The longer she was with Black Wing, the more tenuous her connection to the castle became too. When she completely severed her connection to the castle, she would have Harry link all of the wards directly to the headmaster's office so there wouldn't be another her made to watch over it all, no one deserved to suffer like she had.
"I don't know what it would be like to have someone with me constantly, like you are with Black Wing. I mean, at Hogwarts I almost always have Ron and Hermione with me, but not constantly like you seem to be with him. I think it would drive me mad, not having any time to myself, I'm bad enough at Headquarters where everyone seems to be trying to keep an eye on me." Harry sighed, he had been getting rather irritated by everyone constantly trying to be around him when he'd been pretty much ignored so far this summer. Black Wing was the only exception, only talking to him when he had something important to say.
"If you hadn't already noticed, Black Wing is very different to you." Holly replied mildly. "And besides that, I'm not the only one that's always with him. There's Fran and Liz and Len, we all keep an eye on him together. Fran's the shy one who he can talk to about all of his ridiculous designs, her intelligence is really rather remarkable. Liz is the one who keeps him on his toes, she has a rather dominant personality, and she's the one he gets physical with in his sparring sessions. Len is quiet, like Fran, but unlike the others she simply keeps him company whatever he does. I am his other half, another facet of him if you will. I am always there, ready to give an opinion if he asks it, ready to do whatever he asks of me." She told Harry, her voice getting rather soft towards the end.
"Really?" Harry asked. "At school, it's mostly just me, Hermione and Ron. Hermione's the smart one, she always has an answer for everything, and she's the one who can talk us out of trouble when we've done something stupid. She's also the one with all of the ideas. Ron's the more laid back one, stopping us from wearing ourselves out and always coming through for us just when me need him. I'm the impulsive one, always getting us into trouble, making the decisions." Harry told her.
Holly nodded. "I see. To be honest with you, I really can't see your 'golden trio' working out so well in reality that Black Wing and I come from, the dynamic between the three of you is completely different. Black Wing is smart, very much so, and he has an amazing grasp of magic. There's a reason that he's a teacher, it's because he's very good at what he does. He's driven, he helps others, he does what needs to be done, he doesn't care what others think of him -"
Harry chuckled. "It seems that you've got a bit of a crush on him." The fifteen year old boy was then witness to Holly blushing brightly, not something he had seen before. If she was human size then he would say it was cute, but considering how small she was that thought just felt wrong. "You don't seem to like me though, why is that?"
Holly looked at him flatly for a moment, thinking about all the differences between Harry and Black Wing. If she was back to being stuck where she had been before and both of them had turned up at the same time, would she still have left with Black Wing?
She knew she was being unfair to the older boy by comparing him to the Harry she knew, she couldn't help it though. Black Wing had been her rescuer, her saviour, and she might really be disregarding his flaws and playing up his virtues. When she looked at this Harry, she simply saw what was different between them, the things missing that she liked about Black Wing.
"I know it's unfair to compare the two of you. Despite you two being, supposedly, the same person, you are nothing alike. I guess I should really apologise, when I look at you all I see is what is missing that I like so much about Black Wing. If I was back in that situation I had been and both of you had showed up, I can't say with certainty that I would still have chosen Black Wing over you, which is really messing with my mind right now." She told him.
"I'm sorry." Harry said. "It's just, I'm trying to understand how two people who are supposed to be the same person can be so different. I mean, I know that Black Wing left the Dursleys when he was a kid but there's more to it, I know there is. He's so driven, so motivated, that I am seriously jealous of him. He seems to have an answer for everything, he can make really cool stuff, he's got all of you who he can rely on completely."
Holly nodded her head. "And Black Wing doesn't take any of it for granted, he knows exactly what he's got. If anyone of us, friend or family to him, had a problem then he would drop everything and do whatever he could to help us with it. He really does care and that's one thing that I love about him, the genuineness with which he deals with us. Of course, he doesn't much care for people he doesn't know, but that's just another part of who he is."
Harry smiled. "I've been told that I've got a I'm entirely too reckless, I think I've heard Hermione muttering about my 'saving people thing' once or twice. That's not entirely the same with Black Wing, is it? If it was one of you that was in trouble, one of the ones that he cares about, then he would rush right in and destroy anything that tried to harm you. If it was someone he didn't care for he might alert the authorities or something like that, not bothering to put himself at risk for someone he can't be bothered with."
Holly cheered. "That's it exactly! It's also what makes me feel special, knowing I'm one of the ones that he would move heaven and earth for." Here Holly's expression turns slightly lecherous. "Of course, considering that the majority of the people he would do that for are female, Granger has taken to calling us all 'Harry's Harem'."
