Harry Potter and the Order of Mercaba
by SeraphimBlue
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all the characters of his universe are owned by J.K. Rowling. I hold no claim over anyone here, except for my original characters and the Order of Mercaba, which is my own creation.
Chapter Three
A month passed and many things came to light. Albus Dumbledore was moved to Saint Mungo's as Madam Pomphrey felt it was the best course of action. There he was examined and placed under monitoring wards as they healed his body's injuries and attempted to discover the cause of his coma. The Healers in charge of his case tried everything they could think of, but there were no positive results.
"None of this makes any sense. His body is fine now but his core seems… diminished somehow. It's like it's fighting to try to get back what was taken away, but is unable to do so and then it collapses upon itself only to try again." Healer Thurgood reported to Minerva McGonagall. "I believe I have the necessary clearance… can you tell me, has there been any word from the ICW investigators?"
Minerva shook her head as she stared down at the immobile man in the bed… looking strangely so much older than she'd ever seen him. "They did a full search of his office and what they found was disheartening. Of the damage, they said something in the room, centered around the fireplace, exploded and that ignited something else as of yet unknown. They speculate that Albus wasn't there at that time but when he returned, something was waiting for him… a trap of some kind… and it was triggered when he entered. The explosion from that is what threw him into the wall."
Frowning she remembered what they said next.
"The worst part of all this is there might have been dark magic involved on top of whatever was a part of the trap. They found numerous… dark artifacts… hidden in Albus's desk and shelves; things that should have been locked away in the Department of Mysteries. How Albus got them, I don't know. Both his desk and shelving had been destroyed by the blast and apparently the items had been hidden away."
Healer Thurgood gasped in shock. "Impossible… there's no way that our beloved Leader of the Light could have been performing dark magic. They had to have been planted there by whoever placed the trap. Surely the Ministry is investigating what happened…"
Minerva shook her head. "No… they have their hands full with the media and public unrest. He'd been refusing to talk to them lately, something I warned him not to do, and this is the perfect time for them to discredit him. I doubt we'll see much help from them…"
Unknown to them, hiding high near the ceiling hung Rita Skeeter in her animagus form, a small beetle, watching everything. Carefully she crawled to the door and quickly escaped as a nurse entered the room. "This is the story of a lifetime,"she thought. "Albus Dumbledore… collector of dark magical artifacts… maybe dark magic thief... or perhaps a Dark Lord. Hmm… Dark Lord Dumbledore unmasked… oh yes, I like that."
Launching off the wall she quickly flew to the apparation point and apparated back to the offices of the Daily Prophet to write up the story of a lifetime.
Order of Mercaba Headquarters
In his office high on the sixth floor, Director Miles looked at the report in his hands. A combined effort of many agencies had failed to find any trace of the Dursley family, either living or dead, and therefore they had been declared legally dead. This freed up his agents to adopt the boy, Harry Potter, but also created a few minor issues.
With Harry being the only living relative, besides Vernon Dursley's sister Marge Dursley, there were some legal hangups on who should inherit the Dursley estate. A notice had been filed by the legal representative of Marge Dursley already, but was stalled when mention of Harry being related to Petunia came to light.
"It's a small bank account and the home at Privet Drive, not really much to worry about… what with the boy being the heir to the Potter family in the Wizarding World," he thought as he looked at his files.
Speaking of which, he'd been trying to talk to the… goblins, right goblins… about that and they wanted to prove Harry's identity magically before they would speak to anyone on the matter of inheritance… and that could cause a big problem if the Ministry tries to step in.
Staring at the files he sighed and set them down. He started to pick up the phone to call his agents… then paused. This was a matter best done in person. Standing, he grabbed his jacket and headed on his way, grabbing the files on his way out the door.
1517 Pembrook Lane, home of Alex, Alisa and Harry
Humming softly to herself, Alisa stirred the spaghetti sauce while Harry sat in his high chair nearby chewing on some cereal. He seemed to like her singing or humming and would giggle happily anytime she did so. Alisa grinned at him and blew him a kiss as she added some salt to the pan.
"You like Mummy's voice, don't you sweetie…"
Harry looked at her and giggled. A look of concentration crossed his face and with a soft voice said, "Ma… mama."
Shock crossed her face as Alisa turned to look at him, then with a happy squeal she quickly leaned in and hugged her baby boy. He'd finally done it… he called her mama. In one moment she felt complete.
"Yes Harry… I'm mama."
Harry laughed and went back to his cereal as Alisa just seemed to glow in delight. She couldn't wait to tell Alex when he returned home. He'd gone on a small outing to check on a few things and should have been home already. Wondering where he was, she turned the heat down on the stove and checked on him through the Order's communication crystals.
"Alex… are you okay? Will you be home soon?"
