Avian Anarchy
by Teddylonglong
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling or Disney, 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, magically powerful Harry. Dumbledore/Weasley bashing.
Harry and Luna led Ariana into the screen room, where everyone was assembled. They eagerly greeted Harry's cousins as well as Minerva and Severus, who had arrived from Hogwarts in the meantime. After they introduced Ariana to everyone, Lily transformed into her human form and stepped in front of the screen. "Ariana, who is it that we're looking for?"
"Tom Riddle," the ghost replied in a soft voice.
"Tom Riddle?" Minerva spoke up, staring at Ariana in apparent disbelief. "He is the man who calls himself Lord Voldemort."
Ariana nodded, giving Minerva a look that Harry could not fully understand. 'Guilt?' he wondered.
"He is not Lord Voldemort. He's just Tom. He's nothing like he appears to be. Everything was just because of the Imperius Curse. Lord Voldemort is nothing more than a construct of my brother."
"What?" Minerva's eyes narrowed.
"Ariana." Luna cast the girl a gentle smile. "Will you please tell us everything from the beginning, so that we'll be able to understand and then help you as efficiently as possible?"
Severus quickly excused himself, stating that they would find them in the lab if they needed him.
"Do you need assistance, sir?" Annika smiled at his retreating form.
"Is your presence not required here?"
Harry gave his cousin a reassuring nod. "I don't think so. We'll inform you later."
"Thanks Harry."
"Then I will gladly accept the offer. A potions master is always glad for valuable assistance."
Lily chuckled, as Annika and Severus strode away together. "Don't misunderstand me, Harry. I am really happy for the two of them. I only feel sorry for them, because they'll have to wait for two and a half years, before they can openly admit to their feelings."
"They what?" Minerva looked at the younger witch in apparent bewilderment. Seeing Minerva, Harry, Luna and Dudley nod, she added, "Oh well, that's the best news I've heard in ages. I am very happy for Severus, too. He really deserves some happiness."
Ariana was hovering in front of Merlin's portrait. "May I begin now? I wish to get over with it. Perhaps, you'll all detest me after what I did."
"We won't." Luna cast her a reassuring smile. "We know that it was not your fault but your brother's."
Ariana began to speak in a small voice that made everyone listen intensely. "When I was fourteen, I was stuck by a curse from Albus in a duel between him, Aberforth and Gellert. I believe that it was only by accident. He didn't intend to kill me, but it happened. Shortly afterwards, Albus became a professor at Hogwarts, and Aberforth became the owner of the Hog's Head. I then spent all my time with Aberforth and his goat.
"I don't know how long I was dead, but I suppose it was at least thirty years, when Albus suddenly came to see me. Without any explanation, he cast an Unforgivable spell at me."
"I thought ghosts were not affected by spells?" Dudley looked at Ariana, wide-eyed.
Ariana shrugged. "I don't know why, but I was affected. Perhaps it has to do something with the way how I died or whatever. I don't know. Anyway, he made me do very bad things and instructed me to come back to the place every Sunday morning, so that he could refresh the curse."
"What did he make you do, and what does it have to do with Tom Riddle?" Minerva's usually firm voice seemed uncharacteristically shaken.
Ariana let out a deep sigh. "Everything. Tom was just only sixteen at the time. The first thing I had to do was to cast the Imperius curse at him to make the basilisk go into the school and kill the muggleborns." A tear leaked from Ariana's eyes, as she continued. "One student died, and everyone was horrified, but that was not enough for my dear brother. He made me turn Tom, who seemed to be a very nice boy…"
"He was." Minerva's expression was grim.
"… into the Dark Lord. Through me, Albus arranged for Tom to do evil things, call himself Lord Voldemort, kill people." Looking at Lily, she began to sob. "I'm so very sorry."
"Don't be." Luna's voice was surprisingly firm, as she gently laid her arm around the ghost's back, only to state, "You're not like usual ghosts. You have a tiny bit of a body. Perhaps, that's why it's possible to cast spells at you. Anyway, nothing of this is your fault."
"I urgently need to go and explain everything to Tom."
"I shall accompany you." Everyone looked at Minerva in surprise. "He was my boyfriend, when the incident occurred. Afterwards, he was not himself anymore. All this time, I've been wondering what happened. I couldn't believe that he did what he was said to have done, although everything spoke against him."
Harry let out a deep sigh. "How can we prevent him from casting some kind of curse at Ariana, before she can explain everything to him then?"
"Before I left Riddle Manor the last time, I cast a strong sleeping spell at him," Ariana admitted. "I am not trained in magic, but my magic is still strong, even as a ghost, and I am capable of wish magic. So, he should still be asleep."
"Perhaps, we could ask Santa if there was any way that the North Fir Tree could help Ariana, before she goes and meets Tom?" Dudley gave Merlin a questioning look.
'I didn't even realise that he was here,' Harry thought, as he followed Dudley's gaze. The ancient wizard, who used to be fast to voice his opinion, had remained absolutely quiet the whole time.