Harry spluttered at that, not quite believing what he was hearing. "What? Really? Why would she do a thing like that? I mean, Black Wing doesn't really have a harem, does he?" Harry really didn't know what he would think if the answer was yes, it was something that his mind really couldn't consider. His romantic relationships were limited to his crush on Cho Chang and his date with one of the Patil sisters to the Yule Ball, and the latter wasn't even all that romantic as it was more a 'I'm not allowed to go alone so who the heck can I go with' sort of thing.
Holly's smile grew and it become even more lecherous if that was possible. "Black Wing is completely oblivious to it, and I don't think anyone's likely to enlighten him, but there are a number of females that actually are romantically interested in him. If he ever wises up, it is entirely possible that he will have a harem of his own. It's also entirely possible that the girls will get fed up with waiting sooner or later and jump him, not giving him the option of saying no to them. Like I said before, if one of us wants something then Harry will do his best to get us it. What do you think would happen if he found out some of them wanted him?"
Before Harry really had time to think about that, much less formulate a reply, Black Wing appeared right in front of him. Harry jumped, that couldn't have been apparition because it was completely silent and didn't have the distinctive crack that incoming apparition did.
He heard what Black Wing said though. "We need to go, now!" and stood up as he watched Holly and Black Wing merge again, reforming as Amy. It was interesting to note that, once merged, her hair retook the shape it had been in before, not needing to be done up again.
xxxxx
Amy put a hand on Harry's shoulder and helped him keep his balance as the world shifted around them, taking them to just outside the Department of Mysteries. She then hurried Harry along, down a set of steps, as the lift didn't go all the way down to the larger courtrooms.
"What's going on?" Harry asked, wondering what the rush was seeing as his hearing wasn't for a little over two hours from then and should be taking place on one of the higher levels.
"The time and location of your hearing has changed, it's now set for eight o'clock in courtroom ten. Saying that, this will be another nail in the coffin for them because of their stupidity. The only real reason there might be for using this courtroom is if the entire Wizengamot is meant to be there. Them doing that means they acknowledge you as an adult because that's how adults get their trials." Amy said, her breathing regular despite their rapid pace. "You know what you're supposed to be doing?" She asked him.
"Yeah," Harry replied, a little breathless. "Keep my mouth shut unless directly asked a question, be polite to everyone no matter how much I want to set Black Wing loose an them, don't fidget and don't leave any room for interpretation in my statements, no wiggle room."
"Good boy!" Amy patted him on the head. "We'll have you trained yet."
Harry glared at her for her condescension but it had had the effect she'd been aiming for, Harry's mounting nerves had been calmed a bit. The two of them, and the two astralised Heroic Spirits that Harry couldn't see, came to a stop outside of a grimy dark door with an immense iron lock which Amy immediately pushed open and ushered Harry in before her.
Harry gasped as he stepped into the room, he simply couldn't help it. He recognised the place, it was the same one that he'd been in that time he'd gotten lost in Dumbledore's pensieve. It was here that the Lestranges and Bartemius Crouch Junior had been sentenced for their attack on the Longbottoms, the one that had left both of Neville's parents in Saint Mungo's.
A few people sent Harry glances, a curious one from Amy wondering what his gasp had been for, a disappointed one from Fudge who looked decidedly unhappy that he was here, a glare from a toad-like woman that Harry didn't know, and a smile from Dumbledore who was sitting amongst the rest of the people there.
Harry saw the chair he was supposed to sit in, an uncomfortable thing wrapped in chains, and he made his way over to it and sat down without saying a word. He was going to do his best to make a good impression here and that meant he would do exactly what Amy and Black Wing told him to.
"Now that we are all here," The Minister said. "Let us begin." He looked down the row to someone both Amy and harry recognised, it was Percy Weasley. "Are you ready?" Fudge asked him, it seemed that Percy Weasley was to be the one keeping record of the trial.
"Yes, sir" Percy's eager voice spoke up. Amy was a little sickened by the sound, though she didn't let it show. If Percy Weasley got any further up Cornelius Fudge's backside then he would be climbing out of his mouth! Really, could the boy not think for himself?
"Disciplinary hearing of the twelfth of August," Fudge spoke in a loud voice, the acoustics of the room only serving to make his voice louder. "Into offences committed under the Decree for Reasonable Restriction of Under-age Sorcery and the International Statute of Secrecy by Harry James Potter, resident at number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey."
He then started announcing people and indicating them as he called their names. "Interrogators: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Under-secretary to the Minister. Court Scribe: Percy Ignatius Weasley." He then raised an eyebrow and looked at Amy.
