Chapter 19: Snowballing changes
Author's Note: First of all, huge thanks for all the positive feedback! I am absolutely overwhelmed with how high the fav count has gotten. Since so many people are reading this I decided to use the opportunity to mention a few of my own favourites with less favs than this that I think you might enjoy:
Coven by Naidhe: Hermione messes around with dark magic and befriends Pansy. Has a very nice scene where Pansy discovers that muggles have gotten quite advanced.
The Imposter Complex by Notus Oren: A different Diary Tom tries to fight against Voldemort. Written in first person like this one.
Exile by bennybear: Draco Malfoy's life after the War ended. He gets a job at a library and learns biology.
Harry Potter and the Girl Who Walked on Water by Starfox5: Possibly the most absurd ship in the entire fandom. Literally.
A Wizard's Guide to 'Banking' by Bakuraptor: Genetics + Polyjuice + inventive muggleborns = great story.
Voldemort's Bad Day by Diresquirrel: Aside from paved streets, photography, the wireless, and the Hogwarts Express, what have muggles ever given us?
In the Bleak Midwinter by TheLoud: Time-travelling Hermione and a very clever Tom Riddle Sr. having adventures in the roaring 20s.
In case it's not obvious, the Prophecy mentioned here is directly copied from the Harry Potter Wiki, not a single bit of original content there.
And finally, I apologise for taking so long between chapters. My life is a bit of a mess right now.
Excuse me, WHOSE life is a mess? No idea what you're dealing with, but you're not the dimensionally misplaced one!
…Ok, you got a point there. Corona's bad but it's not a Dark Lord trying to kill me. Now forget about it. You're not supposed to know that you're in a story.
"I'm in a what?"
Obliviate. Author out.
"What did you just say?," Terry asked me, cowering behind our fortification.
"I didn't say anything."
Strange. I've got this weird feeling in my mind…
Then it hit me.
PFOF!
Well, getting a snowball in the face in the middle of a snowball fight was kinda to be expected. Especially on the first weekend after the holidays where hundreds of students from all houses joined in on one massive brawl to vent the frustrations of classwork. Even the mighty Lord Voldemort is unlikely to be spared if those snowy missiles the twins are enchanting are heading where I think they are.
Speaking of someone not being spared, time for some retribution…
"I'll get you for that!", I shouted towards the Slytherin snow fort, grabbed some snow, formed it into a nice big spheroid, whispered "Wingardium Leviosa" and threw the projectile with some subtle wandless aid in the right direction, where it hit a third-year (I think?).
Ah, the childish joy of delivering a decently sized amount of snow into the face of someone you barely know anything about except for the house they're in and a guess at their age.
A little later I witnessed Hermione, who had opted to spend her time reading instead of snowball fighting (and was in the middle of a fascinating book on making transfigurations permanent and irreversible) refusing an opportunity at inter-house friendship: "No, Daphne, I don't want to build a snowman with you, I'm busy, ok? Just let it go."
Honestly, she's having way too much fun subtly provoking me with jokes that only I can possibly get.
-HP-HP-HP-
"So you're telling me, still no progress on our little dark lord problem?", I asked Dumbledore and Snape at yet another meeting in the Headmaster's office.
Dumbledore responded: "As much as I regret delaying this vital issue, I barely had time to spend on it due to my other duties. The recent increase in Hogwarts staff has led to a proportional increase in paperwork, which I had originally planned to catch up with during the holidays but I neglected that due to our research project. Sherbet Lemon?"
I took one as Dumbledore continued. Huh, actually pretty good. Fizzy.
"Then there was a rather unpleasant incident that came to light on Wednesday which required me in my function as Supreme Mugwump. An American oil company was using a new seismic imaging technique and they detected a goblin tunnel with improperly cast unplottable charms. Since they didn't know it was magic related the American Obliviators didn't find out about it until weeks later and they had to alter a significant amount of both memories and records, which sparked a minor international incident. The American Gringotts branch that the tunnel belongs to insisted that a secrecy breach like that would not happen again now that they were aware of how precise muggle technology had become, but many politicians, especially those who do not like goblins, have used the incident to voice concerns about whether goblin magic can be trusted to keep the Statute of Secrecy."
Ouch. I can't remember that incident being mentioned anywhere, so it's quite likely that my own past meddling - helping werewolves, changing NASA's schedule by fixing the Hubble - somehow snowballed through the butterfly effect to lead to this. Wouldn't take much to cause some company to test their new equipment on a different day at a different location.
"What are the chances that this could cause an international goblin rebellion?"
"Unfortunately, if the ICW decides to force goblins to have wizards enchant all their tunnels, as some of my less goblin-friendly colleagues have proposed, quite possible. It seems like some think they could even profit from such a disaster."
Politics, it's the same everywhere. Warmongers provoke wherever they can… Of course some people might be interested in causing the majority of the magical world's money to change hands. What's next, 'evidence' appearing of goblins having WMDs?
Now that I think about it, what if whoever runs this universe decides that I, as the hero of the story, need to have some kind of conflict to keep me busy at all times? Would it mean that I'm close to defeating Voldemort if it already prepares another plot? It's just speculation, but maybe…. If the world is giving me hints….
