NO HOPE
J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.
Chapter 1 – Home Sour Home
Harry Potter had been at the Dursleys' for two days. Vernon was a beast at the best of times, but when Harry saw members of the Order of the Phoenix "chatting" with his uncle his first thought was "I should have made out a Will." He would leave Hedwig to Hermione, his broom to Ron, the Marauders' Map to Neville & Luna who had to swear not to give it to anyone until after they both graduated and had talked it over with the Twins, his cloak to Luna (although Dumbles would probably confiscate it because of its value) his photo album to Hagrid and the contents of his trust vault giving ½ of it to the Twins for their business and the other half to purchase new brooms for the school every ten years or until the money ran out.
However, he might not live to make out a Will as the expression on Vernon's face told him all he needed to know. Apparently, Vernon had invented a new shade of purple (or at least a shade Harry had never seen before) and the silence all the way home gave another clue, as did Vernon's erratic driving. Fortunately, Harry had left Hedwig in the care of Hermione, much to the annoyance of Ginny who was demanding the owl for her own use. "You have two owls of your own and Hermione can use her to send messages. Hermione, I am counting on you to keep Hedwig safe – don't give to anyone except to me when we return to school" he added "Just send her to me every three days so I can send the letter I'm supposed to send". Ginny's demand and the expression on her face sent a shiver down Harry's spine – and not a good one.
Once they had reached Privet Drive and Harry had dragged his trunk into the house, Vernon slammed the door shut so hard that the windows rattled. "Here it comes" thought Harry and he was correct as Vernon began a verbal and physical assault on him. Harry didn't bother trying to listen to the rant as it was the usual "We took you in, gave you food…." And then once Vernon stopped the beating, Harry heard the clincher "AND NOBODY – ESPECIALLY A GROUP OF FREAKS WHO LOOK LIKE HOMELESS PEOPLE – TELLS VERNON WILLIAM DURSLEY WHAT TO DO, LET ALONE EXPECT HE WILL DO IT."
Vernon was huffing and puffing so hard he felt dizzy, so it was up to Dudley to drag his cousin upstairs, fling him into his room and secure the many locks on the door. Harry could only just lay on the floor, in the heat (the windows were nailed shut and the AC didn't go into Harry's room). He was thankful that he had drank a lot of water then visited the loo before he got off the train, but in this heat, the water would quickly evaporate so he wouldn't have to worry about having to pee.
Somehow he fell asleep, but sleep led to various nightmares (and he had so many to choose from but didn't want any of them). However, he was awaken by a raspy voice trying to get his attention. Opening one eye he saw a Goblin – he thought as his glasses had been lost – and the only thing he could think of was to say "Hello" much to the Goblin's amusement (he sort of snorted so Harry decided it was a Goblin laugh).
Eventually the Goblin introduced himself "Harry James Potter, godson of the late Sirius Black? I am Skull Crusher, the Goblin in charge of the accounts of the House of Black. Are you Harry Potter?" Harry weakly nodded yes. The Goblin looked at Harry and the condition he was in and gave a great sigh. Then Skull Crusher grabbed Harry's hand and a wave of pain hit the boy who promptly fainted.
When he woke up, he smelled an antiseptic and he could feel the touch of a crisp sheet and a hard, yet comfortable, pillow under his head. He hadn't opened his eyes yet but figured that he was probably in the Hogwarts Infirmary and expected Madame Pomfrey to come to his bedside and say her usual spiel but she didn't, if only because he was not in the Hogwarts Infirmary. Oh well, he better start to stir so someone would come out and he could find out how he got to this particular Infirmary. But no one did. He noticed that his bruises were gone and the cuts were healed but he ached all over and had a terrible headache.
After waiting a little while he finally called out "Is anybody here" but there was no answer. He really had to pee so took the risk of getting out of bed to look for the loo. He immediately had a dizzy spell but soldiered on to a row of doors. He opened several until he finally found the loo. As he made his way back to the bed he was surprised to see two Goblin warriors march into the room. One of them said "You will come with us human" and he was grabbed and dragged out of the room. He tried to ask a question but was rudely told to "shut up wizard" so he did.