"Santa will ask Ariana to clean up everything first." Merlin sounded thoughtful, as he spoke, while his other self in the portrait nodded his agreement. "Which means explain everything to Tom, bring Tom here, so that we'll all be able to help him, and speak out in court against her brothers."
"Ariana?" Harry spoke up in a soft voice. "In which way did Aberforth play a part in this? Did he help his brother, or was he a victim, too?"
Ariana smiled a sad smile, as she shook her head. "I don't know what Albus did to him, but Aberforth isn't like that. He wouldn't have willingly tolerated what Albus did."
"Merlin?" Luna cast their headmaster a challenging look. "Harry and I are doing our project for Concealment Magic together. Do you think we could somehow alter Ariana's appearance to a more stable form, so that people would not recognise her as a ghost? That way, she would probably feel safer, not only towards Tom, but especially in a possible trial against her brother."
Merlin remained pensive for a moment, before he nodded. "Go and ask Tobi. He's the master of concealment. Seeing that you won't be able to get a sleigh to take you to Riddle Manor anytime today or tomorrow anyway, you should take it easy, and Ariana will be absolutely safe here on the North Pole.
"Merlin." Minerva cast him a pleading look. "Could we perhaps just check on the screen if Tom is still asleep, please?"
"He is." Merlin in the portrait pointed to the screen, which he had already adjusted to show Tom's bedroom.
"Thank you everyone," Ariana said, smiling, before she turned around to view Merlin in the portrait and began a conversation with him.
'With my extended family here on the North Pole, it never gets boring,' Harry thought in amusement, as he allowed Luna to pull him out of the workshop and towards the SAMS, closely followed by his canine parents and siblings.
HP
Tobi, the kind yeti, jumped up and down in apparent excitement upon hearing about their idea for a project.
"Yes, that would be a good project, and considering that it will efficiently help someone, I don't mind that you do it together," he said, after they had told him everything about Ariana. "I suggest that you begin right away, so that you'll be able to finish your project before the spring holidays."
Harry and Luna promised to commence working on the project right after Christmas, glad that Merlin and Lily were nearby and could give them invaluable ideas, even if they were just experts in Charms and not exactly in Concealment Magic.
In the meantime, Ariana thoroughly enjoyed herself on the North Pole, where she felt completely safe from her brothers and loved by everyone present. On Sundays, Harry and Luna invited her to visit them at the Selective Academy of Magical Sciences, so that they could try their newly developed charms and spells on her. At first, she had felt uncomfortable, when the two teenagers began to cast spells at her, however, knowing that they were solely studying this kind of magic to possibly help her, she slowly became used to it.
By the time the spring holidays approached shortly before Easter, they had developed a charm, to which Tobi had offered the final clue, and which they intended to try out during their last Concealment Magic class before the holidays.
"Mum, could you go home and fetch Ariana please?" Harry asked, as he readied himself for breakfast that morning. "Please ask her to attend our first morning class, so that we can cast our charm at her."
An hour later, Ariana hovered in the front of their classroom.
"Relax. I won't have them cast anything inappropriate at you," Tobi told her, grinning broadly.
"Ariana, do you want Luna to cast the charm or me?" Harry asked in a soft voice. While he was a little firmer in casting the charm, he thought that due to her being under the Imperius curse by her brother for so many decades, she might prefer it if a witch raised her wand against her.
"Either of you will be fine," Ariana replied, smiling. "I know that neither of you wish to harm me."
"Harry, please go on," Luna said, giving him an airy look. "I look forward to seeing Ariana under the charm."
Seeing Ariana nod her agreement, Harry swiftly cast the charm. Ariana's ghostly figure slowly appeared to change, until she stood in front of them in what seemed to be a corporeal body. Their classmates applauded in apparent amazement.
"Well done, Harry and Luna," Tobi said, grinning. "Ariana, do you feel any differently?"
Ariana shook her head. "No sir."
With a flick of his hand, the yeti conjured a life-size mirror and placed it in front of the ghost.
"Wow. I look like a normal human being," Ariana said in apparent amazement at her own silhouette. "Thank you so much, Luna, Harry and Professor Tobi."
"You should try to hover as close to the floor as you can, even if the charm will make you look as if you were walking anyway," Tobi informed her, causing Ariana to carefully try it out.
"Perfect." Luna looked at her friend wearing an expression of contentedness and happiness.
HP
Two days later, the spring holidays began and Harry and Luna returned home to Santa's Workshop with their puppies in tow. Annika, Dudley, Minerva and Severus had not arrived from Hogwarts yet; however, Ariana was already waiting for them.
"When are we going to see Tom?"
Santa grinned at the eager ghost. "I've already contacted Sirius and Andromeda. They're going to arrive here together with Sirius' wife later tonight. We should discuss the whole matter with her first." Turning to Ariana, he explained, "Amelia Bones-Black is the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and she needs to know everything about Tom Riddle. Otherwise, the Aurors might throw him right into Azkaban on sight. She will also arrange a trial for your brother."
"Will I have to meet my brother?" Ariana seemed outright frightened.
"We'll ask Madam Bones later on, but don't worry. Even if you will have to meet him, we'll all be with you, and he won't be able to do anything to you." Santa's voice was calming, and Ariana slowly seemed to calm down.
