Author Note
Since I've not been posting for a while I decided to give you two chapters today.
Crossworlds 1 - Harry Potter
Part 8
The Gaunt Shack. Little Hangleton.
I actually found it highly amusing how easy it was for a Hogwarts student to sneak out of the school in order to go out and foil the future plans of the Dark Lord. Sure I had amazing powers thanks to my patron Loki and knowledge that no one else in this world could have, but still it should not be this simple to get what I wanted.
Yet it had been. I'd left the school in form of a bird as the students who were going home for Xmas headed on mass for the train station. It was well known that John Smith kept to himself and so no one should miss me as long as I made an appearance sometime during dinner this evening.
If not for the fact that I had an AI in my head I might have felt lonely or even depressed about not having anyone to go see during the holidays, however, I was never really alone and Tom Hiddleston had been invited to a few fancy parties. I'd decided to attend one if only to make some contacts that could come in useful later on.
Preparations for the party, which was next week, were for me to deal with later. Right now I needed to focus on why I'd come to this charming little bit of the British countryside. This was the ancestral home of the Gaunt family, a run down place located in a clearing in the woods near a road that was just outside the village of Little Hangleton. I would make my way into the village soon enough as I had business there.
The former Gaunt residence was a shabby little shack that had once housed Marvolo Gaunt, his wife, their son Morfin, and daughter Merope. While time might be to blame for its poor state I remembered from the books that it had never been a place that anyone other than the poorest of the poor would want to live within.
This was odd since they should have been able to improve the shack with magic. I could only assume that centuries of inbreeding had taken away the intelligence required to plan out such improvements and the magical skills needed to carry out such designs. Nor did they have the wealth required to pay others to do the work.
What really mattered about this location was that after the last of the Gaunts had died or been locked up the residence was then used as a hiding place for one of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes, the ring that he stole from Marvolo Gaunt after framing the man for murder.
I wanted to destroy the ring and claim the Hallow so as to help weaken Voldemort as well as to increase my power by taking some of the Dark's Lord power for myself and by acquiring the Hallow. With that stone, I could question some of the greatest magic-users of all time on a variety of magical topics.
That was the least I'd be able to do. If the spirits of Muggles could be called upon then I would summon those who were connected to lost treasures such as the infamous pirate Blackbeard. From 1716 to 1718, Blackbeard and his 40-gun flagship, Queen Anne's Revenge, prowled the West Indies and the Atlantic coast of North America, preying on ships heading back to Spain which were laden with gold, silver and other treasures from Mexico and South America.
In late 1718, a British naval force succeeded in killing Blackbeard after a hard-fought battle. Once captured the infamous pirate got decapitated and his head hung from the bowsprit of a ship. Before his death, Blackbeard claimed to have hidden his massive treasure, but he never told anyone its location. I wanted to summon his spirit and force him to tell me the location so that I could go claim the treasure for myself, adding it to my growing fortune.
Much closer to where I was now I might be able to find the original crown jewels that King John of England is said to have lost back in 1216. No one knew for sure if they'd actually be lost over in Norfolk, however, the king himself should know. If not well I had other plans to increase my wealth.
"Shouldn't be more than half an hour" I heard someone say.
I turned my head to see William Weasly the eldest son of Arthur and Molly Weasley who had graduated from Hogwarts a couple of years ago and now was a Curse Breaker working informally under several more experienced wizards. He would be working in Egypt in the future, right now he was here backing up other Curse Breakers.
This team of Curse Breakers had been rather easy to hire even at short notice since I could afford to throw some gold around and it would be well worth the expense as once I had the stone I could learn the locations of many hidden treasures and other lost secrets.
"I'm surprised that you didn't handle this yourself" Bill Weasly was now saying "Aren't you a famous treasure hunter?".
That was how Tom Hiddleston had made his fortune officially and so the Curse Breakers would assume that I knew their craft. In reality, I knew very little about how they did their work as I'd only had a few months to learn and curse-breaking is advanced stuff. I was more focused on Defence Against the Dark Arts and the Mind Arts.
"I don't know the laws here about recovering magical treasures," I said the former Hogwarts student "And I didn't want to upset the goblins by not involving them either".
Gringotts branches can be found all over Europe, however, the goblins didn't have much of a presence in other parts of the world. Another factor was that in larger countries, the Ministries of Magic couldn't monitor spellcasting as they could here in Britain. In fact, they didn't tend to bother monitoring at all outside of places where there were magical people living near muggles such as the major cities.