"Acting as advisor and defendant of the accused: Amethyst Stheno Velvet." Amy introduced herself in a clear voice. Unlike Fudge who had said everything so far in a loud voice, Amy's voice was firm, clear and sharp without it being too loud. A few people were also giving her looks, probably wondering just who she was. Harry noticed several people looking at that weird eye emblem on her chest, no one there seemed to know what family it was supposed to represent or wherever else it came from.
Amy had conjured up a chair with her staff, which was in her hand, and sat down. Harry wondered for a moment what sort of chair Dumbledore would have conjured up if he had been defending harry, probably something really comfortable. Amy's seat was functional but did not seem to have sacrificed comfort to become so, it had low arms and a high back and was coloured black with some highlights of silver and purple on it.
"Right," Fudge was saying, having lost his train of thought as he stared at the unknown woman. "The charges." He extricated a piece of parchment from a pile in front of himself and read out what was written there. "The charges are as follows: That he did knowingly, deliberately, and in full awareness of the illegality of his actions, having received a previous written warning from the Ministry of Magic on a similar charge, produce a Patronus Charm in a muggle-inhabited area, in the presence of a muggle, on the second of August at twenty-three minutes past nine, which constituted an offence under Paragraph C of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Under-age Sorcery, eighteen seventy-five, and also under section thirteen of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy." He paused for a moment and looked at Harry.
"You are Harry James Potter, of number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey?" Fudge asked, glaring unprofessionally over the top of his parchment. He seemed to get even madder when Harry calmly replied with a yes.
"You received an official warning from the Ministry for using illegal magic three years ago, did you not?" Fudge asked again and, once more, Harry calmly replied in the affirmative.
"And yet, you conjured a Patronus on the night of the second of August?" Fudge asked once more, his face turning beetroot purple as Harry calmly answered his question positively. Amy had to hide a smirk, Harry's calm demeanour was earning him more points with the Wizengamot than Fudge's angry accusations were regardless of what either was really saying.
"Knowing that you are not permitted to use magic outside school while you are under the age of seventeen?" Fudge almost shouted this and Amy watched with amusement as everyone's attention was caught by what Harry said next.
"No." Was all that he said, remaining completely calm as he had so far.
Before Fudge had an opportunity to start ranting again, Amy stepped forwards. "Detailing what crime he has been accused of is unnecessary." She said. "What matters is what he has been accused of and whether the law is to be enforced. There are two charges that he is being accused off, let us deal with them one by one."
Fudge dragged his eyes away from Harry and Amy was disgusted at the way Fudge wet his lips as he ran his eyes over her body. It was completely disgusting and Amy made a mental note to have a very hot shower later to wash away the unclean feeling that stole over her. "How would you do this, Miss Velvet?" He asked her.
"Let us deal with the first charge, the accusation that he cast a spell out of school while being under-age, first. Now, as those who are close enough can see, Mr. Potter here is wearing his family ring. The law states that, if there are no older family males to take up headship of the family and there are none above the age of seventeen with a claim to it, a fifteen year old may become emancipated and take up headship of their house. Seeing as he is wearing the ring, he must be head of the family and therefore exempt from that particular decree." Amy calmly explained to the Wizengamot.
"That may be so right now," Fudge replied. "But we cannot know whether he acquired that ring before or after the event in question. For all we know, he could have become emancipated this morning so I'm afraid the charge still stands." Amy smiled at that, some would say it was a little predatory but nowhere near as bad as Black Wing's could be.
"That is true, Minister, but it does show here and now that he can never be accused of breaking that decree from this point forward." She told him. "There are still other factors that would excuse him that though, other events that emancipated him. Mr. Potter was a participant, and even victor, of the Tri-Wizard Tournament which was held at Hogwarts this last academic year."
Amy's smile grew a little. "Previous tournaments were available to those of all ages, from first years to seventh years, but this tournament was different. A requirement for the most recent tournament was that the participants all be off age, a requirement that was agreed to by the Ministry. Now, there were two representatives of the Ministry present when Mr. Potter's name came out of the goblet, Bartemius Crouch and Ludovic Bagman. Both of these Ministry representatives stated that Mr. Potter had no choice but to compete, thus recognising him as of age."
Fudge began to say something but Amy cut him off. "There is also this particular event to consider. Only an adult can be tried by the entire Wizengamot and what do we have here but the entire Wizengamot? By sitting in judgement and not raising a complaint, everyone here is recognising Harry Potter as an adult which renders the first charge false."
