Tiber's Compendium

by Lil Nezumi

Severely Edited - End of Year 3 & Year 4 re-write, Char. Ooc, AU/AR, still within JKR's world and then some - A book found in an ancient cavern, accessible only by a Parselmouth, leads a youth to discover alternative magic and perhaps a way to change his learning process or the magic he learns. Harry is aware of some things, also featured with a studious nature of a different sort.

15. Chapter 15

CH 15

Harry - James - Potter - Harry - James - Potter

The Dark Lord was in such a mood one night, that upon torturing his servant, Peter Pettigrew, with the Cruciatus Curse, Harry woke up. He gasped and shuddered from the leftover after effects of the spell.

"What the hell was that," he whispered. His body shuddered again. He got up from the study table in Gryffindor tower that he'd been using to study for his Runes test. Since he was exempt from the year-end final exam his Professors all insisted he take additional year-end tests. His friends looked at him with concern, but he only told them, "I'm going to the loo."

Harry walked up to the boys' dorms, bypassing his dorm room and chose to go into his closet space and tent instead. He needed the peace to sort what he'd seen and heard before he could produce it for the Headmaster and his godfather.

Sirius had discussed some of his concerns about not going to the Headmaster in certain situations. 'The man will suspect something, if you do not go to him, Harry,' he'd said. 'It's best to let the old man get involved when something, like your scar hurting has taken place. He'd be in a far better position to take action quickly.'

Harry was reluctant, but he'd agreed to go to the old man, only after he'd sorted the information he'd just found out. He wanted to be sure that he could play the panicky boy, seeking attention, instead of someone that seemed calm going for help. He was fourteen and they didn't expect him to be calm in any situation, obviously because of his Gryffindor mentality and by association with a boy named Ron Weasley.

He splashed some water on his face, set his mind to the task and then he left his closet and tent, locking both behind him. Then, when he was sure that no one had seen him, he raced out of the tower and towards the Headmaster's office. He acted panicked in front of the Gargoyle and had hissed the word (...Open...) without even thinking about it.

The security device hopped to the side immediately to Harry's shock before he'd even thought of the names of sweets to ramble at the thing. 'I have got to remember this,' he thought to himself. 'Now let's see, if the acting will work.'

He made sure to cast small Serenity spell on himself to keep his nerves at bay, but he still acted rushed. He raced up the exposed stairs, not caring if they were moving to get him up to the Headmaster's rooms or not. He paced the small corridor, while he waited for the voices inside the room to hurry up and finish their conversation.

He'd been surprised to hear the voice of the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge in the room, declaring that Madam Maxime had been the one to attack Viktor Krum the previous night.

Harry had, had a little adventure when Barty Crouch Senior had appeared next to him and Viktor when they'd been talking privately. At the time that Viktor had been asking about Ron and Hermione's romantic status. Since the young man from Durmstrang had noticed that the red-haired boy was always upset in his presence, especially around the girl.

The Boy-Who-Lived had performed his first true bout of Legilimens on Mr. Crouch, since the man had obviously been disturbed mentally. He saw everything that the man had done and understood that the information he'd taken was important, however he still hadn't been able to figure out whom to give it to. So bound them in a couple of books and called them Memoires of Bartholomew Crouch.

However now it seemed that the Minister of Magic was sticking his nose into the situation a little late and it looked like the idiot man wanted to put the blame on someone and that someone, was a person known to have magical creature blood. The woman had been exposed to be a half-giant by Rita Skeeter in a article that came out after the Yule Ball. The boy frowned as he remembered Hermione's complaint about the level of intolerance of magical creatures that existed in this wonderful, magical world.

"I believe that young Mr. Potter needs to speak with you," Professor Moody said. He opened the door and said, "Come on in Harry."

"Headmaster," Harry said in a slightly worried tone. His hair was still damp from the brush through with water that he'd given it in order to look like he'd been sweating a bit. "I'm sorry sir," he said. "I can come back when you're free."

"Nonsense," Cornelius said. "I have some questions for you. Now you were there when Barty Crouch appeared, yes?"

"Yes, sir," Harry remained polite, but confused.

"Do you believe that Madam Maxime had anything to do with attacking the Durmstrang boy," the man asked.