As such there was no way for anyone to track what the Curse Breakers got up to in places like this and no way for wizards to find out that actually, I hadn't been all over the world uncovering piles of gold.
If the books I'd been able to read on magical cultures that I hoped weren't hopelessly out of date, in some parts of the world magic was known about by the Muggles and hardly policed at all. This was why the Muggles living in London could know that Voodoo was practised in the Caribbean while having no idea that Diagon Alley existed despite it being within their own city.
"Smart of you not to cross the goblins" the young man agreed before he began talking about what was going on here "The wards around this shack are dark and powerful, but they are very old and not that complex".
I wondered if Voldemort had ever returned to this place since laying his Horcrux to rest here. Was he so arrogant that he simply assumed that the defences he'd laid down as a sixteen-year-old boy would work against Curse Breakers? Or did he think that by never returning here and thus not drawing attention to the place, it would help keep the Horcrux secure?
"Can you tell me anything about this object we're supposed to be finding?" asked Bill.
Due to the laws of this country I'd needed to buy the Gaunt Shack from the goblins in order to claim the ring legally, the goblins had taken it in payment from the Gaunts due to non-payment of loans once the last of them had either died or been locked up for the rest of their lives. It was worthless, but by buying it I owned anything found on the property since there were known Gaunts left to counter my claim.
Voldemort could legally challenge a claim since the goblins didn't care at all if you were born outside of marriage or had a different surname because they tested inheritance via blood, but Tom Riddle was officially dead so that wasn't an issue and he seemed to have decided to keep all of his Horcruxes as far away from himself as reasonable possible, not counting Nagina.
"It's just an old ring," I said "A gold ring inset with a black stone and it's not worth much, but I promised someone that I would recover it. I suspect that it has been cursed so please be careful".
That someone was me, they just didn't need to know that.
"We can contain a Cursed object" assured Bill "It's the shack I'm worried about I don't think it will stay standing for much longer. Not now that we're removing the spells cast on it".
This didn't concern me.
"I don't care about the shack," I told the young wizard "The land it's built on feels wrong so I think that it should be left alone. I'll leave the shack alone".
Bill agreed with me.
"There's dark magic here, has been for a long time," he said "Before we go I'll lay down some fresh muggle-repelling wards so that they stay away from here".
That would be wise and I wasn't at all worried about any of the Curse Breakers saying anything about me owning this place and recovering a cursed object because these wizards all worked for Gringotts, not the Ministry which was heavily compromised, and they'd all signed magical contracts that prevented them from giving anyone details of their work.
"We've got it!" declared one of the older Curse Breakers.
He'd just come out of the shack and he was carrying a heavy-looking box in his hand that must contain the ring.
"It's got a compulsion charm on it and some nasty curse I got rid off, but there's still something dark about it" I was warned
The thing about compulsion charms, a type of spell which can compel a person to perform a certain action, is that they aren't hard to resist even if you don't know how to make use of the mind arts to help control yourself. Dumbledore would never have been affected by such a spell if not for the fact that he recognised the stone and wanted to use it to talk to his sister.
Ginny Weasly being a little girl, feeling homesick and lonely was compelled to write in the diary due to such a spell, but even then with the diary having taken hold over her she still managed to resit long enough to try getting rid of the Horcrux.
Voldemort must know that a magical compulsion that he'd put on the ring wouldn't work on someone with the skills required to get past the defences he put up. Perhaps he was so arrogant that he just assumed that his compulsion would be more effective because he'd placed the spell on the ring himself. Even teenagers who aren't evil can be very sure of themselves and do underestimate those they see as inferior despite them often being the superior ones.
"Thank you, gentlemen," I said to the group as I took the box "Forgot about this and enjoy your Christmas bonuses".
I imagined that Bill would use the extra money to spoil his large and somewhat poor family. As for me, I had other matters to attend to in the area so I didn't summon the Knight Bus. Instead, I headed up the road and towards the large house that I could see in the distance.
(Line Break)
Graveyard. Little Hangleton.
The graveyard was located just outside the village of Little Hangleton. Like the village, both the graveyard and the Riddle House were both clearly visible from the hillside above the valley as I'd seen for myself when walking towards the village from the Gaunt shack. By the time I'd gotten here, it become dark enough to do my work with little fear of anyone seeing me and if they did there were spells to handle that problem.