Eventually, he was taken to another room that had a huge bronze door, one of the Goblins knocked and "Enter" was heard, the Goblin opened the door and rudely shoved Harry into the office where Skull Crusher awaited him.
The no-nonsense Goblin simply stated "I came to look for you according to the instructions of Sirius Black, but seeing the condition that you were in, I brought you to Gringotts for healing."
Harry sighed "But Sirius Black…is dead…and it is all my…."
"It is not your fault" Skull Crusher said quickly. From what I heard, his cousin Bellatrix sent him through the veil. He choose to go to the Ministry to rescue you and met his fate. I also heard he was being careless and treating everything as a joke, but at least he died as a warrior. Now for the reason why I came to contact you."
"You are the sole heir to all that he owned, with the exception of certain bequests he made in his Will and…."
"I don't want any of it, I just want Sirius to be alive and…."
"Well he is dead and unless you want Draco Malfoy to bribe his way to inherit, you will accept it or severely disappoint Sirius Black. Just so you know, your godfather wasn't dead a half hour when Albus Dumbledore came to the bank, demanded to see the manager of the Black account and demanded to see the latest Will of Sirius Black. He informed me that he knew Sirius Black had recently made a new one and that one of our employees hand delivered it to me, which was entirely true – except it wasn't a legal Will and hadn't been signed by Sirius Black."
"However, Dumbledore knew what was in it as he had been a witness, so there was no need for a public reading or even to contact you as you were already in deep mourning and, as usual, you left everything in Dumbledore's hands."
"But I didn't. I didn't know anything about it and didn't know that Sirius had a Will and you said Dumbledore came to the bank within a half hour of Sirius' death. All he did regarding me is to come to 'my rescue' at the last minute and portkey me directly to his office after telling me to wait for him. So I did because I guess I was in shock, numb and couldn't believe that Sirius was really gone" said a very upset Harry.
"Well he is" grunted Skull Crusher. "And Sirius Black had a premonition of his own death as he had made an ironclad Will out when he became your godfather that was irrevocable and no other Will could be made without certain circumstances being met. Apparently, he had heard that a new Will was made in his name and the first chance he got, he snuck into Gringotts, talked with me, met the requirements of his first Will and made out a new one. He also added certain irrevocable terms and conditions, such a contacting you as soon as possible in person, read the Will to you in private, correct any medical problems you might have and see to it that you get out from under Dumbledore's thumb and to get to finally have a real life."
Harry was totally shocked speechless at this revelation but there was more news to come, news that even Sirius hadn't known about and even Dumbledore, although the old wizard had some inclinations even he couldn't imagine the scope, manipulations and the raw power of the others who would totally disrupt his plans.
"I will be giving you the most important information you will receive, but first, I sent your house elf to retrieve the things you hold dear, such as your broom, a photo album, a certain map of Hogwarts and most import of all, the extremely special cloak that is an heirloom to the House of Potter. As soon as that was done, as per instructions, the Dursley resident accidently caught fire but the three Dursleys were awaken and managed to escape just in time except for a Vernon Dursleys who seeing that the house was going to be a total loss, ran into the garage to obtain a safe which he apparently kept in a locked, hidden closet."
"As soon as the other two Dursleys – and momentarily Vernon – were out and at a safe distance from the house, the flames inexplicitly spiked and engulfed all surrounding property that made up 4 Privet Drive, including the house, garage, patio, gardens, tool sheds, etc. Some would say it was fiend fire, but it really wasn't, just a fierce, mostly unquenchable inferno that luckily didn't spread to the other houses and property on Privet Drive. The Muggle fire fighters arrived and got it under control but all that was 4 Privet Drive is nothing but ashes."
"So…Uncle Vernon is…dead" Harry asked weakly.
"Yes, extremely dead." "However due to his own greed, stupidity, etc. it could be said that he committed suicide" Skull Crusher said, making a weird noise in his throat that could possibly be Goblin laugther.
"But my Aunt Petunia and Cousin Dudley are alive?"
"Yes but apparently aren't liking it. Your Aunt because she lost her house, belongings – and a husband of dubious worth – and your Cousin because he lost all of his 'toys' and other material possessions and was even heard to say 'I hope Dad had a big insurance policy so my stuff can be replaced'."