"If she'd had, I'm sure that I'd have seen something," Harry said. "I don't think that she'd be someone hard to find, even if she'd been disguised in some fashion. As Professor Moody said in class, 'There's always something, that will give them away', right sir?"

"Quite right," Moody said, pleased that his words were being quoted back to him.

"I'll escort you down to see Madam Maxime," Dumbledore said to the Minister of Magic. "I'll be right back Harry," he said. Then he cast a 'Curious Cat' hex on the boy to ensure that the simple child would snoop within a certain, special cupboard.

Harry had felt the spell hit, but didn't know what it would do. He moved about the room and petted Fawkes the Headmaster's Phoenix. He felt the magical nudge to poke and prod about the contents of the room. He sighed and followed the sensation. It was obvious that the old man wanted him to act the Gryffindor, 'But why cast a spell to make me do so,' he thought. He noticed that the spell wanted him to open the cupboard where he knew that the man's pensieve was hidden. 'Oh, not this again,' he thought. 'What more could he want me to know?'

He touched the surface with his finger and was pulled into a series of thoughts linked to the Death Eater trials that had happened, probably around the time he'd been placed safely away from the influence of the Wizarding World. 'This is hell,' he thought. 'I figured that Bagman was a cheat of some kind, but seeing this he's really just an idiot. All his pushing about helping me and wondering how I feel and stuff, makes me wonder if he has placed wagers on me for the Triwizard Tournament.'

He watched as the final scene played out about his Potions Master's name was announced to the members of the Wizengamot that the man was in league with the Dark Lord. He looked to the Headmaster's image of himself and thought, 'There's something more about this situation. I wonder if Sirius knows about it.'

Harry then was pulled out of the memories, by the Headmaster of his school, and with an obviously false apology for not having closed the door to his cupboard properly.

"Do you have any questions about what you saw or something to tell me," the old man asked.

The young Gryffindor then did as he was supposed to. He asked about Snape and then told the old man about his scar hurting and part of what he'd heard in the dream, about a mistake being corrected.

"I believe that Voldemort might have inadvertently connected the two of you during that dark night when you lost your parents," Dumbledore told him with a sad and regretful expression. "When he's feeling especially violent, there's a chance that through the connection you have, you may feel it. I am sorry, young man. This is nothing more than supposition, but it should give you a place to start looking for answers." He twinkled at the Boy-Who-Lived, who felt the poke of someone prying into his mind.

Harry blanked his mind. He twisted his shadows and emotions to only reflect the here and now, but also to show his intent on telling his best friends.

"I trust that you'll use discretion when you talk to your friends," the Headmaster said with a twinkle in his eyes. "But rest assured that I'm confident in Severus' allegiances," the boy made a motion to question the old man, but was stopped. "Now leave it at that."

Harry nodded and after talking a bit about his feelings on the Tournament, among his class studies, he was finally permitted to leave the office. He wanted to go the library to look up the spell that the old man had used to augment his curiosity, but he knew that his friends would be seeking him out soon. So he let them find him and ply him with their questions.

Their attitudes were quite predictable. Ron squawked about the slimy Death Eater and snaky Slytherins, while Hermione was the voice of calmed reasoning, trusting the Headmaster to have good reasons for allowing Severus Snape to continue teaching impressionable children.

Harry - James - Potter - Harry - James - Potter

Harry had received an Owl from his godfather to meet up with him on the weekend just before the final task was to take place. He'd done his own private research into Godparent Magic and found that the man had been right. He could effectively 'share' his responsibility with someone else, provided that, the 'someone' else was agreeable to the idea.

He'd been spending more time preparing for the third task, but didn't negate his studies for the Canyon School. He'd just decided to use this time to figure out how to deploy nearly harmless arrows. He eventually found a balloon method that replaced the arrowheads with a small balloon that would burst on impact to release its content into the face or onto the body of his adversaries. It was easier than coating the arrows with poison.

He filled several balloons with muggle itching powder, since he'd never found an equivalent product in the Wizarding World just yet. He also used the concept of the muggle 'pepper spray' and created a potion to act in the same manner with perhaps a slightly higher reactivity to those creatures sensitive to such. There were others that were meant to deal deadly blows or poisons to violent creatures, which judging from the size of Hagrid's remaining 'Blast-ended Screwts', he wouldn't be surprised to see one or all end up in the maze of hedges.