Since there was another graveyard behind the local church I figured that this one must be the Riddle family rather than the whole community. This was easy enough to confirm since nearly everyone here had the name Riddle on their gravestone. I wondered if the women who married into other families weren't allowed to be buried here.
As for Frank Bryce, the Riddle's groundskeeper, he lived in a cottage on the grounds which was located right next to the graveyard and was separated from it by the stone wall that wouldn't have hidden me from view.
Due to one set of the cottage's kitchen windows facing the graveyard I'd dealt with Mr Bryce before coming here by placing him in an enchanted sleep using a harmless charm. I'd not dared to stun the man because that could be dangerous for an elderly person to be stunned by magic and more so for an old Muggle since they were far more likely to have heart problems.
My focus was on the newest graves here, those of the three Riddles who'd died decades ago and who had been the last of the Riddles to be buried here. The Dark Lord's paternal grandparents and father were all laid to rest in this graveyard shortly after being murdered by the self-styled Lord Voldemort.
It was also the site where Lord Voldemort would return to power or would have been if not for me taking steps to prevent this from happening. To start with I dug up the grave of Voldemort's father and I was thankful to find only a few bones as the man had been buried for more than forty years so the worms had done their work.
While I'd mastered some impressive bits of magic I'd not mastered the vanishing charm as of yet so I carefully placed the remains of Tom Riddle in a pouch. This was a man I felt bad for even if he had abandoned an unborn son since he'd been magically drugged and raped by Voldemort's mother until she got pregnant.
He might have not believed she was pregnant he could have thought it to be a lie by his abuser to keep him around. Even if he had believed her I couldn't blame Tom Riddle for not sticking around and looking after his rapist. Not that his son was to blame for that either it was all the fault of Voldemort's mother really. I had no sympathy for that woman at all.
I would rebury what was left of Tom Riddle Senior somewhere else after I'd replaced his bones with those purchased from a shop in Knockturn ally. These bones were also very old. Hopefully, Wormtail or anyone else trying to carry out the ritual wouldn't bother to check if anything was wrong with the bones. I didn't want to use any of the other Riddle's remains in case somehow the bones of Great-Uncle Jermory Riddle would somehow work for the ritual.
Once the bones were in place I covered them up and used a potion meant to speedily grow plants and a packet of grass seeds to make it look as if the grave was overgrown. It needed to look as if no one messed with it and didn't look right now it should be okay by the time Voldemort took up residence in the manor. Assuming he ever got far.
I reburied Tom Riddles bones in the church graveyard using a spell to place them deep underground and hoped that Voldemort had no way of tracking his father's remains or if he did wouldn't bother to try since he'd have no reason to think they'd been bothered. His lackeys weren't the smartest of people so they weren't likely to even consider checking to make sure they had the right bones.
My plan to prevent the return of Voldemort to power was far from flawless, but it was just one plan of many and might never matter since I was working to prevent his return. I still hoped that the Hallow would allow me to summon and trap Voldmort's spirit. If I could contain the spirit within some sort of object I could even bury him in that weird crosswords place I'd seen after leaving my world.
If I dealt with the Horcruxes then Voldmort's spirit might just fade away even if he wasn't killed in some way while he had a physical existence. Although the Prophecy might do something to cause things to work out so that Harry Potter still ends Voldemort no matter what I did.
(Line Break)
St Jerome's Graveyard. Godric's Hallow.
The next day, after letting myself be seen at the school I ventured out to see another resting place for the dead. Here there were the graves of many former residents of the village, both Muggles and wizardkind, including members of such prominent families as the Peverells, the Potters, and the Dumbledores.
Since Tom Hiddleston had a home here I'd decided to let myself be seen in the village by some of the locals so as to help keep up appearances and to pay my respect to the parents of Harry Potter.
I didn't intend to be here for long as I had other plans for the holidays, including attending a party when not making my presence known within Hogwarts as John Smith. Loner or not, someone would notice if I didn't appear at least a few mealtimes over the Xmas break.
The grave of Ignotus Peverell the original owner of the Invisibility Cloak who was also an ancestor of James Potter lay in the same graveyard, as did Dumbledore's mother Kendra and his sister Ariana who was killed either by one of her own brothers or the Dark Lord Grindlewald. No sign of his father's grave, perhaps he'd been buried at Azkaban since he died there.