Unknown location… an hour earlier
Perched high above the target, Alex looked down and waited for the signal from Roman. He'd been climbing his way along on the edge of a cliff for close to an hour because of the frantic tone in Roman's voice. The poor fool and gotten stuck and needed a quick escape, but couldn't give an accurate location.
"Okay… I'm here…" Alex whispered quietly into his crystal. His wasn't like the others assigned by the Order. He'd tweaked his to better fit his gift and was able to speak out of any shadow near his target.
Third Cell… Basement of Castle Dumont
Roman sat back against the wall, his body resting mostly in shadows… waiting for Alex's voice. He'd been on a mission in Albania and had been blindsided by someone and woke up in what he was told was some place called Castle Dumont. He didn't know any more and was trained to not answer questions so he just clammed up and let them do their worst until they tossed him in a cell. After that, it was easy to just call for help.
They took his crystal, not knowing what it did but taking no chances. They didn't know that both he and Alex have a spare, implanted inside a molar… as a safety precaution. He'd called Alex and was just waiting for his response.
"Okay… I'm here…"
The voice drifted out of the shadows around him, soft as a whisper. Roman grinned and looked up at the small window in his wall near the ceiling. Standing, he moved to it and reached his hand up, just barely reaching the opening.
Flicking his fingers, he made a few sparks of electricity… small bursts of light that hopefully could be seen outside.
"Did you see me?" he asked quietly. "I'm here… the room is empty and pretty much almost completely in shadow. I'd say the dimensions of the room are about eight foot square with the window centered on the southern wall maybe."
A soft breeze blew in through the window and the room grew cold. Roman turned around and smiled as Alex emerged out of the shadows on the wall next to him. Alex took a look at Roman and growled; his body was covered in blood, cuts and bruises and his right eye was swollen shut.
"Who did this?"
Roman shook his head. "I'll take care of it later. You have a family to go home to. For now, just get me out of here and get me to a doctor." He stepped toward Alex and grabbed his waist, his body trembling slightly. "I dropped a beacon when they dragged me in here. We can use it to… send them a surprise later."
Alex nodded and engulfed his brother with his arms, comforting and securing him before dragging him into the shadows…
Order Headquarters… Infirmary
Lights flickered and frost formed on the walls as the shadows in the room started to grow. Doctor Stephens looked around himself and winced.
"Incoming!"
Everyone looked in his direction and began preparing for the worst. The coldness grew and then Alex appeared dragging Roman with him.
"Tortured by unknowns, doc, and he'll need to be warmed up."
Doctor Stephens saw the state Roman was in and nodded, helping Alex get him onto a bed. Alex looked at Roman and frowned. "The doc will get you fixed up. Let me know when you get out of here." Roman nodded and Alex turned to go… then paused.
"Oh… what's the frequency of the beacon?"
Roman saw the glow hiding in Alex's eyes and knew it wasn't him asking. "89.57."
Alex nodded and left. Roman and Doctor Stephens watched him go, looked at each other, then Doctor Stephens turned to his people. "Nothing leaves this room… understand." They nodded and got to work on fixing Roman's injuries.
Outside, Alex stormed away… the glow in his eyes brightening with each step as he silently formed words. A soft silver glow formed around his body until it coalesced into a ball of light that pulsed… then vanished. Alex stumbled, blinked and looked around, unsure what had just happened.
"Alex… are you okay? Will you be home soon?"
Alex looked at his crystal and activated it. "Yeah… sorry love… on my way."
Shaking off the feeling of something having been forgotten, Alex turned and shadowwalked home.
Unknown location… Castle Dumont
A small coin lay hidden in shadows… dropped as it's owner was dragged away. Unseen it lay there… so innocent… so forgotten.
A soft electric blue shimmer crawled across its metallic surface, like lightning on water... and then a soft hum could be heard in the large throne room. At first, no one noticed… but soon, heads turned toward the sound. Those in attendance began to look around frantically for the source… but by then it was too late.
A ball of silver light formed in the center of the room. It hovered for a moment… then exploded. The blast from the explosion decimated the room… those around it… and much of the castle entirely. The heavenly energies released killed everything that had been tainted, corrupted, by evil… leaving anyone pure alive and protected.
As the light faded… no one, save a few prisoners, was left alive…
1517 Pembrook Lane, home of Alex, Alisa and Harry
Alex appeared in the garage and stepped into the kitchen. "Sorry I'm late… got hung up on some things." He grinned and gave Alisa a kiss then ruffled Harry's hair gently. "Smells good in here. Is dinner ready?"
Alisa smiled and nodded. "Just have to set the table. Can you do that while I get everything ready?"
Alex nodded and moved to get the plates but paused when the doorbell rang. "I'll grab that."
Walking to the door, he opened it and smiled. "Director… so nice to see you."
Stepping aside he let the Director enter… following vampire protocols. Director Miles nodded and stepped inside.