But today was the day that he'd finally be able to talk to Remus Lupin and find out what the other man's opinion was on sharing Godparent Magic with Sirius. He'd researched it and found that if it was consensual between the godchild and the true godparent. Then chosen person, no matter of their social status or any unfortunate creature conditions would be permitted to enter into the ritual for this kind of obligation. There was no ruling in the Ministry of Magic against such a ritual nor was there anything against blood adoptions at this point in time either.

Harry was reading the papers that he'd subscribed to on a regular basis and found that the UK Ministry of Magic was slightly backwards in their attempts to stifle the people afflicted with the werewolf curse and others that they'd declared to be Dark 'Creatures', rather than people with right of their own. He didn't like the proposals that were about to be brought up to the Wizengamot from some Ministry kiss butt, whose name he kept seeing in relation to the regulation of magical creatures or people of magical creature origins. It was some witch named Delores Umbridge. So he sincerely hoped that the ritual that Sirius wanted to do would ensure the Remus' safety for the time being.

He stopped at the local stores in Hogsmeade and picked up the last of his needed supplies for his Canyon School program. The goblin at the Gringotts Branch, who allowed Harry to call him by his name, Grubstone, had been able to obtain some true, unrefined silver and mithril ore.

"Ah, young sir," the goblin said, when he noticed that his client was patiently waiting for him to complete his primary task. "Please sit down, I have the land ownership papers drawn up for your MML project and once everything is signed, the building company you've selected will ensure that all buildings on the property are up to code and ready for occupation and use before you finish your fourth year at Hogwarts."

"Wonderful," Harry said. He read over the paperwork and signed where he needed to sign for the transaction to be complete. He wrote his name with a blood quill, as per the standard of contractual obligations between goblins and humans. He was grateful that the money he won during the Quidditch World Cup was enough to fully make the changes needed to the property and the land.

The land was an old muggle farm property that was being sold as commercial and residential property. Unfortunately the township's projection that the area would one day turn into a major city centre had failed. The projections had been based on a highway that had never been built or rather, it had been built the next county over. So the property was being sold, as is. It wasn't even close to any town on any current muggle map either.

Now all that was left to do was to ensure that the Marauder Mischief Lab was set up and properly stocked with items, objects, devices, potions ingredients and many other what-nots for the experimental geniuses that were Fred and George Weasley.

"Payment for the company is to come from the Stoneguard Bank, from the strongbox that contains my World Cup winnings," Harry said. "I'll have someone in place to oversee the satisfactory completion of the project. There must be an apparition point outside of the building," he said. "Make it a shaded, weather proof gazebo or something because I don't want any external access points inside of the place. It would be too dangerous and it's not like we'll have a receptionist or secretary there just yet. You can forward any structural plans to me and my partners."

Grubstone nodded and made notes, "What about Floo access?"

"Not inside the building," Harry said, looking over the property plans. "Is this an old granary, I see?"

"Yes," the goblin said. "It's been empty, but the foundation is strong. It will need a new roof though, if you plan to use it."

"Make that the Floo point," Harry said. "Create a fire-pit in the centre of it and have the Floo powder on a shelf or table by the entrance. There'd be only one way in, but that would make it easier monitor. It and the apparition point from the lab buildings should be monitored anyway."

"The old farmhouse is stable," Grubstone said. "We're taking down most of the walls, except for the bearing walls in order to change the floor plan and expand it, as requested. The basement will be item and ingredient storage only. Main floor will contain one full kitchen and two fully stocked potions laboratories. The upper floor will have the product research, an infirmary and the main library. The attic is being converted into a specialized library and office for management whenever you'll need it."

"That's good," Harry said. "What about the barn?"

"The floor will need to be redone, but the company will have it ready in time," Grubstone said. "It will be cut in half, with one section containing animal stalls and dens, the other will be set up with soundproofing walls and other structural protection. You'll need to go to the house-elf relocation centre to pick some that will oversee the cleanliness of the area and manage emergency protocols."

