Everything is Relative
by Teddylonglong
All recognizable Harry Potter characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story. I am merely borrowing the characters to play with them.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
Warnings: Completely AU, partly OOC.
Albus had just reached out for two small bags of lemon drops, when he felt a distinctive pull behind his navel and inwardly groaned upon sensing the unwanted Portkey. It was no surprise for him that he found himself in a dark dungeon room. 'Probably Malfoy Manor or some other Death Eater place,' he thought, as he cast a strong invisibility charm at himself, regretting that he was not in the possession of the Elder Wand anymore, and swiftly transformed into his phoenix form, knowing that he would be able to flash away instantly.
'First of all, I want to find out where I am,' he decided in determination, as he carefully explored the cellar in his phoenix form. 'Lestrange Manor,' he finally realised. Quickly transforming back, he sent Patroni to Amelia Bones and Unspeakable Croaker, both of them equipped with a tracking charm that would enable them to detect the origin of the Patronus. 'That way, they'll be able to find the manor and arrest the Lestranges,' he thought, contentedly, as he transformed back into his phoenix form and simply flashed into his office. 'Usually, I'd gather the Order of the Phoenix and join the Aurors in their task, but considering that I was the victim here, it might be wise to stay away,' he thought, as he made himself comfortable behind his desk.
"Twinkle," he called his most trusted personal house-elf. "Please alert Percy that I am back and ask him to come into my office for a moment."
"Of course, Master Albus," Twinkle replied, bowing deeply, before he popped away, soundlessly.
A moment later, Percy Weasley, his undersecretary, entered his office, giving him a surprised look.
"I flashed straight into my office," Albus answered the silent question and, after confirming with a quick and unobtrusive Legilimency spell that the young wizard knew nothing about his predicament, told him what had happened.
"They abducted you to Lestrange Manor?" Percy blurted out in apparent shock.
"Whoever did this, and I secretly suspect Bellatrix," Albus replied, chuckling, "apparently did not know that I am a phoenix Animagus."
"Thank Merlin," Percy breathed, seemingly sincere.
"Please speak with Amelia Bones, if she is available, and make sure that she sent enough Aurors to capture the Lestranges. I hope that they're going to be back at Azkaban later today," Albus instructed him, causing the younger wizard to leave his office in apparent determination.
'He is absolutely trustworthy, just like his parents, and makes a good undersecretary,' Albus thought, feeling pleased with his own choice.
HP
Harry turned around in shock, his mind screaming, 'A third wife? I don't want to be a freak anymore.' His mind seemed to completely stop working upon seeing the girl in front of him. She had long, blond hair with baby blue eyes and the most charming smile that he had ever seen.
"Hello," he said, shyly.
"Hello Harry," she replied. "You probably don't know who I am, but I am Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw fifth-year."
"Hello Luna," Harry said, returning the smile.
"Excuse me, Luna," Hermione spoke up, questioningly, "What did you just tell Harry?"
Luna gave the older girl a dreamy look. "That I wouldn't mind becoming his third wife after you and Susan," she explained, airily. "You must know that I sometimes see things, which is why I know about you."
Hermione sighed, before she replied, "While I know you from studying in the library, Harry doesn't know you at all. I believe that you should get to know each other before making any decisions of such importance."
Harry nodded, before he heard himself speak up. "Meet us in front of the Great Hall after breakfast tomorrow. We're going to spend the day with my family if you don't mind."
"I'm looking forward to getting to know Hogwarts Manor," Luna replied, grinning broadly, before she skipped ahead like a young foal.
Harry looked at Hermione quirking an eyebrow in silent question.
"She's nice, even if a bit strange," Hermione informed him in a hushed voice. "Just get to know her," she advised him, smiling, only to add, "I've spoken with her a couple of times. The Ravenclaws seem to harass her because of her strange behaviour. Apparently, they take her things and hide them, but when I told her to go and speak with a professor, she always refused."
"We'll see about that," Harry replied, grimly. "As the owner of Hogwarts, I'll see to it that no one will be harassed within the castle, at least if it's not their own fault," he decided.