"I'm interrupting your dinner. I apologize. I'll only be a minute."
Alisa smiled and motioned him toward the kitchen. "Nonsense… you can stay for dinner."
Owen shook his head. "I appreciate the offer but I can't. I just needed to give you both some paperwork and mention one or two things. I have a busy evening already. Maybe another time?"
Alisa nodded as Alex escorted him to the table. Owen pulled out the paperwork and placed it on the table. "This is the bulk of the necessary paperwork to finalize the estate of the Dursley family. There is a contesting of the estate by Marge Dursley, Vernon's sister. She doesn't want anything going to Harry."
Alex nodded. "That's fine. He doesn't really need any of it. Alisa and I are both well off and you know the money I can tap into if I truly need to; grandmother left me a few vaults in enclaves all over the world… including one in the Wizarding Bank Gringots."
Owen looked at him in shock. "Really? How did she do that?"
Alex blushed. "Apparently she dated Merlin for a few years when he was younger and kept an eye on things in the Wizarding World; she said he was charming and sexy. They had a whirlwind romance… as she called it… but then he got fixated on some woman named… Nimue, I think she said. They broke up and she left."
Alex smirked remembering his grandmother's face. "She figured she might need a foot in the door, so to speak, so she set up a vault about 800 or 900 years ago… maybe a bit longer, she doesn't quite remember. She said I can claim it any time I need to by going to the goblins and asking for a Rite of Inheritancy."
Owen smiled and sighed happily. "This actually helps things. The other part of why I came here is that young Harry needs to be identified by the goblins in order to claim the inheritance of the Potter account… but we run the risk of the Wizarding Ministry finding out about his whereabouts if we do so."
Alisa looked worried and picked up Harry, cuddling him to her chest. "They're not taking him away from me… from us."
Owen winced. "I did some research. They might try to claim old Wizarding laws to try to say he belongs in their world and try to force the issue. When word spreads that he's not living with a Wizarding family, things might get unstable."
He paused as he considered his next words. "Plus… they have laws against unmarried people adopting Wizarding children…"
Alex frowned and nodded. "Alisa and I are already engaged. We've been planning a wedding for a long time now, just never had a chance to finalize things. If it helps secure Harry in our family… we can get married anytime."
Alisa nodded fervently. "Tomorrow even if need be. We don't need a big ceremony. Alex and I love each other, have for years. Neither of us need anything big."
Owen smiled. "Thank you. It would help… and if you combined your claiming your grandmother's vault with letting the goblins verify Harry…"
Alex smiled as he caught on. "We could combine the two vaults with my grandmother's vault… which is undoubtedly older and more valuable, absorbing the Potter vault…"
Catching on, Alisa chimed in. "… and if the Potter vault resides inside your grandmother's vault… then the Ministry can't touch it due to your immunity."
Owen grinned. "Exactly. It closes off any venue for them to try to force the issue and it gives your family Wizarding rights, which closes off any attempts to try to take Harry from you."
Alex nodded. "We'll do it tomorrow. I'll contact grandmother tonight and get the necessary information, then tomorrow we can go to the magistrate and file for a non church wedding."
Owen looked confused at that so Alex explained. "I'm sort of a mixed case, due to my heritage and everything. I'm allowed to enter churches and work for religious figures… like I did for the Pope back in 1975… but getting married in a church using a religious ceremony is an affront to the wards placed on me by my grandmother after the Paris incident."
Owen nodded, understanding. "So is that why you get injured every time 'He' comes out?"
Alex nodded. "We think so, or at least that's the theory grandmother has come up with about it… and since I can't get rid of him, I have to just follow certain rules."
"Church, no church, or even naked in a field… I don't care. We will be getting married as soon as possible… and then, as a family, we're going to go to those goblins and make sure our baby is safe."
Owen nodded and moved toward the door. "I have some contacts of my own I can call on. I'll get you your wedding in the next few days… trust me on this." He paused at the door and smiled. "When you go to the goblins… I think I'm coming with you. I want to talk to them about something."
Alex nodded as Owen left, then turned to Alisa and kissed her softly. "You do know, grandmother might have left clauses for us to follow."
Alisa frowned. "Clauses… Like what?"
Alex shrugged. "Knowing her… might be the number of babies we have to have and how we raise them; magical rites she will want us to participate in; instructions on how to distribute her money to people that may or may not still be alive. We also might have to take her name as our own."
Alisa smirked. "What… Alex, Alisa and Harry Morrigan?"
Alex laughed and nodded. "Knowing her… probably."
Alisa hugged him tightly and smiled. "Don't care… so long as I'm yours, you're mine and Harry is ours… so yes, I'll be Alisa Morrigan if need be."
Laughing softly, Alex kissed her then kissed the top of Harry's head. "Well now that that's done… why don't we eat."