6-06
I had contact lenses which meant I could do more work on my glasses. Using Gringotts as my proxy I got the required glasses, Goblin grade steel and glass that looked identical to my glasses and with them I split my time between my mind, my body, my plans and crafting the enchantments I wanted on my spells.
Every time we got the chance to, Aunt Petunia and I went out, even taking trips to the theatre and the cinema. The next day I had to worry about Knockturn again, though this time chose to work better, choosing instead to pose as an owl with a letter and changing form when I was in the shop.
It didn't work too well because a spell was shot in my direction as I flew out of Knockturn, even large birds tailing me. As I ran, I started thinking that perhaps the shop owner might have been in cahoots with the people chasing after me, but at this point that wouldn't help.
A series of hoots and I disappeared. I wasn't followed.
I started my work on the golem, my wand doing the work of crafting the Oak blocks into humanoid shapes that met my rough specifications. It was daunting work until I noted my own stupidity, instead of doing the task myself I could enchant an object to do so, I would just have to work out the specifications beforehand which might take a little longer since I didn't know much about working with wood.
While visiting the city with Aunt Petunia I visited a sculpture, consulting him on how he might work with a block of wood to make a sculpture of me and taking his notes on it, even buying some of his tools. Enchanting the tools to work, even the chisel to draw out the inscriptions that would litter the golem took a little more doing but in four hours I was done and I could do other things with my time.
"There's been an attack," said Kingsley that night. It wasn't a full meeting, just myself, Aunt Petunia, Moody and Remus. "Parkinson Manor. Every sign points to Dumbledore."
"You didn't see anything?" asked Moody.
Kingsley shook his head. "But I wasn't there. The moment he broke through the wards the Trace was activated. Aurors arrived to find the Mr and Mrs Parkinson severely hurt though not critical. They're in custody now."
"Have they been questioned yet?" I asked.
"They're being looked over by medics," said Kingsley. "I used the lull to report. Their memories will be looked over when we get the go ahead."
"That's if Su hasn't put up any countermeasures," I said. "She wouldn't have liked it, staying there. It's dangerous. They can be tracked. And the Parkinson knowing could ruin the secrecy they've managed to shroud around themselves."
"I'll tell the others to be careful," said Kingsley. "But I should get back. It's only so long that I can escape notice."
Moody nodded and the man left.
"Dumbledore didn't ask for help," I said, silence had broken between all of us. "He's being reckless."
"He no doubt thinks this is fault," said Moody. "Especially with how his sister died. Not mention the obvious. He's dying and he might want to go out in a blaze of glory."
"That doesn't sound like Dumbledore," said Remus, his voice grave.
"It does, actually," I said. "Dumbledore seems too willing to die most times," there was frustration in my voice as I said this. "How he's dealing with the Voldemort's curse is a sure sign of that. If he wanted, he could be thinking of how to disable the curse, instead he's getting his affairs in order, delegating the most important tasks."
"Or maybe he's tired," said Aunt Petunia. We all looked at her at that. "Dumbledore's fought three wars, and from what he's said Grindewald was a friend of his. At this point he might be tired of it all, wanting to leave it to the younger generation," she said gesturing at me, "and those that take a trill from that atmosphere," this was said with a gesture at Moody.
"That would explain quite the bit, actually," said Moody, his voice of musing. "But Dumbledore isn't what we should be focusing on. He's focusing on finding his brother, which means he'll be emotional, he won't be looking for Su. Potter, you know her best, what do you think she'll be doing?"
"Still in hiding," I said. "She hasn't done much so far because of the very big limitation on her, the same limitation I think many of us went to Hogwarts for."
"The Trace," said Remus.
I nodded. "It really limits the amount of magic we can perform," I said. "And if I were in here position, fearing that one of the more powerful wizards was coming after me, I'd work to put it out of play."