"Excellent," Harry said. He signed the construction contracts and said, "I'll have my supervising manager contact you in a few days. He'll oversee it all. We'll send you the list of people permitted access through Floo and the Apparition points in a few days."

"Very good young sir," Grubstone said. He tapped his finger on it, making the appropriate copies to be filed in different vaults and with the Ministry's Business Archives. "I wish you gold," he said when their business was concluded and the boy had packed away the precious ore.

"To you as well," Harry replied with a short bow of respect. He drank from a vial, making his scar disappear, lengthening his hair and altering his eye colour. He re-formed the frames of his glasses and then he left the bank. He made his way to the cave where his godfather was waiting for him with another his birth father's old school chums.

Harry was cautious as he made his way to the alley next to Dervish and Bangs. He exercised a lot of caution, but was finally able to see the crack in the side of the mountain, where the ex-con had stayed hidden.

He stepped through and was greeted with a, "Hello Harry," from his godfather, who hugged him, as soon as he stepped through the opening. "Look who found me," he pointed to the slumped man near the warm fire, set away from the carryall that his godson had given him. He'd packed the tent away, since the boy needed the place to set up his own.

Harry looked and smiled at the man that had taught him to cast the Patronus Charm in his third year. "Hallo Professor Lupin," he hitched his carryall higher on his shoulder and held out his hand for the man to shake. "How are you, sir?"

Remus was stunned that the youth truly wanted to know how he was. "I am well," he shook the boy's hand and asked, "How are you?"

"Well," Harry said. "All things considered, what with the last task coming up, then end of the school year, preparing for my summer classes and a few other things. I'm quite all right." He huffed and then turned to his godfather. "Did you ask him?"

"I did, but..." the man looked to his friend. "I think that the two of you need to talk. How about I set up your tent?"

"All right," Harry said and handed the man the container with his pup tent, from his carryall. "Just know that you won't be able to enter until I let you. It's part of the protections I have on it." He then sat down next to a man that looked beat down. His clothing wasn't any better than what he'd had last year at the school. "Professor Lupin?"

"Harry, please call me Remus," the man asked. "I'm not your Professor anymore."

"If you like, but your title of Professor still belongs to you, I know you still teach," Harry said. "Remus, what's the matter?"

The man turned sad eyes to him and said, "I know that I should have come forward a lot sooner, but I never thought that you'd reject me because I'm a werewolf."

"What are you talking about," Harry asked in a confused tone. "I haven't rejected you. I'm not the one that refused to open letters sent to me and then have them returned to sender with some kind of magical 'undeliverable' stamp on them."

"I never received any letters from you," Remus replied in shock and his voice shaking. "My letters to you came back as 'undeliverable' too."

"Well, I think our post has been messed with then," Harry said, convinced that he had an idea who it had been too. "Can I have them now?"

"Of course, if I can have the ones you attempted to send to me," Remus said with a genuinely happy look on his face. The man had been through quite a bit and was glad that the boy had not rejected him because of his creature status or the fright he may have had that night that they'd discovered Pettigrew.

"Sure," Harry said and then he looked to where his godfather had a wand out and was preparing to send a spell to the tent in order to get the item to let him in. "I wouldn't do that…," he started to say, but it was too late and the man was trussed up like an upside-down spool of wool.

"Sirius," Remus groaned. It was just like his friend to get caught in such a way. He watched with amusement as the Boy-Who-Lived, lectured the ex-con in a very funny way of saying 'I told you so'. The werewolf then grinned because the boy was more like his mother than his father in this mode. "Harry, maybe you should let him down," he suggested. "He's liable to lose what's left of his brain cells."

"Hmph," Harry grumped in a teasing manner and released the spell that had effectively captured the trespasser. Then he picked up his carryall and said, "Yes well, I think we have a few important things to do before I have to head back to the school, this way Remus."

The boy crawled into his private tent and for the first time allowed other people to enter behind him. He'd discussed this with his portrait tutors and then agreed that it was a good plan. They'd then added the suggestion of blood adoption, which he'd looked up and thought that it might be a better plan than just the sharing Godparent Magic one, but he needed to bring it up to the two men first. He came prepared for that eventuality.

Harry took his sack to the smithing room, where he unloaded the ore he had received from the goblins. The men had followed him in and Remus asked, "What's all this?"