The grave of the Potters was made of white marble, not at all cheap, and almost shone in the darkness. The headstone had been engraved with Lily and James' dates of birth their death and a message.
"1 Corinthians 15:26," Cortana said to me having plucked that information from my mind as I'd read the bible due to having gone to a C of E high school and attending a Methodist Church as a child "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death, is that meant to be taken literally, will death itself one day end?".
That quote was about Christ defeating all enemies, the last being death itself. Odd words to find on the graves of magic-users since Christianity is not a kind faith towards witches, and I did wonder what it meant in this context. I also wondered who had ordered this gravestone made since Harry was the only Potter left and he for sure hadn't made any arrangements what with him being more than a year old at the time.
"I have no idea" I replied.
While I knew that gods existed because I'd met one I didn't know if that meant God with a big G was real or if death was anything more than a biological process.
Rather than dwell on such weighty matters I conjured up some flowers to lay on the white marble grave using a rather advanced bit of magic. Since conjured items faded away after a time, depending on the power of the wizard or witch casting the spell these flowers would be gone in a matter of hours at most. Yet that didn't matter as I was simply showing my respect.
It was such an advanced spell and one I'd learned just for today, and I was glad that I'd somewhat mastered it so quickly. I might not have a lot of raw power when compared to big guns like Dumbledore and Voldemort, but I was conjuring flowers after a few months of magical education so I had to wonder how much magical power Loki had gifted me with. I also wondered how powerful I would be in a few years when I'd had time to learn a lot more.
"Someone's coming" informed Cortana.
I turned to see an old woman who I thought to be a Muggle at first until she took out a wand and matched my feat of magic before surpassing by adding a lot more flowers.
"Did you know the Potters?" she asked.
I had not.
"No" I answered, "I just came to pay my respects to the witch and wizard who defeated Lord Voldemort".
She didn't react much to the name, if anything she seemed pleased by my words.
"Harry Potter is supposed to have vanquished You-Know-Who," she said.
Actually, Harry was famous for surviving the Killing Curse, not for the defeat of Voldemort who wasn't believed to be dead rather he was considered to have been defeated. Hence why he's referred to as 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' rather than He-Who-Defeated-You-Know-Who, or something along those lines.
I assumed that Dumbledore had used his influence to try to prepare people for a possible return by Voldemort by not letting people label Harry as the Vanquisher of Voldemort, not that it had worked out in the book series.
"My thinking is that Lily and James Potter did something to protect their son," I told the old witch "It's a shame their secret died with them".
The old woman smiled slightly.
"I knew Lily Potter, she was a bright young witch so if anyone could figure out a way to shield little Harry from the Killing Curse, then it would be her" she agreed.
There was a moment of silence before the witch spoke again.
"Where are my manners" she suddenly said "I'm Bathilda Bagshot"
I knew that name. She was a historian whose work on wizarding history was published under the title A History of Magic.
"A pleasure to met you" I replied "I'm Tom Hiddleston and a big fan of your work".
Unlike Binns, this witch knew a lot more about history than goblin rebellions and wars against the rampaging giants.
"Thank you, Mr Hiddleston," she said "I've heard a bit about you. You're some sort of treasure hunter so you must know a bit about history yourself".
Indeed I did.
"Yes, Mrs Bagshot" I was now saying "Although I'm a mere novice in the subject compared to you".
She was pleased by my words.
"You shameless flatter you" she teased "If I were a hundred years younger I'd be swooning".
She then turned serious.
"I supposed that's why you're here," she said "Godric's Hallow has a long history and many who seek the Deathly Hallows have sought me out, or at least they used to. No real evidence of them of course, but such legends are fun to discuss. Lily Potter and I had many talks about history, only she didn't think much of the Hallows".
Only if she knew that one of the Hallows was on my person and the James Potter her neighbour had possessed another. I wondered if Lily Potter had ever guessed about her husband's cloak and if she'd downplayed the legend as part of an effort to keep its existence unknown to the magical world.
"Would you like a cup of tea?" wondered Bagshot "It has been a long time since I entertained a young gentleman".
As soon as she made the offer I checked my pocket watch. It was dark and snowing yet not that late. If I stayed for half an hour I could take the Knight Bus to Hogsmede and then fly in the form of a bird into Ravenclaw Tower before dinner even ended.
"I'd be delighted, but I do have a dinner engagement this evening so I hope you won't be offended if I excuse myself early," I said.