"As fascinating as wizarding politics are, maybe we should get back to dealing with the Dark Lord," Snape interrupted.
"Indeed, Severus."
"Could I maybe see the original memory of the Prophecy?", I asked. "It's been a while since I heard it, and that was what Sirius remembered after years with Dementors, I'm not perfectly sure I have the accurate version."
Dumbledore agreed, summoned his Pensieve, and moments later a ghostly (or hologram-looking, if you prefer) image of Trelawney appeared, speaking in a monotone voice:
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...
born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...
and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...
and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...
the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."
Wait a moment. That's not quite how I remembered it.
"Can you play that again? Especially the third line?"
There it was.
"I could've sworn it was a power he knows not. Maybe I always interpreted it wrong?"
"Power, a power, makes no difference, does it Potter?"
"I'd not be so sure, Severus. Every word, or lack thereof, could matter. A power is a specific ability. It could also refer to power in general?"
"I can assure you, the Dark Lord knows plenty about power."
Could this mean… No, that'd be way too easy, wouldn't it? I shelved that idea years ago, if it had any chances of working surely Dumbledore would've thought of it?
"Maybe he won't by the time it gets fulfilled? This might be a really stupid idea, but what if we obliviate him and make him forget all about power and being a dark wizard?"
Dumbledore considered the idea. "If we could successfully wipe his memories, that could stop another war. It would even completely circumvent the steps he has taken to prevent his soul from passing on."
"A big if, Potter," Snape interposed. "The Dark Lord is extremely skilled at the Mind Arts. He is likely one of the best Occlumens in the world. Breaking through that will not be easy."
"Well, I wasn't suggesting using Legilimency to invade his mind, I was more thinking about taking a mental sledgehammer to it with Obliviate, the difficult part of that spell is to not accidentally wipe too much, and we don't really need to worry about that in this case."
Snape sighed and shook his head. "Don't think too much about yourself just because you have managed to put basic barriers on your mind and you removed a few seconds of memory from a troll."
"What if we got help? The Ministry has an entire department of skilled Obliviators."
"While having multiple Obliviators attacking Voldemort at the same time could work, if there's more than maybe three or four in the same mind at the same time they would get in each other's way," Dumbledore theorised.
"And most of the Ministry Obliviators are used to working on muggle minds that are even less defended than that of a troll. I myself could maybe keep the active defences busy, if you focus on breaching the barriers that leaves Potter and one Ministry dolt to do the actual wiping."
Oh my bloody… I don't like where this is going.
"So our problem is that we don't have anyone who is skilled at removing lots of memories from powerful wizards?"
What did I do to deserve this?
AN: Muahahaha! Sorry, I needed someone to vent at, and you drew the short straw.
-HP-HP-HP-
Hog's Head.
Not the most reputable place, but given the nature of the usual tenants nobody bats an eye when a cloaked figure comes to use the private meeting room upstairs. It's the perfect location for a shady business conference.
Which is exactly why I'm here tonight.
I shook hands with my guest.
"Thank you for taking your time to come. I know you've got to have a very busy schedule."
"Oh, no problem," he laughed, "when none other than Harry Potter owls me, asking for my help, who am I to refuse? After all, I didn't earn my honorary membership in the Dark Force Defence League by ignoring people in need!"
"Well, it's good that you're here. I've got a little problem, and you might be the only wizard in the country who can help me."
"Let me guess, you're a bit inexperienced with managing your fame, aren't you? There haven't been any articles about you in months! Don't worry, there's no shame in that!"
I shook my head. "No, it's not that. It's rather - and this might sound strange, but it's true - I've got a dark wizard who is trying to kill me, and I need a man of your skills to, well, solve that issue."
He stared at me, the award-winning smile destroyed in an instant. "You want me to kill a Death Eater?"
"Not a Death Eater. And you're not supposed to kill him. You see, I kinda did a bad job at the thing I'm famous for. I'm sure you can relate."
"You're not saying… It's Him?"
"Yes. Voldemort's back."
His face went as white as a triple-FF hex code.
"I might," he whispered after a few seconds, "have slightly exaggerated my accomplishments in my books. In fact, if you may excuse me", he got up and took steps towards the door, "I've got an important… uh, thing, that I need to deal with, in… Argentina."
I took a deep breath and did my best at speaking in a commanding tone. Not easy with the voice of an eleven year old, I might add.
"Stay. We're not finished."
He froze.
"'Slightly exaggerated' is a bit of an understatement, don't you think? After all, there's only one charm you're really good at. Luckily for you, it's the one we need."
"What do you mean?"
"He-whose-name-you-are-too-afraid-to-say is immortal. Killing him is something I already tried and failed. Fortunately there are other ways to destroy a wizard. Of course, you know that better than anyone. How many people have you stolen memories from?"
"They'd never have managed to successfully publish their stories!"
Lockhart started to panic, frantically attempting to find an excuse. "If not for me, nobody would've read about them! I helped thousands of people learn how to defend against dangerous creatures!"
He drew his wand. "I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to reveal my secret. It's for the greater good. Obliviate."
The spell left his wand, shot towards me and then simply disintegrated in mid-air.
"A most dangerous phrase. Oh Gilderoy, I am so disappointed", Albus Dumbledore said calmly as he dispelled his disillusionment.