"It's a foundry room," Sirius said. "Obviously, Remmy, see here the forge and there's the smelting cairn."

"I can see that, but the question is more about why you have this here, Harry," the man turned to the young Gryffindor.

"It's for my summer studies," Harry said. "Come on to the library room, I have the letters that I tried to send you, bound in a book. You can take it with you."

Remus pulled out the packet of letters that he'd attempted to send the boy over the years, since the boy's first year actually. For the first and second year, they were only cards for his birthday and Christmas, but they were never received.

They watched as Harry took them all, hissed at them in the language of snakes. Their eyes widened at that, but they widened even more when the envelopes were disintegrated, but their contents whirled like a tornado coming together to form a scrapbook of letters, much like the one that Harry had just given Remus.

"There you go," he said and took the book he'd just created. He then opened it to a birthday card that said, 'Happy 11th Birthday'. He blinked rapidly and quickly closed the book. He choked out a soft, "Thank you."

Remus put his hand on the boy's shoulder and said, "I really tried."

"I know," Harry said and hugged the man quickly, before letting him go. "I'll go make some tea and we can talk about the ritual we're going to do."

"Sirius," Remus asked in a tone that said he needed to know.

"He didn't have much," Sirius said, as he rubbed his shaggy hair. "I suspect a lot, but he hasn't talked about it. Sharing the Godparent Magic with you will protect him from further incidents, but..."

Remus nodded and questioned, "You believe that someone may interfere?"

"I think he suspects that too," Sirius said. They followed their noses to the kitchen area where they watched the boy put together some tea and sandwiches.

"Just a little something to fill our stomachs," Harry said.

Sirius looked around and had already noted that one door was shut from the several that he saw were open. He was curious, but didn't want to pry into it until the boy was ready to tell him about it.

Remus too was curious about the closed door, but he respected the boy's privacy. "There are different sharing rituals out there," he began. "Do you know which one you'd like to do?"

"I was thinking of Proprius Parens Deus," Sirius said. (...i...) "The additional conditions would be the same that James and Lily made me swear to, when I accepted the responsibility. It's the strongest one out there." The werewolf nodded and then they turned to the youth that had cleared his throat for their attention.

"I was thinking more along the lines of Propia Consentio Adoptum Sanguis," Harry said, as he sipped his tea to gauge their reactions. (...ii...) "There would be more protection with that ritual wouldn't there."

"You're right," Remus said. "But aren't you forgetting that I'm a werewolf. We aren't allowed to adopt children."

"You aren't allowed to adopt young children under the age of eight," Harry said. "There's no law in place yet about you ritually adopting someone over that age and who can consent to being adopted."

Remus blinked, since it was true. That law was in for consideration, but had not passed yet.

"I looked it up," Harry said. "Creature blood may transfer limited conditions, but it will also transfer immunity of the condition, if the condition was communicable."

"Meaning you could be bitten by a werewolf and never become one yourself, if you're blood adopted by Remus," Sirius said. "That's bloody brilliant." The boy only nodded and looked to the other man, who was sitting there shocked by the suggestion.

"I need a Regent," Harry said.

"What," Sirius asked.

"I need a Regent," Harry repeated. "I need someone to take over the Potter estates and look after them on my behalf. I want to be sure that everything that needed to be done had been done, management wise I mean. I need someone that I can trust to sit in at the Wizengamot and make the votes as my proxy while I'm still in school."

"What," Remus said. "They'd never..."

"There's no law against it," Harry pushed. "If you're my Regent, it means that you're acting on the behalf of the Potter Family and Interests, not your own. Although they may think that's the case whenever you vote against any additional werewolf law that confines you and others from earning an honest living or whatever else they may think to restrict you with is personal, which let's be honest it will be, but as my Regent you're obligated to tell me about and get my opinion anyway. They couldn't claim that I didn't know about it."

"Like the marriage and bonding laws against werewolves that someone is getting geared to present to the Wizengamot," Sirius said. "But you know that, if I were to adopt you too, that ritual would mean that you'd be bound to be the Head the Black Family too." He paused and then he grinned. "Oh, yeah, that'd put the burr under someone's seat."