Once we had entered her home, which was much more pleasant than expected, I took a seat at the old witch's kitchen table as she insisted on making tea for us without any aid from me. I admired some of the photos, many of which didn't move so they were either Muggle made or they'd never had whatever spell it was that animated them placed upon them. Given the ages of some of the pictures, the magic may have worn off.
One more than the others caught my eye.
"That is my great-nephew Gellert and Albus Dumbledore when they both seventeen" I was informed, "As brothers, they were, until they had a falling out".
Lovers as far as I knew. If she was aware then Bagshot most likely kept it to herself as the Wizarding World was almost Victorian when it came to sex.
"Gellert Grindlewald?" I asked.
Bagshot looked a lot shocked at my words. She must not have expected me to know who her great-nephew really was.
"He wasn't always a Dark Lord," she told me once she got over what I had just said "Please don't judge me for the family connection".
I would never.
"No need to worry, it's not like you supported him when he was trying to take over and you couldn't have known what he would do" I assured the old witch "I already knew. I looked into Grindlewald and I know that he spent a summer here a very long time ago. He was looking into the Hallows when he met Dumbledore and from what I've been able to piece together they didn't part as friends".
Bagshot served some biscuits before carrying on with the conversation.
"No one ever believes me when I tell them it was Albus who set Gellert on his path," said the old witch "I know that he was looking into things best let alone before he was expelled from school, but it wasn't until he met Albus that he got it into his head to try to rule the world. Silly boy".
I knew that Dumbledore had actually helped to create two Dark Lords, or at the very least he'd played a role in shaping them. He could have done more to prevent Riddle from becoming Voldemort and while there was a sort of magic that prevented him from fighting Grindlewald directly, he still encouraged his boyfriend to seize power even if Dumbledore's intentions may have been more honourable.
"Truth be told I've never really trusted Dumbledore" I informed the magical historian "He wears too many hats".
That got me an odd look.
"It's a Muggle expression it means he's trying to fill more roles at once than is realistically possible. He holds three positions that should be held by three different people. How can be a good Headmaster at Hogwarts if he's judging in court and heading up the ICW".
Dumbledore claims he doesn't trust himself with power and that's why he never took the role of Minister of Magic, but in reality, he had way more power than any Minister, and Fudge, who'd become Minister this year, took advice from Dumbledore all the time.
In my view, no one with that kind of power would give it up unless forced to and Dumbledore even had his own Death Eaters in the form of the Order of Phoneix only they didn't go around killing people for their master.
"Exactly and he got all that because he locked up my Gellert," stated Bagshot "I know that Gellert should be locked up for what he did, but I will never believe that he would have gone so far without Albus giving him all those ideas".
This was an old wound I'd helped to reopen.
"I'm surprised you never mentioned this in your book," I said "Or is it in one I've never read?".
Bagshot sighed.
"No would ever publish a book that paints Albus Dumbledore as anything other than the best wizard since Merlin, sure the Prophet tries to knock him off his high horse, but people always forget what's in the paper as soon as something else interesting happens".
This I knew to be true. I knew that everyone in Potter's sixth year started adoring him again due to the papers calling him the Chosen One when only the year before he'd been labelled an insane attention-seeking brat.
"Mrs Bagshot, I'd fund a book that exposes Dumbledore's secrets" I offered "I've often wondered what he did with Harry Potter, he's hidden the Boy-Who-Lived and claims he's safe, but do we know he's safe and happy?".
I knew for certain that he wasn't and while I couldn't do anything for Harry directly without the risk of Dumbledore coming after me for involving myself in what was going on over in Privat Drive (or risk exposing myself to whoever was after the World Seed) I wouldn't mind deflating the Headmaster's ego a little and having people question that fact that Dumbledore basically ruled over them.
"Plus there's the Sirus Black situation" I mentioned "Everyone says he betrays the Potter's, but there's no record of a trial so no one knows why he did or why he went after Peter Pettigrew. There are so many unanswered questions that no one thinks to ask".
Bagshot shot up from her seat and grabbed a newspaper with greater speed than an old woman should be capable of moving at.
"You should read the headlines" she suggested "Pettigrew has been found. He was hiding out as the pet of the Weasly family".
So Amelia Bones had gotten my letter and acted upon it. Wormtail had been taken in for questioning after the DMLE had gotten a tip-off about an unregistered Animagus hiding out at the Burrow. There was speculation about this meant for Sirus Black since he'd been imprisoned for murdering someone who turned out to be alive. The muggles who were also killed weren't mentioned.