"That's a good start," said Moody. He stood. "I'll start working on that, the rest of you should return to what you were doing. Potter, I'd hurry what you were doing along. Now seems the best time to get things done, Dumbledore attacking the Parkinsons will work in your favour too."
I nodded at that and that night I put more work on my mind. Working in memories that I internally blurry with age, others moved to the point that they had more emotion behind them than actual images. I fortified the internal shield while creating cracks on the outer ones. When moody was testing the effect out he would do more damage which meant I didn't have to focus so much on those.
The enchanted tools were done with drawing out the effigies by morning. Woodworks that had my rough shape but with lines running through them, all the lines rigid and from the large hole were the heart of the heart should be. From my bag I pulled out three large balls filled with small explosions at intervals.
With a breath I punched the first one and my hand passed through. The pain was immense, not the explosions but the effect that the orbs had, taking my blood and leaving me all the weaker for it. I pulled out my hand when the edges of darkness started taking over my vision, sweat lining my forehead and my breath coming out in pants.
I took the Blood Replenishing Potion and almost immediately felt better. I didn't give the effect more time to take hold because I plunged my arm into another of the orbs, repeating the process when I was done with the second orb. When I was done with that I drank another dose of the Blood Replenishing Potion and Invigoration drought.
I placed each of the orbs in their respective effigies and they glowed, the lines filling with colour before they flashed, between one second and another turning into me.
"Thank Merlin that worked without a hitch," I said. Tomorrow would be the harder part, crafting 'wands' that would complete the image I wanted to set. But before then I would have to find out more about what had happened in Parkinson Manor.
The next day Auror Furrow was at base making a report. The Prophet and Herald had already covered the news, both even going into the investigations that were in the works. It seemed the Herald was gradually forcing the prophet to more transparent in an effort to stay relevant. There was even a note within the Daily prophet that a Wizengamot meeting was going to held to establish new legislation to monitor withdrawals and proxy transactions from Gringotts.
"…but we can't see anything," the Auror was saying. "There's word that we'll be asking the Unspeakables for help on the matter. I think, with the way things are going, they might become more active in their dealings."
"Good, good," said Moody. "We'll stay on the watch. Be careful out there."
"I will," the woman said and she started to leave.
"Before you go," I said. "The Parkinson property. Are you done investigating it?"
"No," she said with an amount of confusion on her. "The place is pretty big and we're going slow. An Auror touched something nasty last night, we're not about to make that same mistake again."
"I wonder if you might do something for me," I said, a plan forming. "To help me structure my innocence."
"Of course, Mr Potter," the Auror said and I quite liked that. They weren't my people, but I could use them.
"I created a golem," I told her. "I want it to be found there. It will create enough questions and there's a small chance of it being hidden with the leak existing to the Herald."
The woman looked worried but she nodded. "It will be tricky," she said. "But I think I can do it."
"I'll give you one of the golem," I said. The other I would use to make a public spectacle. We had to charm a bag to fit the thing but that didn't take too much time.
"Do you think it's a good idea returning to Hogwarts with everything that's going on?" Moody asked. "You might be more help out here."
"I doubt that," I said. "Everyone seems to be doing their own thing and it's only so long before I get stir crazy in this place. More so with the Trace."
"And maybe some revenge where the Society's concerned, uh?" Moody asked, a glint in his eye.
"That would be biting off more than I can chew," I told him. "Not mentioning that they're actually working to figuring out this entire mess. At the very least I don't want to do that. It would be nice to show off that they've left me stronger, though, a phoenix story and all that."
"Seems to me like you're getting too stuck in the short term when you could be focusing on the long," said Moody.
"Respectfully, we have different ideas of what the long term is," I said, keeping the tightness out of my voice.
Moody just shrugged. "You should be careful with whatever it is you're doing," he said. "The Unspeakables and I have succeeded is pulling back the effect of your spell."
"That was fast," I said.
"I'm that good," said Moody with a gruff grin. "And I couldn't act otherwise without suspicion."
Moody left and I completed the work on my glasses.