"But we'd need to be bonded to adopt," Remus looked to his friend. "Sirius, you know I love you with all your faults, but really not in the happily ever after way."

"Likewise," Sirius said. "You're more my brother than anything else, but then how..."

"You do two rituals," Harry said. "You do the Godparent Magic one and then you both do the blood adoption, one at a time, with no obligation to be joined in some happily wedded after thing."

"You can't do two rituals like this," Remus said. "It will be too taxing on the both of us."

"Actually it will be more taxing to you," Harry said. "The Godparent Ritual will between you and Sirius alone, I have no participation in it, other than to be present. The other ritual will have to be one on one with me accepting each of you in a parental role separately. The underlying 'shared' bond that you two will have will conform to the Godparent Magic first and then to the parental obligations second, although everything will be more legally secured with the second ritual."

"Where's the young fourteen year old and what have you done with him," Sirius asked.

The boy only shrugged and said, "I have my tutors to thank for that."

"Speaking of," Sirius said. "When can we meet them?"

"Only after the ritual or rituals are done," Harry said and turned to Remus. "The binding allegiance is important. The choices are for the both of you, but unfortunately, I think and believe that doing anything after the third task will be too late."

"We'll need to confer on this," Remus said. "I'd also like to look over the rituals."

"I'll get the books," Harry said, leaving the two of them to discuss it.

"Sirius, are you sure about this," Remus asked. "Once done, it cannot be undone."

"I'm sure," the ex-con said. "This will give you something to do, while we figure out the 'objects' that the Dark Idiot used. You heard him. The Potter Family needs a reliable Regent and he hasn't got one. Plus the question I have is who has been using the Potter Family votes?"

"But..."

"Remus," Sirius turned to his friend. "James and Lily had wanted to make you his second godfather from the beginning, but that shit law was passed and you couldn't. This is your one chance to get it right and be the godfather you were supposed to be, before some other law prevents you from doing any good in his life. Also you know that the Wizengamot cannot hold votes for legislation on a full moon because it's been written in the laws for a time when werewolves were respected members of our society."

Remus put his head down and sighed. His friend had explained some about the situation that young Harry was involved in. It was true that he'd wanted to have more contact the boy, but he knew that the Headmaster wouldn't approve.

That's why his only tried with birthday and Christmas cards. He'd felt rejected when they came back and his suspicions were now surfacing. 'Why keep the boy away from me,' he thought. 'Why make the boy live without contact from Sirius and others that knew his parents.'

He nodded his head and said, "I must begin to do things right. I will do it right by the souls of James and Lily or else I'd rather condemned to death."

"I wouldn't want you to do anything that extreme," Harry said, as he came back into the room with the books that contained the rituals' details. "Just make sure that no more laws can come into effect, which can bite you in the ass."

"Harry," Sirius said with laughter in his voice. "How do you think we should do this?"

"Remus will have to meditate and choose his allegiance first or else the Godparent Magic might hurt him when it does the judgement part," Harry said. "Then you do the blood adoption first, Sirius, so that when Remus is ready, he can blood adopt me too. I'll get two living parents and someone I trust to take on the Wizengamot with votes."

"Remus," Sirius asked and then he noticed the yellow gleam in the other man's eyes. "Oooh, Moony wants to come out a play, doesn't he?"

"He wants to kill that Umbridge woman," Remus nodded. "But we'll settle for blood adoption and responsibility for a young cub."

"Just don't say that I can't return to my summer school, okay," Harry said. "I'd rather go there then be forced back to the Dursleys. I promise to let you know the truth about it."

"We understand," Sirius said, as he gave Remus a pointed look. "But once the rituals are done, can we finally learn where it is your going in the summer or who your special tutors are?"

"Hai, hai," Harry said with a nod, answering in an Asian language and surprising the two men, as he prepared the ritual items for the three rituals that were about to be performed.

Harry - James - Potter - Harry - James - Potter

TBC…

(...i...) Permanent God Parent - used www dot latinwordtranslation dot com/ default dot asp (remove the spaces and change the dots to look up the dictionary)

(...ii...) Permanent Consenting Blood Adoption (made up format) - based on help from - www dot latinwordtranslation dot com/ default dot asp (remove the spaces and change the dots to look up the dictionary)