HP
A few hours later, everyone from Hogwarts as well as the Blacks arrived. Santa introduced Ariana to Amelia, Andromeda and Sirius and told Amelia that Albus Dumbledore had kept the ghost of his sister under the Imperius curse for about five decades.
"The ghost?" Amelia enquired in apparent disbelief.
"I am a ghost," Ariana replied in a small voice. "Harry and Luna cast a concealment charm at me, so that I can feel safer."
"You are a ghost?" Sirius blurted out. "Sorry, but that charm is simply amazing."
"Luna and Harry developed it," Lily said, sounding very proud.
"Well, it's obvious that godchildren inherit their intelligence from their godparents," Sirius quipped.
"Of course, considering that Luna is my goddaughter." Lily grinned, as Sirius feigned a pout and everyone else laughed.
'At least, it lightened the atmosphere, and Ariana seems more relaxed,' Harry thought, smiling.
"So, let me repeat this," Amelia said, "your brother kept you under the Imperius curse for about fifty years. Is that correct?"
Ariana nodded. "Yes, Madam."
"That was after he accidentally killed her," Luna spoke up.
"He what?" Amelia stared from Luna to Ariana in apparent bewilderment, and Ariana hesitantly repeated what she had told Harry's family on Christmas.
"And why did he cast the Imperius curse at you?"
For the second time, Ariana explained everything about Tom Riddle and how she had been forced to cast unforgivable spells at him to make him do evil things.
"Something doesn't add up though." Sirius cast Lily and Paws a questioning look. "When you went into hiding, that was because of a prophecy if I remember correctly, wasn't it?"
=Yes, it was.= Cassiopeia was the first to respond and recited something that the Marauders had heard a long time ago and already forgotten about. =I don't remember the exact wording, but it was something like 'The one with the power to vanquish the evil lord will be born to those who have thrice defied him at the end of the seventh month', and we knew that it had to be either Harry or Neville.=
"Of course, everyone thought that the evil lord, or was it dark lord, had to be Voldemort," Lily added, after Remus had translated Cassiopeia's explanation. "From what we know now, it has to be Dumbledore though."
Minerva shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I still can't believe that Albus is outright evil. He's supposed to be the leader of the light."
Severus scoffed. "My only question is why Fawkes hasn't left him already."
"Albus Dumbledore should have a trial within the week," Sirius said in apparent determination. "The question is if we should speak with Tom Riddle before or after questioning Albus."
Andromeda let out a deep sigh. "I believe that Mr. Riddle's statements might be invaluable for Dumbledore's trial."
"That's true," Amelia agreed. "Have you already spoken with him?"
Santa was the first to react. "No. Ariana seems to have cast a sleeping spell at him, before she left his house a few months ago, and we waited for Harry and Luna to cast their concealment charm at Ariana. We plan to travel to Riddle Manor first thing tomorrow morning."
"May Sirius and I join you?"
"That would be highly appreciated." Santa cast Amelia a confirming nod.
HP
After breakfast the following morning, Harry, Luna, Ariana, Santa, Minerva, Sirius and Amelia boarded a sleigh, followed by Hedwig and Paws in their canine forms. They had decided to leave Lucy and Regulus with Cassiopeia, knowing that they were in good hands with their aunt, whom they had made the twins' godmother together with Annika.
Harry and Luna sat next to Holly in the first row, and Ariana hovered next to Luna, so that anyone looking would assume that she was sitting on the bench next to her friend. 'She really does that well,' Harry thought in amazement, while Luna spoke with the ghost in a calming voice.
"Don't worry, dear. Remember that you did nothing bad," she said in a soothing voice.
"I know. Thanks Luna," Ariana replied, smiling.
"I wonder why Merlin didn't join us," Harry whispered, causing Luna to give him a thoughtful look.
"He probably wanted to give Minerva some time alone with her former boyfriend. From her reaction last night, she might still be in love with him."
Harry stared at his girlfriend in surprise, however, nodded in understanding, knowing that she just knew things better than him.
"We will arrive at Riddle Manor shortly," Holly informed them. "The sleigh is invisible to everyone but all of you, and I shall wait for you."
"Thank you, Holly," Luna was the first to respond, and the elf cast her a broad smile.
'Everyone simply loves Luna, just like Ariana,' Harry thought, 'apart from those idiot bitches at Hogwarts.'
With Santa, Amelia and Sirius striding ahead, everyone left the sleigh and approached the entrance door of what looked like a muggle building. Amelia rang the bell, and they waited for a few minutes, before she uttered "Alohomora," opening the door using magic.
"Ariana, will you please show us the way?" Amelia turned to the ghost in a soft voice.
"Sure." Ariana swept ahead, giving everyone the impression as if she was walking. To Harry's amazement, Hedwig and Paws walked on both sides of her. 'Probably to make her feel safer,' he thought in understanding.
However, when they entered the bedroom, where they had seen him fast asleep during the previous evening, it was empty.
tbc...
Thanks to the kind readers for your feedback for the previous chapter. Please let me know what you think about this chapter and the story as a whole.