The reporter (not Rita Skeeter)mentioned public outcry on the matter and how the Ministry had promised to get to the heart of the matter. I was glad to read this wasn't going to be handled behind closed doors or swept under the rug as it reduced the risk that Sirus Black would meet an unfortunate end before he could be cleared of all charges.
Dumbledore wasn't Chief Warlock back then so he wasn't to blame for a lack of trial although he could have insisted on one anytime over the last couple of years and would oversee one if Sirus Black went to trial. Given that the old man wanted Harry Potter kept at Privet Drive I wondered if Black would ever get out of Azkaban alive or if the Headmaster would find some way of keeping Potter away from Black.
I was sure that Loki was amused by me upsetting the status quo within the Wizarding World with the tip-off and neither Tom nor John were linked to this in any way so overall I was pleased by all this.
"As for the book you mentioned" Bagshot mentioned, "I doubt any publisher would print it even if anyone would buy it".
I gave it some thought.
"The Lovegoods print the Quibbler maybe I can convince them" I suggested.
Bagshot gave it some thought.
"I'm too old to write another book all by myself, but if you're serious about knocking Albus Dumbledore down a peg I'll be your co-author, I'll need you to gather information for me as I can't be running around chasing leads at my age, and many people think I'm senile even if my name still does carry some respect".
This I could agree to. I didn't think that the Lovegoods were fans of Dumbledore either and I'd be able to pay them well for their help.
"I have to warn you that it might not sell well," said the old witch.
People should buy the book if only because it would appeal to those who like reading about juicy secrets.
"There's always a risk in any investment," I pointed out.
She accepted that and it wasn't as if she'd be paying for anything.
"Oh I'd love to write more about Lily Potter and how she could have done something to safeguard little Harry," said the writer "No one would accept a Muggleborn defeating You-Know-Who so I won't actually say that I think she did I'll just hint at it and have that led to Dumbledore somehow getting his hands on Harry that night. I don't know how he did since Dumbledore was at the Ministry at the time of the attack".
I knew how.
"He sent Rubes Hagrid to pick him up," I told the witch.
Bagshot gave me a funny look.
"How do you know that?" she asked.
I couldn't tell her the truth so I had to lie.
"The man is famous for running his mouth and when I began looking to Dumbledore and his connection to Harry Potter I brought Hagrid a few drinks while in disguise and he told me how he'd taken Harry Potter to Dumbledore that night" I lied "He wouldn't tell me where, but he did take Sirus Black's flying motorbike. Black was there that and didn't finish off Potter or run off with him which is odd if you think about it. If he didn't betray the Potters then they didn't take little Harry somewhere safe and if he did serve Voldemort why not avenge his master?".
Hagrid actually kidnapped Harry Potter on Dumbledore's orders. Dumbledore wasn't Chief Warlock at the time so he had no legal authority to place Harry Potter anywhere, not that being Chief Warlock should allow him to do such things.
"Did he now?" questioned Bagshot "I wasn't there that night I was in Saint Mungos due to an ingrowing toenail. Not that I would have been much help".
I had to get going since I really should make an appearance as John Smith this evening.
"Thank you for the tea Mrs Bagshot," I said as I got up "I'm rather busy over the holidays, so if you need me for anything leave a note at the old Dumbledore place and I'll try to visit again soon. I'll contact the Lovegoods and see if I can find some people to interview".
Bagshot already seemed twenty years younger, although that wasn't much difference.
"I'll make a start writing what I know" she promised "Albus and Gellert were sending owls to each other at all hours. I still have some of the letters"
Helping to write this book would make me a political enemy of Dumbledore, but Tom Hiddleston would be hard for the Headmaster to work against since he didn't even exist most of the time. I would have to prepare for the possibility that Dumbledore would do something bad to Jon Smith, so I might have to leave Hogwarts sooner than planned.
Maybe this wasn't worth it, it was just that I really didn't like Dumbledore, and if he say expel Jon Smith for something the Headmaster caused to happen it would only give Tom Hiddleston more ammo to use against the Chief Warlock. The Malfoys were publicly known to be anti-Dumbledore and the Headmaster wanted to help Draco not become a Death Eater so I might be worrying about nothing but I would need to prepare.
Besides the book would take to write and I didn't have to publish it right now.