"You're the best," Hermione commented, making him realise that he had thought aloud.
HP
After dinner, Harry headed straight to the founders' quarters, closely followed by his friends. "Please go ahead," he instructed them. "I just wish to speak with Hogwarts for a moment."
Everyone nodded and, to Harry's relief, no one insisted on accompanying him, probably sensing that he wished to be alone for a while.
"Hogwarts," he greeted the castle, who replied in her usual, soft voice.
"Harry, my boy, how nice of you to visit an old lady."
"I need your advice," Harry replied in a soft voice, instinctively looking up towards the ceiling, which he always did when speaking to the castle in the parlour. "It came to my attention that one of the Ravenclaw fifth-years is being harassed by her house-mates. Do you know anything about this?"
"Luna Lovegood," Hogwarts replied without even pondering the matter. "She is a good girl, just a little eccentric, which her house-mates do not appreciate. Yes, they take her belongings and hide them. I usually help her find them again without her knowing about the matter, but still. I do not like this kind of behaviour from my students."
"Thanks for telling me," Harry said, pensively. "I'll speak with the extended family about the matter."
"Do you want me to share a memory with you?" Hogwarts offered, unexpectedly.
"Is that even possible?" Harry asked, wide-eyed.
"Yes," the castle reassured him, shortly. "Do sit down and close your eyes."
Harry chose the most comfortable of the chairs the room was equipped with and obediently closed his eyes. An instant later, a scene began to play at the front of his mind. He found himself in what seemed to be the Ravenclaw common room, and he observed in growing frustration how one small, half-naked girl had to verbally defend herself from a group of about ten older witches. While it was not as violent as some of his visions from Voldemort, he found it outright disgusting.
"Thanks for sharing this with me," he said, once the scene ended. "I will show this to the professors. I assume that this was not a single case."
"No dear," Hogwarts replied in a grave voice.
"Hogwarts," Harry asked, thoughtfully, "do you know of more cases of abuse like this?"
"No Harry, Luna's case is fortunately the only case of which I know," the old castle replied, gently.
"Excuse me, Hogwarts, but I must ask you this," Harry asked, letting out a deep sigh, "why did you never tell me about this?"
The castle joined in his sigh, before she replied, softly. "I'm sorry, Harry, but I don't know. Perhaps I couldn't tell you, because you didn't know the girl, but I'm not sure about it. You should ask Rowena or Godric. Perhaps they will have an explanation for you. Thanks for trying to help Luna. She is a nice girl and doesn't deserve this treatment from her house-mates."
"Is it always the girls from this vision who do this to her?" Harry enquired and, upon receiving a positive response, excused himself and returned home.
HP
"Harry, what happened?" Petunia asked, apparently noticing how upset he was.
"I just learned that a girl has been harassed and at least verbally abused by her housemates for years," Harry replied in a firm voice. "Could you please call the heads of the houses here?"
"Of course," Petunia replied and swiftly sent out four dog Patroni to the professors, causing Harry to wonder about her Patronus form. 'I never noticed that her Patronus was a canine,' he thought, as he absentmindedly sat on the sofa next to Sirius. 'Perhaps because of Dudley's Animagus form,' he realised, 'considering that Vernon doesn't have one. It's too bad that there's no way to give him magic. He's really great now.'
His mind returned to reality, when Minerva, Severus and Filius arrived. "What happened?" Severus enquired in a soft, silky voice.
"I must show you a memory that Hogwarts gave me," Harry spoke up, sighing, as he concentrated on the spell, which Rowena had told him a few weeks ago. He made the memory float over the tip of his wand for the extended family to watch.
"I can't believe it," Minerva blurted out in apparent anger, once the scene ended. "Filius, please fetch Miss Lovegood into my office. Severus and Harry, please accompany me. Petunia, please have the elves prepare a room here at the Manor in case Miss Lovegood wants to stay here with us, as it's obvious that she can't remain in Ravenclaw."
Everyone swiftly followed the headmistress' instructions, and twenty minutes later, Harry was seated in Minerva's office, observing how Xenophilius Lovegood, whom Minerva had just floo called, elegantly stepped out of the fireplace.