"Now before I give you the documents, there is just one thing unusual yet…very needful and had to be done so you could be free. Earlier tonight, your elf acquired your owl and an experimental procedure was done on the owl and fortunately for all concerned but especially you…."
"What did you do to Hedwig" Harry yelled. "Is she alright? Who ordered the experimental procedure and why test it on her? Oh, and I don't own an elf."
"Actually, you do. The elf Dobby who you freed from the Malfoys sneakily bonded with you since he was now free and you had literally saved his life. He never mentioned it because of a Miss Granger's crusade for free house elves and because Dumbledore would never had let him at Hogwarts if he knew Dobby was your elf. In fact, as a condition for his employment, Dobby had to swear that he would not bond with you but since he already had, the point was moot."
"However, as with your owl, Dumbledore had tracers on Dobby also and they could only be removed in a certain horrendous way…just like with you. Say what you will about Dumbledore" Skull Crusher said "and believe me I and most Goblins have said things about him that are not very acceptable in polite society but definitely true, that old wizard is a master at esoteric, dangerous and unlawful magic that I personally think he could give Voldemort competition. The thing is, Dumbledore doesn't get caught and has a remarkable system of public relations that most people believe everything he says or does – except for people with intelligence, logic and who have fallen victim to his schemes."
"What did you do?" Harry yelled.
Being a Goblin, Skull Crusher truly enjoyed the next information he gave the boy. "Your owl, your elf and you had to die and stay dead long enough for it to register. However, the human body can be dead three or four minutes, be revived and not suffer serious consequences – which is what happened and why we tried it with your owl and elf so we would know it would work on you. Can't have you really dead or we would lose a very valuable customer, tons of money and possessions, unfathomable Goblin honor and another Goblin revolt would begin."
Harry just stared at the Goblin as he handed Harry a large calming potion. "Drink this and then read the documents. You won't like any of the things in them but once you have completely read through it you will, hopefully despite your age, naiveté and lack of a true wizarding education, you will understand enough to see why certain things had to be done to save your life and that of others." With that said, he quickly left the room.
A Goblin healer entered the room loaded down with potions, followed by Hedwig, sitting on a perch that was floating into the room, and a delirious happy Dobby would brought a light meal (but plenty of it) and drinks. Harry said nothing, just shook his head, swallowed two potions, had a drink of cool water told Hedwig and Dobby he was happy they were alive and only then, did he start reading the first of the documents.
Within ten minutes he fainted, was revived and it started all over again. Forty-two hours later, he finished (he had been allowed to take two naps during some of the fainting spells) and the only thing he said to the other three entities in the room was "There was no hope whatsoever. No hope thanks to Dumbledore. Now there is no hope for anyone in Magical Britain and it's all due to one egotistic, over-bearing, power hungry old man who doesn't care about anybody or anything except his own POWER."
"That is correct my Lord" said the healer, "Hoot" added Hedwig and "Youse is right about that Master Harry. Now what does youse want Dobby to do for you?"
"Get me a dreamless sleep potion and let me sleep on what I've learned."
It was done and in the 36 hours Harry Potter slept, the wizarding world was slowly going crazy, panicking, cursing the Fates, Harry for "dying" Voldemort for resurrecting and just about everybody except where the horror really started, stayed and festered - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore: Order of Merlin (first class), Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and Grand Sorcerer.
But the majority of the people didn't know or wouldn't have believed anything else they were told except what Dumbledore, The Daily Prophet and angry, opinionated, unthinking people ranted and demanded that what had to be done should be done and done fast as Dumbledore said so. Since he had never led the astray (yeah, right, ask those that died for any of his causes, were orphaned, widowed, bankrupted, etc.) he was THE Leader of the Light and the only hope they had or had ever had and anything he said or did (no matter how illogical or just plain stupid it was) MUST BE DONE TO SAVE THEM ALL!
Empty barrels make the most noise and the barrels – or rather people – who make the most noise tend not to think things through, do any real research, look at things objectively and, sad but true to say, have their little minds made up for them by those that know what is best and will fight to the death (as well as annoying anyone with a brain and/or a different opinion) for their belief that they really didn't make. Such was it now, in the past and, if there was one, the future. Human nature didn't really change over the millennium, just the puppet masters in charge.