"There is still the second charge!" Fudge shouted, he was grasping at straws now. He looked at this Amy woman and ignored the fact that she was a beautiful young woman he'd like to have as his secretary for a moment, looking at the actual woman. She was intelligent, calm and she was completely confident. Whoever she was and however she'd gotten involved in this case, he knew he was very unlikely to win it now.
"Ah yes, the second charge, the accusation that he broke the Statute of Secrecy and revealed the Wizarding World to a muggle. There was, in fact, a muggle present when the spell was cast, one that already knew about the Wizarding World. Dudley Dursley, son of Vernon and Petunia Dursley, was present. Dudley Dursley is Harry Potter's cousin, as his mother is Lily Potter's sister, and is thus allowed to know of the Wizarding World due to his close familial connection to one Harry James Potter. He is also a resident in the same house as Harry Potter, seeing as his mother has guardianship of said boy, which exempts him from the law in two separate ways." Amy explained calmly and clearly.
Harry looked around he room as subtly as he could and noticed what Amy and Black Wing had meant about their demeanour and attire meaning more than Harry had expected it to. Fudge's little tantrums had some people looking at him askance and in disgust, something that Harry was finding incredibly amusing. The people watching the trial seemed to look approvingly at himself and Amy, neither of them having raised their voices at all during the trial and maintaining their composure throughout.
Having run out of ammunition to throw at Harry, and having not mentioned Voldemort at all and giving him something to latch onto and deny, Fudge was left no recourse but to declare a vote for clearing him of all charges and those in favour of conviction.
It was incredibly easy to see that there were far more hands in the air for clearing him of all charges. There was, in fact, only four hands that went up for conviction. One of those four was Fudge himself, another was the toad-like woman to his side. Harry made sure to memorise all three of them, he had a feeling that these were the ones likely to cause him trouble in the future so it was best he know who they were now, before they actually did something.
xxxxx
Once the trial was over, Harry felt good. Seeing as he hadn't been dreading the experience as much as he otherwise might have been, if he'd not done any preparation for it for example, it wasn't as uplifting a sensation as it could have been, but it felt good regardless.
He was quickly swept out of the door by Amy, before anyone else had left the room, and they waited outside. Amy did cast several misdirection and stealth spells over the two of them, keeping them hidden from they eyes of people that went past. That was until Dumbledore came through the door, surprisingly alone, and the world shifted around them before stopping in Black Wing's room at Grimmauld Place.
Amy separated into Holly and Black Wing, the former flying up to her widened shelf and he latter collapsing on the nearest chair. "I needed to talk to the two of you." Black Wing said, indicating Harry and Dumbledore.
"What about?" Harry asked, a little worried. "Does this have anything to do with what you were doing in the Ministry before the trial?" He couldn't think of any other event that had occurred since the last time he'd talked with Black Wing that would warrant this.
"Kind of, but only partially." Black Wing replied before reaching into a pouch at his waist and withdrawing a folded up piece of parchment. He duplicated it and passed one each to Harry and Dumbledore. Harry unfolded his and took a look at it, seeing nothing but a list of objects, locations and defences. It obviously meant something to Dumbledore though as he took in a sharp breath.
"As you can see, three of them have a line through them. Those are the ones that have already been taken care of so there's no need for you to worry about them. I don't know if he made any more, I actually have my suspicions about that snake of his, but those are the ones he made on or before October thirty-first, nineteen eighty-one." Black Wing said.
"You're sure of this?" Dumbledore asked in a very serious tone of voice that Harry had never heard before. "This is it? This is all of them? You haven't missed one? The numbers add up as we might expect but are you one hundred percent certain that he made exactly this number?"
Black Wing nodded. "If there were any more of them, even Riddle himself isn't aware of their existence. That last one was created accidentally though, so him making one more isn't too much of a stretch. Like I said, I have my suspicions about Nagini. If I were you, I would kill her just to make sure because you don't want to be regretting something so easily solved."
"This is beyond amazing!" Dumbledore exclaimed, seeing some sort of incredible worth in this list that Harry frankly couldn't. "With this alone, you have probably done more good than anyone else in the Order. Thank you, Black Wing, this makes the future look a lot less bleak."
"There is one other thing." Black Wing told them, reaching into that pouch again. He withdrew a glass orb of some kind, Dumbledore seemed to recognise it. "I know what this says and, frankly, it's a bunch of crap. I think it'd be best if you tell him but, once again, that's not actually my business. I replaced it with a fake one that, should he retrieve it, will lead him to suspect his own men. I also laced several madness and insanity curses on it, if he isn't a madman already then they will have interesting effects."