"Daddy!" Luna blurted out in apparent surprise, as she entered the office behind her head of house.
"What happened?" her father enquired, giving his daughter a sharp look.
However, Luna merely cast him a dreamy smile, as she settled into the empty seat next to Harry.
"It came to our attention that Luna's Ravenclaw housemates are not behaving like they should towards you," Minerva addressed Luna.
"Ah, but that's all right. They call me Loony, but otherwise…" The girl slowly trailed off.
"Miss Lovegood, I don't think that it's all right," Severus spoke up in a soft voice. "Hogwarts showed Harry a memory, and neither Hogwarts nor Harry were pleased with your housemates' behaviour. Neither are the professors."
"Exactly," Minerva agreed. "We have called you here to confirm that several girls from your house regularly verbally abuse you and to ask you if you still wish to remain in Ravenclaw tower, as there are other possibilities."
"You could, for example, stay with us at Hogwarts Manor," Harry spoke up in a soft voice.
Luna looked up with an apparent combination of surprise and what seemed to be hope. "I'd like that," she replied, airily, casting Harry a grateful look.
"Mr. Lovegood, Harry and his family are living at Hogwarts Manor, where several of our staff also use to spend their free time," Minerva turned to their guest. "If you don't mind, Luna is very welcome to have her own room at the manor."
"Of course, I don't mind, but doesn't she have to stay in her dormitory in Ravenclaw?" Luna's father replied in apparent surprise.
"Harry and his cousin Dudley, for example, are both Gryffindors; however, due to problems with one of their Gryffindor housemates, they are living at the manor," Minerva explained. "Their housemates believe that they're staying in the founders' quarters at Hogwarts, which however, is connected to the manor by a shortcut door."
"Luna, is that what you wish?" her father asked, gently.
"Yes Daddy," Luna replied, simply. "Thank you, Harry and Professor McGonagall," she added, smiling.
"Dobby," Harry called the always eager elf, who appeared without further ado, and instructed him, "Please fetch Luna's belongings from Ravenclaw and take them to her room at Hogwarts Manor."
"Yes Harry," Dobby simply replied and popped away, only to return a minute later, informing him, "Mistress Luna's belongings were scattered all over the castle, but they're in her own room now."
Harry opened his mouth to thank the elf; however, Luna beat him to it. "Thank you so much, Dobby," she said in a soft voice, smiling at the elf, who returned a broad smile and popped away with a loud crack.
"Excuse me, Professors," Xenophilius Lovegood spoke up, "first of all, I wish to thank all of you for your help in this matter, and secondly, may I perhaps speak a few words with Luna in private?"
"Of course," Minerva replied, immediately. "Harry, since Luna needs you to take her to the manor, will you please see to it?"
"Yes," Harry confirmed, nodding his head, and motioned the Lovegoods to follow him. "These are the founders' quarters," he explained, as he led them into the living room, grateful that the founders immediately let them in, even if his two guests had never in the founders' rooms before. "Please make yourself comfortable here, and when you're finished, please inform the founders in the painting, and they will call me over."
"All right. Thank you very much," Mr. Lovegood replied, as he and his daughter made themselves comfortable on the sofas around the fireplace, where Winky just served tea and an assortment of biscuits.
'What an end to an already strange day,' Harry thought, when he retreated to the manor, where Amelia had just returned from work.
HP
"What kept you so long, and on a Saturday at that?" Sirius enquired, as he gently laid his arm around his wife's back.
"Albus Dumbledore was kidnapped to Lestrange Manor," Amelia replied, sighing. "Fortunately, he is a phoenix Animagus and as such was able to get away, before the Lestranges even noticed his arrival. Before leaving the place, he sent Patroni to Croaker and me with tracking charms attached, so that I could gather a contingent of my Aurors and arrest all three Lestranges as well as Corban Yaxley, who was together with them. They're all back in Azkaban now." She leaned into Sirius' embrace, letting out a deep sigh.
"Does it make sense to put them back into the prison?" Sirius asked, sharply. "Voldemort will only go and free them again anyway."
"Moody, Croaker and I are just discussing the matter with Dumbledore," Amelia replied, sighing again. "Croaker suggested sending already convicted Death Eaters right into the death chamber in the Department of Magical Mysteries; however, Dumbledore insists on giving everyone a chance to live and refuses to have them killed. I hope Croaker and Moody will be able to talk some sense into him, especially considering what happened to himself this afternoon."
"How did she manage to capture Albus?" Pomona enquired, who had just entered the parlour after Harry, in apparent disbelief.
"Apparently, she had turned all lemon drops at Honeydukes to Portkeys that would activate by Albus' signature, and when he went to buy some lemon drops, the Portkey activated and took him to the dungeons of Lestrange Manor," Amelia explained, only to add, "Why in the world he chose to go into Hogsmeade on a Hogsmeade day I don't know."
"Reckless," Pomona muttered, seemingly more to herself than to the others.
"Harry," Rowena suddenly addressed him from the painting. "Luna and her father have finished their conversation."
"Thanks," Harry replied, smiling, and swiftly stepped through the connecting door into the founders' quarters.
HP
"Mr. Lovegood, you can take the fireplace if you wish," he addressed the older wizard, pointing out the small box in form of a canine that held the Floo powder.
"I shall do that," Lovegood replied, seemingly grateful. "Thank you so much for what you've done for my daughter tonight. I very much appreciate it."
Harry shrugged. "It was the natural thing to do," he replied in a soft voice. "I'd have acted much sooner if I had only known about it."
"Thank you, Harry," Luna echoed, smiling softly.
Together, they watched how Mr. Lovegood stepped into the fireplace and flooed away, before Harry led Luna into Hogwarts Manor and introduced her to his extended family. To his surprise, Lucy immediately walked over to Luna and gently licked her hands in an apparently approving welcome. He was even more surprised upon realising that he did not even have to introduce the canine, when Luna said in a soft voice, "Hello Lucy."
HP
"Considering how late it already is, let me just show you to your room," Petunia addressed the girl and led her to the room, which Winky had added to the Dursleys' quarters. "You could have your own room on the third floor just like, for example, Hermione and Hannah," she explained; "however, I thought that you might prefer staying here with my husband and me, Harry and Dudley, considering that you're going to be a permanent resident here in contrary to the other girls, who usually stay in their dormitories overnight."
"Thank you, Mrs. Dursley," Luna replied, seemingly grateful.
"Please just call me Petunia, dear," Petunia replied and called Winky. "Winky, this is Luna. This is Winky," she introduced the two of them, before adding, "If there is anything else you need, please just call Winky, and she'll help you."
"Thank you, Petunia. Thank you, Winky," Luna replied, smiling happily. "Good night."
'She seems nice, even if a little strange, but we're a strange family anyway,' Petunia thought, as she returned to the parlour, where Sirius was just scolding Amelia for working too much.
HP
"You should take better care of our little one," Sirius just said, when Petunia entered the room.
"Excuse me? Little one? Did I miss something?" she asked, feeling excited at the idea of possibly having a baby at the manor soon.
"Yes, we're expecting a baby," Amelia admitted, smiling. Turning to Sirius, she replied, "From the beginning of the new year onwards, Alastor Moody will come back from retirement and take my position until I'll be able to return to work. Are you happy now?"
"Very," Sirius replied, grinning broadly, before he leaned over capturing her mouth with his own.
"Disgusting," Dudley mumbled, glancing at Harry, who nodded his agreement.
"Isn't it time for the two of you to go to bed?" Petunia spoke up, glancing at the boys.
"Not yet," Harry contradicted, seemingly thoughtful. "Today, I noticed something really strange, and I'd like to ask everyone about it," he explained, just when Minerva and Filius entered the room, wearing grim expressions.
tbc...
Thank you so very much for the kind reviews for the previous chapter. Please let me know what you think of this chapter and what you expect from this story. Any ideas or opinions are welcome. My muse really appreicates the feedback.
Next chapter: "The second magic potion".