Black Wing was being truthful. While he had not personally heard the prophecy, once it was removed so were the charms protecting it. He had sent it back to the Clock Tower where they had listened to it and they had sent a text to his phone with what it said. So yes, he knew what the prophecy of this world was, but that didn't necessarily mean his world's was the same.
"I think he might very soon have to listen to it, he's a growing boy and acted far more mature today than I had honestly expected him too." Dumbledore's eyes them began to twinkle madly. "I believe that I have you to thank for the many changes that have happened over the last two weeks, it'll be a shame to see you go if you do actually manage to find a way to your home reality."
Black Wing nodded his head. "Zelretch is going to make an attempt to come and retrieve us tonight, be prepared for house guests." He said. "I don't really know how the fidelius is going to work in all of this. They could simply appear within the house and still not know where it is, therefore allowing them to arrive whilst keeping the secret safe, or if something else is going to happen."
There was not much chance of accidents happening really, Zelretch was a master of the Kaleidoscope and he had made sure that they were all in the know regarding the secret. The only thought in Harry's mind was who Zelretch was going to bring with him, it fairly likely that he would at least try and cause a bit of chaos.
"Well," Dumbledore said. "I think that it might well be a good idea to head downstairs. Molly has undoubtedly got something of a feast cooked up and it would be remiss of us to deny the occupants of headquarters a chance to celebrate. I think that I too will indulge just a little, Molly's raspberry tart is to die for."
xxxxx
The party downstairs did end up quite lively. The only one who seemed subdued was Sirius Black, perhaps he had been craving a little company all alone in this house. A quick muttered conversation with Dumbledore though, probably telling him that Harry was going to stay there over summer instead of the Dursleys, did cheer him up quite a bit. Black Wing decided not to tell him about the last task he'd assigned Len before he retrieved her, delivering a letter about one rat animagus to Amelia Bones, and left it as a surprise if anything came of it.
Black Wing was at the edge of the party, hiding in shadows as he tended to do, and his eyes roved over everyone there. There were Weasleys everywhere, red being the most common hair colour for a change, and the twins and Ginny were being particularly loud. He caught sight of a few glances the elder Hermione and Ronald Weasley were sending in each other's direction when one of them wasn't looking, not a pairing he'd ever envisioned himself but to each their own.
Then there came a noise that made the entire party stop. A loud roar resounded through the house and Black Wing heard the pounding of feet upon the stairs. He whirled around and soon found himself pinned to the floor by a chimaera, a chimaera that proceeded to enthusiastically lick his face.
"Carla?" He managed to sputter out, avoiding the slobber that was beginning to coat his blindfold. "Is that you girl?" Another roar, this one somehow managed to sound happy, had Black Wing sighing and shaking his head.
"Naughty Carla!" Another voice spoke up, it was also rather familiar to Black Wing. "No slobbering all over your daddy!"
Black Wing groaned. "Arcueid! I'm not Carla's daddy, no matter what you say or how she acts."
"Yes, you are!" The ever cheery voice of the last remaining True Ancestor called back before Black Wing felt Carla's weight being lifted off him. He quickly cast a few cleaning spells to get rid of all the slobber and looked up to see who arrived.
"Happy to see us, little bro?" Euryale asked before a mischievous glint appeared in her eye. She grabbed Stheno and dragged her towards Harry who was still on the floor so that the two of them collapsed on him and embraced him in a hug.
"Hey you two, nice to see you again." He smiled fondly at his sisters.
"Aww, what about the rest of us?" Altrouge asked, looking down at the tangle of limbs and purple hair.
Black Wing chuckled. "Nice to see you as well, Altrouge, Arcueid, Liz, Len, Fran." The latter three had mingled with the new arrivals so it looked like they had come with them.
"Well, if they get a hug then why don't we?" Liz asked, a big smile on her face as she dragged Fran into the Gorgon group hug. Len followed of her own free will and Arcueid soon dragged Altrouge into it. Waver just smiled fondly at the big tangle of bodies on the floor, amused by the expressions on the faces of everyone else in the room.
"Are you going to join them, Aoko?" He asked the woman stood next to him. She raised an eyebrow at him, looked down at the pile of rather powerful beings and looked back at him.
"Nah, I might smudge my make-up." She replied. Waver could tell it was simply an excuse but he didn't exactly want to get involved with the tangle himself either so it was more than understandable. He shook his head and looked to Zelretch, the only other one apart from Holly who had abstained from the enthusiastic greeting.
Zelretch looked down at Harry then over towards the younger Hermione. "Well, are you all ready to go home?" He asked.
